Final video feedback

We watched everyone's music videos in our class and commented on each individually. The feedback we got for our music video includes:

Camerawork -> The close up shots (especially the picture frame shot) were different and looked good. Our shots were distinct and different.

Editing -> The white screening we used for some of James's singing was good but not perfect quality as it looked slightly jagged. The ending was liked. The editing really makes the audience concentrate on the lyrics of the song as it relates well to them. It was kept simple when he was singing and frantic on the stage with lots going on which was a good contrast.

Mise en Scene -> The props were very good. The video was really different. The characters wearing black was liked due to again keeping everything simple. It was not boring. Some said it didnt make sense??

Final stage

During our final last hours of our editing for our music video we decided to drastically change the lip syncing scenes. The colours and lighting where out and because we had to zoom in a lot the quality had lowered. To combat all this we made the selected footage black and white, inhanced the lighting and moved position of james to add variety but also to get rid of the cupboard which was in a few of the shots.
The black and white give the footage a strong feel of it being a different place and different time.It also makes the colourful scenes stand out stronger.

Final Week

It is the final week of our time allocated to making our music video for the song 'harms way' by the 'waco brothers'.
We are to schedule with where we wanted to be and are confident that we will complete our project by the deadline of friday.

Additional Footage Update 3

We cannot do a shoot on Friday as the college is closed for the day.
We will have to arrange another date.
We have arranged with James to film Thursday 23rd 1.50pm.
We will try to book the hall for then

Additional Footage Update 2

James is able to do Friday 24th at 1.50pm so we will attempt to book the hall for this date.

Additional footage update

James could not make the date to shoot extra footage.
We have got in contact with James to see when he can do.

Additional Footage

We have managed to book the hall again for Tuesday 21st October 9.00-10.30.
We now need to see if James can make it.

Response To Feedback And Editing

From watching what we have done in editing our music video we have decided a few things. When filming we had problems with the main part knowing the words (as previously explained). From watching our video we have decided that we will create a much stronger looking video if we have more lip syncing footage.
We are now planning to use the hall again and take additional footage of the lead singing in both close up and extreme close up. We are going to try book the hall for Tuesday 21st October and arrange for our lead to be there and learn all the lyrics ready to do the two run throughs.

Response to feedback

There were no real surprises to us in the feedback we got from other groups watching our music video. We pretty much agreed with the majority of the views that were expressed on our feedback sheet.
We need to work on the lip syncing in the video where we are going to include it as currently it is out of sync. We are not planning to put lip syncing throughout as we do not have the appropriate footage of James lip syncing due to the short notice of us using him for our video. Our original person dropped out at last minute so James did not have much time to learn the lyrics.
We included no effects but we are unsure whether or not we need them as our piece is such a strong performance based piece that we would not want to spoil it by over doing it too much.

Rough cut feedback

Some groups from our class watched our music video rough cut and gave feedback on the good and bad points.
Camerawork was said to be good especially the close ups of the facial expressions. There was a variety of shots used which was very good.
The editing needed more lip syncing but the close ups were included well. And the ending was enjoyed.
No effects were used.
We had lots of positive feedback on mise en scene. The props used were well related to the narrative of the song and video. The costumes were plain clothes which was good so that the background stood out. They liked the simplicity of the video and the room was used well.
The performance was planned well and worked well, good use of the actors.
The continuity worked well.
Overall comments were that we could have syncronized the lip syncing better and could have been singing instead of looking around. But it was a good idea overall and worked really well

We had no surprises from our feedback. We agreed with 99% of the comments before our video was watched.

Rough cut

How Our Filming Went

We got to the hall at around 9 o'clock.
When we got there we started to set up the camera and get the correct height and angle for our main part of filming , this was on a table at full length on the stand on the floor. we arranged our props where they would need to be and marked it down with masking tape. We then marked off the perimeter of where the camera could see so that the actors would not be in shot when off stage.
We then took some test footage to see how good it looked.
We opened up the black curtains so that our background was plain white so that the colours and props would stand out more.
We then at 10.30 had to stop to allow another group to use the stage to film.
During this time we finished off our props and made final touches to them. We also went and found ourselves the closest thing to an armchair we could.
At 12.20 our actors started to arrive and we started directing them with when to do what to the song. We worked out which side of the stage to put things on and who would carry what. During the next hour more people turned up and we all taught them what to do. During this time we worked out where the ideal positions for the props and main events was and marked them out with marking tape also.
We got it learnt and ready by about 1.45 When our main Character turned up. We showed him what we had been doing and showed him in detail some of the things we needed him to do.
We gave it a go as a complete run through with the lead (james). We gave it another go and filmed it as our long-medium shot.
We then moved the camera and did another run through but from slightly closer up with the camera actually on the stage.
We then set about by taking the key events ( dropping of lamp, framing of face )
Then we filmed the faster more hectic part of our video from a low angle looking up, to give the effect of being trampled.
We finished off with a short amount of footage of james' face singing a short amount of lyrics near the start.
After this we packed it all up, thanked our actors and left.

Test Footage

We took a small amount of test footage. During the test footage we aimed to see if the stage was light enough, and if we wanted the cloud prop fishing rod style or directly onto a stick.





We decided we would use both styles of cloud as they were both good, and also that it would add subtle variety.
We also decided the stage was too dark even with its own lights so borrowed some lights from the media department.
Also we decided to open the curtains to give a lighter feel to teh video and to make the colours stand out more.

Shots

There is only a few different shots we intend to take, however they will all be very long as we intend to film our music video mainly in one but with small bits to link small parts that we want a closer shot or if something goes slightly wrong.
we intend to film.

- A complete run through from a medium-long shot capturing everything that happens.
- A complete run through from medium-closeup from straight on.
- Close up of picture frame round face from straight on.
- Medium-closeup of lamp being dropped from a slightly higher angle.
- Medium-closeup of fast ending from a lower angle to try and capture stampede feel.

We aim to film all these shots and any others we feel would work at the time.

Indepth Final Idea

Our main character is standing in a empty space that will be plain coloured and simple. As the music starts he will start to lip sync the lyrics casually. Plain dressed people will start setting up props around him including a back drop and various objects relating to it. At the start only a few people will be moving around on the stage setting up scenes around the main character, further in however more and more people will be moving on the stage swamping the area around the main character practically ignoring him and moving him to do there job. throughout the footage it will be aparent that the main character is not amused with the intrusion and the harm all the moving object may cause him. this fits in with the songs title harms way. big backdrops will change and various props , for example a chair, will be used to interact with the character. As the peice moves on it will become more and more hectic as props are droped and people speed up. at the very end the music will stop but the footage wont all people would have left the stage leaving just the main character and a few props, he will leave the stage (you can hear his footsteps) and when he is off the current backdrop will fall crashing into the props and it will fade out.

Characters

We have found someone who fits our ideal description for our main character in the music video and he has confirmed that he is happy to help us with our video. We have a number of extras willing to do the parts of the scenery movers and random people running across stage with props and setting . We now have to confirm a date that the main character can attend and we can attend with the camera with as many of the extras as possible. We plan to re-use the extras throughout the piece. So that the set is never left alone. There is always someone crossing with something or putting something down or taking it away. Movement is key in our music video to make it look as frantic as possible.

Our Animatic

Here is a rough idea of some of the shots we plan to use in our music video

Props and setting

These are the things we need for our music video. When we get hold of the pieces of set and props we add them to our names. Props and setting that still needs to be made or found remains under the 'both' title:

Sarah:

* Got 2 Clouds
* Got a Sun
* Got Cowboy Hat
* Got a Moon
* Got an Ambulance
* Got a Light Bulb
* Got a Question Mark
* Got a Lamp

Chris:

* Got Painted Sheet for backdrop
* Got Acoustic Guitar
* Got a Cactus
* Got Bamboo Poles
* Got String
* Got Masking Tape

Props:

* Armchair (Borrow from college)

Filming:

Filming starts at lunch 7th Oct . The background actors will meet us in the hall at the beginning of Year 12 lunch break (12.20) to sort out a routine and order. Our main actor will arrive at 1:50pm (Year 13 lunch time) to run through the filming a few times so we can get the shots we need.

We are doing test footage and sorting out positioning from 9am this morning (7th October) and having everything perfect and ready for when the actors turn up at lunch time. We don't want to waste anyone's time by fiddling around any longer than necessary.

New song

After pitching our idea to the 'cage the elephant' song we didn't manage to get our first choice of song due to another group basing their idea around the name of the artist, and our idea being able to move to another song.
So we have looked at a fresh variety of songs and chosen a new one. Its is very different to the song we were originally going to do. Its more country/indie/Rock. It is called 'Harm's Way' by the 'Waco Brothers'. We like it because its really energetic, we can relate the lyrics to what we aim to do in our music video.
We are keeping the same idea but we are changing the music.
As the song is called 'Harm's Way' we are going to have the main character (who has now agreed to play the part) dodging and avoiding pieces of set as they are moved about the performance space.
Our main character will be dressed in jeans and a shirt. We will make him look smart/casual. Everyone else in the video moving set around etc will be smart in black trousers and black t.shirt to make our main characters stand out and we want to point out that he s different to everyone around him.

Pitch feedback

Presented our idea to the class. Had a wide range of feedback.
Positive feedback was that it is a very original idea and if done right could look good.
Questions included if we had the person planned who would play our main character. We have an idea of whom we are going to ask to play our main guy. Going to ask him today.
Another question was if we understood how much work would be involved in creating the setting and all the props. We are prepared to put a lot of time in to making our desired set.
The people carrying our set are going to be noticeable, whilst the main character can see them and his emotions and reaction to whats going on around him keep changing.