Tuesday 29 March 2011

Locations, Costumes and Props

LOCATION:
While we were trying to decide on a location for our music video, I thought that the it should be in keeping with the texts we were influenced by, videos similar to that of “Babes in Toyland” and other similar pieces which are aimed at a similar target audience. So we decided, due to those factors and based on our general first ideas for our video, that a bedroom would be good, a simple setting, which therefore diverts all focus to the actors and the meaning behind their actions etc, which is what we wanted, as it is quite a meaningful peice, and this way we will be able to give off certain emotions and meaning off the actors without the use of dialogue, but with the careful synchronisation of the lyrics to the actions of the actors and how we edit it.
We went about thinking where would be best and easiest to film, we wanted a room with good lighting, for filming, and somewhere with space and certain specifications, like a bed with pink  sheets, a place to put the doll, a place to fight.
We couldn’t think of anywhere suitable, when I suggested the schools photography studio, as we could book it for the day, and as it is an empty room we can design it to our own specifications, and as there are no windows, and just studio lights, the lighting would stay consistent, which I believe can be one of the biggest drawbacks of a music video, if there is inconsistency. We decided it was perfect, and got to designing.
I cleared out an old large box as a desk, as well as bringing in a soft chair, of a light colour, to go with the walls and floor, as everything is light and plain which will help without our intention of a conceptual peice. We also brought in a bed with pink sheets, which is used in many of the sequences we planned in our storyboard, suchlike the fight scene or when she is sleeping restlessly. We also decided a mirror would be incredibly useful for artistic and interesting shots, keeping constant interest throughout the piece, ambiently, also useful for a few other shots of ours.
After setting up the studio, we started to film, and we filmed for the rest of the day, getting all the shots we needed.

COSTUMES:
We decided a significance between the two sisters was vital to keep obvious separation, as we needed that clear cut divide for the sibling rivalry feel. We decided to keep Heidi, the sister being discriminated against as plain black, a symbol of darkness, and Emily, the dominant sister in black and white stripes as a kind of hypnosis feel, as well as being significantly different. The flowers in their hair we brought in, also as props throughout, representing the sisters, and as an obvious symbol of wilted love. We also kept these flowers as a symbol for the band, as they are wearing them in our photoshoot for the digipak as well as the magazine advert.



PROPS:
Props are an important part of our music video as it is very symbolic and conceptual video, and we need to express that, even in the meaning behind each prop. We used a very typical doll, not china, but a stuffed doll, to keep this feel of our stereotype girl, with an addition of grunge, much like a PJ Harvey and Babes in Toyland. We used this during Heidi’ shots of feeling vulnerable, the doll acting as a safety blanket type of prop. We also gave a special small cupboard to the pot of the pills Heidi takes at the end, to signify the act itself, and to build tension as the song gets faster and faster.

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