Filming blog

On the 22nd of November, we filmed for our music video. It didn’t actually go as planned but that is to be expected. On the 21st I checked a camera out and brought it back to my house. The next day, my friends, the actors and my other group mate, came over after school to film with me. It all went well until the camera said it was low on batter. Since we only had a few hours to film, we decided to take a break and wait for it to charge. By the time we only had an hour to film left, the camera only had 4 or 5 minutes left of charge so we had to work fast. Since we had a few minutes to film, we ran outside to film those parts. My actor put the makeup on and few started the filming. When we got the Tripod out, the piece for the camera to be attached to, wasn’t in the bag.

Since the piece wasn’t in there, I decided to tape it to the tripod and it worked just fine. When we started filming, it all went well until the previously mentioned problems. We actually didn’t get a lot done though. Since filming was delayed due to our batteries, we only got two scenes done. Because of this set back, we reached out to our actors to plan another date to film. This will give us extra time and more room to film. One of my actors will be out during the holiday so we had to make sure she can make it to at least one filming session. The other actor is available anytime and has no problem coming last minute. Since they are free whenever, we will film their separate parts over break. The second actor only has around three separate scenes and the first has around six separate scenes.

When we film next, we will make sure the camera is charged and everything is ready.  This is important because we have to get a lot of scenes done by the 1st to edit. When we edit, we will only have a few in class periods to film so we have to have our filming done by a reasonable date. We need a few days to actually film and then edit. I hope we have enough time to do all of it. We were hoping everything would go well when I filmed but it didn’t so maybe next time we should plan better. When we film tomorrow, we will stay longer. We will also make sure to film all the separate parts first and then move onto the parts with the two actors together. Also, I will make sure to carry some sort of  safety kit. We will actually be using sparklers since our plan has them in it. I really hope everything goes as planned this time.

storyboard

Today, in our AICE Media Studies class, we made our storyboard. We also planned out our whole music video sequence and more of the props and other various things. We finalized our costumes and locations and made sure our actors were free on our selected dates. We also checked out a camera so we could film over the weekend. Finally, we made plans to go buy sparklers before we film on the weekend.

 As for the storyboard, our first panel is a high angle showing one of our actors texting on a phone about meeting up to go to the movies. This is during the line in the song, 'I'll see you at the movies.' After they get a response to the message, the camera pans up to the actors face. The actors face is cut off at the nose so their eyes cannot be seen but they're smiling. The actor is wearing red lipstick as the song says the line, 'I'll see you with your lipstick on.' On the next panel, the same actor is shown in her costume looking in a mirror at herself. She'll be adjusting her clothes and making sure she's ready. As she does this the song will say the lines, 'I'm looking out for cosmos. I'm hoping that we'll get along.' It's a low angle as well as a medium shot so you can only see from her knees to her collar since we're choosing to not show their faces till the end of the music video. This is because the song is about change and new beginnings so we decided it would be cool to not show their faces till the end. On the next panel, our other actor is depicted getting in a car and placing sparklers on the passenger seat. The shot is a low angle that's inspired by a trunk shot, since we got the idea when trying to include a trunk shot. However, we moved the camera to the passenger seat as we felt it made more sense. The lines during the shot is 'It's time for renovation. It's time for us to make a change.' The next panel shows scenery through the passenger side window of a car. During the scene the song will be saying, 'It's time for a Chinese new year.' This will be a wide shot. The next panel depicts our first actor waiting at the movie theater and it will be a close up on a pair of red shoes she is wearing. She will be rocking back and forth on her heels as if she's waiting. This will be on the line, 'It's time for me to make a way.'

  After that the following panel shows our actors on a couch moving positions with jump cuts in between. It will be a two shot and full body. The actors will switch positions with each line and be in different positions after each cut. The next panel would be an establishing shot of the movie theater as the actors leave the theater. It will be a two shot and wide shot. Also, the camera will slowly zoom in on the two actors. This will be on the line, 'I'll see you at the movies.' The panel after that shows the two actors walking down the street to the park. It will be a two shot and full body except for their heads. It will also be a tracking shot so the camera will follow them for a while. This is during the line, 'I'll see you with your lipstick on.' The next panel is the two actors looking up at the stars on a blanket with the sparklers laid off to the side. The scene will be a low angle and two shot that shows both the sky and grass where the actors are sitting. This is on the line, 'I'm looking out for cosmos.' On the next panel, the second actor hands the first actor a sparkler and they both light them. The shot is a medium close up and eye level. This scene is during the lines, 'I'm hoping that we'll get along. It's time for renovation.' The last panel depicts an over the shoulder shot of the the actors playing with sparklers and smiling. It will the cut to an over the shoulder shot of the other actor doing the same. Also, it will be a medium shot and will show the actors faces for the first time in the music video. This will be on the line, 'It's time for us to make a change. It's time for a Chinese new year.' Overall, we're really excited to start filming over the weekend and get to work on the project.

planning

1- Location- The locations we will use are in a bathroom, at a park, outside a movie theater and inside one of the theaters in said movie theater. The bathroom and park are secured because they are in public and in our house. For the movie theater, we will have to confirm if we can film or not. If that fails, we can use our backyard and a projector. 2- Health and Safety- Since we plan on using sparklers we will make sure there is a first aid kit and fire extinguisher nearby. Also, since we plan to film in a car, we need to drive safely, with seat belts on. 3- Props- The props we will use are a red lipstick, and sparklers. We also plan to print out a movie ticket to use as a prop. There will also be bouquets of flowers that we use throughout the music video. 4- Costumes- For the costumes we were thinking of doing red themed outfits. One of the actors will will be wearing jean overalls with a red shirt of some sort. She will also wear red or black shoes. The other actor will wear a leather jacket, a black shirt and red pants. For shoes they'll wear black boots. 5- Schedule- On the 19th, we are planing out our music video, securing locations and setting outfits. On the 21st, we will write out our storyboard for our music video and finalize each scene. We will also be signing out cameras for the weekend so we can film. On the 23rd/24th, we will be filming parts of the video that do not include both of our actors, since one cannot make it those days. On the 25th, we plan to write our progression of filming on a blog. We will also be checking out a camera again to film over the break. On the 27th - 1st, there is the holiday break in which we will finish all our filming. And finally on the 2nd, 4th and 6th, we will edit in class, and submit it on the 6th.

Music video research blog

Last project, the commercial, was very fun. It was very informative and a good first learning experience. In the last project, we learned lots of stuff like how to zoom, use the camera and how to plan out what we’re doing. It was very fun but we learned to not work in large groups agin because it didn’t work out as much as planed. We also learned to plan out our ideas out better before executing them. I liked working in the big group but it was too much. In this project, which is a music video, we decided to work in pairs. In the new project, the music video, we will learn from our experiences and hopefully everything will work out. The song we chose is called Chinese New Year. This song is by the band SALES. Chinese New Year is in the genre of pop. They released this song in 2014 but it didn’t get popular until recently. SALES is an American band from Florida. The members are Lauren Morgan and Jordan Shih. They are joined on tour by Malcolm Martin, who is the live drummer and percussionist for when they go on tour. Some other songs they play are Vow and Thurs 6-25. With the genre of our song being pop, there was a lot of music videos of songs in the same genre to look at for reference and ideas for our music video. The camera angles are often eye level, high angles, and over the shoulder. 1. The shots typically are single, two, or three shot, and medium shots. The editing consists of sharp and sudden cuts and lots of different angles. 2. The costumes usually consist of odd or eccentric designs. They often dress in dresses and suits with bright pops of color or the entire thing is colorful. 3. The lighting is bright and colorful to mix with the bright costumes. The lights are usually flashing and or sparking so it catches the audience’s attention. 4. They usually act happy or joyful depending on the music, like if the song is more upbeat and peppy, then they might be smiling. If the music has a more sad tone then they might be frowning and slouching. 5. The makeup usually goes with the costumes like if they have a colorful dress then they might have colorful makeup. It ranges from being extravagant to stand out or very light and subtle depending on the surrounding colors. 6. The props tend to be comically large and not proportional compared to the surroundings and characters. They also tend to have bright colors to match with the costumes and lights. The setting is usually in a bright room with some sort of color in it. The setting also is often outside on a sunny day.

Editing blog

During these editing day(s) we actually got to work! The laptops came in and we got straight to work. We had two days to edit. But since barely anyone in our class got it done. Our teacher gave us an extra day to edit. We still have to do some editing on Friday after our lesson but it’s not that much. With the two full class periods we edited in, we got a ton done. During the first day, I found music and started to edit. Finding the right music for the commercial was tough. I had to find something that matched the intensity of the shots.
This meant sifting through websites and listening to almost all the sounds. It took me most of the period to find. After I found the right music, I downloaded it to the school’s computer. To transfer it from the schools pc to the laptop, I put it on a drive and then onto the laptop. When we put the music in, I imported it. I imported it to pinocle studio. The import took very long, considering it was a music file, but not as long as the video. The music stopped right when the slogan I put in started so, it was perfect! We added all the voiceovers and cut all the clips. I went through and deleted or moved the clips that didn’t make sense where they were.
When I went through all the clips, most of them were unusable. A lot of them had people talking or too much of a blur. Some of the clips just didn’t make sense in the commercial at all. We had filmed a long shot of our actors running but that had made one of the scenes way too long. It was reasons like that that we cut out most of the clips. I went through the audio and decided which to use and then edited them in. I also finished the split screen and added the best clips to use in it. We really only have touch ups to do on Friday. Items such as having to trim shots down so we can match the time limit are needed. I’m very excited to see how me and my team have done! I’m also very excited to see what everyone else in our class did for theirs!

Editing the commercial

Today in AICE media, we couldn’t do our editing. The computers are broken and the editing software isn’t functioning properly. Last class, though, we did get some editing it. During that class, I went out and re-filmed some scenes and then came back in to edit. During that editing time, I helped trying to make the split screen. We had to call our teacher over because we couldn’t figure it out. Even she couldn’t get it to work properly. She did, though, teach me and my group how to do a split screen so that’s good. I also started to plan out what to do next class. We will start to edit on the school laptops because the computers aren’t working, like I’ve said.
When we get the laptops, we will start editing again. My plan for the editing is to import it to the computer and make the split screen work so far. I will also add the audios in and cut all the clips to make them line up! We will add the music in too and make everything coherent. Last class, we imported all the video clips along with the audio clips. Once we found out the computers weren’t functioning, we put them onto our google drives. We also e-mailed them to ourselves so make sure we do actually have them. When we actually edit stuff, we import the files from the back ups. Because one of our members has her own SD card, we probably won’t have to use them but it’s called back up for a reason! I’m really excited to see our finishing project!
As for the actual editing, we will hopefully start by next class
I’m a bit upset about the deadlines not matching up because of our schools computers. I really wanted to start on the music video but that might be delayed too. This is upsetting because I wanted to get to the editing as fast as possible but it seems that’s going to be rough to do. I hope that the editing goes quicker then the filming did. We have a lot to do so that may be a problem in the long run. I’m super excited to see how the filming looks when it’s all put together! We’ ll keep in mind that it’s our first time filming and editing our own film so if it’s a little bad then whatever. When we get in the next class, we’ll get to editing ASAP. I hope the laptops will be working next class so we can get some work down. I’m very excited to get editing!

Filming the commercial

During the filming process I was co-director and camera person. I helped figure out where to put the camera to get the best shot. I also helped film some shots like the tracking shot, and all the low angle shots. I helped get props to the actors during one clip shots. I also assisted some of the audio clips. The ones I helped with were the drinking sounds and the slogan for it. I helped co-direct along side one of my group mates. During that stage, I helped produce the storyboard and the scenes of the film. I also helped with what scene should go where and when. I came up with our fake slogan for Gatorade which is “get yourself some Gatorade!”
I helped decide what music to put into the commercial. I also helped research some stuff to put into the video like the props, editing style and more! During filming, I brought the props out and helped set the camera in the correct spots. I also made sure there were no people in the shots and no people talking in the audio shots. I helped carry the equipment out on the second day. On the days we filmed it was hot and humid. There were a lot of people outside with us because we all thought it would be best to film on the field instead of in the school itself. We did have plans if it rained that day which luckily it did not. Those plans were to film on the stairs and in the halls! Though that wouldn’t have been ideal, that would have worked.
As I said before, we filmed on a hot day so we all got sunburnt and it was very hot out. So on the second day, we brought our waters out along with all the props and camera stuff. When we filmed on the first day, some shots were lost so on the second day we had to go out and re-shoot those ones. Those shots included all the audio films, the tracking shot, and a few more. When we went out the second time, there were less people outside since almost everyone went inside to edit. So the second filming day went better and we got all the shots redone in a half  hour. During the second day, I carried the camera outside and filmed many shots. Those shots include the audio shots, some of the race shots and the drinking scenes. Since we only had two bottles of Gatorade, I used water to make the Drinking audio. I had so much fun making this commercial so far! Im excited to see how my next project goes.