Planning- Recce Photos/Mock Shots III

BAR SCENE MOCK SHOTS

CLICK ON THIS IMAGE TO BE LINKED TO A MOCK BAR SCENE SHOT ON SAM'S BLOG!

A collection of images when getting mock shots for out bar scene

Planning- Recce Photos/Mock Shots II

MIRROR SCENE MOCK SHOTS

OTS shot

Side profile shot

High angle shot

Eyeline OTS shot, high angle shot, ariel OTS shot

Low angle shot

Planning- Recce Photos/Mock Shots I

POKER SCENE MOCK SHOTS

OTS shot of main female character approaching poken scene.  

OTS shot of main female character

CLICK ON THIS IMAGE TO BE LINKED TO A MOCK DOLLY PANNING SHOT ON SAM'S BLOG!

Planning- Risk Assessment

Below is an image of my risk assessment for the main task of producing our music video. I have assessed some of the main hazards that present any level of threat to my group and our filming process.

Planning- Locations

We have the following locations/areas in mind for our music video:

PARKLANDS- Quendon (Bar Scene): 
We needed a few bar areas for our music video where our con-woman could perform. Sam had suggested Parklands in Quendon as he works there and knows there is a bar there. We travelled to the country estate and scouted the setting aligning it to our vision of the location in our music video. We decided that we liked the area and we would only need to film the bar and possibly the entrance. This would mean the target audience wouldn't actually know that it is a country estate.

An aerial view of the country estate. This venue is often used for wedding receptions or balls. 

Rear exit to hallway.

Entrance to the bar.

Mock shot of character standing at the bar.

"THE MESS"- Carver Barracks (Bar Scene):

Another location that we have as an additional bar setting is the Officers Mess in Carver Barracks. This location had been mentioned by Kyle who lives locally to it.

Despite not being able to find anyone around to let us in to take pictures, we have been informed that it is a possibility we could film here.

Long shot of the "Mess" building at Carver Barracks.

A BATHROOM/BEDROOM- Newport (Mirror Scenes):
For our performance section of our media music video, we need a mirror that can work as a dressing up table.We have scouted Sam’s house for possible filming areas containing a mirror, in particular, bathrooms and dressing tables. We are also considering other members houses for similar areas. We need to make sure that this can be used and that it is available to us when we need to film as it is the most important scene in the video. The location is where most of the narrative will be told. A large en-suite room with a dressing table would be ideal however, the bathroom and bedroom shots may have to be filmed at separate locations.

Sam's bathroom mirror. We especially liked the alcohol bottles that surrounded this area.

A TOILET- Joyce Frankland Academy Newport (Changing Scene):
During the narrative, the main female character has to get changed into another set of clothes in public so she selects a club/bar toilet to do so. We had to find a toilet setting where the character had physical space to change in and not confined to a small cubicle. We have chosen to use a disabled toilet at school due to this. The scene should be filmed in such a way that the audience wouldn't know this anyway.

The disabled toilet.

DRAMA STUDIO- Joyce Frankland Academy Newport (Poker Scene):
An open environment is needed where we could film our poker scene so we could get long shots and panorama shots with ease. We liked the Drama Studio at school because it had everything we needed. This is beneficial to us as it is close, we'll have full control over the lighting and can use the curtains to block out any unwanted background from the frame.

The floor and stage in the Drama studio.

The stage in the Drama studio and the background curtains.

Planning- Actors

This is our current list of actors and their according roles in our music video:

OUR ARTIST- MAYLA LEE: Jakarta

MARK #1: Kieran (Me)

MARK #2: Sam B 

MARK #3: Sam M

POKER PLAYERS: Kyle, Sam M, Jakarta, Josh

BOUNCER: Marcus

Planning- Props

I have used the online presentation software Prezi to discuss the props we plan to use in our music video.

https://prezi.com/ewmx_qvrv8jn/planning-props/

Planning- Costume III (Extras)

These are some of the planned costumes for the extra actors who feature in particular, the poker scene:

ALL BLACK SUIT (The Bouncer):
We would like the bouncer to be wearing an all black suit which includes a white shirt with a black tie, a black blazer, black trousers and smart black shoes. This is the conventional dress code for a bouncer outside a smart establishment. In this case, he will be guarding the entrance to a secret poker game. We  want  to stereotype this extra character so it is easy for the audience to identify what is happening on screen and who to expect in this environment.

SMART/CASUAL COSTUMES (Extras in Bars):
We want the extras in the bars to go by the dress code of smart casual. We don't mind as long as they are wearing collared shirts, smart trousers and smart shoes. We want them to abide by this as we don't want the audience to think that the main female con-artist will go into any old pub/bar and steal from any oddball. We want to present our artist as smart and clever- she will know exactly target to pick due to their dress sense at a classy bar. Although the extras will only be seen in the background, we still feel that it is important what they wear.

A variety of smart-casual costumes for women found on the internet. All would be acceptable for the background  extras to wear.

A variety of smart-casual costumes for men found on the internet. All would be acceptable for the background  extras to wear.

WAISTCOAT AND BOW TIE (The Bartender):
Alike the bouncer, we want the costume for the bartender to be as conventional and stereotypical as possible. We have opted for a simple costume consisting of a dark waistcoat with a bow tie, dark tailored trousers and smart shoes.

Planning- Costume II (Supporting Actors)

TARGET 1 (The Wallet Mark):
This character will be in a bar so will be wearing dark casual or smart-casual clothes.

TARGET 2 : (The Watch/Phone Mark):
This character will be in a bar so will be wearing dark casual or smart-casual clothes.

TARGET 3 (The Poker Mark):
This particular character is taking the main female character, played by Jakarta, to a private poker game guarded by a bouncers. The dress code for this event is smart/formal so he should be wearing a suit or a shirt and tie.

Planning- Costume (Artist)

We have the following costumes/clothes in mind for our main female artist, who is played by Jakarta:

DRESSING GOWN/TOWEL (Bedroom/Mirror Scenes):
The selection of a dressing gown/ towel was simple as we needed to emphasise to the audience that it was the morning and the artist has just gotten out of the shower. 

RED DRESS  (First Bar Scene):

We chose this red dress for the artist to wear as we wanted to introduce her as a young, attractive and seductive female. The colour of the dress connotes these as well as a persona such as a 'cheeky devil'. We decided to use this particular dress at the beginning of the video so the audience can work out what kind of person she is from the get-go. It will be an effective use of mise-en-scene and the combination of it with red lipstick will work well in presenting her as a con-artist.

GREY PLAY-SUIT  (Toilet/Second Bar Scene):
The play-suit is a very small and light costume. The character remains hidden with no excessive body parts being shown (ie. the chest). This ensures that there is still some sex appeal to the audience but that the character remains classy. This is important as we don't want the character to come across as trashy or lascivious; we want to assure the audience that she is still portrayed as the hedonistic, powerful woman that she is.

BLACK FLOOR LENGTH DRESS (Third Bar Scene/Poker Scene):

We would like to use this black floor length dress for our last bar scene and for the duration of the poker scene. We particularly like how professional and sophisticated it looks which is how we want to represent the character in these scenes. The embroidery/design on the chest can be seen as seductive as it shows/highlights the user's chest. This is beneficial to us as we are aiming our product at the 17-25 aged pop target audience, both male and female. The dress we appeal to the males in the audience especially, drawing the male gaze to the attractive female- a convention from Laura Mulvey's audience theory.

BLACK TIGHTS (Throughout most scenes):

By wearing black tights, the female character remains concealed. Black is a secretive/mysterious colour but we do not want to misrepresent her as a flashy or revealing person. She is a very deceitful character who engages in various cons in a hedonistic fashion. She uses her classed and charm effectively to get what she wants. She doesn't use her body to do this but her attractive figure helps draw her marks in.



BLACK HIGH-HEELS (Throughout most scenes):
We liked the black high heels as it emphasises her power and authority. The shoes she wears are stiletto shoes with a large platform. This gives the female height and makes her feel more controlling over the current situations- this visual leverage implies she has the upper hands when she is conning her targets too.

Research and Planning- Specific Analysis of Mise-en-Scene

Lily Allen and P!nk were two artists that our target audience told us that we should take a look at. This is because of the similarities they share with the artist of our chosen song, Tove Lo, who fall into the 'Dirty Pop' sub-genre. This sub-genre includes pop artists that are commonly shown to be bending the rules, doing what they want/having fun or otherwise acting anarchistically. We have looked at some of the mise-en-scene features in particular as inspiration and some 'food-for-thought' as to what should be expected in a video in this category.

Lily Allen: (Smile)
Clothing/Makeup:
Lily wears relatively revealing clothing such as dresses and low cropped tops showing off her legs and chest. Although not considered "slutty", we see the artist attract the male gaze from the audience. She instantly becomes the protagonist,  despite being shown in the narrative as a disruptive and sadistic character, causing her ex-boyfriend trouble for no good reason other than pleasure. The artist wears lots of jewellery including necklaces, earrings, rings and bangles emphasising the exhibitionism theory and the powerful status of the independent women- she is free to wear what she wants as well as look her best. Bright makeup further supports this. Lily wears trainers during the video which is appropriate as she is in an urban environment. If she was in a muddy field, she would be wearing a pair of wellington boots. This shows that even the most insignificant part of a costume can make the artist in place or out of place.
Lighting:
The video is almost always consisting of natural, high key lighting either directly from the sky or through curtains subsequently illuminating the bedroom. The only low key lighting seen in this video is when evening sets in or when the boyfriend is in the club, where the lighting is deliberately dark.
Screen enactment/Behaviour:
The artist seems rather passive in the video and does not take out actions against her ex herself, apart from the laxative part. Instead, she gets other people to do the horrible things but has an equally satisfying experience tormenting him from a distance. Lily Allen is shown to be a cunning puppeteer of mischief.


P!nk: (So What)
Clothing/Makeup:
P!nk wears similar revealing clothing to Lily Allen showing off her legs and chest. As well as attracting the male gaze, P!nk appeals to the punk/rock genre too as with her short straightened hair and tattoos. Parts of her costumes in this video such as the flared trousers is an intertextual reference to the rock eras of the 1960-70s. She wears wristbands, rings and piercings throughout the video which conforms more with the rock genre but also emphasises the attitude she is trying to represent.
Lighting:
The lighting is mainly high key lighting again but also has low key lighting and shadows when representing the nightlife. This seems to feature in many pop videos where we see the artist during the daytime and evening. There is artificial lighting when she is framed with her "boyfriend" in the studio however, the majority of it is natural.
Screen enactment/Behaviour:
The artist is very violent, shows lots of attitude and strong emotion.

Research and Planning- Specific Analysis of Editing II

As a group, we have decided that we could like to produce an introduction for our music video. This introduction will tell the very first part of the narrative and will only contain diegetic sound before the music starts to play. As part of this introduction, we have been thinking about putting opening acknowledgements, often seen before films. Accreditations such as the production company, artist and the title of the song may be featured and I have been looking into music videos that also have this. The following videos are used to contrast the different effects the credits have in an intro to a song.

Last Friday Night- Katy Perry

This opening contains font that represents the genre of the song well. It is bright, large and has a cartoon-like look to it. This hints that the video will also be like this. The positioning on the text is central but is also displayed in one long tracking shot in the background. 

G.U.Y- Lady Gaga

This opening contains iconic plain, bold and extremely large text. The font is completely white having connotations with holiness, purity and innocence which are themes often reflected in the artist's videos. The backgrounds of these credits are either plain to emphasise the text or do not focus on anything in particular unlike Last Friday Night. I believe these credits are less of an introduction to the video and more of a branding on the product for the artist. EG: It is common to see the "Haus of Gaga" phrase in the artist's videos.

Research and Planning- Specific Analysis of Editing

Another aspect of editing that I have noticed and liked was the idea of flashbacks to give a music video a reason to cross cut between two events. This was done well in Last Friday Night by Katy Perry.
In this video, Katy or "Kathy" wakes up after a wild party and recalls what happened the night before.
Physically on screen, a wavy transition is used to do this as if the present scene is melting away to display something more prominent and important to the storyline such as the party madness itself. In this video, this transition is only completed a few times and is not repeated every time the scene changes. This is because the movement of the artist and the mise-en-scene deliberately shows the differences. In the present scenes, where she is performing, she is calm, stays relatively still and is as her nerdy persona. In the scenes from the night before where the narrative is seen, she is energetic, always moving and is her reformed persona. The cross-cuts make these differences very obvious.

For our music video, we could do the same and only use a flashback effect once so the audience can tell a flashback has occurred. When consulting our target audience, we were told not to constantly use these transitions as it would get confusing and over the top. When questioning what effects we could use for this transition (other than the wavy one used by Katy Perry), the following animations were suggested:

1. White Flashes
2. Fades
3. Blurring
4. Dissolving
5. Filtering

Research and Planning- Specific Analysis of Camerawork

To try to develop a shotlist for my own music video, I wanted to have a look at some existing music videos to see what kind of camerawork is used and to what effect.


CLOSE UP SHOTS (Royals- Lorde) 

I liked the close up shots of the artist used in this video. These shots are particularly effective due to the direct address of the artist into the camera. She is looking face on into it whilst singing/performing which connects her with the audience as it seems like she is singing directly at us.

We could replicate this to some degree by posing the camera as a mirror in the scene. The character would perform a variety of tasks using the mirror (eg. doing her hair, putting makeup on, singing etc.) to produce the same effect. 

MIRROR SHOTS (Bad Romance- Lady Gaga) 

From my previous analysis of the video, I knew that this song contained several mirror shots. I think this would be a good idea to try and replicate as it shows her looking at herself/reflecting upon something in her life. So far, we know we want to tell a story that involves going back and looking at memories so this could be a useful prop to obtain. The shots from this video are mid-long shots of the artist. This could be due to the difficulties filming with reflections- filming yourself in the background accidentally is likely to happen especially if you are close to it.  

SHOTS IN BAR ENVIRONMENT (Blinded by the Lights- The Streets)

In our case, the original video for our chosen song is filmed in a bar/club location so I wanted to look at a video that does the same. I wanted to see what kind of shots are used to show off the venue, express the character's emotions or emphasise specific components of the mise-en-scene. Some shots are long-mid shots which show the character and his surroundings, concurrently, other people in the bar or the open plan nature the area. However, most shots are close ups used the highlight his facial expressions or particular actions such as taking a drink, smoking a cigarette or swinging a fist. The over-the-shoulder shot is also used heavily which I assume is used to mimic the effect of being there with the character and being in the bar.

Planning- Shot List

This is the shotlist for our main task as an end result of several production meetings over the course of the last two weeks: