P5 Post-production Techniques

Edit 1:

Creating a new event

Creating a new project

The first step in my post production process was to create a new event in final cut pro, I did this within the library I had already created called 'Getaway Green Music Video'. I then created a new project called 'edit 1'. I made sure the settings were correct, the brief states the video must be 1080p HD and 25fps. 

Importing footage

Once I created the project I imported all the footage from my desktop into final cut pro. I had already organised it all into folders so I knew which footage I was going to use and which was unusable.

Rough cut

Firstly, I inserted the audio of the song I am using for my music video. I then cropped it to be from start to finish. Then I inserted the footage at appropriate moments and roughly adjusted it to fit with the lyrics. It wasn't perfect at this stage but I created a rough basis for my edit. 

Speed adjustment

I then decided to speed up the first clip because I panned down when filming but when I added the footage on top of the music it was a bit slower than I wanted it to be and it didn't fit the length of the intro how I wanted it to. I didn't like any of the pre-set speeds on final cut pro so I set it to a custom 102% and it fits much better whilst still looking smooth. 

Creating diegetic sound

One idea I had was to add some diegetic sound to create interest instead of the whole video being the music. This is also something I noticed in some of the music videos I took inspiration from such as other All Time Low videos. I did this in the part of the bridge where the character is walking with the suitcase because I think the sound of the suitcase breaks up the song well and it gives more emphasis to the context of her leaving home. I also added it in the scene where she is putting a box in the bin because again it emphasises the fact she is throwing away her belongings representing her old life. 

Edit 2;

Adjusting shots

I duplicated my first edit and renamed it edit 2 so that I wouldn't lose any progress. The first change I made was I adjusted all the clips to be positioned how I wanted them to be and in some cases zoomed in slightly to add variety to the shot types, especially with the band scenes as I filmed them mostly from similar angles so I wanted to have more variation so that it is more interesting.

Colour changing

Next, I went through and adjusted the appearance of the footage. I found that especially when filming outside some of the footage came out brighter than I wanted it to be so I adjusted the exposure and saturation. For the scenes that are flashbacks I changed it to black and white, partly because the footage was very overexposed and I struggled to fix this but also as it separates the bits that are flashbacks from the bits in the present. I still had to adjust the exposure once it was in black and white but it looked much better than before. I had difficulty with the shots I filmed on the moor because they were the most over exposed, I tried to use colour to fix it but eventually after a lot of adjusting the saturation and exposure I got it to a point that looks much better. 

Sharpening

Some of my footage was slightly blurry, initially I tried to fix this using the saturation and exposure but it still didn't quite look how I wanted it to. I then found in the effects there is a 'sharpen' effect, I applied this to the clips that were slightly blurry and adjusted it to the necessary level. After doing this the footage is definitely much clearer and fits better with the rest of the video.  

Edit 3:

Redoing music

After watching back my second edit and receiving feedback from my teacher I made some adjustments. I was given feedback to adjust the diegetic sound in the suitcase scene so I redid the music, I had messed around with fading in and out but it was difficult to improve it so I decided it was best to start from scratch. I think it sounds much smoother now. I was also given feedback to sync up some of the performance elements better so I readjusted some of the clips to fit better with the music so that it looks more like the singer is singing the correct words. In addition I readjusted some of the clips I had previously sharpened  because I think I overdid it slightly in some scenes so I tuned it down a bit to look more natural. I incorporated an extra shot of the band members messing around over the top of the end sequence due to feedback from my teacher, I feel this adds more variety as before it was quite a long shot of the same thing. I was also given feedback to possibly retime some of the shots but I wasn't able to do this due to the footage not being long enough. 

Adding text

I then added some text into my video. I downloaded a font from dafont.com which was free for use. I added some text for lyrics that I feel are important, a lot of the time this was the title of the song. Initially I added quite a lot of text but I decided to remove some of it at the end as I felt it was a bit too busy. 

Colour wheels

The last finishing touch I made was I made the clips into one video and added a colour effect so I could adjust the whole colour of the video so it all flows together well. I experimented with some different effects but in the end I chose quite a warm one so the video has a comforting feel. I used a typical style of colour adjustment where the highlights are slightly warmer whereas the shadows are cooler, this gives a similar effect to many films which makes sense because the narrative of my video can appear like a film. 

Final high quality master version

Final compressed version

   

I exported 2 final versions of my video, as is asked for in the brief. The first version was a high quality full master file and the second was a compressed mp4 which is more suitable for web distribution because it is a smaller file size so it will take less time to load.

Editing

P4 Logging Rushes

Shoot 1 (13/12/21)

I transferred all my footage from the first shoot from the SD card into a folder on my desktop. I then watched each video and organised it into 2 folders: useable and not useable. My main issue was some of the shots weren't well focused. In addition some of my shots were too warm in lighting. Overall at least one of my two shots for each scene are useable so I have enough footage to use. 

Shoot 2 (14/12/21)

Once again I looked through all the footage from my second shoot and assessed which shots are useable and which aren't. I didn't have any issues with lighting for this shoot due to using the same location all the way through but some of my shots are slightly blurry so I won't be able to use them. For the most part I filmed quite long shots so in some cases not all of it is useable but there is more than enough to include in my video. 

Shoot 3 (05/01/22)

For this shoot my main issue was with the lighting because I filmed outside and even when adjusting the white balance I found it quite difficult to make the lighting how I wanted it to look. I also had some issues with parts of the footage being blurry. Overall I have at least one shot for each scene that I can use and in post production I will try to adjust the appearance to be closer to the lighting I was hoping for. 

I have organised my rushes into separate folders for each shoot so that I can easily find the right footage.

Unused rushes:

Assets table:

I have created an assets table to keep record of any assets I used that I did not create so it is clear it doesn't belong to me but I am legally allowed to use it.

M1 - Justification, Marketing and Distribution

 

 

P4 Filming Diary

 Shoot 1 (13/12/21):

This shoot only involved the main character, played by Amy. For the first part of the shoot we filmed in my sister's bedroom. As she is the main character in my video she gave me permission to use this location. Before filming we ensured the floor was clear so there wouldn't be any obstructions to the tripod. I set up the tripod on the second highest level in order to get an eye level shot of the main character sat on the bed. In terms of lighting I didn't have any professional lighting so I closed the curtains to avoid natural light and used the light in the room which worked well and gave an authentic look to the idea of being at home. The camera I used was a Nikon D3400 DSLR. Before filming I charged the battery to ensure it would last throughout the shoot. I used a 16GB SD card which I will use throughout filming to keep all of my footage together. To set up the camera I first tested the white balance using a piece of paper and decided that the automatic setting worked best. I also used automatic focus. I made sure the camera was set to 25 FPS and shutter speed 1/50 so the video will look as good as possible. I set the camera to ISO setting 200. 

I filmed each shot twice in case one of them was not useable. At the start of filming I forgot some scenes needed to be filmed in a different bedroom so some shots won't be able to be used however I did refilm those shots in another room later. In the opening scene I filmed at a high angle and slowly panned down to eye level as this is what I planned in my storyboard. Most of the shots I filmed were in the set up in the picture but I also did some insert shots where the camera was angled down. We also filmed in the bathroom which was a bit tight as I set the tripod to the highest level but it resulted in the shots I was aiming for. Throughout filming I had a list of what shots I needed and I ticked them off as we went along so I wouldn't miss any.

We then moved to my other sister's bedroom, who I also got permission from to film in, to film the scenes towards the end of my video. My video is about a girl moving away from home so I need a different location to give the impression she has moved. Once again I set up the tripod on the second level to get an eye level shot. I then filmed a shot of the character putting up photos on the wall and for this I moved the tripod up to the top level and angled it upwards. The lighting was slightly warmer in this room so I tried to fix the white balance and put it on incandescent, I found that auto was better however some of my footage is warmer than I was hoping for so I may have to fix it in post production. 

Lastly, I moved the camera downstairs and set up the tripod on the highest level. I then angled it upwards and filmed some shots of her walking up and down stairs. I didn't have much issue with lighting for this part as it was dark outside so no natural light was coming in. Also the indoor lighting works for the shot because it's set in a house so it makes sense. I filmed these shots quite a few times due to the fact I wasn't sure how long they would need to be to fit into the song so I may need a slightly slower or fast pace.

Shoot 2 (14/12/21):

My next shoot took place at school in a music classroom. I filmed with 3 of my friends who are playing the band. Initially we had a bit of a problem with the background setting because we were given a music room to film in but it wasn't quite what I had in mind as I planned to have a plain black background and experiment with different lighting. In the end I found a position that I think looks good despite it not matching my plan. The setting being a classroom could make sense as the characters in my video are around the age they would have just finished school so it makes sense for the band to also be of that age. We set up the instruments in the formation I had planned. For most of the shoot I put the tripod on the highest setting but for some scenes it needed to be slightly lower so I adjusted it as we went along. The natural lighting in the room worked quite well so I used the auto white balance setting. Once again I tested this using a white piece of paper and it looked accurate. 

The performance aspect of my video involves 3 different outfits. For each one I filmed the same shots so that I will have a choice when it comes to editing. I first filmed a wide shot of the whole band and then one slightly closer. Then I filmed 2-3 shots of each band member from different angles and shots. I tried to get the length of the full song for each shot as a contingency in case I decide to add in extra shots which weren't planned for that specific part of the song. 

I also filmed some extra shots in-between the main shots. I may add some of these into my video just to show the band having fun because ultimately my music video is for the purpose of entertainment so people may enjoy seeing this as oppose to the band being serious. It was quite hard to film in focus because the band moved around quite a lot but overall I think a majority of the footage is useable.

Shoot 3 (05/01/22):

My final shoot took place on the moor, outside my house and on the field. We first filmed on the moor.

I took a picnic blanket with me so that I could put the tripod down without getting it wet. I was worried about what the weather would be like as it had rained quite a lot previously but luckily the day we filmed was a clear day. I then set up the camera and I had to experiment quite a lot with the white balance as the sky was appearing white on camera despite being clear in person. Eventually, I chose to set it to auto. The footage doesn't look exactly how I wanted it to but hopefully I can fix this in post production. For this section of the shoot I filmed Amy walking up the hill from a few different angles and positions. As we got higher up we found a bench which I hadn't previously noticed, this was very beneficial as I had planned to have a shot where she is looking out over the valley sat on the floor but this meant she could sit on the bench which made it easier for me to get a good shot. We saw a few people walking around the area but I made sure not to get anyone in the shot as I don't have their permission to be included.

We then went home to film outside my house. Initially I had planned to film this section when I filmed the scenes inside the house but it was dark by the time I had started filming that day. I had to get my mum's help for this scene as Amy can't drive so we used my mums car and she drove off the drive but you can't see her in the footage. In general the lighting for this part of the shoot was much better and the footage looked much better. I filmed the shots of the car on the second height of the tripod. Then for the remaining shots I used the tallest height as I wanted a higher angle for shots such as putting the box in the bin. Luckily the bin was empty so she could put it in and then rescue it. 

Lastly, we went over to the field with Annie. There was already a goal in the middle of the field so we set up nearby it. I put the tripod on the highest level as I was quite far away from them. I asked my two actors to kick the football about and try scoring a few goals. I filmed most of the time just so I have enough footage to cover what I need. I had a similar issue to earlier with the camera being overexposed and I struggled to fix it, I think in post production I am going to put the parts that are flashbacks into black and white so the overexposure is less obvious. I also wish in hind sight that I had filmed from a few more angles so I could have more variety. Finally, we went over to the playground and I set up for the shot of Amy opening the gate, this was difficult initially because the ground is a sort of pebbled path which meant the tripod couldn't stand on it. Eventually I decided I would have to hold the camera and try keep it steady. Then we went into the park and I filmed them on the swings, again I filmed quite a lot so I will have enough when it comes to editing. The overexposure was less of an issue for this section as there are trees behind but I do think putting it in black and white will look better.

P3 Consent Forms

I have gained permission from each person who will be involved in my shoot. For those under 18 I also have their parents permission. In addition I asked for permission when filming in locations that belong to someone else: I gained permission from my mum to film in the house and from both my sisters to use their bedrooms; I emailed a teacher to ask for permission to use their classroom and the school's music equipment.

Gaining permission to use a classroom and school equipment.

P3 Risk Assessment

 

I have carried out a risk assessment in order to ensure the safety of the cast and crew when filming. Before I start shooting I need to be aware of the potential risks so that I can prevent them and avoid any problems during my shoots. This is especially important when filming in public as there could be further risks to the general public which I must consider. 

P3 Callsheets

 

 

I have created a call sheet for each individual shoot which I will carry out. This is so that both me and the cast members know where they need to be and when, it will also help me as the director and videographer to know what I need to film in each individual location and shot.