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.

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

'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!

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

Latest on filming locations

Today i have spoken to someone based at Beaumont University Halls in Leicester to ask for permission to film on their grounds, at this current time they are contacting security and finding out whether this would be possible or not. I will Confirm an outcome once i know.

However, i have been to my brothers house in Leicester, on Litton road, opposite Victoria Park, where i plan to film the rest of my video throughout his house and the one way streets surrounding it. I have taken basic photographs of the possible rooms in the house which may appear in my music video, please excuse the mess as these photographs are simply to capture the the general shape and location of the building as potential film sets, on the other hand the general appearance within the house is appropriate and not far from the image i would like to create in the final video. The stereotypes that i wish to create in my video are those that are displayed throughout the house such as various items i found including, alcohol, lighters, A LOT of mess, coupons, lads magazines, condoms, guitars and so on; i feel these all help to portray the presence of a male student accommodation.

Below are the photographs which i have uploaded into my flickr account. (i used a Nikon D60 to take these photographs.)



There will be more images to come if i am able to to film at beaumont halls, however if i do not get permission i will have alternative locations where my opening scene will take place.

Current thoughts..

Recently i have begun to question using stop motion effects throughout my video since i have researched in Sigur Ros's works and i believe i can create an effective video by manipulating the speed of the camera movement and flow between different shots and scenes. Although despite this i will still make a short attempt to make my own stop motion clip in case i am to change my mind. it is a possibility that i may include in a small section of my video to demonstrate a variety of conventions and methods.

Initial casting

my original idea for casting roles for my music video was to ask my brothers friends who are students in their last year of university. this was due to their stereotype as students and also those who are interested in music, however my brother has told me that so far all the people he has asked are not interested so this had unfortunately delayed my progress of getting closer to beginning filming and also but me back a step as i have to find people willing to contribute who take it seriously and will be reliable. - this is proving to be quite hard!

To do list:

I am in the position now where i am almost ready to begin the practical work of the project. i am excited to get this going as all of my inspiration is current and my thoughts/ideas for my products are fresh in my mind.

Ive written a to-do list so that i ensure i cover everything i can think of before i do begin.-

- research stop motion
- look at links posted by Mr Smith in response to my presentation
- produce my own experiment piece of stop motion
- take pictures of locations that will be in my video
- assign character roles for my video
- link theorists to my project

Once i have done these i will be ready to begin filming my video and collecting my footage to work from.

Alteration of song

Since discovering Sigur Ros it has dramatically changed my choice of song. I am still using the same band and the music applies to the same indie genre however because of the major chords throughout this lowers the tone of the music and so i will no longer be pitching a video emphasising comedy. In addition i feel this slower pace will allow more conventional effects when editing my music video, such as slow motion. Similarly the lift in the music when the chorus cuts in i can imagine bright digetic lights entering the shot reflecting the lively energy coming from the guitar solos and so on.

below are the lyrics to my new song, including annotated ideas as my storyboard and the measurements of time between verses.

Sold My Soul to Rock and Roll

p.s. when this uploaded it seems to have got confused and overlapped some of the writing at the top.

sold my soul to rock and roll by anna

Change of plan

I am now working independently as we have all divereted into seperate directions of ideas.