Filming: Day 1

Today, we spent the whole day filming as much of the footage for our music video as we possibly could. We did not succeed in fully completing all the filming we needed, and so we will have to go back on a later date to get the rest of the shots we require. However, we have more than enough to begin the editing process for now.

Myself and my group arranged to meet at Temple Meads at 9am, in order to allow us a good full day's worth of filming. We decided the weekend would be best to do this, as neither our group nor the actors would have had any educational commitments in the form of lessons it would be unfair to ask them to miss, and also the weekend is when everybody was most likely to be free. Filming in the morning was also important for us, as our initial shots are morning shots, and reply on the use of natural light to convey the time to the audience. If we were filming perhaps later in the afternoon, when it was forecast to be slightly sunnier, then this could affect the portrayal of morning that we wanted to convey, and create a negative impression on the audiences perception of our product, as they perhaps would not understand the narrative.

We met as a group first, in order to establish that we had everything we needed - in terms of equipment, props and storyboards etc. We then met with the actors and travelled together to Kuda's house to shoot our interior scenes.

We felt that for ease in the editing process it would be more efficient to shoot in storyboard and narrative order. This should theoretically make editing more straightforward in that we hopefully won't have shots all over the place, and they will be in an easily accessible order. This therefore meant that the first scene we required the actors to do was to get into bed with each other...

After the initial awkwardness of the first scene, the two seemed to act quite comfortably together, which we felt would help to enhance the feeling of realism we aim to achieve in our representation.

We used framing here to represent the emotional detachment between the couple. Whilst they were lying in bed, we wanted the closeup shots to be framed heavily-weighted to one side, surrounding the character with empty space in the frame, in reflection of the vast amount of space between the couple on an emotional as well as physical basis. This was something we then emphasised with an overhead mid-shot of the two in bed, where each was positioned as far from their opposing sides of the frame as possible, showing a clear physical divide between the two, which connotes the status of their relationship.

Setting up for these scenes took much longer than we had imagined, but this showed us what to expect for the rest of the filming period, allowing us to factor this in to the time management for the remainder of the day.

Kuda's room was quite small and with 5 people in it, the room became quite cramped. There was not a massive deal of room for manoeuvre, and so we had to be quite experimental and creative with the angles and shots we chose. One problem we encountered was the natural light from outside, which kept fluctuating from brightness to darkness due to the cloudy weather. This affected the continuity of the shots, and meant that we had to shoot double the amount we had expected to try and get a range of clips that would enable us to create a running visual theme, instead of a disruptive, constantly changing visual flow between shots.

Additionally, as the natural light from the window was the only lighting source we used, we had to be very careful in the positioning of ourselves and the camera, so as not to cast any shadows across the scene. This meant that we took a number of unconventional filming approaches into obtaining the angling we needed, including placing the tripod above the actors in the bed, and also holding it out to create an overhead mid-shot of the two together. The only way in which we could effectively achieve this was to sit at the foot of the bed, with all three of us holding the end of the tripod in order to get as steady a shot as possible. Obviously, this was going to affect the outcome of the shot, as it would not ensure complete stability, but it would make for a smoother visual style than a simple hand held shot might have done.

We filmed a few brief shots of the mise-en-scene that we brought, but I feel that we are unlikely to use them as there was nowhere they could be positioned to be simply seen in the background, and quick pan across them may look odd and out of context.

We then went into the dining room to film the second set of interior shots. This was fairly easy to set up, as we had already seen the location through images Kuda had shown us, and upon entering the house, so we had a rough idea of the camera set up we wanted to use. Additionally, there was much more room for movement whilst filming, so we were able to get a wider variety of camera angles and positions. Seeing as we had three cameras, we thought it would be best to have at least one set up in a static, long to mid shot setting,in order to allow a steady and clear depiction of the narrative. We used the remaining two cameras to gain alternative angles and perspectives, focusing on one character each. This would enable us to create a range of camera effects in the editing stages, such as that of the shot-reverse-shot between the two characters, and match-on-action's, for example, when the glass of juice is passed across the table. In the modern day, main narrative to the video, we opted for the use of more high angles shots, to show a more powerless and weaker position, in order to reflect the state of the relationship that we wanted to convey. It makes the two seem as though they have no power to change anything within the relationship, and they are emotionally sinking together. In the happier flashbacks, we made a point to capture many of the shots from a lower angle, looking up at the two actors. This heightens a feeling of authority and power, perhaps suggesting that they are on top of their relationship and in total control - it is unfolding as they want it to, and they are both of a mutual level of respect and understanding in the relationship.

One problem that we encountered during this part of the filming process was again with the lighting in scenes, particularly that of the flashback. We wanted this scene to come across as romantic and intimate, and were hoping to achieve this through the use of low-key lighting in the form of candles. However, when we began to film like this, we noticed that the shots were far too dark, and the camera wasn't picking up any images in great quality. We tried to resolve this by opening the curtains behind us slightly, in order to filter a small amount of light in to act as a front light, allowing the camera to pick up the image. However, the natural light was too powerful, and completely overturned the lighting from the candles. Additionally, as we framed the shot with a window separating the two, and were filming during the day, the only way to block out this light was to pull the curtain across it. However, this failed to stop the light from seeping through the edges of the curtain and ruing the effect of the shot. We overcame this slightly by placing the lid of the Scrabble box against the curtain to hold it down, but unfortunately it was ultimately unavoidable. We set about trying to find a range of different shots to avoid seeing the lighting, usually using close ups that focused more on the face or action at hand.

Whilst we were filming, we also thought it would be beneficial to hold various photoshoots at the same time. These images could then be used for our ancillary products of the magazine advert and the CD digipack. By taking images simultaneous to our filming, it would create cohesion between the images, as the factors of the images would all be the same, in terms of location, appearance, lighting etc. This is an important thing to consider when thinking about the synergy we need to create through our digipack, in order for it to work together as a whole promotional tool.

These are some of the images we captured. Although we did not make any plans for any images of this sort, we thought it would be beneficial to us to get as wide a range of images as possible, whether planned or impromptu like these were.

We then left the interior location, and walked to a park close to Kuda's house. The weather was pretty miserable by this point, which could have worked well in terms of the connotations of misery we were aiming to portray in the narrative, but overall we felt that it would be better to come back and film more exterior shots another day. Unfortunately, due to the extensive amount of filming we had done all day, the cameras were nearly flat, and so we did not have much filming time left as it was. We managed to film a fair number of exterior shots in this location, before it started to rain, so it may even be the case that we have enough of the modern day narrative strand as it is. We will definitely need to arrange another day to film the exterior flashback scenes, hopefully on a day with a more desirable weather forecast.

Evaluation: 4) B - How did you use media technologies in the planning stages?

The use of social networking sites were highly important in the planning stages of our coursework. Firstly, this is the medium of contact we used to gain permission form our chosen artist, after using music streaming websites such as Myspace and Last.fm to find songs that we felt we could work well with to produce our music video and ancillary texts. Having previously sent a number of emails to a few record labels of signed artists in order to receive permission to use their tracks in our coursework but failing to hear any responses, we decided to find a band or artist of a more low-key status, who would be more inclined to allow us to use their song. I personally contacted a number of bands through websites such as Myspace and Facebook, and we contacted our particular chosen artist as a group, through the question and answer website, Formspring.me. Although a long and frustrating process, it eventually ended up being relatively straightforward, at the website does not necessarily require you to register or log in in order to ask questions, and allows instantaneous anonymous posting. As Gabrielle Aplin is an extremely small scale artist, she is quite reliant on the internet as a promotional tool for her music, as is conventional of low-key artists in the early stages of their musical career, providing a cheap and quick marketing method. This meant that we received her consent within hours, and could immediately begin planning the creation of our product.

Facebook was also a key factor throughout the duration of our coursework, serving as a quick, free and easy method of communication, allowing us to plan and prepare as a group, outside of the lesson setting. This is also how we arranged and contacted our actors and locations, as it allowed us to relay more information to them than perhaps a quick text message would have permitted. I felt that this was an effective form of communication, as text message communication alone was starting to become costly, and we were all sending the same ideas to each other simultaneously, perhaps wasting time that could have been put tot better effect. As soon as we began to use Facebook as a method of communication, it seemed as though we put our views across in a much easier quicker and easier fashion.

Due to complications in the beginning of our filming process, we had more time to devise a more detailed storyboard. To document this process and record all of our ideas, we constructed a number of mind-maps and rough story board sketches, which we then used a still camera to document in order to collate all of our rough ideas together to form our main products. We also used the camera to capture shots of potential locations, which we then shared with the rest of the group, allowing us full visualisation of the shots we were hoping to achieve, instead of having to risk turning up on the day and sacrificing the quality of the visuals due to unthorough preparation.

We created a textual questionnaire, which we then distributed to people of a variety of ages and backgrounds, in order to draw a representative selection of society, which would then influence the ideas for our main product of the music video, and the ancillary texts of our CD cover and magazine advert. This was crucial, as there would be no purpose to making a product of this sort if it was of no appeal to anybody. Additionally, such products are viewed as a marketing tool for the music of the band or artist, and if we created a product that failed to register interest then we would have not achieve any success with the whole purpose of the product.

In this stage, we looked a fair deal into previous products the artist had already produced, in order to determine common conventions and themes that she included, which would then have obvious impact on our own work. Although we had decided to go for an unconventional approach to the video, we felt it was still necessary to include some of the ideas behind Gabrielle Aplin's own products in some matter - for example the representation of the young, pretty girl, and so researched these images in order to incorporate the themes into our own work in some way, creating a loose connection and synergy to previous products that would perhaps serve to make our own product as something that could be visibly associated with the artist.

The use of naturalistic lighting and bright, sunny weather was quite an important factor in preparation for the filming of our happier flashback scenes. Ideally, we would have hoped for the weather to be idyllic through the whole of the filming period, but due to the typical British seasons, we accepted this as a relative impossibility. We often checked the weather forecast using websites such as that of the BBC to predict the forecast and therefore the most suitable times for filming. I feel that the poorer weather in the modern day, unhappier shots actually worked in our favour, as I think it served to effectively accentuate the feeling of gloominess and misery that we were hoping to convey through the narrative.

We continued to document the entire process on our blogs, which allowed for us to make reference to it at a later date, such as now, and also to coordinate our ideas to create our products.

Planning: Props and Equipment

PROPS:

As our video consists entirely of narrative, the mise-en-scene is highly important in conveying our ideas. There are a number of props that we need to bring tomorrow, either for a specific use in the scene, or to help create the overall impression we were trying to achieve.

For the initial bedroom scene, we will need a clock for the opening shots, however as we are filming at Kuda's house, this along with many other props should not be a problem. We will also need an acoustic guitar for the guy to kick over in this scene, as well as for the photo shoot, which I will bring. It is an old, battered acoustic with loose strings at the head, which we feel would add to the whole indie, folk and almost hippy like style we are trying to convey. This is important, as we have planned it to be a key focal point within the photo shoot for our CD package and magazine advert, and if it looked completely out of place then it would have a detrimental effect on the mood of the whole style and image.

We have also decided to bring a number of items such as books, CD's and jewellery for mise-en-scene in the bedroom. Although we have not incorporated any of this into our storyboard, it may be beneficial to bring it along and have it in the background to add to the style, and also include the postmodernistic element of intertextuality. For example, two books that I intend to bring are J.D. Salinger's 'The Catcher In The Rye', and Stephen Chbosky's 'The Perks Of Being A Wallflower' - both of which are typically associated with the alternative, indie scene. Additionally, both of these books concern the whole 'coming of age' and teenage angst ideas, which could potentially relate to our video. For one of the CD's, we could bring a copy of Joe Brooks album 'Constellation Me', which would potentially be representative of the artist and her style - in terms of the narrative, it could represent an influence of this type of music over the artists own personal musical style, potentially drawing similarities between the careers of the two artists, suggesting a similar direction and widespread success for Gabrielle Aplin in the future.

We have decided to use candles in the initial flashback scenes in order to create an atmosphere of romanticism and exultance, parallel to the themes we hope to portray in the narrative. The candles will not only serve to act as props, but will hopefully be the main source of lighting for these scenes, creating a low-key lighting effect, thereby heightening the impression of intimacy we are aiming for.

Evidently we will also need Scrabble for the flashback scenes, which Hannah is more than happy to provide. We have chosen this board game to use in the 'date' like scenario as a board game implies youthfulness and innocence, in cohesion with the style of both the artist and the genre. The game of scrabble represents a certain element of intelligence and a love for literature - a stereotypical indie / folk-like theme. Additionally, the game gives us an opportunity to create a wide range of synergy across our 3 media products, as we may be able to use the tiles as a form of typographical code in our ancillary products.

We have decided to create an element of humor in this flashback scene in the way of playing on typical romantic conventions. In addition to the obvious opening for word based play that we create with the scrabble board game, we have decided to amplify conventions of the typical 'date' situation - for example one may expect a flute of champagne or a beverage of some sort on a date like this to elevate the romantic feel. We have decided to manipulate this idea, purchasing a pair of champagne flutes at an expense of 60p each, which the character will bring out to suggest an adherence to these conventional expectations. He will then go on to pull out a bottle of juice, thereby manipulating the typical stereotypes of the situation into a more innocent and youthful light.

EQUIPMENT:

Our AS coursework showed us the importance of having multiple cameras, in order to get a wide variety of different shots thereby giving us much more of a choice in the editing stages. We have borrowed two camera's from college, and Hannah will be bringing her own so that each of our group will have one. This means that we will be able to simultaneously capture a number of different angles and viewpoints, which should also save time as we won't have to do too many run-throughs of the same shots. In addition to this, we have borrowed a tripod, which will enable us to ensure that we have at least some steady shots. This will probably mainly be used for the long to mid-shots, and we will probably find another means to steady any shots of the less straightforwardly framed shots. I have bought a pack of 5 mini-DV tapes for filming, which will enable us to have one tape per camera without having to switch, meaning we can all film at the same time, and also leaves us 2 spares in case of any problems.

Planning: Weather

Unfortunately, as it is now almost winter the weather is becoming less favourable. We had hoped to film the flashback scenes in the park of a sunny day, thereby emphasising the connotations of warmth and happiness. However, due to delays in the organisation of actors and availability, we seem to have missed some of the nicer weather we were due. In part, this could work to our advantage, as it would accentuate the feeling of dreary gloominess that we were aiming to achieve, although the dimmer lighting may create visuals of a much poorer quality than we had envisioned. Luckily, we still have some time left, so if we need to go back and film the flashback on another day with more suitable weather, this is still a viable option for us.

Planning: Locations

We plan to shoot the majority of our video tomorrow, or at least the entirety of the interior scenes. Overall, we require three locations: Two interior - that of a bedroom, and a kitchen or dining room of some sort, and one exterior - that of a park or a playground. When considering interior locations, we had a pretty clear idea of the layout and image we wanted - for example with the breakfast scene, we wanted a long dining table, preferably positioned parallel to a window. We felt that visually, this would create the best effect, as for one it doesn't leave too much empty space in the frame, but additionally would be crucial when it came to the utilisation of natural lighting in our video, used to promote the feeling of realism. Fortunately one member of our group, Kuda, suggested using his house which turned out to look almost exactly like we had imagined.

He has confirmed that his house is free for us to film tomorrow, meaning we should be able to get all of the interior shots done in one go.

The park that we had originally intended to use was Victoria Park, fairly near to college. However, seeing as there is a large park roughly ten minutes away from Kuda's, we have decided to film as much of the exterior shots as we can there tomorrow, weather permitting.

Planning: Costumes

From our own experiences with the style, combined with the findings from our research, we were able to create a number of different outfit and costume ideas for use in our music video and ancillary texts. We felt that costume was a key factor in the portrayal of generic conventions, in both our adherence to and diversion from them in some manner. As our video is solely narrative based, we rely heavily on mise-en-scene such as that of the costume to communicate with the audience, creating a recognisable link with conventions that may be familiar to them and their own personal style, thereby creating a connection with the intended target audience.

When researching Gabrielle Aplin and her music, we found that she could fall under a range of different conventions, including the more indie stylised image as well as the highly feminine, folk image. We deduced that as her key target audience is primarily teenage girls due to the lyrical content of her songs, to market the image of the actors in our video as a down-to-earth, relatable and familiarised indie like style, which would be reflected through the use of costume.

We found that one of the staple clothing items from this type of genre was that of the checkered shirt. It is an article of clothing widely recognised as being pigeonholed in the indie-ish clothing style. We felt that is was important to include articles of clothing that would be widely familiar with the target audience and would effectively communicate the style we wanted to convey on a broader level than perhaps a more innocent and floaty folk like style would have been able to express.

We have devised 3 costume plans, for use in various stages throughout our video.

COSTUME A: SLEEP ATTIRE

• This is not incredibly significant for the female actors costume, as we don't see much of her in her sleepwear - she remains under the bed covers, and In the next scene she is already dressed. However, to truly set the scene and communicate our ideas, we have asked her to bring along some form of sleepwear of her own discretion, in order to promote realism, and support continuity should we happen to actually see any of her costume in these scenes.





• This costume is slightly more important for the male actor, as we physically see him get out of bed, and he remains in his sleeping attire during the dining room scenes. This is to show a certain level of apathy to the character, who now had given up caring in the relationship, perhaps suggesting that he acts like a slob now as he doesn't feel he has to impress her, highlighting the dejected state the relationship is in. We have asked him to bring along a pair of pyjamas, which would serve to further emphasise the element of innocence and perhaps naivety that we created for the characters. When we see his feet kicking over the guitar, he is likely to have a pair of socks on, which perhaps show a certain degree of laziness and lethargy both reflective of the character and his views of or participation within the relationship.

COSTUME B: MODERN DAY / MISERABLE

In order to elevate the feeling of misery and gloom that is supposed to be a recurring theme throughout the main narrative, we hope to play on typical colour connotations to convey this feeling to the audience.

• For the female actor, we have listed a number of ideas revolving around the ideas of bland, bleak and dark clothing, perhaps baggy and unflattering to suggest a lack of concern with her appearance - highly unconventional for the genre, where there is emphasis on the polished and the preened, therefore further implying a dejected state as enforced by the narrative content. We originally made a brainstorm of different ideas for the female outfit in these scenes and have showed this to the actor, asking her if she owned anything along those lines. She has managed to create an outfit pretty ideal for the representation of dreariness we hoped to achieve, consisting of a deep blue and grey striped hoodie, black skinny jeans and biker boots. We feel that this collaborates effectively to create a dark outfit that can successfully connote feelings of misery, as well as portraying the important relatable youthful element.





• We had a number of ideas for the outfit of the male character, mainly revolving around the whole stereotypical indie dynamic we wanted to portray. However, we didn't feel this style would be suitable and fitting for our new actor, so re-devised his costume plan. We wanted to keep his outfit quite simplistic, perhaps in reference to his character, and not conforming to a particular social group. Having said this, we still wanted to create a portrayal that would be somewhat relatable to the genre in some ways, so tried to portray him as conventional in some ways. One way of doing this was through the representations of theme of misery, so we decided on a costume of dark jeans and shoes, a white vest or shirt and a black leather jacket or hoodie. None of these garments alone would be particularly reminiscent of any particular clothing style, but we feel they will work together overall in this context.

COSTUME C: FLASHBACK / HAPPY

We wanted to make the costumes for the flashback scenes much more conventional in style, perhaps overly so in order to create an element of humorousness. This also gave us the scope to play on colour connotations in order to best represent the characters, the narrative and the genre.

• For Beth, we chose a fairly stereotypical outfit that would be immediately cohesive with the genre of music - the outfit will consist of a red flannel checkered shirt, jeans and red shoes or trainers. It is a fairly simplistic outfit, thereby reflecting the raw and simplistic element of the folk genre itself. The bright colours of the reds serve to heighten the vibrancy of the shots in stark contrast to the preceding clips, emphasising the difference between then and now. Alternatively, the connotations of the colour red could be representative of anger and danger, perhaps in a forewarning of the dangers to come within the relationship. Even in the happier scenes, she will not wear any make-up, in order to convey the conventional representation of females in this genre - they tend to be very natural and raw, in line with the type of music they create.

• To enhance the feeling of harmony between the couple, Oscar will also wear red, in the form of a red vest. This again is a simplistic garment, but juxtaposed along side the female actors outfit creates and harmonizing the two outfits together, in reflection of the union of the couple.

Planning: Actors

Tomorrow we plan to begin shooting our music video, having finally been able to find two suitable actors who were free. As the basic idea for our video revolves around a relationship between a boy and a girl, we required both a male and female to act in our video. We wanted to keep them relatively young, in the late teens bracket, in order to capture some of the youthful innocence in line with Gabrielle Aplin's music and the lyrical value of our chosen song.

These were the two original actors that we had chosen to be in our video. We selected them as we felt that their image was pretty much perfect for the style that we wanted to convey. In terms of representation, we felt that it would be best to stick to the idea of youth and naivety in order to best represent the genre of music and the artist herself. We felt that to go down the more glamorous and sexualised route associated with the Pop genre would not be fitting for the song, and could potentially have a detrimental effect on the artist. Instead, we felt the style more fitting for Gabrielle Aplin and her sound would be that of the more conventional young, pretty girl. When researching the artist and the genre, we found that a lot of the focus in the images fell on the face and the hair of the female, so evidently these were key attributes we took into consideration when finding a lead female actor. Additionally, we felt that it was important a certain amount of chemistry existed between the two, in order to make the visuals flow more comfortably. We felt these actors fitted this role almost perfectly, in both image and style - they dressed in a typically indie fashion, which would immediately be recognized by the target audience of the video. Unfortunately, due to work and family commitments it became impossible to use these two actors in our video.

We arranged to reschedule on numerous occasions, but we could not afford to waste any more time so instead have arranged two alternative actors. While both are very different in image and style from our original idea, we felt that they are still suitable for the representations we want to portray. Our female actor, Beth, has pretty much all of the key attributes we were hoping for - i.e. the long flowing hair, pretty face, and typically indie kind of style. Our male actor, Oscar, is very different in appearance from our original intention - at first we had planned on using a typical 'indie' boy with longer hair, who was relatively aesthetically pleasing in light of the intended target audience of younger girls - it is a common feature of audience gratification in this sort of genre to include typically attractive actors, in order to appeal to the younger, female audience that is it's predominant fan base. However, we feel that this could work to our advantage, portraying the male character in less of a stereotypical and conventional light, perhaps heightening the sense that the two are not on the same level, and imposing more of a divide between them.