Location Research

Location Research:

For our music video concept, it is vital that we have primarily five distinctive locations. 

1)  The street, preferably one with a significant amount of streetlamp's, however, we will require artificial lights in order to maximise the darkness of the night and to minimise the grain the camera will experience during a night-time shoot:

Windsor High Street:

Small alleyway featuring one main streetlamp, opposite TK-Maxx. I believe this street would be incredibly effective as it is very narrow, which would create an interestingly framed wide shot, as the buildings would be in more prominence than the actor for the beginning of the music video when his world is in black and white. Close-up's of the actor would reduce the effect of him appearing insignificant in the frame, as he becomes part of the inclusive shot when his viewpoint changes. The streetlights would link to the lyric "Streetlights they change us", and it is on this line that we have our first glimpse of the female protagonist, who similar to religious terminology, is the 'light' of his life. 

2) A simplistic bedroom, featuring no posters or paintings that could provide us with copyright issues:

I envisage our male protagonist waking up in a double bed, however, one half of the bed is empty with immaculate covers as he has no significant other to fill the empty space next to him. A double bed in particular possesses symbolism for 'sexual desires', and messy bed-covers alludes to restlessness and 'under the cover activities'. Within the production phase of our Music Video, we would take upon the role of Art Director, and carefully make the double bed to have one side immaculate, whilst on the over side the covers are strewn around everywhere. This would create a juxtaposition to the concept of passion that is typically associated with the bed, and instead allude the loneliness the protagonist feels until he has an epiphany and devotes himself to his lover. 
If possible the room will be blue, to resonate and connote his glum feelings. We will make use of natural lighting, with an individual natural white light box to increase the lighting slightly. However, when he sees the polaroid, the lighting will switch to warmer toned lighting as his mood increases. This will be achieved by placing a warm coloured gel over the light box. 

3) Somewhere that we can feature the artist lip-syncing to the music:

Log Cabin:

Southbank Skate Park:

Southbank in London is infamous for its skatepark which is covered in bright and vivid graffiti. I believe this would look incredibly aesthetically pleasing for a lip-syncing shot, as the bright colours reflect his elated mood at finding the girl he is meant to be with, however, the multitude of designs layered over one another infers that he is confused and his mind is filled with thoughts about how he is supposed to find her. In order to ensure that the main focus remains on our the protagonist within these shots, lighting will be a key concept to consider, as if lit properly we can draw the focus of the viewer onto the actor and not the hectic background. The images of the location create connotations in my mind of rebelliousness and youth, as the majority of those who skate in Southbank are young people which would be our ideal target audience. The concept of graffiti is a form of self-expression, which I believe is very important.

Norden Farm Centre for the Arts:

Norden Farm Centre for the Arts is a local theatre that has a large stage and an abundance of lighting equipment. This would be a desirable location for the artist to lip-sync as it would be possible to use a variety of gobo lighting and, the stage-like format of the location would make the band appear as if they were performing 'live' at a concert. This is a convention often adhered to by many indie bands within their music videos, which as stated by our focus group, is a highly effective technique.

4) The Train Platform:

Twyford Station:

It is vital when considering a train station that we find a location that has multiple platforms parallel to one another in order to achieve our desired over the shoulder shot of the barrier between the lovers as exemplified by them being on different platforms; Twyford Station does have this type of platform. However, in order to film at this location, we will require authorization/permission from the train station. It is important within our music video, that we subvert the stereotypical position of women in society, as a large amount of the indie target audience consists of young females who promote the feminist ideology. (This subversion to female stereotypes can be seen in many indie music videos) Similarly, as young female filmmakers ourselves we want to portray women to be strong and in juxtaposition to conventional views. Despite the concept of the music video based around a mans plight to find the woman he can worship and idolise, the ending is highly ambiguous demonstrating that women aren't simply the property of men (objectification) and after leading him on a 'goose chase' she disappears as the train speeds past. This emphasises that she is a dominant and strong-willed female, who doesn't necessarily need a man to complete herself as she worships and respects herself. She is clearly dominant throughout the video as she has dictates the path he should follow to find her. 

5) Multiple industrial areas in which the actor will run through, whilst on his quest to find the girl:

Carters Steam Fair:

Carters Steam Fair would be particularly effective for the 'chase' shots as it is a highly chaotic environment, with bright and twinkling lights which would be very aesthetically pleasing if filmed with a shallow depth of focus, allowing all of the lights to appear blurred with only the girl in focus; thus centralising her importance and appear like a vision impairment shot. The bright neon and vivid colours of a fair at night appear like dazzling beacons of light, particularly if we were to film when on a ride the lights would appear contorted and create an almost hallucinogenic effect. This could appear highly dreamlike and aesthetically appealing as he (dazed) attempts to follow the girl from the previous night that he perhaps only remembers as a ‘dream’, this could relate to the concept of teen alcohol consumption, which caused him not to remember the night before and question whether or not this girl was simply a dream or a reality. When I think about fairs, I associate them with the circus and optical illusions such as ‘the bearded lady’ or ‘the room of mirrors’ that are often present at these attractions. This could create a maze-like effect for the music video as when chasing her, he believes he sees her, when it is only a trick of the light. The lighting at a fair also has a very magical quality.