Day two of filming

Today we worked on the introduction to our music video. For this particular scene we did not have to go on location which made it a lot easier for us to pick up anything that we forgot from the media department or to charge anything that died while filming. Luckily this did not happen to us :)

We used the dark room in the art department for this scene as we planned to play around with lights and shadows to make the introduction interesting. At times this was a bit hard as the dark room was not built for filming and as such did not have enough space for us to move the camera around much, however we worked around that flaw and were able to capture some great footage!

Before filming we were told by the art teachers that the professional lights in the dark room were not to be used as some students broke on of them beforehand. Because of this a considerable amount of our plan was hindered. We overcame this by using silhouettes of writing from projector paper to create interesting shots. Yes, I did feel that the coloured lights would've made a great introduction but I am pleased with what we have come up with in the limited amount of time we had to recreate a vital point in our music video.

Furthermore, while filming we were able to shoot some more cut aways in case we needed to fill up any spaces in the video. All in all I think that today’s filming went really well! We got a lot of it out of the way and we can now focus on the more complicated scenes and that will form the middle of the song.

What I've been listening to...11/12/11

Battles- Ice Cream

Zulu Winter - Never Leave

The Stone Roses - I Wanna Be Adored

Practise Shot - Mirrors

Here is a practise video of using mirror angles. Here Almaz is looking into the camera and we are trying to see what type of angles allow us to get different shots without the camera being in the reflection. We found doing test shots very helpful in realising if ideas are practical or not. In this case we found that doing mirror shots will be doable and will not cause any problems during filming. Furthermore, by using mirrors we can create interesting light effects.

UNFINISHED...

First day of filming

On the 9^th of December my group and I went to Wimbledon Common to film parts of our music video. We used our time wisely and shoot all of the scenes that will be used in the forest location at one time, so we would not be running back and forth to capture shots which would probably be different as the natural light would be different. We filmed at around 2.30 to 4 so during filming we were able to capture a beautiful sunset that allowed us to film silhouettes of the trees. Personally I found that the whole filming experience that day went very well, we go all of our shots done in good time and we are now ready to move onto the next location and continue shooting our music video. On the other hand, the only bad thing was the temperature! As it got later the temperature plummeted and we were all half frozen, until we wrapped ourselves around a Starbucks coffee. Wimbledon Common offered some lovely wildlife and horse riders too, we attempted to capture some riders for cut aways but fear of provoking the horses stopped us, in case of an accident.

For the filming we used one of the school cameras with a tripod which proved to work well for tracking and panning. However, while documenting our filming with Iva’s iphone4 we found that the camera on her phone was of incredibly high quality, even more so than the school cameras. Because of this we decided to use both and see if we could incorporate them into the music video together. The only downside to using both types would be the difference in quality of screen creating an amateur look to the music video. Nonetheless, on our next venture into the cold wilderness to film we will use both and if we are able to stabilize her phone properly, we see no reason as to not use her camera for the whole thing!

Artist infomation

Sarah Blasko is an Australian singer-songwriter born in Sydney, New South Wales on the 23rd September 1976.  In the 90's she fronted the band Acquiesce however in 2002 broke away and developed her solo career. Her first album was released in 2004 as 'The Overture & the Underscore'. In 2006 she released her second album 'What the Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have' which reached number 7 in the Australian charts. In 2009 she released her latest album 'As Day Follows Night', unlike her first two albums this was recorded in Sweden by Bjorn Yttling from Peter, Bjorn and John. "We Wont Run" made the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2009 and came in at a respectable 28. over the 9 years as a solo artist Sarah has been nominated for 13 awards and won two out of the lot. Best Pop release in 2007 for 'What The Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have' and in 2009 Best Female Artist for 'As Day Follows Night'.

Location one - Wimbledon Common

For our fist location we have chosen Wimbledon Common in Wimbledon Village. It is a local park that is vast in size and harbors a variety of beautiful trees and wildlife. The deeper you go into the forest the more magical the surroundings look. Wimbledon common is often used for horse riding lesson so it is more than likely that we will see horses around while we are filming, could we incorporate this into our final piece? Furthermore, people walk dogs all the time there are foxes and even deer have been known to live in it. We will be commencing filming at Wimbledon Common tomorrow for our outside shots. Tomorrows weather forecast was set to be mild for December, around 5 degrees which will be good to film in. It wont be raining at all tomorrow and their will be constant clouds so no chance of change in lighting while filming. All in all tomorrow is set to be a good first day of filming!

Costume plan

For the costumes ideas my group and I have been looking at our initial themes and ideas to generate ideas. Words such as ‘wool’, ‘warm tones’, ‘autumn’ and ‘earthy’ have inspired the costumes that we will use. Here are a few images that are similar to the items that we will be using such as the winter duffle coat.

Contacting Sarah Blasko

We have attempted to contact Sarah Blasko in order to get her permission to use her song for our music video. Here is the evidence that we have attempted this. We used the social networking site Twitter to message her and we will also be using Facebook and other networking sites to do the same thing. While using Twitter we faced some difficulty with composing a message. Unlike Facebook you have a limit to how many characters you use, so we have to make 3 different messages to compose a decent length message for her.

Stars persona influence

Our stars image for your music video has been inspired and influenced from a range of British pop folk artists. Predominantly from the likes of Laura Marling, the runner up for the song choice, her soft earthy look is similar to what I believe we want to produce for our singer. Laura wears little make up and when she does its natural looking and elegantly applied. Additionally, we have looked at Florence Welch from Florence and the Machine as another person to take influence from. Unlike Laura’s simple and minimalistic look; Florence incorporates a vaster range of colours and a wider range of textures to her image. Despite their differences we have used these two because they both have the authentic ‘British look’ (maybe because they are British…), and they both embody the stars image that we will strive to achieve. In the case of Florence we will take her glamorous looks however tone them down to make them more subtle and approachable. 

Other than artist I have looked at Audrey Hepburn as a style influencer. Her prim, feminine image, predominantly her eye makeup and iconic eyebrows could be incorporated into our stars makeup, possible statement eyeliner such as Audrey’s. 

planning group availability

Lyrics Analysis

We Won't Run - Sarah Blasko

Pages turning,

lights are burning,

see what you could not see.

As plain as the day,

the night makes you pay,

for what was hidden underneath.

Longing to leave,

but begging to feel,

that something will make you stay.

You gotta believe,

that this all leads,

to somewhere we've never been.

We won't run,

we can fight,

all that keeps us up at night.

There is far,

to go now,

let's not waste a minute more,

in denial.

But I always thought,

you knew yourself,

better than anyone.

But the season was lost,

when you started listening,

to everyone else.

Cast in this devil,

I've got the metal,

the means to make things right.

Tired of guilt,

tired of being sorry,

haven't we suffered enough?

We won't run,

we can fight,

all that keeps us up at night.

There is far, x2

to go now,

let's not waste a minute more.

But oh,

that our eyes, x4

will be open.

We won't run,

we can fight,

all that keeps us up at night.

There is far,

to go now,

let's not waste a minute more.

We won't fear,

we can fight,

all that we can bring to light.

There is far,

to go now,

let's not waste a minute more.

We won't run,

we can fight,

all that keeps us up at night.

There is far,

to go now,

let's not waste a minute more.

Of our lives,

our lives, x2

our lives.

My Stanza anaysis 

• Saying that you’re learning something new and gaining knowledge

• Wanting to move on but too scared to actually make the leap of faith. You want to be held back by something so you don’t have to make that choice.

• Facing your demons and overcoming something in the past so to not leave it to fester. Accepting reality

• I thought you were different but clearly you’re not. As times gone past you’ve lost what I liked in you. You’ve followed the crowd

• I tired of feeling like it’s my fault. I will overcome this

• I can see clearly now

In a nutshell the song tells a story about someone who was in a relationship where her partner made her feel guilty about something/ something happened in the past that wasn’t resolved. Now after time she realises it was her fault and is fed up of putting up with his grief. She’s ready to face reality because she can see what type of person he really is and wants to move on, however he is not. She wants to feel happy again, and to do so she leaves him behind despite her reluctance to forget the past.

Moodboard

This is moodboard that I created from our group brainstorm of ideas and key words. I'e added some more that I believe would work well such as 'masks', 'dancing' and 'little red riding hood'. We will be updating our ideas as we continue to plan for ideas.

Looking at Other MV Codes and Conventions

For our final song we have decided to use a pop song (as labelled by iTunes) her music is soft to listen to and very feminine. Sarah’s voice is similar in some songs to the likes of Duffy but with a softer edge such as Feist. As a pop song we will take into account the different pop codes that come with making a music video for that genre of music. To do so we will look a range of different female sung pop music videos and analyse the motifs and repetitive styles used.

Dum Dum Girls – Bedroom Eyes

In this video there is a distinctive idea of looking established from the beginning. Predominantly the lead singer is looking at the camera establishing a connection with the audience. Furthermore, the idea of sexually looking at the band member’s is created through the use of body suits, semi-opaque tights and heels. It can also be said that the heavy makeup and pin-up appearance of the lead creates an overtly sexualised image. The band is the whole focus in the music video, and it is 100% performance. This is because as a girl group they play the instruments opposed to men, who would then stay out of the limelight and have focus on the female singer. In this case I believe the girls play to that and constantly show how good a female drummer, bass and guitar players are.

From this video I have learnt that sexualisation in pop videos are just about constant and that depending on the formation of the group a music video can be played out very differently.

Ellie Goulding – Your Song

In this music video Ellie wears little make up and looks very natural. It is set in autumn and as such she is wrapped up in coats, hats and scarfs in nearly each shot. This is a significant different to that of the Dum Dum Girls who do completely the opposite in costume. The feel of the video is windy, natural and very British! She plays to the British factor for the American viewer but also to the British viewers, who like me, like the see a less post production alteration and a more natural, believable vibe. This music video is a great starting point for our ideas as it coincided with the vibe of how we want our music video to be. From this music video I have learnt that vouyreistic tones are evident everywhere, in this video cameras are seen within the shots (a camera within a camera) and she still plays with her hair and looks wistfully into the camera. Moreover, I have learnt that music videos play to what is prevalent in popular culture such as vintage clothing and sepia camera shots.

Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed (US Version)

Ellie Gouldings song Starry Eyed was initially directed by the UK but as she grew in popularity the US got their claws into the song and remade the video. I am using the music to show how different countries have different codes. Compared the Your Song, this music video is (in my opinion) a shameless attempt to create a British feel. Product placement is incredibly obvious with the Mini Cooper car (Known for being British); post production is again very obvious with Ellie Gouldings skin illuminated beyond belief. She is wearing strong sea blue contacts to enhance her eye colour and in close ups her ears are adjourned in diamonds. In my opinion I find this video terrible and an example of how different cultures perceive ‘good’ music videos. British find more subtlety’s appropriate in some cases, whereas the US use constant perfection the grade boundary. For our music video I will try and stay clear of this type of music video.