I contributed a lot of work to this project, as did Jack and Emilio.
PRE-PRODUCTION:
Helped to make the props, such as the slot machine.
Gave lots of influential research examples for our website, album cover, and music video. For example, I gave the example of Alvvays's website as one that has a similar aesthetic to the one we hope to achieve.
Helped in getting people together for the Saturday shoot with an ensemble cast.
Helped to come up with ideas or a music video int he very beginning of the project.
Came up with some good tracks when deciding our track of choice.
Contributed ideas towards the shot list and set-up list.
Helped to create flat plans for the digipak panels and for the website.
PRODUCTION:
Performed as the lead singer of the band.
Helped with creating the lighting set ups and filming the actual shots.
Took photos of the other members of the band during the promo shoot.
We did a test shoot in order to test how our ideas, lighting set-up, and shot framing would work on camera before the real shoot. This meant that if we needed to change anything,we had the time to and it wouldn't waste time on the real shoot. Additionally, it meant we could test how our performances looked on camera.
The test shoot revealed things we needed to change about our set-ups. For example, the Singin in the Rain lighting set-up had really nice lighting in real life, but on camera it made our faces too dark, and did not show the lights from the lamppost well enough. We then changed the lighting to a mix of white, yellow, and red lights so that we could light up the centre stage, but still achieve the colour we wanted.
Me checking the lighting on the Koolertron monitor.
Me checking my performance in between taking shots.
Jack coaching me with performance to make sure I get the look and feel of the character right for the video.
One of the things that did work on our test shoot was our band's performance. the test shoot showed that our performance worked on camera with the light pink lighting and the different framing, and that our performances looked accurate. Also, the fun relationship between all the band members really worked on camera, and we were good at making our sibling relationship look fun and silly.
Here is one of our test shoot band shots, complete with costumes, props, and lighting.
We combined our call list with our shoot board, as it was easier to see who was needed, when and why. For example, we could see what shot we were doing at a certain time and then quickly and easily reference the call sheet to find out who was needed.
Page 1 of our shoot board, which includes the call sheet. See "R+P Post 20: My shoot board" for the full shoot board and call sheet.
WHY A CALL SHEET IS IMPORTANT:
We can tell other people in advance when they need to be in the studio and what they need to do. For example, Tom is not in our media group, so we gave him a copy of the call sheet so that we could ensure he would be in the studio when we needed him. Additionally, we used Lily as our make-up artist, and she also doesn't do media A2, so we gave her a copy so that she would know where to be and when, and what make-up she needed to bring.
We created a shoot board so that we could stay organised on the shoot, and to make sure that we wouldn't miss any shots that we had planned to take.
We created our shoot board set-up by set-up, as well as based on the times our actors and make-up artist were available. This meant we needed to include our call time for all the people who needed to be there.
Here is a presentation of our shoot board pages in order.
PROS OF MAKING A SHOOT BOARD:
Helps us to stay organised on the shoot.
Ensures that we take all of the shots that we need in the amount of time we have.
Allows us to set up the studio in advance and tell people when they need to be there.
We decided that we should do rehearsals for some of our shots because some of the scenes involved dances and movement sequences that were complicated for us to do considering none of us have any dancing experience. The biggest challenge was choreographing the movements for Singin in the Rain and Mortal Kombat. The dances for Singin in the Rain were difficult because we needed to keep the framing tight while also doing big dances with umbrellas around a lamp post. This meant that we often went off frame even when we did get the movements right. Additionally, it was difficult to use the umbrellas gracefully in the dances, so we really had t practise that. The Mortal Kombat movements were quite difficult to get nicely on frame, as the power bars were difficult for jack and Lily (our make-up artist) to manoeuvre smoothly, and to keep their bodies off frame. We also rehearsed the fight sequence Emilio and I were to do so that it would be clear in the narrative for the audience and also look smooth on camera.
Emilio and I rehearsing our fight scene during the test shoot.
BENEFITS OF REHEARSING:
Saved us lots of time in the actual shoot, as we already knew what we had to do and how.
Got us performance-ready, so that we were used to our characters and how to act as a part of a band.
Allowed us to make sure that our dances looked neat and professional.
For our shoot, we were lucky enough to have access to our school's professional standard equipment, including a Canon 5D camera, which enabled us to produce high quality footage, taking in the detail of all the lighting, costumes, props beautifully. It also had a manual focus lens, which allowed us to tamper with the depth of focus, and allowed us to get really nice crisp shots.
The lighting desk was really useful because it allowed us to create full-colour lighting set-ups with different colour mixes and light intensities depending on the scenes. For example, for the Singin in the Rain shots we used mix of yellow and red lighting at a low intensity so that the camera could pick up the lights on the lamppost as well as having our faces well-lit.
The sound desk was also a very useful piece of kit because it allowed us to play the song while performing, which helped with our performance standard and definitely with my lip-syncing. Also, it meant that when we were setting up and packing away the kit, we could listen to music on the speakers.
The Samsung TV monitor and the Koolertron monitor were both incredibly useful as well. The Koolertron monitor made it really easy to see the screen and test how the lighting set-ups looked like on the camera, as the built in digital screen on the camera was too small to be able to accurately focus and see the footage quality. The Samsung TV monitor was useful because we could see it when we were performing, helping us to stay in frame when and make sue our performance was up to standard, and it also meant that when creating the lighting set-up, we could see how the colours looked on screen from the lighting desk (although it is not as accurate as the Koolertron monitor in terms of colour).
We chose to use Emilio, Jack, and me as the band members, as well as Tom Brown, who did media AS with us last year. This is because we all have similar free periods, and we know we are all going to be dedicated to the shoot and our performances.
Me as Casey Tyler.
Casey Tyler - We cast me as Casey Tyler because she is an energetic character, and it is much easier having a group member as the lead. Additionally, I have been involved with drama things in the past, so I am a confident performer. We decided to make a screen test in order to make sure I matched the role of the lead singer.
This is our screen test. We thought that my lip syncing matched the voice, and that with a bit of extra training i can portray Casey's character well.
Jack as Hugh Tyler.
Hugh Tyler - We cast Jack as Hugh Tyler because he is the second most important in the band, and we are confident in Jack's performance skills as he does A2 drama and is always amazing in the school production. Additionally, we wanted to show Casey and Hugh as having close, friendly relationship, and this would be easy for Jack and me to pull off as we have been close friends for years. Jack was also the bass player in the music video remake task, so he has had practise in playing the guitar to the music convincingly.
Tom as Terrence Kitchener.
Terrence Kitchener - We cast Tom Brown as Terrence because he is an ex-media student, so we know he will take the role very seriously, and he plays the piano, so can play the keyboard convincingly in the video. We also tested to see how he would be playing the keyboard in character, and he was very confident, and pulled off Terrence's smug expressions extremely well.
Emilio as Guy Chapman.
Guy Chapman - We cast Emilio as Guy because he has had experience performing in the music video remake prelim, and also has a drum kit at home so has had practice with using a drum kit. This would mean his performance as the drummer will look very natural, and he was very good at portraying Guy's quietness, while also conveying Guy's love for the music and expertise in playing the drums.
Our full cast for the party scene.
Party scene ensemble - We all invited friends to come in on the first Saturday of shooting to be part of the ensemble. Because of this, our cast consisted of the people who were willing and able to dress up and dance on the day. Our ensemble was eventually just five extra members: Ray Baker, Lily Mo Browne, Hugo Perrot-Barnaby, Caleb Wycoff-Smith, and Luciano Francischelli.
