Risk assessment - take two.

Before i went out to film i devised another risk assessment. As before the previous risk assessment applies however due to the natural light being an issue i have planned to overcome this with artificial lighting.

.. i will finish this blog once i have pictures of the equipment

Back on track, again.

Since coming face to face with a brick wall on Friday, yet again, i realised that somehow i needed to film new footage for the second half of my video, while baring in mind that it was not possible to use both of my original cast.

It wasn't until late that night that i was looking back over my blog from the very beginning up to current posts that i was inspired to film the second half of my video with a twist; and this allowed me to alter my cast while keeping the footage of the first scene. It was Sigur Ros's video Hoppipolla that was my source of inspiration; the manipulation of stereotypes and generally the contrast of older generation urged me to use an older cast. With a little taming this new thought of ideas developed into a possible solution. I had told myself that i wouldn't leave it any later than the weekend to get any more filming done and only Elodie was free on Saturday so my Dad would fill in as Connor. Though this didn't mean that the character was changing, only ageing.

My Dad has dark hair similar to Connor's and would be able to carry off an older version on him; to ensure that the link is made by the audience i got a black leather jacket, an ipod and converse to match Connor's clothing from the first scene, each of these items realistic to still have once grown up. This change will additionally be clear to the viewer as text will appear on the clip notifying that years have pasted since scene one.

The narrative flows as the second scene is showing Connor once he has grown up. The relevance of Elodie n this scene is that the second half is only a dream, remembering Elodie when they were younger. She is going to wear the same white jumper again to symbolise her only being a spirt/hallucination, aswell as continuing her identity.

Let down, again.

Today has been highly unsuccessful. The female lead has been unable to attend filming tonight and after discussing another filming date there is not a time when both cast members and myself are available before i run out of time to edit my video and make the cd cover and advert, therefore i don't have another chance to do any more filming in addition to my outstanding video. The only possible way of over coming this is to miraculously find two people in the country that are available tomorrow for me to re-film the whole of my music video. Ill take bet on that happening!

Hopefully the last film dates

I am due to re-film the second half of my music video in Friday 27th. My only chance to film this will be after school meaning that we won't get into Leicester until around 4pm, by this time the light outside will be dull and have begun to fade and so I have ensured i have sufficient lighting for this filming session so that if the natural light outside becomes an issue i can overcome this; these include flood lights and lamps - although the weather says that it will be dry and so i am hoping and assuming that this will be benefical in comparison to previous filming. This opportunity also allows my to gain vital shots such as close ups to express the emotion an expressions of the characters as i have in the re-shoot of the beginning of the video.

Risk Assessment

In today's lesson we were asked to write about

Slow motion music video

Since creating the first edited video i have applied slow motion throughout to emphasise emotion and connotations, similar to Sigur Ros's video - Viorar Vel Til Loftarasa, the emotion throughout is what helps to tell the story as well as drawing in the audience and it is through the extreme slow motion that these elements of expression communicate to the audience exactly what is happening. The pace of the slow motion also matches the pace of the song making the motion seem natural and easy to watch.

Basic ideas

Initially i liked the photograph below as the background of my CD cover/advert however since editing it and considering how the final piece may look i have come to the conclusion that the red 'stop' sign is too bold and draws away immediate attention to other features within the photograph such as the location and graffiti which all have relevance to the genre. If i were to capture this same image again without the sign i would simply just ensure that the sign wasn't in the frame therefore producing more potencial space for text on the right.



Here i have briefly tried out some ideas of of how to present the texts concerning the cd cover; all the colours used for the text have been extracted from the image itself to prevent a harsh ckash of colours. Next i am going to expeirment with recreating the street signs and using that font to present the artist and name of the album.

I have three compositions ideas for when i take these new photographs:
1. Positioning connor agaginst the wall as he was in the video playing his guitar.
2. The same as above however i would have elodie standing in parralell to connor although against the wall on the other side of the corner so that there is a clear part between the two.
3. Building on the above again, i would position the guitar on the floor leaning agaginst the corner edge of the wall so that it symbolises the music that separates them and prevents them from having a relationship.

Although i will still take a photograph with the original shot featuring the 'stop' sign as the immediate attention provides strong connotations in relation to the narrative of the video. Although the sujects featured may be seen second to the sign the implications of this may work. This may not work however i am willing to try and then decide once i have both side by side. In addition the semiology of the imperitive sign, explains the implications of the 'stop' sign emphasise its power to literally stop the view from seeing anything else and then once the viewers eyes divert and see the remaining image the red connotations are revealed as the narrative in the music video is concluded.

Magazine advert and cd cover research

As i am in the process of editing my music video i won't post it on the blog until its largely finished. However i will make posts concerning the magazine advert and cd cover. I have already created a post with my initail ideas for a photograph in the background which i will create layers upon it in photoshop to produce the relevant text/information required and layered effects. Since taking my first photograph for this part of the project i have realised that it follows a similar method and energy that is featured in a number of Oasis's albums shown below.



These reflect the urban location/lifestyle and present the band in their truest form as they appear to be performing daily routines such as walking down the road and sat in the lounge. This representation of the band may be a promotional method where the band is represented in a natural form which many people can relate to.

Back up to speed

Just to inform you i have once again completed my filming :)

I re-shot the whole of opening scene to my video today as i required new shots and i wanted to ensure that the lighting and clothing appeared consistent.

Problem solved!

I am changing the intention of the lead male role from the initial event of a social gathering, to that of presenting a gift. Therefore i only need to re-film a small percentage of this scene. I have decided that the gift will be a concert ticket as this relates to the whole theme of the music as well as reflecting the males constant interest in music. This gift will carry the denotion of it being a generous gesture although the connotation reveals that his true intention behind the tickets is because he wants to see the band and dismisses any consideration of the girl who he shows interest for.

I will not be making a new storyboard as the alterations consist of very few new shots.

Brick wall..

In my initial storyboard i had planned for the opening scene to be a sort of social gathering at the female leads house. However since finding it hard to gather enough people to create an effective illusion of a crowd i turned to the idea of creating two layers of film. Either using stills of cut out people overlaid into the film (implying the connotations of the crowd simply having no relevance other than moving background and therefore the attention would be on the lead roles. Even better i had thought i could overlap film and create a similar illusion of people using the same person filmed may times and for long periods so that when in fast motion it looks like a different time in reality compared to the other characters who appear frozen in time. To allow myself to create this layering effect i have purchased Final Cut which is the industry standard editing software with the facility to produce many layers of film/images as well as Chroma key filtering using green screens. And trust me the 1200 odd page manual has set me back slightly.

After researching how to use green screens and set up the appropriate lighting and so on i came across chroma key suits; these are bodysuits which allow you to delete the figure of the person from any background. This would create a much better affect for what i want to create in the beginning of the video. Although things are not that straight forward..this would mean re-filming the footage for the beginning of my film - which is possible however i this means i wouldn't be able to create the illusion of many fast moving people unless i bought many suit which is not possible as they are far too expensive.

And so i have quite literally hit a brick wall. - i feel my only option is to create a new storyboard for the opening scene (the first minute of the video)

Current to do list:

Following the first mock up of the music video i have listed areas in which need attention:
-film more close up shots of characters/shot reverse shot
-rearrange order of shots to make the narrative clearer
-create illusion of other people in opening scene.

For the advert and cd cover:
-take photograph of connor and elodie outside the house in leicester

Debut music video!

After an extremely long and stressful day good things have happened to me! - Finally. There is now a music video that exists and is on the road to completion. I'm sure that i will write lots and lots in detail about the two following clips tomorrow but right now its awfully late and i deserve a good sleep even though i say so myself. :)

I must note however that these videos are very much incomplete as the first scene is yet to have extra cast members edited in using overlapping still images or moving images in a fast motion (this is probably easier to show once done than explain now).

Below is my very first mock of the video therefore its simply just the clips in order of my storyboard and edited to fit in time with the song. I have arranged the clips in order of the narrative and also in relation to the lyrics of the song, hopefully this is noticeable.



Following my progress above i couldn't help myself but immediately continue editing my video. Below i have added a simple dissolve transition between every shot so that they flow smoothly. Although once i had included the transitions i realised that this overlapping of shots meant that i lost 30 seconds of my film time consequently meaning i had to create 30 extra seconds of film to last out the song. And so the finale of the song i have exaggerated with repetition of shots emphasising the impact of what has happened in the shots. Although the song lyrics don't match up with the narrative as they did in the first mock up, this shows an alternative but equally effective version of the video. The repetition shots serve both the purpose of emphasising the moment but also allow my to create the extra film, though more interestingly it introduces a postmodern element by manipulating time and producing a new reality where so many things can happen at once.

Call me the 'doctor'

Call me the 'genius'

.. after spending the past week searching for mac software to create

'Signed Seal Delivered..'

.. but im not yours haha.

Ok as you can tell i am ecstatic!! This is because i have completed my filming, edited shots from my friday filming so that the lighting is effective and all my footage is imported and saved on around five different external memory! - You can never be too safe.

Anyway it's all up from here on and i am so relieved that i have now got my shots and i can piece it together. Exciting stuff!

P.s. nothing beats Anna Sheppard!

Plan C

Since importing the footage that i filmed on Friday i have unfortunately had to accept that the light quality outside is not usable. Therefore i am left in the situation where i have to go back and film again. I am still filming the first scene tomorrow and this will be earlier in the day compared to Friday so this SHOULD be OK.
However i am faced with another obstacle due to the above; this is that the people i have used in my film do not match the stereotype nor the age which i have been researching and hope for the music video to pitch to. As one can inly think so much when under pressure i will get back to you with another post as to how i WILL overcome this problem.

New film dates/risk assessment

Friday 6th November i am due to film scene two of my music video around late afternoon and on Wednesday 11th November i will be filming scene one of my music video again late afternoon.

The cast now only consists of Connor Stanhope and Elodie Zanker.

As i am now approaching

Over coming difficulties

I set myself a strict deadline which was the weekend commencing 30th of October, this was to allow my initial storyboard and plans to go ahead due to being unable to film the opening scene the previous weekend. And now because I have faced the same obstacle and be unable to film the video I have spent the last few days considering possible alternative which means I don't need to rely on large groups of people to turn up at one place at a specific time.

One idea was that I could film the students at school for the first minute of the video (this is the only part I have been unable to film) the shots I could have taken on the school field and manipulate the angles so that I didn't reveal the school environment as the age I am trying to portray is young adult/university student opposed to under 18s. However despite many people being in the school at an appropriate time to film I would still face the difficulty of directing a large group of people.

And so it wasn't until yesterday when I attended an open day at Birmingham City University that provoked new inspirations for my video.

I am going to film the video as I have directed the two main characters throughout my storybaord. They will be the only people in the shots. I have chosen to do this because it will erase the risk of people not turning up as well as create a focus on the two main characters as these people are the only two relevant to the narrative; the crowd were always 'stand in' cast and so i have interpreted them as just back ground sillohettes. From this theory i developed my idea and have decided to take photographs of people in Leicester perhaps shopping at a busy time so that i can capture the impression of a crowd. With these images i will over lap them with the video so that i can combin my initail ideas of stop motion and my current idea of film. I intend to edit these photographs so that they become sillohette figures and create a background shadow behind the male and female role within the narrative. This concept really inspires me and i feel that it influences many connotations throughout the narrative resulting in the video becoming so much more than what it is on paper.

If i had created a whole new storyboard for the begginning of the video it would have affect all of my research into stereotypes and the narrative would be lost also; I felt strongly about trying to keep the original concept of my ideas and so I have created an alternative idea that when it is finished I believe will not look like any other existing video yet - which is my aim to produce a unique video that would fit into a gap in the mainstream media institution.