2 Minute Rough Cut: Audience Feedback

Today we showed two minutes of our music video to some students in our school.

We had some really good feedback. A lot of people commented saying how much they liked the use of lighting. We have made sure that in the three different locations used so far, that all the lighting is similar in colour, following the red bonfire theme. The bedroom we used is fairly orange/yellow, and the lighting we used during the band cutaway shots were also made to be orange/yellow/red. We had to follow the theme as it connotes the warm, fiery feeling we wanted to portray in the music video.
As well as this, people seemed to really be enjoying the music and the video, which was positive for us as it means that they are understanding our text as we wanted the audience to.

One thing that they did comment on was one shot where Keira looks away during a shot. We will probably re-do that as it looks like she isn't as interested and is just acting, rather than being the star of the video.

Overall, however, it was described as "impressive" and one person told me it was her favourite. That's always good.

Second Phase of Filming: Band Cutaways

We filmed some band cutaways after school, taking advantage of the equipment that the school has. We made sure that the lighting was facing towards the camera, and shining behind the actors so that we could have a similar effect of a silhouette like in the bonfire scenes. However, we also wanted to see their faces more, so we used a whiteboard which the lights reflected onto their faces, as well as torches. 

We found the filming fairly easy, but had difficulty in following some of the storyboard and also controlling a large number of people. We had to say "quiet on set" more than once, but when we had the shots, they looked really good, and still do on the rough cut.

After filming some stationary shots, we also tried to do a dolly zoom using the movable tables and the zoom on the camera. Although it was fun to try out, it didn't really work!

Band Cutaways Risk Assessment

RISK	SOLUTION
We're using a lot of heavy equipment and wiring so there is a risk of tripping over or equipment falling over.	Tape down the wiring so that it isn't loose and can be tripped over. Make sure equipment is checked to be working properly and is in good condition, and make sure people on set are aware of the expensive equipment being used.
Use of instruments could result in misuse or breakages.	Make sure people involved are using equipment properly and are responsible for instruments. Make sure they are aware of the situation.
Props/equipment damage: risk of equipment being damaged by a majority of factors.	Make sure equipment is in bags and covered when not needed.
Battery/memory card running out: if either of these run out of space/charge then I won’t be able to film.	Ensure that battery is fully charged before shooting. Ensure I either have space on the memory card or I have an extra card.

Copyright

To avoid copyright infringement I have emailed the publicity agent for Paramore in order to have their permission to use their music. 

Further Updates

We have planned our storyboard for the next part of our filming.

We've decided to film some cutaways of the actual band like the codes and conventions in music videos. This is because a lot of our shots might look quite bland without the contrast of live rock music. For example;

In this video it is a mix of narrative Hayley Williams/Taylor York/Jeremy Davis and band Hayley/Taylor/Jeremy. There are cutaways from the narrative to the band playing in order to connote live music. This is the kind of thing we are aiming to do with our music video.

We are also going to try and attempt some depth of field shots regarding the picture at the end of the narrative that will be taken of Keira and  a past lover/friend. We're going to make this photo the most important, and try a shot where she is holding up the photo and burns it with a lighter. It will be focused on the photo at first and then we will focus on Keira watching it. This is a really strong shot to symbolise how important it is to stand up and carry on, no matter what.

Digipak Research