Second Draft of Music video

Second Draft of Music video from Ruqaiyah K on Vimeo.

Production Log: Christmas Holidays

TRANSCRIPT
Over the Christmas holidays I knew exactly what I had to do in order to keep up with the whole coursework. Firstly my main aim was to improve my music video as I was not happy with the first draft. And also I still had half a month remaining on the trial for Adobe After Effects. I improved nearly all of my effects making them look more professional and tidier. I also had a few green screen faults in few scenes which I also altered. This did take 3-4 days. I then had to get audience feedback. This was because of the evaluation question where I have to answer 'how did i use the audience feedback?'  In order to get audience feedback I created a survey on SurveyMonkey.com with a few questions to do with my music video and whether it is professional looking, whether the costumes fit in with my music video, the editing, the flow and how I can improve it overall. The one and only main issue I had was the sound as it didn't seem to work properly but I needed professional help and that was only going to be done after the Christmas holidays. So far I have received 54 responses which I am more than happy with as the minimum I had to get was 30. However if I get more it will be better. I also conducted a focus group with about 6 people asking what they thought about my music video and how I should improve it. 

All of the audience feedback was to help me do one of the four questions of the evaluation which was also something else I had to do over the holidays. I have done 2 of the evaluation questions to my best. However the 4th question will require me taking screenshots of my work and then annotating them. But I have completed a Word Document of the actual evaluation. Once that is marked I shall present it through either a PowerPoint or something more creative. Now in the new year I shall be taking on board the feedback received and try to meet them. I also need to improve my digipak as I am not so happy with it. I will upload the recording of the focus group and the results of the survey as soon as I can. 

Narrative Structure of my Music Video

My music video does not have an actual narrative as it is a performance based music video. Despite of it being a performance based music video, it can still be given some sort of narrative. My music video can be seen as an episodic narrative. This is due to the different outfits and locations I have shot at and how I have edited it together. If I had edited in the way where all the Northolt Hills clips were shown first and then it would progress where my actor would be wearing a different outfit and all the clips of that outfit would be shown. This would be a linear narrative. 
You could say my music video follows two of the codes of Roland Barthes' theory of narrative. One of the codes is the semantic code, also known as the character code. This code means that there is some connotative meanings to the micro elements. For example there could be a deeper meaning of when my actor is running across a field as it is empty and I have added a slow motion effect to it. There could also be a deeper meaning to her outfits that she is wearing. There could be a symbolic meaning to why she is wearing a sari despite the song being from the pop genre and the sari is typically from Bollywood. These connotations can be made by the viewer themselves. The second code is cultural code which links back to the sari outfit. This could be seen as an intertextual reference to Bollywood Films. This is one of the only narrative theory that applies to my music video. 

Production Log: First Draft Complete

This week has also been busy due to today's draft deadline. I wanted to complete as many tasks as I could to my very best so I can receive useful feedback. However I was unable to improve ALL of my research tasks so I shall do that over the Christmas holidays as well as the evaluation. I improved history of music videos, research into a music director and equipment post. I felt they needed improving as they lacked information and images. I have completed my music video and the two ancillary tasks - digipak and magazine adverts. I am quite happy with my magazine adverts and the digipak front cover. However the rest of the pages on the digipak needs a lot of improving. As for my music video, I like the way I have put it together; I may change one or two clips as I feel they have been repeated too many times. However I shall wait for the feedback about that. Whereas for my backgrounds and effects, they can also be improved immensely. Yesterday I discovered some more professional looking effects which I have used towards the end of the video. I was tempted to change the beginning ones as well but was not able to due to lack of time. Some of the effects look too cheap and tacky and don't quite suit the song. I shall work on this over the Christmas holidays as I have downloaded the 30 day free trial for Adobe After Effects. Additionally, I need to fix the first and last few frames as I had added a cross dissolve on Adobe Premiere Pro but when removing the green screen the cross dissolve did not stay the same. So I will need to cut those frames from After Effects and re-import them without the cross dissolve effect. I can then add the effect on premiere before exporting it. 

First Draft of my Music Video

Music Video from Ruqaiyah K on Vimeo.

First Draft of Digipak

Front Cover

Inside Pages

Back Page

First Draft of Magazine Adverts

Portrait Magazine Advert

Landscape Magazine Advert

Production Log: Issues and Reasoning Revealed

Over the weekend I created a few videos of certain issues I had when creating my music video on Premiere Pro. Additionally, I may create another shot list and put a screenshot of the shot with the storyboard image next to it and say what is different. I would also state why it is different and as to what stopped me creating from what was on the storyboard. This can be a more visual way of understanding the differences. However this all depends on the amount of time I have otherwise I will leave it for the Christmas Holidays. As I have finished putting together on Adobe Premiere Pro, I can now start on removing the green screen on Adobe After Effects. However before doing that I had to break the whole music video into the individual clips. I had to do this as every clip had different shades of green. Also for me to add a different background to different frames I had to break it apart. I found this extremely hard as it had to be on the exact frame. But it didn't take as long I thought it would. I then started looking at all the different effects that I could possibly use. It did take me a while to learn the basic tools and skills. I was recommended to watch tutorials on www.videocopilot.net. However the tutorials were far too long and I did not have that kind of time. So I explored the software on my own. I haven't started putting in backgrounds yet as I don't know what to put. I was given an idea to put in coloured backgrounds however it looked quite plain and boring. I really need to spend some more time exploring the software and see what effect does what. I will be completing the music video as it is the deadline on Friday. 

Adding a Background on Premiere Pro

My main idea for the background, from the very beginning, when I started using the green screen, was to add an image from the same location (Northolt Hills). However when I put the background in, it looked extremely fake (as you can see in the clip above) and was put off straight away. After receiving feedback I was told to use Adobe After Effects for adding cool and effective looking backgrounds.  

Original Start for the Music Video

Above is video clip showing the original start for my music video. I personally really liked this shot despite of its blurriness which I tried to amend using the 'Sharpen' effect, I received feedback that you can 'barely' see the actor even if I make the clip bigger. Feedback mentioned that I should start it of with either a close up of her or a clearer mid-shot of her. 

Production Log: Filming Finally Over

TRANSCRIPT
This week has been a very busy week. I firstly had my last filming session on Tuesday. I was quite happy with the footage I got when I watched it. I started putting it together on Wednesday and thankfully I have managed to finish it today. I didn't face any major problems when putting it together however the only few issues I had was trying to find the right clip or the right bit from a clip. Another tedious task was trying to cut the clip properly and at the right place. 

I have uploaded a video of my music video so far. It is still with the green screen as I will be editing that out on Adobe After Effects once I have put it altogether on Premiere.

Over the weekend I plan to look at tutorials on Adobe After Effects so I do not waste time next week. I will also improve some of my research tasks as they can be better. 

I also need to complete my digipak by next Friday but hopefully that will not take too long. 

Call Sheet

 

Above is a call sheet. This is a document which holds the information I gave to my actor and choreographer as to when and what time we will be shooting.

Equipment List

 

 

Above is a list of all the equipment I will be using.

My Music Video So Far

Above is my music video so far. At 2:05-2:57, 3:26-3:33 and 3:38-3:43,  the screen is blank as I have still yet to complete those bits. I have added scenes at the end because as I went through my footage I found those particular parts of the song and placed them in straight away. I have not edited the green screen yet as I will be doing that on Adobe After Effects. 

Production Log: Researching Further Ideas

Over the weekend I looked at a lot of music videos, especially those that were filmed in a studio or has used a green screen. One music video that I really liked and explains how I plan on mine looking is JLS's music video for their song One Shot.



It has a black background with A LOT of lights. However I understand I will not be able to that many lights but with the resources I have available I can create a similar look hopefully. 
However, after receiving feedback on that idea today and mentioning my problem on not being able to edit the green screen out properly on Premiere Pro, I was introduced to another software, Adobe After Effects. After discussing its contents and how much better the software is than Premiere Pro I was then advised to not use the black screen with the lights behind it because I will not be able to edit it whatsoever. Whereas using the green screen I can add any background I want. I also shared my problem of having some clips not in focus so they came out blurry. So I was then shown these bigger cameras that have this feature of auto-focus which basically automatically focuses the scene and this would be so much easier however the only problem was that these cameras did not hold its footage in a SD Card but held it in a film cassette and for me to see the footage on the same day will not be possible as it need to hardware to put the footage onto the computer. And also due to lack of time I was unable to waste anymore time so therefore I have stuck to using the cameras I have been using. When I researched further into what Adobe After Effects can do I realised that a music video does something very similar. This is Selena Gomez's music video for 'Naturally'.




This music video has inspired me and given me motivation as it is similar to mine and doesn't have a narrative. Hopefully tomorrow will be the last day of filming and then from Wednesday I can start putting it altogether. I was told to put it together on Premiere first, then export it and then import into After Effects, break it apart again, edit the green screen out and add in the different backgrounds and effects I want. I aim to put it together by Friday this week and then start on After Effects from next Monday. 

Editing the Green Screen on Premiere Pro

Sari clip

Close-up clip

I have had a lot of issues with the green screen when creating the music video on Premiere Pro. Above are two video clips showing the quality of the green screen and how bad it looks. You can see the green through the actor's sari as it is see through. On the close up video clip the green outline is visible and if I increased the 'Similarity' figure any further then her hair was beginning to go and with the sari you could see black holes in it. 

Production Log: Ancillary Tasks Coming Together

Production Log: Ancillary Tasks Coming Together from Ruqaiyah K on Vimeo.



TRANSCRIPT
Over the week I managed to fill all the pages for my magazine advert and digipak. I may edit them a bit later on but I have done them overall. I do need feedback on it so improvements will be made soon.

Portrait Magazine Advert

Landscape Magazine Advert

Digipak Front Cover

Digipak Inside

Digipak Inside

Digipak Last Page

I do feel my last page needs improving but I think continuing on my actual music video would be more useful at the moment as I have exactly two weeks today to hand it in. Therefore today I spent my time on the creation of the music video. I am not too happy with it so far. The footage has something or the other wrong with it. The footage from the external location is nearly all blurry. I was lucky to find some footage where I had focused the lens properly. I do blame myself for this as the focusing was under my control however what is done is done. I also feel the whole sari idea was a complete disaster. A few people have already hinted it to me that the sari makes it look too Indian. Also when I look at the footage for the sari, I don't see how it will even fit with whole music video. I may have a few seconds of her dancing around in it but not a lot. I do feel that the only reason its not nice is because of the green screen. Any background I put, it looks really fake. I do understand that that is the whole point of the green screen however looking at other music videos from previous students as well as real music videos it looks so neat, good and real. Another fault is that the sari is a bit transparent so the green screen is still visible even after editing it out. So therefore I have decided to another shooting. I have only gone along with this as my actor motivated me to. I was reluctant in asking her as I felt she will not have time however as she has offered another day out I have taken this opportunity. 
I have decided that I want to do it with the black dress again and also with another outfit; a flowy dress. Additionally this time I will make sure that her hair is near to perfect as last week that seemed like a big problem. This time I want to use a black background with bright lights in the background. I have this booked for Monday, hopefully. Over the weekend I plan on looking at further music videos on YouTube. 

Images of me filming

Above are a few images of me filming outside at location and inside in the studio. You can see I have made use of equipment as well as the costumes I intended to use. 

Production Log: Ancillary Tasks Makeover

Over the weekend I thought it through as I only have just over 2 weeks to hand in my draft but completed music video and the magazine advert and digipak. I felt that I should get the digipak and magazine advert and that should not take too long or at least not as long as the music video. So I spent the weekend doing the magazine advert and digipak. I also received feedback from people about the two products so far and most people said that the images are amazing however the text looks out of place. Some said that even though the images are good the model looks too small and is not noticed. After taking in this critical feedback I decided to change the whole thing completely. I did regret not being able to use the pictures however I thought I will be able to use atleast one of the pictures (portrait/landscape) elsewhere. With the feedback given I used a close up image of my model. Unfortunately I did not take many close-up images and the ones that I have have some fault or the other. I had taken quite a bit of full shots and I used 4 images for the landscape. I am now happy with what I have done and can say it looks professional. Now all I need to do is look for a good font as when received feedback today about what I have done so far, I was told that the font I have used at the moment looks too bold and doesn't suit the genre and style of the song and album name.