Having compiled all of the pre-production resources for my project, I am ready to now make my final proposal. The title of my production is: Callum Byrne - Nowhere Man (Music Video).
I believe that my music video would be best suited to be shown, primarily, on YouTube. 95 of the 100 most-viewed videos on the YouTube platform are music videos, and 91 of these have over 1 billion views. In the modern day, YouTube has become the prime platform for hosting and viewing music videos. Another greatly popular service, on which music videos are hosted and viewed, is Apple Music. The Apple Music service is available on iPhone and iPad devices, along with the iTunes application on PC and Mac. Despite primarily being a music-only streaming service, Apple Music also allows artists to host their music videos. This would provide a fantastic platform for me to host my music video to a large number of potential viewers from across the world.
The target audience for my music video is young people aged 18-25. This is because the video will feature a young protagonist whom I believe people of this age range would be able to relate to. Also, targeting this specific age group would allow them to potentially be exposed to a genre and style of music that is not as popular in today's culture as it once was. I believe that the video would be best appeal towards the white, working class population. This is because the character portrayed in the video is a young, lonely boy who does not particularly represent the middle or upper class, and that the artist, along with the character in the video, are of the White-British ethnicity.
The genre of the song I have chosen for my music video is a blend of classic rock and soul. For this reason, I believe that the video must have a particular visual flavour attributed to it, which can be achieved through colour-grading, shot composition, lighting and also editing. This style that I am aiming to achieve can be described as a vintage style. This is achieved through a focus on particularly 'autumnal' colours such as heavy browns and dark greens. This colour palette also harkens back to the colours on the cover of the Beatles' Rubber Soul (1966) from which I have drawn the song for my project. The colours in the video will be vital in establishing tone early on, and manipulating visual elements such as contrast and saturation can also contribute to this.
The lyrical contents of the song I have chosen provide a basis for a narrative element to my music video. The lyrics focus on one, nameless man, and his struggles with feeling alone and lost in the world. Because of this, I can explore a variety of different themes in my video, such as loneliness, seclusion and adolescence. In terms of speed, I believe that the tempo of the song warrants a slow, and thoughtful pace for the accompanying video. The song features a guitar solo that lasts for approximately 40 seconds. During this, it may be appropriate to up the speed of the video, either with a montage sequence or with an increased pace to the video's events.
Wednesday, 25 October 2017
Tuesday, 24 October 2017
Sunday, 22 October 2017
Filming: Permissions
During my production stage, I will conduct filming on two distinct locations. One of these is my own home, and the other is the Tameside Local Nature Reserve in Tamworth. I am free to get footage inside my own home, however I had reservations about what the law has to say regarding filming in the nature reserve. To clear this up, I researched the topic, and came across an organisation known as The IAC, a film & video institute devoted to promoting amateur filmmakers.
Taken from theiac.org.uk, the IAC have the following to say on the matter:
"Amateur movie makers, whether IAC members or not, are unlikely, in the course of normal movie making in a public place, to have any problems with the police unless they are causing an obstruction. Neither members of the media nor the general public need permits to film or photograph in public places and police officers have no power to stop you filming or photographing incidents or police personnel."
Taking this into account, it appears that I will not need any permissions for filming during the course of my production phase. This is relieving, and means I can proceed with filming as scheduled.
Taken from theiac.org.uk, the IAC have the following to say on the matter:
"Amateur movie makers, whether IAC members or not, are unlikely, in the course of normal movie making in a public place, to have any problems with the police unless they are causing an obstruction. Neither members of the media nor the general public need permits to film or photograph in public places and police officers have no power to stop you filming or photographing incidents or police personnel."
Taking this into account, it appears that I will not need any permissions for filming during the course of my production phase. This is relieving, and means I can proceed with filming as scheduled.
Saturday, 21 October 2017
Filming: Equipment
In terms of equipment, I will need a minimal amount of props and tools, as my video is very personal and minimal in its scale. The main piece of equipment required is, of course, the camera. I have decided that the camera I will use for the majority of my filming will be that of an iPhone 6S. On the popular camera quality measurement website DxOMark.com, this camera was awarded a score of 84, ranking it 13th on their table of all phone cameras (as of 2017). However unconventional it may seem to use a mobile phone for principal photography, I can have no doubts about the image quality, and using a phone means that I constant access to my camera to shoot footage whenever the need be.
In terms of props, one of the key factors will be in costume. The protagonist will wear 'woodland', autumnal colours of brown, beige and green. This is in order to create a visual palette which gives the video a distinct 'look', and is also in homage to the album cover for Rubber Soul (1965), which utilises a similar colour palette. I will of course also be using a tripod for my filming. The tripod allows the camera to be stable during shots, and the handle allows for panning, which can be useful for establishing shots. As the iPhone does not have a built in tripod mount, so I will have to use a mount. In anticipation of this, I have acquired such a device from Amazon, the 'Universal Smartphone Tripod Adapter' by Mudder. This was not an expensive purchase, and provides a great and necessary tool for my production. The particular tripod I will be using was the AmazonBasics 60-inch Lightweight Tripod.
In terms of props, one of the key factors will be in costume. The protagonist will wear 'woodland', autumnal colours of brown, beige and green. This is in order to create a visual palette which gives the video a distinct 'look', and is also in homage to the album cover for Rubber Soul (1965), which utilises a similar colour palette. I will of course also be using a tripod for my filming. The tripod allows the camera to be stable during shots, and the handle allows for panning, which can be useful for establishing shots. As the iPhone does not have a built in tripod mount, so I will have to use a mount. In anticipation of this, I have acquired such a device from Amazon, the 'Universal Smartphone Tripod Adapter' by Mudder. This was not an expensive purchase, and provides a great and necessary tool for my production. The particular tripod I will be using was the AmazonBasics 60-inch Lightweight Tripod.
Filming: Risk Assessment
My music video will be a relatively small production. Due to the contained narrative, I expect to only use three locations at a maximum, with one interior and two exterior locations. Exterior locations are generally the ones more likely to present risks during production. I have highlighted these risks below, taking into account their relative severity, whom or what they will affect, their probability, causes and how we might go about preventing or controlling them.
Friday, 20 October 2017
Filming: Production Schedule
I have set out a production schedule for my project spanning the months between the beginning of production and the deadline. This is between October and Christmas 2017. My schedule details milestones I am aiming to reach at points across these three months.
Throughout October I am aiming to complete filming of some of the shots that will be the most simple to complete. These shots will be small in duration and can be used for filler across the music video when editing. Examples of this include establishing shots, along with interesting, relevant images that I may decide that I want to include. Throughout October, I will also begin to setup the editing environment in Adobe Premiere Pro. This is so that when I compile enough shots I will be able to get into the editing process as smoothly as possible.
For November my goal is to begin to shoot most of the footage for the video. During November I will also begin to edit the footage that I have together. I will also start developing some of the editing effects such as the titles for my music video and the transitions. The main milestone for November, however, is to complete most if not all of the filming that is required.
For December I anticipate that most of my time will be spent editing. It is possible that, while editing, I will feel that some additional footage is required, or that I need to reshoot particular shots. For that reason some extra shooting may take place during December, although the main goal for December is to finish my editing and complete the project.
As laid out in my Casting post, my music video will place myself as the lead actor. This can pose some difficulties in filming, as setting up shot composition is likely to be more difficult than if I had an actor to work with. Despite this, my aim is to successfully complete most of the filming with the camera on myself.
There are specific times at which my filming must take place. For example, there are sequences in the video that twill take place outside during the daytime. Due to the fact that the filming will all have to take place during winter, I will likely need to get these shots in the morning, perhaps between the hours of 9:00 and 12:00. If I leave to shoot later than this, and it may start getting darker outside, and there will be lighting inconsistencies between shots. Other segments of the video will take place outside during the evening. This places even more lighting risks, as I will have to get the necessary shots just before the sun sets. These will have to take place between 16:00 - 17:00, to get the nice evening/sunset look I am after. I will film other shots in my home, at night. It is important that these are shots are at night, as the distinctive element of these shots is that all of the illumination will come from a laptop screen, representing the loneliness of the online age.
Throughout October I am aiming to complete filming of some of the shots that will be the most simple to complete. These shots will be small in duration and can be used for filler across the music video when editing. Examples of this include establishing shots, along with interesting, relevant images that I may decide that I want to include. Throughout October, I will also begin to setup the editing environment in Adobe Premiere Pro. This is so that when I compile enough shots I will be able to get into the editing process as smoothly as possible.
For November my goal is to begin to shoot most of the footage for the video. During November I will also begin to edit the footage that I have together. I will also start developing some of the editing effects such as the titles for my music video and the transitions. The main milestone for November, however, is to complete most if not all of the filming that is required.
For December I anticipate that most of my time will be spent editing. It is possible that, while editing, I will feel that some additional footage is required, or that I need to reshoot particular shots. For that reason some extra shooting may take place during December, although the main goal for December is to finish my editing and complete the project.
As laid out in my Casting post, my music video will place myself as the lead actor. This can pose some difficulties in filming, as setting up shot composition is likely to be more difficult than if I had an actor to work with. Despite this, my aim is to successfully complete most of the filming with the camera on myself.
There are specific times at which my filming must take place. For example, there are sequences in the video that twill take place outside during the daytime. Due to the fact that the filming will all have to take place during winter, I will likely need to get these shots in the morning, perhaps between the hours of 9:00 and 12:00. If I leave to shoot later than this, and it may start getting darker outside, and there will be lighting inconsistencies between shots. Other segments of the video will take place outside during the evening. This places even more lighting risks, as I will have to get the necessary shots just before the sun sets. These will have to take place between 16:00 - 17:00, to get the nice evening/sunset look I am after. I will film other shots in my home, at night. It is important that these are shots are at night, as the distinctive element of these shots is that all of the illumination will come from a laptop screen, representing the loneliness of the online age.
Tuesday, 17 October 2017
Planning: Casting
Casting is an essential element of any media production. The actors chosen to deliver performances can make or break a production, such as a film, television program or music video. For the purposes of my production, which is a music video, the casting must be thoroughly considered. My particular production will feature only one significant role, being of course the protagonist. With this, I am faced with the decision of whether I will cast an actor in this role, or, extending the principles of auteur theory, simply cast myself.
Casting an actor would mean that I would have more freedom in terms of operating the camera. The two roles of actor and director would be clearly defined, and we would be able to work independently from one another, for example creating dynamic camera movements while the actor is performing. However, this idea is not without its faults. Having one actor play such a key role in my entire production could produce difficult scheduling conflicts. If, for instance, I wished to complete some filming at a particular time, I would have to schedule this with the actor beforehand, which could prove difficult, bearing in mind that the actor is most likely not going to be available whenever and wherever I please. Also, if a scenario occurred where I realised, during editing, that I would require an extra shot or a reshoot of a previous shot, this could be an inconvenience to the actor and could be detrimental to my production as a whole.
Contrasting this with the alternative, casting myself in the role, these problems would then be eradicated. Using myself as both actor and director would give me complete control over all creative aspects of the production, which would be adopting a true auteur role. Any scheduling conflicts would be avoided, as if I needed to achieve a shot at any time, I will be available to complete it as both actor and director. On top of this, as I am the creator and director of this production, I know myself exactly what I want and require from the performance of the protagonist. Having myself take on the actor role would eliminate any communication issues between myself and my actor, whom may not otherwise understand or be able to deliver the type of performance I am looking for. As with the other option, however, this actor/director role also has its disadvantages. For one, I would find myself more limited with camera movement, as it would be of course very difficult to perform in a shot and simultaneously operate the camera. Also, working completely alone in the production of my video would create some difficulty with framing shots, as I would have to make some estimates with framing with myself as the actor.
Despite this, I believe that the advantages of casting myself would greatly outweigh the disadvantages. In particular, I refer to the freedom of having my 'actor' available wherever and whenever required, as the actor would be myself.
I have therefore decided to cast myself in the lead role of my music video. During production I will play the role of both actor and director, which provides the most convenience for filming and scheduling. In terms of props, I, as the actor, will need only a small amount. In particular, at this time, these are:
Casting an actor would mean that I would have more freedom in terms of operating the camera. The two roles of actor and director would be clearly defined, and we would be able to work independently from one another, for example creating dynamic camera movements while the actor is performing. However, this idea is not without its faults. Having one actor play such a key role in my entire production could produce difficult scheduling conflicts. If, for instance, I wished to complete some filming at a particular time, I would have to schedule this with the actor beforehand, which could prove difficult, bearing in mind that the actor is most likely not going to be available whenever and wherever I please. Also, if a scenario occurred where I realised, during editing, that I would require an extra shot or a reshoot of a previous shot, this could be an inconvenience to the actor and could be detrimental to my production as a whole.
Contrasting this with the alternative, casting myself in the role, these problems would then be eradicated. Using myself as both actor and director would give me complete control over all creative aspects of the production, which would be adopting a true auteur role. Any scheduling conflicts would be avoided, as if I needed to achieve a shot at any time, I will be available to complete it as both actor and director. On top of this, as I am the creator and director of this production, I know myself exactly what I want and require from the performance of the protagonist. Having myself take on the actor role would eliminate any communication issues between myself and my actor, whom may not otherwise understand or be able to deliver the type of performance I am looking for. As with the other option, however, this actor/director role also has its disadvantages. For one, I would find myself more limited with camera movement, as it would be of course very difficult to perform in a shot and simultaneously operate the camera. Also, working completely alone in the production of my video would create some difficulty with framing shots, as I would have to make some estimates with framing with myself as the actor.
Despite this, I believe that the advantages of casting myself would greatly outweigh the disadvantages. In particular, I refer to the freedom of having my 'actor' available wherever and whenever required, as the actor would be myself.
I have therefore decided to cast myself in the lead role of my music video. During production I will play the role of both actor and director, which provides the most convenience for filming and scheduling. In terms of props, I, as the actor, will need only a small amount. In particular, at this time, these are:
- Laptop
- Mobile Phone
- Clothing with distinct brown/green 'earth' tones.
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