For our video, we wanted to add some cartoon animations to add to the story line, but also include an eye-catching effect that would memorable to the viewer.

THE PROCESS

To create the animations, we used After Effects, Illustrator and Anime Studio 8. First of all, we had to create the silhouettes of our cowboy and cowgirl. We drew this on a graphics tablet through illustrator. To be able to move our cartoons, we had to draw each character in separate parts, to then be built up as an animate-able ‘puppet’, in Anime Studio.

PARTS:


FINAL CHARACTERS:
   
For the horses, and creating genuine movement, I traced the famous Muybridge horse run cycle. This consisted of 12 images that we then looped to keep the horses running.   

Finally, we had to create a desert like background. We created some layers on photoshop, after watching some reference material. The sky layer would remain static, as it was the furthest away. The distant mountains would move slowly, and the ground would have to move quickly under the horses hooves. These are the layers we created:

And this is a screenshot of the final result in the music video. We added some more features in After Effects like a pop-art overlay that flickered, some camera shake, and lens flare sun. The process above was done similarly for the animations in the intro of the video.

This is the second draft of our music video. Here we are very near completion, we have made changes to the title, and gone with a fully animated sequence that will then dissolve
into our live-action video. We have also chosen a more conventional western font. To finalise the video we just need to colour correct the videos.

Draft 02 Feedback:

Here we received feedback from two university students studying media, who had also created their own high grade music videos in the past. The feedback we received was positive and we were glad to hear that they clearly understood our narrative even though it was non-linear. One thing they did point out as an improvement was to colour correct our shots of the narrative, as we had used artificial lens flares which they didnt see plausible due to the rainy climate we filmed in. So we will aim to colour correct and create a warmer feel to the shots to make the lens flares more realistic.

This is the first draft of our music video. We are still missing half of the footage in the project, but that will be added shortly. We haven’t added any colour correction as that will be done over the whole video when completed. Im really happy with how the video is looking, I was worried that our narrative wouldn’t make sense as we tell it in a strange order with flashbacks etc. But I think it does work well and people seem to understand what’s going on. A few things we plan to improve, is firstly the title. People have said that the font we have used isn’t conventional and a bit too fancy for a western story. So we will find a more traditionally western font. The second thing to do will be to make more of a deal on edits on the beat. Possibly create some artificial whip pans in After Effects from one shot to the next will help and create more of an impact on some of the hard hitting beats. Overall I think it’s looking good.

VIDEO DRAFT 01 FEEDBACK:

Here is the feedback we received on our first draft. Obviously it was an incomplete video but there was still enough content to create a sense and feel of what the final product would be like. We will work on the feedback we received, and possibly change the title text and people didn’t think it was conventional.

NARRATIVE SHOOT EVALUATION

Click above to view photos of our performance shoot.
The shoot for the narrative section of our video went very well, again we were lucky with the weather and natural lighting. All our performers acted very well and we found great western mise-en-scene which looks authentic and believable. I mostly pleased with what we shot on the beach, we found some great locations which resembled western sand dunes and cliffs, and filming at near sunset added a great deal of western authenticity to our shots. We managed to get all the shots we needed from the shot list, and a few extra stock footage which can be used to fill spaces. A few of our shots were very noticeably hand-held, but this can hopefully be fixed in post production, with image stabilization.

PRODUCTION MEETING AGENDA

This is our production meeting agenda for our narrative shoot. We arranged this so that our shoot would play out smoothly on the day, and no equipment would be forgotten. We made a list of props, costumes and equipment, and assigned each one to whoever could supply it, that way instead of one person supplying everything, it was a team effort. We thought hard about our performers costume design, and decided on cowboy/western style waistcoats, shirts, trousers and boots. We also had to carefully decide on our locations as our narrative would be set back in the wild west. The document also includes a basic shot list. Please click the image to view our production meeting agenda.

After we had all the footage for our performance section of the video, we created a rough edit in Adobe Premiere,  by cutting some random clips together with the razor tool. The benefit of this was to check all our footage would run well, and looked good on screen. We also used the rough edit as a chance to get some feedback on our footage. We showed the edit to some peers, and recorded their feedback. Then we overlayed that audio along our rough edit. The feedback was mainly positive, people really enjoyed the colours and the natural lighting. Also, our close ups and long shots were responded too well as people understood these were conventional shots of our genre. Watch the video above to see our rough edit with feedback.

PERFORMANCE SHOOT EVALUATION

Click above to view photos of our performance shoot in process.
I’m really happy with how the shoot for the performance of our video went, we were very lucky with the weather, and the natural lighting looked bright and golden which is just what we were going for, the western look. Everyone brought the necessary equipment, props and costumes thanks to our meeting agenda, and our performers, looked and performed brilliantly. We followed our shot list closely and were able to achieve nice big establishing shots, and colourful closes ups and more. One thing we’re not too happy with is that we had a limited amount of time to work with. Filming in winter meant that the sun set earlier, so we only had our golden light for an hour or so. So some shots are noticeable darker and these were shot when the sun was near to gone. Also we should have used a Steady-Cam because walking and moving around on rocky terrain made some shots quite shaky.

PRODUCTION MEETING AGENDA

This is our production meeting agenda for our performance shoot. We arranged this so that our shoot would play out smoothly on the day, and no equipment would be forgotten. We made a list of props, costumes and equipment, and assigned each one to whoever could supply it, that way instead of one person supplying everything, it was a team effort. We thought hard about our performers costume design, and settled with generic ‘Mumford and Sons’ style waistcoats, shirts, trousers and boots. The document also includes a basic shot list. Please click the image to view our production meeting agenda.

VIDEO SHOT LIST

Here we have created two shot lists, one for our performance shots and one for our narrative. We have used our reverse storyboard to understand what kind of camerawork is conventional for our genre, and we have applied it to our shot list. We have also thought about composition, shot distances and briefly editing. Click the image to view the shot lists.

STORYBOARD

Above is the storyboard for the narrative section of our video. We developed the story of a cowboy and his lover, that takes place in the wild west. When we originally came up with this idea, we had to think carefully, as mise-en-scene and locations etc. would be very specific. We have listed the shot types and length, and also sketched out what the shot will look like. Below the sketches is a short description of what will be happening in the shot. Please click the image to view the storyboard.

VIDEO TIMELINE

Here we have created a video timeline, which we will work from when shooting, and filming the video. In the center we have a timeline of the song, above is our song lyrics, and below is our narrative. We have written notes around the timeline for additional features, aswell as drawn small pictures for a basic storyboard to follow. From doing this we now know what we have to shoot, in what order, and the timings in which the shots will be placed with the song. Click the image above to view the timeline full size.

REVERSE STORYBOARD

Here I have created a reverse storyboard of the performance in a professional music video by The Lumineers. I have closely analysed the conventional shot lengths, angles, movements etc. In order to try and stick to the genre when production our music video. From studying this professional text I now understand the conventional camera work of performance in the folk genre. Click the image above to view the reverse storyboard.