Cast, Costumes and Location

My group and I have decided to have one main character. The team and I decided to have me as the main character, reason being is that we wanted someone who would be dedicated and willing to put in 110%. I thought I would be the right person for this because at the end this course it would be my group and I being graded and we did not really want anyone destroying our chances in getting a good grade. Another reason I was chosen to be the main character is no one really wanted to step up to the plate, and we needed the character to be a young man and I fitted the criteria and the character we imagined.

A lot had to be changed for me to actually get the right look my group and I wanted, the way I dressed had to be altered in to more of a 'Thuggish' look from looking sophisticated and smart. It was not really hard to get the Urban 'Thuggish' look, a 'puffa' jacket, jeans and trainers worked well. The reason we went for the Urban 'Thuggish' look is it allows us to give an interpretation of the song and its album title 'Urban Hymns', the look goes well with the society we are trying to portray through out the song.

The Location we decided to choose in the end was Camden, reason being is that it fits in well with the whole concept of Urban. The area is well known for its 'strange' and extraordinary look and we believed this was the right place to shoot. It allowed us to look at society in a different way, we felt that people were able to feel free and not be judged on their appearance or on the way they acted, this allowed us to feel comfortable when we were filming whiles people stood around and admired.

Filming

Day 1

My group and I started off shooting in a classroom. We decided to use our school as the location because we believed it would go well with the mis en scene we were trying to capture, we tried to go for the whole education mis en scene. We did not plan this for this for this day at all so you could imagine how unorganised it was, we did not have the cast planned and the story board was not done. After watching what we just shot we decided to scrap the whole idea and start again once we were properly organised.

Day2 Camden scene 

Myself and Lynette went to shoot the urban scenes in Camden on the high street. We did take a couple of shots even without a tripod, that was one of the things I hope we could change because we now have scenes that really shake and we may have to go back and re shoot. One thing we could of improved on this day was actually sorting out equipment, not having a tripod this slow us down a bit and made the whole filming experience a negative. One thing I also believed we could of changed is actually having the group together, I believe it would of made things easier, however the reason for the group not being together was reasonable so we can not really stick the blame on an individual.   

Day3 House scene 

We decided to have a drug scene at my house, which we believed would go well with the whole urban theme. We managed to use our creative side and produce makeshift drugs, this was a bit of salt, coconut bar, cling film and we used a couple paracetamol tablets. It allowed the group and I to make the drugs look real we really fooled a lot of people, it gives the audience some scene of verisimilitude.

Day4 Chapel scene 

This was wicked idea by Lynette. We were able to shoot in the schools chapel which was really good because the way the chapel was set out made it look like a church. Deon managed to move things around if it did not suit our imagination.  

Day 5 

We decided to shoot a scene where the main character is selling drugs in school to his classmates. This scene was done during lunch break so that it looks more realistic and some sense of verisimilitude was captured. We chose to film this in the sixth form block as it shows the main character is balancing school and illegal behaviour. We did not really have many problems, the conditions were alright because we were indoors and the people who helped us out were professional enough to act normal and not be silly. I actually did this whole scene as a POV, I have to admit I did not believe it would have looked as good as it did.

Day 6 Drama Room 

Lynette always had the idea that we should do the Lip syncing parts in the drama room where we would be able to have the room dark and turn on the middle light which would only shine on the main character. I think this day has been the best day of filming so far, having to learn the words and put our acting skills into play.

Filming Schedule

Storyboard - Final Copy

Our storyboard did take its time to come together because ideas kept on coming, that shows how much we wanted to put in to the project. I believe this is one of the improvements from last year when doing our foundation project; this year's project looks up to scratch even on paper. Lynette Carty was able to use her artistic skills to capture the vision in Myself and Deon's head.

Digipak/CD Covers Research

A CD cover/Digipak is the CD packaging, these digipaks usually have 4 to 8 panels and these are printed pictures on card. Fans look at the artist's CD cover before they decide whether the CD is worth the money. The appearance really counts in this case, the cover could really say a lot about the music that is on the actually CD. 

A good example of a Album cover that compliments the songs and the actually album name is Eminem's Curtain Call. 

 

This album concentrates on the music and his dedication for music, the panels make the audience have thoughts on how hard a artist works to write music they like. The name of the album 'Curtain Call' makes you believe there is a performance, the roses on the floor suggest that the artist has preformed really well.  

Album Cover Annotated

Equipment needed

Camera 

The school gave Myself and the group a camera to use to capture our video, the camera was what you would call old fashioned and not new in technology. At first this was a negative thing to the group and I but I managed to turn things around and ask my father for a favour. My father allowed us to use his camera throughout and it was very helpful as it was a new Samsung HD camera.

Tripod

We need a tripod for still, smooth shots, this is essential in many music videos as too much disruption may lead to poor quality filming. If a tripod is not given to us we have to use objects that would allow little or no movement.

Computer & Softwares

It is essential we use the Imac when it comes to editing as it has Imovies which allows us to edit our music video. The Imac is also a reliable computer as it has everything we need on it like Photoshop, this would be handy when we start on our ancillary text.