Filming Blog

   Our group has not begun the filming process yet, however, we have set dates in place for our filming days. Throughout each filming day, we plan to cover new filming areas to keep our focus on one subject at a time to make our music video the best it could be. For example, we will use the day after Thanksgiving, the 29th, to focus on the first transition to the music video from the classroom setting to the corvette in Cooper City, Florida. Another example would be us filming on the 30th, the following day from our first filming day, to get all the moving/tracking shots that will be used in the music video. Not only will this help focus us better but also save us time as it we can film and reshoot the same scene in the same day until it is brought to perfection. Also, in our filming day we needed to secure a date where we could use or group member's car, the corvette, for our music video. After planning, we finally decided that the best day to film would be the 29th because the car would be available to drive for the afternoon, giving us ample time to film and use the car.
   Since it is Thanksgiving break, we decided that this would be the only film time we would use as our finished music video is due when we get back. This gives us time to complete all steps of the film making process. However, my main concern with filming is the weather it will be those days we chose to film. Since our music video is dependent on blue skies and sunshine, the weather will have to be up to the clearer, sunnier days that it has lately been. Also, tomorrow in class we plan on checking out all of the equipment needed to film for the music video, this includes: the camera, SD card reader, SD card and the tripod. The person who signed out all the materials will watch after them until our filming day after Thanksgiving. Then we will begin the filming process for our music video and complete it as well.

Storyboard Blog

   In class today we finished our story boards for our music video. After two class periods we finally devised the best plan for our filming project. Since the maximum length of our video can be 1 minute and 15 seconds and the shortest can be 1 minute and 5 seconds, we decided that 12 boxes would be enough as some scenes may need to be cutout in order to stay within the parameters. Also, in our storyboard, there are several different kinds of camera shots and angles used to fit the conventions of a Rap/R&B music video, some of these being: tracking shots, three shot, medium shots, etc... In our story board we also included the types of transitions used between shots of the music video. In our music video we plan to have: jump shots, dissolves, fade outs, etc... The overall sound of the music video will be the actual song over the scenes of us, so no other sounds will be added so we can keep the entire focus on the song and the way the music video matches up to it.

Planning for Music Video

In class today, we began planning for our Music Video and how we would execute the video. After transitioning from the commercial to music video, we had to make a detailed plan of what we would use during the film, from costumes to our health and safety during the process. To help us remember what we need to include in our plan, our teachers used five key points, these were: Location, Health & Safety, Props, Costumes, and finally our schedule for the entire process.

Location- During our music video, we plan on using several different locations as it will better fit the conventions of a normal Rap Song. In our music video we will mainly be in Cooper City because we will be using one of our group members cars, the car will be a corvette in which we aren't allowed to drive far, so we will be using it within the Cooper City neighborhood. Also, we will be in some parking lots as we want to drive the car around slowly, or just have it parked in a certain spot.

Health & Safety- During the course of our music video, there are several safety precautions we must take in order to have a safe filming process. For instance, since some of our film will be shot near or in a car, we needed to ensure that we would off the roads as we planned to go slow; we decided that a parking lot would be the safest location to film the video as it will be secluded with no flowing traffic. Also, when going in the car, it will be mandatory to wear a seatbelt at all times for the duration of the car ride; although it may not be an extremely complex safety measure, seatbelts are an extremely effective way of staying safe. Also, when filming in the car we will have two people in each vehicle, one being the actor and the other being the person filming. In doing so, we will be able to have one person filming while the other is driving to prevent any multi tasking while driving.

Props- Since our music video belongs in the Rap/R&B Genre of music, usual props in Rap/R&B music videos would be nice cars, jewelry, and designer clothes. For our music video we will be using a corvette from a group members family. This will fill the spot of a nice car in our music video, also, a specific line in the song refers to Jeeps, so a group member has volunteered to use their jeep for our music video as well. In our music video we will also be using some jewelry as the song frequently refers to nice chains and watches. In order to fully capture the conventions used in a normal Rap/R&B music videos, we will also be wearing designer clothes such as Gucci and Tommy Hilfiger. For example, I will order Gucci shirts/jackets for the group to wear during the music video so it can be more uniform.

Costumes- During our music video we plan on using two different kinds of outfits to represent two different ideas in the video. At the start of the music video there will be a student in a classroom wearing school appropriate clothes. However, once we transition from the classroom to the scene of the Corvette, we will be using new costumes of designer clothes as well as jewelry. This would fully capture the essence of the song and also bring attention to our video from younger audiences.

Schedule for Music Video-

 11/22/2019- We will finish our storyboard for our commercial and begin to gather the supplies as well as secure locations for the music video

11/26/2019- We will finish our plans and check out a camera to use over the Thanksgiving Break to get the most amount of filming done.

11/29-11/31- We will be filming our music video during these days

12/2/2019- We will begin the editing process of our Music video.

Intro to Music Video

   In class today, we finally put to bed our commercials after working on them for 2 weeks. Moving into our music video, I would like to use some of the same concepts that I learned during our commercial and I would like to leave some things in that commercial. Things that worked in the commercial were our storyboarding and filming however certain tasks such as editing were more difficult. In our commercial we had an effective storyboard that saved us a lot of time prior to filming because it planned what we would film and not have to reshoot certain scenes, also, in our commercial the filming process was successful as my group was able to move through the process quickly and efficiently. In our music video, I would like to use the same strategies for our storyboard in the commercial in the new music video because of how well it worked. As for the editing, it was a new process to me so I was unfamiliar with the program of how to edit. In our music video, I believe that I will be more familiar with the editing software so the film can come out cleaner.
     Our music video is going to be on the song “ballin”. The reason behind this song is because one of our group mates found a sample of another music video, and we decided on a completely different song with different ideas. Also, the song “ballin” is a popular song at the moment so we feel like it would be relevant with younger audiences such as teenagers. The song itself will be easy to film as we will go along with what the lyrics and film with what they say.
     Since this is a new project we must start the process over again, beginning with our research of conventions on music video. Today we began our research into conventions of a music video and found several that we already plan to use in our commercial. In our class, we are given an acronym to help remember what must be answered from our research and planning; the acronym is CLAMPS.
There is many examples of Mis En Scene in music videos. While researching we found that most of their costumes deal with big fur coats or leather jackets with expensive accessories to show their wealth. They usually take place outside or at night clubs so the lighting would be either natural lighting or strobe lights. While researching we noticed that they didn't wear extravagant makeup and if they did wear makeup it was something they would wear on a normal basis. For their hair the guys sometimes would wear durags and the girls would either have weave or braids. During the video they use many props such as expensive cars, drinks, and money. The setting usually takes place on streets, open areas, night clubs, mansions, neighborhoods, and casinos.

Editing Day Blog Part 2

   In class today, we were finally able to edit our raw footage that we dumped onto our computer, as well as a USB, on the day of filming. Our previous plan of a group member bringing in their laptop to edit was followed through as I brought my apple laptop to class to use the iMovie app to edit. To even begin the editing process, we needed to dump all footage that was stored on the flash drive to my computer. Since we saved the footage in two different locations(the classroom computer and the USB flash drive), we were able to simply delete the footage from the classroom computer and use the same footage on the USB. After moving all raw footage into a new folder on my computer, I began to drag the footage and drop it into the iMovie app. Once in iMovie, we decided that editing in different categories would be most sufficient in getting the best takes in each scene. First, I began going through all the film placed all footage into categories of each scene; that way we could see each scene, watch all takes in the scene, and decide which was best to put into the editing area. I did this with all takes in each scene, from beginning of the commercial to the end of it.

   Once all footage was went through and placed with its scene, I began to put the best takes into the editing area to begin editing. I put the scenes in chronological order to keep the flow and make the commercial make sense. Once all footage was put into its proper time frame, I could begin the editing process. I began at the beginning of the footage of the opening scene of the student using the vape for it to be an establishing shot of her clearly being on school grounds as well as vaping. Since this was the first scene, there were no transitions needed into it as well as a lot of editing. During the second scene however, we began to decide on what angles would be best for the commercial. We decided that since the second scene is the two effects of vaping, addiction and lung cancer, coming towards the student; it would be best to use a mid shot to identify the effects as well as an over the shoulder of the two effects walking towards the student. As a result, we decided that a transition between the mid shot and the over the shoulder, high angle shot was needed; leaving us with the fade in transition. We chose this because it would clearly identify what the effects were and would show the student who vaped facial expression of overwhelmed and scared to really get the danger and seriousness of these effects. The next scene being a continuation of the effects of vaping walking towards the student, grows with more intensity as the effects get closer to the student. I suggested that the best camera angles for this would be a high angle that would also be an over the shoulder shot of the two effects gaining onto the student who had just vaped. This way, the anticipation would slightly grow as the effects gained on the student who had just vaped.

   During the final scenes of the film, it was decided previously that it would be our group mate, that missed the day of filming, would have to mostly edit with our help of course. In the end of our film the student falls and looks up at the effects towering over her, we used the point of view shot to represent the student. Between the last scene and this scene we decided that the smoothest transition to put in would be a jump cut because it would show how quick it would be for the effects to surround the student who vaped earlier. After this scene, I suggested that the best transition into our next scene of my group mate and I giving a few facts about the effects of vaping, would be a dissolve because it will start a new and different kind of scene. In doing so it made the transition better and a lot more smooth. At the final steps of the editing process, we noticed the amount of background noise there was since it was a regular day at school. So I found the editing option in iMovie that allowed me to turn down the background volume without making it sound like the volume was lowered throughout the film.