Over the past week my partner and I have been working on the editing for our music video. For this, we have been using the programme 'Adobe Premier Pro'. We have had limited past experience with the programme, therefore using it this week has been a learning curve. We have made use of online tutorials and videos to help us achieve our desired effects. We also discovered how to apply these through experimentation with the software and asking our teacher. The effects we've been trying to apply this week were effects such as:
Sepia toning
Vignette
Cross processing
For the sepia toning, we added a yellow 'Colour Matte' layer over our video layer, and set the opacity to a reasonably low level. This layer gave our video a sepia 'tinge', which is what we wished to achieve to give our video an 'old' look.
The vignette we created was made in Adobe Photoshop, and then consequently imported into Premier. This was created through using the elipse tool, applying 'select > inverse' to the circle and then applying a gaussian blur to create a shaddow effect. We then removed the background and imported it into Premier, and added the vignette to our video clips.
We were unsure of how to create a 'cross process' in Premier, but through experimentation with the software we discovered that the colour adjustment tools were similar to the ones in Photoshop, which we are familiar with. Therefore, we searched 'Cross process filters in photoshop' on Google, and found the following tutorial:
In order to glean whether our music video will be successful upon production, my parter and I asked our target audience the following questions. We wanted to know if "indie" music listeners would be interested in watching the video, and if it sounded like a realistic and interesting idea. We also wanted to know if there would be any improvements that could be made, so that the finished product is as professional as possible.
1. Would you recognise this as an 'indie' video?
"Yes, I like the twist on the normal love story by using mimes"
"I think so, the vintage filters will make it look a bit different and isn't something you would see in the mainstream"
"I like the idea of the flashbacks, I think that makes it a bit indie because it's diverse"
2. Do you feel the video is aimed at your age range and would appeal to people of your age?
"I think it is definitely aimed at our age range, perhaps people from about sixteen to twenty, maybe a bit older"
"Yes I think it's definitely targeted at a teenage/young adult audience, I don't think older people would listen to this"
3. Does this video sound like the sort of video you'd see on the television?
"It sounds like the sort of video you'd see on the music channel 'NME', because it's a bit quirky"
"I don't think you would see it on mainstream video channels, but definitely more alternative ones"
"Yes, it also looks like the sort of video that would be very popular on the internet"
4. Would you watch it?
"It looks quite arty and that interests me"
"Yes I would, I like the band and the video looks interesting"
"Yes, I think the mime's would draw people in because it's unusual"
5. How would you improve it?
"Possibly have more variety in the flashbacks because the same ones are repeated quite a lot"
"I'm not sure, I like the ideas you already have"
After asking members of my target audience these questions, I feel optimistic about our music video and that it will appeal to "indie" music listeners. I agree with the comment "Possibly have more variety in the flashbacks because the same ones are repeated quite a lot", and as a result of this my partner and I will brainstorm more ideas for flashbacks that will correspond with the rest of the music video.
Our aim for today was to carry out the 'bedroom scene' shots:
"Bedroom Shots (Total of 11 shots = 44 takes)
Location: Milly's House
Estimated time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes (20 minutes set up, due to changes in location around the house and changes in camera angles, 1 hour filming, doing 4 takes of each shot, lighting check, 5 minutes test shots) Cast required: Vince, Sam and Milly"
The first video shoot ran successfully, and all the shots were recorded on a HD digital video camera in the intended location. We did have anticipated lighting issues, as we were unable to get hold of a lighting kit for today's shoot. We managed to overcome these issues, and created a "romantic" mise-en-scene with various lights to exaggerate the ambiance of the scene.
The shoot took less time than anticipated, therefore we managed to film shots for the chorus, where there will be a series of jump cuts with are 'mime' characters miming to the lyrics in the song. We were particularly pleased with these shots as we found an interesting backdrop for the shots which complied with the mise-en-scene for our music video. We also managed to create some stop-motion animation at today's shoot, using a Canon EOS DLSR and a tripod to keep the images smooth and realistic. We then used Windows Movie Maker to get an idea of how it would look when it is edited onto our video. The final outcome of this stop motion clip will be slightly different in the music video as it will be edited in Adobe Premier Pro, where the transition from one image to the next will be slightly faster.
Here are a few pictures of today's video shoot:
This is one of the photographs from one of the stop motion sequences, in which the black tear on Vince's face moves downwards to demonstrate his sadness.
This is the set for our 'bedroom scene'. We chose it for the interesting backdrop and black and white colour scheme which corresponds with the mimes costume and make-up. We added extra lights to make the scene look more ambient and atmospheric.
Our 'make-up artist' Emily doing the face paint for our female protagonist, Milly.
In our music video, the mise-en-scene is one of the most important factors as the plot for our music video is a stereotypical 'love story', however the French mise-en-scene and unusual costume will make our video comply to the 'indie' genre and make it more entropic.
Costume
For our music video we will use similar costumes to the ones we used for the print production, as we felt those worked successfully and therefore will come across well in the video. However, in our music video it will be incredibly difficult to edit make-up flaws throughout the clips, therefore when we are filming we want to ensure that the make-up looks as convincing as possible. For this reason, we have asked our close friend Emily Sparkes to do make-up for the music video as she is a very capable artist and we feel she would do a great job.
An example of art-work by our 'make-up artist'.
For the costumes, we will need:
1. Striped top/shirt
2. Braces
3. Black trousers/skirt
4.Top hat/beret
5. White face paint/black liquid eye-liner
6. Black or white gloves
7. Black footwear if it appears in the scene
Also, for the clown costume we will need:
1. Clown Mask
2. Checked shirt
3. Bow tie
- It is not necessary to use any other costume for this character as it will not be visible on camera.
Both my partner and I have made arrangements for the costume. Our actors already possess most of the clothing, however we have had to buy the make-up for the scene, and borrow other items such as the braces and the top hats.
Props and Location
The props we use in the video are equally important as the costume, as it will help add to the general look of the video as a whole. We have discussed the general feel we want our music video to have, and therefore we will endeavour to feature typical "1950's" or "French" props in our music video. These will be objects such as wind up telephones, accordions, playing cards, record players, old cigarette packets, etcetera.
Example of a "French" prop - My partner Leah owns an accordion and can provide it for our music video
Example of a '1950's' prop - these can be purchased on ebay or at vintage shops
The location of our video will be in various different places. These locations include:
1. The River Severn in Worcester: Running along side the River Severn is a cycle path and walk way, which is lined with trees and cathedral gardens. My partner and I saw this as an ideal setting for our 'bike' flashbacks, as the setting looks cultural and will look effective in our music video.
2. Café Rouge in Worcester: As this café is French, it will be ideal for our music video as it completely corresponds to themes we are trying to create. There is French lettering on the café walls, and the design of the restaurant also looks effective and artistic.
A picture of Café Rouge, Worcester
3. The house of our female protagonist, Milly Morris: We found the wallpaper and décor in this house corresponds well with out music video ideas and therefore will be ideal for indoor scenes such as the 'bedroom scene'. The walls are black and white and therefore will fit in with the 'mime' costume and make-up.
For our music video, we want to create an 'old look', therefore we looked into what colour filters will be applied. This 'old look' will help give the sense of reminiscence, which is one of the key themes in our music video. We wanted to achieve a look similar to the one created in this clip:
After carrying out research, this effect is often achieved by applying faint blue and yellow filters either to the camera when filming, or in post production whilst editing. I experimented with these filters on a photo to see if I could achieve the same effect. Here it the original photograph:
I then applied a 'Cross Process' filter, which was achieved by adding yellow yellow and blue filters on photoshop. I also adjusted the contrast slightly, so the image looks slightly more distinctive. Colour filters are something that can also be applied to film in Adobe Premier pro, therefore after previously experimenting with colour filters I will know which ones to apply.
Here is the 'Cross Processed' image:
In our music video we also want to apply a film grain effect where the flashbacks are used, to help portray the fact that these shots are flashbacks. We thought this would work more effectively than using effects such as a grayscale filter as it would look too abrupt in between the shots with colour. I experimented with film grain effects on Windows Movie Maker, utilising different strengths of the 'Film Age' effect to see which effect looked the most successful. I used a series of photographs similar to the shots we will take to apply these effects onto. Here is the result of my experiments:
From this I discovered that the 'Film Age (Older)' effect is the most successful. The 'Film Age (Old)' effect is barely visible in these clips and I feel that the change in the shots would not be distinctive enough for the audience to distinguish that those shots are flashbacks. On the other end of the spectrum, the 'Film Age (Oldest)' effect is too strong and makes the image difficult to see. As a result of these tests we will apply the 'Film Age (Older)' effect to the flashback clips in our music video.
Filming: Indoor Shots 1 - Saturday 7th January 2011
5.30 pm onwards
Potential problems: Camera Availability (busy time)
1. Bedroom Shots (Total of 11 shots = 44 takes)
Location: Milly's House
Estimated time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes (20 minutes set up, due to changes in location around the house and changes in camera angles, 1 hour filming, doing 4 takes of each shot, lighting check, 5 minutes test shots) Cast required: Vince, Sam and Milly
Filming: Indoor Shots 2 - Tuesday 9th January 2011
10.10am - 11.10am
Potential problems: Studio Availability
1. 'Photobooth' Shots (Total of 4 shots = 16 takes)
Location: Worcester Sixth Form College, photography studio
Estimated time: 30 minutes (5 minutes set up, 5 minutes lighting check, 20 minutes filming) Cast required: Vince and Milly
2. Head and shoulders 'miming' shots (Total of 5 shots = 20 takes)
Location: Worcester Sixth Form College, photography studio
Filming: Indoor Shots 3 - Tuesday 9th January 2011
6.30pm onwards
Potential problems: Public place, ease to film
1. Jump Cuts - Two Shots (Total of 13 shots = 39 takes)
Location: The Firefly, Worcester
Estimated time: 1 hour (5 minutes set up, 5 minutes lighting check, half an hour filming, allow 20 minutes for interruptions from people in a public place)
Filming: Outdoor Shots 1 - Wednesday 10th January
12.30pm
Potential problems: Unsuitable weather conditions
1. Hill shots, mime's running towards camera (Total of 3 shots = 12 takes)
Location: Rebecca Gardens, Worcester
Estimated time: 30 minutes (10 minutes set up and lighting check, 5 minutes test shots, 15 minutes filming, doing 4 takes of each shot) Cast required: Vince and Milly
2. Café Rouge shots, mime's at table (Total of 9 shots = 36 takes)
Location: Café Rouge, Worcester
Estimated time: 1 Hour (15 minutes set up due to changes in camera angles, lighting check, 5 minutes test shots, 40 minutes filming, doing 4 takes of each shot) Cast required: Vince and Milly
3. Bike shots (Total of 8 shots = 32 takes)
Location: River Severn, Worcester
Estimated time: 1 Hour (15 minutes set up due to changes in camera angles, lighting check, 5 minutes test shots, 40 minutes filming, doing 4 takes of each shot) Cast required: Vince and Milly
1. Point of view shots (Total of 5 shots = 20 takes)
Location: Worcester Sixth Form College
Estimated time: 20 minutes (5 minutes set up and lighting check, 10 minutes filming and retakes)
Filming: Indoor Shots 4 - Sunday 14th January 2011
1.00 pm onwards
Potential problems: Cast transport to location
1. Sofa Shots (Total of 18 shots = 72 takes)
Location: Leah's House, Worcester
Estimated time: 1 hour (15 minutes set up due to changes in camera angle, 5 minutes lighting check, 40 minutes filming)
Photography: Stop Motion Animation - Friday 8th January 2011
5.00pm onwards
No potential problems
1. Stop Motion animation of inanimate objects (accordion, back of cards, socks, gloves)
Location: Emma's House, Droitwich
Estimated time: 30 minutes (5 minutes set up and 25 minutes taking various pictures)
Over the past week, my partner and I have met with our two main cast members to discuss things such as:
Time Management - Dates of filming, which dates were compatible with both our protagonists to film together, deadlines, etcetera
Who will do what - For example, which scenes will feature who, their roles in this scenes, whether or not they will have to learn lyrics to mime, whether they are comfortable being filming in a particular setting, etc
Where the filming will take place, so the cast can plan transport to locations and whether they are able to get there
Costumes and props, what they will need to wear on set, etc
How many other people will be involved
The final concept idea for the music video
Contact details, phone numbers and email addresses so easy communication is maintained
We only have a small cast list, as follows:
Female Mime: Milly Morris
Male Mime: Vince Mccumisky
Clown: Sam Ruane
As a result of this, instead of making an "Event Page" on the social networking site "Facebook", we decided to simply meet with out cast in person and discuss dates, times, costumes, locations, etcetera. That way we would have a clearer idea of what times and dates suited everybody best, and it make it easier to discuss possible issues such as transportation from location to location. We needed to give the cast a basic idea of what music video is about, therefore we gave both of our blog addresses to iyr, so the cast list could easily view our concepts and ideas.
Our blogs include our finished print production tasks, which gives the cast the best idea of the general look of the video, as we both related our digipaks and adverts to the music video concept. Our blogs also incorporate things such as videos that have given us inspiration, 'indie' genre information, shot types we find interesting, film clips that have given us ideas for our music video, etc. To guarantee that our cast fully understood the concept, we created a mood board in which we tried to summarise the whole concept of the music video. For this mood board we used Adobe Photoshop to create a compilation of internet images and our photographs.
(moodboard photo here)
We will show our cast the animatic storyboard and final concept ideas once they are completed, so they fully understand which shots they will have to be in and what sort of role they place in the music video.
To gain more awareness of the use of shots in a music video, I decided to analyse a music video belonging to the same genre and decipher factors such as:
What sorts of shot are used (eg. close up, mid shot, etc)
How long each take is
Use of steadycam of handheld camera motion
Angles
Additional features such as post production effects, types of cut, etc
For this, I analysed the video 'Ooh La' by The Kooks, as not only does it belong to the same genre, but the general 'old' look of the video is quite similar to what we want to establish in our music video. I divided the video into each shot, and recorded the following notes:
0.11 CUTAWAY SHOT OF BAND MEMBER AND FEMALE (VIDEO BECOMES BLACK AND WHITE, MUSIC COMES IN)
0.12 MID SHOT OF BAND MEMBER, LOW ANGLE
0.14 EXTREME WIDE SHOT OF THE EIFFEL TOWER AND LEAD SINGER, CANTED ANGLE
0.15 CLOSE UP OF BAND MEMBER PLAYING GUITAR
0.17 LEAD SINGER WALKS TOWARDS THE CAMERA TO CREATE MID SHOT, MIMING TO LYRICS
0.20 LOW ANGLE SHOT OF BUILDINGS, HANDHELD CAMERA MOTION
0.21 HEAD AND SHOULDERS SHOT OF LEAD SINGER, HANDHELD CAMERA MOTION
0.22 HEAD AND SHOULDERS SHOT OF BAND MEMBER, HANDHELD CAMERA MOTION
0.23 HEAD AND SHOULDERS SHOT OF BAND MEMBER, HANDHELD CAMERA MOTION
0.24 WIDE SHOT OF BAND MEMBER AND FEMALE
0.25 CLOSE UP OF BAND MEMBER, HANDHELD CAMERA MOTION
0.26 CLOSE UP OF GUITAR
0.27 HIGH ANGLE SHOT OF BAND MEMBER, HANDHELD MOTION
0.29 MIXED FOCUS SHOT OF LIGHTS
0.30 WIDE SHOT OF LEAD SINGER, CANTED ANGLE
0.31 MID SHOT OF LEAD SINGER PLAYING GUITAR, STANDING ON ONE OF THE 'THIRDS' LINE
These notes helped me to create a 30 second animatic storyboard, so I could clearly decipher how long each shot lasted. This will also give me a better idea of what 'works' in a music video when I'm storyboarding our project.
After making this storyboard, I learned that in a music video there is almost one shot per second. This video contained 24 shots in the first 30 seconds, meaning that in the entirety of the video about 145 shots. We will have to replicate this number of shots in our music video to establish a professional outcome.
Particularly interesting factors I noticed in the music video was the use of the handheld motion on the camera. It gives the video a 'handmade' look, whilst still looking professional as steadycam shots are also incorporated. The use of colour at the beginning gave it an 'old' look, using either a blue tinted camera or post production effects to give a sense of old film. The transition into black and white indicated a change in mood, and also separated the introduction of the video from the main part. The use of black and white also helps it look old fashioned, and for us it would be a simple way to help us achieve this look. There is also a slight vignette applied to some of the clips, which also makes the video look older. There is a mix in clarity throughout the video, and in some parts the video is less focused than others, which continues to create an old impression. These are all factors that I will take into consideration when creating our music video.
Other inspiration
This clip is taken from the film 'Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulin' (directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet). I particularly like the way this sequence is shot, with the use of handheld camera motion and stop motion giving it an unpolished effect. There are occasional flashes of light which give it a sense of film grain, which often occurred in older filming. I like the use of the bike and camera travelling with it, it gives the sequence more depth. Although it would be tricky to incorporate this through filming, a similar effect could be applied in our music video by making use of stop motion animation.
This clip is the opening scene to the film 'Candy' (directed by Neil Armfield). I found this scene particularly inspiring, and it gave my partner and I the idea of featuring point-of-view 'spinning' shots in our music video. We would film these by spinning in time with the actor in focus, so the location behind them is spinning, whilst maintaining a clear view of the actor. This clip in 'Candy' is also a flashback, and inspired my parter and I to create flashbacks in our video, in order to give it a sense of reminiscence and keep the narrative moving forward.
