Planning: Props

When it comes to creating my music video, I will be taking props into consideration because they show the audience what the is like in terms of what instrument they play for example of if an actor is holding a gun, the audience will get the impression of the actor bing troublesome. They also have a big part in telling the audience a story between the actors in the music video. In my music video, I am not sure if I am going to be having multiple props, I may only have 2 or 3 because I need to take these factors into consideration:

Cost- When choosing my props, I need to make sure that I am able to buy them because I don't want to spend too much on my props because I have a budget and will be needing to take into consideration the cost of the costume for each of the characters as well. But the props I am thinking about are very low cost and I will be able to get a hold of some.

Relation to song- I need to make sure then when selecting my props, that they suit the song, this is because if the story is about falling in love, I don't want to have props that are going to show the audience as the characters being violent because the video will not look professional and the audience will get confused as of what they are meant to be doing.

Easy to move -  When selecting the props that I am going to be using, I need to make sure that I am able to move them easily.  If the props are too big and I need to film in an enclosed space, it will be difficult for me to move them so I will need to think about the props that I am going to be selecting. Most of my props are going to be easy to transfer because they are not going to be the biggest.



Prop 1 -  Picture of Family member

Since my song is about demons, I will be using an image of a family member for the actor to use because the family member in the photo is going to be of the person that they miss and they don't see anymore therefore a good reference to the song because their demons are that they don't see that family member anymore. This prop will be easy to get because the actor has multiple images of them so will be easy to use. The image is going to cost nothing, it relates to the song well and is easy to move around if I need to change the location as well. It will also be easy to get more than one shot because of how easy the prop is to move around.

Prop 2 - Actors Phone

The actor will need to use his phone because in my song, the actor will be texting someone thanking them for helping the actor solve their problems, the actor is fine with using his phone for the actual shooting of the music video meaning that I will not need to buy a separate one, The phone used is going to be a Samsung Galaxy S3, this prop is going to be good because near the end of the song, the actor is going to be overcoming their demons meaning that they will be able to text them frequently and if the actor needs help overcoming these in the future, the person the actor is texting will be there to help him. I will also need the other actors phone which I am unsure who it is going to be so that they are able to reply to the main actor.




Prop 3 - Baseball Bat

The third prop that I will be using is going to be a baseball bat, this is because one of the flashbacks that is going to occur is going to include the main actor getting beat up by some people,  I may have to purchase a baseball bat from a sports shop because I don't know anyone that may have one, they shouldn't be to expensive. This relates to the song because another flashback is the going to be the demons of the actor getting beaten up badly because the images are still in his head from when he got badly hurt that day. The image to the right is a baseball bat that I found which is only going to cost me £8.50 so I will have no problems when it comes to buying it.

Research and Planning Self-Assessment

1. Research into existing music videos - I would give my research into existing music videos a minimal mark because I have only done the 1 video. But the one that I have completed I would give myself a mark of good because I have included a good amount of information and backed it up via the use of screenshots and gifs. In order to increase my mark and get all 3 of them to good/detailed simply by including more detail.
2. Research into a potential target audience - For my research into potential target audience, I would give myself a level 3, this is because I have included a lot of detail in my post and even provided a screenshot of my mind map which I used to take notes on. To improve and get to a level 4 mark, I may need to include more screenshots into my post and write about them.
3. Work on storyboarding -  My work for my storyboard and animatic is incomplete, this is because when I was editing both of them, I kept on having issues and have only just managed to export them both. I will begin writing about both of them as soon as possible and will complete this to a high standard.
4. Time management - I would say my time management has been good but I can do a lot better with it because I need to be posting more each week instead of one thing each week, this is so that I am able to get more work done so the work load isn't as much.
5. Use of digital technology or ICT - My ICT and digital technology I would say is good, this is because when I was in Premier Pro, I was having problems with the export and when doing the green screen lip syncing I was also having a few problems. But I was able to sort out these problems quite easily and I was able to get back to doing my work.But I think I need more practice with the cameras when it comes to doing filming.
6. Communication skills - I would say that my communication skills are good  because I am able to write well in my work that I have done. An example would be that in the post about the target audience, I was able to complete my work to a good standard and with some detail as well. To improve I will need to proof read my work a lot more just to double check it reads well.
7. Level of care taken in the presentation of work -  I would say my presentation of my work is good but needs tidying up a little bit, this is because on 1 of my posts, I have included a lot of screenshots and they are just around the page and it doesn't look presentable at all. But for my other posts I would say that it is good. To improve I need to go back to all of my posts and make sure that if someone else was to read my work, would they be happy with the way its presented.

Green Screen Lip Sync Test

The video shown is a member of our class (Ellie) lip syncing to Adele's Rolling in the deep, in the video Adele can be seen but this is only a test because I was seeing how well the lip syncing went with the song. But after i looked back at it, the creases in the green screen can be seen. This was only a test but if I choose to use a green screen in my music video, I will make sure that I iron it in order for the screen to look flat and when it comes to using it, it will not be shown and will look really good. I will not also use a green screen when someone is already on the screen as well because it will just not look good. This was just a test to see how well I can get the lip syncing working well.


The 3 images below is the process of what I did in order to get the green screen footage working over the original footage so that it looks like it is in the same video. First I had to move the footage above the original so that when I take the  green screen out, it will look like Ellie is actually in the video, I had to click on the footage of Ellie then effects which i then had to click on keying then eight point garbage matte. Once I did that I was able to go into the effect controls tab and then select the matte and then i was able to crop out parts of the green screen but for  me to take the green screen out, I had to go onto the ultra key which is located in the effects.  When I went into the effects control I was able to click on the little pipette which allowed me to select the green screen and so I was able to remove it. Once I did that I was able to try and make it so that Ellie's lip syncing went with the song.

Graphic Match Test

I intend on using a graphic match in my music video multiple times because I am going to be using it as as flashback effect which is going to show the demons of the main actor, the video above is the test that I did, when it comes to the actual filming, I will be using the same person/object, but on this I used different objects that looked similar, a small pot and a camera lens, this was just to see how it would look. I also saw someone else in my group use graphic matching on the same person in different locations which is what I intend on doing, I think that when I do it, the outcome will be really good and I will be able to make sure that I get it to link up to the song well.

Planning:Animatic And StoryBoard For Demons

 

The 2 videos that are linked above are of my storyboard and my animatic which I created, this is to help plan for my music video and a rough estimate of what it is going to look like once the finished production is complete. The blue paper in the storyboard video is the lyric paper which I wrote the entire lyrics on. The white panels are what I drew the pictures on and matched them up to the lyric paper, after each storyboard panel I drew, I gave a brief description of what is going to happen in that shot just for my reference. Once i finished both of these, I imported the video of the storyboard into premiere pro just so that I can remove the background noise. I then imported all of my panels into premiere pro which I tried to match up each of the panels to the song and tried my hardest to get the panels to cut to the beat just to get a rough estimate of how my video is going to look once I have completed it. I used 30 storyboard panels and it was just the rigth amount. This was good practice when it came to me editing this because I will have a much better knowledge when it comes to editing the real product, it was good that I was able to get my song so that it cuts to the beat so it looks better to watch.


The images below is the construction phase of my animatic, the image on the left is the completed timeline. The pink frames on the time line is the images of my storyboard and I extended some of the images so the shots last longer than some, the green bar is the audio clip and as you can see it matches the clips really well. The image on the right is me editing one particular panel before I dragged it down into the timeline. The 2nd image on the right is where I imported the clips into and the image on the left is me highlighting all of the panels that I am going to be including into my animatic.

Planning:Potential Locations

When it comes to filming, I need to make sure that I have the area to myself so that strangers dont walk by when it comes to filming which will ruin the process and I will not have a lot of time to find another option. When filming I need to make sure that I take 3 factors into account those being suitability, availability and how far away the locations are. As I stated earlier, I would like the location to be very quiet so there is no risk of people ruining my shots as well as making sure the actors are okay with filming in that location because they may not feel comfortable. I also need to make sure that the location is available at all times so that when it comes to filming, if the location is not available, I will need to reschedule my filming dates. I also need to make sure that the location isnt too far away because I need to make sure that all the actors are able to get to the location without struggling to do so. This is why I am going to base my filming in Kettering. I will be using 2 different locations.

Location 1 - Harvester Forest

For my first location, I was thinking of the using the forest which is near the restaurant Harvester, this is because it is a very quiet location and is also a very big location as well so there is a lot of room to film meaning a slim chance of strangers walking by which will lead to interruptions when filming. This is a good location for my song because I will need to make sure that the actor is on their own and that they are walking to the camera, It will also give the audience a sense of loneliness for the character as they are  in an isolated location. The problem with this location is that a lot of traffic can be heard, I will be able to cope with this because the diegetic sound will not be used. The location is available at all times so I will be able to use it without asking anyone for permission to use and it is also a good distance for actors because it is not that far away.



Location 2-Potential Actor's Home


For my second choice I will be using one of the actors houses, this is because some of my shots require pictures of that persons house and reflecting the memories of a specific person, the house location is in Kettering for definite so all of the actors will be able to go there without worrying about traveling out of town. I have an actors house in mind but the problem with that is that he has a lot of his family inside the house so when it comes to filming it will be a bit awkward with interruptions occurring. However it is a suitable location because as I mentioned about family reflecting back on the picture of a loved one, 1 potential actor would make a great role for this scene. So I will need to talk with the potential actor and make sure that he is okay with this and I also need to ask him when his house will be free to film. The actors bedroom is another location but I will leave it in this section because when he is in his bedroom performing, it will give the audience the feeling of loneliness and isolated on his own. The house is on a side street and these types of streets have been known to be unsafe because of the house location is good for my video because in one of my scenes I will have the actor running away and into his house, this street is also very quiet so it will look a lot more realistic than if there was people around.

Location 3 - Kettering Buccleuch Academy Stage/Theatre

For the third potential location, I am thinking of using my schools stage and theatre, this is because this location is large and I will have a lot of room to work with when it comes to filming my music video. This area is also available for me to use all the time except for when events and lessons are taking place.  If I was to re-film for any reason, I will be able to do it quickly because of how close it is and it could take me a few minutes to do at good quality. The lighting and facilities in there are at a high standard as well meaning that the quality of the filming will be good.  I will also have a lot of room to have props as well because of how much room there is. I am not sure if I will be using this location but I need to make sure that I consider it because it is a really good location and if I chose not to use it, it could be a bit of a waste because of how good the facilities are and I can easily ask people around the school to help me out as well.