Music Video Filming Blog

This week, we started filming our music video. This meant we would be looking over our storyboard and planning and following what we had planned to do. Before hand, we also had to prepare the props and scenes we were going to film. I had bought sunflowers for our video as well as brought the lighting we needed for some shots. We also had to discus what we were going to do about the shots that turned out different than we planned. Some had to be cut entirely because we found that they were impossible to get. We then had to go back to the storyboard and decide on something different to fill the space when it didn't work out. But before that, we did get some shots that were usable and fit with the video. Since my partner was the actor for most of the scenes, I did a lot of the filming with her input between each take. This means that a lot of the shots we had to take and retake were done by me.
One thing I had to do in the setup was talk to my partner thoroughly before each scene and help her with what she would be doing in the scene. She wasn't able to see herself while acting in the video so if something looked off I had to tell her. The other person we had acting in the video also helped with this and gave input. When filming I had to tell how long a shot should be and tell my teammate this so it would all fit together well. To do this we filmed a few seconds longer than we needed so we can trim to the length we need later when editing. One example of this would be when I filmed on the trampoline, I had to film extra because we weren't sure how much footage we needed. Another thing I did was help with camera setup. I either handheld the camera or in later shots will be using a tripod and in both of those situations I will be helping out. I did some of the recording as well as tested out the camera before shooting. Most of the filming process I was involved in.
One thing that was a struggle while filming was the battery life of the camera. The cameras were a bit old so the battery life of them were not as good as new cameras. To make up for this I had to plug in the camera between shots and charge it to make sure it would work. Occasionally while filming the battery would die so we had to stop shooting to charge it. One way I got around this was using an extension cord that my teammate had. Another problem was getting the lighting and atmosphere of each shot right. We had planned on getting the shots we needed right at sunset but the sun set quicker than we anticipated so the lighting was dimmer than we liked. We got around this problem by making the different lighting show a passage of time so it looked more natural. It also started raining right when we wanted to film outside so that set us back and we had to improvise. To improvise I shot the scene on a patio instead of a trampoline and it actually turned out better than what we first expected.

music video Storyboard Blog

This our storyboard for our music video. It consists of 11 scenes so about 10 seconds for each. For the first scene, the character is wearing every day but loose-fitting clothes so movement will be shown when she jumps. This starts out as a medium close up then transitions to a medium long shot. It is shot at eye level with bright lighting and is in slow motion. For the second scene, the character is wearing a semi-formal dress while looking out into the sunset. It is a medium long shot and midway through the scene the character turns around so you can see her face. It is shot at eye level as well and will be shot in golden hour/sunset lighting. The third scene is the character still in a semi-formal dress opening the door to a "restaurant". This is a POV shot that is a medium shot and has darker lighting. The fourth scene is inside the "restaurant" with the character sitting down at a table eating. It is a POV shot from her love interest's perspective and will have dim lighting. To transition from the fourth scene to the fifth, an action match of passing something like salt basically from one scene to the other. This scene contrasts with the previous one, as the character is now in sweats and a t-shirt with a messy bun. She is eating fast/microwaveable food in this shot and it is shot in bright lighting. The sixth scene starts off as a POV showing the female character angry then transitions to a two shot midway through the scene. In this scene, the audience finally sees who the male character is with a long shot of both characters dressed in normal/casual attire. In the seventh shot, it transitions back to a tracking, long shot of just the female character walking away, still dressed the same. In the eighth scene, the female character is still walking away (dressed casually) but it is a POV shot showing the male character reaching his hand out to make up with her. It is a long shot as well and will have fairly light lighting to be able to see everything that is going on. The ninth scene depicts the female character turned around grabbing the male character's hand. This is a POV shot that is a medium close up and is shot in fairly bright lighting with casual clothing. The tenth scene is a close up of a sunflower just below the character's eyes. She is wearing the same semi-formal dress and it will be done in fairly bright lighting. The eleventh and final scene is an aerial shot of the character laying on the trampoline. She is dressed in the semi-formal dress surrounded by fairy lights and sunflowers. This will be done in fairly dim lighting. For the sound, the whole time the song "Sunflower" by Post Malone will be playing in the background. The music video will be around 1 minute and 10 seconds long. Overall for editing, we are going to experiment with it and most likely try to make the cuts between scenes the least choppy as possible by using camera movement and "tricks".

Music Video Planning

1. Location:
We will be filming in a few different locations. One place we will be filming at is the beach at sunset. Another would be at one group member's house on the trampoline as well as in front of the canal there. Some more locations we would film at would be at a field at a local park and at another group members house inside.

2. Health & Safety:
We will have parents present at most locations to make sure we are safe and if something happens we will have someone there to help. Most likely our parents will be driving us to the locations and we will be wearing seat-belts. We'll notify adults when we are using the trampoline so if we injure ourselves we can easily get help.

3. Props:
One prop we would use would be sunflowers for a specific line in the song. For a dinner scene in the video, we will be using silverware and food. Some more props we would use would be objects to make a silhouette in the sand at the beach, we would also need a blanket for another scene there as well as for at the field. We will also need fake menus and things to make a room look like a restaurant.

4. Costumes:
Our costumes change often depending on the scene and what's going on. In our first trampoline scene, the character is wearing pants and a shirt but fairly loose clothing so movement can be shown when she jumps on the trampoline. For a scene of her looking at the sunset as well as a fancy dinner scene, a semi formal dress is worn, then transitions to comfy clothes like sweatpants and a basic shirt for when she's eating at home with fast/microwave food. For an argument scene, the character is wearing everyday clothes as well as for when they make up. For the sunflower/final scene the character will be wearing the same semi formal dress worn for the dinner scene.

5. Schedule
This blog as well as one about story boarding is due 11/21. My partner and I checked out a camera for the weekend and plan to film at least some of our music video 11/24. On 11/25 we have our first filming blog due and then our second due 12/2. If we don't finish filming all in one day, we are planning on filming again on our thanksgiving break, which will be anywhere from 11/26 to 12/1. The video is due 12/6 so I am confident that we will have enough time to film and edit.

Music Video Research

In our last project, we created a commercial for a product that we chose. I finished that project and learned a lot from it. I learned about the filming process and what procedures we had to follow to film. I also now understand more about editing and how to use the software to edit. We then turned in the video and completely finished it. Now we are going to start a new project that is slightly harder. We are now going to be shooting a music video of around one to one minute and fifteen seconds.

We are going to be shooting a music video of the song "Sunflower" by Post Malone. The genre that "Sunflower" is qualifies as pop. The song is a part of a movie soundtrack from the movie "Spider-Man Into the Spider-verse". The discussion happened mainly outside of school since not all of the teammates were in class at the time. We didn't really have any arguments when deciding what song to choose. Both of us liked the song and had heard it before so we both agreed on it. This was the first song we considered and we just stuck with it.

A lot of music videos in the pop genre have common conventions that they seem to follow. For example, they often have bright and vibrant colors. This is very eye-catching and grabs the audiences attention. In many music videos they utilize panning and tilting to show the subject. Tracking is frequently used to follow what the subject is doing. In the original "Sunflower" music video they tracked the main character throughout New York and in doing so, showed him going from scene to scene. In a lot of pop music videos, they used medium shots and full body shots on the subject. They also had close ups to show either singing or something meaningful. Along with closeups, zooming was fairly common. In pop music videos, a lot of the costumes are dramatic and striking. The lighting is very dramatic as well being either very dark or extremely bright. The acting usually tells a story and the actors could be acting like they are in a film rather than a music video. The makeup could be either subtle or intense, and usually matches the costume. The props depend on the story being told in the video. The setting varies based on what they want to achieve through the video.

Editing Blog Part 2

In class, I was again given an opportunity to edit the commercial I filmed in class. In the class before, I could not edit because of the computers not working. Then the next class again I couldn't edit again because of how the computer I got with my partner wouldn't load up the editing software. This was a big problem for us since we only had a limited amount of time to edit the commercial. We had waited quite a while for the program and restarted it but to no avail, it still didn't work. We thought maybe it was the school's connection issues because unlike the class before, the software was actually downloaded to the computer. So for a few more times I restarted the program until eventually we stopped to get the teacher. When I took the computer to her she took it and tried restarting it herself. The program still wouldn't load though. We eventually decided to just use a different computer next class.

Finally last class I had a working computer and was able to edit. I turned on the computer and my partner signed in. A part of the process was dumping our footage again. Since we were using a different computer I needed to dump the footage again because of it not being on the computer. To do that we went on my partners Google Drive and took the footage from there. After that it was put it into a folder. Then I booted up the software to edit the footage. We ran into a problem at first because the program wouldn't recognize the footage. We then realized that it was in a zip file rather than in a regular folder. After that I started editing.

To edit I first uploaded all of the footage to the program. After that I went through and selected the footage that looked best. We had a lot of footage that we weren't planning on using so this took a few minutes. Then I put the footage in and started to sort in. This was mainly just making sure it was all in order. Then, I started cutting the footage and trimming it to be the length we needed. After that, we started adding in transitions where they were needed. A lot of the transitions are just cuts from one scene to the next but I did have to look through the different available transitions to find a fade one. This surprisingly took a while because a lot of the fade transitions didn't match what we needed. Finally after all of that, the commercial was completed.