...to my actress to help her through the shoot. The lyrics were obviously important as lip-syncing is a huge convention of a music video. Noting which part of the song is in each location will help her prepare for each shoot as well what costumes to bring along. In terms of what she needs to do in each shoot I decided to do briefings at the start of each filming so as not to confuse her and so we can discuss what I'm aiming for together to make sure she gets a good feel for what I'd like to achieve. I found this a very useful technique as it meant that whilst filming I could direct her and she can ask questions as we went along.
This week I visited the BFI London Film Festival, saw three fantastic films and had a brilliant experience which has inspired me greatly as I go into the editing stages of my music video.
The films I saw were Breathing, Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene and Trishna; all very different. Breathing was a 'quiet' film but was meticulously edited with fantastic sound detail, making me think about the importance of good cutting between shots to give it a good pace and a strong impact. Martha Marcy May Marlene looked at dreams and reality and had a hazy quality, with flashback elements - an effect I'm looking at having in some portions of my video. Trishna was a world of colour, light and movement, but the focus was on the main female protagonist, and her subtle expressions were what carried the film. How my female protagonist is represented is something I have looked at and it is very important to get the right balance between relatable and also being a 'pop star'; being professional on screen.
I've taken a lot away from the experience and has made me look at my video differently and how I can improve it.
I've put together a rough cut of my preliminary filming, much of which I will be keeping in. I tried out a few effects and editing techniques to see how it would work...
The forest shoot on Sunday went well. As it only features in the video for about a minute, the shoot took a lot less time than I was anticipating. The weather was nice and clear and the sun shone through the trees at times so I managed to get some great shots. Here is my shot list from the shoot...
Here are some of the pictures I got that may be used for my album cover.
Whilst filming I came up with a shot of the artist running away from the camera further and further into the forest, which symbolises letting the relationship go, and that it is now just a memory (helped by the white blouse which is ghost-like).
Me filming
I'm now going to try to put a rough cut together of what I've got so far before I film the river location.
I thought I'd post about my filming progress so far to keep on track with my plans. My second shoot focused mainly on using the props that we didn't have time to do the first time as well as get a few pick-up shots.
Me during filming
Here is my shot list from the shoot...
The rose shots went well and we decided to throw the petals to the sea in order to have a stronger visual. I took a few shots that could be used for my ancillary tasks for the single cover...
The only thing that didn't work well were the match shots. This was mainly due to time constraints, the strong winds and the lighting (i.e. too bright). We will have to come back later to try it again, because I think it is a really strong visual that will work well. Here was our attempts anyway...
The darker lighting and more sheltered area worked better when experimenting, so perhaps it was the location. I may try out the match again on the river shoot to see if that works better otherwise come back at dusk on the beach, and try and pick a less windy day!
I showed a rough cut of the opening sequence for my music video to a member of my target audience to get their thoughts on how I should proceed.
This is what she thought... - She likes the mixture of shots, and wants even more Close Ups - She likes that the waves crashing brings in the music at the beginning - She thinks maybe to have a close up of the artists hands more while singing to add depth to the shots
This has made me think more objectively about the video as I go about filming more (on Sunday) and editing my first cut of from the beach shoot.
I decided to survey a selection of the target audience of 16-25 year olds on their music video watching habits and what music videos they think are successful...
Lorna, Saffie, John, Tash, Daniel
Natasha Age: 17 Subjects studying: Media Studies, English Literature, ICT Favourite genre of music: Country Rock In what medium do you watch music videos: YouTube How many music videos do you watch in a week: 0 Favourite music video you've seen recently: Raise Your Glass by Pink
John
Age: 17
Subjects studying: Media Studies, Business Studies, Photography
What this means... As I thought, the majority of young people keep up to date with their music through YouTube, which I looked at here.
Also, as Saffie highlighted her favourite genre is folk and the reason she doesn't watch many videos is because there aren't many made for her genre. My remix/dance genre is also niche so there aren't many made, something I've also looked at. Therefore I have a little more freedom, but there are less conventions for my genre, so I have to look a bit wider in the music industry to gain inspiration and ideas.
Female representation in the music industry As I am filming using a female protagonist, I need to consider how females are shown to audiences. I made a conscious decision to go against the stereotype and clear conventions of representing females as sexual objects. While the successful female artists of today are seen as powerful and in control they are still often shown wearing very little clothing and using suggesting poses and dance moves. Instead, I decided that as a dance remix, I have more freedom to be more artistic that following the pop route of sexualisation. Here is some evidence of the sexualisation of females... Of the Top 25 Album Selling Artists of 2010, only 7 were sung by single female artists.
Here I've included are the single covers of their biggest selling singles to show how they are represented...
Rihanna
Here the artist appears to be completely naked, and the title (which is provocative in itself) covers her up, she also seem to have a cigarette in her mouth a connotation of rebellion and self-destruction.
Lady Gaga
Here the artist is in a suggestive pose wearing leather which also has connotations of rebellion and 'rough' as it is traditionally seen on Bikers. She is also wearing a mask, which can be seen as seductive.
Alicia Keys
Here the artist is wearing a very low cut top showing her cleavage, otherwise her overall pose isn't necessarily sexual, which could mean she isn't signified by this.
Susan Boyle
As Susan Boyle is much older she is already against the convention of a young female artist, so is more innocent, cupping her face, reflecting her genre of music.
Florence & The Machine
Florence & The Machine is a very indie genre and therefore her single cover very much represents this. She is shown as being ethereal and hippy like, while still having done up hair, make-up and glamorous red shoes.
Cheryl Cole
Here, the artist is going for a more simple single cover and has direct eye contact with the audience, reflecting the more intimate lyrics of the song. She is wearing a hat over one of her eyes, so is more mysterious. The background is also of lace which has connotations of underwear and innocence.
Katy Perry
Here the artist is in a very sexual pose and is wearing very little clothing. The patterned bra she is wearing highlights her body and her open mouth is suggestive. It is reminiscent of old style, retro pin ups.
She is one of the few exceptions to the rule of using her body to sell records and instead allows her incredible voice to shine instead. This is another reason why I decided to not sexualise my female protagonist.
Why women still feel the need to represent themselves sexually in order to sell their music is an interesting question. While there is an air of change about gender equality, if you look at the entertainment business it is actually clear that very little has changed and that women either still feel that is how they must do it (pushed by the patriarchal leaders of the industry), or that they want to as a new kind of feminism. It is still a difficult issue and one that may take time to change. There is, however, some evidence of change. For instance Birdy, as a 15 year old, is represented very innocently, and rightly so, being so young.
However so were females such as Miley Cyrus, but once she hit around 17/18 she suddenly started dressing much more provocatively in order to shake off this 'good girl' image, and, it would seem, sell more records.
At 14
At 17
Is this the fate awaiting young girls such as Birdy? Not necessarily, but they won't, typically, be very successful. Unfortunately in our present society the female sexualisation still seems to be how females are represented and the only (perceived) way to make a profit, but thankfully exceptions such as Adele, are slowly making progress, so that one day women won't feel the need to represent themselves in such a demeaning and oppressive way.
On Saturday I came across the below video which featured a female in beach and forest locations. The way she was acting, and many of the shots are similar to how I envision my video. Therefore it is very inspirational, and during my second beach shoot on Sunday, I was trying to emulate its characteristics and will definitely have it in my mind while shooting the forest sequences on Sunday.
Here are some of the shots that I like from the beach location...
On my first shoot, I did similar angles and direction to those represented here, including close ups.
Also I had my artist spin on the beach, as I thought it fitted conventions. This clearly reaffirms this.
And the forest location...
While running through the forest in this video relates to the title/lyrics, I had originally wanted this also as it makes it feel more ethereal and personal.
Another way for it to feel more personal and connect with the audience is to do extreme close ups in slow motion. I like this shot as she looks down and closes her eyes. I think it looks really good and artistic and am looking forward to imitate on Sunday.
When it comes to the editing process I may try some of the editing techniques in making the shots lighter (brightening the image) as it gives it more of a nostalgic feel, which is similar to the home-movie style that I wanted for some of the video.
Yesterday was the first day of filming and it couldn't of gone better! In order to be fully prepared I wrote down a detailed shot list of all the shots that I needed to get, which meant I got most of what I needed. I found this incredibly useful and I definitely learnt from the preliminary filming and had no problems with the camera. I'm looking forward to editing what I've got so far.
In the preliminary filming it took quite a long time (because we were getting to grips with the filming process) so I overestimated how long this shoot would take. The rose and match scenes were originally going to be shot, but I knew we would have to return as we wouldn't be able to fit everything in. Instead I focused on all the shots without the props so the second shoot would mostly centre around them. I also wasn't able to do the last shot in the sunset because we ran out of time so left that for the second shoot. But I have a better understanding of the environment, the equipment and of the timings now so I am confident we will get all that I need tomorrow when the weather brightens up (today it is too cloudy). I brought my iPod with me, as well as the lyrics printed out, so we could get the lip-syncing in time with the music. I did lots of takes of the same scene from different angles so I would have lots of options when it came to editing. The lighting was great and we weren't caught out by the tide - something I still need to be aware of on tomorrow's shoot. There are still a few crucial shots left using the props (a rose and a match) which we will shoot tomorrow. Otherwise everything went very well and I'm very happy with my progress so far.
Last Sunday I met up with my actress and we did some preliminary filming. To begin with we shot the Interlude scenes, which you can see below...
I learnt a lot from this first shoot. Firstly to be very aware of whether or not the camera is recording(!). Also how hard it is to direct! Getting the actress in the right place and doing what you need is very hard, especially when you are friends, but I'm working on my communication skills. Doing the constrained interlude scenes may first may not have been the best idea because once we'd gone down to the river location it was easier to let the actress be more natural and laid back which looked great on camera. I used my first prop...
Which didn't go amazingly well...
... as it kind of sunk. I will bring back up boats next time we film in the location to try and rectify that problem.
While out filming the camera battery died, so I've definitely remembered to charge all the equipment fully for today. I've also learnt to try out lots of angles to see what works and to use what is available to you, such as lens flares and other natural objects around you.
My first preliminary shoot was on Sunday 2nd October and I will post my rough cut of what I did in the next couple days, along with what I learnt and how I can improve looking toward the future.
My next filming date is Friday 7th October (today) from about 4.30 onwards until it gets dark. The filming is centred around the lighting conditions. I want to get lots of shots of the artist dancing and get the first 18 seconds shot done as that is one of the most important shots as it establishes the tone of the video as well as the narrative and introduces the artist to the audience. Then going into the sunset/twilight to get the match scene and end shot done so that it parallels the establishing shot. Doing this on the same day will mean that I have a higher chance of getting them in the same place and so will be more effective. I am looking forward to getting these crucial shots and seeing how they work. Another point that I need to look at is tide times so that we aren't caught out by the tide when filming on the beach. Then on the Saturday 8th October we will go back to the beach to film any pick-up shots that we need. I have briefed my actress of this, so that she is aware.
On the 11th I will then film (on my own) by the river a shot of the rose floating down the river as I think this is a good symbolic image, and needs to be shot before the rose dies. After that the next filming day with my actress will be Sunday 16th October focusing on the forest location. Then on the 22nd October we will shoot the river location and reshoot the interlude. All of these dates have been decided in advance so myself and my actress are aware of what is going on and so I can prepare and plan for each shoot. After half term I will need to look at the urban scenes and how/when I (on my own) shall go about getting those shots, but beforehand I will make a rough cut to make sure that they still fit in with the rest of the video.
I've put together a sample outfit for my artist of the sort of clothes I think my female protagonist would wear...
On Sunday I met with my actress and we discussed costume ideas. We came up with these outfits for the different locations. For the interlude we decided on a black dress, with natural hair, red lipstick and a white blouse. It is quite intimate and as I wanted the shots to be black and white I felt the black and white clothing would work well and I think sets it apart from the rest of the video, highlighting the change in pace. Also it keeps the floaty feeling of the rest of the video.
During the preliminary interlude shoot
Next we discussed the river location outfit. We wanted something more akin with the location so chose a blue and white striped maxi dress, with a grey trilby. This is a very natural, laid back, indie style outfit which matches the location well. It reflects what the target audience would wear as well as being floaty, so looks good on screen.
On the preliminary river shoot
The beach location is also going to feature the above dress but with a sandy coloured cardigan for when it gets cold. The coat above is very similar to one my actress owns so we will use that for the last shot as well as in the match shots.
The forest location will feature the white blouse, black skinny jeans and brown boots. The blouse will look great in the forest as she runs in slow motion so it will billow in the wind. For the river location, she shall wear a hoodie to give it more of an urban edge as well as the same dress from the beach location, so it will become a reoccurring motif.
...to my actress to help her through the shoot. The lyrics were obviously important as lip-syncing is a huge convention of a music video. Noting which part of the song is in each location will help her prepare for each shoot as well what costumes to bring along. In terms of what she needs to do in each shoot I decided to do briefings at the start of each filming so as not to confuse her and so we can discuss what I'm aiming for together to make sure she gets a good feel for what I'd like to achieve. I found this a very useful technique as it meant that whilst filming I could direct her and she can ask questions as we went along. 
