New Plans for the Introduction to my Music Video

Shot 1 for my music video was originally going to be my Dad and his friend being two members from Madness, singing "Our House" which is sampled at the beginning of the "Our House is Dadless" for 8 seconds. 

However I am currently thinking of new ways I can film for these 8 seconds of the video. An idea I have come up with is drawing the Madness band logo, either on a plain piece of white A4 paper and colouring the logo in, or even drawing the logo on the rest of my black A4 card and sticking it to the white paper. Doing this will show I have researched into the band being sampled in "Our House is Dadless" and considered using them as a reference in my music video. 

 If I follow this idea of drawing, I was considering of drawing the 'ska/2 tone man' and possibly, drawing the '2 tone/ska man' and 'beat girl' on a scooter which is iconic for the genre of the music video I am producing. Images of these are located to the left. 

Another idea I have come up with, is drawing the 'ska/2 tone man' dancing to the beat of the song, this might be difficult as I'll have to try to keep the logo the same however move the legs around. 

My final idea, is to having letters flying into the framing either saying "Our House is Dadless" or "Madness." This then introduces the music video, similarly to what the sample of "Our House" by Madness is doing. 

Cast Update: Tom Card

Due to their being some personal issues occurring with my cast member Tom Card and my family, it has been slightly difficult to film some of the shots for my music video. I was contemplating on trying to find a new cast member to be the protagonist, but I believe it would be unfair on my cast member to make him leave the video behind when personal issues shouldn't be an issues with my educational work. 

Therefore after several talks, we have come to a conclusion that filming should occur when my family or his family aren't in the places where the filming is going to take place; this will enable the two of us to film peacefully without feeling a negative vibe around the location. Also, being able to film in a comfortable environment could and hopefully will ensure a positive vibe with Tom and myself, which also reflects on my music video. Such as, if Tom feels confident and comfortable he'll put more effort into the music video which then makes my final product look better. 

Plans to Re-shoot

After viewing some of the clips which I have taken for my music video, I have come to the conclusion that I need to re-shoot my first part of shot two. This is no fault of my cast member, but my own fault as I didn't properly plan how this specific shot would work. 

I decided that Helen should pop the party poppers one by one, but this looks awkward and doesn't look professional. Nevertheless the new decision which I have made is to pop all party poppers before the shot takes place, therefore Helen can hold all the confetti and throw bits into the air; this looks more professional and would then make this one clip look less awkward. 

New Ideas for Filming

When I created my animatic storyboard I realised some of the shots were too long, and would be extremely boring to watch. Therefore I began to draw some ideas onto paper, so I would then be able to work from this. Also, when thinking of different ideas I came to the conclusion of sticking with a few shots which I'd originally planned however filming them from different shots to create a difference in the video. That way I still stick to my main idea however improve the shot material. 

Below I have inserted my new ideas, which I scanned into the computer using my HP Printer. Each new idea has the lyrics below them, and three of the new ideas have notes and time frames so I can follow my new ideas correctly and efficiently. 

Risk Assessment

I created a risk assessment which is based on the risks which could occur during the filming of "Our House Is Dadless." Creating this risk assessment has made me realise the potential hazards and what I can work around. 

Cast Update: Helen McCarthy

Helen has been really involved in the music video, however due to my own personal commitments it's been difficult in meeting up with her. But Helen herself is very understanding and accepts that the filming could spring upon her at any moment. Therefore she's being very committed and has been carrying her clothing with her all the time - I have seen this and was shocked at how committed she really was. 

This is showing excellent signs of commitment, it is now down to me to ensure I can get her in for filming. 

Cast Members: Helen McCarthy

My friend Helen McCarthy is going to be involved in my music video; she is showing signs of enthusiasm already and keen to help me as much as she can. Helen will be playing the role of the girl who appears continuously in my music video, she's portrayed as the sister of the protagonist (Tom Card). 

Helen studied GCSE Drama throughout secondary school, and then again at Hull College. Even though she dropped out of both, she is still personally a good drama student and really gets into the role which she is to play. This for me is excellent as she will be able to act differently for different shots. 

Also, due to the first shot which involves Helen (shot 2) being tied to the lyrics "My house is a mad house" she's already picking clothing herself which can be reflected in this specific shot. We're working closely when discussing the different costumes, but I'm mainly leaving it up to Helen to decided what clothing she wants to wear, therefore she has had some input in the music video. 

Cast Update: Tom Card

This cast member has been thoroughly listening to "Our House Is Dadless" to ensure he understands the tone and pace of the lyrics, as this then therefore enables me to match up his lip syncing with the lyrics of the song when editing my music video. 

Recently I haven't been able to film any shots with him in it though, due to Tom having an illness and it's reflecting on his performance. As the director of this video I have told him I'm not going to be filming him until he's fit enough to perform, as it reflects badly on my music video and he could get worse, which would also be bad for both of us. 

Equipment Used to Plan and Create my Music Video

When planning and producing a music video a lot of equipment is involved. During today's society technology has evolved widely from previous years; sometimes when I think of ideas for my music video I can either type down my notes on either my Apple iPad 3 or BlackBerry Bold 9900 whereas previously these note takings would have included pencil/pen and paper. 

I have created a new board on my Pinterest account which shows all the equipment which I have used to both plan and produce my music video. I will be uploading more images throughout this production, to show the different technologies I have used. This is the link which I shows all the images of my equipment: Equipment and Software Pinterest Board

To show an example of what my Equipment and Software Pinterest board looks like I have print screened my board, and inserted it within the post. In comparison to how I inserted my example of Props and Costume Pinterest board. 

Cast Members: Tom Card

I have chosen a close friend to be my protagonist; Tom is a reliable cast member as he always shows up to any planned events, and even shares his own ideas for the shots which will include him. When deciding which costumes he could wear in the making of my music video, we worked together to see which pieces of clothing worked well and which outfit he felt the most comfortable in. Due to it being cold weather now we had to take this into account the amount of clothing which he would have to wear, ensuring he didn't catch any illnesses throughout the filming as this could ruin the rest of the filming. 

Working with Tom will provide a very easy and stress-free production, due to the two of us getting along and working as a team. 

Researching into the cover of "Our House Is Dadless"

Every track which is to be released to the public has to have a cover; sometimes the cover isn't very interesting and it just has the track name written across it. Nevertheless I want to make mine look interesting but not too 'wild' as that could be seen as a contrast to the genre. 

The cover for the "Our House Is Dadless" track is slightly interesting, however to someone who has listened to the track before may not understand the imagery. The imagery reflects the lyrics and the meaning of the song; I have inserted the bands single cover to the left. The lyrics reflect how each of the band members have grown up without having a father figure or their real Dad in their family life. Therefore having a woman doing the 'female jobs' shown in the imagery it reflects the lyrics within the song.

Nevertheless the album cover "It Was This or Football: First Half" doesn't really reflect any of the tracks which are featured in the album. However not many album covers do reflect each individual track on the album, as it would cost too much to produce and the album cover may not look appealing nor interesting. I have inserted the album cover below the single track. 

After researching into different indie bands album covers I have come across a similarity within each album cover. Often enough the album covers feature one of three things: 

• A band or artist
• Image related to the album 
• Have the band/artist name of the cover 
• Quite vintage film lense on the covers

When it comes to me creating my own cover to promote the track I'll take into consideration the research which I have conducted, this creates verisimilitude towards to genre. 

Purchasing the Props - 31.10.2012

Following the production plan I set myself, I chose today to purchase all the props which I needed. Fortunately I only needed to purchase a few props as I already had the majority of my props; however unfortunately due to running low on money I couldn't purchase three materials which I needed to create another prop, which was clear string/fishing wire, cardboard and black acrylic paint to create the music notes and hang them from my ceiling above the stereo. 

These items will be purchased soon and will be added to my Pinterest page. 

Filming Shot 2 - 30.10.12

Today I was supposed to be filming shot 2 with the cast member Hollie, however she was being awkward and wouldn't contribute to the filming. She told me she was going to come to my house (where the filming is occurring) however she didn't turn up, and decided to go out with her other group of friends. To find out what was happening I rang her, and she told me if I wanted to film her it would have to be done at her house as she couldn't be bothered to come to my house. 

This has shown me that sometimes the people you are friendly with aren't always the best people to work with. I have come to the conclusion to use my other friend Helen, as Hollie showing early signs of lack of contribution and reliability. 

'Easy' Shots and Costume Research - 29.10.2012

Today I filmed some of the shots which would be classed as easy, such as the pan of the houses and the washing machine being filled. Doing these 'easy' shots first will enable me to spend more time on my more time consuming shots, as they may need to be re-taken if not up to the standard I expect them to be. I still need to film some of the other close ups such as shot 8, 17, 19 and 25. However these all need some of the other cast members and props which are not yet ready. 

Also during today I completed some research into how much it would cost me to either purchase or hire two police uniform; the outcome was disappointing as it would cost too much money to do either of these financial outcomes. In comparison to this is the expense of all the material needed to make my own police uniform, therefore the full outcome of this research has made me realise the plan I wanted to follow I cannot due to the high expense. 

Casting for "Our House Is Dadless"

Due to producing a music video I will need a cast to be involved in the production, similarly to directors needing a cast for their films. Casting is important when producing a music video as they help to create the directors imagination for the video. 

In my video I won't need many cast members, although the original song "Our House Is Dadless" by KiD BRiTiSH is a group of six, I have chosen to only have one main singer which not only makes it easier to film I also don't have to be worried about certain people within the cast not turning up and playing their part. For other cast members I have chosen people who I believe are reliable, however if they begin to slack I will need to talk to them and persuade them to be more reliable and help more often. Nevertheless this method doesn't always work, therefore if the same person/group of people keep choosing to mess around I will have to tell them they are no longer in my music video. 

Cast Members 
Protagonist - Tom Card 
Two members of Madness - Dad and Andy 
The Mum - Mum or Sharon Card
Stranger - Dad
Young girl - Hollie Dearing / Helen McCarthy 

The reason I have chosen these people is because I believe their reliable and will contribute in any way they can. Some cast members said last year they'd be in my music video when I told them what the Media Studies course consisted of. 

Images of Props/Costumes - 28.1012

To show my findings for the props and costumes which may and most likely will be used within my music video, I used Pinterest. I also created a board specifically for the props and costumes, this also enables me to add to it over time and the images will be under a tailored category. The following link takes viewers to my Pinterest account Props and Costumes Pinterest Board

Below I have inserted a print screen as to what my Props and Costumes board on Pinteret looks like. 

Location Images - 28.10.12

Below I have embedded a presentation created with web software Empressr. The presentation consists of images of the locations where shots within my video will take place; over time as more images are added the presentation will also be updated. 

Prop/Costume Plan - 28.10.2012

After following the production plan, I have created a prop and costumes plan. This plan shows all the different props and costumes which I may need throughout the filming of "Our House is Dadless." Although some of the props/costumes may not be needed, it was best if everything was included in the plan therefore I won't be unorganised when I come to filming the music video.

Now I have completed this plan, I'll be writing the rest of the list which I created on the 26/10 to see what props/costumes need to be purchased.