Planning Locations

When we created the storyboard for our music video we had to consider and decide which locations we should film in, in order to make our music video look professional and also relate to the storyline and follow the conventions of the dance genre.

Our key locations whilst filming are:
1. A forest
2. Inside a house
3. In the garden
4. In the car

A Forest

We will only be filming the performance based side of the music video in the forest, so all of the action in the forest will be our artist singing and dancing to the camera. We decided on the forest location as it looks slightly eerie which relates to the lyrics slightly and also because within the forest we can get many different shots as there are grassy areas, a pond and the general forest with lots of trees.
The forest is a wide open area which will give us a chance to test different shots to see what we feel looks best. One of the main difficulties we may find when filming in the forest is the weather, as it is an open area if it rains we will get wet so we have to make sure we bring a cover to put over the equipment to ensure it doesn't get damaged and also bring spare clothes in order to prevent any of the cast or crew from getting too cold and ill. If it were to rain, we may have to postpone the filming and go and film in a location which does not require being outside. Also, another problem we may encounter is lighting, due to it being winter it gets darker earlier so we must make sure that we  film at a suitable time in order for our shots to have good lighting and be clear.

Inside a Dark Party Room

Inside a dark room, possibly a house is one of the main locations as it is where the party will happen. The place we film in is likely to be the house of a member in our filming group, or a black drama studio, and it will be easier to control the lighting and weather inside these locations due to the professional lighting, making it more convenient to film in. We will be able to film a range of shots within the house and/or drama studio due to there being very few limitations and it will be easier for us to create a party atmosphere inside rather than outside. Also inside the house/drama studio it will be easier for us to make it look like there is a bigger crowd as it is a confined space, whereas if we were filming in an open field it would look like there were very few people at the party. During the party shots we will have people dancing and jumping whilst drinking alcohol and making a bit of a mess. So this will link strongly with the dance music video characteristics. Also it will be easier for us to control the lighting inside the house/drama studio with the use of dimmer light switches, coloured filter lights and strobe lights.

Garden

In the garden we will also film some party scenes, we will film these scenes at night so that it is dark outside, but we will use some lights, such as the lights in the decking, so that we will be able to see what is happening in the shots. In the garden we intend to have everyone still partying and drinking and we will also have some people playing with fireworks, and we will put a n effect on this when we edit the footage to put it in slow motion. This shot with the sparklers does come with some health and safety risks as sparklers can be dangerous if they are not handled cautiously, so we will have to be extra careful when filming this shot. Also, like in the forest, we will have to be careful with the weather as we will be unable to film this shot in the rain.

Inside and outside the Car



Inside the car we we film the artist and the main girl talking to each other as they drive to the off licence to buy alcohol and then drive to the party. We will put empty alcohol bottles and cigarette packets in the car for the audience to see in order to keep the idea of a messed up generation running throughout the music video in order for the visuals to relate to the lyrics. The only limitation we could have when filming these shots is traffic, so we will have to make sure that we film these shots when traffic is at a minimum to in order continuous filming. Also a danger with filming these shots is the driver potentially being distracted, so we will have to make sure we do not distract the driver whilst we film these shots as this could potentially be dangerous.

Outside a House

Outside a house will be a minor location as it will only be viewed in our music video for a few seconds. The house we will use is one of the group members houses, as this is more convinient and more practical as we can film this scene at any time. This location will benefit from the use of natural lighting, much like the forest, so it will help the audience relate to the artist as it will be a natural shot with not many special effects, making it more relatable, also due to it being a normal house rather than a luxury mansion will help the audience build a relationship with the artist as they will see he leads quite a normal lifestyle. So this will go against the usual conventions of a dance music video, as they usually show off the artists luxury lifestyle.