Planning film time

It has been difficult to organise time for our group to shoot our video. This is due to the time restrictions.

1. Since we have been using colleges equiptment, we have to film during college time or up until 5:30 after college.
There has been days where we have been given a chance to film up until 7:00 after college.

2. During College time our computer is often used by other groups and we are not permitted to film whilst there are classes happening.

3. For our whole group to be there we have to film in between the hours of 9:00 and 4:00

4. we have to have more than an hour and a half to film each time. This is because there arent many places we can stop shooting without it causing havoc with trying to get everything back in the correct postion the next time.

For these reasons we have to try really hard to get as much done within any time we are given.
after half term (week commencing 27th october) we will have very little time left to finish and so we are hoping to all band together and finish the film asap using the time to the best of our ability, by finishing any planning ahead of schedule.

ie
Anything else that needs drawn gets drawn before we start filming again.

More storyboards. (more details. This will prevent time getting eaten up through improvisation)

Time set aside for filming used for filming not planning.

Organised and set up before lessons/filming time (if possible)

find and pre organise places during filming for us to stop so we can utilise our time better.



all the best

October 24th

Long Road had a inset day today at college, but the media department invited us in so that we could continue to film our music video as we still have plenty of footage to film. We took this time to our advantage and tried to complete as much filming as possible until we came to a suitable place to end that we could easily pick up from the next time we film. Today we managed to complete only a small part of the video, which took a lot of work. We found that we did not have enough props to fill the time that we needed, so we had to make them from scratch. This consisted of a "Milkmaid" sign, and banners that appear with them in order to make a spectacle out of the Milkmaid's stage scene. This took more time than expected, but looks extremely effective and we therefore feel that it was worth the time it took. Unfortunately, a fire drill interrupted our filming which also slowed us down and meant that we lost track of what we were filming. But overall, we feel we have achieved a lot today even though we only got to film a small amount of footage.

Drawing List

Roses
Stars
Backdrop House
Van

We are half way through filming now and we are reviewing what we need to make in terms of props as we are planning on filming the whole day on Friday. This is important as we want to make use of the time for filming as much as possible.
The filming we have produced already is really good and is better than we had ever thought it could be. So therefore we hope to continue this and keep in time with the music too. We are trying to keep as consistent as possible with the drawing and making sure every thing is outlined with a black pen.

The production line

With feedback from our rough cut giving us more colouring, cutting, sticking and re-colouring to do. Our group starts the laborious task of making our picture brighter and more defined.
here are our latest picture from the pre=production set.

As you can see we have coloured everything in much darker anddefined the lines by going over them in either a black or green pen.

Rough Cut Feedback

1. How effective do you think our use of istopmotion is?

• They all siad it was very effective and worked well with the narrative

2. What advice can you give that would make it stand out more?

• They thought it stood out already but needed extra dimentions such as more camera angles and different backgrounds
• They also said that lip sinking could be a possibility to make it more impressive

3. Do you think following the narrative is efective?

• They all said it was very good the way we followed it as a narrative as the lyrics were very clear and easy to follow along too.
  
• They also said it gives the effect of following a story book
  

4. Do you think this appeals to a wide target audience?

• Yes it does appeal to a wide target audience as it's very appealing and makes you want to watch more to see what else might happen.
• It's associated with innocence and makes you think of childhood memories

5. Do you think there are any other improvements we could make?

• Make it brighter
• Make sure there are no shadows
  
• More dimensions

They asked to watch it again!

Rough Cut

Rought Cut Filming

We experienced many difficulties whilst filming our video in 3D, such as lighting. We found that one light did not work as the shadows on the objects standing closer to the camera were cast on the backdrop and make the video look unprofessional. We therefore tried to add a second light, but further difficulties came when our own shadows were effecting the video, this we could not prevent. In addition to lighting problems, our props were difficult to manage due to gravity issues. The Milkmaid was held up by strings, and the other objects stuck down by blue-tac. We found that the additional objects in the background would fall over, and were not strong enough to hold themselves up or support other props which were being held against them. The Milkmaid's strings were tangling often and would fall off. Hanging objects such as the sun and pales would twist and turn backwards which made them look less effective as all artwork was done on the front. All of these problems proved very time consuming and it was difficult to shoot one section of the video in one lesson. To try and overcome them all would be virtually impossible and we therefore came up with a new idea, to shoot in 2D. This meant putting the backdrop flat on the table with the camera facing down onto it. The props could therefore rest against it and shadows would definitely not be a problem, except our own. The props are much more easily movable and capturing it with istopmotion made it look very effective. This also gave us the opportunity to add more scenery such as trees and grass, and this added more depth to the video and they were not drawn on, but glued on. This proved to be much easier as we were not restricted to the box, and it was more stable. By shooting it in 2D we were given more versatility and came up with some very effective ideas that you can see in our Rough Cut (e.g. the moving musical notes).
To demonstrate the issues we experienced filming in 3D, here are a few videos of what we filmed.



As you can see, the problems we experienced stood out and would take time to fix. The shadows are extremely obvious from both the props and us handling them, even with lighting. There were many jumps between the different actions which would have meant that it was not smooth, which is what we consider a convention of music videos. The strings are easily visible and at one point one of our hands is visible. Problems like this were hard to fix because we would have to delete all of the footage afterwards in order to film it again as everything would still be moving. Timing was more difficult to predict as we tried to capture everything we were moving as quickly as possible. By filming in 2D, we can watch it back as we are shooting and decide whether we need to make the current action last longer or shorter.

Overall we have made a group decision to film the actual video in 2D. Although this will compromise the effectiveness of the video, we do not have the time to try and fix all the problems that will occur by filming it in 3D. We also think that because there are so many problems with 3D, it would not look as visually striking because the audience may be distracted by the errors. Therefore we are happy to film it in 2D because of the added versatility it gives us.

Equipment we are using in filming

The computer where we use istopmotion
The camera to shoot our video
The tripod to keep the camera very still
Two lights so shadows are reduced and it seems brighter

Animatic: Teacher's comment

This group produced a detailed and thorough storyboard evidencing their ideas for the music video. They then produced an animatic in which they edited the images from the storyboard with their chosen music track in Final Cut. Due to technical problems their is no record of this animatic, however the production of it was observed in lesson time.

A Very Detailed Prop List

As we are now starting to create our props, we want to make a detailed list of what we need and what it should look like...


The Milkmaid:
We will all create our own version of what we think the milkmaid should look like and then decide on which one would be most effective. We will have to consider what materials we will use and make it compatible for use on strings. We also had the idea of using joint pins to make the milkmaid more flexible, and will have to incorporate this into our ideas also. A second version of the milkmaid will have to be made for when she eventually becomes famous at the end of the song. She will have the same face, but her crown will have turned gold and she will be wearing a glamorous dress.

The Milkmaid's extras:
We also need to make come pales, a crown, and and extra pairs of big hands for the milkmaid, as these additions will be stuck onto her at certain points of the song.

Backdrop:
We need to make a umber of backdrops for the many situations that the milkmaid will be in. these will consist of, a field including hills and a sunny sky, a night backdrop with stars in the sky, a stage where she will perform with a crowd behind her, backstage where she will meet with a director. We have divided these separately and will make at least one each.

Animals:
We have decided to make cardboard cows and sheep in the background to make it more interesting and offer more for the audience to look at. It may also add some humour into the sequence also.

Milkmaid's family:
The milkmaids mother, father and brother are featured in the lyrics of the song, and we plan to include them in a split screen scene. Therefore we will include them into the piece by making small versions of them. They are not a huge part of the song and we therefore do not need to make them too big or detailed. We will also make a young milkmaid to include in this flashback into her past.

Director:
The image we have for the director is an overweight and bald man who is quite short. Again, we will all make our own version and decide on which one we think suits the look of the music video the most.

Grass and Trees:
As shown in our test shots, we will make grass and trees to add to the scenery and help to give a 3D effect. We can each make lots of these as the more we have, the more interesting the video will look.

Sun and Moon:
We liked the idea of giving the sun and moon faces so that they look as though they are watching down on the milkmaid. Only one of us will need to make these but we will make spares just in case they are lost.

Thought Bubble:
We have decided to feature a thought bubble that the camera will pan into as if the audience is entering her thoughts. Therefore we will need to make a bigger version alongside the original so that this effect is achieved.

Stars and Clouds:
We will need to make a number of stars to include in the night sky. These will be held above the milkmaid and will seem as though they are floating above her. This also includes the clouds for the daytime backdrop.


For all the objects that are floating above the action, we will use clear wire so that it gives the effect that they are floating by themselves.

Getting Ready

We are seriously starting to consider how we are going to create our piece as it will take a lot of hard work and patience. Our piece is going to be created in a box like a puppet show, and we originally had the idea of making it 3D to give it a more interesting look. We recently discovered that will will be challenging as our test shots proved that the set is likely to fall down and make bug jumps in the film. We therefore had the idea that it might be easier on us if we turned our box over and had the camera looking down on our piece, as nothing would have the chance to fall over. But after some deliberation on this idea, we decided it would make the sequence look completely different as it would not be 3D. All of the props would be resting on the floor and we would not be able to bring any of them forward. Therefore we are not going to continue with this idea as it limits us as to what movements we can give to the milkmaid and the other props within our music video. We will have to film it facing forward and will be patient with any props that move.

Risk Assessment

We have completed a risk assessment which highlights all the possible dangers that could occur whilst filming. We have indicated how they would be controlled and the consequences they could create.