Powder Paint Fight

20/11/14

For this shoot we decided to film at lunch from 12:30-1:30, this was not ideal as it did not give us much time but it was the only time we could get the artist, actors and crew together. Even with this time slot we still found that there was one artist member that could not attend however due to lack of shooting time we decided we should shoot anyway and then do another shoot on the following Monday.

Equipment- 550 digital camera and Go Pro

all of crew on the set of the paint fight

Reflections

Positives

- When watching the footage back we were pleased with how the powder paint looks on camera and the choice of colours. Furthermore it was a prop that the actors could interact with playfully connoting the joyous festival feeling we were trying to create.
- We attached the go pro to a cast member and found it worked well in immersing the viewer in the paint fight.

Negatives and improvements for the next shoot

- To try and get a range of shots such as more camera movement where the camera follows the actors and natural close ups.

24/11/14

I felt that this shoot went better then previously as we organised time better and managed to get a wider variety of shots.

For this shoot Ellie, Masie and I all performed as extras, as a reflection from the balloon scene we realised it would be easier to use crew members as it is harder to organise time slots for more actors.

Online- Website and Social Media

Social Media Links

We tried to use the same user name- lucid_city_ as much as possible in order to create a sense on branding and familiarization for the audience
Instagram

http://instagram.com/lucid_city_

Twitter

https://twitter.com/lucid_city_

Sound Cloud

Sound cloud is a social media platform entirely based around users uploading, liking and sharing music. It works on a tagging system where users can listen to loads of songs under the same genre. It is great for discovering new music and it is used by artists under mainstream management from artists under independent institutions or no management at all.  For these reasons we thought it would be an essential platform for our artist.

https://soundcloud.com/lucidcity-1

17/11/14- Balloon Scene

For this shoot we had the studio from 3:45- 9 pm and wanted to get all the shots done for this scene, as it would be hard to find another date with all the same actors. This shoot had the biggest cast which made it quite a different experience to our previous shoots. For this scene we wanted really energetic dancing, and in order to get this we had to make a comfortable environment for our actors who are not professional dancers. For this we played music they liked and communicated specifically what we wanted with them. 

It was important that the lights were switched off as often as possible in order to prevent the balloons from popping therefore we split up the tasks to sound and light, camera, director and music/props (turning the music on and throwing balloons at actors) and altered between these roles. This photo was taken by Ellie while she was in sound and light and Maisie, Molly and I did camera and directing. 

Reflections

Positive
Splitting up the roles was a good way to organise it however it was often hard for us to communicate with each other and the actors over the music.
Our actors got into the mood of the scene and we got good footage of them dancing which is what we wanted.

Negative
It felt like quite a chaotic shoot with lots of actors to organise and we ended up not following the shoot board we had planned, therefore we are missing quite a few close ups.

First shoot 6/11/14 - White Scenes

This was our first shoot in which we filmed the opening sequence- the white room set up, where Georgie, the protagonist, enters a room, sees a cup cake on the table and eats it. 

filming the close up of the cupcake

After the shoot I felt really positive about it however on watching the footage back and putting it into our sequence we realised that the jump in framing between the shots from long to close up made it hard to follow. This was because when making our shoot board we did not visualise the scene to the detail of specified camera angles and some of the framing.

Location Recee

Originally we planned to shoot our powder paint fight in Epping Forest. This required finding a date that all members of our artist group could do and organise 7 extras. The only date everyone could do was Saturday 22nd, leaving no time for a re shoot and carrying all our powder paint to the forest which would have been very unpractical and risky. An alternative option was to film in the rec a couple minutes away from our school, we originally dismissed this idea as it is mainly a field with goal posts. However there is a small woodland area that we thought with tight framing could look like a forest. We did a test shoot to see how it looked:





We decided that this would work and plan to shoot next Thursday ( Thursday 20th). Another benefit of filming close to school is that it allows us to have a bit more control over the weather as we can retreat back to school if it starts raining, which is likely at this time of year.

Shoot-Board,Shoot Schedule and Call List

Part of the planning process is to create the shoot board, shoot schedule and call list, which helps get organized for shooting- getting props, actors, location, equipment together.

Shoot Board

In order to create this we looked at our animatic and transferred each shot into the shoot board, organizing them by scene.

Here's an example from the balloon scene of the detail we put into the shoot board...

We did this for every scene and every shot. 

Shoot Schedule

We then used this to make the shoot schedule. When doing this you think of the most efficient way of shooting each scene by looking at the practicalities, which is usually not filming in the chronilogical order shoots appear on screen. For example for the balloon scene for which we had a large cast as well as the three artist members, we organised it so that we did all the group shots first and then the shots that included artist members only. This meant the group of extras could leave early and wont be hanging around waiting to film. It is also a very useful at giving you a rough idea of the timings of your shoot.

Colour code:
Blue- when not filming

Call Sheet

The call sheet is a simplified version of the shoot schedule that lets actors and crew know when they are needed for make up, costume and shooting.

This is the accompanying call sheet for the shoot schedule above.

Schedule of studio and location shots

We organised our shoots to when we had the studio and when our actors could do. These our the dates we decided:


Thursday 6th, break p4+5- White scene (cupcake)
(For the performance scenes the set up and lighting takes a lot of time, hence why we start early)
Tuesday 11th,10:50-13:45- Performance scene, just with DJs
Friday 14th 7:30-1:45- Performance scene, DJs, Georgie, Together
Sunday 16th 7:30- 12:30- Performance scene, all of them
Monday 17th, studio all day, shooting 3:45-9- Balloon scene
Thursday 20th 11:10-13:30- Powder Paint fight
Tuesday 25th- Back up shoot

Tests- Go Pro

Below is the footage from test shots with the go pro, seeing the effect when filming balloons bursting.



We found that the quality was not very good and thought this might look strange when following footage shot in high definition. However it is the slowest camera we have and the speed was good for popping balloons. We thought it would also look good when smashing the pinata, and I really like how it captures the expressions of the actor therefore we are going to use it on the shoot.

Lighting and Set Design

Performance scene

This is the footage from the lighting test for the performance scene. The final set up can be seen at 0:45. The choice of colours was inspired by our pink and blue colour scheme that is used throughout our branding.

Final lighting scheme for performance scene

Balloon Scene

Continuing with the theme of the colour scheme the backdrop will be lit with blue lights while the floor and people will be lit with white light. This has the effect of a more light hearted feel then the performance scene as it is meant to be more fun and less serious.

We did not get a photo of the set up at the time, but here is one from the shoot. On camera it looks a lot less pink and more blue.

White Scene

For the scene when Georgie finds the cupcake we thought we should have a spot light shining on her. 

Testing out spotlight, final set up had more white light

However we decided to changed this and have the whole scene in white lighting rather than a spot light. 

All these set ups have been saved to the lighting machine so it will be easy to set up on the day. 

Casting

Singer: Georgie

We cast Georgie as our lead singer as she has previous experience of lip syncing and performing, starring in the preliminary activity as the main female role and partaking in the performance workshops. Also she is familiar with the demands of a media project having taken it last year.

Georgie in the prelim lip syncing and dancing

DJ 1: Eugene

We cast Eugene as a DJ as he is a fan of the music genre,is confident in front of camera and likes dancing. Also he will be reliable as he is my brother and I have ensured he understands the time demands of agreeing to take up this role.

He is also on the sound and light team so could be useful, and this could be a good experience for him.

DJ 2: Gavin

We thought Gavin would be good as a DJ as he takes media and has performed in previous projects. Also he is friends with Eugene therefore will have a natural on screen chemistry that group artists appear to have.

starring as the lead role in previous projects

Props list

Performance Scene

Key Hole

The idea is to make it appear as if the audience is looking through a key hole at the performers. This puts them in the position of Alice in Alice in Wonderland in the beginning when she is entering wonderland. We thought this would be a nice way to establish the first shot of the performance. We plan to make it ourselves by simply cutting a key hole shape out of black card.   

Giant Playing Cards

We wanted to have giant playing cards hanging in the back ground of the performance scene in order to make it more visually interesting. This is also a reference to Alice in Wonderland which references playing cards in the Queen of Hearts character. Also by making them giant and playing with size could be a reference to the idea of Alice shrinking and growing from drinking the liquid upon falling down the rabbit hole. 

Decks 

For the DJs, we were thinking of making the illusion of them through tables and sound boards. 

Microphone

For Singer, this would also include a stand.

Balloon Scene

Giant mushroom made out of balloons 

This is also a reference to Alice in Wonderland and the idea is that it is in the background of the balloon scene and then becomes a focal prop with the friends pulling the balloons off and popping them. 

We did an experiment to see how it would turn out using card for the stem and chicken wire which we then covered in newspaper for the toadstall. This is how it looked... 

For the real mushroom we will make the top much larger and only use red and white balloons to give off the impression of a mushroom. 

We want the floor to be covered with balloons so we will buy a multi pack of balloons and a pump. We have also ordered a variety of balloons, these include 2 giant balloons which we think will be good for some close up or them flying through the air and 25 marbled balloons. This scene also includes a pinata so we ordered one from the same site, our basket is bellow.... 

Powder Paint Fight

Powder paint

This is obviously an important prop for this scene. We plan to order 1 assorted pack of 12 colours in 500g and 2 packs of 2.5 kg tubs in the colors purple and pink. 

FINAL PROP LIST

To make:
10 giant cards
key hole
confetti for inside of pinata
giant balloon mushroom

To order:
500 balloons (shades of pink and blue and red and white ones for mushroom)
powder paint
pinata
pinata sticks
2 giant balloons
marble balloons

Website Flat plan

After playing around on Wix we found a layout we were happy with. Its' simplistic block structure will be easy to navigate and will emphasis our choice of images and video which will be visually stimulating.

This is important for our young target audience group (16-24yrs) as they will be well acquainted with this style from using programmes like Tumblr and Instagram. There will be a greater image to text ratio on the home page in order to gratify their need for entertainment through visuals and short form content as large chunks of text will be off putting.

Artist websites we referenced:

Beyonce

What we liked and want to transfer when making our own website:

- block structure
- simplicity
- vibrant, interesting images