R+P Post 33: Reflections on my role and contribution during research and planning

We all got very involved in the the research and planning stages as a team. This meant I took a role in contributing to all aspects of this stage.

Making Backdrops
Our friend Priya helped us draw out the basic design for D4MES in a very urban, street font which is going to be one of the backdrops for our music video. We then made a stencil of it and spray painted the design onto fabric. I helped to draw out the stencil, spray paint and also paint the outlines of the design using a brush and acrylic paint.

Props
We found a nice pieces of red cloth in the media department which I said would look good as our tablecloths. So we decided to put two different typed of fabrics together to create a classy dinner table scene. I also helped my group to order our spray paint by choosing the best deals and the colours we would use.

Planning outfits
I drew up a table and asked each member what they had in their wardrobes and what they'd like to wear in order to plan everyone's outfits, make-up and hairstyles for the music video.
We also met up at my place and spent a day trying out make-up looks and outfits to see how they worked together in order to be as prepared as we could.

Creating the shoot schedule
This was a long process we divided up between ourselves but eventually got done. It involved working out who was performing in front of which backdrops with which lighting and everyone's timing according to our timetables. Gift finished a lot of the schedule as she was very fast at putting it together but we planned and decided everything as a group.

Planning shots
We all came up with many types of shots and scenes for the music video. This included beauty shots, wide shots and moving shots.

Acting
Acting for the music video was so much fun. Our shoot sessions were full of laughter and excitement. Although lighting was a pain to set-up it was worth it. We had many dance rehearsals to perfect our routine. It was like a workout every time.

Filming
As me and Monica had the same free periods we both actively shot each other's scenes. I'm proud of what we'd achieved during the test shoot despite room for improvement.

Editing the test shoot
Editing was fun as we finally had a chance to see the result of something we put so much effort and time into. It was  fun seeing the effects we could use and best worked with our music video. It also meant we could see if there were shots missing, shots we could have filmed better and also any concepts we didn't like.

R+P Post 32: Test shoot and rough edit

Result of our test shoot and rough edit

Test shoot schedule

Our times (group 3's) are shown in yellow.

TEST SHOOT
Pros

• The test shoot was really fun
• We tried out new ways of shooting shots such as moving shots of us playing around and dancing freestyle.
• Even though all our male actors weren't available Amber took Aaron's place temporarily so all of us were able to practice our scenes with someone.

Cons

• We didn't test shoot everything that we had wanted to. This was due to lack of time management and proper communication between the group.
• Some of our male actors did end up waiting a while with nothing to do. We could have better organised their call times and shoot slots.
• Some shots were not focused which we didn't realise until viewing the shots to edit them. Next time we will make full use of the TV to see how our shots look on a large screen and also check the camera focus every time we shoot. We also plan to view our shots more regularly on the computer during the shoot week in case we need to re shoot anything. An example of an out of focus shot below.

ROUGH EDIT
Pros

• We were very efficient with editing. Everyone contributed time equally.
• We learnt how to speed up shots and used previous knowledge from our prelim to edit in flashes to the beat of the song.
• We made use of fade-ins and outs.

Cons

• It doesn't look as cool and professional as the music videos we've all researched and took inspiration from so we need to work on filming and editing.

R+P Post 31: My call sheet

A call sheet is essential in making sure the shoot day goes well. It keeps the crew and cast organised by giving them something universal to follow. Therefore we made call sheets in order to help us be as efficient as we can be.

Call time: Time at which all crew and cast must arrive and start doing makeup, costume and lighting
On set: Time at which crew and cast need to finish preparations and be ready to shoot on set
Break/Lunch: Periods of rest essential for regaining energy
Tech call: Time needed to prepare lighting and equipment for shooting
Finish filming/tidy up: Time at which shooting needs to be stopped and tidying up started

Overall the call sheet was very helpful in keeping us organised and the shoot days going as smoothly as possible. No one including our male cast was waiting around for long periods of time with nothing to do.

R+P Post 30: My shoot-board

Creating a shoot-board was our next step as we've used them before to keep organised during shoots and they make all the difference. A shoot-board is a document that provides all the information about shots, props, casts and timings. It is used professionally all the time. Below are extracts from our finalised shoot-board.

Where we could, we've added in real life stills from music videos to use as visual reference points. This would help us remember what our ideas meant and looked like so that we could save time when shooting.

R+P Post 29: Rehearsals

We had many dance rehearsals and below is one of our first ever sessions in the studio.

Below is another rehearsal in a media classroom when Gift and Thakshana had a free.

To prepare for our test shoot we rehearsed intensely for one week to perfect our dance routine and get it right with everyone in sync and looking somewhat like professional dancers. It took us a few sessions before we got the right moves and remembered the steps correctly.

This is the rehearsal schedule with group 3's sessions highlighted in yellow (our group).

We sourced a lot of YouTube dance videos to inspire our moves including videos from The Fitness Marshall and Matt Steffanina. The Fitness Marshall is great as he takes you through the steps in a tutorial like method. Matt Steffanina also has separate tutorial videos to the usual dance ones.

1MILLION dance studio is a YouTube channel I personally love to keep up to date with. This video is something that I would like our dance routine to look as good as.

For one of our studio sessions we tested our dance routine in the actual lighting we wanted to use such as the red silhouette scene. This helped us to see what it would look like realistically on screen which made us realise that we needed to make our moves more dynamic and out there so that we don't look like bodies just shuffling around. Being silhouetted meant there was out a lot of detail that was visually left out. You could only see our arms and legs moving as well as hair whips if any. It made the dance more boring.

R+P Post 28: My kit list

TV Screen

MacBook Pro

Floor lamp

Our kit list:

• Canon 5D Mark II camera
• 24mm-105mm Canon Lens
• Tripod
• Dolly
• SD cards
• Spare batteries
• Mac Book Pro
• Studio Sound System
• Lighting Desk
• Cyclorama
• Floor lamps
• Turrent lamps
• TV screen
• Extension cables
• Strobe Lights
• Laser lights

R+P Post 27: Casting

For our girl group we decided to cast ourselves for the following reasons:

• We are in the same media class so that means we can have more time together in terms of our study timetable which will prove useful when doing group work or shooting.
• We have all taken the media prelim which resulted in us all having experience with lip-syncing and performing in front of a camera as well as working the camera.
• We would be able to carry out our ideas the best as we personally came up with them and have the visuals in our head.
• Each of us are passionate and enthusiastic about something whether it's dance, performance or visuals and camerawork so we would work great as a team with each individual being able to make a contribution to the project.

Inspired by Little Mix's Move and Worth It by Fifth Harmony, we wanted to cast four guys so that each girl in the group had a partner who would serve as the love interest in the video.

We contacted various guys a few who rejected the offer as they were busy but we managed to gather together a diverse range of males.

R+P Post 26: Set design, locations and props

We decided to shoot in a studio as this was the most convenient and advantageous option for our group. It would allow us access to lighting and also allow us to access props easily. We can change outfits backstage behind the studio and also switch backdrops quickly.

D4MES graffitti backdrop

Industrial/scaffolding backdrop

Props List:

• Confetti
• Balloons
• Spray paint
• Helmet hat
• Tables
• Chairs
• Table cloth
• Wine Glasses
• Juice (colour of champaign)

R+P Post 25: Costumes, props and make-up

After having a lengthy group discussion about outfits, we created a digital table with visual references to plan our outfits for the music video.

Outfit 1 - Individual style

Outfit 2 - Street urban style jogger themed

Outfit 3 - Classy theme

R+P Post 24: Planning my digipak panels

This is our flatplan for the album cover and inside.

We wanted to incorporate a brick wall (bottom left) which is quite conventional of the street, urban hip hop style music and would complement our outfits well. It would also be a simple backdrop to shoot in front of. It is not hard to find one.

For the back of our album (bottom right) we wanted to keep it simple as half of the space would be dedicated to the list of songs in the cd. So we decided to go with headshots of our group.

Inspired by Neon Jungle's very cool, arty album covers, we wanted to give off a similar vibe. To do so we thought geometric shapes and designs would work well as they're simple and not too over the top (top right).