Story Of The Pop Shoot Day

For the pop shoot day on Monday 22nd November, our group all met in the studio to discuss the days plan. Whilst the lighting team set up the appropiate lighting from our lighting plan we all collaborated with Luc and talked about the initial idea that we were going to do and what was needed from each group member. I voluntered myself to do the play back, which is when you get the music to the right time frame depending on the shot, i had to say ' playback in 3,2,1' then start the music. Whilst waiting for the band to arrive we then started to set up the set, adding chairs and props where needed. Once the band had arrived we then directed them to an appropiate place for them to get changed and make-up done. The band brought along there own clothes and make-up artist which made the day alot smoother for the band and us. The roles that each production group memeber had was divided and shared between us all.. because our set was closed of due to the way of shooting, only one member of our group was allowed into the set whist the other 3 either did playback, photography or lookig after the bands belongings. For a majority of the day me and Josh Gorman shared the roles of playback and photography and Ben Norris and Josh Jackson shared the role of filming and 'watch out', although we did all in turn get to help out with shooting, these were the main roles of each. The cameras that we used was Sony NX5 with a wide angle lense. Throughout the performacne we didnt do any tracking shots as our camera was spinning in circles, as to subvert the stereotypical image of a music video. Doing this process was quite hard, but the overall outcome of it was very interesting to watch. After this we established fixed positions for the band members under the five pools (spots) of light surrounding the camera, and used electrical green tape to mark these positions. We ran a brief test run with members of the crew whilst standing in the markers to identify any problems with the camera and to see if the spots that we had allocated would work. Once all of this was finalised and ready we then did the following

• Shot a wide of the whole band, whole song. We then repeated this but got the band members to move around behind the camera and switched positions so that when the camera had done a 360° rotation - there was someone else in the same position. This proved fairly difficult as sometimes people weren’t in position before the camera reached them again or they had not stuck to the markers and were not in sufficient light.


• Shot of the whole band, mid shot


• Close-Up of whole band/whole song


• Fiddle Player


• Guitarist


• Banjo


• Lead Singer


• Introduced the Jukebox with the band playing in front of it


• Shot mid of whole band, whole song


• For the final shot, we constructed a raised stage and hung stage like lights that flashed consecutively above, and positioned cinema like seats in front with extras sat in them to simulate a ‘gig’ atmosphere. Problems that we cencountered on the day were things such as, playback timing. Sometimes we needed to change the timing of the playback, i.e instead of playing the track from the begining, t needed to be from 2:35 etc. . in order for us to get the right shot. Other problems that we encountered were that only one of our group memebers was allowed into the set to shoot, whilst the others had to stay outside in order for the shots to be done easily. Other problems were that the band was slightly late which therefore meant that we had to wait a little bit longer and also p[ossibly shoot later in the day than initially expected.

Shots that i felt worked were the final shot with the band playing and an audience looking up atthem and also the shots of the 'bar' to give it a more reaslistic approach. It fitted very well with the music, as there is a feeling of movement throughout the song.

Another shot or sequence that i felt worked well, was the close up shots of the various band members and instruments, as they are not conventional 'band' instruments, including a banjo, fiddle and a double bass. Due to the song being rather fast paced, it meant that the shots were very tight and the image it brought of was very successfull.

A shot that maybe didnt work as well was the close-ups when on the stage and also some of the close-ups of the double bass as well, for me wernt as succesfful as the others as some of the shots were shaky and also slightly out of range , as you could only see someof what was actually being played. And i think if we did this another time then i would change that.

Overall i was very happy how the day went, the band were alot of fun to work with. The overall feel before the day was quite hesitant due to use loosing our initial location a week befoe, we were slightly worried about thisidea and outcome, but having said that the day couldnt haver gone better.

‘The structure of the music industry & how my pop video fits in”

Musical taste can be a controversial topic, almost at the point of tribalism. Music is at the epicentre of culture. Not only to the extent that an individual can derive a sense of identity, but also that music can completely change a global community. It is continuous because not only does it define personality, lifestyle and popularity, but also signifies it as well. However all commentators agree that music has its trends, from social groups i.e. Goths, Jocks, Dancers and Politicians to people more influenced by other forms of music, they all have a link between them. Some critics believe that music and industry are in many ways incompatible term, this could be because it Is seen as industry V art, and that a lot of today’s music is commercial and not from proper ‘ethnic’ backgrounds. They want artists to have to work for the job/talent that they have rather that just being given it in a sense.

It is the dynamic tension that exists between the artistic and commercial forces of underpinning the success of this vast media business. It can be seen as a tension between the organic and synthetic e.g. the band that our group is doing ‘Toy Hearts’ is an organic band because they are ordinary people, wear there own clothes whilst performing or shooting a music video and an ‘On your own’ band, whereas bands such as spice girls and girls aloud are synthetic because they have been ‘manufactured’ chosen because not only there vocal ability but also there image i.e. height, weight, hair, colour etc.. As well there are TV shows that show such qualities such as Simon Cowles ‘X Factor’.
Another feature to consider is the music industry synthetic connections with other media alliances, such as with our band we would ideally like them to perform on Jules Holland, although this is possibly not as realistic, it is something that we would probably aim for.

Although the pop video is only one strand of an often multimedia campaign, it is also a very important factor to consider from an image and marketing point of view. This is when we use the likes of synergy.
Within the music industry there are also different trans national corporations such as
• Universal
• Sony/BMG
• Warner Bros
• EMI

These are known as MAJORS, these are the companies that will support/sign big bands such as Rhianna, Take That, Eminem and Miley Cyrus. They will be willing to spend more on marketing and more on the production of their music video. Spending up to £/$500 million on one shoot. Most of these ‘Majors’ own a licence of a string of smaller subsidiary companies in order to explore different kinds of audiences in different kinds of genres.
These would be called ‘Major Independents’. These would spend money but not as much as ‘Majors’ maximum being about $/£50,00 and would include artists such as Lilly Allen, Amy Winehouse and Mumford and Sons. Finally there are a huge number of small companies with little or no financial connection to the majors, and these would often focus on a small number of artists, within specialised niches in the industry. These are called ‘ Independants’

The industry as a whole has a complex relationship with a number of different media purposes,
• Radio
• TV
• Print Media (Newspapers, Magazines etc …)
• Film
• New Media (youtube.com etc …)

This is the idea of selling the band, marketing it so well that everyone wants a ‘piece’ of it. Brand of the Band . This idea would look at the process of synergy and symbiosis, synergy looking at the energy between different medias and symbiosis looking at how to establish a band that is true.

Current threats to the music videos of today are things such as
• Internet- Downloading
• Manufactured programmes with live feeds where it woukd be a live stream of a concert and member of the public would pay a sum of money such as £10 to watch.
• Music television becoming more mainstream such as MTV

But to us this puts us at an advantage, where we are getting to listen and watch are favourite bands for free or for a smaller sum of money that paying them directly. Although this is a real strain on the music industry to make money, especially with programmes such as dirpy.com and limewire.#



Miley Cyrus projects her image -

CALL SHEET IMAGES

These are some scanned images of our call sheet -

CALL SHEET

The call sheet is the most vital thing in the whole production of a music video. It has every peice of information in the pack possibly needed. It helps the production team and cast members know what will happen on the day and is also good for any information that the group will need to refer to. Each memebr of a group and cast as well as the production managment team gets a copy of the call sheet.

The contents of the call sheet is -

1. Title Page (Name of song, date of shoot, names of production group)


2. Contents Page


3. Production Team


4. Cast List


5. Equipment List


6. Studio Set Plan


7. Set Desin


8. Lighting


9. Props


10. Wardrobe


11. Lyrics


12. Schedule


13. Shot List

Attached are scanned images of our groups call sheet -

AFTER DISCUSSIONS WITH THE BAND

After having feedback from the band via email, they told us some music veidos that they particulary liked and were inspired by for there pop video. One of which was Mumford And Sons song Little Lion Man.

Above are the set design and lighting design plans that we developed to go with our ideas, and the groups idesas for the pop video. These plans tried to give the director and camera man a solid idea of a physical layout that we need to make the pop video work.





We then got an idea of what kind of set the band would like, this lead us to look at places such as.

Unfortunattly, as with the other places there was no success as stated in previous blogs.
We therefore discussed, with 'Dan' a professional set design technician, pottentially recreating a similar 'feel' with our studio. We played him the song so that he could get an idea of what it was about and the overall feel of the atmosphere. He offered us the idea of buying to scale plastic moulds, cast in recogniseable theatre architecture such as columns, which we could paint and dress the set with. He agreed with our lighting plan, and although we were making a steadily progress, we all knew we would not be able to achieve what we could with the location. Luckily, there was good news from Dan a couple of days later, that he had found a lactaion and was free of charge and just what we were looking for.

CAMERA TEST- TOY HEARTS

A camera test is a run of the band playing in order for us to see if they will 'look good' on camera and to give the director and producers clarification as to whether the video has been corectly cast.

For our pop viodeo we are lucky to be shooting a 'real' pop band, instead of us having students to mime the lyrics for a song we have a band with the bands song. We will be producing a music video for there new song 'This Little Kitty'

we have found performance and promo, images and videos of the band.

NEW LOCATION

Location is one of the main important things to consider when making video of any kind.
Without the location you wouldnt be able to make a video, so the importance is pretty basic.

The group contacted a number of possible locations,however this was more difficult than we had anticipated. For a start the date was an issue for us as many places weren't available for that date, due to this we encounterd a number of problems. Another problem that we encounterd was the cost, where we would have to make a settlement for location we needed.
We also found that some locations were not willing to let us use the location due to our status as students rather than big production companies in which could promote them as a business.

Below is a list of locations we contacted, all of which turned our request down:

Wilton's Music Hall, London


The Barn Theatre, Oxted


The King's Theatre, Southsea


New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth


Cranleigh Arts Centre, Cranleigh



Here is a copy of an email in which we wrote to The Barn Theatre, Oxted:




To Whom It May Concern,

I am a student from a sixth form college in Surrey and am studying Media A2 level. For our coursework in the A2 year we are required to shoot a pop video, for our video we are shooting a band called They Toy Hearts who are an up and coming band who have just got home from touring in America. I am working in a production team of four people in total. I have visited the Barn Theatre recently to watch The Happiest Days Of Your Life and really liekd the look of the theatre and think it would look really good in our video. We would like to shoot the video on the 22nd November for a whole day. I would just like to know how much it would cost and what conditions you have. A quick response would be greatly appreciated so we can make alternative arrangements if necessary.

Thanks
Josh Gorman

We did however, eventually gain access to a good location named Grange Park. We got access to this through our Lighting Director, who works for them several months of the year in the opera house. Grange Park is located just outside of Winchester in a rural area. It is an old grand house with a derelict interior,t his is exactually the location that we were looking for to shoot in. The exterior of the house looks very typically English, which in a way is subverting the image of the band. We are visiting the location on the 5th November.

Here are some exteriror shots of Grange Park

SET DESIGN PLAN

Set designs are also important for the set designer, it allows them to see what is going to be feathured in the set and how many (if needed) flats we would need, spacing. It also shows the props and layout so they can see what they need to do and what we need to do as well as getting an overall feel of what we as a group are going to do.

When drawing the set plan we had to go into alot of detail, it proved to be quite a challange for us as each individual thought of differnt things. We drew the props that we would need, the look/feel that we were trying to portray and the places of all the band members when performing.
We had to be very articulate about where the band members would be placed and whether when shooting a long shot, that they would be seen. We created a brief about what else may be included in the set and possible props that we may have needed. We also needed to state what kind of mood we wanted to create and what kind of feeling we wanted to be portrayed.

Unfortunately, because our locations kept changing due to accessibility and other external factors we did several set design plans. But attached is a copy of our final design.

LIGHTING PLAN

A lighting plan , like anyother plan is vital to the team. It shows the set designer what lighting is appropiate for the shoot and how its going to light up the bands face. It also shows the arrangment and location of the lights so the design team know where to place which light where. it is vital becuase of external and internal shots, for outside there might be daylight or a strong light at night, whereas in a studio it would purely have to be conventinal light.


Due to our group changing the location quite frequently this presented us with some issues as to what lighting plan should be made, to either do one for each location that we had thougth of our one for our inital idea.

our lighting will be either low key or high key. it may have different effects such as a red tint or silhouetted. In our music video we wanted a low key lighting style, to create a more seductive but also edgy look, this could be portrayed by a red tint to it. This means we will need tints on the redheads we use. For our video in the studio we were thinking if using 3 redheads in the form of a flood, spot and fill. We also plan to silhouette the other 2 members of the band. and the idea of placing spotlights on the female members of the band to illuminate adn hightlight their faces as they are more aestetically pleasing and look attractive on screen.

Attached is a copy of our lighting plan