Review of Filming day 1

On the first day of filming I have been experimenting with filming the nature focused shots I have planned. This day was meant to encompass all of my filming but due to complications with my artists I have been forced to split the filming over two days to get all the shots I need. The weather was ideal today and I managed to aqquire allot of warm looking shots to intersperse with the footage of my artists. I mainly filmed leaves, trees and waves in macro shots which pull the focus onto these aspects of nature. I hope that if edit these to be in a quick succesion of cuts and look effective in time to the chords of the music.

Here are a few stills from the first day of filming. My favourite shots of the day were the shots that focused on the waves. I hope to also keep some of the audio from these shots to use as an intro. If I faded from black into a shot of the waves, keeping the crashing water sound and then fading into the music it could look very proffesional and effective.

Final Shot List needed

Shot List from AmazonRose

Casting

My artists have accepted to feature in my music video so I will not need to cast actors for filming. However I have provided a short background information on each of them and the role I aim for.

Zoe Able

Zoe is 17 and study's Drama, Art and at A level in sixth form college. She has a strong interest in singing and going further in the music industry. Her viewpoints and opinions could be very useful in the process of making a music video. Since Zoe also study's drama she has experience in acting and performance which provides her to be an excellent casting choice for my music video. Her light colouring of blonde hair and blue eyes provides her with a bold standout image that will look effective within an outdoor scene which could provide harsh lighting. I aim for Zoe to play one of the two friends within the music video, and to be excitable and care free.

Gemma Walsingham

Gemma is 17 and study's Geography, Drama and English at A level in sixth form college. Gemma has performed in several plays and theater productions playing main and supporting roles. Her acting skills and experience will aid the confident and relaxed nature I aim for the feel of the music video. If my chosen actresses had never been on screen/performed before they may act unnaturally, and since I want to keep a relaxed and realistic feel it is ideal for them to have experience. Gemma has strong auburn colouring that contrasts well to Zoe's, which will help create a good distinction between the two and be effective on screen. I aim for Gemma to play the other close friend who is discovering the journey alongside Zoe, also with an relaxed, happy and care free nature.

Weather Check

Weather check

I aim to shoot my music video on the Tuesday or Wednesday as the forcast depicts that these will be the clearest and sunniest days that would be beneficial for filming. The shots I'm aiming for include nature themed scenes that would provide warmth and colour within a sunny day. I hope to complete all of my filming in this day, however I will have to check with the avaliability of my artists.  The wind speed is also a factor of the weather I am looking in to. This will effect what kind of shots I can get and how much movement will be within these shots. Evidently if there are gale force winds I will not be able to complete my music video how I initally  intended, however it could provide some interesting shots. A third factor I have to consider is cloud coverage. Cloud coverage is very important as if the sky is too blank and gloomy my shots will become very dull and dark which will change the mood and tone of the music video. If this is the case, there may be some post shooting digital editing and manipulation or filters I can add to 'brighten' the scene.

Selfish Giant- a film that tackles social realism

"The Selfish Giant directed by clio banard portrays the lives of "people who are otherwise airbrushed from the picture of contemporary society. They do pop up in the media once in a while but are soon removed by more appealing images, such as royal wedding or London Olympics. As if afterwards everyone in the UK reverts back to five o'clock tea and watching football games at a local pub.

In order to see similar living conditions we don't need to leave the European Union. Therefore, it is questionable why would The Selfish Giant have more artistic merit than a docudrama about immigrants in France, jobless Spaniards, rural Poland, Gypsies in Romania or any other environment "reformed" towards free market and liberal capitalism.

The selfish Giant basically shows how captialism works; not by making an academic movie with statistical figures but by telling the highly capturing dramatic story of two teenagers in an English community who need to collect scrap to make ends meet. They are no longer motivated in studying, because the bills need to be payed by the end of the month. At school they are expelled because of their frustrated behaviour. Their family is in ruin due to the stress caused by not earning enough money. In their quest for scrap they see how the best theif's also gain the most money. So eventually they turn to criminal behaviour. Not by choice, but by neccesity. Making money becomes seperated from "doing the right thing" to do."- IMBD

The Selfish Giant is described as being "An intensely felt piece of social realism" within The Guardians review found here http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/may/17/the-selfish-giant-cannes-2013-review

Qualitative Research -Interviews with target audience

Media Scare- End of The World

One in 10 people were anxious that 21 December marked the end of the world. This panic had stemmed from the Ancient Mayans predictions of doomsday within their calendar. Thanks to the press and Hollywood this predicted doomsday had become one of the most widely-disseminated tale in human history. According to the naive and the impressionable recent hurricanes, unrest in the Middle East, solar flares, mystery planets about to collide with us and the inevitable invasion of green slimey men - are all "proof" of what the ancient Mayans knew would come to pass on the 21st. However ridiculous this may seem the panic spread worldwide, causing nitwits everywhere to run out and buy £32,000 one person bunkers which are both asteroid proof and somehow impregnable to nuclear war. 

The only place in the world which was claimed to survive this forthcoming blood bath and reenactment of Armageddon was the small french village of Bugarach. However it seems the only fortune brought to this area was the large tourism boom with fanatics flocking to the mountains in the hope they will be transported up by aliens and saved. Sky news has been looking in to the origins of the Mayan predictions; Professor Mark Van Stone, the author of 2012: Science And Prophecy Of The Ancient Maya, traces the start of the 2012 apocalypse prophecy back to 1904, when German scholars said a Mayan picture of a sky dragon pouring water from above proved they were predicting a great flood. Other predictions then made it into subsequent academic books on the Maya and soon became enshrined in popular mythology. 


NASA had been receiving many thousands of worried call and had to post upon their website: Some advocates for the 2012 catastrophe say that what will actually cause the devastation  is an alignment of planets. There is no planet alignment on the winter solstice 2012. Nonetheless, advocates of doom connect the fictional alignment to astrological predictions or groundless claims about a reversal of Earth's magnetic field and unprecedented solar storms. Many internet postings and guests on all-night apocalyptic radio have elaborated on these themes but there is yet to be any real proof. 

This story quickly became a moral panic due to the 'evidence' provided and the sheer excitement of peoples imaginations. The media is the real blame here, increasing awareness and panic in those who passively consume and believe any information they are given. Hollywood has for years also been making good use of this story, with films such as Take Shelter, 28 Days Later, Last day on earth, The End, The day the earth stood still and of course the movie 2012 itself. In this way Hollywood has brought us up to believe the end is nigh, we've been consuming and accepting the idea for years. The reality of the situation is that of course the end is inevitable but as is everything in that sense. The bottom line of this media scare is that there was no real and legitimate reason for concern.