This is our final prelim task music video. We completed this within a couple of weeks of planning, finding costumes and location, filming and editing. We worked well as a team and managed to get all the shots we needed to produce a video which had similar frames to the original video.
Evaluation of our music video
1. Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?
I worked with a group of me and three other girls, Olivia, Sophie and Bonnie. I think we worked really well together as we had similar ideas which made it easier to film and plan. Especially when thinking of locations, we all thought of the same places which then we used which worked. What was also good about our group is the people in our group had a similar image to the people in the girl band of little mix. For example Sophie dressed similar to Jesy and had a similar image to her which worked well when we were deciding who was going to be who.
We managed the task well, we all gathered our costumes together to use which was done quickly and the costumes looked similar. We all had a go at filming and editing and we also used a tripod for a lot of shots as all four of us needed to be in the frame.
Overall I believe we worked well as a group, we didn't have any disagreements which allowed us to get on with the task.
2. How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use?
We planned our sequence by creating jobs for each member of the group. We had a list of things we needed to do before filming, this involved location recces, storyboards, costume list and lip syncing tasks. Me and Olivia took the job of the storyboard, we completed half each which involved getting screen shots of the original video of the song, we got the image of every time the video changed frame and wrote underneath how long the image lasts for. We also wrote what happened within the time of that frame. Sophie and Bonnie looked at locations and costumes list and decided what we needed for the video, this also included props such as the book in the beginning of the video.
We used lists and mind maps to discuss what we were doing. We took a lot of time deciding and looking at costumes as we thought this would have to be very precise to make it look good. We borrowed clothes from other people to make it look better and discussed what we had for other people in the group.
We also took a whole lesson to look into locations for our video. We walked around the school taking recce shots and for a couple of scenes we had to choose between a couple of possible places or change locations because they were being used by other classes.
3) What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?
Firstly, we used a camera and tripod to film our music video, this involved setting up the tripod in each location and attaching the camera. We used the camera then to film our scenes. After this we used premiere to edit our footage. We added all our scenes onto the programme to edit them, we put them in order and added the music. something that took a lot of time on premiere was the editing because the music video we recreated had a lot of editing to do. For example the magic tricks within the video; the colour change of hair, the fire and the other little background edits such as the sparkles when something magical happens.
We then used YouTube to get our finished video from premiere to our blogs which took time but worked successfully. We also used vimeo.
4) What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?
Evaluation of our music video
1. Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?
I worked with a group of me and three other girls, Olivia, Sophie and Bonnie. I think we worked really well together as we had similar ideas which made it easier to film and plan. Especially when thinking of locations, we all thought of the same places which then we used which worked. What was also good about our group is the people in our group had a similar image to the people in the girl band of little mix. For example Sophie dressed similar to Jesy and had a similar image to her which worked well when we were deciding who was going to be who.
We managed the task well, we all gathered our costumes together to use which was done quickly and the costumes looked similar. We all had a go at filming and editing and we also used a tripod for a lot of shots as all four of us needed to be in the frame.
Overall I believe we worked well as a group, we didn't have any disagreements which allowed us to get on with the task.
2. How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use?
We planned our sequence by creating jobs for each member of the group. We had a list of things we needed to do before filming, this involved location recces, storyboards, costume list and lip syncing tasks. Me and Olivia took the job of the storyboard, we completed half each which involved getting screen shots of the original video of the song, we got the image of every time the video changed frame and wrote underneath how long the image lasts for. We also wrote what happened within the time of that frame. Sophie and Bonnie looked at locations and costumes list and decided what we needed for the video, this also included props such as the book in the beginning of the video.
We used lists and mind maps to discuss what we were doing. We took a lot of time deciding and looking at costumes as we thought this would have to be very precise to make it look good. We borrowed clothes from other people to make it look better and discussed what we had for other people in the group.
We also took a whole lesson to look into locations for our video. We walked around the school taking recce shots and for a couple of scenes we had to choose between a couple of possible places or change locations because they were being used by other classes.
3) What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?
Firstly, we used a camera and tripod to film our music video, this involved setting up the tripod in each location and attaching the camera. We used the camera then to film our scenes. After this we used premiere to edit our footage. We added all our scenes onto the programme to edit them, we put them in order and added the music. something that took a lot of time on premiere was the editing because the music video we recreated had a lot of editing to do. For example the magic tricks within the video; the colour change of hair, the fire and the other little background edits such as the sparkles when something magical happens.
We then used YouTube to get our finished video from premiere to our blogs which took time but worked successfully. We also used vimeo.
4) What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?
We had to take a lot into account when planning. We needed to figure out what costumes we were going to use as this was a big thing for our video as it separates the two scenes of the costume change in the girls. They change from 'geeky and quiet' girls to a 'outgoing and confident' group.
when filming, we had to take into account that where we filmed may be busy as other classes from the school may be in our location. Because of this we created back-up locations to use if they were busy or with one scene we shooted it after school when no one could be in the way, therefore it wasn't rushed and we got better quality footage as we took our time.
Also when filming we needed good lighting to make sure our footage came out clear as one location was good but we couldn't control the lighting as it was too bright and it would have created shadows.
when filming, we had to take into account that where we filmed may be busy as other classes from the school may be in our location. Because of this we created back-up locations to use if they were busy or with one scene we shooted it after school when no one could be in the way, therefore it wasn't rushed and we got better quality footage as we took our time.
Also when filming we needed good lighting to make sure our footage came out clear as one location was good but we couldn't control the lighting as it was too bright and it would have created shadows.
5) How successful was your music video copy? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently? What did others say about your production?
I believe that the thing that worked best was our costumes and our team work. We worked successfully as a group and managed to get our task completed within the time needed and our costumes looked similar to the original video. This was really important as it gave a more accurate image linking to the music video.
What could have gone better was accuracy in editing, we struggled editing certain shots as it was difficult to get right to the original video, for example when changing the hair colour to purple was tricky as the colour of the hair was too similar to the skin tone meaning the skin also went slightly pink. Although we didn't have time to re shoot the scene and it may have just happened again.
Other people said it was good and a lot like the original. They liked our costumes, character similarity and editing. They especially liked the part where the glasses where in front of the face and was turning on there own. We did this by attaching some very thin hair to the glasses like string so we could make them hover above the person.
6) What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing your music video, do you think?
This task has helped me more with editing, especially that we hadn't done a lot since our last task, it helped me gain more knowledge of using premiere. It also helped us realise how different our main task is going to be compared to our film opening. This is because of the amount of shots and how quickly they change. We used a lot more shots in this prelim compared to the film opening and that was only around 1 minute, where as our real music video will be a whole song. This task has also helped us with editing the music video therefore we have more skills for our next task as I am still learning how to use all of premiere.
7) How does it compare with filming an opening to a film?
It is a lot different as the shots increase in the music video, we only used a couple of different shots for our film opening 'Saving Santa' where as just this prelim task we did so many more shots which is a lot more detailed and are quick changing. Also the lip syncing is a huge difference. As well as quicker changes in shots and more detail, lip syncing is also needed which is quite difficult to match where as the film opening only had acting which involved no lip syncing skills.
The film opening consisted a lot of planning and less filming where as the prelim music video task took a lot of time filming and less time planning, not only because it was a prelim task but it was easier to plan. However filming took a lot of time for the prelim as we had to lip sync, the film opening however, the actual filming only took a couple of hours.
The film opening consisted a lot of planning and less filming where as the prelim music video task took a lot of time filming and less time planning, not only because it was a prelim task but it was easier to plan. However filming took a lot of time for the prelim as we had to lip sync, the film opening however, the actual filming only took a couple of hours.
8) What are your strengths and weaknesses as a group member?
I think my strongest point in the group is getting little tasks done, for example I completed planning tasks quickly, for example the storyboard for the music video. This was good because it set us off with a good and quick start. I also think I came up with good locations and we all got on well as a group which shows we were all hard working and contributed well.
I think my weakness was editing, although I had a go I was slow and it took time for me to learn how to edit certain points of the video even though I enjoy it. This may be a problem for me when it comes to the main task but I have been learning along the way and have still got a lot to learn which I know I am capable of doing.
9) Looking at the other group's videos which do you think were most successful and why?
I think the most successful music videos were the ones which had a lot of shots and changed quickly, this made the video interesting, especially if the song had speed. However one song which was quite slow was also really good because the slower pace allowed them to concentrate more and add more detail to the fewer shots.
