1st green screen shoot

07/10/2011
Tonight we filmed the performance sections against the green screen. There were many problems that we had to overcome before we actually got to film! I bought a 50's style microphone head for 'Caro' to sing into,  however when we tried to attach it to a modern mic stand, it would not fit. We had to improvise with hair bands and tissues! Another issue we had to overcome was the size of the room. It meant when Ashlea stood in position, the camera could not see the rest of the dress.

I am very pleased with how close our costume resembles our design, but with the room restrictions, you could not see the skirt. Hopefully we will have another green screen shoot in the drama studio where we can shoot some 'back stage' black and white shots where we can show the full dress.

These photos show the set up of the room. We had 2 lights angled to the greens screen to eliminate shadows and 2 angled at where the artist would be standing. The camera was positioned in the middle, as far back as possible. 

In total we spent 4 hours, 2 were spent getting Ashlea ready which we thought would only take 1 hour. This time will hopefully go down when we do our next shoot. 

I feel that we learnt a lot from our first experience of directing a music video. I was surprised at how different our actor behaved when put in front of the camera. We had chosen her mainly for her loud, bubbly and comic personality but when we started filming, all this was gone and she was very self conscious and did not look at the camera at first. Once we realised this is what had happened, Sarah and I both tried to give as much energy and make her feel relaxed. eventually and only occasionally, her normal funny side was revealed. We had to adapt very quickly to the new, more difficult situation but I feel it did start to go well. 

Make up and Hair trial

To save time, and make sure we get it right on the day of filming we decided to 'practice' the hair and make up. 

I used Sketchbook Copic Edition to cut
out the background on these photos.

The Hair:


We read a step by step guide of how to do a 'behive' up do.
I then tried it out on sarah's hair. I feel it went well considering it was a first attempt. I now feel that I can style the actor quicker on the day of the shoot.


The Make up:


I found applying make up to someone else's face quite tricky (especially to the eyes). I had tried to create our design on myself at first, to be sure it worked in real life as well as on paper. The eye liner did not turn out as i had drawn it, however, overall thick eye liner effect looks very 1950's.  I am very pleased that we had a trial run before the day of the shoot!

To save time and materials, I
only applied it to one side

Locations

We have finalised the locations we want to use for the narrative and used google maps to virtually travel between them, seeing how long it will take to move from each one.


This first photo is of the cafe 'Rocotillos'. We have chosen this cafe because of its 50's diner theme. will take photos of inside on day of shoot

We wanted a pathway that was fairly neutral, and didn't have any modern references. This is the closest we could find. we will have to frame the shot carefully so as not to get any cars in.

We will also use some neutral green spaces with trees for some of the build up shots.

This fountain in bristol provides an interesting location for some of the 'hiding' sequences. The pillars will also be useful for a 'Scooby-doo-esque' jump cut sequence. Where the actors appear to move between the pillars unseen.

Real Costume Pieces

These are photos (some we took ourselves, some from the internet) of the costumes for each character, performance and narrative. I am pleased with how close most costumes are to our designs. Unfortunately finding black and white mens brogues for our 'That Man' was not possible.

Make up Design

One of the most famous fashion icons
of the 50's  gave us a lot of inspiration

The image with a red circle is the photo we took 
our inspiration for our eye liner design. 

(click to enlarge)

I drew out this make up design for 2 reasons. To make sure that both sarah and I are working from the same image and as a way of collecting all the inspiration and ideas from the mood board and our individual web research. I used a mixture of 'pro-marker' pens and water colours to achieve as professional design as I could. I have also written out a step by step guide of how the look would be created so that if I was doing something else on the day of the shoot, sarah could follow the instructions and get the actor ready, saving time.

(the hair design is only for the performance costume)

Planning Checklist

COSTUME


Caro - Ashlea Brooks 

• blue/white spot dress with 50's style big skirt, get net underskirt if needed
• Red necklace and bangle 
• Red/white 40's spot tea dress 
• Perl necklace and bracelet
• 50's style glasses
• Beige mac
• Black and white brogues (not matter if heels or flats)
• Tan tights 
• Brown trilby hat 

''That Man'' - Arron Shaw

• White shirt 
• Thin 50's style tie 
• Black trousers 
• Black and white brogues (or if too expensive = black shoes)

MAKE UP AND HAIR

'Caro'

• Foundation 
• Concealer
• Pale blusher
• Mascara 
• Black liquid eye-liner
• Red lipstick 
• eye-brow pencil
• 2 natural eye shadow shades 
• Hairspray 
• Grips (blonde)
• Curlers or heated appliance 

That Man - test for light if needed light concealer for shine?

PROPS

• 50's style paper with eye holes
• Photo of ''That Man''
• 50's style microphone 
• 50's style phone
• Dice x2

LOCATIONS

• Rocotillos = 50's diner style cafe = get permission to film there 
• Green screen = for performance 
• Paths and hiding places in bath or bristol. Preferably neutral with no modern references. (Will post pictures when we film)