Complex Problems On Set and Solutions: L04.

For unit L04: I have to outline the complex problems which I encountered on set and the variables I would use in future to combat the problems.

For the first scene I originally wanted a tracking shot, without a tripod I filmed a tracking shot which during the editing process looked shaky and did not achieve the required effect. To combat this during the editing process, I cut from a wide shot to a medium shot and finally to a close up shot of Steve as he entered the house. However in future to film a tracking shot I would use a steadycam or shoulder rig as I did not have the availability of a dolly track, using a rig or steadycam would ensure that I could capture a steady, smooth tracking shot.

The second complex issue was that on set I experienced lighting issues within the corridor, as Steve entered the house there was a lack of light exposure. This was not a huge issue as the darkness created a sense of mystery which was effective in creating tension, however a future recommendation would be to use a LED light supply or beam lights to give a lot more light exposure to the scene.

Importantly another complex issue was the shadow which was frequently in shot during scene 2, the light which came through the curtains ensured that shadows were casted on the wall and bed, in future I will ensure that the curtains are closed and there are no shadows being reflected onto surfaces or walls. A future recommendation for this type of scene, I will ensure that the lighting is correct in the room. I re-shot these scenes later on in a different location in which the shadow and lighting was not an issue, I ensured that there was not lots of direct sunlight coming in.

I also experienced an issue with the tracking shot of Steve as he walked through the city, this was filmed as I walked backwards and was challenging to ensure that it was steady, in future I would of tried to film with a dolly track or use a motorized vehicle controlled by someone else to ensure the track was smooth and steady.

A complex issue originally that I experienced was ensuring my actors / actresses did not look into the lens, this happened during one or two scenes and I had to re-film these scenes. In future I would ensure that my artist were more aware of the importance of not looking into the lens.

Another complex issue was finding a character that looked old enough to play Abbie's Dad, I asked Abbie's real father however due to his busy schedule this was not possible. I cast Richard Orange but during the edit I was notified that he did not look old enough and this needed to be changed,despite changing this again to Adam Mitulinski I still experienced the same issue, in future I would have ensured that I had an old enough character before I shot any scenes.

The final issue was shooting the scene in the classroom of Steve having a meditation, originally I filmed this using a zoom function but after being told this was not good, I re-shot this scene using a wide shot, medium shot and then close up shot, however in future I could of used a track or chair to achieve the zoom effect. 

Editing Decision List for Narrative Music Video: L04.

During the post production section of my narrative music video I made various decisions about the editing style I was going to use and the reason why I felt this editing style was successful, below I will outline my reasoning behind why I chose each cut.

For scene 1 I decided to cut out where Graham (Steve Maloney) comes into the garden as this did not establish any importance in the scene, instead I chose a wide shot of him in the garden, followed by a cut showing a medium shot of him walking up the steps, then a close up shot of him entering the house, the use of quick cuts between wide, medium and close up helped to give the viewer a more fluid experience as opposed to a tracking shot which would have been needless because it would not have progressed the scene in any real way. The choice to then cut from Graham as he enters the house, to walking into the bedroom was used as again it gives the footage more of a seamless transition as opposed to the original shots I was going to use which was a long tracking shot of him walking up the stairs and into the bedroom. I decided against using long tracking shot because they do not progress the story unless there is a real intention behind them, the use of a tracking shot to simply take a character from one area to another is not needed so this was my decision behind using a seamless cut from Graham entering the house to then entering the bedroom, as he takes off his blazer he sits down on the bed, looking exhausted as I hold the shot on Graham with a medium shot of him which establishes his position in the room. I chose the cut from the entrance of the house of the bedroom because I did not feel that it would jar the viewer in anyway but would engage them more.

I then cut from Graham sitting on the bed exhausted to his girlfriend entering the room a short while later to join him in bed. The reason why I chose this cut was due to the fact that it showed time passing between Graham entering the room and sitting thinking and then it creates a good transition to his girlfriend entering the room to join him. I then used a medium shot to signify that Graham and his Girlfriend are close and in each other's arms resting.

I then cut from Graham relaxing in bed with his girlfriend to Graham wandering the street contemplating life and pondering his situation. The decision behind selecting this cut was to show the unravelling of Graham's situation, the early shots show the comfort of his relationship as everything in his life is going as good as can be, the cuts to him walking alone show a time when he is struggling with loneliness and also struggling to find his place in the world. My decision behind choosing the next cut was to show Graham as we learn that things are not right in his relationship, this is signified by Graham giving his girlfriend flowers, this is to show that Graham is feeling like his relationship with his girlfriend is drifting away and as a way of reconnecting with her he decides to give flowers to show he stills cares.

The shots of Graham giving his girlfriend the flowers and her indifferent reaction to this is then cut with Graham as he walks along the street, wandering lonely with no sense of direction. After Graham's long walk, I cut to imagery of him entering the house shocked and upset he finds his girlfriend in bed with a new man. I then chose to cut to Graham walking again to show the build up of thoughts in his mind and the progression of his frustration and loss is amplified through the imagery of Graham walking isolated and along the hills.

Importantly I then cut to Graham venting his rage and frustration at his girlfriend's new lover, the choice to select this scene was significant as it shows the build up of anger between him walking alone lost and lonely, the thoughts in his mind are signified through the use of quick cuts and then finally the scene with him arguing with the new partner signifies that all the emotion he has held in my mind is finally being released.

Notably I then juxtapose this visually with imagery of Graham as he has a breakdown, sobbing as he has his life turned upside down. Again I choose to cut to Graham walking along the hills as it signifies that the hills are his only friend, this imagery is important throughout the whole of the music video, Graham's progression from a comfortable situation to his life dismantling before him, the idea is that Graham never wants to feel this way again.

My next cut was to Graham crying and weeping as his girlfriend tells him about her abortion, originally I shot wide shots of Graham entering the room but in the final edit I chose to use a close up shot of Graham upset as he learns even more devastating news, this puzzles Graham as he cannot understand why life has been difficult for him and why he has been treated this way. Again I chose to cut to Graham walking through the hills, this imagery is evident throughout the music video to depict the idea of Graham going through a journey much like most people in life do.

I then chose to cut to a wide shot of Graham in a room meditating and feeling at ease with the world, I then cut to a medium shot and finally to a close up to show the level of calmness and tranquillity of Graham as he sits in a calmer place.

My decision behind choosing the next scene was to show Graham accepting that his girlfriend has a new lover and how he is coming to terms with a devastating loss in his life. The choice and decision behind the next close up is the saddened emotion on Graham's face as he blames himself for not helping more but also feels upset as all he ever wanted was his girlfriend's life.

From this we cut to Graham all alone in his bed, the use of a cross dissolve with edge balance shows an image of his girlfriend which is meant to depict a memory of time before when they were together, it also shows the emptiness in Graham's situation as he now sleeps alone. I then chose a white flash to signify a flashback, this cuts to a more happier period as Graham and his then girlfriend watched TV and relaxed. This cut was used to display that Graham did experience happier period in his life and that not everything was dark and upsetting.

Finally the last sequence I cut to Graham as he overlooks the pond, the visual symbolism showing that Graham is thinking and imagining a new happier place in the future. This is meant to display Graham thinking about his future and if he will ever truly be happy.

I then intercut images of Graham at the pond to images of a happy family enjoying a birthday and making time for love and happiness. The use of intercutting was to display that Graham is dreaming of a future where he will be happy, I then cut back to images of him at the pond again to show his current state, finally ending the music video as he looks out in the distance, this is to signify his unsure thoughts on what the future holds.

L04 - Managing the Post Production for my narrative music video.

For unit L04 -

The requirement is to outline how I managed my post-production for my narrative music video.

This will be a clear overview of the process of the project's initial concept to the final delivery.

I begun my project by creating a schedule of meetings between myself and my musician Graham Woolley, these meetings were either weekly or fortnightly and were an opportunity for me to listen to songs from Graham, discuss themes, ideas and also outline the vision for the video.

During the first meeting I began by outlining financial lists for the budget which included cost of travel to the shooting locations, travel for actors to each location and cost of equipment needed for the shoot.

Early on I knew the importance of communication with Graham so that I could acquire his musical file and begin to craft my storyboards and plan for location recces.

I acquired the musical sounds file from Graham and consent form which was very helpful early on and I then begun to look at pre-production documents such as consent forms for filming in each location, permission to film and risk assessments for each location.

After acquiring the musical file I contacted several performing artists to inquire if they would like to be in my short narrative music video, I outlined the story idea, the locations, costume, character profiles.

I then conducted my location recce, I did a recce at Abbie Chilton's house which was suitable for the large bulk of the scene's, I then did a location recce of Bradford College and met with security officers and area managers to ensure I had permission to film.

After outlaying the concept of the music video and the deadlines several performing artists were extremely busy but several were also willing to help so I organised several meetings on a weekly or fortnightly basis to go through the shooting script, character profiles, the style of the video, my personal vision for the video and also the meaning and idea behind the song, this helped the group understand the idea and tap into the characters perspectives.

Using my detailed checklist this ensured I did not make costly errors, although when I successfully secured my location for the first shoot at Abbie's House I did experience time issues due to the nature of large amounts of footage needing to be captured. The critically important issue was the budget and schedule, I created a schedule to keep my artists informed of times to meet and the specific locations.

Throughout the process I learnt about the smoothest way to manage dailies, logging footage and recording shot types.

For my pre-production portfolio I had risk assessment forms which I completed for all three locations outlining the detailed risks and ways to minimize risk, I got signed consent forms from each location, storyboards which clearly outlined the movement of the shot, shot type and audio. Importantly my folder contained a treatment which gave a breakdown of the shooting outline, a proposal outlining intended aim, target audience, justification for choosing target.

After the shooting had finished on June 3rd 2013, I began the editing process, this started with me transferring my files from my hard drive to the Mac computer, creating a file named 'Jake Regan narrative music video production' I saw all the raw footage and then also created a file for converted footage.

Using meticulous levels of detail I used Adobe Premiere Pro and dropped all my files into the editing software. I had large amounts of footage and did find the experience challenging especially cutting and using correct transitions.

My editing style began with me using cuts to ensure that my narrative music video had good seamless transitions, however due to the nature of my storyline's complexities, I rearranged parts of the story for the final edit and using various techniques such as cross fading, dip to black, flash dissolve and dissolve I managed to create the desired effects.

My time schedule was particularly busy throughout this period so I did not manage to dedicate all my time to the editing process, for a future recommendation I would have also gained more experience from editing from going to have an editing class with professional editors. During the editing process I did create a schedule in which I edited everyday, I began to extract the scenes I wanted into the correct order on the timeline and then use the razor tool to decide the best place for the cut.

During the latter stages of the edit I was assisted by an editor Kathryn Pogue who helped with the edit by adding technical effects such as the dip to black to symbolize the passing of time, cross fade to symbolize the imagery of Abbie next to Stephen and the transition's between several shots to give the music video a smooth more refined look.

During the creation of the narrative music video I wanted it to have one look to it as opposed to being over exposed or desaturated. The vibrant colours came through naturally and the dullness of the sky was also shown so I did not need to grade during the editing process.

Commenting on my editing style I was largely inspired by the editing style of Martin Scorsese, the use of flashes, rapid cuts and jump cuts. During my edit I did not however overuse jump cuts or rapid cuts because I did not want the audience to feel jarred, instead I was very brutal and fast with where I cut due to my time limitations. Importantly my editing style ensured that my film looked like a seamless smooth transition,
I wanted to achieve the effect of a character who goes through a journey.

Managing post-production for my narrative music video included ensuring I had the footage saved in the correct location on a file on my hard drive and saved on work in progress as a music video folder. Ensuring I had access to the files easily was important with the edit and also helped me with time management.

For future recommendations I would of begun my editing process much earlier, however due to my earlier schedule of liaising with my music client and liaising with my performing artists, I did not execute a detailed enough time planner.

On conclusion I did manage the production successfully, liaising with a client to create a music video and uploading the film to short music film festivals.

Graham Woolley - When the Curtain Falls - Directed By Jake Regan

L04 - Critically reviewing editing techniques and aesthetic.

For unit L04 I was assigned the task of critically analysing the final narrative music video which I have created, this includes referencing a theory or style of editing techniques and complex problems during the shoot with more than one variable.

The area of study for my narrative music video production is the using of fast cutting, My narrative music video production utilized the style of cutting as I wanted to ensure the narrative short video was succinct and clear.

The problem I experienced with opening scene was a tracking shot in which Graham Woolley comes home from meditation, the camera tracks him from the end of the garden into his house, as I did not have a dolly track I could not ensure that the tracking was smooth and steady, however another variable to improve the type of shot would be a shoulder rig which would be very secure.

The use of cutting as an editing style is something I adhere to and have tried to incorporate as I did not want to focus on any other theory such as colour theory, desaturation, montage theory but instead wanted to focus on types of editors and how they select the cut and where it is best used.

Intended aim of Narrative music video production

For Unit L02 I have to outline the intended aim and what I hope to achieve with my narrative music video production.

The initial aim of my project is to create a narrative video production with a technical and visual aesthetic which is to a professional standard, linking this to a particular shooting style and editing style including rapid cuts and jump cutting.

The aim of my project was to successfully liaise with a musician who will be the client for the assignment, I must demonstrate skills in planning, pre-production, staging, shooting, editing and delivering a narrative music video production.

Production meetings with Crew and Cast.

For unit L02 production documents I have to outline minutes of meetings for all meeting conducted with my cast including actors and make-up and other crew members.

The purposes of these meetings were to inform the cast and crew members of the detail's behind there role in the production, their locations for filming, dates for filming, character profiles, shooting scripts, consent forms and risk assessments.

AGENDA for meeting Thursday 2nd May 2013:

1. Welcome / Introduction to the meeting.

2. Apologies.

3. Agreed minutes of meetings.

4. Generation of ideas.

5. A.O.B.

6. Date of next meeting.

Upside Down Productions:
Date of 1st Meeting with crew  Thursday 2nd May from 1pm until 3pm - Abbie Chilton (Girlfriend), Becky Chilton (Extra), Dom Maloney (Extra), James Shearer (Extra) Steven Maloney (Graham), Gina Amos (Mum), Thomas Shearer (New boyfriend), Richard Orange (Dad). This meeting was at Bradford College, Great Horton Road, BD7 1AY.

Chair of meeting: Jake Regan.

Present members of meeting: Gina Amos, Abbie Chilton, Becky Chilton, Dom Maloney, Steve Maloney, Richard Orange, Thomas Shearer.

1. Jake Regan as the chair of the meeting welcomes all acting / make-up members to the meeting. Jake Regan sends round the idea for his narrative music video to give the crew an idea on the style of narrative music video.

2. No apologies as all members attended the meetings.

3. Minutes agreed by all members of meeting.

4. Ideas raised during the meeting - During this meeting a question and response session was held between Jake Regan (Director) and all crew members. This meeting outlined the idea behind the narrative music video, the song which will accompany the narrative music video, the style / genre of the narrative music video, a description of the song's meaning and inspiration for choosing the song.

5. A.O.B - During this meeting the crew wanted to know about character profiles and requested them for the next meeting on Thursday 9th May 2013.

6. Date of next meeting - Thursday 9th May 2013.

Upside Down Productions:
Date of 2nd Meeting with crew  Thursday 9th May from 2pm until 4pm - Abbie Chilton (Girlfriend), Becky Chilton (Extra), Dom Maloney (Extra), James Shearer (Extra) Steven Maloney (Graham), Gina Amos (Mum), Thomas Shearer (New boyfriend), Richard Orange (Dad). This meeting was at Bradford College, Great Horton Road, BD7 1AY. 
AGENDA for meeting Thursday 9th May 2013:

1. Welcome / Introduction to the meeting.

2. Apologies.

3. Agreed minutes of meetings.

4. Generation of ideas.

5. A.O.B.

6. Date of next meeting.

Chair of the meeting: Jake Regan.

Members present at meeting:

Present members of meeting: Gina Amos, Abbie Chilton, Becky Chilton, Dom Maloney, Steve Maloney, Richard Orange, Thomas Shearer.

1. Jake Regan as the chair of the meeting welcomed everyone to the meeting hall. Jake Regan made a note of details of the last meeting and all requests from the crew, Jake Regan also outlined detail pre-production schedule's to all members of the meeting.

2. No apologies were needed for this meeting.

3. Minutes of the meetings were agreed by all members of the group.

4. Discussion during this meeting character profiles were handed out for each character, this informed each crew member of their role, importantly filming dates were also outlined in the meeting as Thursday May 23rd 2013, Friday 31st May 2013 and Monday 3rd June 2013. During this meeting all crew members requested that during the 3rd and final meeting a run through of the format, sequences and type of style, this was for the final meeting on Thursday 16th May 2013.

5. A.O.B - During this session crew members outlined that they wanted locations specified, Jake Regan outlined that the day one of shooting on Thursday 23rd May would be at Abbie Chilton's house 14 Moorside Road, Bradford, BD2 2EU, The second shoot would be at Bradford College, Great Horton Road, BD7 1AY on Friday May 31st and the final shoot would be at Bradford College, Great Horton Road, BD7 1AY and Student Accommodation Halls, Bradford, BD5 0NH.

6. Final meeting - Thursday 16th May 2013.

Upside Down Productions:
Date of final Meeting with crew  Thursday 16th May from 2pm until 6pm - Abbie Chilton (Girlfriend), Becky Chilton (Extra), Dom Maloney (Extra), James Shearer (Extra) Steven Maloney (Graham), Gina Amos (Mum), Thomas Shearer (New boyfriend), Richard Orange (Dad). This meeting was at Bradford College, Great Horton Road, BD7 1AY.

  AGENDA for meeting Thursday 16th May 2013:

1. Welcome / Introduction to the meeting.

2. Apologies.

3. Agreed minutes of meetings.

4. Generation of ideas.

5. A.O.B.

6. Date of next meeting.

 

Chair of meeting: Jake Regan.

Present members of meeting: Gina Amos, Abbie Chilton, Becky Chilton, Dom Maloney, Steve Maloney, Adam Mitulinski (Could be drafted in as  Dad character), Richard Orange, Thomas Shearer.

1. Jake Regan welcomes the team to the final meeting before the shoot on May 23rd 2013; Jake Regan asks if any crew members have any questions or queries.

2. No apologies as no members of the group were missing or late.

3. Minutes of meetings were agreed by the group.

4. Ideas generated for meeting - During the final meeting the crew did a run through of each scene, the vision, placement, staging, style of narrative music video and shooting script. All crew members were aware of dates for shoot and locations and times to arrive at.

5. A.O.B - All pre-production documents had been collated and organized into a portfolio folder.

6. No more meeting before shooting on Thursday May 23rd 2013.

Production meetings with Musician Graham Woolley.

For unit L02 - I need to critically outline the meetings which I planned with my musician Graham Woolley.

Upside Down Productions:
Date of 1st Meeting with Graham Woolley (Musician) Thursday 21st February 2013, 5pm until 7pm, Halifax.

AGENDA for meeting on Thursday 21st February:

1. Welcome / Introduction to the meeting.

2. Apologies.

3. Agreed minutes of meetings.

4. Generation of ideas.

5. A.O.B.

6. Date of next meeting.


Upside Down Productions:
Date of 1st Meeting with Graham Woolley (Musician) Thursday 21st February 2013, 5pm until 7pm, Halifax.
Chair of meeting: Jake Regan.

Secretary in meeting: Kathryn Pogue.

Present members of meeting: Kathryn Pogue, Jake Regan and Graham Woolley.

1. Jake Regan as the chair of the meeting introduced all members in the room. Jake briefed Mr Graham Woolley his musical artist the outline the meeting.

2. No apologies in this meeting as all members attended.


3. All minutes of meetings were agreed within the group.


4. During this Meeting Jake Regan proposed his idea to Graham Woolley about the possibility of using Graham's MP3 track in accordance with Jake Regan's narrative music video. Jake Regan outlined to Graham the details of the project, what was required of Graham and also the legal and ethical guidelines to the project. During this meeting Graham outlined that he wanted to see Jake Regan's portfolio to try to get an understanding of how he would use the song to create a narrative music video, Graham suggested to Jake Regan in the next meeting to bring him some work from his portfolio.

5. A.O.B - Graham during this period outlined that he also wanted to see the pre-production documents in a portfolio folder.

6. Date of next meeting - Thursday 7th March 2013.

Upside Down Productions:
Date of 2nd Meeting with Graham Woolley (Musician) Thursday March 7th 2013, 4pm until 6pm.

AGENDA for Thursday March 7th 2013:

1. Welcome / Introduction to the meeting.

2. Apologies.

3. Agreed minutes of meetings.

4. Generation of ideas.

5. A.O.B.

6. Date of next meeting.
Upside Down Productions:
Date of 2nd Meeting with Graham Woolley (Musician) Thursday March 7th 2013, 4pm until 6pm.
Chair of meeting: Jake Regan.

Members present at meeting: Jake Regan and Graham Woolley.

1. Jake Regan welcomed Graham Woolley to the meeting session, Jake brought his folder which provided Graham with a brief for the meeting.

2. No apologies for this meeting as all scheduled members attended.

3. The minutes were agreed between Graham Woolley and Jake Regan as the meeting was prearranged via email.

4. The core body of the meeting was Jake Regan showing Graham Woolley his pre-production folder with storyboarding concepts, location recces and risk assessment forms. During this meeting Jake Regan requested during this session that he wanted to listen to some more of Graham's music just to try and decide which one to select. Graham copied Jake a USB memory stick of his work and suggested that Jake look through the work deciding which song would suit him.

5. A.O.B - During this meeting Graham also requested that Jake Regan get some more tips and knowledge on creating consent forms from Kathryn Pogue.

6. Date of next meeting - Thursday 28th March 2013.

AGENDA for Thursday 28th March 2013:

1. Welcome / Introduction to the meeting.

2. Apologies.

3. Agreed minutes of meetings.

4. Generation of ideas.

5. A.O.B.

6. Date of next meeting.

 Upside Down Productions:
Date of 3rd Meeting with Graham Woolley (Musician) Thursday March 28th 2013, 5pm until 7pm, Halifax.

Chair of meeting: Jake Regan.

Helper: Kathryn Pogue.

Members present at meeting: Kathryn Pogue, Jake Regan and Graham Woolley.

1. Jake Regan welcomed Kathryn Pogue and Graham Woolley to the meeting. Jake Regan raised the point that during the previous meeting Graham requested Jake look at his music material which Jake did for some time.

2. No apologies for this meeting as no members were late or missing.

3. All meetings were pre-arranged via email and certified with each group member.

4. Ideas generated during this meeting started primarily with Jake Regan outlining to Graham Woolley that he had listened to his musical track and wanted to use the file called 'When The Curtain Falls', Graham was happy to allow Jake Regan to use the musical file, however Graham wanted to ensure that the consent / release forms were correctly formatted.

5. A.O.B - Kathryn Pogue outlined to Jake Regan that he must ensure the consent form is correctly formatted.

6. Date for next meeting - Thursday 11th April 2013.

AGENDA for Thursday 11th April 2013:

1. Welcome / Introduction to the meeting.

2. Apologies.

3. Agreed minutes of meetings.

4. Generation of ideas.

5. A.O.B.

6. Date of next meeting.
Upside Down Productions:
Date of 4th Meeting with Graham Woolley (Musician) Thursday April 11th 2013, 3pm until 5pm, Halifax.
Chair of meeting: Jake Regan.

Members present at meeting: Jake Regan and Graham Woolley.

1. Jake Regan as the chair of the meeting welcomed Graham Woolley to the meeting, Jake Regan outlined the notes from the previous meeting and his consent form which he wanted to present during the meeting.

2. Apologies from Kathryn Pogue as she could not attend the meeting.

3. Minutes of meetings were accepted by the group, Graham confirmed that he could conduct the meeting in his house for large periods of time.

4. Ideas for meetings - During this meeting Jake Regan presented his newest consent form in the hope that Graham Woolley would accept his offer for using 'When The Curtain Falls' in accordance with his narrative music video. Graham Woolley accepted this agreement but noted that the consent form was not in the correct format and suggested that Jake Regan get help in structuring his consent form. Graham suggested bringing the consent form to the next meeting on Thursday 25th April 2013.

5. A.O.B - Graham Woolley outlined that Jake Regan must be specific with his consent form and also must outline the editing, distribution and data protection act.

6. Date of final meeting: Thursday 25th May 2013.

AGENDA for Thursday 25th April 2013:

1. Welcome / Introduction to the meeting.

2. Apologies.

3. Agreed minutes of meetings.

4. Generation of ideas.

5. A.O.B.

6. Date of next meeting.

Upside Down Productions:
Date of final Meeting with Graham Woolley (Musician) Thursday April 25th 2013, 4pm until 6pm, Halifax.
Chair of meeting: Jake Regan.

Present members of the meeting: Jake Regan and Graham Woolley.

1. Jake Regan as the chair of the meeting outlined the details of the final meeting, importantly his new correctly structured
consent form which he would require to be signed today.

2. No apologies as no members were late or missed the meet.


3. The minutes of meetings were agreed by the group.


4. Ideas which were generated during this project - Jake Regan presented his correctly formatted consent form which specified distribution rights for the MP3 file and the editing version which would be used for promotional purposes. Graham Woolley accepted the consent form and signed the form along with giving Jake Regan the MP3 version of 'When The Curtain Falls'.

5. A.O.B - During this meeting Graham suggested that Jake Regan learn more about other elements of pre-production just to ensure that he is correctly working on these things.

6. No more meeting with Graham Woolley.



Equipment list for Narrative Production Music Video.

For unit L02 I have to outline the list of equipment used for the project:

Camera - NIKON DSLR D5100V provided by Jake Regan -(Director)
Tripod - Manfrotto Tripod provided by Jake Regan -(Director)
MP3 music file - provided by Graham Woolley - (Musician)
16 GB Memory Card - Jake Regan - (Director)

This is the complete list of equipment used for the production and none of this was bought or paid for specifically for the project.

Budget List for Narrative Video Production - 23rd May, 31st May and 3rd June 2013.

For L02, I have to signify and outline the budget costs for my narrative video production. I have outlined the budget for each shoot and the actual money spent on each shoot.
 

Thursday 23rd May 2013 5pm until 10pm This shoot was in Eccleshill Bradford, BD2 2EU and require the group to each take the local bus from our college to Eccleshill. The budget we had alloted ourselves for Thursday 23rd May was £40 as a group. 

The actual costs were £2.50 for a day rider person, each individual paid for their own travel. The total number of crew who travelled from Bradford to Eccleshill was 6 -  Jake Regan, Gina Amos, Abbie Chilton, Steve Maloney, Richard Orange and Thomas Shearer.

 

£2.50 x 6 people = £14.50.

 

Each individual member bought their own sweets and refreshments, however for the party scene which we shot in Eccleshill I provided Paper plates £1, Crisps £1, Popcorn £1, Poppers £1, Baloons £2, Banners £1, Cakes £1 and Biscuits £1. This total came to £9.

 

This £9 added to the £14.50 adds to £23.50 which was below the alloted budget of £40.

Each individual may have bought dinner for themselves or been provided with a dinner during the course of the shoot.

 

 Friday 31st May 2013 4pm until 9pm

The seconday shooting day was on Friday 31st May in which we filmed at Bradford College. The alloted budget for this day was £30. This included travel and food costs.

My personal travel costs were nothing as I live in Bradford and walked to college. 

Steve Maloney lives in north Bradford and would have travelled via public transport buying the all day rider at £2.70 and Richard Orange also purchased the all day rider at £2.70.

The cost for their travel was £5.40.

The cost for their food was below £10, Richard has a sandwich and Steve had some light snacks, neither of them wanted any refreshments or supplies.

 

Monday 3rd June 2013 1pm until 6pm

 

The final shoot took place in Bradford College and my university accomdation halls in Bradford, financially I did not have to pay any travel costs to these locations. The budget for travel and food was £50. 

 

During the final shoot we began filming in Bradford College which required the cast to travel from their homes to college.

 

The following people had to buy a day rider travel tickets at £2.70

 Steve Maloney, Abbie Chilton, Richard Orange,Thomas Shearer and Gina Amos.

This is £2.70 x 5 which amounts to £13.50.

Food costs included several members of the group travelling to Wetherspoons but this was from their own personal budget not the budget which we had pre agreed.

The cost of the meals for Wetherspoons was £20 between the group.

Finally the costs for the final part of shooting in student accomodation was free as no members of the group had any food or drinks.

 

I had diverse locations to film my narrative music video production.

The first location was 14 Moorside Road, Eccleshill, Bradford, BD2 2EU.

The second location was Bradford College, Great Horton Road, BD7 1AY.

The final location was my student halls Laisteridge Lane, Bradford, BD5 0NH and Bradford College, Great Horton Road, BD7 1AY.

L02 - Selecting and Justifying methods and techniques used in my narrative video production.

L02 – To select and justify methods and techniques used during the filming.

During the process of creating my narrative music video I will outlines and justify the techniques used and discuss the importance and effectiveness of each chosen element.

Narrative music video production was one of two options which I could create to reach unit 2 criteria, there was also an option to conduct, plan and shoot a fiction film to standard acceptable to an employer or client.

I did outline the possibility of a fiction film being an option which I could select and either create a silent film or film with dialogue. Importantly I did not choose a fiction film because I wanted to learn the skills and information of how to liaise with a musical client, get their permission and use their track to create a narrative arc. The conscious choice to not use dialogue was due to the soundtrack being present, the soundtrack creates the brooding atmosphere and I wanted this to be detailed through the song as opposed to dialogue. In review of my narrative music video production I could not have achieved the same level of atmosphere and tension without music, to justify the methods and techniques used it is critical that I have both music and visual stimulus to create the narrative music video as the music is supposed to guide the narrative of the story. Conclusively I could have shot it as a silent film, fiction film or used dialogue but my decision to not used these were justified as I need the musical track from Graham Woolley to accompany the screenplay which I had created, dialogue was not necessary as the audio is the music file throughout the video.

However I did have an idea for a fiction film, a supernatural short about a comic book leader Jared who runs a weekly book club which turns into a cult group for demons, it turns out one of demons has the ability to read into the future and paint whatever he sees, which just so happens to come true whenever he paints it. When it turns out that Jared is painted in the comic book as dying he must battle against time to destroy the demon and destroy the painting. This fiction film idea was a possible idea which I would have used for my assignment but I thought that financially and logistically this film would have had a much higher budget and demanded much more locations, this was then why I decided to choose narrative music video as I had secure locations, equipment and cast for the narrative music video it was a much more logistical and realistic opportunity.

Production Log and Production Schedule - L02.

Production log and location links.

Production Schedule
Thursday 23rd May 2013 5pm until 10pm
Friday 31st May 2013 5pm until 10pm.

Monday 3rd June 2013 2pm until 6pm.

I had diverse locations to film my narrative music video production.

The first location was 14 Moorside Road, Eccleshill, Bradford, BD2 2EU.

The second location was Bradford College, Great Horton Road, BD7 1AY.

The final location was my student halls Laisteridge Lane, Bradford, BD5 0NH.

1^st Day of shoot: Abbie Chilton’s house 14 Moorside Road, BD2 2EU.

Proposed production log:

On the first day of shooting I will successfully plan and shoot the opening scenes of my narrative music video ‘Upside Down’, the opening scene of my short narrative music video will be scene 1 in which Graham arrives home from meditation to his bedroom to relax, scene 2 will be when Graham gets into bed and is joined by Abbie, this scene will outline the early form of their relationship and the positive aspects. Scene 3 will reveal when Abbie leaves Graham in the night to go to her parents house. Scene 4 will be when Graham visit’s his girlfriend parents house to find out why his girlfriend (Abbie) has left him. I will film scene 5 at Abbie’s house this is the scene in which Graham goes to his girlfriends parents house with flowers to seek her love again. I will film scene 10 in which Graham arrives home to find to his surprise that his girlfriend is cheating with another man. I will also film scene 11 in which Graham learns to accept that his girlfriend has moved on. Finally I will shoot the end scene of my film, which is the party scene in which Graham moves on in his relationship.

Actual filming day:

On May 23^rd at Abbie Chilton’s house in Bradford I began principal filming and managed to film a great deal of my narrative music video, I filmed for 4 hours but had to cease filming due to it becoming late. On reflection and reviewing I will outline how I could have improved for my hooting and also outlined future recommendations. I filmed the first scene in which Graham (Steve Maloney) arrives home from meditation and slumps onto his Bed, this was filmed using my Nikon d5100 DLSR camera so the footage was crisp and clear, this was a complicated tracking shot and I did experience lighting issues during filming. In future I would ensure that I was aware of the lighting surroundings and I would also alter the lighting effects in the editing suite.

I filmed scene 2 in which the girlfriend (Abbie Chilton) arrives and joins Graham in Bed, they relax and converse about their days. Both Steve and Abbie were very helpful on set, they understood the vision of the scene, it did require however several takes as both actors had moments of loss of concentration and this was challenging for me as at times I had to reign them back in to the vision of the story. For this scene In future I should have ensured that my indoor lighting was okay and also I would ensure I had correctly white balanced.

Steve Maloney was very good at understanding the character of Graham, he understood the meaning of the song and also the ideas which I gave to him he understood them very well, however there were times where there were bloopers which I did not feel angry at, I slightly felt when I watched the footage back and other class members saw it, I felt it reflected badly on me as I could not control my artists. I also filmed scenes 3, 4 and 5 in which Graham (Steve Maloney) wakes up and find to his surprise his girlfriend is not sleeping by his side, however due to the mistake I made in which shadow was in the shot, I had to cut at a certain point in the scene, did however re-shoot the scenes and they were successful. Scene 4 was Graham (Steve Maloney) going to his girlfriend’s parents’ house, Graham finds her Mum (Gina Amos), Brother (Richard Orange) and his girlfriend (Abbie Chilton) as they laugh and tell jokes, poking fun at Graham. During this scene I was pleased with how Gina Amos did well to get into character of the Mum despite not really knowing the vision of the narrative music video and I was pleased with Richard Orange’s ability to portray a sincere character. During this scene on reflection I feel that I should have given my artist more clarity as to what they needed to do, I am however pleased with the result. Scene 5 consisted of Graham (Steve Maloney) visiting his girlfriend to give her flowers, this scene was successful but I did feel that despite clearly explaining the scene Steve did at times laugh when it was not really necessary.

During Monday 23^rd we also filmed scene 10 in which Graham (Steve Maloney) comes and finds his girlfriend (Abbie Chilton) in bed with her new boyfriend (Thomas Shearer), this scene was a great performance from Steve Maloney and the level of emotion which he put into the character was great, however in this scene Abbie did look at the camera several times so we had to reshoot this scene. We also did scene 11 in which Graham forgives his ex- girlfriend (Abbie Chilton) and finally accepts seeing her with her new boyfriend (Thomas Shearer), during this scene Abbie and Thomas were very good at suggesting shots I could use and this scene also featured a great performance from Steve Maloney, I used a wide shot to capture the environment of the scene and then I used a medium close up to capture Steve Maloney as he gazed into the distance.

Proposed filming for shoot 2 – Friday 31^st May – Bradford College BD7 1AY.

During the second day of filming on Friday 31^st May I will film scene 7 in which Richard Orange (DAD) has a meeting with Graham (Steve Maloney) to discuss why Abbie was forced to have an abortion. This scene will feature the confrontation and conflict between Richard and Graham. Secondly I will film the meditation scene with Graham, this will be a zoom shot.

Actual outcomes for 2^nd day of shoot:

On the second session of filming on May 30^th at Bradford College I shot the scenes with Graham (Steve Maloney) and Richard Orange (originally the Dad) it was shortly after this that I was aware Richard looked too young to be the Dad, in which case I later decided to use Adam Mitulinski for the shoot on June 3^rd. On May 30^th I filmed various confrontation scenes between Graham (Steve Maloney) and the then Dad (Richard Orange). The improvements for future would be to not move the camera so much during filming and use a tripod to ensure that the filming is steady. Also I should have used an older actor to begin with as this would have saved time. For the second scene on day 2 I filmed Graham in a room meditating, this shot I used a zooming technique which was not efficient and on reflection I would film this scene again on the final shoot on June 3^rd, instead of using zoom features I would shoot a long, medium and close up shot so that the video was less jarring.

Proposed filming for final shoot Day 3 – Monday 3^rd June 2013.

For the final shoot I wanted to re-shoot the scene in which Graham wakes up and finds to his surprise his girlfriend is not sleeping by his side as during the first day I of filming I made an error with there being too much shadow in the shot. I also wanted to film a reaction shot in which Graham sees the note and is visibly affected by this. I also wanted to film a scene in which Graham and Abbie arrive at their new apartment, this scene will be after the first scene in which Abbie leaves Graham as I wanted to show that it has happened to Graham multiple times. I will film a scene in which Graham and Abbie are happy and watching TV together enjoying the new time in their relationship, I also will film a scene in which Abbie and Graham are in bed together and Abbie leaves Graham again, once again outlining her deceptive nature. I will also film scene 6 in which Graham arrives home and is told the news by his girlfriend that she has been forced to have an abortion, for this scene I would film various types of shot including a reaction shot in which Graham would breakdown. I would also film a medium shot of Graham’s reaction and a medium shot of Graham as his girlfriend leaves him without saying goodbye.

I will also film scene 7 in which Graham confront the Dad, this film was a reshoot of the original scene this time using Adam Mitulinski as the Dad as it looked more authentic. This scene will be various different angles including a crane shot.

I will film scene 8 in which Graham rejects all of his girlfriend calls and decides to leave her and venture alone. I will also film scene 9 in which Graham walks alone in the heart of the city, this will include a wide shot of Graham, then a medium shot, then a close up shot before he finally leaves and walks into the city. I will also re-shoot scene 10 in which Graham finds his girlfriend in bed with another with man.

Actual filming for final day:

On the third session of filming on June 3^rd 2013, I re-filmed the scenes in which Graham has meditation (scene 12), this time I used a wide shot, then cut to a medium shot and then finally cut to a close up shot which was very effective. I also re-filmed the scene in which Graham (Steve Maloney) confronts his ex-girlfriend’s Dad (this time played by Adam Mitulinski) choosing to cast Adam as the Dad due to him look much older and more authentic. I also filmed scene 9 in which Graham (Steve Maloney) walks out of the door and ignores his girlfriend’s (Abbie Chilton) calls, deciding to leave her alone. During this scene I filmed multiple shots of Graham (Steve Maloney) receiving calls from his girlfriend (Abbie Chilton) I then close ups of the phone as we see Graham ignoring the calls. During the June 3^rd shoot we also did a separate session of filming in which I did a tracking shot of Graham (Steve Maloney) as he leaves his girlfriend behind and wanders off into the city of Bradford, this scene was a tracking shot. The final session of filming was also on June 3^rd at my student accommodation halls, Laisteridge Lane, Bradford, BD5 0NH, during this session I re-filmed the scene 11 in which Graham (Steve Maloney) catches his girlfriend (Abbie Chilton) in bed with her new boyfriend (Thomas Shearer) the reason I re-shot this was due to the original scene Abbie was looking into the camera. I also filmed a scene of Graham (Steve Maloney) and his girlfriend (Abbie Chilton) entering their new apartment, watching television together and also going to bed together. I also filmed a scene in which Graham (Steve Maloney) awakens to again find his girlfriend not by his side, which is repeated in the film to outline that it is not the first time that this has happened to Graham (Steve Maloney).

I re-filmed the reaction shot of Graham (Steve Maloney) as he finds his girlfriend (Abbie Chilton) in bed with a new man (Thomas Shearer), the reason I reshot this was in the original version I could not use it Abbie and Thomas kept hiding under the covers, in the updated version it is much clearer who both characters are and also it is much more effective as we see Graham’s (Steve Maloney) emotion more clearly. I was pleased to be able to re-shoot these scenes as I amended the earlier issues of my shadow being in shot, white balance issues and the issues of Abbie looking into the frame.

The several hours of filming at Abbie’s house was beneficial and I am thankful that I had the opportunity to film, it also taught me the art of time management and that I need to be more assertive and clearer when I work with a crew in future.

I do also feel that I was professional and dedicated to delivering the best possible narrative music video, I was careful in the planning of the scenes and patient in the way I crafted each scene, the experience was a first for me and I did feel considerable responsibility which I feel I dealt with extremely well.

To improve in the future I would however have given myself more time to plan and shoot the film and also spend more time with the artists clearly outlining the vision of the film, due to the time limitations, I felt rushed on set and did not always feel that I was being fully understood which on reflection could have been my fault but also I felt that I needed more time which I did not have.

I am very pleased with musical artist Graham Woolley who although he was not in the video, he was however extremely helpful with providing me with the music file and consent form, due to the nature of both of our busy schedules however it take me sometime before I finally acquired the consent form but I am also extremely thankful that I was even given the opportunity to use Graham’s musical file and he was extremely co-operative.