Green Screen Practise

In Friday's lesson, we had a bit of fun with the green screen - using an underwater clip from YouTube. We then put Lana in front of the green screen and made her lip sync to Taylor Swift. Using this effect proved to be very successful, although Lana's hair seemed to have affected the quality of some parts (as it contains bleach). We will definitely be using this technique on our real music video, which we were considering to create t-shirts or clothing out of, where we can insert sections of filming or even still images. 

Later on in the week, Joely and Andrea had a bit of fun experimenting with a variation of different backgrounds fitting with the lyrics of the song:

Preliminary Exercise

My group and myself finally filmed our prelim, we learnt that featuring in a music video - whether you were the main or backing singers - you HAD to be enthusiastic! Luckily enough, we had brilliant lighting that evening just as the sun was setting and we were able to have access to the convertible car and house we planned to film in.  
The beginning of our prelim was a very make-shift, as we created all the weekly pieces of paper and simply used cello tape to flip from day to day. Despite storyboarding, we didn't play much attention on the waking up in the bed scene (hence the black screen) - this has definitely taught us to storyboard clearly for the real thing! Other than that, we filmed chronologically and Joely filmed the long shots of us in the car, whilst taking close ups of Lana as the main singer. Lip syncing proved to be easy for Lana, as everything was in time with the music. The only thing we have to ensure we don't have difficulty with is the adding and deleting of clips, which can instantly change the sync of both the lip syncing and music.

Colourful Paint/Flour Idea

One of the very first ideas we had was to use some form of substance (paint or flour) inside balloons, then using the effect of them exploding in our music video. This was later seen in Example's video, which came our soon after we thought of this! It is a brilliant thing to do and something you don't seen often, hopefully we will be able to recreate this and insert it into our own.

Useful Advice

FINAL A2 GRADE
- Ask friends or approach local bands and get permission to use their material
- Approach unsigned bands on ‘My Space’ etc and get permission to use their material
- Collaborate with music department/students in your centre on the project
- Create your own music or sound track
- OR…Use a music track by a well-known artist, but email the record label asking permission: be aware of the dangers of using a well known artist à your videos are more likely to mimic existing videos and not challenge conventions

One of our ideas within our group was to have an animal/inhuman aspect - perhaps, inspired by using animal painted faces or even costumes. Eliza Doolittle's Mr Medicine is a video we happened to come across and we especially loved the part where these mysterious people in costumes join her whilst singing in a lonely, dark street. This is particularly effective, as we could play on this theme in a small section of our video.

Prelim Storyboarding

The first page of our storyboard (Joely's beautiful drawings!) including the page seven turners then the bed, living room and bus stop shots

The majority of these shots are based in the car, mainly close ups of Rebecca and medium shots of her friends

This last page of the storyboard are mainly medium shots 

INITIAL IDEAS

After coming across this video, we noticed the fast forward/rewind part at point 0.45
Really like this effect, as it would go really well with our song choice in particular beats in the song.



Skatepark idea
The whole 'London' town idea with all different kinds of people skating around, having fun.


Images on tshirt, this idea is extremely similar to the one in the official Justice video, which is why we may not use it. Although we have purchased some plain green screen to perhaps, make some pieces of clothing to experiment with.

Preliminary Exercise Song Choice

We have been asked to create a preliminary video, copying a section of a real music video - my group and myself chose the very annoying (highly repetitive) song: Rebecca Black - Friday. It will be set exactly like the video, with the use of a convertable car for the majority of the shots. Lana will play the role of Rebecca, whilst we will use some of our friends to sit in the car. We have also created a storyboard, which will be uploaded in my next post. 

Song Choice

Together myself and my group have come up with a range of initial ideas connected to our final A2 music video. The song choice we have decided to do is Justice - D.A.N.C.E, it is very entertaining - containing both animation and real-life shots. One thing that particularly interested me was the contrast of the black and white shot, juxtaposed with the coloured writing or animation - drawing the younger generation into this entire disco/futuristic era.
Lyrics of the song:


Do the D.A.N.C.E.
1, 2, 3, 4, fight
Stick to the B.E.A.T.
Get ready to ignite
You are such a P.Y.T.
Catching all the lights
Just easy as A.B.C.
That's how you make it right


Do the D.A.N.C.E.
1, 2, 3, 4, fight
Stick to the B.E.A.T.
Get ready to ignite
You are such a P.Y.T.
Catching all the lights
Just easy as A.B.C.
That's how you make it right


Do the D.A.N.C.E.
1, 2, 3, 4, fight
Stick to the B.E.A.T.
Get ready to ignite
You are such a P.Y.T.
Catching all the lights
Just easy as A.B.C.
That's how you make it right


Do the D.A.N.C.E.
Stick to the B.E.A.T.
Just easy as A.B.C.
Do the DANCE


Do the DANCE
The way you move is a mystery
Do the DANCE
You're always there for music and me
Do the DANCE
The way you move is a mystery
Do the DANCE
You're always there for music and me


Do the DANCE
The way you move is a mystery
Do the DANCE
You're always there for music and me


Take me through the radio
Does it all around
Except for one amp stereo
And the speed of sound


Do the DANCE (do the dance)
The way you move is a mystery
Do the DANCE (do the dance)
You're always there for music and me


Do the DANCE (do the dance)
The way you move is a mystery
Do the DANCE (do the dance)
You're always there for music and me


Under the spotlights
Neither black nor white
It doesn't matter
Do the DANCE (do the dance)


As strong as you might
Working day and night
Whatever happens
Do the DANCE (do the dance)


The way you move is a mystery
You're always there for music and me


Do the DANCE (do the dance)
The way you move is a mystery
Do the DANCE (do the dance)
You're always there for music and me


Do the DANCE (do the dance)
The way you move is a mystery
Do the DANCE (do the dance)
You're always there for music and me


Do the DANCE (do the dance)
The way you move is a mystery
Do the DANCE (do the dance)
You're always there for music and me


Do the DANCE (do the dance)
The way you move is a mystery

Looking over our film opening

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Fortunately, myself and my group were able to use iMovie to transport and edit our films from the Flip. iMovie provided great tools to perfect our opening, such as, be able to change the colouring, sound and length of a clip - as well, adding more transitions and other additional sound to enhance the quality. 
We also had the opportunity to use a software called Final Cut, where we could have used it for the more advanced editing - although we never got the chance to use this in our last project.

CREATIVITY
Our entire opening was black and white, as it suited the genre of our film - creating suspense  and a sense of question immediately. As well as this, we decided to create a Swedish film - which, meant we had to have Swedish voices and English subtitles. This idea was hugely influenced by the Swedish film, The Girl in the Dragon Tattoo. We never intended to have a soundtrack, we simply reversed certain Swedish sounds, creating a echoing murmur, which fit perfectly. 
A great deal of our creativity was based on our plot - the filming and editing which we did, was quite basic. Our a2 project, should perhaps, show more experimentation with our editing techniques. 

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

We were influenced, as a group, with a majority of films that we had previously watched. Girl, Interrupted was one of them, as it had the psychological aspect with a main female character. When researching, we found the settings and shots that were most common in these styles of films and began to incorporate it into our own. There was a lack of planning in our group, as no definite story boarding was done until later on, and the one I had previously created was brief because new ideas were constantly being thought of. 
Regular story boarding will have to be done in our a2 project, to keep an up-to-date, organised idea of what we will film. 


POST-PRODUCTION
The post production stage for our film opening was a highly significant part. We perfected the picture and sound by editing, whilst adding in the English subtitles with precise timing to when it was being said. We also included our original logos, which fit both the target audience and the genre of our opening. This stage, however, did not require any SFX to be added and we did not advertise our film opening in anyway. In our a2 project, it is necessary to include a music poster and digipack, which will all be done after the completion of our music video. 

Music Videos

During our lesson, we each chose two cards, which stated a feature that we had to find in any music video. I received 'Lead Male Vocalist' and 'Interesting use of Lighting'. I chose Jack Penate's Torn on the Platform for the first one, as the video is quite quirky and very suitable for his indie style of music. 

Personally, I really enjoyed watching this humorous musicvideo, although it is very similar throughout and could perhaps be considered quite boring towards the end. It gives the audience an obvious understanding at the beginning that he starts his song in a garage with his band. Then, the animation comes in after they appear to be drawing the setting of a paper puppet show - which has the head of Jack Penate. 

For my interesting use of lighting music video, I found a Justin Timberlake song - Rock  Your Body and after came across Kanye West's - All of the Lights. 

Long shots are used to establish the setting - playing particular attention to the use of colourful spot lights, giving off the atmosphere of a club. There is a great performance element to this music video, as he has backing dancers that blend into the background in black, whilst he is the focal point in white. Movement is key, not only in the performance side but the lights are also moving to the beat of the music, which fits the genre of the song perfectly. 

This is a very unusual video, a lengthy black and white shot is used at the beginning of a small girl, which then flashes different vibrant colours before the quick, flashing lyrics are shown. These lyrics flash precisely at the time that they are spoken in the song. Throughout the song, shots of both Kanye and Rihanna are shown. In particular, Rihanna is against a black background with a huge spotlight on her - emphasizing her appearance, whilst, Kanye is on top of a police car whilst the flashing lights give connotations of risk and excitement.