DIY Lighting

I found this article giving us tips on DIY lighting which we will need as we are doing some outdoor scenes.




Professional lighting kits for video and photography are very expensive. Fortunately for the budget-impaired enthusiast, it is possible to put together a perfectly adequate lighting kit for less than £100

A good beginner's lighting kit should include:

• Three (or more) lights with stands
• Reflector board(s)
• Power cables, extension leads and a multi-box.

The Lights

The standard budget light is the halogen work lamp which can be found at any hardware store or purchased at amazon.com for as little as $US10. These come with or without a stand and range from around 150W to 500W.

The stand-less units have a small handle and can be rested on any solid surface such as a table or the floor. This is not ideal for your main lights but it can be useful for fill lighting, backgrounds, etc. In any case these units are so cheap that it can't hurt to buy a couple.

Lights with stands are more versatile and you should have at least one of these (preferably two or three). Try to find a stand which goes up to around 2 metres (the height of a tall person). Taller than 2 metres would be even better but this type of light stand doesn't normally go that high.

Some lights (like the W12665 unit pictured) can be used with or without the stand, making them even more versatile.

One drawback of these cheap lights is that the colour of the light is quite yellow. As long as you white-balance your camera this isn't a huge issue, but if you want the best quality lighting you can try one of these solutions:

1. Purchase a 32K white bulb (ask your hardware supplier).
2. Place a coloured gel in front of the light to correct the colour.

Speaking of gels, the other big drawback of these lights is that there is no built-in system for mounting accessories like gels and diffusers. You can improvise by creating a wire holder or separate stand for accessories.

You will also find that you can't alter the spread of these lights, i.e. from floodlight to spotlight. This is not a big concern for most people but if you do need this functionality you might need to consider a professional video lighting kit.

Reflectors

Professional reflector boards are used to add or control light in a scene. You can make your own from just about any large reflective object, although the exact colour and reflectivity will obviously affect your lighting. Common suggestions for an improvised reflector include:

• Windshield sunshade (pictured)
• Sheet of foamcore
• Polystyrene sheet
• Stiff cardboard, or tin foil on cardboard (try both sides of the foil for different effects)
• Whiteboard
• Survival blanket (gold on one side and silver on the other)

Hobby shops have a lot of items which may be of interest. Online auction sites are also worth checking as reflectors can often be found fairly cheap there.

Power

You will need a few power extension cables of varying lengths, plus one or more multi-boxes with built-in trip switches. It helps to have a separate carry case for power cables.

Safety

• Lights get very hot! Seriously, you can burn yourself badly or set fire to things.
• Lights can draw a lot of current so be careful not to overload power sources.
• If you're working outside, use an isolating transformer on your power.

Keyboard Shortcuts FCPx (Very Useful)

This video gives an overview of all the shortcuts within Final Cut Pro x which will help us navigate the software more effectively. Which will be useful for when we are editing our final project.

Some Lighting Terms

Ambient Light	The light already present in a scene, before any additional lighting is added.
Incident Light	Light seen directly from a light source (lamp, sun, etc).
Reflected Light	Light seen after having bounced off a surface.
Colour Temperature	A standard of measuring the characteristics of light, measured in kelvins.
Contrast Ratio	The difference in brightness between the brightest white and the darkest black within an image.
Key Light	The main light on the subject, providing most of the illumination and contrast.
Fill Light	A light placed to the side of the subject to fill out shadows and balance the key light.
Back Light	A light placed at the rear of a subject to light from behind.
Hard Light	Light directly from a source such as the sun, traveling undisturbed onto the subject being lit.
Soft Light	Light which appears to "wrap around" the subject to some degree. Produces less shadows or softer shadows.
Spot	A controlled, narrowly-focused beam of light.
Flood	A broad beam of light, less directional and intense than a spot.
Tungsten	Light from an ordinary light bulb containing a thin coiled tungsten wire that becomes incandescent (emits light) when an electric current is passed along it. Tungsten colour temperature is around 2800K to 3400K. Also known as incandescent light.
Halogen	Type of lamp in which a tungsten filament is sealed in a clear capsule filled with a halogen gas.
Fresnel	A light which has a lens with raised circular ridges on its outer surface. The fresnel lens is used to focus the light beam.
Incandescent	Incandescent lamps produce heat by heating a wire filament until it glows. The glow is caused by the filament's resistance to the current and is calledincandescence.

Lighting

The intensity, direction, and quality of lighting have a profound effect on the way an image is perceived. Light (and shade) can emphasise texture, shape, distance, mood, time of day or night, season, glamour; it affects the way colors are rendered, both in terms of hue and depth, and can focus attention on particular elements of the composition. We feel that lighting will be a challenge within our production which is why we have hired a specialist light technician to set up the lighting within our set, this will make it more realistic and effective, but if any problems do arise post filming i feel colour correction will be a very effective tool for us to use and below is a tutorial of how it works and a step by step guide to using it.

Camera effects

This video will give us help with one of our most important scenes. We are trying to create the effect that our actor is intoxicated using a distorted effect. This video contains tips to try and develop this scene.


James

Markers Final Cut Pro x

Because James and i are working on the project together and often at different times, markers within final cut pro x will help us to keep track of our progress and highlight editing that needs to be completed, i feel markers are very useful tools and will help us to keep on track with our schedule and meet deadlines effectively

Photos of Our actors

First filming

We have decided that we are going to start filming on Sunday 18th December from 1-4pm. We are going to introduce our actors to both of our locations to familiarise them with it. We will talk them through the ideas and our forecasted final result. We will show the group the schedule and ask them if they have any new ideas or questions. We then will begin to film, shooting our first scene. This is the scene when the male is being thrown out of the house.




James

Contact List

We are going to start filming on sunday preferably, so we feel organisation is important, i have created a list of the various contact numbers and email addresses of our producers and actors to make sure we can get in contact with them if an emergency arises.

How To Shoot A Music Video

I was researching on the internet looking for some tips on how to create an effective music video and i came across a website, which gives 10 tips on how to shoot a music video, i feel this will be really helpful to James and Myself, the 10 tips are as follows:

1. Choose your song
2. Get a team and equipment together
3. Plan your shoot
4. Filming
5. Capture live footage
6. Use stock footage
7. Editing
8. Get the right software and hardware
9. Be creative
10. Few extra tips

There is a paragraph on each of these sections and i feel that if we follow some of the instructions given we could improve our production massively

http://musicians.about.com/od/musicindustrybasics/ss/makeavideo.htm

Interesting Demographic Figures

Here is some interesting demographic figures of the original Coldplay - Fix You video, it also gives detailed information on how Coldplay reached their audiences over different mediums and i think James and I could try to use this data to make decisions surrounding our target demographic and which medium we will use to publicise our production. We could also use these distribution channels to try to gain as much feedback as possible on our Animatic.

Feedback Responses From Presentation

These are the replies to each of the questions which were on our feedback form which was presented to the class during our presentation, we gained a lot of excellent feedback from this exercise and we will incorporate some of these ideas into our production.


What were the strengths of the ideas about our production? What did you find most enjoyable and why?

• Great message, speaks against alcoholism and drug abuse. Feel it is a good storyline to watch.
• I feel that the video represents a very common problem in todays society and this allows the audience to relate to it. 
• I believe that the concept is strong and relevant to the mood and feeling of the song. I really enjoyed the memories of the man's family with the instrumental.
• Great camera shots (close up of hand throwing clothes out of the window) Emotional story, I enjoyed the flashbacks
• Emotionally powerful story as it tackles drug and alcohol issues, powerful imagery.
• I feel that the idea is very good, it is especially relevant to life today in Northern Ireland.
• Very good concept, good storyboard and dealt with the challenging subject well.
• Storyboard well drawn
• Very relevant and topical, appeals to and resonates with lots of people, shows depression and hopelessness
• Good idea, appropriate theme, good demographic

Which parts of our idea did you find least enjoyable? why?

• No miming.
• Depressing theme towards the beginning but soon becomes more feel-good, so this matters little.
• None, i enjoyed it all and found it very engaging.
• I didn't particularly enjoy the constant viewing of pictures as it is a little generic for my liking.
• All enjoyable.
• Not a lot, I thought it was all very well put together with a great idea.
• Felt it was quite long.
• May start off slow but the pace should change as the man gets angry.

What do you think was the message being portrayed within our video?

• Dependance and anger, all things caused by addiction
• Alcohol abuse, loneliness, addiction and loss
• How alcoholism destroys families and how rehabilitation is necessary to combat drug use
• That the love of a persons family is strong enough to overcome addiction
• I think we can all empathise with struggling and going through desperate times that there is always hope which we can live on
• How alcohol can ruin peoples lives, regret and overcoming problems
• Effects of alcoholism, especially on a family regret and loss
• Redemption and overcoming demons
• It is very relevant to todays society with the drinking and drug taking.
• The separation of a family due to drug abuse, problems they face, relevant to fixing a drug problem.

Do you think any changes could be made to the video to make it more engaging for the viewer?

• No it is good
• Miming would give a more personal feel to the video
• Nothing i can think of, fool-proof plot, the idea of the flashbacks are brilliant in particular
• I feel that this video could be amazing if you do it the way it was presented
• I think there is less emphasis on the hurt of the family. The clothes are thrown out but I think it would be worth contrasting the hurt of both the man and woman
• No, it was very engaging
• I can't think of anything
• I feel that if the video sticks to the animatic and you can manage to portray the effect alcoholism and drug abuse can have on families within your video it will be brilliant
• The animatic and storyboard are very strong and fixed
• Should be made more obvious that he was thrown out for drink and drugs.

Feedback cont..

The video portrays the effects alcohol and drug abuse can have on families?


90% of respondents answered with strongly agree
10% of respondents answered with Agree


The actions on screen represent the lyrics within fix you?


30% of respondents answered with strongly agree
70% of respondents answered with agree


The secondary theme of drug abuse is apparent?


20% of respondents answered with strongly agree
60% of respondents answered with agree
20% of respondents answered with Neither agree nor disagree


The locations for our production suit the theme within the video


40% of respondents answered with strongly agree
60% of respondents answered with agree


Respondents were also asked if they have any other comments of ideas:

• Should provide chances for many cinematic shots
• Difficult concept to tackle because some demographics may not be suitable. However well felt with/ tasteful. Great idea. 
• I feel that the video is set to be brilliant just the way it is.
• If you can pull it off and make sure the acting is convincing then it will be really good.
• Animatic was great- good camera shots 
• Think the switch from alcoholic to happy parent is too fast and unexpected. 

Feedback

After Our presentation we gained valuable feedback from our forms and we are going to post the responses which we received

Gavin

Animatic

Diary of a Functioning alcoholic

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/women_shealth/3353436/Diary-of-a-functioning-alcoholic.html

I read this article relating to different types of alcoholics. It was shocking to read that young professionals would rely on Alcohol to get through their day. It is quite striking to realise that the term alcoholic isn't only a description of an individual sitting on "Hungerford Bridge with a brown paper bag". Many are in denial and don't realise the damage that they are inflicting on their family, friends, colleagues etc. This is the central theme of our video. We originally thought of using a homeless description for our actor but we think it would be more relevant to the recession and the social demographic of Northern Ireland to use a professional who is reliant on alcohol to get through the day. Our main character is going to have an addiction and this is going to filter into his family life until he losses his family we are then going to follow through a period of destruction and rehabilitation. The length of this period will be up to the viewers disgretion. We will then see him coming back to his wife.


MR James 

Feedback Form

Here our screenshots of our feedback form which we will use to gain critical evaluation from our classmates when we pitch these ideas to the class on friday, I feel these questions are broad enough to give James and I enough feedback so we can sit down at a later date and quantify this data and adapt our project to the feedback which we receive.

Gavin

Risk Assessment

Animatic

I created the animatic within iMovie, it gave James and I a brief overview of the video layout and we are really pleased with how it looks, the drawings within the animatic give it a very realistic feel as they were drawn by an art student within our year group. James is now creating a risk assessment for our project while i am completing a calendar which combines both of our commitments so we can decide when filming is feasible, We are really pleased with how the project is going so far and the schedule is helping us stay on track very effectively.


Gavin

Screenshot of Animatic Production

Gavin

Part 2

Part 3

Family Home Location

(14 Cambourne Park)

Here is the location which we will use for the family home within our Music Video. It is James' house so it will be fairly reliable to use, we chose this location because there is lighting available for outside the house and the driveway has a sloping effect which will be useful for the scene when he is back tracking away from his home, there is also a lot of open space at the front of the house which we feel will make the mise en scene more effective as there is place for props and other utilities for example a children's bike which will help the audience realise that the man being thrown out of his house is not only leaving his wife but his child and therefore the woman will have to cope as a single mother which is a chilling thought, therefore engaging the viewer from the off.

Gavin

I am going to upload a GANT Chart which i created in Google Documents which will help with our process and help us meet deadlines more effectively

Abandoned House Location

This location is an abandoned house within Bristow Park, after initially discovering this location we discovered that it would be difficult to use without permission so we plan on getting in contact with the landord to discover wether the premises will be available for use. Because it is still in production the scene is perfect for us as we can have a small fire in a plant pot in the room  and the texture within the house will have a great effect on the mise en scene.

Gavin

Change of plans

We contacted the chief examiner regarding our idea for our video. We were a little unsure regarding our hard hitting and thought provoking idea. The examiner recommended that we change our idea slightly and instead of having drug use at the forefront of our production that we be more suggestive and let the viewer make their own assumptions. We could understand this as many viewers may find the heroin scene disturbing. We have now adapted our original idea and added some new ideas to begin PLAN B. We are now going to use alcohol as the main problem within our video. There is still a very serious aspect attached with the over consumption and abuse of alcohol within the family unit. It can lead to domestic abuse and divorce. It may not be as serious as the heroin addiction but we believe we can still produce a hard hitting video with the Alcohol theme. We are still going to have a background theme of drugs but it will not be at the forefront of our video and will be less evident. We are now working on our story board to put our ideas into motion. We are now deciding on Actors. We have decided on our location and i will post up pictures of our locations. Our props will include a childs bike, rough clothing, large bottles of cider, rubbish, needles. Our budget is low so we will use what we have within our means. One of our scenes is carried out in an Adondened house so there will be no light present. We are going to use a small fire along with a car battery powering a light bulb.


James

Planning

Work out actors, locations, budget, props,, lighting, make up


Actors- Jack Cushinan, Nainsi McKernan 


Budget- £0


Props- Rough clothing, Alcohol, lighters, Needles, Fire lighters, bucket for fire, light bulb, car battery, food wrappers, blanket, newspapers, travel bag,


Lighting-  We plan to use a car battery  and a light bulb along with a small fire to add lighting effects as we won't have an electricity connection. 


Make up- The addict will have a dirty face and dirty hands after using the drugs.

Breakdown of our ideas

When you try your best
but you don't succeed
When you get what you want
but not what you need
When you feel so tired 
but you can't sleep 
Stuck in reverse


(Door Slams, The character is thrown out of his house. View from window of clothes being thrown down onto the driveway, then zoom in on characters face, he then lifts all his belongings and puts them in a carrier bag, over the shoulder shot of character backing away from the house as his son is standing with his hand against the window)


Transition to the next scene where our character is in the abandoned house


When tears come streaming
down your face
When you lose something 
you can't replace
When you love something 
that you can't replace
Could it be worse


(Character will be sitting with his head in his hands sitting up against the wall and wrapped up in scruffy clothes due to the seemingly cold weather, he then reaches into his traveller bag and lifts out his wallet and sees a family photo, he looks at it for a while then folds it up and throws it away, he then takes out the heroin)


Film will then fast-forward and transition to the character taking the heroin)


Lights will guide you home
and ignite your bones
I will try to fix you 


(Zoom in on lighter whilst he melts the heroin on the spoon and retracts with a syringe then rolls up his sleeves to unveil slits on his wrists to symbolise to the audience signs of self harming, he then injects himself)


Camera will then transition to a first person view of the character using an eyeline match


High up above or down below
When your too in love
to let it goo
Well if you never try
You'll never know
Just what your worth


(Eyeline match view of camera swaying with a blurred, distorted view. Zoom in on hand as he drops the needle and slow motion view from above of needle falling to the ground)


Camera will then get a medium shot of the character stumbling across the room and the fire burning in the middle of the room will be a main focus in this scene


Lights will Guide you home 
and ignite your bones
I will try to fix you 


(Fire in plant pot within the room, the light will scatter throughout the room and the character will glance over to the corner of the room and see his family photo lying there, he goes over lifts it then quickly grabs his things and runs out of the house, a camera view looking through the flames of him leaving the house)


Instrumental 55 Seconds


(Running home with flashbacks of being happy with his family e.g. pushing his kid on a swing, son scoring goal in back garden and he lifts him in the air, holding the child in his arm and kissing his wife) He then runs into his driveway and bangs on the door and backtracks into the driveway and is seen shouting for his wife.)


When tears stream down your face
When you lose something 
you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face
And I


Falls to his knees and a close-up of him crying and a view from inside the house of wife running out to him and hugging him, then a side shot will show reaction of wires face when she realises the mess he is in, she then drags him / carries him into the house.

Ideas

We have further researched coldplay and discovered our audience and demographics. We have decided to go on the idea of drug abuse and rehabilitation within our video, because as the tempo of the music increases within the song the mood will change and the character will show signs of getting their life back on track, we will now post examples of videos which have a common theme to ours and post our ideas about them

Ideas for the video

Opening scene




This music video is a life story and contains drug references. We are looking to incorporate similar themes into our video. There is some very meaningful transitions in this video like where the mother is looking at a photo album and this is the start of a new scene. There is one scene were the camera its blurred and we can clearly see drug use. This is definitely something we would like to use.

Snow patrol Album covers

Snow Patrol Final Straw Album Cover | Snow Patrol Album Covers


This is Snow patrols first album cover. It contained hits called spitting games and run which went on to be re-released by Leona Lewis. The release of Final Straw in the United States in 2004 saw the album sell more than 250,000 copies and become the 26th most popular album in the UK of that year. In mid-2005, during their tour to support Final Straw, the band toured with U2 as an opening act on U2's Vertigo Tour in Europe.







Snow Patrol Eyes Open Album Cover | Snow Patrol Album Covers




This is Snow Patrols second album this artwork is more advanced and more thought provoking. On 26 November 2006, Eyes Open had become the UK's best-selling album of the year, overtaking previous leader Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not by Arctic Monkeys. Despite very strong sales for Take That's comeback album Beautiful World, Eyes Openmarginally earned the title of the UK's best-selling album of 2006, with 1.6 million in sales. The album reached platinum certification in the US as well, selling over 1,000,000 copies, and it maintained a spot in the upper quarter of the Billboard 200 list for over fifteen weeks, on the heels of the popularity of "Chasing Cars". The band also holds the distinction of having one of iTunes' top downloaded albums and songs of 2006. Ahead of the band's February tour, Eyes Open topped the Australian charts some eight months after its release on 22 January 2006. Back home in Ireland, Eyes Open became one of the best selling albums of all time, staying at the top of the charts from the end of 2006 to early–mid 2007, and remaining in the charts to the present.




James Gildea

Ideas for the video

We are trying to get ideas for our music video. We have chosen Cold Play- Fix you as our song and have studied the lyrics and their meaning. We will be trying to come up with a main theme for our video and construct a series of moving images in order to give the audience a feel for it. I feel that the main theme this song potrays is that of loss and rehabilitation. I feel that this song will suit a video that has a depressing and powerful start but as the tempo of the song increases the mood of the video also increases. I recently watched a movie staring Benicio del Toro called Things we lost in the fire. The movie is about A recent widow invites her husband's troubled best friend to live with her and her two children. As he gradually turns his life around, he helps the family cope and confront their loss. Del Toro is a recovering heroin addict who has just lost his best friend. He moves in with his friends widow to try and support the family. It is a storying of his relapsing and trying to fix himself again. The themes of this movie could inspire us in our persuits. 

James Gildea

Music Videos

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos date back much further, they came into prominence in the 1980s, when MTVbased their format around the medium.

Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Many music videos do not interpret images from the song's lyrics, making it less literal than expected.

Coldplay all things to all people?

Viva really, truly sounds like a band trying to be all things to all people — but when you're a band as massive as Coldplay, that's just covering your bases since, you know, "all people" is your core demographic.

Who's going to like Coldplay's new record? Everyone who liked their previous records, which is to say pretty much everyone on the planet. Blog snobs? Yes (they'll admit to liking Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head). Sorority girls? Yes (huge fans of "Fix You," think Chris Martin is hot). Business guys who love to cut loose on the weekend? Count them in (saw band at rock-radio fest, own iPod because of "Viva la Vida" commercial). 

The Coldplay army is massive and loyal. They will follow you to the ends of the earth. And buy, buy, buy — no matter what.

A Marketing Lesson From Coldplay

[Courtesy of Bob Hutchins buzz squared.com]

I took my 16 year old son to see Coldplay Saturday in Nashville. It was an incredible show. It was the first time I have seen them live. I have to say, that it rivaled some U2 shows I have been to. We were about 25 feet from the stage, so that made it all the better. I’ll try to post some iphone photos shortly.

But what struck me almost as much as the show itself, was the crowd that was there. In front of us were some crazy 30 and 40 somethings, behind us were two african american women in their 60′s, and all around was a mix of all ages and colors. I expect this from a band that has been around for a while and has fans from different generations, but this was Coldplay. They only formed as a band in 1998, and their first record was out in 2000. Their popularity has only reached the masses in the past 5 or 6 years. So how do they do it?

Yes, they have good music that is accessible to a larger audience. But I saw something more Saturday night. I saw passion, I saw thoughfulness, and I saw excellence. It reminded me of something that happens with professional athletes. When you are the best at what you do, and are passionate about it, it draws in everyone. Even if you are not a basketball fan, you stopped to watch Michael Jordan fly through the air. And while I don’t play much golf, I am mesmerized when Tiger Woods makes that impossible shot that miraculously goes in the hole.

Coldplay is doing that with their music, and it is a lesson we all can apply to what ever business you are in or product you are marketing. Do it with excellence, be purposeful and thoughtful, and most of all do it with passion. You will find that your audience and customers will grow exponentially beyond your target demographic.

Coldplay Demographic

49%	Male
51%	Female
23%	Under 18
40%	18-34
26%	35-49
12%	50+
75%	Cauc.
3%	Afr. Am.
7%	Asian
14%	Hisp.
1%	Other
		Internet Average

		INDEX
51%	No Kids
49%	Has Kids
17%	$0-30k
25%	$30-60k
30%	$60-100k
28%	$100k+
41%	No College
46%	College
13%	Grad. Sch.
		Internet Average