Completed Music Video

99% complete Mouthwash

A Developed First Edit of 'Mouthwash'!

2nd Edit of Music Video

2nd Edit of our Music video, with nearly all the stop motion and some rough cuts of other non-stop motion work.

Stop Motion - 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWL0FtpOjOI&feature=youtu.be

Behind the Scenes: Harry Potter

On Thursday (15th) we visited Harry Potter World in Watford and saw how certain aspects of the films were made and the real sets and props used in the films. We also had a behind the scenes lesson in which we learnt how delicate each and every prop can be, the different shots used in the films and their effects on the audience as well as how Hagrid was made to look 7ft 10 tall.

We also learnt some trade secrets such as the non existant ceiling in the grande hall, green screen used to film the flying cars and broomsticks, 4 different types of snow used at different places and sets, the art department and how they create the masks for each and every individual creature, the paper sets made so the camera positions can be marked on before filming starts and of course, the FAKE Hogwarts which uses a green screen to make all the landscaping shots.  

Feedback (Very Rough Cut) from Director Terry Hall

Today we Skype'd Terry Hall, a music video director who gave us some feedback and ideas to change on our music video rough cut and general ideas. Here is the feedback that he gave us:

• We want to keep a fluid style and tone in our music video so instead of having moving shots, we should use still frames so we do not contrast drastically from the amount of stop motion in our work.
• We need to ensure we include a lot of lip syncing so we keep a relationship between the artist and the artist
• Steps: have multiple mollie's moving and they layer them (The White Stripes- Hardest Button to Button, below)
• Random little shots that add to the theme (eg. just her turning in stop motion)
• When editing, take some frames out every now and then to make it more choppy
• try a new technique to reveal out initial keyboard shot (like a pan) 
• have our actor perform at half the speed and then speed that up to give it a weird jerky effect
• https://www.youtube.com/user/PESfilm/videos - the link to a directors channel that Terry suggested we should look at  
• http://vimeo.com/46287665 - sharp movement (zoom) within a moving shot

First Very Rough Cut

First cut of some stop motion

Tester Shots - Tea Cups

We began to start producing some tester shots for key stop motion frames for our music video. I experimented with tea cups taken from a birds eye view. This experimenting developed some issues we would need to fix for our real thing: mess, framing the shot (I am in it) and how we were going to add milk and capture it dispersing. 

Below, Priya investigated our Barbie shots (below) from multiple angles and heights as the body parts move and separate from the torso. The blood in my opinion was a step too far as I thought it didn't match the genre of the song. 

Typical Synopsis of 4 Indie Pop/Rock Music Videos

The 1975 - Settle Down 

The music video is completely black and white and is set in a working class industrial town. The video features 3 main scenes, two include a storyline following two boys who are being kept by their parents at home or with them at work. The other scene is of who we can assume is the lead singer. I think he is one of the older boys grown up, walking back through his old town, reminiscing of the shots shown. I interpret the story line as the two boys being in love, and despite the gay prejudice they receive from their parents who are trying to keep them apart, and the church, they still want to be together, defeating them (the falling). This gave me the idea of maybe using a child to represent my artist in some shots of my music video.



Paramore - Ain't It Fun
This music video has more of an unconventional story with the band trying to break as many world records as possible in a music video- for example: fastest time to smash 30 clocks with guitars, most vinyl records broken in a minute and most cartwheels done in 20 seconds while wearing boots. There are some lip synced shots including all 3 band members not doing any tasks but this is the only deviation from the main goal of breaking world records. (The record is now 10.) I could use these types of tasks seen in the music video as shots in my own to add some un-conventional themes to the story line. 



Coldplay - Midnight
A 1920s tune in the introduction introduces the plot of a 1920s magic show. The lyrics link to the plot line of the video as the lead singer talks about 'not want[ing] anyone else but you' as he is in love with his boss (the magicienne) but unfortuanetley, he cannot be with her until he makes her husband disappear. At the end of the music video, there is a dramatic plot twist, that he can actually perform magic instead of tricking the audience by using allusion - I could use this same idea in my own. 


5 Seconds of Summer - She Looks So Perfect 
There is no direct link (like Paramore's video) to the lyrics and the videos plot line accept for the in the chorus the line 'in my american Apparel underwear' where people strip to their underwear. The music video has a 'self pride' message with people of all ages, sexes and sizes striping near naked, exuberating with confidence.
Lots of close up shots of each band member lip syncing / playing are what we inter to do for out music video. 

Updated Story Board and Lyric Brainstorm

Storyboarding Mouthwash

In today's lesson, we started to make notes on the storyboard/plot line of our music video with animation and shot types in mind. 

What I Have Learnt from my Lip Syncing Task:

Digital Technology /Post - production

I learnt that several problems come with using a green screen. For example, if the natural lighting varies throughout the room, this can have a disastrous effect when applying the green screen effects later when editing due to the green either being lighter than the whole green sheet and being ignored by the computer or the sun making me look paler, therefore I sink into the background when edited. Therefore, people of darker skin would stand out against the background when edited.

Image 1

 Creating distance when filming with a green screen is difficult as you have to fit the whole green sheet into frame otherwise walls, lights etc, are not edited out easily. Because of this, we had to (poorly) film the shots with back up dancers and Snoop Dogg separately, then edit them together later. It would have been much easier to have some sort of green room to use.  

Creases in the sheet or clothing also create a dark shadow, ignored by the green screen. We had problems with this. (See image 1) 

Image 2

If clothes worn while filming were close to green (such as blue or yellow) they would not be picked up. (See image 2). To recreate the music video, we had to copy the key features of it. This music video was all in black and white. We did this by exporting out video in colour, and without the picture on picture, which we added on in a new project after exporting it. To download the original ‘Drop it like it’s hot’ music video, we had to use an online YouTube to video converter. We did the same for the music and then edited both so they would start 23 seconds in.

Creativity

Our props included ice cubes (made ourselves); a glass that was as similar to that in the music video as possible, several snapbacks, clothing changes such as t-shirts, hoodies and polo shirts; and a beard drawn on with black eyeliner.

Research and Planning

I made a detailed story board of every shot and its time in order to make editing much simpler. Whilst editing, I also referred back to the original music video very often to check that my music video flowed as well as the original.

Using Conventions

Image 3

I found the dance moves by Snoop Dogg and the backup dancers represented the lyrics in the song. For example, the lyric ‘park it like it’s hot’ the dancers and snoop dog can be seen ‘reversing a car’. There were several close up shots of Snoop Dogg and Pharrell William’s face with a harsh facial expression, common of the genre. We had to study these to recreate it ourselves. By recreating Snoop Dogg's signature facial hair with eyeliner, wearing snap backs, hoodies and baggy t-shirts, we represented the RnB/rap genre well.

Image 4

There were several shots over the 30 seconds: framing of these shots also varied greatly which added to the pace of the rap song due to the quick cross cutting, matching well with the songs tempo. When artists break the 4th wall (which is common with mean expressions such as (See image 3), it pushes the idea of a 'badman' rap image paired with the ostentatious bragging of large boats and 'bling'. (See image 4) 

Research into Unsigned Artists/Songs for Music Video

Today, I did some research into unknown/unsigned artists and bands in the hopes to find a song I could use for my music video. BBC's programme 'BBC Introducing' features an unsigned band's song every week, and filing through many playlists I came across some interesting artists who I will be contacting.

I also came across one website: bestofbritishunsigned.com, which is an online bank of independently created music uploaded by the artist viewable by location.

During said research, I also came across http://petesmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/music-video-for-level.html which at the bottom, had an amazing recreation of Jessie J's Price Tag. The shot recreation and lip syncing was basically identical and in time.

Post Production

The process after creating a film- ie. the editing.