This post contains a mini project that helped us learn how to shoot a music video. We shot our verse as a group and then created this post together.
Our teacher gave each group a verse from the song “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles where we had to plan a scene which included various camera work and edits. The goal was to enhance our technical skills through practice and experience so that we have an idea on what we should be doing, learn from our mistakes and avoid making them in the future in order to create a better quality product for our component 3. In addition to that, doing this helps us learn more about each other’s skills and our team’s dynamics so that we can function better when we record our actual music video.
Pre Production:
Our instructions were to create a music video from the verses we were given. We were given 2 verses (both chorus below) and had to consider the instrumentals since we were told to film from the end of the last verse until the start of the next verse.
We started by creating a storyboard that allows us to communicate and outline our ideas
Here is the storyboard for scene 1
Description: The camera would push out from a crowd to a side-shot of the actor sitting down and lip syncing then cut to the front-view as they get up to walk away.
For this storyboard, I (Aurel) thought about a nostalgic approach. This was because, since we had no actual sun due to the rain, I wanted to figure out how I could still incorporate the meaning from the lyrics into what we were displaying as a music video. I thought that a metaphorical sun would work better. I choose to associate this with youth as they are often associated with brightness and cheerfulness much in the way that the sun usually is. Therefore I wanted to make it appear as though it were like the star was reminiscing over their youth. This was particularly advantageous too as we were shooting in a school which made it more easy to make the connection with youth.
Additionally, as this was the first verse, I wanted something that could act as an introduction to the music video and help easily transition into the next verses. I felt like my idea for the scene allowed for a lot of room for whatever could come next as it could look like the rest of the star’s youth days.
However, since we only had 10 minutes to work on 2 storyboards whereas other groups only had to work on one, I rushed mine and tried to get it done as soon as possible as I wanted to focus on communicating my vision. This resulted in my storyboard appearing less professional than I would have liked. I also now realise that perhaps I should have focused on the storyboard more as it would've helped communicate my idea better.
Here is the storyline for scene 5
Description: Actor walking under canopy with a smile on her face, camera turns to reveal rain and irony between song lyrics to mise-en-scene.
Since we only had roughly 10 minutes to storyboard, our sketches were simple and we relied more on verbal communication to discuss our ideas on the acting, camera angle and movement.
Production:
During our production process, we started by shooting the 5th verse as it required the rain as well as less people despite the fact that in the beginning, we were supposed to shoot under sunny weather to correlate with the meaning of the song, the weather had other plans and started pouring. So, we decided to turn the rainy weather into an advantage by playing on that irony to result in a light humorous video, subverting from the song’s original meaning.
We filmed the 1st verse immediately after. For this verse, we gathered a few of our friends to act as background actors, talking and laughing, to create a natural and social atmosphere. This verse conforms to the meaning of the song about hope but later we unexpectedly found that this mise-en-scene made the star appear more isolated and less like the nostalgia approach we had hoped for. If we had the chance to reshoot the scene, we believe we could have overcome this issue by filming outside in the school field as the outdoors often connote freedom rather than isolation.
Post Production:
All the clips we had filmed were piled into a google drive for us to be able to watch through each one together and start the editing process.
Link: gdrive link
Jocy and Regine chose one chorus each and they edited the clips (Regine did the 1st verse and Jocy did the 5th). We noticed that the start of the song (the instrumental at the 1st verse) had to be filled in with a recording, however we did not do that and only filled the singing part of the chorus, so Regine filmed shots of our friends in class to fill in that gap. With the editing itself, we didn’t have much complications other than being in a time rush because we had to retake the shots for the 5th verse a few times, however it wasn’t that much of a problem either as we got the editing done in time and the only thing we had to do over the weekend as homework was this blog and reflection.
Video: (embed it later on)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13nTta4QIHX4KrqJzOETsw4U12qkgvSoF/view?usp=drivesdk
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xTrsn6T9afKPWfPBn_x46zZLXMSYO6ZK/view?usp=drivesdk
Problems:
For scene 5, there were several shots where the timing to which the background actor had to act their part was off. The runner would come on the screen too late from what we envisioned. This may be due to the large distance from the place that she had to start running from, to where she had to be (the spot which was in the frame of the video). Additionally, with the rain, we couldn't risk the runner to sprint because the area was slippery and she ran without shoes (to avoid getting them dirty)
We didn’t manage our time to record both scenes efficiently. During recording scene 5, we spent way too much time there due to the retakes and thus had to quickly move on to scene 1 where we had only little time left to record. This led to a lot of rushing and possibly a lower quality of the end product.
For scene 1, it was quite difficult to direct the large group of background actors. This is as we had to do a lot of coordinating in such little time including communicating the idea and what they had to do, as well as preparing their position in the frame.
Solutions:
To solve the issue in scene 5 with the runner not being able to cross the screen in time, we decided to instruct the runner to begin at a closer distance. instead of running from one end to another, the runner would begin at a midpoint (pool locker room). Moreover, our teacher advised us to verbally send a signal to a runner than to use a hand gesture since the original audio wouldn't be heard anyways. We believe these two combined helped us get our intended shot for the final video by making the directing process much smoother
To solve the issue of directing the background actors in scene 1, I (Regine) found that it was best to explain to the actors our intentions and plans so they can carry it out. Since we only needed them to talk to each other and act like friends, I explained what the idea was for the scene and they picked it up immediately. Everything went smoothly then.
For scene 1, we also did a dual-shoot technique where two phones were used at the same time so the scenes were the exact same during editing.
We completely forgot to film parts to fill out the instrumental section for scene 1 so I (Regine) quickly went out to film establishing shots of the area (school building, classmates, etc)
Next time:
Our main struggle was managing the time to record both scene 1 and scene 5 within the given period of time. Thus next time, in the case where we have limited time but more than 1 task to do, we should prepare a thorough plan and allocate the amount of time we need in advance. The planning should help smooth the process of directing the actors. We should keep track of the time using timers. In addition to that, if possible, we should divide the team members to work on different tasks simultaneously (directors, camera operator, music operator, etc). Therefore, we can more or less finish at the same time, attaining extra time in case there are needs to fix or redo certain parts.
Self Reflection:
This was a fun little project we did to practice for filming our main music video. My teammate Sharon was absent on that day so I had to join another team which was luckily my group of friends. Besides a rather short time limit, and a bit of a rushed result, I think the project went well and we could all benefit from it in our main project.
