List of Props,Costumes, make-up and equipment

Props

Our props were kept pretty simple, as we wanted our main focus to me on the image of our artists and the location rather than the props used. However, we decided that when we film the lip syncing for our lead male role than he should an acoustic guitar to play. We thought that this prop would connote well with our pop image that we're trying to create, as many male pop artists such as Ed Sheeran, Jason Mraz and James Morrisson all incorporate an acoustic guitar in their music video's as it's effective to the portrayal of their image which is relaxed and laid back. 

Our second prop that we're going to use is a bicycle with a basket. We added the basket to our bicycle to make it more feminine, to really emphasize the vulnerableness and loneliness that this young girl in our music video is experiencing. Also, as our location is set in London, we observed how most young people travel around London, which was either by bus or by bike. However, we thought that by using a bike we would be able to capture a variety of more interesting shots in our music video and use different special effects to our advantage (like a fast motion effect.)

Costumes

As I've previously discussed in other posts, the costume choice was pretty easy for us as we wanted our target audience to relate easily to our lead female. Therefore we didn't want to over exaggerate our character or give her dramatic, over the top clothes to wear. Therefore we went with the 'typical' image of a London girl, who dresses quite funky. Topshop is extremely popular amongst young girls so we thought that if she dressed similar to the 'topshop image' then as well as being relatable to our audience they can also aspire and admire her. To be specific Charlotte would probably dress in something like a vintage cardigan, with shorts and some funky tights. What is useful as well is that Charlotte has a very popular haircut, therefore she would be more of a fashion icon.

Our males style is going to be pretty similar, as we want to be relatable to our male audience. Like Topshop, Topman is also extremely popular amongst young boys and especially for some pop artists like Olly Murs, JLS and One Direction. It is important to remain within the stereotype of our chosen genre, and make aspects of this really obvious. Nathan would most likely to be wearing something like chinos, boat shoes and maybe a hoody. 

Make-up

Make-up was something that we were undecided about for quite some time. We couldn't decide whether we wanted to have her natural or to have her made up. We then decided that maybe we should use both for different shots. She could be made up when she's searching the streets of London, as if she is trying to make something of herself and to emphasize the glamour. However, we could do her make up naturally when we're trying to convey her loneliness, as if she's been stripped of all her confidence and ego and this is how she really feels in London (which is lonely and sad.)

Equipment

It didn't take us long to decide on the equipment that we would need for our music video. As I also do Photography for A-Level I already have my own Nikon camera that films in HD. This is an advantage for me and Charlotte as I am always using my camera and have previous experience in filming with it. It will also improve the quality of our shots and develop our music video to be more successful as framing is a key element. We will also need to rent out a tri-pod from school, as we will need it for tracking shots and high angle shots etc. This will also make our shots more steady, because if it is shaky it might  detract from what's in our shot. We will also be using the green screen for a few of our shots, which we will also have to book, as well as a technician to help us set up. I am most looking forward to using the green screen as I like challenging myself as I am not that confident with using it. Lastly, we will also be booking out the lighting to take with us to London, as the lighting is crucial to convey the emotion within our music video and therefore we have to consider when high or low key lighting would be useful.

 After a lot of thought, me and Charlotte decided that we would like to make signs to use at the beginning of our music video. Our song was originally called 'The City' but we decided to rename it to 'London Calls Me A Stranger,' as this is a key lyric used throughout the song and it fits our genre. As 99% of our footage is going to be filmed in London, our location and setting is also related to our title. Therefore, me and Charlotte was going to write it onto a big piece of card, but then we discovered an old music video where we got the idea to do this: (short clip taken from the video)

We then decided that each word in our title should be written on five different pieces of card. We are then going to blue tack the black card onto cardboard, and at the start of our music video Nathan would take them off one my one. We might have to use a fast motion effect to speed up Nathan doing it, as we want this to happen before the lyrics come in; and they start within about the first ten seconds. This will work successfully as I think that this idea is original and no other group will be using it. I also like the mood and atmosphere that Bob Dylan creates in this clip, as he seems quite relaxed and carefree which is something that we wanted to bring to our artist. Therefore, we'll show Nathan this clip and hopefully he can make notes on things like posture, facial expression and body language to create this image.