Evaluation

Revisiting my action plan and timescale

I think that I managed to stick to my plan, in fact, I found that I was ahead of schedule with regards to editing because I would often finish filming and add the footage on to the final edit afterwards. I found this useful overall because it allowed me to spend the two weeks I was going to spend editing just adding finishing touches to the final edit such as effects and transitions because I already had a finalised structure of footage.

Evaluation

I made the decision to create a music video for my FMP because the music video was a form of media that I was fascinated by and also, I knew that it would be challenging for me as I hadn’t touched upon the form so far on my course so I would have to learn about the form independently. 

From this initial idea of a music video, as part of my pitch, I conducted a survey to my fellow peers about what they would expect to see in a music video. I felt that this was beneficial to my project because it helped me understand a few of the key things that I had to include in my music video, which included use of cinematography & sound and a good storyline. This was a good thing for me to do for my project because it would encourage me to create a structure for my music video, based upon what features my audience expect to see in the video. In future projects, I may conduct audience surveys because it enables me to know what my target audience wants to see in the project. In addition to the survey, I used my pitch to show my audience what research I plan to conduct and what I plan to do in each stage of the project. Planning out the entire process was a good thing for me to do for this project, and maybe for future projects, because it gave me an idea for what I would have to look at for my research and it helped to discipline me to say that I would only have certain amounts of time for each task e.g. I would only have 3 weeks to film my music video and a week to complete all the pre-production documents.

Alongside this research channel, I conducted three other channels of research, including books and websites including YouTube, where I looked at five known music videos and a tutorial. I thought it would be useful to do a lot of my research digitally because the internet can give me access to the majority of music videos and it can give me information about them. The advantage of using YouTube as my main research platform was that it is the largest video platform in the world, hence the reason why artists put their music videos on there to promote their music. Also, I was able to watch tutorials on how other people made music videos and take inspiration from them. Finally, I heavily researched into target audiences for music videos, which benefitted me quite a lot because it helped me to decide that I should create a music video for a piece of pop music. From this, I decided that, as it's a pop video, it should be fast-paced. I decided on this genre of music because my target audience is young people under 35 and this is a favoured genre of music amongst this demographic. This was a good thing for me to do for my project because it gave me inspiration for what to put in my own music video and in addition to this and what sort of content should feature because of the target audience. 

After deciding on a genre of music and a song, I felt that this gave me a bit more direction because from this stage, I was able to begin the creative process by creating a storyline and writing a script. When I chose the song and created the story for my music video, I considered my target audience of young people by making sure the video was fast-paced and that I chose a fast-paced song. In a lot of the music videos I researched, there was a relationship between the lyrics of the song and what the audience sees on-screen and this was something I was keen to do in my own music video so when it came to storyboarding the music video after completing the script, I tried to make the visuals as similar as possible to each lyric. After deciding on locations for each shoot, I completed location recces and risk assessments to ensure the safety of my cast and crew. After completing my storyboard, location recces and risk assessments, this gave me a strong sense of direction because from here, I knew what I had to do for each shot. This was a good thing to do for my project because it enabled me to plan ahead for all of my shoots so I knew what I was doing for each and I was able to develop a structure for my whole practical piece.

After I finished all my pre-production documents, I was ready to start filming but then a cast problem arose where one cast member pulled out of filming, just 24 hours before I was due to start filming. Luckily, I was able to rectify this issue quickly by employing someone else for this role. From this issue, I have learnt for future projects that I should always have a backup plan for whenever something goes wrong in a shoot. I filmed my entire music video over the course of three weeks. For the first two weeks, I completed one location shoot each week and a few shots in the studio and then, in the final week, I completed filming in the studio. In the first week, I completed the first location shoot, filming the first minute of the video. This shoot was successful because there was no problems with how any of the shots were filmed. However, there was one issue that arose in this location shoot was the presence of the public. This issue was rectified by making sure each shot was framed so the public weren’t seen. Then, I completed 4 shots in the studio. This shoot was successful because there was no technical issues and each shot turned out exactly as I imagined. In the second week, I completed the final location shoot and a few more shots in the studio. A similar issue arose during this shoot where members of the public were present at the location for our shoot. This issue was rectified by filming on the other side of the Quay where there was no member of the public present. A second issue that arose in this shoot was using the stedicam, which was a piece of equipment I was inexperienced in using. I can rectify this issue in future projects by practicing using the stedicam to develop my skills in using it. In the third week, I completed the remainder of filming in the studio. One issue with this shoot was the large quantity of people I was working with, which was at times difficult to direct but overall, the shoot was successful as I managed to frame each shot as I had drawn it. Throughout the three weeks I spent filming, in some cases, I took suggestions from cast and crew, which encouraged me to rearrange the shot in ways such as arranging cast or altering camera angles in a different way. 

Secondly, at the end of each shoot, I put all the footage into the edit so that I was able to have a “basic structure” for my final edit, which then enabled me to spend the two weeks I had set aside for editing just making any adjustments that I needed to make such as adding effects. I felt that this was a good way of managing my time so therefore it is a technique I will use in future projects. Another good technique which helped me record my progress during this project has been to keep a production diary of what I have done in each week of production because it has allowed me to create a constructive evaluation for my project.

After wrapping filming and creating a basic structure for the final edit of my music video on Adobe Premiere Pro, I reached a stage where I just had to add final tweaks to my project such as effects and transitions. The main effect that I used was “Lumetri Colour”, which allowed me to alter the colour in lots of different shots in different ways, such as making the colours appear more vibrant or darker. In a lot of the chorus scenes featuring the four main characters, I used the “Crop” and “Scale” tool to zoom in on two faces, which allowed me to add more shots because in a lot of the music videos I researched for fast-paced songs, they included a lot of short, quick shots so every time the beat of the music changes, I tried to go to another shot. Elsewhere, in two sections towards the end of my music video, I noticed that green screen had leaked into shot where it was not wanted so therefore, I learned how to use the “Ultra key” effect, which allowed me to black out the green screen so that it looks as if it is part of the black curtain. Finally, I added the Vevo watermark in the bottom right corner of my music video because in a lot of the music videos I researched, the watermark features very discreetly in the bottom right corner. A lot of the skills I used in editing, including using the "Ultra Key" effect to black out the green screen, were new things that I learnt during this project and are definitely skills I will use in future projects as I am now more confident to use the green screen.

In consolidation, I am very happy with the final product because I was able to create a music video, which was appropriate to the genre of music I chose and inspired by the different music videos I researched. From this whole experience, I have learnt that planning each stage of production has been effective for me because I have been able to know what I am doing in each week of production and to manage my time well and therefore, I will make sure I do both of these things in future projects.