Filming Day 4 - Liverpool (Modern Day)

After filming the Victorian section, we walked towards Albert Dock to prepare for the modern day section. We scouted the area and lined up the shot, then waited until dark so we could film in front of the wheel with the lights in the background. We had no issues during the filming of this section, we didn't even need to worry about other people getting in the way because this section is set in the present day, meaning people in modern clothing actually enhanced the scene making it more realistic.

Filming Day 4 - Liverpool (Victorian)

We met at Moorfields train station at 9:00am, then made our way to Saltney Street to film the Victorian section of the music video. As this is the start of the video, we needed a narrative section before the music begins. This didn't take too long as we didn't need to worry about lip syncing. However, the rest of this section took a very long time as we needed to keep stopping due to cars coming up and down the road, and it was difficult to get the lip syncing right because Ryan also needed to focus on spinning the cane.

When we began filming the musical part we realised we couldn't use the entire wall due to graffiti and electrical posts that made it clear that it was the modern day. We resolved this issue by using the same part of the wall over and over again and cutting to a different shot whenever we reached the end.

This is the latest edited version including the updated 30s section as well as the Victorian section.
1890s begins at 0:00
1930s begins at 1:27
1950s begins at 1:50
1970s begins at 2:22

Filming Day 3 - Reshooting 1930s

Due to the many lighting and lip syncing issues, we decided to completely re-do the 30s section.

We did this on the 20th December. This day was originally planned for Liverpool filming, but due to the poor weather we decided to refilm the 30s section as it is indoors.

This wasn't as difficult as it seems because we were indoors so we didn't have to fight the cold (or other people). We also decided to seize this opportunity to make some adjustments to Ryan's costume. The most noticeable change is the introduction of glasses. This makes his character resemble Ronnie Kray, a famous English gangster during the 1950s and 60s.

We managed to fix all of the lighting issues as well as the lip syncing issues and improved the overall look of the character.

Filming Day 2 - Port Sunlight

We met up in Port Sunlight early and started filming at around 9:00am. Filming went fairly smoothly. There were no technical issues (eg. lighting, camera angles, etc) whatsoever, we required few takes, and the lip syncing looked good.

The only issues we encountered were in the form of a loud ATM machine, which was quite annoying, and a scary biker gang which drove us away from our original filming location. However, this gang of bikers may have actually helped us, as the new location we found, just left of our original location, was easier to film in. There were few cars to worry about and the sound of the ATM was distant.

Below is the new version of the music video including the 1950s section.

• 1930s begins at 1:05
• 1950s begins at 1:29
• 1970s begins at 2:02

Version 2 Update

I made a minor change to the current version of the music video. I have changed the date text to cover the whole screen rather than appearing at the bottom, as I thought it was too small and I wanted to make sure nobody missed the change in time periods.

• 1930s begins at 1:05
• 1970s begins at 2:02

Filming Day 1 - Moreton

                  

We met up in Moreton at 8:00 am on 10th December to begin the first day of filming. After meeting up we walked to the first filming location - Sedgefield Road - to start work on the 1970 section of the video.

We encountered a few issues while filming. The first was the amount of people who came out to see what we were doing. A few people asked if we were making a YouTube video, and one man (while I was filming from on top of a wall) asked if we were filming ourselves "jumping off walls".

Another major issue that set us back quite a bit, was one of continuity. While discussing shot types, Ryan zipped up the jacket, which is unzipped in previous shots. We did not notice this for about an hour, meaning we had to back-track and refilm a number of shots. 

Furthermore, Ryan was struggling to unlock his inner man. His camp nature did not fit the character we were creating which meant a number of shots needed multiple takes.

When we eventually completed the '70s section, after about 3 hours of filming, we walked to Oliver's house to film the 1930's section.

While Ryan was adjusting his hair to suit the 30s Mob Boss character, the rest of us set up the camera on top of the tripod and dolly.

We had some lighting issues while filming this part of the music video. Ryan was appearing red on the camera and we realised this was due to the red wallpaper in the room we were filming in. We addressed this issue by closing the curtains to block out the sunlight, and pointing a lamp with a white light at Ryan. I also added a Sepia visual effect in Final Cut, creating the image above.

This is the first edited version of the music video. I have included a bit of extra footage after the 1930s section to show how the gunshot transition will look.

• 1930s begins at 1:05
• 1970s begins at 2:02

Filming/Editing Schedule

Now that we have finished planning our music video it is time to start filming. We hope to finish filming on the 20th December, but will have the 21st and 22nd for re-filming shots that didn't turn out as well as we had hoped:

10th December:
Film the 1937 and 1977 scenes in Moreton

17th December:
Film the 1957 scene in Port Sunlight

20th December:
Film the 1800s and Modern Day scenes in Liverpool

21st - 22nd December:
Back up days for reshoots

I will be editing each section as soon as we have completed filming each day.