Columbia Records Email

In order to ensure that I would not be breaching copyright rules, I contacted the band to let them know that I would be using their song, but only for coursework, and asked if this would be okay.

At first I attempted to contact Columbia Records, who produce CAKE's music, but I struggled to find an email address. When looking at CAKE's website, I found that they have an advice page where people email them with dilemmas and CAKE try and help them out. I used this email address because the page states, "All questions cannot be answered, but all mail will be read," so I knew that even if I did not receive a response, at least the email would be read.

Here is a print screen of the email I sent. I tried to make it clear that I would only use their song for school work, so that they would be aware that I'm not going to make a profit from it. I am still awaiting a reply, which I will post on here if received.

Video Shoot: Behind the Scenes

Last night I did my first shoot for the video, using three out of my four models (as one of them could not make it, but I will use her in the re-shoot I am planning to do after the Christmas holidays). As well as having a camera for myself to film the footage for the music video, I gave my models a camera to take some 'behind the scenes' photos of the work I was doing. Here are some of those photos...

 As well as having my three models - Daniella, Becca, and Verity - I also had my assistant Megan on hand. One of the things she did to help me was playing and pausing the song at the appropriate timings, and scrolling the lyrics on the projector screen behind us, so that when the models needed to mouth the lyrics of the song, they had the screen to refer to.

These two photos show me discussing with Becca the camera position and angles, as I wanted to ensure that the image I recorded was only of her lips, but she also needed to be in focus. This made it difficult as I had to make sure that Becca did not move backwards or forwards too much when mouthing the words.



As I mentioned earlier, I used the projector screen behind us to display the lyrics for the models to read, but in between takes Megan put up my shot list so that I could make sure I was following my plan. We crossed off each shot after we had done it, meaning when I do my re-shoot I will know exactly which shots need to be done.

Personnel Details

Costumes

Most of my costume ideas were outlined in my mood board, where a lot of the pictures were of clothes, jewellery and make-up. The sort of costumes that I want for my models are short skirts, high heels, lots of make-up, etc. - essentially just the kind of clothes worn when going out at night. Here are some examples of the style I am looking for...

Props

These are the props that I am aiming to use in my music video, based on my shot list. Some of the props are a bit unusual as I'm not using them because they're stylish or pretty, but because they are visually representing the lyrics. So, for example in any other music video, I would not feel the need for a biro or a drawing pin, but I need them for the lines "we'll start to talk when she borrows my pen" and "sharp as a tack" in this song.

I am going to use bank notes at 02:19, when the lyrics are "I want a girl with good dividends". I thought hard about how I could visually represent dividends, and in the end I decided that I could just use the idea of money by having the model fan out a wad of bank notes. I can get these easily by just asking all the models to bring some money, and because obviously I don't have to spend it, they can have it all back after the shot has been done. 

I plan to use a biro at 02:23 where the model writes the words, "we''ll start to talk when she borrows my pen", which are the lyrics. I will speed this up in Adobe After Effects so that it covers just the length of the lyrics.

Using shots of instruments, particularly guitars, are often common in indie music videos. Because the bassline of the song I am using is quite loud and important to the song, have chosen to use a bass guitar. The bass guitar will feature a few times in my video - I plan to use shots of the bassline being played during the intro, the instrumental and the outro.

During the line "eyes that burn like cigarettes", I have storyboarded a shot of lips blowing out smoke. Obviously this shot will have to be filmed outside, whilst the rest of mine will be shot indoors. Also the model I aim using for this shot is eighteen.

I will use a sped-up shot of a clock twice in my music video, once for the line "I want a girl who gets up early", where I will reverse the footage so that the clock hands are moving backwards, and once for the line "I want a girl who stays up late", where the hands will be moving forwards, though still sped-up.

I aim to use a takeaway paper coffee cup (not necessarily from Costa) for the line "she wants a car with a cupholder armrest", where I will film a model's lips in extreme close-up taking a sip from the cup.

I will use a small diamond-type gem for the line "I want a girl with a mind like a diamond", where I will have a model toying with it in her fingers, filmed in extreme close-up. Hopefully the light bouncing off the different sides of the diamond, especially when filmed so closely, will make for quite an interesting shot.

In the lyrics, the simile "sharp as a tack" is repeated, so I wanted to accompany this line with a simple gold drawing pin, having the model lightly prick her finger against it to draw attention to the sharpness of it, hence representing the simile.

For the line "who uses a machete to cut through red tape", I want to have a shot of the model snipping through red tape with some scissors. The scissors are easily obtained, and I managed to find some red tape in the sound department at school, which is used for taping wires at school productions. I will use two chairs on either side of the photoshoot backdrop to secure the tape to, and then have my model cut it in close-up.

Floor Plan

Risk Assessment

Call Sheet - Video Shoot 1/12/11

Actor Release Forms

Location Contract

Shot List

This is my shot list for my music video, which briefly outlines all the shots I am planning to use along with their timings. Whilst I have tried to be as detailed as possible, there are some timings where I am not looking to film something that specific, for example in the instrumental of the song I would just like a variety of shots of the models dancing, or singing, or the bassline being played, and so at that point in the shot list there is less of a clear-cut plan. I will show this to all of my models before shooting to ensure that they know exactly what they are required to do, and then use it when filming so that I stick to my original plan and do not miss any shots that I require.

Mood Board

This mood board represents the overall tone, look and style of my music video. For example, the colours are mainly red, black, white and grey, with a lot of dark eye make-up and red lipstick, which is the kind of make-up I want my models to wear. I tried to include images of the sort of costumes I would want them to wear too, although this is harder as we are somewhat restricted to what people own, so I found photos of short skirts, high heels, ripped jeans, etc., as these reflect the sort of 'look' I want the models to have.

Test Sequences

Proposal

My music video idea is for the song ‘Short Skirt/Long Jacket’ by the band Cake. I chose this song because I thought the lyrics would be interesting to present visually, as when I listen to the song I get clear mental images of what is being sung about. Because the lyrics are about a girl and the models I will be using are all female, my video will be aimed at men, probably aged 16-30.

Rather than have a single model in my film, I would like to use a large group of girls to represent different aspects of the girl being described by the lyrics in the song. All the models will be filmed in extreme close-up – like the video for ‘Animal Arithmetic’ by Jonsi – using studio lighting and either a Canon XM2 HD Camera, a Canon 55OD Camera or a Sony HVRA1E Camera. These all allow for high quality footage, meaning my video will look professional. Like videos such as ‘Get Over It’ by OK Go, I will visually represent the lyrics using these models and also some props, for example, when the lyrics say "eyes that burn like cigarettes", the video would show one of the model's eyes, followed by another's lips blowing out cigarette smoke, or something similar.

The costumes for my video will be based on the descriptions from the song, so one of the models will be wearing “a short skirt and a long jacket”, they will have lots of make-up and painted nails, so as to look very glamorous. My video might use a band, also filmed in extreme close-up, so that when the song begins with the bass line, I could show it being played on the bass. Due to the fact that I will be shooting entirely in extreme close-up, location is not a particularly important part of my video, as you will not be able to see the surroundings very clearly or at all. I will shoot inside one of the media rooms against a white backdrop, much like the way in which I carried out the photoshoot for last year’s coursework.

After having filmed my video, I will edit it together using Adobe Premiere and After Effects. I aim to use many cuts in the editing process, timing them with the music so that the two fit together well and my video looks professional. There are a few problems that I might encounter when it comes to making my music video, though as I do not require outside locations, there are less potential issues. One problem that may occur is not being able to find a suitable filming day, because I aim to use so many models, who may not all be available at the same time. Although I could shoot the models individually, I liked the idea of shooting as many as possible at once, as I found last year that they felt more comfortable and were more willing to pose if they were not alone. This means that my video will not have an awkward atmosphere, as the models should look more natural. To try and ensure that I can get them all at the same time I will ask them to sign an agreement form that says that they are willing to work at certain times. I will also need to be sure that I know how to work all the equipment properly, so that I use it to its full potential.

Song Lyric Analysis: Short Skirt/Long Jacket - Cake

Before creating my shot list or storyboard, I wanted to analyse the lyrics of the song I am using. This is especially important for my idea because I want to visually represent some of the lyrics through the models and props, e.g. having the model snip through some red tape when the lyrics are "who uses a machete to cut through red tape". I decided the easiest way for me to do this was to print out the lyrics and annotate them like I would a poem.

Equipment Checklist



Autocue
This could be useful when making my video because I could have the lyrics playing on the autocue to remind the performer of them, so that I may have to do less takes as hopefully less mistakes will be made.



Canon 55OD Camera
This camera would be particularly good when filiming my music video because it allows me to shoot in shallow focus, something which may work well as I will be using a lot of extreme close-ups.




Canon XM2 HD Camera
I could use this camera when filming my music video because it shoots in High Definition, meaning my footage will be of a much better quality, which is very important to me. Additionally it works very well in low-light settings, so if I wanted to film outside without studio lights my footage would still be of a decent quality. Lastly, it also allows me to use external microphones, so I could use a boom mic and get a better sound quality as well.




Crane
This is a crane, which allows you to get a smooth, free camera movement and obtain shots that you wouldn't be able to otherwise. I don't think that I will use this in my music video as it is better suited for longer shots and landscape filming rather than close-ups, which is what I am interested in.



Fill Light
This light is useful because it enables me to get high-key lighting. Unlike a spotlight, which only highlights certain areas, a fill light just brightens the entire area I am filming, meaning it gets rid of any harsh shadows. I might consider using this when filming shots of the band.



Sony HVRA1E Camera
These cameras are high-definition, allowing me to get a better quality footage (like the Canon XM2 HD camera). However, unlike the Canon, it is very portable, meaning I could use it if I wanted to film in a location that is further way, such as in London. Additionally, I am able to film in wide screen rather than just the standard size screen, making my work look more professional.




Spotlight
I will consider using these in my music video as they mean I can highlight certain areas, which will be particularly effective when filming in extreme close-up.




Tripod/Dolly
This tripod means that I can get steady, smooth shots rather than using handheld all the time.




Visual Switcher
This means that I can mix different visuals, plugging in different cameras so that I can live cut between them. This may be useful when filming my music video as I am planning on having many fast-paced cuts.

 This is just some of the equipment available for use in the production my music video.

Resource Audit

Resource Audit on Prezi

Brief

Create a promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with:

- a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);

- a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).

I chose to complete this brief because I think that although it will be challenging to create a realistic music video, it is something that I am far more interested in than the other options. Additionally, the majority of past students in my school have made music videos, so there are many examples I can look to to help me.