EDITING

DAY ONE:
on our first day of editing, we had difficulties, as we did not have any base tracks, so therefore we had to go back out again and film at least 4 different base tracks. but in the mean time we worked with the clips we already had and tried to sync it with the song, i wouldn't say it was the most easiest thing to do as for each clip we had to individually find a specific word and sync it with the song, this was a long process, a very long process as we had over 20 or so clips to individually sync. in the end we left the editing for the day and waited till we had base tracks making it easier for us to edit. 

 DAY TWO:
with our base tracks done, we could finally edit! properly!



DAY THREE:
today, we wanted to finish editing in time for the final deadline. So me and Michaela sat in the media room for a good 2hours perfecting our music video,

Pictures and Videos

Here are some pictures of us filming and some of the practice clips we took. Bascally all the memories during filming.

Letter To Jessie J's Company

I sent a letter to Jessie J's Company well i hope i sent it there.

To Whom This May Concern

We were hoping to use Jessie J’s song Domino for our A2 Media course which involves us creating a music video for our chosen song choice.

We will not use our finished work to earn money, the purpose of using the song is strictly for our Media work.

It would be very appreciated if we could get your permission to use this song.

Thank you

Complications

We had many complications when planning and filming our music video.

We couldn't upload our rough cut
We had no strong base our music video
Dominos kept falling over
Missing Media lessons
Shaking footage
Dark lighting on some scenes
Not enough shots
Bad Backgrounds for our music video
Some of the clips being deleted
.........

Our Roles

Our group decided to split up the roles. It was based on our personalities and also our skills.

Michaela became our Artist
Amy was our stylist and Editor 
Mary (ME) Camera Woman
Tharek Camera Man

We also had many other roles so a table on our blog was added to show indept the roles we each had. I think its accurate.

Final Film FINISHED

Finally the music video has been completed.
I couldn't make it on the day that the final video was being twiked by Amy and Michaela. But i heard from Michaela that they found an effect that really worked with the video so i was happy to hear that. Now all we have to do is wait untill its shown on the big screen for everyone to see. Alot of people have been talking about our music video becasue they heard that we used dominos so i hope the video lives up to peoples expectations.

Editing of the Final Music Video

So we decided not to use our rough cut but to start all over and make a new one. It took really long for us to complete and becasue we wanted to get the work done quickly we were making lots of mistakes like deleting clips that we needed and forgetting to add clips in the right place.

We were considering to go back to the rough cut and start editing from there but we couldn't becasue we could not copy the work we had done on the new mv and paste it on the rough cut so we had to stick with it and just bare with it.
We finshed adding the clips in the right place and cutting clips short so all that was left was deleted the unwanted shots and adding effects.

Michaela and Amy had to leave so I decided to finish off the Music Video.
I deleted the clips that we did not need and tried to add effects. Becasue im not really a pro at final cut and alll i know how to do is cut and edit so finding a effect was difficult and the effects that i did see did not work well with our music video.

So what was left was adding the effects.

Extra Filming

An idea was suggested that we use the dominos a bit more becasue we had a little amount of the domino shots due to some of them being shaky. We decided to create the sun, moon and a clock.
Thank God this didnt take as long as the first time we filmed for the dominos.

It worked really well and when we put the clips together in the rough cut it looked really good.

Rough Cut

We finshed the rough cut in one day becasue we knew that time was closing in and the rough cut deadline was near. Me, Michaela and Amy started editing in class we had forgotten how to edit the music video properley but we got a little help and we got back on track. It was the end of the lesson and Michaela had to go somewhere so Me and Amy worked on the editing we finally finished and it was looking good.
Me and Amy could not stop laughing at the ending scene. It was really funny we replayed it so many times. We also decided after pleading with the embarrased Michaela to use it in the final video.

Domino Set Up

This is something i will never forget.
This took is about 2-3 hours to actually set up.

Of course with dominos they kept falling down and it was really annoying becasue you try so hard to make sure they dont all knock over and then all of a sudden you have to start all over again.

We had fun and we did get help from Tony.

The funny part about this all is that we didnt need alot of shots from the dominos maybe just 4 or 5 shots. But the part that makes me angry is that some of the shots that were taked of the dominos where  no good becasue they were shaky.

Filming In the Media Room

We decided to film the domino scenes in the media room becasue the teachers said that we could lay  some black flooring to cover up the carpets.

It didnt work out becasue the floor was bumpy and the dominos couldn't balance. But not to worry becasue Tony suggested that we use the drama studio. As a drama student that uses the drama studio it was a really good idea becasue the floor was black and flat.

So we decided to use the drama studio instead but the media class room. We used the media class room to film Messie M singing. Originally when we heard that we could experiment with the lights, we thought that the lights could change colours like they do it drama room. But they didn't all we could do with them is make them brighter and dimmer.

We wanted the lights around the set to be dimmer and only have a spotlight on the singer but when we watched it back it didnt work becasue it was too dark. 

So we scrapped the media room idea and decided to just use the drama studio.

Frustration

When we came back we didnt know what to do becasue we were behind and we didnt have what we thought were great ideas. So we asked Tony to help us out a bit and he gave us good advice. He told us that we didnt need to over complicate things and that some simple music videos really work. So wih that we decided to cut out the filiming on the street concept and go with something simpler.

So the new idea (well not exactly new but less complicated idea) was to use dominos and have the singer singing in front of a few different backgrounds.

We decided in order to cathch up we needed to plan what we were doing carefully. So we decided to film all the long scenes first and than all the singing parts.

The long scene that we wanted to film first was the domino scene.

*big sigh*
It was a great idea though.....
But it was really frustrating.

Half Term Madness

Our original plan was to film in the basement of my house but then it was unavalible for us to use. We then asked Tony and he suggested that we use the media class rooms as the set. We looked at it and decided that it would be better for us to use it becasue it had light that we could play around with and it also had a green screen which we could use. We were also allowed to change the flooring to make it all black which looked way better that the purple carpet.
So all of that was agreed and it was time for us to break up for half term.
Unfortunatley the room was unavaliable as the college was closed. -_-"
So we couldnt take out the cameras becasue we had no place to film and beacsue our ideas weren't strong enough we didnt know what to film.
So that whole week was a waste for us.

It was really hard knowing that we could not film over half term becasue that was the only time when we could really get things done and also a2 is a really busy year, we have so much work and we are really busy so the half term was our only good solid filming time that we had.

Filming Finished

 We finally finished filming. It took so long and we had so little time but we eventually did it.
There were a lot of highs and lows for us like not having a place to film, not having a strong base for the music video and so on. 


The next blogs that i will be posting will be about the process of making the Final music video.

Production For Music Video - Final Video

Final Video 

Below shows our final ' Domino' videos that we've worked so hard on . As a group we are very pleased with the overall outcome of the video and our pleased that after many ups and downs we fort through the difficult times and accomplished a successful video.

We hope you enjoy it  :) + we cannot wait for ever one at the screen on green to view it on the 06/12/11

Production of Music Video - Overall thought of the production for the music video

Overall thought of the Production for the Music Video

This video blog illustrates my overall thought of the music video project. The video outlines the advantages and disadvantages, the challenges we faced within the group, the elements that I enjoy the most within the music video. I thought it would be nicer to make a video blog , instead of writing my own thoughts and feelings.

Hope you enjoy :)

Production of Music Video - Audience Reactions, Thoughts + opinions on our video

Production of Music Video - Changes Made / Final Video

Changes Made / The Final Video.

This video blog shows me outlining the overall changes that we as a group made within our rough cut video. Within the video , I outline the following changes that we made:

• More contrast between base track shots + Additional footage  - ie: More Domino image footage incorporated
• The Bedroom scene added within the video
• Cross dissolved effect used to merge all the different scenes together
• Glow effect used when the artist ( Messie M) sings the lyrics " I'm seeing Hollywood stars..."
• Color Correction effect used to brighten up footage - Whilst editing the park footage
• Adding Domino images throughout the chorus when the artist sings " Take me down like i'm a Domino."
• Reverse shot used to show the movement of the domino image falling down - then coming back up.
• Slow motion effect added when Messie M sings  " Ooh baby, baby, Got me feelings so right , Ooh baby , baby , Dancing in the moonlight."

The video below shows the overall changes made within our final ' Domino' Video.

Press PLAY to view the improved music video

This video blog below outlines the changes made within the music video.

Press PLAY to view the video.

Production of Music Video - Editing Process Part 3

 Editing Process Part 3

-Final day for editing.

Today was our official last day for editing due to the deadline being tomorrow. We decided to complete the editing process today, because, we felt that tomorrow , we wouldn't be able to edit for multiple reasons such as : lack of computers for each group and the stress we would have in having to complete the music video , in time for the deadline. Me and Amy began editing our music lunch during lunch time until 3.15 -due to Amy having a lesson then. Mary and Tharek was unable to attend the last editing process, but , made up for it by having done some editing on the previous day to make it easier for us to edit today.

During the editing process today , Me and Amy decided to look through the footage and eliminate the footage that we felt wasn't needed for the video. We then re-watched the whole video to see if the footage worked well together and matched when changing from one scene to the next. 

We then decided to add some effects in order to give the video , that finished , polished look. Using Final Cut Pro, we explored and played around with a number of effects such as : dazzle effect , dip in and out fade and attempted to merge footage into each other. We felt that the following effects need not work for our video and decided to explore more. We came across a cross dissolve  effect , which we felt would look effective within our music video.

The use of the cross dissolved effect  was used throughout our music video to cross two scenes together . The effect would dissolve the previous footage seen and would cross into another footage showing the audience the next scene. The use of this effect is very effective , as it takes out the sharp transition of moving from one scene to the next. It gives the movement of the video a smooth finished and makes the scenes merge well within each other. Within our video , we incorporated the cross dissolved effect during the base track shots showing the change of the different locations and the artists look.  We felt that was the right place to use it.
Below shows screen shots of how the effect looks within our footage

We decided to use an ' Outer Glow' effect when Messie M sings the lyrics
" I'm seeing Hollywood Stars..."
Originally, we were gonna use a dazzle effect where you would see actual stars on the screen and the stars would  glow to give that allusion of seeing actual stars. We felt the dazzle effect gave the video a cheesy look and that was not the look we were going for. On Final Cut Pro  , we clicked on effects, then video filters, then glow and came across the effect ' Outer Glow'. We felt this effect worked well as it brightened up the footage. As well as that , When the Artist will  singing the lyrics " I'm seeing Hollywood stars ..." it gave the video an allusion that there were actual stars within the video as it gave a glow of lights shining by not having to incorporate actual stars within the video.
Below shows a screen shot of what the footage looked like with the ' Outer Glow' effect

We were then informed  by one of the media teachers ,that the footage shot within the park looked quite dim and  Messie M's face looked quite dark.  I then seek advise by another member who did Media, and she introduced me to an effect called Color Correction. Color Correction is another video filter effect seen on Final Cut Pro. To use the Color Correction effect I had to click on effects , video filters , then color correction. When the effect was applied to the footage , i then had to adjust the brightness of the footage by dragging the arrows seen on the color correction wheel. The use of the wheel allows you to add additional colours onto the footage. Dragging the arrows towards the right of the scale allows the footage to become brighter. When I was happy with the level of brightness, I then applied the effect to all the footage shot within the park. I felt that in contrast to how the footage looked before , it was a huge improvement.
Below shows a screen shot of the footage before/after the color correction effect

After all the effects were added to the video , we had to ensure that the whole video was rendered  in order for the  effects to take full effect . Successfully all the effects worked and we had no problems (y)

Overall , the day was an overall success as we was able to add all the effects needed to give the video the finished look we wanted also, we were happy as the editing + filming process was over. Overall I think the whole process has been very challenging but rewarding at the same time. I have enjoyed every moment of making our music video. Even though we've faced many ups and downs we've worked through them as a team and have worked to the best of my our abilities. :)