Location Post

Locations

When we were filming our main task, we also took pictures of each location we used. Below  I have made animated gifs of all the different locations we used because we took a range of pictures at each location. 

Location 1:

This is our first location we used which was south park, we decided to use this location because it has magnificent views overlooking Oxford and it is the largest park within Oxford city limits. This location worked really well with our narrative because we needed   to get a good shot of the sky in order to show the audience what time of day it was. This location was also easily accessible because it was near our school and if we needed to re-film any shots it could be easily done. Also the trees symbolise beauty, strength and wisdom which relates to our protagonist who is portraying how girls in society should be themselves and go against stereotypical views of society. We also decided to use a blurred shot of the sky and then gradually focus into the sun a few seconds later, we did this in order to follow the dream pop genre as codes and conventions include mystical dreamy imagery, which means not being obvious about the location straight away and keeping it a mystery for the audience so they feel surprised.

This is our second location we used which was outside Cheney Schools field. At first we were unsure about where exactly we would find this type of location as we had planned beforehand that we needed a location that had loads of leaves. After walking back from our first location which was south park we found this place and instantly thought that this was the best spot to use. The shot that we did in this location was of our protagonist waking up in a dream in a unusual place full of leaves and greenery, we decided on this because Sugar Maple Leaves symbolise wisdom, connection, unity. And also the colour green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility and has strong emotional correspondence with safety. This links in with our main task because we wanted our audience to feel relaxed and we wanted our protagonist to stand out for the human eye.

Location 3:

This is our third location we used which was again in south park, but more towards the front of the park where the lodges were. We decided to use this location because we needed a continuity shot from the location from where she wakes up. After the frame when she wakes up this shot sets the scene for the audience that she has woken up in a big park and now she is happily walking away to her final destination. This location worked really well with our narrative because we needed  a location that had loads of greenery due to our protagonist waking up in a unusual location and stereotypically big parks have connotations of insecurity and loneliness.

Location 4: 

This is our fourth location, which is Donnington Bridge. It was the next location after the one at South park.
This bridge was key to use in the music video because bridges put forward an idea that there is something else on the other end of the bridge, a goal, a kind of light at the end of the tunnel. We had to use the bridge as it is iconic in Oxford and it also overlooks the River Thames, in addition to the link it has with our narrative that the girl is moving--onwards and upwards to reach her goal of releasing herself from the ties that make up her identity. Donnington Bridge also has great leading lines composition which seems like our protagonist is on a long journey.

Location 5:

This location is below the bridge. We chose to include this because it offered a good opportunity for leading lines to be featured in our music video. These shots were helpful because it was sandwiched between this location and the next one.

Location 6:

This location was in town. These shots did drag a bit and we are working on cutting out bits we don't need, like the part when the camera's at a high angle and she is walking towards the camera and then away from it in the next shot. The problem we had was that the music goes on longer than the video, but we don't need to worry about it because we have sufficient footage and quality in the video to hopefully pass.

Location 7:

This location is shot again, in town. There are leading lines (the rails and the other end of the path) to indicate the direction is which the protagonist will walk.

Location 8:

This location is at the front of the Ashmolean museum. As an iconic building in Oxford, we chose to use it because of its steps in order for the protagonist to roll the ball down it. Advantages of using this location is that it looks old, misty, traditional, ancient and contributes to Dream Pop conventions (when extremes are used--Location 6 in comparison to this one is very different).

Diary Post #4

Date: 30th March 2014

Time: 1.00-2.00pm. We got the filming done in an hour, as there weren't a lot of shots we had to do and the protagonist was already in bed.

Location: Protagonist's bedroom. This was the final scene we had to shoot. We'd considered the bedroom scene to include a natural kind of mise en scene, one in which it was obvious it was a girl's bedroom, and to amplify the message of our music video which relates to the theme of identity.

What did we achieve in the shoot?
We managed to get the shots we planned to do in this scene with the props and the costumes we had organised for this shoot.

What actors/props/costumes did you use?

We used Halimah, as she is the main protagonist in our music video.
The props consisted of the red heart, the dark coloured ball, a jewellery stand and a pink hued stone. The mise en scene of one of the shots in the bedroom scene include two teddy bears, a stereo and an extra bed. The extra bed wasn't supposed to be there, as it suggests that there is someone else who sleeps in the room with the protagonist. This is an error we are hoping to fix soon.
The protagonist's outfit is a light grey top with short sleeves and bottoms to reflect how neutral she is, as it is a colour between black and white. Light grey is a colour which gives the viewer a sense of control, stability and intelligence signalling that this is the end of our music video.

How did we set up our equipment?
It was a bit of a challenge to film Halimah in bed, as it didn't provide a steady surface from which the tripod could stand. Instead, we tried to film from her bedroom floor. We also had to charge the camera's batteries in the middle of the shoot.

What went well?
The quality of the shots turned out to be very good, as we had drawn open the curtains to let in the sun's rays. Despite it being afternoon, the sun was still beaming out in the sky. This upped the level of lighting we had in the shots.

What went wrong?
The only thing that went wrong was that we didn't realise that we had filmed the extra bed in the same room. We could crop this out, but it would affect the quality and make this shot unclear.

What we need to achieve next time:
If there is a next time, whether it be refilming shots or in the long term, we have to pay attention to what we are filming, what's in the frame and correct the mise en scene if possible.

Diary Post #3

Friday 21st February, 12:30am-14:45pm, Town

We decided the earlier, the better as it'd be around the same time of day we filmed last to provide similar lighting. It also was a suitable time for our protagonist to film with us. We wanted our video not to include people gawking at the camera in the background, as it would ruin the 'feel' and atmosphere of the song even though it is guaranteed this would happen when we do some shots in town, so what we did was film when there wasn't that many people and informed them in advance that we were filming.

What did we achieve in the shoot?We focused on filming the protagonist at town with a variety of shots like low angles, mid shots and high angles with the props we had.

What actors/props/costumes did we use?
The protagonist was one of our friend's sister. She is the main actress who will star in our music video.
We used a bag, a withered rose, a dark coloured ball and a red heart for this shoot.
For the protagonist, we had her clothed in a tight colourful dress with black leggings and wedges, like the costume we had for her when we filmed on the Bridge.

How did we set up our equipment?
We used a tripod and our friend's camera to film.

What went well?
We recorded some shots multiple times so that we could replace some shots if they were shaky or otherwise seemed unnatural.

What went wrong?
Something that went wrong was when we filmed at the Ashmolean. We tried doing a long shot, but there was a road in between which meant that cars and other vehicles would obstruct our view of the protagonist. We had difficulty filming from that distance, so we decided to film from the pavement, a couple of metres away.

What we need to achieve next time?
Our next filming shoot will be on Friday 7th March. For this shoot, we will focus on the shots we need for the next location, which will be in a bedroom and then in South Park.

Diary Post #2

Wednesday 19th February, 11:30am-12:45 am, Donnington Bridge

We decided the earlier, the better as it'd be around the same time of day we filmed last. However, it did look a little gloomy despite us having checked the weather forecast for the day, which told us it would be clear.

We thought that because we were filming in the morning, it wouldn't be that busy but there were some people exercising, cyclists, etc. that we let pass before actually filming. We wanted our video not to include people gawking at the camera in the background, as it would ruin the 'feel' and atmosphere of the song even though it is guaranteed this would happen when we do some shots in town.

What did we achieve in the shoot?

We focused on filming the protagonist at Donnington Bridge with a variety of shots like low angles, mid shots, high angles and we also attempted to do a match on match action shot.
The match on match action was challenging, but we took as many shots as we could so that when it comes to editing, we would be able to replace some shots in order for the match on match action to be believable.

What actors/props/costumes did we use?
The protagonist was one of our friend's sister. She is the main actress who will star in our music video. We used a bag and glassy-type pebbles for this shoot.
For the protagonist, we had her clothed in a tight colourful dress with black leggings and wedges. 

How did we set up our equipment?
We used a tripod and our friend's camera to film.

What went well?
The quality of the shots we filmed when the protagonist dropped the glassy pebbles into the water. We were quite satisfied with the range of shots we achieved, and so didn't need to refilm any clips.

What went wrong?
Sometimes we would forget that the protagonist needed to hold the bag, so we had to refilm the bits where she wasn't holding the bag. Another thing that was challenging was when people went by like cyclists and joggers. We had to wait for them to pass before filming. We also didn't notice that some of the shots we did were done the other way, from the opposite side. What we did to resolve this was use the flipped effect on iMovie so that our film played smoothly without any noticeable errors in the shots or angles.

What we need to achieve next time?
Our next filming shoot will be on Friday 21st February. For this shoot, we will focus on the shots we need for the next location.

Diary Post #1

Thursday 13th February 2014, 9:15am-10:30 am, South Park

What do you intend to achieve by the end of the shoot?

We wanted to shoot some shots meant for the location (South Park). These shots would be used at the start of our music video:

Shots of model with leafy background, at a close up, mid and side shot.

A long shot of model tiptoeing, jumping, walking on logs.

Blurred shot of sun in the sky

A close up/ mid shot of shoes walking along the logs.

What did you actually achieve by the end of the shoot?

All the shots mentioned in the previous answer, plus an additional shot of the landscape using a panning shot, to show what our protagonist could see.

We also managed to get some pictures with the camera to use on our blogs.

What does this mean for your next shoot?

That we should be moving on to our next location, to film the shots that are meant to be there. The change of location would be a wise decision, as it would provide a fresh new look on the video, to avoid our audience getting bored.

We also would need to go back to this location and film our model spinning on the spot to go with the panning of the landscape.

Protagonist For Our Music Video

Name: Halimah Ali

Age: 17 Years Old

Likes: Music, Studying, Make-up and going out with friends

Dislikes: Eating too much, people who upset her and not fitting in with society

Here is an image of our female protagonist for our music video. This is Halimah Ali who is 17 years old and goes to Cheney School. She is currently studying her AS Levels and takes Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Spanish. We chose Halimah, firstly because she fits in well with our target audience who are girls aged 16-25. Another reason was that she is one of my best friends sisters and she is easily available to film at any times because she goes to the same school as me. She is also very good at acting as she achieved and A* in performing arts at GCSE level and holds alot of experience on camera.