Third Screening of Music video

11/03/15
After adding the new shots we took last night, replacing all the performance scenes, we constructed our music video to be ready to screen to the classroom. This is going to be the last screen in which we can get feedbacks on and a chance to do any refinements as the deadline is next week.

The feedback we got from the class was that our music video is really strong in the sense that the narrative is really beautiful and the narrative scenes are filmed gorgeously, however the performance scenes are not working well and is letting our entire video down. The performance, everyone felt, looked really fake and tacky due to the lighting, cinematography and costume of the artist. The performance of Aleks singing doesn't look realistic either which brings down the quality of this music video.

After having a discussion with Sinead, Shaun and our group we have decided upon the idea of doing another final re-shoot where this time we will use another actress to play the role of Isabel Beau. 

Reshoot on Alex's Performance

10/03/15

As Alex's performance was not right from the shoot Hayley and I did at Danson park, the group and I decided to do a re-shoot however this time making it seem like alive performance in the drama room using low key lighting. The Danson park shoot, we feel, didn't look right due to the scenery being out of place from the narrative and gallery shots. Also the costume she had on didn't quite illustrate the pop genre vibe however I feel that her hair being out and the wind blowing it onto her face created a great impact; connoted the sense of annoyance and aggressiveness reflecting upon her emotions and lyrics.

When doing our re-shoot in the drama room, we set up white studio lights so that the lighting is different from the lighting used in the ballet scenes. Alex's costume here was of Hayley's prom dress and her make-up was light to give that elegant natural beauty vibe. As Hayley and I liked the idea of Alex's hair blowing, we used a fan in some of the shots to create the build up of tension which is heard through the fast pace music towards the end. A prop of a micro-phone was also used to give the sense of the performance being sung live. When filming we used two cameras in which one was purely tripod based getting wide angles from each side and the other being hand-held getting the close-ups and mid-shots. We also used a crane to give a great impact to the part in the song where there is a high-pitch.

I think that some of the shots we got today were really good. Especially the ones where Alex was leaning on the wall as it gave that voyeuristic image of her which most pop music videos to to grab male attention as well female.

Danson Park Performance Re-shoot

06/03/15

Today Hayley and I went to film the out door scene of Alex singing while Megan and Aaron were editing indoors. The footage we got, I felt, was pretty good due to it being filmed in different angles and being filmed in a park with open space. In some of the scenes the sun was shinning and beaming towards Alex's face which I felt went really well along with the song as it connotes that she has overcome the battlefield of love; the scene being greenery and of open space contributed to this. We tried using the crane when filming however it was difficult to deal with so we just decided to film free handed.

Now looking through all the shots, all we need to do is now film the final scenes of Grace and Alex being together and just construct everything in chronological order reflecting our storyboards. After having all the editing done and finished our music video will be completed and handed over for the teachers to mark.

Ballet Reshoot

02/03/15

Today we shot Graces ballet dancing scenes in another drama room using the drama lighting so that we get a mixture of ballet scenes for different settings. I think the shoot went pretty well as the angles in which we filmed from and the lighting we used really gave that performance vibe. Also experimenting with different techniques and cinematography positions conveyed the professional filming side in our clips. My favourite part was when we filmed grace dancing in a circular motion following the camera as it created tension in which the song builds up in the song. I think when we add these shots in our edits it will fill in the missing gaps in our music video making it more structured and interesting.

                

                  

Plan For Next Shoot

27/02/15

As we are coming towards the end of our music video and only have to reshoot Grace's ballet dancing and outdoor shoot of Alex solo singing we made a quick plan on when we will carry out these shoots.

• On Monday 2nd February we will film Grace's dancing in the drama hall. When filming this scene we will use tripod based wide and long shots as well as handheld which will be done by Aaron.
• On Wednesday, we will film Alex at Danson Park performing her solo performance of her lip-syncing the song. Me and Hayley will carry out this shoot while Aaron and Megan are editing the music video. This is so that we are all using our time wisely and so that everything gets done quicker giving us time to review our music video and make any small changes if needed. 

Narrative Reshoot

23/02/15

Today Megan and Aaron reshot the narrative part of our music video with Grace; some being indoor shots and some being outdoor. I looked through some of the clips and they looked really good in that some of the shots taken where what we originally imagined and put in our storyboard. Our intentions from here will be including some of these shots in our final edits being shown at fast pace creating tension towards the audience.

 

 

Editing Yesterday's Shoot

16/02/15

As a group we went through the footage in which Megan, Hayley and I had filmed of Alex. We began selecting the best clips and started to in cooperate it in our music video edit on Final Cut Pro. By including the shots of the solo singing, in our edits, made the whole sequence look much better as the narrative ties in with the solo scenes.