Production Diary

24th April:
Today was mostly spent thinking about what kind of production I would like to make. I thought
about music videos, stop-motion animations, documentaries and short films as possible ideas,
taking into account possible concepts that would be good to make and viable based on resources
Id have access to. In the end, I have decided on making a music video, as it will be enjoyable to
have creative freedom as well as not having to rely on audio in my video.
25th April
Having decided on making a music video, I have created two ideas for videos for two different
songs. The first is for the song iRobot by Jon Bellion, and the other is Woke the F*ck Up also by
Jon Bellion. For the first, I have an idea based around having the footage play in reverse and create
an emotional narrative through it. The second song will be about a part of a persons inner
consciousness trying to take back control of their mind.
26th April
To help decide what concept to use I have conducted a focus group with three people. Though
they all thought both were good ideas, they all agreed that iRobot would make for an interesting
video, through its narrative and visuals ideas.
27th April
Having selected a concept, I decided to create a mood board to help visualise some of the ideas I
have for the video. I have images of shots, angles, backgrounds/settings and anything else that
could help inspire parts of my production.
28th April
Now that the concept has been finalised, I have made a brief to meet. It contains all the ideas,
visuals and other contents of the music video that I want to be part of my production. I have also
made to a professional standard, styling it toward the VMGs typical colours.
1st May
Referencing to my mood board, I have created a basic mock-up storyboard of my video. It only
consists of 5 frames, but shows the main parts of the production, such as bench, lip syncing,
flower, message and wide shot walking scenes.
2nd May
To make sure that the final concept is to a good standard, and to find out if theres anything else
to add, I have created a survey on Survey Monkey to find out. The survey asks questions about if
the video links to the song (through lyrics and tone), whether certain shots work and if they have
any improvements they think could be made.
3rd May
Having taken in all the survey responses I have written up the results. Most people think that the
idea is a good one, with the video and song linking well. Though some have suggested that I need
to create the emotional link between the two characters better. In addition, some have come with
ideas that could look good in reverse that I could include.
4th May
Today I conducted some secondary research looking into the target audience of my video.
Through his New York roots, as well as the typical listener, his audience is mostly American and
within an age range of 16 45.
5th May
Following on from the research from yesterday, I decided to start to write up about the figures
and competition of other Jon Bellion songs. For today, I focused on the views and concepts of his
most notable music videos.
8th May
Continuing the figures research, I have moved on to possible competition of my video, which
consists of other music videos that have use a similar concept. I looked at The Scientist and The
Second Summer of Love, which use the concept in different ways. I have compared them to each
other as well as my idea. To finish off the research, I have added a paragraph talking about why my
idea will be more successful than The Scientist (which is the main competition due to its
similarity).
9th May
Today I focused on writing up a list of possible legal issues within my video. Though minor, these
issues included: violence, imitation and language in the video. In addition, I also decided where the
video will be posted, along with the format it would take.
10th May
Contacting various colleagues that I know would be an aid in the video, I have written up a call
sheet and contingency plan for all cast and crew that I will require for my video. As well as this, I
have also gone and scouted out the locations I will be using and created location recces for all of
them.
11th May
Taking into account all the pre-production that I have created, I have made a production schedule
for the filming and editing process of my music video. The filming will take place between 22 nd
May 2nd June and the editing will be between 3rd June and 9th June.
12th May
To see how challenging the reverse lip-syncing section will be, I have produced a quick piece of
test footage for a part of the song. Though it went relatively well, I have decided as a result to only
have small sections of the video contain it.
15th May
Using all the research and planning I have conducted as of this point, I have made a proposal
paper for my music video. It incorporates the concept, cast, crew, target audience, schedule and
other important details.
16th May
In preparation for my pitch, which will be tomorrow, I have made the PowerPoint that I will use for
it. To make it unique, I will play the song in the background as well as do the presentation
backwards, starting with what would usually end it.
17th May
Today I pitched my video.
18th May
To make sure I have all of the video planned, I have made a production booklet, adding to it what I
have already made plus a storyboard and props list.
19th May
To finish off the booklet I have added a list of modifications and problems that may/have been
encountered throughout the production, and created contingencies accordingly.
22nd May
For the first day of filming I have shot simple walking scenes, as well as the section with the
second message to the girlfriend.
23rd May
Dan was called in today to be in the extra that my character bumps into. In addition, I also filmed
shots of removing earphones and a hood.
24th May
As a result of actors being busy, nothing was shot today, with what was planned being moved to
tomorrow.
25th May
First part of the day I filmed the face paint scenes in the studio. This was followed later by all the
scenes in which Rosie Blake would partake, as well as all scenes on the bench.
26th May
Today the reverse lip-synced scenes were filmed, along with the parts where I pick up the flower.
28th May
The final shots were filmed today, which were all the ones that needed to be filmed inside of a
house. I filmed some extra shots of putting on a hoody and tying a shoelace as they could make for
interesting shots in reverse later on.
5rd June
I have started to edit the footage I have obtained. Within less time than anticipated I have finished
most of the sequencing. However, I have noticed that there is a section that is blank due to there
not being enough footage. As a result, I have planned to film some last-minute pick-ups tomorrow.
6th June
Due to weather restrictions, I havent been able to shoot pick-ups, however I have gone through
the edit as it is and added a few extra parts that have improved the final piece. The main one is
adding quick cuts on certain points to give them more impact and emotion.
7th June
I have filmed the required extra footage for my video. These included a re-shoot of the earphone
scene (without the hood), simple walking shots through different environments and a close-up of
steeping through a puddle.
8th June
The pick-ups have been sequenced and added to the final edit. To make various shots look nicer, I
have also gone through and applied warp stabiliser to the various clips, which has improved it
drastically. I believe the edit is complete.
9th June
The final video has been exported and uploaded.