Storyboard reworked

Finished editing the first draft of music video

Before releasing the final version of the music video, we decided to show the unfinished version to our peers for constructive criticism. This session proved to be very useful, as it gave us valuable information of what we needed to improve on.

•  One of the major problems of our video appeared to be its pace. More than one classmate commented on its incongruity with the music, mainly because the video is not as dynamic as the song. What our peers suggested was to add quick, abrupt cuts in order to fasten the pace of the video.
•  Another suggestion was to increase the pace of the shot itself (specifically in the bedroom scene where is pushing items off of her desk). This was also suggested  to make the protagonist more "aggressive", as she does not appear to perform energetically enough during the "breakdown" stages of the video. 
• The lip syncing was not in time with the music and we were told to adjust it, which we had done however in some shots it was impossible to do so we replaced it with the studio shots. Although for some of the shots we did speed them up to get the mouth in time with lyrics.
• Last but not least, one of our peers felt that at the beginning of the video, the protagonist appears to hold an object that for too long. however the over peers debated on this as it shows her as thinking and remembering the past therefore when it came to finalising it we tried the video with a quicker shot.

Beginning editing

After uploading all of our footage on our Mac computer, we finally got to edit and review our shoots. We therefore started to sort all of our footage and decided which ones could work for our music videos. We also started to name all of our footage as we believe it would be easier to edit this way. Thus, the names would guide us which footage we decided to use and subsequently make us edit the video faster. Although we did not begin to make the music video, using the first lesson to get acquainted with final cut pro helped me greatly. Although the teachers showed us the basics of the program before, being able to guide my partner for the entirety of the lesson helped me become more patient in order to familiarise her with the software without the stress of time. This helped her with becoming more productive while editing.

Research and planning the moving image work

Filming - Collage of ideas

This is a collage of the style ideas and the scene ideas for our photoshoot and video shoot

Finished filming

We have finally finished filming, which was scheduled for two nonconsecutive days. 

Because the first day of filming consisted of shooting most of the music video, we decided to start filming from 8 o’clock in the morning. The weather was very sunny which surprised us. However, because we knew that the weather would be mostly cloudy, we decided to film the outside shots that were set for daytime first as we didn't want to miss the good weather, which consists of the protagonist’s memories from when she was happy with her boyfriend. The fact that the weather was very nice worked well for this part of the video, mainly because having pathetic fallacy in the video helps with making the audience engage with the characters memories. 

After shooting outside, we moved on to filming all of the other shots that had the actor playing the boyfriend. This is because we knew that the actor couldn’t stay for the entirety of the day, and thus we prioritized all of the shots in which he had to be in. Thankfully, we got to film all of the scenes in which he had to be in just before he left, leaving us with the night scenes and the scenes in which the protagonist is packing her bags and having a mental breakdown. Although we tried to film as fast as possible, we did encounter technical difficulties, mainly because the batteries for the DSLR cameras did not last for a long time. We charged the batteries during lunchtime, however, we still lost a lot of time in which we could have perfected our filming experience. 

By the end of the day, we had to film the night scenes in which the protagonist leaves the house. The weather was slightly cold; however, we did not encounter rain. The filming went as planned, and we finished earlier than we expected, which was a surprise since the night scenes were one of the most difficult ones from all of the locations we decided to shoot as we had to change the frames to suit the surroundings i.e the wall to a bus stop instead. 

Last but not least, the second day of shooting consisted of our protagonist performing in the studio. The idea behind these scenes was to confuse viewer in the end, in order to leave them asking questions about whether they got back together etc. The performance scenes went well, and although we had to film three times (close up, medium shot and long shot), we managed to finish quite fast, which was both satisfying and relieving.

Filming

To make sure that the filming will go as planned, my partner and I looked up the weather forecast. As shown in the video above, the weather in London for 9th of November 2013 is mostly cloudy, with 9 degrees Celsius. This information helps up greatly, because it allows us to film the entire video in a day as planned. Although the weather might not be sunny the fact that we know about the cloudy weather not only gives us an idea of how to dress but also tells us that we have to shoot the scenes outside very fast as the abient light 

might not be very powerful for the entire day. All in all, this information is extremely valuable because it prepares us how to film in order to not break the videos consistency.

The above shots are of me explaining what we had wanted the male role to do and how we wanted him to do it, this had me showing him some examples in order to get him in to the role and comfortable in front of the camera.

These images are from the bedroom scene where the protagonist is ripping the photograph of her and her ex boyfriend, capturing the behind scenes to demonstrate the amount of times we had to attempt this scene in order to get it right.

These shots are from the last bits of the day filming, about to step out in order to do the night time scenes, captured Alex wrapping up warm as it was a bit chilly. As well as that we had hard copies of our storyboards handy so that we could easily see which shot was next.

Role and responsibilities

For better time management, my team mate and I decided to split tasks between the two of us. This is because we realised that it would be a more effective way of meeting deadlines. In the same time, we also believe that the quality of our project will improve as it will allow both of us to focus on different aspects of our project and thus, avoid chaos.

Alex: My team mate’s task will mainly revolve around the responsibilities of a director. Therefore, she is the one in charge of the storyboard. It is thus her duty to create a detailed guide of every shot, camera angles, lighting and timing. She will also be in charge with the production schedule, as well as what props we should use for the music video. There tasks include creating an accurate schedule for the days we are going to shoot, as well as what scenes we are going to shoot during the two days of filming.

The importance of my task: The storyboard will allow us to visualize the actions that our actors are going to make. By portraying our idea on paper, the storyboard is going to be an excellent guide that will allow us to concentrate on what we have to shoot without forgetting any aspect of the story. The schedule will also help us stay focused as well as allowing us to know exactly what we have to do.

Jazz: My task will revolve around the responsibilities of a producer. I will be the one in charge of the recce as well as completing call sheets, talent releases, risk assessments and location release forms. It is therefore my duty to decide and visit all the locations and annotate them, but also check all the potential risks that we might be taking. For example, any problems such as ethical issues and permission to film in certain locations are for me to decide and communicate to the rest of the team.

The importance of my task: My task is very important as it explores what possible locations we can use. My task also identifies any problems with our locations, which ultimately helps us decide if it’s realistic to film in certain places or not.

Joint tasks: Alex and I also decided that as a team, we should also concomitantly work with the camera and the continuity of our music video. The reason why we refuse to designate the tasks to only one member is because we believe that doing them together will allow us to work more productively. We also believe that those two tasks cannot be decided by only one member because we both want to allow ourselves the freedom to change anything at any time.

Team meetings - 05/11/13

Another withdrawal

Although the audition with Aleksandra convinced both my partner and I that she would be perfect for the role of our protagonist, we unfortunately told that  that she would no longer be available for the role due to circumstances. Because we no longer had time to audition someone else, I took it upon myself to play the role of the protagonist as I knew the song and also what we wanted to portray in the video.
 

Because I'm not comfortable acting and didn't really enjoy being in front of the camera, we decided to discuss the character in order to make her empathise with her, and her situation. This also had us alter the size of shots in order to make me feel comfortable. To do so, we went through the storyline again and tried to observe our protagonist in a much wider detail. Since the storyline follows the 5 stages of loss, we also looked at how the protagonist behaves in those conditions. The video therefore, starts with depression, where the character is deciding to move out of the house. She is sad and exhausted. As she remembers the day she found out that her boyfriend cheated, the viewer can see her asking the boyfriend “Is there someone else?”, even though she has evidence of it happening (the texts he received on his phone); this scene showing the stage of denial. Immediately after, we see her getting aggressive towards her boyfriend and herself, which shows the stage of anger. By the end of the video, we also see the protagonist imagining herself in the position of leaving him while he suffers. The fact that she is inverting the roles shows the stage of bargaining, where her feelings of helplessness makes her desire to regain control. At the end of the video, we see the character looking very calm, which shows the stage of Acceptance. 

After discussing this with my partner, I finally felt like I could relate to the protagonist, this ultimately allowing us to film the following weekend.

Auditions

Due to the withdrawal of both of our characters from the shooting of the video, we decided to find new people who would fit the criteria. Thus, my partner and I decided took it upon ourselves to hold auditions for the role of the girl, mainly because the storyline is told from the girl’s perspective; hence we have to make sure that the actor playing the girl is fit for the role.

I was not able to be there for the actual audition due to circumstances but believed my partner would do fine with actress. Before the audition, she made sure to explain the storyline of the video, as well as the emotions of the main character. Because the storyline touches on an extremely touching subject – the breakup of a couple – She had to make sure that Aleksandra could easily slip into the role of a heartbroken girl. To do so, we talked about relationships, and presented her to the 5 stages of loss (Denial/Isolation, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance).

After discussing about the storyline, the  lyrics of the song were presented to her that we are going to use for the music video. To get her used to it, Alex decided to sing with her in order to make her feel more relaxed about the situation.

The final part of the audition was to get  Aleksandra to act out the opening of the video, which consists of the protagonist packing her bag and going out of the room. Although that was the most we had time to fit in to the audition, we found that she suited the role, mainly because of her facial expressions.

After this my partner had shown me the video of the audition in which she recorded Aleksandra and i believed she was perfect for the role.