POV shots

Im really interested in filming a pov film myself but I just dont have a clue how to strap a big heavy DSLR camera  to my head or neck. These were the questions that I have asked myself :  a belt and the neck strap was needed? What else can be used support the camera? I did not have any clue how to do it. I have went on to web to search in order to get an answer and the link below outlines what could be done in order to complete the task.

http://vimeo.com/videoschool/lesson/107/pov-point-of-view

Initial Ideas for the Story Board

I am in the process of deciding how and where to film my music video. With the amount of research that had been carried out, it is important to pick out one or two ideas and not to over complicate the storyline of the video. At the moment, I find it pretty difficult to actually form any sort of a plot or a storyboard together, but these are my ideas so far:

The plot is being set at school which outlines the routine of the system that being followed, is very repetitive- Wake up, go to school and finish off the homework during the evening- nothing changes throughout the school year!

I would like to include different aspects in the music video, which would also include the sunrise. A whole idea based around the sunrise is to show to the audience that the time is the most precious thing and  life should not be wasted on the things that do not matter. As the result, I would use the sunrise at the start of the music video as an establishing shot, in order to set the mood. A ticking clock would be shown at the bottom- right hand corner with the alarm sound as it is time to get up and get ready for school.  

The music video would be broken down into three parts: failure and introduction, turning point and freedom or success. This initial plot is being used at most of the films that have a 'happy' ending. 

Another idea is to shoot the whole music video from the point of view. Firstly, because this is a rare occasion and I would like to try something different instead of lip singing as the other students would do. The whole purpose I believe behind shooting a music video from the point of view is to create a sense of 'inter-active' audience, which could help the product to  be seen as more interesting and unique. 

Another idea is include different locations as well as countries. In England, I am planning to shoot the first part of the music video and in New York the second part. 

 To conclude, I do not have a clue how to shoot video from the point of view, but it is part of pre-production process to prevent any possibilities of failure. As the result, as I want all of these ideas to work, a well structured storyboard and shooting schedule would be required. Maybe, all of the ideas will not work, but it is worth having a go and trying my best. 

Notes on Representation

How many of you watch music videos? Have you ever actually examined the stories contemporary music videos tell about women and girls, and by extension boys and men, provide a look at how these narratives both reflect and shape individuals and cultural attitudes toward feminity, masculinity, sexuality and race. There is an interplay between the large culture and music videos, it is highly recommended for collections that focus on pop-culture; for its investigation on the objectification of people, it is essential for women’s or gender studies; and for anyone at all invested in the debate regarding the media’s influence on the culture. In music videos it’s depicted as a male fantasy world and how these images form a negative impact on -functioned as important currency through which the stories of music videos are told. The closest form and content in advertising which has used depictions of female sexuality to draw attention to the viewers in a crowded or noisy environment nowhere in popular culture is the story focused and told in such relentless fashion then in music video. Whether it is rock music, or country music, or pop, or hip-hop, the presence of female bodies have become one of the easy solutions found by creators of music videos to the problem of how to both get attention and tell a compelling story that connects the music to visually arresting images. In videos the camera will zoom in on certain female body parts, by looking into the camera, they invite the viewer to gaze at them. They are shown enjoying being on display and wanting to be possessed by the gaze of men. This convey the message that the women is just a set body part for male gaze which detracts from thinking about women as real people, with thoughts, hopes, dreams. Do these images affect how men think about women? Our understanding of reality is shaped by the sum of images we receive in society. These images don’t directly cause violence against women, but they do shape our attitudes about what men and women are like and what men and normal behavior. The challenge of female artists is to try and stay true to their own vision of themselves but the pressure to conform is relentless and the conventional techniques that are adopted are easy to identify no matter the genre. Female performers must take on the fantasy roles that the pornographic imagination dictates.” These images and stories have worked their way into the inner identities of young women who view their own sexuality through the eyes of the male authors of that culture.”

 

 

 

This is something I might consider doing on my video by having male dominance as it vastly links to the plot. However, it would only be shown at one of scenes instead of through out the video. Even though it is a typical strategy however it could be seen as a unique selling point that would attract vastly a male audience. 

 

 

 

More Locations

These are the locations that I was planning to use in the second part of the music video, however, I have decided to shoot the video in New York rather than in Moscow, because one piece of equipment has not arrived yet. 

Previous Music Video's of Erick Morillo

These are the other tracks that Erick Morillo that had produced. I came to the conclusion that the visual content is very similar amongst the tracks, however, is still able to achieve the demand of the target audience. What I have picked upon, is the use of bright colors which sets the positive mood- this is something to consider whilst filming my music video. Below are some comments that I might consider using for my own project.

'If this aint's love'

• even though there is not much in the plot of the song, due to vast range of shots used, it made the video interesting
• special effects- hard but achievable 
• interesting costumes being included 

'Miami WMC 2012'

'Stronger'

• parallel shooting, two or three events could be included at the same time
• parallel editing could also be seen by outlining one event from different people point of view eg. different angles 
• underwater filming
• locations and weather certainly set positive mood to the video 

'Elephant'

Locations

I have taken some pictures of the potential locations that I might use. First part of the music video would be filmed in school so I had an opportunity to go around to take pictures where as the second part of the music video is being shot in New York.

The storyline behind the video is pretty simple. I wake up and get ready for school, so I have used my bedroom and the school showers to film my first two scenes. There are many showers around the school, where I could have filmed my second scene, however, this one has the best lighting. I did not have a problem with filming, however, I was vastly dependent on the weather as the first scene in the bedroom, did not come bright enough on the computer screen. The next pictures, represent the turning point in the video. Third image is the location where I would get expelled, and Mr. Robinson would be acting as the Headmaster. My girlfriend, finds out about these bad news, and leave our flat forever and was unwilling to speak to me every again. 

I might consider other locations, but these are the most likely ones that I would use- so I would keep you updated. 

Mood board

Mood board had been a very important aspect of the my pre- production process as it certainly helped to outline and visualize the structure of the music video. A mood board is a type of poster design that may consist of images, text, and samples of objects in a composition of the choice of the mood board creator.  Designers and others use mood boards to develop their design concepts and to communicate to other members of the design team. There had been a wide range of aspects included in the mood board, ranging from the potential scenes and locations used to the actors that would suit with not only the genre  but also the lyrics of the song. I have created two mood boards, one includes more visual ( images and photos) content of the music video, in a comparison with the other. Both mood boards helped to lay out the times when the music video should be shot in order to meet the deadline. The top one, vastly analyses the lyrics of the song in detail to seek which locations should and would be used. My key goal to achieve was to link the lyrics with the visuals of the song. I came to the conclusion that two or three different locations should be used,  which would make the product more interesting and meet the demand of the target audience. Furthermore, the top mood board, shows the actors that would be invlolved. I had to be realistic as the time is limited, especially I would only go back to Moscow during the Christmas holidays and then to New York during the next half term. However, the second (bottom) mood board, as mentioned outlines the props and inspirational images either from the internet or other music videos. As mentioned earlier, the purpose was to link the images to the lyrics in order to gain further understanding of the visuals. To conclude, the mood board gave me a clear understanding of what I am willing to produce with limited time and finance. 

Treatment Sheet

Instead of typing everything on the computer, I prefer writing all of the ideas on the piece of paper.

Background Information on Erick Morillo- Wikipedia/ Official Website

Primary Sources of Information: 

http://www.wikipedia.org/

http://erickmorillo.com/

Birth name	Erick Michael Morillo
Born	1971 (age 41–42) New York City, New York, United States
Genres	Dance, House Electronic
Occupation	Disk Jockey, Producer
Instrument	Turntable, Sample
Years active	1982–present
Labels	Strictly Rhythm, Subliminal Records
Website	www.erickmorillo.com

Erick Morillo is a Columbian- American DJ, music producer and record label owner. Having produced under a number of pseudonyms, including Ministers De la Funk, The Dronez, RAW, Smooth Touch, RBM, Deep Soul, Club Ultimate and Li'l Mo Ying Yang, Morillo is best known for his international work in house music, in particular for the label Strictly Rhythm, and the 1993 hit " I Like to Move it", which he produced under the pseudonym Reel 2, and which was featured in commercials, movies and ringtones. His label Subliminal Records has produced the #1 Billboard  Hot Dance Music/ Club Play hit "Fun" by Da Mob, and won the Muzik Magazine Remixer of the Year award in 1999. Subliminal also brought attention to artists like Eddie Thoneick, Carl Kennedy and DJ DLG.

Awards

On October 12, 2012, Morillo's former home town of Union City, New Jersey honored him in a ceremony in which the portion of Bergenline Avenue between 14th and 15th Street, where Morillo lived as a youth, was dedicated "Erick Morillo Way". Union City Mayor Stack praised Morillo, who donated 100 Nook tablets to a local school, by commenting, "It's important to recognize those in the community who contribute to our hometown," Union City Mayor Brian Stack said. "We can all be proud to call Erick a part of our community.

From Reel 2 Real to Subliminal

Despite being believed to have made over $2 million from Reel 2 Real, Morillo feared that his financial success may have hurt both his creative drive and his street credibility. Wanting to create respectable house music, he produced "Jazz It Up", launching it under the label of the Erick Morillo Project, in order to ensure street credibility. The song did well, and boosted his confidence. He and Louie Vega collaborated as Lil' Mo' Ying Yang and released the 1995 single "Reach". Morillo intended a third album for Reel to Real, but his relationship with the Mad Stuntman soured, which derailed the project. Searching for a way to reinvent himself, Morillo attended The Forum, a self- help seminar in New York City, where he gained insight into finding happiness through things other than wealth and his frantic work schedule. The seminar also enabled him to escape his creative rut by helping him analyze his past and set future goals, one of which was to become a successful global DJ. He abandoned the Reel 2 Real alias in 1996, and concentrated on DJing, becoming a favourite in Ibiza , Europe and Australia.

''I party with the promoters I play for. A lot of DJs don't like to do that; they play the party, go back to the hotel and then get ready to go home. Not me. I don't deny it! For me a DJ is someone who brings a vibe. If you don't party, then how do you bring that vibe?"

Positive and Negative Impacts of Web 2.0 on Media

Our class, consisting of six students, had been broken down into two groups in order to create a small project, which was to analyse positive and negative impacts of Web 2.0 on media. Our class had a choice to create either a sitcom or a news report, in order for the audience to more knowledge about this particular topic. I was put into a group with Xenia, and we came to the conclusion that we are going to create a news report, rather than a debate or sitcom. Our brief was to produce a news report using a wide range of shots and locations, in order for the video to be seen more interesting for the target audience. The reason for choosing a news report, is vastly our group is limited in terms of numbers, Xenia and I would find it difficult to create a debate, as we need atleast one more person, including a cameraman and the person that would introduce a debate. 

Before actually shooting the task, we looked more closely what a news report is and what does it consists of. We have used internet to find out more information, and the results were as follows. 

News Report is a short account of the news;

News Reporting is defined as filming or photography and transmission ( with or without audio recording) as ''active'' or ''breaking'' news, by a qualified news reporting service. 

The target audience for the project would be students that do not only study Media Studies A Level but also who is interested in the technological developments and how Media had been affected by Web 2.0. We have agreed, in order to meet the target audience expectations, we need to match with not only the locations used but also the language. Tone and language is very important in order to keep the audience interested, but the key goal had been to create an idea of 'active audience, by stating facts on the impacts of certain industries, including movie, music and newspaper. It is difficult to suggest, the reason why our project would attract demand, but we have tried using different types of technological developments, including iPad and computer and comparing with the 'traditional' industries including- paper copies of newspapers and magazines, potentially this would help the audience enjoy the project more, that Xenia and I created. 

Our initial idea, as mentioned previously, is to create a news report outlining positive and negative impacts of Web 2.0 on media, by linking to real life events, especially the current news in USA. Moreover, even though the time for the video is very limited, we wanted to cover all areas of media- movie, music, printing press and especially the internet. It is unlikely that our small project would be shown on television, especially due to lack of popularity and sources of finance, but the video could be seen online, as it would be published through Youtube, later on the term. The internet had helped and provided an opportunity for the individuals to promote themselves and their products, without having to spend any money on different marketing strategies. 

The technical process, had been very simple as we only required one camera and a tripod. Instead of using one the school cameras, we have used Xenia's one instead, as the quality of the video is much higher. As in the group, it was only two of use, however, we did not require any further assistance, for example,filming when both of us are in the shot, as the tripod had stabilised the positioning of the camera. All of the shots in the news reports video, were tripod shots, as we have decided not to experiment with having hand held, as the image would be shaky and potentially could lead to decrease of the quality. 

During the process of actually filming the project, there are many aspects that could be taken into consideration in the future. Most of them sound very simple, but if the structured plan is not followed, that the whole project would be more time consuming. The simple rue, would always to make sure that all of the equipment is charged and prepared the day before, without having to rush in the last minute. We had a problem with the tripod, the solution was to go to the Media department. however, it could not be accessed until the next day, this is something that can not be repeated during the production process for the music video. In this case, one camera was enough, however, 3 cameras would be more efficient if trying to catch one event at the same time, from different angles. 

The post production process had been very complicating and time consuming, as we have faced many difficulties. Right from the start, we simply could not upload our footage due to technical problems, however, after sometime, we were finally able to achieve our goal. Our group had used of the school Macbooks. in order to edit the footage, as Final Cut Pro is very simple to use and does not require much experience in order to use the programme. Without any problems, titles had been added and there were no problems with the sound either. After three hours worth of battles with the computer, we were finally able to convert editing footage into a Quick Time Player Format. 

Finally, the practice video had been done and polished. As mentioned, it is important to gain further feedback to improve on the mistakes. The key advice from the teacher was not to make the music 'synchronous'- part of the action, as sometimes the words could not be heard. As a whole, the project certainly helped me for the future benefits, as it not only outlined the weaknesses but also the strengths ( even though there were not many) of my work as a director and an actor.

PITCH