Recreating Bittersweet Symphony: Result & Analysis

Here is our final recreation of Bittersweet Symphony:

 

Overall, I think we definitely grasped the whole concept of a continuous shot which follows the actions of one character. Due to a limited amount of time to film, we could not get the representation of the main character spot on, mainly through costuming, so this is one thing we would improve if we were to re-shoot. Another thing we could improve would probably be the location choice, but we were again limited by time and by budget, so could not shoot on a bustling high street as the original version does. Despite these, I think we carried out the task accurately, and it was well co-ordinated and framed.

Recreating Bittersweet Symphony: Planning & Preparation

Here is the music video for Bittersweet Symphony, we will be recreating the first 32 seconds.

LOCATION:
In the music video, the setting is a busy highstreet pavement with market stalls and shops on the character's right, and a busy road to the left. We have found a row of shops which are very similar to those used in the video, so will be aiming to make the recreation as accurate as possible.

CAMERA ANGLES:
The shot used is a continuous tracking shot, so in order to recreate this we need to ensure it is kept as smooth as possible. It starts off as a close up of his head/shoulders, and zooms out to a long shot of his whole body as he starts walking. It also pans up his whole body from his feet at the beginning. To achieve this smoothness, we will use a steady cam which will make the shot less shaky and thus gives it a more proffesional feel.

LIGHTING:
In the music video, the light is rather dark and damp, as the streets are quite run down so there is quite a dreary feel to the scene. We will probably have to colour grade during editing in order to recreate this effectively as we are just using the natural light.

SOUND:
We will have to mouth the words whilst we play the track in the background, so that the timing is right, then we can overlay a clearer HQ track during editing so as to avoid any background noise (e.g cars, talking, bikes etc) which would make our shot look less proffesional. We also need to sync the steps to the music too, again improving the accuracy.

PROPS/COSTUMING:
We will need to costume similarly to the main character, who is wearing all black clothes, and a leather jacket.

Recreating the Adele Close-up: Result & Analysis

Here is the close up we recreated:

 

 

I think we successfully recreated the concept of a close-up panning shot of Adele. Due to a lack of internet, we could not play the song in the background, and consequently made the decision not to sync the lyrics on this occasion. To improve it further, we'd adjust the lighting and sound, as well as making our character a more accurate representation of Adele (e.g. make up, costuming, hair etc) but overall I think our experiment worked well.

Recreating the Adele Close-up: Planning & Preparation

We have decided to recreate the Adele, 'Chasing Pavements' shot in order to gain further experience in terms of conventions of music videos. 

We have had to consider aspects such as location, camera angles, lighting, sound and props/costuming.

LOCATION:
We have found a suitable tree within our school grounds which is very similar to the tree in the music video. It went through vigourous testing processes but passed with flying colours; we are very happy with our choice.

CAMERA ANGLES:
Although the shot is primarily a close-up, there is also a slight high angle point of view, which causes Adele to look up into the camera lens. In order to achieve this, Georgia will be playing Adele, who is quite short whilst I film as I am quite a bit taller than her! We will do a test shot in order to establish the correct angle too.

LIGHTING:
In the music video, the light is very much on Adele who is in the foreground, with it being much darker in the backgrounnd to create a clearer contrast. To achieve this ourselves, we will use the LED light on Georgia's face and darken the background mostly in editing.

SOUND:
Georgia will have to mouth the words whilst we play the track in the background, then we can overlay a clearer HQ track during editing so as to avoid any background noise (e.g wind) which would make our shot look less proffesional

PROPS/COSTUMING:
We don't really need to aquire any props apart from an outdoors jacket, which is the only part of her costume we can see. Alongside this, we want to recreate the make up Adele wears during the video, which is mostly natural with some heavier eye make-up.