List of Technologies used during pop promotion

Hardware:

• Sony Z1 HD Camera & Mini DVs
• Mac Pro with Apple Cinema Display
• iPad with portable speakers
• iPhone
• Artificial Lighting
• Digital Stills Camera

Software & Web:

• Final Cut Pro
• Photoshop CS3
• Logic Pro 8
• 'Flashlight for iPhone 4' App
• Soundcloud for musichosting
• Flickr for image hosting
• Storyboarding Software for Mac
• Prezi for presenting ideas
• Polyvore for visualising costumes
• Facebook, AIM, Text, e-mail and Google Docs for communication and file transfers.

Shooting the Pop Promo: Exterior Shots

Above are some photographs I took during the exterior shoot for our pop promo.
Day 1:Setting out to Christchurch Park with all our things, we were more than ready to film the narrative. Straight from college, we got changed made our way to the location. First, we were taken aback in quite a bad way; the park had changed significantly since we'd last visited about 8 months ago. Large areas of the forested area had been cut back and the park had been modernised - this only affected one location of our shoot but we panicked slightly and wondered if the other areas we were hoping to shoot in had changed much.
Luckily, everything else was how we remembered so we got back on task and worked out a way to make the first location look (on camera) how it used to be and I think it worked extremely well given the circumstances. The forested pathway was (largely) still existent and it did look a lot fuller on camera than in person with some strategic framing.
With only two of us, the exterior shots were a bit tricky to film and we actually ended up framing ourselves and I'd shoot myself while Kira was in another area doing the same (we were thankful that the monitors on the DV cameras swiveled to face us!).
The shots we got in the park looked really beautiful and the framing and cinematography, for me, really surprised me - I've really improved since the start of this media course and my cinematography has come leaps and bounds since even my last piece of coursework. I think I know how to capture my ideas on film now which I was slightly shaky on last year. The fact that continuity was on our minds the whole time as well was another big indicator as to how far we've come; I think this shoot really made this clear which of course spurred us on!
We started to lose daylight on our first day of shooting (it was quite overcast anyway so we were shooting strategically when the sun reared). We decided we'd already shot a bulk of our footage and we were really working our way down the shot list so we agreed to come back in a week and film pick up shots.
Day 2:Coming back to the park, we were excited to have all of our footage captured and ready to edit so we wasted no time making our way to the final location; the dark tunnel on the other side of the park. We set up our cameras, framing the shot from some really obscure angles including an intensely-high-angled-shot. We then waited for about 20 minutes for the light to get to the level is was on the previous shooting day and commenced.
For some reason, continuity didn't seen to be working so we had to shoot the same thing about 3-4 times before we were happy (which I'm glad about as now we're in the editing process it glides together seamlessly).
Overall, even with the problems we faced on both days of shooting, I'm ecstatic with the results and think we did a really good job. On the whole, the weather was on outside throughout our time shooting and having a knowledge of exactly what we needed to shoot helped us out drastically. If anything, we shot too much (if you can ever shoot too much) so we had a lot to work with come editing time.

Crew Roles for Pop Promo

Given the size of our group, both Kira and myself have taken much more of a hands on approach regarding the various tasks needed to complete the Pop Promo for Lights. We are the cast, the crew and the band in our project and have shared the roles out equally.

Ben Halliday:

• Director
• Producer
• Cinematographer
• Art Director
• Editor
• Set Designer
• Vocal Producer
• Singer
• Stylist

Kira Knight:

• Director
• Producer
• Cinematographer
• Art Director
• Assistant Editor
• Set Designer
• Singer
• Stylist

Post by myself, Ben Halliday.

Shooting the pop promo: Studio footage

Kira and I met in the morning and made our way down to college quickly to get on our way with shooting. This was the first material we were capturing for the video so were equal amounts excited and hoping we'd thought everything through.

Getting to the studio, we wasted no time setting things up. There was a large black frame at the far end wall which was perfect for draping our fairy lights onto with black insulating tape. It took quite some time to get them all positioned fully (there was a lot!) but it payed off because once the lights were off, they looked really effective- especially on

camera when we shifted the focus.

Setting the lighting up was the next job, we roughly set up three point lighting and put orange gel filters on both the key light and fill light to give the location and band a nice golden glow - we chose to keep the back light the original colour as this provided a really nice flare into the camera and things were looking really good. After we'd perfected the three point lighting after positioning Kira in front of the camera, we had to work out the depth of focus to ensure the band were in focus whilst the fairy lights were completely blurred out which proved to be quite difficult as the cameras were letting too much light into the lens and insisted on autofocusing - in the end we reached a compromise though. Luckily, we hooked the cameras up to a large moniter so while we were performing, we could see ourselves and could make sure we were always in frame.

With two cameras, we did about 4 takes all the way through each, then about 3 of the chorus and two choruses with both Kira and myself in shot. We used my iPad connected to a pair of portable speakers so we could ensure that the lip syncing was perfect and that the cameras picked up the sound too. We then shot about 20 minutes worth of the lights going in and out of focus whilst panning and zooming which looked fantastic. Last of all, we filmed about 15 minutes each of dancing and posing in front of the cameras which was really beneficial as it looks great in the edit.

I'm really happy with how the shoot turned out - although were instances where things could have turned problematic, the way Kira and I worked through it proactively definitely payed off and we were left with some fantastic footage to work with.

Call Sheet for Pop Promo: Forest/Park Shoot

Please click to expand Call Sheets.

Call Sheets by myself, Ben Halliday.

Costume

Kira and I have got together and designed a Polyvore Set each to illustrate our ideas for the costumes for our pop promotion. Polyvore is a great online tool for quickly and accurately putting together outfit ideas thematically and I thought it would be a great way to channel our creativity and showcase what we had in mind for the music video and building a star image for GLITTERKNIGHT whilst utilising new media.

My own Polyvore Set:

In my Polyvore Set, there is a lot going on! It follows the theme of lots of blacks, whites and golds with the occasional bold pop of colour. Glitter and sequins, different textures and sizes are my aim here and I think this sums up my half of GLITTERKNIGHT. The clothing here definitely illustrates what GLITTERKNIGHT is for myself and helps drastically in creating the star image that we are trying to achieve by building a collection of statement pieces and representing ourselves in a way that is easily received but also in a way that cultivates a lot of interest.

Kira's Polyvore Set:

Kira's Polyvore Set brings the femininity into GLITTERKNIGHT in a very chic, edgy, recognisable way. Like in my own set, statement pieces and having a strong theme and personality with the costumes is absolutely key to building the star image that we need to grow as a band and a brand. Blacks and creams are the main colour point but similarly to mine, a pop of colour (red) is used to shake up the image a little bit. Vintage jewelery, red lips and heels are Kira's staple here along with (similarly to myself) studs, playing around with oversized pieces and statement shoes.

Visit Polyvore by clicking here

Promotional Package Idea 1

Since my blog post displaying my idea for the album cover and direction we were to take the overall design for the promotional material, my idea has developed significantly as shown above.

This, again, is just another development of my idea for the promotional material and is by no means the finished product, there's a lot more to be done! Instead of two silhouettes, the band are now at the forefront of the album cover design. This picture fits in perfectly with our ideas for the music video in terms of mise-en-scene. The costumes fit in perfectly with the theme

Promotional Material Credit: Myself, Ben Halliday.

Location: The Narrative

All photographs by myself (Ben Halliday)
Following the Location finders checklist, (the blog post where I researched whether or not this location was suitable for the exterior shots) Kira and I went and visited the location again and I took some pictures to illustrate what kind of areas we're planning to shoot in. This trip to the location only confirmed what we already thought; that this is a beautiful place to shoot and is perfect for shooting.
Upon arriving to the park, it was very unfamiliar to us as they had cut down a large portion of the forest area in the park that we were hoping to shoot in. Thinking this would be detrimental to the narrative's location, we decided to look around and find alternatives. What we did find, I think, was really lovely and definitely fitted with what we were hoping to achieve for the look and feel in the narrative.
In the daytime, the park isn't unbearably busy so it gives us a decent amount of time to shoot without too many disturbances even though we do plan to shoot in the afternoon when it picks up a little crowd-wise. The last three pictures in the slideshow are absolutely beautiful, especially with the sun at that time of day. I think a large proportion of the narrative will be shot around this area because it has a really mystical, natural and raw feel to it which is exactly what is required for the shoot.
The bridge, and the surrounding area, also translates really well on camera as you can see above and I think using this in the pop promo will only compliment the mise-en-scene. Perhaps a chase across the bridge or some high/low angles? I'll keep you updated on that but I especially like the framing of the photograph above and strongly think we should include a shot similar to that in the final product.

Promotional Package Idea 2

Artwork Credit: Kira Knight