The Challenges Of Filming On Location

Location filming is something that we did not undertake last year and has challenged us to try something new. Whilst we did film in houses, it took no organisation as they were our houses and the sets were already designed to work for the production. This year we decided we needed to film in a church location to reflect the story and tone of the song we picked. As you can see in previous posts we have already organised and scouted the location for the video, however the actual filming itself creates many issues.

One issue with filming on location is the transportation required and planning on the day. Everything has to go to plan and nothing can be left to chance as you only have a set amount of time to film at the location. This means we have prepared a shot list to counter this and we both have a clear vision of what needs to be filmed on the day. We also have organised how we will get there and we have fully confirmed our access to the site and location.

Organising the access to the site as well has heavily delayed the project. We where meant to film over a month ago but due to access and limitations we have been un able to do it. This has pushed the production back by a few weeks and delayed our previously drawn up schedule.

The benefit of filming on location however is the incredible setting it will create for the production. The whole set is great to film at and we think it will really add a great element to our video.

Designing a Recording Studio Logo

Designing%20 a%20recording%20studio%20logo from Jonathan Edge

Location Scouting

We went location scouting around the church before we fully committed to filming there just to make sure it would be suitable for our needs, and we've decided that it is. Here are some images we took around the church to make sure it was okay for us.

 

 

 

 

 

Editing Our Song

The song that we have chosen is quite long, running over 6 minutes. We wanted to cut it down to around four minutes in length, so we went into Final Cut Pro to do this. First we had to use the blade tool to cut out certain parts of the song, then we had to use audio key framing to made the transitions between edits sound more natural, as seen below. The edited version we now have is four and a half minutes long, which we think will be much more manageable.

Action Plan Week 13

Action plan week 13 from Jonathan Edge

Storyboard - Update #1

This update shows the break section.

Enhancing Our Narrative

After reviewing our audience feedback, looking back on our synopsis and studying narrative further, we have decided to make some changes to our story.

Around halfway through the video the song will cut out and enter a break section where we will cut to the lead character in a darkened room, watching a TV. The TV will have footage of an old girlfriend on it, who has presumably died. This gives context to the actions and mood of the character throughout the video and why he turns to religion. We will also likely include a shot of him looking at a gravestone to further emphasise this.

Obtaining Filming Location Permission

For our music video we would like to film in a church, so we would need to get permission to do this. Here you can see the email exchange of us contacting a church, explaining what we would be doing and then getting permission for it.

Legal Issues - Filming

Legal issues filming from Jonathan Edge

Uses and Gratifications Theory

Katz and Blumler's Use and Gratifications Theory attempts to understand the reasons people choose to watch pieces of media and what needs it satisfies for them. The theory states that all pieces of media fall into at least one of the four categories:

Entertain - the media you watch should give you enjoyment and some form of escapism so as to temporarily lose yourself in the media and forget about your real world worries.

Educate - the media should in some way give you information, knowledge or understanding.

Identify - being able to see yourself or norms/ideals you associate with reflected in the media, perhaps through role models who share similar values, or aspirations to be someone else.

Social Interaction - the media product should be able to spark conversation or debate between other people.

Our video would likely fit into three of these categories. One being to entertain, as we would hope our end product is good enough for the viewer to lose themselves in and enjoy watching. Second being to identify, as some people should be able watch the video and see parts of themselves in the protagonist. And third being social interaction, as our video will create the possibility for people to have conversations possibly about the ambiguous ending of the video, where the character's fate is left open, or the place that religion holds in people's lives.

Defining Our Audience

The main audience for our music video will likely be teenagers to young adults, as they formed the bulk of who we questioned in our questionnaires. The alternative rock genre itself typically has a younger audience, and the band who's song we will be making the video for has a similarly young target audience.

 

Although we are dealing with serious subject matter that could be seen as more adult, we feel it will be easily relatable and viewable for most people because most will have at least some experience with religion, whether it's being part of it or questioning it, so the video should be an interesting and engaging watch for them.

 

We won't aim for any particular gender as we feel like it's easily marketable to both, and we also won't try and completely shut out older audiences either, as they definitely have the potential to enjoy and engage with the type of video that we will be making.

Action Plan Week 12

Action plan week 12 from Jonathan Edge

Audience Feedback on our Font

After deciding on our font, we showed to a handful of people and asked for feedback. Here are some of their quotes:

"It looks very sleek, I really like it."

"I think it's great, and it definitely matches the aesthetic of the song."

 

"It's good but I would be careful using white text, when you place it over the video you need to make sure it will be visible."

Deciding on Fonts

Audience Feedback on Overall Synopsis

After writing our overall synopsis, we showed it to several people and asked for their feedback on it. Here are some of their quotes:

 

"I think it's a great idea and you should definitely look into using some controversial imagery. Religion has a lot of area to explore, and think your video could be really insightful and thought-provoking with this narrative."

 

"I think it's a good starting point, but it needs a little bit more story, for example why is the character so unstable?"

 

"It sounds like a great idea but you should make sure you keep it accessible. If it goes too artistic then it may turn general audiences off, so be sure that it's not too artsy for its own good."

Storyboarding

Storyboard from Jonathan Edge

Overall Synopsis

Our video will begin a fade in to a tracking shot from behind the main character as he walks into a church. We will then have the title and band name come up on screen, possibly with a director credit as well. The video will then follow the character as he aimlessly walks around town, lip-synching along to the song. There will be various locations, such as on top of a building looking over the town, in a forest-y walk, in a field and so on. The video will keep coming back to the church where the main character will be singing, and at various points in the video we will see the lead character consuming drugs and/or alcohol.

This is all to illustrate the narrative that we are following a character who is mentally unstable, and they've come to a point where they are incredibly depressed and just feel as though they have no purpose in life. This is why they're essentially a junkie. Because of this, he goes to church in the hopes that the presence of God will make him feel better. The video will end ambiguously with the character walking out of the church, not revealing whether he has found relief or not.

Action Plan Week 11

Action plan week 11 from Jonathan Edge

Web 2.0 and David Gauntlett

Web 2.0 and david gauntlett from Jonathan Edge

How the Music Industry Operates

Music Video Regulation and Censorship

Music video regulation and censorship from Jonathan Edge

Action Plan Week 10

Action plan week 10 from Jonathan Edge