Friday, 16 October 2015
Research and Planning - Casting
Once we had chosen to add a narrative section to our music video, we needed to find extra cast members to fill the roles in the narrative. As part of our narrative, we required a girl that looked quite similar to the lead singer Annie, particularly having similar hair. This was needed as our narrative would make the audience think that Annie was in a relationship with the boy, however it would be revealed at the end that it is in fact a different girl.
However, when we re-evaluated our narrative, we realised that this was far too complex, so we chose to just include shots of the couple. In terms of casting, after searching for a girl that looked similar, we realised that my production partner looked the most similar, and after some convincing, she was willing to be part of the music video. As for the male lead, I knew that my friend had done some acting before, so therefore wouldn't find it too awkward to be part of the narrative - pretending to be in a relationship.
However, when we re-evaluated our narrative, we realised that this was far too complex, so we chose to just include shots of the couple. In terms of casting, after searching for a girl that looked similar, we realised that my production partner looked the most similar, and after some convincing, she was willing to be part of the music video. As for the male lead, I knew that my friend had done some acting before, so therefore wouldn't find it too awkward to be part of the narrative - pretending to be in a relationship.
Main Task - Post Production - Second Cut
Having re-watched our music video many times since finishing the first cut, we realised that some of the shots we had used were quite weak in comparison to some which we were yet to even use at all. Due to the fact we had such a large amount of footage, we were about to go through our video and remove all of the flat and weak shots, and replace them with something much better.
A problem we knew that was existing in our first cut was that we didn't have enough cuts. In order to improve this. we decided to listen to the track again (without any of the visuals), and create a graph communicating the pace of the song visually for us.
By creating this graph, it made it clear to us which points in the song were fast paced, and therefore would require a lot more cuts. It was quite easy to add more cuts in the music video, as we realised we had a lot of shots that were far too long, so this graph helped up choose where to make the shots shorter.
However one problem we were yet to fix following the editing of the second cut was what to put in the slower paced section of the song. We asked our peers for feedback, and they said that it was becoming slightly repetitive having just a performance, so maybe we should think about also including a narrative to accompany it. Myself and my partner discussed this, and we realised that we had known it all along, but we had just had our finger's crossed that it would all work out.
Although we were going to have to do another shoot to film the narrative, it wasn't too bad, because we had storyboarded a narrative as an initial idea, so we were able to use that as a starting point.
Friday, 2 October 2015
Main Task - Post Production - First Cut
Having completed a film opening at AS, the thought of editing a music video seemed relatively easy, due to the fact we now had far more experience of using Final Cut Pro. However, as soon as we started placing our shots on the timeline, we knew the editing process was going to far more difficult than we had initially thought.
We noticed that we have to make much quicker cuts that we had made when creating our music video as we needed the cuts to match the pace of the song. Also, we did encounter one major problem when editing that we had never had to deal with before: the syncing of sound to visuals.
Due to the fact we had chosen to do a performance music video, we had to sync up Annie's singing in the visuals to that in the audio, which was quite difficult. Although, we found it most problematic to sync the instruments to the sound, particularly the drums, as as times they were being played quite fast.
We noticed that we have to make much quicker cuts that we had made when creating our music video as we needed the cuts to match the pace of the song. Also, we did encounter one major problem when editing that we had never had to deal with before: the syncing of sound to visuals.
Due to the fact we had chosen to do a performance music video, we had to sync up Annie's singing in the visuals to that in the audio, which was quite difficult. Although, we found it most problematic to sync the instruments to the sound, particularly the drums, as as times they were being played quite fast.
For our first cut, we aimed to just get a rough placing of where the shots would be within the song. We knew that we definitely didn't have enough cuts, however we left it for the moment, as we knew that was something we could change when we more finely edited the music video. The point in the song we were struggling to fill though was the slower section two minutes into the song, so for the first cut we chose to just use a generic montage of the band from cuts filmed during the production process.
Friday, 25 September 2015
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting, manipulating and joining together pieces of footage in order to create a new piece of film. There are several rules to follow as part of editing, such as match on action, however these rules don't apply to every type of film; for example, match on action isn't required to be used in a music video.
Match on action
Match on action is an editing technique in which one shot cuts to another shot, but the action is continued through both shots, and it matches up exactly. This technique is used to create an impression of continuity, and a fluid sequence helps maintain the viewer's attention, so it isn't drawn away by misplaced cuts.
Shrinking time
Shrinking time is the process of showing an amount of the plot within a shorter amount of screen time. For example, irrelevant shots could be removed from a sequence to make it go from a screen time of 30 seconds to a screen time of 10 seconds. The process of shrinking can be very effective, when used in the correct scenario.
Expanding time
Expanding time is the complete opposite of shrinking time: showing an amount of the plot, but taking far longer to do it. There are many ways this can be done, either by decreasing the frame rate of the shot, or by adding more shots into the sequence. Although this could make a sequence boring, it can be used effectively, to build tension, or to match a rhythm in a music video.
Finding Rhythm
When it comes to creating a music video, the editor has to make a decision; whether to make cuts on or off beat. It can be dependent on the genre of the song, as fast, rock tracks will tend to cut on beat, whereas more mellow songs might not be so strict with making cuts on beat.
Match on action
Match on action is an editing technique in which one shot cuts to another shot, but the action is continued through both shots, and it matches up exactly. This technique is used to create an impression of continuity, and a fluid sequence helps maintain the viewer's attention, so it isn't drawn away by misplaced cuts.
Shrinking time
Shrinking time is the process of showing an amount of the plot within a shorter amount of screen time. For example, irrelevant shots could be removed from a sequence to make it go from a screen time of 30 seconds to a screen time of 10 seconds. The process of shrinking can be very effective, when used in the correct scenario.
Expanding time
Expanding time is the complete opposite of shrinking time: showing an amount of the plot, but taking far longer to do it. There are many ways this can be done, either by decreasing the frame rate of the shot, or by adding more shots into the sequence. Although this could make a sequence boring, it can be used effectively, to build tension, or to match a rhythm in a music video.
Finding Rhythm
When it comes to creating a music video, the editor has to make a decision; whether to make cuts on or off beat. It can be dependent on the genre of the song, as fast, rock tracks will tend to cut on beat, whereas more mellow songs might not be so strict with making cuts on beat.
Monday, 24 August 2015
Main Task - Production - Shoot 1 (Performance)
Having finally managed to find a date that most of the team could do, we were ready to film. Unfortunately, due to work commitments, I was unable to be there on shoot day, but this is the feedback I received from my production partner after film. Luckily, however, one of our friends was able to accompany my production partner on the shoot, and was in control of the second camera.
We were very fortunate in that the day we had chosen to film on was very sunny - something we were concerned about due to the fact that British weather is so unpredictable. If the weather had been bad, it wouldn't have matched the tone of the song, and therefore the entire music video wouldn't have fitted together with the audio.
The drummer of the band had a practice space at his house that he allowed us to use, which helped reflect the rustic, DIY nature of the indie band. The space itself was quite wooden, and therefore didn't look particularly interesting on camera. Fortunately, prior to the shoot day, myself and my production partner had collated a variety of props, such as patterned backdrops and fairy lights. The simple use of a colourful backdrop made the setting look a lot more exciting on screen. The only issue that my partner found with the practice space was that it was quite small, meaning she was unable to get any wide shots of the band from this location.
After filming at the performance space for roughly an hour, the drummer informed my partner about a forest area that was just across the road from his house. So, laden down with camera equipment, instruments and fairy lights, they all headed down to the forest area. This location fitted perfectly with the genre of the song, as indie music videos are often filmed in places very similar, due to the fact they are so easily accessible.
After having set up in what they thought was a good location, my production partner realised it was far too bright, meaning that the shots were overexposed. Having moved somewhere slightly darker, the team continued to shoot, and managed to get a lot of footage, including some wide shots, in the time they had left. My production partner was very happy with the footage, due to the fact it was what we had envisioned when storyboarding prior to production.
We were very fortunate in that the day we had chosen to film on was very sunny - something we were concerned about due to the fact that British weather is so unpredictable. If the weather had been bad, it wouldn't have matched the tone of the song, and therefore the entire music video wouldn't have fitted together with the audio.The drummer of the band had a practice space at his house that he allowed us to use, which helped reflect the rustic, DIY nature of the indie band. The space itself was quite wooden, and therefore didn't look particularly interesting on camera. Fortunately, prior to the shoot day, myself and my production partner had collated a variety of props, such as patterned backdrops and fairy lights. The simple use of a colourful backdrop made the setting look a lot more exciting on screen. The only issue that my partner found with the practice space was that it was quite small, meaning she was unable to get any wide shots of the band from this location.
After filming at the performance space for roughly an hour, the drummer informed my partner about a forest area that was just across the road from his house. So, laden down with camera equipment, instruments and fairy lights, they all headed down to the forest area. This location fitted perfectly with the genre of the song, as indie music videos are often filmed in places very similar, due to the fact they are so easily accessible.
After having set up in what they thought was a good location, my production partner realised it was far too bright, meaning that the shots were overexposed. Having moved somewhere slightly darker, the team continued to shoot, and managed to get a lot of footage, including some wide shots, in the time they had left. My production partner was very happy with the footage, due to the fact it was what we had envisioned when storyboarding prior to production.
Tuesday, 18 August 2015
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