List of shots/scenes I need to film:

• surrounding shots for opening: e.g. showing the location. female character walking. different angles and POV. 23 seconds worth of awesome needed.
• alone shots for the first verse. female walking around, showing her isolation.when lyric 'thinking of you' have some close ups of face and eyes looking around.
• "i'll be there or you'll be here"... her walking towards, him walking away shot. to go next to one another.
• "talking with you..." doing similar things, different locations (like in 'Bad Day')
• chorus 1 shots: in car (if possible). can see streetlights from car. hopefully some shots of car from outside (looking in). male characters eyes in the mirror at 'i can't forget your eyes'. if possible "2 hours 'til sunrise" try and get some shots of them in still car as sun is coming up? (maybe at river...)
• musical bit inbetween chrous and verse 2: female in house, alone. looks dark and melancholy. 
• verse 2: around house, her walking and memories coming back. e.g. shot down a hallway... you see her walk down hall and out of camera shot and then it fades into them in the room down the hallway together (maybe warmer hue to image). also maybe POV shot of him in bed smiling (totally innocent shot may i just add) at 'i just want to see you smile'. lots of them as a couple... maybe her running downstairs, them both running back up. just showing a contrast and an emptiness. probably will not do images as originally planned as it's pretty time consuming.
• seconds chorus: probably same as above until the final instrumentally bit comes on... and then i'd like to do a close up of female person laying and smiling and then falling asleep and then waking alone and going downstairs... look out of front window and a car pulls up. this instigates hope and possible happiness.

Location, location, location.

So, slight change of plan... after talking to the two characters we have arranged to film tonight as it's more suitable for them. So, here are the locations I hope to be filming at...

There is a local road which is always reasonably quiet and has quite a few fields alongside it so I plan to film the alone shots of the female character here whilst it is still light. Here is a photo I recently took at this location with a different friend of mine who won't be in the video. I feel this gives it a little more context though...

The second location is a main road which in the evening won't be very busy but has a lot of streetlights. This will achieve the desired effect and hopefully I will be able to convince my boyfriend to lend his car for us to borrow for the car scenes... the male character is able to drive so safety shouldn't be an issue and I will make sure it is done on very quiet roads to ensure everything goes as planned.


I have spoken to both of the people in the video about costume and they have agreed to try and fit my description as closely as they can. There won't be any props being used really... apart from a car I guess? I think it's going to be very much down to what can be achieved in the time remaining. I will be using a Song HDR HC9 camera:

I decided this would be the best camera to use as before hand the other ones had been quite difficult to control and keep steady. Also, on the previous camera we had to use nightmode for the picture to be visible and it didn't turn out too well so hopefully without this image I won't be tempted to use this to compensate. 

So, the plan for this evening is:

3:15 - Meet actors at their house and walk to first destination. Film female actor alone shots and also some of them together. (Walking away and towards). Do this until dark.

4:45 - Expected sunset time according to 'timeanddate.com'. Hopefully will be able to film for a little longer and then once close to dark will move onto streetlight shots. 

6.00 - If car is available it will be at this time. I may re-meet with actors after they have had time to have food. Hopefully will get some shots of car from inside and outside (like in Lana Del Rey video). If one car is not available another might be so will have to see tonight. 

Plans for this weekend...

So, the plan for this weekend is to re-film everything. It has no longer become convenient to use the same two people in the music video so I shall be re-filming as much as I can before February half term. I have chosen the new couple.

I have chosen these two because one of them lives in my local area and the other is a good friend of mine who has transport to get to my local area. The fact they are an actual couple will ensure the chemistry between the pair is genuine. I will post photographs of the location shortly, here is an artistic reputation of what I would ideally like the pair to wear:

This is actually meant to represent the female wearing winter clothes (as she's walking around) and the male wearing jeans and a checked shirt. I understand this is a bit of a dodgy representation but yeah...

Inside Cover

This is a typographic portrait of Brooke Annibale. I layered up the words 'Brooke' 'Annibale' 'Under' & 'Streetlights'. I will be using an origincal image for the front image of my digipak but I thought this might be a nice inside cover with the track listing or a possible choice for the back. I feel this is an interesting and different approach and is an interesting effect. Below is the same image but with type to demonstrate where the track type would be.  

Are you a Mod or a Rocker?

I just stumbled across this beauty. An actual article from back in the day which is very relatable to the same kind of rubbish you find in (especially teen magazines) magazines today. (e.g. are you a girly girl or a tomboy?). 

It would appear that I am a Rocker? I don't know how that happened as I gave way more answers as 'A'. I think this, like many modern ones, has quite a few flaws. Anyway, just thought I'd share this as it amused me.

Digipak Ideas

Here is a few trials for ideas for promotonial work (in particular the digipaks) for our song. I done both very quickly and neither are finished fully. I really like the general idea and feel of them both so far though.

Album Covers

    Having previously looked at Newton Faulkner as another pop-folk artist I figured it would make sense to also look at his album artwork. He certainly seems to use a recurring house style of blue and white and also the same font. They vary in their themes though. I like how they're quite simple, bold and interesting. 

Also, whilst searching Google for Faulkner album artwork I came across this image:

The Magic Numbers are a slightly more rocky group in comparison to Brooke Annibale. Their appearance is quite similar and I really like their album artwork. It looks like vintage, like they've used traditional photography and that is something I'd certainly like to consider using. I like how the print is split into 4 different tones as well. I think the typography compliments the image as well. I'd quite like to see what it would look like if I edited the same image in 4 different ways and then ripped it into 4 different quarters and then re-assembled it. This would make it look a bit different and interesting but if done effectively would look really cool I think. certainly something to consider...

Footage so far...

This is the footage Katherine & I have captured so far and feel is going to work:





We feel we will need to shoot more footage, especially of Molly, and also some of inside shots so we can create the memory scenes we were hoping to.
We found that when we filmed last time it got dark a lot sooner than we had expected so we found ourselves using night-vision just so we could see what was happening. We found the footage was very green so then had to correct the colour of a lot of footage.
We've made quite a promising start though.

Digipak Planning

Over the Christmas period I did some rough planning of potential ideas for my digipak front cover.

I'll scan these sketches in properly at some point but for now I've just taken a photo... I do realise it's backwards but you can kind of get the idea. My first idea was a collage of photos that consist of either:
Layered photos that all form one big image like of a streetlight or of the characters in the video.
OR
Layered photos of different things that have relevance to the characters (e.g. a small part of one characters face or of someone picking a flower e.t.c)
My second idea was just of a photograph of the main female under a streetlight with different textures and shadowing.


Previously when planning CD cases in other subjects I have found it useful to draw images from the lyrics. So, that's the plan for this blog post...

i can’t help but wonder why

you can’t help but cross my mind

and i’m thinking of you (thinking of you)

hope one day it all be clear

i’ll be there or you’ll be here <-- like in out footage, have split screen of walking towards and back

i’ll be talking with you (long talks with you)

under streetlights

on long car rides <-- like in Del Rey video, long distance shot of car under streetlights perhaps?

i can’t forget your eyes

through the dark nights

two hours till sunrise

i can’t forget your eyes

through the years and through the miles <-- like in Del Rey video, POV shot of road

i just want to see you smile

and be happy with you (happy with you)

i think somehow we could always see

it’d end up being you and me <-- holding hands, you can see couple but not fully.

me and you (just me and you)

So possible ideas to consider now are:

Images of cars/ car lights/ car under streetlights.

More solid images instead of just layering many.

Split images of same place but different people (like in out video, hopefully).

Born To Die.

I just watched this video (Lana Del Rey - Born To Die) for the first time and I felt it was incredibly deserving of a blog post.
I'd like to draw attention to this section:
1:56 - 2:58

Del Rey is alone, she looks pained and lonely.

Del Rey is now with the male character  but she still has the sae pained look. It's unclear if he is causing this pain or if he is a figment of her imagination and her missing his is causing this pain.

Here Del Rey looks like a bride who has been stood up. The flashes of light seem nostalgic and like flashbacks/memories. She continually looks incredibly upset. At this stage the male character moves his finger across his neck to imply slitting his throat.

Del Rey and the male character are now in a car, the bright lights and travelling aspect are highlighted. The car looks very isolated from anywhere else.

As Del Rey clears the window here it is also unclear as to whether she is just clearing the window or trying to make herself more apparent, by placing her palm on the window is looks as if she is trying to escape.

The male character is mainly in darkness but the light flickers continue in the car scene. He looks very intimidating and powerful. The red lights behind him could instigate danger.

Once again, making the car look remote. Shows the distance.

Del Ray is lighted by a red light here. Once again, looking pained and distressed. 

Del Rey looks at the male character and as he turns to return her gaze she turns away looking quite panicked.






Lyrics:
Feet don't fail me now
Take me to the finish line
All my heart, it breaks every step that I take
But I'm hoping that the gates,
They'll tell me that you're mine
Walking through the city streets
Is it by mistake or design?
I feel so alone on a Friday night
Can you make it feel like home, if I tell you you're mine
It's like I told you honey
Don't make me sad, don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough
I don't know why
Keep making me laugh,
Let's go get high
The road is long, we carry on
Try to have fun in the meantime
Come and take a walk on the wild side
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain
You like your girls insane
Choose your last words
This is the last time
Cause you and I, we were born to die
Lost but now I am found
I can see but once I was blind
I was so confused as a little child
Tried to take what I could get
Scared that I couldn't find
All the answers, honey
Don't make me sad, don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough
I don't know why
Keep making me laugh,
Let's go get high
The road is long, we carry on
Try to have fun in the meantime
Come and take a walk on the wild side
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain
You like your girls insane
Choose your last words,
This is the last time
Cause you and I
We were born to die
We were born to die
We were born to die
Come and take a walk on the wild side
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain
You like your girls insane
Don't make me sad, don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough
I don't know why
Keep making me laugh,
Let's go get high
The road is long, we carry on
Try to have fun in the meantime
Come and take a walk on the wild side
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain
You like your girls insane
Choose your last words
This is the last time
Cause You and I
We were born to die We were born to die


I feel that the lyrics tell a story of a couple that are trying to stay together but are not succeeding, maybe it's unrequited love? The lyrics "sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough I don't know why" says to me that their relationship just isn't going anywhere. I feel the lyrics tell a very painful story and sometimes there are lyrics that could be associated with death like "choose your last words, this is the last time", "I'm hoping that the gates they'll tell me that you're mine" and of course "we were born to die". Last words, this reference is pretty obvious.. there's also the phrase "famous last words". "The gates" could refer to the gates of heaven and just before that she sings "take me to the finish line" which could refer to the end of life. I think the video tells a similar story, the relationship looks good at the start of the video but they seem to be very distant and cold towards one another as the video progresses. The male character takes his hands of the steering-wheel at one point to kiss Del Rey and the next time you see them the car is on fire and he is standing beside it carrying a lifeless Del Rey. Prior to this you see Del Rey in a white dress in a building that looks a lot like a Cathedral wearing a crown of roses, this has a lot of religious connotations (crown of thorns, white for purity and angelic and of course the Cathedral is a religious building). She also walks down a corridor and opens two large doors which has a bright white light pouring out of them and then you see her in the male characters arms, lifeless. The visuals fit very well with the lyrics and the video is emotive and powerful.
I think that me and Katherine could use notions in this video in our video possibly. I think the fact that she is alone and then with the male character is something we definitely want to show in our video. I also like the singular car part where the shots of them together and alone in the car and the lights change. We tried filming in a car and found it quite difficult but I think if we tried different techniques, angles and effects we could achieve some interesting and unique effects like in this video.