Big Project (Production and reflection)
Production
I was now onto my production. I first decided to shoot the scenes with the separate identity first as I could then take apart the set and bring it home as soon as possible. The filming for this scene went well, and my actor was very energetic portraying the chaotic energy of my character very well despite not being my first pick. A lot of improvisation was used for these scenes as I wanted them to feel random and unpredictable. Along with this I also filmed my actor spinning around while using the mounted camera effect. Here is a video of my actor performing this scene.
And here is an image of the lighting I used to light the scene.
At first I though this lighting technique worked well. Yet when I analysed the footage I noticed that the scene felt to dark with a lot more shadows then I remembered while filming. The reason this happened was due to the human eye being able to possess a much higher dynamic range then a cameras sensors. This is what led to me believing that I had much better lighting then what was being presented to me. In future projects I can avoid this issue by adapting a 3 point lighting technique which will allow my actor to be lit at all times, along with this using a different camera would also help combat this problem as more sophisticated cameras have a much better dynamic range allowing for more light to be visible on camera. despite these issues I do think that using a soft light was a good idea for these scenes as it allows the shots to feel more natural. Here is a few videos I watched to better understand lighting.
While watching these videos I made notes on some of the techniques so that I can use them in future projects. I noted these techniques on a Miro board
These shots of the separate identity went by rather easily which gave me the motivation to try and film my entire music video in a day. This however was a very bad mistake as it lead me to overlook many mistakes I had made during my filming. In future project projects I will not attempt to film scenes this fast as I now understand how easy it is to make mistakes.
While shooting the singers scenes I used this lighting set up:
A soft light in the studio pointing through a window into my set made the computer screen that my actor was sat in-front of look a lot brighter then it really was.
The light could also be placed to the side of the actor if a shot was being filmed at a different angle.
To make sure that my shots did not feel to dark I used a camera mounted light to give an extra bit of light to my actors face. Along with this for the scene where my actor is talking to the picture I used a spot light to highlight the fact that the photo was talking back to him.
I finished filming by the end of the day but when I added all my clips together I realized how flawed a lot of my scenes were. I also realized that I had actually missed shots due to me not concentrating enough on what I was doing. Here was the original footage I gathered after my first day of filming:
This needed fixing immediately, so I began thinking of ways to fix my unfocused footage first. To start I began by trying to use the sharpen tool on premier. Here is a video I watched explaining how to do it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUd3bM1KLrEUnfortunately however this was unsuccessful and still left my footage looking a little rough. I then thought about using a rotoscoping technique to draw over the footage but was advised not to as this would likely take to long. This left me with only one option and that was to reshoot these scenes. But by now most of my costumes had gone home so I had to go back to my story board and create some new scenes that would hide my actors clothing. The idea I came up with was to shoot a scene of the singer looking up to a video of the separate identity on a projector. This however did not go well as the darkness of the room along with the light of the projector did not work well together creating a dark fuzzy effect. I tried to solve this issue by using a better camera and a light in the corner of the room, but it was still unsuccessful and I was still left with rough footage.
Here is the footage I gathered while testing this shot (i had to be a body double for my actor):
After consideration I decided to abandon this idea and instead film some simple close ups to replace the bad footage and fill in the missing footage. This worked but it doesn't feel as meaningful as I originally planned. I then edited my video using colour keying to place my actor above my footage. These were skills learnt during the development of my tittle sequence video. And help keep the footage interesting and. engaging. Along with this I also colour graded my shots allowing the shots on the GoPro to aline better with the shots on the camera. by the end of my project this is what I was left with:
After doing this the footage I had on my GoPro now looked more like the footage I took on my camera
This final footage is a little disappointing overall the vision for this project did not turn out the way I wanted it to. This was due to many small mistakes I made mainly through my production and a little bit during my pre production.
How would I want to improve this project
- The colour grading has not stayed consistent throughout the whole music video this was due to me not giving myself enough time to edit. In future projects I must schedule more back up time as well as assessing what problems I may run into during production.
- I was not able to re-shoot the final shot due to my actor having to leave early. In future projects I must have better communication with my actor and pay better attention to my surroundings making sure that nothing is in the background of my shot.
- If I could redo this project id likely pick a different song. The energy of the song distracts from the message I was trying to convey
- Some shots are still out of focus but were not able to be re-shot as I did not have the costumes and props needed to re-shoot them. In future projects I really need to get better at keeping my camera in focus. to do this I will watch specific video on the cameras we use so that I can get a better understanding on how to use them.
- I believe that I leaned to much into the symbolic narrative. After creating this project I think that I should use symbolism alongside a narrative instead of basing an entire narrative of symbolic feature as this is hard to understand for viewers that are not analyzing my video.
- I would've liked to use more skills such as rotoscoping but did not have enough time to learn the technique. To avoid this I should give myself time to experiment with the technique before I incorporate it.
- I wish i improved my transitions in my original vision I had much more fluid cuts and transitions that would have kept the footage more engaging.
- In one shot my actor looks like he was looking at a script when he was not
- I think the separate identities sequences are a little to chaotic while asking my peers what their opinions on my work was a lot of them said that while it was entertaining they weren't to sure on how it linked to identity.
- I did not do enough experimenting with techniques which hold back a lot of the ones seen in my video
- I did not have time to add the split screen i wanted which is very disappointing as it could've been a great feature to separate the characters
- a few shots during the separate identities sequences are edited to be in reverse as influenced to me by the selfie dove advert but this is not as noticeable as I want it to be
What have I learnt
- I have learnt that it is never a good idea to rush a production
- I have learnt to use trello to schedule my project
- I have learnt how to use a camera mount to give a hallucinogenic effect
- I have learnt how to create a convincing pitch
- I have learnt how to get actors for my project and now understand that if they do not reply to any messages it is always best to go over in person
- I have learnt about 3 point lighting
- I have learnt how to use a camera mounted light
- I have learnt how to use motivated light
- I have learnt that light through a camera is a lot more darker in person
- I have learnt how to colour grade
- I have learnt how important it is to use a better camera
- I have learnt more about ISO and how to use it
- I have learnt that reshooting isn't as bad as I thought it was
- I have learnt how to create and analyse a symbolic narrative
- I have learnt how to develop creative ideas from specific themes with the use of mood boards and research
- I have learnt about the use of colour symbolism
- I have learnt about techniques such as reversing footage and split screens
- I have learnt how to use feed back to make decisions on my ideas
- I have learnt a lot about organising my preproduction
- I have learnt how to use the features of a go pro for the first time
- I have learnt how to improve my story boards
- I have learnt how to create concept art
Along with everything i have learnt during this project i believe that i have also learnt a lot during my test projects as well.
What have I learnt throughout this entire project as a whole
- I have learnt how to create a stop motion animation
- I have learnt about chiaroscuro
- I have learnt about contrast and how it can add style to a video as well as lessen its quality
- I have learnt about the frames of animation
- I have learnt how to overlay footage
- I have learnt how to key frame
- I have learnt how to create lip synced footage
- I have learnt about what makes a music video tittle sequence and an advert
- I have learnt how to promote a product
- I have learnt how to use premier
- I have learnt how to develop ideas
- I have learnt how to use a blue screen
- I have learnt the importance of test footage
- I have learnt how to improve the quality of a stop motion animation
- I have learnt about the noir style genre
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