D1 - Analyse how Postproduction Techniques Create Meaning

How you edit your media product is vital to the quality and how professional your end product looks, and also how the audience reacts when viewing your product. During the post-production process editors can use may different techniques and processes to create meaning within the video which audiences interact with and spark some emotion, this could range from anywhere between feeling happy, uncomfortable, scared or thrilled etc.

The client specified that my music video "must run for the length of the chosen song and be suitable for the musics target audiences." during the post-production process I focused on meeting these clients needs and making sure my music video did run for the length of the audio and also edited my music video keeping in mind the conventions of Indie-rock music videos.

Post-production Conventions of an Indie-rock music video:
- Most indie-rock music videos tend to use some kind of cinematic effect to make the production look more professional and more like a short film rather than a music video, as conventionally most indie-rock songs have a story behind the lyrics.

- Indie-rock music videos tend to be edited on the beat as the audience expects a change on the beat so this makes it more comfortable for the audience to watch as what they see matches what they're expecting.

- Conventionally indie-rock music videos will include some unique editing effects in order to stand out from other music videos in the same genre and create iconography in the post-production stage.

My Music Video:
I have used many different techniques and process when editing my music video in order to create meaning that is relevant to the song I covered. The main theme of the song I used in my music video is - emotional wounds after a breakup and dealing with this - so I have tried to edit my music video to represent this and create visual changes that will be meaningful to this theme whilst following the conventions of an Indi-rock music video.

The Opening Scene:
The opening scene of any media product instantly sets the scene for the video and lets the audience know what to expect and what the video may be like, so in my opening scene I wanted to do just this and introduce the audience to the band and the music softly. I edited my music video opening scene so that the audio gradually gets louder, from 0 decibels to 12 decibels so that the audience can settle into the music video, making them feel comfortable. I also used the fade to and from transition on the title form my music video, which is also the bands album cover for this song. I did this to once again, softly introduce my music video to the audience and I made sure the title had faded out before the band members enter the shed so that the audience has a clear picture of where they are and what is happening.

Cutting on the Beat:
Cutting on the beat is an editing technique whereby there is a visual change on the beat of the music, for example a transition on the kick of a drum. Cutting on the beat gives your video a more 'real' feel as the visuals and audio appear to be in sync with each other, it is also used to comfort the audience as our brain expect a visual change on a beat drop so when there isn't one when we expect it, it can make the audience feel uncomfortable. I used this post-production technique all throughout my music video trying to match what the audience would expect to see so they carry on watching.

J-Cut:
J-cuts are a simple editing technique used in media where you hear the audio before you see the clip its coming from, this then creates a J shape on your timeline, hence the name. I used this technique at the beginning of my music video as the music begins to play before we see the band actually playing their instruments or the lead singer singing. I used this technique as it is a way of creating flow witting there video with the audio guiding the way, once again this was to make the audience feel comfortable with the viewing there are about to commit too.

Placement of my Actress:
As I was trying to tell a story through a performance piece I needed to be very careful about the order in which I show different characters and what the lyrics are at the point where we see them. The actress in my music video acts as the love interest to the lead singer therefore we only see her when the lyrics are talking about the the emotional wounds of a breakup. In total we see the actress five times throughout the music video and two of those time is when it is just one shot of her on screen, these two times we see her have been specifically placed in my timeline in order to introduce the actress as a love interest. The first time we see her is over the line "And we took it all last night" possibly referencing that they took all the love from each other; the second time we see her is over the line "Who needs memories?" which can be clearly interpreted as the lead singer trying to forget about the pain of this breakup.

Letter Box Effect:
The letter box effect simply is what its called when you put a black border alone the bottom and top horizontal of your frame, this then gives then give the effect of a letter box. I used this effect whenever there was a single frame shot of my actress on screen, I did this to focus the audiences attention on my actress and the lyrics of the song that were playing over the top when we see her so they begin to recognise the meaning and significance off seeing the actress.

Final Cut Pro "Flash" Transition -
The Final Cut Pro flash transition was a transitional effect that is build into the Final Cut Pro software and just allows you to transition between shots using a flash of white light. I used this effect when transitioning between two shots from verse one to the first chorus as I felt this audio change between verse one and the first chorus was quite significant and the energy of the vocals increased so I wanted to represent this with a white flash, almost representing the energy being given too the band.

Invisible Whip Cut -

An invisible cut is when there is a change of scene or shot that is hidden to the audience, for example the cut may be hidden in the motion of the shot if it's moving or in the blackness of a shot. I used an invisible cut in my music video when transitioning from one angle to another and hid the cut within a whip pant. Invisible cuts create meaning as they provide a smooth flow throughout transitions and help the media product feel more fluid and less like its all cameras filming actors, they also help to keep continuity witting the production which helps the audience stay focused and interested throughout different scenes.

                                  

Static Transitional Effect:
I used a static transitional special effect that Final Cut Pro offers as built in software when transitioning from my actors playing their instruments to the first 3 by 3 grid of the actress. I used this effect as I felt like static is typically thought of as a thing that occurs on TVs that don't work which is what I wanted to use to symbolise the actress as a love interest as the love hasn't worked just like a TV with static on it; therefore I used this effect to reveal my actress before the lyrics go into "I'm talking to myself again". The fact that it appears that the actress comes through the static is significant as well since it shows her coming through what others might thing is a bad thing, acting as a metaphor for coming out of a bad relationship and still being ok.

Positioning of Shots:
During this 3 by 3 grid of my actress singing whilst the lyrics repeat the line "I'm talking to myself again" I wanted to make a direct relationship the the lyrics and visuals at this point, therefore I positioned my clips in such a way that it looks like my actress is talking to herself. I wanted to create this framing makes it appear to the audience the the centre shot is the actual actress herself and the shots surrounding her are representative of her self-conscious, as she is talking to herself again.

Headroom:
When we see the actress in the 3 by 3 grid where the frame is built to appear that she's talking to herself I cropped the middle shot of her, so that there was reduced headroom on the middle shot. I did this to create the impression that she was trapped by the voices she's hearing, almost cornered talking to herself. This creates meaning to the audience as they might not know about the lack of headroom if they do not understand media but they will know that the frame is closer to the actress making it apparent she is the main focus.

Colour Scheme Reference:
In my music video I wanted to make it clear that the band playing and the actress singing were related  so I decided to add in a reference to the colour scheme I used with the actress ( Blue, red and yellow ) during the performance of the band. This created meaning to the final media product as it shows a direct relationship between the two performance segments coming together to show the story of conflicted love interest.

Ken Burns Final Cut Effect:
I used the built in Ken Burns camera effect that Final Cut has to offer in my music video which you can set two frame perimeters in and it'll zoom into this frame for you. I used this effect in my music video to add meaning to the lyrics at this point, the point in which I used the Ken Burns effect was during a long verse which repeated the lyrics "No I don't really wanna dance" eight times each time with more energy; so I used the ken burns effect on the last line of this verse where there is the most energy. Using the ken burns effect allowed me to add emphasis on this last line as we zoom in to see the lead singer, so the audience is closer to him when he is singing this line, which acts as the pinnacle point for my music video as this is the point where the relationship between the singer and actress opens up.

Cutting on Action + Cutting on the Beat:
Cutting on action is an edition technique where you cut from one shot to another whilst there is some sort of subject action on screen, this technique is a way of preserving continuity and helps draw viewers into your story as you cut on action. I used this technique when cutting a shot of a guitar being smashed on the ground then repeated the shot so that the guitar smashing on the ground twice also was cut on the beat so the guitar hit the ground on the beat of the drum. These two editing techniques used together creates an experience for the audience which first of all draws them into the action and scene then satisfies their expected change of visuals on the beat.

Audio Match Cut:
A match cut is when the composition of one shot matches with another, so an audio match cut is when the audio from one shot matches with another. I used this technique in my music video when the lyrics repeat the line "The damage is damage is done" two times with first line being sung by the actress and then cutting to the lead singer singing it. I did this to create a sense of relationship between the actress posing as the love interest and the lead singer, so that the audience can connect with the two characters solving their conflicted love; this then may help audiences that are currently struggling with love in their life.

Narrative Ending:
I purposely included shots of both the band leaving their set and the actress walking out of frame, this was to create a sense of ending for the audience, they get to watch these characters come into frame then listen to the song and follow the conflict of love the see the characters leave having resolved their conflict. This just creates a sense of story for the audiences and not like they've just watched a music video but watched two people make up and become one again.

Ken Burns Effect:
I used the ken burns effect again on the very last shot of my music video where the frame zooms into the smashed guitar on the ground when the last line of the song plays - "The damage is, damage is done". Zooming into the guitar at this point creates good ending to the music video as it sums up the song title and directly relates the visuals to the audio as the damage to the guitar is done. This the makes the audience feel comfortable as they have been shown an ending to the music video and are not left with any questions unanswered, being completely satisfied with the media product they have just watched.

M4 - How the Exported Media Product meets the Client Brief

I exported my final music video in two different file formats: Apple Pro Res and H.264

Apple Pro Res provides an "unparalleled combination of multi-stream, real-time editing performance, impressive image quality, and reduced storage rates" This means that exporting my music video in an Apple Pro Res format it is at the highest quality possible for audiences to view, however it still takes up a large amount of storage, larger than a H.264 file format. 

I would export my music video as an Apple Pro Res file to send to the client due to the fact it exports the best audio and image quality, therefore the client has the best version possible. This is then helpful to the client as they have a version they can manipulate for whatever media purpose they want, for example if they wanted to publish it online they could export it to a lower resolution file so that it loads quicker for audiences, and if they wanted to upload a HD version which audiences might expect to take longer to load they have the capabilities to do so.

H.264 file formats are popular as they take up very little storage, for my music video the H.264 file format took up 75% less space than the Apple Pro Res, however in order to be able to compress files to this level the H.264 flies have to sacrifice somewhere so these files are not as high quality as Apple Pro Res file formats

This is the H.264 file format I exported my music video as so that I was able upload it to YouTube to show my audiences and be able to embed it into to other areas of my blog. I used a H.264 file format for this purpose as it compromises between high quality and small file size so that it will upload quickly and it will also load quicker when the audience views it.

I do believe my music meets the client brief as the visuals are as long as the music track, the visuals conform the conventions of the genre, indie-rock, it promotes the artist and visually reflect the theme of the song in many ways throughout the performance.

My music video promotes the artist as it includes many close up of each member of the band, showcasing their talent as a performer and showing them as a person for the audience to recognise. My music video also reflects the themes of the song throughout the videos the song talks about "love" to which the visuals show a love interest, the song talks about "damage being done" to which the visuals show objects being smashed and damaged, in this case a guitar.

I believe the final cut of my music video is successful as it meets all the clients requests and promotes the artist very well as it shows them as talented individuals whilst also showing them enjoying what they do and having fun making a music video which I believe the audience will like and begin to view the artists as people with personalities. It also creates some iconography for the band as they are all wearing Hawaiian shirts which the recording label of the artist can utilise and use this fact to start generating a brand image for the band.

M3 - Codes and Conventions

Conventions
My music video is and indie-rock video and I have chosen to produce a performance music video with an overarching narrative theme, so we can identify a storyline through the performance sequence of my music video. To do this I recorded a performance of actors who played as a band with instruments and also recorded a segment of an actress lip-syncing who acts as the love interest throughout my music video. I then cut these two segments together in the editing process at vital points in order to tell the story of conflicted love throughout my production.

The conventions of an indie-rock video include lots of shots of the band members, typically as instructed by the record label in order to start selling the band members to the audience and begin to generate them fame and popularity. I have done this in my music video as I have include many shots of all the band members which clearly show their identity so that the audience will recognise them if seen else where and start to build a relationship between the viewers and the band members.

Indie-rock videos also tend to create iconography for the band or include existing iconic items if they are already an established band that the audience will immediately relate to that specific band. I have done this in my music video since I instructed all the band members to wear Hawaiian shirts, this may not be the most flattering clothing however it is original and now iconic to my band meaning that when viewers see a Hawaiian shirt they may think of my band.

Conventionally Indie-Rock videos are very low budget and shot in very simple, easily accessible locations as the focus of the video is on the band members and the music itself rather than the production value of the music video. I did not have a budget to produce my music video therefore I spent no money during the entire production which fits this convention, and I also filmed it in my garden shed which is a very simple set, and easy for me and my actors to enter.

A lot of indie-rock videos tend to be filmed hand held to give a more 'real' feel to the video and try to put the audience in the action. I did film a lot of shots using a hand held stabiliser to try and conform to this convention and give a more fluid and 'real' feel to my music video.

Finally the editing of indie rock videos is very important in order to captivate the audience and keep them interested in your video; conventionally this includes clips being edited to match the tempo of the music usually being cut on the beat as this is what your brain expects, which makes it more comfortable for the consumer to watch.

Composition
Throughout across all media there is always headroom for actors in shots unless you are trying to portray the feeling they are trapped or nervous, in my media production I did leave enough headroom throughout the performance segment with my band members and purposely cut down the headroom when filming the shots of my actress. I did this because at the time we see the actress it is over the audio of "I'm talking to myself again" therefore I wanted to represent this in my shot, reducing the headroom so she appears trapped which is meant to symbolise being trapped in your own head.

I did try to use the rule of thirds when filming my music video as this is conventional for indie-rock videos as it makes the audience feel comfortable, however I wanted lots of movement and energy from my subjects so it was hard to maintain this composition however I did create one shot using the rule of thirds.

In this shot the lead singer is in the foreground at the centre of the screen being the main subject in the shot however in the background the two guitarist are positioned on the two vertical lines in the rule of thirds.

Camera Shots
Indie-rock videos tend to include a wide variety of shots however the main ones are usually medium a close up shots as the video is produced around the artist and the music they play, so establishing and long shots don't tend to fit in with this convention. I conformed heavily to this convention as the main shots I used were medium shots of the actors and also close ups of the band members playing their instruments.

Camera Angles
Indie-rock videos are conventionally shot from eye level or low angles this is because eye-level shots help the audience connect with the band on a more personal level as it gives the impression that the viewer is watching the band through their own eyes; low angle shots are also used so that the audience is looking up to the band members which makes the viewers idolises the band members. In my music video I used lots of eye level shots and a couple low angle shots to conform to this convention.

Camera Movements

Conventionally in indie-rock music videos the camera movements tend to follow and trace the artist in the video as they are the main focus in frame. Typically this includes camera movements such as pan, track and hand held. The majority of my music video is shot with the camera being hand held which conforms to this convention, I also used tracking when filming my lead singer as I wanted to keep him as the main subject in the centre of frame. I also used a couple of quick pan shots in order to create invisible cuts within the movement of these camera movements.

Mise-en-scène
In the frame there is all four actors the majority of the time, which each represent a member of the actual band, this also generates some sort of community on screen seeing these actors playing together. We also see the corrugation of the concrete walls surround the set which are constantly in frame which represents the simplicity and low budget conventions of indie-rock music videos. It is evident that my music video is shot at two different locations for the two different performance segments. The second location is filmed in a school classroom where there is just an actress in frame in-front of a blank white board, I created this frame so that the actress was the main focus in the frame and the audiences attention was just on her.

I did use props throughout my music video as it was essential for creating a realistic music video as it would confuse the audience if the band did not have any instruments. I used props such as: drum kits, two guitars, a microphone and an amplifier, this was so I could create a realistic image of the actors playing their instruments in time with the music, giving the illusions that they are playing the audio the audience can hear.

My actors are dressed in everyday clothing which the viewer is most likely have at home however the only difference is my actors have Hawaiian tops over the top of these clothes. This then gives the viewer belief that maybe they could be like the band members if they dressed like them and provokes more interaction from the audience.

I also used lighting as a key feature throughout my production, colours such as yellow, red, blue and purple in order to give a feel of warmth to my production so it could be perceived as more 'live'. The lighting I used is also effective to create professional lighting techniques such as half and half, 45 degree and racoon eyes in order to create a vast amount of compositions throughout my music video.

All of these elements combined help to represent the emotion behind the song lyrics and also the illusion of these actors playing their instruments so that it is believable to the audience. It helps create a sense of excitement with the changing colours and the odd clothing, it makes the audiences think they are seeing something different and unique, which in turn will help the band grow.

P5 - Post Production Techniques

1st Rough Cut:

This is my very first cut of my music video, this is the version where I had just got everything onto the timeline, in the right order to start to visualise the whole video and the order of how my video will play out using the clips I collected. I knew what I wanted my video too look like and the overall feel that it would be so I just focused on creating this throughout the editing process.

2nd Rough Cut:

Feedback:

I did not receive any formal feedback from my first edit of my music video just helpful tips on how to improve in casual conversation where the main points spoke about creating a more fluid transition into the first time we see the actress and to place the 2nd time we see the actress in the right place in the timeline.

Changes:

The first change I made was on the first time we see the actress, I didn't just change the transition into it but changes the whole sequences so that instead of the different compositions coming down like a wipe affect I put them all into a 3x3 grid so to give the affect that she is talking to herself, I also added a static transition between the band performance segment which then dissolves away to reveal the actress.

1.

2.

This is how I changed the the "1st talking to myself again" segment as I felt when we saw all the boxes filled it gave more of a visual representation that she was talking to herself again, as if they were the voices inside her head she was talking to. I also added some colour effects in on the boxes on the third time the line repeats itself and on the fourth time the line repeats itself this is to try and represent the colour lighting I used when filming the performance segment of my media video so it shows a relationship between the two.

This is the changes I made to the time line by adding in the static transition, I did this because at the time the verse starts there is a small static noise in the actual song audio therefore I wanted to represent this visually. It also provides what I think is a very neat transition between the two performance segments which helps keep the flow of the video going.

The complete transition is a fade from the performance segment to the static effect which was available on Final Cut Pro, to a black screen, then a cross dissolve to reveal the actress through the static.

The second change I made was adding another grid of the actress over the second point in the song where its a verse about 'talking to myself again' however the second time the song sings this it is with more energy than the first time so I wanted to represent this in the visuals by adding lots of colour and moving subjects.

                                        

As I wanted more moving subject to reflect the higher energy at this point in the song I added in a clip of the guitarist, turned to opacity of this down and the overplayed a free lighting affect my teacher gave me ontop of this clip and used the "Luma Keyer" effect on Final Cut Pro to remove the empty black space in the lighting effect; this then created a really nice composition which could be seen in the background.

The third change a made was manipulating the audio at the beginning of my video, this didn't mean completely changing it, I just cut and duplicated the humming noise at the start of my video so that it went on for longer and meant that there was less time where there was visuals on screen but now sound playing, I also think it helped to build suspense before the music video fully started.

1. 2. 

The fourth change I made was adding in some shots of the guitarist and drummer during the final chorus, as I felt like the audience needed a visual change from just watching the lead singer sing all in one shot. I chose the drumming shot in as there is more emphasis on the drumming at this part in the song audio so again I wanted to reflect this in the visuals. 

                                          

To summarise the changes I made between my first rough cut and my second rough cut were:

- Changed the composition of the 1st "talking to myself again sequence", to make the visuals represent the fact the actor is talking got herself more clear.

- Added in a 2nd "talking to myself again" sequence, to match the song lyrics which involves a 2nd "Talking to myself again" verse, and under-layed some lighting affects at this point.

- Manipulated the audio in order increase the introduction length so that it builds some suspense to audiences that have heard the song before as it won't start when they think it will.

- Over-layed some clips on-top of my timeline in order to show a visual change so the audience doesn't lose interest just watching one clip. 

3rd Rough Cut:

Feedback I received from my teacher:
   - Check the lip-syncing during the first time we see the lead singer.
   - At 01:00 there needs to be a visual change
   - Add in some close up shots of instruments
   - Hint to the love interest earlier on
   - Add in a reference to the colour scheme used in the panel segment
   - Make the killing the guitar shot longer

Changes I made:
The first change I made was to fix the lip-syncing in the opening scene, to do this I copied and pasted the clip on-top of itself so that it would not have any effect on my timeline. I then cut it down to the same length and fiddled about with it, moving it a frame forward, a frame backwards until it looked better and like the actor was actually singing the lyrics.

Version 2 lip-syncing:

Version 3 improved lip-syncing:

It is only a minor change however it plays a large part in the video and how professional the final product is; and as this scene is at the beginning off my video it is also the audiences first impression of the performance segment, therefore it may inflict their impression on the rest of the video if the first lip-syncing they see is slightly off.

The second change I made was to add in a visual change at 01:00, this was something that I knew I needed to do as when watching the video it would become a bit boring as its the same mise-en-scene for a long time which shouldn't one the case in an indie-rock video. To add a visual change I added in some close ups of instruments and some more shots of the drummer on-top of my time line in order, again, to no disrupt the time line and the lip-syncing.

Visual change added:

This is how my timeline looked before I made
visual changes at 01:00, as you can see it was only one clip playing continuously.

This is how my timeline looked after I had made
visual changes, I added in a short still of the bass drum in order to show the transition into a drum segment. Then I added in 3 clips of the drummer playing the drums and a short clip of my actress, the love interest which I will expand upon later.


The third improvement I made was to hint at the love interest earlier on in the music video so as the audience is not confused when we see her on the 9 by 9 panel. To do this I added shots of her in between takes just looking around and smiling which I think introduces her nicely as the audience begins to build up a relationship with her seeing more of a personality than just an actor. I tried to introduce the character of a love interest at point where it seemed natural to see a different character, so I added my chosen shots of her when the lyrics suggested to a love interest. The first time we see her is when the lyrics say "took it all last night" which is possibly the lead singer referring to someone 'taking' all his love:

The second time we see the actress before the 9 by 9 panel is when the lyrics say "who needs memories" this is clearly the lead singer referring to past memories and possible conflict in his past, which is why I believed it was appropriate to see the actress for the second time at this point:

I also made some independent changes which my teacher had not given too me which I thought would make my final product better. The first change I made was adding some different angles into my product in some of the more instrumental / mellow parts of the song and my music video in order to give the audience a feel of the different space. I used a short clip of low angle pan which idolises the band members slightly as the audience will be looking up at them and then I used a eye level shot just from a different point in the room which again showed more of the space it was being filmed and how this relates to the genre convention of music videos being shot in a low budget location:

With shooting from a new angle this allowed me to create an invisible whip pan transition between angles which I believe is really effective and puts the audience into the action as the chorus starts; instead of in version 2 where it was more of the camera just tilting up and the the lead singer jumping back into frame.

Version 2:

Version 3:

I also used the "Free Light Leaks 4K" video that my teacher downloaded for me again and put it over this scene, then used the Luma Keyer effect on Final Cut Pro to remove all the black colour and was just left with a nice moving coloured lens flare effect:

This is my timeline on Final Cut Pro showing where the free light leaks is over layer and how the luma keyer effect is added and the settings of this effect:

I also added in a very short clip of the drummer to have a visual change and then to put emphasis on the lyrics the singer is singing when we cut back to him singing which are "don't try to make me jealous" which I thought was important to emphasise as the song is about being in love and the conflict of love:

I changed the "1st talking to myself again" transition out back to the lead singer, as in my 2nd version the colour effect I added disappear as the boxes begin to disappear to reveal the lead singer so I just changed this so that the colour effects did not disappear as the boxes begin to disappear and to keep consistency within my video:

Version 2 1st talking to myself again transition out:

Version 3 1st talking to myself again transition out:

Following the feedback I received I added in some references to the colour scheme I used in the 1st talking to myself again scene. I added this colour scheme of blue, red and yellow into the part of the song where it says "No I don't really wanna dance" eight times so I thought it would work if I put colour effects on at this point and have them change every-time the line repeats itself, finishing on yellow the same as the first 9 by 9 grid:

Version 2, no reference to colour scheme:

Version 3, reference to colour scheme:

This is what my the colour board on Final Cut Pro looked like for each different shot:

I also changed the part of my where it sings about not wanting to dance and as the last line "No I don't really wanna dance" is expressed heavily in the audio I wanted to show this is in the visuals as well. This is the segment before I made any changes:

Then the changes I made involved actually changing the clip, as I found a shot we did where the lead singer tilts his head back which I think looks really nice and adds lots of emphasis to performance. I then used the ken burns effect on this shot to zoom into his face in the post-production stage and this is the final result:

My teachers also recommended that I make the segment where the guitar is smashed longer so that it can be appreciated more, instead of being over before you can blink, however I still wanted the guitar to hit the ground at the same time the beat drops so I had to think about this carefully and played around with the shot moving it back and forth along my time line until I was happy with it.

Original Smashing guitar clip:

New longer Smashing Guitar clip:

The actually change is very small but I do think it looks a lot better and even more on time with the beat drop in the song audio. This is how my time line changed:

Original Smashing Guitar Timeline:

Improved Smashing Guitar Timeline:

Upon looking through my footage again I found a really nice shot of the lead singer and both guitarist  singing directly into the camera so decided to add this into my music video where appropriate. I ended up adding it over the top of a clip of the drummer as this is where the lip-syncing fitted in with the audio and I thought it looked good:

This is how the changed looked on my final cut timeline:

One of the largest changes I made was once again changing the 2nd talking to my self again segment with the actress moving around the screen, I had be playing with this idea for a long time and had even made it so the panels move on the beat which took along time unfortunately it was then too fast and I didn't like it. I then tried using a 2x2 grid instead of a 3x3 grid so the image of the actor was larger and we could see the lip-syncing more accurately, however once again I did not like this. Then I decided to create just one panel with the actor in the centre of which gets further away from screen and then cut to the 3x3 grid again on the final song line.

As I wanted more moving subjects during this part of the song, instead of trying to have multiple panels moving I chose to layer one panel on-top of a scene of the actors playing their instruments with the free light leaks once again put over it, this is how it looked in my final cut timeline:

I layered the clips on-top of each other in this way so that the free light leaks would be played over the actors moving but not over the shot of my actress, so that it would not effect the colour change I made to the shot of may actress.

The final change I made in my music video was to add a short clip of the actress walking away from the camera in order to give the feel of finish within my music video, as we have all the subjects leaving before the song ends. I shortened the clip of the actors feet walking out the shed and added the clip of the actress leaving after this:

This is how the changed affected my timeline in Final Cut Pro:

Version 2:

 Version 3:

To summarise all the changes I have made between version 2 and version 3 of my music video, I have polished up the lip-syncing so that it looks better and more believable, added in a larger variety of shots to interact with the audience better so they do not lose interest when watching my music video, added in more shots of the actress so the audience becomes familiar with seeing her a recognises that she is the love interest and the one the lead singer sings about "not being the inspiration" and finally changed the 2nd talking to myself again clip so that it looks better and doesn't seem too tacky.

Final Cut:

Feedback I received from my teacher for version 3 of my music video:
   - Add a proper title to my music video
   - Think about cropping the edge of the frame when we see the actress
   - Colour correct my clips
   - Give myself and actors credit at the end

The first change I started on improving was adding in a proper title to the start of my music video, I played around with the website www.dafont.com in order to try and find a font which looks like the font the artists use on all their album covers. This was a success and I found the font they use however it would have cost me £59.99 to purchase so I did not use this font. Instead I had an idea to download an image of the original album cover for my song:

Then as I put this image into Adobe Illustrator and deleted the white back ground so I just had the black shapes and text, then I turned this into a vector so there was no chance of it looking pixelated on my music video.

The next change I made was to add a black border around the clips when we see the actress, to do this I first of used the transform tool on Final Cut Pro to reduce the size of the clip to 85%.

I then layered this clip on-top of an image of a black screen so that the empty space where the clip has been reduced from was just a black image.

The next change I set about to do was to colour correct all my images so that the colours in them looked more vibrant and crisp, and the shadows and darkness could be increased or reduced. To do this I went through every clip on my timeline and used the colour correction bar final cut has to offer and used this to make my images look more professional and better quality. Her are some examples of clips I colour corrected:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Another change I made was to fix a little glitch I spotted at the end of my music video version 3 when the actors are leaving the shed:

The glitch was only small however I thought that once noticed, it impacted the quality and how professional the overall end product looked. It was only a small change but where I had cut the clip before hand was incorrect and made this small error in the video which caused the hand movement to repeat itself, so I just had to re-edit this clip so that I removed this mistake:

I also created a credit scene at the ending of my music video to acknowledge and give credit to my actors, the artist of the song and myself. I created this using a title generator tool in Final Cut Pro, so that I could create an end credit scene which comes onto screen and the writing passes up vertically:

Also due to adding in this end credit scene I decided to manipulate the actual music audio so that there is still audio playing whilst the credit roles. To do this I cut and copied the final end chorus before it played out and added this on the end so that it played again whilst the credits rolled.

P4 - Production Materials

Equipment I Used:

- 2x Lights + Relevant colour gels I would need ( Red, blue, purple, yellow and orange ) so that I   could ensure my music video was properly lit, trying to eliminate any shadows, and so I could create different emotions and levels of warmth using the colour gels.

- 2x Light Tripods so that I could set up the lights to be free standing in the position I wanted and they would stay in the same position until I moved them myself.

- 2x Camera, I took away both a Sony and a Nikon camera as I was undecided which I wanted to film with, so I just took both as a contingency and practised with each before deciding to use the Nikon as my hand held camera and set the Sony up on a tripod to capture different angles.

- 2x Camera Tripods so that I could set up the cameras on a steady platform to get a stable shot. and also to set up to get level shots from different angles.

- 1x Wheel Camera Stabiliser, this was a stabilising tool where you could fasten the camera down in the middle of a wheel and almost drive the camera around to film stable shots whilst also giving a hand held feel to the shot being captured.

- 1x Reflector, I used a large reflector to help keep the light in the shed, this is because at the end of the shed where I filmed my music video there is a large window and I did not want any uncontrolled natural light entering, so I set up the reflector to reflect the sunlight back out the window, and reflect the lighting I set up back inside.

- 1x Drum Kit, I was fortunate enough to have a friend who let me borrow their drum kit for the weekend so that I could film my music video.

- 2x Guitars, I already own a guitar which we used in production and the lead guitarist also brought two guitars he owns, one to play on and another one we could smash.

- 1x Microphone and amp, I was once again fortunate enough to have a friend who was happy to let me borrow their microphone and amplifier for the weekend to film my music video.

Setting up Equipment -

I used a 2 point lighting set up with my lights, using one as a key light and the other as a fill light. I did this because I wanted my actors to be clearly lit whilst also having some shadow behind them, this for me is personal opinion as I thought that being able to see the shadows behind the moving actors in front of you gave a more 'real' feel to the end product. The reflector I used was double sided, one side was a blank white in order to reflect the light how it arrives on the reflector and the other side was a golden reflector meaning that it gave the light more of a warm feel when reflected. I used the reflector with the golden side facing into the shed to reflect the lighting I set up and the other side facing to the window too block out the natural light coming in from the window.

To set up the camera I first had to set them both to the right settings, this was:

   - Shutter Speed of 1/50

   - 25 Frames per Second

   - I set the aperture on the Sony camera I used too F8 as this was going to be set in one place so I only needed it to be focused on the subject so this had a shallow depth of field.

   - I set the aperture on the Nikon camera I used too F22 as this was going to be the camera I was holding and moving about the frame with, therefore I wanted to have this camera focused on the subject as well, but also have detail in the background setting.

   - The ISO I used on both cameras was 200 this is because I was shooting with a lot of different coloured lights and I wanted the image to be as sharp as possible with minimal 'noise'.

As I mentioned before I used the Nikon Camera as a hand held camera, so I could move around the set getting more abstract and moving angles, whereas I set the Sony Camera up on a tripod I used this when I needed to have a steady camera pan, for example in the opening scene:

                                        

I also used the Sony camera on a tripod as a contingency, to be able to leave the camera filming the scene to capture different angles that I had not previously thought about, and to ensure that I had enough footage, for example:

                                    

I used the Nikon Camera in a hand stabiliser shaped like a wheel, this meant that I could control the camera very well and move it around set easily, with the knowledge that to footage I was collecting would be stable. The majority of my footage was filmed this was, using the Nikon camera in a hand stabiliser. 

                          

Whilst using the Nikon camera I changed between Manual focus and Auto focus a few times, depending on what shot I was trying to film. Shots which include actors moving closer or further away to the camera I used auto focus as I was not confident enough to be able to change the focus manually to adapt to the changes in composition and such a fast rate. This is an example of where I used auto focus to film with:

                                    

I used manual focus to film shots which involved little or no change in how close the subject was to the camera, therefore I could spend time setting up the camera to focus and it would stay in focus, here is an example of where I used manual focus:

                                   

Filming Diary -

Thursday 5th of December:

I printed out my risk assessment and all the action that I needed to complete in order for my location to be safe for the actors so they did not hurt themselves. I simply worked down the actions I needed to complete ticking them off as I went and removing objects I didn't need to create more space for my production... aided of course by a cup of tea:

Friday 6th of December:

My first port of call was to transport the drum kit which my friend had offer to lend me, from one house to another. To do this I travelled to their house and helped take apart the drum kit, making mental notes on how to put it back together. This is when I came across my first problem, it would not all fit in the car however this was quickly resolved by implying doing two trips back and forth between the houses. Upon the arrival at my shooting location, my house, after the two trips picking up drums, I then had to make the decision wether or not to leave them in my house over night or outside in the shed. I decided to make space inside my house and store the dissembled drums inside my house in the end as I could not guarantee the security of the shed, and as it was not my drum kit I wanted to make sure they were looked after as best as possible.

Saturday 7th of December ( Filming Day ):

I set my alarm for 7:00am in order to move the large objects and furniture out of my shed and into the garden as these could not be done on Thursday incase there was any bad weather. This is when I encountered my first problem of the day, how to move a fridge and sofa safely by myself, of course this was resolved by approaching the task with a 'slow and steady' mindset. Once I had removed these items and covered the sofa with a waterproof tarpaulin I began to transport the drums from my lounge into my shed:

The time was now around 8:30 and I had asked my talent to arrive at 9:00am which gave me just about enough time to finish transporting and setting up the drum kit before the talent arrived; I set up the drum kit in the corner of the room as this was most space efficient and it would not be in the way. Once I had finished setting up the drum kit I made a pot of tea and a pot of coffee so that I had something to offer to my talent when they arrived. My talent then arrived and I offered them tea or coffee and asked if they wanted anything to eat or drink, I then proceeded to lead them outside and showed them the area we would be filming any what the overall plan for the day would be and let them get familiar with the space and equipment:

The time was now around 9:45am and we had a strict deadline as the drummer needed to leave at 12:30 so we had around 3hours 45 minutes to film the whole performance segment. I set up the lights inside my shed and connected to a speaker that was placed out of frame so that my actors could here the actual audio of the song and the lead singer could lip-sync successfully. Then we began working through the performance scenes that I had drawn out on the storyboard, which I had a printed copy of with me, ignoring the scenes which weren't performance as they did not require the presence of a drummer when I had so little time with mine. The first problem I faced was my lead singer being camera shy, this took some time to resolve and for him to gain his confidence upon me agreeing to sing along with him.

11:30am: We had been filming for about two hours and had worked through the storyboard, and I could tell my actors were getting tired so I decided we should have a break, where I made them some hot drinks and fed them up with breakfast foods such as sausages, bacon, beans and toast. Whilst they were eating I went back into the shed and replaced the camera batteries, changed the lights around and did some general tidying up. After my actors had finished eating and were all rejuvenated we went back into the the shed and I got some close ups of the drums and some drumming sequences and then it was time for the drummer to leave. As the drummer had left there was no complete band shots I could get, so I just collected some fill shots and close ups of guitars before the two guitarists headed home. 

The time was now around 13:30pm and it was only me and the lead singer left at location however, this was not the end of production however as I still needed to film my narrative sequence which the lead singer was also due to act in. I was aware that my lead singer had been acting now for just under 5 house straight so I decided it was best to let him relax for a little bit before pushing to film the narrative. This was when my third problem of the day kicked in, rain; as me and the lead singer were talking in the kitchen we heard the faint patter of rain drops on the windows. The narrative sequence I needed to film was one which involved an open fire pit, with the lead singer burning photos in it which is clearly going to be stumped by unfortunate weather. The time was around 14:30pm and we went outside to try light the fire pit in the hope that if we could get it going then the rain would not matter, even possibly adding to the cinematic affect, however our efforts were futile and we could not start the fire. This meant that filming today was over and I sent the lead singer home and began packing up the drums and camera equipment whilst trying to think of other ways to film a narrative. 

Organisation of Clips -

To organise my clips I used the folder labeled "Unit 3" which was stored inside the folder "A-Level Media Studies" located on my desktop which is where I have already stored all of my pre-production documents up until this point. 

To import the footage from my SD Card to this folder to make them accessible for editing on my laptop I simply opened the SD card storage files then went down and selected all the footage I wanted to import (By holding shift and using the arrow keys) then dragged it from the SD card storage files to the my "unit 3" file and waited for them to finish importing before removing the SD card.

Filming Diary Continued -

Tuesday 17th December:

I had been editing my the footage I had collected on Saturday the 7th of December and been trying to make it work as a complete performance music video however I still felt like it was missing some narrative segments. So I found an actor and went to find an empty room in school to film the new idea I had for my narrative sequence. This only involved the screen being split into 9 boxes and the actor singing directly to the camera in the centre of the screen and shots composed to that it looks like she is singing to herself:

To complete this me and my talent found an empty room around school and set up against a white board so that there was a neutral background. I then set the camera up on a tripod and set the frame, I used one main light on a tripod, facing my actor so that there was just a small shadow cast beneath her face and also used the torch function on my phone to shine from the right hand side, in order to balance the light. 

I used a Nikon Camera with a shutter speed of 1/50 which shot a 25 frames per second. I chose an aperture setting of F8 for this shot as I wanted a shallow depth of field since I wanted the main focus to be on the subject rather than the background, I set the ISO to 200 as I was creating my own light so I did not need to open the lens any more than needed too. I also used manual focus for this shot as the subject was not moving towards or away from the camera so I was confident I could used manual focus and come out with a high quality image instead of using auto focus which may have lost focus at points during the filming.

When it came to the actual filming of the narrative it was relatively simple, I centred my actor in the middle of my frame ensuring that there was enough headroom, and she fitted in frame well. Then it was a matter of collecting all the needed shots, so lip-syncing whilst facing at all sides of a 8 wind-compass and of course one shot where my actor is facing directly at the camera for the middle square.

Reviewing Footage -

A lot of the footage I filmed did not go to waste, and most clips involved valuable snippets which I took and used in my final edit of my music video. Below are some examples of footage I thought was really good and footage that did not make it into the final edit:

                                          

The first take was the very first take of the day and I thought my tripod usage was bit rough making the clip seem almost bumpy, and also one of my actors was already inside the shed by the time I had panned down to show them all entering. I had some practice with the tripod and spoke to the actors and the second take in the video was much better and I used it for my opening scene in my music video.

                                          

I did really like this shot, as it each shirt rests in the middle of the line of thirds and when they are taken off I feel like it sets the atmosphere of the music video, and assures the audiences that they are getting ready to watch something good as they get ready with the actors. The only issue is the long pause between the 2nd shirt being pulled off and the 3rd shirt, however I am confident that I can correct this in editing and make it look natural.

                                         

This was a shot I decided to take in the moment as I thought it could be nice and show more of the journey of the actors getting ready to put the audience in the situation. Unfortunately I was not pleased with how the shot turned out as I feel like it looks a bit tacky and the actors are all facing away from the camera so I will not use this in my final edit.

                                        

I really like this shot as I think its mine-en-scene is really nice and the half and half lighting really represents the genre of music and the whole atmosphere of the song, especially when the lead singer takes a step back and joins his friends. The actors I used were also doing a great job here and matching the energy of the audio with their movements and actions.

                                        

This is an example or when I left the Sony Camera recording on a tripod and didn't pay much attention to what was in frame. I can't use this footage as I get in shot which completely ruins the illusion of film, and also the drummer actually throws his drumsticks over the drum kit by accident, which would not look good in my video.

                                        

This is another shot I took in the moment thinking that I may be able to use it in the introduction to my video however it is too dark, the drummer is sat in shot not doing anything and I did not like how the cameras would have been outside the shed filming inside when all my actors had already entered.

                                   

I really like this shot and how the camera takes time to focus in on the drum sticks and then loses focus again however I never found anywhere to put it into the timeline of my music video as there is no where in the audio which would match the visuals of drumstick resting, which is a shame as I do think it is a nice shot.

                                 

I will cut this shot down so it just shows the last time he puts on his glasses and then goes into playing the guitar as it fits the genre of the song perfectly and also helps to show the audience some personality of messing around and doing silly things which my target audience will be able to relate to.

                             

This was the planned ending for my music video where we see the band members finishing and laying down their instruments and leaving the shed however I was disappointed with how the shot turned out as I think it looks very scripted, no offence to my actors, but I did not like the feel of it and felt like the camera should have been more zoomed out.

                           

I didn't like this shot as it is one I filmed after the drummer had left and covers the lyrics from the start of the song, yet it is obvious that the lead singer is sweaty and tired which wouldn't have made sense being at the beginning of my video. I also don't like the amount of light shining on him as it would not have fitted with the dull, fairly monotone start I had planned as the light is too bright. I did not frame the shot very well either as it is obvious he his close to a wall and the guitarist keeps entering in and out of shot.