AIRPLANESa music video

byCollin Morrison

Professor Ian Kerr42914077

Winter 2010

OverviewCreated by: Collin Morrison

Genre: Music Video

Song: Airplanes

Band: The BELLY OF THE WHALE COLLECTIVE

Song/ Band style: A melancholy melodic Indy orchestra that plays whimsical music.

ScriptSCENE 1

BEDROOM DAYFrom Pov: Connor wakes up, light comes into his eyes as he blinks, the room seems to spin as he sits up and reaches for a glass of water. Sunlight shines though venisian blinds making bars of light in the room. Connor opens the windows the sunlight comes fills the frame and over exposes the image.

SCENE 2

CROSSWALK INT. DAYFrom Pov: Pan down from sky Connor walks up to a crosswalk. The pov pulls back though his head slightly to the side behind him.

NON POV: Connor looks left then straight ahead, he has trouble making a decision. His body splits in different directions and continues walking.

SCENE 3PARKADE DAY

From POV: Connor quickly glances around finding him self. Unsure as to where to go.

NON POV: Connor walks along side of large holes in parkade, we see him form the opposite side. Connor stops and reverses direction the camera. Looking through each hole he comes to the one that we saw him though first. Behind it is now a forest, connor enters.

SCENE 4FOREST DAYConnor’s walks though the forest looking up at the trees. Back to his POV. Light shines though the trees like it did

through the window blinds (jump cuts to trees and light). He comes to a split in the path he takes both paths.

SCENE 5BEACH DAY

POV. Looking out to the ocean.

NON POV. Wide, connor stands looking out to the ocean, multiple other Connors walk up and stand near by looking out to the ocean.

Project Goals

- Produce a Music Video under 5 minutes

-A visual interpretation of the music without using footage of the band.

-Visually impressive and entertaining

-Shoot with a variety of outdoor and indoor locations

-Deliver a product that helps the band gain publicity.

Inspirational resources related to the band

"Belly of the Whale could very well be the soundtrack to the bizzaro world remake of Moby Dick. " -Shannon Corr - examiner.com

"They sounded like the cowboys of the sea, anchored by simple singalong choruses and a quirky pop sensibility." -The Bay Bridged

These reviews helped me develop the themes for the music video along with giving me an idea of how others perceive them.

Themes & Ideas for Script and Picture

The melodic rolling sound of the song inspired ideas of someone traveling and searching for something. From this and the lyrics the thought came to mind of decisions that one must make on journeys and the paths they must choose between. To best demonstrate these themes I believe that a cross between 1st person point of view shoots and visual affects shots.

-Pov/ Vis fx-Decision making-Traveling

Chokepoints

Inspiration: Promised my brother a music video for his bandNo script/ minimal input from band.Not possible to film the band

Budget: Minimal Cash

Locations: No legitimate locations

People: Crew: Number of volunteer unsure due to the difficult of roping people into working for you with busy schedules.

Cast: The more cast= the more crew necessary. -One character therefore there is only one subject shoot and to keep the piece visusal stimulating you

must changing the background.

Schedule: Working all February at the Olympics = less prep time and shoot possibilities. 1 ½ days shoot with grip and lx in March.

Gear: UBC lx and grip equipment only for 1 ½ days.

Weather: Problems in consistency during outside shoots.

Resources

Inspiration: Anything, no restrictions on interpretation of music.

Locations: UBC and or small enough crew to poach locations.

People: Friends and classmates

Gear: Personal camera/ ability to shoot at anytime minus lx and grip equipment.

References & Creative Approach

Themes Researched:-Cold to warm colors, grain.-Broken light-Break up into multiple of the same person-Leave 1st pov come back to 1st pov

Nike ad human chain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wIRTbY5HNM

This Ad illustrated a creative control of camera work and editing. It demonstrates complex film making along with an entertaining and meaningful message. While I know I cant use the same motion control equipment or spend as much time editing this ad has given me inspiration of some of the visual FX shots.

How I will incorporate this: In the music video I will not only show multiple of the same person but I would like to show them breaking from a single person in to multiple.

To do this I will shoot the actor coming to a stop with a green screen behind him then walking on. I will then keep the camera in the same spot and film the actor doing the same thing but going a different direction. I will then film the background with no actor.

Sun Through Blinds & Flares: I would like to play with the idea of broken light and or flares. I believe that light hitting the camera or other objects in uncommon patters will add to the ‘trippy’ look of the music video.

Along with this I would also like to use the upper middle picture and lower picture as color and transition themes. I believe this look will add to the feeling of confusion and bring about a ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ motif. To do this I will shoot towards naturally light objects and with light sources directed at the camera and turn the iso up on the camera.

Forest Scene

QuickTime™ and a decompressorare needed to see this picture.

In the forest I would like to incorporate both broken light and the opportunity for decision. These photos demonstrate both the beauty and questions we see in nature.

Parkade In the parkade I would like to use the interesting architecture, road signs and consistency in the lighting to demonstrate the paths and choices that lay in front of the character.

Beach

At the beach I would like to show the characters scattered and drifting mind through 1st person pov shots of the water and other objects. Along with this I would like to show the openness and options that he may come to.

Scouting

For my scouting I went to every location and took photos in different directions. I recorded time of day along with aperture and iso settings.Notes:

Parkade: Even light though holes.Interesting light form fixtures. No AC outlets.Beach: Low tied at 3 pm. Hard light from west, soft light when cloudy. Intersection: Not much room for wide shot. Streets run N-S E-W. Sun will be over buildings.Forest: Great broken light many flares possible. Shoot at 4 pm with lower angel sun.

Shot list

Bedrooma Pov: looking up room spinningb Pov: looking up eyelids opening/closingc Pov: Reaching for glass of waterd Pov: watching dust in sunbeamse Pov: Standing Opening Shades flaref Pov: opening shades flare

Crosswalka Pov: flare Pan down from sky 60P

Pov: Pull back though head to slightly behind Connorb Layer 1 dolly back from first marks no Connor 60Pc Layer 2 dolly back starting at the back Connor’s head 60Pd CU Connor fronte Layer 1 W Connor Profile With GREEN Screen looks left then straight ahead Connor 1 walks forward pauses, continues walking.f Layer 2 Connor2 Connor Profile With GREEN Screen looks right then straight forward pauses, continues walking.Connor1g Layer 3 Connor3 Connor Profile With GREEN Screen looks up then straight walks to camera Connor 3blackh Layer 4 background slate for green screen

Parking lotA Pov: parking lot flicking lights

Pov: walking though parkade to slightly behind Connorb Layer 1 dolly back from first marks no Connor 60Pc Layer 2 dolly back starting at the back Connor’s head 60Pd MCU connor looking at concrete hole

e Wide Dolly alongside Connor form opposite side of the concrete wall with holes. He stops and walks back towards hole 1. GREEN Screen is now behind hole.d Layer 2 Forest, connor walks on in same screen direction looking up

ForestA Pov: Looking around at treesd. Pov: Connor coming to a split in the traile. Wide: Profile layer 1 Connor goes down trail closest to camera with GREEN Screenf Wide: from side layer 2 Connor goes down trail further from camera. Pan down to log/fallen tree.

BeachA med: pan up from fallen tree Connor is looking out to oceanB Pov: b roll ocean and sprayC(1,2,3,4) WIDE: Layers Wide Connor looking out to ocean, one by one more Connors appear near by and look out. D(1,2,3,4) Profile: layers of connor down the beach.E Dolly from behind connor in to black.

Shooting Schedule

Monday night.BedroomOmni kit.Shots A-F1 hour

Tuesday starting at 2 pmIntersectionNatural light, bounce, sun gun.Shots A-H1 hour

15 min travel

BeachNatural lightShots C-E30 mins

15 min travel

ForestNatural light, sun gun, bounce

Shots A- D40 mins

‘15 min travel

Parking lotParking lot lights, sun gun

Shots A-F45 mins

5 min travel

end shoot approximately 6pm

Equipment list

KinoSun gunBounce2 c stands10x12 green screenOmni 4 kit+standsMole2x 25ft ac

Camera Body

Cannon 7DLenses28-85mm 3.5 100-300 4.5

Manfrotto tripodDolly+ trackFig rig

Conclusions

How did the filming process differ than what was anticipated: Although I anticipated weather being the challenging but something I could over come it threw curve balls this time. Filming on a day with mixed weather provided some suprising benefits and unexpected problems. Consistancy became the main concern a and was helped along at cloudy moments but the occasional bright sun made using the green screen very difficult without getting a shadow or bounce.

The difficulties I encountered when moving my prep into actions revolved mainly around my resources. My lack of crew and actors put more work on my shoulders in terms of directing along with DPing. I also ran into problems with my shot list and using the equipment I had to create the look I was going for in mostly out door environments.

Unexpected gifts: Occasional cloudiness that provided even light for scenes such as the beach. By being limited in my locations and only using spots near to my UBC home I was able to quickly change locations when weather made something too difficult.

What I learned: Though this project I not only learned a great deal about cinematic creativity but the necessary commitment and resources you must use in any way possible. I regret not getting a large crew, budget, script ect. and creating something im truly proud of. In this case because of my job and other restrictions I was not able to put together the project I know I am capable of. To make up for my lack of crew I decided to do a project that could use as few people as possible but still look impressive. From this I learned more about green screens and compositing and the necessary steps a cinematographer must take to make the editors job easy.

I have also learned techniques such as creating flares and breaking up light though blinds. Along with this I learned about creating a look using in camera settings such as a high ISO and 60p played back at 24fps. Overall this project has taught me a great deal in terms of the technical, creative and business side of cinematography.