SHOOT DAY

We began the day off at 9 am on the 11th of November. My group who consisted of JJ, Leo, Tamara and myself were optimistic about our day and felt that we were organized and ready to shoot. We began in the studio where we arrived before the cast did to check that all the props necessary were available and as a group we were sure of what our target and idea consisted of.

We also wanted to ensure everyone was following the same hypothesis/narrative. So we began to check that the DJ set and the lighting was correct. We were using two ‘mover’ lights beside the deck and used multiple blonde heads lined above. The lights were extremely effective to create a realistic rave scene. The day before we had invited three photographers to follow the action from the studio set. We did not want to over crowd the studio with too many of them but we needed some good shots for the DigiPack. Our DJ, Glen who plays professionally was our choice for the character; he suited the roll well and the realism of the shoot was emphasised because of his background knowledge. Before the shoot we gave him a short brief on how to dress; jeans, coloured hat, headphones and an artistic top. He arrived at the set like requested and confident to start. We gave him a few minutes to become comfortable with the set and prepped him for his roll. Again, he got right into the moment and played naturally with a different song playing in his headphones allowing him to relax and get in the ‘vibe’ by dance with the music that he was listening to. As he practiced we tested the sound and colour bars on the camera and were ready to begin.

Matt and both sound technicians arrived with the equipment and we started setting up. The JVC500 was used which is an advanced camera in comparison to what we have used in previous shoots. It enables us to be able to film our work onto a memory card which can be cleared once it has been permanently stored and reused. The cameras also film in HD which is a huge step in the making of our film. Enabling us to see will great clarity the motions and actions of the gangs or the intricate hand movements from the DJ.

We set up one camera and placed it on the Vinten tripod and began filming from mid-shot. Initially we placed the camera about 15 degrees around from the centre and filmed in an unconventional manner; shaking and focusing in and out constantly. We filmed this multiple times for security, to ensure that we had the perfect run through. We also knew that we would be using this scene to cut in and out from the rest of the video. This being one of our main narratives it was important to film it correctly and get enough film to choose from when editing. Throughout these two efficient hours we varied the film angles using wide-shots as well as close-ups (using the same effect.) Once we were assured that we had captured all the shots, we started elaborating with a wider variation of shots. My of my favourites being the over the shoulder shot. We heightened the tripod to its maximum and angled the camera almost pointing towards the floor. We began shooting a full take of Glen on the decks. We targeted his hands and headphones to emphasise his actions. Once we were sure the actions had been filmed, we started brain storming for further ways that we could interest our audience and keep them excited. Tracking was one of our last options that we chose; side-to-side and forward and back. The tracking system was quickly set up using two RUBBER TRACKS that allowed the tripod to roll along with the chosen direction. We began with the ‘swinging’ tracking in which the whole scene was filmed by slowly and smoothly moving the camera round the front of the set. The second idea was tracking directly towards the DJ. We wanted to synchronize the music’s introduction with the slow camera movement. Moving in with the beat in which Glen would point is finger in the air and follow it down to the camera as we tracked backwards. From the monitor the shots seemed surprisingly good. The lack of organisation fortunately paid off this time. By then (12.30) we had finished in the studio. We packed up the equipment and all met in the edit suite to discuss our second half of filming...

The main problem for us was the second part of the day. In the process of planning the shoot there was a lot of confusion to what exactly we were filming and how it would work. So before we went to our location we came together and started to solidify an idea, an idea which could work using eight cast members. Obviously, we based our idea on gangs as we originally planned, but we had to ensure that the audience would understand that two gangs were competing against one another and the use of handheld would reflect the idea of aggression and jealousy between the gangs. Brainstorming continued for an hour or so and finally an idea of ‘caps/hoods’ and no hoods was thought of. This was an idea which could differentiate the gangs without any extra props needed. We had enough caps/hoods available for the four gang members to wear, we already had planned to use handheld cameras and it was decided to split both the gangs. Matt would film one of the gangs for an hour or so and my group would film the other. We would then swap half way through the shoot. This technique is similar to an insurance policy; to make sure we captured everything we needed, a sense of security. We ate lunch, packed the mini bus and drove to Beatrice Webb were we would conclude our shoot day...

We arrived at Beatrice Webb which was fortunately only a five minute drive away. We collected the equipment, walked round the gate and searched the environment that we were about to shoot in. Immediately we found props and objects that we could use for filming that the cast members would enjoy. We began straight away and split the two gangs. We began by experimenting with hockey sticks, batons and natural weapons that we found. We prompted the members to walk down the track path and run riot whilst stamping around. Throughout the day we kept experimenting with different subjects. For example there was a large pile of materials and wood that looked as if it was piled for a bonfire.

We simply asked the members to run, stamp, shout, and simply create havoc and provoke violence within the scene. The day seemed to follow on like this; with a few encouragements and briefs from the group we left the rest of the aggressive action to the cast members. I think the realism of the scenes were emphasised by the members genuine excitement and thrill to be able to smash and ruin any object that was in their way; to act as a ‘real’ gang member, to rebel. We continued filming for another couple of hours until it began to get dark .By about 5pm, we began to film our last two main scenes; one of which was the ‘burning car’ scene. Within this derelict area, luckily for us there was a rotten dumped car that we were able to use. One gang group acted out the scene of setting it alight. We followed the narrative through by asking one extra member to casually throw his cigarette away in the direct of the car, which coincidently would blow the vehicle into flames. This is one of my favourite scenes because of what the burning symbolised to the other gang, who beforehand had been using it as part of their territory. Obviously, we could only capture this once, so there was a lot of pressure. Our final scene finalised the gang war and saw them facing one another. Flares were used for one group and the others were standing on a higher ground. We knew that this would be our last scene of the day and we wanted it to conclude the video nicely, but he also had all intentions to keep the audience ‘hanging’.
(Here are a few photographs of the day that either the members of the group took or our selected photographers)
Overall, I was very pleased with the shoot day. From what I had heard I was expecting a very stressful and rushed day. My group worked well together and considering that we had not planned the second half of filming I thought the spontaneity was successful. From what we have seen from the rushes it looks as if we captured everything we needed/wanted to. The film so far has two strong and effective narratives and hopefully using good editing techniques we will produce a great video.

PERMISSIONS LETTER

HURTWOOD HOUSE
HEADED PAPER


Dim Mak Records
Po Box 348
Hollywood
CA 90078 16th September 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:

We Are From Venice
- The Bloody Beetroots

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. The video will be viewed only by members of the school community and the assessor of the examination board.

The artist and the copyright holder will of course be fully recognised 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


Mille Freeman
Hurtwood House School


http://www.dimmak.com/home.html

INTRODUCTION TO THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

Musical taste can be a controversial topic, almost to the point of tribalism. Tribalism is contentious because it defines and often signifies personality and lifestyle. Musical taste is about the way you dress, speak and sometimes act. The music industry looks to find and create star's who will seek fame for their hole career and potential be remembered even when they have passed away. They intend to sell clothes, calendars, pens, mugs and any merchandise that could make money and advertise the pop star. All music companies intend to establish success as a star and a business. However, all commentators agree that music and its trend sit at the epicenter of popular culture.

We all have to accept this ‘dynamic tension’ that exists between the artistic and commercial forces underpins the success of this vast media business. A tension between the organic and synthetic. E.g members of a band leaving the group to create more money as a solo artist, much like Cheryl Cole in Girls Aloud of Nicole Scherzinger from the Pussy Cat Dolls. Bands like these can be created from organic or synthetic elements. The Arctic Monkeys for example are an organic band, meaning that the music is natural and the priority for the band and the appearance of the band and the publicity is the second process of creating the band. Whereas synthetic music produces the band members and their appearance before the music is made.


It is a business for these bands and is all about targeting their audience to create money and to find a niche in the industry. The pop video that we are working on is quite controversial with gangs and rioting, so the music is organic and not concerned about manufacturing an image. As well as ‘synergetic connections’ with other media forms this condependence with other media means that a ‘mutual reliance’ can be productive but also risky. Music links to all types of media, and all artists and bands aim to show their videos on all TV channels that are targeted at their audience. The pop video is only one strand of an often multimedia campaign. These will involve TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, the internet and shopping malls.

The current media industry is dominated by three trans-national corporations; Universal, Sony/BMG and EMI, these are known as the ‘majors’ of the industry. Most majors also own or license a strin of smaller subsideriary companies in order to reach different kinds of audiences in different kind of genre, these are known as the ‘major-independents’. Finally, there are a huge number of small companies with little or no financial connection to the majors. The financial hierarchy of the invested money plans out like so; Majors, £100,000,000. Independents; £100,000. Mini’s £10,000.

The reason for creating pop videos for artists is mainly to promote their song and the band, but also to create, adapt or feed into a ‘star image’, to entertain as a product in its own right and it can reinforce the meaning of the song. However, the future of the legal music industry is decreasing by each day especially for the producers of new bands. There are now large problems and challenges but huge possibilities. The internet creates all illegal downloading of music(FrostWire), as well as it being able to promote the band and pushing them into the correct direction and targeting accurate audiences. iTunes in itself is trying to promote purchasing music and the minimum of 25 pence. Again, this can be seen as an issue for artists because of the small price tag but also can be seen as creating money and advertising themselves. Live feeds can also be a bonus or a destructive concept to artists, money can be made by uploading live feeds of gigs to audiences and asking to pay a small price to watch it, but again these feeds can be downloaded illegally through the internet. Videos or ‘iVideo’ are short interviews of artists following on with their pop video. This is a great way to promote the band to thousands of shoppers for free. Fortunately for up-and-coming artists, music television is becoming even more popular. Our video would be played after 10pm due to the violent behavior and could be used as soundtracks to amateur action and thriller films. At the current time, this is the structure for the music industry that artists, bands and producers will have to work with and find a way to keep making money for the work that they create.

These are a few links to bands that I mentioned earlier. Hopefully, this will only emphasise my point of different types of the music industry.
Girls Aloud: http://www.girlsaloud.co.uk/music/albums/
Pussy Cat Dolls: http://www.pcdmusic.com/music
Arctic Monkeys: http://www.arcticmonkeys.com/photos.php

CALL SHEET

The Call Sheet is like an architect's plan for a house. The Call Sheet is the Bible for the shoot day, covering everything from the names and jobs of the production team to the cast to the shooting schedule, to the equipmrnt and even maps and directions. It also includes the story board, the lighting plan and the studio plan.



WE ARE FROM VENICE

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH 2010

TAMARA
MILLIE
JJ
LEO

CONTENTS

1. PRODUCTION TEAM

2. CAST LIST

3. STUDIO SET PLAN

4. LIGHTING PLAN

5. EQUIPMENT LIST

6. PROPS AND WARDROBE

7. SCHEDULE

8. STORYBOARD

9. SHOOTING ORDER

PRODUCTION TEAM

JJ BENZIMRA
(DIRECTOR)

TAMARA MIDDLETON
(PRODUCER)

MILLIE FREEMAN
(EDITOR)

LEO FAULKS
(CAMERA/LIGHTING)

CAST LIST

GLEN PEGADO
(DJ)

(GANG MEMBERS)
NIALL GREEN
JAKE CECIEL
MAX CANOVAS
OMONELUMO IKANADE-AGBA

STUDIO SET PLAN

(See Studio Set Plan below)

LIGHTING PLAN

(See Lighting Plan below)

PROPS AND WARDROBE

DJ SET
LIT BATONS
CIGARETTES
FAKE DRUGS
EMPTY BOTTLES

BLACK/WHITE MAKE-UP
BLACK/WHITE HAIR ACCESSORIES
BLACK/WHITE JEANS
BLACK/WHITE HOODIES/SLEEVELESS T-SHIRTS
BANDANAS
HATS
BOOTS
JACKETS
DJ OUTFIT

SCHEDULE

9-12.30
STUDIO

12.30-1.15
LUNCH

1.15-3.30
BEATRICE WEBB

3.30-4
BREAK

4-6
BEATRICE WEBB

STORYBOARD

(See Storyboard below)

SHOT LIST

STUDIO
Camera position: 1, 15, 19, 25, 27
Wide shot, mid shot, close-up from front
Wide shot, mid shot, close-up from side
Wide shot, mid shot, close-up over shoulder

Tracking Shots:
Left to right, in and out
Cherry Picker

LOCATIONS
Incidents:
Bonfire
Graffiti
Breaking stuff
Drinking
Smoking
Drugs
Stolen Handbag/Wallet

PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

In the process of creating our pop video, we were aware that we would encounter many problems that would hinder our initial ideas. Like every film company, problems will occur frequently through out the process and the shoot day it's self. Paying almost £1 million a day to film it is crucial to find quick solutions. Through out this creative period, we have had to alter many of our ideas because of the errors and problems that have occured. Our two main issues were...

1) The Location

(This is a similar factory to what we were originally aiming to film in)


2) Cast


(This is a simple example to explain how we camera tested each of our cast, and that in the media industry problems involving cast can make or break the film day)

To follow our 'urban' theme we originally sourced a derelitc old factory that was 'open' to the public. It is situated in Reigate so it was a perfect opportunity to shoot there with no fees to pay for filming and it is relatively close to the school so it is easily accessable. After researching more and visiting the area we found that it would be a very tricky area to film in. The council were unsure if we would be able to film there as well as the risk of anyone who may be attached or partly own the area may immediately ask us to leave. As well as this, there are only narrow tracks leading to the factory so we would be unable to drive with all the equipment down to the main area.

All of these factors could not have been solved...and on the shoot day we are not prepared to take such high risks as those. On the day, if we were asked to leave the property we would have no back up plan. After cancelling our first location we researched a lot of areas that would suit our theme. Many bunkers and factories were found, but again they were unaccessible areas or we were strictly unable to film there. Eventually, we decided to use Beatrice Webb boarding house. A side road leading away from the house leads to a battered area full of broken down objects. The area conveys the exact image we want of derelict, empty and silent areas that are no longer in use. After concluding that there were a limiatation of public areas to film on, we started to think about creating the image of want we wanted in the studio. This could give us a great opportunity to create exactly how we imagined our video and express, accurately what we want. This idea has not been completely eradicated because this can be a definate option if al else fails. We are very lucky to have a back-up, this means that if anything would to go wrong or anything were to be cancelled, we will always have the option of the studio.

Fortunately for us, Beatrice Webb is a 7 minute drive from school and with two of our group members boarding in the house it gives us a large chance to revisit the area. To ensure a spaceous area to film as well as taking photographs for the rest of the group to be able to plan out the video. Here, we are guarenteed filming accessibilty because it is within the properties of school. This is a huge advantage for us and has helped us to be able to continue with the progression of the rest of the video.

Our cast lsit, originally was filled with about 12 people both male and female. We camera tested some of them and finalised who we wanted to be a part of our video. A week later however we were challenged by the media department with who we could used. Many of the students were unable to attend our shoot day (11th November) because of their lessons or extra curriculum. We were disappointed to hear that the majority of our cast had be excluded from our cast members. Our main priority was to regain our DJ. The student we had picked was a professional DJ and that would obviously enphasise the realism of the video. Unfortunately, he had been selected for another video, but we at the moment we are in the progress of regaining him as one of our biggestes characters in the video. For the gang members, however we were only a few students short. Again, we were missing many of the best fitting characters but we just had to camera shoot more students that could fit our part. For the time being all gang members have been selected and secured but we are still in the challenging task of bringing back our DJ.