Laurie The Happy Crane

Filming Log

So we've filmed much our footage for the rough cut (due at the end of the week), and despite some teething problems with the equipment and camera compatibility we're pretty confident that all is going as planned.

Filming in the rain was much more difficult than we anticipated (try holding an umbrella in your teeth in high wind whilst attempting to film without getting the camera wet also whilst your dog savages you because you won't play fetch ALSO whilst remaining vigilant about the local (reported) "strange lurking homeless man" and you may just about understand our difficulties) but we got the footage we required and were well prepared for the weather. All in all a triumph in planning.

The rest of the footage, filmed at Jo's house was also a success, with origami cranes galore. We obtained some filler shots as insurance in case some footage is not as good as we intended.

And so now the editing process shall begin. Rough cut coming soon...

Test Footage

Here we have experimented with use of special effects such as camera cranking (fast and slow), and various filters. Whilst we particularly like the bluish colour correction, we also think that a brighter filter would be more in keeping with our intended aesthetic.

Crafty Items

Feedback on our Blog

Our feedback was amazingly positive.

List below the content of each of the posts. Are there any types of posts that you think are missing from the blog?

Basically we have everything we could possibly have included, although some people commented that student video analysis was missing. However, this is because we have yet to find a student video vaguely resembling how we are planning on making our music video. People also mentioned that they liked our pictures, and that overall our blog was "Good shizz".

Is there evidence in the blog that the group has:
completed background research?
Organised personnel, locations and equipment for shooting?
Developed ideas since the initial concept?

Comments made were (if irrelevant to the question):

Inspiration clear, TMI (in a good way), and STYLE.

Is there anything else we could possibly include, short of naked pictures?

No student videos (already explained)
More children in suits (????)
Costume list/prop list (see our impossibly large prop and costume list. I can only assume that they were either being sarcastic or just missed it)
Stuff?
You've pretty much done most of it all.

Overall assessment.

All 6 of the groups rated our blog as level 4- excellent planning- 24-30 marks.

Test Footage

Locations and Props

This is a test shot of the frame for the lyrics 'Will it cure my blushes'

This is Kirsty's dog. We might include this dog.

This is Kirsty's rabbit. It is EVILE.

Location 1: Kirsty's Green Room (Kirsty's Mum's "Special Room")

An example of the kind of craft items we will be using as props in the video. We made this especially.

More of location 1.

Picture frames - may be included. These are all members of Kirsty's immediate family (They're all really old now).

Prop: Bear hat (doesn't Jo look adorable (Jo wrote that)?)

Location 2. Jo's bedroom (fullllll of fairy lights we want to use)

More of Jo's room.

Yet more...

More still...

Location 2. Kirsty's kitchen (and her sister's ass). As you can see, Kirsty's house is very kitsch.

Band Research - Camera Obscura

'I Don't Want to See You' is not a song typical of Camera Obscura. The almost whispered vocals and simplistic piano are much softer than that which can be found on the rest of their discography. However; as a melodramatic pop band from Glasgow, you can expect the occasional 'new sound'. The band's talents lie not only in classic 'popular' instruments such as guitar, drums and bass, but the multi-talented members all play at least two instruments each (Nigel and Carey even play the trumpet and organ), adding significantly to the wonderfully deep tones each song produces.

"Camera Obscura was formed in 1996 by Tracyanne Campbell, John Henderson, and Gavin Dunbar. The band's first releases were the singles "Park and Ride" and "Your Sound" in 1998. The Rare UK Bird EP followed in 1999.

Camera Obscura's first album, Biggest Bluest Hi Fi, was recorded in 2000 and released in 2001. The album was supported by John Peel and charted in several independent music charts. The band's second album Underachievers Please Try Harder was released in 2003 and was followed by Camera Obscura's first full tour of Britain and Ireland and the band's first tour of the United States. Founding member John Henderson left Camera Obscura following this tour.

Camera Obscura recorded their third album, Let's Get Out of This Country, in 2005. It was released June 6, 2006. The first single, "Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken", is a response to Lloyd Cole and the Commotions' song "Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken?"" - as copied from Wikipedia

Current

• Tracyanne Campbell – guitar, vocals
• Carey Lander – piano, organ, vocals
• Kenny McKeeve – guitar, mandolin, harmonica, vocals
• Gavin Dunbar – bass
• Lee Thomson – drums
• Nigel Baillie – trumpet, percussion

Former

• John Henderson (1996-2004) – vocals, percussion
• Richard Colburn – drums
• David Skirving – vocals, guitar

Albums

• Biggest Bluest Hi Fi (November 2001, Andmoresound)
• Underachievers Please Try Harder (September 2003, Elefant)
• Let's Get Out of This Country (June 2006, Merge)

Singles

• "Park and Ride" (March 1998, Andmoresound)
• "Your Sound" (December 1998, Andmoresound)
• "Eighties Fan" (June 2001, Andmoresound)
• "Teenager" (May 2003, Elefant) UK #182
• "Keep It Clean" (July 2004, Elefant)
• "I Love My Jean" (March 2005, Elefant) UK #101
• "Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken" (May 2006, Elefant) UK #124
• "Let's Get Out of This Country" (September 2006, Elefant) UK #144
• "If Looks Could Kill" (January 2007, Elefant) UK #191
• "Tears for Affairs" (April 2007, Elefant)

Compilations and EPs

• Rare UK Bird (December 1999, Quattro) Japan-only

Camera Obscura- Images of the Band

Insane Prop List

And now for a ridiculously huge prop list:

~Paper,
~drawings,
~pens,
~pencils,
~pastels,
~paints,
~various art or craft objects, like
~paper chains
~and origami cranes.
*Fridge magnets of letters,
~a raincoat,
~wellies,
~an umbrella,
~a fishing net,
~a bucket,
~a stick,
~and a stick/ home made paper boat.
^*~Nurse's hat / outfit,
^*~stethoscope,
~teddy bear,
*fun children's plasters,
~fold away paper frame,
~a yo-yo,
~bunch of flowers,
^~table and chairs set with
~a tablecloth,
^tea set,
*lots and lots of plates of food and sweets- the kind you'd find at a child's birthday party:
*party rings,
*cadbury's animals,
*smarties/m&ms,
*monster munch,
*cheese sticks,
*cakes,
*muffins,
*cupcakes,
*cookies/biscuits,
*sliced carrot,
*kinder eggs,
*twiglets,
*candy canes,
*hula hoops,
*lollypops,
*tiny party sausages on sticks,
*doughnuts,
*haribo,
*curly whirlys,
*novelty sweets in weird shapes, like
*friendship rings,
*kinder hippos,
*and so on and so forth.
~Dominoes,
*balloons ,
~pins ,
~gameboy,
~big snakes and ladders board game,
~weird makeshift pieces and buildings.
^*Children's game 'Kerplunk' with sweets,
^*hoop,
~pogs,
~marbles,
~lots of leaves,
~fairy lights,
~paper chain of boys and girls,
~climbing frame/ conveniently shaped tree.
EVERYTHING BRIGHTLY COLOURED

I've put a little star* next to the things we'll need to buy from a shop, and a swirly hyphen~ next to the things we already have or can make. Things with a pointy arrow^ must be borrowed from other people or are uncertain.

Plan for Filming

The days we will be filming are mainly during the week and sometime during Sundays.
However, we will not be filming on Saturdays due to Jo and Nikki working Saturdays.
During the filming process we will also be using a new HD camera, as well as 3 other cameras, which will help us film the best quality, angles and performance in making our music video.

Location shots

A Complete Shot List

Location: Bedroom, with the floor covered with paper, drawings, pens, pencils, pastels, paints and various art or craft objects, like paper chains and origami cranes. Character lies on her stomach on the floor surrounded by these things with her legs dangling in the air.

Shot Number Lyrics and Description

1 (none, Silence)
Blurred bright colours coming into focus as her feet and legs dangling in the air. Close up.Shift in and out of focus

2 (I can't believe that I'm)
View from the back of her head looking down on the papers etc. Mid shot.

3 (writing this down and)
Close up of papers as she writes "writing this down"

4 (I can't believe I've got)
Mid shot of her head and shoulders with her legs behind. She's
playing with a paper chain of dinosaurs and singing the lyrics

5 (you in a song)
Close up of her face singing the lyrics

6 (I don't want)
Panning shot of the cluttered room

7 (to be a whining girl)
Mid shot of her standing in front of a fridge. Above her head the "Whining girl" words are written in fridge magnets.

8 (in your world)
After singing "I'd rather be in your world", under the "whining girl", the words " I'd rather be in your world" in fridge magnets will appear as she slowly walks away.

9 (Stole a magazine)
Shot of the back of her head as she looks outside through the
window at the rain, looking sad. Condensation on the windows.

10 (from a laundromat)
Still looking outside window, shot from outside the window, she draws a unhappy face on the window.

11 (The posters in my bag)
She is standing in a rain coat, wellies, holding umbrella in her left hand and holding a fishing net in her right hand. Mid shot of her standing.

12 (breaking my back)
Mid shot. She is holding a stick and dragging and hitting it along the side of a fence/railings, whilst walking.

13 (All i wanted was)
She is walking over a bridge.Long shot.

14 (bench to rest my weary legs)
She is on the bridge looking over the bridge holding the stick about to drop the stick into the river. Mid shot of her back on bridge.

15 (no lyrics)
She is holding the stick over the bridge. Close up of her hand holding the stick.

16 (I sat and)
She drops the stick into the river below.Shot looking down whilst stick falls into river.

17 (had a greet)
She is running to the other side of the bridge. Mid shot of the side of her running across to the other side.

18 (I have done my best)
Close up of stick in river then turns into a panning shot to show the whole river.

19 (I'll get my operation on the NHS)
She is in a nurse outfit and she is checking the teddy's bear heart beat with a stethascope. Mid shot of her and the teddy.

20 (Will it cure my blushes, will it)
She is looking in the mirror whilst also putting blusher on her cheeks. Mid shot is looking at the mirror which also shows her.

21 (bring out my best?)
She unfolds a frame and she puts it in front of her face, so the frame is around her. Writing appears with arrows and shows her best features on face. Mid shot of her face in frame.

22 (Some will say I was a women pretending to be a girl)
Cloe up of hand holding a yo-yo string.

23 (no lyrics)
She is spinning the yo-yo whilst she is turning around in circles, she is wearing a dress with a scarf. Mid shot.

24 (I will make no comment of this, I've had my fill)
Mid shot of just her and his body, not heads or feet, facing each other and he is holding a bunch of flowers with a extended arm, wanting her to accept the flowers. She walks away.

25 (INSTRUMENTAL)
She is sitting at a big table with her teddy bear and doll in separate chairs like a tea party. The table is covered in sweets. Mid shot of them at the table.

26 (INSTRUMENTAL)
Close up of the sweets on the table.

27 (INSTRUMENTAL)
Close up of one cup cake.

26 (INSTRUMENTAL )
Close up of the face of the teddy bear.

27 (INSTRUMENTAL )
Close up of the doll winking.

28 (INSTRUMENTAL )
Close up of the face of teddy bear eating the cupcake.

29 ( INSTRUMENTAL)
Close up of dominoes stack in a random wavy line, flicked over.

30 (INSTRUMENTAL )
Mid shot/Close up. Room full of balloons. One of the balloons gets popped with a pin. Shifting focus.

31 ( INSTRUMENTAL )
Close up.She is playing on the game boy. Close up of the screen and her hands.

32 ( INSTRUMENTAL )
Close up. Big snakes and ladders board game, covered in weird makeshift pieces and buildings.

33 (INSTRUMENTAL )
Close up of childrens game 'Kerplunk' with sweets falling down shoot. Blurred.

34 ( INSTRUMENTAL )
Close up of childrens game 'Kerplunk' with the sweet falling down onto the sticks and falling through them.

35 (INSTRUMENTAL)
Mid shot of the picking up the sweet

36 (INSTRUMENTAL)
Close up as she pops it into her mouth.

37 (INSTRUMENTAL )
Slow motion long shot possibly coming closer as she hula hoops in slow motion

38 (INSTRUMENTAL)
Close up. Handfuls of pogs and marbles.

39 (INSTRUMENTAL)
Mid to long shot of her throwing leaves or torn paper in the air. slow motion.

40 (This can't go on)
Fades/blur into mid to close up of leaf pile, with her face half submerged

41 (When is it going)
She sits up crossly and gets up

42 (to stop?)
long shot she runs past the camera and around, cartwheeling and falling over (camera cranked faster and slower in jerky motion)

43 (You casually walked back to your room tonight)
Fades to mid shot of her playing with a paper chain of men and girls, back in her room. Focus shifts from dolls to her. She looks brooding? In a petulant childish way.

44 (lyrics above, inter-cut ) (Take the flight of stairs)
Shot of feet of boy approaching, climbing the stairs?

45 (and softly dim the light)

46 (Fantasize about how happy you'd be with a girl tonight)

47 (I don't want to see you)
Mid to close up of her head and shoulders. She is covering her eyes with her hands and singing, peeking slightly. Possibly the boy is moving around in the background, out of focus.

48 (Down)

49 (I don't want to see you)

50 (Hanging around)

51 (I don't want to see you)

52 (Down)

53 (I don't want to see you)
She takes her hands from her eyes. Swings slightly -she's upside down, camera revolves to show this.

54 (Hanging around)
Long shot of her hanging from bars of climbing frame or tree. Her skirt falls over her face and she laughs.

55 (None)
Blurs of light and colour.

Eleanor Hardwick - photographer

The excellent thing about this photograph is its enigmatic subject. It provokes questions and debate. Is the subject dead or merely sleeping?







We particularly like the childish elements of this photograph, with the pretense of the girl contrasting with the actual miniature stag.







We particularly like the symmetry of this shot, combined with the contrast between the colour of the girl's dress and her natural surroundings. The vintage rustique of the watering can emphasises the simplistic aspects of the photograph itself.







The themes of suspension, magic and childhood in this photograph really accentuate the features of innocence.

And now for some pictures:

The following images resemble the visual theme or aesthetic we wish to achieve.

(Left) These two images are both from posters advertising the film Innocence, directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic. The costume and posture are suitably childlike, and the activities of the children on the far right are similar to those we wish to portray. The colours are vivid and reflect our theme of light and dark beautifully.



(Right) A still from Innocence. Once again the childlike posture and dress (ribbons) of the character shown here, as well as the symmetry of the shot are similar to what we require in our music video. However, the colouring in this particular image is bleaker than we would want.

(Below left) A poster advertising the film Amelie. We like the bright, contrasting vivid colours used here, as well as the mischievous expression of the character shown.


(Below) A still from Amelie. The colours here are somewhat faded, indicating a vintage setting, and the contrast between the red strawberries and the green background is effective. The symmetry also adds to the images impact. The character's activity is similar to those we wish to include in our music video.





(Right) Still from The Darjeeling Limited, directed by Wes Anderson. We particularly like the bright colours and rough symmetry here which, combined with the varying expressions on the characters' faces, interest the audience.

(Below) Still from The Royal Tenenbaums, also directed by Wes Anderson. Once again the symmetry of the shot and the contrast of the bright red matching costumes and white background make the shot visually arresting.

(Below) Another image from The Royal Tenenbaums. Contrasting with the earlier image, the cluttered and busy background conceals the characters at first. Their position, beneath the desk, is one essentially childlike in nature, and the oddity of their surroundings accentuates this.


Photographs by Eleanor Hardwick also capture our desired aesthetic:

http://flickr.com/photos/lenaah/sets/72157605301401803/

A rougher than rough idea...

This is a more detailed and comprehensive summing-up of what we have decided or deliberated over thus far.

We wish the music video to have a loose and not entirely self evident narrative, which might require more than one viewing to understand (thus ensuring a greater number of times the song and video is played.) As yet we have one main character, a girl. She spends much of her time playing alone, making things, drawing and doing other childlike activies, such as net fishing and hopscotch. There may be vague evidence of a former playmate having been around a while ago, but no longer. At some point she dresses very carefully in fancy dress too large for her (as a child might put on her mother's clothes to look glamourous) and meets a boy (whether or not this meeting is arranged is not explained) who offers her flowers. She walks off, leaving him alone with his rejected gift. This fits with the song title, "I don't want to see you anymore".

Genre and Use of Conventions.

Camera Obscura describe themselves as pop/ melodramatic popular song/ alternative. This makes the genre as such difficult to confine to a definitive set of conventions. In a sense, we could take "alternative" to mean that we should offer a more original and unique take on a music video. We plan to approach our project artistically as well as serving the usual functions of a music video, creating themes and symbolism within the piece as well as a narrative reflecting the lyrics and general atmosphere the song evokes.

Performance and Lipsyncing

In previous projects we have experimented with and practiced lipsyncing, and to practice filming a performance we recently filmed a band in concert, Cazooga (Kazooga?) in order to make an advert for them and to gain experience. Some performance will be included in the video, with the girl (in her role as both main character and singer) singing part of the song. We will try to merge this footage with the narrative in order to give the music video a more natural, fluid, not regimented feel to it. A lyrical-visual link is created through lyrics appearing in fridge magnets, drawings and other playthings.

Camerawork

We wish our shots to resemble the work of director Wes Anderson in that they will include a great deal of symmetry. A colour-enhancing filter will be used as well as softening and increased contrast, to create a dreamlike atmosphere. We plan to use a wide variety of shots showing our locations, props and performer off to their advantage. This will also serve to maintain our audience's interest throughout the song, and is essential as a slow edited piece may bore some viewers without a variety of interesting shots and angles.

Editing

We will create an audio-visual link with long, slow shots cut to the beat with possibly a few effective fade-throughs, to reflect the soft, slow simplistic nature of the song. If possible we wish to use the editing technique known as (???), where footage is cut to reflect the natural movement of human sight.

This is just a rough plan of course. We will blog in further detail under the above headings as and when more details can be added or are replaced with better ones.

Location, Location, Location.

1. One of the most important locations in making this video will be a house. Kirsty's house is the best choice for this as the location is convenient for access. It also has a wide variety of rooms, all decorated perfectly in keeping with the aesthetic of our video. Kirsty also has a great deal of craft materials ideal for creating props onsite, making sure we won't damage them by dragging them all around the world.

We will need:
- a bedroom
- a playroom
- dining table
- an attic? Kirsty's dad's office?
- a room with a massive wardrobe, full of glamourous and exotic clothing (Kirsty has an extensive fancy dress box)
- possibly a wendy house? (she also has one of these)
- the garden also has a pond

2. As children often spend a great deal of their time outdoors, we will be using the more attractive and visually arresting areas in and around Harston, Melbourn and Cambridge. Days of outdoor filming will have to be carefully planned as the weather is likely to be unpredictable and at times miserable during Autumn. A colourful and bright aesthetic is essential so the weather must be reasonably dry and bright, otherwise we may be forced to discard footage later on (if a filter cannot improve matters).

Possible outdoor locations include:
- Harston or Melbourn recreation ground
- the river in Harston, either behind the local church (which has a lightning-stuck
tree across it acting as a bridge) or at the weir.
- a garden, preferably overgrown
- an orchard (near Harston Rec.)

Camera Obscura - The MySpace

The MySpace, like their music, image and lyrics has a simplistic, somewhat vintage aesthetic.





http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=41515127

Other Examples

Kate Nash is a classic example of a musician with a large imagination yet small budget when it comes to her music videos. They all have themes of innocence and the colouring is very similar to that which we intend to use.


Foundations by Kate Nash





Caroline's a Victim by Kate Nash





'Amelie', although a film rather than a music video, is again similar to what we are aiming for in terms of themes of innocence. In the video below, we see the main character, Amelie, playing with various toys that we can all relate to our childhoods. Paper dolls, dominoes and cupcakes are all objects which carry childhood connotations.

La dispute written by Yann Tiersen as the soundtrack for Amelie

A new idea

Everything must be second hand and preferably broken.
Adapted toys to fit imagination.
Snakes and Ladders with towers.
Marble Run with sweets.
Pasta necklaces.
Handmade friendship bracelets.
Dinosaur plasters.
Scuffed knees.
Casio keyboard.
Gameboys.
Long, long cat scarf.
White socks with holes.
Furry cat gloves.
Fairy lights.
Do you like butter?
Dominoes.
Mary Janes.
Fake tattoos.
Gold stars.
Lollypops.
Cupcakes.
Balloons.
Sweets.
Vintage.
Plastic.
Hair band and clips.
Stickers on face.
Think 70's.
Think 80's.
Think 90's.
Dolls house
Puzzles
Flowers
Swings
Sea Saw
Slide
Racing Down stairs
Painting
Making fortune tellers
More coming soon...