Filming my music video

Filming

Location (setting)

         

Using my garage as the place to shoot the video meant a number of aspects to consider, for example how to clear the garage and make it a completely ‘white room’. When creating the ‘set’ for my music video I got A1 pieces of card and placed them over the walls and inside of the garage door in order to create what looks like a completely white ‘background’/’room’. The images above show the set before and after shooting my music video throughout the duration of two days. 

àCreating the set was not easy. Putting up A1 pieces of card over three walls became challenging in that the set was very ‘fragile’ and if knocked could potentially fall down. Putting up the card itself was difficult as there wasn’t a lot for the card to actually ‘stick onto’, meaning I had to hang/attach the card and hang it from the ceiling (creating the card ‘walls’ before actually attaching them to the walls within the garage to create the ‘white room’).

This image shows a more clearer view of the garage after the shooting for my music video, the use of white card as the white ‘walls’/’background’ meant that powder paint stayed on it when being hit-adding to the overall effect of the video/filming (shots) as the two days progressed-meaning that within the video the shots will become more ‘colourful’/’expressive’ as it comes to an end (developing in colour from the start). Having powder paint on the white background means that the overall expressive feel of the video will be shown/enforced more effectively, the white background also allowing the powder paint to stand out more, whether on the cast or when throwing powder paint (for example), allowing the use of special effects such as fast-forwarding to become more visually effective.

Filming//The shoot

When shooting I ensured that the cast (specifically when shooting the shots of my artist ‘Luna’) that they were positioned specifically in front of one of the white walls, meaning that the A1 card wasn’t as visible (especially on the corners of the garage). This meant/means that the video will look more professional, the background looking more ‘block’ than as if it’s made out of pieces of card.

I also found that having three walls meant that when filming had finished on day one the use of powder paint at the end of the first day didn’t affect my filming of my artist on the second day of filming. This is because the powder paint only went slightly one two of the walls, meaning that the white wall was used for the shots of my artist (without the backing cast or use of powder paint). This meant that the contrast between the powder paint shots and of my artist is very effective, the difference in background (colour), use of powder paint and her costume (mise-en-scene) meaning a clear distinction throughout the video of the different shots.

^The above image shows how the use of the white background was used when filming the shots of my main artist, the use of three walls allowing this to become a lot more achievable. I particularly like the way the shots/scenes of powder paint and of my artist alone contrast, meaning it looks both more professional and becomes more like a ‘real’ music video. My artist is also shown in two different ways, the single shots of her lip-singing allowing an almost more personal feel of her personality and the powder paint scenes where she is involved showing her more creative, expressive and ‘fun’ side when both interacting the backing cast and singly as a artist/brand.

^The images above show me filming shots where more than one of the cast is involved. When filming I ensured that camera was kept steady by using a tripod and ensured that when using powder paint I had a high shutter speed-meaning that it would capture the powder paint more effectively. This also means that when using post production effects, the use of slow-motion (etc.) will be a lot visually effective.

When filming using powder paint I used a plastic sheet in order to protect the camera I used. This can be seen in the image above. When filming and using powder paint I had to keep a slight distance meaning that the use of zoom was used throughout filming. I kept fairly far back from the use of powder paint (especially when being thrown) as it would both effect the camera but also the quality of the shot. The image above is an example of the closest distance I went to a member of the video’s cast when filming and powder paint was being thrown at them (within the shot). 

^The image above shows both my specific shot breakdowns for members of the cast, the days I filmed on and the time of day in which I filmed and myself jotting down ideas as the filming went on. This mean that if I had an idea while filming my specific shots (working through my shot breakdowns) I could write it down and shoot the specific shot/idea later on. This happened frequently as I found that when actually using the powder paint a lot more ideas became more ‘able’ as I began to explore/realise what could be achieved with the use of powder paint and what looked most effective.

I created specific shot breakdowns like the ones above as I found it easier to follow and allowed me to make sure that I would get all the specific (planned) shots filmed. This also meant that the specific cast members had an idea of what was expected of them, giving each of them a copy of their shot breakdown allowing them to both get a ‘feel’ of the video and be more able on ‘set’.

 The use of Powder Paint

This image shows the variety of colours of powder paint I used within the video. Having two pots of each colour meant that I both had a wide enough variety and enough in general for the filming over the course of two days. Including a large variety of colours meant that when filming the use of powder paint as a prop and main aspect of the video was more visually effective.

àI found that splitting the powder paint between the two days was a lot easier when working through the specific shots I would shoot on each day meaning a rough idea of how much powder paint I needed was a lot more manageable. I also ensured that I had enough powder paint for my photography, the image above showing that I kept behind two shades of blue and purple to use within my photography of my artist (can be seen in my digipak designs easier in my blog). I was very conscious of the fact I had to do my photography after the filming which meant I did this before dividing the bulk amount of powder paint between the two days of filming.

The Cast//using Powder Paint

 

Above shows my cast members (Ellie, Jade//Luna and my couple-Zoe and Ben) after filming, giving a sense of the part in which powder paint played in the filming of my video-becoming a critical aspect of the video (other than the single shots/filming of my artist ‘Luna). The two images above (single images of Ellie and Jade//Luna) allow me to see that my photography will be possible-wanting to focus mainly on Jade/my artist's face/upper body and the use of powder paint.