Production Meetings - Research & Planning 2

Once we knew enough about our artist and completed the animatic, we decided it was time to begin bringing these ideas to life. In our remaining research and planning production meetings we delegated the tasks that we would have ahead of us so that each person could get on with a part of the project. We got ideas and fed back to each other on what we had come up with.

I was in charge of:

• Planning the lighting set-ups
• Initial ideas for the website
• Initial ideas for the album cover

Josh was in charge of:

• Organising Props
• Making Shootboards and Call Sheets
• Making flat plan for website
• Making flat plan for album cover

Yssy was in charge of:

• Initial ideas for the website
• Initial ideas for the album cover
• Planning the publicity shots
• Making plans for costuming and make-up

Unfortunately, Matt was out of school during this period so was unable to attend to a number of these meetings. However, we were able to feedback to him what we had come up with and, once he had been briefed, he was given the task of continuing work on the website.

Props

Once we knew all our shots we produced a prop list and immediately established:

• What we did and didn't have
• How/where we would get the missing props
• Who would get them
• How much they would cost

Rehersals

Our music video did not involve a huge amount of rehearsals as for a lot of the narrative and concept we wanted a natural feel, and acting that didn't seem too planned out. This added to the authenticity of the relationship. The main rehearsal time was spent practising certain, more difficult performance shots.

The main shots that needed to be practised were the fire performance shots and the silhouette performance shots.

Performance

Before we had access to the studio we rehearsed the fire shot, as we knew that, due to the fire projection, this would be one of the harder shots to film. Yssy was almost blinded by the bright projection shining in her eyes and was unable to perform to begin with. Also, with the whole shot being lit by the projector, we had to ensure there was enough light to be able to see Yssy.

The silhouette shots would also be also difficult to shoot since Yssy and Josh had to interact with each other without actually being able to see one another. For this reason, this shot required a lot of planning, practise and strict choreography before we could shoot. Shown below is the initial rehearsal where Josh stood in front of the sheet so he could see exactly how he needed to interact with Yssy.

Rehearsing kitchen scenes

Narrative

Since we wanted to create a natural and unscripted relationship between Roza and her boyfriend, there was very little rehearsal time used for these shots. However, on shoot days, we did practise exactly how we would interact before shooting so our natural interaction was still framed well and looked good on camera.

Call Sheets & Shootboards

28th & 29th October

We were due to begin shooting in the studio on 3rd November so we decided to use 2 days in half term before this in order to get most of our location shots done. This has helped us later on in the process. This also meant that we would have plenty of time to reshoot any of these shots.

We decided to shoot all the Central London shots on one day and on the following day shoot the Narrative shots at my house, since we would be in fewer locations on each day.

3rd November

On our first studio-based shoot day our aim was to shoot our main performance shots and some of our concept shots.

10th November

On this shoot day we didn't have much time so wanted to get another one of our performance shots done.

11th November

On this shoot day we had access to the studio after school hours and late into the evening. For this reason we decided to shoot our club scene, which involved a lot of extras, here. We got these shots done early so that the extras could get home quickly and would not be standing around all evening.

 

19th November

We spent the majority of this shoot day taking promo shots but also had another performance shot to take.

22nd November

We had the majority of our shots by this point but we decided that some should be reshot. We spend the morning of the 22nd November taking promo shots and reshot some performance shots later on in the day.

24th November

Again, we knew we had scenes that still needed to be reshot so focussed on these, as well as more promo shots, on our final shoot day.

Shoot Schedule

Upon receiving our shootboard we were able to begin planning which shots would take place when.

Since we have the studio one Tuesday after school and one Saturday all day, we decided that it would be most beneficial to for shots with a lot of extras and external performers to be taken here as students would be available.

Kit List

CAMERA UNIT:

Canon Legria HFG30

Go pro

Canon 5D

HDMI cables + Converter
64GB Memory card

PLAYBACK UNIT:

50 inch monitor

15 inch mac book pro

Studio sound system

Stereo Jack to 2 x Xlr box

2 x Extension cables

LIGHTING:

Studio lighting rig

2 x floor lights

1 x turret light

Leapfrog lighting desk

STUDIO:

1 X White Cyclorama

1 x sheet stand

1 x sheet

1 x camera dolly                                                 

Lighting & Set Design

Throughout the video we are using a number of different lighting setups in order to create specific themes and effects. I found myself very at home at the lighting desk so throughout the process Josh and  I spent most of our time controlling the colours and intensities of the studio lights, while Matt and Yssy altered positioning of the lights themselves. However, everyone participated in all aspects.

As you can see from the above image, before making any technical decisions regarding lighting we planned out exactly how each setup would be lit and where the camera and (minimal) props would be placed.

Narrative

Since our narrative scenes are shot on location there is a lack of choice and flexibility regarding lighting. For the shots in my home we used spot lights to create a naturally coloured and well lit scene and with the shots taken on London streets we were reliant on sunlight and, in the evening, streetlights.

Costume, Hair & Make-Up

Make-up and costume were vital for creating the correct look for our artist, establishing her identity and genre. We wanted to go for an urban and sexy (yet not sexualised) PBR&B artist. We used specific hair and makeup to achieve this.

Make-Up

We were able to talk to a professional make-up artist about the look we wanted to create. Despite not being able to have her present during the shoots we learnt and discussed what would best suit or artist and how this could be achieved.

Narrative

For the narrative we wanted to create a clear separation from the performance part of the video and create a real life feel. For this reason we used very natural make-up for the shots that we took of the couple at home, and more dressy make up for the shots when Roza was going out.

We also had a range of costumes to further establish the situation that Roza and her boyfriend were in at the time and her real life identity.

As shown the above from the various narrative shots, the top left one is a very casual shot and this was established through the use of narrative loungewear and very natural hair and make-up for both characters. The bottom right image shows Roza about to go out. For this reason there is a massive contrast in the dressy make up and attire that Roza is wearing. This allows the audience to immediately understand the situation Roza and her boyfriend are in in the short, fast narrative shots.

Performance

Our main performance shot was a close up of Roza with a wet look to it. For this shot we took inspiration from Beyonce in "If I Were A Boy." We really liked the wet look that can be seen on Beyonce's hair and make up and emulated this. This, paired with a simple white background and natural lighting created a strong shot that we could return to throughout the video.

The makeup in our fire shots was much bolder for a number of reasons. Firstly this is a very colourful shot and with a lot of moving light a natural make up look would end up being lost. Therefore we used bright lipstick and bold, black eye make up.

Roza also wore a white dress with black detailing in these shots. This meant that the fire projection would show up well on the white clothing.

Casting

Roza

We decided that Yssy would play Roza. This was due to her previous acting experience and similiarities to the artist we had in mind that she would be perfect for the role.














Boyfriend



I was cast as Roza's boyfriend throughout the narrative shots of the music video. We felt that I had the strongest chemisty with Yssy and this would be very important in playing a convincing relationship between the two. Also, being in part of the group I would be more committed than an external actor and would definitely be free during shoots.



Boyfriend - Screen Test

We screen tested our potential candidates for the role in order to establish who would play the role best and who had the best on screen chemistry.

Despite Ama's previous acting experience, we felt that the chemistry between Yssy and me was a lot more convincing.