Monday, 9 February 2009
Sarah and Jess: Our Final Shoot!!
For our final shoot, we had to take all the performance shots, and make sure we hadn't forgotten any shots we wanted to include in our Music Video. We set our performance shots in TWGGS Pac 3 (which is a large clear space, perfect for a stage). We managed to take lots of different shots of our singer, guitarist and drummer, however, it took us a while to get all the shots done as we needed to take extra shots to ensure we had enough footage to fill our song, even if any of the shots did not work out. We filmed after school from 3.40 till 6.30, as we were able to film even when it got dark as we were filming inside. From our final shoot, we have learnt that it is a good idea to take more footage then you need just incase anything goes wrong. Also, we found out that using certain lighting can change a shot completely as we used a spotlight when filming a longshot of the band, this made this shot look more realistic as a performance and therefore made it more effective.
Monday, 26 January 2009
Sarah and Jess: Our Second Shoot
Our second shoot went quite well, we managed to do lots of shots of the chase scene where the policewoman is on the tail of the singer from lots of different angles, we got lots of shots of the singer hiding behind the lampost as we wanted to suggest the singer was able to hide behind the thin lampost and outsmart the polic woman. We filmed after school from 3.40 till 6.00, we werer quite prepared as we had already set up the instruments for the band shots. Our locations where we were filming was TWGGS (Pac 3), Sarah's House, and Tunbridge Wells near Sarah's house.From our second shoot, we have learnt that when we plan our final shoot, we need to make sure we arrange for our cast to meet earlier so they can get there on time, than we need them so that we can film as soon as possible before it gets dark.
Thursday, 15 January 2009
Sarah and Jess: Our First Shoot!! (14/01/09)
Our first shoot summed up in three words: sensational... fantastic... amazing!
Seriously? Our shoot went pretty well, we managed to do lots of band shots from lots of different angles, we got lots of shots of instruments from various distances; e.g. long-shots, close-ups, mid-shots e.t.c
We filmed after school from 3.00 till 6.30 (including setting up the instruments on stage). Our location where we were filming was TWGGS (Pac 3).
From our first shoot, we have learnt that when we plan our next shoot, we need to leave time for setting up instruments, and soughting out costume and make-up, as it took longer than we had first thought. Also, we learnt that if we need to film outside we have to shoot before 5:45 as it gets dark quite early.
Seriously? Our shoot went pretty well, we managed to do lots of band shots from lots of different angles, we got lots of shots of instruments from various distances; e.g. long-shots, close-ups, mid-shots e.t.c
We filmed after school from 3.00 till 6.30 (including setting up the instruments on stage). Our location where we were filming was TWGGS (Pac 3).
From our first shoot, we have learnt that when we plan our next shoot, we need to leave time for setting up instruments, and soughting out costume and make-up, as it took longer than we had first thought. Also, we learnt that if we need to film outside we have to shoot before 5:45 as it gets dark quite early.
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
Jess and Sarah: Animatic creating
When watching our animatic after it was edited to the music, we can see that our shots change in time to the music (an important aspect of music videos) and that we have enough shots and variation of shots to keep the video interesting and fill the song completely without any shots over-running.
To make sure that we have got enough variation of the angles and distances of the shots, we are going to film each shot from lots of different angles, so that if certain shots do not work well later on when the video is developing, we can change the distance or angle of the shot easily. We are going to take close-ups of instruments, distance shots of the "chase", a birdseye view shot of the drummer drumming and lots of other different shots.
After producing the storyboard we realised that we couldn't shoot the main singer on the garage roof as the garage is not stable enough to hold his weight safely; this was found out during a risk assessment. This problem meant that we have had to find a new location to film these shots.
To film the frames of our storyboard, we used a tripod so that our shots would be steady and look professional. Unfortunately, the camera kept trying to focus and our frames were to small for the focus. To solve this problem, we decided to start filming our frames again but by holding the camera in our hands instead. This worked well as we could hold the camera as near to the frame as we needed so that it would fill the screen.
When editing the animatic, we encountered a problem when adding our soundtrack to the timeline. We had our song "No Easy Way Out" by The Pink Spiders on an ipod but found out our system couldn't transport the music from the ipod onto our timeline. Instead, we had to find our track on Youtube (and make sure it was the whole of the song) and import the track from there, deleting the visuals that came with it. We had to split most of our shots as when we filmed the frames we filmed each frame moving to the next shot, so we had to split the start and end of each shot and get rid of the shots of us transferring from one shot to the next. We also had to make some of our shots longer so that the editing would be in time to the music.
Through all this editing and detailed work with our animatic we have a much clearer understanding of the work we need to put in and what exactly we are yet to complete in terms of shot plans and music timing.
To make sure that we have got enough variation of the angles and distances of the shots, we are going to film each shot from lots of different angles, so that if certain shots do not work well later on when the video is developing, we can change the distance or angle of the shot easily. We are going to take close-ups of instruments, distance shots of the "chase", a birdseye view shot of the drummer drumming and lots of other different shots.
After producing the storyboard we realised that we couldn't shoot the main singer on the garage roof as the garage is not stable enough to hold his weight safely; this was found out during a risk assessment. This problem meant that we have had to find a new location to film these shots.
To film the frames of our storyboard, we used a tripod so that our shots would be steady and look professional. Unfortunately, the camera kept trying to focus and our frames were to small for the focus. To solve this problem, we decided to start filming our frames again but by holding the camera in our hands instead. This worked well as we could hold the camera as near to the frame as we needed so that it would fill the screen.
When editing the animatic, we encountered a problem when adding our soundtrack to the timeline. We had our song "No Easy Way Out" by The Pink Spiders on an ipod but found out our system couldn't transport the music from the ipod onto our timeline. Instead, we had to find our track on Youtube (and make sure it was the whole of the song) and import the track from there, deleting the visuals that came with it. We had to split most of our shots as when we filmed the frames we filmed each frame moving to the next shot, so we had to split the start and end of each shot and get rid of the shots of us transferring from one shot to the next. We also had to make some of our shots longer so that the editing would be in time to the music.
Through all this editing and detailed work with our animatic we have a much clearer understanding of the work we need to put in and what exactly we are yet to complete in terms of shot plans and music timing.
Monday, 12 January 2009
Jess and Sarah: Call Sheet Research
A call sheet gives the essential details needed for a days shooting for example the people and props needed, the location and what shots will be filmed as dictated by the animatic. The call sheet is the responsibility of the director and producers and should be sent out to all members of cast and crew as soon as possible.
The call sheet includes:
-crew and cast details (names and contact)
-props and equipment and who is responsible for the items
-location
-shot number (from story-board)
-cast needed for specific shot
-technical notes
-risk assessment. (location, hazards, who/what might be harmed, solution)
This is useful as a part of planning because it creates a clear time-frame for the shots to be filmed. This helps us to establish the time we need to keep free and the time we will have for editing. It also helps us because we will know when we need equipment in good time so will be able to plan when we need it for- this also takes the pressure off of the teacher organising the borrowing of equipment!
The call sheet includes:
-crew and cast details (names and contact)
-props and equipment and who is responsible for the items
-location
-shot number (from story-board)
-cast needed for specific shot
-technical notes
-risk assessment. (location, hazards, who/what might be harmed, solution)
This is useful as a part of planning because it creates a clear time-frame for the shots to be filmed. This helps us to establish the time we need to keep free and the time we will have for editing. It also helps us because we will know when we need equipment in good time so will be able to plan when we need it for- this also takes the pressure off of the teacher organising the borrowing of equipment!
Jess and Sarah: Animatic
From our animatic, we learnt how many shots we are going to need. Also we have learnt that we need to shoot from a varied array of angles to keep our music video interesting. From producing our animatic, we have realised just how difficult this project is going to be as we have a large number of shots we need to shoot but for a short amount of duration, so we are going to have to stay planned and organised in order to complete our music video and make it affective.
Sunday, 30 November 2008
Jess and Sarah: Focus Group
We held our focus group in a classroom at Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School where we had use of a computer, an interactive whiteboard and were unlikely to be disturbed. To begin we played our chosen track to the six teenagers who made up our focus group and then discussed their initial impressions. To make sure we did not influence their ideas we told the focus group nothing of our own opinions and ideas. All the teenagers were familiar with and enjoyed the genre of music we have chosen so represent our target audience.
Once we had collected information about their own impressions and ideas for the video (including questions which asked what they would expect to see in a video of this genre such as a performance as well as specific example for example certain camera shots and mise-en-scene) we explained our own ideas for the music video and showed them our moodboard. Many of the ideas the focus group had come up with were very similar to our own ideas which was a relief! After showing them our moodboard and presenting our ideas the focus group gave their opinions and expanded on our ideas.
Here are the results of our Focus Group:
1. Where do you think a conventional pop/punk video would be set?
"On the streets", "in a studio", "a large open space"
2. What aspects of a conventional music video, for example live performance, would you expect from a video of the pop/punk genre?
"shots of instruments and the band", "something happening, like characters and stuff." (or in media-language: narrative)
3. Are there any camera techniques you would expect to see?
"Close-ups of the singer", "close-ups of the instruments", "shots of the band playing" "movement between different scenes really fast and weird angles."
4. What do you expect the cast to be wearing?
"Black, white and pink clothing because of their name", "skinny jeans", "they would have long hair... with a fringe!", "dark hair". "The artist would be good-looking". "The girls featured in the video would each look different, they would have to be pretty as its a music video", "wearing like, rock/pop style clothes. preppy clothes or emoish, but not too much emo".
5. What examples of lighting would you expect from a pop/punk video?
"Lots of flashing lights", "lights shining into the camera", "normal lighting but quite stark, not very warm"
6. Would you expect a pop/rock video to have special effects or be more natural? elaborate...
"probably special effects. or at least cool camera stuff.", "pop/rock bands like to show off so probably yeah. maybe slow motion or fast motion?", "maybe distorted colours"
7. How would you expect a pop/punk band to be represented?
"rebellious", "cheeky", "fun", "comic", "don't-care attitude", "image concious"
8. How fast-paced would you expect this video to be?
"really fast. the song is fast so the video should be too.", "there should be lots of movement"
9. Would you expect the song to change in any way? for example a moment of silence in the middle to allow for narrative? (e.g. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vLSUdF2d_uI)
"no, the song doesn't sound like it should stop in the middle or anything, i think that would slow the pace.", "maybe a little bit of video before and after the song starts? like, a bit of narrative?"
10. Would you expect a video which followed the lyrical content of the song? Or would you expect a more unconnected series of scenes and situations?
"i don't think it should tell the story of the lyrics in the song. that might be complicated and weird.", "maybe connect them more through the music than the lyrics."
Here are the ideas which our Focus Group came up with, when they listened to the track:
- The video could be over a period of time, for example, the track starts when it is the evening, gets darker as the video progresses and then eventually gets lighter as it turns to morning
- The music video should have aspects of comedy included in the song, for example, the artist could fall ver as he is running down the street, but then roll over as he gets up, as to not break the pace. Also, the artist could make funny shapes as he jumps on a trampoline.
- The artist should be running through most of the video.
- The artist can be running away from something but the audience don't find out what it is until the end.
Once we had collected information about their own impressions and ideas for the video (including questions which asked what they would expect to see in a video of this genre such as a performance as well as specific example for example certain camera shots and mise-en-scene) we explained our own ideas for the music video and showed them our moodboard. Many of the ideas the focus group had come up with were very similar to our own ideas which was a relief! After showing them our moodboard and presenting our ideas the focus group gave their opinions and expanded on our ideas.
Here are the results of our Focus Group:
1. Where do you think a conventional pop/punk video would be set?
"On the streets", "in a studio", "a large open space"
2. What aspects of a conventional music video, for example live performance, would you expect from a video of the pop/punk genre?
"shots of instruments and the band", "something happening, like characters and stuff." (or in media-language: narrative)
3. Are there any camera techniques you would expect to see?
"Close-ups of the singer", "close-ups of the instruments", "shots of the band playing" "movement between different scenes really fast and weird angles."
4. What do you expect the cast to be wearing?
"Black, white and pink clothing because of their name", "skinny jeans", "they would have long hair... with a fringe!", "dark hair". "The artist would be good-looking". "The girls featured in the video would each look different, they would have to be pretty as its a music video", "wearing like, rock/pop style clothes. preppy clothes or emoish, but not too much emo".
5. What examples of lighting would you expect from a pop/punk video?
"Lots of flashing lights", "lights shining into the camera", "normal lighting but quite stark, not very warm"
6. Would you expect a pop/rock video to have special effects or be more natural? elaborate...
"probably special effects. or at least cool camera stuff.", "pop/rock bands like to show off so probably yeah. maybe slow motion or fast motion?", "maybe distorted colours"
7. How would you expect a pop/punk band to be represented?
"rebellious", "cheeky", "fun", "comic", "don't-care attitude", "image concious"
8. How fast-paced would you expect this video to be?
"really fast. the song is fast so the video should be too.", "there should be lots of movement"
9. Would you expect the song to change in any way? for example a moment of silence in the middle to allow for narrative? (e.g. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vLSUdF2d_uI)
"no, the song doesn't sound like it should stop in the middle or anything, i think that would slow the pace.", "maybe a little bit of video before and after the song starts? like, a bit of narrative?"
10. Would you expect a video which followed the lyrical content of the song? Or would you expect a more unconnected series of scenes and situations?
"i don't think it should tell the story of the lyrics in the song. that might be complicated and weird.", "maybe connect them more through the music than the lyrics."
Here are the ideas which our Focus Group came up with, when they listened to the track:
- The video could be over a period of time, for example, the track starts when it is the evening, gets darker as the video progresses and then eventually gets lighter as it turns to morning
- The music video should have aspects of comedy included in the song, for example, the artist could fall ver as he is running down the street, but then roll over as he gets up, as to not break the pace. Also, the artist could make funny shapes as he jumps on a trampoline.
- The artist should be running through most of the video.
- The artist can be running away from something but the audience don't find out what it is until the end.
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