The Editing Process

Having filmed our performance element, we began to create a rough cut of our video. This will be really useful once we have filmed the narrative element, as it will be far easier to incorporate the other footage if we already have a video to work with. We first familiarised ourselves again with Adobe Premier Pro, and then began to synch each clip to the song. This involved linking the right time sequence that appeared on the clapper board, with the right moment in the song, so that the clip would always be in time. This was a long process as we have numerous clips, but will be ensure that our video looks right, as the singers lip syncing will only look realistic if it is in time. As we synched each clip, we renamed it, so that when we came to properly editing, we would know exactly which shot was which.

Having synched each shot, and removed the audio for each clip and replaced it with the track, we began to edit the clips together. We worked in 10 seconds chunks, so that we were not overwhelmed with the amount of shots we would have to piece together. As the beginning was the most important part, we decided to leave it until the end, so that when we had finished it would be easier to introduce the video with the right shots.

Our group decided to work in pairs, so that one pair would work on editing whilst the other would work on the website and album. This meant that we all had a go at editing, but also were involved with the creative tasks of constructing a proper band website and album.

Evaluation of the Shoot Day #2

For the second shoot day, we went to Kate's house to film an action sequence in the woods. We took several guns and fire-grenades. This was meant to be a huge battle. AS we arrived we walked around the woods looking for locations we could use. Then we created a brief outline of our action sequence and started to film.

Since while filming the performance, I was operating the camera almost all the time, we decided to divide the roles in the different way this time, so that girls were on camera most of the time. I also had a camera in my hands, but I was taking stills for our ancillary tasks.

Finally, we used almost all of the guns we brought with us and fired three fire grenades. It was a lot of fun!! We managed to finish the whole sequence before lunch and everyone was pretty happy with the result. Now we can focus on post-production. Hopefully, the final video is great! Looking forward to it!

 

Evaluation of the Shoot Day

The day before the shoot was very nervous. We were busy arr4aging everything for the shoot, however, it still felt to me that we were not prepare. We quickly sketched our schedule for shooting on location, it made me feel a little better, but I still wasn’t sure how it would. This evening we conducted a rehearsal with our band, which I was really satisfied with. Each of them was genuinely engaged in the process. Next thing we did was that we started building a set, namely, attaching wallpapers to the walls and bringing props that we needed for our shoot in the studio. And, to my surprise, it was rather exciting. However, we had to leave before the set was built completely. Nevertheless, next day as soon as we entered the studio we were ready to shoot, thanks to our amazing set designer, T.A.

Due to a necessary change in our idea two weeks before, we didn't have enough time to work through all the details of our concept, but I think what we finally had got was just amazing. Ripped wallpapers, feathers lying everywhere, a knife in a mattress etc. I guess it was pretty close to what we intended it to look like.
However, our shoot hasn't started until after lunch since there was a gas leakage in the studio. And because of this predicament, we decided that we shot the other bit bit of our music video which is supposed to happen in the forest, but then again we didn't go to Kate's house as we initially planned and went to look for locations nearby school...
But we didn't find anything good enough... Thus it was only after lunch when the smell of gas in the studio dissipated and we were able to start shooting. By that time I felt reasonably discouraged and wished that the filmed another day since it seemed like everything was going wrong.
Nevertheless, we got our band into the studio immediately after lunch and started shooting. I was given a role of camera operator and director of photography to some extent...

Melissa was taking stills.
Megan was on a slate. 
And Kate was directing.

And I think all of us did pretty well on our roles. We didn't have a lot of time to shoot, but managed to get all the shots almost in time and on quite a high level. I thought some of the shots that I have proposed were quite beautiful and reflected our concept at the same time, and I'm sure that eventually our video has a potential to become really good. There were several shots in particular which I really liked and I proud I have made them. 
 
However, it was pleasing that we worked cooperatively with our group, so the shoot went pretty quick and smooth,
although the beginning of this day didn't presage anything like it. Generally, we almost didn't have problems during the shoot. There were several Wide shots where we had problems with the strap of our base guitarist, but merely substituted it and filmed a couple more takes.

So I was very happy with the way the shoot went, although I think the most fun part of the shoot was when we filmed CUs and ECUs of our lead singer since the framing and the lighting was brilliant and he is an impeccable performer. I also got to operate the camera during the take, which I didn't have a chance to do during the rest of the shoot. It was tense, but overwhelmingly exciting.

I don't think there were any major flaws with our shoot. The only part I wish had gone better was the first part of the day, when were simply wasting out time and keeping our band waiting. That was very frustrating.
However, still I really enjoyed filming. We probably wouldn't get that standard of material if we were in a different mood and I think we managed everything pretty well. As I already said the group was working very cooperatively we were trying not to lose a lot of time, which we quite succeeded in.

And now, obviously, we need to make a lot of changes to our website and artwork, in fact, completely redo them, start anew. But, to be fair, I enjoy this idea and song (oh, song is just fabulous!!) much more than enjoyed the previous one, so it's a great pleasure for me to work on this project and I'm looking forward for the final product!
 

 

The Website Artwork

As we began to edit the video, we started work on the website as well. We researched bands with a similar star image in order to gain inspiration for our own website. We really liked the black and white theme that The 1975 uses in their website, and how the front page is a mixture of striking images. However, we equally liked the bold image on The Scripts opening webpage. We noticed how both bands had their name in big letters in the opening page, and how it was in the same place on all the other pages as well. We compared the different sub pages of artists webpages, and came to the conclusion that we needed to involve an ABOUT, GALLERY, MERCHANDISE, TOUR pages, as these were all communally featured. 

Having done some initial research, we decided that we wanted to have a bold image on the front page of website, in order to entice potential consumers. We therefore began to think of a symbol that embodied the nature of the band, and one that we could use to link our three products together. Having discussed our options, we decided that the two key thematic elements of the video were the 'woods' and the 'light-bulb'. Both these elements reflect the star image of the band, as the woods link with the 'rebellious' and 'bad-boy' image we want our front man to embody, and the 'light-bulb' represents the authenticity of the band. As a result, we decided that we would use these two themes in the website and digi-pak in order to establish a link between our three products, that an audience could identify with. Therefore, we decided to do a photo shoot of the lead singer, as we wanted to picture him in the woods so that we could develop this thematic element. Equally, we began to play around with images of trees in light bulbs, as we though this would be a striking image for the front cover of the website.

Copyright Permission "Grounds for Divorce"

To Fiction Records, Charlotte Thomas

We are a group of A Level students working on an A Level project for a qualification in Media Studies. We are writing to request permission to use the following track as part of this project:

Elbow – Grounds for Divorce

With your permission the track would be used as the accompaniment to a short form video that is made purely for assessment purposes and will have no commercial usage. The video will be viewed only by members of the school community and the assessor of the examination board.

The artist and the copyright holder will of course be fully recognised in the pre-production and evaluation material that accompanies the project. We can also include a full copyright notice if required both in the planning material and on the video itself.

Yours sincerely


Archie Repin, Kate Douetil, Megan Havard, Melissa Maden
Hurtwood House School