Production Schedule

Below shows a a production schedule including both editing and filming schedules. Organisation of the actors, equipment, props, and rooms was challenging especially when there is a large group of actors. On the shoot with the band (most actors and props etc.) it was shown that it was the most challenging shoot through the quality of the footage. This is due to me having to rush when filming, as we had little time. The organisation of the shooting was overall very good due to there being not may re-shoots. Due to the planning of the shoot before the day, means I could spend time getting good footage for the video, instead of organising actors and deciding what to do on the day.

Production Log - 16/2/18

For the finished production, I used lots of techniques to edit and add effects to the video. After cutting together a rough version of the video, I over layed and scaled down the footage on top of the TV screens, so I could choose what footage I would eventually want to put on the screens. This means I could look for the best footage for the TV screens.

I then added the footage onto the screens of the TV, so I could proceed to add effects to the footage.

I created adjustment layers for the effects so I could re-use the same effects on other footage. This means that the effects were not assigned to the footage but a layer on top, so I could then change the effects to all of the footage easily without having to change the on each footage.

For tape player clip, I duplicated and offset the footage, changing the blending options of the layer on top, so it adds a weird motion effect to the tape player.

By adding these effect throughout, helps to apply with generic conventions and add to the feel of the video. Due to the song being weird psychedelic rock, the visuals match the same type of style. Because the song also has an older feel, the ghost type effect and the black and white, help to give it this older style feel. The whole aspect of the old box TV and other props, help to give it this feel, so the editing and effects needed to match so it does not look out of place. The old VHS style overlay on some of the shots, helps to give this same effect to the video.

While editing, I could used lots of effects built into Premier Pro. I could then key frame the effects within the program. For the shot of the ventriloquist near the end of the video, I key framed a negative effect to fit with the timing of the music. Nearer the end of the shot the footage inverts the colours and back to the original. Due to there being a black and white adjustment layer on top of the footage, means the negative effect looks much better, as the contrasts between the two is much more noticeable. The flicker of the negative effect helps to fit with the timing of the music and also fit with the style of the music video.

This makes it much easier to add effect to footage and control them within Premier. For the more advanced effects I used After Effects, for things like adding footage to the TV's.

Music Video Final Cut

This is the final cut of the music video I have been working on for the past few months. The editing of the video, has improved from the last cut. More effects have been added to the footage, making it apply to the conventions and feel of a rock video. From the last cut I have improved the narrative of the video, by adding shots of the ventriloquist to help link the lead singer to the puppet.

I also have finished off adding the footage to the TV's which made the video look much better. For the narrative, I decided to add a grain no-signal screen to the TV with all the shots with the puppet, to suggest that the ventriloquist is controlling the TV, causing it to lose signal and stop showing footage of the lead singer. This helps to develop the narrative of the video, making it a stronger video.

Using overlays on top of the lead singer, helps to give a ghost effect to the video. By overlaying the ventriloquist, using blending options, means that it helps to link the two icons together, making the video much more creepy. There are shots with churches and graves over-layed onto of the singer footage. This helps to connote death due to the hanging of the ventriloquist doll, in other shots.

Production Log - 7/2/18

After adding effects to the footage, I moved some clips around in the video to create a clear narrative. Just before the second chorus, I started to link the ventriloquist doll to the lead singer be overlaying the footage of the ventriloquist onto of the singer, as he lip synced the lyrics. I did this by changing the blending options of the ventriloquist footage. I set the option to screen which lightens the subject in the underneath footage and removes the dark background. The lip sync footage then looks like a ghost type figure. The idea is to denote a ghost and connote the aspect of death, due to the hung doll at the start of the video. This then foreshadows the death iconography later in the video. I then added the black and white effect to the footage so the narrative and performance shots can be linked together.

I then moved some of the clips around so the footage links better with the music. As some of the performance shots were a bit off with the lip syncing, I replaced them with a few narrative clips, so they could be linked with the performance, and therefore bringing the music video together. I also added some more footage on the TV's. This is a long process therefore I am doing git in stages instead of all at once. Below is the cut with the narrative and the performance shots cut together much better than before. A few more effects have also been added to clips.

Production Log - 6/2/18

After completing a rough cut of the music video by trimming the footage that I want to use, I then went about adding effects and distortion to the video. For the VHS player style footage, I added a few filters to the footage and 4:3 bars. This is to fit with the whole 'old style' theme. The filters were given to certain clips using adjustment layers so i can reuse the same filters. I decreased the saturation, vibrance and added faded film to give it an old style look. I then added a date in the top corner of the footage using the VHS mono font. This gave the footage the feeling it had been shot on a VHS camera. I then added some stock footage over the top of the clips of glitching lines to make it look like the footage is being played on a VHS player. I set the blending options to screen to combine the two clips together, allowing the background of the stock glitch footage to be punched out.

I then added black and white adjustment layers on the performance clips which I thought made the video separate the live action or narrative footage and the performance footage. The clear separation makes the video look much better as a whole. I then also moved some clips, removed some weak footage and replaced it with better clips. Below is the rough cut with some effects.

Production Log - 28/1/18

Part way through the song, there is a pause, causing a few seconds of silence. The idea was to record footage of an old cassette player being paused and played, by pressing the buttons. Due to the pause in the song, I decided it would be a good idea to have a pause and play flashing in the corner of the screen accordingly, to give the impression that the footage is been played on an old video tape.

To go about making the pause icons, I downloaded the font that the VHS tapes use (VCR OSD Mono) and created a project in Adobe Photoshop. I then typed out play in the VCR OSD font which makes it look like the font in the VHS tapes. I then created a symbol to look like the play icon and placed it next to the text. I then created the same size icon for the pause, creating a symbol to be placed next to the text for the pause too.

I then cut the footage together, syncing the button presses with the timings of the music. I then froze the frame shortly after the pause button has been pressed. This means that the footage pauses on a specific frame before playing again ready for the start of the music. I then imported the PSD files as compositions into AE so I could add effects to the icons and place them in the correct places on screen. I then added the compositions to the main cut, key framing the opacity so they appear on screen at the correct times. I then added a pulse effect to the icons, by key framing the opacity. I then converted the key frames to easy ease, so the key frames were much smoother. I then added effects to the compositions (icons) so they flickered and were distorted as if they were on a VHS tape player.

Personally I think the footage came out really well. The flicker of the pause and play icons look really good and it gives the impression of an old VHS tape player. To make the footage look really good, I would add old style effects tot he main footage so it looks like the quality of the footage is being played on the VHS tape. This would make the aspect look more believable.

Production Log - 5/2/18

After shooting all of the footage for the music video, I then cut together the footage to get an idea of the timings and shots I want to keep in the final video. Following the storyboard and replacing footage from the animatic with live action clips, I could create a rough cut for the video. The narrative on the video need some work as there is no clear plot throughout the video. The effects on the footage and the clips where footage will needed to be added onto TV screens will come later in other cuts. But to keep things simple, I cut together all of the studio and narrative clips, so I can get an idea of timings, and how the video will end up looking.

Production Log - 2/2/18

As some of the clips from the the previous shoot in the studio were not as good as it could have been. Therefore I then shot a few scenes of the lead singer on his own, so it would be easier organise and therefore I could focus on getting good footage instead of organising a whole band. I have enough footage of the band from the previous shoot, which I can use in the video. As we were short on time before, we did not get through the whole song therefore not all of the lyrics will be lip synced.

The shoot went really well, as I really focuses on the control of the camera. Due to the chaos of the song, I wanted to get some moving shots in the video. Although I shot alot of moving shots from the previous shoot, some of the shots were a bit too fast. Therefore, in this shoot I made sure to keep the camera as controlled as possible so the aspect of movement can still be displayed, but also making the shots look good. I setup a studio with black cloth as a backdrop. The black cloth makes the footage look really good due it giving the feeling of a rock video. The dark backdrop makes the subject standout therefore keeping the viewers attention. We went through the song a few times, with different compositions, camera angles, and mise-en-scene. After I had plenty of footage that looked good, I experimented with lighting as I wanted to create a silhouette of him to link to the silhouetted ventriloquist doll.

Production Log - 7/1/18

I shot a few more locations with the TV,  mainly in and around the local woods. The shots from the forest look good and mean that we have a variety of locations with the TV for the video, making the video stronger. I got some good shots of the ventriloquist doll at the forest. 

My favourite from this location is a silhouette of the ventriloquist doll, this was planning to be used right at the start of the video, as the viewer cannot really see what the object is being hung from the tree. In the shot the viewer can see the outline of the ventriloquist, and shafts of sunlight come through as it sways. I purposely used handheld footage to give the effect that something is wrong. Therefore I was continuously thinking about conventions whilst shooting.

On the same day, I also shot the TV in a few fields nearby. Some of my favourite shots from this location are when the sheep in background are looking at the camera out of curiosity, whilst the TV is in the foreground.

I then also shot the TV and ventriloquist doll in another church nearby, both inside and outside as some of the shots from the previous church were not that good and would need to be re-shot. 

Personally, I think that the church in this location was much better than the previous one anyway. As the mise-en-scene of the building looks much better and a typical church. Also due to the location of the church, it means that it was quiet so it was easier to get the footage I needed. I also got some cutaway shots of the church exterior, and some of the graves in the church yard.

Production Log - 25/1/18

For the third shoot, we shot the studio footage of the band and the lead singer. I set up the scene in a room within school, setup the lights and the mise-en-scene of the scene. I got alot of footage and imagery of the band and lead singer. I got lots of good cutaway shots for the music video, and limited shots of lip syncing. Due to this I would need to re-shoot some of the lip sync shots, so the video will have enough lip syncing in the video. Over all the shoot went well, although the outcome of the footage could have been better as we did not get through the whole song. Below is a time-lapse of shoot, showing the setup of the scene and the shooting its self.