The aim for our group over the next few weeks is the plan, create and present our pitch. Kitty the producer of our group has created a calender so that we can keep on track of our progress and meet deadlines. The deadline for our pitch is the 13th October. In order to be ready for this we need to consider... -Our track -The artist -Our research -Following the genre -Our concept and visual ideas to represent this -Target audience -Audience research -Locations, props, costumes -Who will be in our video -When we plan to shoot -Which equipmentwe will need to use -How we are going to present our pitch.
As a group we decided that we are going to use the presentation creator 'Prezi'. We feel that this is an effective way to display our pitch as it is visually pleasing and we can easily encorporate music videos to show our research into our ideas.
I love this video 'Big Day' directed by Emil Trier feat Maria Due. Similarly to 'Isles' by Little Comets this video combines both continuity and montage editing with a varying shot length. The first a particularly successful shot in its composition and framing as well as the juxtaposition of the water movement against the static filming has a slow cutting rate of 8 seconds; gradually reducing to an average of 3. What I note from this video how very low cuttings rate work so well, for example the girl yawning at the beginning lasting 6 seconds, and the slow motion used later of the girls running is very powerful.
The video uses a technique I have previously looked at, cutting from CU of different angles of the same shot; also the exaggerated use of slow motion and expansion of time. Handy cam and pedding down is used- a movement we haven't looked at yet (40 seconds). What I particularly like about this video is the combination of a strong narrative with cuts to random people and settings; immersing the characters in these obscure locations with socially different characters. CU of the characters are used again holding the same blank expression to that we want; with direct piercing eye contact.
Throughout the middle part of the song the cutting rate drops to a gradual 2 seconds reflecting Britain's dominant ideologies and this idea of 'youthful restlessness', the modern yob culture; a catchy and memorable performance by a group of young girls. A blunt yet emotional 'film craft' told through 'beautiful images, precise portraits and surprising themes' as the video artists quotes. The video visually explores the teenagers sense of boredom and rebellion; displaying cultural codes we wish to experiment with. The shot at 1.17 is one to remember, the use of reflections on a window to establish the characters followed by a 180' pan.
This video won an award for Scandinavian video 2010 at Bergen film festival. This is what they say:
The winning video is the product of a director and a musical artist who take the music video genre seriously – this is an ambitious and poetic video, at once catchy and fascinating: A video you will want to watch again and again. It repeatedly demonstrates the magical potential of the music video; the moments where text, music and visuals melt together to form something that's able to touch the viewer in an emotional way. The video is an example of exquisite film craft – effectively told through the use of beautiful images, precise portraits and surprising themes. The scene that is portrayed in the video is genuinely Scandinavian, but the sense of youthful restlessness is also universally recognizable. Sitting in the back seat of a car that is speeding off in the search for SOMETHING, is a feeling we can all relate to. The loving and detailed portrayal of young bashfulness, boredom and love is perfectly matched with the gently exploring song. Thus the unity of music and film transcend the sum of its parts and proves that the music video is still a powerful genre with the able to tell big and important stories in the space of a couple of minutes.
I think that this music video is particularly inspiring and follows the concept in which we aim to achieve. Along with the prominent cultural codes such as countryside shown in the video there are some really interesting shots.
One shot in particular which i think we could use in our video is the Low angle shot of the air freshener in the car, i think that this is really effective and interesting as well as following the ideas which we have already discussed.
Another shot i think is effective is the cars pulling out of the petrol station, the signs in the back ground and the lighting used in the shot are particularly effective. I think that this is because the music video tells the story of youth making it accessible to the audience.
In addition to this the shots of the car stunts are also visually effective, this gives some excitement to the video as well as the steam/ smoke created being a good effect to use in the video.
From this video we can also get some good camera angles and examples of camera movement for example low angled shots and a slight movement when focusing on the characters, the movement of the cars in the shot is also very effective.
The cutting rate of the video is 3/4 seconds per shot on average this allows the audience enough time to look at everything which is happening in the shot.
I also agree with this,i think that the recce gave us plenty of opportunity to test different angles and shots as well as seeing what movement works well with our track and concept.
In addition to this the recce allowed us to test our organisational skills when bringing the right equipment such as camera, tripod, props, costumes, the track and spare battery's.
We also looked at composition of shots to make sure that the shots were both visually pleasing, effective and Incorporated movement to ensure the best results for our video.
Furthermore we were able to test our concept, when asking random people to feature in our video we have to deal with rejection and time management to ensure that we are not wasting time asking people when we could in fact be filming.
Overall i think that the recce was a positive experience and helped us to plan for our real filming. This will save us time and improve our final product.
I agree, the recce improved our organisation of our props and costume, particularly our masks and headdresses' we were able to experiment with, looking at composition and framing considering the rule of thirds.
We were also able to experiment with movement; although we wished most of our shots to be static we aimed to test out other movements we would use in our real product.
When looking at composition we made sure the framing was interesting enough to have a static shot.
We were also able to organise the influence of weather, working with strong sunlight which often over exposed our work and our time management; trying to film enough appropriate footage in a short amount of time.
What we learnt from doing the Recce- - That we would like to use Brighton as the location for our music video, this is because it is an iconic, photogenic location which fits with our concept. - Specifically we would like to use the pier for example the bumper cars as well as specificgraffiti walls in the lanes. - Other interior locations in which we found were, the tattoo shop where we found an appropriate character for our concept with appropriate mise en scene. - Specific shots in which we used in our recce were CU of signs and faces, MS of masked characters and random people on the pier. - The trip also enabled us to assess ourselves as a group and decided specific roles. We have decided that... -Lilli- Chief Editing -Kitty- Head Director -Becki- Lead camera operator. -The trip also made us aware of theequipment we are using, for example we need to ensure that we have a fully charged and spare battery if we are filming for a full day. We also need to ensure our card is not full and there is enough space for our footage.
Comparison to Wilderness Woods recce.
- Brighton recce allowed us to focus on creative progress in comparison to wilderness woods which allowed us to improve our technical skills when learning how to use the camera. - Brighton is also an urbanised area compared to Wilderness Woods which is ruraltherefore we were not disturbed by passers by like in Brighton. - In Brighton we could get a greater variety ofMise en scene and settings/ locations rather than just the forest location.
On the 27th September we will be carrying out a recce at Brighton city in order to practise which both the equipment and the location. We must consider the suitability, risk, composition, light, availability as well as working as a team in our production groups.
This will allow us to evaluate the field trip and outcome on our blog. We will consider what we have learnt and how we can improve on further location reccies from our AS research.
Brighton will allow us to improve on our organisation of props, costume and actors also our time management; to develop our skills and learning on the digital technology. The reccie will be very helpful for research and planning and our communication skills.
Brighton offers iconic locations all within the centrallocation; a photogenic city and will allow us to discount the location if not appropraite, a valid piece of planning.
