Completed filming and photo shoot

Today I finished filming my new footage that allows me to parallel edit the two ages of Connor so that the narrative appears clearer.

below are the photos that i have taken for the cd digi pack and advert:

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

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.

'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.

Reschedule

Opening of music video will be filmed on friday 30th and the rest will be filming on Sunday 1st November.

P.s. this is due to not enough people turning up as i didnt spread the word enough about what was happening. I have now created an event on facebook to create a more formal and accurate invite with all the concerning information needed, in addition this way i can hopefully judge how many responses i get as to how many will attend. FINGERS AND TOES CROSSED!

Anamatic Storyboard

Initially I began by sketching out my storyboard and writing brief notes underneth concerning the the camera and additional information for each shot, below is what i came up with:



However since taking my location shots I considered making my storyboard up of images and simply drawing on top of them the directions and where i proposed for the cast to be. This is my final storyboard below. (excuse the poor quality of photo im not sure when these images suddenly turned so poor).
Scene one:
.. this is to be filmed on wednesday 21st october (tomorrow)



Scene two:

Dates for filming

I am due to film the opening scene for my video on Wednesday the 21st October. The location of this will be in the courtyard behind my house as shown in the location images in the previous blog posts. This scene will contribute to just over a minute of the 4.30 minutes of the complete song.

On Friday 23rd October i will be filming the rest of the video in Leicester at my brothers student house. This will make up the rest of the duration of the song.

To ensure that accidents are avoided and risks are minimal i have devised a risk assessment list:

Scene one - in my courtyard:

- uneven ground may cause tripping

- open gates increase risk of cars driving in when Connor is walking through them

Scene two - Leicester - in my brothers house:

- steep stairs are easy to fall up/down

Scene two - Leicester - outside my brothers house:

- filming in the road means that cars people are vulnerable to getting hit or run over

- public place, he filming may cause offence to people if they are on film or if the filming process interferes with them