Problem!

I had quite a major problem in that Stereotypical Blues Train are hardly ever together at the same time and available to film. So I was forced to change my idea last minute. I'm going to go back and edit my posts in this new blog, so it is all relevant - sorry its going to be in a weird order.
Here is the new idea:

My idea for 'Vince The Loveable Stoner' literally came to me in the media room one afternoon form time. I was zoning out staring through the green screen, letting my mind wander...

Its when I'm just drifting between thoughts, usually at night or when I'm getting ready for something or other that I get my ideas - when I don't really have to be doing anything (or when I should be but procrastinate instead!) 

I like to develop my ideas by writing them down and drawing little sketches (I use the word 'sketches' very lightly!) Once one idea's popped into my head I tend to get attacked by a barrelful more all at once. I like to try them all out, otherwise I won't know which one will work out best. It's probably a fault about me that I do try to keep all my ideas running at once, but I do eventually choose one to focus on. Quite often I'll keep my ideas to myself until I'm confident they're any good. Although once I've shared them I do benefit a lot from discussing them and using inspiration from other people's perspectives which definately helps me not to miss important aspects.

I get a lot of inspiration from music - useful considering this task is a music video! I'll be listening to a song and images appear in my mind of how I'd stage it. Usually I see it as a situation, more of a dream; but I like to think I'm getting better at translating those into film :) 

I was listening to 'Vince The Loveable Stoner' by the Fratellis, when my music video was born. The song name made me laugh when I first heard it; and the song is cheerful and a little crazy. As I listened I got images of this Vince guy dancing, especially for the verse intros that reminded me of Hawaii. I listened to it a few times over to be sure, then started piecing it together.

I had footage I'd taken from my holiday at my nan's in Somerset. I'd literally taken the camera everywhere with me to practice and improve my technical abilty. I taught myself how to use most of the manual settings, and was particularly happy when I found I could use shallow focus and alternate between the foreground and background. 

I'd initially planned to do a serious, intelligent music video however I had filming difficulties as the band weren't around enough for me to film them. So I improvised with this Fratellis idea and changed my mind. I decided to go for audience impact and fun instead. 

I wanted to experiment with different technologies... 

So lets get back to that earlier green screen moment...

There I was, staring past the green screen, beyond the real world, zoned out in some crazy music world of mine, when the opening bars of 'Vince The Loveable Stoner' can be heard... I could see my dancing stoners clear as day... the green screen comes back into focus... my stoners are still there...they step out of my mind's eye... and begin to dance in front of the green screen!

Albeit a slightly over-dramatic account of that afternoon, it is a truthful one. I checked over my hours of holiday footage, looking for shots to lend themselves to my new idea. I later filmed some more, as not all of it was useful or relevant for my plan.

I asked some of my male friends if they'd let me film them raving etc for my film. I managed to collect 6 of them! By the end of the day I'd filmed a decent amount to work with and see if my idea was feasable. 

At first, I found the green screen a little difficult to produce clear video with. I realised that the problem was the material not being stretched smoothly enough, so I re-pinned it up and held the corners down, which made a substantional difference to the quality. I tested my videos over some of my holiday footage and was delighted to see my idea would work! I had my vision, and now the means to create it!


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STYLE MODEL!
I've found the best style model for the type of video I'm hoping to produce. It is United States of Whatever by Liam Lynch. It has the same low budget feel to it as I know I will have to do, whilst still having a decent quality effect, with similar humour to that I'm going to use: