I have been in regular contact with my sister regarding the music video as she has been cast as our main artist. Through various FaceTime discussions we have spoken about lip-syncing techniques, the costume, performance expectations, final preparations for the day and any accessories she might have that we could use such as a ring and appropriate shoes. I have also provided her with the link to our blog and so she has been regularly checking to see any advancements in our ideas and work so that she is fully informed when it comes to the our filming days. 
Tag Archives: George
Props
We carefully watched our Animatic video and made notes on the various props we had featured within our music video. Here is a list of the props that we made on our iPhones and will be the props that we now need to carefully source with an almost non-existent budget:
You can see that using Apples newly updated Reminders app it is possible to make lists and keep on track with the tasks you have completed. It is a quick and easy way to refer to the props that we need to get. From this screenshot, it is possible to vividly identify that our microphone prop has been sourced and therefore is checked off of our list. This has been mentioned in a previous blog post.
In order to check off a few more items from our list we decided that a few local charity shops could be good places to locate the props we want as they are generally priced reasonably and often contain older objects which could be ideal for our art-deco theme:
Unfortunately the trip was not as successful as we had first anticipated as the shops contained very few items that were from the Art Deco period. Due to this slight disappointment we have planned another trip to Romford as it is a historical market town and so holds many cheap market stalls as well as various high street charity shops and so we feel as though our chances of obtaining the remainder of our props are significantly higher than our previous trip.
Time Management – To-Do
Recently during one of our media classes we analysed the elements we have completed and posted on our blog and then created a list of things that we had to do.
This exercise helps as it ensures we get all of our planning and preparation done before we begin filming our music video.
Artist Casting
We decided that our artist will be portrayed by my sister, Hannah Lawrence. She is a 20 year old University student who we feel would be perfect for the role. Hannah has the type of look and style we were hoping for our artist and we feel is well qualified having spent a majority of her teenage years attending Renées School of Dance and Performing Arts and Rhodes Stage School. This will mean she has the confidence and experience to pull-off an authentic performance when we film the video.
One problem we have is her current availability. She is in her first year at Reading University studying Law which means she is staying away from home and has a lot of work to complete. I recently contacted her in order to find when she would be available to come back home and this was our iMessage conversation:
This was the moment we finalised our filming dates.
Microphone Purchased
Today, on the 11th November, we searched the internet for a fake retro microphone prop, which is essential for nearly half of the shots in the video. After extensive search, as a ‘fake’ one is very rare, and the functioning ones are around £45, we found one that we will be able to attach to a plain microphone stand. It was £6.99, purchased from eBay, and the deliver should take no longer than 48 hours, which was an important aspect when researching our purchasing options.
Location Scouting
In the half term, we felt it would be a wise decision to go up to London in order to see the locations we are hoping to film at and assess the accessibility, potential risks and problems that may present themselves. By visiting these locations before our shooting dates will allow us to overcome any problems beforehand in order to make the day run as smoothly as possible and to get the best final result from the footage we shoot.
Embankment
To begin, I feel it is worth mentioning how pleasantly surprised we both were regarding accessibility to all of the locations around London. They are all placed relatively near a clean and easy route which will help on the day with our time management. Upon arriving at our first location, Embankment, we were happy to find that despite it being a sidewalk along the River Thames, there was already plenty of sources of light that will help in the illumination of our artist during the night shoot, these lights can be seen in the slideshow above. We found the perfect spot that will be easy for us to re-discover that has the great and iconic London skyline behind it that features both the new Shard and the London Eye.
Piccadilly Circus
After hopping on the Northern line for two stops to get on the Picadilly Line for one stop, we arrived at our next location. Piccidilly Circus. Fortunately, the tube station exit opens up right in the centre of where we plan to film which will save us time as we do not need to walk anywhere. We liked that the location was busy and full of people as it well portrays the London atmosphere; although this may make filming a little harder, we feel that because the shots in this location are only short, we will have the sufficient time in between people walking amongst us to film the shots we need. The large Piccadilly billboards provide a great source of light along with the various street lights and christmas decorations that will be present when we go to film, for this reason, at this particular location we are not worried that the shots may appear to dark and underlit. While we were there, we decided that a good shot idea would be to circle the artist as this shows the location in its entirety and the surrounding tourists in their casual day to day clothing allows our artist to stand out.
Her Majesty’s Theatre
Around the corner from Piccadilly Circus – a 5 minute walk – is Her Majesty’s Theatre. Before planning our trip up to London we were unaware of just how close the two locations were and so we were very happy. The exterior of the theatre is perfect for the atmosphere we are trying to create with a classic wooden door with glass panels which fits the 1920’s theme so well. Fortunately there are also many lamps placed along the veranda of the theatre which will help greatly with the lighting of the shots that are based around this location. Generally, we were really pleased with the architecture and aesthetics of the building which lend themselves so well to the art deco period.
Knightsbridge/ Brompton Road/ Harrods
The final location we visited took the longest to get to in comparison with the other locations however still took no longer than 10-15 minutes with the exit of the station being literally outside of Harrods’ front door. At this location we found that all of the christmas lights were already up which makes for even more lights in our backdrop. This is a huge positive, as that was the key reason why this location was chosen in the first place as the Harrods building is covered in lights that are lit when its dark. One problem we encountered while filming some practice shots was just how busy the road was and the huge number of pedestrians that obscure the shot and space between our artist and the camera. It has made us realise that when filming it will be extremely difficult to film the song and a performance the whole way through cleanly without any distractions; therefore, when we film in London on Friday 15th we will have to film the song in short snippets. This could cause some continuity issues, but it will just have to be an element that we carefully look at and focus on when we are in the editing stage of our music video. As a whole we concluded this location will probably be one that we spend a majority of our time at but we are still very pleased with the backdrop it supplies us with.
Dailies 1 feedback
Here is the main aspects of our video filming that we will be presenting in dailies to analyse as a class, and give feedback on.
This is our feedback for our first session of dailies
Treatment Presentation
Once we produced our treatment, we were given the task of presenting our ideas to the class and had to answer any questions and gain feedback that they had. This video was shot about a month ago, however, was only recently available to us. To see our original ‘Treatment’ blog post click here.
Theatre Location and Lighting
Today (5/11/13) we went to speak to the school keepers in order to find out whether the theatre would be available to film in on the weekend that dates 15-17th November. Initially, we were hoping to film on the Saturday morning, however, during this brief meeting we found that the theatre is used by an ‘outside’ Theatre school. We then enquired whether it is free to use the theatre the following morning and fortunately we are able to. During our discussion with Mr Hanford he outlined certain rules that we must follow:
- We must inform the care taker when we arrive and depart (incase there is a fire and we need to be located)
- We speak to the drama department regarding the use of the light fixtures
- We cannot have more than 10 people on site due to health and safety regulations
After visiting the school keepers to see if it was possible to film at the schools theatre, we then went to the theatre to get a closer look and discuss lighting. Here is an annotation of the theatre, explaining the lighting we have concluded will be appropriate and why:
This is a great step forward in the final preparation that we are carrying out before the weekend that we shoot the video. We have now chosen, located and visited all of the sites and are confident we have made the right decisions.
Platinum Records Co. - Ameli 