Filming for music video

       When it comes to filming, my group and I struggled to try and find days to film that worked for all of our schedules. At first we wanted to film this weekend. The plan was to film on Sunday at around 1 o’clock. This eventually didn’t end up working out because of several reasons. Firstly , One of my group members had multiple test on that Monday and wanted to spend Sunday studying.  At first we weren’t very happy with her because my whole group was able to do that one day, but eventually we came to understand because if we were in the same position we would want to study the whole day as well. So because of this my group wasn’t able to film this weekend. We are a little upset because we  had planned out our whole day for Sunday, and even had a camera set and ready. But we all know that things like this happen and have found a diffirent weekend that works for all of us. So we all got  on a group call and discussed what days would potentially work out for us. After a while we all found that next weekend Saturday would work perfect for all of us .
      A lot of factors are  prevalent in finding a day that works for everyone. And for my group it was a lot harder to plan this than we expected. First while  planning we had to figure out where we wanted to film. We knew we wanted to film at a beach, but we then had to find a beach that was close to everyone.  So, we had to find a beach that was in the middle of where we all lived. Through this I found out that  my groupmates and I live in very different places. So when we eventually found the beach  that worked for everyone we were stoked.  So, after we found a location that we could all get to in reasonable time we also had to find rides to get us there. This was difficult for some of my group members because most of their parents had plans and couldn’t drive them to the beach. But we soon solved this problem by having some people carpool with others so now everyone has a ride. So now that we knew everyone could get there we thought that we were all set for Sunday.
       What we did not think about were other intangible factors that could affect our filming schedule. An example of this is school and schoolwork.  We didn’t think about school getting in the way of filming, because we knew we weren’t going to be filming in school. But this showed to be incorrect. I think that if my group and I viewed our schedules for that Monday before filming we could’ve seen that some people wouldn’t be able to film due to tests and schoolwork. Another intangible factor is parents plans. This is of course something we cannot control because our parents have busy jobs and responsibilities to attend to. Our parents could have a last minute responsibility to attend to and not be able to take us anymore. This would in turn make our plans fall through and have to film again. So, knowing these factors we were now able to make plans and make sure they fit around everyone’s schedules. So now my group and I have a reliable film date for our music video.  Experiencing this is a good lesson to my group and I and will help us plan better in the future.

Storyboard for music video blog

      After finishing the commercial project, my group and I were eager to start on the music video. We brainstormed so many great ideas together that would make our music video creative and outstanding. We were so excited to begin putting all of our wonderful ideas together for this music video. After lots of thinking and planning we finally agreed what each scene would consist of and put it onto the storyboard paper. After we finished the storyboard we had to go back and determine what shots, camera angles, camera movements, costume, lighting, sounds, and editing techniques to use in each scene.

          Firstly, we discussed the camera movements, angles, and shots we would use. We made sure to think of what would make the scene the best to ensure that each scene was as perfect as we had planned it would be. We chose to use high angles, long shots, close ups, two shots, and a point of view shot. The high angle would be used to show that someone has superiority or authority over someone in that scene. When using long shots in our scenes it will show a view of the person full body so that the audience can clearly see the full costume. Close ups will show just the actors face so that the audience can clearly make out what emotion that character is trying to show. The 2-shots will be used to show more than one actor and how they relate to the main message of the song which is meeting someone at a location. Lastly, we will use a point of view shot to show how the other actor will react to what the other actor is doing. For example, we will show how the man reacts in our music video to when the woman expresses her feelings towards him.

        Secondly, we discussed costume, lighting, actors, makeup, props, and the setting. The costume throughout our music video will include very casual clothes like how any teenager would dress. The lighting of each scene will depend on what is being expressed in that specific scene. For example, in a scene where the character is heartbroken or is showing a flashback the lighting will be much darker to indicate sadness or a flashback. When the scene is happy or current time the lighting will be lighter and brighter to indicate happiness or current time. Some of the props we will use include sunglasses, hats, and beach equipment such as an umbrella and a surfboard. Lastly, the setting will take place on the beach. The beach makes a perfect setting for what the message in the song we chose portrays. We wanted to do the beach because it makes such a beautiful background and will contribute so much to our music video.

          Thirdly, we discussed how we planned to edit all of our footage after we were done filming. We agreed on using cutaways, fade outs, fade ins, and flashbacks. We will use cutaways to show  the main actor and then cut to the scene when she sees her significant other with someone else. This is an important scene because it contributes to the main theme and message of the music video. Next, we will use a fade out to end out the music video. It will go from all the actors in the film and face out to a black screen to signify the end of the music video. After this we will use fade in towards the beginning of the film to signify the start of the film. It will fade in from a black screen into the actors in the first scene. Lastly, we will use flashbacks to show the actor in the past thinking about this man that she used to love. This helps the audience have a better understanding of who the main actor has been thinking of in all of the scenes.
    The final thing we discussed was the sounds we would use throughout the music video. The first sounds we will use is dialogue. We will use dialogue to show the female and male actor communicating about their current location. Next, we will use diegetic sounds from the sounds of the waves or the wind. These sounds will allow the scene to seem more realistic and natural. After this we will use non-diegetic sounds which include the music we will add in and any sounds effects to add suspense or allow the audience to understand what it going on. Next we will use the score which is the actual song that we will edit in to the background. The score is specific to the song location in album that Khalid released. Lastly, we will use ambient sounds to allow the audience to interpret the hype of that scene. For example, we will increase the beat of the song to show the audience that the scene is more exciting or something is about to happen.

   

Planning for music video

   
    Location: As a group we collectively decided that we would film our music video at the beach near where we live. The beach makes a perfect scenery for the background with the sand and waves crashing in the background. Not only is the scenery beautiful but the waves, wind, and dialogue from people nearby create great diegetic sounds that can be used in the background of our music video. We chose the beach as our location because of how fun and cool the vibe always is. Everyone at the beach is always having fun or enjoying themselves and we wanted our music video to be fun and exciting for us and the audience. The beach always has such an amazing vibe and we wanted to ensure that we included this throughout our music video.

Health and Safety: Our health and safety along with the people around us is so tremendously important. We want to ensure that the environment we are filming in is very safe for everyone. We will be very cautious and will take some protective steps ahead of time to ensure that everything is safe and goes as planned. Firstly, while filming at the beach we will ask any lifeguards or workers on the beach if it is okay and safe to film in a particular location. We would not want to cause any danger to anyone around us, safety is extremely important to us. Secondly, we will also make sure to film on a public beach so that we are not trespassing on anyone’s private property. Finally, if we plan to go in the water for any reason we will have life vests with us and we will alert the life guards because our health and safety is our number one priority.

Props: Props are an essential part of any music video. They allow the scenes to come to life and reach the full potential that they can. Props also allow the audience to better interpret what is going on in that scene that the director wants them to understand. Some props that we will use include any type of beach equipment such as chairs, umbrellas, and surfboards and also sunglasses, hats, sweatshirts, and and cell phones. We will also used some advanced technology along with our camera, such as a drone and a GoPro. These props will allow us to make each and every scene look so realistic and really come to life for ourselves and the audience.

Costumes: Costumes are also very important to a film. They allow the audience to understand who the person is and what they might be feeling in that scene and throughout the music video. Costumes represent who that person is and what the directors of the music video portray that person to be. The costume in our music video is very casual and how a teenager would usually dress. The costume is nothing fancy, it’s very relaxing and chill clothing. The costume represents that persons interests and how they feel.

Research and Conventions on music video

       
      We are now going to start our new project which is going to be a music video. We have turned in our commercial and are now starting the music video. We are so excited to start the music video because we all have a love for music and love watching music videos. We are also very excited to start filming off of campus. Filming off of campus means more time to film and also more things to do for the video. For example, we can be at more specific locations that can set the mood of the video. We can also get more specific with our shots and our mis en scene. This is because having access to film outside of school allows us to wear more outfits specific to the video. We can also be more creative with our shots because we will have more props and settings to bounce off of.
        The song that we are doing is Location by Khalid. We chose this song because we had a lot of ideas on how we wanted the music video to look. This was also a song that we have all known for while and knew all of the lyrics to, so we knew that doing a song that we loved would be better. We all love this song because of the mood the song gives. The combination of bass and the beats in the song give off a cool and relaxed mood. Since we all understood the mood of the song we started to get ideas for how the video would look. For example we envisioned ourselves at the beach and in a room with some relaxed, calm lighting. We all also really like the message of the song and we relate to it a lot.
              The genre of the song Location is contemporary R&B. Contemporary R&B combines rhythm, Pop, soul, hip-hop and electronica music. This is evident because of the use of instruments in the song. This includes bass and beats, and lots of keyboard. Khalid normally wears casual comfy clothes and his music videos. He does this so that his audience can relate to his songs and music videos. So instead of him wearing an outrageous bright outfit that no one wears on a regular day, he wears outfits,that any normal person would wear. In a lot of Khalids music videos the lighting is very dim which gives off a relaxing mood. Even if he is outside, they edit the lighting to make it look more dim to give off that relaxing vibe. When it comes to actors Khalid is normally the only person in the music video, and if he isn’t he is alongside a woman. The actors usually go along with the storyline, and play a big role in the message of the video. For make up, Khalid’s face normally is bland and has a little to no products. This is again to give across the relatable message, especially to most male listeners. For props Khalid normally uses regular things that you can see and find in every day life. This includes cars or phones. The props normally add to the storyline as well. And lastly, The setting is always a cool and empty place. He is normally the only person there, and the place is not crowded. And Khalid does this because he wants the audience to see him and his emotion. Khalid normally uses standard camera movements and angles because us he wants his videos to be calm and not exaggerated to again give off that relatable feel. The sounds and editing is also mainly basic and neutral, because he doesn’t want to add exaggeration.

Editing Blog

     
       After my group and I experienced the  technical difficulties I spoke about in my last blog, we had faith that next class we would be able to edit our blog successfully.  So, the class after that we attempted to edit our blog again. We grabbed a school laptop and logged onto pinnacle studios, but there was something wrong again. The videos were very laggy and hard to edit fully. We asked our teacher why the clips appeared like this And she told us it was normal and would be solved at the end of the process. My group and I after experiencing more technical difficulties, decided to use a different editing software. This was a risky move because if the app crashed or anything happened to our footage it would be our fault, but we were willing to take that risk. This is because  pinnacle studios was making it very hard to see each second of our shot so that we could edit it the exact way we wanted to. And because we had a clear vision for the commercial, we wanted to use a software where we could get across that vision as well as possible. So, my group and I decided to use iMovie.
           We wanted to use this software because we saw that other students were using it to.  And we were all familiar with the software, and I have actually edited a couple of videos on that software before. So the next class we started to work on iMovie. We downloaded the videos  off of our Google Drive and onto one of our phones so that we could edit iMovie off of there. We could’ve used one of our Apple computers, but none of us had it on us that day and we liked the phone better because it was easier to pass around. When we started editing my other group mate  imported the videos onto the software. I mainly was in charge of putting the videos in order and cutting them. What this meant was that I had to go through all the videos and cut out what we didn’t want and keep what we did. This took a while because we had over 50 videos, but with the help of my groupmates we got it done fast.  I then worked on placing the videos in order.
            How I did this was I took all of the cut videos and placed them in sequential order. My groupmates and I already had a vision on how we wanted each shot to flow and what to go after what. So this made the process a lot easier. Once the videos were in order  I then went online to see how to add music onto the software we were using.We couldn’t find a way to do it during class so we decided to go home and have each group member look it up and then we will come back the next day with ideas. So instead I started to change the transitions. There were many to choose from like dissolve, fade or a regular cut.  So I worked with my group mates and we found the best transitions for each shot. Another cool thing that I did was adjust the speed on some of the shots. Since this was an action commercial we wanted a lot of it to be fast paced. But some scenes we ended up slowing down because it added a better effect.  So the next class we ended up finishing our commercial, and we were very happy with the product.