Permission to film- Bodiam Castle

We contacted The National Trust, who own Bodiam Castle, via email for permission to film at Bodiam Castle as we wanted to ensure that it was okay to do so. We received a reply from Heather Packham, who is the visiter experience manager, which stated that it was okay to film at the location as it is simply for amateur use. She also said that she will brief her staff that we will be filming on Saturday to ensure they all know whats going on to avoid us from being approached, we also must complete a photographers contract to prove that it will only be used for the purpose of coursework and not commercial use.  

Filming location- Boxley Riding School

The scenes shot with the horse for our music video was completed at Boxley. This location was the same location in Pilgrims way, Boxley, that was used in the 1979 film Porridge for the scene which the late Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale were filmed jogging past Boxley riding School. We were granted permission to film by the owner as I regularly ride the horse, Garland, which we used for the scenes. 

Here are some edited shots from the filming from Sunday. 

Questionnaire

We decided to create a questionnaire so that we could understand what our target audience likes to see in a neofolk music video. We created a questionnaire which included six closed questions with tick box options. The main purpose of the questionnaire was to help us find out what neofolk fans liked to watch and what they felt was the most important aspect of a music video, for example imagery, narrative etc. Here are the photographs of some of the completed questionnaires, which we gave to 10 people. We soon realised that due to the fact that neofolk has such a niche audience that it would be best to give the questionnaires to people who said they listen to the genre as we wouldn't get the answers to the questions that we posed.  We will now be doing a questionnaire analysis which will show the results of our research. 

More Test Footage

Here is another test footage. We wanted to see if we could reverse the shots for our later sequences in our music video. The overall effect was good, though it did come out a little grainy.

Permission to Film

As we already stated on the last post we went to film at Deal Castle. We are really pleased with the out come of the shots as we believe that they were effective and very atmospheric with the combination of the location and the lighting was perfect  for the military feel we were hoping to portray in our music video. Before we went to Deal Castle we wanted to gain permission to film at the location as it is an English Heritage site which does offer their locations for hire at a high price, so we wanted to know if it was okay to go and film at the location simply as a visitor. We gained permission by contacting The English Heritage through email. We received a reply from Miss Coralie Burrows-Ellis (customer service for English Heritage) that we had permission to film as we were only  filming for A level media and not for commercial reasons, she then forward the email to the site manager for Deal Castle, Benjamin Palmer, who greeted us on arrival and was great help through out our visit and provided us with all the information needed and details on the Castles history.

Location Update

We will now be going to Deal Castle to shoot the scenes that include the soldier character. This is because after discussing many possible locations we finalised upon Deal as we felt that it had the right military type feel it. Also the location when compared to Upnor Castle there are some aspects that are similar. For example we wanted to to get a shot of the cannons looking out to the river, this shot to some degree can be created at Deal due to its coastal location and collection of cannons.

Location Cancellation

We were planning on filming in Upnor for the shots including the soldier, however this is no longer possible as we discovered that Upnor Castle has been closed until late March, and therefore we will be unable to film there.
Due to this, we will be researching into other possible locations within the local area that hold the same military atmosphere as Upnor does.

We have been considering Castles such as:
Canterbury Castle
Dover Castle
Deal Castle
Fort Amherst

Animal Report

In our film we intend to use a number of animals in our music video, which include both dogs and horses. As our song is 'Run Boy Run' we felt that including animals within our music video would be effective and especially capturing their movement. Another reason we are planning on using animals in our film is due to the fact that the past students work for the same song, which we looked at in detail and which overall gave us the inspiration to do this song, used animals in their music video and it turned out to be very effective and atmospheric.

We will be using two whippets for scenes that feature the 'peace' character. This is due to their elegant and dainty look as this will reflect a much natural and 'free' feel which is desire to reflect the nature of the character. We will be getting shots of them which will capture their graceful motions. We will also try to capture their speed as well as we want a shot of them running as this links to the song title 'Run Boy Run'.

For the scenes including the soldier we will be using a German Shepard. This is because the breed is associated with the police and military work, and have a reputation for being slightly vicious. This then links to the character and will contrast with the elegance of the whippets, which will make the dark and aggressive past of the soldier character clear to the audience.

We will also be using a horse in a couple of scenes which is featured in the photos. We decided to include a horse as we were really inspired by the past students work for the same song, this is because they made some lovely shots of a horse which were rather dramatic and quite powerful and we felt that the horse was effective for this song. Horses can also be used as a symbol for both war and peace so it works with our theme. Another aspect to point out would be that the 'hero' always appears on a steed so the concept of the peace character with the horse links to this. We will also be using shots of the horses feet to create quite a dramatic shot that also reflects the idea of movement.

Asking Woodkid

We created a Twitter account so we could easily contact Woodkid's account to ask his permission to use his song 'Run Boy Run' for our A level Music Video. 

Costume Report

Our music video will feature two characters one of which will be a soldier and the other a more 'free spirit' type character that will be a representation of peace, as our theme for the music video is based upon the concept of war and peace. As this is a music video effective mise-en-scene is essential in portraying this concept as this cannot be reflected by dialogue so the narrative must be easily understood through the visuals. A way in which we will be showing the difference between the characters is through costume. For example, the peace character will be wearing a long white dress which will create a natural feel and show to the audience that this character is in fact 'good', so the dress becomes quite a powerful statement within the music video. The white dress will also have an effect on the shots as we will be able to capture the flowing movement of the dress. 

The second main character will be the soldier, as already stated. As we need to portray the concept of war and peace we needed a character that reflects the 'war', and the best way to do this was to create a soldier character. To reflect the concept of a soldier we decided to stick with the stereotypical soldier outfit/uniform. The soldier will therefore will be wearing camouflage jacket and trousers and boots. The dark camouflage will then contrast with the natural look of the white dress, reflecting the differences in the characters and their history. 

Test Footage 2

In our music video we will be using some time lapses, which will suggest progression in time. We wanted to go out and do some test footage to see if we were capable of capturing the right amount of movement of the clouds. We also did this test footage at Bluebell Hill as the high position and clear views of the sky enabled us with the open space to capture the movement in the clouds. We were pleased with the overall look of the footage, however the only problem we had was that it was a rather windy day so there is some shaking of the footage, but as it is only test shots we felt that it was rather successful. We then edited the footage slightly so that we could get used to how to speed up the pace of the shot, and to see if we could effectively create a time lapse.

Storyboard

Here is our own storyboard which we created to help us plan the shots for our Music video. We did quite a sketchy copy as we felt that a storyboard is not so important for a music video as it is for a film. We sketched out the basics of what will be in each shot and where it will be set, which we based upon our location report. We listened to the song whilst creating our storyboard as we listened to the lyrics, verses and beat of the song as this determined what we put in the shot and how long that shot will be. We also added some notes around the storyboard to help us know whats going on and some transitions, such as cuts. 

Test Footage 1

Here is a small edit which we put together of a few test shots. We decided to go out to Bluebell Hill to check out the location and also so that we could practice some of the shots that we will be using in our music video. This is because we will be using a track type shot that follows the feet of the characters, as we came up with this shot as we liked the idea of the angle as it shows the concept of movement from one location to the other, but also is a powerful and effective shot. We decided to practice the shot as we did not know if we could effectively create this without technical issues, as we have nothing but a camera and a basic tripod. Therefore, we needed to come up with an effective way of creating a relatively smooth shot to replicate the track movement, without creating too much blur or shaking. We came to realise that the best way to do this was by putting the camera on the tripod but shutting the legs in and turning upside-down so that we could hold the legs of the tripod. We then edited the best shots together and the main thing we needed to do whilst editing was to learn how to flip the shot, as due to the angle we held the camera to create the right motion, the camera was upside-down. This test footage also gave us practice and got us used to the new editing software so we could understand how to do things such as transitions, we will be using this same editing software, which is 'Adobe Premier Pro CS6', to create our final cut for our actual music video. Overall we are pleased with the outcome, however the thing we did realise is that the very poor quality of the camera makes the shot look unprofessional and does not give quite the same atmosphere we were looking for, however we now know that we can create this shot and what angles work best to help create the best effect.

Location Report: Upnor Castle

 We chose to use Upnor Castle as it was close and had an eerie feel to it that made it perfect for the soldier's base, especially with it's battle defenses of cannons and large wooden spikes sticking out of the walls. This really created a battle-like appearance to the 

 castle, which made it perfect for the soldier and his war environment. 
Upnor also provides a rather aesthetically pleasing location that will appeal to the audience whilst adding a more ominous atmosphere to the music video. 

 The castle is also rather large with many bare rooms and many floors that will allow us to use many different shots and angles to help us achieve the best atmosphere we can. At Upnor, there are many attributes that will aid us in our filming to give us as many locations as possible.

For example, there are towers,
steps and stairwells, tunnels, battlements, cannons and a small area that stands out into the river. These will all be useful during filming as they can help create a more dramatic atmosphere for our music video.

Location Report- Bluebell hill

Another location we will be using is Bluebell hill. This is because for the paint scenes and the sequence in which the 'peace' character is with the dogs etc. we need a rural setting which will create the desired natural peaceful feel, which is used in folk music videos. This is because we aim to create a contrast between the two characters which are the peace character, which will represent the light, and the soldier, which will represent the dark. We took a visit up to Bluebell hill and got a couple of photos of where we might like to film to help us get a better understanding of particular shots and areas. Whilst at Bluebell hill we also did a couple of tests shots, so that we could practice two shots in particular as we wanted to know if we could effectively create them. These shots include a time laps and also a walking, track type shot. We decided Bluebell hill in particular as for the paint scene we need an area which is quiet so that we can get some clear shots of the paint with no risk of other visitors getting into the frame, we found a particular wooded area spot that we felt would be effective to shoot the paint fight scene, whilst on our location report.