Real Shoot 2 - feedback and changes

Today we sat down with Mrs B to talk about our shoot at the abandoned house near Hammersmith where we'd gone for our second shoot. Although i was feeling positive about our shots, mrs blackborow wasn't.Although she really liked the location, she said our shots were awful.

- There was too much greenery in the shots which we couldn't use. We're supposed to be in an abandoned house where there's dirt and grime everywhere, not somewhere thats growing plans.

- She also thought the greenery detracted the viewer from the band.
- Some of our shots were taken from obscure angles but for no real effect. She said they confused the audience and that we could have some better shots.

- We showed her the side of the building and she was annoyed that we hadn' used the windows high up in the house.

- When she saw inside the house, she nearly flipped her lid. She said the inside of the house was absolutely awsome and had so many great textures. Not putting the band in there would be a stupid idea as the shots would look great and we could achieve so much more!!!!

Real Shoot - Thursday 27th September

Ok last night (wednesday 26th september) i got a call from Josh who said that this mysterious burnt down house plan was going ahead. Apparantly another group who had tried to book it hadn't heard back from the owner quickly enough so moved to a different location. We however were desperate for a place to shoot our band shots and we pounced at the chance.

The plan was:

• Get the band and instruments
• Pick the band up at 10
• Drive to the location for about 11

What actually happened:

• Get our band - we called round frantically to all our friends to see who could be the band. Fortunatly two of my friends who are in a band with me agreed to come and play drums and bass guitar. This was brilliant because Josh could be main singer and then we're done. I managed to rustle up some instruments from them and we were due to meet them at their house to pick them up at 10.
• We get to there house at about 10:30 and leave almost immediatly after. We were making good time and although our directions were on a map which was on the screen of a digital camera, we had high hopes. However, the camera started to lose batteries and our two cars got seperated along the way, setting us back 30 minutes.
• We finally arrived in the area of the location but it was so carefully concealed behind some houses that it took us and hour and a half of driving round in circles before we finally found it. It was hidden up someones front drive and although we were in constant contact with mrs b who was feeding us directions, we were totally lost for what felt like days.

However, when we got there it was worth it (i think). The place was beautifly destroyed by fire and there was ash, brick and glass everywhere. Brilliant! Although most of the roof was destroyed and we were practically outside, this gave us natural light and we hardly had to use the light pack we were given.

We were quick to shoot and set up the instruments and leads around to make it look like the band was actually playing. I'd informed the band members who could actually play the instruments they were using to learn the song to make the stage look even more authentic. Our only set-back was that none of us had printed the lyrics sheet and we spent some time listening to the song on the i-pod speakers before we were able to shoot.

I think what we shot was quite good. We got in nice and tight on both the instruments and the lead singer's face and repeated the song over and over to get as many possible, usable shots as we could. I think we'll be able to cut them together successfully in the edit suite to make it look good. Two camera's was once again a good idea because it makes continuity editing so much easier, as we found with our first shoot on sunday. Once camera was static for most of the time and the other one was zooming around the different band members and going in close on their instruments. What helps us i think it that our actual performance shots aren't the main focus of the video and we will probably only be using little snippets in our actual thing. Therfore the footage we got doesn't have to be that great.

One problem is that we are unsure how to link the band shots to the action. Fortunatly the woman who let us use the house said we can use it anytime and we should definatly come back to finish the shooting. Our teacher suggested that we make the gorilla chase the banana into the house for a climax and we're going to discuss this option. However, today we were too frustrated from the journey and tired from shooting to continue much past the band performing and although we had the costumes, they didn't leave the boot of the car.

ALSO, THERE WAS A DEAD CAT IN THE GARDEN WHERE WE WERE SHOOTING. ROB PICKED IT UP WITH A STICK!!!!!

Real Shoot - Sunday 23rd September

This shoot went so incredibly well i was actually amazed. We all worked really well together and managed to get alot of stuff shot which we were definatly sure wouldn't need re-shooting and which we could you could use in the final edit. We went down to oxford street with a plan to get the following done:

• Many shots of the banana being chased by the gorilla. These were to be done in the locations we'd checked out in our test shoot.
• We also planned to make mini sequences in the locations we found. This means a 20-30 second long story of the gorilla looking for / chasing the banana in strange places and the banana managing to evade capture.
• Busy shots of the gorilla chasing the banana down oxford street around the oxford circus area.

We got the first two of these done to great affect with two brilliant little sequences of chasing which, when editied together in our edit suite looked fantastic. Unfortunatly we didn't get the shots at oxford circus done but we have both thursday, saturday and sunday to complete these shots for the video. The task seems more than dooable.

Still to do

We still have a lot of things to do before our video is even near ready:

• Film the band shots - we have a possible lead to a location where we could shoot the band shots. We may have got hold of an old abandoned burnt down house which could be awsome for some great band shots. We could also link these shots to the gorilla and banana (if we can somehow get them to come to the house) but we'll have to see.
• We didn't get the shots down oxford circus which is really important. This location is really busy and will be perfect for us. Farthermore it really completes the london look as it's the heart of the city so this is definatly something that needs to get done.
• We have to make the sequence where the banana and gorilla meet. At the moment our storyline makes no sense as it's all just a gorilla and a banana being chased. We need to show how they came to meet and the beginning of the chase to make the entire music video complete.
• Finally we need to actually decide on how the video is going to end. Is the gorilla going to die? or is it the banana instead? or both or none? We need to have a group discussion so we can decide on the best way to end the video.
  

Test Shoot - Results

This is an account of our test shoot. Overall, we had a rather pleasing test shoot which has since given us inspiration to change our final idea.

Busy shots down oxford street - These shots went really well. As we were shooting on a sunday afternoon there were plently of people for us to use and we had no problem threading a gorilla inbetween them. What was better, we got mixed reactions from the crowd. Some of the people were terrified by the sight of a gorilla barging past them but other didn't even batter an eyelid. We had a range of different angles for this shots, some in which the camera tracked the gorilla through the crowd and other from a static high angle following the gorilla's journey.

Infact, these shots took the most part of our test shoot time. We spent ages shooting down busy oxford street and got some really great footage - some of which we'll be able to use for our final video.

Close ups of gorilla body parts - These shots we're also good. However we didn't get enough of them and this made it hard to link some shots together. For our actual shoots we need to get more of these so we can fill time in the video of we realise we're short of footage.

Problems
Although we got some awsome footage, we realised that there were some really crucial details in our filming and our actual storyline. We had a think about it in a group meeting.

• Our footage we're no where near tight enough and in the background in some of our shots there were other things which we didn't want, e.g. passers by, horrible buildings
• We really struggled with our match on action. We had shots of the gorilla running around a corner and then it cut to another angle. However, in one shot or gorilla was running on the inside of the corner and in the other he runs on the outside as he turns. Therfore the shots do NOT match up. To avoid this problem we've asked the media department if we can borrow a second camera which we can use and therfore not have to worry as much about matching shots for continuity.
• We realised that filming on the tube would be a tiresome, tedious and generally difficult task. Firstly there is no way of securing permissions for shooting on the tube and continuity is also a problem. We'd also be filming on one tube for a number of hours and the people on the tube. Farthermore i don't think our group has the patience to be stuck on a tube from cockfoster to heathrow filming in one go. We also need shots inside the station which will be hard to do - due to permissions again,

Test Shoot - Shot List

- Busy shots down oxford street
- Close ups of gorilla body parts and tracking with the dolly down the street.
- Oyster card on the beeper
- Esculator shots - different angles
- Wating on the platform - out to in focus
- shot from inside train pulling into station and seeing gorilla by the near doors. (hard shot - needs practise)
- Check the lighting on the tube - see if we get a clear enough picture
- Tracking shots with car (important) - we can try this in a location thats not as busy as oxford street. If it works then on the real shoot we'll go down to oxford street.
- Check out tesco's permission

Comic Value - The Crucible Moment

Thinking about our video, we thought that it would be really good if we had a crucible moment, something that the audience will remember and what to watch over and over again. When we came up with the idea of a man in a banana costume walking by the two gorillas after they'd fallen in love and the male gorilla can't resist the temptation of chasing the banana.

Although this was said jokingly, we didn't actually believe we could get it done. However, when browsing google i came across and AWSOME banana costume which we may very well purchase.

Banana Costume

Exclusive Web Price £32.99

This banana costume is made from bright yellow poly foam, shown here with models own black top and trousers. This is a one size fits most costume

http://www.fancydress.com/shop/product-view/118669

Narrative - continued

He then runs out towards the esculator, the camera scans around looking up the esculator, in the row of people going up we spot the female gorrilla, he madly runs up the stairs, but by the time he gets to the top, shes gone- there's no sign of her.

He then runs as fast as he can with desperation to find her through the busy streets of london; in and out and over obstacles, down stairs, round corners. we will use as many interesting camera angles and movements that will fit together nicely along to the fast paced music.

*As we cut in and out of the shots of the performance, the day is getting darker as the gorilla keeps running and finally he ends up at a bar - drinking himself silly. After a while he becomes very drunk and he stumbles out of the pub, a bald man barges him on his way out, as if to nearly start a fight, he stumbles along and collapses on a step..... then all of a sudden, a stroke of luck, his lady friend has returned.

*[Actually - i think that a better idea of this would be if instead of going to a bar, we cut to a shot of the automatic doors of a tesco and they beep open and the gorilla comes out holding an alcaholic beer which he can play with in ape-like fashion - purely because it would be funnier, a fight with a bald man would be hard to shoot as i've learnt from my previous media c/w, we'd have to find a bald man to use and getting permissions to shoot in a pub would be time costly.]

He jumps up, they get talking but then, a huge banana walks passed, his temptations cant resisit, he goes with the banana. (the banana possibley being scared as he doesnt want to get eaten, maybe it is as if he is being mugged, the banana maybe tries to give him money)

Test Shoot - Preparation

Ok basically there are a lot of things to get ready for the test shoot so this is just a list to myself of all the things we need to remember.

- Construct more of our narrative so we know more locations to shoot on succesfully without wasting time.

- Check out the drama block as a possibility for shooting the performance shots. I've seen it done in a previous video and although their work wasn't as tight as it needed to be, i think we can work well with the stage and lights.

- Get the gorilla costume from my friend. Make sure it's not dirty.

- Get a work suit to see if it looks good with the gorilla costume we have.

- Talk to Ms Blackborow about ordering a second gorilla costume. Although it's not vital for the test shoot, it is VITAL for our shoots the following weekends so we need to order it as soon as possible to make sure we have it.

- Again, not vital for the test shoot but talk to some actors about being in the video. We'll need some of our friends for the tube scene as well as for the band and the solo artis who special guests.

Final Narrative

Below is a basic narrative for the first minute of our video. The rest will follow when we finalise it in our meeting on thursday but for now here is what we have so far.

- Shot down a busy oxford street. People are moving either side of the camera as if it isn't there and through these crowds of people emerges a gorilla with a work suit on and a briefcase walking towards and past the camera. (this shot can be taken from a variety of different angles and places which we can string together in the edit suite)

- Shot of gorilla walking down into oxford street tube station (low angle)

- Close up of gorilla producing his oyster card from his bag

- Close up of gorilla's hand beeping the oyster card to get through the electronic panels.

- Shots of gorilla going down the esculators towards the platform (this shot can be taken from a variety of different angles and places which we can string together in the edit suite)

- A mid shot of the gorilla waiting on the busy platform

- Close up of the time board showing time until next tube.

- Long shot of train emerging from the tunnel

- Mid shot of gorilla standing on the platform from inside the approaching tube as it pulls past him into the station

- Shot of gorilla walking onto the train and the doors close

- Mid shot from the doors as we see the gorilla finding an empty seat on the train and sitting on it

- A variety of different shots of the gorilla doing ordinary things that most commuters do on the tube; listening to his i-pod, searching his briefcase, eating a banana, reading a newspaper.

- Reading the newspaper is the last show we see the gorilla for now.
A close up of another gorilla foot boarding the train.

- A similar shot but of the gorilla hand clasping onto the rails in the train.

- A close up of this gorillas eye - there is lots of makeup on it and we realise its a female gorilla.

- We then get a full on body shot of this female gorilla on the train and we see her sit diagonally opposite to the male gorilla.

- A profile shot of the male gorilla shows him reading the paper and he sniffs the air while doing so.

- We then see a shot of the gorilla poking his head over the newspaper to peek a look at the female gorilla who's sitting opposite to him.

- POV shot from the male gorilla panning up the female gorilla as if checking her out. She's applying make-up in a typical womanly fashion with a hand mirror.

- We then have different shots of them both on the tube doing various different things.

- A shot from inside the tube of it pulling into a statoin.

- The female gorilla gets up and walks off the train.

- Just as the doors are about to close, the male gorilla who has been very calm and civilised (like a regular person) bounds onto all fours and off the train in persuit of the female gorilla.

- These are just some of the ideas for what we have so far but at the moment it seems to be going well. On our test shoot we're going to experiment with these different shots on the tube to see if we can get evrything to work!

New idea

This idea revolves around a male gorilla falling in love with a female gorilla after seeing her on a london tube. It follows the male gorilla as he tries to impress the female gorilla and ultimately win her heart.

Shot ideas

• A male gorilla waiting on the platform. A tube pulls in and he gets onto it. There is a spare seat in the middle of two passangers and he decides to sit down. Multiple shots of the gorilla reading a newspaper, listening to an i-pod, eating a banana. The idea is that there is nothing wrong with a gorilla on the tube with other people.


• A second gorilla comes and sits down opposite him in between some passangers. The male gorilla tries a variety of ways to impress her - beats his chest, rubs his chest, swings around the carrage.


• The female gorilla gets off the tube and the male one follows her. He see's her at the top of the esculators and chases her up the middle of them in a jungle like fashion.
  
  The rest of the video plays on different ways the male gorilla tries to impress her. Finally the video ends with the male gorilla winning the female's heart and it ends on a cheesy note.

Gorilla Costume 1

Gorilla Costume

Costume Includes : Fur body suit, mask, matching feet and gloves.

Costume Size : Standard Size Approx Height to 6ft

Price: £63.99 - http://www.lets-have-a-party.co.uk/item--Gorilla-Costume--23907.html

Gorilla costume 2

Gorilla Costume

Costume Includes : Includes: mask, jumpsuit with inset chest peice and hands.

Costume Size : Size: standard (up to 44in chest)

Price : £150 - http://www.escapade.co.uk/Animal-Costumes-sale/Gorilla-Costume-w-Rubber-Chest-1660.asp

Music Channels

Music channels were created as a way of televising music videos to everyone. It focuses predominantly on showing the most recently released music videos but also shows old classics as well. Every music video promotes the song, the artist and the record label - gaining them popularity.

There are over 25 music channels i know of and all of them target different audiences. Each music station plays different genre's of music which attract a specific audience. Music channels also broadcasta variety of self-made television programmes that aren't music - just for a change as they believe the people who like the genre of music on the channel will also like the program.

Examples of music channels are:

MTV :

MTV One - This channel mostly plays television programmes made by MTV, 'my super sweet 16' and 'jackass' for example' because they believe that it has a wide appeal to music lovers.

MTV Base -plays hip hop, R&B and rap music

MTV Dance -dedicated dance music channel playing popular dance tracks

MTV Hits- a channel which plays chart music videos

MTV Two - alternative rock music

MTV Flux -allows viewers to take "control" of the channel by sending in video clips to MTV Flux's website, and requesting music videos.

VH1 UK - Has a wider targetaudience as it plays music all the way back from the 60's.

VH1 also carries music programming and themed countdown shows from their US counterpart.

VH1 Classic UK - plays all time greats from the '60s to the '90s.

TMF UK -started as a non-stop music channel, although the channel now features more and more programming from mtv
Other channels:

The Hits,

The Chart Show,

B4,

Kerrang

The Box (pop and RNB)

Classic FM TV (Classical music)

Channel U (grime, hip hop, rap, garage)

Bloc Party Image

Bloc Party are a British indie/rock band who made the charts with their debut single on 2005, 'Silent Alarm'. It is clear that they draw influences from older bands sich as 'Pixies' and 'The Cure' - due to the simplistic nature of their medlodic tunes combined with their vocals. However, their upbeat drumbeats draw more from the dance/grime scene and this sound is now a common feat with all new indie bands. They've made use of the latest technology, creating superb digital effects on their instruments with sharp chord picking and a frequent use of tremelo.

Songs such as 'Helicopter', 'Like Eating Glass' and 'Two More Years' are just a few of their tracks to use these sounds and as the Arctic Monkeys are also new on the indie scene, their music sounds very similar to that of Bloc Party. Therfore by studying the image of Bloc Party we can
add to our idea of what our band should look like.










On stage appearance

It would only make sense that if in our video we are having cut-away shots to the band playing that they should naturally be performing. Here is a picture of Bloc Party playing a live show in Sydney.

• They are mostly dressed in smart-casual clothing, ie. a shirt with a v-neck jumper ontop. Similarly they are all wearing jeans that fit!
• Although there are 4 of them, they are quite spaced out on the stage which could give us a lot of camera movement and flexibility.
• The stage itself is not too fancy and although we may not be to able to get such a grand stage, we could certainly be able to find somewhere smaller but equally as good, ie. a pub stage. There don't have to be many lighting effects - it can all be simple.
• A microphone stand for the singers is crucial to make the performance seem real

Our Band Image

Basic outline

1/2 Guitars
1 Bass Guitar
1 Drum Kit
1 Lead Singer
1 Special Guest Singer

This type of set-up is typical of most rock, punk and indie bands. Therfore it seems wise to use this in our music video. Although our song is predominantly indie/rock, our special guest is a grime artist so we need to make changes for that section of the song.