FILMING: On Location (Day Two)

Day Two

Time: 03.00 pm - 06.00 pm

Here are still images from my second day of filming. I did not use flash in any of these so that I could demonstrate the lighting more clearly (and the shadow puppets would have been invisible had I used flash).

FILMING: On Location

Filming Day One

Time: 12.30 - 5.30

The first day that we filmed, we shot for five hours on the stage to get the dance routine. It was a lot of stopping and starting as I compiled the close up shots, for example the feet during a pirouette or the arms outstretched. However when I was filming the long shots from a distance to get the core of the dance routine, I set the camera up on the tripod and left it still whilst Beth danced. I chose to leave the camera still to make sure when it came to editing there would be a level of continuity between shots to show the routine progressing, whereas had I moved the camera it may be much harder to edit.

Fixing Beth's first costume, which was a white leotard and white feathered tutu. I made the tutu on the day to be sure it was the right size to fit around her waist.

Hannah contributed to the choreography, on the day Beth and her rehearesed between takes.

Due to filming in an enclosed area, it was important that I made clear which areas would or wouldn't be in shot. This was particulalry important when filming long shots, where the aim was to get full body footage.

I used gold reflectors for the close ups of Beth's face. This was consistent with the yellow glow that the lights gave off, and gave a warmer tint that I would have acheived with silver reflectors.

This was the second costume. It was identical to the first, but instead used black materials. I also decided she should wear a black mask to fully orchestrate the change from the first outfit. This was beneficial also, as the sequins reflected the spotlights and acted as a further light source. (particularly important as we were filming black on black.)

PLANNING: Equipment Needed for Filming

I need to take a lot of equipment with me on the first day of filming so I have written a list of everything I need to take with me, in order to make sure I don't forget anything. It was particularly important that I remembered all the components to the costumes so that I can get the full effect of the switch over between the light/dark costumes. Also I chose to take a gold reflector rather than silver so that it would cast a warm glow on the face during close up shots, this will complement the gold sequins on the mask and be consistent with the yellow glow of the spotlights.

• Video Camera
• Tripod
• DLSR Camera (for still shots of filming process)
• Two Extension Leads (for either side of stage)
• Gold Reflector Screen (for close up face shots)
• Two Spotlights and Stands
• Two Clip-on Spotlights (for lighting dance sequence from the floor)
• White Leotard and White Feathered Tutu
• Black Leotard and Black Feathered Tutu
• Black Feathered Mask
• Black Ballet Shoes
• Traditional Pale Pink Ballet Shoes
• Black Tights and Pale Pink Tights

PLANNING: Lighting Techniques

I've drawn up lighting plans for the stage where I will film the dance routine for my video. To create a theatrical effect I did not want to flood the area with light, so instead I decided to light from wither side of the stage using four fairly bright spotlights. This will cast shadows, and keep the dancer in light, but combined with the black curtains will keep the area looking theatrical. I thought this technique would allow me to get some good body shots, in medium light so that it lens my piece a classic look, however any close ups can be shot closer to the light source, thus allowing small details to be seen, for example the beading on the black mask.

I wanted the light/dark imagery to be reflected through each element of my piece. In the dance routine I have represented that through the change of costume, from an all white outfit to an all black outfit, to show the divide between the good side/bad side and the split between the psyche. I want to film some close up footage of facial expressions, to show the changing atmosphere throughout my video, so I have decided to light it from one side, with a spot light poised very close to the face. This would cast shadow over one side of the face, so that half the face is illuminated and the other in complete darkness.

Though the dance routine in my piece will be the focal point, I wanted to further the light/dark concept by using shadow puppets. Therefore I researched how to make a shadow puppet theatre, I needed one that would look particularly sharp given that it has to be filmed, and I need it to be high quality so that it does not look out of place with the ballet routine, which will look polished. I looked at creating shadow puppets using paper, however I wanted an organic look to the piece, so I have decided to use hands, as I feel this will not only link with the song title but give a 'rough and ready' element to the piece, which is synonymous with Arctic Monkeys' work.

Above is a VW advert, all shadow puppets were formed by hands. This is the inspiration behind this element to my piece as I find it very interesting the story that can be told just through hand gestures. Therefore in my piece I will combine the use of dance, hand puppetry and facial expressions to show the mood changing in my video.

PLANNING: Costume Design

Ballet has been the subject of numerous films, however the majority of music videos that incorporate dancing are usually hip hop/rap videos that favour scantily clad street dancers, ballet is not a genre so widely used. However when it does feature it is usually part of a narrative, for example Hurts' Better Than Love seems to follow a man searching for a women he once knew, the ballerinas in this sense come across as 'auditionees' whereby ultimately the man is left unsatisfied as he is no closer in his search. Though my piece will not follow a narrative per say, I did take inspiration from the costumes in their video, which very much follow the light/dark theme that crops up time and again where ballet is concerned.

My designs featured below show both the light/dark transition through costume and also through make up. (The very light colours have not scanned very well, especially on the white/pink outfit.) As Jeweller's Hands progresses it builds in tempo and in volume, drawing from Goodwin's Theory of music linking with visuals, I felt not only should the editing match with the music progression but so should the visuals. Consequently as the music grows louder and bolder so will the choreography and the costume, until at the final climax the ballerina will be dressed fully in black with a large black feathered mask on (which can be seen on the first page of designs below).

I also looked closely at the costumes in the 1948 'The Red Shoes'. Traditionally, ballerina dance either in light pinks or black, which provides a very monochrome base in terms of costume. The vividness of the red shoes in this film is incredibly eye catching, and it was this pop of colour that I wanted to include in my video, which otherwise would seem very black and white. Consequently I have shown on my make up designs a lip that gets progressively more red. This will tie in with the red beading on the mask and should provide an eye catching feature.

PLANNING: Light and Dark

It's the eternal theme, found anywhere from Victorian Gothic Literature (Dr. Jekyll vs. Mr. Hyde) to science fiction (Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader) to popular ballet (Swan Lake) it even resonates in the common perception that everyone has an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. Ultimately the audience is compelled to support the light or 'goodie' in their quest to defeat the dark 'baddie'. Though this theme crops up over and over, resonating itself in many different forms, it is the imagery that is played on so frequently that I hope to investigate.

Perhaps the easiest way to gage this idea is by examining popular children's films which tend to come with a moral suggesting bad behaviour has consequences, and good, honest behaviour will ultimately triumph. Due to its young audience Disney are particularly good at emphasising the divide between the good and the bad through colour, most often white for good and black for bad. Its a combination that is not only used to illustrate the point to children but can be found time and again in Westerns where the troublemaker is decked in black usually sporting a black hat whereas the protector or protagonist is dressed in light shades to illustrate his superior moral standpoint.

Ariel and Ursula (The Little Mermaid 1989 Disney)

Undeniably the concept of allowing children to seperate good and bad characters through the way they are visually represented has been incredibly successful. To a young audience a character that looks nice generally is nice, there are rarely occasions whereby children are encouraged not to judge a book by its cover. Rathermore the act of making assumptions as to a character's behaviour and intentions based on thier appearance is crucial to the plot and in bringing about the moral at the end of the tale. It is not suprising then that this idea filters into much more than just childrens films. Though there is much more scope in an adult film to trick the audience by misrepresenting a character in the way they look and thus the assumptions made by the audience that they are a character of low moral standard. In fact this is a very commonly used tactic by filmakers. Who would have thought that Keyser Söze (Usual Suspects 1995) was the baby faced, stuttering 'Verbal' Kint? Ultimately audiences are encouraged to jump to conculsions about characters based on how they look, only then can a filmaker truly surprise the audience.

Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader (Star Wars)

With this in mind, in my music video I aim to utilise the light/dark conventions to demonstrate a divide in the protagonist. Rather than using two characters to explore the good/bad divide, I'm going to use one to suggest a split in the character's own psyche. This is very much inspired by the theme of 'split personality' in many thrillers, for example Fight Club 1999 and Black Swan 2011. I feel this will give my piece a darker edge, which is synonomous with the work of inide artists whose videos tend to appeal more to a cult audience of followers rather than the bulk of mainstream audiences. As a result I am going to heavily rely on costume and lighting to create the contrast between the seemingly innocent light side of the protagonist and the dangerous dark side.

PLANNING: Practising Shadow Puppets

I wanted to investigate whether it would look better for the hands to be visible when it came to filming shadow puppets, or rather I should film it from the opposite side of a sheet with the hands being lit from behind. So I experimented at home with the best ways to light the hands, so that I could achieve the most defined shadows.