Working on the final draft after teacher input

here is the teacher feedback Screencastify on our draft 3 music video

The feedback we received:

• Close up of the lips to go somewhere else 
• For jumpcut – in the foreground, in the middle, nearly there, or else it looks weird. 
• Reverse shots of them reading. 
• Start with the single shot of them holding magazines. 
• Sequencing of up and down with newspapers needs sorting. 
• Efx when they change. 
• Cut laying down into the dancing part.
• Make the shots appear to be more modern and funky with colour and effects

Next draft I will look at cutting actions that don’t need to be long or really shown. Cutting out or cutting down the unnecessary parts will cause the exciting areas to stand out further and it will ensure there are more of them. With the knowledge on how I can start perfecting the actual narrative in the video and where I should be cutting to the performance or the narrative I can now dive into adding some quirky special effects and transitions.

Industry professional feedback

We were recently payed a visit by two members of the Specsavers creative team. They came to see our music videos and comment on them as their experience allows them to know what works and what doesn’t. They were able to give us constructive criticism and show us ways we can uplift our footage in the edit to create a better music video.

One feature we were shown in particular was the colour preset feature. We played around with the black and white presets to see if we could just edit every clip before they change clothes into black and white for our next draft.

The comments we received were were very clear and we felt the changes they suggested were a good help in shaping up our music video.

• We were told our narrative went on too long without cutting to a performance shot. This in order to maintain the attention of the viewer.
• We were told we need to have a clear transition between before they change outfit and afterwards.
• That we also needed to cut to the performance between the magazine shots.
• They suggested we have it black and white/ less saturated before the change of clothes.

Draft 2 reflection

Here is the second draft of our music video. As we are ploughing forward getting more stuck in to editing and finalising both the performance and narrative footage, we gathered together a draft 2 containing some fx, filling half of the song’s four minute run time. (ignore after the 2:11 mark).

I completed a self assessment to evaluate both my progress and my feelings towards the music video as of yet. Comparing my work so far to the assessment criteria acted like a checklist and all areas that aren’t proficient or excellent need retouching and looking at.

Self assessment

What went well

• The quick paced editing at the beginning I feel really helps to convey that our star has entered fame and is getting used to it. The quick flashes and cuts act like a kind of montage. The microphone is there to make it appear as if our star performer is being interviewed on the red carpet whilst being bombarded with paparazzi and I feel this was very successful and fulfilled our aim.
• I like how the narrative is introduced, tying in perfectly with the lyrics in the song
  “Coming up behind you
  Always coming and you’d never have a clue
  I never look behind all the time
  I will wait forever
  Always looking straight
  Thinking, counting all the hours you wait”. Because although she doesn’t know it yet, the girl on the bench is waiting for a partner.
• like the effect we used where the performance clip fades out to become completely opaque and the bright contrasting narrative clip fades in over it nicely to create a smooth blending transition between our two different shoots performance to narrative.
• The mise en scene in the both shoots worked great to communicate the genre of indie grunge. Our star represents the genre through her dark tone of clothing, the use of layering in her outfits and dark makeup and jewellery.

What needs work, targets on feedback 

• When editing we need to be cautious on how long each clip plays for without being cut. As one of the Specsavers creative professionals so rightly said to us, “A shot goes without a cut in a movie or tv show for a reason, most commonly to create tension and suspense”. We realised that some shots didn’t need to play for as long as they were, that what we were trying to communicate could be communicated in far less time. We came to the understanding that we had some serious rethinking to do in terms of pacing and transitions to build energy behind the music video utilising clips from both the narrative and performance shoots.
• I have some feelings that the setting appears too basic. Wether this needs to be addressed in the edit or a reshoot it will definitely be considered that the setting could use uplifting. Maybe by adding more sfx, or maybe more props.
• I’m worried that we didn’t get enough close ups of the pair in the narrative shoot. The close up is a very intimate shot and the intimacy between the two during the narrative may not be conveyed because of this.
• Another problem is that we aren’t using the beat to our best ability. I feel we should be using as many beats as possible to cut on. Although this will take time, I feel as if it will be worth it for the final result.

Teacher feedback

• Remove weird head bopping.
• Narrative drags on too much
• Use the close up shots more to have a range of angles and shot sizes.

Focusing forward

I see a good future for our music video. Our progress, although we haven’t made it as far by this point as I anticipated is strong. The music video has a definite story. It now is just required that we use our feedback to improve the weak areas whilst retaining our other goals of tying our music video in with genre accurately as well as also creating an entertaining piece of media for an audience to watch.

Looking back

Upon having decided to shoot our narrative at Saumarez park with plenty of space, greenery and apparatus to work with, we needed to figure out how we would set it up like two random individuals on their lunch hour would cross paths.

We saw the plain fields and masses of space as a blank canvas in a sense, where we could plant our actors and tell a story of to unsuspecting individuals finding themselves in the park.

Evaluating

Six areas that went well

• The broad and spacious location I feel we used as a canvas plopping our eccentric characters into.
• Our costume was successful and especially the transition between the first, to the bolder, more intense second.
• The use of different magazine’s and having the performers read them adds that layer of believability. I say this because we sort of come to understand they both love reading, and share this in common with one another.
• The shots where they framed each other dancing are by far my favourite two.  The frame is created with their head and arms covering either side of the screen and I love how it turned out.
• I pre shoot activity we did that helped things run so smooth was develop a shot lost. This meant that all we had to do when we got there was set up our mise-en-scene and tripod and start rolling. I don’t think our shoot would have gone nearly as well without having completed a shot list.
• I really liked that both performers has predominantly dark features, this choice of casting helped us relate far more to the indie synth grunge genre because dressing them in dark tones of bold statement clothing looked far more natural.

Six areas that need work

• I think the magazine lifting shots, which is probably the most technical sequence in the whole sequence needed a much larger break down. I feel like we knew going in which shots we needed but continuity and pacing was not considered nearly enough and this will just create more of a pain for us in the edit.
• The use of props was very under utilised.  What would have been fun to involve would be a blow up guitar or an actual keyboard she could be playing in the middle of a field with the wire trailing out of shot so the audience believe that it’s plugged in.
• What needed some work was the the storyline, and how their relationship actually grew more intimate. I had the idea of having a shot of a magazine with basic illustrations of characters based on the two performers and having their speech bubbles contain narrative information.
• The reveal of the two new characters is hardly noticeable. A lot more work either in a reshoot or in the edit needs to be done to alter this issue.
• Too long. We came to realise the narrative sequence drags on longer than it should. The solution is to cut things like someone walking over to a table right down so both the edit flows better and the fast pacing is upheld throughout.
• Looking at the camera. In multiple cases my star performers give a glance or a flick of their eye-line to the camera as usually, I was stood behind it. These instances of course cannot appear in the final cut.

Risk assessment attached below

A media shoot cannot be done without a risk assessment. Serving the purpose of spotting any dangers and warding off any safety hazards, risk assessments are are the key component in the late planning stages of a project.

PMA

Homing in on the representation of our models for the shoot was a key component to why our second shoot was successful and we found ourselves not having to go out for reshoots.

The production meeting agenda acts as both a task list and a checklist also helping to give your teacher an idea of what vibe you are trying to achieve.

Round two – Narrative

When telling a story through a narrative, you will not be able to tell it to your best ability without having devised at least a shot list. The narrative photo board helped us especially to visualise our narrative in planning so we knew exactly what details of mise en scene to start setting up as soon as we arrived at location. It also helped us divvy up the responsibilities between the pair allowing for a smoother day on shooting and spreading out the workload.

Performance shoot post production

This is the performance shoot rough cut of our music video. The star image of the performer is greatly grunge and goth. The torn dress, dark eye makeup and dark tones of costume help establish or star as gothic, moody and famous. The props we used, the flashing camera and microphone help convey the sense that our star hit fame early, and has now become used to and even aggravated by all the attention.

Self assessment where we were successful:

• I feel as if we nailed the makeup and accessories. Especially with the prominent and shining lipstick and the bow really sends out and indie image with it’s bold leopard print pattern.
• The camera flashes make her seem like a public celebrity type of figure. Which was the aim, to make it appear as if our star was in an interview but really just lip syncing her hit song.
• Her expression tells an audience watching that she knows who he is, that’s she’s comfortable in the stardom and has so much potential whilst also simultaneously looking young and bold.
• I think as if in terms of the edit, the edits cut swiftly and the shots have a kind of glue between them because our star will have changed her position in each shot, keeping things well paced and intriguing especially when she lays down or when she being ambushed by the paparazzi.
• I found that we used the space in the black studio effectively particularly when implemented the use of the slider. The slider slid to just out of the parameters of the black sheet in the black studio which adds a sense of indie budget moviemaking which helps the video fit in to the genre nicely paired with the moody grungy look of the star.
• I am quite happy with how we have a mostly fixed down camera to a tripod for a majority of the performance shots. This is because the still camera is ok when what is inside the shot is entertaining.

Targets for improvement:

• We could have looked at an outfit swap or maybe a make-up artist on standby to make her seem like an important figure putting her in the spotlight helping her appear more famous and sought after. Maybe if a girl would have stood and kept reaching in with a make-up brush to give her a touch up between camera flashes. This is because it adds the element of behind the scenes building more intrigue to the production because of how her fans would find out what make-up she uses, it could have given the production that encouragement of social interaction.
• I believe improvements could be made on the edit, focusing more on editing to the beat to keep the video at a nice quick pace. A quick pace is good because it adds energy behind the shots, almost momentum, if the edits are snappy and if in the narrative we stick to the rules of continuity than the production will see success.
• Ensuring all shots are framed and focused to my best ability. If the camera work is good and the narrative is good, then there will be no difficulty producing a successful production.
• It can frequently be seen the the star makes eye contact with the camera or with me behind the camera or slips up on a lyric and those moments need cutting or reshooting.
• Not cutting back to the same shot excessively, having some different shots in a smooth rotation and try not to accidently reuse clips say where the star is singing the chorus and it is hard to differentiate between clips.
• Establishing a place where to begin the narrative. This is vital as if it doesn’t start in time the video will become confusing and hard to follow but at the same time if it is started to early it could be perceived as jumpy and indecisive as a piece of media. Almost as if it doesn’t know what it’s doing or wants to do.

Shoot 1 feelings and thoughts

I went to our schools very own black photography studio to film our first performance shoot. The studio was perfect because we could paint our goth themes on the screen with the deep black background and it helped her grungy costume and makeup paired with other aspects of Mise en scene to stand out perfectly.

In my opinion, the shoot went reasonably well. I’m happy with our shots although some are fuzzy, the good ones make up for it and there is always the ability to do a reshoot in our spare time.

The mistake we made was thinking we could film the whole song in one. The song, being four minutes long should have been shot in two half’s each time to allow our star to take a break, catch her breath so not to wear her out. A shot I definitely think we needed was a well framed extreme close up of our star’s mouth when lip syncing the lyrics. Coming in close with the camera is the best way to evoke emotion.

Looking onward, I will focus on more clear directing to bring the best acting out of my star. I have considered that a main aspect of 80s synth and pop genre music the dance routines always crop up in the music videos.

Focusing forward, my group member and I will be arranging a reshoot. I will home in on the movement of my actress to depict her as a moody teen character. When editing the footage I will do my best job at editing to the beat maintaining the lip-sync and upholding and preserving my goth teen grunge star image.