Below is a short video animatic plan for Summer Nites. I felt that making an animatic as opposed to a conventional storyboard would better help me indicate where I would include shots within the video - thus refining my editing for the final video. Overall I am pleased with how the video turned out, it is quite basic but I believe my ideas come across accurately.
I included a few segments with just [Montage] as to indicate where I will be inserting the summer clips which will assemble into a montage. This is just to better indicate roughly what I will fill the space with as I am unaware of what those shots will necessarily be, since I have yet to contact the group for clips.
I also used red lines and text to indicate notes for the camera or explain what is going on, such as the arrows indicating the camera's movement. Generally the images contain a mix of candid summery shots with performance clips, this is to fully capture the upbeat nature of the song which in turn requires some positive imagery of people having fun. The use of the performance clips helps to break the montage apart and still focus in on Jack as a performer - something I believe is important, especially given that he isn't a major artist.
Summer Nites - Animatic from Eughan Wooding on Vimeo.
Friday, 30 September 2016
Summer Video (Nites)
I approached Jack about the idea of me helping to create some music videos and a digipak for the new songs he is making and he accepted my offer. While I would love to get to filming, Jack will be away in Brighton and possibly London for a lot of the summer holidays, organising a time to film with Jack may be difficult but could certainly happen in the last week of the holidays or so.
While he is away, I could still film some stock summery footage of parties or generally the good weather (if there is much). Since I can't be present for all of the time that our friends go out, I think I could ask them to all get various clips over the summer which I could include in the music video; Niamh may also have some footage as I know she is planning a July video.
The song I plan on using is Summer Nites which Jack made himself; I feel that it'll be appropriate to film the video in summer given its title and it'll help keep my practical skills fresh over the holidays. Additionally, I could reuse some of the ideas in my final product.
While he is away, I could still film some stock summery footage of parties or generally the good weather (if there is much). Since I can't be present for all of the time that our friends go out, I think I could ask them to all get various clips over the summer which I could include in the music video; Niamh may also have some footage as I know she is planning a July video.
The song I plan on using is Summer Nites which Jack made himself; I feel that it'll be appropriate to film the video in summer given its title and it'll help keep my practical skills fresh over the holidays. Additionally, I could reuse some of the ideas in my final product.
Jack's Channel
The song's few drug references along with the effects pedal used for the electric guitar certainly give it the psychedelic sound that I expect from the genre, with experience only with a few artists such as Pink Floyd - their album the Piper at the Gates of Dawn in particular includes a lot of electric guitar effects. Jack even has the album on vinyl which is perhaps evidence of the use of effects correlating to his music and at least mainstream psychedelia.
Editing to the Beat
My girlfriend, Niamh, has a Youtube channel and she has been editing a few video montages along to some songs, while it is for personal use I think she has done well with editing to the beat. It may be worth my time to ask her for some tips on how to edit along to the beat, or for some shots to use.
It is important to edit to the beat in order for the video to be appealing to watch, it might be off-putting for the audience if the video doesn't match up with the beat of the music. Additionally, as I wish to focus on Jack's music it'd make sense to edit in a way that highlights his music through the beat.
I believe I could include mini-montages within some of my videos, in fact I was considering making a video for Jack's Summer Nites song - a summer montage would be perfect and quite easy to film, not relying on continuity too much.
It is important to edit to the beat in order for the video to be appealing to watch, it might be off-putting for the audience if the video doesn't match up with the beat of the music. Additionally, as I wish to focus on Jack's music it'd make sense to edit in a way that highlights his music through the beat.
I believe I could include mini-montages within some of my videos, in fact I was considering making a video for Jack's Summer Nites song - a summer montage would be perfect and quite easy to film, not relying on continuity too much.
Video - Preliminary Music Video
I created a short music video using Creepin' Up the Backstairs by the Fratellis. The video was an attempt to demonstrate my initial understandings of music video conventions as well as my ability to plan and edit a video. In order to avoid copyright issues I also cut the song down, which also meant I didn't have to edit as much.
I tried to include some rough video ideas that I got from other music videos: the speeding up of the footage was done to match the song's fast tempo and is quite reminiscent of the Vampire Weekend music video for A-Punk; the use of the low and high angles as well as the fish eye lens are from many Punk and Hip-Hop videos such as Blink 182's Rock Show; similar use of transitions by zooming the camera on a subject have been done by the Strypes and Django Django.
I tried to create a visual contrast using different coloured shirts as well as the pig mask - most of the high-octane shots are done with the red shirt and pig mask, this was done to show that character was the guitarist. In many bands, the guitarist is very distinct and often accompanies the main singer at the front of posters and merchandise, additionally they tend to have distinct styles or gimmicks such as Slash's signature guitar and hat and hair or Angus Young's schoolboy outfit or Dominic Young's hat.
I managed to shoot and edit my video rather quickly, across two days. Despite what could be seen as a rushed job - given the poor lighting and perhaps how notably flushed I was - overall I think the video was quite well done, I think that the concept could be stronger and perhaps have more of a correlation to the lyrics though - the idea that the pig represents the person 'creepin' in the title seems like quite a stretch. Additionally, the shot with the red shirt playing the 'guitar' may be an issue; I intended to film the shot using a real guitar and while I don't know how to play one I thought I could fake it pretty well, however I discovered that the guitar had been thrown away and improvised using a BB gun AK-47. The use of the prop makes the shot seem more violent given the connotations of the gun and therefore add to the fast pace of the song, on the other hand it is such a random and abstract situation for a pig masked guitarist to play the gun and thus adds a degree of humour to the video. This humour can also be seen through my generally light-hearted performance in the video, which I intended to put across given how light-hearted the song's speed makes it.
The shot of me singing the chorus at 0:49 is done to help practice my ability to lip-sync or at least match up video and while there are bits to my lip-syncing that seem off, that isn't due to timing and more just my performance; the shots were filmed with the song playing in the background which helped with the syncing however the song is quite fast in places and I didn't know the words.
In terms of actual editing skill, I am quite proud of my editing. The video features me squatting in time with the beat of the song and I managed to do this 3 times - editing in 'clones' and speeding up footage to match the beat. In order to create the clones I had to seek advise from a Youtube video but essentially used Adobe Premiere Pro's Linear Wipe to create the first shot.
I feel that I adopted some features from the original music video such as the speeding up of the footage but the original includes more random close up and establishing shots of the band and their surroundings to edit to the beat. This creates a feeling of restlessness that comes with the quick pace of the song, in fact the handheld aspect also seems to carry the same tone which I included in my video too - although mine contains more use of the tripod for the various angled shots.
Preliminary Music Video from Eughan Wooding on Vimeo.
I tried to include some rough video ideas that I got from other music videos: the speeding up of the footage was done to match the song's fast tempo and is quite reminiscent of the Vampire Weekend music video for A-Punk; the use of the low and high angles as well as the fish eye lens are from many Punk and Hip-Hop videos such as Blink 182's Rock Show; similar use of transitions by zooming the camera on a subject have been done by the Strypes and Django Django.
I tried to create a visual contrast using different coloured shirts as well as the pig mask - most of the high-octane shots are done with the red shirt and pig mask, this was done to show that character was the guitarist. In many bands, the guitarist is very distinct and often accompanies the main singer at the front of posters and merchandise, additionally they tend to have distinct styles or gimmicks such as Slash's signature guitar and hat and hair or Angus Young's schoolboy outfit or Dominic Young's hat.
I managed to shoot and edit my video rather quickly, across two days. Despite what could be seen as a rushed job - given the poor lighting and perhaps how notably flushed I was - overall I think the video was quite well done, I think that the concept could be stronger and perhaps have more of a correlation to the lyrics though - the idea that the pig represents the person 'creepin' in the title seems like quite a stretch. Additionally, the shot with the red shirt playing the 'guitar' may be an issue; I intended to film the shot using a real guitar and while I don't know how to play one I thought I could fake it pretty well, however I discovered that the guitar had been thrown away and improvised using a BB gun AK-47. The use of the prop makes the shot seem more violent given the connotations of the gun and therefore add to the fast pace of the song, on the other hand it is such a random and abstract situation for a pig masked guitarist to play the gun and thus adds a degree of humour to the video. This humour can also be seen through my generally light-hearted performance in the video, which I intended to put across given how light-hearted the song's speed makes it.
The shot of me singing the chorus at 0:49 is done to help practice my ability to lip-sync or at least match up video and while there are bits to my lip-syncing that seem off, that isn't due to timing and more just my performance; the shots were filmed with the song playing in the background which helped with the syncing however the song is quite fast in places and I didn't know the words.
In terms of actual editing skill, I am quite proud of my editing. The video features me squatting in time with the beat of the song and I managed to do this 3 times - editing in 'clones' and speeding up footage to match the beat. In order to create the clones I had to seek advise from a Youtube video but essentially used Adobe Premiere Pro's Linear Wipe to create the first shot.
I feel that I adopted some features from the original music video such as the speeding up of the footage but the original includes more random close up and establishing shots of the band and their surroundings to edit to the beat. This creates a feeling of restlessness that comes with the quick pace of the song, in fact the handheld aspect also seems to carry the same tone which I included in my video too - although mine contains more use of the tripod for the various angled shots.
Preliminary Music Video from Eughan Wooding on Vimeo.
Storyboard - Preliminary Music Video
This is a short storyboard detailing my plans for my preliminary music video, within it I am mainly trying to demonstrate conventions and features of music video and I'm also trying to experiment with the various angles as seen in certain music genres - specifically indie, alternative rock, and punk. The song I've chosen is Creepin' Up the Backstairs by the Fratellis which fits into the same genre and would likely have similar features.
I also aim to include various transitions through editing to keep the pace of the video and further demonstrate my editing abilities, through the use of whip-pan transitions and even zoom transitions. The storyboard is quite basic and I will probably include other shots that aren't detailed below in order to fill the rest of the song.
The storyboard
In the first panel I have indicated some tally lines which are to represent the pattern of the 'clones' I wish to appear in post. I intend to match their appearance along with the beat in a series of one then two then three; the last 'clone' is facing the opposite way as I want him to be different and reveal himself to be a guitarist potentially leading into a solo with the same angle as the second panel - which shows a close up of guitar strings. I am sure that I have a guitar at home which I can use to film this shot.
However, I am unsure as to whether or not I can turn fast enough for that transition. So I may not have the person facing backwards but rather distinguished some other way and use a simple jump cut to the guitar solo in order to surprise the viewer with the solo.
I doubt I can organise to film anyone nor could I organise for someone to film me, at least currently. Therefore most of the other shots simply use a static camera on a tripod - allowing me to perform - or are handheld shots of me with the camera focusing on me, in a vlog style shot. This will allow me to focus on lip syncing, as will the alternating shot of half my face on either side of the screen.
Lastly I include a whip-pan transition from a flag of mine to my face, this is just so that I can experiment with the practical transition. I learned this technique from Edgar Wright's Cornetto Trilogy and developed it during my AS project (here is the post).
My A2 Project Decision
For my A2 Media project, I have chosen to create a music video along with a digipak containing a poster and album design. Within this project I will be researching the music industry as well as theories and conventions in the industry.
I have chosen to base my project around music given the fact that I thoroughly enjoy music, it is a big part of me and in turn I am more likely to be interested and engaged with the subject. Additionally, I focused on film for my AS project, and while I am certainly interested in film too, I believe that it'll be more interesting to study a new topic rather than creating a film trailer - plus I believe I would have difficulty in finding good actors which would certainly boost the quality of my final product.
I am a fan of Indie, Rock, Punk, Alternative and Hip-Hop music. With this in mind I will try to combine various conventions from each genre into my final product. My project will focus mainly around my friend Jack Calvesbert who produces his own music and is also part of a band; I will try approaching the project with Jack as my client, as he is currently working on some music now. In working with a friend who has his own music, it removes the issues of copyright when using music owned by a major record label.
Jack is interested in similar music to me, however he is also a fan of psychedelic Rock - which I could incorporate into my work if he requested me to.
I have chosen to base my project around music given the fact that I thoroughly enjoy music, it is a big part of me and in turn I am more likely to be interested and engaged with the subject. Additionally, I focused on film for my AS project, and while I am certainly interested in film too, I believe that it'll be more interesting to study a new topic rather than creating a film trailer - plus I believe I would have difficulty in finding good actors which would certainly boost the quality of my final product.
I am a fan of Indie, Rock, Punk, Alternative and Hip-Hop music. With this in mind I will try to combine various conventions from each genre into my final product. My project will focus mainly around my friend Jack Calvesbert who produces his own music and is also part of a band; I will try approaching the project with Jack as my client, as he is currently working on some music now. In working with a friend who has his own music, it removes the issues of copyright when using music owned by a major record label.
Jack is interested in similar music to me, however he is also a fan of psychedelic Rock - which I could incorporate into my work if he requested me to.
Eughan's pitch from Chris Earl on Vimeo.