Music video style remake and evaluation

My section begins from the beginning to 0.58.

Summary of the task at hand

As a class , we was given the task to create a music video mash up to Macklemore's 'Thrift Shop' (which you can listen to here). As a mash up style music video , we were split  into groups so we could make different styles of a music video and join them all into one. This was exciting and allowed us to all create different visual representations to the song rather than just one.

My group was given the 'shot for shot / recreation' style which was both simple and complicated at the same time. Our aim was to duplicate each shot from the music video , which cut down our planning time , however, it was very important that we produced each shot identical , which was rather difficult as we did not have the same casting , equipment and props. Never the less , the task at hand was enjoyable and allowed us to place ourselves in the shoes of real music video directors which helped us gained some insight into this field of media.

Evaluation

Research and Planning

Part our pre-production process was to create a shooting script that gave a short description

of every shot number, location, shot type / angle / movement and duration. A shooting script is very important when working in the media industry because it helps the other members who are working on the production, be aware of what is going on and what they need to do. For example , the Project coordinator would enable scheduling and identify key personnel required for locations and props etc. The technicians such as the Director of Photography would be aware of what equipment they need and the style of which they produce the content and the actors themselves would be able to understand their role in the production. My work has improved in the means of research and planning as I am now very familiar with using a shooting script. A shooting script has enabled me to plan my work efficiently and to also film my work much more easily as all the details are present. For example, I had to plan who would be casted into my music video for the shot at 0.19-0.28 , which needed a group of actors.The shooting script informed these actors of where they needed to be and when.

Conventions

My use of conventions has improved during year 12 to my present work as I am much more aware of what is needed. After researching music videos initially from my music video styles and conventions blog post (click here) , I have been able to develop different types of production work much more appropriately. For example , in my BSR opening I would of needed a much more mundane location and feel , however , a music video has more room for imagination and can be lively in comparison. One convention that we had to focus on particular was a variety of camera shots. Below you can see we did this well.

Creativity

Although our section of the music video was a shot by shot / recreation style, we still managed to add some creativity. I had the idea of a cold opening which is the beginning part of a music video that has acting prior to the song itself. Therefore, my creativity has developed during year 12 as I did not restrict myself and decided to do some extra work. The cold opening itself involved the two music artists , Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, conversing about going thrift shopping whilst playing cards. This gave the music video a much more humorous effect because it makes you question whether this was how the music video could of possibly have been made to be. It also gives the audience an indication on who the singer and producer are.

Post-production and digital technology

During editing , we used Final Cut Pro to sync our video clips to the music. This was the first time I had used this software , which allowed me to improve my knowledge on other editing programmes and software usage.

It was rather challenging to cut each clip to the beat , but we managed to do this fluently as this was an important convention in music videos. We used the original music video as our guide on the duration of each clip to the lyrics.

One problem we faced was a number of our clips going missing , however , this was due to the SD card and we were able to replace it. Apart from the SD mishap , this task was fun and easy and I am looking forward to more similar tasks.

A hardware improvement I had made was with the school camcorder we used to film. I improved using more camera movement such as pan and tilt (shown below), making sure to put the camera tripod to good use too. A music video was a great way to improve camera techniques because you can use virtually any camera shot and movement as there are no rules other than plenty of close ups and constant camera movement. This helped me improve my camera usage during year 12 as I was able to make more use of the camera compared to other 'serious' tasks such as my BSR opening sequence, which of looked amateur with excessive camera movements and zooms. 

Finally, one way I improved in terms of online / web-based technologies, was with my blog. Keeping progress has always led me to improve every time as it helps me document my successes and failures. Another website that I have used strikingly is YouTube! I have used this website through out my research on music videos, as well as a platform to upload my final work.