Filming Day 3

Today's shoot was to primarily to film the horse (filler) shots. I collected the horse we chose to work with from the field and we groomed her for around half an hour. This not only made her appear clean and smarter for camera but it also got her used to our voices and kept her calm. I feel like today was a great success, especially since the weather was perfect. Not only did we film the horse, but we also managed to get the album cover photo

From previous planning, we has established that shots of the horse being 'led' around the field by a person (me) and finally shots of her galloping through a filed would look great and would fit into our concept style and meanings that had been implemented in the rest of the video. The reason for picking a horse, firstly walking around and finally running freely, was to symbolise the woman being 'trapped' in her relationship and eventually 'breaking free' from the relationship.

Obviously when working with any animal additional safety precautions had to be taken. The sheer size of the horse alone was a danger in itself meaning we needed someone who knew something about the animals and someone who the horse was comfortable to work with.

Filming the horse took time and patience but we began be following a similar filming pattern to the previous two days. Therefore we set up a range of shots where the horse would by led in a continuous 'S' letter shape in front of the camera, this would create angle range and different perspectives on the horse. We continued this, walking the horse from a distance up close to the camera, and filmed each sequence so it was accompanied by a different back ground view. This gave us range when it came to editing. 

Taking the still shots, which we would use for our digipak cover, we decided that the main feature should be the leader and a horse. We took many shots from different distances and with various scenery to review and pick the best at a later date. The imagery again was linked to our video as the same female is shown walking the horse as on the images. This not only gives the audience the impression that the single which would be on the album is a more well known song, and would create recognition when buying or watching the video as the two products can be linked easily.

Filming Day 2

We had arranged at the end of our first filming day that we would meet again to film the other main section of our music video on the following weekend (12th February). We arrived at the farm about 12:30pm, again a dull, wet day with very strong wind. Hannah and Beth (our two dancers) stayed in the car to put on their make up and finishing touches to the costumes, this was to mainly avoid the weather. Matt Lauren and myself set up the barn by moving the gates, to create enough space for Hannah and Beth to dance in, and sweeping the area of hay and removing any unwanted objects. 

As with the other half of the filming we decided to film the dance from many different angles to ensure footage was not scarce and we have a choice of what to edit, where to cut and to allow the desired outcome to be as closely achieved as possible.The dance was choreographed well in advance to ensure the day ran as smooth as possible. We began by shooting the dance from a standard mid length straight on angle and soon moved on more creative shots such as having the dance going on 'around' the camera and extreme close ups of particular body parts (to exaggerate certain dance moves)

An important element of the day was providing 'warming' breaks for the dancers. As we filmed in February, the temperature was not pleasant to be exposed in, and with the thin outfits we chose to use, it was important that the dancers did not become too cold and risk their own health. To counter this effect we provided blankets and additional layers, which we gave to them after every completed shot of the dance sequence. 

Filming Day 1

From producing our filming time schedule sheet, we began the first bit of our filming of the 5th February 2011. We had decided that it would be best to focus on both elements of the music video individually so that we could focus on each one separately to ensure quality was as good as possible. The other reason for doing this was to make sure that our actors and helpers were not wasting their kindly donated time by standing around aimlessly, and becoming de-motivated.

On the first day (5th Feb) we focused heavily on filming the miming, or 'singing', section of the video. The weather was not good in the morning at about 9:00am so we agreed to wait until 11:00am to see if the weather had improved or at least the rain had stopped. The weather conditions had not changed by 11:15am but we still arranged to meet at 11:30am (our set time) at our location - Acton Trussell farm. When we arrived at our location, we double checked our required equipment list (this allowed one of us to drive home to get anything if we'd forgotten it) and began to carry the equipment (camera, tripod and lighting) to the Oak tree where we would be filming this section of the music video. 

In order to get enough footage, we filmed Ben (our male lead), miming the entire song, in sections, from many different angles: straight on (mid, close ups and extreme close up), from above and below, over the shoulder etc). By doing this it gave us a wide range of footage to play around with and use when we came to edit our project. As well as giving us a variety of creative shots to consider, it also meant that if any shots were not suitable (out of time lip syncing, objects in shots, marks on the camera lens) we had enough footage of each shot so we could ensure that at least one of the shots was usable when editing.

We shared duty's throughout the day and tried to rotate and be fair when allocating. The main jobs we divided out where of course filming, along with lighting, lighting aids (reflectors, filters) and 'water control', which meant keeping equipment dry, as well as the actor and lens of the camera so that the footage was not ruined with unwanted rain marks on the lens.

Call Sheet

What Is A Call Sheet?
A call sheet is a chart issued to the cast and crew of a theatrical or film production, listing the production schedule (times, dates, places etc). Typically, in addition to including a schedule, the call sheet also includes a list of contact information for other members of the cast and crew, this would benefit the whole production in case of an emergency because it would save time trying to find people - the call sheet would provide the whereabouts of everybody involved and the times. 



Our Call Sheet
We decided a call sheet for filming was going to be extremely useful for the days we were planning to film on. The sheet we prepared and distributed to everybody involved in our project is shown to the right.
 
We also knew from our AS production that call sheets also contain other useful information such as contact details such as mobile numbers, emails, as well as script pages. We also found out that advanced call sheets often contain details on weather, locations of local hospitals, sunset/sunrise times and locations of local hardware stores! They commonly have information on transport details, which is vital to ensure everyone is were they need to be.

Risk Assessment Form

What Is A Risk Assessment Form?
A Risk Assessment is a systematic method of looking at professional work activities, considering what could go wrong, and deciding on suitable control measures to prevent loss, damage or injury in the workplace. The assessment form should include the controls required to eliminate, reduce or minimise the risks.

We thought it was very important to assess the risk involved with our filming location and any equipment as it was vital to be prepared for every stage of planning and filming. 
This allowed the filming to run smoothly and allowed the group to work knowing what and where potential risks would be on the set of filming.
Our risk assessment form is shown to the left and was distributed to each person involved in the production of our music video.

Equipment/ Prop List

Equipment/ People List
- 1 camera
- 1 tripod
- 1 extension cables
- 1 Mac Book (for editing)
- 1 music player (so miming and dancing can be done in time)- 2 gold light filters
- 1 car (for transport as well as a potential lighting source)
- torches and umbrellas
- waterproofs (to wear whilst not filming in case of rain)
- 1 camera (to take still shots)
- 1 leadrope (for handling the horse)


- 2 dancers (both female - to represent the male and female roles)
- 1 male actor (to mime the lyrics)
- 1 driver (to transport)
- 1 camera man/woman
- 1 lighting man/woman- 1 horse
- food/drink

Costume List


Dancers
- 2 black leotards
- 2 small clip on top hats
- 2 pairs of black tights
- 2 black skirts
- 2 pairs of black shoes
- facial make-up


Male actor
- 1 black suit
- 1 white shirt
- 1 pair of black shoes

Our Costume

We went shopping to Primark in Hanley to pick up the features we required for our final costume idea. Here are some of the pieces we picked up before bringing the whole outfit together finished

Our Finished Costume Design

Final Costume Idea

Having considered various ideas for our dancers' and singers' costume, we have brought our preferred ideas together, creating a final costume design. We were inspired heavily by the contemporary band HURTS and how they use the dancers and costume in their videos to create mood and atmosphere. In particular, the HURTS video Wonderful Life caught our eye whilst exploring existing music videos and the use of costumes. The video is shown below: 

Looklet - Vogue Magazine

From the video, you can see predominantly the use of black clothing which is what we discussed in our initial ideas stage. The gloomy colouring in the sky, clothing, building all helps to create a very effective mood on the whole performance. 



The picture to the right was taken from the Vogue Magazine website within the 'Looklet' section where anyone can 'create looks' by dragging items of clothing onto a model on the screen. An online user of this website has created this look based on the HURTS video - Wonderful Life and the costumes used in that. We were immediately interested in looking at the clothing this person has chosen up close because the video does not reflect the individual clothing in detail or clearly. 
The use of the thin netting on the neck area, as opposed to revealing flesh, is something we will use in our costume because it draws away from the women being looked at as 'sexual'. This also applies to the use of tights on the models legs. The bow tie suggests an almost masculine appearance as is cuts the necks natural elegant length. We will not be using heals for our final costume simply because it will interfere with the fluency of the dance and movement. 
The close up image to the right nicely shows the facial and head decorations. This persons interpretation of the HURTS video has included a type of small hat with netting attached to it. The use of the head decoration distracts away from the females hair which is usually styled to look very feminine and sexy in music videos. It, again, revisits the idea of portraying the female dancers in a masculine light. 
We have used all these features to come up with our own costume design. Including our final make-up idea we have designed a whole styled look which we believe will reflect 
the meaning and connotations within our ideas 
for the music video. 

Final Make-up Idea

Film Reference
In order to develop our make-up design and perfect it to the standard we wished it to be, my group and myself researched and studied many concept music videos which included dramatic make-up and also looked at many films. A new film being advertised around this time was 'Black Swan', a ballet based film which tells the story of Swan Lake using humans (dancers). From adverts, we noticed how intense and powerful the use of facial make-up is and how is draws you, as the audience, in.

As shown by the picture, the visual impact this style of make-up has on a viewer is very gripping and almost intimidating. There is a great contrast between the pale, ghostly face and the shockingly detailed black eye make-up, it creates a slightly scary appearance. We have practised the use of white powder on the dancers' face's and the effect is very dramatic and what we were imagining when the idea first came to mind. The white, washed out face symbolises We will also use a bright lip colour so they don't get lost amongst the heavy use of colours. Overall I am extremely pleased with our final make-up idea because we are now able to use it to explain some of the connotations and hidden messages/ meaning throughout the video.

Final Digipak Design

We wanted to continue a theme of visual image recognition throughout our music video and ancillary products (website, poster, digipak etc). This would make our bands style and image link together and be easily recognised by audiences who are exposed to their products. Below are two picture. One showing our design for the front cover and one for the back cover of our digipak. 

Colour scheme
The colouring of the pictures was created by changing the contrast and lighting, using iPhoto, to give the images a golden tint and give the scene a warmer feel. We decided to do this because it also gives the image a surreal look, and further enhances the idea that the image has deeper implications and symbolic content.

Titles and headings 

The titles shown on the edge of the horizon, contrasts well against the sky making it easy to see by consumers. The font we chose took some time to choose, as it was important not to make the text look tacky or out of place. For this reason we used smooth text which made the writing easy to read and look 'classy' and professional to the eye.

On the back of the album cover the text shown is in the same font, however is much smaller as more information needs to be displayed. The text is in symmetrical positions in list form on the exterior to make it easier to read for the audience.

Images

We decided to use the images of the horse and the girl again as they are a memorable part of our music video, and probably the most symbolic! The horse is symbolic for the women in the relationship as it represents beauty rather than sexuality which is what we deliberately wanted to avoid, hence the use of a horse. We did not want Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory to come into practice when consumers thought of our video and when looking for our album.

Due to the pictures importance, we decided to display two variations of the same theme, on the front and back of the digipak cover. Similarly to the website design we used a continuous theme across all three of the platforms to help create a connection between all three of our media products.