Music Video Production - Editing Practice

After my first two days of filming I began to upload the footage I had so far onto the editing suites. As I had never used an editing program before, this was a big learning process for me. I decided to play around with some of my shots as practice for when I edit the full video together. For my first try at editing I put together all the shots I filmed on the second day. The end product showed Liam getting ready from several different angles, all edited together in a linear fashion. Although I am happy with the final outcome I personally feel that this scene is too slow and I am considering speeding it up by about 50% in the final edit. I have no comments on what I'd change in this edit as I am planning on using these shots, in this order but spread out throughout the video in order to keep with the non-linear structure of my diegesis.

Music Video Shooting - Day Four

shooting diary
On this day I needed to be up, ready and out of the house at a very early time to ensure the filming of the car scenes went smoothly. After that I had planned to film the bedroom argument scene. Unfortunately, the camera started to run out really quickly from being used so much the previous day. This meant that I only managed to get a few shots from the car scenes filmed before the camera's battery fully died. Another negative factor was the rain on this day meant that, unless it rained the same on the next day of filming, all of my outside shots were completely useless.

Music Video Shooting - Day Three

shooting diary
Day three began with me and Liam filming his scenes in the graveyard. After that I had intended to film his and Katie's indoor scenes but, unfortunately, due to work commitments, Katie couldn't make it. As we were on restricted time and I couldn't afford to waste the day I decided that it would be best for us to carry on filming but with me in Katie's role as it was too late to find anyone else.

Every shot taken in the graveyard went without complication and we finished half an hour earlier than originally expected. I also decided to add a few panning shots as I thought what I had filmed looked very basic.

Due to the unexpected cast changes I decided to swap round the filming schedule, instead of filming the bedroom scenes on this day I swapped these to day four and instead to film the drinking montage scenes as they could only be filmed when it was light outside. We managed to get all of the shots I wanted completed (graveyard scene, visiting the grave, drinking montage) and I found it easier and quicker to complete with me in Katie's role as I knew what I wanted and how I wanted it to look so I had to spend less time directing people and I found it fun but challenging taking on both roles.

Music Video Shooting - Day Two

shooting diary

The second day of filming went really well compared to the first. We began by filming a long shot Liam coming through his kitchen door then going out of shot to put on his shirt then coming back into shot whilst buttoning the shirt up. Despite some problems with lighting we got this shot filmed fairly quickly. 

I then moved the camera into the door frame of Liam's bathroom so that the kitchen could be seen from a different angle, I then got Liam to repeat his movement from the first shot. This long shot made it possible for Liam to actually be seen putting the shirt on, this shot proved to be slightly difficult to get as Liam's bathroom is fairly small which caused me to have to stand in the bath whilst filming.

After this I filmed a third shot (medium long shot) of Liam exiting the kitchen and putting on a blazer then walking out of shot. Finding the correct angle for this shot was very difficult as the lighting in Liam's front room was fairly low. Eventually we found the correct angle and managed to get the shot. I ad originally planned to have this shot track Liam's movement as he exited the room but, due to the lack of lighting this could not be done and I had to settle for him walking out of shot.

I also decided to film an extreme close up of Liam's hands as they buttoned up his shirt. Although this was unplanned I believe that this shot looks good and have decided to include it in my music video.

Music Video Shooting - Day One

shooting diary
On the first day of filming I initially set out to film all of the performance scenes of my music video. Originally, the performance aspect of my music video was intended to be filmed as one, continuous long shot of Liam sat on the edge of a bed playing guitar but, after a long talk with my Media teacher, we decided that this would be boring for the audience and more variety and movement was required in order to make it visually entertaining.

The performance was originally meant to be filmed in my room. I had planned to cover my pink patterned wallpaper by pinning a white sheet to the wall to achieve the white background that I had originally hoped for. Although fixing the sheet to the wall was fairly easy the patterned wallpaper behind it still showed up on camera. This caused me to make the choice to move filming into another bedroom with pale coloured walls. Unfortunately, this was very time consuming and the room I moved filming to was very small, proving it difficult to negotiate camera movement.

After the first few set backs, we managed to get the majority of the performance filmed. I also managed to fit in a few, extra unplanned shots which I thought would look good in my music video. These include a tracking shot of Liam slowly sparking up a cigarette and then miming the words directly at the camera, this is an alternative to my planned beginning but I believe it could work really well.  Unfortunately, due to location problems and time restrictions, I didn't manage to get everything I wanted filmed. I am glad this happened on the first day as it taught me to be careful in planning the rest of my filming down to the last detail. Although the first day of filming could have gone a lot worse, it has taught me a few things about the technical side of filming a music video.

Music Video Planning & Preparation - Shooting Schedule

All of the shots listed below are subject to change as the storyboard is only a brief outline and can be open to corrections.

	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4
Filming Date	14-10-2013	16-10-2013	21-10-2013	22-10-2013
Filming Times	17:00 – 20:00	16:00 – 20:00	09:00 – 19:30	08:30 – 17:00
Scenes	Full Performance	Kitchen scene	Graveyard scene Bedroom argument Older Liam’s narrative	Drinking montage Running over scene Opening shots
Shots	7, 9, 10, 11, 24, 40	8, 25, 28, 30, 37	12, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37
Location(s)	My house	Liam’s kitchen	Hessle Cemetery My bedroom My house	Beverley Rd. Hessle (fields) Willerby Low Rd. My house
Actors	Liam	Liam	Liam Katie	Liam Katie James
Outfits	White polo shirt Dark blue fitted jeans Black ‘Vans’	Black T-Shirt White long sleeved shirt Black Tie Black suit trousers Black blazer	Black T-Shirt White long sleeved shirt Black Tie Black suit trousers Black blazer Dark blue fitted jeans Black beanie hat Black hoodie Pyjama shorts	Black T-Shirt Dark blue fitted jeans Black beanie hat Black hoodie Studded leather jacket Floral dress Black biker boots ‘Nirvana’ t-shirt Red waist high skirt
Props	Ashtray Acoustic Guitar Empty beer bottles Lighter Cigarettes	None needed	Red rose Photo of Katie and Liam ‘White Lightning’ bottle Syringe Spoon Belt Make-up Nail Varnish Bin Hair clippers	Beer bottles Carrier bag Cigarettes Car ‘White Lightning’ bottle Pint glass 20 Marlboro Lighter

Music Video Planning & Preparation - Cast List

Liam Potter 

(singer, main actor)

Liam is one of my closest friends and is great to work with. I had previously worked with him when we were in a friends Film coursework together so I already have some experience with him in this field. Liam puts in 100% effort all the time and is constantly coming up with ideas of something new to add to his performance. He does AS Film so I am interested to see what we can come up with when putting our knowledge together. I know working with him will be a success.

Katie Norfolk 

(Liam's girlfriend)

I cast Katie as Liam's girlfriend because I like the way her and Liam look together and feel that they could create a really good on screen chemistry. I also enjoy Katie's 'rock chick' style and I believe that me and her can work together to create a great look for her character.

Callum Ahmed 

(car driver)

Like Liam, I have previously worked with Callum on a project similar to this, his acting skills are very good. I love the way he sees things and we have very similar styles which is how I know he is perfect for the part as he will do anything asked of him without question.

Music Video Planning & Preparation - Risk Assessment (Health & Safety)

Music Video Planning & Preparation - Song Rehearsal

After doing some test shots (both photo and video) and deciding on a final shot for the performance aspect of my music video, I decided to do a full run through of the song so that Liam could become familiar with the lyrics, miming and performance. I filmed this performance as I feel it is important to document each part of my planning and preparation. This video was filmed on my iPhone 5 and then uploaded to YouTube using the 'YouTube Capture' app. Using this specific app enabled me to add the original song over the video which benefited me as it looks more like the final outcome.

Music Video Planning & Preparation - Test Shots (Videos)

The performance aspect of this video will be filmed as one continuous shot of Liam miming and playing an acoustic guitar which I will then cut into segments and edit into specific points in the video. This performance will be seen in shots 7, 9, 24, 27 and 40. Due to this only being a test shot, Liam's outfit, the background and lighting are not to the standard of what will be seen in the final outcome.

I originally wanted the performance to be filmed as a high angle, mid-shot of Liam standing against a white background. After filming this test shot I was unhappy with the outcome as I wanted Liam to connote dominance and confidence in his performance and I felt that filming it from a high angled highlighted his vulnerability. I then got Liam to sit on the edge of a bed whilst I filmed him in a low angle long shot. I feel that this looks better and makes Liam central to the shot. His body language in this position looks more relaxed and comfortable which is what I was hoping for as this scene is set in Liam's characters house and it also provides reference to the laidback look of Indie musicians.

Music Video Planning & Preparation - Test Shots (Photos)

I took photos of some of the shots I am planning on filming. This helped me to visualise my ideas as it gave me a better insight than my storyboard did due to the fact these are real photos containing my lead role. The mise-en-scene of these photos isn't correct but I am only using them as a draft to give me a rough idea of the overall outcome.

Shots 1-6 

Recurring Shot: Shots 7, 9, 24, 27 and 40

Music Video Planning & Preparation - Screen Test

As I have cast my friend Liam as the main role/singer in my music video I decided to get him to do a screen test of him miming a small segment of the song. This aided in giving me an idea of how he would look on camera and whether or not he was suitable for the role.

Music Video Planning & Preparation - Animatic Storyboard

I have made my hand drawn storyboard into an animatic to give me an idea of what the finished outcome will look like. I did this by scanning my storyboard onto a computer and then putting the images into Windows Movie Maker. I put my selected song into Windows Movie Maker aswell and then proceeded to time the images correctly with the music. Due to the fact that my music video will have a non-linear narrative, I applied a black and white/grainy filter to the images where the shots are intended to be flashbacks. This aids in visualising my ideas. I also applied panning and zooming to particular slides to represent movement in the shots. Overall I found this task extremely helpful as it gave me an insight into what my final product will look like and made the planning of my filming schedule a lot easier.

Music Video Planning & Preparation - Shot List

Shot 1: High angle, long shot of a pack of 20 Marlboro Gold cigarettes (Shots 1-6, 0:00-0:03)
Shot 2: High angle, long shot of a lighter (Shots 1-6, 0:00-0:03)
Shot 3: Close up of Liam's face in profile with a cigarette in his mouth (left side) (Shots 1-6, 0:00-0:03)
Shot 4: Extreme close up of Liam's mouth with a cigarette in it and a lighter in front (Shots 1-6, 0:00-0:03)
Shot 5: High angle, long shot of a pint (Shots 1-6, 0:00-0:03)
Shot 6: Close up of Liam's face in profile taking a sip of the pint (left side) (Shots 1-6, 0:00-0:03)
Shot 7: Mid-shot of Liam miming (0:03 - 0:07)
Shot 8: Long shot of Liam in his kitchen (0:07-0:11)
Shot 9: Mid-shot of Liam miming (0:11-0:18)
Shot 10: Medium close-up of Liam looking directly at the camera (0:18-0:19)
Shot 11: Close up of Liam's face (0:19-0:20)
Shot 12: Extreme close-up of Liam's eyes (0:20-0:24)
Shot 13: Long shot of Liam and Katie walking towards each other (0:24-0:28)
Shot 14: Mid-shot of Liam and Katie looking through a plastic bag (0:28-0:36)
Shot 15: Long shot of Liam and Katie in a field (0:37-0:45)
Shot 16: Mid-shot of Liam and Katie embracing (0:45-0:51)
Shot 17: Mid-shot of Katie and Liam lying down, filmed from overhead (0:52-1:07)
Shot 18: Close-up of Liam's face whilst he's laid down (1:08-1:10)
Shot 19: Long shot of Katie sat down with a needle in her arm (1:11-1:14)
Shot 20: Medium long shot of Liam and Katie arguing (1:14 - 1:20)
Shot 21: Close up of Liam's arm with a syringe hovering over his vein (1:20-1:22)
Shot 22: Long shot of Liam and Katie sat cross legged on the floor (1:22-1:23)
Shot 23: Close up of Liam's face (1:23-1:24)
Shot 24: Mid-shot of Liam miming (1:24 - 1:29)
Shot 25: Long shot of Liam moving round his kitchen, grabbing clothes and putting them on (0:29-0:31)
Shot 26: Tracking shot of Liam and Katie running across a field holding hands (1:31-1:38)
Shot 27: Mid-shot of Liam miming (1:38-1:44)
Shot 28: Liam walking out of his kitchen, tracking shot (1:44-1:47)
Shot 29: Long shot of Liam and Katie walking across a road (1:48-1:53)
Shot 30: Mid shot of Liam looking in the mirror (over the shoulder) (1:53-2:02)
Shot 31: Over Liam's shoulder shot of a car coming towards Katie (slow motion) (2:02-2:06)
Shot 32: Close up of Liam's face in shock
Shot 33: Long shot high angle of Katie and the car behind her (slow motion)
Shot 34: Long shot of Liam running towards her in an attempt to stop (slow motion)
Shot 35: Long shot of Liam Callum (car driver) and Katie who is dead on the floor (2:11-2:13)
Shot 36: Tracking shot of a bottle of White Lightning rolling along the floor (2:13-2:16)
Shot 37: Mid-shot of Liam looking in the mirror (2:18-2:26)
Shot 38: Over the shoulder of Liam looking at the needles, empty bottles and photo (2:26-2:29)
Shot 39: Close up of a bin opening with syringes dropping in it (2:29-2:33)
Shot 40: Mid-shot of Liam miming (2:33-2:42)
Shot 41: Medium long shot of Liam picking up a rose in his bedroom (2:43-2:49)
Shot 42: Over the shoulder mid-shot of Liam looking in the mirror about to shave off his hair (2:51-2:58)
Shot 43: Tracking shot of Liam walking through a graveyard (2:59-3:02)
Shot 44: Over the shoulder of Liam looking at a grave (3:02-3:06)

Music Video Planning & Preparation - Storyboard

This is the shot by shot storyboard for my music video. It has detailed notes regarding mise-en-scene, sound, editing and cinematography for each shot and also includes the timing of each individual shot.