Rough Cut Feedback

As well as sharing the video through social media such as twitter, Facebook and YouTube i decided to ask a few different friends and family to comment and give feedback on the video, i did this as i had learnt in my pervious year studying media it is hard to get people to leave feedback for us, i decided to keep promoting our video in social media to see what response we got i also got some comments myself.

Debbie Harvey, Aged 42, Female:
''The video itself is very good, the shots are eye-catching and really made me what to keep watching, the colour effects you have used also make the video eye-catching and professional looking, although you need to make sure they are consistant. My favoraite shot is the one of the long path with the sun set in the background i thought this was amazing. I would say that the ending is the best part, once the music kicks in thats when i got chills, although the very end needs to be completed i can see it isn't finished. Overall i think it is very good''

Max Allen, Aged 18, Male:
''I like the video, it is eye-catching and unique. The whole idea behind the video is good and works nicely. I can see the end of the video needs work but i understand that it isn't complete yet. The effects that have been used work really well, the one where Danny falls back is very effective, however the first shot of Danny singing where there is two of him doesn't work, i don't feel it fits in, The colours work well and fit in also.''

Ellie, Aged 18, Female:
"You can tell a lot of thought has gone in to the video, i like the use of different locations and the colour grading it makes it look really eye-catching. I personally would be careful of the different effects that you use, some times they can be too over powering, the shot of Danny where he is multiplied could be seen as a distraction."

Maddi Harvey, Aged 15, Female:
''I like the fact the beginning and end are in black an white, it makes the video more interesting. The effects you have used also make it look good, the one where Danny falls looks good and makes you want to keep watching, the end effect needs to be sorted out as its not finished. I like the colours you have used to make it look like a dream it makes the video look interesting''

Tone Todd, Aged 17, Female:
''The video is really good overall, i like everything about it. The colour grading, shots and editing are all  really interesting and make the video really exciting to watch! A few things that i noticed when watching the video that i would adjust, firstly i personally am not sure about the effect put over Danny on the first shot of him singing, the background shadow takes away the focus of Danny actually singing. I also think that the colour grading needs to be adapted during the scene of the mum holding the sign as it goes slightly out when the shots change. My favourite bit is when it changes back to Danny on the floor when it kicks in, the shots follow the beat of the music and it really captured me.''

Russell Harvey, Aged 41, Male"
''The shot where Danny is singing and there is two of him is a distraction and i don't think it worked effectively, the whole idea of the music video is good and understandable but that particular shot didn't fit it and personally i would remove the effect. The colours you have chose to edit on top of the shots works well just ensure it is consistent through out the whole video. The rest of the video is good, the shots are eye-catching and professional looking.''

Rough Cut

This is the first original rough cut that we produced. This version has no effects or colour grading, we put all of the shots together and added the sound track over the top.

Above is the second edit we created, adding colour grading, effects and making sure no original sound was left on. 

On Shoot Actors

Actors caused a large issue for us, but as a group we sorted it out and made the best out of a bad situation. We got the actors we needed and filmed the shots the best we could.

Simon Stirling;

Simon we thought about from the start, Simon himself agreed to be in the music video however we was weary that he is a very busy person and may not be able to make it so we knew we would need back up actors. 3 weeks before the the shoot Simon dropped out, we knew this would happen however we was put down as we knew Simon was the sort of actor we was looking for. The person we wanted to play Simon needed to be confident, know the song and not be afraid to let go and have fun, neither Layla, Danny or myself knew anyone that fitted the sort of actor we needed so we decided to use Danny as we knew he would fit the role.

Mother;
The mother was not an issue for us, Layla's mum was going to play her from the start. She did not back out and turned up for two days of filming. Just incase there was an issues we had back up actors.


Little Sister;
We had three actors that Layla had found for us to play the role of the little sister, Romaysa, Maddy and Lily. However the little sister was a issue for us, we knew having a younger female would cause a problem due to school and there daily plans however using a friend of Layla's little sister we thought we would be ok, however the day before the shoot she fell ill and the back up actors wouldn't do it on such short notice. As Layla was in charge of actors she had another young female in mind, although she was a little older we thought it would still work. Elonor, agreed to do it but was limited on the days and times she could film. As a group we decided to cut the girl from the video as she was only in a few scene anyway and an older female sister was not the look we was going for.


Farther;

From the start we had a issue with getting a old male actor, we knew it would be hard due to work and other commitments. Although Layla was in charge of actors we all come together to think of who we could use, we didn't want to use a young male (a friend of ours) as we thought it would look fake and tacky. After much trouble we finally got Layla's granddad to agree to be the actor and Layla's uncle to be the back up actor. Unfortunately both actors dropped out on the day and said that they can not come,  Layla said that she is willing to step up and be the actor, i come up with the idea to use a bold cap and a moustache to ensure that Layla looked like a male. We went to the fancy dress shop and brought what we could to ensure Layla looked like a farther, we got to the location and dressed her up, unfortunately another issue then occurred when the bold cap split. We had to slick Layla's hair back and make her look as manly as possible.

Rough Cut Evidence

Friday 13th December, a week until the rough cut deadline. Myself and Layla started the lesson by uploading all of the footage, I was responsible for the tape so i had to ensure that all of the footage was uploaded and kept safe.

Layla plugged in the camera and set up final cut and we waited for all of the footage to be captured, once this was all done i sat down and went through all of the clips that had been imputed into final cut. It was important for me to ensure that every bit of footage we shot was on there as if it was not it would be impossible for us to edit.

Danny then took the role of editing as he didn't do much of the filming he wanted to even out the work which we all agreed was fair. We all helped when it was needed and put our input so it was a group effort. Although Danny edited most of the rough cut, i also edited a small part as i wanted to have a go before it come to the final video, as we will all be editing the final video equally.

We decided to upload the video as it was, to ensure that our rough cut was online and ready to view by the deadline. We then had extra time before it was due so we went through it all and colour corrected it and thought about the effects that we needed or could add. Different parts of the video needed to have specific effects, for example the end scene where Simon Stirling rises and walks out the bathroom needs to be overlaid as this is where we want the effect of his soul raising from his body. Though out the hyper real scene at the beach and grass land, we will be colour grading and experimenting with different effects. We have thought out the last scene where the beat builds and Simon is walking along down the long path, here we thought we could add flashes and different colours grades, and flickering between black and white as the next scenes are of Simon back in the bathroom. 

After creating the rough cut video we will need to ensure that we get feedback over the break so that when we come back we can make the necessary changes.  

Above is the first original rough cut that we produced, we simple cut all of the shots together and added the sound track. This is very basic and still needs a lot of work however we wanted to save it at each stage so we could see the progression and what worked well. 

This second edit, above, has been a little bit more advanced as we added colour grading, effects and changed the sound around to make it more suitable. We played around with a few different effects to see what looked good and what would ensure we get the best grade possible. The ending is something that we need to ensure it sorted as we need to make it look like Simon Stirling is dead and his soul is leaving his body, this is something that will be developed through out the final edit. 

Filming Day Three

 

On Wednesday 11th we decided to go out and film again as the weather was in our favour and we thought it would help us create the hyper real world we desired.

Day Three Filming - Evaluation

Arranged to meet at 7am, Danny was collecting us from our homes to ensure we was on time and it was a difficult time for Layla to get a lift. I was up bright and early at 6.30 ready by 6.45 and then I waited for Danny. Danny Collected me at 7 got to Layla's at 7.10, we was on the road by 7.25. 

                                                                      Filmed the shots that required a road first as it was early and there wasn't many cars about, this also gave us the lovley sun rise shot. Checking the weather forecast and picking to film on a day with fog was a good desicion as it made the shot more creative and professional looking. A shilouette was created as the sun was acting as a backlight, the shot looked interesting and eye catching so we did various different shots in this location so we had more than enough footage. 

This image was taken by rosie. I set up the camera and composed the shot, Danny was singing the song the entire way through so i took a picture of the set up. 

This was also taken by rosie. I set up the camera same as the photo before and took a photo whilst filming was in progress.

Then we went to the All Hallows' to get a few shots of Danny singing the whole song through so we could do some multi clipping. We used three different locations and, and sung the song twice in each location so we had more thn enough shots to cover the song if we needed.The reason we checked weather and thought going on a foggy day would look good and hyper real, we thought this would add to te effect of our music video. 

We all filmed and used the camera on today's shoot however I done most of the filming as Danny was in it acting. On today's shoot we didn't take many evidence photographs, I took a few images if the location and the compositions I thought looked good, I also took a few images of the camera and the way I had set it up to evidence what I had done.

Day Two Filming

This is me (Rosie) after just setting up the camera and talking to Danny about the shot, i then operated the camera for the next shot.

This is Layla getting ready to shoot the first shot of the mother holding a sign, Danny was looking over her and helping with the layout and composition.

This is me (Rosie) in the process of filming Danny and the mother.  For this shot, with help form Danny, i also set up the layout and composition of the shot to ensure it looked interesting and followed conventions.

This is Danny setting up the camera and ensuring that all settings are correct, he then filmed a scenery shot,

Day Two Filming - Evaluation

Friday 6th December, was our final day of shooting, we arranged to meet at 8am in goals car park, we wanted a early start to ensure that all the shots were done and we had plenty of time.                                  To start the day off i had to create the signs, i had been having issues with my printer at home so i had to wake up at 6am to ensure i was at school earlier than the rest of the group, I went in to school and used the art printers and the signs were ready i then met Danny in the goals car park at 8. When creating the signs i wanted to make them look as interesting as possible, when creating them i decided to make them look obscure and unique as they then fitted in with out theme/message of the video.                         Layla had woken up a little late and had trouble with one of the costumes, unfortunately this meant we didn't get on the road until around 9. We arrived at the location at around 10am, we set up the cameras as quick as we could in order to get filming asap.

Once we got to the location we filmed all of the shots with the mother in first in so that she didn't have to wait around in the cold for nothing, our actor used her own car so that it was possible for her to leave earlier. Below are some images of the location used with the mother in.

Through out the day we took it in turns to do various different shots, i did the majority of them due to Danny and Layla acting however, Danny helped me set up the camera and direct. As a team we thought about the layout and composition of each shot to ensure it looked interesting and suitable. Below are two images of me, one after i just finished setting up the camera and the other in process of me filming a long shot of Danny.

Filming Day One

Due to various different issues, Layla is now playing the role of the father and the young girl has been cut. This page includes various different images evidencing that every member took part in operating the camera. There is also a video diary explaining a few of the issues we had;

These images show each member of the team operating the camera, although we took it in turns to film the actual shot, we worked as a team to decide how each shot should be taken and composed.















Video Diary;

Day One Filming - Evaluation

Wednesday 4th December was the first day of filming for our group, we arranged to meet at half 8 in goals in order to get to the first location and get filming as soon as possible however we had a few disasters as you would expect in this particular industry. 

Layla come with the first disaster that the dad actor dropped out last minute, this was the most drastic disaster as this was our third back up actor! We wasn't having much luck finding a reliable male actor, with the troubles of work and other commitments we struggled to find a replacement actor on such sort notice, we had to improvise, Layla would be the male actor! After a quick trip to the fancy dress shop to purchase a bold cap and a moustache we had solved one issue.

Unfortunately the young girl had issues with getting out of school, this is something that we had thought about and the girl didn't have a large roll in our video. After much debate and thinking we made the decision to cut the little girl from the video as we felt it was too disruptive to get a small child out of school, and we didn't want to use an older female as this wouldn't look realistic. 

The final disaster we had to overcome on the first day of shooting was the fact that the dining room table broke and we had no where for the first scene to be shot, we loved the location we had so we decided to find a fold up table and take it to the location as we couldn't bare wasting such a perfect location.

After Layla waking up late, and to a wash of disasters we didn't get to our location until around 12. We set up and done the shots we could however, from miss communication the person in charge of actors didn't get a exact time to the mother to appear so we didn't start filming the dining room shots until around half 1. 

Finally after solving all go the issues we drove to our first location - the dining room. We set up the scene, using the props we had brought and the table we had to go and get. Setting up took a little longer that predicted due to the late start and the extra work we now had to do. Nether the less we left extra time for mistakes so we still had plenty of time we just had to get a move on.

The set looked just how we imagined it, as a team we was really pleased as to how it had all come together, the location was perfect along with the props that we had gathered, it made the scene look, old vintage and boring just as we had imagined it.

The table cloth was also a last minute find from Laylas untie as we needed to now find  a different shape and size cloth due to the change of table. However despite all the issues the first scene looks quite good.




As i spoke about above the male actor was a problem. We had to use Layla, the bold cap was a good idea however we wasn't happy with the way it looked, we felt it looked to fake and like we was trying to create a comedy and we didn't want this. So we got some oil and made Layla's hair look more masculine, we applied some make up, glasses and the moustache and we was done.

This is me operating the camera, due to Danny and Layla acting i did the majesty of the filming however they both helped me set up the camera and we all spoke about what shot would look best and how it should be taken. Danny and Layla did all the filming they could, so for example if it was a shot of just Danny, Layla ensured she did it and the other way round. This was to ensure we all got a good go at using the camera.