Filming-Day Two

The second day of filming took place on Friday 23rd October. This became a very productive day and at least half of the music video was filmed on this day. There were no problems on the day of filming and everything ran smoothly. Confidence was clearly overflowing as I decided to give myself a last minute acting cameo! But on a serious note, filming went well and I was happy with the days work. The all important poker scene was filmed where our actor loses all his money and his car, and then takes drugs and passes out on the floor. Many camera shots were again explored on the day and once again we didn’t stick to the storyline. However, this was not a problem when it came to editing. There now remains a short bit left to film.

Filming-Day One

Our first piece of filming took place on Wednesday 14th October. Overall, filming went very well. At the end of filming, we got around a third of our video filmed. There were a couple of changes which had to be made however. Upon filming, we realised that our original storyboard was a bit too unrealistic and there were some camera shots which were not feasible. This was an early disappointment. However when we arrived at our location we realised there were more imaginative achievable shots possible and decided to explore these. One example of this was to film David playing the guitar on his garage roof. This materialised into a brilliant shot as it granted us a wide range of possibilities to do with how we would film but also what we could film. The location, David’s house in the urban area of Great Barr, turned out to be terrific as we could film David on his roof and get shots of city life in the background. Another new possibility explored was David’s garden. We were unaware that it was so big, and we decided to film shots of David in the childhood phase of the music video, in his garden. This saved time as we did not have to relocate as we had previously expected to. In general, filming was largely successful and we were happy with our days work.

Casting

Casting was inevitably a very important part of my music video. There is one main character throughout the video. Originally, I considered using myself for this role. I have a good knowledge of acting and I am currently studying A2 Drama. Also considered was my working partner Samantha Cliff. However, we both decided that we wanted to test ourselves in terms of filming and Media, and the only way to do that would be to be behind the camera as opposed to in front of it. Eventually, we decided on using our mutual friend, David Moore (see below). The song "Half the World Away” is performed as mentioned by Oasis, and I wanted my actor to heavily resemble Oasis lead singer Liam Gallagher. David is also an A2 student of Drama, and we felt that with all things considered, using David would work well.

Ancillary Projects-Ideas and Images

As part of our A2 Advanced Portfolio we have been asked to design

• An album cover (front and back)
  


• A CD/DVD Digipak



• A magazine advert
  

I have begun considering ideas over the past 2 weeks as to what I would like my album cover to look like. I started by researching past Oasis albums to see if I could find inspiration and guidance as to what an ideal Oasis album cover might look like. Here are some I picked out:

ALBUM COVERS:

Be Here Now:Whats the story morning glory?:

Definetely Maybe:

The Masterplan

What I noted from these is that each album is very unique which gives it a certain distinction. I think this helps when coming to distinguishing each album as they are all different. I think this is good because it adds a promotional edge to the album which is good in the long run for selling records. What I have drawn from each cover however is that although there are things going on in the background, the main focal point still somehow manages to be the band. This I think is also good and a very good selling point as although there are things happening in the background the familiar faces of Oasis are still the first things one sees.

Here is the single cover for Half the World Away:

Half the World Away (single):This follows a similar pattern to the album covers I mentioned as clearly the main focal point on this image is Noel Gallagher and when it comes down to it the image of the artist will sell records ahead of any other images on the cover. I like this cover very much as I think it is very simple yet very effective. It shows Noel playing a live gig with his adoring fans in the background. I like the idea of this and I would like to maybe use a similar method when it comes to constructing my album cover, with the image of David playing and having something else in the background. I think that using an image similar to the one from the cover for "Half the World Away" on an album cover would show a very effective combination between my print artefacts and my main product (the music video).


Something which I have also noticed from the album covers is that they usually follow the same pattern of an image, the names of the album or single and the oasis logo. I have noted that I will need to include these in my print aretefacts to sustain consistency and not destroy the illusion that what I am creating is an actual Oasis album cover and magazine advert.



MAGAZINE ADVERTS:
I have also looked at certain magazine adverts featuring Oasis and looked at the typical features are of magazine adverts. I have noted that the main aspects of a magazine advert is:

• The name of the band


• The image of the band


• The product they are selling


• The price of that product


• The magazine name or logo

Here is an Oasis magazine advert I have found:

Dig out your Soul-Oasis
This magazine has most of the main features I have mentioned. It has the name or logo of the magazine (NME), the band name or logo twice (Oasis), the product in this case the album (Dig out your Soul) and a picture of the band (Oasis). I think this magazine advert is very successful. As I have already mentioned I think the main promotional selling point along with the music is the image of the band. I think it works well that the two biggest images on this magazine advert are the band and the product (album). All that is missing I would say is the price of the album, which I think is a crucial piece of information to any fan wanting to purchase a new album.

My magazine advert:
I have given careful consideration to my magazine advert, and I would like it to consist of the 5 main bullet points I have listed above which I believe are essential to any promotional magazine advert. I think that the name of the band has to be one of the most important things on the advert so I would ideally like this as one of the biggest things on there. I then think that the picture of the album is equally as important as it is the new product you are promoting. I then think that the price of the album is important but a magazine is likely to want a reasonable chunk of the page to promote its magazine. These are the ideas I have gathered looking ahead to constructing my print artefacts.

My Music Video-Important Information

Here is some information I consider important to my music video:
Props:

• Guitar
• Suit
• Tracksuit
• Football
• Poker cards and chips
• Table and chairs
• Cigarettes and Alcohol (poker scene)
• Car Keys

Mise en Scene:
In terms of mise en scene, I would like at some point to show certain shots of an urban city or village. This is because I can clearly demonstrate the roots that David has risen from to become a rockstar, and to maybe hint that these roots stay with you forever. Ideally, I would like to show a pan or tilt of urban housing at the begininng of the music video to set the scene. Other aspects of mise en scene will include a park. At some point I plan to show David playing football with his friends and this will probably need to be filmed in a park. I think that this will clearly demonsrate childhood as like most young boys he spends his summers in the park playing football with his friends. In terms of performing the guitar, I imagine that this will be shot in a house. I think this adds a homely image to the life of David as a boy.

Half the World Away-Oasis (Lyrics)
Iwould like to leave this city
This old town don't smell too pretty and
I can feel the warning signs running around my mind
And when I leave this island I'll book myself into a soul asylum
And I can feel the warning signs running around my mind

So here I go still scratching around the same old hole
My body feels young but my mind is very old
So what do you say?
You can't give me the dreams that are mine anyway
You're half the world away
Half the world away
Half the world away
I've been lost I've been found but I don't feel down.

So here I go still scratching around in the same old hole
My body feels young but my mind if very old
So what do you say?
You can't give me the dreams that are mine anyway
You're half the world away
Half the world away
Half the world away
I've been lost I've been found but I don't feel down

Background Information on the song:
This song was written and performed by Oasis band member Noel Gallagher. Noel was the main writer for the band before its split last year but it was usually brother Liam who would take control of lead vocals. However, it is Noel who performs this song. The song was first released as a B-side to "whatever" in December 1994 and was later included on the album "The Masterplan" in 1998. The Masterplan is an album consisting of the band's best B-side records and it was very popular upon its release. The song "Half the World Away" is also famous as it is the theme tune to popular British comedy series "The Royle Family."