Friday 14th October

This was our first filming session located in Manchester, Castle Field. This location was chosen as it was a quiet area, but known for the old buildings yet pleasant scenery. Also, the main theme of our chosen song was ‘train’ as it appears in the title and throughout the lyrics during the chorus. Therefore, this area was also appropriate as the world's first passenger railway terminated here in 1830. Numerous shots were used to represent the performer’s lonely, depressive state. For example, a high angle shot of him sat on the edge of the step of the canal, throwing stones. The high angle suggests his vulnerability, being sad due to the departure of his girlfriend. With nobody else in shot also portrays his loneliness, showing the viewer that he is perhaps isolated and doesn’t feel like he fits in without his girlfriend as he is use to.
Similarly, a low angle shot of him slumping down the stairs of the canal was also used to essentially represent him looking ‘down’. His views on his life at the moment alone, show him as not having the courage to look up and also show that there are no signs of his life going ‘up’ and progressing. Moreover, it could also give the impression from this shot as though he is being ‘walked over’ and degraded.
Throughout the video, shots of him walking down the stairs are used to be ambiguous. The initial shot shows the unhappy character simply walking down the stairs, however, we also intended the shot to also represent his decreasing mood as though going further down into depression.
Whilst in the area, we took advantage of the nice scenery, and used it to also film the happy memories of the couple. They lie on the grass together vertically with the top of their heads touching, talking and laughing to each other to show their close relationship. A bird's eye shot from the camera is used to show them looking up at the clouds together, supposedly to be a romantic gesture of the two of them looking up at the sky. We decided against the idea of the girlfriend lay next to the performer, because we felt that the used shot was more effective in showing their thoughts being connected, but also showing how their views sometimes are hit, head on.
Above the canal, there is a brick arch which the train tracks run along behind. We got a shot of the train going past to include in the sequence, as it is appropriate according to the song title and could be used throughout the video to slot in suitable footage.