When I was in second year photography the song that I chose for this unit - Rise up by Thomas Jack, was potentially one of the songs I was gonna use for my photography exam, however I did not. This is what inspired me to use this song for this unit. Although both my ideas from what it is now to what it was are very different, I think it shows development of what I have learnt in this HNC.
After planning and doing a focus group my final idea came into place and I couldn't wait to get recording. My initial ideas for the song was smoke and people in a relationship being all happy but then my final ideas came into place that I was not going to record a couple, but have Sam (protagonist) chasing after a girl to be in a relationship with them. I decided this because I knew I could create a good narrative with enigma codes to keep my audience intrigued to know what will happen at the end of the song.
Once I had finished my initial planning I had a meeting with my friend Sam about if he was comfortable doing all this stuff that I had planned for the video and then also when we could record and what days we were all free together. Luckily we got 2 days or 3 days if we needed it for filler footage, of recording planned.
I believe that my research during this unit was better improved from the last units as I knew what I needed and did not do in the last units so I did it all this time. As I wanted to use a song I had previously thought about using before, I already had analysis of the lyrics which may have given me an advantage however, after my focus group I found that I was looking more into the lyrics then being too literal about it all.
As my song is a hybrid I decided to watch many music videos of all the genres that are within this song. This helped me visualise ideas for the different parts of the song. By this I mean that throughout the song the tempo changes, as there are slow paced parts and fast paced parts of the song. However, I think that watching too many videos gave me too many ideas and I wanted to cram it all into the video but when it came to the editing I found that it would be impossible to add it all in, but not just when I was editing, but when I was filming too.
One thing I could've mostly improved on whilst researching everything for my music video would be timing. I think this because I found that I didn't do any further research into the weather (although it didn't really affect my video) and how to shoot some of the shots. I should've also researched into using a steadicam for the moving parts of the song although parts of me loves the hand held camera and the real feeling to the feeling.
As the song is called 'Rise up' and nearer the chorus some lyrics go 'rise up like smoke' and from these lyrics and my initial ideas I decided that I would have the first and last shot the exact same. However, Sam will be in different locations and smoking (vaping as it creates more smoke). This shows that Sam has been going round in circles and rising up all the levels to get his girl but at the end where he thought they were meeting, she wasn't there. So where were they meeting? Is she even real? It is open for interpretation depending on how you have read the music video. I also thought about the lyrics of the song 'Rise up' and thought I could have Sam on different levels trying to connect with this girl but keep having to rise up stairs, elevators, ramps etc... to try and keep up with her. The reason I did this was because I wanted some of my song to connect with the lyrics but as I was editing to the song it still had to make sense throughout the video for the narrative to work.
I had one massive music video influence with what I was recording and that was Radiohead(s) music video for their song 'Daydreaming'. The repetitiveness is what I wanted to occur in my video, however I wanted more enigma codes going on in my video. I also decided that I should add in more shot types and angles.
I decided to have continuity in my video with the song lyrics connecting to what is happening in the video because I want the audience to know what is going on but there still being the enigma codes on what his final goal is. Although we know there is a girl texting him, we don't know if she's real or why he wants to get wherever she is so bad.
In a part of my video continuity does not take place and it was completely unintentional. Between 0:30 and 0:41 the couple changes what they are doing from holding each others hands to hugging. Although their position is correct, the male standing in the same place in all shots and the same for the female
When editing my music video I decided to edit to the song and not to the lyrics as through the verses the beat is slower paced than the chorus. With this information I did a combination of fast paced and slow paced editing depending on what part of the song it was.
I believe that if you edit to the lyrics sometimes the video can become to literal and this is what I wanted to avoid for my narrative. When I was planning for this potential music video in my A levels, I broke all the lyrics down and I knew it would be too hard to record and put together.
I also found that I did not need all the footage I had recorded when I got nearer the end of the edit, but when I was only just starting to edit I was scared I did not have near enough the footage I needed! I thought this because of the way I decided to edit - fast and slow paced. However, at the end of my video the song is fast paced and my editing is slow paced and this is because towards the end of video he realises that she isn't there which makes him want to slow his pace down.
In contrast to the fast paced music, I decided to slow down the editing to portray the gradual realisation that the mystery girl is not at the desired location.
Recording went really well as we only needed 2 out of the 3 days we planned for. Within the 2 days we were Nuneaton and Coventry for at least 4 hours recording and scouting out where we could record. I even managed to have some couples (my friends) in the recordings which is what I thought I wouldn't be able to do due to availability on the days we planned to originally record. I overcame this issue by changing the Friday recording day to Thursday when the two couples were free and I am really happy that I didn't have to change so much of my concept.
When editing I also noticed that at 0:17 Sam is not in focus but the escalators are, at first I thought I might have to go re shoot this part of the video but then I adapted to the idea that Sam shouldn't always be in focus as it is about him and his journey. And, to Sam the journey is the most important thing to get to his one true love. I also like how the escalator is in focus as its going up, or as the song goes the escalators rise up like smoke.
During the editing it also took me longer to get the correct positions of Sam. For example, what I mean by this is; when he is looking at the couples whilst walking past them or when he was taking off his jacket nearer the end of the video. If he was looking at the when I cut the last shot he had to be looking at the at the start of the next shot, again showing continuity.
If I were to do this project again I would most like to improve is where I shot some of footage, this is because I feel like the exposure, based on the ISO, is a bit grainy. This is due to me not taking my camera out with me on location scouts. If I were to take my camera with me whilst I was scouting out locations to see how it looked on camera I could've decided if I needed an extra light source, for example, a portable LED light. Although with some of the shots I took the LED light may of been an issue unless I were to place it in a secret place.
Another thing I would've like to improve is the continuity during my video, I know that in music videos continuity isn't needed however I feel like it makes the video feel more real. What I mean by this is that some music videos tell a story and have a narrative, which mine does, however unless you are looking at every detail, you don't really notice it.
I am very pleased with how my final production came out and to be honest it is better then I thought it could be. I also like how I kept the sound of the wind in on the last shot of the video. I did this because the song music went quiet and I thought that the effect of the wind hitting the camera microphone would add the effect of reality. The reality you don't get everything you want.
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