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

The next stage of our research and planning was to consider set design, locations and props.

As we have decided to shoot virtually our entire music video on green screen, we realised we don't need to take backgrounds into consideration for the shoot. What we do need to focus on however is set design. We must do this in order to evoke to the audience a better sense of where each scene is supposed to be taking place, making it recognisable. There are some things, such as the flag, that we aim to add in in post-production however, so there aren't too many props we need to prepare.

The glow in the dark paint I bought that ended up not working.

Originally, I ordered pots of various colours of glow-in-the dark paint. This paint would be used to make signs such as one that says "Sun Goes Down", and we were also considering painting props such as the water guns. However once they had arrived, we tested them and found that they were far too faint for the camera to pick up, even when I lowered the shutter speed and increased the ISO. For this reason we decided to scrap the glow-in-the-dark pain idea and replace it with glow sticks.

The balloons, confetti, and party poppers Mario bought.

Mario ordered the glow sticks on-line, and also went to a party shop where he purchased balloons, confetti, and party poppers. All of these would be used in the party scenes.

Mario and Iggy tested the glow
sticks in the darkened studio, and
upon editing the footage I found
that adding the 'glow' effect in
After Effects brightened them nicely.

Full prop list for the shoot:

• Book
• Piece of paper
• Pen
• Desk
• Beats headphones
• Water guns
• Mixing desk
• Table
• Microphone and stand
• Part poppers
• Balloons
• Confetti
• Glow sticks

We weren't initially sure where to source the microphone and mixing desk, however after a group meeting we found out that the media department at school had these items, so we were all set.

Leap Frog lighting desk

We also tested lighting for our music video. Using the Leap Frog lighting desk I adjusted the intensities of various ceiling lights in the studio until the green screen appeared to be smooth with little shadowing. We also had green paper stuck to the floor in order to make sure the green screen extended far enough, as the actual physical curtain didn't trail along the floor that far.