Tuesday, 4 January 2011
Just an update
Sorry I haven't been dropping in recently, exams are taking over. This is a little post to say that all of our group are looking forward to uploading our footage. We are very pleased with what we filmed and we are hoping that it will just look better when we put it on the computers. We then have many challenges ahead of us with tight deadlines, but the stress will be worth while when we see out final products.
Monday, 3 January 2011
Finished :)
Today I managed to get all the footage loaded onto my laptop as well as all the pics I took on my camera and the pics Fiona took. The shots we are going to use for the digi-pack look really professional, and with just a touch of a photoshop I'm hoping it will look lovely! As Gemma already mentioned, a massive thank youto everyone involved, and I hope to keep Amy (our actress) - as well as everyone else who gave up their time for us! - up to date with all the processes we will now be going through...Amy even wants to show our music video to her sixth form; in order to plea for a hd camera!! haha! Andeven though she was ill, she did extremely well and i'm so pleased looking back on the footage...So keep your eyes peeled folks! It's all downhill from here...We hope!! Well done guys :)
Here are some sneak peek pictures before I pick out the best ones of our shoots :)
More to come...
Friday, 31 December 2010
A massive thank you
This is just to say a massive thank you to everybody that made this music video possible.
Amy - Amy was our actor and she was amazing. She did that we asked her to do and never complained about it. Amy also wore clothes that are not suitable for this cold winter, so thank you for freezing for our video too.
Fiona - Fiona gave up her free time to come out and take photos for us. These photos are of the group filming and preparing to film. These are going to be used in our commentary to show our process of each day. Fiona also took professional photos of Amy posing and these are going to be used in our ancillary tasks.
Gene and Stan - These gave up their lovely home to us and were very welcoming to all of us. Their house was perfect for the grand setting we were looking for and are very grateful for letting and able to film at their house.
Parents - Finally, we would just like to say a big thank you to all our parents for giving us lifts throughout the three days and not complaining.
Amy - Amy was our actor and she was amazing. She did that we asked her to do and never complained about it. Amy also wore clothes that are not suitable for this cold winter, so thank you for freezing for our video too.
Fiona - Fiona gave up her free time to come out and take photos for us. These photos are of the group filming and preparing to film. These are going to be used in our commentary to show our process of each day. Fiona also took professional photos of Amy posing and these are going to be used in our ancillary tasks.
Gene and Stan - These gave up their lovely home to us and were very welcoming to all of us. Their house was perfect for the grand setting we were looking for and are very grateful for letting and able to film at their house.
Parents - Finally, we would just like to say a big thank you to all our parents for giving us lifts throughout the three days and not complaining.
All over
So this morning we went to a grand house to film our black and white section of our music video. This filming was at my neighbours parents house and we started at 10am. It was very important to us not to be late. This is because a couple are giving up their house for us and we have to consider their needs. To make sure none of our group got lost, we decided to meet at half 9 but as a few members were a little late, two of our parents kindly drove us down to the house so we arrived on time. After recovering from the shook of the house, we got on with filming.
The dolly took us a while to figure out how to use it but when we did we realised that the dolly would not fit between the piano and the furniture. As we didn't want to have to move too much of their furniture, we decided to work around the problem. As a solution, we took shots from many different angles of the actor playing the piano. Also, to help make this scene more interesting, we took many different shots of her, for example, by the fire place and by a rocking horse.
Overall, today was very successful and we got everything we needed to be done. Now our filming process is all complete, we have achieved things the we didn't even realise that we could do. We worked very well together and splitting our music video into seasons and two members of the group taking the lead in their set season, made our group work even better together and has given each member an even chance of directing and doing the camera work.
Well done all!
The dolly took us a while to figure out how to use it but when we did we realised that the dolly would not fit between the piano and the furniture. As we didn't want to have to move too much of their furniture, we decided to work around the problem. As a solution, we took shots from many different angles of the actor playing the piano. Also, to help make this scene more interesting, we took many different shots of her, for example, by the fire place and by a rocking horse.
Overall, today was very successful and we got everything we needed to be done. Now our filming process is all complete, we have achieved things the we didn't even realise that we could do. We worked very well together and splitting our music video into seasons and two members of the group taking the lead in their set season, made our group work even better together and has given each member an even chance of directing and doing the camera work.
Well done all!
Thursday, 30 December 2010
Second day of filming
So today we were filming our second day at Ickworth park. This day was our Autumn and Winter seasons. To try and get the best weather possible of our winter season, we planned to meet at half 8 to catch the fog and frost before it disappeared later on in the day. This was the day in which Jade and myself took more control, however, we all had a say as we all need to make sure that we all like each different shot.
Due to a few members being late, we were able to start filming at half 9. This meant that we had less time to find a suitable location and was fighting against the weather. However, we took it in our stride and worked quickly but still to a high standard. For the Autumn part, we found a location in which showed many trees and leaves as this is what is associated which autumn. The winter season created a lot more problems. This is because we originally planned to film in the maze, however, the gates were shut and we were unable to film there. Walking around, we were then able to find a location that would suit the season. We found a large pond surrounded by fields and a few trees and the pond was frozen. This was a great find of a location and are very pleased we were able to find it. The trouble that later came was the lyrics that said "they made a statue of us". After trying to find a statue, we found that the gardens opened up by 11am and we were then able to go inside. However, the maze was closed due to "maintenance". To over come this problem, we just got our actor to stand against the house door and just sing these lines. This isn't what we all imagined, however, we had very little options left as all the statue's weren't accessible. Even though, some of the shots didn't go to plan, we worked with what we had and, after editing it and using special effects, it will look just as good and no one will be able to tell that some of the shots weren't how we planned it.
One of the main parts of our music video was make up and costumes as this was going to enhance our seasons. However, some of the costumes weren't how we planned it and this is the same with the make up. Some of this was due to the weather as it was very low temperatures so the actor needed to wear clothes that weren't planned as it was too cold for her not to wear them. The make up ideas didn't work and this was because the actor wasn't too keen on wearing some make up. As the actor is doing our group a massive favour we had to make sure she felt comfortable in what she was wearing and what she looked like otherwise this would have been been seen in her performance. This means that we would just have to adjust to our actors need and then work around that.
Before we even started filming, we all realised that there would be difficulties and step backs, however, we have over come them all so far and we still believe that they wont have effected our final music video at all.
Due to a few members being late, we were able to start filming at half 9. This meant that we had less time to find a suitable location and was fighting against the weather. However, we took it in our stride and worked quickly but still to a high standard. For the Autumn part, we found a location in which showed many trees and leaves as this is what is associated which autumn. The winter season created a lot more problems. This is because we originally planned to film in the maze, however, the gates were shut and we were unable to film there. Walking around, we were then able to find a location that would suit the season. We found a large pond surrounded by fields and a few trees and the pond was frozen. This was a great find of a location and are very pleased we were able to find it. The trouble that later came was the lyrics that said "they made a statue of us". After trying to find a statue, we found that the gardens opened up by 11am and we were then able to go inside. However, the maze was closed due to "maintenance". To over come this problem, we just got our actor to stand against the house door and just sing these lines. This isn't what we all imagined, however, we had very little options left as all the statue's weren't accessible. Even though, some of the shots didn't go to plan, we worked with what we had and, after editing it and using special effects, it will look just as good and no one will be able to tell that some of the shots weren't how we planned it.
One of the main parts of our music video was make up and costumes as this was going to enhance our seasons. However, some of the costumes weren't how we planned it and this is the same with the make up. Some of this was due to the weather as it was very low temperatures so the actor needed to wear clothes that weren't planned as it was too cold for her not to wear them. The make up ideas didn't work and this was because the actor wasn't too keen on wearing some make up. As the actor is doing our group a massive favour we had to make sure she felt comfortable in what she was wearing and what she looked like otherwise this would have been been seen in her performance. This means that we would just have to adjust to our actors need and then work around that.
Before we even started filming, we all realised that there would be difficulties and step backs, however, we have over come them all so far and we still believe that they wont have effected our final music video at all.
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
First day of filming - Done
Well, today we finally got round to filming our Spring and Summer seasons. Initially we had planned to do these seasons, but then last night we saw the forecast and decided to change to Autumn and Winter, as the weather did not look particularly summer-y, but at the last minute, Jade rang up from Ickworth house to say that it looked sunny enough to switch back!
We arrived at about half past 11 (we had planned to meet at half past 10, but our actress was stuck in traffic) and although it looked a bit foggy, the weather seemed quite good. Setting up the camera was a bit of a challenge, but I think we managed quite well. You could immediately see the difference that the HD camera made to the normal camera, and we were all glad that we went to the extra effort to get hold of it. Amy looked really good, exactly how we had imagined (unlike some people, she actually looks nice on camera!) and Ickworth House looked amazing too. The only dowside of filming the Spring section at the front of the house was that there is scaffolding up at the moment, and an exhibition being advertised, and so we couldn't show the whole house, only the rotunda. However, we managed that quite well, I feel.
By this time, we had noticed that the battery was running low, only about a quarter power was left, but we thought that there was a spare battery, so we didn't worry. However, it wasn't until we were travelling from the front of the house to the back of the house that I checked the other battery and found it was flat. Luckily, we still had about half an hour of battery life left, so we decided to try and get all of Summer done - which we did. So all in all, a good days filming!
One last thing, I accidently took the camera charger home with me whilst Roisin took the camera, so I went back to her house a few hours ago to give it to her so we can film tomorrow without worrying!
We arrived at about half past 11 (we had planned to meet at half past 10, but our actress was stuck in traffic) and although it looked a bit foggy, the weather seemed quite good. Setting up the camera was a bit of a challenge, but I think we managed quite well. You could immediately see the difference that the HD camera made to the normal camera, and we were all glad that we went to the extra effort to get hold of it. Amy looked really good, exactly how we had imagined (unlike some people, she actually looks nice on camera!) and Ickworth House looked amazing too. The only dowside of filming the Spring section at the front of the house was that there is scaffolding up at the moment, and an exhibition being advertised, and so we couldn't show the whole house, only the rotunda. However, we managed that quite well, I feel.
By this time, we had noticed that the battery was running low, only about a quarter power was left, but we thought that there was a spare battery, so we didn't worry. However, it wasn't until we were travelling from the front of the house to the back of the house that I checked the other battery and found it was flat. Luckily, we still had about half an hour of battery life left, so we decided to try and get all of Summer done - which we did. So all in all, a good days filming!
One last thing, I accidently took the camera charger home with me whilst Roisin took the camera, so I went back to her house a few hours ago to give it to her so we can film tomorrow without worrying!
The weather
Before Christmas, all members of our group was worried about the filming for our music video. This is because the snow would mean that we wouldn't be able to film the seasons summer and spring. However, none of us expected the fog. This means that we are facing problems that we didn't see coming. For the winter, this isn't a problem and we can also get away with it for autumn. However, the fog is a serious problem for spring and summer.
After filming the more difficult seasons in this weather, we had to thin on our feet on what we can do to make it better. For spring, we filmed in front of the house and didn't do an extreme wide shot so the fog isn't noticeable. On the other hand, summer was a lot harder. To get the shots we wanted, we had to use the long shots as we wanted to include the beautiful setting of where we were filming it. The only way to beat the weather is to do some post production work on final cut to make it look more like summer.
Lets hope the weather turns out the way we need it for tomorrows seasons.
After filming the more difficult seasons in this weather, we had to thin on our feet on what we can do to make it better. For spring, we filmed in front of the house and didn't do an extreme wide shot so the fog isn't noticeable. On the other hand, summer was a lot harder. To get the shots we wanted, we had to use the long shots as we wanted to include the beautiful setting of where we were filming it. The only way to beat the weather is to do some post production work on final cut to make it look more like summer.
Lets hope the weather turns out the way we need it for tomorrows seasons.
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