Kate Kestell A2 Project

Monday 9th October Not explicitly a re shoot, just part two of filming.  Today I set up a green screen and set to filming myself lip-syncing the song. After sitting down to edit the footage, I decided I didn't like having just myself (one person) in the 'Mission Control'- so will find another actor to have a re shoot with.  Wednesday 11th October. Found a willing actor.  My media teacher kindly offered to help me out. However, he has blue eyes, and the green screen doesn't like that, another re shoot may be needed.  Friday 20th October. Narrative completed, performance underway.  Following advice from my teachers, my previous GCSE music teacher Mr. Norman allowed me to sit in on a year 10 lesson and film them playing their instruments, he was very helpful in finding interesting equipment to play with, and teaching the students the music so they could be as in sync/on time as possible. He also offered the option of carrying ou...

Monday 9th October. Editing process begins. After collecting my first pieces of footage, the children and the green screen mission control center, I began editing the evening of the green screen shoot day. I placed the song in the audio bar, and focused on editing pieces of footage featuring the children from the space shoot into the verses, ensuring the cuts are quick, consistent, and on beat. The chorus was most difficult, as each line is roughly 0.6s long, and it was incredibly tedious and tricky to edit long clips so finely. I also decided I didn't like having just one actor for Mission Control, so will organise a re shoot to solve that issue.  Wednesday 11th October. Re Shoots and second editing session.  My media teacher Mr Escott kindly offered his acting skills to my video, and having an extra face in the video I think has improved the variety of the clips drastically. To edit my footage, I placed the song into the audio bar, selected clips from my imported f...

Shooting day: Sunday 8th October.  This children can be difficult to work with at times, and can become distracted and lose interest relatively quickly. I have bought them each a bribe- I mean present- to incentivise them to cooperate, and have set up a system where every time they do a good take, they earn a sweet in their basket, which they earn at the end. While they were all still energetic and enthusiastic I shot them dancing all together. Theo came second as he becomes tired easily, once he finished he was quite happy to sit in the corner and read his magazine. Stanley was very enthusiastic about the project and so he was very eager to be next. Then Evelyn, the eldest, happily did her takes third. While the children went off with their sweets and presents, I continued to shoot some filler takes.  10:00 Arrive at studio, tidy and set up the scene.  10:30 Shoot three takes all the way through of all three children dancing. One long shot, one mid-shot, one close-u...

Pictured is an example of the costumes I have bought for my actors, they were roughly £10 on Amazon. I thought the silver would be effective at reflecting light and adding a little bit of extra sparkle to the video.  The kids seem impressed with them too.  I have acquired further sparkly material with the intent of making some props, like space helmets. Pictured is some tinsel and a roll of photographic purpose foil.  Filming in an art studio, I have plenty of access to all sorts of weirdly shaped, alien-like props.  I found some interesting prop ideas on  pinterest , and made a few with my uncle, professional sculptor, before the shoot on Sunday.  When it came to filming the Mission Control scenes, I used an old pair of headphones that had an inbuilt microphone and simply cut away the wire. I stayed in my school uniform as I considered it rather formal/office suitable...

Friday 6th October. Today I will be travelling up to Reading to observe the location for the first time and get a feel of how I plan to direct the video, where I want to store props, and how I will set up the projector and my actors.  Pictured here is Stanley, unimpressed with his costume and the videomap. Can't win them all.  Saturday 7th October. Today I set up clearing space and organising how I wanted my set to look- as I am borrowing an artists' studio space, there was plenty of equipment and material that needed moving.  Sunday 8th October.  Filming day today, when we arrived at the studio it took a little while to work out how to block out the sun from the windows, we experimented a little bit with angle and how close the projector and camera would be before getting started. 

I am using the Open Hand, Open Space art gallery in Reading to film half of my music video. The building is very rustic and has a lot of character to be reflected in the video, as well as being a very open area with plenty of room to experiment and explore.  The second half of my music video is shot in school using a green screen. The media office houses the department green screen on its largest wall, and I set up a desk in front of it, with a spotlight and blue gels to light the scene accordingly. I placed the lyrics on the wall to the side so that the talent may look up to read them and if they happened to glance whilst the camera was recording it would still look authentic, as the song's lyrics literally address other people, it makes sense that the person speaking them would look in different directions, as if to turn to that person. I also had to block out the windows using black tissue paper so I could make my own artificial blue light as effective...

EVENT RISK ASSESSMENT FORM: ‘GO!’ MUSIC VIDEO. Event Name: Music Video Date: 7/10/2017 Venue: 571 Oxford Road. Reading. RG30 1HL Activity/Area of Concern: Hazards Identified: Persons at Risk: Current Risk Factor: Actions to be taken to minimise each risk: New Risk Factor: The Studio Flat and slippery floor. Trip Hazard.   All participants. High. Well gripped, rubber soled shoes to be worn at all times. Low. The Children Young and excitable children are unpredictable. Evelyn, Theodore and Stanley Lockhart. Medium. Parental consent and parents on set to aid supervision. Low. Wires. Wires for cameras and lighting act as potential trip hazards. All participants. High. Taped over in yellow hazard tape. Low. Lights. The brightness of the images in the projection video may damage the sight of...