Personally, i think i gained a lot from the workshop; the fact that i was able to work with industry professionals and ask them how things work and about their jobs was an invaluable experience for me. We got the chance to see how an actual shoot works, how certain technical equipment is used and what roles you may have to take on during a filming session and this taught me a lot about the production of music videos and production as a whole. I found it inspirational to be involved in a crew of people all working together to produce a video that looks great and is shot in a way that can teach us skills for the future. The shoot has really highlighted the need to plan the day carefully; shot lists, storyboard and rehearsals are all essential for a clean, quick shoot.
My day was a mix between hands on technical work - being used by whoever needed me and however they needed me - and actual performance in front of the camera. On reflection, it was good to have that mix because now i understand how much effort and patience it takes to be either crew or cast, which will be important in the future when i have to think about my actors and how they feel, not only about what stress i'm under as director.
By working with the professionals, and in particular Adam the camera assistant, i learnt about using a HD professional camera and also how to do the more menial jobs of cable bashing and being a runner. These jobs entail standing behind the cameraman and walking backwards and forwards winding the cable in or giving more slack so they don't trip over their own wires. It was quite a repetitive job but i enjoyed having an hands on approach and being involved in the shooting experience. I also helped by lighting a lot of the shots with the 2 kilowatt gem ball or 'china ball.'
2 For you, what was the best bit of the day and why?
Personally i enjoyed the whole day so there was no 'best bit' for me. I found it both fun and interesting to work as part of the technical crew, learning new skills and feeling like part of the team. It was a new experience for me to work with people who do this day in day out and i found it was really helpful for me as it proved to me that this is what i want to do for a career.
However, i also really enjoyed performing in front of the camera. I had never danced seriously in my life before and although at first i was reluctant to take on the lead male dancing role, after practicing and shooting a few shots i lost all inhibitions and began to really enjoy myself.
3 Are you pleased with your edit?
I am very pleased with how our edit turned out. At first, after watching the footage back, we were a bit pessimistic with how the shoot had turned out. There appeared to be a lot of issues with continuity and lighting and neither me or Despina could see how it could turn out well. However, once we had cut up all the shots, decided on the best ones, and started placing them together on the timeline, the video really started to take shape and look very similar to the original.
In hindsight, the errors in continuity, lighting and performance that we had noticed were in fact quite irrelevant. For example, in one scene the dancers jumped through a single door and came through double doors on the other side - an error that really annoyed me. However, when we had finished editing and showed people who were unfamiliar with the original, the continuity error went unnoticed and they were very impressed with our attempt at re-creating the error. I think my problems with the video came from the fact that i am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to editing and it annoyed me that there were some things wrong - a trait that i am going to have to learn to tone down as there will always be some errors, even in a professional production.
Overall, i am very pleased with how our edit turned out because the feedback we got from our peers and Miss Blackborow was all positive. Everyone said how close to the original our edit was, and the performances and technicalities of the video were both praised highly. Miss Blackborow described our video as "the perfect edit" which was a massive relief to hear and proved that a lot of effort and hard work pays off.
4 Have the lip sync tasks benefited you in any way?
I think the lip syncing tasks have definitely benefited me and put me in a better position for when we shoot our own music video's next year. It's taught me performance skills that i didn't have before and i now know how it can be difficult for the artist to lip sync in time to the song. I've learnt that in order for the lip sync to look genuine, it is best to actually sing the song. This makes it easier for the director, the artist and the person editing the video as if the artist is singing along to the song, the chances are they'll be in time.
Having produced a lip syncing video myself, it has also helped me on the technical side of things. I now know that it takes time and patience to re-arrange the shots and move them into the right place to make the sync look believable. It was good practice for next year when i edit my own video, and as we didn't have much time to shoot the lip syncs, i felt i learnt a valuable lesson in terms of how to work under pressure with a short time limit.
5 How do you think the work you have completed for the preliminary tasks will impact on your real music video project?
I think the work that i've completed for the preliminary tasks has really taught me some valuable lessons that i can bring to making my own music video next term. Starting the project, i knew nothing about what it takes to produce a music video and now, after the workshop and producing my own lip sync video, i have far more confidence when it comes to tackling this piece of coursework. I feel each preliminary task helped in its own way; the lip syncing task taught me how to produce and edit under pressure, the workshop taught me how a professional music video is shot, and the talks from the industry professionals helped inspire me and inform me about the task ahead.
Preparing for the workshop day really taught me how much effort goes into producing a music video before you get to actually shoot it. I learnt how important it is to look at the song from more than one angle, taking into account not only the lyrics but also the mood and music of the song. I also now understand how dramatically the mood and performance of your actors is when it comes to achieving the right feel for the production - if you're actors are not fully commited and confident in their roles then that can really show through in their performance, and it does change the feeling of the video.
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