Music Video

An account of my filming day - Wednesday 27th October


I arrived at my school where the filming was going to take place in the lecture theatre. I had my performers ready and there waiting to film. Sam, who was playing drums had come down from London especially to be part of my video. And Joe, lead singer and guitarist took time out to also be part of it. 


For me to successfully capture the effects that I wanted in Postproduction I had to use the green screen. So I started of by putting together the green screen and setting up the floor and lighting. Unfortunately, there was  a series of accounts that did not contribute positively to my filming. My teacher had booked out the lecture theatre and lighting room for me and when i turned up I found that the stage I was planning to use had been taken down! Little did I know that was the first of many problems! 


My music video consisted of the band performing on stage with their instruments, however it turned out the musical instruments; drums, guitar, microphone and microphone stand were not available for me to use. And with the stage been taken down to it made it impossible for me to capture any of my filming. I had taken with me my shot lists, storyboard, schedule and assets lists and after looking through them, it confirmed to me that I could not even capture a few shots as they were all of the band with their instruments. 


Unfortunately, I had to pack up and go home without any filming completed! My band members had had a wasted journey as nothing got done that day. After talking to my teacher, I am now planning to film on Wednesday 10th November where hopefully everything will go to plan!

Email to The Black Keys label company

Below is a print screen of the email I sent to request permission to use the track 'Strange Times' by The Black Keys. Unfortunately, I have not received a reply.

Music Video - Analysis

Below is my first music video analysis. I chose The White Stripes 'Seven Nation Army' as this video has been one of my inspirations for my own music video. The music is also similar to The Black Keys 'Strange Times', they both have a steady continuous beat throughout. 

I have included print screens to show the super-imposed effects that the directors used. I hope to adopt this effect and hopefully include it within my own music video. 

 

Planning - Production Schedule

As part of my planning I had to create a production schedule with the timings and shots that I plan to use on my filming day, which will be Wednesday 27th October. I plan to start filming at 10:00am and hopefully get it all done within one day finishing around 16:00pm. 

Below is a print screen of my production schedule:

All my planning will help me to be organised on the day of my filming, having a production schedule will ensure that I remember to film all the shots that I want to include within my video. By sticking to the times I have planned in my production schedule it will help me with overall time management as this is a crucial part in filming my video.

Planning - Potential Hazards

Potential hazards I may encounter while filming

Above is a print screen from Microsoft word where I created a table of the potential hazards that I may come across when filming my music video.

Planning - Assets List

Assets List

Creating an Assets List will help me to remember all the important props/equipment that I will need to ensure I am ready to film my video. If I was to forget one item it could potentially cause problems and will mean filming another day. So I will include in this list everything from the smallest detail, as when I was filming the preliminary task if we forgot props we couldn’t continue filming and managing your time correctly is key to making this video work.

The following items are what I will need to create my music video:

• ·      Video Camera + tape
• ·      Tri-pod
• ·      Storyboard
• ·      Timeline
• ·      Production Schedule
• ·      Shot List
• ·      Camera (so I can take still images to add to my blog) + memory stick
• ·      Appropriate clothing that I would like the band to wear
• ·      Money for refreshments etc

 The following items are what I will require when filming the band:

• ·      Stage
• ·      Lighting (Strobe lighting, bright lights etc)
• ·      Guitar
• ·      Drum kit
• ·      Microphone x2
• ·      Microphone stand x2
• ·      Plain background
• ·      Preferably a black/white canvas to film the band performing
• 
  

By making a list of the equipment I will need, it will ensure that I am fully prepared on the day of my filming and will mean less panicking to make sure that I have everything I need to make my filming as successful as possible.

Storyboard animatics

Below is my storyboard animation, after creating a storyboard we filmed each one to create a small clip of how the music video would go.

Planning - Timeline and Storyboard

Time line

To start our planning for our music video we created a time line to show the different cuts we plan to make within the video. Most my clips last for around 3 to 4 seconds and I have decided to use more post production effects in my video rather then a narrative idea. This will involve super-imposing images within my video to hopefully create the effect that I am after. I am planning to film the band performing on stage, and I will cut this into the post production effects that I hope to create. Creating this time line has helped me to realise where I have gaps and anywhere I did I needed to take extra time to think about a new idea that could potentially fill that gap.

Below are shots of my time line:

Storyboard 

After creating a time line, we began to make a storyboard as another part of our planning. To do this, I had to refer back to my time line then draw pictures of what I wanted my shots to look like, I did this on post-it notes. Within these drawings, I had to include the different camera angles and shot distances. Additional information that I could not include in my drawing was written underneath. 

Overall, I did about 10 sheets in total, consisting of 6 pictures per page. Looking back to my time line, when appropriate I wrote the chorus lyrics on top of the post-it notes. Planning my music video has helped me a great deal and I will be referring back to them to guide me while filming my video to ensure I include all the shot distances and angles that I wanted to create.


Below are shots of my storyboard:

Music Video - Proposal

I originally had three potential ideas for my music video, Florence and The Machine 'I'm not calling you a liar', Mumford and Sons 'White Blank Page' and The Black Keys 'Strange Times'. After receiving feedback from my teacher i decided to go with The Black Keys - Strange Times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8EVNdbbYoA

I decided to choose this song as I felt I could create a good music video with this track as it has a steady beat and potential for me to create great effects in Postproduction.

Performers - My video will feature two guys playing the drums and guitar. The main singer will be the one playing the guitar, I would like to  have one of the old style microphones to give it a more old retro feel.

Costumes - There is not a specific costume I would like the artists to wear, however I want to keep an Indie/Rock feel throughout the video. I want the outfits to be simple, for example, the guys wearing skinny jeans, a patterned t-shirt and military style boots. 

Location - As I am focusing more on showing random effects to complement the music in more of an abstract way instead of following a storyline, I plan to film the artists performing on stage. A plain background will work better as it will be easier to create effects after in Postproduction. Ideally a plain white background will work best or a dark room with a stage with lighting on the band members.

Narrative Ideas - I will film the artists performing on stage and playing the instruments. I will then edit and add effecrs to complement the video in this way rather then a storyline behind it. As when i researched the lyrics of the track I found that I couldn't really relate a story with the lyrics so I decided that I wanted to do more effects with it in Postproduction.

Camera Angles - As i am planning on filming the band performing, I would like to focus on the artists rather then the scenery around them. I plan to use Extreme Close-ups of the artist's faces as well as Close-ups of them playing the drums and guitar. I plan to film different angles of the band performing and a variety of shot distances to create different looks.

Editing Styles - The editing styles are important to my video, I want to open the video with the same sort of effect as the music video The White Stripes 'Seven Nation Army' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J2QdDbelmY. The track also slows down when it hits the chorus, so at them points i would like to slow the pace down to match the rhythm of the music. I would also like to include Spiltscreens showing the artists playing together at the same time or performing to each other almost like a mirror image.

Influences - The White Stripes 'Seven Nation Army'  and Hurtwood House Media 'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL5MlMpdmMs.

Above are some Printscreens i took from the The White Stripes video, I hope to create something similar to add to my video. In the Hurtwood House Production I came across the effect they used when showing the artists in four different frames, I hope to adapt this and put my own take on it to add to my own video.

Style - The overall style I would like throughout my video is a Indie/Rock theme.

Preliminary Task

Bad Touch Video and Remake

Preliminary Task

For our preliminary task, as a group we had to choose a music video and copy the first 1.18 seconds of the footage. As a class we decided to recreate 'Bad Touch' by Bloodhound Gang, we started to create a storyboard and work out what was happening in each frame.

I feel that this task has helped me realise how the way you manage your time is crucial to ensuring the finish product looks professional. It has given me an insight to Premiere Pro and how to use Motion Control, Edit and Crop the frames, Unlink sound, Change the speed duration and

During the process of filming, i have learnt that it is important to hold a steady shot and the use of framing is important to the finish product.

Overall i feel that this preliminary task has given me confidence to try out new techniques and that the skills i have learnt in this task will contribute to my own music video. 

Below are some screen shots comparing my remake video and the original 'Bad Touch' video: