First Draft

This draft is the first of several. It only consists of a few shots because my ideas are still not set in stone.  I wanted to try editing and experimenting with my footage at first before coming up with a concrete idea, and I feel that this process actually helped me to figure out a more structured plan, which in turn will result in a better end result.
  For example, I discovered that it's more difficult to show everything you want to, visually, in a short amount of time than I anticipated.  This is something that needs considering when making a music video, because I only have less than 3 minutes to convey my narrative.  I also want the visuals and the lyrics to be connected in some way.  Therefore, I've decided that it would be best to write down what I want to appear on screen, how important it is (how long it's shown relative to the timing of the whole song), where it fits into the lyrics and plan a concrete storyboard from there.  It has been helpful though because I didn't have that understanding before, so now I know how to plan more effectively.
  I also learned about the importance of filming the same shot from different angles.  Rather than having a static shot on screen for too long, I was able to create a more interesting visual by showing it from different angles. (0:20 - 0:27) (0:31 - 0:36)  I was also able to exploit this to match the editing to the beat of the song, as the angle of the shot changes on the beat, thus following the conventions of form.
  A problem I encountered was creating a realistic looking pregnant tummy.  For this draft, we just used balled up tshirts to create an inflated pregnant look.  However, this was problematic, as the folds in the tshirt created bumps which didn't look very realistic.  The shape is also slightly wrong.  Maia also had trouble because she had to keep pulling it up, which was an obstacle for her.  For other shots where Maia actually needs to use her arms, this will be totally impractical for obvious reasons.  The best solution would be to buy a fake pregnant stomach, used in theatre and film.  These are far too expensive, some costing around £75 from the internet.  A solution suggested online, which will be a lot cheaper and fairly easy to do, is to use a beach ball. http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Fake-Pregnancy-Belly  (method 3)  Beach balls only cost around £2, if I need to buy one, or I could just borrow one from a friend for free.
  The first part of the video isn't actually how I intend the end product to look.  It's just to demonstrate the style of editing I will use with the actual footage.  The actual footage will be included in my next draft.

For my next draft, I will have gotten footage for the whole song rather than just the beginning.  I will post more drafts as my ideas become more refined; as my editing is more effective; once I've captured the abstract footage to the best of my ability; when the narrative becomes more clear and concise etc.

Slow Motion test shots

 The iPhone 6 is actually better for filming slow motion than a DSLR or any of the professional cameras I have available to use.  It can film at 240fps, meaning the footage can be slowed down to 10% and still be good quality and not jerky.  The DSLR cameras I have available can only film at 60fps, meaning that when the footage is slowed down, it's more jittery; not fluid, which is how I want it to look
These are just test shots which will be used in my draft.  The aim of this was to practise filming in slow motion.  I also wanted to try different techniques of shattering the porcelain to get the most dramatic effect.  I found that thin, hollow things shatter more dramatically than thicker porcelain.
I found that the more lights you use the better.  When I only had on the white lights, there was a flickering effect when we played back the slo-mo preview on the iPhone.  Turning on the red lights as well reduced the flickering.

 

This is how I want to frame the footage when filming for the real product.  When filming the test shots, I stood quite far away from the shattering.  This was to lessen hazardous risks such as shattered porcelain flying at me.  It did mean, however, that there was quite a lot of 'dead space' in the frame, which would have been better filled with the shattering ornament.  Next time, I'll film from behind a clear perspex screen or something like that, so that I can film closer to the subject without any risk of injury.
I may also shoot from different angles and distances with different cameras to capture the best parts of the shatter effect.  For this I will have to borrow another iPhone or two.  I may also try throwing things at the ornaments, or shooting them with a BB gun, as opposed to just dropping them, as I think this might create a more dramatic effect like in the video posted above.  However, I will aim to shatter the ornament from the bottom so that more of it cracks.

Filming Diary - First draft

Day of filming: Saturday 15th December

Scene filmed: Bedroom (waking up)

Time spent: 1hr

Cost: £5 (train fares for actress)

Organisation:

 

Filming:

Maia and I go to college together so some of the organisation was done face to face.  However we also used facebook messenger and texts to make sure we could contact each other out of college.  This is important for effective organisation, as one person can easily notify the other if there are any changes or disruptions to plans.  In short, noone is left in the lurch if something goes wrong. 

What went well:  I remembered the rule of thirds while filming which meant my shots looked balanced and fairly well composed.  Organising the set before the actress arrived highlighted a few issues and allowed me to address them accordingly.

My original plan was to have the matress on the floor so that the pillow side was near the window therefore closer to the natural light.  However when I actually put the matress there I realised that it was too big and got in the way of the door.

The door wouldn't close because the foot of the mattress was in the way.  This would have interfered with some of the shot types I wanted and would have also made it difficult to leave the room in case of health and safety emergencies etc. 

So instead I put the mattress in the opposite corner of the room.  Further away from the source of natural light but this didn't make much difference because as you can see, the whole room was well lit.   The mattress was no longer in the way of the door and it fit perfectly into the space.  

I put the clothes rail at the end of the bed for three reasons.  It was originally going to go against the wall where I had now placed the mattress, but I obviously could no longer do this.  It also saved space to put it at the end of the bed which was vital as we already had limited space to work with.  It also helped to conceal the boiler in the corner of the room.  

Overview:   Filming went well overall.  I'm pleased with my choice of actress.  I remembered to take each shot from a different angle so I could experiment with them in editing.  Forgot to take a couple shots but this wasn't a major issue as I was still able to piece together the footage that I had got to create a strong enough sense of linear narrative.   This session did highlight the importance of a highly structured storyboard as this was the main reason I forgot some of the shots.  

Next time I'll have my storyboard fully organised so that I can plan the filming properly.  I hope to get all the shots I need finished in one day.  This will require good organisation because we'll have to travel across town to get to one of the locations.  What's more is that we'll be using public transport and filming in winter when the sun sets around 4 O'clock.  Therefore, a good storyboard is very important because if I miss a one vital shot in the location across town, it'll be a lot of effort just to go there again and film it.
However I'm satisfied with the way the day went, especially considering that this was the first filming session and that it's only for my first of several drafts.  I managed to get some good footage and I learnt from my mistakes.

H&S

Potential Risk	Chance of Risk	Preventative Measures	In case of injury
Maia falling back onto pillow could cause injury to head/back	Low - medium	Make sure area is padded, nothing to obstruct her fall	Apply cold compress/heat/plaster where necessary
Smashed porcelain could cause injury/damage to camera	High	Anyone present must wear goggles and stand back from the area where the porcelain is smashed.  Footage filmed from safe distance (zoom in) to decrease risk of damage.  Filming from behind a screen	Depending on severity, apply plasters, pressure to wound.  Worst case scenario take injured to A&E or call 999 for ambulance
Nell could fall from monkey bars in the park	Medium	Ensure someone is stood below (out of frame) to catch her if she falls.  Ensure she has a secure grip on the bars.  Try to use monkey bars that aren’t very high.  Ensure that the shot is planned beforehand so Nell doesn’t have to hold on too long.  Allow breaks between takes.	First aid measures – plasters.  Worst case scenario go to A&E
Hypodermic needle presents risk of small injury	Medium	Handle with care	Wash with running water

Props List

Prop	Where from?	Cost
MISC PROPS
Lighter	Home	Free
Hypodermic needle	Pharmacy	Approx. £3
Spoon	Home	Free
Antacid tablet	Boyes	60p
Kaleidoscope lens	Handmade	< £5
Handwritten letter	Handmade	Free
Birthday card from child	Handmade	Free
Photo frames	Home	Free
Light up moon	Handmade	Approx. £5
Porcelain items	Charity shops/online	Budget £10-15
Ashtray	Home	Free
Cigarette	Home	Free
Mattress	Home	Free
White sheets	Home	Free
Fake blood	Handmade	Free
Lamp	Home	Free
Clothes rail	Home	Free
Beach Ball	Department Store	Approx. £2
COSTUME
Pink ribbon	Boyes	30p
Black nail varnish	Home	Free

I've put together a prop list with all the things I'll need to have during filming.  Each time I film a part of my video I'll write down all the things from this list that I need.  I'll keep this list to hand to ensure that I've got everything I need thus making filming more organised, efficient and easier.
I've also noted down the source of the prop and the price to help me calculate how much money I'll be spending on props and where I need to go to find them.  This way I can plan any necessary shopping trips to ensure I have everything I need before filming.

DIY Camera Rig

I found this tutorial on how to make a compact, mobile camera stabilizer on a very limited budget.  This is extremely useful as it's probably easier to use this rig rather than the DIY steadicam made from the tripod, as it's more compact and looks easier to move around. The tripod stabiliser would be easier than this rig to use for extreme low angle moving shots, as using this for that type of shot would require me to crouch over while walking.  I can use both techniques as they are both extremely cost-effective and easy to make.

Narrative Theories

Cast

Part	Actor	Picture
Protagonist ‘Porcelain’	Maia
Daughter (age 4)	Nell
Daughter (age 9)	Ella

I have asked a girl from my college, Maia age 19, who studies performing arts, to be the protagonist for my music video.  She has experience in acting which is something I wanted because a good performer in a music video helps to improve the level of quality of the overall product.  Not only this, but my finished music video will hopefully be helpful to her as it could be used as part of her portfolio.  She also has the type of image that I wanted for the protagonist, as she has a fairly slim build similar to the girl in the video for Give Me Love.  Admittedly she doesn't have pale blonde hair and porcelain skin (visual representation of the lyrics) which is something that I was looking for but this was far from essential as I can visually represent the lyrics in many other ways and I prioritise having an actor with experience who can perform well rather than someone who simply looks the part.

  I have asked two sisters who I know well to play the part of the girl's daughters (in the hallucinations and pictures).  I decided to ask these particular girls for a few reasons.  Because I already know the girls and their parents very well as they are good friends of my family, the parents trust me to take care of them both while filming.  It will also (hopefully) be easier for me, as a director, to direct the girls as I have interacted with them numerous times before therefore they will be more comfortable with me telling them what to do and vice versa.  I also know that the girls are both generally well behaved and like me so this will make filming a lot easier and probably more enjoyable!

  Obviously the 'right' image was essential for these roles because it needs to be visually obvious to the audience that they are supposed to be premonitions of her future daughter, due to the lack of dialogue which would otherwise clarify this.  The girls both share characteristics with my protagonist, as shown by the pictures, so hopefully it will be easier for the audience to identify the girls as her daughter. 

  The fact that they are sisters who look very much alike is very useful, as it's plausible that they could be the same person of different ages.
Due to the fact that they are both minors I've asked for parental consent to use them in my video and to post their photos on my blog.

  There are no laws against posting photos of minors online and I'm sure this will be fine, but I figured it would be a appreciated to just check in with her first before posting their photos on a public blog.  As you can see I've reassured her that their full names won't be posted and I've blanked out her last name so there will be no privacy and safety issues.

I will probably use Facebook messenger to make future arrangements regarding filming so I'll be posting more screenshots of this conversation in future.  

Where the video may feature

The most obvious place I will post the video to is YouTube which is currently the main platform for music videos and online videos in general.

Statistics from https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html

• More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month
• Over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube—that's almost an hour for every person on Earth
• 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute
• 80% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the US
• YouTube is localized in 61 countries and across 61 languages
• According to Nielsen, YouTube reaches more US adults ages 18-34 than any cable network
• Millions of subscriptions happen each day. The number of people subscribing daily is up more than 3x since last year, and the number of daily subscriptions is up more than 4x since last year

The top 30 most viewed YouTube videos are all music videos barring one.  This demonstrates the prevelance of music videos on YouTube, which is why YouTube is my first option for where my video will feature as it gives the highest possibility for a wide range of viewers.  My audience is also probably very familiar with the site which is important as it means that they are more likely to find my video, as it will be easier to come by.  YouTube also allows convergence with hugely popular social networking sites such as Facebook (.35 billion monthly active users as of September 30, 2014) and Twitter 284 million monthly active users.  Average of 58 million tweets per day)  This is good as it means that my video could be promoted through such means by fans of the band or even the band's page itself, thus reaching an even bigger audience.  Another positive aspect of this is that it allows for feedback on the video through web2.0.  Furthermore, posting to YouTube is easy and free, and allows for 1080p quality videos.  This makes it an effective way of promotion.  The downside to YouTube is the sheer amount of other videos that are on the site.  This means there is more competition for views, as there is such a huge choice for viewers.  However, this may be overcome through means of external promotion on social media.