As we have a spare lesson today before our shoot on Monday, we have decided to get started on our digipack:
After a few designs, Ben liked the name LØVA and we started our development of the website. We are aiming for an indie-rock vibe for our singer so we want a very visual website which is unique in some way. Below are a few screenshots of our pages and layout for the website so far:
As we want the website to look professional and sharp, we have decided to be consistent with the font we write in. Our decision being "Raleway".
Below is an image of our Lightbox which will eventually have a picture of our artist once we have done the photoshoot with her. In the background we plan to have the music video playing so that it will look visually stimulating and hopefully can entice the audience to look further around the website.
Following the success of the first shoot day, we went up to the editing suite and started putting together what would be our first performance cut.
We ran through our rushes to have an idea of the shots we filmed that day:
We knew that we only had half of the footage that will be in the music video, so we decided to make a full video as if it were the final cut so that we could get ahead of ourselves and save time. This would mean that after Monday's shoot, we could then incorporate the other sets into the video such as the dance and Genny's second set.
We began by digitalising the clapper-board and putting it on the time line. By matching the clapper-board time on each shot with the clapper-board time on the timeline, we were able to sync the footage to the track.
To help us find the shots we wanted while editing, we re-named the shots to whatever the type of shot was e.g. Genny CU.
As we begun editing, we were quick to realise that we needed to adopt a fast-paced cutting style in order to keep up with the energy and intensity of the song.
After today's editing session, we had managed to cut together around 20 seconds of the song. It doesn't sound like a lot but even we were surprised by the amount of time it took for a few seconds of footage.
The difficulty we faced was trying to find shots that were different each time because most shots were very similar and dark. However because of the other two sets, we knew that we could leave a few "dead shots" in the cut and then replace them after Monday's shoot.
We are very happy with our first performance cut and we feel as if we have done as much as possible with it. We may need to colour grade some shots due to the darkness of some of them but hopefully the dance and the second Genny set can provide alternative shots to use.
I arrived at school at around 7.45 so that I could get myself prepared for the long day ahead. I was expecting a normal breakfast where hot food would be served and I could eat to my hearts content...but on all of the days for this to happen, THE POWER WENT AND THE SCHOOL WAS BLACKED OUT!!!
To give you an idea, here is an image of our canteen in complete darkness:
This delayed us for about 30 minutes as we weren't allowed in the studio due to health and safety reasons. The issue was apparently to do with the generators so the school sent out their electricians to sort out the problem. The power came back on at around 9 by which point we were doing some final checks on the set and getting the lights programmed. However a further 4 power cuts meant that we didn't get shooting till around 10 because the light programming hadn't been saved prior to the power cut so we had to start again.
As you can tell, I got a little excited about this power cut:
While all of this was going on, the make-up artist (Maz) was creating magic by making our performers look incredible, except for Heath who already looks amazing. We told Maz that we wanted Genny to have curly hair and dark eye shadow, Megan to have glittery eyes and then apply some powder on David as he can go slighlty red in the face while dancing.
We even bought snacks with us to keep the crew happy including crisps, Jaffa Cakes, Maltesers, Coke Zero, Haribos and Celebrations.
Once we regained power, we finished up with the DJ set which involved a "cheeky clean"
We were all assigned jobs on Thursday which we stuck to throughout most of the day but we all managed to have a go at everything. We finally did our first take at 11 which was not ideal as it put us an hour and a half behind schedule due to all of the power cuts.
However when we did get going, we were thrilled with how the DJ decks set up and Heath looked great on camera. During the power cuts we added a layer of white frosted material to the front of the DJ decks to let the pixel lights bounce off them. Our rules for the takes were that we shoot everything on wide, go through the various camera lenses 50mm 35mm wide zoom etc. and then move in and do close ups. We would then do any special/cool shots needed as well as using the dolly or the crane if necessary.
When we were filming I spent most of the time taking pictures and videos for the blogs, rallying up our artists so that they pumped more energy into their performance and I was also in charge of the clapper-board and playback of the song via the PA system. We had a playback TV in order to look at the shots when they were happening, this was for us to look at and assess whether we could move on or if we had to do more takes.
The DJ equipment was all provided by fellow students at Hurtwood. It provided extra light going into 'Vegas' Mode. When filming our DJ after doing our standard shots we used both the dolly and the crane as well as going handheld which Ben operated.
DJ Set:
After we had exhausted all filming with the DJ we pressed on building the next set because of the time restrictions. We said thank you to Heath and he was done for the day. The next set up was our first set with Genny our lead singer which involved a light corridor. It had 3 flats, 2 with with holes in to fit the Pixelline lights and the other stood as the back of the corridor.
It was half built before lunch and then finished off after lunch where Ben and I gave a fresh lick of black paint to the flats. This took us up to around 2:30. Here are some images showing the set being built. Before each shot, we mopped the floor with a little bit of water so that the floor would shine and match the shade of back that were on the walls.
We finally finished with Genny at around 3.30 and started deconstructing the set. The set for the dancers was easy to set up because it was the same blinders that we used for the DJ. All we had to do is re-wire the lights and give the floor a good clean.
The dancer set was ready in good time and then George our lighting director needed 20 minutes to program all the lights so that we could start filming again. However, disaster struck when the power cut out AGAIN!!! This was the worst time possible because it meant that when the power kicked in a few minutes later, the lights would take 10 minutes to warm up and then the programming would take another 20 minutes. Luckily, George's software had autosaved what he had programmed so we prepared ourselves to shoot the dance. The power went out 2 more times at which point we had practically reached the end of the day.Everyone had had enough with the power cuts so we decided to strike the shoot.
As a result we will now pick up the shoot on Monday 21st to shoot the dancers sequence and the final set with Genny. Although it was an incredibly annoying day, it was very successful because we were very happy with what we had shot. Hopefully Day 2 will be smoother but just as successful in terms of what we shoot. The group worked really well and productively in the time that we had. We each kept to our assigned roles, Ben being camera man, Eloise being director, myself being clapper-man/photographer and Dasha writing down each shot we took and looked after the artists.
The only thing that I would change would obviously be the power cuts. On the other hand, if we had done a few more test shoots to get used to using the cranes and dolly's, we might have been able to get through the shots even faster.
Below is a time-lapse of our shoot:
Here is a rough version of the dance that will be performed on Monday and a video showing what we were working on before the power cut:
During our lesson today, we went to see how one of the other groups was getting on so that we had more of an understanding of the process we would go through. Here is a picture I took when the group were preparing their sets.
This helped us to understand that we needed to start early and build each set quickly so that we have more time to film.
We arrived in the studio earlier today in order to set everything up for tomorrow's shoot. At the same time we needed to make sure that our singer, dancers and DJ were all prepared with lyrics and routine learnt. Our make-up artist is due to arrive at 8.30 tomorrow morning. Our first thing to build was the DJ set. We started building at 5.30 and finished at around 6.45. Here are some images below:
The scaf block was put into the boom bases and held together with big metal grips to create the frame, it was then painted black. After, we placed the cut-out perspex onto the frame, drilled holes on either side of the grip and then used cable ties to secure the perspex to the frame. We then placed 5 blinders behind the DJ block, set up multiple Pixellines beneath the scaf pole frame and put two Mac 700 profile lights on each side of the DJ block.
Originally we planned to use perspex as the front of the desk as well but our lighting director George told us that it would just shine through and wouldn't be very effective. Therefore, we glue-gunned a sheet to the front which was thin enough to allow light through and thick enough to hold some of the light behind the sheet. We needed two of these sheets to cover the perimeter of the decks which created a slit. The slit was very noticeable and taping the two ends together would have been too noticeable, so we cut another slit which was symmetrical to the first.
We took a step back to look at the set and we thought that there was something missing. Suggestions arose such as the potential of hanging our spare pieces of perspex in the air to reflect light but we all agreed that this would look too random and misplaced. Instead we placed the perspex on the floor and used it to reflect any excess light back up toward the DJ desk.
Our music video is this Friday and I believe that you are doing the makeup for us! To make life easier for you, here are some examples and descriptions of what we want. Please let me know if there is anything I should get that you don't have on the list. Thank you so much for helping us out :
Main Artist:
Black smokey eye
Fake eyelashes
Black (matte if possible) lipstick.
We will bring in appropriate skin makeup. But white powder would be great.
Female dancer:
Black eyeliner
Face makeup (we can try and provide cosmetics for this)
