Evaluation of Film Day
Finally, the crucial day that we all feared came. The dance and narrative elements of our music video, were the ones debated and discussed the most, questioning whether they were really need for the video, as the band would only want the performance element for publicity and promotional reasons. However, our set designer TA had spent hours gathering our set together and we had spent a lot of our preparation time, organising our dancers Liv and Harry. I also was determined the dance element would work really well against the performance of the band. So we made the decision to continue with the idea, do the shoot day and decide afterwards on whether we would use the footage.
We arrived at the studio, and I had to collect Olivia's costume from our costume director at college. I had pre-arranged with her to bring in a green/blue colour tea dress. We dressed up Liv, and at first I was unsure on whether it was right for the theme (I was aiming for a vintage 'roaring 20s' look). However, I realised we also wanted a focus on the naturalism of the piece, and the subtlety of the dress was perfect. Together with curled hair and red lips, she looked perfect for the era and it matched the set design and Harry's costume perfectly (He wore checked trousers, a shirt, braces, brogues and glasses).
Preparing 20s makeup for the shoot
Once we'd sorted the way the actors looked, we rehearsed and choreographed exactly what they going to perform once the camera was on them. It was a romantic, chair duet where they played off each other, in an obvious early relationship. Once the 45 seconds was confirmed (the length of footage we needed), there was one final aspect of the set that had to be completed- our home made frames. We had forgotten the pictures that were supposed to be placed in the A2 sized frames and so Calum went and printed off two A4 pictures of lions (relating to Lion the Weak) and bordered them on an A2 piece of card. The frames were made from polystyrene, a wooden frame and then sprayed gold. From afar in the Wide Shots they looked really realistic and complimented the 'chesterfield style' sofa so well. Once everything was sorted, we began filming.
Pre-Shoot Rehearsal
We started with an easy wide shot of the pair doing their dance. The WS effectively presented our theme of Wes Anderson. The symmetrical 'lounge' setting with the sofa central and the lamps framing the room was a perfect set up. We had a few troubles with filming the wide shot, as we had to get everything exactly right, as you can see everything in the shot! For example, the lamp would wobble when walking past it. Once we got the wide shot, we moved on to the mid shots, close ups etc.
Our set design by Tracy Ann
When editing our piece, I'm hoping it looks exactly like it did on the screen connected to the camera when we filmed. The effect and lighting created this beautiful vintage colouring for the shots, which I fell in love with. The set worked perfectly for wide shots. Behind the camera, the group took turns doing separate roles. For instance Katie took on the role of measuring distance between camera and actor for focus, I took on role of filming and "rolling", Finbar did playback on the iPad and Calum director and made sure everything was in place. These were the original positions, however, we altered throughout the day and the process. I learnt a lot during filming. Especially about getting the shot in focus, getting the same measurement between camera and actor as on the camera's lens.
Behind the camera
Our actors were extremely patient, when we had to alter the camera lens and position of the camera. They took direction really well, and we all co-operated very well with eachother. A few stresses arose throughout the process of filming day for instance: we wanted a shot of the record player and record, however, the label on the record didn't have 'Lion the Weak' on it. We therefore had to make one for the record. It seemed as if we were wasting time on petty things- but in the end it all collaborated together and was all worth it.
Shooting close ups
Throughout the day we worked together on decided shots and how many we needed, with the dancers repeating their choreography countless times. However, we realised in order to get, for example, one shot of the feet moving, they would only have to do the dance section of the bit where the feet come into that shot. Complicated, but it made sense. The actors were so patient and worked brilliantly with us, co-operating with all our directions.
The beginning process of drawing the lion
The Lion Symbol progression
After we'd wrapped up the actors shots, we took lunch break, then came back to get our narrative section of the video. We had previously decided we would draw the 'Lion the Weak' symbol on the wall of our set. There was discussion about which wallpaper we were using, and whether using a dark one would risk not being able to see the drawing. Later in the process, we finally chose a pale, lighter wallpaper, in order for us to write and draw on it.
In the last 2 hrs of the day, we created a stop- motion with a digital photography camera, that we plan to edit together in order to create an animation of the drawing being created.
Overall the filming day went really successfully, and we had no real problems. Apart from a few spats, the group worked thoroughly well as a team, and we all look forward looking at the footage and editing it all together, receiving a great result at the end that we deserve.
After we'd wrapped up the actors shots, we took lunch break, then came back to get our narrative section of the video. We had previously decided we would draw the 'Lion the Weak' symbol on the wall of our set. There was discussion about which wallpaper we were using, and whether using a dark one would risk not being able to see the drawing. Later in the process, we finally chose a pale, lighter wallpaper, in order for us to write and draw on it.
In the last 2 hrs of the day, we created a stop- motion with a digital photography camera, that we plan to edit together in order to create an animation of the drawing being created.
Overall the filming day went really successfully, and we had no real problems. Apart from a few spats, the group worked thoroughly well as a team, and we all look forward looking at the footage and editing it all together, receiving a great result at the end that we deserve.
