Preparing to film again

I have confirmed with the registry office that the date for me to film their is going to be on Friday the 31st of October. Between now and then I am going to make sure that I have everything I need to be able to film; this includes making sure I have the right equipment such as cameras, memory cards and a tripod. I am also going to arrange for someone I know to drive into the registry office so that I am able to film the car leaving the registry office and my actors inside of the car. I am planning on doing this as I feel that it will make my video seem more realistic and will add another filming location; I also hope that by filming in a car I will be able to show the distance between my actors as although they will be sat together I am going to direct them to be disconnected and looking out of the windows.

I have made sure that the actors are going to come as they did to my last day of filming including having the same hair, makeup and clothes.

I know what it is I need to film and what I have already filmed but I have not yet looked at what I have previously filmed in detail as I am going to wait until I have filmed for the second time as they may be some parts that I can use that will be useful that I may have originally thought I would not need.

Filming Review

Today I filmed for the first time, all together with setting up, filming and packing everything away took me most of the day from around 8:30am to 5:00pm so I am glad that I adapted my plans to film on different days in separate locations or I wouldn't have been able to get everything done I needed to.
I started by laying out tables to get an idea of the space I had and where I would like to set up cameras to film. I then began dressing the room with table cloths, plates, knifes and forks, drinks and wedding decor including confetti and small decorations to make the room look like it could be from a wedding reception setting.
The set up took most of the time as I had to transform a blank room; below are images of the room I used. As you can see I set up tables and chairs with a blue theme colour; I decorated with little bottles, confetti, candles and wine bottles and glasses to make everything look real. I also made a wedding cake that I look some close up shots of to go in my video. The first image shows the lighting box I used for lighting in the room including a spotlight.

 View of the tables and Chairs in the room.

 The top table.

 Some of the tables (please excuse the Lucozade bottle :')!!)

 Emily in her dress.

Charlie and Emily

I then began to start filming using test shots but was unsure of the lighting; I had closed all of the blinds and curtains in the room to give it a nighttime feel to later show progression throughout the video from the start to the end of the wedding day but I felt that the lights in the room were not bright enough. I then found a light stand with various lights including a spot light that I could use to make the room brighter and the shots better.

From here I began to film close up shots of Emily and Charlie (main actors) that I could use later on in my video so that I will be able to show multiple shot variations and as I thought it would be a good use of time whilst waiting for everyone else to arrive.

This is an example of one of the close up shots I took; I am very happy with the lighting I used and the video quality I was able to get.

Once everyone else had arrived I then began to film the rest of my footage including the Bride and Groom walking into the reception, cutting the cake and the first dance. As I had decided to use two cameras I was able to position them in different places; this will allow me to chose the best shots and combine the footage I have later on when I look at all of the footage I have and begin to edit my video.

Overall I feel that today was successful and that I know need to make sure that I am prepared for my next filming day to make sure that I record everything else I need to be able to make my video.

Filming day 1

Today is the first day of my filming I am going to spend the first half of the day setting up the room and begin filming in the afternoon.

I will post again later on today reviewing how my first day of filming went.

Actors

Charlie and Emily are the actors in my music video as the Bride and Groom. I chose to use Emily and Charlie as I know that they are reliable and would be willing to help me by being in my video.

I also chose to use them as they are a couple so I felt that they would be able to show chemistry on screen and in my video that wouldn't come across or be the same if I had decided to use people who weren't in a relationship.














As well as Charlie and Emily I am also going to be using other people for my video so that I am able to create and represent a wedding reception environment. Most of the people will be aged 17-18 representing young adult characters but I am also hoping to be able to film some adults to make the scene more realistic.

On the left are some images of Charlie and Emily together.

 

Email Response

Luckily the registry office were able to respond swifty to the email I sent them allowing me to begin the process of using the location for filming.

The person I spoke to asked me to provide contact information so that they could call me so that I could make sure that we were both clear on what it is I wanted to use the venue for. After speaking to someone on the phone I was given full permission. I had originally discussed filming on October 27th but then this date didn't work with my actors so I asked for another date.

I then had to find a date that was suitable for the venue, myself and the actors in my video. I had a date in mind but then found that the actors were unable to do this day so I emailed back asking for the days and times they had so I made sure that I chose one suitable for everyone then booked it so that I could use it for my filming. This is the email response with the dates and times they had available.

I asked for October 31st as this worked best for everyone; I then received a final email from them where they told me what to do when I arrived and who to speak to. I made sure to reply saying thank you for their help with assisting me.

Getting ready to film

I am now going to spend the next couple of days preparing to film the first part of my video. I am going o film on Monday 20th October meaning I have the next couple of days to prepare. I have permission to use the filming location and my two actors have confirmed that they are both available on the day as well as other background actors that are going to be in the video.

Later on today I am going to be going to Hobbycraft to by the props for my video including table cloths, confetti and candles.

I am preparing by making sure I have memory cards allowing me to film throughout the day I am going to be using a new 16gb memory card and bring another 8gb as a spare; I will make sure that I have charged the camera battery and bring the charger with me to make sure that I have camera battery throughout the day.
 

Filming Timeline

In order to be able to complete this task within the time provided I need to make sure I have time to edit my music video properly. I will need to make sure I have completed the research and planning section as well as filmed my music video within a certain timescale to be able to begin creating my music video, DigiPak and complete my Evaluation.

Permission Email

In order for me to be able to use the location I want for my music video I am going to have to email the Sidcup Manor House to ask them for permission to film.

I searched for the Sidcup registry office on google and found page with a contact email.


I sent an email to the contact email I found telling them who I am and what it is I want to do:

"Hello my name is Lauren Turell, I am a student a Chislehurst School for Girls (Beaverwood) studying Media Studies in my second year of A Levels. As part of my media coursework I have to create a music video and will be using the song I Know I'm Not The Only One by Sam Smith, I am going to be using a wedding theme for my music video.
I was wondering whether it would be ok for me to use the outside of the Sidcup Manor House as a location for part of my music video. Doing this will consist of me filming my actors acting as a bride, a groom and a few people stood outside of the Manor House as if they are walking out of the building, throwing some confetti and getting into a car and driving off. Doing this should take me no more than an hour and I hope for this to happen at some point during the week begining 27/10/14, at a time that is most suitable for you.

I would really appriciate your help and hope to hear from you soon.
Lauren Turell."

Finding a suitable location

I am going to need to find a sutiable location to film a section of my music video; as it is going to need to portray a wedding venue I have considered churches and buildings in my local area that would be suitable.

There are two possible churches I could use and a manor house.



This St Lawrences Church in Sidcup, I considered using it as a possible location due to the large open space at the front.

St Johns is another Church in Sidcup I considered using although I don't like that it is on the corner of a road and it's surroundings, this would make it difficult to film people outside the front as I would have to be positioned in the road to be able to film. I also don't like that the front of the church has gravestones as I feel it would ruin the effect of the wedding theme.

My third option is Sidcup Manor House; it is a registry office located in Sidcup with trees and bushes in the front making it more private and seperateds it from the road. The Manor House looks grand from the front and is a place where weddings do take place meaning that it would be a suitable location for me to film outside.

I have decided that the Manor House will be most suitable for part of my music video; I am going to look for contact information for the Manor House so that I can ask for permission to film.  



Adapting Plans

Now that I am getting closer to filming my music video I am thinking about how much I will need to do and whether I am going to be able to do it. I had originally planned to film my entire music video in one day in one location. Having thought about how much I am going to need to film I am not going to be able to film everything in the time I have in one day. In order to be able to overcome this problem I considered going back another day to continue filming but this would mean having to spend time setting up the room and space I have and making sure that everything is exactly how it was. Although this is not impossible I feel that this would be more difficult and time consuming so I am going to use different locations instead. I will continue to use my wedding theme but now instead of having my music video set at only the reception I am now going to film leaving the wedding venue, travelling to the wedding reception venue and then at the wedding reception. This will give me more time to film and will also allow me to use different locations and environments as well as many camera angles. My Music video will now also have more of a story and timeline as it is a  narrative piece as now the audience will be able to see the progression between leaving the wedding venue and arriving at the wedding reception giving them more of an understanding of what is going on.

Hair and Makeup

I want to make sure that the people in my music video look good and that they don't look underdressed or scruffy. I am going to ask my actors to wear makeup and have their hair nice either down or in an updo as they would if they were going to a wedding reception. I am going to ask the boys to make sure that they do their hair for the event so that it doesn't look scruffy in the video.

Below is a moodboard of the types of hair and makeup I want for the actors in my music video.

Save the Date

To make sure that I have enough people in my music video I am going to create a Facebook group event inviting and asking people to come.

The event will provide information on what it is I am doing and when the music video will take place and for how long. I will also provide information on dress code and guidelines on hair and makeup.



This is the Facebook event I created, I will add more people to the event later on once I know who is and isn't available to come.

The about section on the event says:
"Hi Guys, some of you may already know I need to make a music video for my media coursework. I am going to be using the song I Know I'm Not The Only One by Sam Smith, the theme of my music video is a wedding reception where the song is representing how the group feels and that even though he loves and has married the bride he doesn't trust her.
The Bride is going to be Emily and the Groom is going to be Charlie.
I am going to need as many of you that can come to be the guests; you will just have to act like you are at a wedding reception . The dress code is smart/formal.
Girls please wear dresses and heels.
Boys please wear suits, trousers and shirts.
This will be on Monday 20th of October from 3pm onwards.
I will give you the information on where it is and how to get there later.
If you have any questions let me know, please get back to me asap!!
THANKS GUYS

Ps. You can bring your partners and add friends to the event to come but please ask me first, the more people the better!! thank you"

Costumes

I am going to be filming my music video in one day at one location, I want my music video to represent a specific moment in time rather than at multiple locations with outfit changes over a larger period of time.

The costumes that are going to be warn my my actors are what would be expected to be warn to a wedding reception. For example this will include party and formal wear.

I am going to ask the female actors to wear dresses and heels as if they were attending a wedding reception.
I am going to ask the male actors to wear suits, shirts and smart trousers and shoes also as if they were going to a wedding reception.

The Groom in my music video is also going to be wearing a suit with smart shoes and the Bride is going to be wearing a wedding dress and heels.

Once I have finalised the actors in my music video I will ask them to send me pictures of the clothes
they are going to wear for the music video to make sure that they are what I want and suitable for the video.

Filming Location

I have thought about where I am going to film my music video, when considering the location I will think about the size of the room, the lighting and what I am going to put in the room to make it suitable for my music video.

As I have already mentioned my music video is going to be a Wedding Reception setting; because of this I am going to need a suitable location for this and that uses Mise en Scene to get across to the audience the narrative and point of the music video.

I thought about using a hall for my music video but realised that a hall would be too big and would take too much time to dress the room to make it suitable and is too big to fill with people and props.

I have decided to use a function room for my music video as it will be a suitable size for me to use allowing me to fill and dress the room with props and people making it look like a lively Wedding Reception during filming.

I will shortly upload pictures of the location I am going to be using for my music video.