Deleated scenes

During the production of my filming there were clips that where out-takes and them clips where not used  in the final product. Although there was a substantial amount of filming done for the full production some for the excess footage was left behind because of the several reasons.

• The first two clips were examples of direction and when I have begun filming. This is necessary for actors and the performers to know when the camera is rolling it is inevitable that this parts would be in the scene, the power of editing would remove the unwanted footage and keep the rest of the footage. In the clips Gabby is given direction when to start dancing, this will allow me to cut the area I require while she is in full motion, this would produce the continuity we strive for.
• The 3rd and 4th clips where deleted scenes because, after taking advice from the audience the idea of having a narrative of that context within the footage is difficult to work around especially with the tempo of the song. There has to be a certain level of movement rather than staying static. Moreover the problem with the footage is that what I was aiming to do is match on action and that didn’t seem too effective during a music video. If there is a narrative that is being explained it would require a montage of different locations and scene however having understandable narrative.
• The fourth clip was deleted for the soul purpose of that it was a long clip with music video there has to be relatively quick transition that are either interesting or abstract. If you are going for an elongated clip it would have to be assertive to the audience and instantly draws their attention.
• Finally this was the main part of the production this was filmed and the intention was to make it part of the final cut. However, form the audience feedback of the rough cut the footage that was taken was not of a very high standard. It meant that there was room for improvement, which I agreed on the fact that my camera work wasn’t tested to the maximum potential. In the second trail there wasn't good communication between the artist and I. there was problems with the costumes, so my instant though was rather than delaying any more time we it would be more practical to film again.
• Furthermore, with the opportunity of filming again, I had gained previous experience from the last time I was filming, so I was more equipped to take on the challenge. The areas that needed to be improved such as the camera work the lip syncing needed to be more precious and exaggerated in order to make the editing section of the project easier.

Nevertheless, there were some scene that where deleted, however that’s the advantage of having a lot of footage, there was some footage that I wanted to deleted however I changed my mind and still used some of the footage to my advantage.  This has taught me to be more organised in what I want before I begin production, I may have a clear idea of my treatment, however I need to be more prepared and look at the physical environment before I start filming. Looking at factor such as light, obstacles and ambience, these elements can affect the overall filming production. The organised plan would provide you with clear structure of how you want things done that was painted in the final image in the mind.

Rough Cut

The following footage is the development of my media product. My rough cut consists of majority of my visual ideas that I want to carry through. Using my narrative I told half the story of the music, by the use of editing, camera work and lighting. My initial have worked effectively now that they have been developed into a final concept. It is important that I use the audience feedback and use there responses in order to develop my ideas.

The audience where able to identify the genre of the music instantly which was perfectly recorded by the artist ‘’Otty’’however, the audience assessed that in order to follow thee codes and conventions of the genre it is vital that I have the representation of the artist performing and having the lip synching feature in the music video. With this there was a factor of the main video was based on the dancing performance, and similarly to John Ledged music video of “Ordinary People” the narrative was the main part not much footage was based on him as he is already an international star. Unlike my artist the main objective is to sell the artist, identity and song. Although the concept of dancing was seen to be a positive comments that there is large development of the dance performance which includes an “Excellent performance of the dancer, Gabby Tempest.”

On the other hand, there was lack of camera work, which was a large comment by the audience consisting with a range from long shots, high angle shot and panning movement. There wasn’t a range of camera work. Furthermore, there audience suggested of alternating to different location during the music video as an member of the public who may be watching the footage may possibly be ”bored of the footage.” Acting on this feedback, I have considered of using more than one main character in the video, taking back to the original treatment of the footage such as different location on a busy road, on a bus, cafes etc.

The video editing was said to be good, this was due to the fact that I had one camera to work with from different angles and one routine, this suggest that there has to be a lot a fluent editing the continuity is important when it comes to a dance performance. One position must switch perfectly to a different camera shot and angle. Furthermore the where various editorial cheats that I had to endure in order to increase the amount of shits used and the continuity smooth, I had to reverse some footage in order for the dance to go into different positions, it was relatively effective. However, it is essential that the quality is at its peak for the product to be seen as a potential successful music video in the market. The use of two or three camera would help the accuracy of editing. Along with the continuity, the lighting and was also complimented and there was one spotlight which means the main focus was on the dancer. Moreover as I began the music video with black and white filter, eventually the black and white filter began to fade into a natural saturation, this was an effective technique of linking the visual effects of the music video to the lyrics of the song hence ‘’Light of the Dark’’ the dark being the black and white saturation.

There various aspects of the music video that I recognised that could be changed in oder to make the music video more effective, such as the main character, making her journey towards the dance studio, during this process there would be cut scene of the main actress and main actor preparing themselves. The use of tracking shot, medium shots and POV shots acting on the feedback of using different shots in order to the visuals linking more with the music, as suggested by Goodwin’s theory. 

Shot list

Most of the shots I will use will be long shot, this was for the dance scene, this will allow the audience to see graceful performance through out. The main feature of this would be using camera movements this will allow the music video to flow naturally with the slow tempo of the song. The mid shots are would be more effective for the artist performance on the piano, as the main idea is to create a brand identity and it would be done so by using close ups and mid shots. 

1. Long shot
2. Panning Movement
3. Tracking shot
4. Medium Shot moving into a close up
5. Medium Shot
6. Long Shot
7. Zooming shot 
8. Long shot
9. Long shot
10. Tracking shot
11. Close up
12. Long shot
13. Low angle long shot
14. Medium shot 
15. Panning Movement 
16. Long shot
17. Long shot
18. Long shot
19. Long shot
20. High angle
21. Zooming long shot
22. Panning Movement
23. Long shot
24. Tracking shot
25. Medium shot
26. Panning shot
27. Medium shot
28. Panning Movement
29. Low angle 
30. Tracking shot 

Filming schedule

The main production of my music video took place during November and December. Using this time period I would hope to take advantage of the dark and grey colours which would reflect to a calm and subtle visionary. The lighting would create a certain ambience which suites the genre of souls, that has a similar link with blues. With the different locations that I managed to get access to their gave me specific dates that I would be able to use the performance rooms. I have to insure that the cast are informed with good time in order to meet the dates.

My first part of product took place on November 21st 2013, on this day was beginning the secondary bases of my music video. This is where the dance Gabby is able to tell a story with her dancing. We were able to set up and use out time effectively, with the location being used as a performance space, there was a variation of lighting and setting that I could use, i went for the more simplistic bright spot light which concentrates on the dancer. While filming I sued a minimum amount of shots, such as long shots, high and low angle and one type of camera movement panning shot. It was evident that the flow of transition was not smooth, as there was no specific dance set in mind, which I aim to improve for the final cut, and this would require two camera tacking these different shots from different angles and one dance routine which can be repeated and merged.

After the feedback it is important that I took that relevant information and use to act onto the final cut. And using this information I wanted to instantly act upon the feedback to move forward and to see if there are another improvements are need to made despite the feedback December the 18th I took the opportunity to start the main body of the product, where the artist would be performing the song while playing the piano although there wasn’t similar lighting to the previous location, there was a lot of natural light that bring the colours out more. Here there was large amount of camera movements and angles. It began the challenge of lip synchronisation, there are important that the music was playing in the background so that there is a chance wile editing to identify where the music that is edited over goes to which part. 

After this part of the production after editing I realised that there were parts that I could improve on such as the lip synchronisation of the artist. It was important that I would able to see the emphasis in the mouthing of the lyrics due to the low quality and the dark lighting. At the same time I had to do the dancing part of the production again this was to see get range of camera angles and movements. Although I managed to keep some of the footage from the previous production due to the high angle shots and long shots which worked effectively.  

Costumes

With the costumes for the music video, it was important that I was associating with my target audience, predominantly females. So making the music video as appealing to them as possible. It is important that there is a level of class, which would suit with the genre of the music. Using other artist, such as Ne-Yo, John Legend and Usher show a great level of maturity and class with their style which would be perfectly fitting for my artist whom has that similar look. Sex appeal has become a major part of the music industry and the more appealing that artist and his promotion packages the more sales they tend to get.

For my artist I decided to go for the more smart casual appeal in the music video, although there is a level of class about the artist there treatment for the music suggest that there isn’t a need for large audience and performance. This implies that there isn’t a equipment for formal wear, as in Justin Timberlake’s music video ‘’Suits and Tie’’ During his stage performance he was a wearing a Tom Ford tuxedo, however in other parts of the music video, when he in the studio or of stage, he is wearing casual clothes. Which I will be putting a mixture of both the elements and having a smart casual factor. With Suit jacket which would be the main part of the smart and casual jeans and a basic white shirt.

For the dancer, it is important that the dance feels comfortable in what she is wearing.  That she is able to more efficiently in her outfit, so it I went for the basic look where she able to exaggerate the body shapes and her body is defined to show them shapes. We went for a basic green, large crop top and for the bottoms it would be black leggings and shorts underneath. The green would be more defined in the artificial light that would be in the centre of the dance floor. My dancer (Gabby) is a ballet dancer, there are similarities between contemporary dance and ballet, removing some of the basic structure of ballet and adding more freedom to the contemporary was effective, such as the outfit which maybe manufacture for specific product, choosing a loser and more relaxed outfit would be represent the style of song simplicity.

As we were filming during December, gabby took an acting role as she walked towards her dance studio. The weather would tend to be cold and wet, a coat to show amplify the time of year, similar with the use of the pink umbrella. The umbrella has the contrast in colours as the environment as it is brighter colour to a grey ambience, it pops out the screen which links the visuals to the lyrics ‘’Light up the dark.’’ The dark coat as well subtracts more of the lighter colours.

Props

This is the only  piece of instrument that I used in my music video. The acoustic recording of the piano was part of the music and the main idea was to make sure that is the main feature in the music video as the artist himself plays the piano. The Yamaha grand piano was my original idea, I was demanding this write from the moment I chose my final songs, with this I would be able to meet the codes and conventions of the genre.

I believe that this was the main selling point for my location making it perfect, exactly as I imagined it and to get this I had to negotiate with a University in order to use this space and I was successful enough to do so and it made it more of a industrial scale music video.

The second piece of prop would  be the pink umbrella, with this intend to bring forward the bright colours of the umbrella and saturate the rest of the colours in the video as gabby is walking down to the road. I aim to test my editing skills by doing so.

locaction

The location for the music video was an important feature for the music video it is vital that it replicate my vision as it works well with he song and the narrative. Accessing my location was a complex situation, I had to know the right people in order to gain the best possible location for my music video. One of the major locations was a dance performance room, and the one I managed to gain access to have laminate flooring and a large mirror feature wall, where I am able to get a reflection of the dancers. By emailing studio, I final managed to negotiate a successfully, what I would require for my music video, such as time, music and lighting, this would create the right ambiance that I would require to meet the specification of my genre and song.

My second location would be based in a different studio where there is open space and the access to a grand piano, here is where my artist would be able to perform and show is talent and musical process. This emphasis the idea of talent and performance, from the dances of the narrative to the artist himself, the space would sure express the artist. Majority of my inspiration from John legend's music video as it fits in with a similar music genre. 

Using the natural light, I am to get shots on public transport, hence the idea of traveling from one location to another telling a story as they are looking for someone to light up the dark that’s in their hearts. As the character show how they feel empty as there are alone and looking for someone to be with. Locations such as  a café or park depending on the character and the background, it is important that the location opens up the characters background and that there feeling about the other person are about.