Youtube

We have uploaded our video to youtube! Heather created a new account called 'imnotdeadyetpro' meaning I'm Not Dead Yet! (which is what we have named our production company) productions. We named our video 'Another Zombie Bites The Dust', so that it is slightly unique and shows the concept of our music video. So far we have 34 views, however we are going to show more people and post in on facebook so we can see what people think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mxSWDaJVNI

Use of Technology

To film our music video we have used several types of technology. The main one being a standard digital camera. We used this because we could use it for free, it was easy to transport around, and it provided a decent quality. We could also replay the shots we have captured so if we didn’t like one, we could film it again, instead of realising the shot wasn’t right when we came to edit it. For very few shots we used a tripod, this was because we wanted to be able to get up close to the zombies at all angles which we wouldn’t be able to do with a tripod in the way.
To edit the video we used Final Cut Pro on an apple mac. This allowed us to crop the clips, add effects and get the video looking how we imagined it. By using a computer we could use the internet to add posts to our blogs, do some research into make up techiques, costumes, etc and watch music videos on youtube to decide how our video was going to look.

We also went into the media studio at college and captured some shots using the green screen and using HD cameras. These cameras provided us with much higher quality clips. We did this just incase we didn’t have enough footage or footage that suited the video. In the end we decide we were going to use one of these shots of Liz and Beatrix performing, and Matt came out from behind us. We used an image from our location of lots of trees which hid most of the gardens behind us to give a mysterious effect as if you don’t know what’s out there. This is the image we used:

Introducing Characters

We have decided that we are going to add stills into our video to introduce each band member. We have photoshopped comical names that we have made up in bloody style writing to fit in with our theme. Matt's is "Matt-rix", Liz's is "Lizard", Beatrix's is "Beatle" and Jack's is "Jack In The Box".

To do this we print screened them from the video, and added the writing in Photoshop. We then inserted them back into the video on Final Cut Pro.

Facebook Group

This is the facebook group we made for our first filming attempt. However not everbody who said they were attending showed up. So for our second filming attempt we just used the word of mouth technique which proved more successful.

Meeting Notes

We are fast approaching the deadline for the video and it is coming along very nicely. We have added in lots of effects which we will shortly post about. The transitions are looking good as they fade into each other and we have decide to shorten the shots so the cut rate is quite quick resembling a horror type video. However because of this our footage doesn't stretch to fit the whole song, so we are going to incorporate the shots we took in the green screen and against the wall in the garden.

While we are editing, we are also finishing the magazine advert which is based on You Me At Sixes 'Hold Me Down'. We don't need to use photographs for this advert as it is graphic based.

We are also planning to do a photoshoot when we have finished the editing for our CD pack on photoshop, which is based on Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' album where the four band members are on the front. We are going to also photoshop these photos so that they are under a darker light and in the same arrangement as the Queen album but with the singer at the top and the drummer at the bottom so we can have Jack's drumsticks in it where Freddie's hands are in the original.

Pictures from the day of filming

Zombie's and their make up:











Ripping clothes:





Zombie and lead singer (Matt):



Bassist (Liz):

Final Magazine Plan

The magazine advert will be absolutely spectacular! We got the idea from You Me At Six's magazine advert for the album "hold me down", however we're going to take a different twist to it and relate it more to our video. We are thinking about changing the yellow colours to red colours so that it relates to our theme but we have no concrete ideas for the design except we are thinking of changing the roses to skulls so they match the 'death' theme. We have been concentrating on editing the video as the deadline for the video is sooner than the magazine advert and CD pack, however I (Matt) have photoshop at home so I will have a play about and come up with some ideas.

We are also planning on adding a Blackberry app logo to the bottom to advertise the album to those with blackberry's and make the advert look more realistic.

CD pack

So while editing, doing the storyboard and among other things, we have been designing a CD pack, with four pages (1. Cover, 2. Track list, 3. acknowledgments 4. back page picture). The front cover will be an imitation of the bohemian rhapsody album by Queen, only with a little twist; the four band members will be in full zombie make-up, and the eyes will all be edited to be either all white, or all black. The second page, the track list, will include a small picture of the two male band members standing back to back against a brick wall, with faded edges, fading to black to match the colour of the rest of the page. In the empty space there will be a full track list including another one bites the dust, which is our video production. The third page will be in the same style, with the small picture in the corner closest to the centre of the booklet, this time of the two female band members against a brick wall. The empty space will be paying thanks to everyone involved (volunteers, STS studio productions, the taxi drivers, and college). The back cover will be a group shot of the band, still in zombie make up in line and looking directly at the camera along with the name of the band above them, in the same blood-text as seen in the video production.

Magazine advert ideas

Another idea we could use is Green Day's 'American Idiot'.

However instead of the grenade in the hand we were thinking we could have a zombie hand fist pumping as the zombie's are representing the bands fans at the end of our music video. The colour scheme on Green Days advert also fits in with our colour scheme. This advert is also slightly comical which is also how our video is supposed to be seen. On the inside we would carry on this colour scheme and perhaps add some more close ups of various zombies, such as their eyes or mouth with blood around them, etc. We also like the fact that the text is slightly rugged in place which gives the album an unclean feel to it.

Magazine advert ideas

Another idea we are considering using is this advert of Razorlight's 'Slipway Fires.'

We like that the lighting highlights each members face and gives a sinister and dark feel to the album. We also like the way the white text stands out on the black background the that the text is getting smaller towards the bottom.

On the inside we can have a picture of the whole band together on the inside with the same lighting effect throughout. The text on the inside would be white on a black background to follow the scheme on the front. Although we could perhaps have the text in red or the band dressed in red so that it follows our colour scheme throughout the video.

Magazine advert ideas

We have done some research into magazine adverts. We have found a few that we like. We need to include the band name, which we have now decided is "The Living Dead" as it fits with the nature of our song, when the CD is out, some pretend reviews at the bottom of the advert, the main tracks and some other things to make it seem like a real magazine advert.

We liked the close up of La Roux's face in this one. We were thinking that we could have Matt's face with zombie make up on, and "The Living Dead" in a large font above him. We also like the idea that the advert is split into two halves. This draws the readers attention to the close up of the face and the artist's title and then they see when it's out, track list ect.

La Roux has her own style, which is what we wanted to achieve with our video. We wanted it to be unique and original and we think that La Roux ressembles this.

CD cover ideas

As we are doing a queen song we are liking the idea of doing a 'bohemian rhapsody' style CD cover with the four band members (Liz, Beatrix, Matt and our friend Jack) faces in a circle around the cover. Like this:

We think with the right lighting and the right make up, this could look very effective as it looks quite spooky and mysterious. We are going to have the lead singer, Matt, at the top as he is the main guy, even though in Queen, Freddie is at the bottom. Beatrix and Liz, the two guitarists are going to be at the sides. And Jack is going to be at the bottom and be holding his drum sticks like where Freddie's hands are.

CD cover ideas

Another good idea to use would be Bon Jovi's 'What You Got'.

We like the idea of showing the whole band members bodies and clothing. This way we can use our costumes to our advantage so that the cover looks very effective and draws the viewers attention to it. We also like the fact the name of the band is very eye catching and the way the album is black and white, which gives a spooky effect. We would however, change the background to a different image. We are thinking about using a photo of the park in the background with lots of trees where the zombies came out.

CD cover ideas

We have had lots of ideas of our CD pack that we will consider when making our final idea.

One CD cover we liked was The Darkness' 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love'.

We like the idea of having a graphic on the front cover and it is a comical graphic which is like the video. We like the idea of the hand coming through the heart as it resembles a death theme, like our video. Although it doesn't fit in with the zombie theme, it still has a dark side to it. It also follows our colour theme of black, red and white. We could have something like this on the front, and then maybe the bands pictures on the inside and more graphics following the 'death' or 'zombie' theme and the colour scheme throughout.

More Meeting Notes

We are still in the process of editing the video. We have put all our clips into the time line. It it starting to resemble a realistic music video. Now, we need to change the lighting, edit in contact lenses and we decided we weren't going to wear them on the day and edit them in instead. We also need to speed up the action shots of the band attacking the zombies as at the moment you can tell that it is not authentic. We are also going to add in some effects from cartoon style clips.

Such as:

This gives our video a less serious feel as it's quite a comical zombie video, a bit like Shaun of the Dead.

We are also arranging to do a photo shoot just for our CD pack and magazine advert. We are going to dress up again like zombies again do a 'Bohemian Rhapsody' style CD cover with the four faces on the front. Matt currently studies photography so he knows how to get a perfect picture so we think it is going to look quite effective.

Meeting Notes

Last week, after a successful day filming we are now moving on to editing. Matt has been converting files so that they can be edited in Final Cut Pro and is going through the shots we want to use to put them into a timeline and is also putting the music file in so that we can edit the video to match the song.

Heather is writing up about when we went in the studio to record some green screen. And went to went outside in Loreto College grounds to get some back up footage just incase our main filming didn’t quite go to plan.

Beatrix is drawing up our final CD cover and magazine advert ideas which we can scan in to upload to the blog.

Liz writing up these meeting notes and writing up how successful Saturday 12^th November was, which is when we went filming.

Second Filming Attempt

Despite the few problems we faced our second attempt at filming was a huge success! Everybody showed up, nobody was late, we got all the shots we needed and we managed to borrow a drum kit, complete with symbols.

We started with doing everybody else’s make up so that it was out of the way. This was done by applying a very light foundation to give that pale skin effect. Then everybody was given black eyes and some eye shadow in areas on the face to give a dirty look. Then we applied some fake blood to give a realistic effect. This was applied to the face, arms, neck and clothing which was also ripped. We decided that our video was going to have a less serious feel and a more comical feel to it, due to the nature of the song we have chosen.

We took some picture of us and some of our 'zombies' on the day which will be uploaded in a few posts time.

Next, we got some shots of the band running, as if away from the zombies. Then they each entered the park, and when we’re editing we’re going to stop each shot of the bands faces and edit in each name, and role next to them.

The band then looked to the side and saw a zombie emerging from the bushes, Beatrix then runs towards it with her guitar and hits it over the head. We got a few close up shots of the zombie on the ground too. We also attacked several other zombies with the rest of the instruments, which we are going to speed up in editing due to not wanting to hurt our actors. Slowly one by one, we had zombies emerge from all over St Johns Gardens to give an apocalypse effect. They slowly surround the band eventually turning them into zombies. After this the zombies turn into the bands “fans” and start jumping and dancing.

We spent a whole day filming this as we decided to get lots and lots of shots of each scene so that we had a choice of shot to use when we come to edit. The day went very well except for a few minor problems. The first problem we faced was figuring out how to set up the drum kit. We hired one from STS Studio Productions (huge credit to them!) who very kindly gave us discount, however they gave us the drum kit all apart. So we spent approximately half an hour of our time setting up the stands and putting the kit in the right place, as we didn’t have great knowledge on how drum kits are set up. However while we were doing this, the rest of our crew got on with doing their make up.

The other problem was some very aggressive homeless men that decided they didn’t care if we got in the way of shots or not! We spoke to them very politely but they were having none of it, stating that it was their right to be here as much as it was ours and using threatening language. Eventually after much persuading they said they would move out of the way if we gave them some spare change.

Problems during second filming

During our second attempt of filiming we came across a few issues. The first one was how to transport the drum set from the apollo threate to the St John's park. I managed to hire a black cab, and get all 7 boxs of various sizes into the cab including myself. And also having to set the drum kit up took quite some time.

Another issue we later discovered was that our of our band members, Beatrix had dyed her hair from blonde to red, and due to not having enough time, as some of our zombies had to leave to visit one of there friends in hospital, we were unable to retake the shots with her red hair. That caused another issue as it ment we were forced to rush the filming of our project, as they only told us at the last minute.

Finally our last and worse problem we encounted was the hostile and agressive homeless people that were causing problems for us. They would not leave us alone in the production of our work, and were threating to damage our istruments, this ment that in the last section of our filming where the band was performing had to be rushed as the homeless people were getting more impatient every second, as they believed that the park belonged to them, and we had no right to film there. As a result we had to pay them off, but because we were unsure, and worrided that if they were to attack that the drumset that I hired could be damaged, which would mean the £2,000 drumset would have to be replaced. Finally, though the weather was good, the sun was causing issues for the quality of the camera, as it was shining directly onto the lens in some shots, resulting in my hand having to try and cover the shot, and as you could imagine, my hand got in the shot sometimes. But what we gathered that day, and after all the misfortune, I personally believe we have captured some good shots, and will be able to produce a good video. Heather

Back up shots

We decided as a group that incase anything was to go wrong with our original plan, i.e. we did not have enough shots for the timeline, or some were not useable; that we would create some back up shots in the studio, using green screen. This would allow us to add in our own shots with different backgrounds, so if we wanted we could use some of the green screen shots in our original plan. After taking the shots we decided we could use them in our actual project, at the end of the original plan, during the solo part with no vocals.

We could also using them at the beginning as a way of introducing the band. We want to introduce each member with their name and role (lead singer, guitarist, bassist and drummer) and we wanted to capture it in a comical way such as like the film Scott Pilgrim. However we are going to use a bloody effect to fit in with our zombie/death theme. We like this style.

Heather

A little late....

Okay so, admittedly this post is late, but here it is:-

Our first attempt at filming went horribly wrong. First of all, only five volunteers showed up, and then two band members for one reason or another couldn't film that day. Then, having no means of contact, another band member didn't realise the disaster that was slowly unfolding, and so picked up the hired drum kit and went to the filming location. Then people realised that there was no fake blood available, no make up, and no means of making the five volunteers that showed up look like zombies.

However, an advantage of this post being late, is that we can see just how well the second attempt went. We got all the shots we need, several more volunteers than we needed (which made everything look so much better), and most important of all, we can now start editing and looking at our CD packs.

Much thanks to all the volunteers, STS studio productions (where we hired the drum kit), and everyone else that, in one way or another, contributed to the project.

Love Y'all!

Matt :)

Shot List

We are planning on using the following shots in this order, however on the day, this may be changed.

1. Close up of bands feet running

2. Medium shot of band running into the park

3. Medium shot of each band member

4. Close up of instruments

5. Close up of first zombie’s hand

6. Long shot of zombie coming out of the bushes

7. Medium shot of Beatrix attacking zombie

8. Close up of zombies face on the floor

9. Long shot of second zombie walking towards band

10. Long shot of two more zombies walking towards band

11. Group shot of the band walking forwards

12. Three shot of the zombies walking forwards

13. Medium shots of each zombie being attacked

14. Medium long shot of zombies surrounding the band

15. Jump cut of normal band and then zombie band

16. Medium long shot of band playing

17. Medium long shot of band playing with zombies hands waving

18. Medium long shot of band playing with zombies dancing behind