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

We knew that for location shooting, we needed to find an urban area that was quintessentially London. I decided that the perfect location would be Shoreditch, as it had so many vibrant graffiti spots that we could utilise for the male narrative. People who live in London would be able to understand the area, as they would probably be familiar with Brick Lane and Shoreditch High Street, especially the trendy, teenage target audience we were aiming to appeal to.

Shoredich Graffiti

Shoreditch Graffiti

For the studio shooting our main focus was to create a powerful atmosphere. In order to do so we only used four props: the mic, the stool, the candle and fake blood. The latter two were used simply for dramatic affect corresponding to the lyrics of the song itself, e.g. 'You've got blood on your hands and you don't know where it's from' was mimed by Layla Obi, whilst she had blood on her hands. The candle would be used for a motif that corresponded to the start of the male narrative and the end, i.e. Layla Obi blowing out the candle flame and the flame reappearing at the start and end of the male narrative. These two props, therefore manage to ease the flow of the relationship between the male narrative and the studio shots.

WhiteCandle

Fake Blood

The main tool for creating atmosphere for the studio shots would be the lighting itself and apart from the studio stage lighting and floor lighting available to us. The lighting props we decided to bring for the studio were: a projector, a blue strobe light and blue fairy lights. The projector allowed us to use intertextual referencing to the hip hop group Mobb Deep referenced in the song lyrics 'Now this really is part two cos you're the shook one'. The fairy lighting would build a certain sense of intrigue, voyeurism and mystery to the shots, as they would look elegant and minimalist, so as to allow space for Layla Obi's silhouette to dance in relative darkness yet still be lit. The blue strobe light is appropriate for the lyrics of the song referring to 'flashing lights' and 'strobe lights', so it is appropriate and it would also create an effective atmosphere on camera to make shots more tense and interesting for the audience.