On December 2 and 4, 2019, in my AICE Media Studies class, I worked on editing my music video. I really enjoyed doing the editing process because for the most part it was coming together like it was originally planned. Editing is one of my favorite parts because I get to see the music video come to life. During the editing process there were very few issues. One of the issues we had was, my group mate and I were worried that we didn't get enough footage; however, we were able to work around this issue and in the end we did have enough. Since, this is my second time editing a video I had more knowledge on how to do it. This meant the editing process didn't take as much time as when I created my first video. Leila and I also have great time management skills, which helped with getting the video done as quickly as we could with it still being high quality. Overall, I felt that the editing process for the music video went very well and that the end product was worth all the time and effort my group mate and I put into the video.
On December 2, 2019, before my group mate and I started editing, we looked back at our previous blogs, such as the storyboarding blog. This was helpful because it gave me a reminder of what the video was supposed to look like. While Leila was downloading our music I was working on importing the footage. On the previous day, I downloaded the footage from the SD card to my flash drive. I did this on my own computer at home. I felt that it would be easier to download the footage onto the school laptop through the flash drive. After all the footage was downloaded onto a file, I imported it onto the editing program. The program I used is called Pinnacle Studio. After Leila imported the music we started editing. During this day, I took more control over the laptop, while Leila shared her opinions. The first thing I wanted to do was put the footage in the correct order. I would look at the different takes of the same scenes and decide which looked best with my group mate. After choosing, I would add the footage to the track. I also cut a lot of the footage, so there wouldn't be any unwanted footage shown in the music video. My group mate and I worked during the entire class time, so we could finish the music video as soon as possible. By the end of class, we finished adding and cutting most of the footage. We were about three fourths finished.
On December 4, 2019, we were able to finish editing the video. Unfortunately, we did have some issues with editing. When Pinnacle Studios was opened, Leila immediately realized that the music wasn't playing. When we couldn't figure out why it wasn't playing, we went to our teacher for assistance. Our teacher tried doing a few things; however, it still wasn't working. After many trials, it was decided that we should re-import the music. This meant Leila also had to re-cut the music track to fit the video. This wasted a lot of time, which I wasn't thrilled about. However, I put it behind me and got back to work. After that, I worked on adding and cutting any of the footage that was still needed for the video. It didn't take me to long because my group mate and I mostly finished it on our first editing day. The next thing for me to do was add in the transitions. I wanted to add in fades to make the video more interesting and to better showcase the music video's story. After I finished the transitions, Leila changed the speed of some of the footage. While she was doing that, I gave her some of my suggestions for the speed of the footage. One of the last steps was changing the colors of some of the scenes. Leila and I worked together to figure out which color filter would be best. We decided on one that dulled the colors in the footage. After the color change was applied to the pieces of footage we wanted, I exported the music video. Exporting was the last step of the music video's editing process.
Thursday, December 5, 2019
Monday, December 2, 2019
Filming Blog Part 2
On Wednesday, November 27, 2019, I was finally able to film the music video. A lot of preparation went into making sure everything goes according to plan, so it was exciting to actually get to film. Making a thorough plan made it easy to do the filming because I knew exactly what needed to be videoed. There were no issues with filming, the weather was perfect, our location had no other people, and the actresses did very good acting. I'm very thankful for the actresses in the music video because they didn't have to be in it. They volunteered their own time to help me and my group mate. For that reason, I am very thankful.
The filming day officially started at 9:45 am. This is when I arrived at Leila's house with the two actresses. The actresses carpooled with me, so we could all get there at the same time and start right away. At Leila's house we went over the food we would have for the picnic setting. I helped her transfer all the food into the cooler so it would be easy to take to our filming location. Some of the props, such as plates and cups, were also put in the cooler for easy transportation. When packing the cooler, I made sure to pack some waters, so no one would get dehydrated. After the packing was finished, I examined the camera and tripod like I did the day I received them to make sure everything was still working. I also made sure the camera's battery was full. I charged it the previous night, so I wouldn't have to worry about it dying while filming. Around 10:00 a.m. my group mate, actresses, and I headed out to our filming location. We decided to walk because the park wasn't to far from Leila's house.
Once we all arrived at the park it was time to set up. I had previous experience with the camera, so I set it up for filming. While Leila was creating the setting I was giving the actresses a rundown of the music video. I was explaining to them what the video was about and what scenes we will need to take. Also the kind of emotions they will need to be showcasing. Once everything was set the filming began.
One of my roles for the music video was being the camerawoman. I filmed most of the point of view shots which was actually harder then I expected. It was very awkward holding the camera directly in front or besides one of the actresses' faces. Since the camera was also directly near the actress's face it made it sort of difficult to see what was being filmed. I made sure a lot of shots were taken because of this. I wanted to make sure I had perfect takes to work with when editing. While it may have been difficult, it was fun getting creative when figuring out how to take the shots. Also, as a camerawoman I would give signals to the actresses when the camera was rolling and when they could begin acting.
Another one of my roles in the filming process was to co-direct. Being a co-director gave me the ability to direct the actresses on what to do in certain takes. Before shooting a take, I would discuss with my group mate, who was also a co-director, on exactly what needed to happen in the take. For example, I went over how one of the scenes was a tilt going down to up and that the main actress needed to be in frame and act very happy. I would also discuss this with the actresses so they would know what they were doing in a take. Another example of directing is, during the point of view shots of playing the guitar, I would direct the actress on when to start playing.
Overall, the filming process went very well. Everything was videoed in an orderly fashion and my group mate and I were able to finish all of the filming. There were no issues with the camera and none between the actresses and myself. The actresses did everything I needed from them, but I also told them if they weren't okay with doing something in a certain take, they didn't have to and I would change it. I didn't want the actresses to feel forced to do anything when they were volunteering their time. I believe that the filming process was a lot of fun and I learned a lot more about filming from this experience.
The filming day officially started at 9:45 am. This is when I arrived at Leila's house with the two actresses. The actresses carpooled with me, so we could all get there at the same time and start right away. At Leila's house we went over the food we would have for the picnic setting. I helped her transfer all the food into the cooler so it would be easy to take to our filming location. Some of the props, such as plates and cups, were also put in the cooler for easy transportation. When packing the cooler, I made sure to pack some waters, so no one would get dehydrated. After the packing was finished, I examined the camera and tripod like I did the day I received them to make sure everything was still working. I also made sure the camera's battery was full. I charged it the previous night, so I wouldn't have to worry about it dying while filming. Around 10:00 a.m. my group mate, actresses, and I headed out to our filming location. We decided to walk because the park wasn't to far from Leila's house.
Once we all arrived at the park it was time to set up. I had previous experience with the camera, so I set it up for filming. While Leila was creating the setting I was giving the actresses a rundown of the music video. I was explaining to them what the video was about and what scenes we will need to take. Also the kind of emotions they will need to be showcasing. Once everything was set the filming began.
One of my roles for the music video was being the camerawoman. I filmed most of the point of view shots which was actually harder then I expected. It was very awkward holding the camera directly in front or besides one of the actresses' faces. Since the camera was also directly near the actress's face it made it sort of difficult to see what was being filmed. I made sure a lot of shots were taken because of this. I wanted to make sure I had perfect takes to work with when editing. While it may have been difficult, it was fun getting creative when figuring out how to take the shots. Also, as a camerawoman I would give signals to the actresses when the camera was rolling and when they could begin acting.
Another one of my roles in the filming process was to co-direct. Being a co-director gave me the ability to direct the actresses on what to do in certain takes. Before shooting a take, I would discuss with my group mate, who was also a co-director, on exactly what needed to happen in the take. For example, I went over how one of the scenes was a tilt going down to up and that the main actress needed to be in frame and act very happy. I would also discuss this with the actresses so they would know what they were doing in a take. Another example of directing is, during the point of view shots of playing the guitar, I would direct the actress on when to start playing.
Overall, the filming process went very well. Everything was videoed in an orderly fashion and my group mate and I were able to finish all of the filming. There were no issues with the camera and none between the actresses and myself. The actresses did everything I needed from them, but I also told them if they weren't okay with doing something in a certain take, they didn't have to and I would change it. I didn't want the actresses to feel forced to do anything when they were volunteering their time. I believe that the filming process was a lot of fun and I learned a lot more about filming from this experience.
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