FEEDBACK & FILMING / EDITING WRITE UP !

21st February 2019 - Today we filmed between 12:30am - 8pm. For the majority of the scenes the sun was a prime asset. I had pre-planned the day in time with the sun to ensure my scenes would turn out as best as possible. I am still yet to film two crucial scenes because there was simply not enough time so I am planning on filming again next week.

Reflection

Overall, everything went very much to plan. The only issues I faced were issues with the camera battery's, because I filmed for such a lengthy time my two cameras ran out of battery several times which held me up slightly because I had to often wait for them to charge. This was not so much of an issue as I worked around it. When one battery was in use I would charge the other and swap them over whenever necessary. This meant that time was cut short when the sun set was in perfect position as we had to run back to get a battery when it died. This meant that we had to rush capturing the last few scenes before the sun went in completely although in the end the shots turned out pretty good.

I had a few troubles with the camera operation which meant filming also took longer. Because I was on my own with only two hands operating two cameras whilst directing the whole piece with each shot being re-filmed up to 10 times, it got pretty challenging to say the least. The majority of the time I did not use a tripod because of the awkward angles and positions my shots were at. If I were to re-film my piece today I would of invested in a fig rig in advance to create my action shots without any wobbles or shakes what so ever. Although, I can fix the wobbly shots in post production editing so it should be okay. Never the less a Fig Rig would of come in handy particularly with the style of shots I chose but unfortunately college can no longer provide them as they were stolen earlier this year.

27th February 2019 - Today I filmed the bath scene for my music video with my female actor where she is seen lip syncing in a jet black bath representing how she feels dead inside due to her on going relationship issues. This metaphorical scene highlights the lyrics she is singing and works well to create a contrast between the main fighting scene along with the sun set rap scene. This idea came to me after watching successful music videos following a similar concept. I also needed an alternative scene from the original music video because I could not recreate the burnt house scene as seen done by (Rihanna and Eminem) due to safety and budget reasons.

Reflection

Today I faced many challenges I had to overcome. Firstly, getting the effects makeup to look spot on. My intension was to create the illusion she had been crying with makeup streaming down her face. This was difficult to create and took a lot of shading in order for it to look realistic but in the end I think it looked pretty spot on creating the desired effect much like the picture bellow.

During filming my bath plug broke which meant the water kept going down. This also meant the bath was getting less and less black due to the colouring escaping the plug. I used a plastic bag, a towel and a weight on top underneath the water to try and retain as much water as possible. On top of this I did not have enough hot water which meant my actor would of gradually got to cold so I had to fill the bath up with the kettle. This obviously took up a lot of film time which meant i was setting up for at least an extra hour ensuring the scene was perfect. Because it got so dark this also meant lighting wasn't the best. I used my umbrella studio lights along with my red lava lamp, my red lamp and my phone torch because the camera did not seem to like the dim lighting and created a very grainy effect even after adjusting the ISO and aperture.

However, despite all these issues I managed to overcome them and produce some strong footage that I believe will fit perfectly along side the footage I produced on the 21st of February.

6th March 2019 - Today in college I began putting my edit together. I was so excited to do so as I faced a few filming issues and was ready to put the storyline together finally!

Shock, I had more issues!! My SD card actually corrupted as soon as I put it into the computer using my card reader and I managed to loose ALL of my footage and therefore could not edit at all today. I was extremely upset today as I worked so hard to direct and produce a piece I feel so passionate about.

Reflection

Instead, I had to get on with some theory work so I updated my website and continued on my research.

At this point I am very frustrated because of the amount of effort that went in to the filming days. Behind the scenes it was a lot harder than it looks. Particularly, working with actors who obviously are not real actors meaning I had to completely instruct their every movement in order to create the desired effect I had envisioned for my piece. Because of the amount of times we had to repeat each scene until it was perfect my actors were not impressed. Obviously continuous repetitive work for free all day is not ideal for them which is understandable. I was lucky to capture the scenes I got eventually after many long attempts. Because I had envisioned something so precise I had my heart set on creating that and bringing it to life.

The problem with this was that I had lost all my footage and there was no way I was going to be able to capture those scenes again because it was hard enough the first time. Luckily, after the filming day I managed to back up the majority of my footage which I later realised when I got home. This was so incredibly lucky and meant I still had some footage from the day.

Next week I will be reshooting the bath scene so I am currently on the mission to find the same bath bomb used in the first shoot as it is currently unavailable to buy at the moment. This will need to be sorted by next week otherwise I will not be able to create the desired effect.

Reshooting: 11th March 2019 - Today was Re shoot day! This time I new exactly what to expect because this time is the second time round. This made the process a lot quicker because I already knew how I wanted it to pan out.

Reflection

Unfortunately because I was so focused on getting the correct footage again I completely forgot the effects makeup! Although, this was not such a big deal because it worked just as well without. However, I do believe the first shoot turned out better than the Re shoot in terms of lighting, acting, shots and effect.

But this was completely out of my control and these things happen. I am just so relieved I was able to salvage some of my previous footage and that not all of it was gone. With help from the I.T team they used a software that abled me to revive even more lost footage.

14th March 2019 - Today I spent the whole day editing my music video on my laptop. I really enjoy editing and have been looking forward to editing my piece since Pre-Production. I love the idea of piecing together a storyline and being completely creatively free to do whatever you like. This project really opened up our creative freedom which I really love.

In this case I had envisioned how I wanted it to turn out for so long that I was itching to finally get my head down in premier pro. I got so carried away I ended up editing for about 8 hours straight before realising I had been editing for 8 hours straight! I am so passionate about this particular piece as so much work was put into it in order to make look similar to the original but still add my own unique twist.

15th March 2019 - I finished off my edit today which took around 7 hours. I had a little trouble exporting my final piece due to render issues but everything is finally sorted and sent it off to be marked and for me to receive my feed back.

16th march 2019 - I am so chuffed with my feedback and feel as though the hard work really paid off. I am so happy with my final edit and have received positive feedback not only bellow but on other social media platforms. When the video is played back next to the original it is clear to see the resemblance side by side, only their budget was in the thousands while mine was a 0 budget music video. For this I am very proud of my piece.

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