Production: My Experience Filming...

My Experience Filming...

I thought that filming went well. This was my first time using the figrig and setting up the camera on the figrig was similar to setting it up on the tripod, which was fairly easy. I felt that when actually filming, my arms would ache lool. Holding the camera up for a long time was very tiring for me. But Sharina found it ok and could do it longer than me which was good. 

Planning - Getting Permission to Film On the Trains

During our pitch Rebecca mentioned that we may need to get permission to film in the trainstations. I didn't want to waste time by going there and filming when we could potentially get into trouble so I  e-mailed the national rail to ask them if we defiantly need to get permission and how we would go about that.

Production: First Day Filming Bloopers

Edited By: Eugenie x

Production: First Day Of Filming!

Lights, Camera, Action!

We had our first day of filming, and it went really well. We visited our Dalston location, where we had 3/4 different places in that area to film. We got something to eat first as we was all feeling hungry and we wanted energy for filming. We found an extra place to film in Dalston that fitted with our concept and looked dark, urban and mysterious. We decided to film there first. As it was our first time filming a music video as a group, it was interesting to see how well we worked with each other and we had a lot of fun. We did have some difficulties when we started, as we did not know how to put the top light onto the camera, so we had to hold it. However when we was moving to our next area, we found the screw to affix the light onto the camera, which was good as we could now use it properly. But we were a bit like...we found it after we finished filming in this area...-_- lol. We were also able to use some golden filters on the light which created a nice effect, and the other big light on the stand was very useful as well. The shots we filmed in the first area could still potentially be used as footage for the music video, but they are also classed as our test shots/rehearsal footage, as we never had enough time in college to do test shots. The rest of the night went pretty smoothly. It got dark really quickly though, so it might be good for us next time to start to film earlier. Overall our first day filming was great.

Production - SNAP SHOTS!

Here are some snaps from our firrst day of filming. Most pictures are of Eugenie and Sharina filming me around Dalston. The first few pictures we found by accident, in a dark quiet area next to some large crates. It was quite eerie and mysterious which is the feel  we wanted to create so we thought we'd get a few shots there. We also filmed next to the graffiti mural right by dalston junction station. It was quite intimidating and made me nervous because people were stopping and looking but I carried on like a professional lol :)

Planning: Pitch Video & Questions/Answers

Our First Day of Filming!

Yesterday was our first day of filming, which went better than I expected!

• I didn't feel nervous or camera shy when we was filming, which I thought I would be
• Once we finished filming our first base track, we got into it. We got the idea of what it was like to film and what we needed to do.
• We created a really nice effect on our shots with a gold filter over out lighting
• WE HAD FUN! Having fun while working, makes it so much easier and relaxed

• Overall it was a good experience.

• At first we wasn't sure how to put the top light on! Once we found the bit that screws the top light on to the camera our lighting was much nicer and effective.
• Although it wasn't much of a 'mistake' we realised how quickly and efficiently we have to work because our video is set in the night time, it got late very quickly, which means we was cold and tired.

Planning: How I Felt Our Pitch Went

How Did Our Pitch Go?

On Thursday me and my group had to present our pitch to our teachers. We were meant to do it on Tuesday, but we were having some technical difficulties. I felt that our pitch didn't go as well as it should have; in terms of planning, we had all the information and wrote and did our research beforehand, but this was not all presented in the pitch. It was not fully competed as the audience and synergy information was not in the slideshow itself as well. Organisation was not in full effect and I felt the pitch did not run smoothly. However we did get some feedback on what we need to include and potentially do. Our teachers contributed a few ideas as well that could work really well with our music video. But overall I guess this showed that me and my group need to be more organised and work more faster and more efficiently.

Production: What Equipment Are We Taking Out? & Who Takes What Home?

Taking Out Equipment

The equipment we take out every time we are filming:

• Memory Cards
• Camera
• Batteries
• Tripod
• Fig Rig
• Flip Camera
• Still Camera
• Mini Speaker
• Top Light
• Dedo Light
• Dedo Batteries
• Dedo Stand
• Dedo Handle

As we are filming at night we need as much lighting as we can. The dedo light is very important as its really bright and powerful and we are able to film when it is really dark, unlike the Top light which is not as bright as the dedo and not powerful enough to see anything when its pitch black. The downfall is, that the dedo light only lasts about 15 minutes, and then we have to change batteries. We only have two batteries that we can use and they are extremely heavy to carry. Talking about carrying things, we have come up with a plan on who is taking what home; depending on the travel and what area we live in. Unfortunately there is only 3 of us in our group. We decided that I (Eugenie) won’t take the camera bag home as I live in Peckham. LOL! The most dangerous area out of the 3 of us. So even though I feel safe in my area, it is still dangerous for me to carry the camera bag as it blatantly looks like one and will draw attention, as well as me being a girl, on my own, at night...in Peckham. Just trying to avoid trouble :-). Sharina lives around Dalston and Zhane lives in Edmonton. So I will take the tripod, fig rig and dedo stand home. Sharina will take the camera bag, which includes the camera, flip camera, still camera, batteries, dedo light, top light etc. and Zhane will take the dedo batteries, which is on its own in a completely separate bag, as they are so heavy (heavier than the camera bag).

Production: We Rollin' Out!

First Day of Filming - Preparation

Planning: Filming Weather?

Weather Forecast!

I have checked the weather forecast for the week. We are planning to film today in the evening and it looks like its going to be a dry day! Yay!

Planning: How About A To-Do List?

A Very Busy Day Indeed.

Today is going to be a very busy day, as I have a long day at college, in terms of lessons. My UCAS deadline for submitting the application ends tomorrow, so I need to get mine sent off. My Media deadline for all planning is tomorrow as well. Today my group and me are presenting our pitch in class; we were meant to do it on Tuesday, but we were having some technical difficulties. Today is also the day where my group and me are going to officially start filming our music video. We can't do it in lesson as it would be too light outside, so we are going to do it straight after. During the lesson we will be uploading our pitch and other posts that we have previously done, but not yet published. And also do some rehearsals and test shots of our performer, Zee Stevenson (Zhane). 

So I thought I would quickly make a to-do list of the tasks that need to be completed for media today. I think I have missed out a few things, but you get the gist of it. :-)

Planning - Katy B and similar artists clothing/image/appearance

I was doing research into looking at Katy B and other artists clothing and how they present theirselves in their music videos and in other appearences, to get some inspriation for how our artist should be dressed in the music video my group and I recreate.

Katy B

Katy B always seems to be covered up and wearing quite ordinary, yet stylish clothing. She never dresses outrageous or provocatively which creates a positive image for young girls - this is the similar image we are trying to create with our own artist - 'Zee Stevenson'. 

Misha B

Misha B does seems to have a more outrageous, daring taste in clothing - yet all pieces can still be found on the high-street. Her style plays a big part in her image as she is also a new artist so promoting herself via her style, image and brand is key. This element will also feature within our own artist in own music video as 'Zee Stevenson' is also a new artist so her image and style will be a key, highlighted, feature in our music video. 

Rita Ora

Rita clearly likes to stand out and make a statement with her choice of clothing - she really mixes up her taste between outrageous, designer, fashion pieces to casual, high-street clothing with beanie hats from stores such as Topshop. 'Zee Stevenson' with have a more laid-back, casual and less extravagant sort of style and image however keeping the fashionable high-street style that Rita also portrays. 

Planning - Group discussion

My group and I were deciding on when we were able to film and we discovered that we will not get much time to film within the half term some of us have other priorities such as work and it is not possible to get the time off.

After a long, thorough discussion we came to the conclusion that the majority of our filming has to take place after college during weekdays which will be stressful for each of us, but with our ultimate effort and motivation it should be possible.

Planning - Incorporating Cross-media products and Synergy

Planning - Risk Assessment

Possible Dangers that may occur while filming are:

•   Tripping over long wires 

We will minimise this danger by making sure all wires are kept clear away from feet whilst filming/using the equipment.

•  Risk of getting robbed whilst  Filming in dark alleyways/woods/crowded area’s – Train platform 

We will minimise this danger by having a thorough check of the area and making sure security is nearby to ensure we in a safe surrounding. We will also make sure that whilst filming we have all equipment near use with a sharp eye on each piece.

•  Risk of dropping a piece of equipment onto the floor

We will minimise the risk of this happening by making sure a firm grip is kept on the equipment at all times during use. 

•  Risk of dropping equipment into the water when filming scenes in Kings cross near the fountain

We will minimise the risk of this happening by making sure keep a tight, strong grip on all equipment whilst it is in use. 

•  Risk of possible injury on wet surfaces

We will make sure we keep away from wet floors and make sure we avoid all slippery surface areas in order to avoid tripping and injuring ourselves. 

•  Artist or crew may contract a cold/flu or any other illness whilst filming outside for a long period of time in the winter 

We will minimise this risk by making sure we have a sufficient away of hot food/drinks with us whilst filming and covering up in warm clothing between scenes. 

Production: Because I Am A Nice Person...

Helping Others!

I just wanted to point out that whilst planning and doing stuff with my group I also took the time out to help another group. Group 21 needed a few people to dance in their music video, and as I am a dancer I accepted their request and was glad to help them. So this is me in a rehearsal, learning the choreography! I had a lot of fun.

Planning for Music Video - artists similar to Katy B

Our group have chosen the song Witches Brew by Katy B.

Katy B's music has been described as featuring a combined musical genre, featuring modern urban dance, soul, pop, garage, electronic, and with hints of dub-step and slight hip hop. 

In order to gain inspiration for how to create our own music video, I decided to do some research into artists that are similar to Katy B and gain some ideas using their music videos. 

I found a range of artists similar to Katy B:

I have picked on three different music videos from different artists featuring three of the genres featured in Katy's music that I feel have aspects really similar to Katy, to analyse. 

Little Boots  - an electronic pop artist. 

This is the music video for the song Earthquake by Little Boots.

The video features a large amount of emphasis and amplification of bright lights as the setting is quite dark  - this is a similar theme my group and I are also trying to achieve. 

Everything in this music video, from the costume, setting, location, lighting is all darkened and spooky, with lighting  from the stars, planets, and artificial lighting all heightened and amplified. 

The music video features a combined structure of disjuncture and amplification which is similar to what my group and I are re-creating in our own music video. The amplification of the lights will be re-created in our music video using artificial lighting and the lighting from traffic within the city, and the millennium bridge. 

Azealia Banks - a Hip Hop artist.  

This is the music video for the song 212 by Azealia Banks. 

This music video features a real urban theme. The entire music video is filmed in black and white, showing scenes of a block/estate area but mainly focused on the main artist  -Azealia dancing about in front of a brick wall with her friend. She is wearing really casual clothing: a Mickey Mouse Jumper with denim shorts and is appeared to have no makeup on with her hair in plain long, messy-looking plaits. 

Though the song features a heavy, up-beat base and with a catchy hook the music video itself is very laid back and ordinary. 

The urban feeling from this video is similar to the urban aspects my group and I  are creating within our own music video in urban areas of London such as Dalston, Old Street. 

Jessie Ware - Pop-Soul Artist. 

This is the music video for the song Wildest Moments by Jessie Ware 

This music video is simple. There is no real performance displayed within this music video as the setting, location and costume are kept to a real minimum - the focus is on the artist and the vocals. As this was the first single by artist Jessie Ware this music video is mainly about establishing her as an artist rather which is the aspect in which my group and I are aiming to do within our own music video. There is no real amplification of lights and Jessie is dressed in classy clothing without any sort of  provocative nature which is also the image we our going for within my group with our artist - Zee Stevenson.  

Production: Skills Development (Planning)

Skills Development

Skills Development (Planning) by Eugenie M on GoAnimate

Planning: Reflection on Progress Blog

Reflection On Progress

In my previous blog post I had given myself three things that I would need to improve on within my A2 work, which were: 

• To use even more technologies and show a wide variation 
• Keep on top of my blogging by being organised and managing my time well to not to fall behind 
• Add loads more detail to my work, be specific and contextualise 

Have I met my targets?

I feel that I have definitely showed progression since my reflection blog post, as I have used more technologies and have gone into depth with my analyses, which show my understanding of the task. I am keeping up to date with most of my blogging tasks, with an exception of a few as it is still difficult to continuously post various information and ideas, organise and communicate well with my group to ensure that we all have an understanding of what we need to do, and balance my other A-levels. However I have come up with extra ideas and blog posts that show me and my group’s progression, in terms of planning and preparing for our music video. With posts like 'Testing Lighting' and 'Testing Slow Motion', were we created Vlogs explaining and demonstrating specific tasks that we do. We have to do these tests and trial runs to ensure that we have no problems when it comes to filming and editing the real video. Therefore we are doing tests and documenting it. I edited both of them, using transitions, effects, manipulation of speed, and even base track editing. as when i was editing the slow motion test, I had to import the original track and sync it with the footage we recorded of Zhane singing the speed up version of the track. So I have not fallen behind, but I’m just not ahead, which I would like to be. This results in me setting myself more targets as I feel I still need to work on certain things and improve. 

Two more targets that I would give myself are: 

• Keep organised and on-top of my blogging still, but try to be ahead of the tasks and use my initiative. 
• Create more blog posts that show me and my group’s ideas, rather than just the analysis of work that already exists.

My previous mark that I gave myself for the use of different ICT and the level of detail in my blogging, was 14/20. My updated mark is now 17/20.

Planning: Our Pitch!

OUR PITCH PRESENTATION!

Planning: Slow Motion - Adjustments (Speeding Up Track)

This is a recording using Camtasia of us making the faster version of our track, using Final Cut Pro. we showed how we sped up the original version and how I saved the track as an audio. From a previous video 'Testing Slow Motion', we group sped up the track to medium 115% and then tried 120%, and realised that it didn't make much of a difference when we slowed the footage back down. So as you will see in this clip, we sped the track up to 130% and when editing the real video we are going to slow the footage down to 77%.

Planning: Planning Our Production Schedule

Planning - Rough copy of our schedule

Hard to read and messy (I Know) but it's only a brief outline !

Planning: Editing Sped Up Track Recording

Editing

As we had to create the sped up version of our track for us to do slow motion, we decided to record this process using Camtasia, then edit it in terms of adding annotation, using the same software. This clearly shows us editing the recording, and there is a video showing the speed manipulation process.

Planning - Risk Assessment

Risk Assesment

Before we go out for a first day of filming, we need to make sure we understand some of potential risks and dangers, that could happen while we are out filming.

1. BEING AWARE OF OUR SURROUNDINGS - We need to make sure that we are considerate of members of the public, making sure that we are not causing any inconvenient to them. Filming around the streets and around train stations/on trains, means that we need to take extra care of ourselves as well as the equipment we are carrying. 

2. CARRYING THE EQUIPTMENT - The equipment may become very heavy and a burden to carry around from location to location, this will put our energy at fault, leaving us with little 'oomf' to get our work done so we are planning on bringing a pull along trolly out with us, so that we can pull it along with us instead of hurting our arms and backs lol.

3. THE WEATHER - Living in Britain, we know all too well about the Bi-Polar weather we have. We are making sure that we do regular weather checks online to assure that we are not filming on a day that it is raining otherwise this could lead to damage to equipment or us catching a cold :( 

4. ROBBERY - We must always be cautious of dodgy looking people who may run off with our equipment which could escalate in to a lot of dangerous things happening. You never know what could happen!

Planning: Detailed Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment

The Risk	Risk  Effecting Filming	Solution To The Risk	If The Risk Did Happen, What Would We Do?
Group member not turning up.	10/10	Ensure every group member is aware of the dates and times of filming (our production schedule) and that everyone reminds each other of details the day before filming and on the day of filming.	Try to film necessary shots and also schedule another filming day.
Main artist/singer not turning up.	10/10	If the artist knows she is not available to film on a specific day, we clarify that before meeting up.	We would not be able to film any base tracks because the artist is away, so we would film the other shots such as the traffic and scenery.
Artist wears incorrect clothing.	7/10	Remind the artist of what we planned for her to wear, the day before filming and on the day of filming. Also bring clothing of our own that could be used as an alternative if she forgets.	As a group, we would have brought clothing of our own that could be used for the artist to wear that would still accurately reflect the genre.
Forget camera/ camera not charged.	10/10	Fully charge the camera the day before filming (and double check), then pre pack everything, so that in the morning everything is already sorted and ready to go.	We would have to re-schedule our filming. Or if filming in Dalston, we could go to Sharina’s house and charge the camera there, depending on the time of day.
Public knocking the camera.	4/10	Ensure our group members continuously keep an eye out on the camera/tri-pod, and we that film in a reasonable, realistic location, which reduces the risk of the public making contact.	We would re-shoot the shot so that it would appear smoother and therefore more effective.
Public walking in shots or disrupting.	3/10	Sometimes it will be appropriate as we are representing an urban area, however when it isn’t we will try to avoid these situations.	We would re-shoot the shot until it was successful.