Looking back onto our first cut.

After looking back onto our first cut of our music video we have realized that in some areas of the footage our variety of shot distances and angles are not always in the appropriate place or do not convey the right image.  For example at 0:14, there is a shot of the guitarist strumming one note on his guitar. This is the first shot that the audience see of the band preforming the song and we feel this shot can be improved. As we have used Final Cut Pro to zoom in on this shot in post-production the shot is grainy, which ruins the quality of the video as other shots do not have this. We also used a straight on camera angle which doesn't look very dramatic and powerful, which is what we wanted. If we are able to re-shoot this clip we will use a lower angle to make the subject appear more dominant. This is also true for most of the band preforming shoots at 0:17, 0:23, 0:53, 1:00, 1:04, 1:13, 1:17, 1:37 and 2:06. At 0:39 the angle is okay, however it again has been zoomed in on in post production and this makes it too blurry. By re-shooting these shots we can make the music video more professional as a convention on metal music videos is to make the band look powerful and strong, which will be accomplished by changing some of the camera angles we have used to lower ones looking up at the band as this makes them appear bigger.

Another aspect we have chosen to focus on in more depth is the framing of shots, including and excluding elements as appropriate.Our main filming location was a car park. We used this location because of the stone walls and harsh lighting which created a desolate, disorientating effect. However through filming it was hard to keep out cars in the surrounding area out of the shot. This ruined the overall effect of the video as it looks like a low-budget film and the cars do not fit with the theme of the rest of the music video. So, at 0:49, 1:25 and 1:28 we have to re-shoot to make sure these cars are not included. Also at 1:06 there is a reflection of the cars in the bass drum, which is not obvious as the other car shots but ideally we would still re-film this as it is these small details that will make our video look professional.

In post production we also need to work on our mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, props and setting. The main point that we need to focus on is the lighting. Due to filming at different times the lighting changes between shots and this makes it look jarring and draws the eye to the inaccuracies in colour instead of the shot itself, such as from 0:32-0:33 and 0:51-0:52. To change this we will edit it using Final Cut Pro. We will do this by using the colour corrector wheel and finding a suitable lighting level for all the shots, we will then transfer this over to all the performance aspects of the video so that all the shots have the same lighting and colour tones. This ill improve on the flow of the video and stop it from looking so displaced.

We also feel that we could improve using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set. This is because our song is of a heavy metal/metalcore genre and there are certain expectations that are to be met to attract a similar audience for similar products and as well as meeting the codes and conventions of this genre. Some of our shots, such as at 2:33, where there is a mushroom in harsh lighting and 2:34 where there is a teddy bear, don't match these conventions and expectations. Whilst originally we used theses shots for the narrative of our video we can now see that with the whole music video put together they do not match up with the rest of the mise-en-scene and this makes the audience confused and ask the wrong kind of questions. As they disrupt the flow of the video we have decided to simple remove them all together. But to do this we need to make sure we film more scenes to replace them.

Using a variety of shot transitions, captions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the brief of this task is something that, overall we have done quite well. However we feel that we can still improve our music video by using these aspects even better. For example at 1:38 we use the effect 'blink' to create an almost strobe light effect on the video and we have decided to cut down on the length of this, from 2:05 onwards as we thought it was a bit too disorientating and took away the focus from the actual shots we were using. Finally we have also decided to us captions at the start or end of the music video saying the band name, song title and distributor as this will make it look more professional and will attract more audience viewings.

First Cut and Second Cut of Music Video.

We have now finished our first cut of our music video. Our first cut is a fully pieced together sequence.This includes a continuous sequence of clips of both performance and narrative that follow along with our chosen song. We have also used a blink effect on a section of the song and in the other video it has been shorten as we were told that the flashing was too long and disorientating. We also shorten the length of our song as the footage was beginning to get repetitive and we felt that the ending of the song was not needed. After doing looking at this final product we know that to improve it we need to schedule a couple of days of filming, both performance and narrative. We also need to re-do the lighting on the Mac and finally think about putting a burnt film/ old film effect on and adding a TV station logo and song title on. The most possible TV station that this video to be viewed on would either be Kerrang! or Scuzz TV.

Research and Planning- Narrative.

We have decided to slightly change our story’s narrative within our music video as at the moment it is quite complicated and not easy to follow. So far our narrative looks like our band running through a forest. We have developed our apocalypse theme by placing props in the wood location which hint to past lives and memories. We feel that these object also work well with the mood we want to create as some objects are quite represents something usually quite normal and we have given them a darker effect. For example the teddy bear can represent childhood and innocence however because the teddy bear we have used is dirty and abandoned it has begun to create a scary effect and can also pull on our audiences heart strings. These objects can engage our audience further as they begin to ask questions on how they got to that location and what meaning the objects have. However I also think that this is too complicated and we have also begun to explore the narrative of time. We are going this by slowing down footage and repeating the imagery of the pocket watch. I think this is a much more interesting narrative and it works well with our past theme of an apocalypse and previous footage.

Ancillary- Edited Photos.

 After filming on the weekend and taking photographs of the abandoned objects I have edited them to create a darker effect. To do this I used photoshop and converted each image into black and white. I then used the burn tool which darkens area. with this tool I darkened then background and some areas to create a dark frame around the object.

Research and Planning- Importing

Today in class we imported the footage that we filmed on the weekend. However after importing we have realised that some of the footage has gone. The footage that is missing is a clip where our actors run onto a picture frame and smash the glass. To over come this problem we will buy a new frame and re-shoot this clip again when we film the performance part on Thursday as there is a wooded area at the location.

Research and Planning- Filmining Log.

Date:- Saturday 1st December
Location- Holiday Woods Windsor.

Today we filmed more footage for our narrative aspect of our music video. This went really well and we shall upload the footage on Monday and put it into place.

The lighting today was much better than it had been in the previous shoot as there was a lot more sun. This meant the camera could pick up more detail. The brighter lighting will not affect the mood of our video as in the editing stage we are darkening all shots to create a much darker mood. This also means that when we darken the clips they won’t be out of focus and grainy.  This also creates a problem as this lighting from our new clips will not match the lighting of our old clips. To fix this we have thought about the possibility of converting all the wood scene into either black and white or sepia. This would help mask the differences in lighting and can also link to the overall narrative of the past or an apocalypse theme.

We have changed an element of our narrative by adding objects that hint to a past life, keeping in context to our apocalypse feel. These objects include a child's teddy bear, and photograph and a pocket watch. We filmed these objects in the location with our actors running past them. I have also taken photographs of these objects and am going to edit them and try to incorporate them into our ancillary piece.
Here are some of the un-edited photos:-

Research and Planning- Audience Research.

To see how we should market our chosen song and band Ravenface, This is Annihilation. I have looked at a website that shows me similar bands to Ravenface. This is helpful because I can look at the different methods of marketing and branding that these bands have used, as well as concepts and interesting camera techniques that they have used in music videos.The images of the bands are useful because it gives me ideas for how we should represent our actors.

Here is a link to the website:-
http://www.last.fm/music/Ravenface.

The bands that the source listed are as followed:-

• The Defiled.

 

• Across the Sun.

 

• Skiller.

 

• Vanisher.

 

• The Artifact.

 

• Sarea.

 

• Tasters.

 

• Dawn Under Eclipse. 

 

• Invisius.

 

• The Unguided.

 

• The Blinded.

 

• Zero System.

 

• Hell Within.

 

• Figure of Six.

 

• Rise To Remain. 

Research and Planning:- Shot List.

We will be re filming this week and after using footage from our previous filming we have made a shot list of all the gaps and footage that needs to be re filmed. We have also added some aspects to our narrative. As we are taking an apocalypse approach to our narrative, we were told that that isn't very clear. So we are going to interject hints to old lives using objects shown in the woodland. These objects will be precious objects, like a pocket watch, child's toy and family photo that will be old and obviously left outside for a very long time. We can then use this for our ancillary as we will take photographs of these objects and use hem in our digipak.

Here is our Shot List. I have colour coded the shots. Green will be filmed in the woods and Blue will be filmed in the Car Park.

• Re-shoot shot of tilt up from woodland floor or replace with an abandoned object.
• Shoot medium shot of guitarist playing solitary note at the start of the song.
• Re-shoot bird's eye angle of drummer playing the beat. Visual match audio.
• Long shot of band playing together.
• Low angle shot of drums.
• Side shot of band preforming- Tilted angle.
• Medium shot of guitarist playing note.
• Wide angle shot of band playing, camera tilts down to car park floor.
• Camera tilts up from woodland floor to woods.
• Re-shoot low angle shot of vocalist jumping over the camera.
• Re-shoot bird's eye angle of the band running through the woods- create more enigma.
• Re-shoot close- up of vocalist.
• Re-shoot close-up of vocalist, head moving down.
• Re-shoot close-up of vocalist pointing at the camera.
• Re-shoot medium long shot of guitarist playing.
• Re-shoot shot of band running through woods- side angle.
• Re-shoot low angle close-up of drummer hitting the base drum.
• Re-shoot close-up of vocalist head banging.
• Re-shoot medium close-up of guitarist playing.
• Re-shoot close-up of guitarist 2 playing.
• Re-shoot vocalist acting out actions.
• Get rid of band helping up guitarist and replace with shot of object next to the guitarist on the ground. (or something else)
• Film more close-ups and shots of band preforming.
• Re-shoot close-up in the car park.
• Quick cuts to the objects.
• Re-film close-up of guitar.
• Re-place the siking up shots.

Ancillary- Designs.

I have designed our second idea for our ancillary cover. This design would be a photograph of a flaming R. We haven't decided whether it would be in black and white or colour so with he drawing of the design I have looked at both. We would also like to experiment with having a water mark of feathers behind the design.

Coloured Design.

Black and White Design.

Research and Planning:- Continuity and Costume.

As we plan on filming again next week we have made a list of the costumes our actors where wearing so that there is no continuity errors.

Performance based filming:-
Jake:- Storm Trooper T-shrit/ quarter lengths.
Dean:- Ripped black jeans/ black top/ sylosis hoodie.
Stephen:- Sylosis hoodie/ blue jeans/ red converses.
Perrin:- Black jeans/ Suicide silence hoodie/ black gloves/ T-shirt.

Narrative based filming:-
Jake:- Ed Hardy blue jeans/ Grey hoodie/ Leather jacket/ Black t-shirt.
Dean:-Chelsea Grin t-shirt/ sylosis hoodie/ black jeans.
Stephen:- Sylosis t-shirt/ Sylosis hoodie/ grey jeans.
Perrin:- Black jeans/ leather jacket/ black hoodie/ black t-shirt.

Ancillary:- Designs.

After looking at Ravenface's existing album covers and mind-mapping our possible ideas i have done one design. It depicts a dead tree in the back ground and gothic, tribal font reading 'Ravenface'. I have done two of the same idea exploring colour. One being very dark, with black, blue and white. The other being very angry/fiery with the use of red, orange and brown. After looking at the two designs, i think that the darker design works best with the overall feel of our chosen song.I will continue to design covers, also looking at using images/icons that relate or reflect our song.

Dark Design.

Red Design.

Ancillary:- Research and planning.

To get an understanding on how Ravenface has marked and branded themselves through their album covers I have analyzed each one, looking at colour, media, mood, font and style.

This has been very useful as I can now look at the styles they have already used and our group can start doing designs experimenting with media and colour soon.

Ancillary:- Planning.

As we are unable to film until next week we have started to plan out what we are going to put on our digipak. We have taken into consideration thee genre and the feel of the song and have thought of images and designs that we could possibly use for the cover and booklet. We have also thought about the context of the pack. Will we put in the actors names and their role they played, the lyrics to the song, thanks from the band? Again we have looked at similar bands albums and what they have put into them.
We are going to start designing ideas this week, using both photography, art design and computer designing.
Here is the mind map we made in the lesson:-

Research and Planning- Re Filming Schedule.

After piecing our footage onto our timeline we have made a list of the clips we need to re-shoot or missing footage. We will make sure that our actors are in the same clothing as previous filming so that there is no continuity errors and we will be using the same props.
We will film this next week on the following dates:-

Performance clips:- Thursday 29th November.
Narrative clips:- Saturday 1st December.

We have started to storyboard the new clips that we will be filming and are thinking on showing clips of the hidden threat.

Research and Planning:- Lighting and Colour Research.

We have now uploaded all footage from both shoots, the car park and wood scenes, and have started editing it. Throughout the editing process we have been using a variety of different effects on Final Cut Pro, such as: 

Strobes and Blink- We have decided that we don't want to use the strobe effect that we learnt earlier throughout all of the performance shots as this can get a bit off putting and would draw attention away from our shots and just make people focus on the flashing. For this reason we have only started applying it to certain shots within the breakdown of the song. As well as strobes we have used the Blink effect, which means the shot flashes. We have decided that this looks more effective so we will not be using the strobe effect.  The difficult aspect on using these effects is trying to get the flashes to black in time with the tempo and beat of the song.  

The Speed tool on Final Cut Pro.

Speed- We have also been changing some shots to half-speed (slow motion), such as the opening shot of water dripping. This is because it makes the shot a lot more effective as it makes it seem more dramatic and it means the ripples of the water are easier to see and this then matches the pace of the beginning of the song, as it is a lot slower at the start.

Motion/ Scale- We have also used scale to zoom in on our shots and this means that we can

 cut into certain parts of the shot quickly, without having to film the close-ups separately, which could lead to some continuity errors. Whilst this is good, for extreme close ups we will have to film these separately as the quality of the shots goes down the more we zoom in and we don't want any shots to look unfocused and grainy as this makes them appear more amateur and not effective enough. 

The Colour Correction tool from Final Cut Pro.

Colour corrector- We have been using the three wheel colour corrector which edits the lighting from our shots. We are using this effect to dim the shots as they look too bright and this is making them appear too cheerful, which does not fit with the dark and brooding atmosphere that is common for a heavy metal concept and it is the effect we want to create. So far we have edited the highlights down to 214, the blacks to 88 and whites down to -12 and this has made them look a lot more gloomy which fits the stereotypical atmosphere in our genre music videos and looks really good.