For the next few weeks, we are going to be creating music videos for the music students in groups. Within those groups we are all going to have roles, e.g producer, but we are going to swap roles around so that everyone has an equal chance to try different roles.
We are going to shoot half the video in the black box studio and the gallery, then the other half on location somewhere suitable. We want to be as creative as possible with the location we shoot at so that we get a feel for shooting somewhere unusual.
The music students came in and pitched their band/themselves to us so that we could get an idea of what kind of videos we could potentially be making. There was one band and three solo artists. The three solo artists were all excellent and all very different to each other. There was a singer named Ella who's style was very soul and acoustic sounding. There was a singer named Johnny who was a folk singer and only used a guitar and piano in the backs of his songs. The final singer was called Dina and she had a sort of punk-pop-rock feel to her song, and the song was heavy on the bass. The band were called Colours May Vary and their style is dance/pop, their song had a very steady and clear beat to it.
The person our group are going to make the music video for is Johnny who is the country/folk singer. He has a three track EP which tells a story of a journey from leaving home, to getting into a tricky place, to reaching the destination. The song we will be making the video for is his song titled "The road". Our group are going to get together to discuss ideas soon.
We are going to shoot half the video in the black box studio and the gallery, then the other half on location somewhere suitable. We want to be as creative as possible with the location we shoot at so that we get a feel for shooting somewhere unusual.
The music students came in and pitched their band/themselves to us so that we could get an idea of what kind of videos we could potentially be making. There was one band and three solo artists. The three solo artists were all excellent and all very different to each other. There was a singer named Ella who's style was very soul and acoustic sounding. There was a singer named Johnny who was a folk singer and only used a guitar and piano in the backs of his songs. The final singer was called Dina and she had a sort of punk-pop-rock feel to her song, and the song was heavy on the bass. The band were called Colours May Vary and their style is dance/pop, their song had a very steady and clear beat to it.
The person our group are going to make the music video for is Johnny who is the country/folk singer. He has a three track EP which tells a story of a journey from leaving home, to getting into a tricky place, to reaching the destination. The song we will be making the video for is his song titled "The road". Our group are going to get together to discuss ideas soon.
Music Video Research
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Interactivity
Idea 1:
-Have them during/after the video with a link to commentary/ behind the scenes
-If there's a live performance, have them around the venue with links to both the music video and commentary/ behind the scenes
- QR codes
-Have them during/after the video with a link to commentary/ behind the scenes
-If there's a live performance, have them around the venue with links to both the music video and commentary/ behind the scenes
Good Points:
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Idea 2:
-We could also split the video up, we could have a short intro to it on Youtube with a link to the location of the music video which could be on Vimeo, followed by a link to the ending of the video which could be on Facebook or SnapChat.
- Multiple choice video/ Interactive Video
-We could also split the video up, we could have a short intro to it on Youtube with a link to the location of the music video which could be on Vimeo, followed by a link to the ending of the video which could be on Facebook or SnapChat.
Kieran found an extremely interesting interactive video: http://video.bobdylan.com/desktop.html
There is a song playing, and you use the arrow keys on your keyboard to control which video (channel) you see. What's really interesting about it is that it's completely in sync with the vocals on the music no matter when you change the channel, or what channel you switch to.
Coldplay also did one which you can find here: http://www.coldplay.com/ink/
These were all created on a website called: Interlude.fm:
On the website there aren't just music videos, but advertisements, games and other short videos. I'm so excited about this website and would love to see how they create the videos.
My role
For this project, my role is Camera/D.O.P (director of photography). To be the camera operator, you need to know the following areas:
Also from the website above is this quote which tells you exactly what a camera operator has to do: "Camera Operators carry out the Director of Photography’s (DoP) and Director’s instructions for shot composition and development. They are usually the first people to use the camera's eyepiece to assess how all the elements of performance, art direction, lighting, composition and camera movement come together to create the cinematic experience."
- How to prepare the camera for filming
- How to operate the camera
- Have good knowledge on camera lenses and accessories
- Artistic ability
- Physical co-ordination and strength
- Good sense of visual composition, perspective and movement
- Be able to collaborate and work as a team
Also from the website above is this quote which tells you exactly what a camera operator has to do: "Camera Operators carry out the Director of Photography’s (DoP) and Director’s instructions for shot composition and development. They are usually the first people to use the camera's eyepiece to assess how all the elements of performance, art direction, lighting, composition and camera movement come together to create the cinematic experience."
Ideas
As a group we all sat together and watched a few music videos of a similar genre to the track we are making the video for. One of the videos by Coldplay called 'The Scientist' really caught our eye, and we wanted to try out some of the techniques within the video.
We also like the idea of having the camera follow the singer as he walks, but to do this effectively and with minimal shaking, we would need to hire a handheld 3-axis gimbal. Unfortunately these are expensive, so we decided to have a bake sale to try and raise some money to hire one, as there is no way that we would be able to buy one.
What we liked about this video:
- The out of focus- to focus opening
- The way it's lit
- Focus is just on the girl
- Background is nondescript
We liked this video for the same reasons we liked Sia's video, however this one has lighting that changes throughout the video rather than staying the same. We thought the way the light changed was really interesting and would love to try something like this out when we go into the studio.
Meetings
28th April 2016:
Update: 10th May:
We had intended to film on location on Monday 9th May, but wouldn't have been able to get the gimbal in time, so instead, we decided to film in Braithwaite on Thursday. We are filming in the studio today (Tuesday 10th May)
We had intended to film on location on Monday 9th May, but wouldn't have been able to get the gimbal in time, so instead, we decided to film in Braithwaite on Thursday. We are filming in the studio today (Tuesday 10th May)
Update 10th May:
When we went back into class after filming and confirming with Johnny about Thursday, we found out that on Thursday he is being filmed by another group in the studio, as Johnny is also in a band. While this is a little frustrating as we've had such great weather this week and were looking forward to filming, there's nothing much we can do to change the fact we can't film on Thursday. However, the good news is that we can hopefully sort a day out for next week, which can be one of our jobs to do on Thursday since we won't be filming.
When we went back into class after filming and confirming with Johnny about Thursday, we found out that on Thursday he is being filmed by another group in the studio, as Johnny is also in a band. While this is a little frustrating as we've had such great weather this week and were looking forward to filming, there's nothing much we can do to change the fact we can't film on Thursday. However, the good news is that we can hopefully sort a day out for next week, which can be one of our jobs to do on Thursday since we won't be filming.
Update 12th May:
We had a quick meeting at break today to decide on another day for filming on location. It's vital that we confirm a date and that it's a full day, as we will be using the gimbal and we don't want our money going to waste. We have all agreed on next Thursday (19th May) to film at Braithwaite. We will hopefully get the gimbal sorted with our tutor on Tuesday so it's ready for us on Thursday.
We had a quick meeting at break today to decide on another day for filming on location. It's vital that we confirm a date and that it's a full day, as we will be using the gimbal and we don't want our money going to waste. We have all agreed on next Thursday (19th May) to film at Braithwaite. We will hopefully get the gimbal sorted with our tutor on Tuesday so it's ready for us on Thursday.
Update 17th May:
Unfortunately our shooting day is being pushed back again due to someone in our group being away on Thursday. We have rearranged the shoot for Monday 23rd May.
Unfortunately our shooting day is being pushed back again due to someone in our group being away on Thursday. We have rearranged the shoot for Monday 23rd May.
Update 24th May:
Today we have been told we have until 12pm on Thursday 25th May to complete the videos.
Today we have been told we have until 12pm on Thursday 25th May to complete the videos.
Pre-Production
Things to do before we do our production on location:
| Things to do before production in the studio:
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Production Paperwork
Since we weren't recording any sound for either of our shoots, our equipment lists are fairly simple:
Production Day One: Studio
Today was our first day filming our music video. Due to us being in the studio, there was an extra role available that was the role of lighting operator. Since I have a decent amount of knowledge on how to work the lights, I volunteered for this. The lighting set up for the studio wasn't complicated as we wanted it to look very minimalist, so we just used 2 spot lights- one in front of Johnny and one behind him. I adjusted the brightness of both the lights at various points throughout the video to create different effects. We also used the haze machine to diffuse the light and give us a softer looking background.
Here is a picture of the lighting set up:
Here is a picture of the lighting set up:
We did also try out different lighting set ups from blue to green, but we stuck with our original decision to just use the spot lights. The picture above shows what the studio looked like when we tried out the blue lights.
Evaluation:
I personally think that today went really well. Unfortunately we didn't get into the studio as early as we'd hoped, but in the hour or so that we spent filming, we managed to get a lot of good footage. As a group, I think we all worked really well together and communicated well. Our director Duncan was excellent at directing us and checking that everything was going well. The rest of the group Holly, Kieran, Joe and Hanna were all on the four cameras and they seemed to be making a good job of that. I feel I did a good job operating the lights, I did get stuck a couple of times by forgetting little things, but I was quickly able to work around them and rectify it.
I really enjoyed working with our group today and I'm looking forward to our location shoot next week, as I'm positive we'll get some fantastic shots of that.
Below are some pictures taken by members of our group during filming:
I personally think that today went really well. Unfortunately we didn't get into the studio as early as we'd hoped, but in the hour or so that we spent filming, we managed to get a lot of good footage. As a group, I think we all worked really well together and communicated well. Our director Duncan was excellent at directing us and checking that everything was going well. The rest of the group Holly, Kieran, Joe and Hanna were all on the four cameras and they seemed to be making a good job of that. I feel I did a good job operating the lights, I did get stuck a couple of times by forgetting little things, but I was quickly able to work around them and rectify it.
I really enjoyed working with our group today and I'm looking forward to our location shoot next week, as I'm positive we'll get some fantastic shots of that.
Below are some pictures taken by members of our group during filming:
Production Day Two: Location
Today we did our shoot on location at Braithwaite. Our director went to Dumfries to pick up the gimbal. He got the person we're borrowing the gimbal from to balance and calibrate it for us. When they all arrived at my house we were good to go. Kieran and I were the camera operators for our group. Kieran went first with the gimbal and I went second. Since we were walking backwards with it, we had to guide each other so that we didn't slip and injure ourselves or drop the camera and gimbal. The gimbal was actually quite heavy, so we took lots of turns between us to give our arms a rest. Due to me being quite short, I had to hold the gimbal up a lot higher than Kieran did, so we also tried having Johnny stand further back so as to stay in shot while I held the gimbal lower.
Here are some pictures from the first location:
Here are some pictures from the first location:
On our way out of the wood our director Duncan stopped us as he thought the view would make a great shot. I walk here everyday with my dog and wasn't expecting them all to get so excited about this view! The ground was slightly more level here than in the wood, so it was easier walking backwards here.
We then went to our second and third locations walking up the farm track and then in the field. When we got to the top of the farm track, because of the lovely view, we wanted a shot of the camera spinning round Johnny, so because we were going round in a circle, we had to follow Johnny and Joe (who was holding the gimbal at the time) so as not to get us or our shadows in shot. Below is a video of us doing following the camera operator, and then the last photo is taken in the field.
While walking through the field (which is a public footpath route) we took extra care to make sure that we didn't disturb the sheep, and that we shut all gates behind us to prevent the farmer's livestock escaping.
As we were filming, we had Johnny's song "The Road" playing at double speed, so that when he sang along with the song he sang it at double speed. The purpose of this was so that when we go back and edit it, he will be moving in slow motion, while he sings the song at normal speed. We saw this in various music videos such as Coldplay's "The Scientist" and we thought it looked really nice, so we wanted to do that in our music video.
As we were filming, we had Johnny's song "The Road" playing at double speed, so that when he sang along with the song he sang it at double speed. The purpose of this was so that when we go back and edit it, he will be moving in slow motion, while he sings the song at normal speed. We saw this in various music videos such as Coldplay's "The Scientist" and we thought it looked really nice, so we wanted to do that in our music video.
Rough cut
This is the rough cut of our music video. The audio was easy enough to match up to the video as we had added a count down at the start of the song. However certain parts were harder to sync up than others. Especially the slow motion parts. As you can see in the rough cut below, most of it is synced up, but there are quite a few bits where it isn't. We will have to make sure that in our final copy, these areas are corrected.
Final Finished Video
Evaluation
I think that our video is very successful and matches the style of music really well. The location is perfect as the scenery is very relaxing like the music. The opening of the video is nice, however you can see a member of our group's reflection in the window of the house and once you see it, you can't not notice it. The colour grading of the video is very nice, it's very warm and saturated to bring out the colours of the scenery. There is a wide range of different shot types as we wanted to experiment as much as we could with this. One of my favourite shots in the video is where Johnny is stood still and the camera spins around him then shows the landscape. The slow motion in the video with the real time singing works really well and it's synced up pretty well. There is a part in the middle of the video that isn't synced up to well, however the majority of the video is synced up perfectly.
Sharing the video on Social media
To make our music video interactive and to engage it with an audience we posted it on the following social media websites: YouTube and Facebook. We asked our peers if they would share the music video with their friends and family to see what they thought of it.
Feedback
Here is some of the feedback we received for our music video. I'm really pleased with what we got.
Sources:
http://guide.interlude.fm/article/parallel-videos/
http://guide.interlude.fm/gettingstarted/
http://webbyawards.com/winners/2015/online-film-video/performance-craft/best-use-of-interactive-video/the-seven-digital-deadly-sins/
http://digital-deadly-sins.theguardian.com/#/Grid
http://guide.interlude.fm/article/parallel-videos/
http://guide.interlude.fm/gettingstarted/
http://webbyawards.com/winners/2015/online-film-video/performance-craft/best-use-of-interactive-video/the-seven-digital-deadly-sins/
http://digital-deadly-sins.theguardian.com/#/Grid