1. What do you think you learnt from Monday's workshop? You could discuss anything you like - technical, performance, production process, directing, the various roles, specific skills - anything you think is relevant.
Mondays shoot was extremely helpful for numerous reasons.
Pre-Production, Planning, Props and Costume
The whole pre-production process gave us a real taster for all the different aspects of putting a music video together.
The fact we were copying a music video, rather than producing a new, unseen one helped us tremendously because it allowed us to explore all the aspects of a music video shoot, without the stress of coming up with new ideas, new story boards, new costumes etc...
Sourcing the costumes, and setting up the hall for filming proved really helpful. They demonstrated the importance of this role, and the need to meticulously plan this part of our own music video.
Below is a picture of some of the props for the library scene.
Technical
Before the shoot we were able to meet and talk to the director, the camera man and Tom (man on lights). This gave us an insight into their roles prior to the shoot.
On the shoot, again, we were able to talk to them and ask questions on the different roles involved. This was really insightful because it allowed us to learn more about the technical side of producing a music video from professionals.
We also got a chance to have ago, using the more specialised equipment. For instance, I got a chance to light the shot.
On shoot, we also used tracking. This was good to use as it allowed us to track smoothly. Unfortunately for our shoot, we wont have such specialised equipment, but seeing it being used first hand was really exciting and fun.
We also got a chance to use a crane, to achieve the over head shot, seen in the video. Again, this was really fun and a completely new experience. The shoot worked really well and was well achieved.
Overall the expertise of the team and the specialist of the equipment, proved really helpful and helped to broaden my understanding and insight into the more technical aspect of producing a music video. All of which will be really helpful when producing my own music video in the up coming months.
Performance
Doing the preliminary lip-sync task was really good at building up both mine, and my partners confidence when it came to preforming. We were able to see ourselves on the other side of the camera for once, and see how we looked and how well we preformed. At first we were sceptical and extremely nervous. However, we soon grew in confidence, and just had fun with the piece. The song itself helped this greatly as it was fun and lively.
This prelim exercise helped us for our real preformance. It improved our lip-syncing skills and saw us grow in confidence and allowed us to pull off a really convincing preformance!
2. For you, what was the best bit of the day and why?
For me the best part of the day was watching everyone preform. The monitor allowed us to see what was happening. This was really fun to watch.
I enjoyed the performance side of things much more than i anticipated. The atmosphere on shoot was really friendly, which made everyone feel really relaxed. Everyone seemed keen to preform. Perhaps also due to the confidence gained from the lip sync preliminary task.
Additionally, I enjoyed seeing everything come together. The costume, the set, the lighting and all the different shot compositions, shot types etc... All the prior weeks of planning were worth it! I also enjoyed talking to the production team and them sharing their expertise and experiences. It all felt really professional and as if we were on a real music video shoot. The end result is really impressive as well, demonstrating the ability of the cast.
3. Are you pleased with your edit? Is it how you expected it to look? Identify the successes and failures of your edited version. In hindsight, what would you do differently at the production stage?
Overall I am really pleased with our edit. At first I was a little sceptical as to how convincing our version would be. However, looking at our video and the original the similarity of shoot types, framing etc.. is impressive. I really enjoyed editing the video. It was fun to have something to work from and to copy. It allowed me and my partner to practice our editing skills to a might tighter, stricter frame.
The crane shot works especially well and I'm really pleased with this aspect of our video.
I am also impressed by the way we were able to use the space we had and yet match it so convincingly. For instance, the library scene. I thought the presence of the gym floor would ruin the shoot, but it really doesn't. The props used (the posters and book shelves in the background) detract from the gym floor.
I was also a little worried about the change of characters from the gym to the library, but again i think we covered up the transition well. It looks convincing.
However, there is a couple, minor parts that do not match exactly. For instance, the dance routine in the library. The girl in the video turns the opposite way to Ciara (our main girl). In the grand scheme of things however, this is such a small flaw, and does not detract from the rest of the video, which matches impressively well.
If we could reshoot I would quite like to get a shoot of the locker. We copied the original for our sequence, however, getting own our shoot would have been better in my opinion, making it more authentic and our own.
4. Have the lip sync tasks benefitted you in any way?
The lip sync tasks have be hugely beneficial. At first I was really nervous to preform and did not want to be in front of the camera. However, after doing the first practice lip sync (She and Him, In the Sun) I had grown massively in confidence. By the time we were completing our second practice lip-sync i was actually quite looking forward to it!
Doing this practice task has made me more willing to preform in our actual video; something I would have never volunteered for before! It is really helpful if someone within the group is the performer because they are more dedicated to the project and have an obligation to attend every shoot. Getting friends, actors or actresses, can be more risky as they tend not to be as dedicated, or realise the amount of work that actually goes into a shoot.
The shoot, also meant I could practice lip-syncing and has improved this skills, meaning if I did preform in our music video, it would be more convincing.
5. How do you think the work you have completed for the preliminary tasks will impact on your real music video project?
Pre-Production
All the preliminary tasks have been really beneficial for the future.
The main music shoot and the lead up to this helped me to realise all the planning that goes into a music video. I was able to explore costume, the importance of props, dance routines etc...
I look forward on our real shoot to exploring the other aspects of pre-prodcution; coming up with the idea, story boarding etc.. Even though this task proved invaluable in expanding many aspects of producing a music video, this task was quite restricting in exploring our creative ability. I really enjoy the creative side and the planning stage of media so I look forward to undertaking this in due course.
Production
The actual shoot itself, allowed me to experience first hand what it is like on a real shoot and all the different elements needed to pull of a music video. Talking to the cast enabled me to broaden my understanding of all different aspect of shooting; lighting, camera work, directing and managing. Watching the cast undertake these roles also showed me the importance of team work - working together. What I learnt on our Opening Sequence shoot about the importance of team work, was confirmed by the professionals. I look forward to being in full control of all of these aspects of production, and exploring different techniques not experienced on shoot.
Editing
Editing both our lip-sync tasks and the In The Sun music video also allowed me to practice my editing skills. For the In the Sun video I found it quite hard to stick to such a rigid frame. This however, provex useful and it forced me to overcome difficulties I faced and still produce a music video which was extremely similar to the original counter-part.
I look forward to producing our own music video, where we wont have to stick to such a rigid editing task and will have freedom to explore our editing skills.
Lip-syncing tasks
The lip-sync preliminary tasks were also really helpful in improving my performance. They have helped me build in confidence and made me more willing to preform in our actual music video.
Additionally, editing the videos, again helped to improve my editing skills. We used a mix up of close up and long shots. I like the dramatic effect of cutting from a long shot to a close up our music video has. This is a commonly used cut used in music videos. This task confirmed to me the importance of such cuts and so in that sense proved really insightful.
Overall, all the tasks have benefited me greatly and will prove invaluable when I undertake the production of my own music video.
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