Filming Test BB2

This is our second bathbomb test which Imogen filmed, after reviewing the footage we have decided that it would be best to film the bathbomb in a smaller container so it is more pigmented. Also to have a tripod to get steady and non-shaky footage. When editing I will also turn the saturation up higher to colour with the rest of the video.

Filming Test BB1

Here is the first video in the tests for our bathbombs shots, Imogen filmed this, we tested the saturation of the video and the different focuses of the footage. We saw which shots look better and how to edit them to get the best looking footage out of them. 

By doing this we now understand that we need to focus on points when re-filming the footage and it gives us footage to fall back on if we aren't happy with later bathbomb footage.

Macklemore - Drug Dealer ft. Ariana Deboo

Macklemore's song 'Drug Dealer' is incredibly emotive as he sings about not being able to quit and the dealer's who make him addicted. Jason Koenig is the director, writer and the director of photography for this video. Macklemore's video shows emotion, with dark harrowing shots of the artist sitting in a shower and in a dark room trying to survive going 'cold turkey' against these drugs. The featuring singer on this track is Ariana Deboo, the audience sees her slowly drowning in the pills around her with extreme close-ups on her lips and face. 

The video opens with a close-up on Macklemore sitting in a shower, however the audience does not know this yet because of the tight frame and shadows hiding aspects of the scene. This creates enigmas so the audience pays closer attention to the footage. The footage is also unsteady because it is a handheld shot, this is purposefully done since the camera follows the timings of the singer's breathing causing the audience to become more involved in the scene.

The shot then matches off action swiftly to show him sitting in a shower with steam surrounding him, this answers the enigma of the audience not knowing where he is. I really like the steam surrounding him since it gives the shot a more intimate atmosphere.

The shot then changes again to another handheld close-up of a dark room where Macklemore begins to lip sync to the lyrics, the dark background of the shot with low key lighting causes his face to only be in focus - bringing attention to the sweat upon his nose and forehead. Also the audience focuses more intently on the lyrics, bringing more meaning them. 

The audience then sees Ariana Deboo for the first time in a close-up shot where she is left centre frame, the editor has used a similar effect to the previous shot with Macklemore - having half of the frame blurred. By doing this Koenig has caused the viewer to imagine themselves going 'cold turkey' and as a consequence of this having blurred vision. White and red pills are slowly filling the shot with Deboo becoming more surrounded by them, this shows how pills and drugs sometimes swallow a person whole and they can't get out.

Half way through the chorus the shot changes to a bird's eye view of Macklemore lying on a mattress, the mise-en-scene in this shot is very important as it shows the quality of life the artist's character is living in. There is a bare mattress which is quite clear to the viewer giving them the idea that the character has a lower class life with not much income for him to afford a bed and sheets. The walls are also dirty showing that he lives in a run down accommodation, because of the fact that he is singing about drug addicts the audience assumes that he may be living in a drug den or he has sold everything to pay for these drugs. In the left side of the shot the viewer can see an ash tray filled with cigarette butts, this causes us to believe that the character does not care about keeping his home clean. On the right side of the frame there is a silver bowl which we presume is for sick because as a side effect of going 'cold turkey' you vomit. Overall this shot provides the audience with information on the characters life and their personality. 

After this Deboo is shown again in low key lighting in a mid shot, the warm but dark lighting gives the ambience of being by a fire and with the light glare by her head causing me to first thing of it as a feather and therefore feeling like the scene reflects a native american vibe however I do not think that is the intended purpose of the shot. 

I really enjoy the aesthetics of this shot with an extreme close up of her lip syncing to the lyrics, the shadows at the top of this shot causes the audience to fully focus on her lips.

We see the previous shot before but from a different angle where we see the depth of the pills, this is also quite psychedelic because the camera has a transparent divide between the pills and the camera. The blurred effect is again used here adding to the psychedelic effect.

This shot is a mid shot with low key lighting, the aesthetics of the footage are really nice with what seems to be sunlight hitting upon the background of the shot, this causes the smoke from the cigarette to become easily visible and the audience become entranced as a dances away from Macklemore. 

The shot then switches back to Deboo now near completely covered by pills and as the song draws to an end we see her become swallowed by them. This shows the more negative ending of becoming a drug addict as she is overpowered by them.

However at the end of the video we see Macklemore's character at an 'AA' meeting where he has overcome his addiction, the room has high key lighting - this is contrasting to the previous shots which had heavy shadows in them. The lighting in the scene suggests that this is a calm and peaceful atmosphere. This shows that his character has 'learnt his lesson' which provides the audience with a happy outlook on life at the end of the video because 'all is well' with his life.

I think that this video is very good with an expertise shown in keeping the audience engaged even though there is no dramatic storyline running through it, because the beauty of the shots and the interesting editing effects the audience become entranced by it and they fully listen to the lyrics - therefore bringing more meaning to the piece.

Risk Assessment - Sidmouth

To complete a risk assessment is important because it highlights the dangers and potential hazards that we may face during filming. To do this I am creating a table to view the risks easier so we can prevent them.

Music Video - Location Photos

We have several locations in our music video for the different scenes:

Canaan Park, Ottery St. Mary:

It's a local park, we plan to film some walking shots in this location.

Sidmouth Beach:

We are just filming the sea at this location so the beach is the most important part of this location.

Footpath, Tipton St. John:

Choice of Actors

For our actors we have chosen to only feature two, one girl and one boy - to show a relationship. We decided this because during the song they can lip sync to the music. We are also using the boy as the singer of the band, with two other band members.

NARRATIVE CHARACTERS

FEMALE CHARACTER
For the girl we are using Ingrid McNeilage, she is a good friend of ours and is happy to be filmed. Also because we go to the same school she will be assessable to film whenever we want.

MALE CHARACTER & FRONTMAN

The frontman of the band and also the main actor in the music video, is Isaac Penney. He is a good friend also and is happy to be filmed. He is also part of our sixth form Media Studies class so we can discuss what scenes we need of him and his accessibility during class.

BAND

LEAD GUITARIST

Jack Simmons is also in our media studies class, so we can discuss the shots and dates where we need to film. He has also learnt the chorus on the guitar so we can film close up shots of him playing and time it with the music.

RHYTHM GUITARIST

The rhythm guitarist will be played by our friend Thomas Godfrey, he has featured in our past projects as the main star however this time he will take on a minor role. The reason why we use him is because he is very happy to be on camera and lives close by so he is very assessable if we need to film on short notice.

All our of actors fit the conventions of an indie-pop music video because they are all the same age and will be wearing indie-pop inspired clothing.

Hey Violet - Guys My Age

This music video was uploaded two days ago, and as I was searching today I found it. I love the colour and lighting scheme of the video, I've heard of the band before: 'Hey Violet' however I've never watched their videos - only listened to the audio. However I hadn't heard of their song 'Guys My Age', I enjoyed the song as well as the video however the video is simply incredible for the lighting aspect.

Here are a few screenshots of the music video:

The footage has a filter over it to replicate dust and marks on actual physical film, I like this idea and may use it in our own video for the beginning and end of it because it gives a weathered look to the footage.

They have also included light flares over the footage whilst changing the colours of the lighting scheme. I also like how the have positioned the singer over centre and have out of focus behind her.

They also have many band shots showing them playing the instruments and singing along. They have set it in front of a dinner and followed the lighting scheme of pinks, purples and blues. 

The footage also showcases shots of the band members playing their instruments, we can include similar shots to this in our own video. 

The footage of the whole band vary in shots and length of them, this is nice because it gives some variation to the video.

The video also includes some cut away footage, not showing a particular scene but giving the viewer different shots to become interested by.

The singer also looks in the mirror during the video, this is something we plan our actress to do in our video we can follow a similar look with her hair being out of focus in a deep shot. 

She also writes on the mirror we could edit our original plan to follow the idea and film it in an almost psychotic way with lots of jump cuts and distortion.

The footage shows all of the band members we can also use this idea.

I like the close up on the members with only their hands or faces showing it creates a more intimate feel to the video.

Overall I feel that this video was very well executed with the lip syncing and playing instruments on point, and that the lighting scheme has given me more ideas about our own lighting.

By watching this video I feel that I know more about how we are going film our band scenes and how we are going to light our sets, this has helped because before we were going to fix the camera in one position and not move it for the band shots apart from close ups. I feel inspired and influenced by this video.

Here is the full video: