This is our second cut of our production. A lot has changed since the last cut, including more footage and more editing. We are in time with schedule and should be close to finish.

Production Diary 12

Last week we decided to film another cut of our lipsyncing track, as in the first one we didnt get much of the second verse, and also we felt it would add more variation to the video if we added ion another lipsyncing track. We decided on lipsyncing against a plain wall similar to Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball" in recent culture. We did this out of our production schedule, but we planned to edit in lesson as usual.

The poem above is the one I read aloud to use as a voice over. We used a microphone to get the best sound quality. We did this in the style of Rihanna's "We Found Love".

Similar Videos With Monologues

 



Production Update 11

The video we previously decided to delete we have changed our minds. We chose to add it back in as it helps explain the story between the two characters a bit more. After we edited it quite heavily, we decided it didn't look bad like we originally thought.

This was in time with our schedule as we plan to be editing our production in our lessons.

Production Diary 10

In the half term we filmed on a pathway behind the fields near my house. We will use this footage in place of the beach footage (unless we actually go to the beach). We filmed in cold weather, this is to make it look as if we filmed over a long time (as we started in summer).

This montage is a way of us showing a reflection period. It contrasts to the previous happy memories, we are now in a winter period aas oppposed to summer (shown through colour correction). We planned to be editing in our October lessons, so this filming was off schedule, however we did this in our own time/out of school, so was not a big strain on our editing time.

First Cut

Today we showed our first cut of our music video to the class. We were given feedback from members of our class, and from our teacher. We will go through this feedback today and then use it to make feedback (there will also be a post on feedback). Here is our first cut.

Production Update 9 - Filming our Lipsync Track

On Thursday after school we filmed out lipsync track in the drama studio at school. We used the same techniques as the first time we filmed in there. We used a projector with a video playing in front of me, to look like an overlay. It took us a few takes as the song is by a Spanish band, the lyrics are in English that isn't quite correct so we the lyrics were hard to get completely right. To make sure we had this covered we filled a wall with the lyrics printed out on paper behind the camera, to make it look like I was looking at the camera, whilst still reading the words. We also filmed from an angle to the side so we can vary our shots.

How I read the lyrics during filming.

However, we have had some troubles since then. We can't upload our footage to a site where we can share them so we can upload the videos into premiere. I would have to edit these clips in myself, although this is also a problem as I don't have a copy of our edit as of recent. To resolve this myself, Billy and Mollie will edit in our free lessons tomorrow before our lesson, which is our deadline.
At this point we are also missing shots of the beach, but we plan on doing these shots in the half term break as then we can all be free to go. Below are some screenshots from our videos that we filmed on the Thursday. We didn't film this on time as we planned to have finished filming by 15th October, however this was not a problem.

Production Update 8 - Editing in Class

 

Today I edited some of the shots in the mirror way that I practised at home. I tried to make it look like a kaleidoscope effect similar to the ones Billy had previously edited. I did this in my own time, however this has helped us keep to schedule in terms of editing in our lessons, maybe even ahead.

Most Current Edit

Our current edit as of today with the current shots we have filmed, we are still to shoot lip syncing shots and shots with Max & I.

Practise Editing

At home I experimented with mirror effects and colour correction in Premiere Pro. I edited a few clips from our underwater footage and drama studio footage. After seeing how they turn out, we may use these or edit in similar ways.

Production Update 7 - Drama Studio Filming

Today we filmed in our school's drama studio, to make use of the projector (for overlays) and the lighting so we can achieve colour fills. We wanted to film shots that were stylisticly similar to those of ariana grande's "the way" or rihanna's "we found love". As when we filmed I didn't know the words to the song perfectly, we plan on refilming to get our lipsync track. However, we acheived what we wanted with these shots. We had planned to film today and we got all the shots we needed for the time being, therefore we are to schedule. Our last filming time scheduled will be the 15th.

Production Update 6 - Filming Underwater

Today we filmed underwater out our local swimming pool. We used two cameras, one provided by our teacher which was an underwater; the other a normal handheld camera in an underwater dslr bag. We tried to achieve similar cinematography to the xx's "chained" or rihanna's "diamonds". We will use these shots as overlays and some in the opening sequence. We were very lucky in having this location, as we feel it creates a fantastic look and creative ways of filming. We had planned to film today, therefore making us on schedule, we filmed near our school making it easy for us to then take back our camera (which we borrowed) and upload our footage.

Production Update 5 - Final Edit of Field Footage

Here is the final edit for our field footage. We added in light leak in final cut. We also used overlays, and colour correction to add warm tones and interesting stylistic features. Billy did this in his own time, so he could bring this into class so we could add it into the video together, this helped us largely in terms of time keeping.

Production Diary 4 - Editing our Field Footage

 Recently we have also been editing our cowfields footage. We used final cut pro to edit. Our main focus when editing was the colour correction, as we shot on quite a bleak and grey day. As these need to be represented as fond memories, we used waem tones and cool tones to brighten up the scenery. After this we plan to film our underwater footage in our local swimming pool. In terms of filming we have enough for the moment, however need much more for example the lipsync track, we are however on schedule and plan to film on the 14th.

Production Diary 3 - Filming With Max

We have also been filming in the local park called the priory. This is another significant location for our memories. We filmed with Max to shoot the old couple scenes. When filming we used an iphone in a kaleidoscope case. This was to experiment with the way we are shooting and to add to our effects. However we feel like we may have to re film this footage as the shots we got weren't very good quality (as we used a phone). Above is the video of some edited footage from the day of the shoot. We did this during our double lesson, so we could use our scheduled time for filming.

Production Diary 2 - Filming in the Fields

Today we filmed some of our scenes in the fields. We went to a local group of fields in Ware, which are significant to our real life memories. We filmed here as it is an attractive location, and a nice different to either the pool or the dark studio. This was in time with our schedule, even though we were scheduled to be ahead in terms of filming by now.

We filmed on a windy day, and got shots of either the whole field or myself in the field. We tried to recreate similar shots to Rihanna's "We Found Love" and filmed random things, which we could cut down into a montage.

Production Diary 1

This is the footage that we filmed on our Tuesday lesson last week. We filmed in the local park, to get footage of Max and I. I feel this footage was not succesful as we filmed using my phone to get the kaliedoscope effect. As we did this, the footage isnt that good quality. However the way we have edited so far is quite asthetically nice, so we may refilm or keep this. We had actually planned to start filming in September, and are therefore slightly late, however I feel this will not affect us greatly and will still be able to keep up.

Locations

The locations we wanted to use are to reflect the storyline of revisiting old memories. We used places you would imagine a child to visit whilst growing up. For example the beach or fields where you can visit with family. We chose to also film in the pool to film underwater, so we can use interesting mise en scene. Our lip sync track will be filmed in our school drama studio, so we can use a backdrop and creative lighting.

Characters

As we got feedback to stay with our inspiration from Lana Del Rey, we decided to use her as outfit inspiration. As she often wears quite basic clothing, this would be easily achieved by us. We also feel like this type of clothing would appeal to our target audience.

Production Timetable

Shot List

• Fade from black
• Medium long shot of waves crashing onto rocks
• Dissolve to shot of Ellie walking bare footed along wet sand
• Dissolve to extreme close up of hair in wind
• Dissolve to over the shoulder shot of Ellie looking out to sea
• Music stars
• Close up of water
• Close up of water dripping into water
•  Close up shot of Ellie jumping into water
• Medium close up shot of Ellie underwater
• Extreme close up of Ellie’s feet swimming underwater
• Extreme close up of Ellie’s hands underwater creating bubbles
• Extreme close up of bubbles
• Close up shot of Ellie and hair underwater
• Medium close up of Ellie in studio lip synching
• Shots vary from above shot (medium close up, close up different angles)
• Fade to white, Ellie and Max are seen running through a field with light leaks
•  Medium close up Ellie and max are seen from behind sitting in a field
•  Fade to white
•  Kaleidoscope effect medium close up of Ellie with studio lights
• Fade to white home footage of Ellie as a child with light leaks
• Ellie and max seen walking hand in hand by river with light leaks
• Fade to white Ellie is lip synching in drama studio
• Close up of Ellie underwater overlaid with shots of Ellie lip synching
• Fade to white Ellie catching Max doing drugs on toilet seat light leaks
• Ellie and max seen arguing light leaks
• Ellie seen storming off light leaks
•  Ellie seen lip synching with kaleidoscope
• Ellie seen underwater 30.  Fade to black

Music Video Analysis - Rihanna "We Found Love"

The genre of Rihanna’s “We Found Love” is dance/pop, however this music video breaks the conventions of a typical pop video. The music video opens up with a monologue and a soft piano melody in a minor key, letting us know that this video is going to be emotional and dramatic. "It's like you're screaming but no one can hear. The voice over by fashion model Agyness Deyn saying “You almost feel ashamed that someone could be that important, that without them, you feel like nothing” sets the tone for the emotional rollercoaster of a video. The video is set in Ireland in what looks like a run down area, this is contrasted however by the glamorous and reckless life style led by lead Rihanna and her lover in the video. To start the video, we see the two lead roles clearly looking distressed in a dimly lit room, showing an obvious confrontation between the pair. Before this we see an establishing shot of a block of flats, showing us the location of the story. This is different to Rihanna’s normally highly glamorized and high budget videos such as Only Girl in The World or Where Have You Been. There are also cuts to shots of the couple looking happy together, including a panning shot which keeps them in focus while the background blurs; symbolizing that everything around them is crazy but they are focused on each other. We see Rihanna in this video wearing again non glamorous clothing, we see torn tights, a lot of denim and plain vests. Her make up is also running in a lot of shots, making it seem more like a social realist story, and letting us into her vulnerability. The male lead also wears similar styles of clothing, which is clearly an alternative style to go along with the different style of video the song chooses. The video uses a male model for the lead role opposite Rihanna in a love story, to attract a female audience from maybe 14 – 26. Rihanna also having her own individual style of clothing and hair, also would attract a female audience, as well as a male audience; as the clothing can show off her figure making her attractive to a male audience from around the same age.

The locations although slightly run down and not pretty, are made visually appealing. For example when the couple are sat in what looks like a car park or empty space, they are surrounded by exploding fireworks. This could be symbolic of their relationship, as well as making a visually interesting shot. Furthermore we see a lot take place in the home of the main characters. The flat they live in is dark with blue tones, the connotation of blue is known to be sad or cool. Every location we see is very dark, and every day places that you would find yourself in. This adds to the relatable side of the video. It also shows us the theme of the song “we found love in a hopeless place” telling us they have a mutual disliking for the place.

Lighting wise, there is a constant dim look in this video, representing the “hopeless place” vibe. However in every dark scene there is always a faint glow symbolizing the love found in the hopeless place. For example in the dark flat the live in, there are fairy lights all over the wall, these are often associated with Christmas which has connotations of happiness, family and sharing; Christmas is also a time for reflection which is a theme in this video. The use of a projector over Rihanna as she mimes the lyrics also tell us about the relationship in the video, for example as she sings the words we see a collapsing building overlay her as she looks distressed and hunched in a corner. Throughout the video we also see a primary theme of red, which has connotations of danger, anger and love.

The clothing and overall dark feeling of the video is similar to that seen in tv dramas such as Shameless or Skins, as there is a gritty and real feel to it. This video is also similar to others in popular culture/the pop genre  such as Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” or Lana Del Rey’s “Ride”; all of which showing complicated relationships between couples and reckless lifestyles. This broken type of relationship storyline can also be see in magazines, for example in “real life” magazines where people write in about their love stories. You can also see references to the movie “Requiem for a Dream” when we see a montage of drug taking and close up shots of dilated pupils. We also see a homage to American horror-punk act “Misfits”, as we see the male lead wearing a denim jacket with the logo for the band sewn onto the back. This tells us that Rihanna is clearly trying to appeal to an alternative type audience, calling upon other genres for help. In one scene where they are having a party in a field, we see them dancing around similar to “moshing” which is often seen in punk or rock music videos, aiming for a reckless look. This also gives us the vibe of being at a festival. We also see them in a muddy field, which you would find in England, everyone is dressed in punky clothes such as jeans and clutching beers; however Rihanna is dressed in American print clothing making her stand out. We also see close up pov shots of police cars which are seen in the music video for Beastie Boy’s “Sabotage”. We also see frequent alcohol misuse and drug use and even theft, showing us a side to Rihanna not before seen in music videos.

The audience for this video is very large, as it has nearly 300 million views on YouTube. This song was also number one in both UK and USA charts for a very long time. You can also see comments on the video in different languages showing its popular all over the world. The top comment as of recent is one by an obvious Rihanna fan saying “Go NAVY 300M <3” (Navy being the name for Rihanna’s fans); telling us there is a large fan base viewing this video. This video caused much controversy for its drug use scenes, which were often censored on television prompting a mass to complain, but this still added to the numbers viewing the video. The appeal to teen audiences is seen in the alternative fashion sense and skins-like lifestyle teens could aspire to. The hair and outfits has also inspired many tutorial looks on YouTube getting many views from young demographics.

Technology is used in this video to create interesting shots. They use CGI to write firework/sparkler style writing saying “yours” and then later a fake tattoo on Rihanna saying “mine” highlighting the possessive relationship between the pair. Arhcive footage of explosions and cigarettes/drugs also cut in occasionally   The video also uses colour to animate a cigarette which has rainbow coloured ash. Finally we also see Rihanna throwing up confetti, which would have been edited in post.

We will use similar conventions to this music video, such as the projector and the romantic storyline. We also want to use a similar style of opening with a sound collage.

 The music videos I will be investigating are “Teleport 2 Me” – Kid Cudi, “Blue Jeans” – Lana Del Rey and “Welcome To Heartbreak” – Kanye West.

The first video I chose to look at is “Teleport 2 Me” by Kid Cudi. This video was directed by Walter Robot. The video was released as promotion for his WZRD album. I chose to look at this video as it uses colour writing, and we want to use this when filming in the drama studio. The video also reflects on a similar storyline, he is missing the person he loves. Our song “At Home” talks about how they miss the places they grew up in and the people there. In this video Kid Cudi is trying to get back to his girlfriend, and keeps ending up in the same place. The setting is beautifully lit, and full of purple and pink light. There is also overlays which make it look abstract. The setting is in a dingy house as well, that seems to be magic as he keeps going through doors and ending up at the same place. I hope we can create similar lighting techniques as this video does. 

 

The next video I will look at is Lana Del Rey’s video for “Blue Jeans”. This video was released in 2012, as a promotional video for her re release of her album called The Paradise Edition. This video was directed by Woodkid, a musician and successful director. He has a distinct style when editing, including black and white and cinematic style lighting. The video was produced by Black Dog Films and shot by Rodrigo Prieto. I chose to look at this video because it has underwater shots that I find interesting. I also like the use of slow motion and black and white editing. We will try and ahieve similar stylistic looks when filming our underwater shots. The setting is also in one place but doesn’t get boring which I find clever. Lana is shown as a weak person, who is destroyed by love in this video, almost hinting that she is being drowned by love. The video also uses water sound affects to add to it, which I like as we also want to use a sound collage. 

This video is by Kanye West and Kid Cudi and it’s for “Welcome To Heartbreak” from the album 808’s and Heartbreak. It was directed by Nabil, and edited by Ghosttown This video uses an interesting technique called data moshing. I chose to look at this video because the simple shots are made good by editing and lighting. The use of colour lighting and overlays against the white backgrounds are something that I want to create in our work. The storyline is simply that the artist is reflecting on his life, to coincide with the lyrics. The setting is a dingy flat/apartment with plain walls. This video is made visually creative by editing, which is what we plan on doing.

Animatic & Storyboarding

Here is our animatic video for our music video for "At Home - Crystal Fighters". In this animatic, we have simple ideas for shots that we will include in our music video.

Presentation Feedback

This is our presentation for our A2 planning. We included slides about our inspiration from directors and previous music videos we have enoyed. We mostly wrote about stylistic features we would like to work on, especially cinematography and post production skills. When we presented our work to the class, we recieved feedback from the class. We were told that they liked our song choices, and in the end we have chosen the song "At Home - Crystal Fighters" as the class had the best reaction to this one, and as they are our target audience, we value their opinion highly. We were also told that our stylistic ideas were good, and that our inspiration from Lana Del Rey was interesting, so in further developing our ideas, I shall look at her music videos in closer details. Lastly, we were told to focus on creating a storyline for our video, as at the time we weren't 100% sure. However, we are currently working on our story board and animatic, which will help us concentrate on improving this.

After our feedback, I feel it has made us more confident, and given us a clear focus for our music video.

Our Target Audience

Demographics represent a specific type of target audience. In our music video we hope to aim to a particular demographic, as well as a psychographic. I have included a collage of things our target audience would enjoy such as concerts, clothes, foods, films etc.

Our target audience would be from 16-24. As the genre of the song is indie, and the typical indie audience are of this age we also aimed for this age. This type of audience would also more than likely be of the C1 demographic who this age and area (suburban living areas) would more than likely be in. This social group are our target because they are more than likely to have "disposable income", meaning they would be more likely to spend money on things such as concert tickets, merchandise, and watch the video. Making them in terms of psychodynamics, collectors or spectators.We also hope to aim for joiners, so those who like the indie/pop genre and would come across/enjoy our video.
Our type of audience would be from a suburban area, a young adult age, and of a lower middle class social group. We hope to aim for both genres and all ethnicities, however due to the storyline of the video (romantic/memories) it will more than likely be more popular with females.

Knebworth Music Video

Production Option

In our group we have decided to do a music video for our A2 advance portfolio production. We chose to do this as we felt like we could creatively respond to this well and think of more ideas in terms of editing and shots. A documentary style film didn't appeal as much as we though this would be the "easy route". We did originally plan on maybe doing both, but on reflection we would not be able to do this as we then wouldn't be fully focused on either and wouldn't produce work as good.

We have decided to make a music video with the idea of using a projector overlaying, we plan to experiment with this early on in our production. We also want to recreate music video ideas by Lana Del Rey or Ariana Grande.

Knebworth House Music Video Practise

To practice for our main task, we went to Knebworth House to film a music video. The theme for this task was summer. We chose an upbeat song about summer called "Heatwave" by Wiley. However on the day it rained. We made the best of this by choosing a range of locations and shots, and selecting our framing carefully. Our final edit was disappointing, showing that when it comes to the real task we need to practice more when it comes to timekeeping and editing.

Final Cut

Evaluation Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

From looking at the preliminary task we have used a number of different skills we learnt during the task and applied them to the film opening production.  By being put in a larger group for the preliminary task it allowed me to rely more so on others, this then also prepared me for the amount of work we would be doing for our production. When we created the preliminary task we were also told to use Hollywood style editing, this was an unfamiliar style to us, this allowed use to create a more professional looking film opening in contrast to our GCSE work. The preliminary task also told us we could have a maximum of 30 seconds, ensuring we didn't overrun this is something we would have to take on board for the final production as we had a set time of 2 minutes, and in our groups we found this rather difficult as we had a lot of footage! Our final production over ran 2 minutes which meant we had to cut some of the shots we believed and our class believed didn't work as well as the others. 
We also technically were using more difficult aspects, as in the preliminary we didn't use any colour grading, much of the sound editing we did in the main task was new and we used a different camera and microphone and lighting than to the preliminary task. 

Overall, I feel like I have learnt a lot since beginning the full product. Mostly in the realms of planning and editing. I did not expect to be doing as much planning as I did, however the task has taught me a lot. I feel like Billy and I have produced a good piece of work, using what we have learnt.