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For my A2 advanced portfolio I chose to create a music video
with the additions of two ancillary texts (A website design for a digi-pak and
a poster to feature in a magazine, advertising the digi-pak). I chose to make a
music video over the other options available as it gives more freedom of choice
as far as conventions are concerned. I had a lot of difficulty in choosing
which song to use for my video so I put my iPod on shuffle and waited for a
song which grabbed my attention and imagination the most. I had a list of about
5/6 songs which I believed would make good music videos and I narrowed it down
to Panic! At the Disco’s song ‘I Have Friends in Holy Spaces’ as this song has
a very unique sound and I could picture an idea of a video for it in my mind almost
instantly. I knew I would have an issue with the track though as it is only 1minute
and 56 seconds in length and the brief states the video must be 3 minutes or
more. I spoke to my tutor about the issue and decided to place an ‘Introduction’
track on the opening of the video which would then lead into the full track.
The intro track is titled ‘Introduction’ and is also written by Panic! At the
Disco.
For my project I kept a log of planning and editing updates
on a digital blog at http://ihavefriendsinholyspacesa2.blogspot.co.uk/
. Throughout my blog I used various different forms of digital media to present
work. One of the main features was YouTube. I used the links for videos on my
posts to show the footage analysed and the original rushes I filmed. When I had
finished a large amount of editing I exported my footage to YouTube to keep the
updates fluent on my blog.
During the Pre-production stage I analysed Panic! At the
Disco’s music video for their hit single ‘I Write Sins, Not Tragedies’ to gain
knowledge of how the band are usual represented within their videos and what
style the videos fit into (Narrative/abstract/performance based). The video was an equal mixture between
narrative and performance and had a very original idea of a cabaret wedding. I
wanted an audience to say that my video was ‘one to remember’ and aimed for the
video to be original and fitting to the style and feel of the track (vintage
and unique).
My target audience is the Main
stream audience, 15-25. However, the video on its own will be relatable for an
older audience due to the fact it will be inspired by the class 'Singing' in
the Rain'. I am aiming my video towards this age range as the band I have
chosen are typically aimed towards it as well. Their pre-existing music videos
are featured on music television channels such as 'Kerrang!' and 'MTV Rock' and
they have played famous festivals such as the Leeds and Reading Festival, of
which, a large majority of the viewers fit into this audience, I myself am one.
As my artist already has a pre-existing base of videos, I will try my best to
keep it within the style expected from their fans, keeping it similar to older
videos but adding originality.
Whilst planning my video, I had a very strong idea in mind
of what I wanted the setting and location to look like but due to the era I had
planned my video in (1930s/40s) I was having difficulty in finding the most
realistic place. One of my college tutors suggested asking my local Street Life
museum if I could film inside the main building as they had a 1930’s street set
up. I sent the museum and letter and the manager was very helpful and willing
to let me film on two mornings before opening hours.
My casting for the video was the second most important
feature of my video (first being location) in terms of authenticity. When
imaging my video, I had an instant idea of what style and look I wanted my
actors to portray, after re-searching more into my artists pre-existing video's
I decided that my ideal look of vintage/retro class would fit very nicely to
the song. As I have been largely influenced by the era of film such as the
20/30/40's I wanted to achieve a look that felt genuine and real to
Mise-en-scene of my location. My first examples when planning the main singer
(male) were actors such as James Dean and Warren Beatty, who are well known not
only for their movies and their very noticeable good looks. My friend Phil (pictured on blog) is a big
fan of James dean and bases his own style upon his which is I felt he would be
great for the roll. As for the dancer role (Main female) I wanted to go for the
same classic look such as Marilyn Monroe and Bette Davis. As the video is set
within a vintage era I felt is highly important to have an actress that already
looked as though they belonged in the era. My friend Stephanie (pictured on
blog) is also highly influenced by Marilyn and Bette and already owns a variety
of vintage dresses and has a lot of experience in vintage hair/makeup styles.
So this was a large help in hair and makeup as she could arrive on set fully
prepared.
I then had the issue of my main male actor pulling out of the project
due to prior work commitments. This was a large set back as a lot of emphasis
had been made upon how the protagonist (male) looked and acted. I had very
little time to find a replacement actor with the same look and fashion sense as
my original actor so I had to improvise and use one of my close female friends.
I feel by changing my actor the feel of authenticity for my video dropped but
it was so last minute I had to make a decision. Due to my new actor being
female I tried to dress her as androgynous as possible to fit with the lead
singers voice being male. I chose the props of a hat and a Ukulele and outfit
of a simple white shirt with black trousers.
The filming of my first location was completed in December
2011 and was shot at my friend’s house. I had had the idea from the beginning of
planning that I wanted to show a character coming home, switching on a
television and attempt to tune the TV into the correct channel due to the
‘Introduction’ track being recorded sound of somebody trying to tune a radio
and only receiving static interference and muffled sounds. So this was the
quickest part of my filming as I could access the location at any time whereas
I had to book a time for the museum. As
I study both Media and Film studies at A2 I was able to combine my ideas for
both practical projects and film them both at the same location.
The filming at the second location was more complex than I
had originally thought as I did have to fill out a few forms for infringement
purposes and health and safety which took up about 20 minutes of the first day
of filming. On the first day of filming I was able to shoot the opening shots
of my protagonist and the scenes of the clarinet player. And photograph
location shots and the images I would use for ancillary texts.
On the second day of filming I was able to shoot the scenes
with my two main actors (Chelsea and Stephanie) and do any re-shoots of footage
from the first filming session.
For the majority of the shots at the museum, the camera was
placed on a tripod in a fixed position. I kept the camera in the same place as
the actors were supposed to look as though they were performing to the actress
watching the television. The only movement of the camera is the opening tilt
shot and the pan shot revealing the clarinet player. There are jump cuts in
between the longer shots which are closer shots of individuals.
One of the most important features of the editing for mine
and every music video made is the use of cutting the clips to the beat and
making sure the juxtapositioning demonstrates continuity. For example at 0.24
seconds into my video, the actress turns on the TV and as soon as the shot
changes to show the TV screen the ‘Introduction’ track begins to play. I also
kept the editing in time with key changes in the song and synced the words to
the actions appearing on screen. For example at 1.51 seconds into the video the
lyric says ‘I’m not complaining that it’s raining...’ and the edited footage of
the rain begins to play.
The scenes where there is rain playing over (1.42-1.46 &
1.49-1.56) were the largest part of the editing process. As I could not have
water within the museum or Green room facilities at college, I had to improvise
with artificially simulating the rain within Adobe Premier Pro. I researched on
the internet of how to create rain and eventually found a very helpful tutorial
video on YouTube. I followed the advice step by step with a few personal
alterations and eventually got the result I wanted. The process for the rain
alone took approximately 5/6 hours including render time.
The process required for completing the rain scene was very
complex and detailed. It involved using video effects I was unfamiliar with and
a lot of patience with attention to detail. I believe my time management for
this segment of the editing was grossly under prepared as I found myself with a far greater work load
than I had initially expected. I was however happy with the outcome of the two
small scenes. I have included screens shots of the tutorial on YouTube, my
editing process and the finished result.
As my video starts and ends with an actress watching the music video on a television set I planned to add some external effects to project the video onto the TV set despite it not actually being played. I filmed the shots featuring the TV a few weeks before my actual video so I had to base the editing needed on presumptions. The external footage proved to be very difficult to edit as an overlay as the TV sets screen was curved on the edges and the edges of the framing on the external video was a straight line.
After
numerous attempts at resizing each individual frame, I realised I would not
have a sufficient amount of time in order to complete the footage so my tutor
and I found an alternative method which worked to a level I was happy with. The
end scenes were the most difficult and frustrating aspects of the editing
process, I had been unaware that a specific camera technique (zoom) would
severely alter the overall result of the footage until I was actually editing
the project. As I had chosen to zoom out from the TV screen instead of track backwards,
I would be unable to re size the external image unless it was done individually
frame by frame (17 second long clip, 25fps); a process that would take a
numerous amount of weeks to complete to a good standard. After several attempts
to find a way around frame by frame editing, I decided the video would look
better if it had no footage overlaid throughout the zoom sequence rather than
having a very jumpy, unsized image overplayed.
I feel I achieved my overall aim and concept of creating a
unique vintage music video with a very subtle narrative lining.
For my ancillary texts, I chose to create a web page and a poster
advertising an imagined digi-pak for my music video. I wanted to stick to the
theme and house style of my video within the texts, so whilst filming on set, I
also used a still camera to capture images for both my blog updates and
possible ideas for my products. I took advantage of the appropriate props
available at the museum location and had my actors pose in numerous ways with
them. I eventually narrowed down my choice to two final images. As both images
are taken in the same location as the video is shows continuity and allows the
audience to relate each individual product back to another.
When the editing process was complete, I posted my video
to YouTube so I could then link it on my blog for easier viewing. I showed the
video to other students from my college and people outside of college through
the use of social media websites such as Face Book and Tumblr. I asked them for
feedback on my video so I could assess whether my video had succeeded in
achieving its original aim. The results of the feedback proved that I had.
