Here is the final cut of our music video for Love Me Again.
Friday, 20 December 2013
Editing Update: Export Disaster!
We were at the stage where we were ready to export our film out of Final Cut Pro and all was going well until our trusty Mac, Sean, had a complete meltdown!
This was a complete disaster as the whole of our music video, including ALL original shoots and footage was on this particular mac's hard drive. We were really worried that we were going to lose all of our work and would have to start from scratch. It was an extremely tense time but we were hoping for the best.
Luckily, our IT Technician managed to work his magic and save the file, however it was not exported in the best quality it could have been, but frankly we were happy to have it at all!
We have now uploaded our video up onto YouTube and are able to breathe a big sigh of relief.
This was a complete disaster as the whole of our music video, including ALL original shoots and footage was on this particular mac's hard drive. We were really worried that we were going to lose all of our work and would have to start from scratch. It was an extremely tense time but we were hoping for the best.
Luckily, our IT Technician managed to work his magic and save the file, however it was not exported in the best quality it could have been, but frankly we were happy to have it at all!
We have now uploaded our video up onto YouTube and are able to breathe a big sigh of relief.
Thursday, 19 December 2013
MTV Dance Logo
We had almost reached the end of our editing process, but there was one final polish to do. To make it look like an even more professional video, we decided to overlay the MTV Dance logo onto our existing sequence in the top left hand corner.
This would make it more believable in terms of it is easier for the audience to identify the genre and where they would find the video should it be released. It definitely made our music video look complete and was the final element to add before exporting the final cut, so it was a great feeling to have it done.
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Editing Update: Problem Solving
After starting to colour grade all of our clips, we suddenly struck a problem surrounding the aspect of sending the file back to Final Cut Pro from Color.
The issue was that whem the footage arrived back onto Final Cut Pro, there were some clips missing and some which hadn't been colour graded. We believe this was due to a glitch in our computer, as all of the files were the correct type and there was no other obvious explanation.
To solve this, we had to find the missing clips and slot them back into their positions by looking back at the original sequence (luckily we had saved a copy!) After we had put them back in their place, we had to individually put each one through Color, so this process was far more time consuming than we initially planned.
However, once this process was complete, we were really happy with the look of the footage. Beforehand we were unsure as to whether it all intertwined together well, but this must have been to lighting and colour issues, as when the filtered clips were finished, it had a much more professional feel to it.
The issue was that whem the footage arrived back onto Final Cut Pro, there were some clips missing and some which hadn't been colour graded. We believe this was due to a glitch in our computer, as all of the files were the correct type and there was no other obvious explanation.
To solve this, we had to find the missing clips and slot them back into their positions by looking back at the original sequence (luckily we had saved a copy!) After we had put them back in their place, we had to individually put each one through Color, so this process was far more time consuming than we initially planned.
However, once this process was complete, we were really happy with the look of the footage. Beforehand we were unsure as to whether it all intertwined together well, but this must have been to lighting and colour issues, as when the filtered clips were finished, it had a much more professional feel to it.
Letterboxing
Now that our sequence was completely finished - including the colour grading - we could letter box it all. This is whereby you put two black strips onto the frame; one at the top and one at the bottom, and effectively makes the style more widescreen and cinematic, thus looking more professional.
This was another very time consuming task as as we had to do it individually clip by clip. We then had to change the aspect ratio of some of the clips as the strips had cut out people's faces, so we'd have to shift the clip itself up or down within the canvas.
We decided to letterbox our music video not only because we feel it looks more polished and professional, but also because it is a common convention of many successful music videos.
This was another very time consuming task as as we had to do it individually clip by clip. We then had to change the aspect ratio of some of the clips as the strips had cut out people's faces, so we'd have to shift the clip itself up or down within the canvas.
We decided to letterbox our music video not only because we feel it looks more polished and professional, but also because it is a common convention of many successful music videos.
Saturday, 14 December 2013
Colour Grading
Because we had shot in a number of different locations, we knew that we would need to colour grade in order for the sequence to be consistent.
The powder paint fight shots were rather grainy so needed the contrast and brightness levels adjusted. The studio shots needed lifting up as it was a little dull, and the smashing plates/lip syncing shots needed the saturation increased to highlight the bright colours within the frames.
We used the programme, 'Color' to filter our shots through, however, none of us had previously used this editor before. To gain experience and knowledge, we watched several different online tutorials which were all really helpful in getting us started from the basics. We also experimented with the programme first hand, playing about with the different features and what they do.
We eventually realised that we had to do this whole process clip by clip, applying different filters (which could be saved separately, then dragged and dropped) onto each clip. This was a lengthy process which required a lot of patience - especially due to the amount of choppy shots we used.
We changed the colours, the contrast and the lighting and we then sent the sequence back to Final Cut Pro so that we could edit more if we needed too. The colour grading made the footage look like one whole music video and what made everything fit together in the end. This whole process was very successful.
The powder paint fight shots were rather grainy so needed the contrast and brightness levels adjusted. The studio shots needed lifting up as it was a little dull, and the smashing plates/lip syncing shots needed the saturation increased to highlight the bright colours within the frames.
We used the programme, 'Color' to filter our shots through, however, none of us had previously used this editor before. To gain experience and knowledge, we watched several different online tutorials which were all really helpful in getting us started from the basics. We also experimented with the programme first hand, playing about with the different features and what they do.
We eventually realised that we had to do this whole process clip by clip, applying different filters (which could be saved separately, then dragged and dropped) onto each clip. This was a lengthy process which required a lot of patience - especially due to the amount of choppy shots we used.
We changed the colours, the contrast and the lighting and we then sent the sequence back to Final Cut Pro so that we could edit more if we needed too. The colour grading made the footage look like one whole music video and what made everything fit together in the end. This whole process was very successful.
Friday, 13 December 2013
Editing Update: Sequence Complete
Today, we got the whole of our sequence laid donw in pretty much it's final order - bar a few tweaks that will have to be made. It was quite a stressful day as we were restricted by time limits, but really wanted the sequence complete so that we could have the whole of next week to polish and neaten it all up. Despite this, we all pulled together and distributed jobs evenly, so in the end we managed to finish.
We have realised we haven't stuck so strongly to our storyboards, as some of the shots we were hoping to include did not fit the conventions/didn't quite work with the rest of the video, whereas some of the candid/experimental shots we got were much more dynamic and relevant. This has in turn made our video more natural and convincing, which is the vibe we were aiming for initially. We watched it through a few times, noting down things which could be improved; we all observed that it still didn't 'feel' quite right.
We concluded that this was however, down to the colour grading within our film, which we will be working on over the whole of next week, so we decided to leave at that today and re-evaluate once we had colour graded all of our footage.
We have realised we haven't stuck so strongly to our storyboards, as some of the shots we were hoping to include did not fit the conventions/didn't quite work with the rest of the video, whereas some of the candid/experimental shots we got were much more dynamic and relevant. This has in turn made our video more natural and convincing, which is the vibe we were aiming for initially. We watched it through a few times, noting down things which could be improved; we all observed that it still didn't 'feel' quite right.
We concluded that this was however, down to the colour grading within our film, which we will be working on over the whole of next week, so we decided to leave at that today and re-evaluate once we had colour graded all of our footage.
Wednesday, 11 December 2013
Powerful Video
I came across this short film whilst doing my usual social media rounds, and couldn't forget it for days.
I think the message it is conveying is so so powerful - it has a lot to do with the contrasts between the first and third world. It has obviously been designed to make an impact on people so that they realise they should apprieciate what they have rather than complain when things do not live up to their personal standard.
I observed that a large number of the comments were to do with technology, "I hate it when I leave my phone charger downstairs" and , "When I can't walk and text at the same time". This really got me thinking; we have become so absorbed by the innovation of technology that we now expect certain things as standard; everyday these standards are rising and I wonder, when and where will this chain of greed and competition end?
Of course I cannot be certain of what lies ahead, but if our technology develops at the rate it is, it is logical to predict that one day we will be completely controlled by technology. This of course has its pro's and con's and I imagine you could battle it out pretty well either way; only time will tell what will actually happen, but in the meantime we can but debate. I cannot deny that technology is an amazing outlet; I'm using it at this very moment in time! However I feel like we need to learn that it is not something to be abused, and we should embrace and perfect the technologies we have available before developing more.
Anyway, I decided to research into how this concept was thought up, and discovered that it was central to a hastag on social media site, Twitter called #firstworldproblems (click to view feed on twitter). The hashtag is made up of tweets from people living in first world cultures expressing their everyday issues with a touch of sarcasm and a dash of ignorance. Examples include,
" I haven't even had my nails done for 24 hours and have somehow managed to already break one"
"My dad got new wifi for our house and didn't tell me the password"
"Did an intensive hair mask yesterday and now my Skullcandy headphones keep slipping off head"
Additionally, I found the picture on the right accompanied by the caption, "Well, which one is right?!?!"
This video made me realise the strength and impact of contrasts. If you put one entity beside it's opposite, the effect will become exaggarated, when really all you have done is extend the process. It has inspired me to ensure we have plenty of contrasts within our music video, and also to make similar content on a personal level - maybe reverse the effect and have first world people saying third world problems, or a look into commercialism etc.
"First world problems are not real problems" - Water Aid.
Tuesday, 10 December 2013
Editing Update: All Footage Complete!
we are now at the stage whereby we have filmed all of our footage we will need and imported it into Final Cut Pro. The powder paint and studio shoots were already uploaded, but this still left us with some gaps we had to fill, or our existing footage had started to become repetitive - losing the audiences' attention, which is why we chose to add more shots.
We can now focus on embedding the clips from our final two shoots (lip syncing and plate smashing). After the sequence is fully laid down and complete, we can start to add the finishing touches like colour grading, letter boxing and logo. It really feels like it's all coming together, and we are aiming to be finished by the end of next week. We have been spending any spare time we can find to work on our project so it's a mix of relief and excitement to see it come together.
We can now focus on embedding the clips from our final two shoots (lip syncing and plate smashing). After the sequence is fully laid down and complete, we can start to add the finishing touches like colour grading, letter boxing and logo. It really feels like it's all coming together, and we are aiming to be finished by the end of next week. We have been spending any spare time we can find to work on our project so it's a mix of relief and excitement to see it come together.
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
Smashing Plates Shoot: Review
This was a really fun setup to shoot, despite the difficulties we had during our research in terms of safety.
One of us stood on a chair whilst the other filmed with the camera. Then, when everything was in place, the plate with the powder paint was dropped from a height and fell to the floor where it - on most occasions - smashed. Sometimes it landed too flat which meant the energy was absorbed by the plate so it didn't break.
The shots looked really cool, as there was so much movement in the explosion of china and paint; I think it will work really well with the rest of our footage as it gives that extra 'oomph'.
One of us stood on a chair whilst the other filmed with the camera. Then, when everything was in place, the plate with the powder paint was dropped from a height and fell to the floor where it - on most occasions - smashed. Sometimes it landed too flat which meant the energy was absorbed by the plate so it didn't break.
The shots looked really cool, as there was so much movement in the explosion of china and paint; I think it will work really well with the rest of our footage as it gives that extra 'oomph'.
Sunday, 1 December 2013
Smashing Plates Shoot: Research
GENERAL LOGISTICS
We will have to be prepared to clear up the pieces of broken glass after it breaks so we will have a hoover and dustpan/brush to hand. We will also have to make sure no pieces hit us or they could cause injury. We did look into either acquiring or making some sugar glas plates but it was too costly and time consuming.
LOCATION
Again we need dark, black surroundings so we are going to use the dark room in the photography suite.
COSTUME
No costumes will be needed.
ACTORS
No actors will be needed.
HAIR/MAKE UP
No hair/make-up will be needed.
PROPS
We will need powder paint as well as the plates which we have bought.
LIGHTING
We will use the LED light that attaches to our camera on full brightness to light the shots.
We will have to be prepared to clear up the pieces of broken glass after it breaks so we will have a hoover and dustpan/brush to hand. We will also have to make sure no pieces hit us or they could cause injury. We did look into either acquiring or making some sugar glas plates but it was too costly and time consuming.
LOCATION
Again we need dark, black surroundings so we are going to use the dark room in the photography suite.
COSTUME
No costumes will be needed.
ACTORS
No actors will be needed.
HAIR/MAKE UP
No hair/make-up will be needed.
PROPS
We will need powder paint as well as the plates which we have bought.
LIGHTING
We will use the LED light that attaches to our camera on full brightness to light the shots.
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