FILMING

Using the time management plan that I made for February, I decided that the optimal time to film my video was the February half term. This is because I won't be in college therefore I'll have a lot more time on my hands to be able to dedicate a slot to film. Getting access to my main character will also be easier during the holidays, as long as neither of us have other commitments such as work. I asked my manager for my shifts (and asked Jonny to do the same) and found out that the two days that we were both free to film were the Tuesday and the Thursday.

The weather on the Tuesday was exactly what I wanted so I was really pleased as this meant I wouldn't have to reschedule to another day. It was slightly brighter than I wanted however I thought that I would see how the footage turned out, and if it was too bright I could edit the brightness/contrast when in Premiere Pro. Having previously visited the location and taken various stills of shots that I wanted to create and created a storyboard based on this, I was able to make a quick start to make the most of the daylight before it started to get dark, which was increasingly earlier at this time of year.

The images below show me setting up on location with the camera and tripod, which I also extended for a number of my shots in order to reach the height that I was looking for.

RESOURCES NEEDED

In order to film my video, the main piece of equipment that I will need is a camera. Over the Christmas period I took home two regular video cameras as no one else needed them, to have a play around and perhaps do some filming if I got the chance. The weather posed as a serious road block for filming, however the when messing around with the camera, I discovered that the quality wasn't very good at all, and both cameras had trouble focusing.

Because of this, I decided to hand those cameras back in and ask my Media teacher whether or not there was a DSLR that I could use to film, as I wanted to achieve as good quality footage as possible. I was able to get my hands on a Canon EOS 1100D;

I have previous experience using a DSLR as an assistant to a wedding photographer, so getting to know the camera was relatively easy. Taking a few practice clips in my garden, I was able to familiarise myself with the features, and ensure that I had the necessary skills to be able to get on with filming on location. As well as the camera, I also took out a tripod, as a lot of my proposed shots were static, therefore filming on a tripod removes any threat of wobbly footage, which is something that I definitely don't want.

INSPIRATION - Imagine Dragons' 'Radioactive' video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktvTqknDobU

I discovered 'Radioactive' by Imagine Dragons after it was used heavily in the TV advertisements for Assassin's Creed III. (It has since be used to advertise a newer film, 'The Host', based on the book by Stephenie Meyer, the author of The Twilight Saga books - possibly very popular with the age of my target audience.) I liked it, so I searched for it on YouTube and obviously discovered the original video. Like many modern music video, it is more like a short film, with the band either featuring in the narrative or clips of them playing (in the same setting) are used. In these terms, the video is nothing like mine, however it was the opening that caught my eye.

It features a girl simply walking from A to B, quite a monotonous event, which the director of this video has combated by their use of various different shots. They keep the events interesting, and instead of simply watching a girl walk, the viewer is prompted to wonder where she is going, and why she is going, made more mysterious by her choice of clothing and the covered box that she is carrying.

Use of focus - As you can see, this shot sees the girl walking towards the camera which is located on the groud, with the leaves in the forefront in soft focus, and the girl approaching from the background in focus. I really like the way that this shot has been put together and I plan to use a similar effect on the shots of Jonny playing the guitar, with the neck of the guitar in focus, and Jonny out of focus whilst he plays.

Worm's view - As she walks towards the camera, a worm's view shot has been used whereby the camera is low and tilted up towards the character. I think this looks really effective as it gets the trees into the shot, and creates a great contrast between the branches and the sky. Trees are a huge part of my video, so being able to create a shot like this where both my character and the trees are in full view is great inspiration for me when I come to film.

INSPIRATION - Birdy's 'Shelter' video

One of the videos that I have already mentioned as an inspirational text was the video for 'Shelter' by Birdy. Many aspects of this video appealed to me, so I wanted to go into a bit more detail about those.

Walking away from/towards the camera - This was definitely something that I wanted to include, as shown in my storyboard, however this video gave me further inspiration of how I could execute this to make it look effective and project my intended emotions to my target audience. In her music video for Shelter, Birdy is the only person who appears, similar to my concept of focusing the video on the male character. There are numerous shots where she is simply walking toward or away from the camera, looking back in a sorrowful way to make it clear to her audience what she is feeling. The dull tones of the lighting add to this, creating a very somber atmosphere which is further emphasized by the melancholy lyrics.

Use of a musical instrument (links to Anthony Goodwin's theories) - As the screen shot shows, Birdy includes shots of her playing a piano in her video for 'Shelter', which have obviously been synced to the audio in order to make her appear to be playing the melody. This is a shot that I planned to include in my video, whereby the image and the audio were properly synced, linking them together to take away from the somewhat disjointed style of my narrative. However instead of a piano I planned to use a guitar, as the male that I plan to feature in my video as the main character is a skilled guitar player and is willing to learn my proposed song to enable me to vary my shot types and give another dimension to my artist.

STORYBOARD

Before filming, I wanted to make sure that I was prepared and knew exactly what I needed from the shoot, to ensure that I made the most of the time with my character. To do this, I created a rough storyboard which illustrates the shot types that I wanted and the way that I would film. The shots aren't in order, as my video doesn't follow a very strong, obviously chronological storyline, they are simply showing what I aim to achieve.

Because my video doesn't follow a strict narrative, I plan for it to be a random compilation of many different shots that all combine to give a subtle 'break-up' story line  with the narrative coming from the male's point of view. Having more close ups will give an emotive look into how the male feels about the relationship and how he wants it to end, even though he knows it will be hard.

LOCATION RE-THINK - Backhouse Park

As soon as I made the decision to rethink my location, I knew the exact park where I would be able to film. It is my local park that I grew up in as a child, called Backhouse Park. It's literally minutes away from my house, meaning that I had easy access to it and could get there quickly to take advantage of the weather (which has been terrible, so even just dry days are rare).

The location provides A LOT more props/things for me to work with, such as a small stream, a bridge, many staircases, a dried up fountain and plenty of benches. Furthermore, because it's a park, it has paths, which makes setting up a level tripod far easier than it would have been on the uneven terrain of a wood/forest.