Shooting Map

Shooting Map - Post After feedback

Shooting Map from wolfgang13

If NOT EMBEDED CORRECTLY HERE IS DIRECT LINK 

 Above is a Slideshare of a shooting map for my primary shooting location (Room C6- the office) for my music video. The intention of this is to organise my shots and plan them as to where each shot will be filmed within location. Areas marked with the eye icon serve as reminders to be careful when shooting around this part of the location since they feature posters which may allude more to a class room rather than an office. To refer to the shot numbers please look on my original shot list post here.

Burnin Fever Treatment

Burnin Fever Treatment

Below is a treatment for my music video which was developed using adobe InDesign. The treatment outlines my idea/proposal for Tropiika's track Burnin Fever. PLEASE FULL SCREEN THE PRESENTATION TO READ THE DETAILS
 

Filming schedule

 Filming schedule

Due to how the size of my song I have decided to end around the 3:51 mark as due to issues with handling such a large cast I will not be able complete the full video however I am aiming to create a condensed version if my video.

Below is a screen of a filming schedule of scenes that I have already managed to capture on said dates

Today I started to develop a filming schedule for the remaining scenes for my music video using excel. Due to lack of response from emails sent out inquiring about filming a news room and in NUA's animation block I have decided to fall back on contingency plans of filming in C1 for the news room scenes; this will mainly serve as a blank canvas and using post production techniques I plan to make the room look like a news room.

C1 sound booth will serve as my replacement for a news studio

To replace the NUA building for the Robot scenes I will film in Foulsham hall to make use of the brightly coloured walls to convey the Robots environment. Finally for the brief scene involving a weatherman I plan to use a green screen to green screen a custom background to communicate to viewers a news studio.

Below is my filming schedule for the rest of my music video.

Analyising a similar artists video- Daft punk Harder Better Faster Stronger

Analyising a similar artists video-  Daft punk Harder Better Faster Stronger

From listening to Harder Better Faster Stronger without the visuals I managed to count around 35 cuts in the first 37 seconds, this was however based on the beat and pace of the song. When, actually viewing the music video to the track I have noticed that there were only around 16 cuts which is just above half the amount I counted. What the video does is during parts of the track where it would be assumed a cut would take place the video would either pan or track movements to keep viewers interest engaged. Certain shots would also feature the movement of characters and objects to prevent the shots being static and flow with the pace of the song. This movement would also in pace of the beats thus keeping up the pace without using too many shots to overwhelm viewers. Around 11 seconds into the video, it  shows the action of one the pods opening up in different perspectives each perspective changes on the beat of the track. Furthermore during the video one notices that there is still cuts on beat however not every beat leads to a cut. This allows audience the time to consume the visuals and understand what is being shown to them.

From this I have learn't that not all cuts need to be on beat, in fact it would cause a problem for viewers to understand what is happening.

Review of day 1 filming

Review of day 1 filming

Day 1 of filming proved to be a struggle as I found that several things did not go exactly to plan, firstly my initial location for hacker scenes to be filmed i.e. one of the science rooms proved unavailable. Therefore I had to fall back on my contingency plan which was to film in the science office, this however also proved to be unavailable as well since I was told due to specific documents held in the science labs I was not allowed to film ever. Because of this, I had to review what type of room I would need to film such a scene, eventually it was decided that I'd need some sort of office space with computers, which could suggest some sort of computer lab and eventually I settled on IT2. This proved to be a suitable substitute as it features the desired amount of computers and wires to convey a messy computer lab and had the right darkened lighting to connote something sinister to the character we are filming.

IT 2- features dark lighting and a good amount of computers to suggest a computer lab

After attempting to capture some of the Hacker scenes, I then moved onto capturing the more abstract scenes of the video, which necessarily did not need that many people to star in and thus proved to be much more convenient and easier to film. However, these scenes proved to be quite messy as we were using props such as confetti, toys and orange juice to create a strange distorted look for the video. During the shoot however, I did go off my storyboard plan and filmed some experimental shots playing around with the scenes and types of shot, perhaps this will serve in the future as extra footage just in case I run out of footage whilst editing.

An image from the shoot - I believe this image best describes the sort of tone of my music video perhaps this image or sort of imagery would be fitting for the design for the digipak

When I first filmed the hacker scenes initially, they were filmed during midday using the cloudy weather to help with lighting and create a gray tone to the shot making the scene much colder and sinister. However, the weather proved to be something against the shoot and every now the sun would come up, alter the lighting, and in turn the mood of the shoot. Because of this, it was decided to shoot later in the day around 3:40 to use the evening sunset to get dark enough shots to convey something cold and evil but not so dark for viewers. Whilst filming one of the hacker scenes one of the problems I ran into was devising a way to get a close up panning shot of the hacker's hands since the tracking dolly was too large to fit on the surface of the desk. To get around such a problem me and one of my friends built a smaller tracking dolly out of a phone, book and glue sticks.  

The makeshift tracking dolly

However this idea when executed didn't work as much as we planned since the camera would get caught up in wires and our makeshift tracking dolly would fall apart therefore our shots were very shaky. After the shoot we then decided to investigate alternatives to this problem, so far we have devised one possibility which we believe will be the solution to our problems; building a mini tracking dolly out of Lego.

The Lego tracking dolly

Finally, during the shoot we also managed to capture footage in the desired ASCII effect I previously mentioned in a post but when exporting the footage from Ipad to computer I noticed a large downgrade in video quality. On the other hand, this was probably caused by the fact that I converted the footage from MOV to mp4 format, which can sometimes downgrade video quality in the process. I have decided to re shoot said scene and this time I won't use video conversion or perhaps finding a better source for video conversion would solve the problem.

Overall the shoot proved to be quite problematic but most of these problems are easy to solve and some of them have been solved.

Imported footage review

Footage review

Today in class, I imported footage that was captured previously from one of my shoots. When thinking about what went well from the shoots, it seems that my idea for experimental shots was a good thing looking back since I was mostly displeased with the quality of my planned shots more specifically in terms of lighting as most of the hacker scenes were either too dark or too light. For some of the shots I propose editing the brightness and contrast in the editing stage whereas some other shots such as scenes in which the hacker presses the enter key will need to be re-shoot at an earlier time to avoid the shot being so dark. Furthermore, one of my shots concerned filming the front of a laptop screen as code runs across the screen, unfortunately, the camera reflected off the screen and thus these shots also need to be re done; this time I plan to shoot the scene at an angle to solve this problem. In addition, another one of my scenes a panning shot accidentally captured the tripod in the background so because of this, this scene also has to be done. This has shown me however to be much more careful when composing a shot.

The more abstract and concept based scenes however were much more successful as in terms of subject matter and mis en scene I feel that these shots managed to capture more eccentric aspect of my video as I intended by taking two things which normally don't fit together and placing them  in one shot which conveys the desired strange look which really describes the virus' effect on the world around it in my video.

After reviewing my footage I plan to re shoot some of the hacker scenes and now start working on capturing the robot and infected scene of my video.

Props and costume

Please full screen and zoom in on the text as there was a lot of information to compress and organise in a Prezi.

Extra locations and extra notes

 Extra locations and extra notes


For my music video, there are a number of scenes which involve the infected roaming around some sort of urban setting. As a result of this recently I went location scouting around Norwich looking dark places such as alley ways, dark car parks and tight pathways which display a sense of entrapment and isolation within there settings. This should serve well in scenes depicting the infected chasing after those non infected to give more of a sense of horror and threat to the infected creatures whilst contrasting this with their funny and strange appearance.

Below is a slide compiling of pictures taking from my location hunting

My found location for such a shot

During my music video I would like to involve a scene in which we see the infected as a group walk into a city to show the virus' invasion on a mass scale. One idea for a shot for this particular would be a an extreme long shot or standard long shot to emphasis the scope of the infections invasion. To achieve such a shot I managed to find a location in Norwich which features a pathway into the city which with the right framing hopefully I would be able to achieve a similar look to the image below. Hopefully the shot would signify the virus's crossover to civilisation.

A slight exaggeration but idealistically something I would like to achieve

New confirmed location

Food tech - In the College

As mention throughout my planning I have expressed some interest in filming some abstract scenes, some of which revolve around the use of stop motion animation. For such scenes since the main subject and exhibit of the shots will be the abstract imagery offered, specified locations were not as much as a concern as say if finding a house with grand church like architecture to convey a characters affluence. As a result my main priority was looking for a blank wall or surface to film such scenes. This blankness or neutral location would serve more as a blank canvas for me to film these strange eccentric scenes. The closest location which I have found which allows me this blank canvas to film on was the food tech department within school grounds. Not only is this convenient for me and my actors, it allows more of an ease when moving equipment and props to said location. Also the work surface allows for easy clean up for scenes that may prove to cause a mess.





New confirmed location

Art room - in the college

During my video there will be a brief scene concerning an artist as he is infected and transformed into the robot to represent the virus' infection of those around it. For such a scene I would need to clearly communicate to audiences that said character is an artist therefore playing on stereotypes I plan to film said scene within the art rooms to connote an artist studio. Not only is such a room convenient to travel to it also features a range of props such as paint brushes, manikin models and photography books which really work in connoting an artists environment.

Contingency Location

The science office - In the college

If on the possibility that one of the science rooms is unavailable due to the room being booked I have created an idea for a contingency location to film, this being the science office to film the hacker scenes. As seen above the room contains the right type of dark lighting to convey a character isolated from society and to show how sinister the character is. Furthermore the bookshelf and the skeleton model in the room may convey the character scientific personality whilst also conveying the rooms location in somewhere academic. In addition the scruffiness of the blinds and with a few adjustments could show the room as being run down and further illustrate how "on the edge" the character is.



Needed location - News room

For my music video I plan to set a number of scenes revolving around a news report about Frank Sinatra. To achieve such a scene Ideally I would like access to a news room or set, however I have thought of two contingencies; one which is to film in the sound booth in my school which would allow a blank canvas to build a set on. When taking this in consideration I would need simply a desk and change and the monitor could be edited in via after effects however this option I feel may not directly carry across the visuals. However with a fish eye lens effect would help in making the footage look like its being played of a TV monitor such as the image below.

The second option would be to green screen shot by having an actor read the news in a blank room and then during the post production stage add a news room background however this choice would be a problem to plan logistically and I may well achieve the same effect by filming in the sound booth.

Finally in order to locate and possibly film in such a location I emailed a couple of contacts who I believe may know or have access to film in such a facility. Below is a screen grab of the email inquiring about the location

Location needed - Robots lair/hub

In scenes centered around the robot in the digital world I'm particularly looking for a brightly coloured room of some modern architecture to convey the robots surroundings as "not from this world" in the context of the robot not actually living in our world but rather inside a computer. Said blank brightly coloured well should do well in showing an environment that does not exactly exist in our world. To find such a place, once again I went location scouting and found that the NUA animation centre would fit this ideal setting quite well with its bright walls and modern interior design which could give off  cold futuristic effect to the robots environment.

Below is an email to NUA enquirng about such a location.

A contingency if no reply is given soon is to film against a green screen screen and feature a flashing colourful background to communicate to viewers the robots surroundings is not in the real world.


The MinI robot head

In my planning I have previously expressed an interest in scene which involves a bunch of toys surrounding a minature version of the robots head as a way of showing the virus' take over in an abstract way. Hinting towards the idea of inanimate objects worshiping the robot. Below is an image of the process of constructing the head.

 I originally constructed the head using an a4 print out however the size I used I felt was too small as it made the size of the head on a similar scale to the size of the toy figures. I wanted this head to look more like a monument or place in which these characters worship

Burnin fever Shot list

Burnin' fever Shot List

After devising a storyboard for my music video I have produced a spreadsheet document about shots needed for the video in listed order as well as any other materials needed for certain shots such as possible props, equipment, costume and also preferred and chosen location. Certain parts of my list highlighted in yellow are locations which need to be found as I currently have concrete location in my head I can film in whereas places highlighted in blue are locations which haven't been confirmed but I understand the means to get such locations.

Please full screen and zoom in to read contents

Storyboard

PLEASE COULD YOU FULL SCREEN AND  ZOOM IN THE PREZI FOR A CLEAR VIEW OF THE INFORMATION

Burnin fever update - Music video update

Burnin fever update - Music video update

PLEASE CLICK ON ME FOR LINK TO VIDEO - BLOG IS BUGGING OUT AND VIDEO EMBEDDING ISN'T CURRENTLY WORKING

Whilst developing my music video once again I came across a similar problem of finding a section of a song which I felt was too long for visual interpretation and didn't really offer that much to the music video itself. Therefore using Garageband once again I cut down a section I felt was too long.

Burnin fever Update

Burnin fever Update

CLICK ON ME FOR LINK FOR VIDEO LINK TO EDITED SONG

During the production of the storyboard for Burnin fever, I came across a segment of the song which I felt didn't offer itself to much visual interpretation i.e there was a part which repeated similar sounds too often for my liking. As a result of this using garage band I removed around 20 seconds of said repeated sound. This I feel allows me to keep my shots and sequences varied without one sequence during the music video feeling like its dragging on.

Casting

Casting

Ollie as "The hacker"

 

Ollie will play the hacker in my music video. During the music video above we will use gel to get his hair to look scruffy and unkempt to suggest a man slightly on the edge and clearly focused on his work rather than his own personal appearance. I have also dressed him up as a lab coat to convey to viewers that this character is a man of science. I have chosen Ollie because I find that he has the look of what some would consider a stereotypical geek i.e naturally wearing glasses and wearing braces. This could easily communicate to viewers a man of intelligence connoted by his glasses. however my actors braces may connote a rather youthful character, this can be avoided by not featuring shots of my actor or rather use shots of my actor smiling and juxtapose the youthful nature of the hacker to the dark lighting I plan to feature to make him look sinister which should convey a slightly comic mood one which I have desired to pursue in my initial ideas post. I also could use the lighting to reflect of my actors braces to make them appear more like fangs making the hacker much more monstrous.

Joe as "The Robot"

This is Joe and I will be casting him as the "robot" or the personification of the Burnin fever virus. During the music video Joe will wear a bright blue suit and the giant robot mask I have constructed with the intention of making his character more distinguishable, memorable and also seem very out of place with our "world". I have chosen Joe because he is quite tall which would do well in conveying the robot as an intimidating figure but he is also quite thin which should do well in connoting the robot as more of an alien figure.

Extras

Because my video features the mass spread of a virus I require a number of extras to film with to place more emphasis on the infected characters being a widespread group rather than just one person.

To do this I turned to social networking and put together a hub page for my music video; this mainly revolving around organising extras for various shoots. For such extras my priority is putting together a large group to make the infected characters intimidating as a group and to fill in roles for the infected victims.

Burnin Fever Update 2 - investigating ASCII art

Burnin Fever Update 2 -investigating ASCII art

Whilst browsing the internet I managed to come across someones fan made music video to synthpop artist Com Truise a similar artist to my chosen one. After watching the video one thing that particularly stood out to me was the use of ASCII animation and old computer text effects to convey a sort of software like feel to the song. This is something I believe would work well for my own music video in scenes depicting the digital world and the computer hackers virus to allude to a similar software theme i.e software which doesn't look exactly safe and for commercial use.

After witnessing this video I started to investigate ways I could reproduce such an effect however with live footage rather than just animated frames. My first option during this investigation was HasciiCam  and AAlib, programs which allows users to convert webcam footage into ascii art real time. The intial idea was to first film the shots I desired to be in ASCII and then using Manycam mount the footage to replace my face on the webcam, then I would use some external software to record the footage on my PC. The problem with this however was the fact that both HasciiCam and AAlib would only work on linux operating system and unfortunatly I do not have said system and im not in contact with anyone who has a computer with linux therefore I had to change my plan of approach.

Experimenting with Krazydad

After searching the web for alternatives I came across website krazydad.com/asciicam/ which allowed me to re-create a similar effect to HasciiCam whilst running on a windows computer. The problem with this site was getting filmed footage onto it and then capturing footage of my computer monitor whilst the webcam effect is taking place. This would cause a lot of complications just to my  achive my desired effect therefore once again I sought for a more simpler and easier route.

Finally I came across an app called RealWorldAscii on the app store which allows people to film in ASCII art here are my experiments with the app below.

I plan to use this app to film certain scenes in ASCII to convey the desired "hacker software look" as mentioned above. So far my favourite version of the effect is the more coloured one as it conveys the most amount of detail to allow the forms to be much more recognisable rather than the black and white version. However, I believe that the black and white version will have its place with the right context for instance a possible close up shot of the robots head in said filter could serve to create a sort of abstract yet disorientating effect.

Slow Motion test

Slow Motion test

Above is a slow motion test I have produced using Photoshop and after effects.  The effect was originally produced using photoshop and gif animation similar to my stop motion test however due to file size I had to upload the test as an MP4 for youtube. My main inspiration for this effect was the music video Aphex Twin windowlicker which employs the use of slow motion effects to create a distorted yet hypnotic mood. This is something that I would like to use and reflect in my music video by using slow motion in certain scenes such as some of the scenes concerning the robot and scenes which feature normal people transform into the "infected" after being exposed to the virus. Hopefully I should be able to create a similar hypnotic/distorted feeling featured in windowlicker. To create the effect I got a friend to take pictures of me at 60 frames per second, I then took them to Photoshop and then created a gif. After that I imported to the gif to After effects and exported it to youtube. So far I believe the effect works very well in creating a sense of distortion, however it took a long time to create the effect just to get around 1o seconds of slow motion footage. I am currently investigating away to create a similar effect in a much more time efficient way which retains the quality.

Here is a video below which may possibly offer such an alternative

Props - Constructing the robots head

Props - Constructing the robots head

Finished Mask design

After producing the artwork for the mask, I felt it was time to construct the mask itself. To create the mask here is a list of used to construct it.

• 1 Cardboard Box
• Masking Tape
• Glue
• Craft Knife
• Cutouts of the artwork

1. To create the mask first I had to find the right box for my mask, mainly looking for something cubic and large to be big enough to cover ones face and convey anonymity. Eventually I would come across a box big enough for my build from the Graphics department.
2. Then using a Craft knife I removed the bottom flaps of the box. 
3. After that I then tried on the mask to find that it would be loose and move around; to solve this problem initially I used a spare piece of cardboard to construct a bottom section that way ideally it should stay steady on the head.
4. This however proved not to be a solution to my problem forcing me to rethink how to make the mask stay stable on ones head. The eventually led me to having to trim down the box into a more cube shape to make sure there is more balance on the wearers head and then attaching a new back to the box using masking tape.
5. After establishing a more cubic and balanced shape for the head I then went onto attatching the artwork I had produced on Photoshop by first resizing it to the dimensions of each surface of the box (29x29 cm) and then sticking them on using glue sticks.

* Note: The last image in my slide share is a sort of concept image experimenting with the idea of contrasting the weirdness of the robot and its affects with normal surroundings to draw more emphasis on the "weirdness". I plan to use a similar idea in early scenes concerning the office to foreshadow the robot/viruses takeover of the real world and to create tension as well as some humor.

 

Burnin fever - Update

 Burnin fever - Update

Below is an image concerning the look of the "infected" people (people exposed to the hackers video that I would feature in my music video. Keeping with the themes of whimsy and fun, I would like to dress up my "infected" people in masks similar to the ones below.

What Particularly informed my decision to consider dressing the "infected" was the music video Genesis - Land Of Confusion which features characters with rubber caricature faces which convey a comic feel as well as conveying a slight sense of creepiness due to there exaggerated yet lifelike look. The mix of comedic value/fun mood with a tinge of creepiness and horror is something I feel would work well for the infected creatures depicted them as a threat as well as something funny. The masks chosen above I feel show this successfully with their funny and "cartoonish" subject matter but  with almost lifelike texture to them causing a feeling of uncanny valley.

To acquire such mask due to my budget  I have ordered one so far but I am currently in talks with my teacher about possibly investigating if my school drama department has some to lend.

Possible Locations

Possible Locations

 Room C6 - In the college - office worker scenes/hacker scenes

For scenes concerning the office workers, Room C6 in my college would serve as a fitting location. I have chosen this place because its layout resembling a typical workplace office, with the arrangement of the computers and tables; if one were to film shot cropping out certain elements which alluded to an it class room I feel that this place would work as a convincing office. Furthermore the location is very convenient for both me and actors who go to the school as we can easily just walk to the class room and bring any equipment, props and costume with ease. In addition when thinking of the composition of the room, the nice neat layout of the room would be perfect in showing a contrast of the office prior to the robots infection via its video and afterwards with chairs and tables moved out of place and more colourful banners and objects to replace the muted colours of the room.

However, it could be possible to film the scientist/hacker here instead as the room features many computer which could convey a sort of lab just like the image below.

Computer science lab

Also the room isn't well lit or particularly colourful and could work to convey a sinister atmosphere to the room and scientist/hacker. This will also be good in showing a contrast with the colder hacker scenes to the more warmer and fun robot/robot infection scenes in the music video.

Science Labs- In the college

Just like the office I have chosen this location for its convenience but I have also chosen this location as an alternative to C6 as a location for the hacker scenes. This site would be suitable, as with a bit of work one could feature scientific apparatus such as Bunsen burners within the frame and other scientific images such as the flasks to allude to a more traditional mad scientist look for the hacker; connoting a more fun look for the hacker by using tropes and stereotypes people would easily identify with.

I believe if I was to shoot here first I would need to take down the class diagrams and drawings to make sure it doesn't look like a classroom. Secondly, I think I should find away to make the room much darker by closing the blinds to convey a more sinister look for the hacker. Additionally, the rooms older computer model would serve as a way of communicating the idea of a skilled computer hacker; someone who is working against the law therefore they can't afford fancy technology but are experts and can hack with anything.

Friends house/Front door - Frank Sinatra scenes

For scenes concerning the news broadcast of Frank Sinatra revealing himself as the robot, (mentioned in my visual timeline post) I envisioned a scene featuring the robot posing as Frank Sinatra in a trench coat leaving a big mansion or estate with the paparazzi harassing him, only to reveal himself as the robot with the shock surprise of the paparazzi. With this in mind I would first need to find a mansion or house with old architecture and brick work to suggest a sense of affluence, luckily after searching around local areas, I started to ask around my school for help and as it turns out one of my friends fronts features a similar aesthetic to what I envisioned. The front door has fairly old architecture and from the image it can convey a grand castle like look evidenced by the large arch and castle like towers on the side. With the right shots and framing, I would be able to convey a more grander housing structure such as one below.

Using only a mix of close ups of the door and mid shots I should be able to omit the size of the house and convey the illusion of an old mansion.

Props - Final Helmet- Flat template

Props -Final Helmet- Flat template

The image above is a flat template of the complete mask design for my robot created using Photoshop. I plan to print this template out and model it around a cardboard box to create the robots boxy head.

Props - Final Helmet Design + process

Prop - Final Helmet Design + process

 

Above is an image of various designs for the robots masks based on the blocky, game graphic theme I previously mentioned.  I was particularly inspired by the Dj's and similar musicians such as Daft Punk, Deadmau5,Cazzette and the Dj's from mars as well as the video game minecraft when designing the final look for the mask.

Visual elements which influenced my design

The Designs were mostly based on the idea of either looking like a typical 1950's idea of a robot or to make and intertextual reference to technology such as basing the face on the design of a boom box, or a VHS tape or a floppy disc in order to convey the sci-fi image my artist says was his intention in his music but keeping with the whimsical theme.

Finally one thing, that I thought should be consistent throughout the designs is that the robot must smile in some form in order to make the robot much more approachable to keep with the fun theme. However in some of my designs I did experiment with attempting to make the simile slightly creepy to show that the robot isn't exactly all good and fun.

Below is the final design of the robots mask created via Photoshop. I hope to print out the face and attach it to the front of the box as the face. I plan to apply similar methods all round the box to create the  full mask.

The robot