Lighting Design

A lighting tech guy came in today to talk to us about what kind of lighting we'd use. The resulting conversation changed the video quite a bit. We discussed how we wanted to use the LED cylinders in one of the elements. This idea was taken a lot further and we ended up incorporating the LED/neon theme into more elements of the video. This changed a lot of the video's aesthetic, making it less bright and poppy and more dark and night-clubby which proved quite a controversial change amongst the group members. We ended up scrapping the neon theme and choosing lots of bright white lighting as we felt that it was more in fitting with the original aesthetic of the video.

Feedback from Screeing of Animatic

Props

PROP LIST

Most of our props we are getting ourselves but a few, Hurtwood have agreed to help supply.

PROPS WE ARE GETTING OURSELVES

• Roller skates

• Hubba-Bubba pink bubblegum (three packs)

• A retro visor

• Sunglasses

 

 

 

 

 

 

• An inflatable beach ball

 

 

 

 

 

 

•  Inflatable animals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Ribbons 

PROPS HURTWOOD IS GETTING FOR US

• Glitter

• Smoke Bombs (coloured)

 

• Dry ice machine

 

• Wind Machine

Evaluation of Completed Animatic

After having shot and edited the Animatic, its time to reflect on how it went and what we've learned:

PROS

• First of all, the process really helped in that it gave us a good idea of how the actresses behave in front of a camera. 
• Maria (the singer), thank God, was great. Despite a few awkward giggles, she managed to remain sassy and cool throughout. She also made the effort to learn the lines almost perfectly, which automatically made her more comfortable in front of the camera. I was impressed with her performance and the way she co-operated with the group.
• Another person who I was very impressed with was Hannah. I was somewhat concerned about not having seen her skate before but he footage worked well in the video. We used the footage from her rehearsal video in the animatic.

CONS 

•  Because we had not managed to gather all of the props, the girls did not have much to do
• We did not have enough footage to fill the entire video - this issue can be fixed, we just need to get the props and have the girls interact with them to fill the time with interesting footage.
• I was not particulary fond of the editing (Shh, don't tell Gabe I said that). I hope that we can use some more proffessional editing techniques for the actual thing.
• The filming could have been better, with less shaky cam and more effor to pretend we weren't filming on an iPhone.

Overall, I think that the aniamtic was very useful. it helped us figure out a lot of things and served as a test run for the actual shoot, but the actual video could look better.

Set and Location

For our video we have several locations. We went through them all, planning where we would have to shoot.

Location Number One: Runway

The roller-skating would take place on a airplane runway. There are several runways near our school which we could use but this would require us getting into contact with the owners and asking their permission.

We want to achieve something like in the video below:

The abandoned runway in all its glory

We found a site (pictured to the right) which we liked. An abandoned runway in Ockham Common. At first there were several issues with using the site: Firstly, the runway is uneven and damaged in many places, which may make filming difficult (we'd like to film from the back of a car and uneven ground may cause the camera to shake) and make it difficult for Hannah to skate. 

Additionally, the location being outdoors means that the possibility of bad weather is a risk.  If the ground is made slippery due to rain, it could pose a safty threat.

Some of the ground is rough and damaged

Obviously, asking the owner's permission could prove problematic.

Thankfully, there are many even parts of the runway which we can film on.

A member of the group claims to know the people who own the property and says that we will be able to use it. 

Finally, Luke has given us permission to do a second shoot if the weather is bad on the day.

Location Number Two: Performance (Catwalk)

The singer would perform in the Hurtwood studio which we will set up to look like a black catwalk. We spoke to the set designer who told us that she could put this together in the studio (more on that later). The group is still in debate as to whether or not the dancers/models should be behind her (which would make sense because it is a catwalk) but either way, they will definately be in the next set, which is....

Set Number Three - The Models/Dancers

This is probably the simplest set. It is the coloured backgrounds that the girls will be against. We want simple colours which would be easy on the eyes and aestheitically pleasing. We chose the colours from a book of colour swatches. This means that we will have to paint the backgrounds when they arrive but I'm fine with that, as long as our backgrounds look nice. This is the part of the video that was inspired by the Irish Misguided adverts.

Animatic

After filming the performers and the dancers/models, we put all the footage together into our animatic to see what the final result might look something like. And here it is..

Rehearsing with Hannah

We arranged a rehearsal with Hannah, our skater, in the pavilion. We wanted to, first of all, get an idea of how she would perform on camera and, secondly, allow her some time to get used to the skates we bought for her. She hadn't skated in a while so she took a bit of time getting back into the swing of it. Once she had, though, she was fantastic and we were very pleased with her performance. Hannah's natural ability to perform impressed us all.

Planning to film Animatic

In order to gain a better understanding of how the final video might look, we are going to build an animatic. Most animatics are (as the name suggests) low quality animations based on storyboards, which plan out the series of events in a film or video. Because our video is less narrative and more conceptual, we were advised against doing a drawn animatic. Instead, we are going to use an iphone to produce a rough video will give us a vague idea of how the finished product might turn out. There were several things which needed to be organized first.

1. We sent the lyrics to Maria, who will be performing it. This is vital, as knowing her lines will automatically give her confidence.
2. We will have to perform the rollerskating section in the pavilion as we cannot drive to the actual location for the animatic. The pavilion is the theater studies dept. turf so we had to ask Doug, head of performing arts, for permission to use it.
3. We arranged recording times for all the performers. Maria and the extras (who will be filmed in the studio for the actual shoot) will be filmed in the media classroom, against the whiteboard.

More Pop Websites

Remember ages ago when we used the Wix website editor and I made a great website? Well we've started looking again at website design. There were two examples I thought were worth discussing.

This website for pop artist, Ke$ha, has only four buttons: A link to her Facebook page, her Twitter Feed, her Instagram page and an option to sign up for her newsletter. Clearly, there is a great use of simplicity.

The Rhianna website shown below is a lot more complicated and has multiple pages and sub-pages, including 'merchandise', 'news', 'biography' and 'song lyrics'

Casting

Casting is very important in order to give the right image. We want female actresses who can show us the same sass and attitude that the song and its lyrics convey. Confidence is the key. Additionally, experience in performing is also a big factor. After much discussion, we chose the following actresses:

Rollerskater - Hannah Chaney: Hannah was chosen mostly for her rollerskating skills but also because of her ability to perform and act. She has experience with acting on the stage and isn't lacking in confidence.

Singer - Maria Gripari: Maria is basically a younger, sassier Kim Kardashian. She is a very good and experienced actress and I look forward to seeing how she responds to the camera.

The Extras - Phoebe, Carlotta and Roe: These are the girls who will be dancing and modelling throughout the video. The most important thing to look for whilst casting is obviously confidence, but also sex appeal, character, attitude and charm. We have a nice mix of actresses here, all of which I hope can bring something interesting to the video.

Some issues may arise over the availability of the actresses, due to other projects, subjects or performance responsibilities, hand if they do we will have to make some changes. The one person who we absolutely cannot lose is Hannah, as her rollerskating skills make her irreplaceable. She is the lead role in the school musical so this could potentially be a difficult situation.

Research into genre conventions - Pop

The pop genre is a lot easier to distinguish than many other genres. Despite this, pop aesthetic and conventions often vary quite a lot. Our song contains elelments of hip hop and electronic but is still mostly pop.

ALBUM COVERS

One of the Boys - katy Perry

Teenage Dream - Katy Perry

Bounce - Iggy Azalea

The Fame Monster - lady Gaga

Pink Friday Reloaded - Nicki Minaj

Pop album colours are often colourful and bright with friendly, apporachable, pastel colours. They often use bouncy, cartoony fonts, as seen in almost all of the examples given. In the cover for 'Teenage Dream' by Katy Perry (as shown above), there is strong use of sex appeal and promiscuity as Katy Perry is shown, naked and strewn in a seductive pose across a pink cloud. The same can be said for Nicki Minaj's 'Pink Friday'. many pop albums such as Iggy Azalea's 'Bounce' and Lady Gaga's 'The Fame Monster', which shows a black and white image of her in an artsy back outfit with crazy hair, have a focus of fashion and trendiness. A lot of these types of album tend to be less bright and colourful than other pop albums. A recurring theme in pop albums is the use of photography, whilst other genres tend to focus more on the music, pop is more focused on the artist and their image. For this reason, the albums will often feature photos of the singer.

Generally speaking, the target audience for pop artists is female 'tweens' (young girls around and below their teenage years). Because of their age, they are not expected to be interested in music in an artistic way, but instead to be drawn to whatever is shiniest, brightest and the most fun. Often, pop artists use the bright, fun aesthetic to rise to fame and once they have established an audience they become more focused on their music.

MUSIC VIDEOS

I found a few pop music videos which I felt were similar to the kind of pop genre we are going for with our video.

Nicki Minaj - The Boys

In the screenshot below, we see how Nicki eminates sass and attitude. This hip-hop, female rapper sassitude is shown through her body language and the way she treats men in the video. The men are starstruck by her but she brushes them off, uninterested. This makes her seem like a strong, independent, sassy woman - a pop archetype. The bright colours and costume are also very typical of a pop video. Nicki goes through several outfits, hairstyles and even haircolours through the video.

Little Mix - How Ya Doin?

This Little Mix video also is very typical of the pop genre. There is emphasis on parties, dancing, fashion and fun - anything that a young teenage girl would find interersting. The video uses a variety of backgrounds and sets in order to keep the viewrs attention as much as possible. We see the singers trying on different outfits and posing in them.

Pop music conventions are very much based around their target audience. The key words which have become apparant are all things which one would associate with young tweenage girls:

• Bright colours
• Parties
• Fun
• Bouncy
• Attitude/sass
• Female
• Fashion/clothes
• Cool

Idea Change (again)

We came up with three separate elements for the video, including a performance.

ELEMENT NUMBER ONE - MISS GUIDED ADVERT

We took inspiration from an Irish advert for the fashion shop, Miss Guided. We would like to capture some of the sass and attitude from the video. It is very much in keeping with the genre.

ELEMENT NUMBER TWO -ROLLER-SKATING

We wanted to include a roller-skater in the video, something about the fun, cool and sightly retro aesthetic of rollerskating fitted with the feel of the song.

Song Choice (Take Two)

Unable to come up with a song that the group all liked, we decided to choose one that we all hate instead. Phil suggested a pop song so we found I Got My Eye on You by Nari and Milani. The song is horrible and repetitive but very much a part of the mainstream pop/dance genre.



The Pros of Using This Song:

• It isn't very well known.
• It has a music video already, but it's rubbish (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5YScVbr2Zc)
• Pop music is the most popular and generic genre.

Scrapping the Woodkid Idea

We concluded that Iron by Woodkid is becoming too popular. It has been on several adverts and we were advised to drop it before it becomes too mainstream. For example, the Assassins Creed: Revelations advert, a Levis advert and - most recently, a surprisingly dramatic advert for Volvic bottled water.

Additionally, our concept is dangerously similar to the original video - which is also in black and white and involves medieval imagery. Our plan is to choose a completely new song, in our groups, with a new idea.

Whilst I'm sad that we're losing our initial idea, I hope that - as a group - we can come up with something new and original.

REST IN PEACE, WOODKID - IRON

New Groups

Phil (our teacher) decided to take the ideas which were most promising and make a new set of groups. My new group consists of Carla, Gabriel, Lizzie and myself and we are continuing to do the Woodkid idea.

From left to right: Gabriel, the back of Lizzie's head, Carla and me.

I'm pretty happy with the group and feel that we have a combination of promising assets and strong creative characters.