Research & Pre Production

Research Plan

BLACK AND WHITE

~ ensure lumetri colours is switched on
~ decrease the saturation to 0
~ experiment with the blacks and white tool
~ experiment with highlight, contrast, shadow and exposure until the preferred colouring

I have opted to use this tutorial as it allows me to experiment with the controls so it has my desried colouring and shadows to acahieve a contrast with the character.

The black and white tutorial will help me achieve the contrast between the bold style I intend my character to have - utilising colours and patterns - and the general population, with them having a minimalistic look as the whites and blacks will get rid of the sense of individualism within the crowd.

TIME LAPSE

~ select the clip being used
~ search time in the effects bar and drag posterize time onto the clip
~ in effects controls, under posterize time, change frame rate to a number between 1&1.5
~ right click clip, select speed/duration and increase speed
~ render the video by selecting clip, going up to sequence and click render selection

I opted to use this video as my inspiration for my music video as it is a simple tutorial. Similar to my idea with using black and white as a contrast from my character, having the background video in time lapse will display the difference between the general crowd and my character - hinting further towards the theme of the video being individualism.

GREEN SCREEN

~ put green screen footage onto the timeline
~ green screen must be well lit from all angles
~ find ultra key in effects panel and drag onto footage
~ go onto colour picker and select green from the backgound
~ move video footage to another layer
~ beneath it place the background video which will go behind the subject

ROTO SCOPING

~ use after effects
~ duplicate the video being used
~ highlight top layer & select the tool that has a paint brush and person
~ double click footage then click and drag on subject
~ select version 3.0 of roto brush
~ hold alt to remove things that you don't want to include
~ hold refine brush to include small details such as hair
~ to refine the mask, go to effect controls & experiment with contrast, feather and shift edge
~ select use motion blur
~ select freeze to keep the brushing the same
~ place desired background below roto scoped subject

ANDREW GOODWIN'S MUSIC VIDEO THEORY

~ Links between music and video
> a slow song may have slow cuts between shots where as a fast song will have pacey cuts and sequences.

~ Links between lyrics and visuals
> parts of the song that are sung about are represented by the visuals within the song.

In both Sam Fender - Remember My Name and 5 Seconds of Summer - She's Kinda Hot, the lyrics are represented in the videos created. For example, the whole of Fender's song is about his memories with his grandfather, as shown through the characters meanwhile lyrics within 5SOS song are shown in the acting and graphics on the screen.

The two songs however are on different extremes in terms of their melody. This is also represented in the style of their music videos. Remember My Name is a slow song therefore has prolonged shots of the same scene with slow transitions between scenes but on the other hand She's Kinda Hot has short shots of one scene that cuts quickly between location and characters.

~Notions of looking
> when the character looks directly at the camera, giving the illusion that the audience can step inside their mind therefore allowing them to relate to the video.

The She's Kinda Hot video utilises this style of acting to engage with their audience to give the impression they're expecting them to agree with their statements about their partners.

Although this video created by Sam Fender is a lyric video, rather than a performance or narrative video, the contrast between the background and foreground is how I aspire my music video to look. By using black and white background B-Roll the emphasis is solely on the lyrics of the video, which has been put into a bold colour. Having prominence on the lyrics allows the audience to focus on the message of the song - although the background footage is interesting, its the boldness of the lyrics which draws the audiences attention. This lyric video has shown me the strengths of creating a project that highlights individualism using contrast between colour, further influencing my production.

The concept of this music video an upbeat version of the video I aspire to create. The audience understands that the focus of the music video is expressing yourself and being unique through both dance and style. Although I don't intend to use movement to standout in my video, the way this production explores individualism also uses a black background to ensure the audience aren't distracted by anything but are focused on the characters in the video. This is a successful project as it is difficult not to be at awe of the individualism on display due to the contrast between the singular, dull background colour and the extravagant outfits and dancing of the people in the video.

SONG CHOICE

~ breathe. - London
> lyrics are slow, melody is quick, eery sound

~ Tamino - Indigo Nights
> lyrics are spoken, melody is quick, about being alone

~ DRIIA - I'D DIE
> lyrics are slow, spoken and limited, melody is quick, alternative sound

~ Bellzzz - Plastic Unicorns
> lyrics are simple, upbeat background, lyrics about being individual

~ Kaeto - Don't Ask
> upbeat & quick background, lyrics are spoken, lyrics about individualism

~ isaac gracie - silhouettes of you
> slow lyrics, build in speed, lyrics are about being alone

~ Ezra Collective - No One's Watching Me (ft. Olivia Dean)
> quick & unique background, simple lyrics, lyrics can relate to individualism

~SYML - Fear Of The Water
>lyrics are spoken, background builds, about being judged

~ London Grammar - Wasting My Young Years
>lyrics are slow, background builds, lyrics can relate to individualism

~ Tate McRae - Sports Car
>quick background with strong beat, spoken lyrics in parts, about showing off individualism

~ Silver Street
> pretty background
> busy when a nice day
> lots of room to set up camera
> wide path
> wildlife

~ Bridge Street
> pretty background
> busy when a nice day
> smaller paths

RESEARCH REFLECTION

GREEN SCREENING VS ROTO SCOPING

My initial thoughts for the project was to use green screening to create the contrast between the black and white time lapse video of people walking through the location and the character walking slowly whilst being colourful in the same location. I believed this was the best technique to use for the video as it was the most common technique to my knowledge and I could create the contrast. The issues that I thought would arise with this technique is making it seem as though the character was actually in the location as opposed to the video being a green screened shot. Upon receiving peer review of my project proposal and the elements I would need to research for the video to be successful, I was informed of using roto scoping which can single out the character whilst maintaining them being in the location, rather than having to film the background and character separately. Utilising this technique can mean the issue of it not looking natural is removed as the background can be edited differently to the character, creating the desired contrast.

Having watched YouTube tutorials on how to execute both techniques, I will opt to use green screening as I think it is less complicated to edit giving me more opportunity for trial and error with filming and then editing. I will however experiment with both techniques when completing the action research.

LOCATION

Before researching locations that would be desirable for the music video, I wanted to use a busy street within the city that has multiple shops which would mean there would be an increased amount of people to any other area of the city but still had the ancient buildings looks that are around the city centre. However, via peer review I was informed that my video would look much more aesthetic if I utilised an area by the River Cam. If i go to one of these areas on a sunny day it is likely there will be large crowds as well as people on the river. Similarly if its not as busy in these areas my character can stick out more. Due to this I am going to opt to film my background footage by the River Cam on Silver Street to get an aesthetic that is calm to conflict the dramatic outfit of the character. I will attempt to film in this location 3 or so times so I can utilise the footage that is the busiest but also it gives me leeway in when to film as weather may restrict the ability to film but also the quality of the film.

GOODWINS MUSIC VIDEO THEORY

Now that I have studied the aspects of making an effective music video I will use my knowledge from Goodwin's theory and apply it to my music video. Using the lyrics of the song I chose will determine the actions of the character. Similarly, the links between the pace of the music and the cuts between scene will resonate with the song I choose.

SONG CHOICE

Having found 10 different songs which I can visualise my video being put to I have summed up how much they fit the criteria of what I want my song to sound like. All of the songs have slower lyrics that my character can ideally lip sync to whilst having a quick tempo which can be walked on beat to, in the style of a runway show. Of the 10 songs, I have narrowed it down to Bellzzz - Plastic Unicorn and Kaeto - Don't Ask due to the story line of the lyrics within the song, the way the lyrics are sung and the time and speed of the songs. Both of these songs have very little streams on music platforms which fits the criteria of having an underground and unique vibe to the song. To identify which song I will use for the video, I will ask my target audience of 17-25 year olds which song they prefer of the two, getting them to rank the songs our of 5, as the video will more likely be watched if they enjoy the song to match.

Having sent the questionnaire to the respondents of my target audience, of those who fit the demographic of 17-24 years that enjoy fashion shows. The respondents were asked to listen to each song and rate them both out of 5. Bellzzz - Plastic Unicorns received an average rating of 2.95 from the 16 respondents meanwhile Kaeto - Don't Ask had an average rating of 3.25. Due to my target audience preferring the latter song, I will use this for my music video. I previously wanted my character to sing the whole song, however due to the uniqueness of the lyrics, I will opt for my character to only lip sync to the parts of the song which Kaeto speaks as opposed to the rest of the song she sings as these parts of the song link to the theme of the video being individualism.

ACTION RESEARCH & REFLECTION

Having used the tutorial previously researched to guide me through editing a video, I experimented with the frame rate. To begin with I set the frame rate to 1.3 but the movement of the person was blocky so I altered it to 1.0 so the movement was smoother. Similarly I experimented with the duration of the speed and at first I set it to 2000x however fund combined with the frame rate the character moved in blocks rather than smoothly so I opted to alter the duration to 3000x. When I use this technique for my final product, I will once again experiment with the frame rate and duration as I can set it to the speed I want based on the clip I gain. This initial clip was 13 seconds long and with the time lapse it reduced it to less than one second. If I am to fill my song with the time lapsed video the original footage is going to have to last around 20 minutes.

In this editing clip I, as instructed by the tutorial I researched, reduced the saturation all the way to 0 as this removed all the colouring in the video. From there I noticed the lighting of the room meant the clip was lighter than I wanted it to therefore decided to reduce the whites in the video to -100 meanwhile the blacks was increased to 100. Like my research stated, I then experimented with the exposure, contrast, highlights and shadows and concluded that for this clip the exposure and highlights should remain at 0 whilst the shadows should be reduced and the contrast should be increased. Similar to the time lapsed video, the clip in my final project should be adjusted accordingly, not necessarily the same as the adjustments in this specific clip.

Using a greenscreen was much easier than I initially thought it would be. The struggles I faced when using the green screen prior to editing was getting the correct positioning in comparison to the screen where a significant proportion of my body was visible in the clip but the camera was positioned where the only background was the green screen, nothing else in the room. When filming my final project, I will get the background video first and then position the character and camera accordingly where they will fit into the clip naturally. Another issue that is visible in this action research clip is that I didn't light the green screen evenly which has meant in this clip the left hand side appears fuzzy whilst the right hand side looks normal. To prevent this from occurring in my music video I will ensure I use LED lights and overhead lights to prevent shadow yet still provide an even lighting of the green screen.

The video I used to educate me how to roto scope caused me confusion and I got frustrated when I couldn't get after effects to work. I therefore got the help of a peer to teach me how to simply roto scope. The technique I was taught was easier to follow, step by step however I found the process of editing a short clip tedious as it took a majority of my time loading. Due to this I am opting against using this editing technique for my final project. Although the results of the video looked better, I

will work hard in ensuring the positioning of the character in relation to the camera is at a distance where they look integrated into the background.

Due to the long process of the editing technique, I didn't manage to complete the video however have chosen not to continue with the process to save time, as the decision has been made that I will use green screening for my final project.

Copy of Costume & Props

I have created a page of inspiration for my characters costume as I can envision certain clothing items that are eye catching in public. Having a style that I want my character to have can allow them to have creativity but also be comfortable in the clothes they decide to choose. As I opt to have three different locations, I will request my character chooses three different outfits to depict the difference between the settings.

Copy of Location Recce

The location recce I have created outlines the areas that I will use to record the backdrop of my music video. I chose to use these locations as I know they attract large crowds on nice days so I won't have the issues of a lack of background characters but the main reason for the chosen locations is the aesthetic of each. All the locations are unique by having stunning architecture or landscapes. Awareness over the issues that may arise with the locations means I can better prepare if things go wrong.

I have started a storyboard of my music video to help me visualise the outcome of the production. I have opted to keep the lip synced verses in the same location therefore the same outfit as well as having the chorus of the song in the same location. On top of this the bridges and pre-chorus will remain in the same place. This structure to the video will offer fluidity but also stick to the inspiration of the brief 'simplification'.

I have opted to use a wide shot in each of my scenes, as shown in the story board, as this shows the wider picture of individualism but also displays the nice scenery of the areas being filmed in. Having a wide shot means that the character is front and centre, highlighting the individualism theme. I want to keep the same shot and frame for each location to allow for my character to have the same focus of each oufit.

Copy of Production schedule

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse