Shot List

For our video we will have two setups that will require a list of shots. These are our initial ideas for both setups.

Performance Setups:

Master shot- Long shot
Individual shots- Close ups
Two Shots, singer and backing vocals

Narrative:

Establishing shot- Extreme long shot of Leeds
Close up on  protagonist
Tracking shot- through Christmas market, shoulder bumped
Time lapse, shipley station and money pot
Hand held on the train
Through the window of the coffee shop
Long shot- sleeping on the bench
Close up- string with cup on the floor, kicked over
Long shot- sitting on the floor, writing on the wall
long shots- countryside from the train

First Day of Filming

On Thursday 9th November we collected our first bits of footage for our music video. This is very early in the process which allows us plenty of time to reshoot if we think it needs to be of a higher standard.

The above video is our first rough cut, incorporating footage from the shoot at Jar Mills and the Christmas lights switch-on in Leeds city centre, which fortunately was taking place on the same evening. We managed to schedule the shoot so we could get a variety of angles of the band as well as the fireworks display and switch-on outside Town Hall. We edited the video and tried to incorporate some of the concepts we had been discussing prior to shooting. The video contains the following elements:

• Rhythmic editing
• Cuts between the band in performance and a location shoot around Leeds (At this stage we haven't begun to film the narrative portion of the video so shots of Leeds are substituting for this at this point)
• Shifts from black and white to colour
• A down-to-earth aesthetic in terms of the text and inclusion of real recorded sound from the shooting day
• Establishing shots of Leeds
• Close ups of the band members

After editing we have come to the conclusion that we should arrange another filming session with the band as the footage is ultimately more grainy and dark than we would have hoped to achieve. In order to get the video as professional looking as we can we need to either bring lighting equipment or shoot in a different location, as Jar Mills was unfortunately black and red with dim lighting that didn't translate well to camera (such as the original preferred venue Pirate Studios, which has its own lighting installed, including lighting with coloured gels that could give our video more vibrancy). 

We also now need to plan a shoot at the Leeds German Christmas Market as this closes on December 24th and is a crucial desired location for the narrative portion of our video

This also came before we started storyboarding but this wasn't a problem as we were filming the section of our music video which features the band so we didn't need to decide on the sequence of shots we needed as we weren't telling a story like we will be during the narrative section of the video. We did, however, need to think about the types of shots and camera angles we wanted. We took inspiration from other music videos in the same genre, specifically the Maroon 5 video for 'Harder to Breathe', to decide on how we wanted to position our camera. We settled on taking 3 cameras to minimise the number of times we had to run through the track. In the first run through we needed one was set up as a master shot to capture all the band members together and two off to the side, one focussing solely on the lead singer and the other on whoever was on the other side, perhaps a guitarist. Then in the second run through we would get more close up shots on the other members of the band.

Initially we were supposed to be filming in a location called Pirate Studios. We were very happy about this as it looked like a great location with lots of lights which we could use to create the mood we needed and get good quality footage. However, at the last minute the band changed locations to a different studio in Leeds called Jar Mills Studios. When we looked at this online we could tell it wasn't as ideal as the other, the rooms looked darker and less set up for filming than the other (which was specifically used for doing live streams or filming videos). Their time in the studio had also changed - it was now 7-10pm. Although this was less convenient, we decided to make the most of it by going to the Leeds Christmas Lights switch-on, which was on the same night, to get some cutaways and establishing shots for the music video.

Unfortunately I was unable to go but I helped us prepare and decide on our plan so Melissa and Ed could execute it with as much ease as possible. They arrived at the studios with 3 cameras and 3 tripods and met with the band who were really lovely and eager to help in any way they could. However, we hadn't anticipated just how loud it would be in the soundproof room where they were playing as if on the main stage at a gig; luckily they were selling earplugs in the studios which we quickly purchased. Unfortunately this posed another issue - we were trying to set up three cameras with just two of us, making sure that each one was exactly the same so we could seamlessly cut between each shot, without being able to verbally communicate. This was a real challenge. In the end we had to use our phones to write down what we were saying and show it to each other just to get it all set up.

The next problem we had was lighting. It was pretty dark in the room with no proper lights we could use to improve the situation. The walls were also a deep red with the wall directly behind the band painted a matt black. This just absorbed all the light. We did the best we could by turning the ISO up to 400 however, we didn't want to take it any higher as it would make the picture grainy. Therefore the image was darker than would've been ideal.

The room was also very small which posed a challenge in getting all the band members into one shot and getting all the cameras set up as the floor was completely covered in wires. However, we managed it so the first run through we had a master shot, a side shot and a shot of the singer. We had decided that we wanted the shot of the singer to be at a low angle and from the side, just like the angle on Adam Levine in the 'Harder to Breathe' video as we really liked this effect and saw that it was typical in the 'indie rock' genre. The camera on the singer and the master shot stayed staticthroughout the whole first run through however, me and Ed both stood at the side shot and moved the camera around depending on who was doing the most in the song at each given time and got a variety of shots including two shot of the lead and backing singer during their harmonies together.

On the second run through we got a close up of each of the other band members - bass guitar, lead guitar and drummer. To get a good angle of the drummer we had to ask the lead singer to stand out of the set-up as he was stood in front of the drummer and the shot looked so much better from the front than from the side. This was okay though because we didn't need another master shot of the whole set-up so it didn't matter that there were cameras in the middle of it all this time.

We also made sure to get some pictures for our social media campaign.

Lyrics

Soaring through the sky you spot me vulnerable and broken.
Product of your mess I'm just a twinkle in your eye.
i hear the tidings of magpies the laws of which unspoken.
You pick, you choose, you claws until you're strong enough to fly.
Why are the things you choose to steal so delicate and glistening?
Alluring though they seem they don't mean anything to me.
Your ear to the ground you act as though you're surely listening.
The meaning of my life is not the product that you...(seek)

I've seen one thousand souls as the year colds they're torn and rusting.
The year itself in riches but the torment won't subside.
One thousand more outside these bodies cold and warn untrusting.
Don't pick at peoples eyeballs you will make the people blind.

One thousand soles are torn.

Turn the tides, the tides will be unworn.
Turn the tides, the tides will be unworn.
You turn the tides, the tides are turned and now yo are unworn.
(Turn the tides, the tides will be unworn.)
You turn the tides the tempered tides and now you are unworn.
(Turn the tides, the tides will be unworn.)

Turn the tides, the tides will be unworn.
Turn the tides, the tides will be unworn.
Turn the tides, the tides will be unworn.
Turn the tides, the tides will be unworn.

Location Information

For our video we are planning on using several different settings. To begin with we plan on re-shooting the performance section of the video at Pirate Studios in Kirkstall. This is a better studio as it is a bigger space so we will have more room for different shot types and angles. As well as this the studio is more lit than the previous location therefore the quality of the shot will be better.

For the narrative section of the video we will have to use several locations as we will follow the protagonist through his story. His progression will therefore taking him to new places meaning that we have to find more suitable locations. To begin with we will meet the protagonist in the German Christmas Market in the centre of Leeds.

 Then we will follow him to Leeds Train Station where in the first narrative he tries to escape the abuse he receives in the city. In the second narrative this is where we see the protagonist taken by his friend who is trying to help him start a new life. After this we will use the bridge at Shipley Train Station. This is where the first story ends as we see the protagonist collapse on the bridge. But in the second narrative we will need a house and a front room in which the protagonist can set up their new life. After this we will go back to Leeds city Centre but this time the protagonist will be dressed in a suit to show how far he has come since he was homeless.

Magpie Media on social media

To promote our video and connection with Tranqua Lite we have created the @magpiemediaofficial Instagram account. We will use this as promotion but also to track our progression through the production period. We will first post on the account on our first filming day which should hopefully be tomorrow (9th of November) when we film the studio setup at Pirate Studios.

Our first Instagram post shows the band setting up their instruments before they rehearse and they also show our cameras set up in the various angles so we could capture each member individually as well as the band as a whole.

Messages from Toby

These are the first messages I received from Toby when we first got in contact with then band. We just introduced ourselves and our proposal. We discovered their inspirations which helped us form our ideas to meet similar requirements to their favourite bands. After this we then met up in person and arranged a time to meet at Pirate Studio and begin filming at the studio for the performance element of the video.

Further Research into the Indie Rock Genre

We now need to investigate the indie rock genre to make sure our video uses conventions for the genre. For this I’m going to analyse the Maroon 5 video for “Harder to Breathe”. To begin with the whole video uses dark colours and a lot of shadows for the mise-en-scene. This is a genre convention for the indie rock genre as a lot of the songs use a dark narrative and the visuals link to the music. A theory stated originally by Andrew Goodwin. The pace of the editing is very fast pace as this links to the pace of the drum beat in the background of the song. Most indie rock songs contain a beat like this therefore a pace editing pace is a classic genre convention for indie rock. However, this video also breaks genre conventions. For example, most indie songs are written to portray a deep and meaningful story. But this video contains no narrative and concentrates on the star image of the band. Although star image is a motif of Maroon 5. During the performance in this video a master shot is used as well as secondary shots. the master shot is stationary and views the whole band. The seoncdary shots are hand held and form close up shots on the performers and their instruments. Electric guitars and drums are classic images of indie rock therefore it is a genre convention to show these instruments in the video.

I also looked at the video for Alt-Js “In Cold Blood”. The video shows a self aware sense of humour I’ve seen before in Kasabian’s music videos is highly prevalent in this concept/narrative video. The video appears to parody a David Attenborough type nature documentary, in this case about a mouse. Theres a black comedy twist to this trope however as while in the first half of the music video the nature documentary is authentic looking (complete with a voiceover) and has a forest setting the second half shows the mouse wandering into the aftermath of a crime deal that has gone wrong complete with bodies and violent imagery. The video revels in some bleak and grisly mise-en-scene that sharply contrasts the natural beauty and peacefulness that sums up the beginning of the video and can be expected of nature documentaries. The subverting of expectations creates a somewhat funny but also unnerving effect with the video and befits indie rock videos which have a penchant for creative/unique concepts and self-awareness.

Finally, I will look at Elbow's video for "Grounds for Divorce". This is an interesting video which first appears to be a relatively simple performance style but is edited in a very subtle but clever way. Every time the music repeats they use the same sequence of shots to accentuate this recurring melody. This idea of repeating and rewinding certain shots runs through the whole video and is used particularly well in shots where its effects are exaggerated e.g. when they start the snooker game. This is actually a similar concept to our video.

The general video sticks within the genre conventions as it is made up of a 'live performance' and, although it definitely focusses more on the lead singer, there are shots acknowledging each of the musicians and backing singers in turn. This is something which we can take note of when filming the performance aspects of our video, to get the balance of screen time for each of the band members right in accordance to genre conventions.

The general colouring of this video is muted with very few bright colours or 'stand out' props or costumes. This is not something we can take inspiration from because our band have said they like bright colours and often use them in their promotional techniques. Therefore this is something we need to include in our video despite it not fully conforming to genre conventions.

They also have elements of choreography within it with the girl dancing in the bar. This adds a layer of interest to what would otherwise be a purely performance based video. We don't need something like this in our video as it will be interwoven with a narrative which is actually the main focus of the video, therefore giving it layers of meaning beyond what this particular Elbow video has.


Interestingly, here, the concept lies in the editing rather than in the actual camera work or mise en scene. All it's individuality was added after the video was shot through the use of the repeated and recurring sections of footage that go in time with the music. It's a clever idea and one that makes the video memorable so it stands out amongst all the other indie rock performance based videos.

Meeting the band

On Monday the 30th of November i met with one of the band members from Tranqua Lite, Toby Womack. I went through our ideas from the pitch to see which ideas he liked and maybe didn't like. Biffy Clyro is the bands biggest inspiration therefore Toby loved our idea which took inspiration from their video for "Biblical". This is the video in which the same story happens twice with one positive ending and one negative ending. He loved this idea as it came from his favourite band and it is also a unique idea therefore it avoids all the cliches of most music videos. The video will therefore start with the darker version of the story in which the homeless person is abused on the streets. This narrative will be replaced by images and clips of the performance in the studio. After that quick transition we will return to the narrative. As the narrative changes to the second story we will begin to seep colour into the shot. The first story and performance will just be black and white. The colours we will seep in first will be blues and reds as these are colours that represent the band. Toby would like these colours to be a motif for the band. During the story we will continue to flick between narrative and performance. When we reach the end of the video the screen will be fully coloured without any added filters.

Toby also suggested a location in which we can film to studio section for the performance aspect of the video. The band rehearse at Pirate Studios in Kirkstall and they have said we are welcome to join them during one rehearsal so we can film them performing the song.  The studio is small but has a patterned interior and coloured lights so we can match the background to our desired aesthetic. Toby wants the background to be blue as this is one of the bands signifies.

Toby would also like the inclusion of an interview with a real homeless person. He likes this idea as most videos nowadays include a scene before the music starts and the interview would also make the situation real and give the video a sincere meaning.

We decided that we will get actors to play the homeless person and also the required extras needed for the video rather than using the band themselves. We made this decision as the band members are all in full time education or full time work therefore we can't expect them to spend time on our project as well as their own in their free time. Getting actors involved is probably better for us anyway as we can use people within our own friendship group so they will be much easier to communicate with and plan times and day for shooting with. We will need one actor the play the protagonist and then 3 or 4 extras.

Pirate studios

Pirate studios is going to be the location for our studio set up for our music video. This is where Tranqua Lite rehearse all their music so they are comfortable in that environment and it is also good for us as it won't take too long to get there. When we are there we will use 3 different cameras at the same time so all the footage will fit together once we edit it all together. We will have a master shot which will be positioned directly in front of the singer on a tripod therefore we won't need to hold it. This shot will show the whole band but will focus on the front man. We will then have 2 secondary  shots which we will control. These shots will be handheld so we can move closer to the band and focus on either their instruments or their faces. We will then edit the best bits from each angle together to form the performance aspect of our video.