Steadycam Test Shot

A great amount of my music video will comprise of shots of my protagonist running through the woods, I was trying to style it after the running scenes in the music video 'Hunger of  the Pine' by Alt-J. 

These scenes are not by any means easy to achieve. In order to be able to get stable-enough footage of my chasing after him, I had to use a stabiliser. So I booked out the steadycam from the college and took it out on some test shots. But before I could do this I needed to make sure it was balanced to my camera. This took up the most time was I had a very heavy camera and their weren't enough weights to balance it! But in the end, with a lot of tinkering, Toby and I were able to sort it out and take it for a spin along the corridor! 

This practice was invaluable was I was able to know what was need to balance it, and how to steer the steadycam to get the smoothest shots. So when it came to the production day, I was able to get those scenes very quickly and effortlessly. 

Pre Production Stuff

Storyboards


Concept Art


Recce

For my recce I went to Vallis Road. This is a road with lots of narrow, old stone houses. Fitting for the aesthetic and character profiles. 

It is a very quaint street in the small countryside town of Frome, Somerset. However, as night falls and the streetlights shine on the stone walls, it transforms it into a dark, eerie and dangerous old english town. Perfect for the look I’m going for. I will shoot video of the houses at dusk and then in After Effects I will add fire effects to visualise a flat burning down.

Pre Production Reflection Unit 13

Pre Production, for me, is always the hardest part of the production. I find it incredibly difficult to just sit down, and put all my thoughts on paper. But after a long internal battle with myself, I was able to get all of it done. As it is the case every time, I found it invaluable to the production.

I was able to give each member of the cast and crew a copy of a script and storyboard which they were able to study and prepare for the production days. 

I didn't quite like the drawing on my storyboards, but I don't claim to be an artist! I think a five year old has a better chance at that than me... 

In future, I would like to have better drawn storyboards, as they were the main document used with the cast and crew. I would also like to get all the pre production work completed much earlier before the production day, to help minimise stress before filming.

Reflection on Production

We have now finished filming all the fundamental scenes of 'BURN' and the editing process is soon to start. The filming of this music video has not been without its trails and tribulations. I shall list and explain all the major issues.

1) Actors - My actors weren't professional, nor did thy have any form of acting experience. This made them were difficult to work with, merely because everything had to explained in much greater detail, and they easily became disinterested in working if they weren't occupied on set. Which is going to be inevitable on any set. 

Due to their lack of passion in the project they became very unreliable. On a number of occasions they cancelled last minute, simply because they couldn't be bothered to act. This caused me a great deal of stress and anxiety as something like that, especially on an already tight time budget, really throws the whole production in chaos.

I've learnt from this though, and I won't be using person with no drive for acting for any of my productions again. It really isn't worth it. Not only is scheduling a headache, but the acting will more than likely be very poor.

2) Locations - I had a location set to film at, in the woods at Great Elm, Frome. But because of sudden scheduling chaos, we wouldn't have another chance to film in those woods again, till after the deadline. So I was frantically trying to find another suitable abandoned shed in the middle of the woods, and then we stumbled on the most perfect location ever, completely by fluke! It had everything we needed for the scene, and it was actually more ideal than our original location!

So I've learnt to not give up hope when one location falls through, there's always going to be another suitable place to use, even if you need to tweak your script a little.

End of Year Show

On the 16th of June we will host the End of Year Show at the acclaimed Komedia theatre in Bath. This will be an exciting opportunity for us to showcase our final major projects.

Ideas for the showcase:
1) As there will be a lot of industry professionals there, we could all get business/contact cards done to give out on the night, to people that might be interested in working with/hiring us. This would be a great way to get some exposure.

2) We should play all the films in their entirety and then offer a DVD that the audience can purchase after the show, with all the films, and extended edits on them. 


Who Should Be Invited?
1) James Whetherly - He is a Grammy nominated music video director (And we will be showcasing quite a few music videos) plus he knows us all and has spoken to & helped us with our projects.

2) Codsteaks - They are an industry leading set production and design company based in Bristol, another one of the companies we visited this year. They are highly skilled and knowledgable and took a genuine interest to us. They even asked to be invited to see our finished products, so it only makes sense to invite them!

Behind The Scene Vlogs

Day 1 & 2

Day 3

Day 4

Research Conclusion

Primary & Secondary Research
My primary research showed that most individuals questioned prefered dramatic short film music videos as opposed to any other type (Comedic, generic, dance videos, etc). Also that the greater majority of them have been affected, whether directly or indirectly, by domestic violence or abuse of some kind. My secondary researched showed that arsonist's usually come from a background of domestic violence too. And because of that fact I expect my short film-music video to be relatable to my audience.

Conclusion

From my research I can conclude that though a marginal amount, some Arsonist's commit the act because they get a sexual arousal from burning someone's property. Which drives them to do it more and more. Which brings me to my next point, they don't necessarily like ‘any old’ fire, it has to be fire that's burning someone's property. That's what gives it the excitement. This whole mentality however can be traced back to an inborn and unrelenting desire to control. To them, fire is the ultimate destroyer and in the moment they feel like they are in control of the destruction. This desire for authority and to control and often be seen seeping into all aspects of their life. Work, domestic, religious, etc. 

Outcome/Decision

I have decided to pursue this short film/music video idea as I can see a great amount of potential for a great final product. I think the idea is something that is seldom spoken about and should be. And I think there's a lot of room for dark and edgy cinematic shoots, amidst the roaring flames.