Studio Session 5 - Footage Review

After our final shoot, we reviewed the footage; which was predominantly promotional shots in the different outfits and with different props, as well as a couple of reshoots.

We realised that we were now completely ready for the edit- with multiple good takes for each shot, as well as a variety of many new promo shots. However, on closer inspection, we noticed that due to an unintended  change in lighting in the studio, some of the new promo shots were not as clear as ones previously shot.

However this was not a problem, as the video footage we shot was not affected, and we also managed to get a variety of new styles of promotional shots-for example using headphones as props to replicate a professional studio setting.

Studio Session 4 - Footage Review

By this shoot, we had become really familiar with the lighting and control desk, this is visible in the shots, as on screen, it is clear that the lighting is well focused on the subjects, differing between shot angles, and group shots.

We also realised when viewing the shots on screen, the focus on the extreme close ups was much more clear, improving the look of the entire video, and revealing the minute detail of the artists facial paints and Vivian's Headdress.

Better lighting and  focus

More attention to detail e.g. hand, necklace and tribal dots

Clearer, stronger shots of the artists together

Altogether, in review, we can confirm that we now have all shots needed for the video, however, there are  minor slips in a couple of shots, but we still have another shoot day, therefore plenty of time for pickups, any remaining studio time we have at the end of the last session shall be used for promo shots, using slow shutter and lighting.

Studio Session 3- Footage Review

We are really happy with the shots from todays shoot, we focused mainly on the black shots, and although they looked good on camera, we faced a problem due to the fact that the floor is not black so we cannot replicate the long shots on white. We have decided we will make up for this by including more obscure angles on black, only filming above the waist and close ups, to avoid revealing the floor.

We also noticed that due to the black background, the shots were not as clear or bright as when shooting on white, although this was not a major problem, as it could be rectified during grading, we shall ensure this doesn't happen again by increasing the intensity and focusing the beams on the individuals during black shots.

Yet we were able to see the new accessories on screen for the first time, and were impressed by the strong visual effect they had- they worked well with the plain black background to present the alternative artist image.

Studio Session 2 - Footage Review

After this shoot, we had completed a large section of the studio footage, so were able to create a more complete first draft of the edit- shown below:



In review of the edit, we were very happy with the overall look of the video, and the transition from actual studio footage to the VHS narrative, as it clearly made sense as to who the artist was.However, we noticed some things that we must change- the first being that we had turned up the intensity of lighting too high on the studio shots- bleaching out Josh too much. We realised that next time we must lower it for those shots.

Too much light on Josh

We also noticed that for Vivian's shots, especially the close and extreme close ups, there was a lack of light on her face, causing a reduction in focus and quality of the footage. In order to prevent this next time, we shall adjust the lighting so that it is more intense and specifically on the subjects.

Overall the shoot was a general success as we were able to apply ourselves as a team to get all shots taken multiple time without running out of time, and left time afterwards to take studio promo shots- we were also organised with costume and make up and made sure that Josh and Vivian looked good on camera. However, we noticed that the shots in studio got quite dull at points, so will purchase more accessories for the duo to wear such as a headdress and  necklace to draw more attention to them.

Studio Session 1 - Footage Review

After importing the footage from our first shoot, (test shoot), we were able to put some of it onto a timeline with the VHS footage previously captured in order to see what the two types of footage looked like in transition, snapping to the beat as we planned.

The video can be seen here:

As we only had the long shot in the studio to use, there is not much to see, and it is clear that in order for the style to work, there must be a variety of camera angles and more frequent cuts between narrative and studio shots in order to keep the audience entertained. We will bare this in mind on our next shoot and create a new shoot board with more variations. 

Altogether, the footage has given me confidence in our plans, and I feel that with more time and concentration on specific shots, the style will work well. Also. we feel that the transition to VHS is not as bad as we expected= with the change in video dimensions and the black bars creating a clear representation of the camera/ time change.

Production & Rehearsals evidence

After finalising our shoot schedules, we spent time in the studio in order to set up the correct lighting, adjusting and focusing the lights in the correct positions for our shoot. In the sound and lighting booth, we used the zero-88 lighting console to adjust and create specific pre-sets to ensure continuity and easier set-up when returning to the studio.

Me coordinating sound & lighting during the first shoot

 Whilst preparing in the studio, we also set up a simple HD camera on a tripod so that after trialling each lighting pre-set, we could play it back on the camera display to ensure that it looked professional and was thee look we wanted to achieve- highlighting both sbjects in the shot.

Seb Taking control of the camera

This experience also gave us a chance to gain a sense of the space we were working with in the studio- we noticed that on camera, the lighting made the actors look much closer together, and as a result, we adjusted the spacing of the set.

Lighting Test

By conducting a lighting test, we were able to both experiment with different lighting styles- altering colour and intensity to see which matched the artist aesthetic best, as well as seeing how the artists appeared on Camera, and on the big screen.




After reviewing our footage from the lighting test that we wanted to retain the artistic feel of the video by keeping a minimalist black and white theme- using intense clear lighting for the white shots, and dimmer warmer focused spotlights for the black shots.

Production Meeting - 29/09/2014

Development

-After a meeting with our teachers, we were advised to find a more up-tempo and suitable track, and as a result, we scrapped all of our original song ideas and settled with The XX - 'Heart Skipped a Beat' taken from the Alterntive Artist's self titled debut album (2009).

- We realised that this track was more suitable to the task in many ways;

             - It has no official video
             - It enables us to include the new video ideas we have been developing
             - Although it is over 3 minutes, its repetitive beat will make it easy to crop


W made no major developments in deciding our Record Label or Artist, but decided on the record label name Red Pigeon Records-  based in London and a subsidiary of XL, they are specialised around alternative and electronic British artists.

We also managed to refine and develop  primary secondary and tertiary audiences.

Primary : Electronic/Alternative music fans aged 14+

Secondary:  Late teens/early twenties

Tertiary: Late 30s / Early 40s

Production meeting 1- 22/09/2014

Within our first group meeting, we came together to firstly introduce our ideas to one another, as well as deciding on the four key concepts: a shortlist of tracks for the video, a record label, an audience, and an artist.

Firstly, we listed our preferences for the song, settling upon the following 3:

1) Ghostpoet - 'Cash and Carry Me Home' (2010 Brownswood recordings)

2) Glass Animals- Holiest

3) Spooky Black - Without You

However, after review we decided that 'Holiest' Lacked vocals to work with, and 'Without You' was too slow to produce an effective, entertaining video with- we settled with 'Cash and carry me home', awaiting confirmation from our teachers.

Possible video ideas for 'Cash and carry me home':

- Narrative of many people of different races lipsynching on their night out

- Using a Go-pro to create a strange first-person style

-Breaking the fourth wall to engage the audience ( similar to videos eg. White lies- Bigger than us)

 Record Label

-We all agreed that the artist should be British  and signed to a british indie label such as young Turks 

-We also felt tat this label could be an off-stem of the multinational XL recordings, particularly based in London

Audience

- Our primary audience is those in their late teens/ early twenties

- The audience would most likely be british, with a large proportion from London and surronding areasable to connect with the urban artist.


 We then decided that we should set u a pinterest ( online image board) to host pictures of our target audience and what we aim for our artist to represent.

Artist

- As our chosen song is by a solo male artist, we will most probably use Seb as the artist as he best matches the voice, with others as the extra lip syncers.

We plan to research our artist identity and bring ideas to the next meeting after our teachers have made a decision on the track.

Production meeting 2: 24/09/2014

Taking the advice of our teachers, we decided that using 'Cash and carry me home' would be impractical due to the fact that the vocals are rather distinct- a deep black male voice- therefore rather than trying t fond someone to fit the role, we should choose a song which we can utilise the abilities of our group with.

We made a new initial shortlist of 2 tracks:

1)Glass Animals - Holiest

2) FKA Twigs - Video Girl





FKA TWIGS- Video Girl

-No official video
-We thought up some really creative studio based concepts for this song
-However, slow tempo and lack of change makes it harder to make an engaging video

After disregarding both of these, due to their slow tempos, we created a second shortlist of more upbeat, narrative songs:

1) Basement Jaxx – Good Luck 
2)The xx – Heart Skipped A Beat

3) Little Dragon – Klapp Klapp

4) Bad Idea – AlunaGeorge

5) DJ Fresh – Gold Dust

-

In the end we opted for number 2- The XX- Heart skipped a beat, due to a few distinguishing factors:

- Simple narrative lyrics, not too slow or fast
-Possibility of male female duet
-Obvious storyline
- NO official video

Our initial structure:

- Based on studio shot footage of white male black female duet artists singing to one another in studio- (lip-sync) reflecting the somber mood of the song and introducing the alternative debut artists.

- Also use of archive footage to present a second narrative of a couple's relationship- following from early stages through to a possible eventful break-up.

-Possible use of lyrics such as "sometimes i still need you" reflected through both narratives- as we see one couple fall apart we see the artists come closer together again.

-However, the song has an excessively long opening which we must cut down if using it in rder to stay within the three minute cut-off point.

Next meeting we will focus on both adjusting the target audience to for the new artist, decide on their name, and create a suitable record label to sign them to.

Production meeting - 13.10/2014

In this meeting, we focused on the storyboard, animatic, publicity shots and flat plans.

Animatic

- As our storyboard was now complete, we used its structure to begin to compile an animatic- a timeline of images over our cut down 2:57 track
- We used this as a template to then contrast the archive (VHS) footage we had already shot with the music, and after adjusting minor issues such as the placement of the climax in time with the musical climax, our narrative was finalised.
- The scenarios are listed below:

1)Party  -Laughing/Dancing/Drinking/ First Kiss

 2)Happy Relationship  -At the park/ At home messing around/ On the street walking together/ Brithday celebrations smiling and laughing/ Days out in iconic London Locations/ Shopping

3)Relationship Breakdown  -Same locations as before, just not quite the same feeling of happiness -Louis uninterested, pushes Gina away -Small aruments and Louis goes off with his friends

4)Breakup  - Louis Dumps Gina- she is crying, shouting and leaves the room - She begins to throw stuff at him (his belongings) _ Louis slams the front door as he leaves - Closing shot of Gina crying on her bed

Animatic

- As our storyboard was now complete, we used its structure to begin to compile an animatic- a timeline of images over our cut down 2:57 track
- We used this as a template to then contrast the archive (VHS) footage we had already shot with the music, and after adjusting minor issues such as the placement of the climax in time with the musical climax, our narrative was finalised.

Progress

- We now have a first draft for or stdio shootboard, although we are aware that this will most likely change after the group animatic review with our teacher

- Also, now that we know which location/ archive shots we need, we must work out when and where we shall shoot them- meaning that recces should be done soon

- Promo shots planned and some sketches/ mockups created, but should be developed before the shoot days.

- Started Album Cover flat plans- set up wix.com page and have started designing, as well as creating graphics on photoshop

- Screenshots need to be taken to record progress in designing the site and for later reference

- Designs shortlist cut down to 2 final ideas- same shot and location but minor costume/ stylistic variations. However, we are still contemplating other ideas, so shall create more detailed mockups on photoshop and take a second look