Storyboard + Narrative Timeline

Continuity in our music video

Our 2nd day of shooting was cancelled today due to bad weather. Errors in continuity can ruin the illusion of realism and therefore create an amateur feel. For shooting the outside shots, we need a relatively clear day with the sun low in the sky. This is because just before Hammad walks outside the front door there is sun on his face and sunlight shining through the window.

In the event of this happening today I will discuss other ways in which continuity may affect our music video.

Costume

Hammad wears a denim jacket, green hoodie, white t-shirt, black jeans and converse. As well as finer details which include jewellery such as rings and necklaces.

   

It is therefore important to ensure he wears these exact same things so it gives the impression that it is the same day rather than shot on multiple days.

Props

Although this may seem unimportant, the bag that Hammad put the clothes into is clear and unbranded. We therefore need to ensure the bag we use for the 2nd day of shooting is also clear, because it would not make sense for him to walk out of the door and his bag has changed colour.

Thankfully we don't have many props which should therefore make it easier to stay consistent in this area. Also, the fact that Hammad will only have the props he takes with him from the inside shots to outside shots.

Editing

Continuity editing is very important in creating realism- having a smooth flow to each shot can make actions feel real rather than constructed. 

One technique I have used so far to help with continuity editing is match of action. Match of action is where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action. Here is an example of where I use it:

Another continuity editing technique I could include in the music video is cross cutting (because we intent to use flashbacks). Cross cutting establishes a relationship between two subjects by cutting from one to another.

Shoot day 1 - Rough Edit

Today, we had our first day of shooting. Overall, I think it went quite well as we had no issues. I put together a rough edit of the footage using Sony Vegas: (Where there are blank parts, this is where we intend flashbacks to go once they have been filmed.)

These shots are an improvement to our test shots mainly because the video quality is better, especially in terms of colour vibrancy/saturation. The camera we used for the test shots had a low frame-rate too which meant that when we put the footage in slow-motion it made the footage rigid. The new camera had a much higher frame rate so as a result made the footage much more fluid when using slow-motion. As cameraman, I also felt the camera could shoot much more stable footage than the old one.

Artist name change

This post is to acknowledge that the our chosen artist (BlackBird) has changed his name to 'Eyes Like Switzerland'. From this point on, we will refer 'BlackBird' as his new name 'Eyes Like Switzerland'.

Shooting Schedule + Mise en scene planning

Shoot day 1 – inside shots – Friday 18^th November 2016 – 9:00-10:30 AM

Cast: Hammad Morrison

Equipment/props: camera, tripod, SD card/spare batteries, picture frame, mobile phone, plastic bag, clothing

Costume: Skinny black jeans, converse, long-sleeved white t-shirt, denim jacket, baseball cap. Jewellery such as finger-rings, ear-rings/necklace.

Location: My house/Earlham Road

Shoot day 2 – outside shots – Sunday 20th November 2016 – 11:30-14:00 AM

Cast: Hammad Morrison, extras/pedestrians

Equipment/props: camera, tripod, SD card/spare batteries, picture frame, mobile phone, plastic bag, clothing

Costume: Skinny black jeans, converse, long-sleeved white t-shirt, denim jacket, baseball cap. Jewellery such as finger-rings, ear-rings/necklace.

Location: Earlham road, NR2 area, underpass, London Street

Shoot day 3 – flashback shots – (not planned yet)

Cast: Hammad and Louisa 

Equipment/props: 

Costume: Potentially a range of different clothes e.g. coats/hoodies to give the impression of a relationship over a period of time. 

Location: My house/Norwich city centre

MISE EN SCENE OF THE MUSIC VIDEO: 

mice en scene planning from fin98

Test shots

Recently, my partner and I did a few test shots together, so we could bring our ideas to life, and to ensure that we were happy with the way shots looked for when we come to shoot the real video.

What we learned:

• The camera had a blue tint setting turned on- so this would need turning off, so that if we do want to add any colour correction, we can do this in post-production rather than being restricted in having it while filming.
• The camera was quite shaky at times (even though I had used a handheld stabiliser). Although this can sometimes have a good effect, we do not wish the whole video to be shaky as this could give it an amateur feel. As a result, I managed to improve the shakiness with a stabiliser effect on Sony Vegas, but there was still visible shakiness. Therefore, there needs to be more focus on achieving a more stable shot in the first place, so that when it comes to editing, we have better footage to work with when improving with in software-stabilisers.
• There was a lighting issue on the inside shots- the shots seems too dull with the artificial light and too bright with natural light which caused a striking lens-glare. We need to prepare more for achieving a good contrast. Knowing that the sunsets at around 4:15, we will need to be  prepared to shoot as we will be against a time limit before it gets too dark.
• The frame rate for the camera we used is quite low, which mean't that when we put the footage in slow-motion is caused the video to look shaky and rigid.

Annotated lyrics

Moodboard

Initial concept - so far

For the last 2-3 lessons, my partner (Hammad) and I have been discussing concept ideas for the music video we are creating for 'f e v e r' by BlackBird.

The music video will likely be a narrative with possible moments for performance such as lip-syncing. The reason I think lip-syncing should be kept at a minimum is because the singers voice is very high-pitched- so much so, that some people have thought it was a female singer when really it is a male. So by having Hammad lip-syncing in the music video, some people may be confused when they think it is a female vocalist but a man lip-syncing.

Central idea:
The video will start in a house. The time of day is unknown at this point but can be depicted as being in the late evening. We would like the house to have ambient/available lighting by not having many artificial lights on and hopefully be able to use natural light coming through windows. By doing this we aim to establish an atmosphere that suggests anyone living in this house is lethargic or depressed.  A slow and smooth tracking shot will move down the corridor and turn into a bedroom. The bedroom could be messy with clothes and bottles scattered around the room. Hammad is sitting on the bed on his phone and this is where the vocals come in. The first line is 'it's better, if you let go'. One idea we had for this part was to have a floating kinetic-visual come up as Hammad is texting this line to a girlfriend/ex-girlfriend. This effect can be seen in Sherlock and House Of Cards and I think it is a great way to present a text message in film/TV. Here is a video showing some examples:

After this happens we thought about the idea of the character getting up when the drums and synth enter in the song. The drums give the song more energy and drive so by having the character stand up, it is like he is finally going to do something more active. He could start picking up the women's clothing around the bedroom and putting them in a bag, along with a framed photograph of a girl. This photograph is going to be our framing device because it will follow Hammad throughout the video. The photograph could possibly also have Hammad next to the girl to make it clearer that they were in some sort of relationship.
Next, Hammad starts getting ready to go outside, this could be presented in 3-4 short clips such as putting on a jacket, tying up shoes and/or putting on hat for instance. It might be important for these shots to switch between slow-motion and real-time to keep up with the speed of the song because viewers may find this part uninteresting if it goes on for long.

This is our concept so far- and I will update this post when we have more ideas.

Update - 17/11/2016

After some consideration, we have decided to add another narrative to accompany the original concept. Our idea is to include flashbacks of a relationship between the main character and his ex-girlfriend.

Evidence of contacting the artist

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