Creative Media Practice Project: December 2012

Yesterday was my first filming day. The day went well and the shoot didn't take long at all. I met up with Rhiannon at university in the morning to do her hair and make up and let her change into her costume and then we made our way to the location, the skate park next to the Devonshire Green in the city centre. I set up the tripod and camera and played around with the camera settings in order to get the best quality shot. It was quite difficult to set the aperture as it was really sunny and bright, but the steps that Rhiannon was sitting on were covered half in shadow. I had some trouble finding a balance so that the sunny areas were not over exposed but that Rhiannon wasn't too dark. I managed to strike a fairly good balance and will just try and fix any areas that are a little too bright in post production.
Whilst I was setting up I played the song I am using to Rhiannon so she could get a feel of the music and the emotion of the piece.
We then began filming. I used my storyboard and shot everything that I had storyboarded, plus a few more shots for variation. I did a good few takes of every shot so that I will have plenty to choose from when I come to edit.
Overall the first day of filming went very well.

I had looked at a weather forecast earlier in the week so I knew that it was going to rain on the second filming day. However when I woke up in the morning I realised that the roads and pavements were covered in black ice and it was extremely foggy with rain expected later on in the morning. I decided it was too dangerous to film in such bad weather conditions, so I contacted the two actresses and let them know. We are going to rearrange the shoot for early Januray before the second semester starts.

Interim Report

For my final major project I am going to create a motion editorial, with the main themes being fashion and music. The inspiration for my project came from a motion editorial I saw on the television show America’s Next Top Model. The motion editorial is basically like a fashion photo shoot but in moving image. The girls would model and do runway walks whilst the camera moved around them. It enabled the producers to create a story as well as show off the clothes and the beauty of the models. Fashion is something I am really interested in so I decided this would be a great place to start, as I wanted my project to be based on something I am interested in, as I feel like I will produce my best work and have the most fun doing it.

I decided I would take the motion editorial I had seen and twist it to fit into a different style. The style I have chosen for my video is a gothic, dramatic style. This decision was inspired by the music I have chosen to feature in the video. Music is another area that I am really interested in, so I want the music track I use in my video to be a key part. The track I am using is ‘High For This’ by The Weeknd. I really like the song and it has the dramatic and eerie feel that I want for my piece, as well as lyrics that tell a story that I can work with. Instead of using just this one song I have joined it together with another, Rihanna’s ‘Mad House’. The beginning of this track really sets the mood for my video, so I thought it would be really affective to add onto the front of the main audio track.

I want to accompany the eerie feel of the music with some interesting and well-executed visual effects. When looking at imagery to create my moodboard I began to see how much influence eyes can have on the feel of visuals. I instantly thought of the enlarged eyes that are used on Johnny Depp in ‘Alice and Wonderland’ and on Lady Gaga in her video for ‘Bad Romance’. I think that if I can work out how to create this visual effect to a high standard, it will add something extra special to my project.

I feel that by creating a video that incorporates fashion and current music I will create something that fits easily into today’s market, be it fashion PR or music videos. There are many music videos around at the moment that evoke the emotion and theme that my motion editorial will have. For example, ‘Disturbia’ by Rihanna is a very dark and dramatic music video that features dark costume and make up and visual effects that create a disturbing piece overall. Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’ is another example, as her styling is dramatic and the visual effects used to create her enlarged eyes adds an eerie and strange twist to the visuals. A third example is a video from current chart toppers Little Mix. The video for their single ‘DNA’ has a dark feel, featuring a black stormy sky and dramatic costume and make up. I think that by creating something current, I will give myself an advantage when showing my showreel to prospective employers as they will be able to easily see my visual style and will hopefully be able to see how my work and skills will fit into the industry today.

I began my pre production work by looking at and documenting the videos and imagery that I have previously mentioned. Once I had a clear idea in my head of what emotions I want to portray I began putting together my moodboard. I decided I wanted to do this by hand rather than a digital photomontage because I feel like the more creative I can be in this project the better. It also meant I could swap and change images around until I had a moodboard I felt represents the mood and emotion I want to create. While I was thinking of the dark theme for the video in the initial stages, I was also thinking about the kind of fashion I want to include because after all, the look of the girls is the most important thing in a fashion motion editorial. I decided it would be a nice idea to contrast the fashion with the mood of the video. Therefore I began looking for images of clothes in soft, floaty materials in cream, white and pinks. I also took photographs of clothing of my own that I feel fit the look I am going for, although I will not be using my own clothing in the video. Once I had collected all of the clothing images together, I put them onto my moodboard as well as creating a post for them on my blog.

The next step was to turn my attention to the music. I knew that I had to get all the timings right before I began thinking about my storyboard. I went through the track and noted keys points in the song, e.g. when the first song ends and the second one begins, when each verse and chorus starts and finishes and when important words and notes are played that I want to highlight and play on with the visuals. Doing this meant it was easier to plan out the shots and create my storyboard and also helped me recognise I would need to use four actresses in the video because of how the verses and chorus’s are broken up.

After I had broken down the song, I began working on the storyboard. I made a loose breakdown of what shots I know I want to include and when each girl is introduced. When I had more of a clear idea in my head I drew out the storyboard, first just a rough copy so I knew how many shots I would be doing, and then I drew up a neat, presentable copy. After the storyboard was finished I used the frames to produce an animatic. I have always found that creating an animatic makes things so much easier and really helps you to envisage how your film will work. It helped me to make sure my shots work together and to highlight which shots will be the most difficult to film and to edit together. Having my animatic makes me feel so much more confident about going out and shooting my video, as I already know exactly what shots I need to film. This will make the shoot more efficient and will make my actresses and myself feel more comfortable. The animatic will also help when it comes to editing, as I will be able to follow it and will know exactly where every shot goes in relation to the music.

While I was working on the plans for the shoot, I was also working on trying to secure my actresses. In past projects in the first two years I have used my friends and course mates in my projects and although we aren’t marked on the quality of the acting in our pieces, I want my final piece to look as professional as possible. This includes real actresses. Luckily a friend of mine is a lecturer in the drama department at the university, and he was nice enough to post an advert to all of the students on the drama courses. Within two days of the advert being posted I was inundated with offers and had found my girls.

At this point I was ready to go out and take some location photographs. From very early on I had a good idea of where I want to shoot the majority of the video. I knew there was a good area in the city centre near to where my brother lives, so I went down there and took some photos of 3 areas in that location that I am going to use for three of the girls shoots. Again I added these to my blog. After another week of searching for the fourth location, I came across an area close to the other locations that I think will be perfect. It has the stairs that feature in my storyboard and also has a skate park that I can film on as well. I am also looking for a location where I can take a good shot of the city. I am aware of one place I could shoot but it has been used by many people in projects over the last couple of years and I want to find something a bit different if possible. If I am unable to find another location I will have to make the most of the more common location. Luckily because this shot doesn’t feature any of the girls, I can do it after the shoot, perhaps during the Christmas holidays and then put it together with the rest of the footage when we come back to university for semester two, so I have a little more time to look for the perfect location.

The last stage in my pre production that needed to be worked out before I could shoot was the costume, hair and makeup. How the girls look in the video is hugely important and I want to make sure everything is planned out so on filming day I will be able to style my actresses quickly and well. I used some of the images on my moodboard as inspiration when I started to plan the make up. I needed to create four make up looks, one for each girl, and wanted every one to be different. I used my own make up and used myself as the model to practice the make up looks on. When I had completed four make up looks that I was happy with, I photographed myself and added the photos to my blog. Next were the hairstyles. I wanted to create something that is a little unusual, as this will go with the theme of the piece, but would also look nice and ‘model like’. I found four hairstyles online that I liked and more importantly, could recreate myself and used my friend as the model to practice each style. Like with the make up looks, I photographed each hairstyle from 3 different angles and added the photos to my blog. Lastly I went on a hunt to find the costumes. I had decided I would look in charity shops for the outfits because, even though I have a lot of clothes that fit the style I am going for, I may want to rip or dirty the clothes on set to fit in in more with the theme, and I don’t want to ruin my own or anyone else’s clothing. Therefore charity shops seemed like the best option. There is a place near to where I live that has a large number of charity shops so I headed there. I found everything I needed to create 4 outfits in the sizes I needed from 2 charity shops. I was really pleased and surprised with some of the items I managed to find for only a couple of pounds each. Once I have done the shoot and am satisfied that I won’t need to do any reshooting, if the clothes are still in good condition, I will donate them back to the charity shops, helping them to make more money for the charities.

With almost everything planned and completed for the shoot, there was just a couple of things left to do before the shooting days come along. I completed a health and safety form using Parashoot, which was moderated and signed off by my tutor. I have also booked the equipment for the shoot using the university booking system connect2, and I spoke with all of my girls through our Facebook group to let them know times, places and anything they need to bring with them for the shoot, including jumpers, coats and umbrellas, as they have been told that the shoot will still go ahead if it is raining, as rain would actually add to the overall feeling of my piece. Obviously if the weather is torrential the girls won’t be expected to stand out in the rain. It is important that the safety and the health of the girls is protected.

With everything ready for the shoot, I feel that I am fully prepared for a great couple of filming days. I am looking forward to working with aspiring actresses as I think they will be professional and will take direction well, which will help me become more confident in any directing I need to do in the future. I have spent a lot of time and effort in making sure I have covered every base in the pre production stages and I am looking forward to putting my ideas and planning into practice so that I can start with the post production work at the beginning of semester 2 at the end of January.

Revised Project Plan

TASK	START DATE	No. of days	END DATE
Initial Ideas	02/10/12	9	11/10/12
Treatment	11/10/12	1	11/10/12
Feasibility report	16/10/12	3	19/10/12
Mood board	12/10/12	1	12/10/12
Storyboard & Animatic	17/10/12	21	07/11/12
Find and document locations (including test shots)	08/11/12	7	15/11/12
Find costume/makeup/hair looks (including test shots)	22/11/12	12	04/12/12
Shooting footage	13/12/12	2	14/12/12
Interim report & Presentation	17/12/12	4	21/12/12
BREAK UP FOR CHRISTMAS	21/12/12	---------------------------	--------------------------
BACK TO UNI	28/01/13
Editing	28/01/13	21	18/02/13
Eye enlargement/ Visual effects	18/02/13	32	22/03/13
EASTER	25/03/13	14	08/04/13
Colour grading/aesthetics	08/04/13	17	25/04/13
Render	26/04/13	1	26/04/13
Report	29/04/13	3	02/04/13
Final hand in	03/05/13	----------------------------	---------------------------
Presentations	w/c 06/05/13	----------------------------	---------------------------