More Edited Test Shots - Evaluation

These are the majority of shots that I have edited to see what I can improve for the future shoots. Aspects of the sequence I will be checking include: Lighting, Mise en Scene, Lip syncing, pacing along with a variety of visual effects. Firstly the lighting was meant to present film noir, this is because I wanted to see if I could create the contrast between black and white. I believe that I had achieved the film     noir style but there are still improvements that have to be made. For example at 00:07 the two characters are not lit at all, we only had a reflector but it didn't do a lot because of the weather. This lead to the shot looking very bland and flat because they aren't being lit separately to the wall. I feel that in future shoots I will try and light my subject using a standard three point lighting setup but use a strong key light and a strong hairlight to create the harsh shadows. To further improve this shot I will use better aspect ratio's in order to provide a modern wide screen look, without the gaps to the right.

This shot at 00:13 was constructed using a poorly lit white screen, it worked surprisingly well and I was happy with the result however I would want to refine the 'Trebor' mints wrapper by get closer shots of the packaging or creating my own version in illustrator to stop the shot looking so out of focus. Furthermore I will be adding more camera shake onto the image because this makes the video more aggressive instead of the shot being bland. However in order to do this I have either move all the elements separately or I have to put them all into a single clip, kind of like merging the layers to form a single entity. Going back to the white screen, I may change this to a better lit green-screen because it allows me to cancel out the white boarder around the character.

The next shot at 00:19 is a shot that I like because it really gives the sense of filmnoir because of the lack of light in it, which illuminates the Dan Bull logo. However I would like to take a shot like this and apply the three point lighting setup in order to distinguish the rapper from the background instead of him just blending in. This is because I want to add depth to this shot and because it will increase the contrasting lines that I am trying to achieve. I am looking into using a further two lights to illuminate the face more but light create a low key light look. Lastly I am going to be adding a little camera movement in post that will add to the overall aggressive vibe of the music video.

This shot at 00:26 is probably a shot that I will not be using in the actual product because it doesn't show enough of the performer. However I wanted to point out that the use of the light adds depth, which is distorted by the VFX  and this is why I am either getting rid of the VFX on the shot or the shot its self. The reason the VFX don't work well is that they are not intergrated with the scene but instead put on top. Furthermore this shot isn't lit properly because we wanted one light behind the performer to see if the 'hairlight' would create a strong outline. Instead what we found was that we need a stronger 'hairlight' and 'keylight' in order to create the harsh shadows. In future shoots I while bring more lights to the scene.

The shot by the tank at 00:31 is probably the shot where our location was right and it really helps with the mise en scene. Furthermore the cameraman zooming in really help get that dramatic movement towards the artist. The lighting on the artist could have been better however I feel that with some colour correction tweaks I could make this shot look good enough to go into the final edit. I may try and re-shoot this scene or find another vehicle for this shot because I would like to get more shots of the vehicle. I will further be using this handheld technique for the majority of other shots.

For the shots of Fraser's character at the begining of the music video I really wanted to push the idea of film noir in this music video. Furthermore I wanted to add depth using the camera to focus harshly on Fraser's face and then upping the blur in post. I only brought one light with me but I was fairly pleased with how this test shot has panned out. However for the actual shot I will be in a different location at a different time to avoid people walking in the background. This is because it can distract the audience from the character's emotion. I may further try and improve the shadows on his face by having a stronger key light.


This shot is another VFX shot that I wanted to try. It takes place at 00:?? and worked really well in terms of the visual effect, I thought that it would be a lot harder to pull off but by keeping it simple and not moving the camera it worked really well. However I want every shot to be perfect so I do have some aspects that I would change and some further things that people pointed out to me when I asked them for their critical opinion. I personally would change the framing of the shot, which was a view further expressed by others. This is because the shot doesn't focus on the flashback as much as I thought, which means that by the time the audience realise whats going on the action has already disappeared. Another mistake that was shown to me was that the light I used was reflecting in the window of the door, which overall distracted the audience from the narrative. On the topic of lighting I would light the scene better in terms of lighting the outline of both 'Fraser's' to provide an outline to them, separating them from the background further creating depth.

Lighting [Research] - Film Noir

This is my basic plan for achieving the film noir look, I want to take the standard three point lighting display and modify it to create harsher shadows similar to chiaroscuro. I want to adopt the low key lighting setup to create these harsh contrasts between black and white in my music video to create depth and atmosphere in my shots. I have researched into lighting my music video outdoors and indoors furthermore I have looked at how to 'light the dark in order to avoid the grain.

Animatic

This has some updated scenes that have been cut like the introduction, which I am cutting.

Storyboard - Analyses

Before I started filming my product I knew that I had to get my ideas onto paper, this is so that I don't forget my ideas and can easily explain them to others before the shoot. I had taken inspiration from the music videos that I had analysed previously. I knew that I wanted to start my music video with a strong narrative following a nerd character through a school. I wanted this to create an emotional connection between the audience and the character. The shots included on the first page are to introduce Fraser's character to the audience and setup the idea for the balaclava. Furthermore I knew that I needed to show physical attack to draw an audience into the narrative and to set an emotional attachment with the idea of conflict. This makes the song have more meaning than just the link to a video game, which would attracted more commercial listeners and viewers. 

 I know that the opening had to setup ideas about the music video taking place within his head, this meant that I had to give a reason why he puts on the mask and why he is performing in the music department. At first I wanted the bully to make the song play around the whole school through a microphone. However this may be cut from my final product because I don't want to stay in the school to long, furthermore I want to focus on the actual music video instead of the setup.
The problems I have with these scenes is that I want a black and white film noir feel to this. I will include these in the animatic because I want to test the pacing but I may cut them. I want to film these scenes after school however the only problem is that they were meant to take place in the morning. However I'm sure I will be able to solve this by either adapting the story or using lighting to create an early morning atmosphere.





The shot where Fraser's character turns into the rapper is one that I need to test because it is actually a VFX shot. Furthermore it is one of the opening shots to the music video and is essential to setting up the idea that the music takes place within the characters head. In addition to this I wanted to have a free moving camera ('K-Pop' convention) to connote the idea of dream like state. However this is proving harder than I expected because it takes a crane, drone or a glide cam to achieve this. Although I have purchased a glide cam it has proven very tricky for my camera man to use and takes a long time for him to get it right. This has lead to me ultimately having to decide not to use it but it kills the look I wanted. An alternative that I am looking into is a dollytrack and or a wheelchair.





The next shots are also VFX heavy, I want to have an interactive gunshot. I want the VFX to integrate with the music video and help create a surreal dream like mood. I have tested many of these shots because I want to refine them before I release the actual music video. Furthermore the constant change of locations and characters will prove a challenge to get a shooting schedule together. One scene on this page that includes a tricky location is the military vehicle that I have to coordinate with an army reenactment group, which means getting my crew and I to all be there on the same day as them.
The shot on the bottom right is something that I have tested a several times before I do this for the actual product, this is because I have to keep the camera completely still and in the same place in order for the effect to work. I will film the shot twice using someone as reference and I will be once on the left and once on the right then mask the two together in order to create the illusion of a single shot.


I have got the props and costume, which will help build up a mise en scene however the location in these scenes are also very important. For example I want to have short snippets of lyric supported narrative like the scene top right. This is only going to be in the music video for 5 seconds so it's important to have a good location to help with the iconography which ultimately helps push the narrative. Another example is the shot underneath where I want to blow up London. This shot relies heavily on the iconography of London to help the audience understand what is going on in those few seconds. I further wanted to incorporate action scenes in my music video. The POV shot bottom right shows a shotgun going off and flashbangs etc, this is influenced by the lyrics. The storyboard page shows the idea behind this music video: Performance then narrative because there is performance on the left and action on the right.



The shots on this page show the high level of interactivity between the performer and the camera. This is a common convention in K-Pop music videos, which have had a strong impact on the commercial music scene in western music videos. For example in the top right I wanted the camera to use blurred transitions when the camera is hit into the next shot. This level of interactivity is increased further when the camera is sprayed with water. I want the performer to constantly break the fourth wall because it will constantly reinforce the idea that the music video is taking place within the characters head. I also wanted to include scenes, which include intertextual references towards other types of media like what the artist has done in the song. I have achieved this by including a StarWars scene. This is another visual effect that I have practiced twice in order to get the effect right.




I want the camera to often be either a close ups or mid shots because it has to feel very personal to the viewer. The shots where there are two of me will have to be a mid shot or wide shot so I actually can be seen. A lot of these shots are close ups because it relates to the platform that it will be shown on, Youtube. This platform is all about watching your content grow which means that the viewers have a strong emotional connection towards the Youtuber, this is connoted through the use of close ups. I also decided to have a yoga motion as a mini narrative to engage the viewer and keep them entertained.









I want to have an 'X-ray' scene where the skeleton lip syncs to the track, this is because towards the end of the music video I wanted the character to grow in strength and confidence. It further relates to the lyrics of the song to do with x-rays, which will further support the track visually. In addition to this it signifies strength and power for the character.
I will further try and include canted angles like film noir films and rap music videos, these transitions will also be using fire to relate to the rap idea of 'fire' lyrics.

Towards the very end of the video I'm going to use more fire elements and lower angles to give the character more power within the rise pace of the song. Furthermore I will be using a change in costume to relate back to commercial rap therefore playing on stereotypes that are often seen in mainstream media. I am deciding whether to use a mask of Tony Blair on the lyric about Afghanistan. However this may be too controversial for my artist even if he is slightly political.










Finally I will end the video with a low angle to show complete dominance over the rap, then he will walk off.

Reflection and Evaluation [My Process]

Within the process of making this music video I have tried to improve upon the weaknesses I showed in the creation of my AS media product. I feel that I gave myself a good foundation for the start of the process. The reason I felt the start was so important is because I wanted to become more fluent and professional in my process. To begin with I researched loads of music video to get a sense of style and genre I wanted to work in. Furthermore I had over the summer already got permission to use an artists song, which allowed me to work on what I wanted to do visually a lot quicker because I had already established a genre of music. However I did have to do further research on the different sub-genres within music videos and the variation of hybridisation of these genres. Compared to the previous time I had to research I felt that I improved within the amount of it I did and the depth that I went into. To further understand the conventions of a music videos I looked into specific features such as: smoke, location and lights. I felt that these were essential were creating the professional look within my Mise en Scene. Instead of looking at purely professional music videos I diverted to more unaccepted forms of music videos. I felt that this built a greater understanding of media I am working in and this help set a standard for what I want to achieve.

However planning was a different story because although I can draw at storyboard up from the foundations I laid earlier in the year, I felt that my ambitions have overcomplicated my approach to this. I wanted to make something extraordinary for this final product but didn't realise the time that I had to make it, furthermore I much preferred working in a group because although this does create challenges through disagreements, it means that the product was always becoming stronger. In addition to this, having to explain my ideas to other people forced me to write in detail about everything so that they would understand, without that I am finding it a challenge to get everything to paper in enough depth. An example of this is the storyboard, which is all done however the annotations on the storyboard aren't in enough detail to explain or post on my blog meaning that I am unable to make an animatic because the camera movements aren't definite. Another problem is now I am on my own, I am relying on opinions of people who aren't creating it, this means that although the feedback I get is critical I fear that my ideas are far to extravagant for one person to make, especially in the time scale. This means that I am skipping important parts of planning so that I can actually get the filming done in time, but these parts of planning are essential to making the shoots less stressful and overall making a better product. The fact that I have to perform the song as well makes the shoots even more challenging because my camera man is not part of the production process with me, which means I have to explain it to him instead of him knowing what I want to achieve. I am fine when it comes to the album cover task because I am confident in my photoshop capabilities and it will not take me too long. Overall I have done everything to some extent but it is not on my blog or it is not to the standard that I want. I need help with finding a suitable location to achieve a low key lit room, where I can have a black background.

[VFX] Test Shots

This is my skeleton test shot. I am currently doing loads of test shots to test both visual effects and lighting so that on the actual shooting day I am prepared. This allows me to improve what I have achieved for the actual shoot. This allows me to improve upon my weaknesses to achieve the professional standard and work towards excellence. I have filmed more test shots but they are still in editing. I want to get all this done by the end of the month (November) because I need to start planning the actual shoots in January, which are more likely to take place in a studio.

Location Scouting

- The look?
- Sound?
- Light?
- Time and distance?
- FOOD!
- Safe?
- Law for guns etc?
- Power?

For my music video I need several locations for both my performance and narrative scenes. The location can reflect how professional a music video is because the location is the foundations that the mise en scene is built upon. For each of these locations I will be asking myself the questions above. The location firstly has look right, this may sound obvious but I have to visit each one to look at the lighting capabilities structures there. This is because I want to avoid the problems I faced last year where it took hours upon hours to setup. Due to my shoots being less flexible because they are public places, I want to have a more organised and planned approach towards shooting my music video. Although I don't need sound in my music video because it's all being replaced by the song I would like to be able to hear the song playing so I can match it in post. The timing of the location is essential as well because it has to be easily available for long periods of time and not to far to get to. Although one location is two hours away I will make an effort to make the others closer. This is so we can re-shoot easily and get the shots we need without having to travel far. For example I will be filming in the community centre instead of renting a studio because it's more flexible and I got it for free for five hours. The safety of my crew is essential especially if I am filming in a military base. This is because we did't have permission to film there because they did't reply so I took it as a yes meaning we had to sneak around the military. Furthermore the base did't have power so I had to buy battery powered L.E.D. lights to avoid digital noise and grainy footage.