Prelim Edit

Audition Video

Personal Achievement

For our A2 Prelim we are remaking the music video Girls by The 1975:

  What do you personally want to get out of the whole A2 prelim experience?

I hope to learn about how a professional set works on the day of the shoot, as well as how the team work alone and with one another. I also want to network, and learn from the members of the crew. Also, I would like to gain more confidence and experience performing in front of a camera, especially on a larger set, as well as seeing how a music video set works compared to a film set. I also want to gain experience and skills that I can then transfer to our own music video shoot, such as lip synching skills.

Is it a challenge for you or within your comfort zone?

This is mostly in my comfort zone as I have performed in front of the camera before, however I still find it slightly intimidating.

Have you achieved/learnt anything so far?

So far I have learnt how to successfully and convincingly lip synch, and have learnt performance skills from our performance session.

My Role

Describe your role, how you feel about it.

I am 'Boot Girl', and I am happy with my role as it is fun, with lip synching, but is not too pressuring as it is not a lead.

What does the role actually consist of?

I have to lip synch, pose and wave - as we don't have a car, we are going to use a motorbike instead.

Is this a challenge for you, or something within your comfort zone?

This is mostly in my comfort zone, as I have performed in front of the camera before, and I am confident enough to lip synch. However, I do still get embarrassed in front of the camera sometimes.

My Costume

Describe or list the specific costume/look you are aiming for?

My costume is a black lacy dress and black heels, with pink lipstick.

Do you have the items you need or are you planning to beg/borrow? Is there anything that may need to be bought?

I have black heels, but I don't own a black lacy dress, so I have to borrow a dress.

Evaluation - 1) Did You Enjoy The Workshop Day? What Were Your Best Bits And Why?

I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop day, as it was a lot of fun to work on the set of the shoot, as well as see how the crew worked together. Dom worked well with everyone and created a relaxed atmosphere, so the shoot went much more smoothly and helped everyone to be less nervous so they performed at their best. I also enjoyed seeing how the make-up department worked, and what was required for the best outcome on camera. It was also interesting to help making the set, as I learnt how to use what was available to overcome any problems and make the set look as true to the original as possible.

For example, this is the recreation of the poolside scene, which I think we replicated quite well, and our set was close to the set from the actual video:

The best bit for me was helping out on set - for example doing the clapper board, or helping add markers for performers (as shown in the image above). It was interesting to get to be a part of the production that wasn't performance. It was also fun to see everyone in costume and performing.

It was also good to have the footage on a larger screen, so we could see each other perform and encourage the actors, as well as ensuring that any problems could be quickly seen and fixed, as more than one person was watching the footage.

Evaluation - 2) What Have You Learnt From Participating In Each Of The Prelim Tasks?

Audition: From the audition part of the prelim I have learnt how to lip sync convincingly and confidently to a song; this skill was then transferred to the actual shoot day, as my part required lip syncing. I also learnt how to edit a lip sync to music.

Learning And Practicing My Performance: On the workshops days, I learnt how to enunciate my words so they were more visible on camera, as well as how to act specifically as my character, which meant my performance on the day was hopefully much better.

Costume: When organising my costume, I learnt that it is essential to get a costume that the actor can feel confident in, as this will ensure they will give their best performance as they are more comfortable on set. I also found that it is useful to get more than one option for costumes so there are more options to pick from, so the actor can look the best that they can for the shoot. For our shoot, we all brought in costumes for both ourselves and others, to ensure we got costumes that were close to the original costumes.

Shoot: During the shoot I learnt a lot; firstly I learnt about how a crew works together to be efficient during the shoot. I also learnt that time keeping is essential - for example we finished with time to spare at the end of the shoot as we kept to schedule and moved shots around where appropriate.

I also learnt that sometimes there are long periods of time during shoots where some actors are left waiting, whilst others are on set constantly; however, during this time I got to watch others perform and watch the playback, as well as see how the crew worked together.

Editing: When editing, I learnt how to sync the music with the lip syncing in the shots properly, as well as improved my grading skills, such as colour correction and procamp.

These are the settings I used for the yellow scenes of Kayvon - I had to make the shots more blue to balance out his skin tone into a more natural looking colour.

 I also learnt how to add in camera flashes to the shots using brightness and contrast, and key frames.

Evaluation - 3) Are You Pleased With The Footage And Your Edit? Is It How You Expected It To Look?

I am pleased with the footage - we were able to successfully replicate most of the shots, and compromised where it wasn't possible for us to completely replicate the original video (for example having a bike instead of a car). I also think everyone looks good, and all performed their parts well - having Tasha on set to coach the actors really enhanced the performances. For example, the girl band all replicated the original video well, and their costumes suited them. The lighting for the shot was also almost exact to the original, although slightly darker, so I had to lighten most of the shots when editing.

I am also pleased with my edit, as I think I graded it reasonably well and I also think I chose shots that were fitting with the original video - although some shots were not the same as the original so obviously I had to compromise. However, overall I am pleased with my edit and how the footage turned out. For example, I am pleased with how I colour corrected the yellow pool scenes, as our lead, Kayvon, was too orange compared to the background. However, I did have to compromise when colour correcting, as to make Kayvon less orange I had to increase the blue in the shot, causing the background to become more green. I had to find a balance between the two to get the best look possible.

However, I think that having the original video in the bottom right corner was inconvenient, as it hides a large amount of action, such as Abi and Vivian in the car set up.

Evaluation - 4) How Do You Think Your Prelim Experiences Will Impact On Your Approach To Next Term's Music Video Coursework?

Next term, I will use a range of skills from this prelim task to produce the best possible work:

• Lip Syncing - this skill is extremely useful, as it helps create a more convincing video as the performers will genuinely look like they are singing the song if they are properly lip syncing to the music, therefore making the music video better.
  
• Costume Organisation - I have found that having more than one option is a good idea, as it means any mishaps can most likely be fixed, and the best possible costume can be picked from a selection, as well as finding a costume that the performer is comfortable in.
• Shoot Organisation - the day of the shoot was planned so each shot was allocated a set time frame in which to be filmed, with time at the end to re-shoot any scenes where necessary. I think this is probably the best way to organise a shoot, as it means we didn't get stuck on one particular shot, and therefore finished slightly early, yet it also compensates for any problems or need for retakes as there is time at the end. When planning the shoot for my own music video, I think this is the most efficient method to use.
• Performing - I also learnt how to be more confident in front of the camera during the shoot, as being on the professional set helped me to get into 'character' quickly, as I knew there was a set schedule to stick to. This distracted me from nerves so I could perform as best as I could.
• Editing A Music Video - I also gained knowledge on how to edit for a music video, rather than a film opening. For example, having to edit both a performance bed and a loose narrative - like the pool scenes and the boy band performing on the white set, to name one example. I had to make sure that the narrative still made sense when broken up by a performance shot.
  
   I also learnt how to edit to time, like the four cigarettes being in time with the lyrics of the song.
  
  I can use this for my own video, as I now know more about what is required for a music video, as when editing the original video was broken down into individual shots, so I was able see the structure more clearly.
• Make-Up - I also learnt that make-up for music videos is different to everyday make-up, as it needs to be more visible so it shows up on the camera. For example, more foundation is used to make the performer's skin more smooth and flawless. I can transfer this knowledge to my own music video as when we do our own shoots we can make sure the make-up is to the same standard. I also learnt that it is useful to test the make-up before the shoot day so it can be quickly done and not an added stress.
  
• Props - I also learnt that props should be organised far in advance, so any problems can be fixed before the actual shoot day. I also think it was useful for actors to practice interacting with them before the shoot so they know what to do straight away - for example, I worked out positions on the bike with Tasha and Jasmine during rehearsals, so I could quickly organise myself for the shot on the day of the shoot.