R&P Post 32: Test shoot and rough edit

Our test shoot schedule - our slots are in yellow

Myself and Will (my actor) on set 

A take of my solo

Us posing with our male actors - red flood lighting 

Our Test Edit

What we learnt from our test shoot and rough edit:

• It is important to be organised and follow a clear schedule. Occasionally we would make things up as we go along and not follow the shoot-board we had created. A coherent and concise layout of our planned shots and times would be better to have on set so we can ensure we are getting the shots we need. We should allocate time to put a good shoot-board together.  
• We must not waste time. In hindsight, we were probably not as productive as we could have been sometimes e.g. we would wait around for everyone to finish make up. Next time, if there is a similar situation, whoever is not doing anything should find something to do, whether it is sorting out the lighting for the following shoot or setting up the camera.
• We need to start deciding on/making our different backdrops. After watching the studio rushes from the test shoot and the rough edit, it was not hard to see that the majority of scenes had a white backdrop, making the video look slightly dull and less professional. Although we are planning on having a variety of backdrops for the real shoot, we did not have them ready for the test shoot. This was a reminder that we need to start making our backdrops and planning how we want our set to look for the real thing.
• We must communicate with our actors. The feedback from actors on set was that sometimes thy were not sure what they had to do. We need to give them clear instructions and better direction to avoid this next time.
• Punctuality. There was an instance where an actor was late and unfortunately it set back the shooting times a bit. For the real shoot we need to make sure as a group that we are always on time so that others are not waiting around and so it doesn't affect any production plans.
• We should work on our performance. Due to only having created the routine the previous week, our choreography was not perfect, and this is the same for our individual performances. Between now and the real shoot, we must work on synchronizing our choreography and individually work on our facial expressions.
• We need clear concepts for all our scenes. The rough edit showed that our dinner table scene was not up to scratch. We need to work out how to make this scene look better and more realistic and also what camera angles to use. 

R&P Post 31: My Call Sheet

A section from our Monday call sheet

A section from our Tuesday call sheet

Key features:

Crew call: This is the time we are all supposed to get there so we can start getting ready before the shoot
Make-up: This was so we had enough time to do our make-up before filming
On set time: This was the time by which all our preparation for the shoot had to be finished by
Break/Lunch: This was our allocated time for resting/getting fresh air/eating lunch
Tech call: This was so that we could get the equipment and set ready for our shoot
Finish filming.tidy up: We needed to leave time so that we could tidy up and then finally go home

The call sheet is important as it ensures that only the people that need to be there are called so that others are not waiting around. This was useful when we needed to use our male actors as it meant there was never a time when they were waiting around doing nothing. Overall, the call sheet was very helpful for our organisation.

R&P Post 30: My Shoot-board

A section of our shoot-board from our test shoot 

Why the shoot-board was useful:

• It told us what camera angles we needed for the shots which helped the camera operator
• It had planned shooting times that we needed to aim for, making the shoot more efficient 
• It acted essentially as a diary for the group as our school timetable and lessons were factored into it i.e. it would say 'Monica and Angela leave for lessons' 
• It had a description of the set up, allowing whoever is free to get the set and any equipment required ready
• It allowed Emma, our technician to know what we were doing and when which was useful for her 

R+P Post 29: Rehearsals

Rehearsal Schedule

We thought our rehearsal week should prioritise creating and learning a dance routine to the chorus and sorting out our various lighting set ups. The dance routine is extremely important to our music video, as it allows us to follow girl band conventions and give us a professional image.

Angela and I in the Seaward studio for a dance rehearsal

Gift and Thakshana performing our dance routine for the camera in a rehearsal session 

My group testing out the lighting

We would often watch the above video to warm up before we started rehearsing and also to inspire some of our dance moves. 

This choreography video was one of my favourites and had some good moves that we could use if we slowed them down and simplified them

We wanted our video to incorporate street/hip-hop dance moved to correspond to our street image. It makes our band more interesting as it means we can dance as well as sing. This is important for a girl band and it is a common convention, for example, below is a GIF from 'Don't Cha' by The Pussycat Dolls:

The schedule was very helpful as it allowed us to be organised throughout the week and know exactly how much time we could allocate for learning the routine/setting up our lighting. Organising a rehearsal week in general was beneficial to the pre-production stages of our task. It meant we could create dance moves to be incorporated into our video, test out our ideas regarding lighting and see if they worked or not and to see if everything we had come up with so far (performance, lighting) looked good together.

R&P Post 28: My Kit List

 

The camera that we used to film our music video was a Canon 5D Mark II. The quality of footage was incredible and it was not too heavy. I really enjoyed using this. We were able to easily attach it to a tripod for static shots or transfer it to the dolly for freer movement. As it was not too heavy, we could also hold it by hand and do handheld shots. Finally, we were able to change the lens of the camera depending on what we wanted to achieve. We flicked between two - a slow-mo lens and a regular one. The slow-mo one allowed us to distort images and was better at capturing light. 

Lighting desk

This was extremely helpful throughout the process. We could control all the lights in the studio and even the blinds which was beneficial for 99% of our shots. It was also extremely helpful as we could choose different colours which was essential as the majority of scenes in our video does not have normal light in order to fit in with the red themes.

Turret light (centre) and floor light (far right)

Two very useful lights that we used can be seen above; the Turret light and the floor light.
Turret light: this allowed us to create our spotlights, which we could spot or flood to our satisfaction. By clipping half a red filter sheet to the front, we were further able to get the half-red effect that we wanted. We could also loosen the light and move it, which enabled us to film the spotlight moving.
Floor light: this was very useful in adding light to the set when the studio lights were not able to do the job. It was very useful to adjust the height as it meant we could get the best lighting for each shot. For example, for Angela's shot it needed to be high and tilted but from a distance so that all of her could be lit.

Music desk 

This was so useful throughout our shoot. The Macbook had iTunes on it and so we were able to play our song on it. The sound was great thanks to the studio sound system being connected to it. This was good in different ways. It meant we could adjust the sound to a greater level than any computer could. It also meant that we could hear the song while we performed and finally, in case we were shy it meant that no one would hear our terrible singing if it was on really loud.

Television

We were able to connect the camera to the TV which was helpful as it meant everyone on set could see how we looked on the camera and so we could have a say too, not just the camera operator. However, at times it was distracting as we looked at the television rather than the camera.

R+P Post 27: Casting

• As our group consists of four, ethnically diverse teenage girls, we decided that it would not only be easier to cast ourselves but also that it would tie in with our street image.
• For our video, we wanted to portray the theme of passion and female dominance and so we thought it would be good to assign each member of our band with a male actor to entice in the video
• We thought it would be easiest to use guys in our year at school. Originally we wanted them to be ethnically diverse (like our girl band) but due to this not particularly being the case in our year at school and the fact that we could not afford to be fussy, we asked as many boys we knew as possible and were able to get three.
• From school we have cast: Eddie, Mario and William. Thakshaana knew someone outside of school who she thought would be good for it and he was happy to do this so this led to us casting Aaron as one of the males too.

I asked Will to be my actor 

R+P Post 26: Set Design, Locations and Props

Our music video will be a studio based shoot. This is very convenient as it can be shot in the studio of our school, saving time and money. Also it means we can have a range of different set ups, which can be seen below.

1. Panel backdrop

When researching backdrops, I found this image and I really liked how sophisticated the set up looks with the panel. The lighting in the image above would tie in well with our 'red' theme as an orange-red colour is produced. We want to try and re-create this for our video as a background for one of our group performance shots as it has a clear visual appeal. We will make this ourselves by placing floor lights with red filters over them behind the panel, which will be made of white fabric, Gaffa tape and cardboard. The colour should match the overall red theme of our video, as it will hopefully look like a soft orange/red.

Pictures of us making the panel

2. Industrial, graffiti set up

The Script ft Will.i.am - Hall of Fame

In order to tie in with our urban, street image we really wanted a set up which incorporated these themes. The music video above would be an ideal setting as it really incorporates the image that we are trying to achieve with our band. We have decided, therefore, to have an industrial theme for one of our set ups and we will reinforce this by having D4MES in graffiti on the wall and more information on this can be seen below. This will make both our video and the band look really cool. We know that similar looks have been achieved at our school and so we can make use of the equipment that our school has, such as the scaffolding and the ladder.

More information about the  graffiti....

This is the backdrop that will really bring out our street image. We will use this for group shots but also for individual shots. We have put a lot of effort into this as we designed and made it ourselves. It was a complicated process as we had to stick and re-stick different parts of the original card board onto the sheet so that it would be perfectly stenciled:

We first spray painted the shadow in silver

Finally we went over the outline of the letters in black paint

Then we spray painted the letters in purple and the '4' in red

3. White lighting

Swedish House Mafia ft Tinie Tempah - Miami 2 Ibiza 

We don't want to use white lighting for too many shots but we think it would suit our beauty shots where we don't sing and just look and gesture to the camera. The gif above of Tinie Tempah in 'Miami 2 Ibiza' demonstrates the effect of having white lighting; it makes him stand out and gives him a certain limelight, this moment to look cool in front of the camera. We will use it for similar reasons; we want to allow each member of the band to have their individual beauty shots to highlight that everyone has different personalities and we also want to allow each member to show their fun side to the audience. It is good too stay safe with a plain background but it is also good for variety and depicting the facial expressions of the band, as we will use it for close ups of each member.

4. Individual spotlight

Neon Jungle - Trouble

We want a tension building, dramatic opening and introduction in our video. The spotlight from the video above allows this vision to be achieved as it gradually shows each member's face, as if their identity is being revealed. We think that if we did this, it would build up anticipation for the audience and give us a proper, debut introduction. However, we want to the light to be half red (by adding a red filter) to correspond to our red theme.

5. Laser/strobe backdrop

Flo Rida ft David Guetta - Club Can't Handle Me

Strobe and laser set ups are exciting and great for party scenes. Although we don't have a party scene, we do have an energetic chorus and we are always dancing in it. In the video above, it creates and exciting, youthful atmosphere which is more interesting for the audience. The strobes achieve a flashy effect, which would make our music video even more eye catching and visually appealing, as well as professional. If we used it for the last chorus, it would be a great climax in the song. These are quite expensive but we have managed to cut corners by a member of staff having a contact.

6. Red silhouette lighting

The colour of the image above is the ideal look that we want for this set up, the look of both the artist and the background is enhanced. If we did this, our video would provide the 'wow' factor, in terms of its look. This red lighting set up will be central to our red theme and also make our video look edgy and mysterious. This will be edited in flashes at the started of the video which should look really cool. We also plan to have dance shots with this to cut between for the chorus. 

List of props for our music video:

• Balloons (red and silver)
• Confetti
• Gaffa tape
• White fabric
• Spray paint (colours: red,purple,silver)
• Wine bottle or Champagne bottle
• Ribena or sprite/appleade (to replace real alcohol)
• 2 tables
• 4 chairs
• Maroon tablecloth
• Baseball bat
• Scaffolding
• Ladder

Photo of us making the confetti

R+P Post 25: Costumes, Props and Make-Up

My individual style look: androgynous street style

Individual Outfit
My individual outfit consists of: an oversized basketball t-shirt, black jeans and builders' boots. I also wear a branded snap back in the back-to-front style. Hopefully with this outfit, I have achieved a sporty/tomboy-ish/rap-star/street/hip-hop look, which is how I wanted to express my character.

My individual outfit; my hair has been specially done in the box braid
style with a few red braids to make it look funkier and cooler

Our individual outfits together 

Tracksuit Outfit:
One of the band's shared and consistent looks is a tracksuit themed one.We all have slight variations but all of the colours that we are wearing are either black, white or grey, which all compliment each other. For this I am wearing a plain white vest, baggy black trousers and white trainers.

My individual joggers outfit 

Our tracksuit outfits together - there is a consistent look

Smart Outfit:
In our video we plan to have one sophisticated look for our proposed dinner table scene. Everything about the scene is supposed to be classy which is why we have incorporated low key lighting and wine. I plan to wear a blazer, smart cropped jeans, a purple blouse and a statement gold necklace. I won't be wearing a snap back in this scene!

Our classy outfits together; as we are sitting down, only the
top half our our body will be visible

Our make-up and hairstyles

Male Actors
Our male actors have two outfits:

1. All black - this is a modern, street fashion and we want our actors to look cool. Additionally, as black isn't exactly a striking colour, it emphasises that they are our props and it gives us more attention which is important as it is our song. 
   
2. Smart suit and trousers - this is for the dinner scene and they are acting as waiters. Their outfits for this were either a white shirt and smart trousers or a black shirt and trousers. 
   

Inspiration:

Before filming we also applied foundation on to their faces to make them look 'perfect' in front of the camera.

R+P Post 24: Planning My Digipak Panels

The album cover will be really important in providing a visual representation of D4MES. Therefore we have had to carefully think about the layout. Below is an analysis of our digipak panels front-plan:

Inspirations:

I like the way Katy B is showing us where she's from and part of who she is,
this is personal and says a lot about her which is important

I like the simple but effective font of the Little Mix album cover -
it compliments the background which I also really like

I like the random shapes and the colours which really stand out. Once again
this is representative of Neon Jungle - lots of their videos and photoshoots have lots of colour in them

R+P Post 23: Planning My Web Pages

Inspiration

The Weeknd's website - I like the colour scheme and sophisticated look. I think our website
should make use of our logo colours (red and white) with a black background

As can be seen in our flat plan below, this website has influenced our design. We liked the combination of the main black background and the white font colour; they compliment one another. Therefore we have chosen to keep this simplistic format as it looks sophisticated. We also liked the positioning of the artist's name at the top of the website. This is an example of strong branding as it extremely bold and visible. Furthermore, as it appears on every page, it means the branding is consistent. We have used the same idea for our flat plan design which can be seen below. We want D4MES to be in big font in the middle of the header, and we plan this to appear on every page, reinforcing the image and brand of the band.

Fifth Harmony's website - I like how visually appealing the home page is; we are
drawn in from the moment we enter the site

I also like the range of pictures of the band and the range of colour

Fifth Harmony's website has also influenced our flat plan design. On their home page, they have big, bold images of the band, and this is what we see as soon as we enter it. Therefore, their image is promoted from the second you enter the website. Furthermore, each member of the band is enhanced through editing and the white outline around each of them shows them off individually. We plan to do something similar with our front page, as you can see from our designs below. We have designed our home page to contain a large image of the band, with each member separated from each other slightly in a grid like design. This is an attempt to show audiences that D4MES is a band with four individuals with different personalities. Finally, Fifth Harmony's website has done really well to appeal to their audience visually, due to the bright colours. This has influenced our ideas as we plan to edit the images with a coloured filter, which would draw more attention to the band.

Ed Sheeran's website - I like the layout of the news web page. It has a range of news which is important, it is important to update fans about things the artist is doing on a day to day basis - makes them more relatable 

Ed Sheeran's website has an extremely social news page. This is important as it encourages fans to connect with the artist across different platforms and on different social media sites. This has influenced our ideas as we have decided to link the news page with live news feeds to our different social media sites, in order to keep fans regularly updated. You can see this from the plan of our news page below.

Screenshots of the main pages we did for our website flat-plan:

Home page

Ideally we want this to be really visual and so that fans can see our band from the minute they enter our site. It will also have links to other things on the website such as music and to our social media.

Meet the girls page

If possible, we want this section to be interactive with our fans. For example, the images of the band members could be animated. This is because we want the fan to see the band's fun side and essentially give them a friendly introduction of each member.

News page 

This page will have various links to social media, for example, the band's Twitter feed showing our latest tweets. It will also have random information about what the band is up to, such as information about a meet and greet.

Music page

This will showcase our first single - Red Planet but will also allow fans to check out the other songs from our album, We plan to embed a music player for the website so the other songs from our album will be displayed. We will also attach a link to iTunes - a very conventional thing for artists' websites.

A.together, we would like 7 web pages on our website, consisting of:

• Home
• Meet the girls
• Music
• Tour
• Gallery
• Store