Day 3 - 27th November 2013

Today, we were able to get our main girl to come and do some filming for us. Cally, Becky and I first set up the bathroom with the lights to start filming the scenes with our main girl in the bath. We dressed our model up and did her hair and makeup and then placed her in the bath and took a lot of pictures of how we set up and the filming. Once we did enough different shot of the filming, we got our girl out of the bath and decided to do another scene of our main girl up against a plain white wall with her hair wet to make it look mysterious. 

Drawings of Storyboard

These drawings will help illustrate our key ideas and our clear timeline for when each scene will be placed. This sequence will ensure the planning is precise and consistent in order to create our video quickly and easily as we will have planned each sequence clearly. 

This story board illustrates the first set of scenes; the first 5 drawings are the scenes that will be repeated when the bridge repeats in the song. The other sequences will only feature in the video once as they relate to the lyrics that only occur once. We decided to have some shots repeat as it shows how it is a vicious cycle for him in his depressed alcohol state. We will change some of the shots in terms of the model that will be focused on however they will be similar messages and the footage will all relate.

These scenes will only feature once in the song as they are for the verse. These shots are to highlight his state of mind as he is in a room full of people yet doesn’t appear to be happy or joining in. By using him walking alone it highlights his isolation which is reinforced by his behaviour at the party. We chose to have the boy in the bath then cut to the girl in the bath to highlight the fact she is always on his mind and that she is possible the reason for his depression and alcohol abuse. This is created as whenever he is shown to be depressed we show a clip of the girl which then flips back to the clip of the alcohol and the boy. This shows how the girl is the cause for his drinking and his depression as her clips are followed by these shots. 

The bridge is what we are repeating which is drawn above. We will then have shots of burning photos to show his anger towards the past and his resentment towards how he feels because of this girl. We will then have them in the bath but focus in on their hands as they grip the side of the bath as if scared. This will be followed by a shot of the girl to show how he is gripping the bath due to thinking about her. She then grips the bath to hint to fear to question why she is no longer around as she is clearly scared about something. This something could be the reason for her never featuring in the video apart from in the boys memories. 

The last scenes will be from the bridge this is when the scenes are repeated as they are highlighting his addiction, the reason for his addiction, the way it is affecting him and the hint towards the repetition as the clock is shown throughout at different times. The video will end on a recording of the main girl fading out, this will hint towards her being dead or no longer in contact with the boy. The fact it ends on her highlights how it will never end in his mind as she is the reason for his drinking and she is the shot the video ends on.

Day 2 - 20th November 2013

For our filming today, we tried to get our main girl to do some filming done for us, but she was unable to come. Therefore, we had to film other parts of our video that we did not need a model for. Cally, Becky and I starting filming the scene with the phone in the dark room receiving messages from his mum saying ‘I’m worried about you and then a message from a friend saying ‘You coming out tonight bring drink!’. We also took practice shots of the coloured gels and lighting to see what kind of mood the lights would set that would make it perfect mood setting for the scene with our main boy in.

Mise en Scene in our video

Mise-en-scene in our video:

Our costume hair, make-up and props verse by verse:

“Pour up (drank), head shot (drank), sit down (drank), stand up (drank), pass out (drank), wake up (drank), faded (drank), faded (drank)”  - repeated bridge

There will be one male character in a dark room for this part of the video, the costume will be dependent on the race of the model as if we use a white boy we would like him in black, however, if we use a black boy we want him in all white. The outfit will consist of jeans, a t shirt and trainers all in the same colour. The make up for the boy will be very natural and may only consist of some concealer or foundation in order to even out the skin. Hair will be left natural as it is a boy there is not much we can do here. Props that will be used in this scene will be a bottle of alcohol, a glass and a clock on a bedside table.

Verse 1:

Character 1 – small child will be dressed in young clothes and holding a teddy bear

Character 2 – the main boy will be dressed as he was in the previous scene, keeping it                     

consistent but then in the party scene dressed in black instead of white clothes (either way) with a chain and looking less sheepish, hair will be styled instead of natural to show he has got ready for this party.

Extras (party people) – girls will be in dresses and will have dramatic make up such as smoky eyes and red lips in order to show they have made an effort for the party, boys will be dressed smartly but natural make up for boys

Props – props in this verse will change frequently as there are many different scenes. We will use a teddy bear for the child to suggest the innocence then at the party we are going for a red theme as we are using a red gel over the camera lens so we have red cups and red fairy lights.

Chorus:

Character 1: main boy walking into the party with his friends in what he was wearing previously, the chain with the black clothes

Character 2: the main girl appears in a bath she will have a bare face no make-up and will be naked in the bath but appears out of the bath with her hair soaked along her back and this will be what we video.

Character 3+4: two girls in Baywatch outfits he is visioning as the main girl as though everyone is her, they will have a lot of make-up such as foundation, blusher, bronzer and eye shadow wearing a red leotard (famous from Baywatch) and hair long and down as they run, as if blowing in the wind

Bridge repeats

Verse 2:

Character 1: Close up of the main boy so he needs to have even skin which could require minimal make-up such as foundation and concealer, but very natural so that you cannot see it

Props: This scene focuses more on the mind of the male and is a very dark scene, his conscience talking to him warning him props used will be a doorway using a dark room and just light coming through then the use of a phone as he gets messages through, this is a very minimalistic scene as everything is very zoomed in and closed off and close up as he thinks everything through.

Repeat of Chorus

Bridge Repeats

 - End -

Camera Angle Research

In my music video, I will use a variety of camera angles and shot types to portray the correct image to my audience, allowing them to understand and relate to the video. Some of the shot types I will use include:

·         -   Long shots

·         -  Establishing shots

·         -  Close ups

·         -  Medium shots

·         -  Extreme close ups

·         -  Slow motion shots

A motif that I am looking to use in my video is to include a slow motion and moving shot (running shot) in my work. Using these types of techniques will mean that my video will look more professional and will use diverse shooting techniques. The slow motion shot will take place at the party where the camera will be travelling through the crowd and everyone will be moving slowly. The running shot will be of the girl that is the figure of his imagination running down an empty corridor.

Examples of camera angles in existing music videos:

 At one point of the music video we will see the mystery female come up from the bath and grab the sides for this we will use a medium long shot from behind so that we can see the whole back of her but also close enough to see the details such as the hands clasping onto the sides.

This video uses a close up shot of burning paper which we assume is a letter, in my video I am going to be using the same technique where our main boy is burning photographs of him and the mystery girl, the close up will allow us to see the brightness of the fire clearly and the photograph burning away, the fire will represent the anger and the brightness of the flame will contrast with the black, dark background creating intensity within the video.



This video uses close up camera angles, which is one we would like to use when we are focusing on the main boy in the second verse and on the bridge. This highlights the features of the face and can highlight the emotion really well which is fitting for our video as we want to show his distress. The face on close up used of Trey Songz is one we want to use in our video as you can really focus your attention on the character, it will give the video a personal feel which will add emotion to the video as the audience will hopefully see the pain of our main character and start to feel for him.

 We also want to use a mid shot when we video the enigma, when videoing Lily we need to make sure we have the perfect mid shot, for example here we see up to the characters knees as she runs towards us and the rest of her is cut off by the darkness, this keeps the mysterious feel in the video with the contrast of dark and light which is exactly what we want to depict in our video.

A low angle shot is also going to be used, we want to have a shot of bottles falling to the floor in the empty room but also in the party scene we will have someone videoing at floor level and show cups dropping and feet and people moving and dancing, this will show the busyness of the world around him, everyone moving and the party going on but then the camera will go up to him and show him still and not enjoying himself amongst the crowd. Although this picture is not of the same scene we use it shows floor level camera angles clearly.

    The final camera angle that we will use will be a point of view shot, in the party his friends will be 'cheersing' and pouring drinks, we will show this through his eyes to show him not being involved and everyone enjoying themselves, apart from him.

Running Scene First Draft - First Shoot

The first 23 second of our music video starts off silent, then creepy, mysterious music begins. Therefore, we decided that we are going to have our enigma running mysteriously, this is the first draft of what we imagine it would look like.


How it was put together

The Results from our First Filming Session

These print screens show the main features of this scene while also showing how it has been produced and put together in Serif MoviePlus. The scene is made up of many different shots that quickly change from one another. This gives an erratic effect to a scene that is meant to be confusing and scary. 



The very first scene of our video starts with our female model (Lily) running towards the camera. We use two separate camera angles as we filmed with two cameras. This allows us to flip back and forth to different angles which are a common feature in music videos. This quick changing pace between each shot relates to our message and tone as it makes the video appear erratic. These changing angles and shots work well as they highlight her fear and introduce her into the video in a way that could explain why she only appears in his memories. 




This shot has been added to show her turning back in a panic, these set of shots work well together as the tone is dark and mysterious which is complimented by the lighting. The shots are slow motion however the angles and shots change at a quick pace which makes it successfully erratic, the slow motion is commonly used for footage which is meant to be from the past, the slow motion commonly highlights something bad or memorable happening. This is important as this first clip is meant to be memorable as it introduces why she could be an enigma. 




The music has been added which means the start is silence at first and then it begins with a slow instrumental before the lyrics. The running scene lasts for the whole instrumental and then the shot changes when the lyrics start. This is to indicate that the artist’s lyrics and the shots of the male model are as a result of the beginning footage of the girl. 

Running Scene Research

at the beginning of the video, we have a scene where the enigma of the girl is running. we leave the audience questioning f she is being chased, we wanted the audience to question her presence as they should do throughout the video as the story behind her is never fully explained.

When researching the running scenes, i came across this clip from Bad Blood. Throughout the clip, you can clearly see that the mail girl is frightened, the audience is left confused as to what she is running away from, this was the type of atmosphere the we wanted to create.

How the running is made to look mysterious...

They've framed her with the lighting and a medium, long distance shot, you can make the assumption that they've created the mysterious effect by also using a smoke machine and lamps in order to create this feeling. in the clip she is running away from the light towards the camera.

Again, she is running away from the light, but this time the light catches her silhouette creating this dark and doom effect.

Here they've shown the fear in her face using a close up shot. she has been placed at the corner of the screen, maybe to show that she is vulnerable, in danger and alone. The light has been placed above her, coming from the corner (maybe to re-create moonlight), you can just about make out her expressions, but shadows on her face have still been created maybe to re-iterate the spookiness if the scene. Throughout this video, it is clear that the lighting is very controlled.

Lighting Research into our Model's Scenes

The lighting for our video will vary as our models are a variety of race. Our research helps us determine how to use the lighting in order to create the right tone yet also capture the model correctly. There is a blue tone to this video which promotes his feelings as it appears dark and dismal, this emotion is enhanced by his gestures and the close up of his head in his hands. We will do something similar to this when we create his conscience in a scene, he will use his hands and facial expression to create the tone as he will shut his eyes and drop his head in his hands. We will also experiment with a blue gel over the lens of the camera to create a similar effect as our research. The blue tint will be minimal as the room will be dark as we will control the lighting to highlight certain areas, therefore the black and slightly blue areas will create a cold tone that reflects his depression and his reflective mood.

These shots in the same video use a red tint this is a stark contrast to the blue tint that comes before these scenes. The colour red is brought in through the lighting, the colour alcohol and the red cups. This makes the scenes appear quite ominous as red is related to danger and sinister moods. We will use red cups in our video as a lot of our research uses them in parties, we will have some girls wearing red and we will use a red gel over one of the cameras to get footage with a red tint as well as normal footage from the other cameras. As it will be a party in a dark room the light source will be minimal with only fairy lights hanging up therefore the red tint won’t be too overpowering it will be seen the most on skin which is similar to the footage in our research.

This video brings the red in by using a red light in the corner when it is mostly blue, the red scene then appears as if the reason he is feeling down, emphasized by the blue light, is because of the scenes emphasized by the red light. We will create something similar as our message is blaming the party and his drinking for our models depressive state therefore we will practice using torches that have a red gel around them to determine whether we can create a slight red light to ease the red scenes into the video in a way that will relate. 

we will use footage that is created by our models mind therefore we need to highlight this so that people are aware this is a fabrication of his mind. We are using a girl similar to this video and we are using a boy that can’t stop thinking about her. Therefore our plan and this video has a lot of related footage that we can take ideas from.

This woman is shown in white and it is blurred to show a fuzzy image to emphasize what he’s seeing isn’t real. The man that thinks he is seeing this woman turns quickly and uses his facial features to show disbelief as he is aware what he’s seeing isn’t real. This will be similar to our video as the girl will never be in it properly therefore people can question her existence and whether she is dead or not.

Using this research as inspiration we will blur the footage we use of the girl as it will show her existence is questionable as the picture isn’t as clear as the others. We will put her in clothing that doesn’t suit the rest of the footage such as a white dress when she is in the bath and school uniform in the images of her. She will only ever appear when he is seen to be thinking therefore showing how he produces her with his thoughts. His facial features when he thinks he sees her at the party will show disbelief as if he knows she couldn’t be there, this will ensure the audience is aware of what she is in the video.

This is another video which uses similar methods in the video to incorporate a certain colour that reflects the mood. This is using red in a different way as it is a vibrant red which grabs the audience’s attention. The tone is lively in this video as the bright red is creating a fun atmosphere rather than dangerous. This shows how the brightness of the colours can determine the tone therefore the lighting is crucial in terms of the message we want to convey. This video uses red cups, red lights and red liquor which is all the same as the other video therefore these are common features in music videos that would fit into our own as it will show how our research influenced our video.

These clips highlight how the main person has entered the party, the camera remains still in order to watch him in the crowd to show his popularity and importance within the video. This video uses the camera to capture the back of him walking in, we will do something similar however the camera will be on the front of him as he enters and then the back of him to create an array of shots that capture his entrance from different angles in order to vary them in the editing.


Cally created this research in order to plan how we will film our video when it comes to creating shots that are similar to these ones. By researching videos that use a model of the same ethnicity to ours ensures we are aware of how to shoot our model successfully. This lighting research helped us determine that we will use red and blue gels in order to create the sinister mood. As it will be shot in a dark room the colour won’t be bright and bold it will be quite dismal which relates to our message.

Our First Filming Session

During our first filming session we travelled to Bluewater to film our model running down their empty corridors. 

We asked the concierge for permission, however, we got denied therefore we went to the manager’s suite to ask if there was any way we could film in their corridors. They said that no filming will be allowed throughout the months of November and December. This allows us to go back in January to ask again however we needed some footage that would not be restricted by others.

We decided to give up however on the trip back to the car we noticed the car park was well lit therefore we tested some shots.

We had our model running down the car park in between the rows of cars while a car was behind her in the distance which was lighting her from behind. While filming we started creating new ideas as this was not our original plan therefore we was thinking of things while it happened.

We had her running down the car park yet when the car was behind her in the distance we had her turning back quickly as if she is running from the car, this makes the audience questions whether she was in a hit and run or if she was in trouble with some bad people.

We then had a close up of her heavily breathing looking directly into the camera this enhances her fear. By cropping these scenes together it shows how this incident is making her panic. 

We had two cameras on her: Poppy held one camera directly in front of her to have her running towards her. Cally then held a camera at the side which tracks her running so that we can crop together different angles which makes the scene quite erratic like her reason for running.

We will have to re-shoot this scene as we will need it to be a bit lighter as it was a bit too dark. We will also need to use a tripod as the footage was quite shaky. After this session we figured out the camera was not the best quality therefore due to me being a Photography student I have better quality cameras to record with.

Our next plan is to film our model in Bluewater car park once again but have it slightly lighter and use better cameras. However, the positions and the style of running will be kept the same as it successfully portrayed our tone and message.

Emailing the Record Label

This email had to be sent to the record label that produced the song we chose to use for our media as it allows the record label to say no to us using it. By sending this email it ensures we have covered ourselves against any breach of copyright as we have notified them of our task. This is a crucial piece of our planning as it allows us to continue with our planned production as we have proof we consulted the right people within the company.

These images show the email contents as well as the email address Cally sent it to in order to confirm its authenticity and also a close up shot of the email itself to ensure we have proof that we consulted the record label fully in preparation for our music video.

Day 1 - 6th November 2013

Today, we decided to do our filming that involved our main girl running down a corridor for the beginning part of our video. Cally, Marie and I picked up our main girl and went to Bluewater to ask for permission to film in their fire exit hallways. We went to the concierge desk to ask for permission and they said we had to go to the management suit to ask for their permission and so we did. Unfortunately, they did not allow us to film our video where we wanted to so we decided to do our filming outside in the car park. We realised that this would be the best place to do it as it makes it look spookier like we wanted to. We asked our main girl, Lily, to run down the middle of the road while Cally and I filmed her from different angles.

Story Board