Filming Day 1

     Below shows a discussion Cam and I had concerning the performance side of our filming, in particular, how we managed to improve our location last minute and the reasons as to why we chose to change ideas.

 

     

Test Shots - Performance

Recently, Cam and I tested out the performance side of our video. We were able to see how the shots would look with the help of our smoke machine and coloured lighting. We noticed that as the scene was being shot in darkness with only our artificial lighting, the camera we use needs to be able to pick up as much light as possible. As we were using a Canon 700d, we found that the lens wasn't powerful enough to make the image as clear as we want due to it not being able to pick up much of the limited light available. In order to improve the quality of our filming, we will use a Canon 70d which will pick up more light and give a more improved image and less pigmented. As the walls of the room we are using will be draped with white cloth, the room will brighten up completely from the use of our LED lights. We had inspiration of this animated look from various artists; shown below are the ones we feel are the most appropriate for portraying our ideas.

Bruising Attempts

In these images you can see three attempts of bruising we have tested out for the girl's lower neck and upper shoulder. The bruises would have been caused from her boyfriend when he beat her up, therefore we need to make sure that the makeup looks like it has been caused from fists and fingerprints. When doing this test, we found it difficult to make the makeup look realistic and not go over the top with the colouring, therefore when we practise again we will try to make the makeup minimal, but still effective giving it a realistic effect.

Test Shots - Artificial Bathroom

The video shown below shows a selection of test shots we have done in order to see whether or not our artificial bathroom scene would work effectively with our chosen lighting arrangements.
In the real thing, we will use red gels over this lighting to create the illusion of the location being unrealistic and abstract, but we will use similar angles provided by the slider. This will allow us to get slick shots following a line of movement giving the video a professional aspect. When we shoot this scene again, and in the editing of this part, we will black out the background completely for dramatic effect as in some parts of the video you can see glimpses of other unwanted objects in the room.

Mood Board 2

Our second Mood Board portrays more concepts we have come up with based on our Digi Pack designs. To expand on the idea we have of the disc being an eye, we discussed the design that the coloured part of the eye will be the disc with the rest of the eye as the background, eyelashes included in the image too (explained in the first mood board). For another idea, we thought of having the disc being a bath drain in which the background would be the bath. This creates a sense of interactivity with the audience, along with the effectiveness of blood mixed with mascara tears being washed away down the drain. This streak of liquid will drain down the plughole under the disc, where the removal of the disc will allow the audience to see down the plug. We felt this image would fit accordingly with our location shots being majorly in bathrooms, alongside the main character's emotions showing through her tears.

 

Audience Research 1

Below is a video of audience research we carried out. In this, we interviewed a range of people we go to school with, asking them questions based on genres and our chosen song.

Casting

When choosing our cast we wanted to involve people outside of our schoolmates, to increase the realism of the piece for our viewers at school. In addition to this, we felt that the quality of the video should be as professional as possible, therefore we use experienced performers who will do the job the way we plan it to be.

For our main character in the narrative parts of our video, we have decided to use my friend Ania to act as the abused girlfriend. We both thought she was the right person for the part as she goes to a performing arts school and has her own YouTube channel. She was also hired to be in a short film called 'The 56 Year Old Boy' by a popular youtuber. This shows that she has previous work in the performing arts field and will provide useful skills for our filming as she is clearly comfortable in front of the camera.

https://www.youtube.com/user/aniamags  - the link to her channel

For our performing side of the video, we have chosen Cam's friend Harvey Causon to lip sync the song's lyrics. We decided to use Harvey as he is a skilled singer that enjoys performance and is passionate about singing. We felt that he would be perfect for representing the image needed to portray the original artist's image and include his experience when filming.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi0fLeAdfoVwY_PpDqBDNkA   - The link to his channel

Mood Board 1

The pictures below display an array of ideas to show our thought process for the Digi Pack. Our draft idea for the front cover is of a steamed up glass mirror in which the main character (ania) is in the reflection. The title of the album and name of the artist will be written in the condensation on the mirror- condensation typewrite. Next to the mirror will be bathroom tiles to give the cover a realistic feel and provides a simplistic background to have, completing the cover. For the idea of the disk, we have been discussing having an eye filling the disc, only the coloured part and pupil, as this is the round part of the eye- refers to the first shot in our music video of the main characters eye. In comparison to this, we might decide to have the front cover be half our main character's face, shown below, with a tear coming down her face and have the background in black and the text written in the other half of the picture in white.



Storyboard sketching - close up of eye

Over the weekend I filmed my mum sketching our first storyboard. The sketch presented is a close up of ania's (main character) eye with mascara tears coming down her face. The original 10 minute video was condensed to roughly 2 minutes in a time lapse to show the process of the creation of the eye for the audience.