Filming Schedule

We were discussing with our media teachers which rooms were free and when we would be able to film. We will be filming the school scene next in which Alice engages in an argument with her teacher and leaves the room, and we are using our own media teacher. Below presents an email from our media teacher to another teacher asking about free rooms so we are able to plan when we can next film.

From: Mrs K McKenna
Sent: 26 November 2012 15:03
To: Melanie Ginn
Subject: free rooms Thursday 29th period 4

Hi Mell,

 

Would you mind letting me know what rooms are free on Thursday period 4?

 

Thanks

Katie J

Update on planning and filming

After looking back at our own work and having feedback from our teacher, we are aware that the scene in which Alice and her mum have an argument is quite unclear. We want our music video to have continuity and run clearly with no confusion, and so we have decided to re shoot the scene, however as this scene follows on from Alice leaving school we will convey Ashleigh (Alice's mum/older sister) to be putting the phone down or receiving a message from the school as Alice enters so that the audience are aware of why she is so angry at her daughter. 

If this is unsuccessful we have been discussing whether or not to change this particular scene to one with Alice arguing with a boyfriend or group of friends. However, we are still undecided on this and will make a proper decision after we have tried our first idea, as we would like to stick to our original ideas.

The image above portrays how I have been communicating with my teacher through Blogger. Also in lessons me and my group have been receiving feedback on our filming and planning. So far, it has been quite successful however we are constantly trying to improve our work. 

Comparing our planning to our work

Looking back at the hand drawn designs I have used to convey the scenes in our music video, I will be comparing them to our actual filming to portray whether or not we have kept to our plans. I will be focussing on different camera angles in particular scenes which we wanted to incorporate at the start of the planning process.

 

 

 

I will be presenting the shots we filmed to our planning in each scene; this shot portrays Alice's point of view and the camera will show the image of her phone recieving a text message.

 

 

 

 

 

The next scene we looked at was the memory scene, in which Alice will be portrayed in black and white and the camera will convey her at a happier time.

 

 

 

 

This image conveys the view between two of Alice's friends, showing her in a happier mood:

 

 

 

 

We then looked at the scene in which Alice returns home from school and has an argument with her mother.

 

 

 

 

This image conveys the over the shoulder shot of Alice shouting at her mother, which is the same as our planning.

 

 

 

We also looked at the wide shot of Ashleigh laying across the sofa:

 

 

 

I will continue to compare our planning to our actual scenes which we have filmed as we go along, however so far I feel that our planning fits together well with our current work and that we are on target to acheive the music video which we have planned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

4th Filming - Mum Argument Scene

The fourth section we decided to film to contribute to our music video, is the scene in which Alice enters her home (Jessie's house) and has an argument with her mother. The actress we are using as Alice's mother is, Ashleigh. Considering that Ashleigh is the same age as us, we received some criticism about using her in our video, however after removing her make-up, tying her hair back and dressing her in particular clothing, we feel that she does look older. We are unable to find a willing actress who would look like Alice's mother in our video, and so if these shots are not to our satisfaction we may either have to find a new actress or change the story line to Ashleigh being her older sister as this would be more believable. 

As Alice is supposed to come from a troubled background we decided to throw clothes around the floor and empty food packets along with beer cans in order to give the right mise en scene for this section of our music video. We dressed Ashleigh in pyjamas and a dressing gown and instructed her to be holding a remote control and beer can in her hand as Alice enters. There would also be a cigarette packet and lighter on the arm of the sofa in which she would be laying on. Alice will then enter through the door and sit on the sofa diagonal to Ashleigh and they will begin to speak to each other. As the audience will not be able to hear the conversation we gave them basic lines to prompt them when acting, as it would make it easier. Alice will then stand up and begin shouting at her mother and the camera will convey her to be the dominant character, however as Ashleigh stands up the camera will portray her as more prominent considering she is the mother. We panned around them both arguing with each other and have a shot reverse shot of them both shouting at one another. Alice will then snatch the beer can out of Ashleigh's hand and kick the empty cans on the floor and storm out of the door again. 

Here are the photographs we took as we were preparing and filming.

 Preparing Ashleigh:

 Ready for filming:

Here are the photograph's we took as we were preparing our location:

We wanted to make the room look unclean and messy so we threw clothes around the floor and used some empty beer and rubbish packets to add effect around the sofa.

During filming Alice and Ashleigh were struggling to argue on the spot, so we decided to give them a rough script to give our scene structure and make it seem more believable.

 These are the photograph's that were taken during filming:

These are the video's we retrieved whilst filming for the fourth time:

These two clips are of a two shot between Alice and Ashleigh arguing

The next two clips are 360 degree pans of the argument:

These are the first shots we tried as Alice enters the room and the argument begins:

Time Ellipses in Music Video's

Considering that we have decided to use two time ellipses in our music video, we thought it would be a good  idea to convey our memory scene in black and white, as this would allow the audience to understand what was happening in our music video. The scene we are editing into black and white contains Alice in the common room with her friends at a happier stage in her life, I decided to research different types of music video's which use this aspect of time ellipses in their work to present how we would want ours to work.

I have researched into Katy Perry and her song 'The One That Got Away' the video portrays an older lady looking back on her life and the loss of her partner at a young age. The present day is shown in stark white colours compared to the past of her youth shown in some sepia tones and grey scale. The older character also has a sadness to her appearance which is in the present, this is useful as this is how we are presenting Alice in our video. Her past is being presented in a sepia tone in the Katy Perry video, her character is younger and happier in these scenes. We will be showing Alice at a happier time in our video and this will be clear from her change of clothes, her emotion towards others and the colour in which the video will be presented. Researching colours used in other music videos has allowed me and my group to fully understand the outcome of our decisions and we feel that this will work really well with our idea.

 

We will be using this in our own music video to represent Alice in a happier time compared to her current situation. The black and white scenes will convey Alice's memories, they will be shot at school with other girls in the common room. She will be wearing different clothes which will portray her to be in a different mood compared to the stark white shirt she is wearing in the rest of the music video.

 

 

We will be editing the clips of Alice in the bright colours into black and white to convey her memories, however it will still be clear to the audience that she is in opposing clothing. The final memory scene will be in all black and white, conveying Alice as follows:

 

 

 

 

Detailed Timeline

Lauren decided to research into depth the time line and make notes of which sections we would be filming and each time. This is very helpful to our overall filming as we are know aware of how long each scene can be.

To make it clear and precise of when we need to do each shot I decided to not only do a time line of shots but also scribe how long each shot and scene will be, and roughly the lyrics that will be in place when each shot or angle is being used. This will be extremely useful for filming and editing and will act as a guideline to direct us throughout the process.

1st (opening) scene - 0.00 - 0.17 seconds
Lyrics: "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..."
- Once the word "mistreated" has ended is when the song starts to go into a heavier beat, and this is where the first scene will end, lasting for 17 seconds. This scene also includes box two on my time line.

2nd scene - 0.18 - 0.39 seconds
Lyrics: "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"
- After these lyrics is when the chorus begins so therefore we stop there as the film will start to get more fast paced as the chorus begins. This scene includes box 3, 4, 5, and 6 of my time line, and finishes as she begins to walk out of the classroom.


3rd scene - 0.40 - 1.13 seconds
Lyrics: "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"
- These lyrics will relate to the scene where she storms out of the classroom and walks faster down the pavement outside school. This will fit in well as the scene is fast paced and so is the music at that point. This scene includes box 7 and 8.

4th scene - 1.14 - 1.23 seconds
Lyrics: "You're so mean when you talk, about yourself, you are wrong, change the voices in your head, make them like you instead"
- This scene will be the start of the lane scene, where she is walking down slowly, thinking about certain things, feeling glum and upset, and walking aimlessly. It also fits in well with the scene as this part of the song is very downbeat and slow, which links in well with the scene.

5th scene - 1.24 - 1.44 seconds
Lyrics: "So complicated, look how big you'll make it, filled with so much hatred, such a tired game."- This scene will be her thinking back on memories with her friends, and this scene will be in black and white to portray that it is a memory.

6th scene - 1.45 - 1.54 seconds
"It's enough, I've done all I can think of, Chased down all my demons, see you do the same"
- This scene will be her reading the text from her friend, then angrily walking down the rest of the lane whilst throwing her jacket down to show how angry she is.

7th scene - 1.55 - 2.17 secondsLyrics: "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"
- This scene will be when she is having an argument with her mother in the kitchen, and they are shouting at each other, once they have the argument the mother will walk out of the kitchen leaving her in there.

Here, we have cut a verse out of the music video as we do not want it in, as it is not in time and keeping with our video, does not suit our video, and we would not know what scene to relate this part of the song with. Therefore we are going straight to a repeat of the chorus again, which will create far more continuity and fit better as a the backing track music to our video. We have cut out approximately 30 seconds.

8th scene - 2.18 - 3.01 seconds
Lyrics: "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"
- This scene will start from once the mother has left the room, Alice will then in a rush search through the cupboards of her kitchen to find alcohol and drug packets. Once she find these she will then run upstairs to her room where she will pace around the room frantically, take the pills and drink the alcohol, whilst crying and looking upset. She will then lay on the floor and slowly fall asleep.

9th scene - 3.02 - 3.29 seconds
Lyrics: "Pretty, pretty please of 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 is the last scene of the video, and it will show a shot of Alice passed out on the floor. The scene will then change to a shot of Alice's mum calling her from the bottom of the stairs, and her standing there with no surprise. She will then walk up the stairs slowly and go to open Alice's bedroom door as she sees Alice passed out on the floor, and that will be the end of the music video and where it finishes.

Developed Planning of Story Board

We have revisited our story board and made the drawings and our ideas clearer whilst doing so. it is still quite vague and does not incorporate every single shot, although it is quite accurate to do with when things will be happening. We want to cut and edit our video to the beat of the music to ultimately get us the best outcome for our work, this will take some practice however I am sure that we can do it properly. 

Here is a story board of more detailed drawings of the timeline:

I have used more detailed drawings and drawn each specific scene with the camera angles we would need to use in order to film it successfully. I have drawn a circle connected to an arrow to present the place in which the camera will be and the angle it will be facing, I have also annotated next to each arrow what the camera will be showing the audience. These hand drawn designs are basic however they will help my group have a better understanding of the shots we are going to use and how we should put them all together.