Today's filming was for the ext. shots after the protagonist has left the 'Dream World'. For a first days filming, the production was relatively simple, but we knew we had to set up some rules and requirements before we started filming to make everything a lot easier. For this sequence shown above the goal was to create a few shots that when edited together would simultaneously integrate and thus create a shot in itself. The editing was of course going to be tricky because of all the factors that we had to consider (Framing, lighting, footwork, depth of field etc.). We didn't want to have to resort to a green screen either because we thought that this kind of editing would loo a lot more organic to the audience and although there may be glitches somewhat throughout the sequence they're only minor and they enforce the realism of it as a whole. For the filming we had to make sure that I and the camera was in exactly the same places for every location that we filmed. There were many attempts at trying to find a tape measure or any other instrument we could use to record every distance and make the accuracy more viable, but unfortunately we couldn't find any and we had to resort to just using vague amount of footsteps every time. I did know that we had little time in order to film these shots and with that knowledge as well as the limited amount of knowledge on the framing etc. we produced loads of shots (more than we needed to) in order to give us that extra amount of reliability. Next came the editing of the shots, and this was by far the more complex of the two processes. It included many tedious refinements towards the end of the edit for myself and this was the most time consuming part of the job. The pictures/screenshots below show all the aspects that the editing consisted of, and although the sequence is only 5-7 seconds long, there was a lot of hard work and thought put into it to make it perfect. First of all I had to find the shots that I wanted, and ones that represented the theme of urban to country. Once I had done this the important thing to further lay down the foundations to the edit was to arrange and split each video so that they are roughly the right points at which they will be played through together at the end. The final bit was to refine each video so that I would look to be walking through different locations simultaneously and without any hiccups a long the way. For this final factor to the editing I had to use many tools within FCP X to help me sufficiently throughout the edit. The first one to use that was very helpful was the zoom tool on the clips. This of course helped because it meant that I could make very small tweaks to each clip. The next part of the process would be the most significant one. I had to now frame and transform each clip to match one another. For this I used the inspector to transform the scale and more importantly the position of the clip. The highlighted position of X in the clip shows how I tweaked the clips in very tiny amounts to try to make it that much better, and this proved to be an extremely helpful tool. Once I had done this for all the clips all I had to do now was lessen the extent at which the locations change (colour and lighting wise). To change and match the colour of the clips to one another to try and make them flow prodigiously with one another, I had to 'Colour correct' each clip. I tried using the 'Match Colour' and the 'Balance Colour' tools at first but these proved to not be as beneficial as one would hope, and thus led me to manually changing the appearance of the clip. The screenshots below show the level of corrections; one for colour and one for brightness and contrast. The most important to myself was the change of the brightness and the contrast, because I wasn't wanting to make each scene look the same colour etc. I was wanting myself/the protagonist to be the same colour and brightness throughout. This is what made the multiple clips collaborate so well. Therefore to do this I used the tool shown in the second screenshot below to finely tune each clip to its predecessor and successor within the timeline.
The shooting schedule combined with he shot list, made us as a team realise that the performance part of the video is a lot more important than we first (or ever) anticipated. We then took this momentous task back to the drawing board - which has led myself into conducting and producing research and subsequently this post. So there was a few factors that we knew we had to take careful consideration in. The main aspects of a performance recording to take into account is the Camera angles, shots and movements, lighting, framing, mise-en-scène and many more. We discussed many of the factors thoroughly and it was obvious that there was going to have to be an absolute solid amount of research going into each factor and that means that when it comes to the day of the shoot, everything should hopefully be in place and ready to go.
Cameras
As we wanted the performance recording to take the least amount of time (due to restraints on time of rooms and people), it was clear to us that we were going to have to use a whole range of cameras. There was a multiple amount of shots that seemed desirable to us from previous research, and we eventually used this evidence to produce the video below.
For the shoot, the requirements that was initiated would be two:
DSLR Cameras (to get high-quality footage - mostly close-ups)
Go Pro Camera and possibly some other head cams. (to get P.O.V and Fisheye shots, as well as easier aerial and up-looking shots.)
One/two Full HD Camcorders (For those wide angle mid and long shots)
One ultra durable camera to mount to various different places (either on drum kits, guitars, ceilings etc.) via a Gorilla pod, duct tape or string.
We have a vast array of equipment at our reach and we want to make the plan completely solid so that we can get our full potential out of them.
Through the discussion I concluded that the main factors of this performance recording that we wanted to focus on and take full advantage of was going to be the colour/look of the shot and the creativeness and uniqueness about them. Lighting will play a major part in the colour part of the shots because as we found with previous shots, the more light you get the easier it is to colour correct in the editing stages to a standard that you utterly proud and happy with. The individuality and imagination that will go into our shots will be hopefully mostly due to the equipment we have at use and the professional ways in which we try to use them. If we were to be exquisitely ambitious then a construction and a use of a camera jib/crane would be one of the best choices, as through research it has been shown that the dynamic-ness of the shot and the way in which it moves gives it that expensive, but well-thought out look. On the other hand though, the genre 'indie' isn't about that per se but it's more about how you take the potential of the equipment that you attain and the quirky ways in which you use that. That's why I have re-inserted this mind map from earlier that highlights some key points and I've also added some other quirky shot ideas below also.
Some Other Shots
KSP camera hanging from rope from the ceiling constantly twisting round.
KSP camera duct-taped to ceiling with fisheye lens also attached to show an aerial view.
DSLR/Camcorder mounted onto the camera dolly that would be continually rolling round to achieve shots.
This video below shows a few of those shots in which we tried to create and practice before we got our hands on recording the real thing. Inspired by many P.O.V GoPro videos on GoPro's YouTube channel, there are a lot of shots in this where the GoPro is used and we believe hat these kind of shots would suit our video excellent for the kind of video that we'd like to produce. There are also some recorded by the Sony A57 DSLR, and this is just to see what angles and how we'd like to conduct each shot when it is just a simplistic wide-angle/portrait Close-up/mid-shot/long-shot video.
This momentous task is going to be one of the hardest to pull off to such a high standard that I expected or at least wanted it to look like. Subsequently I chose that the video test shots above wouldn't be at all satisfactory for our preparation as directors/DOPs/Cameramen and all the other jobs that this project entails and therefore this video below has also come into existence.
For this video I followed the band Mammoth to their local gig at The Louisiana in Bristol. I was ale to set up a few camera both on and off stage and with the use of my Rode VideoMic I recorded the sound also. The video had turned out pretty well, and it gave me a lot of experience in seeing how to setup a recording should go about with the amount of cameras their positioning etc. and the editing was a very enlightening process also. The editing didn't take me long - or at least not as long as I had anticipated. I chose that because the video were all of the same length from each camera I could just layer and split them at point in accordance to the song and the different shot, and this made life a lot easier for me and a lot less time consuming. The task of recording a live event is a lot more demanding than that of a set up and rehearsed one, as of course the are no re-films. However there were many restrictions to this filming which mostly meant that I wasn't able to film dynamically, the participation though did present to me how static shots can look, and at this stage they look satisfactory, which is why I am so intrigued into the optimum amount of 'Quirky' I can display in the actual performance to make it exciting and interesting.
Live Performance Recording Test with Mammoth
Lighting
The AS coursework for media showed me just how significant lighting was within filming and it was an interview that I saw from the cinematographer of the hit TV series Breaking Bad whereby he says in the modern day there is too much focus on quality with developments of 4K and there isn't enough focus on framing, colour and lighting - factors that make the moving image the art in which it is so bewilderingly beautiful. My focus on lighting this time is going to even more excessive and I want to express the theme of quirky-ness even more so with the lighting. I want my performance recording to be a bit like the video from The Red Hot Chili Peppers song 'Can't Stop'.
To present quirky-ness I will be using lots of different lights and also to blur some of the footage to get some wonderful lens flares. We will be using most of the lights we can find from around the house such as lamps, torches etc. I also want to use my DSLR flashlight with filters as a powerful and colourful light to light up the set and produce many prominent spotlights at points. I've had many ideas for other lighting solutions also such as fairy lights, and rear and front bike lights due to their flashing motions and their small size (they would be very useful to hide in subtle places such as the bass drum).
In comparison with the lighting, camerawork and he equipment that we will be using to help with those two factors, props and mise-en-scène isn't as high up on the list of significant priorities. There are many props that are important to us, but it is because of that importance they attain that make the consideration for them little as they are hard to forget about. These kind of props are such that correspond with costume also like a horse mask for the dream world scene (shown in the picture below).
The 'Dream World' scene and its creative contemporary look will be created using a lot of free computer animation, which will make the video look a lot more unusual. This means that our focus will be on the real-life interior and exterior shots. I am pleased with the exterior locations I have sought out in the previous post and the look they give, so I believe that adding any more props to those scenes wouldn't be of any benefit and therefore I decided against the idea. However the interior shots such as the Office scene and the whole Performance shoot, will need many props to spruce it up a little and give it that 'Indie' look that will appeal so prodigiously to our target audience. The pictures below will show the drawn-out, hypothetical look to each of the scenes that we want to create and a list of props to define each further.
This is a picture of both the scanned original drawing and the edited version of the 'Office Box' We originally thought of this as an idea to show that the person was being fire and he was going to be leaving his job. However the decision for this box to be put in the video isn't set in stone yet as we are not sure how much of the video we want to dedicate to this scene seeing as the the music doesn't start yet. But nevertheless if we do go forward with this idea then the box will contain props that connote specifically the 'Office' theme, and these are things such as a stapler, some pens, a USB memory stick as well as some personal items e.g. magazines CDs. The colours I picked for the edited version weren't exactly random as I wanted the colours to pragmatically suggest a feeling of a lack enjoyment in the character's life and this would rival the later colours of the video that are colourful and vibrant showing a transformation.
This picture is a mock-up of how I would ideally like the band performance's mise-en-scène to look. I am still fluctuating between the ideas of a studio and a bedroom shoot but this one within the picture is evidently for a bedroom-style shoot. A lot of indie bands as well as a lot of 90's bands have music videos that are recorded at their houses as it shows origins of the band and alike to the genre also shows a more 'down-to-earth' less glorified location than many other music videos. The band is only going to be a 2-piece band as shown. They will be located next to each other almost facing each other but also towards the camera also. This isn't a conventional way to locate band members within a shoot as they'd often be placed similar to where they would be on stage (e.g. drummer at the back, singer at the front) but seeing as there are only going ot be two of the them I wanted to follow on with the theme and make it a lot more personal and relaxed. The bedroom shows many posters on the walls (of which they will be band and art posters) and this is mainly so that we can cooperate well with the expectations of the genre without being too similar, but also to primarily connect with the target audience and it would be most probably a similar set up in their own bedrooms.
Our primary locations are within the Bristol. The video above shows my trip to the city and a lot of locations that we are contemplating for the music video.
Alley Way
The alley way within this video (near the start) is the perfect location for us at scenes 11 and 12. This is because it is narrow enough and the buildings either side of it are tall enough to give a strong sense of entrapment in the urban lifestyle. The puddle that the protagonist then falls through is there to show how he is trying to evade the city life.
The rest of the locations As the alley way is the main location for the narrative part of the video (along with the computer-animated dream world) the rest of the locations shown in the video will be used in a montage to show the transformation of urban-country.
Other locations Because there is a urban-country transfer, we will have to pick locations (other than in a big city) and these include settings located around fields, woodland areas and beaches. Beach
This look will be for the protagonist at the start of the music video when he is being fired from his job. Clearly the costume is based on the fact that the character is at work at this point. The tidy, dull, repetitive 'business' look is supposed to show a sense of entrapping conformity and this will inevitably link to the optimistic journey that the character then endures to try and escape this city way of life. The clean white shirt was the main choice for us because it has been shown through many professional media texts this is the best way to go when the character goes through a phase of breaking bad. Funnily, the shirt scenario is evident in the TV series Breaking Bad with the character Walter white but I was thinking more about the horror/comedy Shaun of the Dead. Shaun works at a retail branch, and the white shirt symbolises symbolises the repetitiveness of a branch-like company. However, more importantly the shirt will look a lot more dirty and scruffy when the character comes into play with violence and when they have a self-revolt over their own way of life, and this is the primary reason for the colour of the shirt alone.
Scruffy/Casual Look
This look is for the protagonist when he chooses to rebel against his own way of life and I believe the scruffiness and the roughness shows this immensely. The rolled-up sleeves, the no-tie look and the untucked shirt shows it all really, and truly shows the lack of care that the character has for his look. The optimism on his face and the way his body moves to the beat of the music will show that the un-tidiness isn't because he is upset or angry but just because of the rebellious attribute towards the business man lifestyle he is striving to acquire. Lack of care is going to be a reoccurring theme that I want to present most utterly throughout this video, and it will be mainly shown visually by the look of the character. The desire to be in a less consumeristic and vain environment will be undoubtedly palpable with the visual connotations of the costume; which is precisely the reason why I wanted this look and the change between the previous one.
The Band's Look
This is something that my friend and I have discussed at length. It is hard enough trying to arrange rooms, times and band members enough, but to decide what they'll be wearing too is going to be an even more momentous task. Therefore we took this into much consideration, as of course, we want our video to look the utmost professional and show the best of what we can do. The conclusion arose that the need for a specific band 'look' wouldn't necessarily be needed, and this is mainly due to the genre. The kind of people that enjoy genre that we believe our music video to be centred around (mostly indie) won't be focused too much on how each band member looks, because simplicity is often the case within this genre. Subtlety with costumes, hair etc. is a further enforced characteristic to the matter concerning the attempt to branch away from the typical voyeuristic, colourful music videos, to make them more meaningful but still in a fun way. What we know for sure is that the clothes for the bands won't be excessively random and completely away from the appeal to the target audience that we are trying to obtain. We know the band members and we know their day-to-day clothes (skinny jeans, shirts etc.) and this is sufficient enough info for us to go ahead with the performance shoot.
This shot list is going to be extremely helpful for us when it comes to filming because of the excessive amount of shots that we want to capture in order to conform to the typical perceptions of music videos and to also have a strong relationship with the fast-paced song. This list will be taken with us to every location in order to remind us how we wanted each shot to be constructed. It will also be accompanied with the storyboard too. The storyboard is simply: a visual representation of the shot list. It is very useful because our ideas of camera shots/angles/movements, mise-en-scène and lighting are all noted down within each individual shot from the storyboard.
To help with the Shot List I have decided that it would be beneficial to the reader to put the numbers from the storyboard (the numbers indicate each element of the storyboard) next to each shot that is applicable and therefore make it a lot more comprehendible. Storyboard
Shot List Key P = Protagonist 0:00 P losing his job. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] 0:25 Song starts and P starts to walk on his adventure and falls through a puddle.[11][12] 0:35 Performance Shot (transition between P and singer of the band) [13] 0:55 Underwater P shot [14] 1:00 Performance Shot - "Well you just you laughed it off..." [15] 1:03 Falls into dreamworld and see whats he thinks to be an eagle but turns out to be a pigeon [16] 1:13 Performance Shot [17] 1:22 Walks with eagle through dreamworld [18] 1:30 Performance Shot [19] 1:45 Continuation of walking [18] 1:47 Performance Shot [19] 1:59 Sees family with animal heads and waves - turns out to be a couple of people in a street looking freaked out [20] 2:10 Performance Shot [21] 2:14 P sees hole in the ceiling of the dreamworld [22] 2:16 Performance Shot [21] 2:20 P starts to get ready to go through the hole [22] 2:22 Performance Shot [21] 2:29 Flies through the hole like a superhero. (transition between that and P on a escalator) [22] 2:34 Performance Shot [23] 2:37 Underwater shot of P [14]- reversed 2:39 Performance Shot [23] 2:47 P exits through a different puddle somewhere in an rural area [24] 2:56 starts walking again (through different locations) [25] 3:06 Performance Shot [26] 3:11 Climbs over a gate into a field [27] 3:16 Performance Shot [28] 3:25 Walks across a field (Taking off jacket, shoes and glasses) [29] 3:35 Performance Shot [28] 3:40 P appears through long grass - P.O.V shot of a beach - P finds serenity and lies down - back to P.O.V and eyes closing = end of the video
Inspiration is the key to any plausible attempt at original creativity in the present day. Taking on this belief, I have decided to get 'inspired' from all worlds of the media and technology.
One of the main themes for the final music video is 'gaming'; and this will be mostly present in the 'Dream World' scenes of the music video. Indie gaming is on the rise in terms of popularity, and what these kind of games are most famous for are their extensive detail and innovative style of artwork. It is not only the indie game's courageous visuals that appeal to me though, I also love the idea of the 'platform'-based games such as many indie games but also the rather historic Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog games. I wanted to imitate this same stylistic attribute into my own work, so here are some images below that I have found to be interesting and inspirational.
Robot Unicorn Attack 2
This is just a platform app form the iOS App Store, but I really love the colours used and the type of elements shown in this computer generated world. Whilst playing the game it is evident that there are a lot of different layers in the video; which all move at different times and speeds. This is exactly what I want to try and re-create in FCP X with the use of the 'Ken Burns' tool and others.
Californication
These screenshots are from the music video 'Californication' by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The theme is similar to mine but with a lot more animation involved. What I like mostly about this video though is the different type of shots such as the ones above. The over-the-shoulder shot and close up shot both follow the character on a journey and this is something that I'd like to do also. As well at these two camera framings I want to produce P.O.V shots and many other creative shots also.
Next came the editing of the shots, and this was by far the more complex of the two processes. It included many tedious refinements towards the end of the edit for myself and this was the most time consuming part of the job. The pictures/screenshots below show all the aspects that the editing consisted of, and although the sequence is only 5-7 seconds long, there was a lot of hard work and thought put into it to make it perfect. 
For this final factor to the editing I had to use many tools within FCP X to help me sufficiently throughout the edit. The first one to use that was very helpful was the zoom tool on the clips. This of course helped because it meant that I could make very small tweaks to each clip.
The next part of the process would be the most significant one. I had to now frame and transform each clip to match one another. For this I used the inspector to transform the scale and more importantly the position of the clip. The highlighted position of X in the clip shows how I tweaked the clips in very tiny amounts to try to make it that much better, and this proved to be an extremely helpful tool. Once I had done this for all the clips all I had to do now was lessen the extent at which the locations change (colour and lighting wise). 
To change and match the colour of the clips to one another to try and make them flow prodigiously with one another, I had to 'Colour correct' each clip. I tried using the 'Match Colour' and the 'Balance Colour' tools at first but these proved to not be as beneficial as one would hope, and thus led me to manually changing the appearance of the clip. 
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