Great Dane: The Shoot Day

CD Digipack: Planning

I have made a rough plan for the digipack design choices. Researching into references, I have remembered a piece that fascinated me from the start by French artist Sophie Calle: The Sleepers.

It is a sequential photography piece with some people hovering around in bed with a narrative element to it. The concept behind was Calle's invitation to strangers to sleep in her bed for a twelve-hour period and study their sleep patterns and behaviour. 

I think it is a very intimate photoshoot which ultimately says a lot about the individuals who took part in the "experiment". 

In my opinion, the structure of small snapshots put together as a sequence, almost mirroring a storyboard, is very aesthetically pleasing too.

It expresses the concerns of the artist and shows the many shades of him. Our choice has been to name his August Nash, and this musician is a very sensitive person, hugely interested in film and art. He mixes traditional, classic influences with more modern ideas that link to the urban, international context in which he lives. That is why I want to do a version of Calle's work to go into the cover but in colour instead of black and white. I have also taken a look at Jaime's artwork and his maps kind of link back to the video, the map in the back wall and the need to go out of the restraining environment of a house. A mixture of both, kept in a sequential geometrical square, would really stand out as a cover for the digipack as I picture it.  We still have to come up with a name for the whole CD and for the songs. However, I have thought of the design of the back: either a still of some objects, bathed in beautiful light, which I took on the shoot day, or a refined version of the textural map collage by Jaime. 

Inside, on the left, the viewer would encounter a big portrait picture of August to establish his image, with maybe a few lines of a song or a quote from him. On the right, where the CD goes, it would be interesting to create some doodles with the same colour palette as the outside, based on the ones that the girls draw on the music video.

CD Digipack: Initial Ideas

I have been experimenting with doodles in various techniques (watercolour, mixed media, fineliner, typography) to find the right way of conveying our star image. However, I think that we will stick to more digitised media such as collage or graphics.

The drawings helped me get a better idea of logos, the aesthetic and vibe of the artist, and how the branding and colour palette might work in the future.

Lily has come up with an alternative option if Jaime and I cannot find a suitable way to portray the image through our art. She has a friend who is currently studying Art at college. Since she is more experienced in the industry, and her designs are versatile and modern, very urban and with a tendency towards street art and graffiti, I think it would be great if we could reach an agreement with her and do a collaboration. I am thinking of using the coldest tones of her palette and let her experiment with a portrait of August as well as the themes of the song and the overall indie vibe throughout.

     

Website

I have been looking at websites that relate to our artist and inspire me in some ways. They all belong to campaigns by indie musicians like August or young solo artists and bands who have just made their way in the industry. Some of them look purposely naive, and I love the graphic design elements in some of them as well as the almost childish colour patterns and fonts. I also like how Soko advertises herself through her Instagram, the most contemporary social network. I think that all their web pages are straightforward and quick to use, with a smooth and clever design to please the instant generation.

http://kingkrule.co.uk/home/

http://www.yellowdayss.com/

http://www.myanimalhome.net/#/

http://www.sokothecat.com/

Music Publicity Campaign

We have started to think about the campaign overall. As a name for the artist, we have thought of playing around with the performer's name, August, because it is very unusual already. It helps build the identity of someone who has a variety of cultures in their background, as the name is not typically British. It says something about the family as well, maybe involved in artistic jobs as well and inspiring for the young musician. 

Aesthetically, we want to create synergy among the products we are marketing: digipack, webpage, and clothing in the store (potentially). We are thinking of coming up with a pattern or a style to go with, developed through graphic design or collage as Jaime and I are very confident in these areas of art. That way, we would make something organic and out of the ordinary. It would link back to the artist being a young creative person who stands out in many fields apart from music and skateboarding. Both Jaime and I have a very urban style of producing art, which directly relates to our star image as skateboarding is immediately linked to a certain social environment in the cities and graffiti as a means of expressing oneself. We are planning to experiment with typography.

                                   

Above, I have included some samples of my latest pieces of art which I think that altering the colour patterns to make the mood seem less obscure (I think light blue tones would suit the sweet melancholy of the song), could work to shape the identity of the artist.

August (Singer): Refined Test Shoot

Test Shoot with Girls

We showed the dancers/performers Sarah, Mel and Faderera, the song for the first time and talked to them about the meaning of the lyrics and what will be required from them, both for the performance and narrative section of the video, in the shoot day. They practiced a couple of times, utilising Jaime as a substitute for August. I think that, though they will be more engaged and confident in the day of the shoot, they already did a great job in coming up with a simple choreography as a foundation to build upon. I am grateful for their commitment.

Meeting with Set Designers. Clarifications.

I have had a chat with the set designers and they have clarified me what they have thought of and what we have to get on our own. It is been essential to know from them that the search of only three sets of props concerns us (apart from the costumes). They showed me their drawings for our idea and their way of dealing with certain technical problems like the lack of space or the discomfort of shooting at such a low level. The square where the video takes place will be brought up thanks to some pillars. 

I have talked them through all my ideas and showed them my second draft of a new storyboard, with all the actions and props detailed. Probably, we will be able to shoot everything I had thought of, even the moment when one of the girls looks up through a pipe and sees the footsteps from the street level.

The only props we actually need to get (we were stressing out because of all the workload we pictured we would have choosing pipes, measuring and finding wooden piles and so) are board games for the house scenes, paint/pencils (easy, from the Art Department) and the cans we will use throughout the video. 

Lily has been searching for cans. Initially, they were going to be dog food to match the narrative of the video. We then thought it would not work because, later on in the narrative part, the four actors are gathering all the cans and eating their content, so obviously they could not eat dog food. The problem is that the aesthetics of dog food cans really worked, so we reached the conclusion that we could use them but fill them up with edible food. Lily chose a very gruesome pack: Rocco, Wet Dog Food. 

Call List

 Scene Order:

-Cupboard w/cans

-Pipes

-Dining/living room

-Bedroom

Everyone asked to come 5min before their time

The main singer is required from 09:00 to 09:30 to start lip sync shooting

09:30-10:30 All to be present

10:40-11:10 Only girl performers are required

11:10-11:40 Only main singer

11:50-12:40 All to be present

13:20-15:00 All to be present

Emails to Girls about Choreography and Clothes

Lily has been researching the outfit that the girls are potentially wearing. She has thought of skin coloured quite fitted clothes. These choices are still not definite because we all have mixed views about the outcome and whether the colours and style chosen will fit the look of the set. 

Another concern is if there should be a change of clothes when we transfer from narrative to performance. I hope that next week we reach a conclusion.

Lily also sent a couple of emails to the girls. The first one was concerning the rehearsal we wanted to schedule next week. They are all good with meeting next Tuesday during the activities session to come up with some ideas for a choreography. It would also be a bonding session, hopefully, which will result in a more comfortable environment when it comes to shoot scenes where reasonable acting is required. The girls have to have a relaxed attitude and a certain mutual understanding among them., as they are agroup of young people that live together in such a small space.

The second email Lily sent was about the clothes. She wanted to check, before ordering anything online, if any of the performers have the clothes that we want already.

Shot List

Shot List de elenae81

Shooting Schedule

08:45 meeting in the studio and change into costumes

09:00 shoot starts

Shooting schedule in the studio:

09:00-10:30 (1 hour 30min for shooting)

10min break

10:40-11:40 (1 hour for shooting)

10min break

11:50-12:40 (50min for shooting)

40min break for lunch

13:20-15:00 (1 hour 40min for shooting)

All props to be available to use from 09:00 to 15:00

All actors need to be available from 09:00 to 15:00, however, actors will be given breaks when not required.

From 09:00 to 09:30 only main singer - August is required, but all actors must come to the meeting at 08:45 as they might be urgently required.

15min will be needed to change each setup and while this time actors will be instructed on their performance in the next shot. They will be also given breaks while our team is setting up.

Filming roles

In any media project, there is a crew formed by a variety of experts in different areas. Undeniably, there is a hierarchy among them but they all work alongside. 

So far, I believe I have taken up the role of director together with Lily; we both gave important feedback to our actors. I have also been in charge of set design and other visual aspects, such as creating several storyboards and coming up with ideas for makeup. Lily and Jaime have contributed with costume choices and props. Petr has proved useful in many stages of the pre-production, but I must say that I have been the main producer so far. I have tried to lead my group and keep them all together, organising and clarifying tasks for the correct development of our ideas. I am very concerned by the shoot day because this production seems very important to me as a learning experience for the future. It is one of the closest encounters I've had with semi-professional "industry" level tasks.

In the day of the shoot, I would like to transfer my principal input from producer to director because I believe I have potential in this area. I also have worked very hard so far and I feel like I am probably the most suited for the task because I have been overseeing every aspect of the process. Lily will be a good ally when dealing with actors because of her critical skills. Jaime has a refined taste in costume and props and he has our star image very clear in his head, the reason why he will most probably be in charge of art direction. Petr is quite proficient at the most technical aspects, and I am sure that, with a bit of help, he will prove to be a well-suited cameraman. I will obviously guide him with framing and angles because I have the advantage of the various storyboards I have drawn during the last weeks. 

Overall, I think the roles mentioned are the most adequate for each of us. We will undoubtedly have a try at everything, and crossovers among all the tasks listed so that the experience is both rewarding and fulfilling. Most importantly, we need to be efficient and be aware of our strengths and weaknesses to take the most out of the shoot and achieve the best quality possible.