Filming Day 2

For our second session of filming we decided to go to Brick Lane to shoot some abstract shots of the scenery around the area and to film lip syncing in places we thought would fit well with the feel of our music video, our song and our genre.

The aim was to film as many artistic shots as possible in the time we had. However, as we found the perfect location to film in near Shoreditch, we realised that the plate that attaches our camera to the tripod was missing, and it was too windy to film as the camera wasn't steady enough. We tried to find a camera shop around the area that could sell us a plate for the camera so that we could be as productive as possible, but we had no luck.

Even though we did manage to film some of the shots we wanted, we didn't get as much footage as we needed and ended up in a coffee shop discussing aspects of our band brand whilst we were all together. Heres a vlog from our day:

Codes and Conventions of Our Genre

The indie/rock is a sub-genre of alternative rock and is extremely diverse, including many sub-genres itself. Typically characters tend to wear laid back and casual clothing, usually in dark colours. In terms of framing and composition, the lead singer is positioned in the centre of the frame, and when in a band they are shown performing closely together. 

In most indie/rock music videos, the lead singers facial expressions are usually minimal and serious, as their genre is not associated with smiling performers or happier facial expressions. Props, such as instruments (guitar, drums etc.), are strongly associated with this genre, as well as a performance element. We won't be using instruments as props, however we will be using the convention of minimal and serious facial expressions throughout our video as the song portrays this feel through the lyrics.

Camera shots that are usually used in music videos for our genre are mostly close up shots to create the element of 'star quality' to promote the band and their lead singer, which we will be using frequently throughout our music video. The settings that are most commonly used are urban settings that match the bands sound and intended look. We will be using urban settings such as brick walls and backgrounds covered in graffiti to add this convention to our music video and create the edgy feel we are aiming for. 

The editing techniques that are typical of our genre are repeated straight cuts which creates a fast pace to the video, complementing the fast pace of the music. The band 'Two Door Cinema Club' are a key example of a band that are in the indie/rock genre and their music videos portray this as they use the various codes and conventions that we will aim to use in our music video. 

Framing and Composition

Framing is the technique of drawing attention to the focal point of your image by blocking other parts of the image with something in the scene. Framing shots allows for benefits such as giving the shot context, giving images a sense of depth and layers, leading the eye towards your main focal point, whilst also allowing you to intrigue your viewer.

Rule of Thirds-
The rule of thirds involves mentally dividing up your image using 2 horizontal lines and 2 vertical lines. This then allows you to position the important elements in the scene along those lines, or at the points where they meet. The idea is that an off-centre composition is more pleasing to the eye and looks more natural than one where the subject is placed right in the middle of the frame. 

Leading Space-

The rule of lead room is that when framing a subject, well composed shots will include white space in the direction that a subject is facing, or in the case of moving objects, in front of the direction that an object is moving.

Eye Line Rule-

This is the idea that the eyes of the person in the frame should be one third of the way down the frame, which in theory creates a more effective shot.

The Use of Lines-

The use of lines within a shot can portray different images and therefore are very important. For example, Horizontal lines tend to indicate a sense of lack of change. This use in an image often projects a feeling that an image, or part of one, is somehow frozen at a point in time. Furthermore, vertical lines can project either a mood of stability or peace and diagonal lines can convey a sense of action or make a certain shot more dynamic. 

We will aim to use all of these techniques effectively in our music video to enhance the quality of our shots and to make our video more attractive to our audience. We will be using tutorials to help us, such as the following video:

Band Image

For our lead singer of our band we chose Stefani, and as no other members of the band are featuring in the music video, we want to make sure that Stefani has a specific look for the audience to identify with. We want her to show this with her style, especially her clothing. I have been looking online for the kind of outfit we want her to wear, and here are a few of our ideas so far:
Click here for hyperlink to Zara coat

I really like the idea of having Stef in a long, black winter coat due to this being the usual style and colours that people of our target audience would wear. Along with this, we were thing that she should also wear dark trousers, either jeans or leggings. We also want Stef to be wearing some kind of boot in the music video, and some of us already have some Dr. Martins that she could wear when we next shoot.

Band Brand

We have decided on a few aspects of our band brand, such as the song name and the track list for our album. The songs original name is 'white noise', but due to the lyrics "static screams", we like the name Static for our song. As for our track-list, the song names we like as far are:

1. Indecisive 

2. The Chill 

3. Liverpool St. 

4. 1997

5. Broken Glass 

6. Stripped Down

7. Fiction 

8. Opium 

9. Mr. 

10. Bait

11. Euphoria 

12. Wanderlust

13. Salted Wounds

As for our band name, we though of some ideas like 'The Sound' or 'Sound', but we are still having debates about this. Here's a clip of us discussing ideas for our band brand whilst we were altogether filming in London:

Filming Day 1

During day 1 of filming we shot the lip syncing and performance scenes. We originally planned to have our performer singing into a microphone, which is typical of many performance based music videos, but when we arrived on location (the drama studio) we spontaneously started playing around with just lip syncing with different lighting on Stef (our performer's) face. We also played around with Stef lip syncing into her reflection in the mirror, which looked really effective when we uploaded it to iMovie to edit.

Storyboard

My group and I made a rough storyboard of how we want and plan our music video to be, however we know this will not go completely to plan when out on location.

Email for Permission

As we did previously with our past songs, we emailed PVRS's management and record label to ask permission to use their song 'White Noise' for our music video, to avoid any copyright issues. We are still waiting for a reply!

Possible Locations

There are many possible locations that we could film Stef lip syncing in. We are aware that we need to make the lip syncing exciting because it can easily become boring. Therefore, we want to have various locations that are more adventurous than just a blank wall, for example, which will mostly be rural to stick to the conventions of the indie/rock genre. These are a few possible locations that we will explore whilst out filming.

New Song and Concept (4)

Although we decided as a group that our idea to make our music video to Nina Nesbitt's 'Stay Out' was going to be our final idea no matter what, as we started filming and trying to produce all of the ideas we had in mind, none of them were working for us. Because we found that this song and concept wasn't working out, we have decided to change our song and concept for the last time, to Pvris' 'White Noise'. We have decided not to produce a narrative video and keep it simple combining the skills we have as a group, such as Emily's eye for creative shots. Therefore, we will have elements of lip syncing but mostly a series of abstract shots, and use our editing skills to produce an ascetically pleasing music video, rather than a video with a narrative. These are the lyrics to our song:

                                                        "White Noise"

It's hard to be what you need through a static screen.
Been trying to speak for weeks and weeks.
Open my mouth,
All that comes out is white noise and incomprehensible sounds,
And all you ever do is turn me down.

I'm watching.
I'm waiting.
I'm aching.
Suffocating.
I'm breathing.
I'm speaking.
Can you hear me?
I'm screaming for you.

Day by day,
I'm slowly replaced in your picture frames.
A brand new face on your pillowcase.
Come the night you dim the lights and close the blinds,
But I still see them running down your spine,
Cause I illuminate the room,
Just enough to watch you.

I'm watching.
I'm waiting.
I'm aching.
Suffocating.
I'm breathing.
I'm speaking.
Can you hear me?
I'm screaming for you.

Sick of the lack of signal.
Sick of the lack of touch.
Sick of the static voice.
It's not enough, it's not enough.
Baby it's hard to be just what you need when all I speak is static screams.
Can you hear me?

I'm watching.
I'm waiting.
I'm aching.
Suffocating.
I'm breathing.
I'm speaking.
Can you hear me?

I'm screaming for you.

   

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