Looking for new costumes for the video - i need a black dress, a day dress, maybe two day dresses, a army uniform, a helmet and a fake gun!
I may have to go on a charity shop/website crawl!
Hopefully can get all this without breaking my bank account!
Friday 21 January 2011
Shooting the Video - Day 1!
First Shoot is done!
We got through some shots of
We had technical difficulties with this one - we had the camera's battery failing, cars going past - not the type of cars you should be seeing in the 1940's! But we managed in the end, my only worry is that the light outside changed pretty rapidly from the time we started shooting that scene by the time we had finished it - but we'll see when we edit if we have to redo that scene,
We got through some shots of
- Couple before war - romantic
- Argument Scene
We had technical difficulties with this one - we had the camera's battery failing, cars going past - not the type of cars you should be seeing in the 1940's! But we managed in the end, my only worry is that the light outside changed pretty rapidly from the time we started shooting that scene by the time we had finished it - but we'll see when we edit if we have to redo that scene,
- Worrying scene with sister-in-law
During this scene the wife was pregnant - pretty heavily, so we have one shot down for the difference in pregnancy stages and got a worrying scene combined! Went well, had a variety of different shots that we can choose from when we edit.
Locations that we were orginally going to use were changed, for the interior scenes we used a different location, but shot well.
Lyrics
I was searching
You were on a mission
Then our hearts combined like
A neutron star collision
I have nothing left to lose
You took your time to choose
Then we told each other
With no trace of fear that...
Our love would be forever
And if we die
We die together
And lie, I said never
'Cause our love would be forever
The world is broken
Halo's fail to glisten
You try to make a difference
But no one wants to listen
Hail,
The preachers, fake and proud
Their doctrines will be cloud?
Then they'll dissipate
Like snowflakes in an ocean
Love is forever
And we'll die, we'll die together
And lie, I say never
'Cause our love could be forever
Now I've got nothing left to lose
You take your time to choose
I can tell you now without a trace of fear
That my love will be forever
and we'll die
we'll die together
Lie, I will never
'Cause our love will be forever
The lyrics to 'Neutron Star Collision' fits in well with our music video, lyrics such as "and we'll die, we'll die together" and "Cause our could be forever" all fit in with our theme of loss - the widow feels she cannot live without her husband, despite having a child, and chooses to leave forever - what becomes of the widow is a mystery to the audience - an enigma that will leave them thinking about the music video after watching it. The message of loss is conveyed both in the song and the video, which is why this song is perfect for our music video.
You were on a mission
Then our hearts combined like
A neutron star collision
I have nothing left to lose
You took your time to choose
Then we told each other
With no trace of fear that...
Our love would be forever
And if we die
We die together
And lie, I said never
'Cause our love would be forever
The world is broken
Halo's fail to glisten
You try to make a difference
But no one wants to listen
Hail,
The preachers, fake and proud
Their doctrines will be cloud?
Then they'll dissipate
Like snowflakes in an ocean
Love is forever
And we'll die, we'll die together
And lie, I say never
'Cause our love could be forever
Now I've got nothing left to lose
You take your time to choose
I can tell you now without a trace of fear
That my love will be forever
and we'll die
we'll die together
Lie, I will never
'Cause our love will be forever
The lyrics to 'Neutron Star Collision' fits in well with our music video, lyrics such as "and we'll die, we'll die together" and "Cause our could be forever" all fit in with our theme of loss - the widow feels she cannot live without her husband, despite having a child, and chooses to leave forever - what becomes of the widow is a mystery to the audience - an enigma that will leave them thinking about the music video after watching it. The message of loss is conveyed both in the song and the video, which is why this song is perfect for our music video.
Shooting Script
- Shots of the couple before wedding and after - although unable to tell - different locations, costumes etc.. showing the couple before the war - looking in love and happy. Also shows the couple meeting husbands sister for the first time - body language will indicate the relationships between the characters.
- Wedding Scene - Outdoors, under arch, several seconds long, dialogue - "I Do" for each character. Close up on both their faces - shot-reverse-shot on dialogue.
- Argument scene - in living room - husband tells wife he is leaving to go to war - they argue - improvised dialogue for the argument itself - husband leaves (slow motion) takes a last look at wife, opens the door and leaves.
- Sister-in-law comes to live with wife - shots of the pair worrying over a period of time, sister-in-law tries to be comforting, but wife is unable to cope.
- Pregnancy - wife finds out she is pregnant - several shots of different stages of pregnancy, and a shot of the pair coming home - a baby in the mothers arms.
- Finding out - and officer comes to the door (close up of hand knocking, different angles etc..) wife is told her husband was shot in action - she breaks down emotionally, short and dramatic scene.
- Grief - a few quick shots of the wife in shock, crying, depressed, unable to take care of herself or her child - shows sister-in-law taking care of the baby.
- Funeral - shot in graveyard, a few mourners at the scene, shows wife looking unhealthy and extremely depressed, shows sister-in-law with the baby. Close ups of mourners crying.
- Leaving - Widow leaves - takes a last look at her child, picks up her suitcase and leaves forever.
- Wish - Long shot of widow walking down the road, pans up to the sky and transcends into her wish - a shot of her, husband and child, altogether happy and smiling - location - a previous place from the first shots where the couple used to go and were happy together, again pans up to the sky and fades to black.
Male Fashion
Our male protagonist is a soldier - he only has two costumes throughout the music video - a smart suit and an army uniform. We will be trying to keep as close to the real clothing as possible, in particular the army uniform will be the hardest to achieve, as to acquire a replica of a world war 2 army uniform could be expensive, and may not be possible - but getting as close to it as we can hopefully.
Men in the 1940's were dressed smartly - often in suits, our male character comes from the city - therefore his clothing (the suit) is far more fashionable than that of men in rural areas, we feel it is more authentic looking if he is dressed in a more recognisable attire than simple rural clothes.
Men in the 1940's were dressed smartly - often in suits, our male character comes from the city - therefore his clothing (the suit) is far more fashionable than that of men in rural areas, we feel it is more authentic looking if he is dressed in a more recognisable attire than simple rural clothes.
Examples of suits worn in the 1940's.
British armed forces uniform
Hair:
For men, the typical hairstyle was short (especially for those in the armed forces) and very neat, slicked back flat on the head to portray a classic and formal look.
Examples of 1940's male hairstyle - both for everyday and in the army.
Hair and Make-up
Hair:
Hair in the 40's was high maintenance and elegant, soft curls that framed the face was the most common hairstyle for women in any area and women maintained their hair perfectly daily. Appearance was important and keeping up with this image showed society that a woman was in control and successful.
Both old and new photos of a typical longer hairstyle
Both old and new photos of a typical short hairstyle
Make up:
The main make up look for the 40's was strong eyebrows - dark, softer eyes - eyeliner on top of the lid, black eyelashes, and strong red lips.
Examples in both colour and black and white photos of the classic make up look
Both old and modern photos of both 40's style hair and make up.
Keeping with these styles, i did some prototypes of how our hair and make up may look for our filming:
Both colour and black and white examples of prototype.
As Ellie and I have different lengths of hair - short and long, we will use our examples to create our 1940's look for filming.
Costume Design
Fashion.
The 40's had a very distinct look - not quite the glamour of the 50's, but elegant and smart still. And despite the 40's having some amazing fashion trends, the working class citizens were unable to afford these desirable trends, and therefore stuck with simple, clean cut clothing.
Rations also made dressing more of a task - if clothing were to get damaged, there was no easy way to acquire new clothes - they were mended - women would often stay up all night sewing seams back-together and darning socks and tights. Throwing away perfectly good clothes was shocking.
Most women wore skirts at or near knee-length, with simply-cut blouses or shirts and square-shouldered jackets. Popular magazines and pattern companies advised women on how to remake men's suits into smart outfits, since the men were in uniform and the cloth would otherwise sit unused. Eisenhower jackets became popular in this period. Influenced by the military, these jackets were bloused at the chest and fitted at the waist with a belt.
Our idea is we use simple clothing for our characters - but with the implication that some of the clothing was bought before the clothes ration, and therefore has not suffered the ban. We also show scenes of the couple before the war - first meeting, first date etc.. and also a shot of them meeting the husbands sister - who is younger and from the city - suggesting her clothing is influenced by the new fashions emerging from 1930- 1942.
The 40's had a very distinct look - not quite the glamour of the 50's, but elegant and smart still. And despite the 40's having some amazing fashion trends, the working class citizens were unable to afford these desirable trends, and therefore stuck with simple, clean cut clothing.
Rations also made dressing more of a task - if clothing were to get damaged, there was no easy way to acquire new clothes - they were mended - women would often stay up all night sewing seams back-together and darning socks and tights. Throwing away perfectly good clothes was shocking.
Most women wore skirts at or near knee-length, with simply-cut blouses or shirts and square-shouldered jackets. Popular magazines and pattern companies advised women on how to remake men's suits into smart outfits, since the men were in uniform and the cloth would otherwise sit unused. Eisenhower jackets became popular in this period. Influenced by the military, these jackets were bloused at the chest and fitted at the waist with a belt.
Our idea is we use simple clothing for our characters - but with the implication that some of the clothing was bought before the clothes ration, and therefore has not suffered the ban. We also show scenes of the couple before the war - first meeting, first date etc.. and also a shot of them meeting the husbands sister - who is younger and from the city - suggesting her clothing is influenced by the new fashions emerging from 1930- 1942.
A Popular trend - the Trenchcoat - became fashionable when the British Army used them.
Polka dot and Floral dresses were incredibly popular in the early 1940's
A fashionable woman walking down Hollywood and Vine 1944 - what was to come
A movie still from 'The Edge Of Love' a film set during the second world war - this particular still is set in rural Wales - an example of how two normal English women would've dressed.
Shoe C is the shoe we will be wearing throughout our music video - as we feel it is inkeeping with the fashion that women in the rural areas would've found more attainable for daily use.
We have several pregnant shots of our female protagonist - Ellie took some mock photos to see how it would look -
Side-View
Front-View
It is not obvious from the frontal view that she is pregnant, it is a lot more obvious from the side view - we will be having different shots containing different stages of pregnancy, so we will be able to increase and decrease the side of the bump easily.
Music Video Style
Something that occurred to me is that in our music video we are not doing the 'traditional' video - meaning we are not having any shots of either me or Ellie lip-syncing to the camera along with the lyrics of the song. This may be slightly unconventional, and the reason why is because we want our video to completely immerse the audience in the narrative, so much so that they don't even think of the video as a music video - more like a short film, if we were the artists who performed the song we could probably have a full film if you put our music videos together - many artists have done running narratives throughout an album, and their music videos show that.
Greenday - American Idiot -
This album had two songs interlinking with one another to make a longer narrative, Holiday, and Boulevard of Broken Dreams, where Holiday ends, BoBD's began.
My Chemical Romance -Danger Days, The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys:
Again two interlinking songs - NaNaNa and Sing link together one after the other. And the particular part of these two videos is the artists do not lip-sync at all during the two videos. They are literally short films.
And that is what we aim to do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wyn6K95DZCM - Holiday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWNRUVMboq4 - Boulevard of Broken Dreams
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egG7fiE89IU - NaNaNa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTgnDLWeeaM - Sing
Greenday - American Idiot -
This album had two songs interlinking with one another to make a longer narrative, Holiday, and Boulevard of Broken Dreams, where Holiday ends, BoBD's began.
My Chemical Romance -Danger Days, The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys:
Again two interlinking songs - NaNaNa and Sing link together one after the other. And the particular part of these two videos is the artists do not lip-sync at all during the two videos. They are literally short films.
And that is what we aim to do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wyn6K95DZCM - Holiday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWNRUVMboq4 - Boulevard of Broken Dreams
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egG7fiE89IU - NaNaNa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTgnDLWeeaM - Sing
Location
The location of our music video is set in war stricken Britain, in the countryside, we needed to find old fashioned architecture, and landscape - luckily it is not hard to find in the rural area that we live in, these are two shots of locations we will be using in our music video.
This door looks perfect for our scene where the wife is given the news of her husbands death - in the right light, we can perfect shot reverse shot for continuity.
This is a wooden archway, which we think will be a beautiful, and simple wedding arch for our first scene of the couples wedding, its simplistic style shows that the couple are the average for most members of society in 1942 - and by showing a low-key wedding outdoors, it shows that they are normal, and how relatable their story can be for anyone else during this time.
Planning!
Hopefully we will be able to edit our film in black and white, as i think it will add to the vintage theme of the music video, it is set in wartime Britain in 1942, after the attack on Pearl Harbor by the japanese - the Americans have finally joined forces officially with the British, and the war has gotten more intense - with more and more soldiers being sent out on the front line.
The video focuses primarily on a young english couple - newlyweds and starting their lives together. But the husband is sent to war, leaving a heartbroken wife, who soon discovers she is pregnant - alone. Her husbands sister moves in with her, to care for her in her condition, and to avoid leaving her on her own. After waiting for months for her husbands return - having carried and gave birth to a baby daughter within in this time-space, she is broken the news that her husband has been killed in battle.
Devastated and unable to cope, the final scene in the video is her packing her bags - leaving her sister-in-law and her child behind, and walking alone down a forlorn street - her future unknown.
That is the general premise of the narrative of our music video.
The video focuses primarily on a young english couple - newlyweds and starting their lives together. But the husband is sent to war, leaving a heartbroken wife, who soon discovers she is pregnant - alone. Her husbands sister moves in with her, to care for her in her condition, and to avoid leaving her on her own. After waiting for months for her husbands return - having carried and gave birth to a baby daughter within in this time-space, she is broken the news that her husband has been killed in battle.
Devastated and unable to cope, the final scene in the video is her packing her bags - leaving her sister-in-law and her child behind, and walking alone down a forlorn street - her future unknown.
That is the general premise of the narrative of our music video.
Confirmation - Warner Bros.
After deciding on our song (Neutron Star Collision) we needed to get permission from the company that distributes the song for profit, so we sent an email to Warner Bros, stating that if our reply of confirmation does not arrive in 2 weeks time, we will take it that we have their permission to use the song unless stated otherwise by the company.
This allows us to move on with the planning and shooting of our music video!
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