Shoot day Evaluation

To set up for our shoot, the day before we had to build our 'set' and fit the costume for Esme. We started by gathering all the fabric we knew we had and laying it out on the table. I then cut some of the fabric that we knew would blend well with the set to make the dress, I ripped it and measured it around Esme. However we shortly realised it was to see through on its own so we needed and under layer for her. We cut this out of thicker cotton, marked and labelled it  and Rosie took it away to sew it. Eliza and I  then pinned the outer layer to Esme to make sure it fit. Next we took all the fabric we wanted in to the studio and measured how much we needed to attach it to the ceiling. I then started ripping the shiny fabric we had in to long strips, Rosie began to rip the cotton and Eliza the organza, Matt then used a ladder to tie the fabrics to the scaffolding on the ceiling, i directed where  each piece should go. We then chose a large piece of white fabric for the floor and once the dresses were pinned and sewed we were ready for filming. 

After we had finished building the set


Here is our first piece of footage In the first element of our set

The set had a black curtain as a background, with long white pieces of material hanging from the ceiling, i think it was the exact look we were trying to create as it was simple but tied in with the actors look and the dress and had that dreamy euphoric feel with use of the colour white. Overall we were very happy with it. I felt completely ready on the day of the shoot, our actress had learnt the words, the costumers were made and the set was built and  i was very happy with all of it. I was a little bit apprehensive weather we had enough time to do everything in one day however i felt we were as prepared as we could be. On the day of the shoot before we could start filming there were a few things we had to do including  make up. As i was in control of make up I had to meet the make up artist and tell her exactly what I wanted as well as showing a photo of what we needed. We then had to lay all the material on the ground in the studio, practice the lights we wanted to use and make sure they were all working etc and set up the cameras.

Esme made up AFTER 

Esme getting her make up done BFORE

On the shoot day we divided our roles evenly, however to experience every part of the shoot day ourselves we also switched roles every couple of hours. Rosie had the most artistic skill of how she wanted things to look, therefore she was the artistic director, Eliza had the most experience behind the camera so she was the camera man and i felt i communicated the best with the actors in terms of choreography etc  so i was the director. I felt all of us switching around enabled us to communicate with each other better because we all were able to experience each role and input our opinions when we had got used to new things. For example after I had taken on elizas role of the camera man i understood what she wanted the footage to look like so i then adapted what the actors were doing on screen to try and create the best product. Personally I think I was able to communicate the different feelings and opinions to each different member of the crew well so we were all on the same page. For example if Rosie wanted Esme not to touch certain parts of the material because it didnt' look right I would feed this to the actor myself. I also had to manage the choreography and lip sync, for example if Eliza wanted a particular movement or body part in shot I had to come up with a few movements to show Esme so she could perform them on camera. When she needed a support for the words/lip sync i had to make sure she knew the words by shouting them to her to make sure we could use each shot for the lip sync.



Here is a photo of me speaking to Esme about choreography 

The problems we had on the shoot day was timing. We had three different elements to shoot all in one day. There were two in the studio  and one in the woods. After we had filmed for about an hour, we realised we wouldn't have enough material to move to the woods so we decided to cut the woods and stick in the studio as what we had was already looking really good and we figured if we made all the material in the studio look the best it could be we wouldn't need the woods. Originally i thought without the woods we wouldn't have enough material and the video would become boring however we solved the problem by adding different elements using the material we had with different lights to make it more interesting and more connected with our theme which turned out for the best as
 we realised the woods wouldn't fit with our idea at all especially as the studio lights were very intense and bold. 

The part of the shoot I found most successful was the shots with Esme under the sheets with the pink/purple lighting. Originally we had  never thought of using this but when i came to the shooting day and we discovered something new we could do with the sheets it worked so well and completely matched our idea.

     

Esme/ pink/purple element 

I wish we had taken more shots with better lip syncs as Esme occasionally forgot the words so it wasn't synced properly so some close ups on her mouth we won't e able to use if she isn't mouthing the right lyrics however this was only a few so it doesn't make much difference.  I think we managed our actors very well as each time we needed them to do something we would tell them exactly what we wanted giving them a little time to rehearse before the first take, this meant they knew exactly what they were doing. We also kept it strictly professional so if they did something we needed to adjust we could get straight to the point and not waste anytime.

Angel rehearsing choreography  

However the part of the shoot i enjoyed the most was working together with my production team to create the best product and put all the ideas we had in to practical work which was very rewarding.

I am most looking forward to seeing the way all the elements will come together and flow nicely as well as seeing our hard work behind camera turn in to a finished product on screen.

The shoot from behind camera 

Footage of the beauty light that was one of the most successful shots.

I felt our production group worked very well as a team. We are all very different therefore we all have different strengths and weaknesses. We worked together making sure everything got done and that we were communicating our opinions and helping each other out all the way through. We had a routine that if there was a problem we would report to each other and find a way to solve it. For example the material was starting to loosen and look messy so as Rosie and i could see it on camera i told her to go and re tie the knot and I told eliza not to keep catching that particular part of the set on camera. We all remained focus though out the day and we switched roles to make sure everyone could put there own inspirations in to each section of the video so we could have different types of shot, different movement choreographically and different inputs on the artistic side. All in all i could not have asked for a better group.

For the next production shoot i would be more prepared with choreography i would make up different routines to ensure we had material we could instantly work with. I would also run a dress rehearsal with the song to make sure our actress knew the words as well as the movement sequences,

1. Are there any changes you might need to make to your website and artwork, in order for them to fit in with the video that you have shot?

I don't think we will need to make any drastic changes for our artwork or website designs however because we are not using the woods anymore we may have to change that although i still think it works with the euphoric theme of our video. It all depends until we see the footage to see the colours and boldness of the lighting and the way our actors look on camera to see if we need to change anything.

Make up artist information

 Here is an email I sent Verity our make up artist about details for the shoot day including where she needed to come, address, what time, and what she needed to bring especially a detailed description of the looks we wanted with photos to help.

Designs for Album Artwork confirmed

After looking and developing all of our ideas we decided to use elizas design but developing feedback we have received from each other:

We will change the angle of the face to make it less odd and more personal and connected to the audience. She will be wearing natural make up with some bold feature e.g. eye shadow/ eyeliner which links to our music video. We will use the woods but more subtle so in the dark where the trees are just shadows with a more intense smoky blue lighting to link to the themes of the video:

To run with the euphoric theme we would also add a layer of shine/ sparkle when we edited the album work over the dark woods idea so it would have that slightly magical theme.

This blue would also link the make up and lighting in our video as well as the underwater theme  to make it natural but bold and instantly recognisable which is what we want for our audience.

Design of artwork feedback

ELIZAS DESIGN 

We like the way the singers face is instantly the biggest thing on the album cover and stands out to the audience. I like the background of the woods as it links to our video as well and gives the album a euphoric dreamy feel which is what we are going for. There is lots of colour and its intriguing for an audience however we did not like the way it is so obvious she is inn the woods as not all of the songs o the album will be and the position of her face looks slightly odd .

MY DESIGN 

`My group said they liked the simple black and white colour scheme with the bold photo of the eyes that does have an edgy theme that we are going for, as well as using the shot of her eyes  a lot in our video which is a huge link with the colour schemes. They also said they liked the fading fonts that made it interesting to look at however they think its to structured and box like and should be a bit more free for the indie genre of music.

ROSIES DESIGN

We really liked the photo of our artist in the dress, as the the way it is drawn is very much the essence of what we want it to look like in the video. Its natural but also interesting to look at, we also liked the font as it is small and personal which adds to the indie genre of music that our song belongs to, however the set being in the woods is to obvious because not all our songs are there and although we want a link it shouldn't be a main feature on the album so we would need to make that more subtle. The naturalistic lighting was also not bold enough for our artwork as we wanted it to stand out and not look so natural. 

Design of artwork

My design for album artwork:

I chose a very simple and natural looking cover however with something instantly recognisable,her eyes. I wanted it to focus a lot on just the artist and the way there is only one small image allows this as it it like she is looking at the audience and involving them. The artist name is made very clear at the top of the cover in bold black lettering with her name in  lighter shades underneath this font, scattered all over the top of the album giving a 3D effect. The background is white and to match the name the square box in the middle is also outlined in black. Her eyes are what will make the audience recognise our artist and i felt it was important to make tis stand out by making the rest very simple by just using white an black but with a twist of something different which crates not only the edgy theme of the music but also the target audience we are trying to inspire so it will catch there eye  in the same way as well. The picture of her eyes will also link to the colours of our music video as she will be wearing the same make up with a peacock theme for example blue,purple eyeshadow and white mascara to give the artwork some colour and the bold look we are going for.

Shot lists

Production roles

Camera man -  The camera man is the main person behind the camera who is control of the shots and chooses what will look better in each different set. Eliza will be our main camera man for the shoot because she has had the most experience using cameras, for example she shot her whole thriller last year therefore she knows exactly what shots will fit each set. Although we will all have turns to be behind the camera she is the best and knowing what shots go where and being able to direct us to create the best looking video. She can also communicate well through the director and the artistic director to produce the exact look that she wants.

Artistic director - The artist director is someone who directs and chooses the visual look of the video. For example if part of the costume or the set doesn't look right she can change it to make it look how she has pictured. She can also draw sketches of how she wants something to look to be able to communicate to other members of the crew such as the lighting designer if something isn't going to plan. Rosie will suit this role the best as she is a brilliant artist who has many creative ideas and knows exactly what kind of look she is going for so she can adapt and change things according to the images she has already pictured. She also communicates her ideas well to everyone else on set e.g. the camera man.

Director - The director acts as a supervisor to the whole shoot making sure everyone else on set knows what there doing and is on the same page as everyone else. They also control what is happening on set. I will play the part as director because i have had experience in dance and choreography so communicating my ideas to the actors will be a lot easier for me. I also feel within my group i can communicate everyone's ideas to each other to make sure we are working towards the same goal.

Production schedule

The purpose of a production schedule is a list/ plan of all the things each actor needs for example costumes and props and at which times, as well as how long the actors are needed for so we can have a plan to stick to on the shoot day.So we know exactly what we are doing/ when /what time etc. We heave allowed two hours for both studio sets as all we have to change in-between these are the make up and lighting therefore it will not take anytime at all to build a new set, we will then break for lunch and then make our way to the woods for our final set, and even if we run over it doesn't matter because the light we are looking for is slightly darker anyway. 

Call Sheet

This is our call sheet for our music video. The purpose of a call sheet is so all of our group as well as the actors to be in contact through email/ mobile phone,so if something is changed or we need to communicate with them about something urgently we all have each others details. It also means we are all on the same page about each detail so the shoot day can run smoothly.

Set designer meeting

We had a meeting with the set designer and artistic director so we could talk through our ideas and she could help us improve certain things and give us suggestions on what would look best in linking our themes for our  music video.
water element - She said she really liked the idea of the dress filling the space like our artist is underwater and the colour theme of peacock (blues and greens) with the lighting will look really good.
Woods- she said she understood the link between water and woods ,a very natural and earthy theme and she thinks the materials entwined in the trees for the performance element is creative and original.
UV/contrast theme - She said she understood where we were coming from trying to make it a littlto the more interesting by completely contrasting the video but she said it contrasted a little to mch as the other two worked well together but this one was very random and it could look out of place and a bit tacky.
Instead she suggested seeing as our dress was so important in our video why not make the 3rd elemnt all about the dress. We agreed and took her feedback.
She showed us a video that we we have based our inspirations on, Its a hologram of Kate Moss wearing one of Alexander Mcqueen's dresses.

It is a hologram of revealing the master piece:the dress. I like how it is so simple yet effective. We have decided to do something simple in the studio for this 3rd element. As the video is a sort of journey of how the dress starts off in the water element pure and white and then to the woods where it is used as part of the nature scene we think, so the audience don't loose interest we should make this the final stage of the journey and use darker fabric and lighting to reveal the final image of the dress. As it starts with lots of different pieces of material hanging of the dress in natural shades of white and beiege and then ends up as one fabric but much darker like the lighting. We could do it in slow motion in a hologram style like this video. The material that would flow in the same way the best is organza which is what the dress is made of especially if we used fans it would create the same billowing effect.

Lighting designer meeting

We had a meeting with the lighting designer who will be working with us in the studio on our shoot day. He gave us some ideas about what we could do with different lights to make our video work and look more interesting and most importantly how they will work and what different effects they will create. We talked through each section of our video.

WATER 
For the water element he said using lots of different types of lights is important to create the underwater effect but if it works he think ill will look really good. He said we need lots of different shades of blues to make it look realistic ,the darkest at the bottom to create the sense of depth and the lightest at the top with hints of white to look like there is an opening in the water where the light is streaming through. He also suggested  a gobo which will project blue shadowed images on the water which is exactly the look we are going for to make it look natural and realistic. Here are some pictures of the types of light we want but hints of each one as we don't want the blues to be to bright:

Here is the projected gobo image that will be another layer of light.


WOODS 

Because we are filming outside and not in the studio the lighting designer said we wouldn't need that much lighting because first of all as we are filming outside there will not be much power so it would be unnecessary to take things we can't use and also we can use the natural light outside to make t more natural and less like a studio which is the look we are going for. We will need a few lights to take to light up hr face and dress but they are very easy to transport and to use and we already have them in the studio. We also hope there is natural sunlight on the day that will be streaming through the trees which is the look we love as we had it in our rehearsal and it looked great.


UV THEME 
As we will be filming outside in the woods on the same set as before  we will need UV lights to make the uv paint work and some smoke canons for added colour.
However from speaking to the lighting designer and Luke who is organising our shoot day they both said that filming outside with uv paint and lights on the dress and make up etc wouldn't work because we are filming in daylight therefore without the darkness of the studio the lights and the make up wouldn't react creating the right theme that we want.
So instead we will tone the theme down slightly so it is not completely random but keep the peacock colours a theme through our video (blues in the water, greens in the woods ) and use them in the studio lighting up parts of her face and the dress.

These UV photos are much more subtle and its more of a glow then very bold which is what we want otherwise it is to much of a contrast with the other two sets.