1) Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?
Within my group of three, I (Anneka Williamson) worked with Harry Foord and Leah Harte. We were all involved in the filming process, with (for video 1, Charlie Puth's clip) Harry performing, Leah filming and myself helping with the timings and angles for each shot. Whereas for video 2, the female's clip, I performed, Harry filmed and Leah helped
with the timings and angles for each shot.
Post filming, me and Harry edited each video on separate computers on Adobe Premier, whilst Leah wrote the production diary and kept on top of blogposts.
2) How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use?
As a group, we created a storyboard: we separated the video into thirds and (10 seconds each) and took screengrabs of the original music video for each time the shots changed. We compiled these screen-grabs together onto one powerpoint and looked at these whilst filming to help with the preciosity of the shots.
Additionally, we created a shot list of the timings of each shot in the original video to help us with the filming process.
3) What theories could you apply to the video you chose?
We don't talk anymore follows Vernallis's theory in which there is a narrative to music videos. The video follows the theory as the video tells a story, it previews two different people's lives progressing through a day. It supports Vernallis furthermore as the shots cut and change in beat to the music.
Additionally, it follows Goodwin's theory due to the co-ordination of the narrative and the lyrics (the visuals and the lyrics match).
4) What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?
To film, we used the camera Canon 700D. This is an advanced camera which allowed us to have high quality whilst filming to match the professional finish on the original video.
To edit, we used the program Adobe Premier which, like the camera, is an advanced editing programme allowing conciseness in the overall finish of the editing, including colour correcting, fast and precise cuts, titles and other aspects of the video.
5) What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?
The music video had a more complicated layout that people in our group were used to due to the two videos merged together.
For this reason, in the planning part of the prelim, we had to create a double story board and two shot lists for both videos
In shooting, we had to use two different settings, this meant two separate shoots, one video taken in my bedroom and the next taken in Harry's bedroom. We had to add some small touches to match the settings in the video, such as a blanket over the bottom of my bed, and closing one of the window's blinds on one of the windows to match the lighting in the original video.
For the editing aspect, The original video is created with two videos in a split screen format, this meant twice the editing, and the problem of putting the two separate videos together. To do this, we edited the two videos on separate computers and exported Charlie Puth's one and put in on the female videos edit
6) How successful was your music video copy? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently? What did others say about your production?
In our music video copy, there were several aspects which were successful, and some which had definite room for improvement.
The successes of the final video, were the match of colours done with editing using colour correcting, the consciousness of the shots (timings and the angles matching the original) and the split screen effect which both videos were in time with each other.
However, there were some aspects of the video which could have been improved. For example, some shots which we filmed were shorter than the original video's shot's length, meaning we had to change the speed/duration on Adobe Premier to make the clip longer which made the final piece look lagged. Additionally, not all of the shots were perfect (same length and same angle) which becomes noticeable in the final edit.
7) What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing your music video, do you think?
I have definitely improved my editing skills upon completing this task by using effects like fade and colour fix with more ease than I was capable of before. additionally, I have become more confident with using the camera for filming media products. These skills will help for our next task of completing the music video as they are useful in both critical areas of filming and editing.
8) How does it compare with filming an opening to a film?
The film opening required a very different process to this music video recreation. For instance, the music video was more difficult and took longer to get each shot just right as we were copying another person's movements. Whereas the film opening was all on our own accord as we were not recreating anything.
9) What are your strengths and weaknesses as a group member?
My strengths as a group member included mainly editing and organisation. For organisation, I had a clear role in organizing our shooting schedule for the locations and the timings of the shots, and furthermore ensuring we stuck to this which we managed to successfully. In the editing part, I edited all of the female character's section with minimal help, then added finishing touches to the male's section, then finally merged them together into one video. I believe I played a crucial part in the editing segment of this task.
My weaknesses remained mainly around the filming aspect. I was inexperienced with the type of camera which we were filming with and therefore did not participate as much as Harry and Leah did with filming. I feel this is a weakness as I could have considerably created a more professional finish overall to the final product if I had higher expertise with filming.
10) Looking at the other group's videos which do you think were most successful and why?
The Call Me Maybe video by Katie Dunning, Jamie Hewlett and Phoebe Hall was the most successful in my opinion. I say this because all the shots were at almost the exact same angle, as well as having precise timings. Additionally, the soft focus effect in the last scene created on after effects made the video stand out among the others considerably, by creating a true professional finish.
