SHOOT DAY

We arrived on the set of our shoot day with a rather vague idea of what we were going to do that day. We knew what we wanted to achieve but we knew we had a tough job to do in order to get there. We all arrived at 9 O’clock and we began to dress our band and do hair and makeup. We then began putting all our set together and making sure we had everything in order. We set up the swing inside our bird cage and we dressed the swing with vines and flowers in order to make our set more atmospheric. We then began setting up our camera and our lights. We then all began deciding on what roles we would each be apart of throughout the day, we decided to alternate all the different roles throughout like who was on play back, camera, lights and costume. As we all got on well within our group it showed us just how important this is in order to work well together.


We then began shooting, we began with a wide shot of the cage but this then led us to realise that the floor of the studio was effecting our shot and was not very attractive on screen, so we went to the theatre to get black material to cover the floor so it would not cause a distraction on screen. We then tried again and we started using the dry ice machine which then led to other problems, the fan was not working properly and the smoke began to fill the camera and it soon became very difficult to see what was happening we also then set off the smoke alarm all of this led to more delays. Once we had sorted out the smoke alarm and the floor we started again. We began shooting and then came to realise that the lighting was not right at all as it was causing shadows across Karis, our lead singers face. It was also too dark when she swung to the back of the cage and the too bright or too shadowed when she moved forward. We finally got everything sorted out and we began our shoot day for the third time hoping we had everything sorted out. It was now 10:30 and as we started so late it led to other problems with time management later on.


Once we had sorted out all our technical problems this gave us the freedom to continue filming and be creative with our ideas in the video. We began filming a few full wide shots, then mid shots and the close ups to make sure we had all the basics of what we need. And then we began shooting a few slow motion close ups on things such as Karis’ face her clothes and other things like her eyes or hands. Once we had a good amount of simple and slow motion shots we then began to introduce the feathers into a later part of our song. We had a cherry picker and a ladder on either side of the cage with people standing on it holding a XXXX filled with feathers, we had a person standing in front of the camera dropping feathers and then three people holding up fans and throwing the feathers in front of them making them all blow into the cage. We had to shoot this part over and over again as we had to get the feathers just right as they all had to begin to fall at the same time. This became difficult as we had so many feathers and they had been blown everywhere but all of this effort, although also very time consuming was worth it as it had a very vital and atmospheric effect on the outcome of our video.


We then began to film the rest of the band, we moved away the bird cage and set up the green screen but as we had lost a lot of vital time earlier in the day we did not have much time to film the band, we also did not have enough time to get all our green screen prepared so we decided to film the band on a black background with the same black floor as the bird cage. We only needed a few good shots of the band as we were going to inter cut the shots of the band very quickly with the bird cage sequences. But we also need the feathers so fall at the same point in the song as it had before. We had four band members, a guitarist, a drummer, a harpist and then our lead singer. We set up the band in a triangle like shape so that our lead singer was at the top of the triangle and the focus on the screen with the rest of the band members on the hot spots on the rule of thirds. We had a few good shots of our band members with the feathers and a few close ups of their instruments but as we had wasted a lot of time in the morning we had to stop filming in order to let the group that were filming in the studio the next day set up for their shoot. So we began to pack up our things and take our footage up to the edit suite. We then had to tidy up all our mess and pick up every single feather we had used, this took almost as long as our whole shoot day had!


We filmed our whole pop video using a JCV500 HD camera which gave us the best opportunity to have a very high quality video. We also used the cherry picker at times throughout our video, we used it in order to make the feathers fall from above and we used it to film a birds eye view shot from inside the cage. We knew that we wanted to use tracks in our filming as we originally wanted to start our video with a close up on Karis’ face and then track back to reveal the cage into a wide shot. We set track around the cage in order to get a 180 pan of the cage from left to right and right to left this had a good effect on a lot of our shots as it let the audience feel intermit with the shot and feel apart of the scene.


I had many shots that I loved from our shoot day but my two favourite were two of the slow motion shots we did. The first one being the shot we filmed using the cherry picker form above the cage. The shot began above Karis on the swing and it began to zoom in to her face as she spun round on the swing looking up into the camera. It was all filmed in slow motion and I think this shot really worked as it is not a normal over used shot, it is unique and I think it will keep audiences interested. The other shot that I think really worked was another slow motion shot that we filmed right at the end. This shot was a tight close up on Karis’ face with feathers blowing towards her as she moved closer to the camera and closer to the bars. This shot really works as it lets the audience feel intermit with the singer as she connects to the camera staring straight into it.
Some shots that we have come to realise that do not work are some of the close ups of the band members playing their instruments as many of them were unsure of the song or how to play the instruments. Our close ups of the instruments did not look realistic as they were not playing the same notes as the notes in the song. And this is why they do not work with the rest of our video, and as we were running out of time towards the end of the day we did not have the time we needed to perfect the filming of the band.


Overall our day went really well. Although we got off to a slow start after having wasted a lot of time sorting out some of the technical problems in the morning. Once we had got going we all worked really well and the atmosphere throughout the day was positive and energetic and I really enjoyed the whole experience as well as the bad as I have learnt from it. I think that together we have created a really good video different from anyone else’s with some really good visuals and that we all balanced each other out really well throughout the day alternating our roles as cameramen directors and everything else that needed top be done.

POP VIDEO PERMISSIONS LETTER

Head of Copyright and Legal Affairs
Universal Island Records Ltd.
22 St Peter Square
London
W6 9NW September 30th 2010


Dear Sir or Madam

We are a group of A Level students working on an A Level project for a qualification in Media Studies. We are writing to request permission to use the following track as part of this project:

‘Bird Song’ by Florence and the Machine

With your permission the track would be used as the accompaniment to a short form video that is made purely for assessment purposes and will have no commercial usage. Only members of the school community and the assessor of the examination board will view the video.

The artist and the copyright holder will of course be fully recognized in the pre-production and evaluation material that accompanies the project. We can also include a full copyright notice if required both in the planning material and on the video itself.

Yours sincerely

Sophie Evans
Hurtwood House School

An image of Amy Winewhouse, an Island Records star.

INTRODUCTION TO THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC INDUSTRY

Musical taste can differentiate depending on the person, it can be a controversial topic almost to the point of tribalism. Tribalism is contentious because people feel that it often defines or signifies their personality and lifestyle. It has become an entire culture, it’s not just about the music but the way you dress, speak or act. It gives people something to be apart of or to follow. The music industry is made up of four trans-national corporations also known as ‘the majors’, which are: Universal, Sony/BMG and EMI. Each major has a smaller subsidiary in order to reach all different kinds of target audiences or genres, much like the film industry. These are known as ‘major independents’, they have very little financial connection with the majors yet they fall under their name. The majors have well known stars and will often spend a million or more on a project whereas ‘independents’ have up and coming stars and will spend 100,00 on a project. Then there are the minis which are the category that we fall under as we have a smaller project with a smaller budget.

We all have to accept that it is a ‘dynamic tension’ that exists between the artistic and commercial forces that support the success of this vast media business. There is a tension between the organic and the synthetic. An organic band is a band that is created out of the love for the music, the music comes first and then from that a band is naturally formed. Whereas a synthetic band is a manufactured band, often created to fill a gap in the market. These bands are often very politically correct so that a wide range of audience will be able to relate to them. Our band is organic as although we have created them they were created to work with the music, the music was not created to work around a band. They also have a personality and are very accessible or approachable to their audience.

A music video is there to serve many different purposes, it promotes the band or song as well as creating a ‘star image’ for them. It also informs and entertains and reinforces, adapts or undermines the ‘meanings’ of a song. And as our music video is the first introduction that people will see to our band it is necessary to make an impact.
Our band has a relatively wide target audience as I think older generations may like the song and the video as it is not to ‘modern’ and younger audiences will all know and like the song as the band is very popular at the moment. The video can get a lot of publicity on a wider range of television as it is not offensive, it can be shown of children’s T.V as it is a very visual video and they will enjoy those aspects even if they don’t understand it whereas older audiences will understand the concept of the video and enjoy it for that reason too.

There are huge threats to the music industry and there is a danger that a pop video will become defunct and irrelevant soon, as technology develops so do the resources for things such as internet downloading of videos, manufactured programs with live feeds and music television is becoming more mainstream. Illegal downloading websites have put music artists at great risk, as a person can buy their song and then copy it to many more who have not paid for it. Artist can own different shares in their ‘empire’ yet if you are an unknown name you could own 100% of everything that is worth nothing, or if you sell to a company, 10% of something. But if you sell to a huge company, such as one of the majors you can own 3% of a lot. Which are what many artists are doing, they then create their own brand of things or an ‘empire’ from there music which was their starting point. Victoria Beckham is an example of a woman who had a successful music carrier but now has brands of many things, like clothes and perfumes and has used her status from her previous singing carrier to get her there.

CALL SHEET

A call sheet is the film makers 'Bible' for the day. The crew will constantly be referring to it throughout the day as it has everything that is vital for the production to continue and move forward.






CALL SHEET

BIRD SONG MONDAY 8th NOVEMBER
GABBY MEECH
HEATHER SCHREUDER
SOPHIE EVANS

Contents

1. Production Team Page 2. Cast List Page 3. Equipment List 4. Studio Set Plan 5. Lighting 6.Props 7. Wardrobe 8. Schedule for the day 9. Storyboard 10. Song Lyrics 11. Shot List

Production Team
Heather Schreuder -07745096963
Gabby Meech -07866792821
Sophie Evans -07500775738

Cast List
Karis Arghiros Lead Singer
Tom Warhurst Drums
Freddie Eastham Guitar
Sophie Loughridge Harp


Equipment List Cameras: Sony PDI 50 JVC1500E
Tracking rails
Dolly
Smoke machine
Studio Set Plan
Human size bird cage
Swing inside the cage
Lighting Bird cage set: Warm colours and simple three point lighting.
Band set: bars across them as though shadowed by the bird cage.

Props :
What the school is providing:
Swing Bird Cage Guitar Drums Harp
What we are providing:
Vines & Flowers Feathers Old Microphone

Wardrobe Pretty Dress for main girl Shirt or tee shirts and jeans for other band members with accessories such as head bands necklaces and bracelets.


Lyrics

"Bird Song"

Well I didn't tell anyone, but a bird flew by.
Saw what I'd done. He set up a nest outside,
and he sang about what I'd become.
He sang so loud, sang so clear.
I was afraid all the neighbours would hear,
So I invited him in, just to reason with him.
I promised I wouldn't do it again.

But he sang louder and louder inside the house,
And no I couldn't get him out.
So I trapped him under a cardboard box.
stood on it to make him stop.
I picked up the bird and above the din I said
"That's the last song you'll ever sing".
Held him down, broke his neck,
Taught him a lesson he wouldn't forget.

But in my dreams began to creep
that old familiar tweet tweet tweet

I opened my mouth to scream and shout,
I waved my arms and flapped about.
But I couldn't scream and I couldn't shout,
couldn't scream and I couldn't shout.

I opened my mouth to scream and shout
waved my arms and flapped about
But I couldn't scream I couldn't shout,
The song was coming from my mouth.
From my mouth, X15


Schedule Morning 9:00-11:00 : Karis in the bird cage 11:00- 11:15 - Break 11:15 - 1 :00 : Proceed shooting Karis Afternoon 2:00 - 4:00: Shooting the band 4:00 - 4:15 - Break 4:15 - 6:00 : Proceed shooting the band
Shot List Camera angle 1 (tracking shot outwards): shot 1
Camera angle 2 (front without bars): 2, 11, 17, 12, 26, 15
Camera angle 3 (harp) : 3, 8
Camera angle 4(guitar) : 6, 9, 37, 35
Camera angle 5(Drums) : 5, 10, 38, 40
Camera angle 4 (feathers on their own) : 16, 33
Camera angle 5 (face shots of people and lond shot of band moving around) : 18, 19, 20, 21 22, 23, 24, 25
Camera angle 6 (Front on with bars): 29, 32, 31, 34, 39, 41, 43, 47
Camera angle 7 (Side with bars): 27, 28, 30, 36, 45, 48 Camera angle 8 (cat) : 42, 44, 46, 48
Camera angle 9 (feather falling): 49

SET BUILD AND LIGHTING DESIGN

SET BUILD AND LIGHTING DESIGN


Although our music video will all be shot in the studio, we need to design an entire human size bird cage. Once we had our meeting with Dan about our ideas and we had settled on the idea of the bird cage we had to get to work making it and helping to design it. We have got a lot of our ideas for the set from the 1992 Coco Channel advert that was set in Paris.

This is our studio and Lighting plan combined.

We also want a swing in our set that our lead singer will be on, much like a bird swing in a cage. We will decorate it with vines and flowers to add more atmosphere and make it more visual to the audience. We will also have some band sequences which will be shot in front of green screen and we will then later in post production, edit in a very out of focus living room, so it looks as though they are all in the bird cage in the living room.

For our lighting design we want to use a lot of warm lighting in order to create a homely feel and create the gold atmosphere of the lighting reflecting off the gold bars of the cage. This lighting will also give our white feathers a gold like tint to them.