Final Location Choices

For our music video it was decided to use two separate locations; the fields across the road from College leading over to Bishopthorpe, and a photography studio within College, for the white backdrop, studio effect for the video. The use of opposites adds to the originality of the Indie music genre; other genres such as rock or pop tend to stick within the guidelines of similar sets to create continuity.


Unfortunately due to time constraints, there was no availability to shoot in the Photography Studio at College, however our Media Studies tutor suggested a white blank bed sheet, to create the similar style of a white backdrop. We knew this wouldn't give the same aesthetic for the video as a white studio would, but there was unfortunately no other option. This change in 'location' meant the lighting would have to br brighter, to compensate for the lack of white studio lighting.

Initial Digipak Ideas

In addition to the music video, we needed to make a digipak and album advert as ancillary texts, to accompany the main media product.
The digipak was mind mapped and initial sketches were made, into a four- sided case. This would be to include the album CD and an exclusive DVD on the two inside sleeves. The two outside sleeves would include the digipak cover of the band, either album art or photograph taken from the video, to assert continuity across the separate media texts, as well as the track listing on the back cover.

Our earlier research into digipaks within the Indie genre, showed a very illustrative and 'hand drawn' art, usually produced by Graphic Tablets. Our research into the band Foals, from which we used their song "Cassius", explained that a close friend had drawn all of the band's album artworks to date.

Below are initial sketches and ideas drawn for the plans of the digpak.



Final Shooting Schedule

To create the finalised shooting schedules, the group added contact details of both cast and crew, for emergency purposes. We also created a more detailed time plan, creating organisation and a shedule to keep to. Locations, cast and crew options, and resources were added as well. This gives everyone an overview of what will be shot, when, where, who will be involved and the props needed.

Initial Shooting Schedule

Below is a shooting schedule; it explains what the group will be doing over the two days of filming, inclusive of actors, locations and props needed.
Due to the short time frame to film our music video, we have decided that the two days will be separated in the sense that all filming with the three male actors will be shot on the first day, then all prop work including stop motion shots will be filmed on the second day. It is important to film the boys first as they will need the most direction and instruction; we will need to explain what we want them to do and what will happen in the frame.

Shot Lists

Below is a list of 116 proposed shots for the filming of the music video. Shot lists are used within the media industry to document and create organisation; they allow planning and production teams to stick to schedules and track where they are up to within the filming of music videos. The purpose was exactly the same for us; as we only have two days to film it is important that we know what type of shots we need. We wrote down the framing of the shot, what the camera would be shooting and how many of each frame we would need.

The shot lists are created to provide structure, however not all shots will be filmed in this particular order. A shooting schedule will be created to allow the day to be used entirely, rather than wasting time and daylight (especially when shooting outside) changing from one frame to another.  ABBREVIATIONS:
"   ": written under a sentence, means as above.
M/Mid: Medium Shot.
ECU/ Ex Close Up: Extreme Close Up

Props/ Locations/ Actors

To create a realistic and authentic music video for our chosen song, we would need quirky and eccentric props; this was found in our Indie music video research, and is a particularly similar style to the band Foals, where the song has been taken from. Through storyboarding, we decided to use multiple props within shots as well as single prop shots; we would need to collect a large, varying spectrum of props to allow for a genuine looking video. The use of stop motion along with video footage will create an interesting and aesthetically enjoyable video for the audience; it will hopefully keep them tentative to the plot and hooked as they watch. Instruments were decided as the foundation for a props list; our research into typical audience needs and wants for a video found that the majority of bands use live and studio based performances with their instruments, such as guitars, basses, drums, keyboards and amps.

As a group, we listed ideas for props we could each bring in; although we want to create a genuine and authentic video, we however do not have a large sum budget to work with. Below is a list of the props we would be able to use incorporated within the music video, and that would fit into the eccentricity of the Indie music genre.

We decided to use kinetic props that the band would be able to work and play with. Also featured would be musical props of 2 guitars and drumsticks; within the storyboarding we decided to not use a full drum kit, but to have the quirkiness of just the drumsticks. This still keeps the live musical aspect amongst the video, but as in many other videos, gives a sense of abstract realism, allowing the audience to think about the drumkit rather than it being a literal tool.
The use of spray paint and glitter gives colour to the video, a highly important factor. As the chosen song is very upbeat and fast paced, it was important to create an engergetic vibe across the screen. The band would also be able to interact with the props as well, rather than simply having shots of props then shots of the band.

The locations for the video have also been considered; due to the use of spray cans and paints, it was an obvious choice to shoot in an outdoors location. It would therefore make sense for a section of the video to be filmed outside, to create contintuity and cohesion within the plot. As well as an outdoor location, the use of a white background or studio is a key element; the colourful props would be lost within a coloured, busy background and therefore pop out and catch audience attention. The choice of mulitple locations was taken from the research into Indie band videos; it is considered the norm to include various locations to create interest, and also more simply, to make the video look better. However more particularly within the Indie genre, bands are increasingly using plain white studios or backgrounds, allowing the personas of the bands themselves to carry their own "colourful" characters over the screen.

The results of our online questionnaire as well as existing video research showed us that we would need to use boys as actors for the band members. Of the 9 bands researched, none contained female members. This is emerging as a generic factor within newer, upcoming Indie bands; there are few females seen within Indie bands; our research pointed in this direction too. 

The actors we would be looking for, would ideally already wear labels such as Topman, H&M and vintage clothes, to fit with the stereotypical style of a male Indie boy or fan (see stereotypical Indie fan below). This again correlates with pre existing music videos and our own research into band members.

Storyboarding

We began storyboarding for the music video straight after the initial plans were sketched out, as we knew the elements needed to be used within the frames. Our earlier audience researched showed that we wouldn't need to base our video around a specific storyline; over 74% answered that they didn't prefer a story based script within an Indie music video.

As part of the requirements for the coursework, we need to have at least a three minute video; due to the fast paced tempo of the chosen song, we realised we would need to create a large amount of clips and stop motion to fill the time frame. In correlation to the original Cassius video however, we found that the style of video falls heavily on repetition and similar shots, therefore already increasing the fill of the given time.

Taking all of this into consideration, especially with the stop motion, we knew that on the filming days, a large amount of still photographs would need to be taken in order to fill even a 10 second frame. This is due to the editing afterwards; we know that to create an effective stop motion scene the images would need to be run at a very high speed to allow for continuity.

Below are two slideshows of the frames we have sketched out for the storyboard planning.

Storyboards

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Storyboards

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