The obstacles we were confronted with in the course

While creating our music video like everyone we too were faced with obstacles and challenged to face in order for us to achieve our final product. These challenges and obstacles had to be faced and we either fixed the issue or we worked our way around them in order to get our final product.

One of the issues we had was the equipment we were provided with. Some of the facilities such as cameras and tripods were being used by other students and therefore to resolve this issue, I decided that I will use my camera and tripod to film our music video. The School camera were also appearing to be very shaky and therefore my Canon camera I had had auto-stabilsation which improved the video shakiness.

The other issue was the costume. The costume our artist Jacob was wearing was suiting more of a Grime genre and therefore to resolve this issue we had to rethink the costume and make it look more Hip Hop as Jacob was wearing Grime style clothing.

We also had the issue of lack of actors for the gang scene. We had to resolve this issue by replacing that whole scene into a night scene with the artist just on his own.

The narrative of the video was very unclear and the audience we showed it to didn't understand it. The artist was meant to show his life before and after. Before the artist was involved in gang life but now he tried to run away from that life and have money and fortune with his new hit song. To resolve this narrative issue we cut some scenes out and changed the narrative slightly into the artist showing his fame and fortune yet he still cannot get the girl he loves.

Filming the last scene - Production Blog 8

Today we reshot the final scene we needed which was officially where the artist was in the Chip shop but we changed it to outside on the street. We decided to reshoot the scene as it was shaky and the pan at the end was too early and cut too abruptly as well.

I didn't like the chip shop scene at all and therefore I wanted to film it elsewhere and without the gang being behind him. This shot is now finally done and all thats left to do is finishing the editing, change the brightness and colour and then syncing the music with the video.

Our Response to the First Draft Feedback

As the main editor, director and cinematographer of the music video it was my responsibility to respond to the feedback we received and to improve and develop the music video. I decided on how we can reshoot the film, where we can reshoot and I discussed with Thomas how we can change the costumes worn by the artist to make him suit the genre even further. Before the artist looked like a Grime Artists instead of a Hip Hop artist so Thomas and I decided to make him wear jeans, designer shirts and shoes as well.

The opening scene also looked very grime so that is why I decided to reshoot the scene in Greenwich to make it look more like a sleek hip hop music video.

Now all thats left to do is to edit in the new shots and to respond to the feedback such as play with the lighting and colour as well fix the lip syncing.

Filming in greenwich - Production Blog 7

We have gone to Greenwich and we have filmed some shots at night so we can use them in the opening scene and middle scenes. We filmed many various shots so we can use some extra shots and we used the shots to replace the gang scene as this looks much better. The shots look more higher quality in greenwich as it looks wealthy and suits the hip hop genre. I will now use these shots and edit them into our music video and us eat for the final music video.

The shoot went well and we all agreed on this as the wether was great and the lighting in greenwich was good as well, therefore the shots came out amazing.

Schedule to refilm our next shots

We still have many more shots to refilm and I want to film some shots in Greenwich. I wanted to cut out the shots of the gang scene and replace it with shots of just the artist in Greenwich. The gang scene I feel doesn't suit the genre and doesn't suit the lyrics and as the director of the music video I decided I no longer wanted the gang scene, but I needed to make sure my group was happy with my decision and they all agreed with me.

We have decided to film the greenwich scene at night over the half term and Then i will cut out the old shots and import the new greenwich shots which hopefully look a lot better.

Reshooting the first shots - Production Blog 6

We have now re-filmed some of the shots so we can replace the shots we didn't like in our first draft. We filmed the new shots on a Hill in Thamesmead and we took variety of shots of the artist 'King J' such as close ups and long shots as well has scenery shots of he city and town. We filmed many shots so we can use these if we ever need them. The weather was great and the shots came out well. All thats left for me to do is to edit the shots into the video and enhance the colour and stabilisation.

The shots were filmed by James and me, Jacob was starring in the shots and Thomas helped with the Costume and behind the scene support with lighting and photography aid with the equipment.

First Draft Music Video Feedback

We have now received feedback from our class and teachers on our first music video draft and they have given us some points on how we can improve the video. Most of the feedback we received we already knew about but some of the feedback revived was new to us and it help us decide on what we can do to improve it for our final music video.

The main way we can improve the music video is to improve the cinematography. We decided for our future shots  that the main cinematographers will be me and James as I have many skills in photography and cinematography and we shall be using my camera. For the future shots we will now use my camera and my filing equipments such as my dolly and monopods. The shots were very shaky but we can fix this by stabilising the shots with editing and using a new camera with auto-stabilisation. A lot of our viewers also suggested to change the ending of the video as it ended abruptly and therefore the narrative wasn't clear in the video. We were also told that the studio shots were very long nd made the video boring so my group and I will fix this by filming some more extra shots.

Our artist was very out of sync as when he was signing he naturally opened his mouth for a long time and it looks out of sync and Jacob also didn't know the lyrics very well and therefore this was shown in our music video. We have now told him to practise further and hopefully improve in the final music video.

Confirmation for Reshooting

My group and I have confirmed and planned to reshoot some scenes of our music video over the christmas holiday. The whole group and I aren't very busy over christmas and therefore we can film many scenes and shots which can then use for the video to improve it and make it look better and more professional.

We will keep some of the scenes such as the party scene, some shots of the artist and the car as well the music studio scene. Most off the outdoor scenes I felt lacked in quality, was shaky and the lighting wasn't very good and therefore as director of the music video I decided I wanted to refilm all the shots I did not like. 

I also wanted to change the location we used to film these shots. I decided I now wanted to take out the gang scenes and replace it with high quality and more professional shots in Greenwich and the Hill in Thamesmead where there is a a great view.

The First Draft of Our Music Video Is Done

This is our first draft of our music video. I feel that it still needs developing and a lot of the shots need to be improved and refilmed. We will be showing it to our class and teachers who will give us feedback on how we can improve the video for our final.

Final Draft Complete - Editing Process Blog 3

I have now completed the editing for our first draft of the music video. I will upload it to YouTube and we will then show it to our teachers and class mates who will give us feedback and inform us on how to improve the video. My group and I both know that the video still needs some work to get done such as editing and filming to still do, but we had to rush the first draft in order to meet the school deadline to hand in the video so we couldn't fully complete it. However we will improve the video for our final video.

Filming one last extra scene - Production Blog 5

We needed to film one more shot which was a very short shot of one of the actresses in our music video. We filmed a close up of the girl from the party scene who plays the character of the girl the artist likes. The shot will be used in the scene where the artist King J lyrics say "The girl he wants don't seem to want him to" and this is where the audience will see a close up of the girl so they understand the narrative of the music video.

All thats left for me to do is to edit the shot into the music video and then do some final edits and colour changing and then the first draft should be complete.

Filming the final scenes - Production Blog 4

We decided to film the final shots in the local area of welling. I was directing this scene as well as starring in the scene as a background actor. Thomas who is in charge of props and lighting was also acting in this scene. Thomas and Jacob decided on what the costumes should be in this shot and Jame and I decided on the location we wanted to film in which was a alleyway with garages. James filmed this shot handheld while I directed him and told him how I wanted him to film it. It was hard for me to direct and act in this scene and therefore James was confused on how he was meant to film this scene and how I wanted it to be. It is best for me to be behind the camera and direct the Cinematographer (James) in how I want to film this scene.

We also filmed in the Chip Shop because I wanted the artist (Jacob) to be in a natural environment. I again wanted to break the fourth wall in this music video and I wanted Jacob to talk towards the camera and the audience when he said "Hold the phone". The owner of the Fish and Chip shop was happy for us to film in his store as long as we promote the name of the store which we do with a pan up at the end of the shot. The shots were shaky and again because I was acting and directing at the same time, James was confused on how I wanted him to film the shot and that is why we are going to reshot this shot as well for our final edit.

My group and I are going to use these shots in the first edit but for the final edit we are going to refill these shots.

Filming the 3rd Scene in the Studio - Production Blog 3

We have filmed another scene of our music video and we filmed it in a music studio. Initially the plan was to create a concert but with the budget and cast members we had, it was not possible for us to achieve this concert scene. Instead we decided on creating a studio scene which I was inspired to do when I saw another music video which had this. We filmed in a studio at the music department and we set up a microphone and stand.

As I was directing I wanted this scene to look dark but I wanted the artist to stand out. So we decided to turn off the lights in the studio and we used one studio light which we set up and aimed towards the artist. This made the artist stand out and the room around him more dark and I liked the look that this gave.

I will soon add this into my first edit of the music video onto final cut pro and I will edit this scene so it look and sounds great as well as trying to get the lip sync right on.

Filming 2nd Scene in Thamesmead - Production Blog 2

Yesterday my group and I went to film another scene of our music video in West Thamesmead, this location was the we found while taking pictures for our digipak photoshoot. We had the artist (Jacob) wear his costume that day and we also took equipment such as a dolly, tripod and camera. James was filming this scene and I was going to direct how I wanted the shot to look like and what I wanted the artist to do. I wanted the artist to walk and interact with the camera while it was tracking him walking. I wanted this music video to break the fourth wall, I want the artist to talk to the audience who are watching and listening to the music video.

James tried to film this shot with the dolly provided by the media department but because the ground was not level and was not stable, the dolly was very shaky and therefore the shots were shaky as the dolly had no suspension. I then decided we are going to have to film the scene handheld, James then filmed the scene multiple times in order for us to get the best shot. The shots looked okay but were still quite shaky due to it being handheld, my group and I will reshoot this shot of the final edit and we will this time use a shoulder cam or a steady cam to keep the shot smooth.

I will then soon import these shots and the Party Scene Shots into Final Cut Pro and I will start to edit the first edit for this music video.

First Scene Shots have been filmed - Production Blog 1

My group and I have filmed the first shots for our music video which was the Party Scene. The scene was filmed in a Drama Classroom and we chose this classroom as it had black walls, ceiling and flooring which makes the scene look more dark like a club/party. Jacob who is in charge of mise-en-scene and Thomas who is in charge of props and lighting helped us with the prop ideas and lighting style such as the use of RGB party lights. Thomas also had the decision of what type of clothing should be worn by the artist (Jacob) in order to make it suit the Hip Hop genre. I wanted to use a smoke machine in the shits as I felt it would make the video stand out more and make it feel more like a club/party. The media department provided us with the smoke machine to use in our shots.

I was directing where the party scene should be filmed in the room and I also directed how it should be filmed, what it should look like and what I want the artist to do in the video. I also filmed some of the shots as we used my personal camera to film these shots and I also used my own personal dolly as well to get great shots. I wanted the video to have panning and dolly shots and therefore I filmed the shots which looked like that and the other shots were also filmed by James.

We had a slight issue of lighting in the shots and therefore the quality of the video was lowered and the picture quality was a bit noisy as the lighting wasn't great in the set. Despite this minor issue, the shots still came out great and it looked great.