Problems and Risks/ SHOOTING DAY 5

SHOOTING DAY 5: Bar Re-shoot

 

 We  decided to practise this scene prior to shooting and also make sure we know what shots need to be done and also make sure that the same footage is done using different shots as this provides variety, to make sure there is as little as error as possible as we were running out of time to shoot, as this shooting could only take place on the weekend, closing times and we would need to book the same bar again if things went wrong this time, this is why we had already decided that it was best to pre-book the bar and arrange suitable timings. We didnt get all the footage that we required as the cast didnt arrive on time, also we had problems as some footage was ruined due to the camera being jilted, the eyes and lips close ups didnt work either apart from one eye clip that we will be using.

Problems and Risks/ SHOOTING DAY 4

SHOOTING DAY 4: Piano Scene

There were hardly any problems with this as it only took a couple of minutes. We needed to make sure the music room was available to us, as this is where the piano was, and we also needed to search the notes for the music for ‘Foundations’ to be able to play but it was only the first couple of notes. Again as we had decided against the use of bright coloured make-up we used red instead, we have established the red lipstick as part of the image for our artist, hence this would be something the fans would be able to familiarise themselves with. It’s somewhat part of her signature style. It was a bit dark in the music room, the location wise it wasn’t perfect but it turned out fine.

Problems and Risks/ SHOOTING DAY 3

SHOOTING DAY 3: The Narrative


 

It’s safe to say that this day was the epitome of problems for the crew; out of the entire filming process this caused the most difficulty. Locations caused huge problems, ideally they should have been pre-booked but as we had such short notice of our latest cast member and we weren’t expecting this, the new addition to our cast could only make it on certain days and then, also due to our examinations in process it was difficult to arrange. After going to different café’s, KFC is what we had to settle for but fortunately that worked out well rather than looking tacky. Finding someone (decent enough) to match the good performance displayed by Erna was essential, but tough as it wasn’t really in our hands as it depended on whether someone would be willing to do it, but it was important for our narrative. The bedroom scene- initially what was decided on was that Erna would push the male lead off the bed, conversely Erna’s bed was too high as a result there was a risk of injury consequently for safety reasons it was decided against doing this, especially considering how difficult it was to find someone suitable for the role in the first place. The crew decided to experiment with a moving aerial shot which turned out pretty well and added variety to the shot types we used. As we were advised that during indoor filming, good lighting would be vital, lights were set up for the filming in spite of this some of the shots displayed a hint of artificial lighting effects which didn’t look at all right and in some of the shots the lighting shone too bright in Erna’s face, again which didn’t look appealing. Luckily these shots could be taken out of the video without causing much problem, therefore these weren’t used. We all like the little cheeky touch when Erna pops her number into the pocket of Luke’s friend and kisses him on the cheek, this helps put across the light hearted nature of the song and also displays her image as an artist as being fun, and cheeky. The bar scene was a big problem, none of the shots worked out, the lighting focus on Erna was terrible although the crew wasn’t aware of this at the time as on camera it looked perfectly fine. We also decided later that as the bar scene would be the main part of the beginning of the music video we need a way to really establish a narrative, which also represents Luke as the one who is wrong in the relationship and show him as not a very good boyfriend. Also this is important as not much was going on during this scene initially. Another spontaneous decision was to film an argument scene which could be used in between, this was shot in the car (kindly lent to us by Zainab who later on played the role of the ‘other girl’) and on the street. That was useful as helped establish the on-going arguments mentioned in the song and also show the progression of the relationship over time. Locations wise as we weren’t permitted to film in the gym we felt there was not entirely a need to shoot in a gym, and the bus stop was as convenient to get the friends involved, in the storyline.

Problems and Risks/ SHOOTIING DAY 2

SHOOTING DAY 2: Performance Parts
 

Risks? Not any, as no previous bookings were required nor any other cast member being relied on. This shooting was pretty much spontaneous, not pre- planned as such but we couldn’t sort out the narrative parts due to not being able to find a suitable male lead cast member, hence decided extra footage for performance would be useful, as it was! Especially if some shots don’t work as well, also it adds variety and thus makes it more interesting to watch so will cause visual pleasure for our audience. First off the common room shooting didn’t work well at all, it didn’t fit in and would have seemed random (not in a good way though) and there wasn’t enough intimacy or focus on Erna. Even though we had an umbrella the camera didn’t respond very well to the rain so we finished off quick, walking down the street performance was too difficult to film, there were lighting changes between shots, some shots displayed too much wind, with Erna’s hair going everywhere so some shots couldn’t be used but the zebra crossing one we all love! Also not forgetting the best shot we all felt was the one with brick wall background which had beautiful lighting (literally shimmering against Erna’s skin), you can’t always make it look like a great summer in the middle of winter with a plain camera. The outfits worked well and were very eye catching, and established the kind of focus (eye catching type) on Erna. Even though we initially planned maybe to do more costume changes it wasn’t convenient in the time we had available on the day. We didn’t want to risk the change in lighting doing parts of the shooting on different days.  By this scene we had established that we will no longer be using bright and colourful make-up and instead opting for something more stylish but still eye- catching, the signature red coloured lips and it also works with her red hair.

Problems and Risks/ SHOOTING DAY 1

SHOOOTING DAY 1: Green Screen

First of all practise shoot needed to be done so that we knew whether the green screen would work or not. Need to check availability of the drama studio, (where we are shooting) which we found to only be available for our use on Wednesday in second period. Also we had some problem accessing it so we ensured to specifically book it out to make sure no further delay is caused in filming. Had a few technical light issues, most of the time but managed to overcome them during editing. However due to the limitation of the software there are minor glitches in quality. The bird’s eye view shot for green screen as practised didn’t look as good hence we decided to use the other shots and positions mainly focusing on close ups but might be adding variety if it works well. The studio lights didn’t work, well most anyway/ focusing them in the right direction was a problem as they didn’t turn.

Shooting Schedule

The shooting schedule, we wanted to figure out what we would need and what we will be using- including locations, props, technical equipment and outfits so that we had a good idea what needs doing and didn’t forget anything.  As we went along we added to the shooting schedule (like the bar scene re-shoot which we didn’t know previously that we would need to do that) I have attached the completed version of the shooting schedule. We decided to do this after discussing exactly what was going to happen at each part of the video so that we had clear idea when and what needs doing.

Current stages of editing and filming

With our editing we currently have most of our footage uploaded and edited into the sequence, however we need to re shoot some scenes due to the lighting on the clips not being light enough to see the star’s face , this has been arranged so will not take long to shoot and upload . We also need to shoot some more clips for the green screen as we need more variation of the camera shots . when we asked for feedback from students and teachers they pointed out we need more jump cuts and close up shots to show off our main star , so when we re film our narrative clips we will also shoot some close up shots to make the music video flow more and expose our star.