Final Filming Location

Acorn Farm - Acton Trussell
Acorn Farm, situated in Acton Trussell village, was our final choice of location for filming our music video. As the farm belongs to my grandparents we could not pass up the opportunity to have access to the whole area, the farmhouse, gardens, fields, animals, barn etc. After speaking to my grandparents, I got permission off them and we were able to move any gates/fences to expand potential filming areas, drive cars onto the land to use lights, use any of the animals (if we required them), have access to the farmhouse and use plugs/ extension. This would put us at a massive advantage and would make our filming a much more enjoyable and easier experience as opposed to choosing a public location such as The Chase or Shugborough Hall because we would have to ask permission and risk not being able to use certain areas of the site. It would also lengthen our time filming if we had to stop filming and wait for people on the site to be out of our camera views. 


Specific Areas
My group and I decided to take an afternoon and go up to the farm to decide exactly where we would filming and to sort out any potential problems we could face on the day. This would also enable us the plan ahead in case of bad weather on the day we filmed. We could prepare plans for 'in case of' situations to save as much time as possible and enjoy filming without any stress.


The Oak Tree 
The Oak tree, just right of the farm house, is extremely tall and aged. From a distance it creates a beautiful pattern, especially against a clear sky. The trunk of the tree is around 2.5 metres wide meaning it is very sturdy and would not be any potential danger to any one or any equipment whilst filming. We decided to use the Oak tree as one of the main focuses in our music video. Our lead singer (mimer) will be positioned around the tree when we film the shots including him. We decided that by creating shots from various angles, this would show off different views of the tree as well as the lead male. The old Oak tree is also symbolic of something 'dying' - the relationship that is sung about in You Could Be Happy is over therefore we thought that the 'dying' aged tree could represent the recently failed relationship he is expressing about.
The Barn
The barn situated at the farm is also extremely old and dated. The walls are made from concrete and wooden boards which also depicts a 'prison' or somewhere one could feel 'trapped'. This is where the dance routine will be shot and will help to symbolise the women in the failed relationship before the break up as it is suggested through the lyrics that she was trapped, "Do the things you always wanted to, without me there to hold you back, don't think just do..." On the day of filming, we shall have to clear up the area where the dance routine will be performed for example we will sweep up the majority of the hay that is on the ground - we do still want a rustic, natural looking environment so we won't worry too much about the neatness of the area. We will also assess what could potentially be dangerous around and inside the barn and remove anything that could be a risk.
The Fields/Animals
The farm house is surrounded by 25 acres of land (fields) and has stunning picturesque views all around them. The fields are separated into different 'segments' creating lots of smaller fields. If we need to, we are able to move the fences which separate the fields to make larger areas to work in. The horses are in the 'main' field day and night so we can move them or even use them if needs be. There is enough room for the horses to run and walked in large shapes. To portray the freedom of the woman sung about in the song,after the breakup of the relationship, we have considered using one of the horses to being led around the fields by a person (who would resemble the man) and eventually have the creature running free on her own to reflect her new found freedom since being away from the ex partner. 


My group and myself are very happy with our final location choice as we are giving ourselves the best opportunity to not only enjoy our filming experience but to also have a stress free and easier time filming as opposed to if we were to film elsewhere. I feel that the hidden meanings and connotations within the song can be easily put forward and visualised using our location which is very important to us. 

Dance Routine

Constructing The Dance

Having settled on a final idea for our music video, we decided to begin to construct the dance routine. We had decided that two dancers would be enough, as we wanted to portray the relationship between the two people in the song through the dance.

Initially we had asked two dancers who looked similar to each other to perform, and we would have them dancing simultaneously throughout the entire video. However, a week before our chosen filming date, one of the dancers were unable to do so meaning someone else had to fill in. Hannah had previously had dancing experience so she decided to do it.

As the other dancer, Beth, and Hannah began to choreograph the dance, after consulting with the group we thought it would be a good idea to use the dance as a symbolism between the couple in the song. Since the two dancers are polar opposites in our facial features we decided it would be a good idea if Hannah symbolized the man and Beth symbolized the woman.

In the beginning of the dance Beth started off in a very submissive position and Hannah would start off above - showing her dominance over Beth. The style of dance (inspired by HURTS – A Wonderful Life), is very angular, to show the break up of the relationship and the emotion. Normally, dance is very fluid and beautiful to watch, this dance however in deliberately disjointed, to show the relationship falling apart. We have deliberately shown moments of almost balletic style of dancing, this is to show the relationship wasn’t always how he describes it and how there were moments of beauty, we have tried to make intertextual links to the recent film Black Swan.

During the dance, Beth and Hannah go out of synchronization and more into a duet; this to show the relationship falling apart and finally, the dance is repeated in cannon to show that they are no longer together. The end position is vital as it shows how the roles have fully reversed; the man, (shown through Hannah) is dominated by the woman, (shown through Beth) who is set free and no longer trapped.

Below is a short clip of Hannah and Beth devising the dance; it is sped up by 300% so you can get an idea of what we were trying to accomplish.

Artificial Light Testing

Types of Artificial Lighting
When we get to the stage where we are ready to film our music video, we must take into consideration the natural lighting of the day and also any weather conditions which would affect our filming. This means knowing what the correct lighting facilities we will require are and more importantly, having access to them on the day of filming.  
We decided to test out a few different lights and filters so we could understand and see for ourselves what effects them each created. We have discussed possible location settings for our music video and there is a strong chance we will be filming, at sections of the video outside. Taking into consideration the time of year we are likely to be filming in, November - January time, the risk of having bad weather is quite high.

LED Strip Light

The LED lighting was effective when being used indoors and outdoors and although being a  yellow light, it didn't give off a golden tint, therefore resulting in a 'cleaner' light that would make our scene of a better visual quality. However the downfall to this lighting is due to it being powered by mains, we would have consider extension cables because if we film some footage outside the light may not reach the area where it's needed.

Mains Powered Yellow Light

When testing this type of light we discovered it gave off a fairly strong yellow tint to objects which would not look natural and is not what we were looking for. However it did have a good range of lighting outside spreading over quite a distance, on the other hand, it is powered by mains which, yet again, presents us with the same possible problem as with the LED light strip. 

Car Light

Lastly, we tested the effect of car lighting, which proved to be good in brightening up the scene and giving a strong lighting over a long distance which would be good for filming outside, however a car is inappropriate for positioning it would be very time consuming to keep manoeuvring the car around. However it is an option unlike the other two lightings that it is not powered by the mains and therefore we could use it for a long period of time. There is also different strengths of light we could use from car lights which gives us choices and range to work with.

Filters

In low vision rehabilitation, various light filters have been employed to improve visual function, we tested the filters to see the effects of reflection they produced.

The white filter wasn't greatly effective in reflecting the light, it created a very dim reflection not really lighting up objects. These sort of filters are rarely used it would only be effective if we were 
filming in a dark setting not outdoors which we will be aiming to do.

The gold and silver reflector films proved to be a lot more effective, the metallic colour of the films enabled the light to be directed more to a specific object but also conveyed a stronger light. The gold film seamed to be more effective indoors as the gold glow effect it radiates is more visible to the eye under lower levels of external light.

Home Made Reflector

We quickly realized that although light reflectors were very effective when used, manufactured products were expensive and meant our budget would be severely damaged and limit other aspects of production. To proceed with the equipment we needed, we created our own reflectors using little more than cardboard and tin foil. We stretched the tin foil smoothly over the cardboard to maximize the reflective quality produced. It turned out that our home made reflectors were far better than the manufactured products as we could make them as large as we needed, and make as many as we wanted. This linked with the fact that the reflectors we made, emitted a 'purer' lighting effect than the ones we purchased.

Time Schedules For Planning & Filming

Having done a media project last year at AS level, we have learnt that keeping a tight time and date schedule and sticking to it is vital in order to plan work well and spot any mistakes along the way. We found that lesson time alone was not enough time together as a group to get the amount of research and planning done so we began to meet outside of school on evening where we were available. We also arranged times and days to have conversations regarding our work on Facebook. 

Meetings 
Firstly we set up a 'group meeting' every Wednesday evening and Friday lunch time to dicuss ideas, dates and set tasks to be completed for the following meeting. This allowed us to complete various segments of the overall project allowing for everyone to complete equal ammounts of work and to a good standard.

Film Dates 
When we were all completely happy with the location setting, make-up and costume designs and the general idea for the video, we decided a first filming date. This would count as the 'main date' for filming and would take place on the first weekend (5th and 6th) of February. Any extra filming that needed to be done, which we had failed to complete on that weekend, would be done ASAP when the majority of the group were free. This meant that by the middle of February we would confidently have all aspects and areas of the video filming which would leave us plenty of time to edit and perfect the video in lesson time and outside of school.

Initial Costume Idea

Ideas

Knowing that we will be using a large amount of visual concept ideas in our music video and using our make-up ideas as a guideline, we will now be looking into potential costume/outfits for the dancers to wear during the dance routine. Taking inspiration from contemporary band HURTS and their artistic videos we first agreed that our dancers should be dressed in predominantly black clothing. We were not interested in exposing the dancers in the way many female artists are these days on television are shown - provocative clothing showing a lot of flesh and glamorous hair and make-up. This was not our intention as our chosen song and idea for the video was not an expression of exposing the female dancers in that way. By using mainly black clothing which was not revealing, we thought that would give us our desired look.


By looking at existing music videos, through magazines and at dance performances we selected a range of clothing items which we believed would reflect the female dancers in a suitable way and also which would compliment the concepts in our music video.


Firstly we looked at leotards. Leotards are associated with the dance style ballet and are not usually seen as 'sexual' unless manipulated that way. A simple, plain, standard black leotard would be a good basis for the dancers' outfits because they would be able to move freely in them without restriction. 

The style of dance we had considered would be very elegant, smooth and rounded. We would conform to typical ballet shapes and positions which would keep the dance routine soft and un-aggressive. To accompany the leotard, we considered a tutu styled skirt. A tutu, although being short, is heavily associated with delicate dances which would steer away from any 'sexual' label it might be placed with.


We considered a type of shrug of cardigan because the dancers may get cold but we thought it was interfere with the dance itself and restrict any dramatic movements included in the routine. Plain black dolly shoes or pumps would be the most appropriate footwear to use for the dance. Heels would be a challenge the dance in as balance might be a problem from one of or both of our dancers. 


Development
We will of course continue to come up with possible ideas for our dance outfits until we are sure that what we finalise on will be suitable to dance on and that the clothing will resemble any hidden meanings we include in our video. Keeping the outfit non-sexual is very important to us as our song is completely non-sexual and we would not want our audience to feel that the video and the song did not compliment each other.

Initial Make-up Ideas

Ideas

After finalising our idea on what our music video would consist of and include, our next task was to design the make-up which would help to establish the scene and the mood we were aiming for. Considering our music video is now primarily concept, also with areas of narrative and performance, we decided that the dancers in the video should have the make-up to suit the gloomy and almost sad themes which run through the song. Having being inspired by the contemporary band HURTS, we felt that an extravagant make-up design would conform to what we were trying to achieve and that it would also appeal to our target audience. 

Our first thought was to a design and a colour palette which would show up well whilst on camera from various distances (not just close ups). By decorating the eye area heavily on each dancer with either dark or a vibrant colour range, we believed that would show up in the way we hoped on camera. 

The images to the left demonstrate the use of a vibrant shade of blue. Although the colouring looked very effective close up, it was not suitable from a distance of even a few feet away let alone a distance concerning a matter of metres whilst filming. We did infact include a strip of silver eye liner just above the eye lashes. The fact that the whole make-up design did not even show up on a close up picture confirms that this style will not be suitable for filming for our music video. We continued to experiment with colours, shapes and designs for our make-up as it, we feel, an important aspect of the video.

The black and silver design, right, is the next thought which we put into practise. As you can see, the picture is a lot more grabbing and creates more of a bold statement than the previous design. This experiment uses far darker colours, predominantly black with flashes of silver which we feel is more accommodating with the concepts we hope to include in our music video. We will use this style of make-up as the basis of our 'final' make-up idea and we will continue to develop it.