At last we finished our music video. For what seemed like an eternity, we've spent hours and hours slaving in our editing suite all for this video. I'm actually so happy that its done, its finished, its over, i could cry!!!
Its actually turned out amazingly. I never ever thought we would be able to produce a music video of such high quality. It really shows how, if you put enough time and effort into something, you can come out with something that you're really proud of and i'm extremely proud of this video!!!
We put a really high contrast on every shot which makes the video seem almost dream like. It also makes the banana and gorilla jump off the screen as if its almost fake.
We also finished the black and qhite sequence at the end with the yellow banana. Everyone who's seen the video thinks the ending scene is the best bit as they didn't see it coming, and can't believe we had to edit every single frame to get our effect. I suppose all of that effort was definatly worth it.
The black and white band shots in contrast with the colourful chase scene was a really good idea because it shows a clear contrast between the two which wasn't there before. Furthermore, the black and white doessn't take anything away from the band shots which was a worry and it looks really professional!!!!!!
Saturday, 10 November 2007
Band Shots
Below are a selection of shots we took of the band at the burnt down house in Hammersmith. We are hoping to use them for either the bands album cover or their press release. Either way, it was a good idea to take them !!!
I think these two images would make a really good front cover. They are a simple portrayal of the band and will easily show the consumer their identity as an indie band. The background is grimy yet beautifully textured which would link them even tighter to the indie genre.
I think these two images would make a really good front cover. They are a simple portrayal of the band and will easily show the consumer their identity as an indie band. The background is grimy yet beautifully textured which would link them even tighter to the indie genre.
This is a shot of the band posing infront of their instruments. It strengthens the view that they are signed to an indie label and we could use this for either their press release or the inside sleave/back cover for the album.
This final shot is the band posing through a destroyed part of a wall. If anything, it is just a really good photo, emphasising the uniqueness of their location. There are plenty of rough textures and the band look out of place - which i find strangely attractive!!!
Thursday, 8 November 2007
Colourful Banana in black and white background
Ok we've discovered how to actually do this and although it doesn't require the mose sophisticated knowledge on the edit suite, it is painstakingly long - hours and hours and hours long.
What you have to do is layer a colourful version of the shot ontop of a black and white version of it. At this point the whole thing will be in colour as the top layer is the colour layer. Now, you have to select the colour layer and add the effect 'garbage' to it. Garbage is a tool that allows you to crop a certain part of an image using either 4 points, 8 points or 16 points (16 points is for something very detailed and complicated and 4 point is for something like a window.
The worst is to come. You have to scroll through each individual frame of every shot you want to have colour and black and white in and edit them. So on the colour version of the video, whenever the banana is in the screen, you have to move the points to fit around him, effectivly cutting him out of the colour image. This way the colour image dissappears and you should only be left with the banana. But the trick is, the black and white video is underneath so the banana remains in colour and you've erased everything else colourful and are left with the black and white image.
This sound easy enough, but when you are on your 30th frame in a 4 second long piece of footage you could quite easily kill someone. We have to do this for all of the frames where the banana is in the burnt down house and unfortunatly he is in the house for about 30 seconds of footage. What is worse is that, because the banana is quite a pointy object you need to be detailed with your cropping which mean we have to use the 16 point garbage tool. Even worse, the banana is moving at high speed so every frame he has completely changed position and you need to move every point to fit with his body shape.
The hardest thing however is when the banana runs past a plank of wood. You don't want to wood to be in colour so you have to do an additional garbage for the side behind the wood and another one for the side of him infront of the wood.
HOW MADDENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What you have to do is layer a colourful version of the shot ontop of a black and white version of it. At this point the whole thing will be in colour as the top layer is the colour layer. Now, you have to select the colour layer and add the effect 'garbage' to it. Garbage is a tool that allows you to crop a certain part of an image using either 4 points, 8 points or 16 points (16 points is for something very detailed and complicated and 4 point is for something like a window.
The worst is to come. You have to scroll through each individual frame of every shot you want to have colour and black and white in and edit them. So on the colour version of the video, whenever the banana is in the screen, you have to move the points to fit around him, effectivly cutting him out of the colour image. This way the colour image dissappears and you should only be left with the banana. But the trick is, the black and white video is underneath so the banana remains in colour and you've erased everything else colourful and are left with the black and white image.
This sound easy enough, but when you are on your 30th frame in a 4 second long piece of footage you could quite easily kill someone. We have to do this for all of the frames where the banana is in the burnt down house and unfortunatly he is in the house for about 30 seconds of footage. What is worse is that, because the banana is quite a pointy object you need to be detailed with your cropping which mean we have to use the 16 point garbage tool. Even worse, the banana is moving at high speed so every frame he has completely changed position and you need to move every point to fit with his body shape.
The hardest thing however is when the banana runs past a plank of wood. You don't want to wood to be in colour so you have to do an additional garbage for the side behind the wood and another one for the side of him infront of the wood.
HOW MADDENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oxford Street
Oh god what hell that was. It was actually so difficult to shoot in Oxford Street there were SOOOOOOOO many people.
We found a cafe called 'Cafe Fred' on Argyle Street which is right next to Oxford Circus. The waiters were quite annoyed we were shooting there as we didn't really ask for permission as we were just using their outside tables. They forced us to buy something so between the 3 of us we bought 1 chocolate croissant at the reasonble price of £1.95!!!!!
We found a cafe called 'Cafe Fred' on Argyle Street which is right next to Oxford Circus. The waiters were quite annoyed we were shooting there as we didn't really ask for permission as we were just using their outside tables. They forced us to buy something so between the 3 of us we bought 1 chocolate croissant at the reasonble price of £1.95!!!!!
Anyway, here we were really frustrated because so many people wanted pictures of the gorilla. It was so annoying. Furthermore, when we were shooting there were hundreds of people walking past and it was so hard to get any shot that we could actually use without it beind ruined by passers by. These two factors ment we were at the cafe about an hour longer than we should of been.
However, we got some great footage from it. We got the entire introduction shot and followed our strict shoot list to get what we needed.
Shot List
- lots of close ups of banana and body parts walking through the crowd
- shot following the banana walking through the crowd
- shot of a concealed and hairy figure reading a menu with 'cafe fred' on the front
- banana creeping forward, obviously seeing the gorilla
- long shot of the gorilla sitting at the cafe table reading the menu
- close up of the gorilla's menu as he peers over the top
- POV shot of the gorilla seeing the banana staring at him in horrow
- close up of the banana's terrified expression
- mid shot of the gorilla closing the menu and slamming it on the table
- close up of the banana's expression again and he starts to run
- shot of the gorilla rising from the chair and persuing the gorilla through the crowds
Looking back at it on the camera, everything looks really good and when we edit it together it should look awsome. I'm excited!!!!!
However, we got some great footage from it. We got the entire introduction shot and followed our strict shoot list to get what we needed.
Shot List
- lots of close ups of banana and body parts walking through the crowd
- shot following the banana walking through the crowd
- shot of a concealed and hairy figure reading a menu with 'cafe fred' on the front
- banana creeping forward, obviously seeing the gorilla
- long shot of the gorilla sitting at the cafe table reading the menu
- close up of the gorilla's menu as he peers over the top
- POV shot of the gorilla seeing the banana staring at him in horrow
- close up of the banana's terrified expression
- mid shot of the gorilla closing the menu and slamming it on the table
- close up of the banana's expression again and he starts to run
- shot of the gorilla rising from the chair and persuing the gorilla through the crowds
Looking back at it on the camera, everything looks really good and when we edit it together it should look awsome. I'm excited!!!!!
Colourful Banana - Black And White Band - a thought
Rumble Fish starring Matt Dillon (21 October 1983 USA) is shot entirely in black and white. However, in one scene we see 2 rumble fish in a tank and they are both in colour. This is absolutely amazing and jumps right off the screen - it is immediatly noticable and brilliantly done. I was thinking that this type of effect could be very very useful in our music video.
What if we could somehow have the bright yellow banana in colour when he enteres the house wherer the band are playing. As we know, the band are performing entirely in black and white, so to have a yellow banana at the scene would be absolutely amazing and would look visually stunning. It would clearly demonstrate the differences between the energy of the chase and the performance shots. Furthermore, it would add a new level of depth to our video and clearly shows the differences between the two locations.
However, i have absolutely no idea how to do this. I was just a thought but maybe we could find some way of pulling it off. Have to do some internet research or ask someone!!!
What if we could somehow have the bright yellow banana in colour when he enteres the house wherer the band are playing. As we know, the band are performing entirely in black and white, so to have a yellow banana at the scene would be absolutely amazing and would look visually stunning. It would clearly demonstrate the differences between the energy of the chase and the performance shots. Furthermore, it would add a new level of depth to our video and clearly shows the differences between the two locations.However, i have absolutely no idea how to do this. I was just a thought but maybe we could find some way of pulling it off. Have to do some internet research or ask someone!!!
Black and White band
When editing our video, we originally had both the narrative shots and the performance shots in colour. However, sometimes the action was happening so fast in the video that when we changed from narrative to performance, the whole thing was as big blur and you didn't take everything in -often missing important performance shots.
To combat this we put a really high contrast on the banana and gorilla shots. This way, every shot was jumping off the screen as it looked as if the banana was neon yello!!! this looks amazing. Everything else is really bright and fuzzy and has an almost dream like effect - very surreal.
Furthermore, we made all of the band shots black and white. This way, there is a stark contrast between the locations and we can appreciate both locations for their clever camera-framing and movement individually. You can also actually differentiate between the scenes and this is important.
At first i didn't thik the black and white would look good, but it appears to add layers and texture to the picture. The walls are originally quite dirty and a nasty brown colour but when put in black and white, they transform and look quite stunningly quirky. To me it gives the band their own identity which is very important. Because they aren't in colour but every other shot is, is makes them appear out of the ordinary instead of the gorilla and banana. strange no.
To combat this we put a really high contrast on the banana and gorilla shots. This way, every shot was jumping off the screen as it looked as if the banana was neon yello!!! this looks amazing. Everything else is really bright and fuzzy and has an almost dream like effect - very surreal.
Furthermore, we made all of the band shots black and white. This way, there is a stark contrast between the locations and we can appreciate both locations for their clever camera-framing and movement individually. You can also actually differentiate between the scenes and this is important.
At first i didn't thik the black and white would look good, but it appears to add layers and texture to the picture. The walls are originally quite dirty and a nasty brown colour but when put in black and white, they transform and look quite stunningly quirky. To me it gives the band their own identity which is very important. Because they aren't in colour but every other shot is, is makes them appear out of the ordinary instead of the gorilla and banana. strange no.
To-Do List
Ok, we have lots to do and not much time!!!
- album cover, get it sorted and take picture
- press release - exactly the same
- get everything ready for the shoot on saturday in oxford street to get our introduction done. this includes camera-bag (2), tripod (2), gorilla and banana costume, finding a location near oxford circus.
- for our shoot on sunday we need camera-bag (2), tripod (2), gorilla and banana costume, costume for the band, all of the instruments
- need to take photos at the house in hammersmith for the album cover and press release. Get this sorted.
- start drafting the 3000 word essay :(
- album cover, get it sorted and take picture
- press release - exactly the same
- get everything ready for the shoot on saturday in oxford street to get our introduction done. this includes camera-bag (2), tripod (2), gorilla and banana costume, finding a location near oxford circus.
- for our shoot on sunday we need camera-bag (2), tripod (2), gorilla and banana costume, costume for the band, all of the instruments
- need to take photos at the house in hammersmith for the album cover and press release. Get this sorted.
- start drafting the 3000 word essay :(
The ending - climax
How the hell are we going to end our video!!! We have a few ideas but none of them have materialised into anything. Whats worse, we are close to the shooting deadline and if we don't have anything by that time then we're in big trouble!!!!!!!!!
Ideas:
- The gorill and banana have been running so hard that they are both extremely knackered. The gorilla has the banana cornered but it panting severly - as is the banana. Somehow they are both so tired from running that they collapse on the floor.
- Alternatively, the banana is trapped with the gorilla bearing down ontop of him. At the last second the banana offers the gorilla something, another banana, a massive inflatble banana, a card for a female gorilla strip club.
- Somehow the banana manages to outrun the gorilla in a final piece of trickery. He is able to escape by scaling a wall, jumping ontop of a moving car, jumping onto a bus etc. Something interesting and climactic that will make the audience laugh and feel happy that the banana got away.
- Either the gorilla or the banana could die (or both) in some road related accident, or they run into a scrap yard and get killed in the crusher. Something comical as a good way to round off our music video.
- A BRILLIANT IDEA: As our band are playing in the burnt out house in Hammersmith, it would be a really good idea to link the chase to the band somehow. We could have the gorilla and the banana make their way to the derelict house and there can be some sort of a face off. Either they can sort out their own problems infront of the band or the band themselves can go and protect the banana, fighting off the gorilla.
- Even better, the gorilla and banana can run past the band and the band can watch as the drama unfolds. As they are in the top-floor of a building, the banana could push the gorilla out of a window or something like that. Then the band could come to the window and look and that could be our final shot!!!!!
OK - so to link the chase to here, we need to shoot a shot of the banana and the gorilla reeling round a corner at top speed and then link it to them running into the house where the band are playing. Sounds like a PLAN
Ideas:
- The gorill and banana have been running so hard that they are both extremely knackered. The gorilla has the banana cornered but it panting severly - as is the banana. Somehow they are both so tired from running that they collapse on the floor.
- Alternatively, the banana is trapped with the gorilla bearing down ontop of him. At the last second the banana offers the gorilla something, another banana, a massive inflatble banana, a card for a female gorilla strip club.
- Somehow the banana manages to outrun the gorilla in a final piece of trickery. He is able to escape by scaling a wall, jumping ontop of a moving car, jumping onto a bus etc. Something interesting and climactic that will make the audience laugh and feel happy that the banana got away.
- Either the gorilla or the banana could die (or both) in some road related accident, or they run into a scrap yard and get killed in the crusher. Something comical as a good way to round off our music video.
- A BRILLIANT IDEA: As our band are playing in the burnt out house in Hammersmith, it would be a really good idea to link the chase to the band somehow. We could have the gorilla and the banana make their way to the derelict house and there can be some sort of a face off. Either they can sort out their own problems infront of the band or the band themselves can go and protect the banana, fighting off the gorilla.
- Even better, the gorilla and banana can run past the band and the band can watch as the drama unfolds. As they are in the top-floor of a building, the banana could push the gorilla out of a window or something like that. Then the band could come to the window and look and that could be our final shot!!!!!
OK - so to link the chase to here, we need to shoot a shot of the banana and the gorilla reeling round a corner at top speed and then link it to them running into the house where the band are playing. Sounds like a PLAN
How does the chase begin - the meeting
We still haven't decided how the chase is going to begin. We have all agreed it needs to be quick (within the first 15 seconds) and comical for the audience.
Possible Idea
- we see the gorilla sitting in a bench with a newspaper
- we cut to the banana walking down a busy road
- we suddenly see the banana notice the gorilla
- we get a shot from the gorillas perspective as he sees the banana looking at him
- shot of the banana's terrified expression
- the banana starts running for his life
- the gorilla dropps his paper and chases after the banana
We all really like this idea and we all contributed to it. It would be brilliant if we could get this scene done in or near oxford street because then we could easily link the chase to it. It is fast, snappy, and comical which is what we need. What would be better would be if we can explain a real reason why the gorilla is chasing the banana and not just randomly have it.
Maybe the gorilla can be at a restaurant or cafe and instead of a newspaper be reading a menu. There are plenty of cafe's on oxford street so i am sure that this wouldn't be a problem to find. The only possible let down could be permission to film from a cafe.
Possible Idea
- we see the gorilla sitting in a bench with a newspaper
- we cut to the banana walking down a busy road
- we suddenly see the banana notice the gorilla
- we get a shot from the gorillas perspective as he sees the banana looking at him
- shot of the banana's terrified expression
- the banana starts running for his life
- the gorilla dropps his paper and chases after the banana
We all really like this idea and we all contributed to it. It would be brilliant if we could get this scene done in or near oxford street because then we could easily link the chase to it. It is fast, snappy, and comical which is what we need. What would be better would be if we can explain a real reason why the gorilla is chasing the banana and not just randomly have it.
Maybe the gorilla can be at a restaurant or cafe and instead of a newspaper be reading a menu. There are plenty of cafe's on oxford street so i am sure that this wouldn't be a problem to find. The only possible let down could be permission to film from a cafe.
Note on final production
A list to myself of things we need to get done. Possible ideas:
- opening sequence - banana/guitar cross-cutting
- enigmatic close-ups of different banana body parts
- enigmatic close-ups of the gorilla
- The entire music video should be cutting between the narrative chase and the band performance throughout the entire length of the video. i suggest a 65% narrative to a 35% performance
-Important and creative shots - Gorilla paw, banana tip of head, plenty of close ups on the face, gorilla scratching his head, shots in the upstairs of the house, singers face half in half out the shots, singing through things, the band addressing the camera (more personal), arc around the band members with the camera, singer is looking away from the camera and then faces it while in mid-line.
We need to get the band sorted with clothing. Possibly can borrow the clothes from Sameer's group! This includes skinny jeans and black converse shoes X3. This means all our band can have some. I think shirts and ties for the top half of the band - a generic indie style we can promote the band with
- opening sequence - banana/guitar cross-cutting
- enigmatic close-ups of different banana body parts
- enigmatic close-ups of the gorilla
- The entire music video should be cutting between the narrative chase and the band performance throughout the entire length of the video. i suggest a 65% narrative to a 35% performance
-Important and creative shots - Gorilla paw, banana tip of head, plenty of close ups on the face, gorilla scratching his head, shots in the upstairs of the house, singers face half in half out the shots, singing through things, the band addressing the camera (more personal), arc around the band members with the camera, singer is looking away from the camera and then faces it while in mid-line.
We need to get the band sorted with clothing. Possibly can borrow the clothes from Sameer's group! This includes skinny jeans and black converse shoes X3. This means all our band can have some. I think shirts and ties for the top half of the band - a generic indie style we can promote the band with
Real Shoot 3
Basically, this is where we reshot all of our awful footage from Hammersmith. We actually knew where to find it this time, so when we arrived we were quick to set up our instruments. We had to carry all of them upstairs onto a floor that was practically rotten and at one stage, my foot went straight through the floor.
- We made sure we were tight with our camera work and got plenty of close-ups on the band members and their instruments.
-We also had wide establishing shots of the band and this really showed off the location to the camera.
- NO GREENERY IN OUR SHOTS WHAT SO EVER
- Creative filming - shooting frames within frames of the band (i.e. through a wall that was destroyed by a bomb 15 years ago)
- We made sure we were tight with our camera work and got plenty of close-ups on the band members and their instruments.
-We also had wide establishing shots of the band and this really showed off the location to the camera.
- NO GREENERY IN OUR SHOTS WHAT SO EVER
- Creative filming - shooting frames within frames of the band (i.e. through a wall that was destroyed by a bomb 15 years ago)
Friday, 28 September 2007
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!!!!
- 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!!!!
Thursday, 27 September 2007
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:
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.
Thursday, 20 September 2007
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.
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,
Thursday, 13 September 2007
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
- 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
Wednesday, 12 September 2007
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)
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)
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