Final Cut

I posted the fourth rough cut on facebook and got some good feedback and so have decided that it shall be my final cut.

Here is some of the comments I got...

Also I got this comment on the YouTube page...

Rough Cut #4: Director's Commentary

I've put together this director's commentary to explain further my thought processes behind my last rough cut, looking at my progression from my 1st rough cut to now.

Rough Cut #4

I have finished my fourth rough cut of my video which, as I explained on the youtube page, will hopefully be the final cut. I am going to put together a director's commentary to explain my thought processes so far about the progress and changes from my first rough cut to this one.

Rough Cut #3

I've put together a third rough cut of my video which is much closer to my final cut. I've finished filming all that I'd like to and so there are only a few finishing touches on the editing after getting some audience feedback until it should be complete. 
Firstly, I've added the new beginning which I put together last week and then also throughout the video added a few flashback shots to contrast with the female protagonist as she is now, i.e. single. 
I've also changed some of the clips by adding the hard light effect as I thought that it made them look more interesting and made the colours stand out. This, again, contrasts with the use of the 'romantic' effect on the flashbacks. So in the relationship it was more fuzzy and dream like and now after the break up things make more sense and are more intense: thus the imagery reflects this. 

I also stabilised a few of the clips to make the whole thing a lot smoother to watch.

I am much happier now that I have the flashback sequences as I think it has made the narrative much clearer and has added a new dimension to the video.
However, I am also been thinking about inserting the beginning sequence into the middle section that I originally cut out. I may try this out, but I'm not sure if it will work as the sequence is shorter than the music and it may not work within the flow of the video, but I shall try and see to make sure it is in the right place and get some feedback before making my final decision.
Here is my new rough cut:

Editing: New Footage

On Saturday I spent the day shooting new footage, both for the lip-syncing at the start and some flashback sequences to try to solidify the narrative much more for the audience so the message behind the video becomes clearer. I'm really happy with the footage I managed to get and so have now been editing on the editing software I have available, which is iMovie. 
I really wanted to create a contrast between the flashback shots and the rest of the video and so I looked around at the filters and chose the 'romantic' effect.

Also throughout the video I changed the speeds to make it more exciting and interesting to watch...

I've put together a new beginning now with a flashback sequence before the song begins. I'm also going to include a few flashbacks in the video that will contrast with the artist being single now, which I'll talk about when I put up my third rough cut.
I felt like I needed some sound over the flashback sequence and so to begin with I put some wave noises over the top. But then I had the idea to put an old Adele song that was about love to fully show the contrast between the relationship and how the artist is now. I found Adele's cover of The Cure's 'Lovesong' which I thought fitted well it isn't too happy but has a sad undertone which really worked. The only thing I am questioning with my new beginning is whether to go straight from the last shot of the silhouettes fading to black to fade up to the song straight away or to keep in the establishing shot of the beach with the titles. I shall conduct some audience feedback to see what they think before making a decision. 


Here is my new beginning edited together...

Rough Cut #2

I've put together my second rough cut; shortening the sequence at the end, removing the middle section and making the music match up better. There is still some work to do but this is closer to the final product.

Rough Cut #1: Director's Commentary

I've created a director's commentary version of my first rough cut which explains my feelings and thoughts about it and how I'd like to progress. 

I'm now working on my second rough cut keeping in mind all that I've said here.

1st Rough Cut

This is my first (mostly) full rough cut of my music video. There are a few audio sync issues and I'd like to re-shoot the beginning (first 30 seconds or so), but otherwise I shall make another 'director's commentary' explaining my thoughts and changes that I'd like to make.

End of Video: Rough Cut

I've been working on trying to match the images to the beats of the song which is harder than it looks! The end lot of beats is the longest and this is my rough cut. I'll now work on competing the other 'beat' section of the song and placing them into my overall rough cut of the entire song which will hopefully be completed by the end of the week. 

I'm currently unsure whether the ending where she walks towards the camera is effective or whether I should leave it with her looking out to sea. I shall get some audience feedback to see what I should do. 

River/Interlude/Forest: Rough Cut - Director's Commentary

I've recorded a 'director's commentary' explaining my thoughts and ideas for the process so far in putting together a rough cut of part of the music video. 

River/Interlude/Forest: Rough Cut

I've been editing a lot these past few weeks, and have managed to put together a rough cut of the middle part of my music video.

I'm happy with it at present and asked a few people in my class what their thoughts were. Some of the things they said was that they liked the variety of shots and that it had good clarity. They also said they liked the colours, but to try a draft with the interlude in black and white.


Next I'm going to do a director's commentary of where I am so far and how I want to progress.

Interlude: Rough Cut

I've put together a rough cut of my interlude which you can see below...

(In the process of uploading to YouTube the colouring seems to have gone more purple than blue so I will alter that before the final product.)
However, whilst editing I thought of the idea of putting some of the lyrics over the video to make the message have more impact, which I tried out...

I'm not sure which works best so I'm going to have to get some feedback before I make a decision.

River Rough Cut

I've put together a rough cut of my preliminary filming, much of which I will be keeping in. I tried out a few effects and editing techniques to see how it would work...

Beach Shoot #2

I thought I'd post about my filming progress so far to keep on track with my plans. My second shoot focused mainly on using the props that we didn't have time to do the first time as well as get a few pick-up shots.

Me during filming

 Here is my shot list from the shoot...

The rose shots went well and we decided to throw the petals to the sea in order to have a stronger visual. I took a few shots that could be used for my ancillary tasks for the single cover...

The only thing that didn't work well were the match shots. This was mainly due to time constraints, the strong winds and the lighting (i.e. too bright). We will have to come back later to try it again, because I think it is a really strong visual that will work well. 
Here was our attempts anyway...

The darker lighting and more sheltered area worked better when experimenting, so perhaps it was the location. I may try out the match again on the river shoot to see if that works better otherwise come back at dusk on the beach, and try and pick a less windy day!

Preliminary Filming

Last Sunday I met up with my actress and we did some preliminary filming. To begin with we shot the Interlude scenes, which you can see below...

I learnt a lot from this first shoot. Firstly to be very aware of whether or not the camera is recording(!). Also how hard it is to direct! Getting the actress in the right place and doing what you need is very hard, especially when you are friends, but I'm working on my communication skills. Doing the constrained interlude scenes may first may not have been the best idea because once we'd gone down to the river location it was easier to let the actress be more natural and laid back which looked great on camera.
I used my first prop...

Which didn't go amazingly well...

... as it kind of sunk. I will bring back up boats next time we film in the location to try and rectify that problem.

While out filming the camera battery died, so I've definitely remembered to charge all the equipment fully for today. I've also learnt to try out lots of angles to see what works and to use what is available to you, such as lens flares and other natural objects around you. 

Special Effects: Match

One of the effects I'm going to use is of the match on the beach. I decided to do an experiment shot at dusk to see what the lighting is like. It was also a good idea because I learnt that you need to hold the match at the right angle for it to burn correctly. Also I need to be aware of the wind on the day of filming as it effects how it burns and the overall effect.

Experimenting: Forest Location

While I was scouting my third location in my local woods/forest, I filmed some shots to get a feel for the place as well as trying out different angles I could use. 
I forgot to take my tripod along, which I obviously will for the actual shooting, so tried placing the camera on rocks instead to see what effect that had. The lighting was really good when I went, which I hope will be similar when I film as it was really atmospheric. 

Experimenting: Shot 2:25-2:27 (Cutaways and Transitions)

Whilst scouting the beach location, I also filmed a few shots to experiment with a few crucial visuals, including the 2:25-2:27 shot that leads out of the interlude.
I also looked at transitions that could be used and a few other shots that could be used as cutaways... 

Experimenting: Shot 1:50-58

When scouting locations this weekend I did some practice shots of one important shot in that location - 1:50-1:58, the introduction of the interlude. 
I have put together the video below to explain my process...

Run

I thought I'd post this video which I made over the Summer as a way to practice using lots of camera angles and setting film to a soundtrack. At that point I wasn't sure what I'd be making so it was just a way of trying out different things and to push myself a little before my coursework properly started to get me ready.
Also, the video features one of my proposed locations for 2:28-2:41, so is a good way of seeing what it will be like on screen.