We edited our film using Final Cut Express, this is a programme we all found easy to use as we had all used it previously whilst editing our AS pieces.
However, editing a music video proved to be much more challenging than editing a short film.
The biggest challenge was making sure the lyrics of the song were in synchronisation with the words Leah was singing in the film.
A major change we made whilst editing our film was choosing to remove a scene that showed the couple arguing after the boyfriend (Ant) had found pictures of Leah with another man. We decided to remove this scene as we felt it did not add to the storyline and caused the audience to dislike Leah which was not what we wanted to achieve. By including this scene we also felt it would add a negative aspect to the relationship within the video which was we wanted to avoid as the song describes a happy relationship and her gratefulness for it.
Monday, 29 March 2010
Production of the Film
Before filming, we decided we wanted to create a simple music video rather than use a large amount of special effects as this would take away from the simplicity of Sarah Russell’s music.
We began by choosing the locations for our film and decided to use simple locations; such as a park and bedroom as the lyrics within the song are very effortless which is why these locations are easily accessible and add to the simplicity of the film.
A location we used that I like in particular is where we have used a long shot while Leah is walking along a tree log and we then switch to a wide shot where the couple are walking along in the distance. I feel this is an effective way of illustrating that time has passed during their relationship and their isolation helps to show they only need each other to be happy.
The camera angles we chose to use were also important particularly the one used whilst Leah is singing the lyrics of the song. We chose to use a mid-shot, and placed the camera slightly off-centre as this helps to illustrate that she is not speaking to the audience and also leaves it open to interpretation as to whom she is speaking to (either herself or her boyfriend).
We also used these shots to illustrate a change of mood and tempo in the song;
This is a freeze-frame taken from the start of the film.
The side angle we have used helps to illustrate how there is distance between the relationship of singer (Leah) and the audience. This distance gradually shrinks as the camera angle alters through the course of the film, and the relationship between Lean and the audience grows adding a more personal fell to the film.
As you can see, the camera angle has altered slightly from the previous clip so it is almost as if Leah is speaking to the audience (or her boyfriend depending on your interpretation.
This freeze-frame also demonstrates that there has been a development within the film as Leah is much happier in this clip which is reflective of her feelings for her relationship with her boyfriend.
The camera angle
of this freeze-frame is demonstrative of the development of the relationship between the audience and Leah as she is now looking directly into the camera as if she is speaking to those watching.
Her large smile also conveys her happiness regarding her relationship and helps to end the film on a positive note, which is what we were aiming for.
Whilst filming our music video we had to make a dramatic change to the scene that takes place in her mind.
We originally had the idea of using a green screen for this scene and make the scene more dream-like, however the screen we had access to was quite small limiting meaning we could not use a long-shot and there were also certain technical difficulties as we had never used a green screen before. After taking this into consideration we also realised that by using a green screen, it would take away from the simplicity of the video and may not seem as effective when included along-side our other shots that were much simpler.
We began by choosing the locations for our film and decided to use simple locations; such as a park and bedroom as the lyrics within the song are very effortless which is why these locations are easily accessible and add to the simplicity of the film.
A location we used that I like in particular is where we have used a long shot while Leah is walking along a tree log and we then switch to a wide shot where the couple are walking along in the distance. I feel this is an effective way of illustrating that time has passed during their relationship and their isolation helps to show they only need each other to be happy.
The camera angles we chose to use were also important particularly the one used whilst Leah is singing the lyrics of the song. We chose to use a mid-shot, and placed the camera slightly off-centre as this helps to illustrate that she is not speaking to the audience and also leaves it open to interpretation as to whom she is speaking to (either herself or her boyfriend).
We also used these shots to illustrate a change of mood and tempo in the song;
This is a freeze-frame taken from the start of the film.
The side angle we have used helps to illustrate how there is distance between the relationship of singer (Leah) and the audience. This distance gradually shrinks as the camera angle alters through the course of the film, and the relationship between Lean and the audience grows adding a more personal fell to the film.
As you can see, the camera angle has altered slightly from the previous clip so it is almost as if Leah is speaking to the audience (or her boyfriend depending on your interpretation.This freeze-frame also demonstrates that there has been a development within the film as Leah is much happier in this clip which is reflective of her feelings for her relationship with her boyfriend.
The camera angle
of this freeze-frame is demonstrative of the development of the relationship between the audience and Leah as she is now looking directly into the camera as if she is speaking to those watching.Her large smile also conveys her happiness regarding her relationship and helps to end the film on a positive note, which is what we were aiming for.
Whilst filming our music video we had to make a dramatic change to the scene that takes place in her mind.
We originally had the idea of using a green screen for this scene and make the scene more dream-like, however the screen we had access to was quite small limiting meaning we could not use a long-shot and there were also certain technical difficulties as we had never used a green screen before. After taking this into consideration we also realised that by using a green screen, it would take away from the simplicity of the video and may not seem as effective when included along-side our other shots that were much simpler.
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Ancillary Tasks
Once we had confirmation from Sarah Russell’s manager, allowing us to use her music for our video we were able to discuss what we wanted to do for our ancillary tasks.
There were three possible options of which we had to choose two. We decided we would create a DVD cover and a magazine advertisement as the final option of designing a web page did not appeal to any of us.
There were three possible options of which we had to choose two. We decided we would create a DVD cover and a magazine advertisement as the final option of designing a web page did not appeal to any of us.
Ancillary Task – DVD Cover
We chose to create a DVD cover as we felt this was something we would be able to link easily with our magazine advertisement and the DVD can be seen advertised on the poster(advertisement).
For the DVD cover we used InDesign importing photographs we had taken on a few of the sites we used for filming our video. We cropped and edited the colouring of the shots to highlight our singer as the focus point of the image rather than the background.
We used the same colour scheme as the magazine advertisement as this provided us with a sense of continuity between our ancillary tasks which we felt was an important aspect of the task.
When creating this cover we looked at both DVD cases that were presently on the market and also CD covers as this is what music albums are traditionally sold in.
We also decided to follow more of a CD cover layout as this was a DVD representing a music video, therefore we used a central stripe that includes the lists of Sarah Russell's other songs that would traditionally be included in a music album, as this draws the attention to the musical aspect of the DVD rather than the film.
We also decided to follow more of a CD cover layout as this was a DVD representing a music video, therefore we used a central stripe that includes the lists of Sarah Russell's other songs that would traditionally be included in a music album, as this draws the attention to the musical aspect of the DVD rather than the film. We added the finishing touches to our DVD cover by taking the measurements of a real DVD case and checking our design fitted an average DVD case.
After completing our DVD cover we also decided to create a design that can be included on the actual CD of our film as it is very rare to find a blank CD when buying a DVD or CD both are usually linked to the artist or film in some respect. This is what we decided to do and by keeping to our theme of simplicity, we came up with the product that is visible within the issuu document on the second page.
For the DVD cover we used InDesign importing photographs we had taken on a few of the sites we used for filming our video. We cropped and edited the colouring of the shots to highlight our singer as the focus point of the image rather than the background.
We used the same colour scheme as the magazine advertisement as this provided us with a sense of continuity between our ancillary tasks which we felt was an important aspect of the task.
When creating this cover we looked at both DVD cases that were presently on the market and also CD covers as this is what music albums are traditionally sold in.
We also decided to follow more of a CD cover layout as this was a DVD representing a music video, therefore we used a central stripe that includes the lists of Sarah Russell's other songs that would traditionally be included in a music album, as this draws the attention to the musical aspect of the DVD rather than the film.
We also decided to follow more of a CD cover layout as this was a DVD representing a music video, therefore we used a central stripe that includes the lists of Sarah Russell's other songs that would traditionally be included in a music album, as this draws the attention to the musical aspect of the DVD rather than the film. We added the finishing touches to our DVD cover by taking the measurements of a real DVD case and checking our design fitted an average DVD case.
After completing our DVD cover we also decided to create a design that can be included on the actual CD of our film as it is very rare to find a blank CD when buying a DVD or CD both are usually linked to the artist or film in some respect. This is what we decided to do and by keeping to our theme of simplicity, we came up with the product that is visible within the issuu document on the second page.
Ancillary Task – Magazine Advertisement
We decided to do a magazine advertisement/poster as we felt we could create this to a high standard that was more effective than a website advertising Sarah Russell, especially as we did not have enough knowledge that would be required for us to create a high-quality website.
We used InDesign to create our Magazine advertisement, looking at the newspaper and magazine templates of advertisements to ensure what we were producing was acurate to what is present within popular music magazines such as NME.
We added photographs that we had taken previously by importing them directly into InDesign and placing where we wanted in the poster, we decided to wipe the background on photoshop as we wanted the background of the cloud she is in to be blank so no attention is removed from the singer.
We chose to use a bold colour scheme that was not gender specific as our target audience ranged across both female and male viewers. We used red/black/white/grey throughout our advertisement as these colours were bold and engaging. We found these colours appealed to the late-teens and mid-20's of our target audience as they are quite youthful due to their contrasting nature, whereas elder people tend to prefer paler colours.
The font we used was found on a website called dafont.com which had a wide range of fonts available to choose from.
http://www.dafont.com/
This was extremely useful as it meant we were no longer restricted to those provided by idesign which is the programme we used to create our poster.
Within this issuu document I have also included some of the photographs that we were choosing between to use for the DVD cover and the advertisement However we decided to take some different photographs for the advertisement as we did not want anything in the background that may detract from the artist.
We used InDesign to create our Magazine advertisement, looking at the newspaper and magazine templates of advertisements to ensure what we were producing was acurate to what is present within popular music magazines such as NME.
We added photographs that we had taken previously by importing them directly into InDesign and placing where we wanted in the poster, we decided to wipe the background on photoshop as we wanted the background of the cloud she is in to be blank so no attention is removed from the singer.
We chose to use a bold colour scheme that was not gender specific as our target audience ranged across both female and male viewers. We used red/black/white/grey throughout our advertisement as these colours were bold and engaging. We found these colours appealed to the late-teens and mid-20's of our target audience as they are quite youthful due to their contrasting nature, whereas elder people tend to prefer paler colours.
The font we used was found on a website called dafont.com which had a wide range of fonts available to choose from.
http://www.dafont.com/
This was extremely useful as it meant we were no longer restricted to those provided by idesign which is the programme we used to create our poster.
Within this issuu document I have also included some of the photographs that we were choosing between to use for the DVD cover and the advertisement However we decided to take some different photographs for the advertisement as we did not want anything in the background that may detract from the artist.
Textual Analysis
Sarah Russell mentions that Kate Nash was a big influence on her music style so we decided it would be a good idea to try and incorporate aspects of Kate Nash’s music videos into our film.
After watching a few of Kate Nash’s video’s we decided we liked ‘Foundations’ the most as the idea of the video helping to explain the lyrics was one that we wanted to incorporate into our film.
We also liked the idea of making the singer the sole focus of attention when she is directing the lyrics towards the audience and is something we used whilst filming our video.
Another artist we decided to use for inspiration was Taylor Swift.
We used the music videos of Taylor Swift’s songs as we felt there were a large number of parallels between what has been included within her videos and what we wanted to incorporate into ours.
We decided to focus on “You Belong With Me” as this is a video showing a girl’s love for a boy.
“You Belong With Me” is a very feminine song describing the love the singer has for a boy, much the same as ours, particularly as the lyrics from her song is reflected within the video.
A direct parallel that we have been influenced is where both actors are situated on a bench, smiling and laughing together.
After watching a few of Kate Nash’s video’s we decided we liked ‘Foundations’ the most as the idea of the video helping to explain the lyrics was one that we wanted to incorporate into our film.
We also liked the idea of making the singer the sole focus of attention when she is directing the lyrics towards the audience and is something we used whilst filming our video.
Another artist we decided to use for inspiration was Taylor Swift.
We used the music videos of Taylor Swift’s songs as we felt there were a large number of parallels between what has been included within her videos and what we wanted to incorporate into ours.
We decided to focus on “You Belong With Me” as this is a video showing a girl’s love for a boy.
“You Belong With Me” is a very feminine song describing the love the singer has for a boy, much the same as ours, particularly as the lyrics from her song is reflected within the video.
A direct parallel that we have been influenced is where both actors are situated on a bench, smiling and laughing together.
This clip (left) was the inspiration for this clip (right) in our own film.
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Storyboard
Although our aim was to follow the storyboard exactly, we did have to make a few changes to the storyline of the video.
We decided to remove page 3 of our storyboard entirely from our film as we felt these scenes did not add anything constructive to the piece. These scenes illustrated how sad Leah had become after a fall out with her boyfriend and show the argument taking place (through the use of a sepia filter as a way of demonstrating the video is now taking place in the past). We felt these scenes dampened the happiness of the film and caused the audience to feel pessimism towards both characters within the film which was not something we wanted to achieve.
We replaced these scenes with clips of the couple together and their happiness whilst they are with each other which is what we felt Sarah Russel was trying to convey through the lyrics of her song.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)