Music Video Evaluation

Final Music Video

Editing Evaluation

Cut Lengths
When it came to the editing i found that my music video required a lot of cuts, as i wanted to match the cuts to the beat. I listened to the beats and counted six to a second, and then figured out that the length of each clip was 4 frames. When i started to cut my clips to four frame each i found that not all of the action could be caught in this four frames. for example there were some panning and tilt shots that revealed a character for a hidden, subject. so to keep this element of surprise to my music video i decided that not every clip had to be four frames, they could be longer as long as the number of frames was a multiply of four i.e. 4, 8, 12, 16; this way they cuts were still on a beat just not every beat.

Limited Viewpoint
when i was out filming i knew the shots that i wanted to include and had figured out how to accomplish them before going on set. these shots included POV shots, high angle shots, and different angle of the same character (this enabling me to cut several times, without having to use the same clips over and over and show the same progression of the same character).

Continuity Error
When i first went out filming i shot the Young Girl character with a teddy bear. Because i thought the shot of the little girl running to be the simplest i left this till the end of the shoot on the first day. however this left me a bit rushed to film this shot as some of the cast were on a time schedule, so when filming the Young Girl i forgot to include the teddy bear on one of the takes. even though i remember it on another take i found the first to be the best one, (without the teddy) and wanted to include this one. Due to the fact that the teddy is of great importance to the story line of the music video i did need to show the girl dropping the teddy to symbolize the loss of innocence. this lead to a major continuity error, where one minute the girl does not have the teddy and the next she does. when i edited the first section together and show my fellow classmates they didn't notice the error until i pointed it out to them. because of this i decide to leave the error in. also i thought that if the error was spotted at the beginning by the time the viewer got to the end of the video the error at the beginning would not be remember.

The sunlight on the second day of  filming was incredible bring. some clips i noticed the sun distorted when on location, others seemed find on location, but when it came to reviewing the clips afterwards they where bleached out by the sun. some of the clips that were ruined by the sun were very good, and i really like the action within them. so i decided to give the whole of my music video a bleached look, to blend in with the clips with a lot of sun. i feel that this added to the look and feel of the music video, and made it look very other worldly.

the end section of my music video has a lot of noise and grain. this is due to the lack of sunlight on the third day of shooting. i could have correct this on the day of shooting by upping the ISO, however when viewed through the camera the footage seemed to be find (as with the footage with too much sunlight). to correct this i added contract and brightness to the clips in premiere and brighten the clip.
this did help the darkness of the clip however the grain was still present, i added a noise and grain effect, but this didn't really help.

overall i am happy with the outcome of my music video. i feel that it has followed the story line i was trying to achieve, through both planning (story boarding) and accident aspects (too much sunlight).

Editing Organisation

Before i could start any editing i needed to make sure all of my footage was organised neatly, as i knew that i had a lot and it all needed t be in a specific order. To organise my work i first of all collected all my footage, images, song downloads and anything else relevant to my music video in one place. I first collected all the footage in a folder labelled MUSIC VIDEO and placed this on my desktop. Within in this folder i created additional folders, labelled - Boards, Footage, and Images. also in this folder was the audio.
I did not label the images as i did not feel it was relevant, the images were to show the characters, in make up, setting up on location, the OH&S, and these were all clear to see without labeling them. i feel that if i were to label them i would be wasting time. if i had a larger time scale i would have labelled all the images.

   

 

Within the folder labelled footage i organised the footage further. i knew that i wanted to break the narrative of my film into different section, so to make it easier when editing i placed all like footage for a scene in the same folder.

Within these folders i labelled all the clips, saying what shot type they were, the action that is seen with in the clip, what day it was shot on and weather the clip when wrong or not. all of this would help when it came to editing. i would be able to quickly select footage and know if it was usable without having to watch through all the footage again.

   

 

By doing this it will hopefully help to make my work more efficient, whilst also letting me know what footage i don't have that i need due to forgetting, running out of time, bad weather or the outcome of the footage was of poor quality.

On Location

Day One 

 The weather on the first day was not good, rain was predicted from 2pm onwards. With this in mind I wanted to get out as early as possible so that we would miss the rain. I asked everybody to be at my house for 6am, as I knew that I had a lot make up and costumes to prepare. i lay the costume out on the chairs and had everybody's name by them, so that when it came to changing they were accessible. 

Everything and everybody was ready by 11 am. when we set out the weather was dull and cold, however it was not raining. when we got on location the rain started, to begin with it was a drizzle, so we continued with the shoot. however after 20 minutes the rain began to pour down and we had to leave location. 

I had planned to have the most of the footage filmed on this first day and any extra footage i needed, if i were to forget to include any clips or poor quality of footage, i would schedule another day and obtain the footage then. due to the rain i had to re schedule all of the shoot. the next day that everybody was available was the following friday, so i planned another shoot for then as the weather was forecast to be pleasant. 

Day Two

The shoot on the second day went a lot better than that on the first. the weather was forecast to be partly cloudy, however it turn out to be very sunny and hot. 

The amount of sun was a problem for the outcome of the footage (see footage evaluation post). 

On this day we managed to get the majority of the footage before some of the actors had to leave, (we had planned to film from 1pm to 5pm, we kept to this time schedule). 

Because some of the actors were playing two or more characters i brought all the costumes and make to set with us that was needed, and once i had all the footage for the first character that they were playing, i prepped them for the next character. 

Day Three 

This was not a planned day on location. however when i began editing i realised that i didn't have enough footage of the two main characters (the little girl and the older girl). i asked the two actors who played these characters if they were willing to shoot again and they were find with it, so we planned another day on location. shooting on this day was later than the other two days, as it was such short notice i was not able to get the day of work. however it was nice day so the sun was up for longer and still out when we went shooting.


Problems
when on location there were few problems. On day one the weather was especially bad, however this was out of my control, i knew that there was a chance of rain so set out early, before it was due, however the rain came early.
on day two the shoot went to plan and ran smoothly. i am very happy with the out come of the footage and the amount of the footage i obtained on this day. the third day also went smoothly.

Location Scouting

I knew that I wanted to film in  a woods as I felt that the woods represents adventure and also would highlight the idea of being lost. I also felt that by filming in a woods would made my music video feel and look more natural and this would counteract the unnartual feel and look of the theme and character that I plan to include in my video.

When I went out location scouting I knew of a woods about a quarter of a mile from my house (when walking). I thought of this area straight away as it is close and from what I can remember was a picturesque area. 

OH&S
When location scouting i noticed many natural dangers in the wood, like stinger, low hang branches, fallen trees and hidden tree stumps. these were explain to the people participating in the production before filming started. i asked them if they were okay with the risk and if so to sign stating that they understand the risk but are still happy to participate. (See planning post, Hard copies avaliable)

Planning

Planning

Before I could start filming or asking people to perform for me I needed to plan every shot I wanted to include in my music video. I knew by doing this I would be able to film quickly and efficiently, as well as helping me to know exactly where I wanted my music video to head and improve the quality and quantity of shots.

I roughly drew my ideas into a sketchbook; in no particular order or even if they were possible to do. However I drew then down anyway, knowing that I would go back over them to storyboard them, put them into an order and take out the ideas that weren’t feasible.

Once my storyboarding was complete and knew what shots I wanted to include, I needed to get people to play the characters for me. In total there were eleven characters. Ideally I would have like to have a different person play each character as this would make filming easier, because each character require different and detailed hair and make-up. However when I asked around people schedules did not match up or some people were just unavailable all together. 

With this dilemma I had to think of another plan. I didn’t want to remove any of the characters as they all played a part in the music video, so I decide to double up the characters that my actors would play.

Actors

Monique Dudley

Loretta Dudley

Dotty Dudley

Jared Dudley

Adam Dudley

Jaz Kelly

Before any filming began I drew up some documents. These were consent agreements for the parents of the actors under 18 to sign; film release forms for all cast members to sign; and allergy check forms (as i knew i would be using cosmetics, face-paint on them).  (Hard copies available) 

Song Choice and Influences

Hybrid Minds – Fade

I chose this song because it has a good beat and I feel that I would be able to experiment with my editing. Also the lyrics weren’t specific so I would be able to venture out with my ideas of the visuals that I wanted to show when producing this music video. After listening to it several times I came up with the idea of the character losing themselves. As I wanted a surreal/fantasy element to my music video I chose the idea of losing yourself to be more literal, in the sense that a older/younger version of one person losing their own younger/older self.

Lyrics

There was never any doubt,

That you have something to smile about

But for some reason, you had to fall

As if you tried to forget it all,

So now you’re fading in lights,

And getting lost in the night

And try to play in the stars,

While you forget who you are

Till it turns out to be,

Everything you hoped for, you hoped for

Till it turns out to be,

Everything you wanted in this life

Oho, oho, oho, whoo

Till it turns out to be,

Everything you hoped for, you hoped for

Till it turns out to be,

Everything you wanted in this life.

Influences
When i had came up with the idea of having both ones older and younger self present at the same time, i remembered that a few other music videos that i had seen in the past offered the same idea - Paramore - Brick by Boring Brick and Katy Perry - Wide Awake.

To expand in my idea and add to the surreal feel, straight away i thought of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I have always been a big fan of the films and books, so thought that i would be a good idea to incorporate some element from the classic fantasy novel into my own production. The elements that I am want to include is the cross over from reality to fantasy, but not using the idea of a rabbit hole.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1973)

This is my favourite film adaptation of the classic tale, and it the one that i remembered the most. The inspiration i took from this film was the look and feel of the animals in Wonderland. I liked how you were still able to tell that the creatures where human, just dressed up; I feel this gave a surreal feel to the film and I liked this look.

This film helped to inspire a lot of ideas. From this i also took the idea of a divide between two worlds, however i did not use the idea of a rabbit hole, instead i have decided to use the idea of a mirror, but when you look into the mirror your reflection is not seen but the fantasy land. Also you can step through the mirror to this land.

Paramore – brick by boring brick

From this music video I liked the element of the older self and younger self, being in the same proximity. I also like the fantasy elements that the video had. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to use a green screen and have the effects like in Brick By Boring Brick, however I liked the idea and will find a way around the use of a green screen.

Katy Perry – Wide Awake

This music video also had the theme of an older self, meeting and helping a younger self, and this was the main theme that I want to run throughout my own music video. I liked the slow motion editing that from this music video, i also like the idea of a fantasy world gone bad. 

Angus – Rabbits Moon

I like the stop motion feel that this short film offers, and the jolting almost stiff movement that can be seen. Also from this video I like the blue tint over the black and white. I  wanted to apply the blue filter to my own music video as I want to add a cold feel to the video.