(Planning) Test shots of potential locations

(Planning) Analysis of our final song choice and how ours will differ

The music video starts with the artist Calvin Harris waking up on a boat, as soon as the music commences; straight away we see a point of view shot of the sea only it is very disorientated so it is hard to make out what is actually going on and why the artist is confused and disorientated. This sequence is shortly followed by a bundle of jump-cuts in the pace and tempo of the instrumental, giving the audience a glimpse of what happened the night before.  

When the tempo of the song begins to pick up, the artist’s account of the night before begins to become clearer to the audience. We are introduced to the artist the night before in a limousine with a medium shot with him in the middle of two girls holding wine glasses, the fact that he is in the middle emphasizes to the view that he is the main artist in the video. And then you also have your classic stereotypical convention of a male artist being surrounded by relatively “Sexy” looking females.

As we nearer to the chorus, we are reintroduced to one of the base tracks of the artist on his yacht briefly; before quickly being returned to the point of view shot of the artist’s experience the night before. One thing I noticed about the editing was that as two women open the door and small jump cuts are used to speed up the process of walking in. This is accompanied by the women pouring a drink for Calvin Harris, dancing and shots of the people getting ready for a night out.

We finally pass through the dance floor as the beat drops, during this time they keep switching between point of view shots and close ups. In my opinion I think that they did this to make the viewer feel involved and as authentic as possible because looking at the crowd from the DJ’s (Calvin Harris’) point of view might make the viewer feel as if they are actually in he’s shoes.

As we build up to the chorus for the second time, we once again return to the first initial basetrack of Calvin on his yacht, using the obvious shot types (Medium & Close-ups). But then something far from obvious happens; he looks at a photo which jumps us back to the night out, in an amazing use of editing, which ensures a memorable and effective transition. As the song begins to come to an end we are bombarded with clips that are quickly edited together in an almost flashing motion to symbolise the climax of a scene, similar to ones normally seen in thrillers.

In the final scene the artist is shown to be on his yacht with one of the girls previously show, about to let of a flare into the night sky with a rather confused expression on his face, symbolising the fact that he really is lost mentally. The aspect of the video that i was most impressed about was the uses of editing during most of the point of view shots, in particular  when one of the females accompanying Calvin Harris takes a picture of him where we see a flash of light. Very simple but very effective in my opinion.

How ours will differ

• We will be focusing on the night of three young males collectively rather than one individual’s experience.
• Our cover will divert from the party and the liveliness when we shoot our street scenes (Brick Lane, Barbican.ect) whilst our artist (Nathan) is leaving the party to get a sense of emptiness and regret.
• Similar in concept but noticeable difference in the way it will be executed

Filming Day One

Production of music video

Below are some pictures we took as we were filming.



Production of music video: Filming day 1 some pictures

As we were not able to have the party at Nathan's house on Saturday, we have re-scheduled it to next Saturday at Gants Hill (Nathan's aunties house). So instead we did some filming on Sunday. We filmed in Hackney ; Queensbridge road, Brick lane and Bethnal Green. We only filmed one scene (the scene where the artist Nathan comes out of the house in which he slept at during the night, making his way home in the morning). Below are some pictures we took while we were filming.

Update on weather

Blog on weather

Quick blog before bed just regarding the weather for tomorrow and it seems that British weather is complying with our plans and will have sunny intervals. But there is light rain tonight and seeing as we are filming early in the morning there will be dampness here and there. Overall, all good and ready to go for tomorrow. Pictures will be up soon... 

Production of music video: Weather check

Here you can see that we have checked the weather for the day we are filming which is tomorrow (Sunday) so it matches how we planned the weather to look like in our music video. 

The weather will have sunny intervals but also some of our locations would be damp/cold look to it due to the rain which will occur tonight. 

Teacher feedback

Hello group 33
Your blog is coming along nicely (Temi - you are still short of quite a few blogs - both Annabel and I have spoken to you about this.... are you still struggling to post?).  I am looking forward to seeing the photos and feedback of the shoot on Sunday.  You may have to think about a further contingency plan if your Aunt (is it your Aunt Nathan?) says no to the party.

Reshedule

Change of plan

We as a group experienced a very slight change of plan as my mum had concerns regarding a house party of such magnitude so the house party will be shot now in Gants Hill at my aunties house. Her Fiance used to DJ so I am hoping to come across some decks to perhaps even create a feel that we are in a club than a house party. This of course is only maybe if. With the change in location I decided to extend the date that we will shoot the house party to the following week (5th of November) so we have a lot more time to go through shots at our new location. Despite the changes in location, the Brick lane, Bethnal Green and Hackney shots will be continued as planned only on the Sunday now due to members of the group having job interviews. Not a dramatic change only a slight nudge to the date and location. Other than that, the plan remains the same if anything, beneficial as we can conduct far more research into what we can incorporate from other videos, the shots and be a lot more on point.

Thanks for clicking attending you legends. Long story short. Not this weekend, but next weekend we will be doing the exact thing only in Gants Hill. Im not making another facebook event for it though. Cos they mad unpredictable. Sorry for the inconvenience, but next weekend kay. Most use I've got on BB so feel free to holla (nathan 2594ce16) or even Ethel, Asilhan or Temi. Thanks peeps

Here is the message, we sent to the guests that said that they were attending, Just notifying them of what will be taking place and my blackberry pin for more information. I noted that I will not be making another Facebook event for this one as one of the cons of the event management side of Facebook events is the fear that your house becomes trashed due to it going viral in the sense that uninvited people may attend, as it is not difficult to obtain the address. I briefly stated on the actual page a difference in the date and a clear notification regarding that it has been moved to the following Saturday as some people had not clicked attending but still had the intention of making an appearance as I began receiving texts and private messages about the event. So I made it very clear of what was going on and like the inbox I sent to those attending I said I will contact them because there is now a rough idea of who is and who isn't coming along so I can individually contact these people. In addition to this we received positive feedback with the change in dates and locations as it proved to be convenient for some as shown in the screen shot.

So once again, just a slight change  with dates and location.

Checking the weather forecast

Planning for music video

Because we will be filming on Saturday, I have decided to check the weather forecast so that we are aware of the weather condtions.

It seems it will be quite warm, and it's not going to rain!

Inspiration for music video IV

All of the lights

Kanye West's music video for all of the lights, is a big inspiration as the title states, all of the lights. The music video includes a great deal of flashing lights, that is a connotation to the genre Electro Pop. This references greatly with the City Of God example, creating a similar effect with the impairing lights and club flashes. A precaution is present at the beginning of  the music video and we may incorporate this in our own music video.

Weather forecast

The weather

Seeing as the weather has currently taken a downturn I have chosen to do a quick blog on the weather forecast for the days we are shooting. As you can see there are a lot of grey clouds today (Thursday) however we are shooting our music video on the weekend and apparently there will be "sunny intervals" but British weather is never to be trusted, so an umbrella will be close at hand...

Inspiration for music video III

I Love College!

I have always been aware of Asher Roth's - I Love College, but until recent I have come across the music video to the song and this entire video is my ideal way of pulling off the house party as it has incorporated all of the conventions of a college party from girls, red cups, pizza and darkness. Unfortunately our chances of pulling off an equally effective party is very slim as their house is much larger and my parents will not condone throwing mattresses off of balconies and other mischievous behavior however I can lightly analyse the video for things we can include.

The awakening of Asher Roth at the beginning of the music video is very much similar to how I wished for myself to wake up, with people sleeping next to me and the place looking a mess with wrappers and packets on the floor. The transition to the past is good but not what I would use in Flashback as I don't think it merges very well, I'd rather not even tell the audience of the Flashback but to allow them to note it themselves.

The props used including pizza and the cups is already what I had thought to use, as I imagined college party; cheap food, booze and girls. I couldn't recall a music video or media text saying that pizza is a convention so I was at a brick wall, however in this music video it reinforces my statement and now I can make reference as to why the pizza boxes will be scattered around. During the week, the Pizza Hut in Ilford does a deal where at lunch time any 8" pizza is only £2. So I purchased 4, shared the pizza and kept the boxes for the music video on Saturday. A blog shall be present soon to accompany this statement...

Inspiration for music video II

City Of God 

During the week, I watched the movie City Of God and a scene that stood out really illustrated perhaps another solution when coming to editing the shots of the party (in jumpcuts). Where one of the main hoods (Benny) is shot in a leaving party by a hitman who was aiming for his merciless friend who was arguing over a camera. Unluckily for Benny, he was the one who took the bullet instead of Lil Ze and this was due to the lights that flickered on and off when a song played impairing the hitman's vision. These lights is something I feel we can incorporate as not only are club lights a convention of Electro pop but it also allows the viewers to feel as if they are included in the party and creates a sense of realism. Maybe even fooling the audience into believing that we are in a club and not in a house, either way it should be fun to try out. The flashing lights scene commences at 01:05.

The Party

The party

This was the first time I created an event on Facebook and it is highly effective because not only does it take out the strain of individually calling up people but it also enables you do see who is most certainly attending, the people who might come and the people who are not attending. So it allows for a rough estimate rather than playing with luck and waiting to see who turns up. This allowed for a prediction of how much alcohol/cups to purchase.

I made a clear distinction allowing the viewer to see that is is a 'Media music video (drinkup/party).' With the drinkup/party being in brackets allowing for guests to clearly see it is essentially for my media work. Currently we have 22 guests attending out of a possible 94, which is perfect. The reason the number of potential guests is so high is because I do not wish to rely on for instance 30 people to come to only find out 10 can make it so I invited much more people to balance out the average of who is coming and who will not but to also allow to make enough guests for a party scene both male and female.

'Yo! basically for my media we need to shoot a music video, and we wish to shoot a house party/drink up. Long story short, come my house get waved and what not, boogie and smile for the camera. Please note* Dress accordingly; not too casual. We want it to be as authentic as possible so come in the gear you would usually wear to a rave/party and yeah nothing much more to say, hope yous can come.

the nearest tube station is HAGGERSTON which is located at the back of my house. An alternative is LIVERPOOL STREET and upon arriving you can get the 149 or 242 to DOWNHAM ROAD/HAGGERSTON STATION. This also includes if you are coming from North london, you can get a 243,149 and 67; getting off at DOWNHAM ROAD/HAGGERSTON STATION also. the 236 stops right outside my house and this is by far the easiest way to get to mine so if you live near one hop on it and get it to Brownlow Road. SIMPLES

Almost forgot! Drink will be there but we are not a distillery, please bring drinks too. If you don't, you may be utterly sober and we don't want that, ya dig?

2594ce16'

Shown above is the more info section regarding more detail. Guests are once again reminded that this is a music video for my media studies and I begin specifying how to interact when at the party, trying to get across that they should be loosened up and enjoy it like any other party... only with a camera. Details on how to get to my house is mandatory and is scripted in the second paragraph with a series of different routes for people coming from all over town. Finally I let the guests know that alcohol will be present but it is on a first come first serve basis and I tried not emphasize on the fact that people should bring their own as it may discourage them but I reinforced it by saying they may be 'utterly sober' so this hopefully got my message across.

A big bottle of Jack Daniels is the profile picture because it instantly connotes to the audience what is going on. I chose to use a broadly acclaimed brand so the viewers know what they should expect and generally speaking, from most college parties I have attended this seems to be the drink of choice including Smirnoff and E&J (most likely due to the flexible prices). I assigned my fellow group members as admins allowing them to edit the profile and invite the guests they wished to bring along.

Planning for music video: Motif idea

We came up with the idea that we should have a motif in our music video. A motif is something that keeps appearing throughout the video. Our motif will be E&J bottle.

The bottle will keep appearing in shots whether its in the artists hands or somewhere in the background but still visible.

Planning for music video: creating a schedule

Here is a Schedule we have made which shows what day, what time and also where we will be filming.

By making this schedule we will know if we are keeping up to date and will finish on time as planned.

Location	Date	Time
Queensbridge road	30/10/11	8:00am
Haggerston park	30/10/11	8:30am
Brick Lane	30/10/11	9:00am
City Road Basin	04/10/11	5:00pm
Barbican	04/10/11	5:30pm
Gants hill	29/09/11	8:00pm

Making an event for video shoot

Planning for music video

As we are planning to shoot a party scene , we need to have a party (this Saturday), invite people and film it! In order to make people aware of the event we are creating, we have made an 'events page' on the social networking site Facebook, and we have invited friends from our Facebook to this page. Below are screens shots.

 Below is a close up of the information that we included. It explains briefly what the purpose of our party is and all other important information the guests need to know. Also where it says 'created by', me and the others in my gorup have tagged our names here to show that we are in charge of the event.

We aleady have 18 people that have confirmed on the events page that they are coming, so we just hope the number grows before Saturday !

Locations

Locations 

My first time using a prezi, and here it is;

Copy of Locations prezi on Prezi

Apparel for music video

Apparel for music video

 From the detailed analysis of the electro pop music videos it was clearly evident that sunglasses were an unusual convention to the genre, coming up at least once in most of the music videos I had viewed. So in our music video we will also incorporate this by having our artist wear a pair for a cool, authentic electro pop feel.

In addition to the sunglasses I have chosen to dress our artist Nathan Miller (me) in a casual outfit wearing black trousers, dark trainers, a slim fit shirt and tie and possibly a blazer. This apparel not only symbolises a sophisticated look but also radiates the "going out" look. In particular, down to the fact that I will be purchasing the shirt and tie, so everything will be crisp and new. I will not be shaving for a week for this role. To make me seem older but to also add to the wake up hangover feel, allowing the audience to see it was a rough night. 

Planning for video: Editing and Lighting influence

Here is a clip from the video ‘I almost told you I loved you’ from Papa Roach showing how effective the lighting and editing is to a music video.

You can see that the lighting is key as it causes a dark effect showing that the music more sinful which links to the lyrics.

The mise-en-scene in this video is key, the people in the video are in dark clothes, mostly black which adds to the dark/sinful effect.

The editing has a fast pace to it as well as having many jump cuts. Also the camera is always on the move keeping its fast pace.

The editing that caught my eye was used at 0:19. The camera goes through the people cutting to the singer. You can see also that when the singer walks backwards the camera keeps on tracking him showing his the centre of attention.

Risk assessment

Planning for music video

When we begin filming, there are some precautions we need to consider, as filming could get dangerous sometimes and we are aware that we need to make sure any equipment does not get damaged or stolen. I have created a Prezi below pointing our the precautions we will follow. 

Risk Assessment.. the precautions we need to take on Prezi