Now, we were able to being to edit sequences within our Music Video - the software now worked which obviously worked to our group's advantage. As I knew the basics of how Final Cut Express worked, I was able to give a quick tutorial to my group as to how to use it. This included describing the process of 'in' and 'out' points for footage and using the blade tool to cut up pieces of footage on the timeline.
As a start, I put some of the band footage on the timeline in time with the music to show the simplicity to the group of how to edit. John decided to put together some of the narration footage which made a good introduction to the film - the shots had quite a fast pace and some of the shots which were added in were interesting to watch.
Friday 23 October 2009
Refilming DHM/Decks
In the lesson on Friday 16th October, the room in which the decks were kept was free, so we decided to refilm the decks sequence for our music video. This time, we ensured that the lighting was correct as we found that was a major problem the last time we filmed (such as seeing the lights on the vinyl records). We therefore was able to change the lighting which added more atmosphere and looked good on screen.
This filming session was more successful as we were able to get much more interesting shots with interesting angles. These included close up shots of the decks as the records were spinning, which gave some interesting shots when we uploaded the footage to Final Cut the lesson after.
This filming session was more successful as we were able to get much more interesting shots with interesting angles. These included close up shots of the decks as the records were spinning, which gave some interesting shots when we uploaded the footage to Final Cut the lesson after.
Friday 16 October 2009
Editing
Today, our group done two things - we had to upload some more footage which had been sadly lost, but this gave us the opportunity to experiment with some of the effects that Final Cut had to offer us.
We found some interesting effects, one I particularly liked was called "Indent" - it gave the video almost a serious cartoon look, and made the frames darker which would fit in with the style of our song.
As I have used Final Cut before, I began to see if some of the performance segment we filmed would fit in with our track - I done this by setting an 'in' and 'out' point from the footage we needed which fit the mp3 version of the song - this seemed to be successful, but as we have decicded to reshoot some of this segment, the footage was not the final version.
We found some interesting effects, one I particularly liked was called "Indent" - it gave the video almost a serious cartoon look, and made the frames darker which would fit in with the style of our song.
As I have used Final Cut before, I began to see if some of the performance segment we filmed would fit in with our track - I done this by setting an 'in' and 'out' point from the footage we needed which fit the mp3 version of the song - this seemed to be successful, but as we have decicded to reshoot some of this segment, the footage was not the final version.
Tuesday 13 October 2009
Uploading Footage 2
In today's lesson, due to some technical difficulties the lesson before, we re-imported our narrative section of our Music Video. For now, we did not re-import all of our footage, meaning we could analyse what we filmed for the narrative section.
I feel the footage we filmed was successful - we were able to get interesting shots using parts of the location to our advantage, such as allowing the camera to look through the trees, as if something is hidden to create a sense of unease for the audience.
We also achieved other things in today's lesson. I was able to find an MP3 version of our song which I imported into the timeline of our Final Cut project, and used the select tool to move the track to the beginning of the timeline where our clips would line up. In this lesson, Georgina also redrafted one of our storyboard sheets to fit in with the new footage we'd filmed for the narrative, but also due to the group decision to abandon the 'rave' idea - we thought it was impractical, especially getting the right number of people to take part in the segment.
I feel the footage we filmed was successful - we were able to get interesting shots using parts of the location to our advantage, such as allowing the camera to look through the trees, as if something is hidden to create a sense of unease for the audience.
We also achieved other things in today's lesson. I was able to find an MP3 version of our song which I imported into the timeline of our Final Cut project, and used the select tool to move the track to the beginning of the timeline where our clips would line up. In this lesson, Georgina also redrafted one of our storyboard sheets to fit in with the new footage we'd filmed for the narrative, but also due to the group decision to abandon the 'rave' idea - we thought it was impractical, especially getting the right number of people to take part in the segment.
Monday 12 October 2009
Uploading Footage
For the previous lessons, we have been uploading our footage to Final Cut Express, the editing software which we will be using to create our Music Video. Although there have been some problems with uploading (such as frames being dropped and having difficulty saving), we have been able to come up with a general idea of how our footage looks.
WWW:
- Good Lighting,
- Interesting Camera Movements With Fig Rig,
- Decent Mise en Scene,
- Good Framing on Stationary Shots,
However, some of the things such as props and actors in shot we feel needs to be changed, which has made us think to refilm some segments of our footage.
WWW:
- Good Lighting,
- Interesting Camera Movements With Fig Rig,
- Decent Mise en Scene,
- Good Framing on Stationary Shots,
However, some of the things such as props and actors in shot we feel needs to be changed, which has made us think to refilm some segments of our footage.
Wednesday 7 October 2009
Third Filming Session
After school today, myself, James and Georgina filmed the live band segments of our Music Video. Obviously, due to the reduced number of people, we had to rethink the members of our band. Therefore, whilst Georgina arranged the music and lighting, me and James took roles as the musicians (me as a bassist and James as the drummer).
I thought it was effective just having drums and bass as our artist, reflecting our genre of Drum n Bass. I thought using a number of cameras was a good idea, as we were able to get a variety of different angles for one performance. I also enjoyed using the 'fig-rig' - whilst filming the drum kit, I was able to get interesting sweeping shots and steadicam shots, which I am looking forward to editing together later in the construction stage.
Part of our plan this afternoon was to re-film the decks sequence, but we could not do this in the end due to the absence of John. Therefore, we will have to rethink a time to film the DJ sequence.
Although I felt a majority of this afternoon's filming was successful, I feel that when we review our footage we will need to re-film some stuff. However, this is all part of the process, and happens within the industry.
I thought it was effective just having drums and bass as our artist, reflecting our genre of Drum n Bass. I thought using a number of cameras was a good idea, as we were able to get a variety of different angles for one performance. I also enjoyed using the 'fig-rig' - whilst filming the drum kit, I was able to get interesting sweeping shots and steadicam shots, which I am looking forward to editing together later in the construction stage.
Part of our plan this afternoon was to re-film the decks sequence, but we could not do this in the end due to the absence of John. Therefore, we will have to rethink a time to film the DJ sequence.
Although I felt a majority of this afternoon's filming was successful, I feel that when we review our footage we will need to re-film some stuff. However, this is all part of the process, and happens within the industry.
Successful Second Filming Session
Today, we decided to film some of our narrative section in lesson, as it was a dull/overcast day which meant it was darker than usual. We found a suitable location round the back of the Sports Hall, which was overgrown and damp which we felt was suitable for the dark, secluded place needed for the narrative section.
In all, we got about 5 minutes of footage, but many of these were for short flashes and short segments. We were able to keep to much of our storyboards, getting close ups of syringes and the belt. However, we were able to get more interesting shots when we saw what we had to work with in our location. For example, when we arrived there we found some warning signs, which were bright yellow in colour - vibrant and bold. I was therefore able to get some interesting steadicam shots using the tripod, the handheld giving a sense of unease which is suitable to our music video.
I was also happy with a shot in which we see the two characters on the stairs as there is a lot of light behind them, meaning they are hidden in silhouette which adds to the mystery of the narrative section. Although perhaps we could have thought about location more, I feel that this morning's filming session was successful, but obviously we will need to review our footage when we upload to make a fully justified judgement.
In all, we got about 5 minutes of footage, but many of these were for short flashes and short segments. We were able to keep to much of our storyboards, getting close ups of syringes and the belt. However, we were able to get more interesting shots when we saw what we had to work with in our location. For example, when we arrived there we found some warning signs, which were bright yellow in colour - vibrant and bold. I was therefore able to get some interesting steadicam shots using the tripod, the handheld giving a sense of unease which is suitable to our music video.
I was also happy with a shot in which we see the two characters on the stairs as there is a lot of light behind them, meaning they are hidden in silhouette which adds to the mystery of the narrative section. Although perhaps we could have thought about location more, I feel that this morning's filming session was successful, but obviously we will need to review our footage when we upload to make a fully justified judgement.
Tuesday 6 October 2009
Change of Plans
Due to many reasons, usually beyond our control, our group has made some different plans regarding filming. These reasons include rooms not being free during lesson time along with people not being able to turn up/people not being free for filming sessions. Today therefore, after discussion with our group, we have come up with this backup plan:
Wednesday 7th October 2009:
Film Live Band segment, with our group cast as the band. Use any available equipment from a music room, be sure to use a drama room so that lighting effects can be used. Costume will be: Smart black shirt with dark jeans. After we have filmed band segment, we will aim to go to another music room where we should be able to re-film the decks to make the shots better than before.
Thursday 8th October 2009:
Early finish - if we need to re-film any part from the shooting period yesterday, we will do it after school.
- Segment set in the forest/woody area will possibly be filmed at the weekend - spend an hour or two filming parts of the narrative.
Friday 2 October 2009
Initial Filming - Decks/DHM
As part of our storyboard, and to fit in with the electronic genre, we decided to add some shots of decks being played by a DJ. We had the facilities for this in the Music Department, and a member of our group (John) was experienced in using the equipment, meaning the shots would look more authentic.
Some of the shots we filmed in this session were quite interesting - we were able to get some extreme close ups at interesting angles of the equipment in use, and was able to use authentic vinyl records on the deck to add realism to the shots. However, after reviewing some of the footage, we realised that the light on the ceiling was reflecting on the surface of the records - although we do not know the full extent of what is visible on screen, when we upload the footage we will review this scene and decide whether or not to reshoot the segment, to get the best quality results for our Music Video.
Some of the shots we filmed in this session were quite interesting - we were able to get some extreme close ups at interesting angles of the equipment in use, and was able to use authentic vinyl records on the deck to add realism to the shots. However, after reviewing some of the footage, we realised that the light on the ceiling was reflecting on the surface of the records - although we do not know the full extent of what is visible on screen, when we upload the footage we will review this scene and decide whether or not to reshoot the segment, to get the best quality results for our Music Video.
Props List
As with all Media Productions, we thought it was essential to create a props list that we could use during filming so that we would not forget any essential items needed to allow our video to work. There are two main segments to our Music Video, the performance section along with an narrative section - here are the props we thought we would need in each segment:
LIVE PERFORMANCE SEGMENT:
LIVE PERFORMANCE SEGMENT:
- Drum Kit
- Bass Guitar + Amp
- Electric Guitar + Amp
- Keyboard?
- Microphone (for Vocalist)
- Microphone Stand
NARRATIVE SEGMENT:
- Syringe
- Drink Can
- Lighter
- Belt/Ribbon
Although the props in the Narrative Segment may sound extreme, this is the sort of look and feel we want to our music video - we want the video to be shocking to the audience, almost as shocking as some of the lyrics present in the song.
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