Below is the filming schedule that we created so that we know what dates we will be filming at each of our locations.
Monday, 19 November 2012
Thursday, 15 November 2012
Equipment/Kit - Luke
There is a large variety of different equipment that we needed for out music video. Here are the key pieces of equipment that we are going to use.
The first, and most important piece of kit that we will need to film our music video is a camera. Luckily, a friend of my dad has allowed us to borrow his camera, a Sony HDR-FX1 HDV Handycam. This camera will allow us to get clear, crisp footage that will fully compliment the shots in our music video. Although we'd are excited to use this camera to film or music video, we are also quite nervous as we are going to be running all over London and Dartford with it, and also because it is very expensive!
Another important piece of equipment that we will be using to help us film or music video is my tripod and the steadycam that James, Josh and I made out of a cheap tripod that we purchased off of Amazon. These will allow us to get steady shots when we are doing pans and single body shots, and smooth and stay shots when we are running alongside our actors with the camera to film the chase shots.
As well as needing the main camera for filming our music video, we also used three other cameras to film the making of video. The cameras that we used were the Panasonic HDC-SD10, Sony A57 and Nikon D200. Filming a making of video and taking pictures of us filming and organising our shots will allow us to watch back on ourselves and use the footage to evaluate our work in the final evaluation questions.
To edit our music video we used both final cut express and adobe after effects. Final cut express was used for the basic editing and adding in the MTV logo and name banner of the song and adobe after effects was used by me to create the four CCTV camera feeds and edit them into one multi camera feed ready for the anonymous security guards to be watching in their security office.
Monday, 12 November 2012
The Steadicam - Group
Whilst trying to come up with ideas for our music video, me and my partners came up with the idea of a chase scene, as it linked well with the lyrics of the song we had chosen and conformed to the style of other music videos for songs within the house/dance genre of music. We did however now have a problem on our hand. In order to film a chase scene we would need to be running with the actors to convey the sense of urgency within the video. The problem we were facing was that running with a camera resulted in unsteady footage that would end up making our video look amateurish.
This is when we started brainstorming for ideas to help us keep the camera steady when running with it. We came up with the idea of using a steadicam or a glidecam (see right) which is used to reduce the vibrations from running or walking when holding a camera. The problem was that these steadicams are intended for professional filming and we didn't have the hundreds of pounds needed to buy one. Despite this we decided not to give up on the idea of using one and started looking into the idea of building our own one.
After searching through youtube and many other websites we ended up finding this video that showed you how to make your very own steadicam for almost no money. All that we needed was a tripod and a screwdriver.
After watching this video my partner James bought a cheap tripod from Amazon to convert into our very own steadicam. Me and James then created this video to show us constructing the steadicam.
As you can see in the video, we were not able to fully follow the guide as the tripod didn't allow us to unclip the support legs or fully rotate the leg past 90 degrees. This meant that we were forced to cut the support leg and then remove the tripod leg only to reattach it using duct tape so that it rotated the way we needed it to. Unfortunately the tape wasn't as durable as we would have liked and the day after filming the steadicam fell apart. We couldn't risk putting a camera on it if it was going to fall apart again.
The next day we went into one of the school DT rooms to see if we could think of some ideas of what we could use to secure leg instead of duct tape. There were a few ideas that we came up with but by far the best one was to remove the support bar that was on the tripod and to then drill through the leg itself. We would then drill through the main part of the tripod where we would then attach the leg with a screw.
You can see that the first step we took was to remove the support bar on the tripod with a hacksaw.
Now that we had removed the grip on the leg and the support bar on the tripod we needed to make sure that it still fitted into the slot where it was to be connected. At first it didn't so we ended up compressing the leg in a vice to make it small enough to fit.
Knowing that the leg would now fit, we started to measure and mark out the points that we were going to drill through. Here you can see the part of the grip on the tripod that we drilled through.
Here you can see the two lined up after they had been drilled. Thankfully they lined up perfectly, meaning that the motion when the leg is rotated would be smooth.
We then proceeded to fit them together using a screw.
Before we could test the device with a camera on it we needed to fix the head of the tripod, which we noticed to be loose the previous day and could easily be pulled off. Not something we want to happen with an expensive camera on it! We ended up using a hot glue gun to connect the head on, and to make sure it was as sturdy as possible, liquid cement. With the leg and the head now securely attached to the tripod we were ready to test it out.
The video below shows a comparison of walking around the DT room before and after we used the steadicam on it. As you can see there is a clear difference between the two clips. The vibrations from the footsteps in the first clip have been completely removed by the steadicam and unsteady hands or running will now barely affect the filming. The steadicam also gives us the ability to film from a variety of different angles such as feet shots, which we would have have previously been able to do.
Here you can see the final pictures of our completed steadicam:
Overall the creation of this steadicam will allow us to get a greater variety of shots for our music video and will allow us to keep up with the actors who are running without affecting the filming. It will allow us to have an almost professional final quality to our video.
This is when we started brainstorming for ideas to help us keep the camera steady when running with it. We came up with the idea of using a steadicam or a glidecam (see right) which is used to reduce the vibrations from running or walking when holding a camera. The problem was that these steadicams are intended for professional filming and we didn't have the hundreds of pounds needed to buy one. Despite this we decided not to give up on the idea of using one and started looking into the idea of building our own one.After searching through youtube and many other websites we ended up finding this video that showed you how to make your very own steadicam for almost no money. All that we needed was a tripod and a screwdriver.
After watching this video my partner James bought a cheap tripod from Amazon to convert into our very own steadicam. Me and James then created this video to show us constructing the steadicam.
As you can see in the video, we were not able to fully follow the guide as the tripod didn't allow us to unclip the support legs or fully rotate the leg past 90 degrees. This meant that we were forced to cut the support leg and then remove the tripod leg only to reattach it using duct tape so that it rotated the way we needed it to. Unfortunately the tape wasn't as durable as we would have liked and the day after filming the steadicam fell apart. We couldn't risk putting a camera on it if it was going to fall apart again.
The next day we went into one of the school DT rooms to see if we could think of some ideas of what we could use to secure leg instead of duct tape. There were a few ideas that we came up with but by far the best one was to remove the support bar that was on the tripod and to then drill through the leg itself. We would then drill through the main part of the tripod where we would then attach the leg with a screw.
You can see that the first step we took was to remove the support bar on the tripod with a hacksaw.
This is how it looked afterwards. With the support bar now gone we would be able to rotate the leg as far around as we needed, meaning that we would be able to get the steadicam working as smoothly as possible.
Now that we had removed the grip on the leg and the support bar on the tripod we needed to make sure that it still fitted into the slot where it was to be connected. At first it didn't so we ended up compressing the leg in a vice to make it small enough to fit.
Knowing that the leg would now fit, we started to measure and mark out the points that we were going to drill through. Here you can see the part of the grip on the tripod that we drilled through.
Here you can see the two lined up after they had been drilled. Thankfully they lined up perfectly, meaning that the motion when the leg is rotated would be smooth.We then proceeded to fit them together using a screw.
Before we could test the device with a camera on it we needed to fix the head of the tripod, which we noticed to be loose the previous day and could easily be pulled off. Not something we want to happen with an expensive camera on it! We ended up using a hot glue gun to connect the head on, and to make sure it was as sturdy as possible, liquid cement. With the leg and the head now securely attached to the tripod we were ready to test it out.
The video below shows a comparison of walking around the DT room before and after we used the steadicam on it. As you can see there is a clear difference between the two clips. The vibrations from the footsteps in the first clip have been completely removed by the steadicam and unsteady hands or running will now barely affect the filming. The steadicam also gives us the ability to film from a variety of different angles such as feet shots, which we would have have previously been able to do.
Here you can see the final pictures of our completed steadicam:
Overall the creation of this steadicam will allow us to get a greater variety of shots for our music video and will allow us to keep up with the actors who are running without affecting the filming. It will allow us to have an almost professional final quality to our video.
Sunday, 11 November 2012
Storyboard/Animatic - Group
Here is the first draft of the storyboard/animatic for our music video. As you can see, this version is very brief, with only a few images to illustrate each section of the music video. We will be adding more pictures to a second copy of the animatic to give a more in depth description of our plans for the music video and how each part of the video plan will fit in with the music.
Here is the finished version of the animatic for our music video. We have included a lot more drawings within this version, showing our ideas in greater detail, which will help us when filming the video.
Here is the finished version of the animatic for our music video. We have included a lot more drawings within this version, showing our ideas in greater detail, which will help us when filming the video.
Friday, 9 November 2012
Location - Luke
Location can be one of the most important features to the music video, and can heavily influence the theme and feel of the video. Based on previous research on Music videos and the types of locations used in these, me an my group have come up with a large variety of locations that we intend to use to film our music video, whilst ensuring that they match the style of the video that we intend to create and being coherent to the styles of other similar videos we have taken influence from.
Below are a list of the locations that we intend to use:
Volkswagen Showroom and Garage in Dartford
The Volkswagen garage is where we intend on filming the beginning scene of the video where the thief is seen moving slyly around before stealing the briefcase from a shelf. We felt that this would be a good location to start the music video as it conveys a sense of mystery in the warehouse, the idea of not knowing what might be around the corner.
Bluewater/Westfield Carpark
We have been lucky enough to get permission and access to a private cinema screening room at Deluxe 142, a post production company in Soho. This is where we intend to film the scene involving the two anonymous characters watching the theif on CCTV as he walks through the warehouse looking for the item to steal. We first intended to film the actors in front of a blank cinema screen, only to super impose the CCTV footage onto the film during editing, but we have been allowed project onto the screen. We will now create the CCTV footage before filming this scene and play it out on the screen, allowing us to create as realistic of a CCTV security office as possible.
Southbank + Southbank Skatepark
Along Southbank and through Southbank Skatepark is where we are planning to do some of the filming for the chase scene of our music video. We thought this location would be good due to the size of the area and the lack of tight corners and bends. This therefore allows our actors to run as fast as possible, helping us create an intense action scene that doesn't look like compromises have been made with the speed of the running.
The skatepark is another area along Southbank that we thought would look good for our music video due to the urban feel created by the large amounts of graffiti surrounding the area. The pillars throughout the skatepark will also help us keep up the intensity of the chase as we will be able to have the actors dodging in and out between them. This will, however, only take up a small part of the chase scene due to the small size of the location, and the amount of filming we will be doing at other locations.
Soho
Soho is another area that we thought would look great in our music video. The area is full of small alleyways and tight streets that would help us to get shots where the actors are not in the way of any members of the public. This could also help to increase the sense of urgency in the video as there will be nobody in the way of the actors allowing us to use the whole street/alley for our shots.
Stratford
Southmere Lake (Thamesmead)
I suggested this location to my other partners, remembering that I had seen it in a tv show called Misfits. I thought that this location would be suited to our video. The very urban location and the way the tv show is filmed assured me that this location would work well
Below you can see the location filmed in a way in which we intend to film for our video. It is from a section of the trailer.
Temple Hill
Temple Hill is a location that I am very familiar with, living in Dartford. The area looks quite run down and would fit in well with our video idea and the other locations that we have chosen. There might however be a problem with using this location and this is that there may be a lot of people walking around when we are filming, a similar problem that we may face in london.
Dartford Town Centre
Similarly to Temple Hill, Dartford is another location local to us that we feel would work well within our music video. The fact that we know Dartford very well means that we will be able to find some great locations for our filming. The town centre of Dartford is basically a long cobbled path. It looks very much like the other locations we have chosen, which will help with continuity from shot to shot. The bridge that connects the town up to the railway station could also be a possible place that we could shoot.
Dartford Underground Walkway
The underground walkway in dartford is what we intend to use for the final scene of the msic video where the theif is caught by the two anonymous characters. We think this is the perfect location for the final shot with the pools of water on the floor, and the general low light in the walkway. The size of the walkway is quite small aswell, allowing us to emphasise the fact that the theif has been trapped. It is however still big enough for us to be able to film in without it looking like the characters are being cramped in with us filming next to them.
Overall we feel that these lcations will be great to use in our music video and will help us create a feel and look that links well with the music and lyrics.
Below are a list of the locations that we intend to use:
Volkswagen Showroom and Garage in Dartford
The Volkswagen garage is where we intend on filming the beginning scene of the video where the thief is seen moving slyly around before stealing the briefcase from a shelf. We felt that this would be a good location to start the music video as it conveys a sense of mystery in the warehouse, the idea of not knowing what might be around the corner.
Bluewater/Westfield Carpark
There is the possibility of filming in the carpark of either Bluewater or Westfield shopping centres. This location would be used to film the initial fleeing of the theif as he runs from the scene of the theft to hide behind a pillar in one of the car parks, thinking he has got away without being seen. This is when there will be a slow motion pan around the pillar to see the two anonymous characters standing either side. This will be the location of the starting point of the chase, and a carpark seems to feature regularly in chase scenes, another reason for our choice of these locations.
Deluxe 142 Wardour Street
We have been lucky enough to get permission and access to a private cinema screening room at Deluxe 142, a post production company in Soho. This is where we intend to film the scene involving the two anonymous characters watching the theif on CCTV as he walks through the warehouse looking for the item to steal. We first intended to film the actors in front of a blank cinema screen, only to super impose the CCTV footage onto the film during editing, but we have been allowed project onto the screen. We will now create the CCTV footage before filming this scene and play it out on the screen, allowing us to create as realistic of a CCTV security office as possible.
Southbank + Southbank Skatepark
Along Southbank and through Southbank Skatepark is where we are planning to do some of the filming for the chase scene of our music video. We thought this location would be good due to the size of the area and the lack of tight corners and bends. This therefore allows our actors to run as fast as possible, helping us create an intense action scene that doesn't look like compromises have been made with the speed of the running.
The skatepark is another area along Southbank that we thought would look good for our music video due to the urban feel created by the large amounts of graffiti surrounding the area. The pillars throughout the skatepark will also help us keep up the intensity of the chase as we will be able to have the actors dodging in and out between them. This will, however, only take up a small part of the chase scene due to the small size of the location, and the amount of filming we will be doing at other locations.
Soho
Soho is another area that we thought would look great in our music video. The area is full of small alleyways and tight streets that would help us to get shots where the actors are not in the way of any members of the public. This could also help to increase the sense of urgency in the video as there will be nobody in the way of the actors allowing us to use the whole street/alley for our shots.
Stratford
Southmere Lake (Thamesmead)
I suggested this location to my other partners, remembering that I had seen it in a tv show called Misfits. I thought that this location would be suited to our video. The very urban location and the way the tv show is filmed assured me that this location would work well
Below you can see the location filmed in a way in which we intend to film for our video. It is from a section of the trailer.
Temple Hill
Temple Hill is a location that I am very familiar with, living in Dartford. The area looks quite run down and would fit in well with our video idea and the other locations that we have chosen. There might however be a problem with using this location and this is that there may be a lot of people walking around when we are filming, a similar problem that we may face in london.
Dartford Town Centre
Similarly to Temple Hill, Dartford is another location local to us that we feel would work well within our music video. The fact that we know Dartford very well means that we will be able to find some great locations for our filming. The town centre of Dartford is basically a long cobbled path. It looks very much like the other locations we have chosen, which will help with continuity from shot to shot. The bridge that connects the town up to the railway station could also be a possible place that we could shoot.
Dartford Underground Walkway
The underground walkway in dartford is what we intend to use for the final scene of the msic video where the theif is caught by the two anonymous characters. We think this is the perfect location for the final shot with the pools of water on the floor, and the general low light in the walkway. The size of the walkway is quite small aswell, allowing us to emphasise the fact that the theif has been trapped. It is however still big enough for us to be able to film in without it looking like the characters are being cramped in with us filming next to them.
Overall we feel that these lcations will be great to use in our music video and will help us create a feel and look that links well with the music and lyrics.
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
Pitch - Group
This is the pitch we did to our teacher detailing the song choice, the initial idea for the video/storyline, the two possible endings of our video, the actors that will be used in the video, the different locations we intend to film the video at, the costumes/outfits the artists will be wearing and the props/aides we will be using to help us film the video.
Below you can see pictures of us presenting our ideas.
The main feedback that we received was that our overall idea for the video was good, and the locations and costumes would work well in the style of video that we wanted to create. There was however one problem that was suggested by students and the teacher in the room, being that the original song that we had chosen was too slow and downbeat to be linked with a chase scene. When looking back over our ideas and listening to the track again we could understand what our peers and teacher were saying, but felt the types of editing we were intending to use would still work well.
Me and the rest of my group did take some time out to think about the comments we had received and started to think of some other ways that we could make our music fit to the video, but the only plausible option that we could come up with was to try and speed up the track ourselves. My partner James used the program 'Audacity' to try and speed up the tempo of the song, but all ended up sound unnatural and unprofessionally done and we didn't feel this would work well for our music video.
In the end we decided to start looking for a new song with the hope of using Madeon's 'Finale' nearly all gone. Fortunately for us and the work we had done on analysing the lyrics of the song and working them into the plan of our video, we came across a drum and bass remix of Finale by the belgian drum and bass artist Netsky. This was effectively the same song, only with an increased tempo and bassline and a longer duration, exactly what we needed for our video.
We then discussed the possibility of using this song for our music video and our media teacher seemed to prefer this version of the song. We did however worry that this would bee too long as the duration has increased from 3:24 long in the original to 4:54 in the remix. We now need to consider the possibilitis of cutting this down to make our video shorter, or just leaving the song at it's current length and filming more content for the video.
Below you can listen to the remixed version of Finale that we have now chosen to use:
Below you can see pictures of us presenting our ideas.
The main feedback that we received was that our overall idea for the video was good, and the locations and costumes would work well in the style of video that we wanted to create. There was however one problem that was suggested by students and the teacher in the room, being that the original song that we had chosen was too slow and downbeat to be linked with a chase scene. When looking back over our ideas and listening to the track again we could understand what our peers and teacher were saying, but felt the types of editing we were intending to use would still work well.Me and the rest of my group did take some time out to think about the comments we had received and started to think of some other ways that we could make our music fit to the video, but the only plausible option that we could come up with was to try and speed up the track ourselves. My partner James used the program 'Audacity' to try and speed up the tempo of the song, but all ended up sound unnatural and unprofessionally done and we didn't feel this would work well for our music video.
In the end we decided to start looking for a new song with the hope of using Madeon's 'Finale' nearly all gone. Fortunately for us and the work we had done on analysing the lyrics of the song and working them into the plan of our video, we came across a drum and bass remix of Finale by the belgian drum and bass artist Netsky. This was effectively the same song, only with an increased tempo and bassline and a longer duration, exactly what we needed for our video.
We then discussed the possibility of using this song for our music video and our media teacher seemed to prefer this version of the song. We did however worry that this would bee too long as the duration has increased from 3:24 long in the original to 4:54 in the remix. We now need to consider the possibilitis of cutting this down to make our video shorter, or just leaving the song at it's current length and filming more content for the video.
Below you can listen to the remixed version of Finale that we have now chosen to use:
Friday, 2 November 2012
Actors And Their Roles - Group
Along with a good storyline, having actors that look the part in our music video is one of the most important things to consider before we start filming as they are the people who represent the artist and his music as a whole. Therefore James, Josh and I needed to consider carefully who the actors in our video would be.
Some of the key factors we needed to consider when choosing our actors were:
After considering many different people for the acing roles in our music video we decided that Daniel Hillier, Philip Cross and Ryan Cheale should get the roles.
Seeing as Ryan and Phil were the same height, and taller than Dan we decided that they would be best suited to the roles of the anonymous characters and that Dan should get the role of the thief. This would therefore allow them to look more powerful and dominant than Dan when chasing and then confronting him.
Another factor that influenced our decision was the fact that Ryan and Phil both have jobs, and would not be available for as much time as Dan, which is why we gave him one the biggest role that would require him to accompany us when filming.
Some of the key factors we needed to consider when choosing our actors were:
- Ability to run/sprint
- The right look for the genre
- Acting talent
- Possession of a grey suit (for the masked characters)
- Availability for filming
After considering many different people for the acing roles in our music video we decided that Daniel Hillier, Philip Cross and Ryan Cheale should get the roles.
Seeing as Ryan and Phil were the same height, and taller than Dan we decided that they would be best suited to the roles of the anonymous characters and that Dan should get the role of the thief. This would therefore allow them to look more powerful and dominant than Dan when chasing and then confronting him.
Another factor that influenced our decision was the fact that Ryan and Phil both have jobs, and would not be available for as much time as Dan, which is why we gave him one the biggest role that would require him to accompany us when filming.
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