Video:
Response:
Filming a music video takes a lot of thought and planning. Every shot has to be planned precisely with the lyrics lined up to the beat of the song. Every music video should tell a story. In a story there is always a beginning, middle, and end. Our job was to come up with a song, story board and film while using the six shot sequence.
Before the
filming process started we created a beat sheet, which is where you write
down different ideas for the video and the copy right information of the song. To
get more inspiration before finishing the beat sheet a good thing to do is to
watch different music videos to the song you’re using or songs in the same
genre. After the beat sheet, my group and I created a mood board which is a visual of the beat
sheet. The mood board is a way to express the beat sheet in a more visual way,
and give you a clearer vision of what to draw for the story board. When drawing
the storyboard it’s better to be specific and write down how long each verse is
so you know how many shots to film for each line of the song.
Our music
video tells a story of a girl who is having a flashback and thinking about her first few days of high school.
She was extremely nervous not knowing
what she was going to get herself into. Later that day she met a senior boy and
started talking to him, and a few days later she fell in love with him. While she
was being completely vulnerable and giving all of her time to this senior guy
he had other feelings. The boy ended up breaking her heart, and left her not
knowing what to do. When the girl wakes up from her flashback she passes him in
the hallway and realized that she has more important things to worry about in
life.
While
filming this, it was necessary to listen to the song multiple times while
trying to match each shot to the lyrics. The most difficult part of filming was
trying to make the lighting the same or similar in every shot, so while editing
it’s easier to color correct. It took multiple days to film because our group didn't want to rush any shot. While filming any video it is very important to keep the camera steady on the tripod, so the film is smooth and easy to follow. You cannot fix a shaky camera when editing.
The first
thing I did when editing in final cut pro was mark where each beat was in the song and that is where my shots
should transition. Favoring clips is a good strategy to use when you have multiple shots of one scene. Most of the film was in black and white because it
helped emphasize the idea of her having a flashback. After finishing the original version of the music video I decided to cut it down to a minute and thirty seconds. To
complete this I trimmed each clip and cut out unnecessary, empty shots. I also had to adjust the song which was difficult because when you mess with the song the beats change so every clip had to change also.
In
the future it is definitely necessary to spend more time on the storyboard because a bad storyboard is a bad film. Its also important to check the iris ring before
filming and keeping it consistent throughout the process of shooting the video. It is still very important to time each line of the song because it makes the process of figuring how many shots you need much easier. In future editing it is important to make sure all of shots transition when a beat happens. Its also necessary to color adjust more; making the final product easier to watch. The music video was a good experience and it really
expands the knowledge on things that should be done before filming and editing.
Helpful Links:
- Final Cut Pro Shortcuts- http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12724
- Fifteen lyrics- http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/taylorswift/fifteen.html
- Taylor Swift Fifteen Music Video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb-K2tXWK4w
- Libbie's Fifteen music video (full length)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c-skAAIkQM
