Fireworks: Filming Day 2

I got Abi and Matt to come round to my house as I had the fireworks, a chimneyaire and quite a biggish garden, for enough space to let off fireworks. We began by getting the lighting and area all set out for filming. I put a few background lights on so it wasn't complete darkness and you could see what was happening on the video. I wanted the lighting to be dark so the main source of light was the one coming from the fire. The glow and the power of the fire links in with the passion and love they hold over each other. When filming the glow of the fire was reflecting onto the couple, showing that their love is so strong that they are glowing. Furthermore the colour of the flames (red/orange) link with love, passion and excitement., all the feelings they have.

 I then prepared the chimneyaire, which did take a few attempts to get alight. Eventually I got them to sit around the camp fire and toast marshmallows. I did this because I thought it was a nice mood and setting to place the couple in. Its a type of cute cliche thing a young couple in love do, e.g roasting marshmallows. I took different angles and shots to give a variety of choices and they relate to the mood and meaning I am trying to put across. For example a low angle to represent the audience looking up at the couple. That they are higher up from their happiness and emotion. Furthermore I always got the couple close to each other in the frame of my shot, to this is to represent the necessity they have over each other and they have to be close constantly , a strong bond is over them, drawing them together.

When lighting the fireworks I made sure everybody was stood back at a safe enough distance so nobody would get injured. I wasn't sure how long the fireworks where going to last so I just took one long shot but took different angles. So then when it comes to editing, I can cut it wherever and what bits I would like. I chose to have fireworks because the explosion can have a deeper meaning towards the couple. The feelings they get when seeing each other, is a type of explosion of emotion.

I did a lot of filming, so then when it comes to editing I can chose which bit I want to include in my music video. Furthermore Its so when I do the memory sequence at the end I have enough footage.

Withernsea: Filming day 1

We set off in the morning so that I had enough time to be filming as its winter and it gets dark early. I got Abi and Matt to wrap up warm as it will be very cold on the beach. I got them to wear the outfits I allocated them which was:

Matt: Jeans, with a branded hoodie and Nike blazers

Abi: Leggings, warm coat with a fluffy hood (Parker) and boots

We first began filming on the beach and I got all my shots that I needed. I wrote a list of all the shots I would need so I didn't forget any. It was quite hard as it was very cold and windy but lucky the tide was out so we could go down. I took some low angles to represent the highness of the couples emotions and feelings. And took long shots to get the view in and mid shots of them just generally having fun. Other shots I took was of them skimming stones, running away from the sea etc.

We then went to the top of the beach where you can look over at the view and I got them to do the scene where he tucks her hair behind her ear and kisses her etc. I set it here because I thought it was a nice setting for an intimate scene as its peaceful and engaging for the audience to watch. It just makes it little more interesting then if I filmed it in her bedroom for example.

Next we went in the amusements and they went on various amusement games and I let them naturally have fun and just filmed them. I prefer if I film them in their natural setting so it isn't to staged and look rubbish because it would look corny and not as engaging for the audience to watch. From doing this I got their actual reactions and facial expressions when on a game etc. For example on one of the amusements they won and I got their natural reaction rather then a set up one. We went in a small cafe where they got some food and I would only use this film for only a couple of seconds in my video but everything counts.

I then took some last shots off them walking round together, holding hands, messing around and just being a cute couple. And that is what I want to pursue in my video, their happiness and love. And through the use of cinematography, mise en scene and editing i am going to pursue this in my further work.

Changes

I have had to make quite a few changes with my music video and this is due to casting change and the loss of filming. My previous casting, Rosie and Ben where both perfect for my music video but unfortunately I couldn't use them because of  him working full time. I had already started doing work with them such as filming, taking photos and my story board was based on them. It made me panic a little because I really needed to be getting things done and not sorting out who would be in my video,as that should of been sorted out ages ago.
Fortunately Abi and Matt said they would help me out which was a huge relief for me and I am very grateful. I then began to start taking images of them, and costuming. I also did some filming of the couple together which i can use in my music video. I just want to film as much as possible of them together just so i have a varied selection of film. I also organised to go to Withernsea instead of Bridlington as it was much easier to go there as it wasn't so far.

So  far I have filming of them in Withernsea doing various activities such as:

• Bowling
• Amusements
• Air Hockey
• Car racing
• Cafe
• On the Beach
• Walking round the town 

Filming: Withernsea edit 1

Filming: Hull fair

This is all the footage I managed to get back from the SD card and I edited it all together. As you can see that some of the footage repeats itself and this is because of the corruption. I had to edit out all over videos that merged into my footage before then putting it together. So this is evidence of filming that I did for my music video. Even though it isn't all of it, it shows that I have done some filming. From filming earlier and now looking back at it, it has given me an insight on what I film like. For example the angles and shots I use. I like the way I have done canted angles on some of the shots and the use of steadi cam looks good also. From this I am going to reflect on my skills of filming and reflect it in further development.

History of chosen Medium

Music videos have evolved over the years and become a lot more popular when advertising a song. Nowadays music videos are a necessity when an artist launches a song. This is because of all the different technologies that are out here for people to view music videos. For example the internet is a way of viewing videos through the website YouTube. YouTube has a massive viewing rate therefore it is a huge market for artists to promote their music. 

• More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month
• Over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube – that's almost an hour for every person on Earth, and 50% more than last year
• 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute
• 70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the US
• YouTube is localized in 56 countries and across 61 languages
• According to Nielsen, YouTube reaches more US adults aged 18-34 than any cable network
• Millions of subscriptions happen each day, and the number of people subscribing has more than doubled since last year

This was the first ever music video to be made in 1894. George H. Thomas had the idea to show a collection of images to the audience whilst the song was being played, showing the narrative of the song. ‘The little lost child’ was by Joseph W. Stern and Edward B. Marks. The first music video was created as an ‘illustrated song’ which was still pictures which where coloured by hand and where shown by projecting them on a screen at the same time as the music. From this it helped gain more sells for the song after the ‘illustrated song;’ was created.

30 Years later....

The Warner brothers released a series of 5 animated musical shorts to show the songs of the time.

· Just a Gigolo

· Say a little prayer for me

· When your lover has gone

· For you

· Crying for Caroline’s

When television came about it became a major influence that caused interest in moving pictures and music videos to evolve. Programs such as ‘Top of the Pops’ made a massive impact on the music industry by making it much more interesting and engaging for the audience.

The video by the Buggles, 'video killed the radio star', was the first video played to be played on TV show, MTV. Since then more and more TV channels have come about just based on music videos. MTV has more than just one channel now, it has various channels just based on one particular genre.

• 4Music
• VIVA
• Kerrang
• Scuzz

Even the popular British Sky Broadcasting Group have created a whole section on just music. And this gives you lots of channels of various genres on with music videos.

Furthermore you can even download music off your Xbox or ps3. Music has evolved so much that it can be viewed on absolutely any digital device.

The influence from music videos has really changed the music industry creating a better way to enjoy the song itself. Furthermore it can really relate to the narrative of the song and give out a better understanding.Music videos can be anything from performance, to just a narrative and abstract. But even these can go more in depth. Artists like to stand out in the industry, take Lady Ga Ga for example, she always has something very extraordinary and unique. It gives you another interpretation of the song itself. Because if we just listened to the song on its own with no image we could just think it was good and like it. Where as when a video is put to it, it causes conversation and more of an opinion. 

I can be a way of the artist interpreting their ideas and how they reflect it in their eyes. This can link in with the theory of Stewart Hall as his theory relates to us (the audience) being encoders as we encode all the information.Media texts are encoded by the producer (People who make the media texts) and that the texts are full of ideological values and messages. We decode the text but due to us all having a different opinion we do not respond to the text in the same way. .

For example the media text 'Wrecking Ball' by Miley Cyrus had a huge outcry as it was seen as unacceptable and us (the audience) didn't understand why she was naked and doing promiscuous acts in her video. This is because it wasn't encoded properly by the artist so therefore we interpreted it wrong. Where as Miley Cyrus stated that: ‘I think the video is much more, if people get past the point that I'm naked and you actually look at me.

‘You can tell that I actually look more broken than even the song sounds.’ Her interpretation and meaning f the song is very different to how the audience see's it. She see's it as a reflection on her feelings and loss of her boyfriend, being 'broken'. Where as the audience have encoded it as her trying to shock people and get attention. That she's not a little girl any more and wants to get away from this Hannah Montana identity.

Anamatic- You and me (Disclosure)

Here is my anamatic for my music video. I have presented it like this so you can see all the editing, mise en scene, cinematography and sound sections which I have written in. Even though it has 2 shot on each image, the timing is on the image so you can see how long each shot is on for. Even though this is my finished story board I may change some of my ideas and vary some of the shots. But this is just to give you a understanding of what my music video is going to be like.

Prop Preparation

Scrap Book 

To create my scrap book I needed to gather images of my couple so I got Abi to send me a few images which I could use and put into a scrap book. I wanted images that reflect their relationship and happiness but I wanted them to be comical to. Here are a few example of what images I am going to put into the scrap book.
Some of the images are from days out together, prom, and just generally messing about and being happy.

I chose to have a scrap book in my video because its a way of reflecting a lot of happy memories in one aspect. Its a nice element which people have and its sometimes what couples do over the years. Everyone has a photo album as they like to look back at memory's and the good times. So I got photos of them from their good times and happy times to not only give a representation of the couples passion and love for each other but to create more of a feeling and emotion, when she looks back at the book. 

I began creating it by getting an old scrap book that I didn't really need. I then got some art facilities (paper, glue etc) and printed off my images. I arranged them to look authentic and like they have made it. Showing care and love for the memory's they hold.

It isn't quite finished yet but its a work in progress.

Heart Locket necklace

I found trouble trying to find an actual lock in the shape of a heart. This was because they where either very expensive to buy or difficult to get. Therefore I made up my own solution by using a golden heart locket I have and just to attach a small key to the chain. I want this object in my music video as it reflects that he has her love locked up, as it states in the lyrics  'You got my secret combination' and 'You keep me locked up underground'. It just emphasises the meaning of there love and emotion for one another.

Record Label

The record label I would like to promote my music video with would be Warner Music Group.  As it is a major music corporation based in New York and is one of the largest American-owned music conglomerates worldwide. It’s one of the ‘big three’ record companies (the three largest in the global music industry). Furthermore it operates some of the largest and most successful recording labels in the world, including its top labels Warner Bros, Records, Atlantic Records and Warner/Chappell Music (One of the world's largest music-publishing companies). With a multi-billion dollar annual turnover, WMG employs 4,000 people and throughout the world has operations in more than 50 countries around the world.

Here is a few images of various artist that are already signed to their label. You can see that all of these artists are very easy to recognize and this is because they have been signed to a very successful record label, which has promoted them to make them very big all over the world.
I would like this for my music video to be very viral and well known so this is why I would chose this record label as they are very successful in what they do and promoting their artists.  From having my music promoted with this record company I will then get big hits from audiences, causing it to be a success and earn a lot of money. This company could make my music video viral in a very short space of time due to its success and experience throughout the years. As it is part of the big three, my music will be up there at the top straight away. And this is what I would like for my music video, to be straight at the top and out there for the audience to see. Furthermore it would get a lot more advertisement like a Tv advert, Posters, Itunes, Youtube links etc, just to promote to my audience my music video.

Casting

Abi and Matthew have been a relationship for nearly 3 years now and they fit perfectly for my music video. They are very natural in front of the camera and show great charisma and they really relate to my narrative as they are actually in love in real life.  When they are together they are totally themselves although Matt can be a little shy sometimes. Although this isn't going to interfere when filming.  

They are both keen to take part as they are always asking me and informing me when they can get together and film. I am very grateful to have them in my video as they are a really cute couple and really suit each other. I know they would also like to look back at the video when its finished and keep it for themselves as its a type of memorabilia for them which they can look back on in years to come.  



Abi Rilatt

Abi has been my friend for a few years now and she agreed to help me for my music video. I chose her as she is very confident and natural when in front of the camera, and I know I can rely on her and she wouldn't let me down. I chose her also as she has a lot of free time so it would be easier to do filming, costume etc. Furthermore she doesn't live that far away and she is always with Matt, so getting them together at the same time inst a problem. She is very reliable and i know she wont let me down as she knows how important my media grade is to me and that i want to do really well. Abi really helped me because as i have had a few problems she was the one to volunteer and say she would help me.




 Matthew Herbert

I chose Matt as he is Abi's boyfriend and i wanted to use an actual couple in my video. This is because I thought it would look a lot better and more verisimilitude if the actual characters where in love. It would be a lot harder to find 2 actors to pretend they are happy and in love then an actual couple who already are. Matt is perfect for the role because he is always with Abi so there are plenty of opportunities for filming. Furthermore I know he wont let me down as he knows how much my media grade means to me. 

Changes so far and what I have overcome

I have had to change my casting due to my models working full time and being at college themselves. This was very unfortunate for me because I was really looking forward to using them in my video as they had really nice charisma and energy together when on camera. They are already in love as they are actually boyfriend and girlfriend in real life so they are really natural and confident when in front of the camera. Furthermore I had drawn my story board based on using them even though I am not going to let this effect my work as it has made me more determined to do well. In addition I have already began filming a few things, taken images and had wrote a few things on my blog with them included in it. Although from this I can explain how it has helped me be more determined to do better and what difficulties I had when creating my music video.

So now I am using a different couple who have been together nearly 3 years and have enough free time for me to do my filming.

Health And Safety

Here is a health and safety table I created to show that I am taking into consideration any risks that may be involved when creating my music video. This is so I think about any solutions for any problems that may occur. So when I come down to filming I will know what to do and how to do it in a safe manor.

Story Board I couldn't use

I did all my filming for this part of the story board because originally this is what I was going to do. Unfortunately my SD card corrupted resulting in me loosing majority of my footage. I will upload any of the footage I had left over to prove that I did do it and I have already uploaded images from the night out at Hull Fair.  From this happening it set me back a little bit as I had to now think of another idea to what i was going to film and what other activities they are going to do. 

Costume Ideas

The type of clothing I want my models to wear is quite casual and the type of clothing that teenagers of this day wear, as my music video is set in this time. The clothing of this day and age is very different depending on the genre. Since the song I have chose is the genre off deep house I want my models to dress quite casual but quite quirky aswell. This is because from researching various music videos of this genre, I have found that the characters dress quite unique or quite causal with top of the range brands. An example of this would be sports brands like Nike, Addidas,Puma etc. This brands have become very popular in the clothing industry as they are now worn by both genders. They have become more of a fashion item than actually being used as a sport item.
Some examples of top of the range shops that sell the type of clothing that I want my models to wear are,

• Top Shop                       
• river island
• size
• footlocker

These shops sell clothing that I like for my models to wear when in my music video. I want the boy to wear top brand shoes, for example nikes, and jeans with a casual top which I will choose. There is no time period for this music genre as it is quite new and recent so therefore they will wear clothing of today. And the same applies for the girl, I want her to wear casual clothes such as jeans, causal top from the shops labelled above and either a leather jacket or Parker coat etc.

Here is a collage of images I researched and what I am picturing my characters to dress like. This is so they fit in with the genre as it would make it verisimilitude,. These are a few items that teenagers wear of this day and what brands are popular to wear.

From the original video the boy wears clothing that is quite plain and sporty. For example joggers and a hoodie with some branded shoes. Furthermore in the fashion industry sports wear has become very mainstream and more of a fashion accessory than actually sport wear. It has become a lot more unisex therefore becoming much more popular in fashion. Due to the season I am filming in they will have to wrap up warm as it is winter now and getting very cold. So clothing such as wellies, a Parker coat, jumpers, hoodies and jeans will be an essential. Other items which will be needed are:

• Scarfs
• hats
• coats
• gloves
• onesie