Editing My Music Video

This screenshot shows how I decided to present the title in the final cut of my music video. I wanted the name of the song to appear before the name of the singer, especially as it is a cover. I like how the letters blur both before they appear and disappear. It is a nice way to transition into the next shot, and I think that it works nicely with the style of font that I have chosen to use.

This screenshot shows the first moment of lip-syncing in my music video. Editing this was challenging because I had to make sure that it was precisely in time, but it was so easy to be out by only one or two frames. This was frustrating, but the more I worked on fitting the filmed work with the audio soundtrack, the easier it became to do.

This screenshot shows the transition that I finally decided to use to show a change between present and past events. This effect is called a "zoom and pan" and I use it more than once in the final cut of my music video. Experimenting with other transitions as I edited my footage, I realised that I also liked the "zoom" but think it looked better with a "pan" as well. The radial transition effect distorted my footage too much, so this is another reason that I chose the transition that I did.

This screenshot shows me working out how to adjust the opacity of the shots on Final Cut Pro. I wanted to overlay the footage of my dancers, and so to do this I had to lower the opacity of one piece of the footage before putting it on top of another piece of footage. This was relatively easy to do, I just had to experiment with how opaque I wanted different moments of the dance to be. I found that once or twice the footage looked too faint, so I increased the opacity, but then I also had to decrease the opacity if one of the shots looked to intense in comparison to the other.

Rough Cut - Take Me To Church Music Video

This is the first rough cut of my music video. I have used Adobe Premiere Elements 9 to complete it, however unfortunately during the process of rendering my work it appears that the file has become corrupted. This means that the quality is not very good and that there are shaky movements with the camera which should not be there and are not there in my original footage. I am please with the filters and effects, but after speaking to my teacher and trying different solutions, it looks as though I am going to have to restart editing from scratch. This is upsetting as I have worked really hard on this first edit, and it is very frustrating as there is nothing I can do about it. Still, plus et en vous, is my school motto and I love a challenge!

Thoughts On Filming

Filming My Music Video

These photos show me filming on different days in different locations. I tried to use a variety of shots as planned, and made sure to follow my story board carefully as I filmed each scene. I did make use of the tripod borrowed from the media department, but I also hand held the camera to experiment with what looked better for different parts of my video.  

The photo above shows me at the entrance to the grave yard and how I used the wall to my advantage, balancing the camera on it and angling it to ensure that I filmed the shot that I wanted with the gate.

The photo above shows me standing on a low wall to get the birds eye view shot that was part of my storyboard. I had to hand hold the camera as there was no way that I could use the tripod without ground to place it on.

The photo above shows me adjusting the height of the tripod outside the little church. Even with the legs of the tripod fully extended it was still not quite tall enough for my intended shot, so I had to make it a little higher adjusting and extending the stand.

The photo above shows me inside the Michael Kirk adjusting the angle of the camera on the tripod. The floor was tiled and so provided a nice smooth base, so the camera was level and not at all uneven when filming which was good.

The photo above shows me making use of another hand held shot inside the little church. As it got darker inside the Michael Kirk, I had to turn on the lights for parts of my filming so that it was not too dark. This added a nice warmth to some of my shots which worked well.

Collecting Props & Planning Costumes

I have finally gathered and bought all necessary props that I wish to use and include in my music video. These include:

• Candles and matches
• Ultrasound scan
• Champagne bottle
• One rolled up piece of paper (to look like a cigarette)
• Pills and pill bottles
• Fake positive pregnancy test
• Hymn book

After collecting all of my props I then decided what I wanted each of my actors and dancers to wear. My dancers will remain in the same outfits throughout their section. However my actors have three basic outfits that they will wear, as I want their clothes in the flashbacks to be different from their clothes in the present. Below are photos of the different outfits that I created using a website called Polyvore to create a simple collage of different items of clothing for each of my dancers and actors.

 

Cameron, my male dancer will be wearing a costume very similar to the set of clothing that I have put together here. I am sticking with a colour scene of black and white for my dancers and want them to wear something that they find easy to dance in. Cameron will have his white shirts tucked into his black trousers, and depending on the weather and what the weather is, will depend on whether or not he will wear black trainers of black brogues.

Kelly, my female dancer will be sticking to the same black and white theme that I have chosen for my other dancer. This will contrast nicely against the scenery when I add a black and white filter to my filmed footage when editing. If it is very cold she will wear tights and I have said that she can wear either black pumps or trainers, depending in what she finds easier to dance in when we are filming at the chosen location.

 

Kane's main costume will be made up of clothing very similar to the items displayed above. His clothing is simple and easy for him to move in, so that kneeling down and running is not an issue and he is not restricted in any way. His grey hoodie has a zip down the front, but this in not a problem as it means that more of his white t-shirt will be seen. I want him to wear a comfy belt, with or without a prominent buckle - it depends what he has in his wardrobe.

Zina will be wearing a costume very similar to the set of clothing that I hav put together here, and this will be her main costume throughout the music video. The grey peplum top that she has, has a high neck and the rings that she will wear are slightly thicker than the ones shown above. On this collage I have out two different types of shoes, and this is because the weather will be the deciding factor on what shoes she wears to run along the path.

This is one of the outfits that I want Kane to wear in the flashback scenes. It is a casual look and something that he might wear on an afternoon spent chilling in his room. Blue and black are two colours that he will often be seen wearing, so I know that he definitely has clothes similar to those of the items shown above, in his wardrobe. I want him and Zina to feel relaxed in their costumes and this should be reflected in the way that they present themselves on camera.

 

This is another outfit which I intend Zina to wear in other flashback scenes. Her and Kane will both have a causal and relaxed look going on. The red compliments the blue that Kane will be wearing and the leggings and Chelsea boots that Zina will be wearing are two items of clothing that many people like to wear out and about. While it is an outfit that is comfortable to walk in, if Zina is cold she can put on multiple layers under her checked shirt without them being seen and wear lots of socks.

 

 One of the costumes that Kane will wear is a black shirt, black trousers and smart back trousers. This is an outfit that I want him to wear during two of the flashbacks. It is more formal than his other two outfits, and again will look good with a black and white filter over my filmed footage. He will look smart and compliment what Zina is wearing, during the scenes when he wears clothing similar to the items shown above.

 Zina will be wearing an outfit extremely similar to this for the flashback scene where Kane is smartly dressed in his all black outfit. The dress and heels will suggest the time of day as being in the evening and the jacket will be taken off to suggest the romance in the air. Zina is great at walking in high heels which is very convenient and her heels match her new floral dress very nicely, contrasting nicely with her jacket which is incredibly similar to the one shown above.


Below my risk assessment of several different factors is also displayed in the form of a table.

Cast Members

      

Zina Wells in an ideal candidate for portraying the lead female role in my music video. Not only is she a good friend of mine, but she is also the correct age of my target audience and a very musical person. Being musical is good, as it means that she will have no trouble keeping in time with the music when she is lip-syncing. She has had previous acting experience, performing in school shows and taking drama as a subject when she was younger, so acting for her should come naturally. She is also in a committed relationship with Kane Edwards, which means that the chemistry between the two of my actors onstage should be real enough for the audience to understand and connect with.

 

Kane Edwards in an ideal candidate for portraying the lead male role in my music video. He is not only another person who is a member of my target audience, but he is also in a relationship with Zina Wells. As well as being able to interact with her both in real life and in front of a camera, he is also a drama student. This means that he will be able to express genuine emotions while being filmed, reacting to the situation in a realistic and appropriate manner. This will help portray the events taking place in my film in a more convincing way to my target audience, and his musical skills will be helpful for the ways that he will move and react within my music video.

 

Kelly Martin is a brilliant dancer and comes from a classically trained ballet background. The dance experience that she has had means that she has learnt how to pick up new steps quickly and maintain her technique at the same time. This is a good thing, as it means that she will be able to pick up the choreography of the dance in my music video with great ease and focus on her technique and facial expressions more. She had danced with Cameron Burr before, and so the fact that they have already learnt to trust each other where lifts are involved is very convenient.

 

Cameron Burr is a talented dancer in a variety of different genres of dance, ranging from contemporary to jazz to hip hop. This means that he is flexible in learning different dances and he is excellent at picking up new steps and motifs of a dance, which is great for choreography purposes. Having previously danced with Kelly Martin, he is able to lift her easily and together they should be able to create a connection with each other as they are being filmed for my music video. He is also a drama student, so using facial expressing and acting while he dances will be easy for him to do.

Locations For My Music Video

After seeking permission from the necessary people, I have planned the locations that I intend to use to film my music video. Below I have several location shots and a brief explanation of either why I have chosen a particular location, or what I intend to film on site at the chosen location.

 

Shot List and Shooting Script

I have combined my shot list with my shooting script, and I will refer to this when I am filming my music video, to ensure that I follow my plan. I have made sure that I know how long I want each shot to be, and have made sure that I know what type of shot it will be, as well as whether or not there will be an angle used when I am filming. The movement is important, as it is not only about any movement of the camera, but also the movement of my actors and dancers.

 

 

Animatic Of My Video With Sound

This is an animatic of my music video which contains the sound track that I intend to use. I used a website to create the different cartoon images, and then I had to screenshot and crop each photo individually on PowerPoint, before putting them altogether in time with the music. It took a while to do, but this has been a helpful task as I am now able to see more clearly what props I need to include, as well as what angles I will definitely be filming from. Costumes have yet to be decided, and I need to choreograph the dancer's section. This will be decided and done in time for filming with both my actors and two dancers.

 

Story Board For My Music Video

Below are photos of my story board for five sections of my music video. As it turns out, five main sections of my music video fit with the music very well. I will use a variety of different shots and hope to incorporate moments of slow motion too, as well as flashbacks. My story board has the time and length of each shot written down the side of the sketch and some shots are clearly longer than others.