Blog 10 - Mise-en-scene

To try and stay in keeping with the general spiritual theme that runs throughout Florence and the Machines videos we have chosen to go with a woodland setting. We will shoot our video in friston forest in sussex. To create a more varied atmosphere we will shoot some scenes in daylight in the afternoon and then shoot other scenes at sunset and in the evening, this will also give a timeline to the video.

We have chosen to use extravagant costumes in our video that are similar to those used in period dramas. By ripping the costumes and making them look more distressed as the video goes on and daylight changes to sunset, it will add an exciting element to the video and make the viewer curious to the exact narrative.

Due to the greater female fan base Florence and the machine has we have chosen to feature only females in the video, another reason for this is that we want the cast of the video to dance for part of it and the only dancers able to be part of our video are female.

To help create the old-fashioned and slightly dated feel to our video we will use mostly pastel colours such as green (hence the woodland setting) and light yellows and pastel pinks. We are also considering using camera effects such as black and white and sepia as this will also give to feeling of watching an old movie.

By combining all the different elements mentioned it will create a mysterious feel to the video as well as being connected to nature. To relate our video back to the theme of death that is present throughout the song lyrics we will keep cutting back to an old movie of a man building coffins. As the day progresses in the video and the day changes to night we will make the cast look more aged and tired as well as the distressed costumes. This will by symbolic of a persons lifetime in just one day and how quickly it is over, therefore needing someone to build coffins.

Blog 9 - Pitch

This is the slide show created for our pitch: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1ixV9FyemaZZmYzMDFlMjgtNzc3MC00ZjEyLTk5MzEtMjBkZjYyYzk5MzY3&hl=en This is the film of us presenting our slideshow: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B0DnGj06WOfoMjkxMzBjNDgtZjc2MS00ZTEzLWIxOWEtYzJhM2UwOTk1MTJi&hl=en

Blog 8 - Initial Ideas

This is a powerpoint of our initial ideas: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1ixV9FyemaZNGFjZmU4NzAtMWQ4NS00OTA4LThlNDUtMjY3ZmE2ODc2ZGZh&hl=en

Blog 7 - Copying an existing video

As a group we created a copy of the video for 'Teenage Dirtbag' by Wheatus. This involved analysis of each shot of the video in detail, enabling us to create an accurate reenactment. Each group was given a shooting script for different shots of the video. On this shooting script were details of; the shot type, description of action and camera movement/direction. we were also told to make notes on the different takes for each shot to state how successful they were.
During our first session of filming as a small group my role was the director. This included giving instructions to the camera man and the cast. From directing these shots I learnt how important it is to make sure everyone understands their role and that it is very important for people to communicate on set if they are unsure at any point what they are meant to be doing.

To create the remake video to the best of our abilities it was important to understand fully how all the camera equipment worked and how to utilise this best. This involved learning how to mount the camera using the tripod and make it stable. The tripod was useful when creating shots that involved a steady zoom, panning and tiliting. The tripods we used also had a spirit level on them which helped to get the camera exactly horizontal. Another important element was setting the white balance. As the shots we filmed were outside we set the camera to 'Daytime Filming', this avoided the footage having a blue tinge to it. By manually adjusting the exposure we were able to experiment with the shutter speed, apeture and gain. The composition we chose to use was a widescreen 16:9 ratio, this was recommended by our teacher as giving a more cinematic effect. We then applied the rule of thirds to this ratio when positioning the actors and extras.

An essential part in the planning of our music video will be the storyboard, we practised using this in the Wheatus video as shown here.

For our storyboard we will take photographs as apposed to drawing the shots. this is because if we were to draw stickmen it would not give a clear impression of how the frame should be composed or show the correct proportions.