Friday session - shoot 1 and initial edit

Problem: I found out today that my crew members will not be able to make the shoot this weekend either. That means I cannot use a different lens for sharper focus/ narrow depth of field on my subject, or the GoPro for the hula hoop. This is a great shame, but I am thankful that at least my actor is now available for filming.

This morning: I spent an hour in my local area finding frosty plants and taking video clips of them lasting roughly 10 seconds. I tested out focus pulls, and adjusted settings to create different depths of field. I hope to use them in my final edit. I received feedback on my shots from a friend over Facebook. Here are some screen shots and photos of what I took on my camera today. I am currently uploading my small amount of footage to my laptop to test out.

Berries on the Big Green

Tiny frosty leaves on the Big Green

Thin and icy grass at the park

Defrosting nettles in the sun at the allotment

Initial Edit

I have put the track on a timeline so that I am able to see its dynamics. This will help me to clearly define the sections of the music, so that I can plan to get enough footage for each one.

I am printing this image so that I can annotate it with my shot ideas, and sequences of shots. As you can see, I have already made an... extremely small start on my sequence.

Next I am connecting a separate screen to my laptop via an HDMI cable. This will allow me to see my visuals clearly, because my laptop screen is rather small and cluttered for editing. I am new to this, so I did some research. This is the most useful source I found:

http://www.videomaker.com/article/15709-using-an-external-preview-monitor


Time spent
Outdoors shooting on my own;1 hour
Indoors uploading, organising, screen grabbing and blogging: 1 hour
Minor research about new screen and setting it up 1/2 an hour
Listening to track and making notes on print out 1/2 an hour

Post-production timetable version 1

January 2015

Post-production

In Post-production I will be making use of my footage to produce a music video for my client's track, Outer Peace. For this section I will be working closely with my client, who will be directing my edit so to influence the mood of the tune to convey his feelings.

Similar to the previous section of this project, Post-production will follow less of a specific structure per session. This time, it is because my client is not able to edit with me on my set times of the week due to overlapping work commitments. This timetable will show my aims weekly. The next version of the timetable will show the actual dates I completed the events.

My timescale for this section is between 23rd January and 27th February.


In terms of final progressive steps for the finishing of the artifact, these are my main aims from the 13th February onwards (note, this is what I aim to do per week but not necessarily on specific days):

End of week 16
13th Feb: Start of hoop section of music video

Week 17
17th Feb: Finish hoop section
20th Feb: Finalise music video structure + begin colour grading

Week 18
24th Feb: Finish colour grading

Finish music video.

A second shoot cancelled

Today's scheduled shoot has been cancelled. This is because myself and significant other are both ill, and my actor needs to attend to her dissertation.
It is really frustrating because the weather was almost perfect today.

Overcoming problem

I will reschedule soon, for a time next week when everyone is available. I have to wait until after Tuesday to have my actor, and my crew said they were booked up this weekend so I will hear back from them at the start of the new week.

Furthermore, I shall do some more posting today to make up for my arrangements that fell through.

Preparation for shoot

The shoot taking place tomorrow with just myself and the actor will not be a practice, purely because she is ready to hula hoop at anytime in front of the camera. This means I can quickly obtain the necessary shots. I will still arrange the 'practice shoot' for another date, even though we will have already filmed something by that time. This is because I think it will still be beneficial for my crew, before we do the shoot all together.

Today I have been adding to my powerpoint and proofreading it etc since I haven't really looked at it since the holidays. I also went over my notes for the video and made them more concise.
As for how I can put my work on my blog, I could screenshot the powerpoint to create JPEG images which I can upload, if there I can't find another way; I can scan my storyboard when I can access my printer/scanner/copier; I will type up

Next: the next thing I need to do is to listen to the track I have been provided with and create a timeline. The timeline will outline the dynamics of the track and help me to structure the shots I want to film; thus, I have some form of narrative (to a degree).

Time spent: 1 hour

Film shoot - cancelled

Today's shoot was cancelled because I was ill.

I have rescheduled for this Saturday, but two of my crew members will not be able to make it, so I'll be shooting by myself with my actor.

'Outer Peace' - video inspiration

Here are some videos which either inspired me or are good examples of what I want to achieve.

Pennybirdrabbit - Maybe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puJX_LsT1Kc

I am particularly fond of the stylistic features in this video. I like the color grading; the darkness and gritty effect, along with the blue highlights. It creates a really cold tone, especially in conjunction with the imagery on screen; twigs and branches, landscapes and Penny on her own. This is similar to what I wan't to create in my music video.

Blue Tornado

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpnuvDAGN5E

This is a video of hula hooping in the snow, from someone who inspired me to hoop when I was younger. The video is a good example of the combined winter scene and graceful art; the same kind of thing I am looking for to be in my music video.

GoPro on hoop/Hulacam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EumsgPn9xaM

One member of my crew will be bringing his GoPro to a shoot. This is a link to what I hope the end result will resemble! I get very angry at the majority of these videos because they are highly sexualised. (I could easily go on a rant about this because hula hooping is one of my top hobbies, like filming.) Anyway, I like this one because it isn't.


Time spent: 3 hours

Pre-production timetable version 2

This is the actual progression of Pre-production events in this section of the project


14th Nov - Start of new section

18th Nov - Arranging meetings w/ clients

21st Nov - First client meeting

25th Nov - Brief client meeting and recap

28th Nov - Meeting w/ Colin, Slushy tunes

2nd Dec - Decision making

5th Dec to 6th Jan - Unrecorded working on ideas, choosing the track and catching up

9th Jan - Arranging practice shoot

10th Jan - Obtaining technical information

13th Jan - Compiling main video inspiration