Casting

Set Design

In preparation for the meeting with TA, the set designer, we created a set design in order to help us pitch our idea better. Obviously all these ideas are still up for discussion. 

The Role of a Set Designer

Tomorrow at 3, my group will be meeting with a set designer to discuss our shoot. So today we have been finalizing everything we intend to discuss with the designer and Luke tomorrow. Last week during our meeting about sound, they warned us about how much attention to detail we will need to include on our designs. So since then we have been focusing on each image of all of our props, and now we know where we are getting a few of the props, which is great progress.

It is important to have a set designer as during the pre-production stage my group can be directed to establish the visual feel and specific aesthetic needs of the project. Additionally during the get in and on the day of the shoot we can refer back to our designs to make sure everything is going to plan.

One of the many difficulties my group might face is by following a Wes Anderson colour palette, so we will need to discuss this tomorrow about these complications.

Production Date

Jason has just told us that our production date is Monday 24th November. We will need to pass this information onto the band members, to make sure of their availability.

Set and Props Presentation

Blogging the Animatics

After creating the storyboard, we shot the stills, so we could cut them using the Premiere editing software. We then cut the shots in time to the beat of the song Wasted Words. SO now we have a rough idea as to what our music video is going to look like.

Meeting with George

Today we had a meeting with the lighting guy to discuss our idea...

• The first thing we told him was that we have different lengths of light bulbs hanging from the ceiling, his concern was that it was going to create lots of shadows so we will need to include other practical lights to add to the atmosphere. 

• We have also decided we are going to pulsing lights for the first 7 seconds of the video during the opening synths. With this in mind George gave us the advice to not show the audience the band during this 7 seconds
• We were thinking of adding a window at the back of the room to show that it is night time, and also to add to this idea we're in a room of a house. We need to finish our set design to make sure that we are giving the right image across of this room during the dance/ narrative element. The importance of the window will determine the time of day (night) and what sort of lighting is used at this time (house lights, practical lights) 

I was looking at possible images for a window if we do decide this is a good idea.

Adding another element!

 After much discussion amongst the group, we decided that it would be a successful idea to add another stylistic element to the music video, adding on from the narrative. Having taken inspiration from a piece of art from The Tate Modern. It all started with members of the public writing their heights on the wall, this eventually created this thick black line representing the average height. This was really effective as something as writing your height and name on a wall, could represent something on a larger scale.

We want to take this idea and add it into our music video. For example we were thinking that the two dancers could tear down the wallpaper at the back and start drawing on the walls, writing down random words, linking back to the title of the song 'wasted words'. We discussed this with Luke and he said it would be important to have a bigger message being created from just their wasted words. So this is still a work in progress.

The Dance Element

 During the storyboard process, we researched different types of dances for the dance/ narrative element of the music video. Below I have shared links to different videos that I found particularly interesting, which I have shown to our two dancers.

I found the introduction to this dance very entertaining and it also includes similar props, such as the sofa. What I liked most about the routine is that the two dancers perform on and around the sofa, using the most of their space.

From this video, although it is a completely different format, I liked the relationship between the two characters and the use of synchronized movement is perfect for the movement we want in the music video.

Dance Rehearsal

We sent out an email to the dancers to make sure they confirm  their availability for a rehearsal

Liv and Harry

We thought it would be a good idea to get on top of the routine before half term. So we emailed our two dancers on Sunday evening to have a rehearsal on the Monday.
At first, we let them listen to the song so they could get to terms with the rhythm and pace of the track. Then we showed them the videos of the two different routines, to give them our perspective on their role. Then for the next hour they started creating snippets of routines they could do. Liv and Harry work really well together and for the first rehearsal we got a lot done, so as a group we feel confident with this element. Already we can see lots of interesting shots during their routine. We will probably have another rehearsal before we break up for half term, just so we can create a little more before

Creating the Storyboard

As a group we have been researching possible frames for the music video, while we have been drawing up the storyboard. A storyboard is a graphical representation of the camera shots in a film sequence which are connected together to create a 'narrative flow'. The story of the film is visualized by a series of drawings which depict the location, characters, props and setting of each shot.  We have around 70 frames, which is a good achievement as Jason said we needed around 80.  
 Why Storyboard?

•  It enables the director to visualise the flow of the camera shots 
• It visualizes the narrative flow 
• We will need to keep in mind set, lighting etc 
• Also I think it is important for my group to have so we know how on track, especially during the production stage of the music video 
• So when changes are made over the process, the original intentions provide a framework against which changes can be judged 

This is the first page of our storyboard. Luckily, Fin is an amazing artist and talented at drawing. As a group we're really happy with how well these came out.

Progress

This week my group have been focusing on producing The Treatment , The Timeline and the storyboard for the music video.

I have included links for the treatment and the timeline, which are finished, and we will have the storyboard completed by next Tuesday.

A treatment is a document that contains all the styling references, icons and set ideas for the music video. It is a chance for the marketing team to give the artist/label a feel for the music video.

A timeline is a layout of our different shots in word form, including shot types, the times of the song and who they are of.

A storyboard is the timeline but in picture form, representing the idea of what we want to see.