PERSONAL PROJECT LEARNING JOURNAL.
- kadeenaglendon7
- Jul 1, 2024
- 33 min read
AC1 - IDEA GENERATION AND PITCH (voice recording):
PITCH:
AC2 Problem Solving
PRE PRODUCTION
2. Risks
Throughout all different types of shoots, regardless of whether it is a music video, or a short film, or even a documentary, the production crew will always have to consider different forms of risks and limitations that could occur during production days, especially with exterior scenes. One risk that I faced with my personal project was the weather; although we had checked the weather beforehand to ensure that we filmed in the most ideal circumstances, sometimes the weather app is not accurate. As a result, me and the crew had to stop filming as it began to heavily rain within Birmingham city centre, leaving us no time to film most of our music video, as it did not stop raining for most of the day, and we did not want damage any equipment. To prevent this in future reference, one thing we could do is ensure that we have a backup location for the shoot, so that if the weather does go our way another time, we have a backup location to result to.
Another risk that can be identified within any shoot is any of your equipment being lost, stolen, or broken. Although you may second guess any equipment being unsafe, it is always important to be safe and not sorry, as it has happened multiple times before to many different people, even when it isn't film or equipment related; film equipment is more likely to get stolen as people are able to identify and depict expensive and valuable items in comparison to something that you could easily buy again.
To prevent this from happening, (and how me and my film crew prevented this from happening) it is best to always keep your equipment close by you, so that you know the whereabouts of everything, or even dedicating a room/ monitored room to place everything when it is not being used, that way, someone is watching your equipment at all times, and you know exactly what room you put it in. In conclusion, to prevent most issues from happening during the production period of your project, it is always important to pre-plan everything and communicate, so that different responsibilities get put into place, leaving less problems for a single person to worry about.
3. Limitations and Issues · What issues did you encounter that caused limitations to your project? · How (or could of) the identified issues and limitations impact(ed) your project?
Even after planning everything out for my original personal project, things took a turn for the
worst, ultimately setting me extremely far behind. Before I had worked with my client ‘Pulsar’, I
had another client who went by ‘Ryuk’, an experimental artist whose main genre was trap/jerk. I ensured to give my client multiple months in advance notice, including reminders every week and updates with how all the pre-production was going. Unfortunately, days before the shoot, Ryuk had sent me a long paragraph via text message, stating different reasons in why he wanted to cancel the music video, ultimately saying that he found somebody who was more ‘deserving’ of a music video, then stating in the same paragraph that he was too busy; these reasons completely had contradicted each other, therefore creating a terrible excuse that would not go unnoticed.
Although this was a hard and low blow on not only the stress from different amounts of works
that I had received from college, but it had also conjured up a lot of anxiety within me, which
didn’t help, especially around such a stressful time of the year, however, I did not let this excuse make me give up, so instead I found another client who were willing to help, and that was the Post-Punk band ‘Pulsar.’
Another issue that I encountered with my personal project that caused limitations was a sudden
weather change that completely ruined all planned out shooting dates for my new clients. When initially talking to these clients, I ensured to walk them through all pre-production, (that I had to re-do, also bearing in mind I was told that I needed to re-do my pitch) and dates that we were all available to shoot on. When the day came to shoot the music video, unfortunately, even after checking the weather beforehand (and the weather app being inaccurate) it started to heavily rain. Not only was this a health risk to my clients, as they were stuck in the cold with their ‘set’ clothing, but it was also a risk to the equipment, as we did not want it to get damaged from the amount of rain on our planned shooting day.
As a result, from not being able to shoot on the dates that we planned to, we were not able to
finish our product, as the band was completely booked out with performances/gigs, (reasoning in why we decided on the dates that we did to shoot, as we were all free on these specific dates) ultimately meaning that I could not finish another client’s video, leaving me with no choice but to search for another client.
In Conclusion, I was able to find a third and final client, unfortunately meaning that I faced the risk of having to re-do all pre-production documents and paperwork, which would yet again majorly set me back, however, would not stop me in trying my best to complete my work.
4. Experimentation ·
Within my latest music video with my NEW and THIRD clients (named Hazlewood Uk) I was able to experiment with many diverse types of equipment, from lighting equipment to camera
equipment, which really helped me build my confidence in the various aspects of production, as well as working along the way.
One piece of equipment that I was able to test and experiment with within my personal project
was an unfamiliar lens that I had never worked with before. (owned by one of my crew members) This lens is a Canon EF 70 – 200m, which is a lens that is not only extremely expensive, but it is also a lens that I have not had access to within college, therefore meaning that I was completely new to the equipment on the shoot day. From this lens, I was able to capture extreme close ups, that also acted the same as a Lumex X lens, but much bigger and more complicated and intricate body. I was able to shoot clean and crisp footage from different perspectives on set with this lens successfully, therefore meaning that throughout my time on this shoot, I have been able to develop new technical skills within the camera aspect of the project.
Alongside this, I have been able to shadow and contribute towards the project through the onset director (Ray.) Throughout the different settings and scenes, I helped direct and guide some of the actors within the music video (especially female clients as there were some intimate scenes that they had to prepare for. Throughout this process within the shoot on both days, I was able to generate multiple new ideas and various unique shots That could be implemented well into the music video, therefore meaning that through experimenting with my directing skills on set, I was able to positively impact the project.
A third piece of equipment that I was able to test and experiment with was a piece of lighting
equipment that belonged to one of my crew members (Roberto): it was a panel with different
setting on a stand. When doing gaffer work with the lighting, me and the crew were able to test out different tones of lighting with different intensities to create different atmospheres within
each different settings that we had shot in, for example, on day one of the shoot, there was an
intimate scene that had to happen within a hotel that we booked out for the shoot day: we created a warm and dim tone to fit the motive and messages alongside the lyrics in the song that audience members can identify. Alongside this, through experimentation, I was able to discover and learn that if I shine a clinical light with a neutral tone on the ceiling, then it creates a nice bright light on the main subject without any shadowing occurring on the walls behind the main subject. The outcome of this tactic was very successful as I was able to positively impact the look of the project as it was able to look very professional without shadowing occurring.
5. Feedback
Initially with my second client who I initially wrote about (The band ‘Pulsar’ and their song ‘I drove to Hamstead I drove to Leeds’) I had put together some test shots from the segment of the music video that we had started to film (before the weather had deceived us), putting instructions through test on top of the video of the different pieces of footage so that I could visually and effectively inform the band members what to do when the weather was in better condition for the music video shoot That they were involved in. (unfortunately, we were not able to go forth with this plan, due to the band’s schedule being completely booked out with gigs, reasoning in why we decided the days that we chose to film initially, however the weather app deceived us) Alongside this, I showed some of my peers within class, including one of my broadcast teachers, to ensure that I was able to obtain the knowledge of what to do to improve so that I can get the highest-grade desirable.
Upon getting some positive feedback when showing some of these people, I had a shared opinion on what could be improved to enhance my product even more than preciously: After mentioning that they liked how the different shots were in different perspectives, and that they liked how they cut in sync with the different beats of the song, they continued to add how colour grading the product would make it appear much better and ensure to add a more vibrant and enticing aura and colour.
After taking note of the different pieces of feedback that I received from these different people, I proceeded to colour grade my product, referencing back to the ideas that I had (For the colour of the music video, I had ideas from techniques such as complimentary, analogous, and triadic.) This allowed me to elevate not only the atmosphere and aura of the music video, but it also allowed me to enhance the colour of the entirety of the product, allowing elements such as the scenery within Birmingham, or the colour of the band’s outfits for the music video and the colour theory that we had decided to use to truly stand out and add more life and vibrancy to the whole video, as we believe that it would really target our (old) target audience for the (old) music video as they believe in standing out and being yourself. In conclusion, all the different pieces of feedback that I received from my peers and teachers truly impacted me positively, as I was able to enhance the atmosphere and aura of the test shots of my previous personal project, with the intentions of completely finishing this second attempt at my personal project, which unfortunately did not go to plan, meaning we could not complete and future shots for Pulsar, as their schedule is completely booked out.
AC3
Technical Skills
6. Equipment & Set-up ·
Throughout my next client's process, I have used multiple different pieces of equipment to
creatively enhance my (new and current) personal project (with Hazlewood UK.)
My first example of using different pieces of equipment to enhance my product positively is a
piece of equipment that I have mentioned before: the Canon EF 70 – 200mm lens. By including this specific piece of equipment within my personal project, I have been able to truly experiment with different shots along the way, discovering precise and clean shots that the Canon lens that a normal Lumex lens would not be able to capture on its own. Due to the advanced pieces of equipment outside my academy’s equipment, I have been able to include advanced and crisp shots, allowing the look of my product to be positively enhanced, bringing out the true definition of all the clients or scenery on camera.
For example, because of how I learned the distinct functions of the Canon lens, within a specific scene that we captured in a hotel room that we booked out for the music video, we were able to ensure that we captured specific details of the intimate scene, so that we could edit it all together, using all the specific details that we filmed to further enhance the intimate and romantic atmosphere of the whole music video, and in conclusion, we were able to successfully capture the footage, also giving us coverage at the same time just in case something had changed
our plans.
The second example of using different pieces of equipment to enhance my product for my personal project was throughout using a piece of lighting equipment that belonged to one of my crew members for the project: it was a light panel, with shields on the side of it to direct the light to specific areas that we wanted it to light up – this panel came with a stand that could be adjusted to either being very close to the floor or very high up in the air. When shooting some specific shots for the music video, we wanted to ensure that the artificial lighting that we were using for the scenes that we got to shot later in the evening (when the sun was not up) did not cause any unnecessary shadowing behind any of the actors within the music video, ultimately ruining the quality of our music video. To avoid this risk/limitation within our product, a technique that one of my crew members taught me was to directly point the light to ceiling (ensuring that the tone of the light was neutral and on full brightness, the height of the stand causing it to be close of the ceiling) so that the light would refract off the surface (and because the ceiling was white, the light does not absorb,) evenly lighting up the room without any potential shadowing occurring as nobody or any objects were able to block the source of lighting due to the direction it was facing and the height of the lighting. Alongside this, we were able to experiment with the different tones of the lighting, for example, creating a more intimate atmosphere by intensifying the warmth within the tone of the lighting. In conclusion, I have been able to use different pieces of equipment to not only enhance my product through different techniques, but also to make creative choices that would help enhance the quality and feel of the music video.
7. Editing
For my personal project (named ‘Golden’ by Hazlewood UK,) I took part in not only pre-
production and the production aspect of the project, but also the post-production/editing aspect of the project: me and some of my team members have been able to effectively edit this project to stand out to our target audience, ensuring that we can keep their attention.
Firstly, when editing this product, I have been able to use the software ‘Adobe premiere pro’, a
software that allows me to precisely edit all footage to our desire, including transitions and colour grading aspects to enhance the video further: me and my team have been able to use these different elements to imply our ideas within the product. Firstly, let us talk about colour grading. When filming for this music video, I used the Black magic 4K camera so that I could video high quality footage for the music video, however, this came with a downside, as we had to correct the white balance on the camera, so that all of our subjects on camera didn’t appear ‘washed out’ / had a lack of colour to their appearance. In order to overcome this dilemma, we ensured to colour grade all our footage within postproduction. Within the colour grading process, we ensured to intensify (within reason) element such as the saturation of the footage, so that the audience members would be able to see the vibrancy of all the settings/locations that we decided to film in.
Alongside this, we ensured to intensify elements such as the definition and black point of the video. Me and my team applied this to our music video within postproduction due to how the raw footage from the Black Magic camera appeared very ‘ grey’, almost appearing as soft and ethereal, due to the lack of definition and colour, reasoning in why we prioritised colour grading within postproduction, so that we could intensify the atmosphere that was already present from the initial idea generation that we had decided for the music video.
A third element that we included within the colour grading within the process of postproduction was the warmth. As seen within the music video, the audience members are able to identify some intimate scenes within the music video, such as a bath scene in which the artists and his love interest appears within; judging from this atmosphere already created from the set we decided to use, we agreed that we wanted to create an additional warmth to the footage, playing with colours/tints such as orange and yellow: this helped convey a clear message to the audience members as the colour grading that me and my team created and experimented with really helped to intensify the intimacy that was evident within the footage.
Secondly, let us talk about different transitions and special effects that we applied to the video. As a team, we continued to study all the footage that we took, also studying the song that we were creating the music video for, so that we were able to depict the different atmospheres within each scene. We all discussed the effectiveness of adding transitions to the music video, and where the appropriate places would be to add these transitions to this music video: we came to a conclusion that in areas where Robert (Hazlewood Uk/Our client) was not being seeing having intimate moments with his love interest, we would add these transitions. In other words, in parts of the song where he is rapping/spoken words, we recorded footage of Robert by himself, looking at the camera and ultimately ‘feeling himself,’ we would add these transitions to add dynamics and extra movement to the music video, so that we could heighten the energy levels within the Music video at the appropriate times, without having to use extensive movement when filming with the Black Magic camera.
Moving onto special effects, me, and my team within postproduction decided not to go overboard when adding special effects, instead, we decided to add subtle special effects in areas where we added elements such as transitions. Me and my team decided to apply these effects to the music video through premiere pro for similar reasons we added transitions to certain parts of the music video: to gently add energy levels to parts of the music video where it required heightened energy levels: this helps convey to the audience members the different parts of the music video that are intimate in comparison to energetic. In conclusion, we used adobe premiere pro and editing to help positively intensify the different areas of the music video, whether it meant adding warmth to create a more intimate atmosphere, or transitions/special effects to create a more energetic atmosphere.
8. Final Product ·
AC4 Professional Practice
9. Roles ·
For the music video ‘Golden’ by Hazlewood UK, I took up three roles: my leading role being a
camera operator, and my other two supporting roles being a gaffer and a runner.
Beginning with my time as a gaffer, I wanted to ensure that I was able to display the right tone
and intensity of lighting so that it would be able to match the atmosphere of the music video,
quite like color grading, however in real time, and on the set.
For example, within the more intimate scenes between Robert and his love interest (Sophia), we wanted to ensure that we were able to implement more of an intense atmosphere within the
scene, so that the message of the connection between two of the love interests could be easily
conveyed to the audience members. We achieved this through changing the tones on the panel; light that we were using, for example, intensifying the warmth within certain scenes, in other words adding more yellow and orange tones to the room, ultimately creating a warm aura within the room, which positively affected the product as it complimented not only the set within the room, but also the lyrics and music within the song itself.
Alongside this, to avoid any harsh
shadows within the scene and to achieve a professional feeling to the scene, we ensured to shine the panel light directly on the ceiling (with the light also being remarkably close to the ceiling, facing upwards) so that the light could refract off of the ceiling, creating an even light over the whole of the set that we had decided to film with in. My role as a gaffer within this project helped to positively impact this project as I was able to positively intensify any leading atmospheres that were present within the scenes, meaning that I would be able to convey a clear message to the audience members of the connection between two subjects within the completed product. Secondly, let us talk about my key role on set; being a camera operator.
Within this role, I was able to utilize the Black Magic 4K camera. Me and another camera operator decided to film with two cameras on the second day of filming; although this may not seem logical due to the risk of our cameras being within each other's shots, given the circumstances of the set that we were working on, and how our main subject had to preform within this new set (he was stationary), we were able to record two lots of footage at the same time. This helped positively impact the project as not only does this give us more footage to work with from different angles, but it also ensures coverage and continuity without the stress of re-recording the same scenes too many times in a row, also meaning that all of our crew are less likely to feel burned out. Adding onto this, I was able to experiment with the FPS within the camera, meaning I was able to capture seamless slow-motion footage so that me and my team could add certain shots in the right moments of the music video (slow motion shots would typically be used within more intimate scenes, or in scenes where you would want the audience members to focus on something, for example, if you would want the audience members to focus on the intricate details of an outfit or of a set) which ultimately allowed us to experiment with different types of footage that we had filmed, within post-production, further adding different dynamics and creating the right atmosphere for the right parts of the music video.
Furthermore, changing the fps when filming automatically ensures that any slow-motion footage that we desire to achieve will be high quality, in comparison to if we added slow motion effects to pre-filmed footage, which could result in the quality of the footage dropping, or a slow-motion effect that doesn't look clean. My role as a camera operator has helped to positively impact my personal project, as I have been able to capture footage which elevates not only the atmosphere of the music video that i am shooting for, but also due to how i have been able to capture high quality footage, matching the level of professionalism that me and my team were aiming to achieve.
Lastly, let us talk about my role as a runner. As a runner I had to ensure that I was able to meet everybody’s needs. This included collecting coffee for my team members, different equipment that other team members may need, and helping my team members out whenever they needed, for example, when I was not partaking in my role of a camera operator, i was helping the other camera operator in different activities, such as taping down wires, collecting lenses and changing lenses correctly. From this role, I was able to learn different vital roles for each crew member within my team, ultimately opening my eyes to how important the role of the runner is across the whole set, regardless of whether it is for a music video or not. In conclusion, my role as a runner made a positive impact on the music video project as i was able to meet everybody's needs by getting everything that they need on set, which helped save time as it stopped individuals of important roles getting up and doing things themselves, which would be time consuming, had I not took up the role of a runner.
10. Responsibilities ·
Throughout this project, I had multiple distinct responsibilities that I had to obtain, due to the
different roles that I had decided to uptake on this personal project.
As mentioned earlier within my learning journal, I had to obtain three roles: Camera operator,
Gaffer, and Runner. These three distinct tasks also came with different key roles that I ensured to complete throughout all of our shoot days to the highest quality possible, ensuring that I could help elevate my personal project to the best of my ability, resulting in not only successful shoot days, but also a successful production ready to showcase to not only our target audience and the client that I was working with, but also to the public, whether they fit our target audience or not.
Firstly, let us talk about my key role as a camera operator, and all the responsibilities that came with this role that I was able to successfully execute throughout the process.
As a camera operator, not only did I have to ensure that I captured high quality footage all
throughout our shoot days, but I also had to ensure that I brought the right equipment and had
different ideas ready to share on set. Let's talk about equipment first.
There was a specific list of items that I needed to bring to ensure that everything ran smoothly on the day. Firstly, I included a SD card (and a backup SD card) so that we had somewhere to store all of our recordings: I had to ensure to format my SD card before the shoot so that we were certain that we had space for mistakes and multiple re-takes (reasoning on why I had also bought a backup SD card.)
Secondly, I included multiple camera batteries and battery chargers: it was vital that I bought
extra batteries and a charger to ensure that if any cameras died halfway through the shoot, we
were certain that we could continue recording without worrying about the amount of time we
had before the camera died again (also reasoning on why I bought a charger, just in case all batteries had
short lives)
Finally, I included different lenses: Although this wasn’t as important as the previous two items that I ensured to bring, it still gave me an advantage to work with different shots, for example, with one of the lenses (Lumex X) I was able to capture extreme close up shots in the highest quality without the risk of lower quality from having to zoom in on a normal lens (I also included a normal lens so that I was able to capture standard shots such as a wide or mid shot.) The lenses that I used on the shoot especially helped me elevate the project as I was able to capture the highest quality footage within my access, resulting in professional looking project. Bringing my own equipment (one of my responsibilities) truly ensured that the project was successful as I was able to capture all the vital footage that we needed for the music video, without the anticipation of missing pieces of equipment when getting there or relying on somebody else to have the equipment sorted out for me.
Next, let us talk about another one of my roles within this project as a gaffer, and all the responsibilities that came with this role that I was able to successfully execute throughout the process. As a gaffer, not only did I have to ensure that I created sufficient and ambient lighting all throughout our shoot days that fit the moods that the team wanted to achieve throughout the product, but I also had to ensure that was able to operate all equipment to ensure a smooth shooting day.
Let's talk about the different atmospheres and moods that I had to achieve first. As mentioned previously within this learning journal, there were multiple intimate scenes within the music video that we wanted the audience members to notice and feel when watching the music video, as that was one of our ultimate goals as we were aware of who our target audience was and what type of music they enjoyed to listen to. We were able to achieve this through the different lighting techniques that I was able to implement on the shoot days. One example of where I was able to implement different lighting and techniques to achieve our most ideal atmosphere within our music video was throughout individual scenes in which we wanted to focus the key individuals within the music video. Within these moments, we wanted
the audience members’ attention to shift to these key individuals (Robert and Sophia) and make them positively stand out without obstructing their image from insufficient or too much lighting. After evaluating on this, we decided that it would be best to use natural lighting from the venue (during the hours in which it was daylight) also positioning our main subjects carefully around the venue so that the lighting from the window was able to hit them the best, Alongside this, we also used a neutral panel light to help support the natural lighting so that Robert and Sophia were able to be seen clearly by the audience members, without the risk of too much lighting overpowering them or too little lighting which would cause too much trouble with seeing the main subjects: both in which would cause havoc within the post production aspect of it. From the lighting that we decided to use within the end for our main subjects, we were able to record professional and sufficient lighting all throughout the shoot at that location. Being able to not only utilize lighting equipment and the environment as the role of a gaffer not only showcases my versatility and creativeness, but it also positively affects the music video when recording footage, ensuring clean and well-lit shots that will be useable within the pot-production aspect of the project.
Finally, let us talk about another one of my final roles within this project as a runner, and all the responsibilities that came with this role that I was able to successfully execute throughout the process. As a runner, there came a lot more diverse and physically demanding responsibilities in comparison to my other two roles where you would expect to do tasks relating to your role. Not only did I have to ensure that I was able to efficiently complete multiple different tasks that could completely contrast with each other, but I also had to ensure that all the crew members were satisfied throughout the day. One example to show how I was able to complete a wide range of tasks as a runner is painting somebody’s body. Evidently, as explained throughout my learning journal, i have a background within the filming and content side of production and creativity, I was not trained to be a makeup artist and certainly wasn’t familiar in how to efficiently paint a body, however, the rest of the crew who had more role-specific tasks to complete whilst Robert had to be painted gold for certain points of the music video, so as a runner with no duties to complete at the time, I stepped up and helped, To my fortune and his fortune, we only has to paint the upper half of his body, as on the camera, the shot that we were using for this section of the music video was a close up shot: this meant that not only would it be more time-effective when preparing for the shoot, but it also meant that it would be time effective when having to remove the makeup after we had completed the filming. Alongside this, my actions of filling in another role as a runner truly benefitted my personal project as I was able to showcase my versatility, but I was also able to effectively use time.
Another example of my role as a runner and completing diverse tasks is buying and collecting food for the project's cast and crew members. On set, everybody was working consistently hard in all departments and aspects of the production, meaning that they would usually crave a hot drink or some food after the shoot or within a break. As a runner, it was my responsibility to satisfy everybody's request whenever they asked for a coffee or for me to run to the shop to purchase some food (all for which they pay me back.) Due to how I was able to perform these tasks efficiently and within the correct time frame, this ensured that everybody on set within the crew and the cast were all satisfied throughout the day of the shoot without any setbacks limiting us from our time. The different and challenging responsibilities as a runner ensured that the project was successful as I was able to keep the environment around me maintained, also helping those in need around me, whether it was physically challenging, something for the music video, or something to satisfy any hunger or thirst needs.
11. Organisation ·
In all aspects of the personal project, including preproduction, production and postproduction, me and the music video team continuously managed our project, ensuring we had a smooth process all throughout.
One example of ensuring to manage my project with me and my team for the music video was
sticking to our responsibilities and ensuring that we completed them to the best of our abilities
within timely manner: as mentioned before, within this project, I had three different roles to
perfect and complete throughout both shooting days of the music video: due to how me and my team were able to complete these responsibilities (as mentioned previously) and focus on these tasks that were role specific (or not in my certain role as a runner) and completed them, this ensured an organised and smooth project to work with: this involved aspects in preproduction,
production and postproduction.
For example, within preproduction, I ensured to complete assigned paperwork to the best of my abilities within reasonable to time frame; this included documentation such as consent forms and location recces. Other members of our team were also able to complete their pre-production work sufficiently, also ensuring that we had good communication all throughout the process. This resulted in an organised and successful process when completing our pre-production for the music video. Due to how me and the music video team were able to successfully complete and manage parts of preproduction, this resulted in an organised and well-managed process when it came to the production side of the project, as we were able to follow all the preproduction documentation that me and my personal project team were able to successfully create beforehand.
Linking onto this, another way that me and my personal project team were able to manage our project sufficiently was by following our preproduction documentation. Following along to our preproduction documentation really ensured for a smooth shoot day when filming the music video for Robert as we had detailed instructions of what we needed to complete and when we needed to complete it by whilst already being familiar with what we wanted to complete within these time frames anyway. On top of this, we had also briefly tested out different shots for the music video, and in depth considered the ideas that we had and how we would be able to manage. Being able to perform test shots on our phones or less advanced cameras really enabled me and my music video team to visualise what we wanted our product to ultimately look like within the end result, further helping us to manage and organize the different shots that we wanted to include and how long it would take and which order would it be most ideal and logical to film in. Completing different tasks throughout the project sufficiently really helped me to organize and manage the project for the better of the project, as not only were we all able to complete all of our responsibilities, but also due to how we maintained a high level of communication all throughout the process, we were able to understand what we needed to do, resulting in an organized and managed project that would positively benefit us within the long run.
Although me and the team tried our hardest to maintain high professionalism throughout the project in order to maintain good organization and management throughout the process, we unfortunately had a specific issue that really held us back and could have consequence the whole team immensely if we were not able to fix things. Our main subjects (Robert and Sophia) had some complications before arriving on set in relation to their personal love life. As the time when on and me and the team got further into production, things between Robert and Sophia began to progressively worse and rowdy, almost resulting in a physical fight, and resulting in a breakup on set. This really did mess with our team’s time management as the argument and havoc between the two main subjects took away from the time that we needed them to be in footage together. As a result of this, me and my music video team decided not to bring Sophia to the next shoot and have Robert solo (as he was the front man) so that we were able to film without any potential for confrontation from one person to another. As a result, this had a positive effect on the shoot day in comparison to the previous one, as not only were we able to manage our time more effectively, but we also were able to avoid any disagreements or confrontation from anybody within our crew and cast.
12. Professional Etiquette
Despite any miscommunications that had occurred on set between other members of the
cast/crew, I always ensured to uphold a professional and respectful attitude in every aspect of the production, whether I was familiar with the person I was communicating with or not.
One example of upholding professional etiquette on set is through proper communication when talking to people. Although I may have been familiar with some cast and crew on set, and was comfortable with them it was important that I refrained from using any unprofessional language such as swearing around the team, as it would be deemed as extremely unprofessional during a shoot, and could possibly offend other members of cast and crew who I am unfamiliar with. Using unprofessional language on set could easily ruin my reputation and image as misusing this type of language could easily be misunderstood as something with bad intentions, or simply unprofessional, reasoning in why it’s best to relax and use slang in moments on a shoot day such as a break, around people who may be familiar with you.
Another Example of being able to uphold professional etiquette and communication on set is not talking about any personal subjects that did not relate to the shoot or would be deemed as highly unprofessional to talk about on set. Talking about any personal situations that may be unusual for other members of the team who i am not familiar with not only ruins my own privacy for my own life, but it also heightens the chance of unnecessary ‘gossip’ on set, and in worse cases, false rumours spreading around. As a filmmaker, this could potentially ruin my reputation as not only could my image be deteriorated, but people could easily mis-interpret anything that they have overheard, reasoning in why it’s best to talk about personal issues at the appropriate times such as after a shoot or during a break, with the appropriate people.
A final example of being able to uphold professional etiquette and communication on set is
through respecting other people's equipment. As mentioned previously, on set over the course of two shoot days, I took on three different roles that would show me multiple different sides of
production within a music video. This meant that I was handling different equipment that was not just my own.
An example of this would be throughout my role as a camera operator. During my time within this role, I was able to shadow other camera operators throughout the process of production. This also meant from time to time when I was free from recording my own footage, I was able to help my team members record their own footage. Especially within my role as a camera operator, and shadowing other more experienced camera operators, i was handling expensive equipment such as different types of lenses and camera bodies, whether this meant helping them change lenses professionally and in the correct manner or helping them transport heavy equipment. Whilst doing this, I have to ensure that I kept a strong mindset - i always believe in treating others the way that you want to be treated, and this applies to equipment that is not my own. By ensuring that I was respectfully handling other team members’ equipment throughout the music video production alongside clear communication with what needed to be done or how ii was handling their equipment, I was able to keep all my team members satisfied and relatively relaxed throughout the two production day, ultimately concluding to a satisfactory production overall where everybody felt comfortable within their boundaries whether it was to do with personal aspects, or equipment.
AC5
Communication
13. Meaning to the audience
Within the production for the music video ‘Golden’ by Hazlewood UK, we as a team had made multiple different creative choices that would not only create more dynamics within the music video but would also appeal to the creative scene and our target audience members for the personal project.
One example of a creative choice that me and my team members made within the production
period of the music video was painting our main subject golden. Due to how the title of the music video is named ‘golden’ it would make sense that we painted our front man golden, to match the
title of the song, however, Within the lyrics of the song, Robert tends to use the word ‘golden’ as a metaphor for another one of our main subjects, ultimately talking about how highly he views her, and how much he appreciates her and values her – just like how most people would do if they had a bag of gold. The word golden within this music video is also another metaphor to how high he values himself and how high his standards are – also referencing how he knows they share the same values about each other, and how she especially values materialistic things, reasoning in why he wants to treat her well (as mentioned within the music video.)
From this, me and the
team decided to pain Robert golden; The message that me and the personal project team were
trying to convey to the audience members when painting him gold is to show That not only is he a valuable and worthy personal within the music video who is viewed highly and quite ‘suave’, but also to ultimately appeal to his love interest within the music video, because as mentioned before, he mentions within the song how Sophia (the love interest) really appreciates materialistic things of high value, such as gold, reasoning in why Rob painted himself gold, as it would ultimately appeal to her, and show how valuable he truly is. Another creative choice that me and the team made to further appeal to our target audience and to enhance our music video for the better was throughout capturing different slow-motion shots.
Initially, we were only going to film all of our footage in around 25 FPS (normal speed rate) however after re-evaluating our footage and discussing what we could do to further enhance the music video not only for the product but also to convey different messages to our audience members, we decided to get some ‘short but sweet’ slow-motion shots. These slow-motion shots consisted of different objects, clothing and scenarios of a lavish date night, referencing back to the different metaphors from the word ‘golden’. For example, me and my team member (when I upheld the role of a camera operator) recorded a slow motion of both of our main subjects showing off their lavish suits and dresses to the camera, subtly making changes to their outfits whilst the footage was recording such as Robert fixing his collar or Sophia fixing her hair. These small actions within he slow-motion shots that me and my team decided to record really created a large impact on our product; implementing these shots of these small and subtle details within our music video was able to convey different themes of love and luxury to our audience members, and if our target audience members are able to think deeper into what these shots could convey, then they will be able to find different emotions within the theme of love, such as being anxious or nervous, due to how much the two main subjects want to impress each other on this luxurious date. As a result, our final product appealed to our target audience members through the messages and themes conveyed through creative choices made by me and my personal production team. R&B (also standing for rhythm and blues) consists of music that usually contains meaningful messages, commonly about connections, whether it may be platonic or not.
Overall, our target audience members (who enjoy listening to R&B) are looking for a product with true meaning behind it and creative messages throughout; as a team, We were able implement true meaning and messages throughout the music video we were filming, that not only would appeal to our target audience members through its dominating themes such as love and connection, but it also compliments the lyrics within the song itself, ultimately meaning that me and the personal project team were able to create a stronger product overall, further positively engaging our target audience through creative ideas visually, and throughout the initial song that we were creating the music video for.
14. Meeting Intentions
For the rhythm and blues song that me and my personal project team filmed a music for, we ensured to demonstrate many different codes and conventions within the music video, to ensure that our product would appeal more for the song and to our audience members as using these codes and conventions to help further enhance our product as a whole. Within a music video, me and my team are aware of the codes and conventions. An example of a code and convention within a music video would be a form of performance that the audience members are able to identify, typically from the artist themselves, or in other cases, and actor/actress carrying out a narrative, which links on to the next code and convention that is typically present within music videos. Me and the music video team were able to successfully implement the performance code and convention within our product all throughout, as we are able to identify the front man / creator of the song putting on a performance and lip-syncing within the music video for the audience members to see. This slightly links to the code and convention of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds: within the music video, we are able to identify that we are using non-diegetic sounds, as when Robert is lip-syncing to the song, only the audience members are able to identify that he is doing this, and his love interest within the music video is not able to identify that he is lip-syncing to the song, as she is reacting to him as if he were only talking to her on a normal date night.
Another example of a code and convention present within music video would be a story/narrative. Having a story / narrative to compliment a song really allows the artist to further convey certain themes and messages to the audience members who are listening to the song and watching the music video. Not only does this further engage the audience members, but adding a meaningful visual to a song that has messages within its’ lyrics can help the audience connect to the song in a personal manner, whether they can relate to parts of the lyrics, or whether it reminds them of similar scenarios that had happened to them previously in their own life. This is also an example of a code and convention that me and my personal project team used within our music video.
As mentioned before within the learning journal, when recording for the song ‘Golden’ and listening to the lyrics, we ensured to have a solid narrative and storyline to create, that also compliments the lyrics within the song itself: we created a storyline with themes of love and connection within it where we are able to see two main subjects within the music video start off on a date, then cutting to scenes where they have evidently gotten closer and more comfortable (relating to the metaphor rooting from the word ‘golden’) , and themes of luxury and value, evidently shown when the music video cuts to slower shots of the subjects showing off their lavish outfits and food, including where we painted Robert golden (relating back to the literal meaning of the title of the song.) Using this specific code and convention within our product really helped reflect our initial plans and intentions as we were able to successfully convey clear
messages and themes all throughout the product in the highest quality standard that we could, to not only appeal and satisfy our target audience members, but also the client.
After me, the personal project team and our client reviewed the footage that was recorded, and parts of the editing process, we could all agree that all footage seemed high quality and clear enough, and after some editing work, we agreed that adding transitions, effects and especially colour grading to our product would really help enhance not only the energy within the music video in the appropriate moments, but also the atmosphere all throughout. After hearing this feedback, we ensured to perfect these specific requests, ensuring that we were able to create a product that appealed to our target audience members as much as possible.
15. Platform & Distribution
For my personal project, me and my team ensured to create a music video that complimented our client's music video, not only to the eye, but also through themes and narratives, so that it would appeal to our audience members. Due to how this is a music video, our main platform for distribution would we social media apps such as YouTube or Instagram reel, where all our client’s work is uploaded. These platforms allow videos of all layouts, whether a product is filmed in landscape or portrait. As this is a professional music video intended for the public eye, me and the team filmed the music video in landscape, therefore meaning that when we publish the product onto Instagram, or the main platform for distribution: YouTube, it would be in the highest quality possible, and would successfully suit the platform that it was intended for. Despite our music video being intended mainly for these two apps, our product would also be seen elsewhere, such as Facebook, TikTok, and even on the stories of interaction-associated apps such as WhatsApp, and on music apps such as Spotify, where they allow listeners to preview the music video within the app.
For this music video, it was edited on adobe premiere pro: from this, we decided to export in
H.265 4K. We decided not to use H.264 as we wanted to ensure a high-quality music video with smoother footage. Although we knew that the exporting process would take up more storage and the uploading process would be more time-consuming, we knew that it would be worth the time as it would result in a better product overall. This also reasoned into why we decided to export in 4K and not 1080p, as initially within the production aspect of shooting the music video, we filmed in 4K on all cameras, whether it was slow motion or normal paced footage, and whether the set was interior or exterior – it is always important to export in the quality that you filmed in so that you can ensure all the footage is to the highest quality and as clear as possible.
EPK FOR MUSIC VIDEO:
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