Planning

I have chosen to produce a Music Video for my final task, I am currently in the process of choosing a song but have a few ideas, two of them being:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdneKLhsWOQ - Taylor Swift - Wildest Dreams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUkkaqSNduU - Disclosure - You & Me (Flume Remix)


They are both quite different songs with the second one being more upbeat but both would allow me to provide a love story about two people coming together which was my plan. I am currently also in the process of choosing my actors I'm looking for:
- 1 Male (main)
- 1 Female (main)
and an undecided amount of extras to be in the background or to be used to add to the story

Prelim Review

Overall there are alot of changes that I'd make for the final task to improve the overall video.

One of the changes I'd make would be location, I would use a wider variety of locations that were more thought out to work in the music video better, as the Prelim was only a short task we deicided that we would just film in one location and work with what we had, whereas for my music video I would only start editing once everything I had was to a high standard.

Another changing I'd make would be the lighting, for any indoor shoots I do I will be using light boxes for the filming, as this was a short task we didn't have as long to plan out things like lighting, audio and costume.

The last thing I'd change would be the actual content of music video, there wasn't really a meaning for the video, for my video I want to create a storyline for the views to engage in and understand.

Overall I felt I've learnt alot from this prelim task and this will allow me to take the skills I've learnt and create a better piece.

Final Closer Music Video

Prelim - Editing (Part 2)

After all the footage was in the correct place we then looked at effects, we didn't want the piece to be too childish and overloaded with effects so we tried to use ones that worked well on the clips used and not overuse them, we wanted subtle but engaging effect and played around with the clips to make it work, it was a long and repetitive process but I felt this helped to improve the audiences engagement on the video.

As we came to the end of the editing process we made some final adjustments by making the lip syncing more precise, we then muted all the clips so no background noise could be heard and rewatched the film over, we wanted to add a part where it flashed between three different shots so using my previous skills I managed to show all three shots which gave the feel of cross cutting, this worked effectivly as it built up suspense towards the chorus.

Prelim - Editing (Part 1)

For editing software I used Final Cut Pro x as I already have experience using this software and it is more advanced than IMovie, this allowed me to use more advanced effects to improve the video.

To start with we put the song in and cut it to the part we wanted to feature, after that we then sorted through the footage and choosed what parts we wanted to use and then placed it all onto the timeline. After it was placed onto the timeline we put it into a rough position of where everything was going to go and then went from start to end making sure everything was synced to the music correctly and then started cutting it down to the correct position as alot of footage overlapped.

Prelim Planning - Filming

As a group we discussed what times would be best for filming as we needed to plan first, we spend 2 lessons planning and chose to film everything within an hour, after filming we felt that the music video would have been poor with the small amount of footage we had, we managed to get a few good shots but we felt we could develop it more with another day of filming. The next day we planned to film again and use more of the space we had in the hall to get a wider range of shots, we also decided to open all the blinds to be able to use the natural sunlight to are advantage. After the second filming day we felt we had enough footage to be able to choose from and to edit to make the final cut of the music video.

Prelim Planning - Costume

For the costume of the Prelim task our group had to choose 3 different costumes as at different points 3 different people appeared, for the hand tapping shots we used one person to keep the style the same, we got the actor to wear nail varnish (like the photo on the left) with a faded effect, we did this to show the actor was a female as you can't see the persons face or body and also to get them to slightly blend into the background of the tapping shots.


For the actor doing the tapping shots with their feet we asked them to wear bright boots and leggings with a black and white theme to make the shoes stand out of the shot, we also asked the actor to try and wear big looking shoes to empathise the effect more in the shot. There is also a shot at the end where the same actor who has the white shoes on is wearing a different pair that flashes between me lip syncing and her walking down the stairs in time with the music, we asked her to use high black heel shoes to try and show a sophisticated look while walking down, the black was dark against the stairs but allowed us to use an effect called Prism effectively showing the shot in various different colours.

For the shot I was in lip syncing I kept my style black and white with a with a black adidas top and a black bomber jacket, I also wore black skinny jeans and black trainers, this worked effectivly against a low lighting background to make my face and my lips stand out more.

Prelim Planning - Location

My group looked at various locations for filming the music video that would provide us with good lighting and a location that isn't too 'busy' with colours and objects which could cause distraction to the audience watching the video.

For the shots which had tapping in we used different areas of the school hall to provide a mixed but linked in environment to keep the video connected, on the first shot we used the protector screen and the bright sunlight from the windows to create a shadow with the hands, on the second shot we then had someone sit on the stairs and tap their feet, we then had a different actor tap their hands on the mixing board and as the editor I made sure the tapping was all synced in.

After the tapping shots we then used a location which had a brick wall background for the lip syncing we also used the balcony to give an array of shots as it could get boring for the audience and make them loose interest if one shot goes on too long.

Prelim Planning - Song Choice

I have chosen for my first prelim task to work in a group to spread the roles out between 3 people. We listened to a variety of music to find a suitable song where we would be able to lip sync and tap along to the beat to sync in to practice editing. The chosen music video we are going to be doing for our prelim task is 'Closer' by The Chainsmokers ft Halsey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT2_F-1esPk