Music Video Filming Blog

Over the weekend, I was able to film nearly all of my music video. A little before the sun set, I had my groupmate and another person come over to be in the video. First, the trampoline scene was filmed, which required me to jump on my trampoline. It required near ten takes to get right. We wanted to make sure that it looked nice and were experimenting with different angles and shots. Next, the sunset scene was filmed. This didn't take as many takes, but still took a few. Again, I had to experiment with the length my back was towards the camera before I turned around. After this, the camera was starting to die because it had not been charged beforehand, so everybody had to sit down for a little and wait for the camera to charge some. I actually enjoyed this because everyone got to take a little break and talk and relax.

After the camera was charged a bit, the scene of me arguing towards the camera (like a POV) was shot. Instead of my groupmember shooting this, someone I got to act in the video held the camera so it looked like it was from his point of view because he is very tall. I had to act angry which is fairly hard for me to do so that took a couple takes to figure out how long I should argue for and how long I should walk away for. Next, the camera was starting to die again so we had to plug it in and wait for a bit. After it was charged a little, we were able to film the two shot with me and the person I asked to act in our music video (not part of the group). In this scene, he was chasing after me and turned me around to face him. This scene took multiple takes as well because my groupmate had to make sure that both of us were able to be seen in the shot. We also had to figure out how he should turn me around without it looking unnatural. After this the camera was getting low once again so we had to go charge it. It was also beginning to rain, so we went where we were covered in my backyard by one of my backdoors.

After the camera was charged a little, we were able to film the sunflower scene. My groupmate had bought and brought over a bouquet of sunflowers for this scene. It was a close up of the sunflowers by my face and me moving them and smiling. This scene took aboput two takes to film. The reason was that I had to adjust the amount of time the sunflowers were in front of my face for. After this we had to charge the camera for a bit, then were able to film the last scene we shot that day. It was with fairy lights and the sunflowers, and me sitting down on a couch outside. Then our actor walked in with the bouquet of sunflowers and handed them to me, then sat down. This took two or three takes and was like the "happy ending" to the music video. Overall, filmimg was a very enjoyable experience and I can't wait to finish filming and then edit.

Commercial Storyboard Blog

This our storyboard for our music video. It consists of 11 scenes so about 10 seconds for each. For the first scene, the character is wearing every day but loose-fitting clothes so movement will be shown when she jumps. This starts out as a medium close up then transitions to a medium long shot. It is shot at eye level with bright lighting and is in slow motion. For the second scene, the character is wearing a semiformal dress while looking out into the sunset. It is a medium long shot and midway through the scene the character turns around so you can see her face. It is shot at eye level as well and will be shot in golden hour/sunset lighting. The third scene is the character still in a semiformal dress opening the door to a "restaurant". This is a POV shot that is a medium shot and has darker lighting. The fourth scene is inside the "restaurant" with the character sitting down at a table eating. It is a POV shot from her love interest's perspective and will have dim lighting. To transition from the fourth scene to the fifth, an action match of passing something like salt basically from one scene to the other. This scene contrasts with the previous one, as the character is now in sweats and a t-shirt with a messy bun. She is eating fast/microwaveable food in this shot and it is shot in bright lighting. The sixth scene starts off as a POV showing the female character angry then transitions to a two shot midway through the scene. In this scene, the audience finally sees who the male character is with a long shot of both characters dressed in normal/casual attire. In the seventh shot, it transitions back to a tracking, long shot of just the female character walking away, still dressed the same. In the eighth scene, the female character is still walking away (dressed casually) but it is a POV shot showing the male character reaching his hand out to make up with her. It is a long shot as well and will have fairly light lighting to be able to see everything that is going on. The ninth scene depicts the female character turned around grabbing the male character's hand. This is a POV shot that is a medium close up and is shot in fairly bright lighting with casual clothing. The tenth scene is a close up of a sunflower just below the character's eyes. She is wearing the same semiformal dress and it will be done in fairly bright lighting. The eleventh and final scene is an aerial shot of the character laying on the trampoline. She is dressed in the semiformal dress surrounded by fairy lights and sunflowers. This will be done in fairly dim lighting. For the sound, the whole time the song "Sunflower" by Post Malone will be playing in the background. The music video will be around 1 minute and 10 seconds long. Overall for editing, we are going to experiment with it and most likely try to make the cuts between scenes the least choppy as possible by using camera movement and "tricks".

Music Video Planning

1. Location:
We will be filming in a few different locations. One place we will be filming at is the beach at sunset. Another would be at one group member's house on the trampoline as well as in front of the canal there. Some more locations we would film at would be a field at a local park and at another group member's house inside.

2. Health & Safety:
We will have parents present at most locations to make sure we are safe and if something happens we will have someone there to help. Most likely our parents will be driving us to the locations and we will be wearing seat belts. We'll notify adults when we are filming on or using the trampoline so if we injure ourselves we can easily get help.

3. Props:
One prop we would use would be sunflowers for a specific line in the song. For a dinner scene in the video, we will be using silverware and food. Some more props we would use would be objects to make a silhouette in the sand at the beach. We would also need a blanket for another scene there as well as for the field. We will also need menus and things to make a room look like a restaurant.

4. Costumes:
Our costumes change often depending on the scene and what's going on. In our first trampoline scene, the character is wearing pants and a shirt but fairly loose clothing so movement can be shown when she jumps on the trampoline. For a scene of her looking at the sunset as well as a fancy dinner scene, a semi formal dress is worn, then transitions to comfy clothes like sweatpants and a basic shirt for when she's eating at home with fast/microwave food. For an argument scene, the character is wearing everyday clothes as well as for when they make up. For the sunflower/final scene the character will be wearing the same semi formal dress worn for the dinner scene.

5. Schedule
This blog as well as one about storyboarding is due 11/21. My partner and I checked out a camera for the weekend and plan to film at least some of our music video 11/24. On 11/25 we have our first filming blog due and then our second due 12/2. If we don't finish filming all in one day, we are planning on filming again on our thanksgiving break, which will be anywhere from 11/26 to 12/1. The video is due 12/6 so I am confident that we will have enough time to film and edit.

Music Video Research

I am now finished with my commercial and have turned it in. I enjoyed filming and editing it and feel as if I learned a lot. I'm satisfied with the outcome, especially since I know that I helped make it turn out the way it did. I was able to use what I learned about things like camera shots, angles, movement to film the commercial. After we filmed, I used what I learned about Pinnacle Studios to edit. Now, we were assigned a music video to a  song of our choice. I am very excited to start this and I hope it will be as enjoyable and fulfilling as creating the commercial was.

We are going to be shooting a music video of the song "Sunflower" by Post Malone. The genre that "Sunflower" is qualifies as pop. The song is a part of  a movie soundtrack from the movie 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse". The discussion happened mainly out of school since not all the teammates were in class at the time. We didn't really have any arguments when deciding what song to choose. Both of us liked the song and had heard it before so we both agreed on it. This was the first song we considered and we just stuck with it.

A lot of music videos in the pop genre have common conventions that they seem to follow. For example, they often have bright and vibrant colors. This is very eye-catching and grabs the audience's attention. In many music videos they utilize panning and tilting to show the subject. Tracking is frequently used to follow what the subject is doing. In the original "Sunflower" music video they tracked the main character throughout New York and in doing so, showed him going from scene to scene. In a lot of pop music videos, they use medium shots and full body shots on the subject. They also had close ups to show either singing or something meaningful. Along with the closeups, zooming was fairly common. In pop music videos, a lot of the costumes are dramatic and striking. The lighting is very dramatic as well as being either very dark or extremely bright. The acting usually tells a story and the actors could be acting like they are in a film rather than a music video. The makeup could be either subtle or intense and usually matches the costume. The props depend on the story being told in the video. The setting varies based on what they want to achieve through the video.

Editing Part 2

After not being able to edit for about a week, our teacher told us that there were now laptops that had our editing program on them. The only thing was that only certain laptops had the programs on them. That was fine because this was a group project and only one computer was needed per group. I grabbed and signed out a laptop number that had the program on it. I started up the laptop and then logged in. Before I started editing, I had to get my footage. I went into google drive and selected the folder. I then downloaded it and moved it to the desktop. I then clicked on Pinnacle studios. I was intrigued to use the editing software.

My partner and I were waiting quite a while for Pinnacle to open. The little square of it starting was on our computer for around 10 minutes and we didn't touch it because we were just waiting for it to load. We then moved/clicked the mouse anywhere on the screen and the computer came up with an error message. It said that Pinnacle was not responding and gave us the option to report the problem or close the program. We closed the program and restarted the computer. I logged in and tried to open it again but it still didn't work. I asked my teacher and she took the computer and restarted it again. I logged in, and we tried opening the program for about the 5th time. It wasn't any different this time so it didn't open. There was nothing our teacher could do about it and there were no more laptops that had the program on it, so we couldn't edit at all that class.

Fast forward to the class after that (last class). My teacher told the class that all the laptops in the cart were now woking and had the program on them. I took a different number that wasn't used by anyone just to be safe. I had my folder on my desktop so I was all ready to go. I clicked on Pinnacle studios to open it. Thankfully it worked this time and I imported all the clips off my desktop into the program. i placed them in order and began to edit. To get the commercial to the desired length, I cut clips. After that, my partner and I looked at the transitions and cuts that could be added in between scenes. We then worked on some sound so we aren't completely finished but we will finish editing next class.