Maya's entry
I am cinematographer for the group, so will be responsible for directing the positioning of the video camera for each shot that we film, in order to achieve the appropriate effect for our video whilst ensuring we adhere to the various codes and conventions of filmmaking.
However, as we are aiming our promotional package for this video to be towards young people who enjoy alternative music out of the mainstream, I would like to incorporate experimental cinematography into the video and challenge some of the codes and conventions and perhaps break a few of the guidelines! I am hoping to include several "unplanned" shots in each of the locations, that when we are filming on set we can experiment with different angles and shot sizes with the camera in unusual places, to create a really edgy and interesting music video that pushes the boundaries of what shots you normally see in your average music video (mid shots of the artist etc).
As our artist Lawrence King is not featuring in our music video, we do not need to worry about including lots of close ups and shots of the artist in our video. Instead, we have a storyline of two characters meeting by chance throughout the day, culminating in them meeting at a bar later that day. The main point we need to convey to the audience is that these two women are attracted to each other.
To do this, I plan to use multiple close up shot-reverse-shots in the bar scenes to show their reactions when they first meet and talk in the bar and the fact that the close ups with show they are giving each other alot of eye contact will suggest that they are indeed attracted to each other.
As well as shots of our actors, I want to include lots of wide shots of our locations such as the college, the beach by the river, and the bar to show the environments the actors are in. We are lucky to have found a beach to film on with such pretty scenery so we need to make sure we show it off it its full advantage with wide panning shots! I also want to try to capture some birds flying over the rivers water using a panning long shot. We will film a low angle wide shot of the college entrance as the girls enter the building (at separate times). This will show that the college is a big place full of people and that there’s only a small chance they would meet each other unintentionally in such a big building, and that they are a “small fish in the sea” if you get what I mean!. When Jessica is walking her dog on the beach, we will use a panning wide shot from left to right shot, which will enable the viewer to see both Jessica, the dog, and the scenery they are in.
There is a scene that we are going to have where one girl is waiting at the traffic lights outside of the college waiting for light at the pedestrian crossing to go from red to green. For this I want to position the camera so we have a lot of depth in the frame – the “green man” on the traffic light in the foreground, and the college in the background with the marina with its many boats in the distance, all whilst there are pedestrians walking past and cars driving past in the frame. This will create a much more interesting shot than just filming a close up of the traffic light itself turning from red to green.
The bar scene is where I really want to try some unconventional shots, as well as dutch tilts perhaps to make a somewhat boring shot of a girl walking into the bar a little more interesting for the audience to watch. I know in the bar we are filming in there are metal chairs with thin slats all over them, I was thinking perhaps we could place the camera behind one of them and film, perhaps creating a voyeuristic effect, or maybe film through the translucent windows of the bar so it will be like the audience are drawn into these character’s worlds.
We are also hoping to include some time lapse of one of the girls driving along the road (with the camera rested on the dashboard so it will look like the drivers point of view as they are driving along the road), which will create the sense of a passage of time which, under normal circumstances, would take too long or would be extremely boring to watch in ‘real time’. 10 minutes of footage should be enough, and then in the editing room we will speed up the footage so it will only be a few seconds long. We could also like to incorporate a point of view shot from the front seat of the car while the car is driving but obviously this poses problems as to how we film this whilst driving the car! As a little touch showing attention to detail, I also want to include a big-close-up shot one of the girls holding a iPod (that’s playing a Lawrence King track), and also near the end when we see them saving each others numbers into their mobile phones, to show to the audience that they will hopefully be seeing each other again and that this is not the end.
As I learnt last year in our AS Project, I must remember to obey the Rule of thirds. You imagine breaking your image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have nine parts. The theory is that if you place points of interest along the lines then the image becomes more balanced and enables the audience can interact with it more naturally.
I must continue remember the basic guidelines such as the 180 degree line rule. The 180° rule states that two characters (in the same scene) should always have the same left/right relationship to each other, and that the camera should not cross the imaginary axis connecting the two characters. I watched this video on YouTube to refresh my memory of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdyyuqmCW14
Also, I need to make sure I obey the 30° rule. This is a basic film editing guideline that says the camera needs to move at least 30° between shots of the same subject. This makes the shots different enough to avoid a jump cut, however too much movement around the subject may violate the 180° rule.
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Treatment: Mood Board
Nicola's entry
As Art Director i have created a mood board which shows what i want the pop promo to include in a visual format.
As Art Director i have created a mood board which shows what i want the pop promo to include in a visual format.
Treatment- MES
Nicola's entry
Costumes/Make up
For Jessica's character I want her to be wearing a bright coat when moving around in the everyday scenes, this will make her stand out against the general public. In the everyday scenes I want Jessica to be wearing natural make up to show off natural beauty. In the bar scenes i want Jessica's character to be wearing a black dress that it tight fitting to show her femininity, I want her to accessorise this dress with a brightly coloured belt to carried on the theme from the other scenes. In the bar scenes i want Jessica's make up to be a bit more apparent with her wearing more mascara to emphasize her eyes. During the bedrooms scenes i want Jessica's character to be wearing Pajamas to show she is at home and in a relaxed environment, during all of Jessica's scenes i want her hair to be straight and blonde as this will contrast with Nicola's characters hair.
For Nicola's character i want her to be wearing a black coat and a brightly coloured scarf during the everyday scenes again the brightly coloured scarf will make her stand out. For the bar scene i was Nicola's character to be wearing more colour than usual, to do this i will dress her in a brightly coloured skirt and team this with a black top and a bright red belt, the use of colours will help her to seem confident.
For the bedroom scene i want Nicola's character to be in Pj's this will make her look comfortable i also want her to wrapped in a duvet this will give the impression that she is about to go to bed. I want Nicola's character to have curly brown hair this will contrast with Jessica's character and help the audience to distinguish between them.
Lighting
The everyday scenes are set outdoors and will be naturally lit as i don't want the promo to look too stylized whereas the bedroom scenes will be dimly lit with the focus of the light on the character to help them be the focus of the scene rather than their surroundings. During the make up scenes the focus of the light will be on the characters face as this is what we want the audience to look at.
Locations
We have a few different locations in our piece, we have the waterfront university building, the two bedrooms and the bar. I chose the waterfront building as it looks modern and artsy and i felt this would go with the tone and feel of our music, i also chose it because of the amount of traffic needed for the time lapse element of our promo. The bedrooms are dressed are differently as i wanted the two characters to have different personalities and tastes, Jessica's character has a printed wallpaper and a large bed with a candle lamp giving a hippy/oriental theme to the room whereas Nicola's character has a simple room. The bar is chose for the decor, it is bright and uses bold colours which i felt matched the tome of the promo. it looks modern and niche which i think would appeal to the audience of our music as they would most likely hang out in bars rather than clubs.
Props
For the props we need to mobile phones i decided to use smart-phones such as the blackberry phone in our promo to show modern technology.
Performance
The characters in our promo will be tackling the subject of homosexuality and in their performance they need to be flirty and attracted to each other without glamorizing lesbianism and making it look over the top. During the bar scene where the characters meet for the first time i want them to flirt with each other but smiling and touching each others arms or hair, then when Jessica's characters says goodbye and the characters kiss, i have decided that they will kiss on the cheek as a fully passionate kiss would be inappropriate and distract from the message we are trying to put across
Costumes/Make up
For Jessica's character I want her to be wearing a bright coat when moving around in the everyday scenes, this will make her stand out against the general public. In the everyday scenes I want Jessica to be wearing natural make up to show off natural beauty. In the bar scenes i want Jessica's character to be wearing a black dress that it tight fitting to show her femininity, I want her to accessorise this dress with a brightly coloured belt to carried on the theme from the other scenes. In the bar scenes i want Jessica's make up to be a bit more apparent with her wearing more mascara to emphasize her eyes. During the bedrooms scenes i want Jessica's character to be wearing Pajamas to show she is at home and in a relaxed environment, during all of Jessica's scenes i want her hair to be straight and blonde as this will contrast with Nicola's characters hair.
For Nicola's character i want her to be wearing a black coat and a brightly coloured scarf during the everyday scenes again the brightly coloured scarf will make her stand out. For the bar scene i was Nicola's character to be wearing more colour than usual, to do this i will dress her in a brightly coloured skirt and team this with a black top and a bright red belt, the use of colours will help her to seem confident.
For the bedroom scene i want Nicola's character to be in Pj's this will make her look comfortable i also want her to wrapped in a duvet this will give the impression that she is about to go to bed. I want Nicola's character to have curly brown hair this will contrast with Jessica's character and help the audience to distinguish between them.
Lighting
The everyday scenes are set outdoors and will be naturally lit as i don't want the promo to look too stylized whereas the bedroom scenes will be dimly lit with the focus of the light on the character to help them be the focus of the scene rather than their surroundings. During the make up scenes the focus of the light will be on the characters face as this is what we want the audience to look at.
Locations
We have a few different locations in our piece, we have the waterfront university building, the two bedrooms and the bar. I chose the waterfront building as it looks modern and artsy and i felt this would go with the tone and feel of our music, i also chose it because of the amount of traffic needed for the time lapse element of our promo. The bedrooms are dressed are differently as i wanted the two characters to have different personalities and tastes, Jessica's character has a printed wallpaper and a large bed with a candle lamp giving a hippy/oriental theme to the room whereas Nicola's character has a simple room. The bar is chose for the decor, it is bright and uses bold colours which i felt matched the tome of the promo. it looks modern and niche which i think would appeal to the audience of our music as they would most likely hang out in bars rather than clubs.
Props
For the props we need to mobile phones i decided to use smart-phones such as the blackberry phone in our promo to show modern technology.
Performance
The characters in our promo will be tackling the subject of homosexuality and in their performance they need to be flirty and attracted to each other without glamorizing lesbianism and making it look over the top. During the bar scene where the characters meet for the first time i want them to flirt with each other but smiling and touching each others arms or hair, then when Jessica's characters says goodbye and the characters kiss, i have decided that they will kiss on the cheek as a fully passionate kiss would be inappropriate and distract from the message we are trying to put across
Treatment- Editing
For the beginning of the music video we have decided on 2 possible ways of editing the opening sequence. Our second editing option requires us to shoot no extra footage or make any changes to the narrative so we have decided we will try both ways in post production, to see which looks best.
1. The opening sequence will feature Nicola and Jess both checking their phones, anticipating a call that doesn't arrive. I will then reverse footage of a clock, showing the viewer we are going back in time to the previous morning.
or
2. Instead of reversing the clock to show passed time, we will reverse the whole music video, condensing it down to approximately 20 seconds to show the viewer we are going back to the beginning of that day, to show why both girls are waiting in bed for a phone call.
.....
Images of Nicola and Jess entering the college, followed by jump cut to shots of the college atrium. I will edit these in fast motion, again to show passing of time through the college day. Possibly fade different angles of the college atrium together. Cut to Jess and Nicola bored in class, with match cuts between the two to show the similarity of their situations.
Jump cut to Nicola walking to the record store. Whilst flicking through the records we ideally want to get Nicola to do this in time to the music, but I may be required to slow down/ speed up the footage in the editing stage to achieve this. We will see Nicola leave the shop and the camera will concentrate on the traffic. At this stage I will again put the footage into fast motion to show the passing of time. Jump cut to shot of the sea lapping the shore, possibly slow down footage depending on the rate the tide will be coming in. Followed by the shots of Jess etc. Cut to long shot of waves lapping beach again, except something will be written in the sand and footage will be sped up to show it disappearing.
Jump cut to the makeup sequence with graphic match between Nicola and Jess putting on their mascara. Nicola and Jess will then leave their houses. A close up shot will reveal Jess's eyes in her rear view mirror driving. Possible fast motion of traffic flying by again. Cut to an establishing shot of Ollies bar to reveal to the viewer where the 2 girls are going. Footage of people dancing in the club will possibly be fast motioned.
The meeting sequence will feature shot-reverse-shot to show the conversation flowing between Nicola and Jess. This will be followed by quick cuts to big close-ups of eyes and lips, to create a feeling of tension between the two. A slightly slow motion shot of their hands touching will then feature. Followed by match cuts of both saving there numbers into each other phones. As Jess leaves the building the image will slowly be faded out in time with the music.
Once the music has stopped, we will resume the narrative from the very beginning of the music video, showing both girls in bed waiting for a phone call, looking board. Jump cut to Nicola's phone ringing, emphasising the surprise. Finish with close up of Nicola saying 'Hey'. Fade to black.
1. The opening sequence will feature Nicola and Jess both checking their phones, anticipating a call that doesn't arrive. I will then reverse footage of a clock, showing the viewer we are going back in time to the previous morning.
or
2. Instead of reversing the clock to show passed time, we will reverse the whole music video, condensing it down to approximately 20 seconds to show the viewer we are going back to the beginning of that day, to show why both girls are waiting in bed for a phone call.
.....
Images of Nicola and Jess entering the college, followed by jump cut to shots of the college atrium. I will edit these in fast motion, again to show passing of time through the college day. Possibly fade different angles of the college atrium together. Cut to Jess and Nicola bored in class, with match cuts between the two to show the similarity of their situations.
Jump cut to Nicola walking to the record store. Whilst flicking through the records we ideally want to get Nicola to do this in time to the music, but I may be required to slow down/ speed up the footage in the editing stage to achieve this. We will see Nicola leave the shop and the camera will concentrate on the traffic. At this stage I will again put the footage into fast motion to show the passing of time. Jump cut to shot of the sea lapping the shore, possibly slow down footage depending on the rate the tide will be coming in. Followed by the shots of Jess etc. Cut to long shot of waves lapping beach again, except something will be written in the sand and footage will be sped up to show it disappearing.
Jump cut to the makeup sequence with graphic match between Nicola and Jess putting on their mascara. Nicola and Jess will then leave their houses. A close up shot will reveal Jess's eyes in her rear view mirror driving. Possible fast motion of traffic flying by again. Cut to an establishing shot of Ollies bar to reveal to the viewer where the 2 girls are going. Footage of people dancing in the club will possibly be fast motioned.
The meeting sequence will feature shot-reverse-shot to show the conversation flowing between Nicola and Jess. This will be followed by quick cuts to big close-ups of eyes and lips, to create a feeling of tension between the two. A slightly slow motion shot of their hands touching will then feature. Followed by match cuts of both saving there numbers into each other phones. As Jess leaves the building the image will slowly be faded out in time with the music.
Once the music has stopped, we will resume the narrative from the very beginning of the music video, showing both girls in bed waiting for a phone call, looking board. Jump cut to Nicola's phone ringing, emphasising the surprise. Finish with close up of Nicola saying 'Hey'. Fade to black.
Friday, 4 December 2009
Treatment: Storyboard
Maya's entry
Below is the storyboard for our pop promo, please excuse the fact the drawings get the worse as it goes on!
Below is the storyboard for our pop promo, please excuse the fact the drawings get the worse as it goes on!
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Narrative Synopsis
We have chose to use a narrative structure for our pop promo. The concept will be based around movement of time and crossing paths. It will feature Girl A and Girl B, who will cross paths throughout the day and perform activities in parallel to each other. A night time a sequence will then show them meeting at a bar and sparking up a relationship.
The following synopsis is the chronological order of events.
The following synopsis is the chronological order of events.
- Both girls walking to college but on different routes
- Both girls will cross the same road/traffic lights on there journey
- Both girls walking back home
- Both girls getting ready, putting on make up etc ready for a night out.
- Both girl on there way to the city centre. Girl A walking and Girl B driving.
- Girl A sat down drinking in a bar
- Girl B approaches Girl A and ask if she can sit with her.
- The girls get chatting and have a laugh and a flirt.
- Girl B has to leave but asks Girl A for her number
- The girls kiss and Girl B leaves
- Both girls shown lying in bed at home hoping for a text from the other girl.
- A smiling Girl B eventually receives a text form Girl B
- Both girls go to sleep happy.
However, we are going to rearrange the chronological order of events to make the narrative more interesting. The stage shown in BLUE will actually be the beginning of the music video, to create tension between what is happening between these two girls. The end of the music video will therefore anaphorically reference the beginning and create a 'full circle' as such.
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Production Meeting 4
Since the last meeting we have developed our narrative and concept for the pop promo further. Unfortunately we have a shortage of male actors so the storyline has changes so that the relationship will form between 2 girls. We will go on our first shoot next week... the beach! We wanted to include nature shots and we though that by showing one of the girl on location at the beach in the best way of incorporating this. The other girl will mainly be shot in urban location which we hope to film in Ipswich the week after.
Location finders checklists, Maps and risk assessments will be complete by Jess because as Editor she doesn't have too much to do at the moment. We need to gain permission to shoot in a bar and record shop, but the rest of the locations are public. Maya is busy drawing rough storyboards and completing shot lists. Nicola has also drawn up a rough art treatment for the pop promo, and busy deciding characters costumes etc.
Location finders checklists, Maps and risk assessments will be complete by Jess because as Editor she doesn't have too much to do at the moment. We need to gain permission to shoot in a bar and record shop, but the rest of the locations are public. Maya is busy drawing rough storyboards and completing shot lists. Nicola has also drawn up a rough art treatment for the pop promo, and busy deciding characters costumes etc.
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