Third Day Filming

On the 6th of January we went into Ilkley to complete our third day of filming. We planned to film the part of our narrative in which our protagonist, James, would meet up with his friend and be given a bed to sleep in.

To begin with we filmed some wide shots of James arriving in the kitchen at his new home. However these shots didn't turn out great as we didn't have a lot of sunlight therefore the shots appeared too blue and dark. The main reason we tried this shot first was because our new actor Joe was late and we didn't want to waste time so we tried a few shots that we might be able to fit in the video. Once Joe arrived we didn't have too much to film. We started by filming James walking up the drive to his friends house and then knocking on the door. We filmed this section from a variety of angles as this would give us several different options when it came to editing the footage. We filmed a high angle shot which looked down on James as we walked up the steep drive. We then also used a close-up from the perspective of the door for when he arrived next to the door. Finally in this bit we used a shot from behind James' shoulder as this shot clearly shows James' action when he knocks on the door as well as Joe when he opens the door. A challenge we had with filming this shot was the reflections from the windows as we realised after our first couple of takes that the camera was reflected in the glass in the door. To combat this we had to change the angle sightly in order to remove us from the shot. This wasn't a problem though as the shot still included every detail we wanted. After we finished filming outside we moved into the kitchen to film the next part of the video. In this scene we see Joe inviting James into his home with a small exchange of words before Joe gives him a cup of tea. We made this bit short because the pace of the music at this point in the song is fairly quick therefore we want to match this with the editing.

The last scene we filmed on this day was James walking into his new bedroom. This is significant as it represents the beginning of his new life and contrasts with our previous scene where James goes to sleep on a bench. We therefore left this as a longer cut because we wanted to emphasise the importance of this moment. This was a very short filming day because we only focused on the shots that involved Joe to make sure we covered everything we needed whilst he was available. On our next day of filming we will complete all but the final scene of the video by filming at Shipley Bridge, James sleeping on a bench and all the scenes from the montage.

Tempered Tides Shot Time List

Shooting Schedule

Biffy Clyro Digipak

Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions 

 This digipak breaks away from some of the norms of classic indie rock designs. For starters the colour scheme suggests more of a pop genre as it clears shows a strong focus on blue, red and green. This gives off a lighter tone whereas indie rock is often darker. However, once you take a closer look the image itself shows a darker message than first thought. To begin with, the sky is fairly dark therefore giving off a slightly negative tone which is often portrayed in indie music. This feeling is emphasised by the fire which can be seen in the background. This visual element links to the title of the album "Only Revolutions" which suggests violence and rebellion. Fire is therefore a stereotypical image of these acts. The bright colours I mentioned earlier are also shown to illustrate a divide. The two flags show a difference between the two pictured figures. This links to indie music because it creates an underlying theme of conflict which is also a common theme in indie music. Especially the conflict between partners.

The inner sides of the packaging also show this divide and conflict as each side shows one of the flags from the front cover. One shows the O from Only and the other the R from Revolutions. These letters therefore can symbolise two sides of this divide as they appear on separate sides of the album.

The font used on this digipak is an example of iconography for Biffy Clyro as they uses this font for all of their products and promotions. It is very minor however as it is very small and put at the very top of the case therefore suggesting it is insignificant and that the image itself represents the band and their meaning in a better way than the titles can.

Coldplay Digipak

Coldplay - Viva la Vida

This digipak for the Coldplay album Viva La Vida uses a style emulating its central theme of freedom and revolution. Taking the spanish title which translates to 'Live the Life", the front cover is an 1830 painting of the French revolution titled "Liberty Leading the People" by Eugene Delacroix, complete with the image of the figure Liberty facing a French flag in a battlefield. The title is painted over the top roughly and with other accompanying spatters of white paint, reflecting the rebellious theme further whilst also tying the historical elements to the 21st century.

The text and font on the back cover and one of the inside panels is a continuation of the theme, resembling gold engraving with an old-fashioned font and a formal, minimal design.

As the band don't appear on the front cover or other panels, one interior panel is dedicated to showing all 4 members of the band in performance on stage. The use of pictures of the band in performance befits the indie rock genre where the music is the key focus rather than the band members, so the grittier photos inside are more befitting than, say, a photoshoot image of the band.

Kasabian Digipak

Kasabian - Empire 

Kasbian is an indie rock band and this is clearly reflected in the design of their digipak which sticks to the common grungy themes of this genre, created by the clear contrast of styles in the primary image. The image itself looks like a painting, emulating the style of renaissance artwork through the use of muted colours and soft edges which is heavily contrasted with the text which sits directly through the middle.

The font is that of the band's own logo and is sans-serif, immediately contrasting with the elegant, artistic picture in the background, instead being harsher and more futuristic. The black text colour also contrast with the lighter and softer tones in the rest of the image, causing the band's name to appear more stark and noticeable in the images with the black font. This makes the name stand out so it isn't overpowered by the image on the front and makes it very clear who the album is by in the absence of any actual pictures of the band. However, on the very front panel they have decided to use a more golden tone for the text colour which creates a more cohesive and unified image which is initially presented to it's audience. 

The name of the album is written on a ribbon across the image in a font typical to renaissance literature. This connotes that the image on the front is directly related to themes and songs in the album, bringing the two clearly contrasting ideas together. The look of the ribbon around the picture along with it's soft edges are also comparable to stereotypical tattoos, especially with the colours used on the cover which resemble ink on skin. This further adds to the edginess of this album cover, appealing to their target audience and creating an easily recognisable image, making the album more memorable. 

There is a clear contrast being made here between new and old, most obviously with the old image and new font, but also within the wider look of medieval imagery contrasted against this relatively modern band. It definitely makes for an edgy, memorable look which will help with the promotion of the music as people will be more aware of the album as they're more likely to notice the cover. The off-white colouring of the album itself also adds to the grungy feel of the digipak and avoids the connotations of purity and innocence presented by white, instead creating a more unfinished, well used effect which is commonly seen in the rock genre. 

The 'K' signs in the top left and bottom right corner are denoted to be symbols from playing cards by the club signs underneath. The card 'king of clubs' could relate to the band's album name - Empire - through it's suggestion of power and ruling whilst also linking to the band's own name with the 'K' possibly standing for Kasabian. The use of playing card imagery also links to the edgy feel of the album as cards are linked with gambling which has negative connotations, inevitably making it attractive to those who want to defy social standards. The king is also the best card in the pack, connoting winning and success which further link to the album name 'Empire'. 

The band themselves are not on the cover of the digipak which suggests that the band wanted to avoid the idea of star status, instead focussing the cover on their music and the tone of their songs. This sends a positive message to fans as it suggests the members of the band are not in it for fame, but instead to do what they love by making the music.

On the inside panels there are hand-drawn images of the band members faces, carrying through the theme of tradition. It also makes it feel more personal as the image looks as though it could've been drawn by a band member, putting a personal stamp on the album and making it special for fans. They have continued the use of very minimal colour through to the inner panels which creates a cohesion throughout the digipak so it looks like a complete unit. This also adds to the simplicity of the inner design and the hand-drawn feel that's created. 

Overall this is very in-keeping with the rock genre, sharing the typical 'grungy' and 'edgy' looks seen across other bands in this genre but staying unique through their unconventional use of white rather than darker base colours. This album is made to stand out through the use of the renaissance style painting but keeps relevant through the blazon depiction of the band name in the comparatively modern font, ensuring it still appeals to their target audience. 

Second Day Filming

On Thursday 21st of December we did our second bout of filming where we tackled the first part of our narrative. Our main priority was filming in any areas of Leeds where we needed the Christmas decorations as we knew they'd be coming down before our next opportunity to film.

We took the storyboard with us to Leeds so we could check the shots we were filming to make sure they were how we had envisioned them and that we didn't miss anything.

Before we got on the train we filmed some shots on the station for the storyline where he gets kicked off the train.

We wanted to show him clearly being forced to leave so he couldn't walk off it naturally, therefore, for the shot we really like, we had Ed stood inside the carriage pushing James off to make it look authentic and we asked James to look back afterwards as if in disappointment and frustration to help get the message across clearly. We are very happy with the final shot and believe it demonstrates what we wanted it to show. 

Once we were on the train we were faced with the difficulties of filming on public transport - the movement of the train itself shaking the camera, finding an empty seat to film on and members of the public being inconsistent in the background due to them getting on and off the train. We knew this would be difficult and, as we were aware of the the challenges, we were able to deal with them. We had to re-shoot a few sections due to a lady appearing in the background halfway through but managed to avoid any further filming difficulties. 

The other problem we had was trying to make it look convincing - the audience have to believe that James really was showing or not showing his ticket to a conductor so, in the absence of one, we had Ed stand in wearing a black coat which could pass for a conductor's blazer and framed an over-the-shoulder-shot so you couldn't see his face. This also worked really well as Ed looked bigger in the foreground connoting James' lack of power in the background, furthermore, watching the scene over Ed's shoulder also connoted his total control over James and the situation. 

We also decided to film a wider shot incorporating the seats in front of James to display someone showing their ticket to the 'conductor' to make it clear to the audience what's happening and clearly establish Ed's character. 

Then we had to re-shoot the scene but with an alternate outcome for the second half of the video. We recreated the same shots but this time had James show his ticket to the conductor so he doesn't have to leave the train in the second narrative.

The most pressured thing about this bit of filming was the time limit set by the length of the journey but we did manage to finish both storylines in time.

When we arrived we got our establishing shot of Leeds station. As we were setting up a double decker bus drove down and covered the sign as it went past which gave us the idea of having a bus reveal the Leeds station sign as it drives past to add some dimension to the footage rather than it just being a static shot. Therefore, we had to wait for a while until another bus came past but it was worth it for the footage we got. 

The first thing we did when we arrived in Leeds was head to the christmas market to get our establishing shots and film the tracking shot where we first meet our protagonist. We thought this was going to be difficult because it was complex with several different people who the camera needed to follow in time with the music. However, we managed it within three takes and are happy with the way it turned out, although we did have a few problems with people walking in front of the camera as we were filming in a public area. The most difficult thing was actually trying to find the best location to film that particular shot; we needed to move between two stalls and find James tucked away in a corner which turned out to be quite a specific requirement, especially considering the time restraints posed by our need to stay with the music. We did actually manage to find a spot where we could achieve the look we wanted and, after a few practices, we managed to get what we needed. This was the most important bit of filming of the day and we were relieved to have achieved it so early on.

Then we filmed James wandering around the market in different directions, sometimes walking towards the camera and sometimes away, to get some 'filler shots' of him for instrumentals and demonstrate the passing of time. We also filmed some shots of him getting knocked back as he walked to demonstrate how shunned homeless people can be. To get relatively smooth shots of James walking towards the camera we needed the camera person to be walking backwards which was quite difficult in a public place. To overcome this we had Ed wearing a rucksack with the camera round his neck and the string pulled taught to get a steady shot, then I held onto the handle of the rucksack and pulled Ed backwards to make sure he walked in a straight line and didn't knock into anything. We found this technique actually worked quite well to get the desired effect. 

Then we walked down to the ferris wheel to get an establishing shot of it because it connotes fun, family and inclusion which we wanted to contrast against Jame's isolation. It was also next to the town hall which was one of the establishing shots we needed for the introduction of the song. We then continued with these so went to Trinity to get an establishing shot of the shopping centre with the christmas tree which we filmed on an escalator to try and get a smooth tracking shot. Unfortunately the movement is so gradual you can't really see it but it's still a very nice, smooth shot of the centre.
We then went to the piano in Trinity and filmed Ed playing it for one of the introductory shots before getting another at Leeds Arena. When we arrived at the arena it was totally empty and we decided to get a shot of James walking in front of the large open space, again to highlight his isolation and exclusion from society. Through the day we found that we really liked the effect of having James alone in large spaces - we first saw it on the train when we decided to seat him in a 6 seater rather than 2 and again at the arena with him walking across the wide space. We really liked the way it turned out and may try and continue this theme throughout the video.

We had the idea that we wanted to film the cup scene as it's the most significant one in the video because it acts as the turning point. However, when we went to the location we had identified it was really busy and we didn't feel comfortable filming such an unpleasant scene so publicly. So we left filming it and went up to film the establishing shot of the arena but whilst we were there we found a corner hidden behind a grass mound that we could film more privately behind. So we decided to set up James in the sleeping bag and go ahead with the cup scene. It went very smoothly - we used Ed and Rob in different hats as extras so it looked more naturalistic and filmed from 3 different angles, a wide shot of the whole scene, a close-up of James' face and the cup and a backwards tracking shot of Rob walking away. We struggled to get the cup in shot properly as every time Rob kicked it it went too far, so we had to re-do it so Rob stood on it causing the money to fall out in the frame which worked nicely. Then we repeated all the same shots but had Rob put money in James' cup rather than stand on it for the alternative narrative.

The only thing we're worried about with this footage is that we were losing the light as we were filming and, when we reviewed it, there is a significant difference in the light at the start and at the end. However, we're hoping we will be able to fix this in post production as this will be in black and white and we will be able to slightly darken the first few shots so they match the last ones.

Overall we had a very successful day filming and are really happy with the footage we got. Although the weather was unlucky and we had to film a few scenes under an umbrella, we got a lot more done than we thought we would so are ahead in our schedule. We also got a few unplanned shots of James just walking around Leeds with different landmarks in the background which we can use in instrumentals and any time we need extra footage. Therefore we feel confident about the footage collected and will be uploading it to the computers and reviewing it in our upcoming lesson.