Wood practise shots

Here are some of the shots we practised for the wood.

Hall practise shots

Here are the shots we practised for the hall, we are filming from 4 different angles.

chapel practise shots

Here is the film from the shots we practised for the chapel location. As we used the tripod and the dolly we found that we are going to have to take a row of chairs out to keep the shot smooth. We wanted to keep him in shot the whole time so we have to point the camera down as it goes round and then slightly go up again as the actor stand up.

Practise shots 3

We filmed practise shots in the chapel today as we have decided that rather having Mossy sit outside a church looking as if he has lost faith the shot may be more effective if we use the inside of an empty chapel. We also felt it may be better for him to see the audition sheet on a notice board, where you would normally see one, rather than to just find one in the street.

So we now are thinking about having a shot where the audience can see him sitting in an empty chapel, the camera walks down the aisle to him turns round and see his face (so the audience can see his expressions). He then gets up to leave walks back down the aisle and walks out. As he is doing so, he sees the audition sheet on the door, the camera focus' on it so the audience can fully read it, he rips it off the door and walks out with a new determination and enthusiasm. We think this will get across that performing and being a musician is his dream and what he wants achieve.

We will have the practise shots up soon!

Practise shots 2

Today we went out into Gerrards Cross to practise our shots in the woods that are by Gerrards Cross Common. Unfortunately it was very rainy and cold but we did get some good shots and found that actually filming with the camera hand held was not as bumpy as we first though it would be (we couldn't use the dolly and the tripod as the ground was too wet and we were continually moving). We now know exactly where we want to film in the woods and what angles we want to film from

The weather was, rather stupidly, something we hadn't really considered before so today definitely brought it to our attention..overall we think the shots will be good as long as we have an umbrella to cover the camera but we know its going to be more difficult for our actor and may make it more difficult in that he may look different if we need to re-do shots so we will have to keep checking the weather updates and make sure we have enough umbrellas and rain macs to keep us all dry! we are even considering a pop up tent to bring along with us to protect everyone and everything.

Practise shots

We have done some practise shots of our music video to preempt any problems and to make things go smoothly for when we actually film.

The problem we first came across was keeping the camera steady whilst it being moved, how we overcame this was by using a dolly. This meant we had a lot more freedom with the movement of the camera, we could keep the shots at the pace we wanted them to be at and could turn the camera quite quickly. In using the dolly we thought it would be best to have someone directing the actual camera itself and seeing the shots and then have someone in front but not in the shot just pushing the tripod/ dolly so that someone could see where they were actually going and someone could see the actual shot, as we were walking backwards. The next problem we encountered, was filming going up the stairs as we thought it would be better to hold the camera by hand the difficulty with this is is that there is either too much room above the actors head or it gets cut off slightly. We thought that this would just be something we would have to be aware on on the day and purposely move the camera as necessary.

Here are all the things we need to make sure happen for the shots to be the best they can be:

Common room:

• Make sure all chairs are on the right
• camera close to the breakfast bar
• Wheels of the dolly must all be facing the same way for the shot to be smooth.

Going up stairs: 

• Follow actor from behind
• hand held camera
• start a little bit further back from the stairs

Hall Auditions: 

• One shot from the back of the hall to get all the stage in and the backs of the judges. 
• Side shot of judges and contestant
• Shot from behind Mossy on stage.

Audience Research

The results of our survey suggested that most people that listened to the genre and had a detailed knowledge of it were aged 16-18 and were female therefore this is who we will aim our video at and focus on their ideas and suggested conventions.

Website inspiration

We are looking at making a website for our 'artist' so we thought we would do some research and look around to see how some artists have done it and what they have included. Here is what we have found and liked: Connor Maynard- OneRepublic- The Script- Lawson- The main things we liked about these were that they were all easy to navigate which would of course be something we wish to have in ours as well as there stylish backgrounds and settings.

The tour dates are something that is quite important for people to know about and is a good way for fans to know where to buy there tickets and where the band is playing. 

I really like the idea of having a photo gallery for the bands website as I think it is something fans would want to see as they may be unable to see them live but want to, this then gives a flavour for what the concert would be like. 

I also liked the merch page as then the fans know that this is their official merch and it makes the items a lot more easily accesable. 

Filming Dates

We have settled upon a date to film our music video they are the 16th and 17th of November. We will be filming in multiple locations: our school, black park, Gerrards Cross highstreet and Abbie's house.

Storyboard 3

Storyboard 2

Story board part 1

Here is our first part of our story board. We split the story board up into sections so that everyone had to work on a section.

Making a website

In order to make the website for Mossy we chose to use a website template that we found online. We looked at loads of different website but ended up using Wix.com because we felt it had the best template and a professional finish that allowed us to include everything we wanted to include.

Here is the link: http://www.wix.com

Over all idea for counting stars

Our main idea for Counting Stars is to, at the beginning, have someone who hates his job as it is too bland and monotonous, so he leaves the job to follow his true dream of being a musician. We are going to try and show his transformation from being unhappy and stuck in a rut to being happy and following his dreams through walking, as he is clearly going from one point to another physically and symbolically. At the end of the video we want to show him having achieved this by performing in front of a large crowd.

Behind the Scenes

We found a behind the scenes video for the original Counting Stars music video. I think this is really useful to actually see what a professional director would have done and his logic behind it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp7nxC1R8ow

Audience Research

Here is a survey I am sending out to get an understanding of what people expect from the pop and indie genre and therefore what we should emulate in our video.

Collage

This is a collage I have made of different shots from different music videos from the pop and indie genre. The reason I have chosen these images is because they all encapsulate the main themes of the videos, the majority show dramatic eye catching images such as katy perry's fireworks and Vampire Weekends shot of a car on fire, even though these shots are quite simple they do grab the audiences attention and so is something we will be looking to replicating in our video. It can also be seen that throughout all the music videos many different locations are used adding interest and mystery to the video as it is constantly changing.

Actors Update

We have chosen Mossy Mckenna to be our actor!

We felt that overall, although we thought that all 3 were very good musicians, he was the best candidate because he has a lot of experience in performing and goes to a stage school. We also liked his presence on stage as he seemed to be very natural and to really enjoy it. He also gave us the opportunity of him doing a cover of the song which we thought may be a good option. As well as this he lives close to us and so allows for more opportunities for filming.

Actors update

Top 3 actors/ musicians:

Sam Mayo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwfBQXcwl4M

Nick Wilson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YYOA-QSjLc

Mossy Mckenna: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1XKi-O1hVk

We have contacts with all three which is the biggest bonus but they are also local and we think talented and seem to be willing to be cover songs (particularly Nick and Mossy). We are going to e-mail all three and see if they are interested and decide from there. 

Audience Expectations

Locations

Here are some of the locations that we are thinking of using and how they would fit into the music video.

Counting Stars individual shot idea's 1

-Panning shot of office ending on shot of Mossy at his desk, not looking happy.
-Pile of paper on desk gets bigger, multiple shots of people putting down paper on the pile.
-Shot of his computer where he is recieving lots of emails
- starts tapping foot/pen.
-Computer shot again but recieves angry e-mail from boss.
-camera follows him angrily get up walk out room and slam door, the slam in time with the music) as the camera will be behind him when the door is shut the camera will just keep moving forward closer to the door hopefully achieveng a form of fade out whilst maintaining movement.
- Match on action & fade in so the camera is moving backwards so the shot gets bigger trying to achieve the same thing in the shot before but rather than fading out it is fading in.
- close up shot of him loosening/ taking off tie.
-close up shot of him rolling up sleeve -close up shot of him rolling up other sleeve -goes up a set of outside stairs (perhaps the stair case leading to the chapel)
- walking in to common room
-picks up guitar on sofa and walks out of the room
- still walking with guitar but is in a different location, maybe Black Park
- In time with lyric "I feel this life like a swinging vine, swing my heart across the line" swinging guitar whilst performing.
- on floor tapping foot, closer shot, perhaps more emotional whilst lip syncing song.

Possible Locations

We are thinking of using varying locations in the video to add interest but also the distinctly show him going from one thing that he hates and wants to get away from to a place where he does want to be. The walking throughout the video then we hope will show him emotionally going from one place to another as well as physically.
The places we are considering using are:
-Our school, as it is not only convenient but also we think will provide good spaces for the office, the artists flat and the staircase to the flat. - Gerrards Cross High street, again this is convenient but also as it is a lively high street we think it will be an interesting shot and will be a good transition between the office and flat.
- Black Park, This is a fantastic place to shoot because it is very pretty but also we hope will create a sense of distance so that it is a long journey to get from where he is to where he wants to be. Also because we know that there are small rivers/ponds there that we thought we could use for "Down this river, every turn" and "Hope is a four-letter word" as we were thinking to have a piece of paper that said the word hope on it floating in the water.
-Abbie's house as she has a fire pit which we hope to include in the lines "I feel the love and I feel it burn" and "make that money watch it burn"

we did consider using places like Cliveden and/or Stoke Park, as we thought as they are such grand places they would be good to show a clear devision from where he started to where he would be by the end of the song.