Problems when filming, day 1. (29/11/14)

Throughout my first day of shooting (29/11/14), I encountered some issues which were understandable and I am going to list these problems:

• Winds (got cold for myself and artist, therefore was uncomfortable while filming)
• People (due to the location being busy, there were a lot of dog walkers and bikers etc, distraction during some shots)
• Not having the right costume (Lewis could not find a white top so I had to change it to grey, but this didn't matter so much as I didn't film him from the front)

Day 1 of filming. (29/11/14)

Yesterday, me and Lewis went out to film some of the shots for my music video. The shots I filmed were: 2,3,17,18,57,58 and 59 at Country Park and 75,76,77 and 83 at Humber Bridge. We planned on going out the house about 10 am but due to us waking up at 9 am, having to get ready, having to sort out which shots we needed to shoot and sorting out our equipment, we didn't leave the house until about 11:30 am, which was off schedule, but we still managed to get all the shots we needed in time. I have learnt from this and next time I am going to make sure I keep to the schedule so we are not rushed for time. Through filming shots, I filmed myself talking about my locations and if there were any problems etc which I will insert below. I am very happy with my results and I think that it was successful in terms of the time we had to do it in. Although I am happy with my results, there is one part which I am disappointed in, which was my shots in the tunnel as the lighting wasn't very good and it didn't work out how I planned it to. Despite this, I still carried on filming at this location just in case what I filmed was actually good and usable.

We went to the Humber Bridge first as we wanted to get it out the way as I knew this would take the longest and plus, with it being around 12 pm by the time we got there, we thought people would be wanting to walk on it and this would have been difficult for us because we wanted to film without any distractions. After filming here, we moved onto Country Park and found a quiet location where there were not many people, therefore allowing us to get our shots filmed promptly without any distractions. I originally planned to shoot further in Country Park near the forests but I know that it is very popular with dog walkers so I changed my mind and chose a different location, which was similar and worked out even better than I wanted as there were lots of leaves around and it wasn't too muddy. After this, we moved on to the last location of the day which was the tunnel. I knew this was going to be a difficult place to film as it is an entrance to the Country Park so there were a few groups of people coming in and out. Although, at one point, 2 people saw me and setting up and decided to wait for me to finish filming before passing which I thought was very kind and I thanked them for this. Due to this, I did manage to get the shots I needed even though they were not as successful as I hoped, but I am going to keep them and edit them to see if I need to re-shoot or not.

Shooting Organisation (for 29/11/14)

As I planned to film on 29/11/14, I text my artist to ask him if he was free on this day. I planned on speaking to him verbally but I thought to show evidence of organising the filming I would text him. I had discussed briefly in real life that I was wanting to film my video soon so he had some knowledge of my plans. I thought as he lives at the other side of Hull that it would be easier if he stayed over at mine as the locations I am wanting to film are closer to my home rather than his. He has agreed to this and I have notified him of what I need him to bring.

As I am at work the same day, at 3:15, we are having to go out early so that we can get all the shots I am wanting to film before I am having to go to work. It is quite difficult to organise around my work schedule but I have tried the best I can and hopefully I can keep up with this. If my work schedule becomes too much, I may ask them to cut down my hours or allow me to have early shifts so I can go out and film in the afternoon. Therefore, this allows me to focus more on my work and it will be easier to film in the afternoon rather in the morning because then I do not have to rush and worry about getting to work on time.

      

Planning my first shoot

Tuesday 25th November:



Today I went onto BBC Weather to have a look at the forecast for this coming Saturday (29th November) so that I can begin shooting my video. Currently, it says that it is going to be cloudy throughout the day so this is good as it is suitable weather for the shots I am wanting to take. Hopefully the forecast stays this way and does not begin to rain as I am intending to shoot between the hours of 10 am - 12 pm. As I am at work the same day, I am having to organise with my actor how we are going to meet up as I can only do the morning with me working from 3 pm onwards. We have come to the decision that he may have to stay over at my house on the Friday night as he lives at the other side of Hull so it would make it easier for him to stay and then we can go out in the morning and film straight away. This isn't a final decision but it is one we have considered to make the filming easier.

The forecast also states that Saturday will be breezy with some bright spells and scattered showers. I am hoping that the showers will not occur around the time I am planning to go out otherwise it will make it harder to film as I do not want the rain to damage my camera (Canon 1000D). Also, I do not want my actor to be uncomfortable at all while shooting so having rain would affect this.

I will constantly check the weather forecast from now till Saturday and if there are any changes I will update this post.

Updated 26/11/14.

Today, I went onto BBC Weather and checked to see if there were any changes in the forecast for when I am planning to shoot on Saturday. There is some minor changes but not any drastic changes which is a positive as my filming can go ahead as planned (so far). At 12 pm the temperature is at 10 degrees which has risen 1 degree since I last checked. This is good as I do not want it to be really cold.

I also looked at the forecast summary to see if any changes were made. It now says that over the weekend it is going to be mostly dry but rather cloudy and lighter winds. This is even better than the last time I checked (yesterday) as it now has no mention of any showers so hopefully it will stay this way and my filming can run as smoothly as possible with no interruptions due to weather circumstances. Also, as I am filming on a bridge this weekend, the light winds is a positive as I do not want it to be too windy because that could lead to dangerous outcomes, my actor being cold and uncomfortable or in worse case scenario, the bridge being closed due to how windy it is. 

Updated 27/11/14.

Today I went on to the BBC Weather site to see if there was any changes to the weather forecast for the 29th. There are some minor changes but not many. On the previous post the temperature at 9:00 was 9 degrees and it has now risen to 10 degrees. This is good as 10-12 is going to be the time I'm wanting to film between. Hopefully the weather forecast stays this way so I can film in good conditions. 

I also looked at the forecast summary for Saturday - Monday and it says it will be cloudy and some occasional drizzle, mist and fog. This is ok as it is only a drizzle so hopefully it won't last long and interrupt my filming. The only problem is that it says there is some strong winds which will fall light at the weekend. This could be an issue as I am filming on the Humber Bridge so if it is windy it might cause me to delay my filming at that location until the weather is better. I am hoping that the wind isn't strong around the time I am filming as I do not want my filming to be delayed. 

Updated 28/11/14.

Today I went onto BBC Weather again to see if there were any changes. As it is getting closer to the day, the weather forecast is more accurate and covers a longer timescale so therefore I can estimate what the weather is going to be like between the times I am planning to film. I have highlighted in red the times I am planning to film, the weather at this time is around 10 degrees which is good as it won't be too cold for my actor. Also the wind isn't that strong either so this will be good because I am filming on a bridge.

I also looked at the forecast summary which focuses on Saturday. It mentions that it may rain in the morning which is not that good as I do not want my camera to get damaged by the rain. Hopefully it means early morning and that later on, when I am wanting to film, it will have cleared up and it will be dry. Also, it mentions that there will be some light winds so hopefully this won't effect when I go out filming on the bridge.

Shooting Schedule

I am going to note down all of my shots that need to be filmed with their location, props needed and who I will need to come with me. I will update this regularly to show when I have filmed the certain shots. Once filmed, I will come back and highlight the shots I have filmed in purple.

Location: Country Park (Little Switz) (some filmed 29/11/14, still some tbc)
-Shots needing to be filmed there: 2, 3, 13, 16, 17, 18, 26, 27, 28, 29, 37, 38, 39, 40, 47, 49, 57, 58, 59, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 78
-Who will I need to take? Actor/Artist, Actress and Crew
-Props needed: 

• Camera
• Tripod
• Pictures (preferably polaroid)
• Clothing/Footwear (white t-shirt, black jeans, Superdry jumper and Nike Janoskis for artist/red dress, coat, leggings and ankle boots for actress)

Location: Bus Stop (filming tbc)
-Shots needing to be filmed there: 7, 8, 9, 10 (9 and 10 were originally filmed at my house but I decided that to have continuity editing it would make sense if they took place at the bus stop).
-Who will I need to take? Actor/Artist, Actress and Crew
-Props needed: 

• Camera
• Tripod
• Phone (for artist/actor use)
• Clothing/Footwear (white t-shirt, black jeans and Nike Janoskis)

Location: My House (filming tbc)
-Shots needing to be filmed there: 14 and 15 (outside of my house), 79, 80, 81, 82
-Who will I need to take? Actor/Artist, Actress and Crew
-Props needed:

• Camera
• Tripod
• Car
• Ring
• Sofa
• Blanket
• Clothing (white t-shirt and black jeans for artist/t-shirt and skirt for actress)

Location: Studio (filming 1/12/14, 4/12/14, 5/12/14, completed)
-Shots needing to be filmed there: 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 41, 42, 46, 48, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 60, 61, 62, 63, 73, 74, 
-Who will I need to take? Actor/Artist, Actress and Crew
-Props needed:

• Camera
• Tripod
• Lighting (soft box, flash gel etc)
• White paper/sheet for background
• Clothing (black t-shirt and light jeans for artist/black t-shirt and leggings)

Location: Humber Bridge (filming 29/11/14, completed)
-Shots needing to be filmed there: 75, 76, 77, 83
-Who will I need to take? Actor and Crew
-Props needed:

• Camera
• Tripod
• Clothing (white t-shirt, black jeans, Superdry jumper, Nike Janoskis)

Location: Pier (near The Deep) (filming tbc)
-Shots needing to be filmed there: 43, 44, 45, 71, 72
-Who will I need to take? Actor/Artist, Actress and Crew
-Props needed:

• Camera
• Tripod
• Photos (preferably polaroid)
• Clothing (white t-shirt, black jeans, Superdry jumper, Nike Janoskis for the artist/red dress, coat, skirt and boots for actress)

Organizing my cast

Here I am going to show screenshots of the messages I have sent my potential actors/actresses. I have also messaged one of my friends to ask him to come along to help with the setting up things if needed and just generally helping whilst out filming.

Cast List

Unfortunately, I have decided I will not need Willow the dog because, due to much careful consideration, I have changed my mind with the shot that had her in so she will not be appearing in the video. 

Animatic

Storyboard

Storyboard from Chloe Jayde

Test Shots

To practice with my camera skills, I went out with my friends (one who is being the artist) and took some test shots to show panning, tilting, still shot, zooming and 2 shot. The reason I wanted to practice these is because I wanted to make sure that I was ok with the filming and that I had done it right. Also, if there are any mistakes within the shots regarding my technique, I can improve on these for the actual product. For example: in the shot where I zoomed in, my camera was very shaky so it made the shot look unprofessional. I know that if I am planning on zooming in at all in my video, to have my camera on a tripod before doing it so that it will not shake.



In the first shot, I practiced my panning skills. Before doing this, I thought it would be quite easy to do but after filming it and looking back at it, I realized it is harder than I thought as the camera was quite shaky. I think this is due to me doing it freehand rather than using a tripod as I did not have this equipment when I went out to film these shots. I have realized if I am wanting to have a pan within my video that I will have to use a tripod and from doing this test shot I have from this mistake.

In the second shot, I practiced my tilting stills as I am going to use this skill in my video. Again, before doing this I thought it was going to be an easy shot to film but after filming it and looking back, I realized that it was going to be harder than I thought. I also didn't use a tripod for this shot as I thought it would be easier to do it freehand but obviously by looking at the shot you can see that the shot is shaking. I have learnt from this and I am definitely going to use a tripod when I film this shot in my actual video.

In the third shot, I practiced my still shots. I thought this worked fairly well considering I didn't use a tripod but I do think I could have framed it a lot better and also you can see that it shakes a little bit so if I was to do a shot like this in my video, I would definitely need to use a tripod.

In my fourth shot, I practiced my zooming skills. This didn't work so well as the camera shakes a lot when I zoom in and also the way I have zoomed in isn't very smooth at all, it jumps a few times. I was planning on using this skill in my video and I am still going to try as it might work better on a tripod but if not, I will have to use a different technique as I do not want it to look unprofessional.

In the fifth shot, I practiced my tilting skills again. I feel as though this time it worked out better as it is a lot smoother and the camera doesn't shake as much. I am happy with this shot and I know that I can do a tilt well.

In the sixth shot, I practiced filming a 2 shot. I wanted to do this as I wanted to be able to frame it correctly as in my video I am having a lot of 2 shots so I need to learn to have the 2 people in the frame so it has a good composition. I feel as though this has worked well but I may have to zoom out a bit if I was filming for my actual video as I have cut some of the persons head of at the top. Also, the shot is a bit blurry so I will have to make sure my camera is focused properly when doing it for real.

Change in Costume

Unfortunately, my female artist did not have the type of things I was hoping for my video so I asked her what she had and we worked around the type of clothing she had. For the studio shot, I chose this navy blue top/dress she had with leggings as I thought it was really nice and showed how she still wanted to look girly and nice, but without trying to hard. This is similar to what she showed me but it was a little bit of a different shade of blue and had some white speckles in it. Here is something similar I found online and here is a screenshot of her from the video:

I also asked her to wear leggings but these aren't really visible in the studio shots, these were just so that she felt comfortable while filming.

Then for the shots where they were on the pier, I asked her to wear some tights, a grey skirt, a white top, a green parka and some boots. Luckily, she had all of these so this was good. These are similar to what I asked her to wear:

         

These are all the costumes my actress will be wearing when we shoot my video. I confirmed with my actor/artist if he still had all of the clothes I originally said and he does so I will still be using the same clothing for him. This costume change hasn't caused many interruptions as I haven't started filming yet so it is good that I have sorted it out before shooting.

Health and Safety

This is my health and safety grid. This has been made in advance of shooting my video so I am aware of any risks that may occur during the shooting and therefore I can make my actors/actresses and crew aware of these risks. Before shooting, I am going to print out a copy of this to give out to all the people involved within my shooting so they know what to look out for and they are aware of any control needed should anything go wrong.

Location

For my music video, I need a variety of different locations for my shots. I am going to record some footage of each of the different locations and put them together in a video. These were taken with my phone, Samsung Galaxy S5.

Props

This is my prezi talking about all the props that are going to be used within my music video.

Costumes

Here is my slide show showing all the costumes I am going to have my artist and actors/actresses wear throughout my music video.

Where My Video Would Be Featured/Advertised

As I begin to start shooting my music video, I need to think about how the audience will access it. Currently, the internet is full of sites which host videos to a mass audience, like: YouTube, Vimeo, Vevo and MyVideo. These sites are very well known and are a good place to advertise my music video to a mass audience. Obviously, YouTube and Vevo are the most used out of these with them catering for a worldwide audience. Sites like Vimeo and MyVideo cater for a more niche audience compared to YouTube and Vevo.

                                 

I will firstly post my music video to YouTube as it is most used and therefore my audience can access it easier and I will gain a more mass audience. The company say that: "300 hours of new videos are uploaded to the site every minute" and that "more than 1 billion unique users visit the site each month". It is estimated that in the year 2007, YouTube consumed as much bandwidth as the entire Internet in the year 2000, according to research. There are many ways in which YouTube advertise, as shown below, in the music video for Anaconda by Nicki Minaj, another video has been advertised within her video to promote it. As Anaconda is a well known video, this will gain the video advertised more viewers as people may want to look at it. 

Also, I use YouTube quite a lot to watch 'YouTubers' and in one of Gabriella Lindley's (velvetgh0st) video, she has an advertisement which suggests viewers to watch another video. I really like this idea and is a possible way in which I can advertise my own music video as it will encourage fans in particular to watch it because a certain person, who is well known, suggests to watch it. Also, the majority of velvetgh0st's and other YouTubers audience are the age range I want to aim my music video at. 

Example of Representation

This video is a good example of representation. It shows the performers, Maddie and Tae but then the narrative is purely based on how women are represented. We first see 2 girls who are dressed in revealing outfits and the 3 men looking at them and trying to grab their attention, only because they're wearing these type of outfits. We then see 'role reversal' where the 3 men are seen dressed in a similar way to the females and acting the same way as them, therefore showing how it looks when they treat women in that way.

Video Techniques and Influences

In preparation for my music video, I am going to research 10 different existing products which fit in with the type of song I am doing. The song I am doing called 'Hold On' is about a relationship which has fallen apart, he wants to give it another shot but she doesn't, so I am going to look at videos with a narrative similar to mine so that I can take some inspiration from them so I can make my video as good as I possibly can.

                     

                     Video Techniques and Influences from Chloe Jayde

As I have an account on Pinterest I go on it quite regularly. I saw this photo and it made me think of an idea which I could incorporate in my video. The colour is a very light blue which would look good as lighting within one of my scenes in my video. Although I won't be using a window, the main focus of this image is the blue lighting so this is something I would like to use within my own work. 

Using Conventions From Real Media Texts

Using conventions from real media texts

In my college magazine for our first task, I created it without much research and knowledge so I just put together what I thought was a conventional magazine. I thought it looked ok but I knew something was missing as it looked too empty. Looking back at it now I can see how I improved to my final product because I knew a lot more about what conventions were and what I needed on my magazine, like: skyline, sell line, barcode, images and headers. This proved that I definitely did need a lot more on the college magazine. After researching conventions of a magazine on the internet and existing products from a shop and analysing them, I knew exactly what was needed to create a conventional magazine which led to me creating my final product, which proved successful and much better than my college magazine. I used conventions like: main image, barcode, header, skyline, sell line, feature stories, plugs and social media links as these are all part of the magazine which appeal to an audience and draw them into buying it. If a magazine did not have a catchy masthead, a good main image and a plug, the chances of people buying it is rare. I named my magazine ‘Riot!’ as it fit in with my genre of rock music and all my feature stories included bands of the rock genre making it appeal to a target audience who like rock music. Furthermore, I included a plug to win an iPod touch because I know that they are popular and it would encourage people into buying my magazine. Lastly, my target audience I aimed at were a young age so I knew including social media links would fit well because a lot of young people have social media so this would promote my magazine even more. Comparing both my college magazine and music magazine, I can see how I developed my knowledge and also skills by realising what a conventional magazine is.

Post-Production

Post-Production

Before starting the course, I did not know a lot about editing photos or in fact a whole magazine. With my college magazine, I took the photos I needed and I put it on Photoshop, but not a lot of editing actually went into it as I did not know how to do that. Also, the text which was on the magazine was basic and was easy to do which was not conventional at all. I developed my skills gradually which is obvious in my final product. For this magazine, I took a wide range of photos and edited them to make sure they looked conventional but also so they looked appealing and presentable on the magazine for my target audience. Regarding the text, I used dafont.com to generate different texts so my magazine had a wide range of fonts. With my developed skills on Photoshop and editing, I manipulated my magazine a lot mainly by editing the main image to get rid of any flaws and also the colour of the background, to make sure that it was exactly what I wanted and also so that it fit in with the conventions. These include: masthead, coverline, header, main image, barcode, skylines and sell lines. When my editing was done, I evaluated my work to see if there were any issues and then made some minor adjustments using editing skills.  

Research and Planning

Research and Planning

Initially before starting the media course, I wasn’t used to researching and planning work as it was not something I did often. With my college magazine, which was one of the first tasks set, I did not really do much research as we were just asked to make our own college magazine, based on our knowledge of what a magazine looked like. Also, there was not much planning involved either as I only planned the photo taking, this is why I think my work looked rushed. Although this did not involve much research or planning I developed and improved these skills throughout the duration of the course. While creating my music magazine, I made sure I did thorough research of everything that needed researching, like: conventions of a magazine, target audience’s needs and different genres. I presented my research in a lot of different ways by using PowerPoints, Prezi, video feedback and questionnaires. This led me to having a range of different presentations of my work and also I made it more enjoyable to do rather than writing all my research up on a word document. For my planning I used my research of existing magazines like: NME, Kerrang!, Rolling Stone and Rock Sound and their conventions. After this research, I made up a plan on word, rather than drawing it out on a plain piece of paper as this made it easier to have access to my plan whenever I needed to look at it. I also made sure I planned my time well by planning how I wanted my magazine to look, using inspiration from a magazine from my genre, like: Kerrang! and NME. Also, planning when I was going to take my photos and when I was going to edit them and my magazine. From the start of the course to the end, I feel as though I improved my skills which helped me create the overall product that I did.