Casting

For my piece I feel I won't follow the convention of having a band to represent its music video stature, but in fact I will have the actor lip-sync.

These are just some of the roles I will have to include in the text. The majority of it will be done by me being alone, giving me more work but full range of skills to learn and use.

• Director:
• Cinematography
• Editing:
• Audio: Passion Pit's Take A Walk
• Actors
• Main: Ruben Haywood 
• Side/background actors: Either random people or, people that are accessible on the day

MAIN ACTOR

I have chose to opt with Ruben (right) again simply for similar reasons like last years. He represents the indie visual well, he is a top actor (looks great in frame), easily accessible and is a very recognisable figure in my target audience/local area.

This is Jack, I didn't opt with Jack over Ruben, because people said they feel Ruben sits well in the indie genre as, should he look it he would come across as indie well. Jack would be a good fit however as he is tall, tanned and would look very sharp in frame. However, I don't feel he fits the 'indie' style and wouldn't suit the genre of the song. Whereas Ruben looks like more of an indie character, the star image I require to back Andrew Goodwins theory.




Archetype in last years A2 music video
By Felix Lamb

 Here are some image examples of Ruben in other pieces, as you can see he really stands out on frame if you use the right mise-en-scene. Fortunetl;y for me he wore similiar to what I want him to wear in my piece in a music video last year. What this helps me with is previeing hm in his proposed costume, and better experience as he has already had experience of being an Archetype in another project.

Ruben's Profile Pic

As you can see buy looking at images of him, he stands out rather well, the way he dresses 'indie/skate' works well on him and will help me promote the Goodwin theory of a star image, as even though the back image will be key in my text. Being the only figure on screen will mean I need to promote him as a likeable star image.



Finding genre for a short film

This moodboard helps me gather a range of  historical contexts I could possibly base my short film on (true events), having in depth knowledge of all events, I can use these to help me plan a storyline.
Events shown are;

• JFK - Assasination
• The Vietnam War
• Nazi Rise To Power
• Churchill WWII
• Black Rights Movement
• The Hiroshima Bomb

Ideas for actor

As I wish to be creative I may use many different forms to portray Ruben. I will make replica copies of him in Lego and video game forms (plastacene as well!). This is because I wish to use stop motion and make the video look cool and follow new conventions whilst challenging and following theories of media.

I will post pictures soon to show how these things will look (most likely not the clay figure though!)

Lighting Workshop

(Please note when doing this task I was at the decision I was doing a short-film, thats no longer the case)

Low Key lighting

 The first lighting I looked at was low key, the mood setter. Often used in horrors/thrillers etc. They can be in any scene to denote a darker mood to the audience. It is particularily effective as it allows audience to see whats occuring whilst the frame is relatively poorly lit.
I am unlikely to use this lighting as my music video conventions would be broke, as it isnt a bright lighting.

Back Lighting

Back lighting is a strong technique, similar to low key, however the object is harder to make out, and connotes a scent of mystery to the audience, to which an enigma could be created instantly. Again a lighting technique I wont be using for reasons stated, plus the fact I'm no longer doing a short-film/

Front Fill light

The final lighting technique we experimented with was the front fill, a light from perhaps a desk top light or torch. It is typical in horrors or thrillers, but not so in music videos. Its a good lighting technique to use however doesnt create similar effects as to the like of low-key and back lighting.

What this workshop allowed me to do was experiment with lighting, however I feel now I'mm doing a music video this workshop will not help, as I will need brighter lighting and I will use natural lighting instead as it follows the conventions of my music video genre.

Lighting in Films and Music videos

In our most recent lesson we were made to find lighting we liked (For me High/Low key combo) and lighting we perhaps felt we would use in our pieces.

For me i'm undecided between a music video and stop motion short film. I am hopping to have decided by when I pitch both ideas to my classmates, simply as they will be one of my TA's (Target Audience).

High/Low key combo is particularly a bit of lighting I enjoy. It looks really strong as there is a clash of the two sets of lighting, where objects-characters get outlined, it can also be a gap between two different worlds. Something unique and interesting to me.

Schindler's list is an inspiration for a short film, I propose to do my film in black and white (historic genre emphasised) and let the audience know I've gone for a historic narrative and that its a twist as you don't get black and white short films now a days. This sequence from Schindlers list is an example of discussion lighting were this is a soft tone throughout the scene, where a hot backlight overshadows the in frame character.

PRATICAL RESEARCH | CIII

In this section, I will be posting pratical updates to show my research so far. These will include, audio and lighting playarounds or simply just prelim shots to set the tone, give an insight to clear up my idea for better understanding, and help me practise the framing.

Short film inspiration

Here is a short film of anA2 student whom did a short film years ago. He also opted to do a Lego film and he pulled it off well, I decided to go visit his blog in which he linked through his final project. Having watched the film through multiple times i have become more inspired to do a Lego short film, of which ideas I don't know. 
Most likely I am to do something based on true events with maybe a twist (convention of a short film), and as I am studying history I feel something historic as it ties in well with both courses.

This inspires me more for my idea of the Lego short film and watching all the shots and how he deos the filming. However it can come across rather dull and makes me see that finding a serious target audience may be hard, as people don't take these videos seriously. And I have decided not to opt with a Lego short film any more.

Had I opted for a short film, from inspiration, these were the Ideas I had:

• World war(1 or 2)
• Vietnam War
• Cold War
• The JFK assassination
• Black rights movement 
• Different genre but zombie(horror short film) inspired by US history and a video game

What I will do is pitch this to fellow class members, research a TA, and find the most popular idea.