It looks like we have finally finished!
We wrote and recorded our evaluation last week, finished editing our album cover designs and finally edited our recorded evaluation on to stills and clips from our entire project. After printing the pictures out and burning the evaluation and project onto disks, we can officially say.... FINITO!!
And so from the T, the D and the C... Torin, Daniel and Chris are saying goodbye to A Level Media Studies.
TDC Productions Out!
Monday 10 May 2010
Friday 16 April 2010
Tuesday 30 March 2010
Friday 19 March 2010
Similar Bands
The Arcade Fire - Wake Up.
The Arcade Fire - My Body Is A Cage.
Frightened Rabbit - Swin Until You Can't See Land
Dancing Inmates - They Don't Really Care About Us.
While not directly related to our video, it's freaking AWESOME!!
Tuesday 23 February 2010
Final Shooting Day!
Monday 22nd February 2010.
Location:
- Emma's apartment in Botanic Avenue.
- Prince Edward Street in Stranmillis.
Props Brought:
- Guitar
- 1 large mirror and 2 small mirrors.
- Hooded Figure costumes.
- Camera
- Tripod.
What we used:
- Guitar
- Shoulderbag
- 4 mirrors
- Camera
- Tripod
- Lipstick
- Candles
Problems:
- We had to find an actor to play the black hooded figure that day.
Solution - Emma's sister Amy volunteered and did really well.
- The candles we used on the first day were mostly burned out, making continuity hard.
Solution - We salvaged what working candles we could and made up for what was burned out with tactical camera angles.
- We wanted to get a POV shot from the make-up's perspective with the candle in front of it but couldn't get the camera that low.
Solution - Torin held the candle up while Emma filmed it!
- We had to brainstorm on what angles we were going to do for the defacing of the mirror so the message wasn't seen.
Solution - We placed see-through plastic paper in front of the camera and wrote on it to give the impression of a POV from the mirror's perspective.
- In a shot with Emma coming up the stairs, Torin's (AKA the white hooded guy's) dark trousers would have been seen.
Solution - We had him kneel down for the shot!
- We had a hard time thinking of a well-lit yet semi-empty street to use for the walking street shots.
Solution - We drove to Prince Edward Street in Stranmillis where Emma and Amy's mum lives.
- During the walking street shots, cars kept coming past.
Solution - We had to shoot quickly and time it right.
What we accomplished:
- The street 'walking' scenes with the girl and both the hooded figures.
- Conclusion where the girl sees sense and returns to apartment to her bf followed by white hooded figure.
- Scenes with hooded figures with boyfriend in apartment, including where he defaces the mirror.
- Ending where girl returns home followed by white hooded figure to see the message on the mirror.
- Where guy is on street followed by black hooded figure.
What we still need to do:
- Nothing, Finito!!
Monday 22 February 2010
Second Shooting Day
Saturday 20th February 2010.
Location:
Botanic Gardens
Props Brought:
- 2 small mirrors.
- Hooded Figure costumes.
- Camera
- Tripod.
Problems:
- We couldn't tell if the sunlight was too bright for the camera.
Solution - In the end it wasn't, it picked it up fine.
- Ground was wet, so we couldn't do 'picnic' style flashbacks and was hard to do ground shots.
Solution - We compensated for the 'picnic' shots with other playful shots and bared the wetness for the ground shots.
- Interested people stopped alot and enquired as to what we were doing.
Solution - We told them in a cheerful way with added hint of 'and we have to get a lot done'.
- A creepy Asian guy dandered around near us and stopped to punch a nearby tree continuously.
Solution - We tried not to look directly at him and carry on filming all the while watching our stuff out of the corner of our eyes.
What we accomplished:
- Completed positive flashbacks.
- Completed negative flashbacks.
- Completed individual hooded figure 'haunting' shots.
- Completed walking shots with the couple and contrasting 'alone' shots of the girl.
- Got some artistic mirror-themed shots.
What we still need to do:
- The street 'walking' scenes with the girl and the hooded figures.
- Conclusion where the girl sees sense and returns to apartment to her bf followed by white hooded figure.
- Scenes with hooded figures with boyfriend in apartment, including where he defaces the mirror.
- Ending where girl returns home followed by white hooded figure to see the message on the mirror.
- Where guy is on street followed by black hooded figure.
Friday 19 February 2010
First Shooting Day.
Tuesday 16th February 2010.
Chris and Torin met with the actress Emma Dawson at location at 6.30pm, and shot footage until 11.00pm.
Location:
- Her apartment in Botanic Avenue.
Props Brought:
- Guitar
- 1 large mirror and 2 small mirrors.
- Hooded Figure costumes.
- Camera
- Tripod.
What we used:
- Guitar
- 4 mirrors
- Camera
- Hundreds of candles
Problems:
- Low camera battery at start.
Solution - Had to film alot of it while on charge, or leave it to charge for spaces of time.
- Tripod was missing a piece so we couldn't attach the camera to it (AKA couldn't use it.)
Solution - We hand-held the camera.
- Lighting was sometimes too dark as we relied on the camera-lit effect.
Solution - We carried around an aimed lamp and positioned it out of the shot on the actors when needed.
What we accomplished:
- Completed opening argument scene.
- Set up the music video story.
- Got a true sense of the style of the video - self-image with frequent, dark uses of mirrors.
- Got many of the negative flashbacks of the girl.
- Acquired many of the boyfriend apartment shots for during the song.
- LEARNED FROM MISTAKES!
What we still need to do:
- Positive flashbacks of the girl and boyfriend.
- Establishment of the hooded figure characters.
- The park 'walking' scenes with the girl and the hooded figures.
- Separate 'haunting' shots of each hooded figure with her.
- Conclusion where the girl sees sense and returns to apartment to reconcile with bf.
- Scenes with hooded figures with boyfriend in apartment, including where he defaces the mirror.
- Ending where girl returns home followed by white hooded figure to see the message on the mirror.
- Where guy is on street followed by black hooded figure.
- POSSIBLY more apartment shots of the boyfriend.
Wednesday 3 February 2010
Script for opening.
*Guy is sitting on bed, mumbling words to 'Hide From The Cold' with the guitar.*
*The girl walks in, obviously frustrated, and starts putting on lots of lipstick/etc. The guy looks over.*
James: What're you putting on all that make-up for?
Niomi *snappily*: Cause I'm going out, okay?!
James: ... What's wrong with you?
Niomi: Nothing!
James: So... Where are you going?
Niomi *Looking over at him*: A walk, okay??
*She puts on more and more make-up, as the guy watches. He goes over to her beside the mirror.*
James: Look, why do you think you need all that stuff on your face? You're only going for a walk, and you're beautiful as you are.
Niomi: No I'm not.
James: You are!
Niomi *Turning to him*: Look, stop telling me I'm beautiful when it's obvious I'm not, okay?! Dont lie to me!
*She puts her make-up away and walks towards the door.*
James: Jesus, why are you so negative ALL the time?! Just be happy for once!
*Turning back to him.*
Niomi: No, just stop breathing down my bloody neck. Why should I pretend I'm happy?! If I want to be negative, I'll be negative, alright?
James: It's ruining your life! You're hiding behind all that crap on your face when you'd be more beautiful without it. Just stop hiding! Stop being so negative and just be happy with your own life and what you have, or you'll end up losing it all... You have me, what more do you need?
*Goes over to hug her, but she ends up pushing him away.*
Niomi: Just leave me alone!
*She storms out of the fault, leaving him standing there, shocked. He goes over to the guitar, picks it up, and the song begins.*
Tuesday 2 February 2010
Friday 29 January 2010
Final Idea!
Our group has had many ideas throughout the past month, after deciding on the idea seen on the storyboard posted previously we have yet again changes our minds and went with a new idea. A rough guide to our music video is also posted below but a few ideas/shots have been changed. Our final sequence of shots are in the storyboard which will be posted shortly!
2. A look back at what happened after the boy looked in the mirror that final time with the black hooded figure behind him..... He smiles sadistically and the two became one.
In short our video will contain two main characters, a boy and a girl (couple) We will be presenting the girls problems, her fight against negativity. Her boyfriends role is to help her cope with these issues and give her a much needed positive outlook on life.
It also contains a black hooded figure who represents evil and a man dressed in white who represents good, our aim is to present these figures as strongly as possible, giving an eerie, sinister and at times even biblical. They are there to symbolise the couples battle with their problems/ joys. The black figure represents the girl's struggle with negativity and insecurity that damages the lives of countless people in the world, and the white figure represents the positive outlook that her boyfriend is initially desperate for her to obtain. Hopefully this is easier to see in the storyboard! And there is of course a twist at the end which helps move away from the traditional "Happily ever after" ending, which represents just how influential other people's positivity AND negativity can be on other people.
Our video will have to keep up with the fast paced, fluid tone of the song so we will be putting in some quick, almost flashing images that will also help push our story-line on and help show the edginess of the couples relationship.
Overview
opening = we aimed to have a quick scene of the couple before the music begins. but depending on time we may have to just start straight in and let the music begin immediately.
Opening shot is of the boy lying on his bed gazing upwards while the girl sits at the end of the bed looking across the room.
The girl then gets up and walks towards the mirror (mid-shot)
Camera goes back to boy, he is now sitting up and he reaches for his guitar.
shot of girl looking in the mirror applying make-up, the black figure then appears behind her briefly, she looks down, then up and its gone. She thinks she must be imaging things
Close up of boy playing his guitar and mumbling some of the lyrics.
Guy approaches the girl and she turns round to speak to him. "Why are you dressed like that?" She replies "I have to!" "Where are you going anyway?"
Girl then picks up her bag and leaves (Long-Shot)
Shot of the door slamming
TRACK BEGINS
This is just an idea for an intro, if the other shots take up the whole time of the song (which should happen as we have timed them accordingly) but if something goes wrong we will be able to incorporate the shots somewhere else in the video and we will do away with the idea of an intro!)
1.Side shot of girl leaving her house and walking away.
2.This shot continues, she walks out of camera view and the camera then focuses on an ally, where the black hooded figure can be seen standing still.
3.Another shot of boy playing his guitar
4.Back to the shot of the girl walking, this time in the background the white figure is seen sitting down with his arm out.
5.Shot of guy walking towards the mirror in the house, looking suspicious.
6."To the lyrics show your rage" - close up of the girl looking angry with the hooded character closely behind her
7.First flashback = unhappy image. Shot of the couple arguing and possibly being violent, an effect will be used to show it was in the past! Another possibility is showing the girl watching another couple doing this and looking sad, as appose to a cheesy flashback.
8.Back to the future.... shot of guy sitting in on the sofa looking dull, white figure sitting beside him.
9.Second Flashback = happy image, shot of the couple hugging.
10.Close up of the boy looking into the mirror
11.Shot of the girl sitting on a bench in the park, the black figure is seen behind her holding up a sign.
12.Back to the boy, shot of him breaking the mirror angrily.
13.Close-up of the girl, she is now looking happy, the camera goes to a long shot and the man in white is seen behind her with a sign, similar to the shot seen earlier.
14.Shot of guy looking into the mirror, the hooded figure is behind him, and looking at the hooded figure uncertainly.
15.Shot of girl walking home happily, obviously she has chosen to accept herself. Possible change in appearance
16.Ending = 1.The girl walks into the house and sees the broken mirror, reaction shot.
2. A look back at what happened after the boy looked in the mirror that final time with the black hooded figure behind him..... He smiles sadistically and the two became one.
3.Final shot of boy walking away from the house and her....................
4. Boy and girl meet in the street, she goes to hug him, he just doesn't react and walks straight past without acknowledging her!
Wednesday 27 January 2010
Sunday 24 January 2010
Hide From the Cold Overview 2.
Theme: Self-Image.
- Begins in the bedroom of a flat/small house with a young man and woman in it.
- The man is on the bed playing guitar and slowly mumbling the words to the chorus of 'Hide From The Cold'.
- He stops, and looks over at his girlfriend who is applying make-up in the mirror.
- As she looks at herself in the mirror applying her make-up, she looks clearly unhappy.
- Begins in the bedroom of a flat/small house with a young man and woman in it.
- The man is on the bed playing guitar and slowly mumbling the words to the chorus of 'Hide From The Cold'.
- He stops, and looks over at his girlfriend who is applying make-up in the mirror.
- As she looks at herself in the mirror applying her make-up, she looks clearly unhappy.
- The guy looks over.
- The girl looks in the mirror again,and a man in a black robe is behind her, but she doesn't notice.
- The boyfriend gets up and goes over to her, and some dialogue ensues, with him asking her why she thinks she needs to wear all that make-up. She meekly replies 'I need to. I'm going out.' When he asks why, she says she needs to look good in front of her friends.
- As he argues that she's hiding from herself and that who she's trying to be isn't her, she barely listens, but just continues to fix herself, concentrated, in the mirror.
- She finishes, then gets up, grabs her bag and leaves abruptly.
- Guy watches her go, then sinks onto the chair, his face in his hands in frustration. He mutters 'Just... Stop hiding.'
- He then sees the guitar, and picks it up. He takes a breath, then starts playing, but instead of the guitar being heard, the track begins.
- Shot to the woman leaving the house and walking down the steps as the intro plays.
- The camera follows her walking, she is obviously lost in thought.
- Back to the guy as the lyrics begin, singing and playing guitar.
- We see the girl walking again, only with two men, one on either side of her, walking behind her seriously, one in black, one in white (representing shoulder angel and devil.)
- In the house, the guy is then seen walking over to the mirror and looking into it.
- We see the girl walking with just the man in white behind her.
- Flashback of their happy times, the man and woman being together, messing around, laughing, not caring about anyone around them.
- Back to the guy looking in the mirror breifly.
- We then see the girl walking with just the man in black behind her.
- Flashback of unhappy times, her looking herself in the mirror without make-up, nearly in tears. The guy comes over to give her a hug and she walks away, not looking at him.
- In the flashback, the guy looks into the mirror in confusion. His face morphs into him looking into the mirror in present day, looking angrily in the mirror.
- Shots of girl walking with the man in black behind her holding up negative signs such as 'Only beauty is accepted', 'Dont show your ugly truth' etc. are intertwined with shots of general people in general situations looking in mirrors, obviously upset with what they see.
- Back to the guy, who either picks something up and throws it at the mirror, shattering it, all in slow motion OR him finding the girl's make-up and defacing the mirror, maybe writing messages such as 'Beauty is on the inside', etc.
- After this, the girl is seen walking with the man in white behind her holding up upliting messages such as 'Everyone is beautiful' and 'Everybody's pefect, God makes no mistakes', etc. This is intertwined with shots of people being happy, with beautiful settings such as fields, forests etc behind them and being generally happy in life.
- The girl then comes to a crossroads or door, with the man in black standing on one side holding a sign saying 'Acceptance' and the man in white standing on the other side with a sign saying 'Happiness.' She is obviously struggling with what to do.
- The guy is back home, texting her, the message reading 'What will make you happy... Acceptance, or me?'
- The girl gets the text, and reads it. She ponders, and then texts back.
- The guy recieves a message, then looks at it. It reads 'Acceptance.' Shot of the guy looking up, heartbroken.
- Ends with the girl walking the path of the man in black.
- The boyfriend gets up and goes over to her, and some dialogue ensues, with him asking her why she thinks she needs to wear all that make-up. She meekly replies 'I need to. I'm going out.' When he asks why, she says she needs to look good in front of her friends.
- As he argues that she's hiding from herself and that who she's trying to be isn't her, she barely listens, but just continues to fix herself, concentrated, in the mirror.
- She finishes, then gets up, grabs her bag and leaves abruptly.
- Guy watches her go, then sinks onto the chair, his face in his hands in frustration. He mutters 'Just... Stop hiding.'
- He then sees the guitar, and picks it up. He takes a breath, then starts playing, but instead of the guitar being heard, the track begins.
- Shot to the woman leaving the house and walking down the steps as the intro plays.
- The camera follows her walking, she is obviously lost in thought.
- Back to the guy as the lyrics begin, singing and playing guitar.
- We see the girl walking again, only with two men, one on either side of her, walking behind her seriously, one in black, one in white (representing shoulder angel and devil.)
- In the house, the guy is then seen walking over to the mirror and looking into it.
- We see the girl walking with just the man in white behind her.
- Flashback of their happy times, the man and woman being together, messing around, laughing, not caring about anyone around them.
- Back to the guy looking in the mirror breifly.
- We then see the girl walking with just the man in black behind her.
- Flashback of unhappy times, her looking herself in the mirror without make-up, nearly in tears. The guy comes over to give her a hug and she walks away, not looking at him.
- In the flashback, the guy looks into the mirror in confusion. His face morphs into him looking into the mirror in present day, looking angrily in the mirror.
- Shots of girl walking with the man in black behind her holding up negative signs such as 'Only beauty is accepted', 'Dont show your ugly truth' etc. are intertwined with shots of general people in general situations looking in mirrors, obviously upset with what they see.
- Back to the guy, who either picks something up and throws it at the mirror, shattering it, all in slow motion OR him finding the girl's make-up and defacing the mirror, maybe writing messages such as 'Beauty is on the inside', etc.
- After this, the girl is seen walking with the man in white behind her holding up upliting messages such as 'Everyone is beautiful' and 'Everybody's pefect, God makes no mistakes', etc. This is intertwined with shots of people being happy, with beautiful settings such as fields, forests etc behind them and being generally happy in life.
- The girl then comes to a crossroads or door, with the man in black standing on one side holding a sign saying 'Acceptance' and the man in white standing on the other side with a sign saying 'Happiness.' She is obviously struggling with what to do.
- The guy is back home, texting her, the message reading 'What will make you happy... Acceptance, or me?'
- The girl gets the text, and reads it. She ponders, and then texts back.
- The guy recieves a message, then looks at it. It reads 'Acceptance.' Shot of the guy looking up, heartbroken.
- Ends with the girl walking the path of the man in black.
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