Tuesday 29th November 2011- Re-filming shots (for ending)- Whole Group
Today was the definite final filming session for the video. We used an on-site location in school to re-film a small section of the ending where our main character is shown to be standing on top of a car park, ready to jump (both seen at the start and end of the video). However there was one shot that we used twice that didnt really work and was probably a bit too long and boring to use twice. So we went out to film our main character repeating the actions he did in the car park (27th Septemember 2011) where he holds his arms out and looks down to where he might be jumping. We achieved this by shooting it from a low angle and on a cloudy day for continuity. We also made sure the angle was low enough to not feature surrounding trees and buildingd within the school. We tried as much as possible to make it look like we were filming in the car park, but with a combination of weather/clothing continuity, action matching and the low angle shot we successfully achieved ther shots we wanted to go after the shot in question. We managed to reduce the length of the already existing shot and we put the new shot, filmed today, after it and made sure that the actions were continous, in which they were. It worked and it suits the edit really good.
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Monday, 28 November 2011
General thoughts on the filming/editing process
General thoughts on the filming/editing process
Compared to AS the work on filming and editing is a lot more stressful and time-consuming due to the sheer amount of work that has to go in to making each shot look exactly right and we all had to make sure we had a meticulous eye for detail. The length of the music video is certainly misleading, we probably filmed double what we did last year for something that was half as long but it just shows the amount of shots that are needed in a music video.
The plan set out previously in the blog, whilst not followed to the letter, was a great help on providing the framework for our filming schedule although at times we simply decided not to go and film in locations that took a great deal of time to get to (with the filming in Central London being a wise exception) as there were arguably better alternatives closer to ‘home’. If we were to do the filming again we would definitely make sure- as stated in the previous updates- to get prior permission to film. In Croydon we were very lucky to be able to find another place to film but we didn’t take other factors in to consideration and as that was the first day of filming it could have severely hindered our music video from the outset.
The entire group’s skills with Photoshop, Prezzi and Final Cut have improved massively over time this term with everyone getting involved in the editing and providing valuable insight. We weren’t afraid to nitpick and pick holes in our own work if it meant getting the perfect shot and a lot of time was spent getting things looking exactly right. Having said that, a good deal of trial and error and experimentation went in to our work which came up with a few surprising effects that worked ideally.
Our time management was also well observed and the majority of the time the group was motivated to film and the fact that the actors in our video came from our own group made the time available to film a lot more flexible and less strenuous so that definitely worked in our favour. We aimed to wrap up filming on the week ending 18th November and we slightly overran ending around the 23rd November but we started filming around late September so two months of work was around the length we were looking at.
Overall, the group worked extremely hard and although we had some troubles along the way we found solutions to our problems and came out of the task as better Media students with a firmer grasp on technology, shots, conventions and a whole host of other things which will give us a great platform for the exam as well as crafting a music video from scratch which is a valuable tool to have.
Friday, 25 November 2011
Production Progress mk II (all posts compiled into one)
Tuesday 27th September 2011- Whole Group- Croydon Car Parks:
Today the whole group took off to start the main bulk of filming for the music video. This included the introduction and various parts of the ending for the video. We went to Croydon to film and started off in Centrale Car Park but we got moved along by security after filming for a short period. Included was also some 'behind the scenes' footage of various aspects of filming.
We also took some pictures of the actors involved and of the group/band to be used for recreational purposes and for the digipack design to be finalised later. We then moved along to Whitgift car park where we filmed the introduction from a wider range of angles and also some elevator scenes and shots of one of the group playing the guitar. We were in Croydon for a good 3 hours and we went around filming various shots and angles including canted frames, POV shots and establishing shots that included both high and low angles. It was a very productive day and it was a great start to the main section of filming for the final video. We also gathered a few short 'behind the scene' shots of the group talking about various aspects and the progress of filming in the several locations we visited in Croydon. We managed to film a good 20-30 seconds of the video and we have already started to edit some parts of it.
Friday 30th September 2011- Whole group- Beddington Park:
Today we went to film a large part of the video in various sections of Beddington Park. We aimed to film a lot of naturalistic shots and we filmed in some wooded areas and used a lot of trees in shot. The weather was also to be to our advantage and we made use of the sunny and warm conditions. We did some lip syncing for the video and our actor had to make sure he was wearing the same suit. The first areas we went to was a leafy area in which we filmed some POV Shots and some shots of the sun through the trees. We also filmed our main actor against a tree with another group member playing the guitar in the background, something which we are using as a motif throughout the music video. We filmed a lot of close-ups of our main actor and also filmed shots of nature including the river, plants and trees. Also included in the filming was some reverse action shots in which our main actor was filmed walking backwards and taking his blazer off, something in editing that we reversed to make it look normal but with the effect of the blazer automatically coming up to fit on his body. Again in this we had the other group member playing the guitar to back up the motif of the video we he is always there behind the main actor. We also filmed some more 'behind the scenes' of various aspects of filming and preparation which will be used in a seperate edit and uploaded as an extra. We also had a camera to take various pictures of some live action including some stop motion filming in the river. It was yet again a very productive day and we got a lot filmed in the rare end of September heatwave.
We are also way into the editing stage and the shots have come together nicely on the timeline as well as some good special effects. The intro is looking good and the timeline is slowly being filled with various edits of shots and lip syncing. We have also added some audio and sound effects consisting of diegetic and non diegetic sounds to accompany the intro and the ending to coincide with creating atmosphere and mise-en-scene.
Friday 7th October 2011- Bradley, Connor and Jacob- Croydon (various):
After visiting Croydon for the first time we realised that it was a really good location to shoot on, with certain shoots needed to be redone after having to change the initial singer from Jacob to Connor due to feedback from other groups and associates. We decided to have a variety of different shots included within the location so not simplifying the camera work and making sure that each shot was interesting for example rather than fitting with the exact style of shots before in Croydon we decided to visit different area's of Croydon to give the video a different sense of location and a different feel to the shooting. Whilst there we also used the time to shoot some photo's of samples for the digipack's of what could be used and some shots which were just good for examples of what we could do however in better quality, for example shots of Connor standing against a brick wall with the shot back-light to give the impression of a silhouette. Overall we managed to get approximately 3 and a half hours of filming done with a good idea of how each shot can fit into the overall product but also keeping an open mind just in case certain shots don't fit into the final piece.
Tuesday 11th October 2011- Whole Group- Office Scene:
Today we filmed only a small but valuable part of the music video. We used an interior office as our location that was based in our school. Connor and Bradley directed and filmed whilst Ryan and Jacob acted. Both Ryan and Jacob were in suits as we were portraying Jacob's character handing in his letter of resignation to his boss (Ryan). Although only a small part it plays a key role in the audience understanding the concept of the video where it is ambiguous to whether or not Jacob's character is fired and that's why he is seen supposedly taking his own life by jumping from a car park roof top. It took a couple of takes and a number of shots and angles to achieve the finished footage. Also we thought a lot about the use of natural lighting within the office set and also the mise-en-scene that we wanted to be created. For example we made use of the office telephone in live action and also included in shot filing cabinets, a computer and various other office accessories.
Friday 14th October 2011- Ryan, Jacob and Connor- Central London- Various Locations:
Today 3 people out of the group travelled up to Central London to complete a whole day of filming for the music video. Today's aim was to lip sync the main parts of the song and with a new group member who is now miming pretty much everything. We started our journey at Carshalton Station were we travelled via National Rail on Southern trains to Victoria; despite the diabolical travel fare one way we arrived at a good time and got the number 11 bus to St.Pauls Cathedral. From here we made our way down via several points of interest within London.
We did about 15 minutes of filming around the St.Pauls area and then made our way down to the Millenium Bridge that is in line with the Cathedral. We walked across the bridge and did a lot of filming including a time lapse showing people walking past the main character whilst looking over the River Thames, tracking shots of the main character walking down the length of the bridge and also a long shot showing the entire bridge at the end of it with St.Pauls perfectly positioned in centre in the background with the main character walking towards the camera.
After the bridge we were by the Tate Modern art gallery and we then filmed some more there and also down by the South Bank were we did some lip syncing with the Thames in the background. From there we had a lengthy walk and we made our way to Blackfriars Bridge were we did some more lip syncing and another tracking shot. We then continued over it to the other side of the river.
We then made our way down to Embankment which was quite a long walk but time soon passed and we found ourselves by Charing Cross station. From there we crossed the road and went to the London eye were we filmed some shots with the attraction directly centered on camera. This was a very useful shot and we had our subject doing some more lip syncing and playing the guitar. We also got some more 'behind the scenes' that we have been building up on quite a lot in previous locations and on previous film shoots on other days. A member of our group also brought with him his camera that he used to get some pictures and various shots on that. After the London eye we walked past the Houses of Parliament and by Parliament Square and then went past Downing street were we got some telephone box footage. We then made our way to our final destination of the day; by now we had done about 3 hours of filming.
Our final location was Trafalgar Square and we positioned ourselves by Nelson's Column. We were right in view of the National Gallery and we set up the camera to film a final time-lapse of the public walking about the area. We also had our main character walking with the public very slowly so it would look effective when we speed up the shot into a time-lapse. We got a few more shots in the square which then concluded filming for the day. In total we were in London for about 4 hours that both included the time to film and to make our way to the various locations that we required. It was all planned ahead and the day ran smoothly; the weather was also on our side and there no security or safety issues.
Friday 21st October 2011- In School Filming- Whole Group:
Today we decided to film some of the last segments of the music video. We planned to include various drum shots and band performance but this didnt go to plan as we couldnt get the locations available. We hope to get these as soon as possible. However we turned the bad around and decided to film with a microphone prop and lip sync the final lyrics with our main singer for the video. We used various in-school locations including a brick wall backdrop which also included filming shadows and our main singer lying down on the grass playing guitar and miming some sections of the song. We have now managed since this to lip sync the entire song. From here on in all the filming left to do is filler shots and maybe a scene where our main character trashes an office like room where paper is flying all around him in slow motion.
1st November 2011- Up to now we have managed to edit a lot of things and all the shots are nearly on the timeline in the correct place with the music track. We are close to finishing the edit as it is now November and we plan to finish by mid-late November. We have filmed a substantial amount for our music video and we have gone through all our shots and worked out how good they are and were they will go. Also we are keeping up with our 'behind the scenes' edit which will show our progress in filming and how our group co-operated. We have just returned from half term and our final filming should be wrapped up within 10 days of returning. We are confident that our video will meet the standards we hoped it would and our Digipak design is also coming along good with it being nearly finished. Going back to the edit all that needs to go in the right places is the London shots and the final lip syncing shots. Then its just the fillers and we will double check the timeline and possibly consider some more video and audio effects. Then when we are happy we will convert it to the various formats for the blog upload and also for personal keeping.
11th November 2011-
At this point in the production of our music video we are close to achieving the final cut. We have literally two more things to film that will complete the 30 seconds that we have left to fill in on the editing timeline. We have used a wide variety of shots in our rolling edit and we have a few more shots still to go in. We have made good use of all our lip syncing shots and these have proved to be useful footage and up to standards. In our edit we also have a wide range of visual and audio effects and we may use a few more depending on how effective they are. Our edit consists of both a narrative stotyline and performance based elements that work well together.
Friday 11th November 2011- Trashing Room Scene- Whole Group:
Today was our second to last major filming session that involved Ryan, Bradley and Jacob in a confined space on a school location. We filmed some important elements to the music video where our main character 'goes crazy' and wrecks an office by hitting and smashing computer equipment and throwing paper everywhere, essentially getting the anger out of him for giving in his letter of resignation. We managed to obtain some old keyboards, a mouse and also a computer monitor that we made use of and broke for the good of our video. We spent a good amount of time searching for an enclosed and small space and took some more time to plan what we were going to smash and also consider health and safety. It took a few takes to show the entrance of the character into the room but then we got down to business and started to film him wrecking the room. We didnt cause a lot of damage to the room itself but we broke apart some of the equipment we had managed to recycle. It was a good filming session and we have managed to include nearly all of the shots in the edit. The scene lasts for about 15-20 seconds and we have edited it so its quick paced. We also triple layered some shots of our main character throwing paper in the air and ripping apart a newspaper that has created a nice blend in our timeline.
Monday 14th November 2011- Drums scene
Today we filmed a minor part of the video that included a friend playing the drums to be used as a filler for our music video in no more than 3 sections on the timeline where there was previously gaps. Filming lasted for about 5 minutes to get some quick shots of a drums performance. Within the edit for our music video we have extracted only the video and deleted the audio so it looks like the drums performance is in time with the song.
Tuesday 15th November 2011- Final Scene (Ending twist)- Whole Group:
Today was our final major filming session that draws to a close nearly two months of filming for our music video. We aimed to film the twist at the end of our music video in which it is revealed to the audience that the letter seen previously was the main characters resignation letter. We went somewhere local, a street about 5 minutes away from school instead of our intended destination of Croydon, Whitgift car park in which we have previously filmed at. Filming went smoothly and we achieved a variety of shots with the sun in the background, aimed at acting as a contrast to previously seen footage featuring clouds and grey sky. After filming this we uploaded it and started to edit it.
15th November 2011-
As of 15th November 2011 we have achieved a final edit for our music video. All of the timeline is now filled up with a wide variety of shots and angles. The last scenes to go in were the fillers, the drum shots and the rest of the ending, the twist, both recently filmed. All of our filming is now finished and the group is happy with the final cut. As well as a finished cut of the video, existing also are other cuts that are either test effects or altered/older versions, there to show how the final cut was achieved. We have used a wide variety of visual and audio effects that make the video look better and some transitions to make the cuts slicker. Still to do on the edit is the candidate names, numbers and relevant examination information. Then all thats left to do is the conversion and uploading to the blog, something that should be done by Friday 18th November. Overall the group is happy with the final edit and if need be, some final amendments can be made within the week.
Left to do extra for the Music Video is the Directors Commentary and a Focus Group that will be filmed, edited and uploaded shortly after the video is complete. We aim to show the video to a wide audience and get a mixture of feedback about it. Also the Digipak design is on the verge of completion and that should be up to standards quite soon. Hopefully, everything should be complete soon in terms of the production of the video, including the extras, and then its the evaluation that is left to do.
Tuesday 29th November 2011- Re-filming shots (for ending)- Whole Group
Today was the definite final filming session for the video. We used an on-site location in school to re-film a small section of the ending where our main character is shown to be standing on top of a car park, ready to jump (both seen at the start and end of the video). However there was one shot that we used twice that didnt really work and was probably a bit too long and boring to use twice. So we went out to film our main character repeating the actions he did in the car park (27th Septemember 2011) where he holds his arms out and looks down to where he might be jumping. We achieved this by shooting it from a low angle and on a cloudy day for continuity. We also made sure the angle was low enough to not feature surrounding trees and buildingd within the school. We tried as much as possible to make it look like we were filming in the car park, but with a combination of weather/clothing continuity, action matching and the low angle shot we successfully achieved ther shots we wanted to go after the shot in question. We managed to reduce the length of the already existing shot and we put the new shot, filmed today, after it and made sure that the actions were continous, in which they were. It worked and it suits the edit really good.
Overall Production Update (29th November 2011)-
Today we changed the edit of the music video one last time and everyone is now completely happy with it. The newly filmed shots are in and the video has been converted. Whilst the group is happy with the final cut, the digipaks and relevant advert is also virtually complete with maybe some last minute amendments to be added within the week. We aim to have everything finished in terms of production by Friday 2nd December that includes the Music Video itself being uploaded to the blog, the Directors Commentary and the Focus Group- both of which will have been filmed, edited and uploaded by this date and the final design for the Digipak/Advert.
Today the whole group took off to start the main bulk of filming for the music video. This included the introduction and various parts of the ending for the video. We went to Croydon to film and started off in Centrale Car Park but we got moved along by security after filming for a short period. Included was also some 'behind the scenes' footage of various aspects of filming.
We also took some pictures of the actors involved and of the group/band to be used for recreational purposes and for the digipack design to be finalised later. We then moved along to Whitgift car park where we filmed the introduction from a wider range of angles and also some elevator scenes and shots of one of the group playing the guitar. We were in Croydon for a good 3 hours and we went around filming various shots and angles including canted frames, POV shots and establishing shots that included both high and low angles. It was a very productive day and it was a great start to the main section of filming for the final video. We also gathered a few short 'behind the scene' shots of the group talking about various aspects and the progress of filming in the several locations we visited in Croydon. We managed to film a good 20-30 seconds of the video and we have already started to edit some parts of it.
Friday 30th September 2011- Whole group- Beddington Park:
Today we went to film a large part of the video in various sections of Beddington Park. We aimed to film a lot of naturalistic shots and we filmed in some wooded areas and used a lot of trees in shot. The weather was also to be to our advantage and we made use of the sunny and warm conditions. We did some lip syncing for the video and our actor had to make sure he was wearing the same suit. The first areas we went to was a leafy area in which we filmed some POV Shots and some shots of the sun through the trees. We also filmed our main actor against a tree with another group member playing the guitar in the background, something which we are using as a motif throughout the music video. We filmed a lot of close-ups of our main actor and also filmed shots of nature including the river, plants and trees. Also included in the filming was some reverse action shots in which our main actor was filmed walking backwards and taking his blazer off, something in editing that we reversed to make it look normal but with the effect of the blazer automatically coming up to fit on his body. Again in this we had the other group member playing the guitar to back up the motif of the video we he is always there behind the main actor. We also filmed some more 'behind the scenes' of various aspects of filming and preparation which will be used in a seperate edit and uploaded as an extra. We also had a camera to take various pictures of some live action including some stop motion filming in the river. It was yet again a very productive day and we got a lot filmed in the rare end of September heatwave.
We are also way into the editing stage and the shots have come together nicely on the timeline as well as some good special effects. The intro is looking good and the timeline is slowly being filled with various edits of shots and lip syncing. We have also added some audio and sound effects consisting of diegetic and non diegetic sounds to accompany the intro and the ending to coincide with creating atmosphere and mise-en-scene.
Friday 7th October 2011- Bradley, Connor and Jacob- Croydon (various):
After visiting Croydon for the first time we realised that it was a really good location to shoot on, with certain shoots needed to be redone after having to change the initial singer from Jacob to Connor due to feedback from other groups and associates. We decided to have a variety of different shots included within the location so not simplifying the camera work and making sure that each shot was interesting for example rather than fitting with the exact style of shots before in Croydon we decided to visit different area's of Croydon to give the video a different sense of location and a different feel to the shooting. Whilst there we also used the time to shoot some photo's of samples for the digipack's of what could be used and some shots which were just good for examples of what we could do however in better quality, for example shots of Connor standing against a brick wall with the shot back-light to give the impression of a silhouette. Overall we managed to get approximately 3 and a half hours of filming done with a good idea of how each shot can fit into the overall product but also keeping an open mind just in case certain shots don't fit into the final piece.
Tuesday 11th October 2011- Whole Group- Office Scene:
Today we filmed only a small but valuable part of the music video. We used an interior office as our location that was based in our school. Connor and Bradley directed and filmed whilst Ryan and Jacob acted. Both Ryan and Jacob were in suits as we were portraying Jacob's character handing in his letter of resignation to his boss (Ryan). Although only a small part it plays a key role in the audience understanding the concept of the video where it is ambiguous to whether or not Jacob's character is fired and that's why he is seen supposedly taking his own life by jumping from a car park roof top. It took a couple of takes and a number of shots and angles to achieve the finished footage. Also we thought a lot about the use of natural lighting within the office set and also the mise-en-scene that we wanted to be created. For example we made use of the office telephone in live action and also included in shot filing cabinets, a computer and various other office accessories.
Friday 14th October 2011- Ryan, Jacob and Connor- Central London- Various Locations:
Today 3 people out of the group travelled up to Central London to complete a whole day of filming for the music video. Today's aim was to lip sync the main parts of the song and with a new group member who is now miming pretty much everything. We started our journey at Carshalton Station were we travelled via National Rail on Southern trains to Victoria; despite the diabolical travel fare one way we arrived at a good time and got the number 11 bus to St.Pauls Cathedral. From here we made our way down via several points of interest within London.
We did about 15 minutes of filming around the St.Pauls area and then made our way down to the Millenium Bridge that is in line with the Cathedral. We walked across the bridge and did a lot of filming including a time lapse showing people walking past the main character whilst looking over the River Thames, tracking shots of the main character walking down the length of the bridge and also a long shot showing the entire bridge at the end of it with St.Pauls perfectly positioned in centre in the background with the main character walking towards the camera.
After the bridge we were by the Tate Modern art gallery and we then filmed some more there and also down by the South Bank were we did some lip syncing with the Thames in the background. From there we had a lengthy walk and we made our way to Blackfriars Bridge were we did some more lip syncing and another tracking shot. We then continued over it to the other side of the river.
We then made our way down to Embankment which was quite a long walk but time soon passed and we found ourselves by Charing Cross station. From there we crossed the road and went to the London eye were we filmed some shots with the attraction directly centered on camera. This was a very useful shot and we had our subject doing some more lip syncing and playing the guitar. We also got some more 'behind the scenes' that we have been building up on quite a lot in previous locations and on previous film shoots on other days. A member of our group also brought with him his camera that he used to get some pictures and various shots on that. After the London eye we walked past the Houses of Parliament and by Parliament Square and then went past Downing street were we got some telephone box footage. We then made our way to our final destination of the day; by now we had done about 3 hours of filming.
Our final location was Trafalgar Square and we positioned ourselves by Nelson's Column. We were right in view of the National Gallery and we set up the camera to film a final time-lapse of the public walking about the area. We also had our main character walking with the public very slowly so it would look effective when we speed up the shot into a time-lapse. We got a few more shots in the square which then concluded filming for the day. In total we were in London for about 4 hours that both included the time to film and to make our way to the various locations that we required. It was all planned ahead and the day ran smoothly; the weather was also on our side and there no security or safety issues.
Friday 21st October 2011- In School Filming- Whole Group:
Today we decided to film some of the last segments of the music video. We planned to include various drum shots and band performance but this didnt go to plan as we couldnt get the locations available. We hope to get these as soon as possible. However we turned the bad around and decided to film with a microphone prop and lip sync the final lyrics with our main singer for the video. We used various in-school locations including a brick wall backdrop which also included filming shadows and our main singer lying down on the grass playing guitar and miming some sections of the song. We have now managed since this to lip sync the entire song. From here on in all the filming left to do is filler shots and maybe a scene where our main character trashes an office like room where paper is flying all around him in slow motion.
1st November 2011- Up to now we have managed to edit a lot of things and all the shots are nearly on the timeline in the correct place with the music track. We are close to finishing the edit as it is now November and we plan to finish by mid-late November. We have filmed a substantial amount for our music video and we have gone through all our shots and worked out how good they are and were they will go. Also we are keeping up with our 'behind the scenes' edit which will show our progress in filming and how our group co-operated. We have just returned from half term and our final filming should be wrapped up within 10 days of returning. We are confident that our video will meet the standards we hoped it would and our Digipak design is also coming along good with it being nearly finished. Going back to the edit all that needs to go in the right places is the London shots and the final lip syncing shots. Then its just the fillers and we will double check the timeline and possibly consider some more video and audio effects. Then when we are happy we will convert it to the various formats for the blog upload and also for personal keeping.
11th November 2011-
At this point in the production of our music video we are close to achieving the final cut. We have literally two more things to film that will complete the 30 seconds that we have left to fill in on the editing timeline. We have used a wide variety of shots in our rolling edit and we have a few more shots still to go in. We have made good use of all our lip syncing shots and these have proved to be useful footage and up to standards. In our edit we also have a wide range of visual and audio effects and we may use a few more depending on how effective they are. Our edit consists of both a narrative stotyline and performance based elements that work well together.
Friday 11th November 2011- Trashing Room Scene- Whole Group:
Today was our second to last major filming session that involved Ryan, Bradley and Jacob in a confined space on a school location. We filmed some important elements to the music video where our main character 'goes crazy' and wrecks an office by hitting and smashing computer equipment and throwing paper everywhere, essentially getting the anger out of him for giving in his letter of resignation. We managed to obtain some old keyboards, a mouse and also a computer monitor that we made use of and broke for the good of our video. We spent a good amount of time searching for an enclosed and small space and took some more time to plan what we were going to smash and also consider health and safety. It took a few takes to show the entrance of the character into the room but then we got down to business and started to film him wrecking the room. We didnt cause a lot of damage to the room itself but we broke apart some of the equipment we had managed to recycle. It was a good filming session and we have managed to include nearly all of the shots in the edit. The scene lasts for about 15-20 seconds and we have edited it so its quick paced. We also triple layered some shots of our main character throwing paper in the air and ripping apart a newspaper that has created a nice blend in our timeline.
Monday 14th November 2011- Drums scene
Today we filmed a minor part of the video that included a friend playing the drums to be used as a filler for our music video in no more than 3 sections on the timeline where there was previously gaps. Filming lasted for about 5 minutes to get some quick shots of a drums performance. Within the edit for our music video we have extracted only the video and deleted the audio so it looks like the drums performance is in time with the song.
Tuesday 15th November 2011- Final Scene (Ending twist)- Whole Group:
Today was our final major filming session that draws to a close nearly two months of filming for our music video. We aimed to film the twist at the end of our music video in which it is revealed to the audience that the letter seen previously was the main characters resignation letter. We went somewhere local, a street about 5 minutes away from school instead of our intended destination of Croydon, Whitgift car park in which we have previously filmed at. Filming went smoothly and we achieved a variety of shots with the sun in the background, aimed at acting as a contrast to previously seen footage featuring clouds and grey sky. After filming this we uploaded it and started to edit it.
15th November 2011-
As of 15th November 2011 we have achieved a final edit for our music video. All of the timeline is now filled up with a wide variety of shots and angles. The last scenes to go in were the fillers, the drum shots and the rest of the ending, the twist, both recently filmed. All of our filming is now finished and the group is happy with the final cut. As well as a finished cut of the video, existing also are other cuts that are either test effects or altered/older versions, there to show how the final cut was achieved. We have used a wide variety of visual and audio effects that make the video look better and some transitions to make the cuts slicker. Still to do on the edit is the candidate names, numbers and relevant examination information. Then all thats left to do is the conversion and uploading to the blog, something that should be done by Friday 18th November. Overall the group is happy with the final edit and if need be, some final amendments can be made within the week.
Left to do extra for the Music Video is the Directors Commentary and a Focus Group that will be filmed, edited and uploaded shortly after the video is complete. We aim to show the video to a wide audience and get a mixture of feedback about it. Also the Digipak design is on the verge of completion and that should be up to standards quite soon. Hopefully, everything should be complete soon in terms of the production of the video, including the extras, and then its the evaluation that is left to do.
Tuesday 29th November 2011- Re-filming shots (for ending)- Whole Group
Today was the definite final filming session for the video. We used an on-site location in school to re-film a small section of the ending where our main character is shown to be standing on top of a car park, ready to jump (both seen at the start and end of the video). However there was one shot that we used twice that didnt really work and was probably a bit too long and boring to use twice. So we went out to film our main character repeating the actions he did in the car park (27th Septemember 2011) where he holds his arms out and looks down to where he might be jumping. We achieved this by shooting it from a low angle and on a cloudy day for continuity. We also made sure the angle was low enough to not feature surrounding trees and buildingd within the school. We tried as much as possible to make it look like we were filming in the car park, but with a combination of weather/clothing continuity, action matching and the low angle shot we successfully achieved ther shots we wanted to go after the shot in question. We managed to reduce the length of the already existing shot and we put the new shot, filmed today, after it and made sure that the actions were continous, in which they were. It worked and it suits the edit really good.
Overall Production Update (29th November 2011)-
Today we changed the edit of the music video one last time and everyone is now completely happy with it. The newly filmed shots are in and the video has been converted. Whilst the group is happy with the final cut, the digipaks and relevant advert is also virtually complete with maybe some last minute amendments to be added within the week. We aim to have everything finished in terms of production by Friday 2nd December that includes the Music Video itself being uploaded to the blog, the Directors Commentary and the Focus Group- both of which will have been filmed, edited and uploaded by this date and the final design for the Digipak/Advert.
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Editing Process
Editing Process
In the editing process for our music video we used the professional editing program Final Cut Express that allowed us to do many things including the easy uploading process of video clips and video-audio manipulation that covers sound transitions, colour correction and conversion to a Quicktime file for easy viewing. Over time we gathered quite a lot of clips that we had filmed and slowly pieced them together on the timeline.
On of the many effects we included was the colour corrector that we added to many clips to make them look more interesting and to appeal to our target audience more:
This is probably our most anticipated shot of the music video. To achieve this we put two of same clip on the timeline and turned one black and white and the other we put a chroma key effect on it to make everything except the subject (the main character) their natural colour. We made the character black and white whilst the elevator interior remains green.
Within our final edit it is made up of a lot of elements including video and audio clips and the song track and sound effects/transitions. This all combines to give a professional piece of work that has had many hours spent on getting perfect and up to A-level standard.
With our music video there have been many edits and cuts that we have worked through to either try certain things or to see how the video editing process has progressed. Looking at the original and first edit, a lot has changed and decisions have been slowly made to improve certain elements including re-filming some things and re-arranging clips so they look better.
We tried many effects in our video including triple layering clips to achieve a good viewing experience. The below compilation is a combination of three separate clips, all featuring similar action that is throwing paper in the air and slowing it down on the edit. The result, originally tried as a test effect, was in the end good as it turned out to look good for the sequence in the particular part of the song towards the end where our main character releases a vast amount of energy and essentially 'feels good' for doing it, reinforcing the very concept of our video and what we want to portray to the audience.
Our video features three main people that is the lead singer/performer, the main character and his boss. The balance between the main character and the singer was heavily maintained through the video and we made sure that they were able to connect with the audience. The boss only has a small part so it may be hard for the audience to grasp his role as the person who receives the letter of resignation from the main character. Also important in the edit is considering the ordering of events as we tell a narrative story as well as featuring performance based elements.
The main character is shown in the intro on top of a car park and we lead the audience to think he might be jumping off and essentially ending his life. However through the edit we see him on a journey and the audience is made to believe that he quits his job and wants to be a free person to do what he wants. This is in fact true as we go back to the rooftop in the ending to show the characters journey and the audience expecting to see him jump. In the edit we make the ending similar to the intro to reinforce the story to the audience and show him drop his letter of resignation and walk off into the sunset as it were to start a new life.
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Tuesday 15th November
15th November 2011-
As of 15th November 2011 we have achieved a final edit for our music video. All of the timeline is now filled up with a wide variety of shots and angles. The last scenes to go in were the fillers, the drum shots and the rest of the ending, the twist, both recently filmed. All of our filming is now finished and the group is happy with the final cut. As well as a finished cut of the video, existing also are other cuts that are either test effects or altered/older versions, there to show how the final cut was achieved. We have used a wide variety of visual and audio effects that make the video look better and some transitions to make the cuts slicker. Still to do on the edit is the candidate names, numbers and relevant examination information. Then all thats left to do is the conversion and uploading to the blog, something that should be done by Friday 18th November. Overall the group is happy with the final edit and if need be, some final amendments can be made within the week.
Left to do extra for the Music Video is the Directors Commentary and a Focus Group that will be filmed, edited and uploaded shortly after the video is complete. We aim to show the video to a wide audience and get a mixture of feedback about it. Also the Digipak design is on the verge of completion and that should be up to standards quite soon. Hopefully, everything should be complete soon in terms of the production of the video, including the extras, and then its the evaluation that is left to do.
As of 15th November 2011 we have achieved a final edit for our music video. All of the timeline is now filled up with a wide variety of shots and angles. The last scenes to go in were the fillers, the drum shots and the rest of the ending, the twist, both recently filmed. All of our filming is now finished and the group is happy with the final cut. As well as a finished cut of the video, existing also are other cuts that are either test effects or altered/older versions, there to show how the final cut was achieved. We have used a wide variety of visual and audio effects that make the video look better and some transitions to make the cuts slicker. Still to do on the edit is the candidate names, numbers and relevant examination information. Then all thats left to do is the conversion and uploading to the blog, something that should be done by Friday 18th November. Overall the group is happy with the final edit and if need be, some final amendments can be made within the week.
Left to do extra for the Music Video is the Directors Commentary and a Focus Group that will be filmed, edited and uploaded shortly after the video is complete. We aim to show the video to a wide audience and get a mixture of feedback about it. Also the Digipak design is on the verge of completion and that should be up to standards quite soon. Hopefully, everything should be complete soon in terms of the production of the video, including the extras, and then its the evaluation that is left to do.
Monday, 14 November 2011
Monday 14th November
Monday 14th November 2011- Drums scene
Today we filmed a minor part of the video that included a friend playing the drums to be used as a filler for our music video in no more than 3 sections on the timeline where there was previously gaps. Filming lasted for about 5 minutes to get some quick shots of a drums performance. Within the edit for our music video we have extracted only the video and deleted the audio so it looks like the drums performance is in time with the song.
Today we filmed a minor part of the video that included a friend playing the drums to be used as a filler for our music video in no more than 3 sections on the timeline where there was previously gaps. Filming lasted for about 5 minutes to get some quick shots of a drums performance. Within the edit for our music video we have extracted only the video and deleted the audio so it looks like the drums performance is in time with the song.
Friday, 11 November 2011
Friday 11th November
Friday 11th November 2011- Trashing Room Scene- Whole Group:
Today was our second to last major filming session that involved Ryan, Bradley and Jacob in a confined space on a school location. We filmed some important elements to the music video where our main character 'goes crazy' and wrecks an office by hitting and smashing computer equipment and throwing paper everywhere, essentially getting the anger out of him for giving in his letter of resignation.
We managed to obtain some old keyboards, a mouse and also a computer monitor that we made use of and broke for the good of our video. We spent a good amount of time searching for an enclosed and small space and took some more time to plan what we were going to smash and also consider health and safety. It took a few takes to show the entrance of the character into the room but then we got down to business and started to film him wrecking the room. We didnt cause a lot of damage to the room itself but we broke apart some of the equipment we had managed to recycle. It was a good filming session and we have managed to include nearly all of the shots in the edit. The scene lasts for about 15-20 seconds and we have edited it so its quick paced. We also triple layered some shots of our main character throwing paper in the air and ripping apart a newspaper that has created a nice blend in our timeline.
Today was our second to last major filming session that involved Ryan, Bradley and Jacob in a confined space on a school location. We filmed some important elements to the music video where our main character 'goes crazy' and wrecks an office by hitting and smashing computer equipment and throwing paper everywhere, essentially getting the anger out of him for giving in his letter of resignation.
We managed to obtain some old keyboards, a mouse and also a computer monitor that we made use of and broke for the good of our video. We spent a good amount of time searching for an enclosed and small space and took some more time to plan what we were going to smash and also consider health and safety. It took a few takes to show the entrance of the character into the room but then we got down to business and started to film him wrecking the room. We didnt cause a lot of damage to the room itself but we broke apart some of the equipment we had managed to recycle. It was a good filming session and we have managed to include nearly all of the shots in the edit. The scene lasts for about 15-20 seconds and we have edited it so its quick paced. We also triple layered some shots of our main character throwing paper in the air and ripping apart a newspaper that has created a nice blend in our timeline.
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Tuesday 1st November
1st November 2011
Up to now we have managed to edit a lot of things and all the shots are nearly on the timeline in the correct place with the music track. We are close to finishing the edit as it is now November and we plan to finish by mid-late November. We have filmed a substantial amount for our music video and we have gone through all our shots and worked out how good they are and were they will go. Also we are keeping up with our 'behind the scenes' edit which will show our progress in filming and how our group co-operated. We have just returned from half term and our final filming should be wrapped up within 10 days of returning. We are confident that our video will meet the standards we hoped it would and our Digipak design is also coming along good with it being nearly finished. Going back to the edit all that needs to go in the right places is the London shots and the final lip syncing shots. Then its just the fillers and we will double check the timeline and possibly consider some more video and audio effects. Then when we are happy we will convert it to the various formats for the blog upload and also for personal keeping.
Up to now we have managed to edit a lot of things and all the shots are nearly on the timeline in the correct place with the music track. We are close to finishing the edit as it is now November and we plan to finish by mid-late November. We have filmed a substantial amount for our music video and we have gone through all our shots and worked out how good they are and were they will go. Also we are keeping up with our 'behind the scenes' edit which will show our progress in filming and how our group co-operated. We have just returned from half term and our final filming should be wrapped up within 10 days of returning. We are confident that our video will meet the standards we hoped it would and our Digipak design is also coming along good with it being nearly finished. Going back to the edit all that needs to go in the right places is the London shots and the final lip syncing shots. Then its just the fillers and we will double check the timeline and possibly consider some more video and audio effects. Then when we are happy we will convert it to the various formats for the blog upload and also for personal keeping.
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