I was able to film some scenes and be the actress in the music video. There was no other girl that could play the part, and Darwin and I asked our friend Juan, to play the boyfriend. I needed pictures of Juan and I together in order to have me scrolling through pictures in the first scene. Once we finished with that, I was recorded from an over-the-shoulder shot, with the TV on to add more detail. I used eye drops to make it seem like I was crying in the second scene. There were many takes for both of these scenes, probably 12 in total. The next easiest scene was of me in the kitchen cutting some type of vegetable to make it seem like I was cooking. I prepared by taking out a cutting board and choosing a knife. I had nothing in my fridge for food, so I took the next best thing which was a pepper. When filming, the camera was at a high angle looking down on me.
Now we had to shoot two scenes in a room, because it was supposed to be at night and the couple would be asleep. To make it believable, I had to close the curtains (which shut-out light) to make it "night-time." I got under the comforter, and pretended to sob while Juan laid next to me. We had to have our backs facing each other, because that is what depicts the mood of the clip. I kept laughing while recording this scene, but it worked out because it looked like I was crying. After filming mostly in the house, Darwin, Juan, and I took the setting outside, across the street from my house. We needed a different house to distinguish that the boyfriend is not in the same location. I asked my neighbor in advanced if we can use his house as our setting. For the scene of the boyfriend backing out in a car, I asked my mom if we could borrow her new car.
It was my turn to be behind the camera, and my plan for these next scenes were very detailed. I recorded Juan and my friend, Emily, walking out of my neighbor's house together. Once I was done with that, I filmed Juan in the car looking at bouquet of flowers in the passenger seat. This took a couple of takes because the car is an awkward size to be able to record his face and pan down to the flowers. Darwin had to take Juan's place for the next scene, because it involved him driving. I got in the backseat of the SUV and shot a couple of takes of Darwin driving the car. I had to go back to being the girlfriend in the next few scenes. One clip was of Juan and I eating together for dinner. Darwin filmed me bringing food to the table and sitting down.
Lastly, Darwin filmed Juan arriving at my house; his role was to play the boyfriend and have him bring flowers to his girlfriend (which is me). My part was to open the door, realize he brought me flowers, and kiss him on the cheek as a way of saying thank you. This scene painfully had a lot of takes in order to get the right one. The last take is the clip we will end up using because it went smoother.
Monday, November 25, 2019
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Storyboard
Costumes: The characters in the music video will be wearing both a formal and informal clothing throughout the video. Since the girlfriend is cooking up dinner at home for a mini-date, they will need to wear formal clothing. However in other scenes before and after the date, they will be wearing regular informal clothing.
Lighting: We will be mostly using natural lighting in our film. Whenever we are outside we will be using the natural lighting, as well as when we are in the kitchen, since there are a lot of windows for natural lighting. We will use the ceiling lights in the room to dim the lights during the dinner and sleeping scene, along with some candles to light them too.
Acting: In the beginning, the girlfriend already knows about her man cheating, so she is in a sad mood from the start. The man however, is in an elated and energetic mood after leaving the side chick's house and coming home to his girlfriend. At night in the bedroom, the characters will have to pretend to be asleep.
Makeup: The girlfriend and the side chick will both be wearing makeup. They are both at home so there isn't anything that special. So they will be wearing simple makeup, especially the girlfriend for their dinner.
Props: Actors in the music video will be holding multiple things, such as the girlfriend using a phone to scroll through old pictures. Flowers will be needed for the the boyfriend to give to his girlfriend; to cover the fact that he is cheating on her. The girlfriend will be making dinner, so she needs kitchen supplies to prepare the food (cutting board, knife, pan, ingredients). She will also need two plates full of food in order for her to bring it to her boyfriend and have a dinner. Candles will be lit at the dinner table.
Setting: There will be two or three settings in the music video. In these settings, it will involve houses, and rooms inside of one. There needs to be scenes of the mistress' house and the boyfriend leaving it. The rest of the video will be shot in the girlfriend's house: in the living room, front door, kitchen, and bedroom.
Camera angles, movements, and shots: All the angels will be filmed differently in some scenes. The scene where the boyfriend is in the car will be a low angle and where the girlfriend in cooking in the kitchen will be shot at a high angle. Most common movements that will be used is panning and tracking shots. For example when the boyfriend is leaving the mistress' house. Over the shoulder shot of the boyfriend driving out of his mistress' driveway. Lastly, in the second to last scene, we plan on using a aerial shot of the bed, to show that the couple is "sleeping." Medium shot of the boyfriend in bed.
Editing: There will crosscuts where the girlfriend is cooking while her boyfriend is on the way home. Also we incorporated a cutaway into the flowers in the car, to the next scene of the boyfriend gifting his girlfriend the flowers when he gets home. Another cutaway used was at dinner, where the girlfriend is bringing the food and you can see the boyfriend using his phone. Next scene will be of the phone getting a lot of notifications.
Sounds: Since this is a music video, the sound we will be using all throughout the film is the song. The song we are using is "I'm Not The Only One" by Sam Smith. We also might use small sound effects in the video like a car starting or knife chopping.
Lighting: We will be mostly using natural lighting in our film. Whenever we are outside we will be using the natural lighting, as well as when we are in the kitchen, since there are a lot of windows for natural lighting. We will use the ceiling lights in the room to dim the lights during the dinner and sleeping scene, along with some candles to light them too.
Acting: In the beginning, the girlfriend already knows about her man cheating, so she is in a sad mood from the start. The man however, is in an elated and energetic mood after leaving the side chick's house and coming home to his girlfriend. At night in the bedroom, the characters will have to pretend to be asleep.
Makeup: The girlfriend and the side chick will both be wearing makeup. They are both at home so there isn't anything that special. So they will be wearing simple makeup, especially the girlfriend for their dinner.
Props: Actors in the music video will be holding multiple things, such as the girlfriend using a phone to scroll through old pictures. Flowers will be needed for the the boyfriend to give to his girlfriend; to cover the fact that he is cheating on her. The girlfriend will be making dinner, so she needs kitchen supplies to prepare the food (cutting board, knife, pan, ingredients). She will also need two plates full of food in order for her to bring it to her boyfriend and have a dinner. Candles will be lit at the dinner table.
Setting: There will be two or three settings in the music video. In these settings, it will involve houses, and rooms inside of one. There needs to be scenes of the mistress' house and the boyfriend leaving it. The rest of the video will be shot in the girlfriend's house: in the living room, front door, kitchen, and bedroom.
Camera angles, movements, and shots: All the angels will be filmed differently in some scenes. The scene where the boyfriend is in the car will be a low angle and where the girlfriend in cooking in the kitchen will be shot at a high angle. Most common movements that will be used is panning and tracking shots. For example when the boyfriend is leaving the mistress' house. Over the shoulder shot of the boyfriend driving out of his mistress' driveway. Lastly, in the second to last scene, we plan on using a aerial shot of the bed, to show that the couple is "sleeping." Medium shot of the boyfriend in bed.
Editing: There will crosscuts where the girlfriend is cooking while her boyfriend is on the way home. Also we incorporated a cutaway into the flowers in the car, to the next scene of the boyfriend gifting his girlfriend the flowers when he gets home. Another cutaway used was at dinner, where the girlfriend is bringing the food and you can see the boyfriend using his phone. Next scene will be of the phone getting a lot of notifications.
Sounds: Since this is a music video, the sound we will be using all throughout the film is the song. The song we are using is "I'm Not The Only One" by Sam Smith. We also might use small sound effects in the video like a car starting or knife chopping.
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Planning
1.) Location: In our project, we will be meeting at my house to discuss how we will shoot. Most of the shooting will be done there. We will decide whether or not we want to move locations for specific scenes if necessary. We plan to shoot mostly in her kitchen and dining room. As well as one of the bedrooms and the living room.
2.) Health and Safety: In one of our scenes, we plan for the woman in the relationship to make dinner for her family. Meaning that items in the scene can be prone to injure us. We will have band-aids nearby in case anybody gets accidentally cut. We will also have a phone available to call an ambulance in case anything gets really serious. Other safety measures we'll have is to be careful around the pool at my house. There also might be a scene near a fireplace, and we will have a fire extinguisher nearby in case anything gets out of hand.
3.) Props: Our props would have to match with the setting, and we plan on filming at my house, mostly in the kitchen. There needs to be a knife because the girlfriend is making food for her cheating boyfriend. Other kitchen supplies could work as well, like a cutting board or a pan. We also need our phones and a dinner table that is ready for food to be eaten upon. Other small details, such as plates and candles should be a nice touch for a homey feel. Some fake flowers are needed for the boyfriend, to give to his girlfriend when he gets home.
4.) Costumes: My partner and I just want to have a normal couple, who are basically in their freshman year of college, and high school sweethearts. Actors have to dress this age, and the girlfriend will be at home, so the costumes would be casual. Jeans and a comfy t-shirt, or maybe an outfit that is suitable for "date night." One of the scenes will be the girlfriend looking through her phone of old pictures with her boyfriend. There are no pictures of both actors together, so there will be a photoshoot with different outfits of the couple. Overall, the costumes would not give off an elegant vibe like how the original video for the song is.
5.) Schedule:
2.) Health and Safety: In one of our scenes, we plan for the woman in the relationship to make dinner for her family. Meaning that items in the scene can be prone to injure us. We will have band-aids nearby in case anybody gets accidentally cut. We will also have a phone available to call an ambulance in case anything gets really serious. Other safety measures we'll have is to be careful around the pool at my house. There also might be a scene near a fireplace, and we will have a fire extinguisher nearby in case anything gets out of hand.
3.) Props: Our props would have to match with the setting, and we plan on filming at my house, mostly in the kitchen. There needs to be a knife because the girlfriend is making food for her cheating boyfriend. Other kitchen supplies could work as well, like a cutting board or a pan. We also need our phones and a dinner table that is ready for food to be eaten upon. Other small details, such as plates and candles should be a nice touch for a homey feel. Some fake flowers are needed for the boyfriend, to give to his girlfriend when he gets home.
4.) Costumes: My partner and I just want to have a normal couple, who are basically in their freshman year of college, and high school sweethearts. Actors have to dress this age, and the girlfriend will be at home, so the costumes would be casual. Jeans and a comfy t-shirt, or maybe an outfit that is suitable for "date night." One of the scenes will be the girlfriend looking through her phone of old pictures with her boyfriend. There are no pictures of both actors together, so there will be a photoshoot with different outfits of the couple. Overall, the costumes would not give off an elegant vibe like how the original video for the song is.
5.) Schedule:
- 11/18: No class today, planning will begin the next class.
- 11/19: We begin planning our music video: figuring out the location, when the project is due, how much time we will have to film and edit, etc.
- 11/21: Writing storyboard and planning to film for the weekend. Blogs due at midnight.
- 11/22: Check out the camera to use for filming that weekend. We need to get it before everyone else because there is a limited amount. Photoshoot and maybe a couple scenes shot at a movie theater.
- 11/23: I invited another group to film their project at my house, so we will be filming there the entire day. Not every scene will be completed.
- 11/25: Media class starts that day (a two-day week at school). Darwin will bring his laptop in order to begin editing the footage that we have so far. (Has been dumped into the computer over the weekend) There is a filming blog due that night from what was recorded on 11/24.
- 11/26: After-school filming at my house.
- 11/27-30: (Thanksgiving break) Last-minute recording
- 12/2: Filming blog #2 due at midnight.
- 12/4: Last-minute editing
- 12/6: Project due in class
Friday, November 15, 2019
Presenting and Researching new project
My class is transitioning from our commercial project to a new one, which is a music video. I really liked the whole process of producing a way to present a favorite product, for example, thinking of a theme to follow and working with our mis en scene. However, my partner and I are moving into a more creative area for filming. We have to choose a song and create a whole new video that goes with it. We cannot copy an existing video, it is a completely new music video. It will be difficult to record with only two people as a group. This is because we plan on having more than one actor in the film.
Originally, we had three group members discussing song choices. The list started off with five songs, each a different genre. My friend suggested to add a Hip-Hop song, but I couldn't find ideas for the video. The rest of the songs were either pop, R&B, or alternative. We had a tough time when we shortened the list to 3 songs. That was a bad idea because each of us chose a different song. In the end, my friend Darwin and I had chosen a song.
The song we final decided on is "I'm not the Only One" by British singer, Sam Smith. It is a slow pop song with a depressing theme. It talks about someone's lover who figured out that they are being cheated on. In the music video, it is a wife who is having a mental breakdown while it flashes to her husband having an affair with a woman. There are variety of shots and angles, for example, hand-held shots, low, and eye-level angles. The sound at the beginning of the video is of dialogue between the couple before the guy leaves the house. Background noise is also added, birds chirping, rustling leaves from the wind, and a car engine. Scenes that have been edited were probably to fix lighting, besides that, there are no transitions, only cutting to different scenes that are happening at the same time. Mis en scene for this video is very simple for a broken love story:
1.) The actors in the music video are wearing nice, formal clothing. The wife is dressed with a white long beautiful dress, similar to wedding dress. Husband is wearing a tuxedo.
2.) Natural lighting is in most of the video. There are also studio lights from a high angle for when the artist is on stage performing the song. Blue and dark lighting establishes the setting of a club/bar.
3.) There are more than 2 actors in the music video. There is the original couple and the mistress that the husband is cheating with. The artist is seen as the entertainer in the club/bar, singing the song.
4.) When there are clips of the wife, she is seen crying, meaning her mascara is streaming down her face. However, both women are wearing makeup that you wear when you’re going out. (Glam/casual)
5.) Props in the video are things such as alcoholic drinks, a cigarette, and bottles of lighter fluid to light a fire.
6.) There are multiple settings found in the video. It starts at the house of the couple, and it switches to the bar, and the bathroom in the bar/club. The wife is even seen going to a local convenience store.
Originally, we had three group members discussing song choices. The list started off with five songs, each a different genre. My friend suggested to add a Hip-Hop song, but I couldn't find ideas for the video. The rest of the songs were either pop, R&B, or alternative. We had a tough time when we shortened the list to 3 songs. That was a bad idea because each of us chose a different song. In the end, my friend Darwin and I had chosen a song.
The song we final decided on is "I'm not the Only One" by British singer, Sam Smith. It is a slow pop song with a depressing theme. It talks about someone's lover who figured out that they are being cheated on. In the music video, it is a wife who is having a mental breakdown while it flashes to her husband having an affair with a woman. There are variety of shots and angles, for example, hand-held shots, low, and eye-level angles. The sound at the beginning of the video is of dialogue between the couple before the guy leaves the house. Background noise is also added, birds chirping, rustling leaves from the wind, and a car engine. Scenes that have been edited were probably to fix lighting, besides that, there are no transitions, only cutting to different scenes that are happening at the same time. Mis en scene for this video is very simple for a broken love story:
1.) The actors in the music video are wearing nice, formal clothing. The wife is dressed with a white long beautiful dress, similar to wedding dress. Husband is wearing a tuxedo.
2.) Natural lighting is in most of the video. There are also studio lights from a high angle for when the artist is on stage performing the song. Blue and dark lighting establishes the setting of a club/bar.
3.) There are more than 2 actors in the music video. There is the original couple and the mistress that the husband is cheating with. The artist is seen as the entertainer in the club/bar, singing the song.
4.) When there are clips of the wife, she is seen crying, meaning her mascara is streaming down her face. However, both women are wearing makeup that you wear when you’re going out. (Glam/casual)
5.) Props in the video are things such as alcoholic drinks, a cigarette, and bottles of lighter fluid to light a fire.
6.) There are multiple settings found in the video. It starts at the house of the couple, and it switches to the bar, and the bathroom in the bar/club. The wife is even seen going to a local convenience store.
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Editing Journey (Oct 25-Nov 6)
On October 25, our classmates had to wrap up filming and use the school's computers to begin editing. This is if they did not bring their own laptops to edit their projects. This assignment was supposed to be finished by the 29th. Except, when they came to class and began to work on their commercials, the editing studio seemed to not work. This was bad news because the class could not work on their video project. However, it turned out completely fair because my teacher extended the date (November 11). She also promised that the computers would be fixed by the next time we would walk in. This gave my classmates more time to edit. In the meantime, they were given the task to blog about editing, but most of them could not really tell the truth. Instead, they blogged about not being able to edit, and what their expectations were.
My group did not find this an inconvenience we had my friend's laptop to work on our commercial.
The class was blogging while we were editing our commercial. We were happy with our results after every member had put in their own work and inputs. We had finished and began exporting the movie, but then my group and I realized we had to get our editing blog done. That is where I discussed what work I did while we were editing our commercial. We managed to work all the way until the end of class and submit it before leaving. We had successfully finished on October 29th and had completed before anyone else could. On Halloween, I reviewed our material to make sure our plan did not get messed up. One of the members had left on a trip, so Macy and I decided to show our teacher our final product. She ended up thinking that our commercial was very creative and loved the way it came out.
On November 4, our teacher announced what would be the plans for this week. She told our class that we would be allowed to edit for 2 more days. My classmates were given the time that was promised. This allowed them to create their commercial the way they wanted to. My friend and I were left to observe other groups as they finished up their editing. We even got to view a friend's PSA on vaping. We finally got to send our commercial to our teacher, and that way, we wouldn't have to worry about turning it in later. November 6 came around, and it was the last day to edit; everyone was adding their final touches. It was the last day because our class needs to work on our critical reflection questions next time. These important questions and the commercial will both be due on Monday, November 11.
My group did not find this an inconvenience we had my friend's laptop to work on our commercial.
The class was blogging while we were editing our commercial. We were happy with our results after every member had put in their own work and inputs. We had finished and began exporting the movie, but then my group and I realized we had to get our editing blog done. That is where I discussed what work I did while we were editing our commercial. We managed to work all the way until the end of class and submit it before leaving. We had successfully finished on October 29th and had completed before anyone else could. On Halloween, I reviewed our material to make sure our plan did not get messed up. One of the members had left on a trip, so Macy and I decided to show our teacher our final product. She ended up thinking that our commercial was very creative and loved the way it came out.
On November 4, our teacher announced what would be the plans for this week. She told our class that we would be allowed to edit for 2 more days. My classmates were given the time that was promised. This allowed them to create their commercial the way they wanted to. My friend and I were left to observe other groups as they finished up their editing. We even got to view a friend's PSA on vaping. We finally got to send our commercial to our teacher, and that way, we wouldn't have to worry about turning it in later. November 6 came around, and it was the last day to edit; everyone was adding their final touches. It was the last day because our class needs to work on our critical reflection questions next time. These important questions and the commercial will both be due on Monday, November 11.
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Editing the Commercial
My group and I began editing after we finished recording on Friday. We dumped the rest of the footage onto one of the member's laptop, and proceeded to import all of necessary ones into iMovie. We took the SD card and inserted it into computer. To be cautious, we added all of our footage onto a USB drive as well. This is to have a back up just in case our videos delete or get corrupted. The recordings were imported to the editing studio and placed into the section of raw footage. I watched as Darwin added all of the videos onto the second track. I was the one who gave him advice as to where the clips should be placed. As a group, we established the sequence of all 12 scenes and then had to figure out transitions, lighting, and speed.
With the first clip, we had to adjust the clip to make it look brighter. This is because the rest of our videos were shot in natural lighting. Besides checking how the footage looks, we had to crop some clips in order to reach the time limit, and not have ones that are too long. We were expecting to not have enough time for our vans commercial, but it ended up to be a second more. I never really helped edit the scenes, but I was the one giving my opinion of what should happen. I did have to take control in order to change the audio of some clips. For example, we basically had to mute all the clips since we wanted music instead of background noise. We planned to add a classroom bell sound to the beginning of the commercial. This was to confirm that the setting was at a school. However, we liked how the commercial worked properly without any noise, so I was in charge of just adding the music.
The song we chose was an oldie called Blitzkrieg Bop by the Ramones. It fit with the idea of the commercial because it matched the feeling of being a delinquent skater. The beginning of the song started with just rock instrumental. I had to crop some of it because the actual lyrics were being sung at 30 seconds. My job was to match a part of the song with the commercial. The clips I used to help me with this was the ones where we made footwork. The first verse starts playing at the beginning of the scene, where the foot movement began. to continue, at the end, before the second to last scene, we had to make a clean transition of my foot into the camera, and Darwin's foot walking up the stairs. We also added the logo to the end of the commercial. What was bad about this is that we did not really know how to make it dissolve-in on the scene.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Filming the Commercial
My group and I only had an hour and twenty minutes to film every scene for the "Vans" commercial. I believed that was not enough time to record and I ended up being correct. This is because we still have to record a couple of scenes again before we can begin editing. When we first got to class, I got our equipment and we left to go shoot our first take on the stairs. I could not really help with this part since my other group member was just running down the steps. While they filmed that scene, I was practicing how to jump onto the skateboard for the next section. We finished after a few takes, and we changed locations for me to do the jumping. I was nervous to do it on my own, so I had my friend hold my hand since it was a close-up shot, which means you could not see what was really happening. I had to change into another pair of shoes while filming this, in order to have a variety of takes.
We finished this and continued to film the rest of our scenes outside of the cafeteria. In this fourth clip, it was an extreme close up of the skateboard, and I had to kick it up and catch it as if I was done riding. I had to practice a few times because the board is longer than I am, but it all worked out in the end. Our next plan was to use a friend to help us film a three-shot, however, it did not go accordingly and so we went with our backup. Our group set up the tripod, and I had to be walking while carrying the longboard and make it seem like I was meeting up with a friend. We recorded a few takes, and now I was in charge of recording the upcoming segment. I used the tripod to get a steady shot of another group member walking up the stairs with "vans attire." I made sure the lighting and angles were fine. I wanted her to go up the stairs at various speeds, and that is what each video was made for. We ended this and went to the first location to end recording for the day.
There was a certain part where I had to change into different styles of vans in order to film my feet movement. We all made some footwork and I ended the scene with this clever shot of me putting my foot in front of the camera's lens. This was supposed to transition smoothly with the next scene being a pair of regular shoes walking up the stairs. I was not the one who had the camera, but I think we need to have more takes with this clip in order to get it perfect. After reviewing the footage, I realized I was more of the actor in the commercial than the one actually recording. I was the one who could fit in the different styles of shoes. Thus, I had to be the one who was being filmed. I feel as if this project is quite straightforward because we had to replicate a very simple style. All in all, we are presenting the product we are trying to sell in a professional, yet, creative fashion.
We finished this and continued to film the rest of our scenes outside of the cafeteria. In this fourth clip, it was an extreme close up of the skateboard, and I had to kick it up and catch it as if I was done riding. I had to practice a few times because the board is longer than I am, but it all worked out in the end. Our next plan was to use a friend to help us film a three-shot, however, it did not go accordingly and so we went with our backup. Our group set up the tripod, and I had to be walking while carrying the longboard and make it seem like I was meeting up with a friend. We recorded a few takes, and now I was in charge of recording the upcoming segment. I used the tripod to get a steady shot of another group member walking up the stairs with "vans attire." I made sure the lighting and angles were fine. I wanted her to go up the stairs at various speeds, and that is what each video was made for. We ended this and went to the first location to end recording for the day.
There was a certain part where I had to change into different styles of vans in order to film my feet movement. We all made some footwork and I ended the scene with this clever shot of me putting my foot in front of the camera's lens. This was supposed to transition smoothly with the next scene being a pair of regular shoes walking up the stairs. I was not the one who had the camera, but I think we need to have more takes with this clip in order to get it perfect. After reviewing the footage, I realized I was more of the actor in the commercial than the one actually recording. I was the one who could fit in the different styles of shoes. Thus, I had to be the one who was being filmed. I feel as if this project is quite straightforward because we had to replicate a very simple style. All in all, we are presenting the product we are trying to sell in a professional, yet, creative fashion.
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