Transition project

EvaluationMusic Video

The Task...Our task was to create an exact copy of the first minute from an

official music video, we had to utilise the filming and editing skills we had learnt during our AS Media course and we were introduced to new skills used during the production of music videos. We also had to create the back and front cover of the artist/band’s album cover on ‘InDesign’.

To ensure that our copy music video was as identical to the real video as possible, we had to choose similar actors, props and locations to the ones used in the official music video. We also had to replicate the exact camera shots, movements, and mise en scene of the video with the same timings. So it was quite a challenging task considering we had never made a music video before.

Fortunately before we started the transition task we had a workshop from a man that had experience of directing music videos, short films and feature films, which was extremely helpful and fascinating as he had directed music videos for the likes of The Pet Shop Boys, Alison Moyet, and George Michael.

Our Music Video

My partner and I chose the music video for the song ‘In The Sun’ by ‘She & Him’ to copy as we like the cheerful, indie vibe and the light hearted style. It’s also set in a school which makes finding a location easier as we had to film during class time. We used a long corridor with lockers down either side and our school library for the majority of the shots, which was perfect as they looked really similar to the sets used in the official music video.

The actors were easy to find as we both knew people who looked similar to the characters in the video and the costumes were just casual everyday clothes. The props in the music video were sunglasses, a locker, posters and some books; all were easy to find which ensured our music video looked as close to the real thing as possible.

Problems...We experienced quite a few problems when filming our music video. The main

technical one was when we lost the first bit of footage as our memory card didn’t allow us to upload the footage from the camera to the computer; this was frustrating as those shots had taken a long time to film.

The next problem was our actors weren’t as co-operative as they could have been. We chose our actors based on how similar they looked to the characters; acting ability and willingness to participate wasn’t put into consideration. In the end our main female actor refused to participate, so we had to quickly persuade another girl to take the lead role, because of this she doesn’t have the same features as the character in the official music video. But Luckily she had previously acted as our backing dancer for the music video and she was more than happy to play the lead role.

The last problem was the fact that our backing dancers changed to different people half way through the music video and there is also one point when their costumes change too, which doesn’t show good continuity. However we tried to disguise this problem by cutting the two shots together when the characters are mid–spin in a dance routine, so it is less obvious. This problem could have been over come if we had been more organised, however we had a time constraint which meant filming had to be completed quickly; thus proving how important pre-production and planning is during the filmmaking process.

Knowledge gained...I have not only learnt new skills during this transition project but I

have also refined my filming and editing skills; I am now very confident using the editing software Final Cut Pro.

One of the main skills I have learnt is how to match a soundtrack to the shots. The editing has to be completely in time with the soundtrack for the lip synching to look realistic; otherwise it can easily slip into looking amateur. The pace of editing in a music video has to be fast paced and the shots have to be cut much quicker than in a film as the audience must stay hooked throughout. I also learnt that you can’t have many static shots in a music video; there has to be a lot of movement e.g. through panning, tilting, zooming, etc. This ensures the music video flows smoothly.

I have learnt that for a film or music video to reach a high quality, the director has to have a good working relationship with the actors; more over the actors have to be co-operative and extremely patient. I learnt this the hard way when our actress dropped out, however we then found a very determined, hard working and enthusiastic replacement, so it worked in our favour in the end.

Here is a comparison of shots from our imitation music video with the official music video...Our Music video Official music video

Our Music video

Official music video