The Church

Today we are going to film in the church. We've had a bit of a problem with the church and finding one  that would be useable. After asking 3 different churches we found one that give us permission if we had a letter off the school or teacher. We will have our student cards incase they need to get our ID and proof that we are students. 
The location is St Andrews church that is located Clubmoor.

Day 2 and 3 pictures

Second and third day of shooting

Over the past two days we were filming some long and short clips for our music video. We done the filming in Everton park. The location changed from Newsham Park to Everton Park when we seen the views and wildlife in Everton Park. Also the hills and the pathways also caught our eye because we knew they would suit some of our camera shots and movements. 

On the first day the weather was very cold but it stayed dry. This was a good thing because we knew Connor needed yo film some scenes on the floor and it wouldn't have been as good on a wet floor because he could ply have done so many shots before being soaked through. We only needed Connor in front of the camera on the first day.

 Connors girlfriend come with us on this day to do Connors make-up. We needed him to look beat up so the make-up included blood and bruising. I thought she done extremely well to make it look so realistic. As the camera man I thought I done very well because not only did I get the shots on the shooting script but I managed to get in some of the wonderful views in the background. Like the first day of shooting Michael was very organised and knew where he wanted to shoot Connor all the way through.

On the second day we didn't need any make-up so we didn't need Connors girlfriend to be there. We went to the same location because we needed more shots. We needed to film Connor being beat up by me and 2 other of our mates (Paul and Adam). These two people were very helpful and done a very good job and followed all Michaels instructions very well. I had to take on a new role as an actor. This was new to me but I thought I done well in playing the role of the gang leader. Michael needed to take on two rolled so he was the director and the camera man. I also thought I helped him out with the directing because I tired to put the other actors in a certain spot that wouldn't show us not really hitting Connor. The weather was more wet than the first day so I don't know if this will show on the music video. If it does it is a bit of a let down. 

Our first shooting day analysis

I think the first day shooting our music video went very well. I think we worked very well as a team and we all stuck to our roles that we were supposed to do. Connor done very well in front of the camera. His acting and lip syncing was very good and at some points we didn't even need to play the song because he knew the song and lyrics very well.

Michael was the producer. He was telling what shots I should get of him and what shots would look the best in a music video. I believe Michael knew what he was talking about because he done a lot of research on A2 media music videos before we started out shooting.

I think i done very well doing the shooting. At some points the camera was a little shaky but we have a software that can fix that. I tried to get as much footage as possible because the more footage I got the more footage we have to work with when we come to edit the video.   

First day of shooting pictures

Album covers we can relate to

These are 4 very well known album cover. Some recent and some older. These album covers are Jay Z and Kanye West "Watch The Throne", Lady Gaga "Born This Way", Justin Bieber "Believe" and Michael Jackson "Bad". 
From looking at these album covers the first thing I can see for three of them is that they are simple. I can see that there is obviously Photoshop work on them but we can easily come up with something like this. The "Watch the throne" album cover is a lot more detailed and more complicated. All the colours suit the artist on the front of the album cover. This is the main thing we need to focus on because this is what gives the cover meaning.

Our shooting equipment

This is our first piece of shooting equipment. This is a standard Hitachi video camera that we are lending from the school. Here is some information on what the camera can do and some of its features.

• 23 x Optical Zoom
• 120 x Digital Zoom
• 3in LCD Screen
• Full HD 1080p Recording

Accepts SD, SDHC and SDXC memory card formats




This is the Apple iphone 5c. Michael and Connor both have this phone and will both be using it to take some different kind of shots while we are filming so we can choose which shot is the best to use. Here is some information about the camera on this iphone...

• 1080p HD video recording (30 fps)
• LED flash
• Time-lapse video
• Video stabilisation
• Take still photos while recording videoFace detection
• 3x zoom
• Video geotagging

A new group decision

As a group we have decided on a new location we are going to do some scenes in. This is Everton park located in Everton (15 minute walk from the Liverpool city centre).

As you can see the views from this park are brilliant which is why we have decided to get some shots here. We also think the hills in the park will be good to film on because we can really get good use out of shots like a low angle and a high angle.

Shooting day 1 weather update

When we film for the first time on Saturday, we aren't hoping for the best weather due to this daily weather update that was updated on Friday. We will make sure we are ready for any weather by taking coats, umbrellas and bags to protect our equipment. We know the weather take take a turn for the worst at any time during the day.

Final risk assessments and story board

Our locations

The Albert Dock is located in Liverpool. This is one of the most famous landmarks in the UK because the docks were known for being one of the largest trading areas in the world back in the 1900's.
We decided to use this location because of its history and because we thing we will get some very good shots her including the background and the weather.






Opening in 1868, Newsham Park is known as one of the largest parks in the city with over a thousand people visiting the place every day. 
We decided to go with this location because like the Docks, we want to get some good angles and backgrounds. Also we need benches and a certain scene is filmed in a park that is probably the biggest scene in the video.







We are yet to know specifically what church we are going to use for the video due to certain rules they have about filming but we know we are defiantly going to use a church at some point. We needed to use a church because it is a vital part of the song. The song is very religious and so is the official video by Hozier. I think this was the location that needed to be in the video most because it will link in very well with the song.


We are also going to use a bedroom for some shots. We are going to use Michaels bedroom for this. This location was just chosen for the video to look original and like every day life. Also we need to show Connor thinking as people think best in a private place like their bedroom.

Our sheets review

I feel that even though it took a while to do we done very well as a team making our official sheets. I had a big role in completing our shooting script. This is the sheets we need to know what the actor will be doing during certain scenes and lines of the song. I split the song up using the lines from the lyrics. 
During certain scenes we will be in different locations like the Docks, a park, a bedroom and in a church. My job was to write what lines of the songs should be lip synced in different locations. 
I think I done very well doing this but a problem we had was asking churches to let us film in them. We've had no luck so far but we are hoping to know in the next couple of days what church we will be using to film in.
Ive also had to break the song down into seconds. I've got myself ideas from different music videos like Ed Sheeran Lego House and The Killers A Dustland Fairytale (two songs we were debating on doing for the music video). I've had to take in consideration the weather, time of day and lighting. Im hoping the video will be a success so I can say I had a big part to play in it.

Our shooting script, official proposal sheet and call sheets

Our Song Lyrics

My lover's got humour
She's the giggle at a funeral
Knows everybody's disapproval
I should've worshipped her sooner
If the Heavens ever did speak
She is the last true mouthpiece
Every Sunday's getting more bleak
A fresh poison each week
'We were born sick,' you heard them say it
My church offers no absolutes
She tells me 'worship in the bedroom'
The only heaven I'll be sent to
Is when I'm alone with you
I was born sick, but I love it
Command me to be well
Amen. Amen. Amen

Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

If I'm a pagan of the good times
My lover's the sunlight
To keep the Goddess on my side
She demands a sacrifice
To drain the whole sea
Get something shiny
Something meaty for the main course
That's a fine looking high horse
What you got in the stable?
We've a lot of starving faithful
That looks tasty
That looks plenty
This is hungry work

Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

No masters or kings when the ritual begins
There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin
In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene
Only then I am human
Only then I am clean
Amen. Amen. Amen

Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

Our music video clothing

For our music video we know the main actor is from a rough area in Liverpool because that is were we are going to shoot some scenes from our video. For a teenage boy around this area the mis en scene is black clothing (normally tracksuits). This is the kind of clothing Connor will be wearing when shooting our video. When I am in the video I will be wearing something very similar to Connor because we are from the same area and around the same age. 

Analysis of music video (Skyfall Adelle)

We are now ready to make our music video. During my spare time I am going to anaylse and compare Skyfall with Take Me To Church.

The song its self is very similar with the very slow start and then builds up to the louder and faster chorus. I believe it can be related to the Hozier song because it starts off very similar with the singing very slow. It then builds up slowly for a loud chorus and then repeats during the second verse.

In terms of the video they are totally different because 'Take me to church' has a real music video that involves actors and real camera shots. The 'Skyfall' video is juts the lyrics to the song. 

Hozier fire album cover

This is a album cover I made after doing the Hozier fire text. I thought I'd see what it looked like on the album cover.
My thoughts of it are not good. Firstly it doesn't suit the picture but that is my fault. I also feel that the text looks too simple to do and doesn't look like real fire. I prefer my last attempt at a album cover that I made in my free time.

Image Into Text Photoshop

This Photoshop skill is very hand to know because it can look good on many thing. Its a very easy skill to learn that only takes a matter of minutes to make. This could come very handy when we come to make our album cover for our music video. We will probably use a lot darker colours to go with the theme of the video and the mis en scene.

Exploding picture

This is my attempt at the exploding picture on photoshop. I don't think it looks very good because I wasn't in class when the teacher was showing the class so I had to try and follow a routable clip. I spent a lot of time with the paint brush because I think thats what gives it the exploding look.
I forgot to take screenshots of my work in progress and couldn't go back to it because the work itself took an hour. IThis is the youtube clip I used but I got confused a quarter of the way through the video and done my own thing.

Text On Fire Photoshop

My Hozier Album Cover

I had some spare time during a lesson so I messed around with a a picture of Hozier on photoshop. I thought was I done with the picture started to look like a good album cover. I got a very simple text for the "Hozier" text because I wanted it to be easy to read for the audience. For the image I just simply used nothing apart from the magic wand tool to get rid of some of the background and the picture.