Equipment Information

The camera which we are going to use for the majority of our filming is the Canon Video Camera shown above, this camera is HD which allows us to film our music video to a very professional standard and make it look at good as possible. This camera has auto focus, this is helpful as there are going to be things on set which would be hard to manual focus on props, such as balloons etc.

For various shots we are going to be using a Dolly, this will help any shots that involve the camera being moved or for any tracking shots as it enables us to make the camera run smoothly and with ease. It also allows us to move the tripod around our set easily without having to pick up the tripod.

The camera which we will be using during filming to take pictures of Ben for our Digipak and Magazine Advert is the Nikon SLR pictured above, this camera is a professional camera which will allow us to take pictures of Ben that look like they would in industry and will be of a good quality when we come to edit them and use them for our Digipak and Magazine Advert.

We are using a Tripod, like the one above for almost all of our shots, this will allow us to keep the camera steady and make sure all the movement is coming from the people and objects in the frame rather than the camera, it also allows us to pick what height we film certain things like the group shots and ground shots from.

Posted by Abbey Newton

Casting Information

After we had auditioned the candidates for the music video we had a choice between who we wanted to pick. We chose Benjamin Pavitt to be the main actor and character for the video as he is the artist of the song and he had the specific look that we were after which was indie and laidback. Ben also came across well on camera and suited the background and lighting that we were planning on using. As Ben wrote the song he knew the lyrics well so when it came to lip syncing it was handy because casting someone else would have meant giving them time to learn the lyrics for the video which would have been time consuming.

For the extras in our video we needed teenagers that like to party and have a good time but also people that take direction well and co operate with our vision for the video. This meant that we would only cast a few people that are easy to work with so we could get the video shot to a high standard. We casted 3 girls and 3 boys who not only had the look we were after but also the attitude and determination that was required. We did this by taking pictures of the individuals and asking them questions in an interview about why they deserve to be cast and what they can bring to the shoot. This allowed us to see how they behave in front of a camera and how they look when being filmed so we knew they would be able to cope on a real film set.

Posted By Charlotte Hester and Abbey Newton

Animatic Storyboard

Above is an animated version of our photographic storyboard, this will give us an even better idea for how our video will look and what the actual location looks like when put to the music.

 

Posted by Abbey Newton

Draft Shot List

Posted By Abbey Newton, Amy Coster & Charlotte Hester 

Audition Infomation

For our audition we wanted to see who was auditioning beforehand, so, we decided that we needed to see a headshot of each person auditioning and a shot of them at a party (As they would be in the same situation in our music video)  

We auditioned people on Wednesday the 13th - two days before shooting.

We had to audition for party guests and the front man. For the front man we wanted the singer who actually sings the song so we took pictures of him to test out lighting and his look.

When people auditioned, we briefly told them what we needed them to do in the music video and what they need to wear. The reason that we auditioned people before hand is to make sure they knew what we wanted them to do and knew they would have right attitude towards being in our music video.

Below is a video showing some of our auditions, giving an insight into what we required of them.

Posted by Abbey Newton & Amy Coster

Lighting Notes

For the piano shots we want a back light on Ben to create a silhouette effect and use some fairy lights that area theme running through all shots placed on the piano.

For all the shots on the trampoline they are going to be lit with fairy lights across the trampoline and colour changing lights from the side depicting to the audience where the party is happening, giving us a sense of direction.

The party shots inside will be bright to connote happiness and energy by using lots of fairy lights and bright colour changing lights and colourful balloons to make the shots more full.

The shots under the lamp post will be only lit by the lamp post to only light up ben making him look alienated.

The shots will be filmed in the dark but lit up with artificial lighting so our challenge is to get enough lighting to make all the shots clear and making sure that the lighting doesn't change between shots.

Posted by Amy Coster

Ideas For Magazine Advert

The first design we came up with is a very basic design, we used a picture of the northern lights, which will make a link to the title of the album and song, as the background image. We included Ben's name, the album title and when the release date is, however after doing more individual research we decided that we hadn't featured enough information on our poster. 

We also decided against this initial poster as we asked members of our target audience to give us feedback on our design.

''It is very basic and doesn't have anything to do with the video''

''There isn't enough information about where to find links to buy the song etc''

This feedback aided us when it came to designing the posted below as we had been told by our target audience what they wanted to see.

After doing our first design we did some research into existing posters/adverts and used them to help improve our designs. We thought it would be most effective if we used a picture of Ben instead as it would draw people in, so we decided to use a picture we took while on set filming the video. We also added out institution logo in the bottom left hand corner, as this is seen most magazine adverts, we also added a copyright logo to make it look more professional and also a website so people, in theory, could visit this if they wanted to pro-order or buy the album.

Using a picture of Ben which we took on set will help us link in with the video as people seeing the magazine advert can later make the link when they see the video or buy the album.

Posted by Abbey Newton & Charlotte Hester

Ideas for Digipack

 When trying to decided what we wanted to do for our Digipack, we knew we wanted it to link in a lot with the look of our music video, so we have decided to use the party theme a great deal in our Digipack designing.

Below is a basic idea which the three of us sat down and came up with, we are using the idea below to give us ideas on what we want our Digipack to look like. We are using the images in the design below as an example, when making out final Digipak we will use photos that are taken on the set of the music video to prevent copyright issues. 

Front

Back

Also when we come to making our actual Digipak we are going to most likely use a different template so our design has a spine and 8 square sides as opposed to this design which would give us 12. 

Above is a design made my Abbey which we got feedback on from our target audience.

''I like the use of the artist on the back rather than the front, it makes it quirky''

''You could do with more than just a barcode, it doesn't look realistic enough''

The feedback which we gained will aid us when it comes to making our final designs as we have had direct communication with our target audience and what they want to see. 

Posted By Abbey Newton & Charlotte Hester

Location Scouting

As our music video was based around the idea of a party, we decided to use a house environment to keep the video as realistic as possible. This was our final location.

We decided to use this because we could dress the set easily in lights and props to fill the space and enhance the party atmosphere. There is also a big enough space to film in when we planned what props we needed making it the ideal location. As the lighting in the house is very yellow, we are going to use our own party lights and strobe lights to put more of a cool blue colour giving the video more edge. The lights are going to be placed around the house in suitable locations such as the stair bannister and on shelves so we don't have to do much rearranging of the house which keeps the homely atmosphere present. The other props we are going to use such as balloons and cups etc. are easy to place around and are very noticeable on camera as we practiced.

This wasn't the first location we considered however, although it was the most appropriate. These are some other locations we considered. 

The above location wouldn't be appropriate as the space is very open and wouldn't create a crammed atmosphere. Also as it's open the props we would use would be segregated from the piece and not present in some of the shots we have planned for the video. Although this has a homely atmosphere it doesn't tick all the boxes in the respect that we need a heavily dressed set.

 Above is our colleges sixth form block, we did consider filming here at one point as it was an open space and would be easy to dress as a set because it was bare inside. However this venue wouldn't be appropriate as it didn't have the look of a house so it would therefore be very unrealistic.

Above is the final location we looked at, this is the one which have chosen and like the most as we can picture our video being filmed there as it has the room with a keyboard which we need and also an open plan living area which we can turn into a party easily.

Posted by Abbey Newton and Charlotte Hester


 

Initial Ideas for Props

 

Above is a mind map which shows our initial ideas on what props we want to use in our music video. Below that is a drawing of things we might want to use in our music video, we obviously want our props to be party themed so we have picked things that would be typically seen in a party environment.  

 

Posted By Charlotte Hester, Amy Coster and Abbey Newton

Initial Ideas For Costumes

 

Above is a mind map and drawing of what we want our costumes to roughly look like. We want Ben to look casual and upset so he is going to be in dark colours, however we want all the other guests at the party to be in bright smart clothing, looking like they have made more of an effort than Ben.

Posted By Charlotte Hester, Amy Coster and Abbey Newton

Photographic Storyboard

Above is a photographic storyboard we have made using pictures taken in our chosen location. The reason we have made this is because we think it gives a good reflection of how our set will look and also the contrast that will be seen between the performance shots and the party shots because the performance ones will be black and white and the party one will be colourful and lit up. 

Posted by Abbey Newton and Charlotte Hester