Test Shots

Here is my first test shot where I practiced movement, walking around with the camera on my shoulder trying to keep it as still as possible. I also had to make sure the lighting was correct.

Here is my test shot on my guitarist Oli. I practiced more movement and started zooming in and out to make sure certain details where captured. I did some mid shots of the guitarist playing and also did a pan shot going up. I also had to make sure the lighting was correct.

Here is a test shot of my lead performer Tom. I practiced movement again and did more zooms to capture certain details and also got close ups of him playing the guitar. I also did a pan shot up. I also had to make sure the lighting was correct.

Here is a test shot of my drummer Daryl. Here I have practiced more movement and have also practiced doing some angle shots. I also had to make sure the lighting was correct.



Here is a test shot of the full band. I have done a wide shot and am looking at the positioning of where my band is placed to see if they should be moved slightly. I also had to make sure the lighting was correct.

Shooting Friday 18th

Everything for my shooting on Friday 18th in now sorted. I have booked the theatre, my camera and informed the music teacher Adam that I intend to use the drum kit. Finger crossed that all goes to plan.

Shooting

So I am planning to start filming my music video Friday 18th November. I have my cast sorted, what i'm doing and what i want the cast to wear. I am going to book the HD camera monday morning along with booking the theatre to use on Friday. I have messaged Andy Feetom asking if he will help out with showing how to set up the lights and the music system so I can play my track whilst recording so i can get all the timing correct. Also I have been to the music department to ask if i can borrow their drum kit, they have confimed this I just have to let them know when I plan to use it.

Health And Safety Considerations

Step 1 Look For The Hazards

Whilst filming my video I have to constantly look out for hazards in order to keep myself and safe. Each location I shoot in will have different hazards.

Theatre - The theatre has many hazards a main one been the lights and if ever they dropped. In the theatre I will also be using wires as a prop and these can easily cause people to trip and there is also the hazard of tripping and pulling the theatre curtains down.

My House - Tripping over objects on my floor in my room could be a hazard and also there could be a hazard of falling down the stairs and slipping on spilt water in the bathroom.

Track in Withernsea - I will have to be aware of farm vehicles as it is surrounded by fields and my performer needs to be careful about falling in ditches. 

Step 2  Who May Be Harmed?

Theatre - Myself, Tom, Oliver and Daryl.

My House - Me and Tom.

Track in Withernsea - Me and Tom.

Step 3 Evaluate The Risk

For each risk I need to look and consider the severity of harm it could cause. I have to try and avoid any risks as much as possible and if the risk cannot be avoided I need to attempt to reduce it.

Step 4 Record The Significant Findings

I need to keep record of the following hazards and make sure whoever is involved in making my video is informed of all these possible risks. It is a legal requirement to clarify these risks if 5 or more people are involved in this production.

Step 5 Review And Revise The Risk Assessment

I need to constantly check the risks I have already identified and I need to keep my eyes open to new risks that could be created if anything is changed suddenly.

Check List

Cast

Tom Baines - Front man

Oliver Smithson - Guitar

Daryl Collinson - Drums

It took me a while to get my cast sorted because everybody had plans on different days but everything is sorted now and there is set days for shooting. I chose these people because they are all reliable people for turning up for filming and they all play their set instruments already and mainly they all fit into my chosen genre and have the right image.

Props

Two guitars

Drum kit

Mic

Mic stand

Amps

Red tape

Fake drugs

I have to make sure I inform the music department when I'm using their drum kit to allow me to get a key to get it out the music room.

Costume

Smart casual

Smart t-shirts

Checked shirt

Smart jeans

I need to make sure that when I film on different days, my cast wear the same clothing so that the continuity is kept through out my video. I have chosen this type of costume because I have researched alternative rock bands and these are the types of clothing what regually appeared.

For Narrative Shots - Hoodie, Jeans, Rigger Boots, Boxer Shorts, T-Shirt.

 

Locations
College theatre
Withernsea
My house
When wanting to use the theatre I have to remember to book the space. I have chosen these locations because they are easy to access on a regular basis which is what i will need for if i'm wanting to re shoot. The places also suit for what I want, a performance video with slight narrative.

Animatic

Screenplay/Script

Storyboard

Analysis Of Music Video Lyrics

My Idea

So for my music video I am using the song 'Uprising' by the alternative rock band Muse. I plan for my video to be a performance video with a band performing with a slight narrative of people standing up for themselves and being rebelious. I plan for my music video to be filmed in the college theatre as it is a very spacious room for my video to be filmed in and big enough for all the wide shots I will be wanting to use. I have analysed three music videos, all of them been different genres but all have something what I want to be in my video, that been attiutude. The band Paramore is the same genre as Muse so I aim for my video to be quite dark and the cast to be strong performers. Jessie J's video do it like a dude also contains the dark element I want to include in my music video even though it is an r&b song. These videos have some of the conventions I want to follow from the alternative rock genre. I enjoyed the Rihanna video and analysed that because certain parts of the video I want to include in my own even if the genres are different. In her video we see her stood in a room with footage been projected in her, I want to use this in my song in the chorus and want to project certain newspaper images onto my band. My music video is going to be and instrumental performance video so the conventions I will follow is to have a band and instruments. Most of the shots in the video are going to be of the band performing however there will be the occasional shot that has a narrative to it of people stamding up for themselves and being rebelious. I aim my video to attract an audience of people aged 16 +, so i will make sure the cast I use is within that age group. My band will follow the same style as Muse, so that will be smart casual they will probably be wearing smart jeans and a nice shirt/t-shirt. Muse are also energetic performers so I need my models to be too. My video will help promote Muse so i have to make sure the models represent the band well. The genre of my video is alternative rock so i will need to follow the conventions in my genre conventions post.

Audience Research

For my audience research I have created polls on my blogger. I posted my blogger onto my facebook and asked people to vote on my polls. I needed to find out if people liked the song I have chosen, what gender my song is likely to attract, the age of the people answering my polls and what type of music video they would prefer to see.

Do you like the song Uprising by Muse?

-Yes

-No

What type of music video do you prefer?

-Performance

-Narrative

-Abstract

-Animated

What gender do you think would prefer this song?

-Male

-Female

-Both

How old are you?

-Under 16

-16 to 25

-25+

Doing my polls I have found out that most people like my chosen song, people think that I should make a performance video, my song appeals to both genders and the audience that answered my poll is people ages 16 to 25. The people who have voted on my poll will be fans of the Alternative rock genre.

Genre Conventions

The song I am making a music video for is ‘Uprising’ by the band Muse. This song is a part of the Alternative Rock genre but can also be classed as Indie rock because these genres are quite similar as they are both sub genres of a wider rock genre.

As my chosen song falls into the Alternative Rock genre one of the main conventions of this would be that my music has to have a mix of narrative and many performance shots of the band with their instruments but mainly focusing on the performance of the music video as seen in ‘Lover Boy’ by You Me At Six, a popular Alternative Rock band. We then have the music video ‘Misery Business’ by another popular Alternative Rock band called Paramore which has slight narrative and is a performance video. In the performance clips we see in most Alternative Rock videos we see performance clips of the whole band which is shown in a wide shot but the lead singer is always the centre of the focus and always on the screen this would usually be a close up. A shot what seems to be used a lot at the moment within the genre is a shot of the lead singer but been able to see the other members in the background performing as seen in ‘Weightless’ by the band All Time Low and many other modern music videos, it is used as an attempt to stop everything been just about the lead singer.

Conventional colours and lighting used in videos depend on how upbeat the song it. A song which is more upbeat tends to have a brighter colour scheme for example the music video for the song ‘Brianstorm’ by the Arctic Monkeys a well-known Indie rock band, the song is very upbeat and we see shots of dancers with bright coloured flashing lights. When a song isn’t very upbeat and is quite slow it tends to used dark colours, they are usually very dull and sometimes are even shot in black and white for example ‘A-team’ by new comer ED Sheeran. Also the amount of cuts used in the music video will depend on how upbeat the song is used for the music video. If the song is slow there will be less cuts as the shots will be slow/gentle and will join together nicely whereas is the song for the music video is upbeat the shots will be a lot quicker and sharper. The setting within the Alternative Rock genre is conventionally dark; most settings used in music videos of this genre reflect the lead singer’s background, it also creates a certain type of mystery to the music video which is a convention of Rock & Roll. The genre rock is stereotypically known to have middle/lower class audience and this can sometimes be represented in the music videos produced for example ‘Sun Goes Down’ by the Arctic Monkeys. The band in the video also has to represent their audience by what they wear. So the band would usually wear something that goes with the mood of the song which goes back to talking about the speed. The speed of the song gives an understanding on the mood the song is, so most things have to be based on the mood.

The look given to the band is highly important. However the main focus is on the image the lead singer sets as the audience will decide if they like them depending on how they present themselves it is sometimes said to be more important than the song. If the audience like the music and the look the singer represents the audience will project themselves onto them and will imagine being in their shoes and the life style they have. This is why it is important for the lead singer to establish themselves in their music videos and this is much easier done in a narrative or performance video rather than a conceptual one, however some bands do go out of their way to not stick to the typical conventions for example ‘All the small things’ by the band Blink 182 where they present themselves as a boy band. They fit into the pop punk genre which is nothing like the Alternative/Indie Rock genre so we would never see an Alternative Rock band doing anything like that.

These conventions are used in Alternative/Indie Rock videos as opposed to an R&B video which would involve lots of bling and half naked girls dancing around and artist which is performing and usually involves having lots of money and not having a care. The difference between the conventions with these genres is the setting. A hip hop video would usually be set in a big bright mansion, showing off lots of luxuries whereas an Alternative/Indie rock video would be set somewhere dark and somewhere quite plain.