A Slight Spanner In The Works

I had planned to start my filming on Sunday (23rd) with my actor and a friend who agreed to be the camera woman for me.
However, when I got to the location, my camera woman was late and then told me she wasn't going to turn up, and my actor was an hour and 15 minutes late, so we couldn't get anything filmed that day apart from one shot of my actor smoking.
This means that, on this Sunday (30th), I will have to film twice as much as I had planned, and we will have to be at the location an hour or so earlier than planned, in order to ensure that I have enough footage to start editing with on Monday.
I will make a post on Monday (1st) about how the filming went on the Sunday.

CD Booklet Research

I have done some research into CD booklets, both albums and singles, on Oasis, Blondie, and One Direction:

Location Scouting

Below is a video I have made on Animoto.com of pictures of my location research (ignore the watermark - I only have the free version of the software).



Sacriston Woods

Artistic Appeal
This location has amazing scenery, and would be perfect for me to film at. The trees are tall and the colours of the leaves mean that I wouldn't need to change the contrast of the clip much. If I can't film the couple in these woods, it is still perfect for me to shoot some scenic shots at.

Location Appeal
This location is only a 5 minute walk from my house, so I can easily go down one night after sixth form to get some shots before it gets dark. Also, if I get home and find out that the shots I need aren't clear enough or I need a few more angles, I can walk down and be back in half an hour.


Hawthorn Dene

Artistic Appeal
I love the scenery here as it has a mixture of woodland and rivers, with a very close coastline. It would be a great location to shoot at when it's sunny, but could be hard to get the right lighting if its cloudy or raining, so the clips would require more work during the editing process.

Location Appeal
This location is about half an hour from my house, so it is harder to access than the others, it would be hard to get there as a last-minute trip, as there isn't any public transport which runs through it. However, the location is definitely worth the trip.


Daisy Hill Local Nature Reserve

Artistic Appeal
This location has amazing woodland and a large lake in the middle of the park, meaning that I could make the shots appear as if they were filmed at 2 different locations, which would save a lot of time.

Location Appeal
This nature reserve is only about 10 minutes from my house, so I will be able to get there quickly and more accurately judge the weather, which means that I could make a last minute trip there if I need more footage etc.


Derwent Walk

Artistic Appeal
This is my favourite location, as the scenery is so beautiful. The woodland areas are quiet, but there is so much of it so we could film there on more than one occasion if I need to. The large bridge looks over miles of woodland areas, and it would be great to film the couple walking over this bridge.

Location Appeal
This location is a half an hour drive from where I live so I would need to plan a trip here far in advance, but I definitely want to film here.

York ASFF, Friday 7th November

On Friday 7th, my media class took a trip to the Aesthetica Short Film Festival in York for the second time.
We attended a few lectures and screenings of short films and documentaries, plus an 'A-Z of Music Videos' lecture.

It was led by Craig McNeil, Director of Creative Projects at Beggars. They have edited and produced 5 videos for The White Stripes, several for Daughter, Vampire Weekend, The Prodigy, The XX, and Adele.
 
This talk was extremely beneficial to us as it helped us to see what goes into a professional music video, but also how we can efficiently film and produce ours.

Below is the A to Z that Craig McNeil highlighted:

Shooting Schedule

Just like my post about my call sheets, I will explain a few elements of my shooting schedule:

 

I will be filming down by Durham River on this date, and will need a cigarette, some apple juice, and a glass for the guy to drink out of.

One of the shots I will be taking on the day is a downward pan point-of-view shot of the guy looking into the distant, followed by a medium close up of his side profile stood in the same spot, which I will use in my video over the lyrics "head in the clouds by my gravity's centered".

Also, I will get a few shots of the couple holding hands from different angles, which I will use at various points in the video. The shots will remind the audience of the relationship between the two, and will break up the footage from America and Durham.

On Saturday 29th, I hope to get a few shots of the couple holding each other, and a few clips of them playing together in the snow, which I will put into slow-motion and play during the chorus of the song.

On Sunday 30th, I am hoping to film at the beach (weather persisting), but I can always change the contrast of colours in the clips if the weather isn't great.

 

I haven't put locations on the last two sheets because the location of the shoot all depends on the weather and that can only be determinded a day or two before I film. I will make a post closer to the day of filming to say which location I am going to use to film the shots and what the weather forecast is for those specific days.

Call Sheet

I won't explain every aspect of the call sheet, but I will explain a few elements of it:

 



The Equipment: As the time period for shooting isn't as long as I was hoping for, I may need to take 2 cameras and 2 tripods along to a few of the shoots so I can get more shots filmed from different angles in the few hours I have; especially the shots at the beach as it'll be extremely cold and it'll be good if we could finish filming early.

 

For each shoot date, I have written what time we hope to arrive at the location, when we will take a break for lunch, and when I hope to finish filming for the day. I have given around a 2/2 and a half hour time period to film in each day, which will hopefully be long enough to get the shots I want. Also, I am hoping I will have enough time at the end of each day to 'play around' with the camera and different angles, incase I think of any shots that I want on the day.

 

For the costs, I don't have a budget as such, but each member has agreed to pay for their own transport and food on the day.

Also, the props for Sunday 23rd will be bought by me, but I will be able to buy these cheap on the day. For the props on the 29th, I will buy the fake snow and fake snowballs online if there isn't any snow forecast for the day of filming. When I did my location scouting and I visited the woods, there were plenty of leaves on the ground, so I'm almost positive they will be there on Saturday.

Budgeting







I need some extra props for filming, so I need to buy the following:

 

 



http://www.snowsupermarket.co.uk/sparkles-decorations-c56/snow-blanket-custom-lengths-p119

This is a 'snow blanket' which I will place either on the ground or on nearby trees when I'm filming in the winter to make it look more realistic and Christmasy.

http://www.snowsupermarket.co.uk/artificial-snow-c3/magic-snow-100g-p124

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Magic-Snow-Frozen-Party-Looks/dp/B00K17YXDC/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&qid=1415956479&sr=8-26&keywords=fake+snow

I will only buy this fake snow if it's not forecast to snow around the time I'm filming, but it will help me cover the ground with real looking snow.

http://www.snowsupermarket.co.uk/sparkles-decorations-c56/soft-throwable-snowballs-x-4-p20

These fake snowballs will be great props as I will be able to cover them in a small amount of fake snow and it'll look even more realistic when I film the slow-motion snowball fight.

 

 

 

These will cost around £15 in total, but will be worth it for the effect it will have on the scenery. I will purchase these sometime around next week before I film at the weekend, and will make a post when these arrive so I have a better idea of how I can efficiently use them.

Development In Music Video Ideas

After listening to the song a few times and talking to my mate about possible ideas for my video, I have decided upon the following for the narrative of my music video:

• Focusing on the couple over the seasons; summer, autumn, winter
• Summer - palm trees and the beach
• Autumn - leaf fight between the couple
• Winter - sparklers in the dark and a snowball fight
• The couple have a few arguments during the song, but they overcome this and make up when they're together during the slow parts of the songs

All of these ideas will be on my lyric storyboard which I need to finalise and then I will upload before I start filming.

Band Interview

One of my close friends is in a band and they are due to tour Europe in a few weeks.

I thought it would be beneficial for me to pose some questions to them about music videos to get a different view, from a smaller band than the one I am using.

I have asked them to film themselves answering the below questions, and I will post this footage as soon as I am sent it:

1. Where did the name of your band originate and does it have any specific meaning behind it?
2. How do you promote your band to the music industry and potential fans of your music?
3. Who are your main inspirations within the music industry; either for style or sound?
4. How has your music style and sound evolved over the time that you've been a band?
5. How is lyric writing shared between the band?
6. Do you have a favourite music video? Why is that your favourite?
7. Have you ever made a music video or had any ideas for some?
8. (if yes) Where did the ideas for the music video come from? And who directed it?
9. When you write songs, do you ever have ideas for a music video in mind?
10. Do you think a music video is important in terms of how the audience receive the song and its lyrics?