Shooting - First day filming

Today I began filming the music video; shooting began in Liam's house, also using my storyboard plan for close reference. I feel as if the shooting for this scene went quite well considering is made easy with the storyboard and required very little travel as Liam's house is very close to mine. I attempted to get at least three versions of each shot so that I have a good variety of angles and shots when it comes to editing. This was particularly evident in the shot in which Liam speeds down stairs as it opened opportunities for various tracking shots and low angles. As described in a previous blog post, I ran into difficulties with filming Liam driving a car so I had to make some director's changes regarding the direction of the video; however, this didn't cause massive issues with the story. I also made some attempts at filming various close-up guitar shots for the super-imposed shots that will be used as an editorial callback to the Stone Roses' old videos such as Sally Cinnamon.

Shooting - London

Between 4th-7th of December I will be in London for a politics trip, though I am toying with the idea of bringing the camera to see if I can capture any shots. Even if they don't add to the narrative or, at whole, contribute to the final piece, it may still be useful for me to capture some shots to practice framing and shot types. This shots could range from looking out the window of the train to various shots of traffic and the London Underground.

Shooting - First Shots

At the weekend I captured some preliminary footage of some shots of the scenery from inside the car and what was essentially a practice run of the opening scene. Liam's house is an ideal shooting location as it very close and accessible, I think the fact that the video begins in Liam's bedroom adds to the narrative as it could be seen as any normal day for him. I feel as if the practice went well, however it opened up more ideas for a greater variety of shots instead of the ones I intended to use. For example, I played about with various angles of Liam coming down the stairs as oppose to just a low angle shot at the bottom of the stairs and fast tracking of his feet. The scenery shots, however, proved difficult as I filmed in the passenger seat of my mam's car, rather than Liam (as he is unable to drive, mentioned in previous post) thus allowing space for some continuity errors. Though I think I handled it well without causing too many errors. I feel as if these shots allowed for me to get a good idea of what I would like in the final edit.

Planning - Storyboard frame by frame rough plan

Storyboard plan from Luke Tiplady on Vimeo.


Frame 1/2:
These two shots will consist of a medium shot of Liam, the protagonist, looking out of his bedroom window. This shot will be edited to coincide with the initial chord strum of the song; additionally I have also considered superimposing a shot of a guitar strumming the guitar on top of the base shot. Following this, the next shot will be a close up of Liam's Stone Roses ticket, coinciding with the opening lyrics 'The Hardest Thing In The World'. Symbolizing the challenging he is about to undertake to reach the concert he has waited his whole life for.
Frame 3/4:
The first of these two shots will be a variety of shots; the first being a medium shot of Liam walking down his stairs, with the camera being placed at the bottom. Other shots will be a quick tracking shot of Liam's feet as he is walking down, a behind-the-back shot with a crane position being taken. I will use editing techniques such as action matching and the 180 degree rule to sync these shots as Liam is walking down the stairs.
The second shot will show Liam exiting his house through the front door with a low angle behind-the back shot showing his shoulder in the forefront of the shot and the sky in the back. This shot will match up with the lyrics, 'Searching for a perfect day, it never happens that way, a hey, hey, hey'.
Frame 5/6:
This shot will be a medium shot from within the car, showing Liam getting in the car. This will be a fairly short shot and will continue with the song in the background, with no direct link to the songs lyrics as seen in previous shots.
The second shot(s) will most likely be the longest sequence in the entire video. It will consist of shots varying in type and movement; an extreme long shot will be used from inside the car looking out the window, various close-ups of the protagonist with quick editing to match the quick drum beat in the song. This would ideally also feature a superimposed shot of the neck of a guitar playing the song above the base shots.
Frame 7/8:
The next two shots will take place at The Angel of The North (or Penshaw Monument) and will show the protagonist climbing the steps to the monument with a crane shot following him, followed by a low angle of the monument. The camera will then cut to a long shot of Liam at the base (or middle) of the monument playing the guitar; I chose to do this as it adds a sense of performance element, yet keeping the narrative in place.
Frame 9:
The shot will then cut to handheld footage of The Stone Roses concert I captured on my phone, perhaps with more superimposed shots of guitar playing or even the use of quick cuts to actual guitar playing in between the concert footage.
Frame 10/11:
These two shots will center around travelling on the road; the first will be a variety of medium shots of various road signs etc. to provide a sense of progress of time and distance in the video. The following shot will be a POV of the driver looking directly out of the front window, preferably with a GPS at the forefront of the shot. Once again I would like this shot to include some superimposed guitar playing.
Frame 12:
This shot will again be POV footage I captured from a Stone Roses gig.
Frame 13/14:
The next two frames will include a variety of shots. The first of which will be a close up of Liam's phone saying that the Stone Roses gig has been cancelled, this shot will include an action match edit of Liam opening up his phone. The following shot(s) will show Liam's distressed reaction to this news, however for this shot I would like to use some superimposed images of Liam's face on top of one another reacting to the news.
Frame 15:
The following shot will be a medium-long shot of Liam walking through a forest path, using pan movement. As Liam is walking, superimposed guitar playing will be used in tune with the chord strums in the song.
Frame 16:
Multiple shots of Liam playing the guitar, with close-ups used on the neck and body of the guitar.
Frame 17:
The final shot will be a static medium-long shot of Liam approaching the arena that the Stone Roses are playing at, Liam will be shown walking around the arena with quick cuts of guitar playing.

Planning - Change of Plan

I've had to rethink a majority of my scenes for my music video, particularly those that revolve around driving and going to places that require a form of travel. The person who I am filming with and who will be driving is having problems with insurance on his car, thus he cannot legally drive, hindering various scenes. I plan to still record footage of driving, just not with the protagonist. As for travelling to various locations I will have to find an alternative form of transport, or revise my ideas. I don't think this will cause a massive obstacle for me, but it is certainly a frustrating one.