1. Did you enjoy the main workshop shoot day? What roles did you take and what did you learn? What were your best bits and why?

I enjoyed the workshop shoot day as I had never experienced or performed in a professional shoot before. We learnt how to use professional filming equipment and each of us were involved in helping the team as much as possible. Although, we had to remember importance of the shoot schedule in order to film each set up in time. It was a challenging an tiring workshop but I was pleased with the footage that we managed to shoot.

What roles did I take on?

Acting as the bass guitarist for Group 3: I had not performed in a filmed production before, so this was a new experience. I tried to take on the character of the bassist in Paramore's video rather than act out exact movements, so that it would seem more like the original. It was more difficult than I expected not to sing the lyrics but to perform as a guitarist.

Photos from the rehearsal and performance:

Clapperboard: I had already used the clapperboard for our film opening in AS Media, although it was particularly important for this shoot. It made it easier to organise set ups and takes while editing, and saves time when watching footage. By helping the crew on set I learnt how different camera set ups create different effects when filming (for example, some of the shots required a dolly and some were hand-held).

I also learnt that other jobs on set were equally important, such as cable bashing to keep the backstage area clear and moving the dolly on the track smoothly. It was particularly useful to have the TV screens by the stage, so that the performers could watch the original video before filming and remember specific movements. The director was also able to watch an edited version of the original video for each band member. Although I did not move the dolly, I noticed that we had to keep the dolly moving at the same pace without hitting the edge of the track to get the most effective shot.

Cable bashing

Moving the dolly on the track

The most enjoyable part of the workshop day was shooting takes of the whole song and watching the footage on the TV screen while it was being filmed. It showed us how important camera angles and techniques were in creating the best effect. It was useful to work with professionals as well as our friends and to experience what a professional shoot would be like.

A gif from our final edit

2. What have you learnt from participating in each prelim tasks 1, 2, 3 and 5?

Task 1: Audition Video

• We filmed and edited a 3-minute lip-synch of Misery Business after having learnt the lyrics and picked up on character's movements in the original video. This was used by the staff team to cast the remake video.

I learnt a lot during this task as it was the first time I had filmed a lip-synch. We took several takes of the song from different angles so we would have more choice of shots to edit. I learnt how to sync our movements and singing to the music during editing, so that the lip-synch would look as plausible as possible. We had a limited time to complete this task so we had to make sure that we didn't waste time and had at least one shot for each part of the song.

Task 2: Learning and practising our performance

• I learnt the importance of using body language and actions to perform as the character rather than relying on lip-synching.
• Getting into character beforehand and practising the movements of the bassist was also useful.
• Practising with the other band members was helpful as the performance became more energetic and enthusiastic when we all performed and interacted. 
• It was important to warm up before filming. 
• There were no specific actions for the guitarists - we had to try and get into character and be enthusiastic in our roles.

Warming up before performing:

Rehearsal of all 3 bands:

Task 3: Helping to plan and organise our costume

We had costume references for each band member - which required black and bright coloured clothes that were as similar as possible to those in the original video. Each of us brought in clothing that would be appropriate for any band member and we were responsible for making sure that our costumes and make-up were ready in time for the final costume check.
We noticed that the hair, make-up and accessories were also important as they made the video appear more realistic and creative.

The make-up artists made Hayley's character as similar as possible to the original video:

Bassist character profile and costume references:

My costume

Task 4: The Shoot

Our shoot was the most tiring task for the remake as it lasted from 8am to 8pm, however, I learnt a lot from it -

• Sticking to the shoot schedule is important in order to film all the set ups and takes.
• It's more effective to film different camera techniques (some shots were hand-held while others required the dolly and track).
• While other groups are performing, the rest of the cast should be helping the team, getting themselves ready or practising for their performance.
• The roles of the director and first AD during the shoot. 

Task 5: The Edit

The editing stage was the most time-consuming as it required us to choose the best takes, sync each set up to the original music, add in effects such as flashes and grade the shots individually. I became more confident in my editing skills although it was very different from editing our film opening. We spent all of our free periods and time after school on this task, and from editing our footage I learnt -

• How to sync set ups correctly to the original music track.
• Shots in music videos do not have to follow the continuity rules that films follow.
• It is necessary to pay attention to details such as framing, width of the shot and grading.
• The importance of managing time and sticking to the edit schedule.

Before/after grading

3. Are you pleased with the footage and your finished edit? Is it how you expected it to look? What works really well and what would you change?

Remake Music Video:


Amber and Ela - Misery Business SD from Latymermedia on Vimeo.



Footage - 

Overall I was pleased with our footage as we managed to film 23 set ups which did not require many takes each. The hand-held shots were particularly effective as they looked the most like the original music video. We also took several close-ups and mid-shots from different angles, which gave a better view of the stage and band. I didn't expect the costumes and set to look as professional as they did on camera. The shots in which the band interacted with each other were also effective and made the video more energetic.

If we had time to re-shoot, I would have filmed more takes of each set up to make sure we had shots for all the movements of the lead singer. Also, we noticed during editing that some of the shots were the wrong way round, and when we flipped them, the "RIOT" backdrop appeared the wrong way round.

Final Edit - 

I was also pleased with our final edit, as we managed to change the framing of shots so that they matched the original and grade them well. The solo of the main guitarist was the most effective as we synced her movements in time to the music and inverted the shots which worked well. Also, the lip-synch for Hayley looked realistic when we synced it to the music track.

Main guitarist solo footage:

However, some set ups were not filmed from the same angle as the original video, so it was difficult to find certain shots of our band. In hindsight, we could have filmed Hayley's exact movements so it would be easier to find shots when editing. If we had more time to spend on editing, I would have made sure the framing of shots was more accurate and graded individual shots better.

We did not film this shot of Hayley lifting her arms in the original video,

so we had to use a different take.

In terms of editing our remake video, I would have spent less time trying to find the best takes and focused more on effects and grading. Although, our final edit looked much better after grading and adding flashes, as this made it appear more fast-paced. The flash effects were added using the Luma Corrector which we had not used before.

Luma corrector on Premiere Pro:

4. How do you think your prelim experiences will impact on your approach to next term's music video coursework?

I think the prelim will significantly impact my approach to next term's music video coursework, as I have learnt much more about directing and working on a professional set. I realised that a lot more time and commitment is required to produce a creative and interesting video.

I have also learnt the importance of planning the shoot in advance, to make sure that the filming location and cast are prepared. Producing a shoot schedule and organising the takes beforehand saved a lot of time during the shoot day and allowed us to refer back to footage easily when editing. Reference images from the original video also helped the director and camera man when deciding whether a shot was effective or not. 2 weeks prior to the shoot day, we had character profiles and costume lists which helped us to audition for particular roles and choose the most appropriate costumes. This was useful for planning the shoot as we did not have to waste time on the day finding a costume or deciding on hair and make-up. For next term's coursework, I plan to organise the cast's clothing and make-up in advance so that we do not have to improvise on the day.

Original video set:

Our set was prepared in advance:

From completing the prelim, I realised that it will be necessary to organise a crew for the shoot day. It would have been much more difficult to produce the footage without a director, cameraman, choreographers and make-up artists on set. I would also consider choosing a cast from outside of my media group, so that we can focus on shooting the best footage. We would also have to audition actors as we did in the prelim, to make sure they are suitable for the role.

Director, 1st Assistant Director and choreographers - responsible for organising the shoot, time management, sticking to the schedule, the director decides whether or not we need to re-take a shot.

Cameraman - responsible for filming the shots and making sure the framing is correct

Make-up artists -

Timings are also going to be important, as we did not manage to stick to the shoot schedule on the prelim shoot day, resulting in the final set up not being filmed. The edit week taught me that most of my free time should be spent in the edit suite as grading and adding flashes took longer than we had expected. Our prelim required us to edit lots of small details in the footage, such as the framing of shots, so that it would look like the original video.

What we will need to consider for next term's music video:

Pre-production:
1. The genre and setting of the video, deciding on a suitable shooting location
2. The type of characters and their roles
3. Costume references and planning costumes/hair/make-up
4. The framing and composition of shots
5.. Choosing actors based on their auditions
6. Creating a shoot schedule with set ups
7. Delegating responsibilities between the group
8. Choreography and rehearsing with the actors
9. Possible re-shooting or a back-up shoot

A detailed shoot schedule must be made before the shoot day:

Post-production:
1. Creating an edit schedule and using free time
2. Editing by set ups, and syncing the lip-synch to the original track
3. Spending more time on grading so that the shots match
4. Make sure there is enough time to add in creative effects (such as flashes, flips)