Stop Motion Demos

We decided to create a couple of stop-motion dummies this week to test whether we could do it to a high enough standard. This also allowed us to discover whether we'd have any problems when we got around to filming it for real for the video.

This is our first attempt using chairs we have in the media department. Basically we took several sequential photos of the chairs but with them moved slightly between shots to tell the story. 

It isn't the most professional or ambitious stop-motion but it was our first attempt so we weren't too concerned with the content as long as we encountered no problems. 

Thankfully we didn't and we felt confident enough to do another:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2rBhD1IyZM

This time we we spelled the word 'Clique' out of tripods, camera bags and any other random props that were around at the time.

It has been a huge help to complete these practices and we feel very encouraged as we prepare to do it for our music video.

Storyboards

Band Name and Website

We have settled upon the name of our band and felt that 'Clique' was perfect. Its definition is a select group of people and essentially that is what we are - a group of friends. We felt the word itself was different enough and upbeat enough to work as the name of a band and therefore we settled upon it ahead of the likes of 'N.O.D.S' (using our initials) and 'Urbanicity'.

This meant I could begin work on my website knowing what we were called and how to organise styles/themes accordingly. It's coming along well although so far I've only started 2 pages: Home page and Photos. I've gone for a comic-strip design with colours, fonts and backgrounds as it is fun and aesthetically pleasing - much like we want our video to be. I felt an informal approach in my writing style would be the most appropriate and conform to the optimistic mood we wish to present.

I've not updated the blog in the last 2 weeks due to filming here in school - using the green screen (which went well) and due to absence, but progress is being made on the ancillary tasks I need to complete and now the filming for the video. Next Wednesday we will go out on location to film at the skate park and design some of the arty features we need to include - painted lyrics on cardboard, for example.

Filming

In our lesson last Friday we decided that we'd attempt to begin filming on Wednesday 14th November on location at a skate park. We all recognised that it was important to start the process soon because, ideally, we'd like to be in a position where we can begin editing before Christmas so that when we return in the new year knowing exactly what things we need to re-film.

The potential problem with filming tomorrow is that the weather forecast isn't great and that doesn't help us because we are based outside with no cover overhead. Whilst our storyboards don't suggest that we can't film in the rain, we don't wish to do so for continuity purposes and because we don't want any equipment to get water-damaged under our supervision. We also need to consider safety because some of what we wish to film are people skating around the park which is clearly hazardous in slippery conditions. We don't want to be held accountable for any accidents.

At this moment we don't know whether to plan for it regardless or postpone and arrange an alternative date. The second option seems unnecessary right now as we don't know for sure whether rain will be a problem until we get up tomorrow morning but we don't want to arrive there from our homes and find that we're unable to film. Personally I think our best bet is to wait until tomorrow and see how the weather looks before making a decision to postpone our plans or carry them out. Whatever decision that we can make at that point will be well informed and we'd just need to ensure everybody is aware of the outcome and knows whether we are/are not filming. 

Logistically it is a nightmare because at short notice one of us will have to go and collect the equipment but the likelihood is that none of us will be on-site to do so.

If the worst happens and we end up cancelling we can begin our green-screen filming until the weather improves at a later date. This is our contingency plan.

Half-Term

We've today come back for our first session since half-term and will begin, as I speculated in my last entry, to devise storyboards later on this morning when Saffy arrives. We'll also discuss suitable times to begin filming over the next week or two because it's important we start working on it soon. It'll be difficult to find days that work for all of us as we all have jobs and other commitments throughout the week and over the weekend, so we'll all need to make some compromises I think.

Until we're able to do that we'll be looking to work on our blogs individually to maintain and improve them. Most of the content I have produced is already uploaded on to the blog so there aren't too many things I'm able to do until we work as a group.