R+P Post 31: My call sheet

During the process of creating the shootboard, we realised we needed some form of call sheet. Thus, we decided to integrate it with the shootboard, in order to enhance the 'all-in-one' function of the shootboard. We sat down with Tom Brown, the only cast member (outside of the extraordinary circumstance and set-up of the party scene) who isn't part of our media group, and talked with him about his timetable. We had previously also confirmed with Lily Mo Browne that she could be our make-up artist- thus we also sat down with her and went over when she was free too. We implemented their concerns into our call sheet and storyboard, and marked down whenever they were free to shoot and do make-up, or just available to help out on set even if they weren't needed to fulfil their primary roles.

A used copy of the front page of the shootboard, showing the integrated callsheet at the top. We made sure each cast member had one of these before the shoot, and we put copies of them all around the studio during the shoot so that after people arrived they could see when they were first needed and so on. Click to enlarge.

Creating a call sheet was an important step, as it helped us organise some elements of our shoot less under our control, but still vital to our video- both Tom and Lily are outside of our media group, and don't even do A2 Media, yet have fairly major roles in the shooting process. It allowed us to provide necessary information to these people, so that they could be available when we needed them to be- we gave each of them a copy of the finished shootboard with integrated call sheet so that they could have all of the information they needed, in regards to availability and location and time and so on.

R+P Post 30: My shootboard

Nearer to the time of the final shoot, we decided to create a shootboard, in order to organise ourselves as well as everything and everyone we would need for this crucial period. The shootboard combines a lot of different elements into one document, and thus serves as a hub for everything in the shooting period. It turns the shot list and set-up list into a practical schedule with times and dates, and even incorporates elements of the props and cast lists to collect and centralise at least a summary of this information into one place to avoid having to reference too many sheets when looking for any information (for example, the main props list may not have to be referenced if the shootboard conveys the necessary information on this matter for the shot currently being filmed, which for us it does.)

UPDATE EVIDENCE

The first page of our finished shootboard. This page contains the most information, and is a good example of a typical page of the shootboard besides. It shows the call times for different cast and crew members, as well as some examples of shots, with the necessary shot images and information, as well as props and casting, along with the planned time to film, all in one row. Click to enlarge.

The shootboard creation process was a success- we organised everything related to our shoot into one, even using keys to help us (for example, the cast section has names bolded and unbolded, bold meaning they are needed in the shot as actors and similar, and not bold meaning they are available for behind-the-scenes work but not needed for the shot itself.) We plan to have multiple copies, at least one loose copy on hand to bring around with us, and some on the walls of the studio in different places, such as the main set and the gallery, so that they can be quickly referenced at any time and the benefits mentioned here easily reaped.

R+P Post 29: Rehearsals

Rehearsals were important in figuring out both how we could physically connote the personalities of the band members, through gestures and body language and so on, as well as how we could lay out the more intricate scenes through choreography. To this end, we allocated some of our pre-planned meeting times to rehearsing- we had already decided to meet in various free periods that we all shared, so we simply went to the studio to rehearse instead of to the media department to plan. Additionally, we were able to use the test shoot as a more advanced rehearsal, that used the lighting and some costumes and props that were ready at that time- this allowed us to both rehearse normally as well as capture an approximation of what our planned movements and so on would look like on camera.

One of the most important things to rehearse was gestures and personality during the band shots. We therefore had Noa and Jack mess around a bit, and tried to figure out what kind of moves would be best to get across their relationship. We had them glance at each other and smile or laugh from time to time, and we had larger interactions such as going back to back while performing, and we added all of this to our 'movement bank' for use later when we were capturing footage. Noa also got some time on the stage by herself, to prepare for her lead role, I got to practice using the drums a bit, and Tom got to have his first real experience of what he was going to have to do in the shoot, being the only one not part of the group and thus not privy to the entire planning process.

Noa and Jack directing each other and working on their sibling relationship gestures, while I get some practice on the drums. We are all standing or sitting in the approximate place we plan to be when we film during the test shoot. Click to enlarge.

Footage of Tom practicing for his role as Terence Kitchener playing the keyboard. Him being able to practice, even if at the start he had to use a mock-keyboard in the form of a table, and us being able to view him in role, was very good for solidifying him in the role- he now knew what he had to do, and we now knew he was definitely the right choice after viewing him in various shots. Click to play.

Every scene except the band scene has specific movements and actions to advance the narrative, including Casey falling asleep and going to the dream in the apartment set-up, or biting an apple to be transported to another scene in the Alice in Wonderland set-up. We got to try out all of these movements, and see if they worked within the bounds of the studio and camera frame. This was beneficial as it helped us either change our ideas by the main shoot, or, in the majority of cases, to practice the correct movements before the main shoot.

Noa and Tom while getting ready to practice the Sergeant Pepper scene. The monitor in the background is facing towards them, so they know how to stay within the framing, and we could all see how the composition of the shot could allow the slot machine to fit in the frame too. Click to enlarge.

Certain scenes needed even more rehearsing, specifically the Singing in the Rain and Mortal Kombat scenes. This is because we included movements directly inspired by movements in those pieces of media in our video. For Singing in the Rain, we choreographed a dance, or rather a set of dance-inspired movements, inspired by the famous movie scene. For Mortal Kombat, we choreographed a basic fight scene to look like a fight from the video game. These two required extra attention as we had more complicated and sequential movements, especially Mortal Kombat which takes place almost entirely in one framing and thus one take (although we plan to have cuts to other scenes like the band performing which increases the margin of error.) Being able to practice them in advance is a great help, as we don't want to waste time on a shoot day trying to get the choreography right.

R+P Post 28: My kit list

When we were getting to grips with the studio, the technician gave us a tutorial on how to use all the different pieces of kit. This immensely benefitted us, as it allowed us to know how to make the best of the professional-quality equipment in advance of the shoot. Producing a kit list has helped us keep track of everything we need to know how to use in order to be effective at at using all of the studio and equipment's assets to produce a music video.

 

Our group's kit list. We were lucky to have access to a set of high-quality equipment, that furthermore all worked together- the monitors showed the camera feed, the computer controlled the lighting desk, the wires allowed everything to work etc.

We learned how to use different pieces of equipment in conjunction, and organised the kit list so that they would follow each other. Knowing which pieces of equipment go together is useful, as they must be used in conjunction to be used to full effect.

The camera was placed on the tripod to stabilise it, and to allow us to take all the long-shots and later closer shots we wanted, while keeping the camera in approximately the same position and reducing shake. We have a large variety of shot types, as is convention of music videos, so this is important. The camera had the Koolertron monitor attached to it to effectively act as a larger, more true-to-life screen, and this helped us frame our various shots, which helps immensely for all shots but especially for shots with very specific framing, such as the Mortal Kombat shots, which need to look like they are from an old video-game while leaving space for the health bar props to be held above the characters' heads. The small monitor outputs to the large monitor, which can be moved on wheels to show the actors what they look like on camera without them having to leave the stage or get out of position, or moved around to show the person in the gallery who is operating the lighting approximately what the lighting looks like on camera, so they can make adjustments. As each set-up has a very specific lighting set-up, and lighting and colour are key to our band and music video's aesthetic and meaning and so on, this is very important.

A picture of me making sure the small monitor on the camera is working while it is attached to the tripod, so that it outputs video the the large monitor behind me, where one of our other group members who is in the gallery can see the lighting of the footage I am about to take of our third group member, and perfect it. Click to enlarge.

The sound desk, lighting desk and computer, studio lights themselves, and even the clamps and cyclorama, all work in conjunction. Someone in the gallery has control over all of the lights through the desk and computer, as well as the studio's sound system, which is key to playing the song so that Noa can lip-sync to it. Having a centralised control that we are all trained to use is incredibly useful, as it streamlines the process of changing between all our different specialised lighting set-ups and so on- the desk can edit and save lighting set-ups, and the computer manages them, and when the correct one is selected, the music can be played if necessary for that shot. The clamps hold the cyclorama up so that our lighting has a blank white background to shine on, and thus makes the lighting look good, while providing a stage for us to perform and film on.

An image of Noa operating the lighting computer, with the lighting and sound desks in the background. This one small stretch of table allows us to control all parts of the studio we could possibly want to for a music video shoot. Click to enlarge.

A picture taken from the gallery showing most of the studio lights above, as well as how they are placed and pointed to work with the cyclorama in the background. The monitor is facing the gallery to show the difference between real life and on camera to the lighting person, and Noa is seen manually adjusting a light. Click to enlarge.

The Windows and Apple laptops, as well as the external drives, are also key. The camera only has so much memory, which is filled relatively fast due to the quality, size, and length of the footage. Thus it must be preserved by using a card reader with one of the laptops, and then backing the footage up both on the laptops and the external drives. This ensures the card can be emptied whenever it needs to be and that the footage is in multiple places and can't realistically be lost, which is of course incredibly important.

Jack using a card reader to move the camera's footage from its SD card to the Apple laptop, and from there to an external drive. This process is relatively quick to do, and while the transferring of files can take a while, once it is initiated it can be left alone to complete while we continue to work. Click to enlarge.

The miscellaneous pieces of extra kit are still very very important. The various wires ensure that everything that needs to connect can connect, which is necessary for the pieces of equipment described above to function together in conjunction in the ways described, so that they can be used to their fullest potential. They also provide power from the mains to everything that needs it for the same reasons. The multiple batteries and chargers means the camera should never be out of action, so that footage can constantly be filmed, maximising efficiency. The lighting rod allows for the manual adjustment of lights, which is one of the only things the lighting equipment in the gallery can't do. One person can go in the gallery while one adjusts lights on the set, and they can collaborate and talk to reach optimal lighting conditions.

Jack adjusting a light with the rod, while the technician looks on. Me or Noa were in the gallery at this time, directing him, so that we could achieve the best possible lighting. Click to enlarge.

R+P Post 27: Casting

When he had decided on the band members and their personalities, we had to cast them. We decided to go with our original plan to use all three of us as three of the band members, to ensure that our cast was committed to the project- if we had gotten someone outside the group, there is a chance they would have been less committed to the project and caused issues later down the line. However, we did need a fourth person, so we asked Tom Brown, a mutual friend of all of us, and someone who did Media at AS. Out of everyone we could have picked, he was the best choice, as he is a good actor who fits the role of Terence Kitchener really well, and we know he won't let us down because of our good relationship with him.

The process of casting involved seeing if we could fit the roles assigned to us- especially for the lead singer. To this end, we did a Screen Test to see how we all worked together, if Noa looked and sounded like she was singing the original artist's voice, if everyone could emulate the personality of their band character through their performance, and if we all fit our roles. By the end, we were happy with our casting decisions.

Our Screen Test video. While the performance isn't as refined as we hope the final product will be, something we will be working on with rehearsals and so on, we think that each of us have our roles down to a certain degree, with the correct gestures and facial expressions. Click to play.

Our final cast list is thus as follows:

Casey Tyler- Noa Craig

Noa is a confident performer who has performed in drama productions and similar in the past- she thus knows how to act and isn't camera shy, which is important for the lead singer and personality/face of the band, and is especially important for the happy-go-lucky personality of Casey Tyler- she has a fairly similar personality in real life, and we were able to partially tailor the role to her, but not to the detriment of our overall plans, i.e. had we decided on a different personality for Casey that we liked more but was different from Noa, we would have went with that, especially as Noa is an accomplished actress and would be up for the task. While the song we chose had a female singer, and thus Noa as the only female member of the group seemed like an obvious choice, we didn't want to pick her simply based on that- however, after testing her out in the role, we found she fits very well with the original artist's voice and the atmosphere of the song, as well as with the personality of Casey Tyler and the planned atmosphere of the music video.

Noa in her Casey Tyler band costume. Here she is posing as if for a dramatic promo shot. Click to enlarge.

Hugh Tyler- Jack Edmondson

Jack is a drama student and has been involved with many plays and even musicals in the past. He thus is no stranger to playing the part of a character or a music performer, and being a longtime friend of Noa he works well with her- which is important, as while Hugh likes to act cooler than Casey, he still has to have a good sibling relationship with her while performing, and match her enthusiasm. Jack is a naturally enthusiastic person, so again he fit very well. He actually has had experience playing a guitar in an indie pop music video before, through the Echosmith music video remake task, and thus he also already has experience in a similar role.

Jack in his Hugh Tyler band costume. In this picture, he is trying to capture the cool side of his character, which we can really bring out more when he is alone and we don't have an opportunity to show his relationship with Casey. Click to enlarge.

Guy Chapman- Emilio Francischelli

I was selected for the role of Guy Chapman- as my other two group members are more accomplished actors, it makes sense that they were given the two lead roles- and then out of the two remaining roles we decided on Guy, as I fit his personality, gestures, etc. better than that of Terence. I have had some experience being in a music video and in front of a camera before, for example in the Echosmith remake and other previous media projects, but I am a bit less confident than some of my peers, so the quieter role of Guy suits me very well- I can still act well enough to be convincing, but don't have to be the face of the band. However, I do like to mess around with my friends and am quite outgoing when I get comfortable, so as I build up confidence in the role I should also be able to tackle the mischievous side of Guy's character as well.

Me in my Guy Chapman band costume. Here I am trying to pose as if I am in a promo shoot, in order to build up my confidence and experience in playing the role of Guy in front of the camera. Click to enlarge.

Terence Kitchener- Tom Brown

As we had run out of group members to cast by the time we came to cast Terence, we thus had to cast outside of the group- however, this meant we could choose someone perfect for the role. We decided on Tom, both because of his good relationship with all of us, but also for his experience in being a media student up to AS level and in taking part in many drama productions, often alongside Jack. While we know him as a down-to-earth and friendly person, even when joking about with us and other friends he plays the role of the "straight man" very well- this, combined with his acting skills, means we think he will nail the role of the slightly smug and more serious personality of Terence Kitchener. Our friendship should cover the other side of his character, in which he interacts and has fun with the other band members.

Tom in his Terence Kitchener band costume. In this picture he is attempting to play up the more serious facial expressions associated with his role, and succeeding quite well. Click to enlarge.

Other

As part of the casting process, we also had to cast people as extras in the party scene. As we would be dealing with a large number of people, we decided to make a list for better organisation. This list consisted of people who we all thought might be suitable for the role of a person at a party, while still being reliable. We narrowed this list down to five people after seeing who was available on the days we were thinking about shooting the party shots on, and then worked with them from there in order to secure costume and some basic personality for their characters and so on. The final list consists of Ray Baker (a fellow media student,) Lily Mo Browne (a friend of ours,) Hugo Perrot-Barnaby (a friend of Noa and myself,) Caleb Wycoff-Smith (a friend of Noa,) and Luciano Francischelli (my brother.)

The preliminary list of possible extras. It is extensive, as we created it with the intention of cutting it down to a shortlist, and visible is some evidence of us eliminating people as options for reasons like availability. Click to enlarge.

A group photo showing all four of us, the band members, alongside all five of the extras in their costumes. We know each of these people personally, and not just as acquaintances but as friends and family, so despite the larger number of people to organise, we think we will be able to use our directing and organisational skills to get them to perform how we want them to, while they remain receptive and willing to help. Click to enlarge.

R+P Post 26: Set design, locations, and props

We also had to finalise the details of our set design. Our plan is for quite a minimalist look, with only a few set props, most of which we could make ourselves in order to maintain our DIY cardboard aesthetic. Otherwise, we wanted complete control over the set so that we could create the pastel, dreamlike side of our aesthetic, and thus we turned to lighting. We will be shooting entirely in studio, so that we can use various different lighting set-ups on the cylorama, and thus we did a reccie of the studio to learn a bit about the lights, and even started working on the set-ups. Our plan is to have a distinct colour for each set-up, to complement the props and costumes and even themes of the set-up. For example, the "Alice in Wonderland" set-up is purple, to complement Casey's blue dress and the green of the tree (if any of the props were purple or even pink the purple might interfere,) as well as to reference the purple Cheshire Cat from the same source media.

The studio as we found it when we went in for our reccie. The cylcorama ensures a blank white canvas for us to shoot on, and the various lights you can see above allow for precise manipulation of the colours displayed. Click to enlarge.

Jack being guided through how to operate the lights from the floor, while Noa and I watched and learned alongside him. You can see our "Alice in Wonderland" lighting set-up in the background, or at least a preliminary version of it, with the tree prop in the middle of being set up. Click to enlarge.

We took inspiration from a few different videos. We noticed having a plain studio is quite conventional for music videos, and thus we adapted this convention to our own needs. Studio-shot music videos tend to have only a few props so that the aesthetic can be carefully constructed and controlled, in comparison to on-location videos which tend to have a lot of props in order to simulate real life more.

Some of Jessie J's music video for her song "Price Tag." While it is somewhat outside of our genre, this was still an influential video on us because it has very similar set design to what we hope to achieve. There is a plain white room with different colours used for different scenes, with only one or even no big props. We also hope to emulate the success of songs and videos such as this one. Click to enlarge.

Some of Echosmith's music video for their song "Cool Kids." This is a song and video we were already familiar with, from a band that has been an influence from within the genre throughout the project, so we looked to this video for inspiration. While they use less colours than we are planning to, they still have a lot of variation in the kinds of lighting they use, and they do have at least some colour variation between white, grey, and pink. Click to enlarge.

Most of the props that we are planning to use to build the sets we are going to make- besides the sofa and some other miscellaneous things. They are directly inspired by the lyrics and our interpretation of them, as well as the pieces of media we are referencing. For example, we looked at the lamppost in "Singing in the Rain," and then decided to replicate it in cardboard and paper to fit our aesthetic. It is going to be the only set prop in its set-up.

The lamppost from "Singing in the Rain." We looked at images such as this for all four pieces of media, in order to determine if we'd need set props, and what they should be if so. For this one, the lamppost is integral to this famous scene, and very recognisable besides, so we decided to rework it in our cardboard aesthetic. Click to enlarge.

A photo of Jack working on the lamppost prop. We used a layer of cardboard as the structure of the post, and then surrounded it in black paper to make it look more similar to the original, while retaining the homemade look. We tried to shape it into a recognisable approximate version of the original. Click to enlarge.

A picture of the completed lamppost, in the wings of the studio waiting to be used. We built it on top of a 'swingball' base to aid in standing it up, and built some small lights into the paper approximation of the lamp to make it give off a nice glow and resemble the light of the original a bit more.

We followed a similar process for every single set prop- it differed slightly when it came to set-ups like the apartment, as that one is set in the 'real world.' Thus we just used a sofa, and in certain shots we used as normal props various items relating to the pieces of media throughout the dreams in the video, such as a "Singing in the Rain" VHS box and a "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" vinyl record cover.

Our set props for each set-up that required them. Certain set-ups, like Mortal Kombat, had normal props that we created by hand in a similar fashion to certain props on this list, but not free-standing pieces of set design like the ones shown here.

R+P Post 25: Costume, props, and make-up

We decided to finalise both the costumes and props we would need for the video, since we had already figured out and consolidated our ideas for the band's fashion, style, and aesthetic, as well as all the different set-ups and shots we would need, which already necessitated figuring out all of the props and costume changes to some degree. We first simply wrote out everything on paper to get our ideas down, and then we worked from there.

The first page of our preliminary costumes sheet. We figured out most of the basics for each person's costumes- everyone has a 'performance' costume they wear for the band shots, and a 'narrative' costume they wear when they are acting the part of a character from a classic piece of media. Additionally, Casey has an extra costume for the narrative sections we added later- pyjamas for the shots in her home before and after she has the dream. Click to enlarge.

The second page of the preliminary costumes list. We wanted all the band members to look fairly similar in terms of performance costume- that's why they are all wearing different coloured shirts on this ideas sheet. We later expanded on this idea by having everyone wear a shirt (or in Casey's case a jacket) of a similar colour to the primary colour of their narrative costume, but more pastel to fit with the band's aesthetic. Click to enlarge.

The narrative costumes were fairly simple, as we simply had to replicate the costumes of the chosen characters- Alice from "Alice in Wonderland" for Casey, Gene Kelly from "Singing in the Rain" for Hugh, Scorpion from "Mortal Kombat" for Guy, and one of the Beatles from the cover of their album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" for Terence. We also decided to give Casey some make-up so she would match Alice better, and then give the rest of the band members the standard make-up to make them look good under studio lights, and no more. This had the added benefit of making Casey stand out more, as she should as the face and major personality of the band.

The visual reference for Casey's Alice costume. We used older versions of the characters in keeping with the song's themes and the video's storyline- this we went with the older but very recognisable 2D animated "Alice in Wonderland" film, rather than more recent adaptations in live-action and similar. We imitated both the costume and the make-up, such as the pink lipstick and eye make-up. Click to enlarge.

The visual reference for Hugh's Singing in the Rain costume. It is a screenshot showing Gene Kelly in the most famous moment of the film, where he is dancing and of course singing in the rain. We simply had to get a nice suit costume together, as well as a similar-looking hat, and we noted down the umbrella for the props list later on. Click to enlarge.

The visual reference for Guy's Scorpion costume. As with Alice, we went for the classic, recognisable version of the character's costume from the older games to fit with our ideas. This also made it easier for us when it came to creating the costume, as newer versions of this character from the newer "Mortal Kombat" games have much more elaborate costumes. Plus, the older version has a stronger yellow, which we decided would look good in the video. Click to enlarge.

The visual reference for Terence's Sgt. Pepper costume. Out of all four colours, we chose red, as we already have bright blue and bright yellow narrative costumes, and we thought red clothing needed to build the costume would both be easier to find and look nicer alongside the other costume colours in the final video than pink clothing. Click to enlarge.

We then moved on to the performance costumes. We looked back at our influential artists for ideas on what kind of clothes we should be wearing- we already knew the colours, as the colour scheme came from our band and video aesthetics. This culminated in the three male band members wearing black jeans, with a pastel coloured shirt that somewhat corresponds with the colour of their narrative costume, and Casey herself in a blue denim jacket and blue top to match her Alice costume, also with black jeans. In this way we have created synergy with the band's overall aesthetic, such as the clothes they will be wearing on promo shots on the website and such, but we have preserved the video's unique aesthetic too. Someone from our target audience said "the costumes make the band look like they belong together," so we seem to have been successful.

A picture of Lucy Spraggan. Artists like Lucy Spraggan, as mentioned previously on this blog, have been very inspirational for us when developing costumes for our band. We looked through all our old reference photos as well as some new ones in order to find the best fashion choices for our music video costumes, and this photo of Lucy Spraggan was particularly useful for Casey's performance outfit. Click to enlarge.

A picture of Echosmith. They have been a big influence throughout, and at this stage it was no different- we liked their different shirts and varying accessories, and although we were looking primarily at fashion and clothing styles rather than colours, the colour scheme in this photo (as well as others) did have some influence on our music video costumes. Click to enlarge.

A picture of New Young Pony Club. We investigated different bands wearing matching costumes, and found it fairly frequent both inside and out of the studio, and both inside and outside music videos. This is a particularly extreme example in that they are all wearing the same t-shirt, but it was helpful in illustrating the extent of this convention, which we used in our band costumes. Click to enlarge.

Eventually, after various preliminary ideas sheets and research into different costumes, we decided to try and get all the costumes together. We got as many possible options for each outfit as possible, and then tried them out- once we were happy with them, we took photos and used them to create a list of all our costumes. The narrative costumes were a little trickier, as we had to actually create some of them (but we did that as part of this process too,) and we ended up using some of the budget on an "Alice in Wonderland" costume (the exact Amazon listing for this can be found here.) Once they were completed, we took more photos and added them to the rest.

A list of all of our costumes, as well as the people who ended up wearing them, once we finalised the casting.

We also refined our make-up ideas somewhat at this stage, to better fit with the eventual final costume designs. The two people with the most costume-specific make-up were Casey as Alice and Hugh in the band. We tried to replicate Alice's make-up as best as we could, to add an extra layer of authenticity. With Hugh, we wanted to explore his personality and stage prescense a bit more, as he is arguably the next most important member of the band after Casey, and he shares a lot of screentime with her because of their brother-sister relationship. We therefore decided to give him some 'guyliner,' and this eyeliner really helped to make him look more outgoing and interesting, as if he had dressed up and done his make-up to look good in the video alongside his sister. A male band member wearing eyeliner also breaks traditional gender norms somewhat too, which feeds into the band's welcoming nature that they use to appeal to their young target audience.

We looked once more to our reference pictures of older depictions of Alice. While make-up differed, we noticed a few common traits, and we picked and chose some of the less common but interesting traits we also wanted. We ended up going with the recognisable pink lipstick, as well as eyeshadow (which we added glitter to so it would stand out more,) along with fuller eyelashes. Click to enlarge.

A picture of Brandon Flowers from the Killers. We looked to various male icons in the past and tried to find some kind of make-up that set any of them apart, in order to influence Hugh's make-up. While the Killers are closer to indie rock than our chosen indie pop, they are still very similar to our other influences and our band in a lot of ways, and besides that Brandon was one of the first big stars to break the norms of male fashion by wearing make-up. Click to enlarge.

The only other costume considerations we had to work on was the range of costumes for the party scene at the video's climax. To take some of the pressure off of us at this busy time so we could focus on other parts of the project, and to add to our video's authentic and DIY aesthetic, we asked all the people we had cast for the party scene to suggest their own costumes for this scene based on what they had access to. We gave them some guidelines and vetted their suggestions, and ended up with a wide range of costumes- ranging from other recognisable characters from pieces of media, such as Luigi from "Super Mario Bros." and Shaggy from "Scooby Doo," to costumes that were simply visually interesting, such as a human-sized fried egg.

The people we ended up casting as extras in our party scene in their costumes. As you can see, their is a fairly large variety of costumes, and we tried to show each costume/character's personality while filming the video- for example, the ghost chased Shaggy, while Luigi did some jumping. Click to enlarge.

Alongside costume, we worked on our props list. Like with costume, we had some ideas on what we would need for each set-up and shot thanks to our storyboard and such, so we decided to make a props list to consolidate our ideas. Like other paper plans of this nature, it helped us finalise our ideas by pulling together and organising all of them in one place for the first time.

The first page of the props list. As you can see, we divided the props up in a similar way to the storyboard (which we were using to help us create this list) in order to aid organisation. We also noted which props we would have to create to further help organise us, as this ended up being quite a few props because of our DIY and cardboard-style video aesthetic. Click to enlarge.

The second page of the props list. This page also contains all of the musical instruments we needed- it was during the process of creating this list that we finally decided exactly what each band member was playing, as previously Guy and Terence could have swapped instruments (either with each other or to a different instrument completely) anytime before the video. While this was incredibly unlikely, especially as we had built their personalities while knowing what instrument they played, finalising this decision based on props we knew we had access to was quite good for organisation. Click to enlarge.

The next step was gathering all the necessary props. Most of the props we provided ourselves, either as we owned them or knew people who had them and would be willing to lend them to us. We also got a few props through school, such as the Drum Kit, and we purchased the TV simulator with some of the budget as we knew it would provide a great effect but no-one we knew had one (the exact Amazon listing for it can be found here.) That left the props we had to make, so we created a few preliminary designs for these props, gathered the necessary materials, and met outside of school a few times in order to make them.

An example of a preliminary props design sheet. This page shows some of the Mortal Kombat set-up's props, such as what would eventually become the "Fight!" sign, as well as the health bars that we would hold up above the actors. Click to enlarge.

The final evolution of the "POW" sign on the design page above. When creating it, we weighed up the practicality of our plans and adjusted them accordingly. Thus, instead of string, we will just have someone hold the sign, and of course the text itself has been edited too. Click to enlarge.

The final versions of the health bars. They also changed slightly from the design sheet, with the names hanging down with string instead of being on top of the bar- this was easier to make, made both the bar and names clearer, and is more accurate to the actual video games we are referencing in which the names often sit below the bar. We provided the cardboard, sticks, and string, and used the school's paint. Click to enlarge.