Monday, 25 February 2008
Production Log
We completed our editing over a period of around two weeks, as we unfortunately left the filming far too late to be comfortable. However, we completed our music video a full day before the deadline because of the hard work and effort that Josh, Nat and I all put in. We used the majority of our free periods to come into the Media Studies classroom. Due to the plan of our narrative storyline, the editing was fairly complicated and required a fair amount of experimentation. Overall we are incredibly happy with the way in which our video has turned out. We have uploaded the video onto YouTube, and within just 24 hours we had achieved over 150 views and two comments, with three ratings of 5 stars.
By Josh:
Editing: Most of the time, the whole group was editing together so a lot of group decisions were made collectively. We used a lot of the effects on the software to make our video as visually entertaining as possible. We decided to make the 'flashbacks' in black and white using the software, this was to help the audience to differentiate between the two different parts of time in the video. We also thought that the 'dip to black' effect was good every time that the time changes between normal and flashback.
In the staircase sequence we thought that instead of using jump cutting like in some parts of our video, we thought that using an 'inverted' effect would show the change in time and mark the significant parts in the sequence.
In the blurring shot before we return to focus we decided that the 'blurring' effect was a good look as it is quite a long shot and it keeps interest with the audience.
Towards the end of the video it cuts between the flashback and Lucy's face as well as speed cutting between the two synchronised with the music. This is effective as it creates a sense of speed and the synchronosity is entertaining.
By Josh:
Editing: Most of the time, the whole group was editing together so a lot of group decisions were made collectively. We used a lot of the effects on the software to make our video as visually entertaining as possible. We decided to make the 'flashbacks' in black and white using the software, this was to help the audience to differentiate between the two different parts of time in the video. We also thought that the 'dip to black' effect was good every time that the time changes between normal and flashback.
In the staircase sequence we thought that instead of using jump cutting like in some parts of our video, we thought that using an 'inverted' effect would show the change in time and mark the significant parts in the sequence.
In the blurring shot before we return to focus we decided that the 'blurring' effect was a good look as it is quite a long shot and it keeps interest with the audience.
Towards the end of the video it cuts between the flashback and Lucy's face as well as speed cutting between the two synchronised with the music. This is effective as it creates a sense of speed and the synchronosity is entertaining.
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
Call Sheets
Before each time we filmed, we were required to complete a call sheet to ensure each of us knew all the details of the shoot (meet time, contact numbers, meet place, filming locations). We each made one call sheet each for the three seperate times we were filming, and these call sheets gave us a running plan of what shots to film on the night. This was extremely helpful, as it meant we were organised and got the optimum amount of filming done with little time wasted thinking of what shots we needed. Below is am example of one of the call sheet, saved as a JPEG, as done by myself.
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Filming #4 - 11/02/08
We went out filming on 11/02/08 in Tunbridge Wells for our final shooting. We think that this will be the last time we go out filming. Here is a list of shots we obtained:
Ed Dead - We got some more footage of Ed dead from various angles. We thought that this extra footage would be useful as we could use more angles and vut between the shots.
Chalked outline - We took some shots of a chalked outline of where Ed's body was. We outlined him lying on the floor. This shot will be used at the beginning of the video as a still image to connote Ed's death.
Lucy and Ed walking - We already had a shot of Lucy walking where the camera is positioned looking at her feet, staying steady on a car. However the first time we filmed this we didn't account for the car lights on Lucy's legs, changing the colour of Lucy's clothing. Therefore, we filmed it again and also filmed it with Ed as we thought it would be good to do separate shots of both.
360 handicam - We filmed separate shots of both Ed and Lucy walking along calverly road in the middle of town. We went around them with a handicam to gve a feeling of being there with the actor in the same situation as them. The lighting wasn't great, but it was the best outdoor lighting we could get.
Above view of stairs - In the Blacks' car park there is a glass panel above the flight of stairs. We filmed a shot of Lucy follow by Ed from thorugh the glass above the stairs. This is a good shot as it is from a very high angle which is often hard to achieve.
Leaving stair doors - We also filmed separate shots of Ed and Lucy leaving the door next to the stairs. The lighting isn't as good as inside but it isn't bad either. This is just another set of shots of Lucy being followed, the main theme of the video.
Going down ramp - We filmed Ed and Lucy separately going down a ramp into a car park on the other side of Tunbridge Wells. We filmed this from a low angle as our music video is based a lot around camera angle and movement, and less about performance than other videos. For example, we have a lot of camera movement and we aren't lip-synching.
Face Close-up - We took a shot of Lucy walking along holding the camera at an angle looking up at herself. We already had a shot of Ed doing this from the last filming. We filmed it in the middle of town and the lighting has worked as we had liked.
Walking through Town - We filmed both actors walking in the same shot panning along past a srip of shots. This was done in the middle of Tunbridge Wells. The lighting isn't too bad considering how dark it was, the shop lighting helped to get the lighting we wanted.
Ed coming out from Alley - We filmed another shot in the middle of Town. It was Lucy walking past a shop before a few seconds past and Ed appears out of the darkness and starts walking in the same direction as Lucy has just walked. The problem with this shop is that Ed's entrance point is quite wide and therefore only one shop is in the shot. This was a problem as it doesn't give off ideal lighting.
Lucy walking past camera - We took a shot of Lucy walking past the camera in the middle of town. This shot was unplanned but can be used as a filler shot if required.
CCTV Footage - We filmed some potential CCTV footage from a high angle just outside Black's car park. We plan to take the colour out of this shot and make it seem like CCTV. Therefore, there is no movement in the shot and it was just Nat holding the camera up high from a raised wall.
Lucy walking down stairs - We filmed through a glass panel Lucy walking down some stairs in Blacks' car park. The camera then follows Lucy down to where the CCTV shot stated above is shot from.
Feet walking up stairs - We filmed Lucy and Ed separately walking up stairs with only feet in shot. We did this in the inside stairs area in Blacks' car park, where we have done some other shots. These two shots can be cut together to create an effect of Lucy being followed.
Confrontation - We filmed more footage of the confrontation between Lucy and Ed. We filmed it from a few angles so that we can decide which bits to use when we edit the footage. We did this in the same location as the previous confrontation scenes.
Ed Dead - We got some more footage of Ed dead from various angles. We thought that this extra footage would be useful as we could use more angles and vut between the shots.
Chalked outline - We took some shots of a chalked outline of where Ed's body was. We outlined him lying on the floor. This shot will be used at the beginning of the video as a still image to connote Ed's death.
Lucy and Ed walking - We already had a shot of Lucy walking where the camera is positioned looking at her feet, staying steady on a car. However the first time we filmed this we didn't account for the car lights on Lucy's legs, changing the colour of Lucy's clothing. Therefore, we filmed it again and also filmed it with Ed as we thought it would be good to do separate shots of both.
360 handicam - We filmed separate shots of both Ed and Lucy walking along calverly road in the middle of town. We went around them with a handicam to gve a feeling of being there with the actor in the same situation as them. The lighting wasn't great, but it was the best outdoor lighting we could get.
Above view of stairs - In the Blacks' car park there is a glass panel above the flight of stairs. We filmed a shot of Lucy follow by Ed from thorugh the glass above the stairs. This is a good shot as it is from a very high angle which is often hard to achieve.
Leaving stair doors - We also filmed separate shots of Ed and Lucy leaving the door next to the stairs. The lighting isn't as good as inside but it isn't bad either. This is just another set of shots of Lucy being followed, the main theme of the video.
Going down ramp - We filmed Ed and Lucy separately going down a ramp into a car park on the other side of Tunbridge Wells. We filmed this from a low angle as our music video is based a lot around camera angle and movement, and less about performance than other videos. For example, we have a lot of camera movement and we aren't lip-synching.
Face Close-up - We took a shot of Lucy walking along holding the camera at an angle looking up at herself. We already had a shot of Ed doing this from the last filming. We filmed it in the middle of town and the lighting has worked as we had liked.
Walking through Town - We filmed both actors walking in the same shot panning along past a srip of shots. This was done in the middle of Tunbridge Wells. The lighting isn't too bad considering how dark it was, the shop lighting helped to get the lighting we wanted.
Ed coming out from Alley - We filmed another shot in the middle of Town. It was Lucy walking past a shop before a few seconds past and Ed appears out of the darkness and starts walking in the same direction as Lucy has just walked. The problem with this shop is that Ed's entrance point is quite wide and therefore only one shop is in the shot. This was a problem as it doesn't give off ideal lighting.
Lucy walking past camera - We took a shot of Lucy walking past the camera in the middle of town. This shot was unplanned but can be used as a filler shot if required.
CCTV Footage - We filmed some potential CCTV footage from a high angle just outside Black's car park. We plan to take the colour out of this shot and make it seem like CCTV. Therefore, there is no movement in the shot and it was just Nat holding the camera up high from a raised wall.
Lucy walking down stairs - We filmed through a glass panel Lucy walking down some stairs in Blacks' car park. The camera then follows Lucy down to where the CCTV shot stated above is shot from.
Feet walking up stairs - We filmed Lucy and Ed separately walking up stairs with only feet in shot. We did this in the inside stairs area in Blacks' car park, where we have done some other shots. These two shots can be cut together to create an effect of Lucy being followed.
Confrontation - We filmed more footage of the confrontation between Lucy and Ed. We filmed it from a few angles so that we can decide which bits to use when we edit the footage. We did this in the same location as the previous confrontation scenes.
Monday, 11 February 2008
Filming #3 - 10/02/08
We went out filming on Sunday 10/02/08 with just Ed as Lucy was unavailable. It wasn't a very long session but we still filmed a few shots:
CCTV - We tried some more CCTV shots in the same place as before, in the alley coming out of the car park. However, the camera was quite shakey and ideally, we would need Lucy there as we want a similar shot with her in, therefore the conditions needed to be the same.
Ed walking down stairs - We filmed Ed coming down the stairs in the Blacks' car park through a glass panel and then tracking along with him going to the CCTV area. We tried this from a few different angles. It is a reasonably good shot however the glass is squared so it doesn't look as good as we had hoped.
Ed walking with camera up - We filmed Ed walking through the middle of town holding the camera below him but pointing up to his face. This steadicam shot is good as when Lucy does it her reaction connotes nervousness. However, it is the same problem as the CCTV shot and we would prefer to have Lucy's similar shot taken under the same conditions so we may film this again when we next go out filming.
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
Shot Ideas for Music Video - Unkle - Lonely Soul
Idea 1
We position the camera in a still position. We take shots of both 'Edd' and 'Lucy'. They start from behind the camera, both from the same place and walk in the same direction to a point in the distance at the same speed. Although this isn't to much of a problem as they are walking away from the camera, not at a parralel to it, which makes it easy to speed up or slow down the shot in editing without the shot looking altered. When we come to editing we make shore that the in and out points are the same and that each shot runs for exactly the same time. Both shots are played at the same time one over the top of the other. ('Lucy's' shot will be over the shot of 'Edd' as she is the main actress). We then cut the shot of 'Lucy' equally without creating a time gap in between each shot. Then we can change the opacity of each shot of 'Lucy' (lowering it towards the middle, and then raising it towards the end) while playing the shot of 'Edd' behind. This will merge the shots together and make it look as if the actor and actress switch places for a second or two, starting with 'Lucy' changing to 'Edd' and finishing again with 'Lucy'. I think this would be a good effect to encorporate into our video, as the more effects we add in our music video, the more the narrative will come alive.
Idea 2
Another idea we thought would be good to encorporate in our Music Video, would be to use 'flash forwards'. The start of the music video is set up by using the end of the narrative shown with a montage of clips with 'Edd' dead. Therefore to avoid to much confusion in the audience, we thought that breaking up the rewound narrative with 'flash forwards' would help the audience understand the narrative more throughout the music video. To distinguish these 'flash forward' shots, we thought that we could make them black and white, and seporate them from the main body of the music video with dissolve to black edits. This would ensure that viewers of our enterpration of 'Lonely Soul' could grasp our concept of what 'Unkle' meant when creating a song about a lonely soul.
Idea 3
For the opening sequence of our music video we thought that we should use the end of the music video to start the narrative. This would allow us to rewind some of the shots and restart the narrative. Therefore, keep the audience on their toes trying to guess the next part of our music video.
We position the camera in a still position. We take shots of both 'Edd' and 'Lucy'. They start from behind the camera, both from the same place and walk in the same direction to a point in the distance at the same speed. Although this isn't to much of a problem as they are walking away from the camera, not at a parralel to it, which makes it easy to speed up or slow down the shot in editing without the shot looking altered. When we come to editing we make shore that the in and out points are the same and that each shot runs for exactly the same time. Both shots are played at the same time one over the top of the other. ('Lucy's' shot will be over the shot of 'Edd' as she is the main actress). We then cut the shot of 'Lucy' equally without creating a time gap in between each shot. Then we can change the opacity of each shot of 'Lucy' (lowering it towards the middle, and then raising it towards the end) while playing the shot of 'Edd' behind. This will merge the shots together and make it look as if the actor and actress switch places for a second or two, starting with 'Lucy' changing to 'Edd' and finishing again with 'Lucy'. I think this would be a good effect to encorporate into our video, as the more effects we add in our music video, the more the narrative will come alive.
Idea 2
Another idea we thought would be good to encorporate in our Music Video, would be to use 'flash forwards'. The start of the music video is set up by using the end of the narrative shown with a montage of clips with 'Edd' dead. Therefore to avoid to much confusion in the audience, we thought that breaking up the rewound narrative with 'flash forwards' would help the audience understand the narrative more throughout the music video. To distinguish these 'flash forward' shots, we thought that we could make them black and white, and seporate them from the main body of the music video with dissolve to black edits. This would ensure that viewers of our enterpration of 'Lonely Soul' could grasp our concept of what 'Unkle' meant when creating a song about a lonely soul.
Idea 3
For the opening sequence of our music video we thought that we should use the end of the music video to start the narrative. This would allow us to rewind some of the shots and restart the narrative. Therefore, keep the audience on their toes trying to guess the next part of our music video.
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
Filming #2 - 4/2/08
Mise-en-scene
On Monday the 5th of February we went out in order to try and shoot the main parts of the video. We began at around 8pm, as this was the earliest that Lucy could arrive to perform. Instead of Josh being in the video, we have used Ed Thorn instead, as he was more willing to help us out, and he suits the performance better.
Ed was dressed in all dark clothing, with jeans on and a black hooded-top with a black jacket over the top. This is suitable for the style of the video, and creates a sense of mystery about his character. Lucy was wearing the clothes we asked her to wear. They were suitable for this genre of music and is typical clothing that would appeal to the target audience.
BY JOSH:
We filmed the majority of the night's footage in the car park that we had used in our reccie shots and on our first filming session. It has very good lighting throughout this car park and the large space with various pillars and staircases allows us to be creative and make new shots while we are in the location. For additional lighting, we used lights from Rob's car to light up the darker areas we were shooting in.
Filming
We filmed various shots in the car park and a couple outside the carpark. Having a number of shots allows us to capture them and then work out where we are missing shots so that when we next go out filming we know exactly what to be filming. Here is a list of shots that we filmed last night:
Confrontation 360 pan - We filmed this in Blacks' car park like most other shots. As we didnt have any wheeled rest for the camera other than a trolley, which was harder to maneuovre as we had hoped, we used handicam to circle Lucy and Ed a number of times.
Lucy walking to spot - We filmed this in the car park. This sequence involved a series of shots of Lucy walking to a set spot on the floor. We filmed the same sequence 6 times all from different angles, high and low. We then plan to edit all these shots together and cut between them to achieve a fast cutting sequence.
Confrontation - We filmed parts of the confrontation from different height and positional angles in the car park. This involved Lucy and Ed pretending to argue and Lucy pushing Ed back before Ed trying to comfort her. This was in the same spot as before so the natural car park lighting was good.
Lucy standing over Ed's body - We filmed this from a few angles in the same position on the third floor of the car park. We had a good shot of her standing over the body and the camera being positioned on top of Rob's car reversing slowly away. This will make the camera movement slow and we can change the speed in editing. The car lights add to the lighting of the car park.
Lucy walking away - We filmed Lucy walking away over Ed's body and away from the scene to the distance. The camera is steady but we filmed it for quite a while so it allows us to edit it how we want it to come out. It is likely that we will use this sequence with jump cutting.
Lucy walking from side - We filmed a shot of Lucy walking along a long strip in the car park that we filmed from the side. In order to get a steady shot we filmed from inside the car out of the passenger seat. This was proven successful and we got quite a long shot of her walking which we can take back and edit.
Stairwell - We filmed Lucy walking up a few flights of stairs using handicam. Although a little bit shaky, it will be useful as when it comes to editing, we won't use the whole shot in one sequence. We also filmed from above the stairwell down through the middle gap to see both Lucy's and Ed's hand on the railing at the side of the stairs. We used the stairs in Blacks' car park.
Confrontation POV - We filmed two different shots. One of Lucy walking through the car park doors towards the camera as to create a POV shot from Ed's view, and then filmed Ed doing a similar thing from the opposite side to reverse the shot. The lighting of the car park was again successful in creating the desired effect.
Walking up ramp - In the Blacks' car park we found quite a good ramp with really good lighting. We filmed Lucy walking up it followed by Ed. Although unplanned, this shot has turned out really effective. However, we may go back a do more filming in this section, filming both individual actors walking up the ramp as opposed to at the same time.
Car straight on - We filmed Lucy close up to car , showing her body and reversing the car, we also filming with the car going forwards from behind Lucy. This is a good shot, however the lights from the car show up clearly on Lucy's legs so this shot may need revisiting. The same problem applies for both these shots we tried.
CCTV - We tried to film a shot that we would edit to make look like a CCTV footage. We did this in a connecting alley between the car park and the road. The location was good however we didnt have a balance to hold the camera up steadily from a high position. This meant that the shot was quite shaky as a result and we may have to try it again with a better rest.
Follwing down street - We went to the pantiles to film a shot of Lucy walking with Ed following behind. It was quite good practice, but the lighting wasn't ideal in the location so we will haev to try to edit it and use the best parts of it rather than the whole shot.
On Monday the 5th of February we went out in order to try and shoot the main parts of the video. We began at around 8pm, as this was the earliest that Lucy could arrive to perform. Instead of Josh being in the video, we have used Ed Thorn instead, as he was more willing to help us out, and he suits the performance better.
Ed was dressed in all dark clothing, with jeans on and a black hooded-top with a black jacket over the top. This is suitable for the style of the video, and creates a sense of mystery about his character. Lucy was wearing the clothes we asked her to wear. They were suitable for this genre of music and is typical clothing that would appeal to the target audience.
BY JOSH:
We filmed the majority of the night's footage in the car park that we had used in our reccie shots and on our first filming session. It has very good lighting throughout this car park and the large space with various pillars and staircases allows us to be creative and make new shots while we are in the location. For additional lighting, we used lights from Rob's car to light up the darker areas we were shooting in.
Filming
We filmed various shots in the car park and a couple outside the carpark. Having a number of shots allows us to capture them and then work out where we are missing shots so that when we next go out filming we know exactly what to be filming. Here is a list of shots that we filmed last night:
Confrontation 360 pan - We filmed this in Blacks' car park like most other shots. As we didnt have any wheeled rest for the camera other than a trolley, which was harder to maneuovre as we had hoped, we used handicam to circle Lucy and Ed a number of times.
Lucy walking to spot - We filmed this in the car park. This sequence involved a series of shots of Lucy walking to a set spot on the floor. We filmed the same sequence 6 times all from different angles, high and low. We then plan to edit all these shots together and cut between them to achieve a fast cutting sequence.
Confrontation - We filmed parts of the confrontation from different height and positional angles in the car park. This involved Lucy and Ed pretending to argue and Lucy pushing Ed back before Ed trying to comfort her. This was in the same spot as before so the natural car park lighting was good.
Lucy standing over Ed's body - We filmed this from a few angles in the same position on the third floor of the car park. We had a good shot of her standing over the body and the camera being positioned on top of Rob's car reversing slowly away. This will make the camera movement slow and we can change the speed in editing. The car lights add to the lighting of the car park.
Lucy walking away - We filmed Lucy walking away over Ed's body and away from the scene to the distance. The camera is steady but we filmed it for quite a while so it allows us to edit it how we want it to come out. It is likely that we will use this sequence with jump cutting.
Lucy walking from side - We filmed a shot of Lucy walking along a long strip in the car park that we filmed from the side. In order to get a steady shot we filmed from inside the car out of the passenger seat. This was proven successful and we got quite a long shot of her walking which we can take back and edit.
Stairwell - We filmed Lucy walking up a few flights of stairs using handicam. Although a little bit shaky, it will be useful as when it comes to editing, we won't use the whole shot in one sequence. We also filmed from above the stairwell down through the middle gap to see both Lucy's and Ed's hand on the railing at the side of the stairs. We used the stairs in Blacks' car park.
Confrontation POV - We filmed two different shots. One of Lucy walking through the car park doors towards the camera as to create a POV shot from Ed's view, and then filmed Ed doing a similar thing from the opposite side to reverse the shot. The lighting of the car park was again successful in creating the desired effect.
Walking up ramp - In the Blacks' car park we found quite a good ramp with really good lighting. We filmed Lucy walking up it followed by Ed. Although unplanned, this shot has turned out really effective. However, we may go back a do more filming in this section, filming both individual actors walking up the ramp as opposed to at the same time.
Car straight on - We filmed Lucy close up to car , showing her body and reversing the car, we also filming with the car going forwards from behind Lucy. This is a good shot, however the lights from the car show up clearly on Lucy's legs so this shot may need revisiting. The same problem applies for both these shots we tried.
CCTV - We tried to film a shot that we would edit to make look like a CCTV footage. We did this in a connecting alley between the car park and the road. The location was good however we didnt have a balance to hold the camera up steadily from a high position. This meant that the shot was quite shaky as a result and we may have to try it again with a better rest.
Follwing down street - We went to the pantiles to film a shot of Lucy walking with Ed following behind. It was quite good practice, but the lighting wasn't ideal in the location so we will haev to try to edit it and use the best parts of it rather than the whole shot.
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