1st Filming - Lane Scene

We decided to film the easiest scenes first as we could edit them faster; the scenes we decided to film first were down a lane near our school. We took shots of Alice, our main character, walking angrily down the lane as she had just walked out of school in the video. We took shots from behind her as she walked, next to her and in front of her as we would want to convey continuity in our final product. We showed Alice our make up, hair and clothing research so she was sure of how she should look and behave in our video. We assissted Alice as she got ready and instructed her as to what to do in each shot. All together we acheived making 22 videos, however, some are not usable as we found using the camera quite difficult.

This is the camera we will be using to film our music video:

We also brought along a digital DLSR camera to take shots as we were filming, to use as evidence of filming and so that we could look at the angles we were filming in. This is the camera we used:

 

 

 

Here are the shots we acheived by using the DLSR digital camera whilst we were filming:

 

the first scene we shot presented Alice recieving an abusive text message from her best friend and then angrily walking/running down the lane and throwing off her blazer in anger. We shot this seen a continuous amount of times in order to give ourselves more choice when it came to editing.

 

Throughout filming we all gave feedback and our own opinions on the angles and shots that we wanted to use and whether or not these were suitable.

 

Alice stayed in the same 'character' throughout the filming, as this would help us to convey continuity in our music video.

 

We tried to film in different areas of the lane to find out which places were more suitable. We found conversely that the more open parts of the lane contained a lot of light, which was helpful as we would then not need to use the lighting equipment.

 

We concentrated completely on trying to gain the correct shots we had planned in our research. We watched over the filming after we shot the scene to ensure that we had covered all of the areas we had planned to.

 

This over the shoulder shot will be used in the music video so that the viewer can be aware of why Alice is angry and the reasons behind her storming down the lane.

 

This is the abusive message which Alice will be recieving as she is walking home from school. The camera will cut to a close up shot of this so that the viewer is aware of what is happening. We decided upon using the phone with the cracked screen as it would represent the carelessness of Alice's character.

 

We tried our best to capture each angle of the shot before moving on so that when it comes to editing the film we will have plently of shots to cut to and from.

 

 

Here are the video shots we decided were good enough to use in our final video, however we need to edit them all. These are the first copies:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contingency Plan

It is essential that our product has a Contingency Plan. As we will be working on the project for a matter of months there are a variety things that could not go to plan and we need to be sure that we have a back-up plan just in case. We have picked out three main problems we may come across and have decided what we would do in case these problems occur and how we will overcome these issues.

 1. Problems with the actress:

Our main actress, Alice, will be needed throughout the whole of our filming and photographing. Possible problems which may arise are:

-          - She may be ill during the times we want to film

-          - She may not be able to make it to some of our filming as she could be busy with her own work

-          - She may decide she does not want to partake in filming anymore

-          - She may feel uncomfortable in front of the camera

Some of these issues are not as applicable as others. Alice have been used as a model for people previously and appears extremely keen to act for us. We do not feel that she would back out of the project as she knows how important it is. However, to control this, during out first filming we will ensure that she feels completely comfortable in front of the camera and let her know which scenes she will be in. If she id not happy with this, we can find another actress. We have also all discussed as a group that we would not mind being in the video if it comes to it.

We know that at times Alice will be busy with her own work. Being friends with Alice prior to this engagement, we will be sure to only book to film her when she is free and organise our filming around her schedule.

We want to film every Wednesday afternoon is possible. Me, Jessie, Lauren and Alice are free during this time as we all have free periods at school. Filming during school time will mean that Alice can still get home the same way and we will not cause her any issues.

2. What if we really do not like our product after filming?

We have discussed many ideas as a group and have decided on our final idea. However, it is always possible that we could begin to dislike our idea. If this were tio happen, we would need to have a group discussion.

Things we could do if we did not like our product:

-          - We could re-think our story board and if we have time, re film our video

-          - If we do not have time, we could think of ways to use the videos we have in order to create a different story

-          - We may have no choice but to use the videos, we would have to ensure editing is sound

       - We will need to try and change our ideas quickly in order to give us time to create new story boards.

3. What if our lighting is not good enough?

Due to our plan of filming a lot of scenes outside, it could become an issue that our lighting may vary and not be good quality at times. Due to us doing a lot of filming in winter, snow, rain and winds are very likely. This may make our different shots look noticeably different.

Thing we could do to try and control this:

- For each time we film, we could decide which scene to film based on the weather. If it is a snowy day, we will concentrate on filming the indoor scenes.

-  If the lighting is different each time we film outside, this will become very difficult to work around. However, we can do our best to fix this during the editing process.

Indoors, we will try to use the same type of lighting each time. Again, a lot of the lighting will be from a natural light such as sun through a window, therefore, some of the above issues could still apply. We could try to control this by using blinds, curtains and inner lighting.

Music Video Ideas

After reviewing our chosen song's video many times, we have come to the conclusion that we would like to incorporate some shots from the original into our own video as to not lose the specific message of the song. We have chosen a variety of moments within the original video which we feel highlight the story of our video whilst still making sense to our chosen audience. We were uncertain about the self-harming scene as even we felt it uncomfortable to watch and would not like to add this in our own work. However, many of the scenes in the original script are ones which we are eager to incorporate into our own work. 

I have made print screens of the shots in the original video that we would like the recreate in our own work. 

I think this is a decent close up as the camera is fading to different actions from the girl, it conveys her emotions well and allows the viewer a closer look at the main character.

This is a mid close up conveying the girls heavy eye-make up and saddened expression, which we would need to incorporate into our own work.

One of our scenes in our video will include this exact shot of a teacher shouting at our main character in a school setting. This is the point of view shot we are hoping to accomplish in our own work.

In this scene the main character is arguing with her mother, which we are also adding into our video. We are looking to add aspects and emotions like this into our video and so having something similar in the actual video is helpful as we can show our main character the emotions we would like her to display.

This extreme close up of the main characters teary eye conveys the deep emotion she is portraying and is blatant to the viewer. We are eager to present this in our video as emotion is a big factor which we would like to add.

The school scene in our video is planned to be near the beginning of our video and so this shot from the original clip will aid us in figuring out which camera angles we could use in order to maintain the best shot.

Once we have began to film our script, I will compare both these print screens with our own original shots.

Copyright Letter

As a group we have emailed the production company of our music choice in order to gain permission for the use of the song we have chosen.

Update 18/04/2013

We completed our media coursework before the production company of our chosen song replied to our e-mail. We have had no monetary gain from this product and do not intend do, it was simply for educational purposes.

Story Board

The best way to present our idea to the rest of our class was to produce a story board of events which would take place in our video. This would also aid us in the making of our video as each section and scene would be in the correct order for when we begin filming. 

Here is a copy of our first roughly created story board:

We decided that our first plan should just be vague so we could get a rough outline of what would actually be happening in the video. We decided to add an element of the past in with the present to make our video more intriguing. At the moment we are planning to film our the 'memories' of when the main character was happier with friends etc and we would like to convey this in black and white. This would highlight to the audience the transition of time and make them aware of the story line.

This is our second, more planned, story board. We have started to add different aspects to the drawings to make them more clear and talk more clearly about camera angles and shots. This will help us when it comes to filming as we will already know which camera angles we want in our work and will save time in editing.

During our discussion about our music video we decided to make a few hand drawn spider diagrams to convey our ideas in a different way. We looked at the purpose of our product and what we would want to focus on, our target audience and what our target audience would want to see.

Music Choice

Pink released her first song 'There You Go' in 2000 and is planning to produce her sixth album this year. Pink's career accomplishments so far include three Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards and two Brit Awards. The musical category most critics agree Pink is a part of would be 'pop-rock' as many of her songs are seen as edgy and truthful. Her appearance is continuously evolving although mostly always containing a short boyish hair style, either being white, pale pink or black.

By choosing a song by 'Pink' has allowed me and my group to present a video with a lot of emotion and meaning to it, much like the lyrics in the majority of this artists songs. Many of her songs are about anger, depression, addiction and hatred. We felt that portraying a video with these emotions would be easier than portraying a video of the opposite of this, as it may look like a forced emotion, whereas a blank expression is easy for any person, and so choosing a main character would be much easier with this theme.

These are the lyrics to the song we have chosen, 'F*ckin' Perfect':

 Made a wrong turn, once or twice 

Dug my way out, blood and fire 

Bad decisions, that's alright 

Welcome to my silly life

 Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood 

Miss, no way it's all good, it didn't slow me down 

Mistaken, always second guessing 

Underestimated, look, I'm still around 

 Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel

 Like you're less than, less than perfect 

Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel 

Like you're nothing you are perfect to me 

You're so mean when you talk 

About yourself, you are wrong 

Change the voices in your head 

Make them like you instead 

 So complicated, look how big you'll make it 

Filled with so much hatred, such a tired game

 It's enough, I've done all I can think of

 Chased down all my demons, see you do the same 

 Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel 

Like you're less than, less than perfect 

Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel 

Like you're nothing, you are perfect to me 

The whole world stares while I swallow the fear

The only thing I should be drinking is an ice cold beer 

So cool in lying and we tried, tried, tried 

But we try too hard, it's a waste of my time 

 Done looking for the critics 'cause they're everywhere 

They don't like my genes, they don't get my hair 

Strange ourselves and we do it all the time 

Why do we do that? Why do I do that? 

Why do I do that? 

Ooh, pretty, pretty, pretty Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel

Like you're less than, less than perfect 

Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel 

Like you're nothing, you are perfect to me 

You are perfect to me You're perfect, you're perfect to me 

Pretty, pretty please if you ever, ever feel Like you're less than, less than perfect 

Pretty, pretty please if you ever, ever feel 

Like you're nothing, you are perfect to me

This song is ultimatley about exceptance of yourself and that other peoples

opinions and feelings shouldn't be taken so seriously. P!nk was said to have written this song as she was inspired by her husband. She wanted to highlight the effect of self-mutilation, depression and suicide to her audience in order to convey their seriousness. The original video contains graphic images of self harming the word 'perfect' on to the main characters arm with a razor, which is disturbing for many viewers. It portrays the life of the main character from a child to teenager to adult throughout the whole video, conveying the struggles she has been through in order to reach her current position in life.

P!nk uses a time ellipses in her video which we would also like to recreate in ours. The translation of time happens in a way which shows the end of the story at the beginning of the video, which is something we would like to incorporate into our own video. It then depicts the story behind the main character and how they arrived at that current place, ending with the same start and ending scene. We feel this would be worthwhile to our work as we could closely compare it to the original video, yet make it our own by changing elements. 

Locations

We are planning on having around five or six different locations in our music video; representing the five or six different scenes in the music video. We have established where we would like to ideally film each scene and hopefully this will all go to plan.

The environment we want our main character to live in would be quite dirty and messy. We want her to seem to come from a troubled background and so her Mother will be in this scene with alcohol and have the expression of anger and carelessness. Considering none of my group live in homes like this we will have to make an attempt to portray one of our houses to be untidy and unclean.

The classroom scenes should be more formal than the home scenes as the main character is at school and would be in a detention with her teacher. The room should look academic yet quite empty as no other students would be with her - which would aid to incorporate the feeling of this girl being isolated and alone. We will be using our school to film the 'school scenes' and so the corridors will be hopefully quite empty and this will allow us to film properly. We will be filming here first as this would be the easiest to re-shoot and edit.

 

 

 

The lane scene would be filmed in a dark lane, in the day time so it isn't really dark and so we wouldn't need lighting equipment. The lane we are filming in is quite dingy and rough-looking, this incorporates well with the girls emotional feelings of turmoil and discomfort.

 

The bedroom scene needs to be surrounded by empty bottles of alcohol and spilled pills, symbolising the main characters turmoil into an overdose. We really only need to film around the floor area as we planned for the camera to pan around the floor taking notice of all of the bottles. If we cannot find a suitable bedroom to film the ending scene in we could always use an empty room and give it the effect of a bedroom. 

Camera Shots & Angles

Throughout the music video we will be using a variety of camera angles and shots in order to convey the story to our audience. The variety in camera angles helps the audience to react differently to each scene, this would help us have strong feedback from the audience as they would understand the story line better, with certain shots.

Here are some examples of shots and angles we will be using:

Long Shot -

Mid Shot -

Medium Close Up -

Close Up -

Extreme Close Up -

Eye-Level -

Over the shoulder Shot -

Birds eye view -

Worms eye view -

Introduction of Initial Idea's

There were several choices to choose from in the A2 course. We could either make a documentary, a film trailer or a music video. The majority of my class have chosen to make a music video and so we decided to split into groups in order to split the work load equally between each other.

My group consists of myself, Jessie Plant and Lauren Simmons. After much discussion we came to the conclusion to make a music video about a troubled teenage girl, as we can easily relate to this scenario and it would be easy to find a main character as we go to an all girls school. We have decided not to use many characters as it would be difficult to organise meeting everybody together, and less confusing for the viewer.

Along with our music video we also have to create a CD cover for the track and a magazine cover featuring our chosen character. We have decided on using a less up to date song, and one we are more familiar with as we would understand the lyrics and know how to incorporate this into our work. We have chosen to use 'Less Than Perfect' By Pink, as this song contains a lot of strong emotive lyrics and we feel it would be quite simple to match actions to her song.

After watching the video many times, we came to the conclusion that our original idea was a lot like the actual video made by Pink, however we would like the change it slightly with different scenes. In the original script the story line is about looking back at your past, and as we have limited time and a select few people to use in our work, we will not be able to incorporate the ellipses of time into our work as the original does. However, the main story line being similar to ours could be seen as an advantage to our group as we can compare our ideas to the original, thoroughly, in order to produce a good quality music video.

We want to incorporate drug and alcohol use in to our video , as this is prominent in many of Pink's songs and lyrics. We feel it would better the story line of our video also, as it is relatable. However not as intense as the original, as we are aiming for our target audience to be regular teenagers.

This is the original music video for our chosen song: