Filming difficulties

As posted previously my group intended to film on Sunday the 16th in Valentines Mansion in order to gain some of our narrative shots. However we weren't able to film this section of the narrative(or anything) on Sunday because of issues to do with filling out the form.
When we first asked to film in valentines mansion we were required to fill out a form explaining what it is we were doing and who we were etc. one section of the form asked us for insurance information and a copy of the document. This is where the problem first arose as we were unsure of what exactly was needed, in the end we asked the school office and sent it off, however a few days later we were told that the wrong document had been sent, so again asking the office we got another document to send off which agin tuned out to be the wrong one, we were told of this n Friday afternoon and subsequently spent the rest of the day working out with the office that the second document showing the boroughs insurance was the right one and as such Rhian from valentines mansion would need to discuss, with the person that had sent to us the boroughs document(Steve Gibson), just what it was that was needed. In the end however Rhian was unable to get through to Steve meaning that we were ultimately not allowed to film within Valentines Mansion however we are able to book another day to film provided the insurance problem can be sorted out.

Valentines Mansion- Filming problems

Here I am including a copy of the email correspondence between my group and Rhian Sharpe.
As a group we decided that we really wanted to film a section of the narrative in Valentines mansion (A building of heritage in Ilford). We felt that for our footage to really be interesting and look different to the rest of the footage that we had as well as to properly show the character of that band member, using this house was essential. however as the emails above show, we were unable to film here on the date that we wanted to. Rhian was a representative of the company that held legal rights over filming in public locations (such as this house) in and around Redbridge.  In order for us to film in valentines mansion we needed a copy of the schools public liability insurance, however as the emails state, we couldn't get the correct document in time. As such we plan to film (if possible) in valentines mansion next month after the Christmas holidays. 

Filming day 2

Today my group completed the filming for the performance aspect of the video meaning that now we have gotten what is possibly the hardest section to film out of the way. Though this wasn't managed without problems. Firstly we had an issue with instruments as one group member as a musician asked the music department whether we could use a drum kit after everyone left the school and he was told that this would be ok. However upon going up to get the drums at the end of the day he was informed that he wouldn't be allowed to use the drum kit after all. This would have been a major issue if not for the fact that another group member had a drum kit at home that we might be able to use. This meant that filming was put back by about 2 hours, and we were no longer able to use the pre-booked drama room to film since we'd end up staying for a lot longer than was originally planned. In order to overcome thins I spoke with the receptionists at castle green to check if Boothroyd hall (the schools main assembly/performance hall) would be free for us to film. Luckily it was and we then used that for as long as we needed to, this did mean that it was a bit more difficult to film though because the room was a lot bigger than we wanted originally. Initially we wanted a smaller room so that we might be able to link the setting with the 'elevator' theme of the song and make it feel more enclosed and personal. However we did manage to get all that we wanted filmed. 

We used two cameras for this section of filming, one team member used the handycam while another used the HD camera. This meant that we were able to get a larger variety of shots and do a lot more in terms of movement and camera focus. We generally used the handy cam for more free flowing shots that would follow individual band members, while the HD camera was intended for better quality shots that we would refer to more often for a majority of our music video.In the end we had 8 serious takes on each camera and 1 take where the band members just did whatever they felt like for the length of the song so that we had some spontaneous/incidental shots. We left at about 20 to 8 which is a lot later than we originally planned which meant that I had to take the HD camera home to bring back tomorrow morning, but we are generally very satisfied with how today has gone. 

Filming day 1

Today I was unable to help my group with filming the Drum Narrative as I had other commitments that I needed to keep to. So my group filmed the smallest and easiest section of footage as it would require less people and therefore be more appropriate for them considering they were a member short. 

This section of filming went well from what I have seen and been told, they managed to finish all of the necessary narrative for the drummer and also completed some of the elevator/lift shots. 

Digipak designs

Here I have decided to include some images of sample pictures and ways in which I might manipulate these images in order to put them on my digipak and have the design appeal to fans of the genre. As such I started with an image of a 4 panel digipak net so that I could start off with a simple design for the images and their positioning/layout. 

Here is the image I found showing a group of boys similar to those intended for my actual digipak and in a position reflective of the one I want to get the actors in for the photos (webpage or digipak).

For the image below I have used the picmonkey editing software in order to adjust the saturation of the image as well as make changes to the colour balances, and add in borders with fade effects. I Have chosen these effects as I feel that they add to the effect of mystery and the idea of being 'lost' therefore relating to the  band name and adding an extra layer to the digipak. I have also chosen red, white and blue as the border colours in order to enforce the suggestion of patriotism.   

Here I have added a Warhol effect coupled with a focal soften in order to again enforce the patriotism of this band and make it quite easy to match clearly with the other images used therefore being synergistic.  

Here I have shown the two sample images that I have managed to complete within the lesson today, this helps me to visualise how my final product may look and also check that the images do match and relate to each other as a result creating synergy across this platform. I have selected to include an image of the London eye in this practice digipak as the picture I have used has a Ferris wheel or something similar in the background and doing this means that I have made connections between the images in more ways than just the use of colours and effects. 

Planning for filming.

Our filming schedule is as follows:

• On Wednesday the 12th of December the group will be filming our Drum Narrative shots.
• On Thursday the 13th of December we will be filming the Performance shots with the whole group.
• On Friday the 14th of December we will be filming the Guitar Narrative.
• On Sunday the 16th of December we will be filming the Bass Narrative.

We have chosen to split up all of the narrative shots and the performance as we felt that to complete all of the shots for our narrative within one day might be somewhat difficult and also would mean that a lot of our actors may be waiting around and doing nothing whilst we film a particular part. A lot of the scheduling difficulties we have faced are due mainly to other commitments meaning that group members may be away for certain days however we have decided that we will be using days where our band/group members will find it easier to get together and on days where one member might be unavailable the others will just continue to work in their absence.

We have also decided on our locations, costumes and props for the filming:

Location

• The school Drama Departments green room (props room) for the Drum Narrative.
• Valentines Mansion house (in Valentines Park Ilford) for the Bass Narrative.
• A Giant Chessboard (made by the group) within a rom with white walls.
• Drama Room 3 for the Final Performance shots.
• The schools lift

Costume

• Black and white clothes for the guitarists chessboard sequence (black and white clothes for all other members)
• Casual wear for the drummer and lead singer for the drummer sequence
• Smart modern (suit jackets) for the lead singer, drummer and Bassist in the bass sequence.
• For the Final performance they will each wear the clothes from the part they were intorduced in.

Props

• Mop
• Cupboard props
• Guitar x2
• Amp x2
• Drum kit
• Bass
• Mic

Final idea

We have decided on our final idea which is based somewhat on our focus groups want for the video to link to the lyrics. We based it very much around the more common lyrics/themes of the song such 'Lost' and 'Space' with 'Elevator' being another major component of the video. As such our idea is:
We first show the lead singer as he is getting into a lift (Elevator) and arriving at several different and seemingly random locations. The narrative of this video will be to get all of the band members together, so the lead singer needs to find them at each location he arrives in they will then proceed to the next location with him. This relates very much to the idea of being lost in that to the lead singer all of his band members are lost and he needs to find them in order to unify the band once more. These shots will be inter cut with images of the final performance which will take place in the last location after all band members have been found. We have decided to stick with the theme of colour as an inmportant aspect of the video as we felt it would help to make it much more intereseting and aesthetically pleasing for the viewers.

We have decided that we will be using 5 band members in order to ensure that we are showing a variety of people in the video as we are sure that we will be attempting to show the diverse nature of the typical audience members for indie music (according to our questionnaire research.)