Filming: Day 1

Our first day of filming went reasonably smoothly; we planned most of the shots we wanted to get done and added a few more unplanned ones so that we had a good amount of footage to choose from.

There were a number of things that we had to do make sure of before we started the filming:

• The performer brought with two outfits suitable for a music video
• The lighting was set up correctly (we decided to include the lights in the shot to add something different to the shots rather than just having a plain white background
• The camera was placed the right distance from the rest of the set to get the perfect shot
• We placed an X on the ground for the performer to stand on 
• The music was being played over the speakers for the performer to lip sync to
• The monitor was set up so that some of us could see the shot clearly as it was being filmed
• Set up the GoPro camera for the time lapse intro shot

We began the filming with the first shot of the performer standing, singing the introduction. This took several takes to get a successful shot as the performer had not learnt the lyrics as we had asked her too. After a while however, we got a good shot and we were able to move on as the lyrics are the same throughout the song.

We repeated that section of the song a number of times, with the performer in different positions and outfits. We shot the clip from a side view mid shot, side view extreme close up, and straight on extreme close up. We also filmed a shot of the performer sitting on a chair. All of these shots were necessary as it would be boring for the viewer to just see one angle of the performer, and there would not be much to edit. I came up with the idea for the performer to stand in front of the lights, in order to make a silhouette. This shot could be used for the few seconds after the time lapse shot and before the singing starts.

The transition shot between the studio footage and the party footage was in fact rather challenging. We had to decide how we wanted to create filler footage during the build up to the drop in the son. To do this, while maintaining excitement in the video, we turned off all of the lights in the studio simultaneously and turned on a strobe light while our performer was appropriately dancing to the build up. This adheres to the conventions of a house music party video.

The filming went reasonably smoothly, with only minor obstacles to avoid, such as setting the right speed for the strobe light to be captured well on the camera, but other than that it was very successful.

New party location

There is another party coming up in the next few weeks that we have permission to film at, however it is fancy dress. The fancy dress theme does not comply with the theme of the video, although we have made the decision to compromise and film it anyway. We have taken heed of our mistakes from the first party, and mounted a light on the GoPro camera. Hopefully this will give us better results.

Complication with our party footage

We ran into a massive stumbling block in regard to our party scene. Our deadline was fast approaching and the footage we shot at the party came out far too dark without unnatural light. We initially thought that the lights from the party would be enough to illuminate the footage but this was not the case. The entire scene needed to be filmed again.

Luckily there was another party coming up just 2 weeks later which we were able to film at.

I felt that this mistake was very avoidable as it was obvious that a dark room would not have sufficient light to get good shots. When I watched over shots from 'Project X' it is clear that there is a very bright light used to film all the closeups. The GoPro camera has a case which allows you to mount a light on it; we will use this for the next party.

Risk Assessment

There will be a number of potential risks that we must consider when filming our video. These risks are different for our two locations.

Risks in the studio:

• tripping over wires
• spilling drinks on the equipment
• not standing on the infinity wall (it will break - potentially dangerous and expensive)

We will manage these risks by setting some rules for inside the studio:

1. Be careful where you step
2. No drinks allowed near the equipment
3. No one near the infinity wall other than the performer  

Risks at the party:

• slipping on spilt drinks
• people bumping into each other
• drunk people (unlikely to be a risk) 

These risks are harder to manage as they are unpredictable, therefore all we can do is just ensure that all spillages are dealt with and to stay out of the way of other people.

Digipak Research: Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

The digipak for 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' by Kanye West is very unique and interesting to take influence from when creating my own digipak.

This Digipak opens up into four sleeves, each containing something different.

This is a picture of my copy of the digipak fully opened so all the sleeves can be seen. If looked at carefully, these drawings form the name Kanye West- the name of the artist. It is clear that much thought was put into the planning and detailing of this digipak as every small area is covered by some form of art relating to the artist or the album.

When the two outer sleeves are folded inward it can also be seen that it says the title of the album on the left hand side, and the track list on the right hand side - all cleverly drawn in a similar style to the name of the artist above.

The left hand sleeve contains the album booklet containing album credits, lyrics and other pictures. The left centre sleeve contains the five interchangeable album artworks, as can be seen below.

These pieces can be slid into the sleeve, which has a small window from which the artwork that is at the front can be seen.

The two right hand sleeves are used to contain the CD and the 30 minute 'Runaway' music video DVD.

This digipak is very interesting conceptually, however I could not create something like this myself for my digipak as I do not have several items that would take up several sleeves worth of space. However, the idea for an interchangeable cover is one that I may use for inspiration.

Online survey results

We used an online survey creator called Survey Monkey to compile a survey to ask people questions about music videos in the house genre, which we then posted on Facebook and Twitter for people to see.

These are the results:

This research was not particularly successful as people did not take it seriously. However we did get some good responses

Party Location

We are intending on filming the party scene at our friends birthday party as there will be many people dancing in a small space which will give a similar effect to that of our inspiration party film 'Project X'.
For this we intend on using lots of close up shots of peoples faces and group shots of people dancing. This will help us create the right image for a house music video.
We also want to film some shots of the DJ as this is typical of a house music video. We are aware that this will be time consuming so we will take turns walking around with the GoPro throughout the evening.

GoPro Hero 2

We are using a GoPro Hero 2 camera to film both the time lapse shot and the party scene.

The GoPro has a setting which takes a picture every few seconds (you can set how many seconds this is) which we will use as a time lapse of us setting up to the end of our filming. This time lapse shot will be at the beginning of our video for the into of the song until the melody comes in. We thought this was a unique way of filling the intro gap.

The GoPro is a small camera that can be mounted on objects (helmets for extreme sports etc...) or carried in your hand.

We will also use it to film the party scene in a similar way to the film 'Project X'.

Complication with our location

Unfortunately we are unable to film at the warehouse as the owners objected to us filming on Saturdays as they are practicing Jews and Saturday is the sabbath. They also said that the were unwilling to have an A Level project filmed there as it is a professional location. We found this to be strange as our peers had filmed there the previous year, however there was not much we could do about it.

Considering the fact that we were nearing our filming deadline we had to find a location quickly. A member of my group's father owns a studio near where we live, which we could possibly use to replace the warehouse, but it would not be large enough for the party scene to be filmed there. Hopefully this location will be fine and we will be able to film there within the next few days.

Location

When looking for a location, we set our minds on a warehouse setting for the first half of the video. We were aware that another group of students from our school had used a warehouse for their AS Level Thriller, so we inquired about their location. It is about 20 minutes away from all of our homes, and is owned by the grandfather of a student in the parallel media class. We acquired the relevant number to arrange a visit, during which we took a number of pictures to see what the location would look like on camera.

This location is only for the circular tracking shot and the time lapse.

Choosing a performer

When considering girls to be the performer in our video, there is certain criteria that must be met:

• She must be comfortable and confident in front of a camera
• She must have the right appearance to be a pop singer
• She must be within a certain age bracket

We were aware that it would be difficult for us to gauge whether or not people would be good in front of a camera without actually seeing them in action. We found a girl called Jessy Barnett that was within the right age bracket, had the right appearance, and had just left Sylvia Young Theatre School. We felt it was our best bet to go choose her as she was experienced in performing arts and is likely to look good for the camera.

Here are some pictures of her: