Music Video Workshop - Final Edit

This is group 1's final edit of the prelim task of recreating the video for Everybody Get Up by 5ive.

Q1. Did you enjoy the workshop day? What were your best bits and why?

I really enjoyed the workshop day, it was very tiring but in the end it was definitely worth it. I found the shoot very professional and realistic because we had a full 12 hour day, and a professional director. My favourite moments in the day were the crowd dance and streamers scene because they were the most enjoyable but most demanding at the same time (in terms of physical energy). I think these were the most fun to shoot because it was coming towards the end of the day and we were all used to what was expected and had much more energy to do a good job. The crowd dance especially was fulfilling because we had been through the choreography in previous lessons and everything had built up to that scene.

Q2. What did you learn from participating in the workshop?

Technical

From a technical point of view, I learnt that small adjustments/changes can make a big difference to your result. For example changing the lens, angle, lighting, framing, etc. can change the way in which a shot is portrayed and can significantly add to the visual aspects of the video. I also learnt that these adjustments are sometimes best when they are spontaneous and not planned from day 1.

I found that it takes alot of patience and time to both change set ups and film numerous takes. Especially the first few shots, when the actors are not as into the performance mode. However, in other cases it can take very little time to get a shot perfect.

Performance

The workshop taught me that performing in a music video is exciting but extremely exhausting both physically and mentally. I learnt that it is very important the the director keeps the actors motivated and alive, in order to keep the performance level to a high standard and consistent. If there is a big group of actors/extras it can be very helpful for them to motivate and support each other as well, so that they can perform well and comfortably in front of each other.

Different Roles

On the day we had the following:

• Director
• Producer
• 1st Assistant Director
• Cameraman
• Lighting 
• Instant Playback 
• Grip

All of the above people had their own roles to play but all were essential to the process of the shoot. I found the role of the director and 1st Assistant director most interesting because they were essentially doing the same task but each person was looking at the shoot from a different perspective. The director was approaching it from a creative point of view, whereas the 1st assistant director was much more concerned with what actors were doing, the schedule and how long we could spend on each shot. In other words it was almost like breaking down the role of the director into two different jobs. 

Q3. Are you pleased with the footage and your edit? Is it how you expected it to look?

I am really pleased with the footage that we got because it looks extremely professional and it does not look like a school made remake at all. I think that it could pass for a real music video easily and that means that we achieved our objective from the start. I didn't expect the footage to look as defined and professional as it does, purely because it was a school project but I was definitely proven wrong.

In terms of the edit, I am really pleased with the final result. Unfortunately, due to the economics conference i missed the first two days of editing, but when I got back I saw how the colour grading was done and that it is an extremely lengthy process when shots are lit differently. 

Q4. How do you think your workshop experiences will impact on your approach to next term's music video coursework?

I think that the workshop day will have a very significant impact on our approach to the music video coursework next term because we have learnt how the process works and what is expected from the one day. In my opinion, the workshop day and our experiences from it, will contribute in a major way to every aspect of the coursework.

Firstly, in terms of performance and expectations of actors, we are much more prepared to deal with motivating actors and preparing them for shoots because we have been through the process and know how tiring it can be. It will ensure that we rehearse any choreography or lip sync prior to the formal shoot so that they are prepared and know what to do on the day.

We have learnt about the different roles needed to make sure the process goes smoothly, which we can apply to the coursework project. While we may not have enough people to have one person doing one job each, we can make sure that all the tasks required by those roles are fulfilled by the team.

Overall I think the main advantage of the workshop is that it gives us experience and we are more prepared for the real thing. We know what to expect and can therefore plan well in advance as well and push the boundaries a little more compared to if we hadn't done the workshop.

Everybody Get Up Re-Edit

For this task we were given footage taken from the original video which was cut up into different shots. Our job was to put it back together again to form the first verse and the third chorus of the song. I worked with James on this task and it showed us that this process was very time consuming. At points we found it difficult because we ended up with some gaps in the footage that were not matching the original video, this was mainly a result of cutting the shots too early. However, it was easier to match the video frame by frame when having the full original clip on another track and scaled down in the corner (as seen in the video), as we could look for exact matches in each frame.

Group 6 Lip Sync: Five - Everybody get up

This is the lipsync that Olivia and I put together to Five's Everybody Get Up as practice for the music workshop day in a couple of weeks. We had a lot of fun using different locations, people and costumes to make the lipsync slightly more exciting. It was definitely a good learning experience for the real day because it showed us the importance of having the lyrics completely clear and the use of a run through before you start filming, because we found that our first master shot was not as strong as the others as we were just getting into the performance.

As this also acts as my audition, I found that from the task I would not mind which role I play because I'd like to push myself to play any role, but I think that because my movement is slightly restricted in this video I think that maybe a small part would suit me best.

Meet the Director: Jake Wynne

In the lesson we met the director Jake Wynne, who will be the director on the music video workshop day. Jake has worked on music videos, commercials and short films. He has worked on music videos for artists such as Geri Halliwell and Stereophonics. I found the session really interesting and helpful because it gave us alot of information about what we might/would come to experience at both the workshop day and our actual coursework project.

The main points that stuck out for me were:

• Music video shoots in the industry are very long and tiring, the workshop day will be similar, but as long as we give it our all, it will be a very fun and exciting experience
• The director has to motivate their actors and maintain a very high energy throughout the day 
• When doing a lipsync make sure that you actually sing, because it will not be believable if your mouth is moving but your throat isn't 
• It is vital that you rehearse the video routines, etc. fully, multiple times before actually filming it so that you don't waste anybody's time