Editing Blog: Staying Under A Minute

Editing Blog

All the editing was done on my iPhone using Video Leap. Video Leap video editor and maker, it is a trusted app that I've used for nearly a year. In this portion of my of my editing, I used the app to align my clips, add the music and complete my music videos. The first thing I did was lay out my videos, one by one, trimming them to fit the music. I also had to trim my music down to a minute and decide on where I wanted to start and end the video. Once that was done, I began to add transitions and align more my clips to the of the music.One crucial change, was the order of my scenes. I no longer followed the intensive layout of my storyboard. I decided to switch the order of the scenes because some of the clips did not fit well next to others. I do not think my music video would have conveyed a proper message if I followed the initial order. For instance, I took scene five and nine out and added the additional scene I spontaneously filmed on set. A minor challenge I faced during editing, was meeting staying under one minute. I had so much footage and some scenes took longer than others. I wanted to include everything in my music video but obviously that is unrealistic. I did not have this probably on my commercial project and I think it was because I actually planned how long each scene would be. I did not do this on my storyboard because I was not completely sure how well the music would match. Also, considering this project was two times as long I cannot be completely surprised at the obstacles. My last part of editing was deciding whether or not I wanted to add some transitions. I choose not to do any extraordinary transitions. When I finished editing, I replayed my final product, searching for mistakes to fix. I only ended up doing some extra trimming on clips. By now, I was fully satisfied with my music videos as much as I could be.

Editing Blog: Pre-editing before Aligning and Cutting

Editing Blog

For my music video, I wanted to use a different editing software to fix the quality of my film. Previously, when I did the commercial project I wasn't satifisied with the quality and I was advised to use a software on my computer rather than my phone. I attempted to do so but none of the applications I installed would work. They were extremely difficult to manuveur through and I simply did not want to spend majority of my time training myself to use a new software, when I could work faster on my phone and just work on fixing the quality. I'll try multiple ways to fix my quality by increasing the videos resolution and/or uploading my videos to YouTube with high quality. I did a little research on how to make sure my videos uploaded with high quality and a couple websites told me to change my uploading quality. That'll be the first thing I try and if that works I will continue to do so. 

Before I could start my actual editing, I looked over all the videos I recorded and took note of what shots were usable. I went ahead and trimmed some of the videos so I could find them easier in my editing app. I also cropped some videos that had unwanted spaces that I didnt like. You'll see in my mirror scene, I cropped and zoomed in on the faces of my actors to capture the expressions that were significant to the scene. Another adjustment I made was with one of the walking scenes. I was unaware that the tripod I used to record was not balanced. I had to manually tilt the video until it was straight, I used a three by three grid to assure the balance. Also, I decided to do minor editing on the videos, prior. I did this by brightening the videos and increasing highlights and contrast. This technique was only for the videos that lost daylight. Remember when I mentioned some of videos had darker lighting than others because the sun had set by the time I got around to recording the scene? Well this was my attempt to fix this that issue. I would say it worked to a good amount but not very aunthentic looking. I think I will work on fixing the lighting for future projects and to challenge myself as an editor. In the future, I will stick to recording earlier in the day. 

Filming Blog: Filming in Unsual Places

Filming Blog

I filmed my video today, which is November 22th. Throughout my filming process I ran into a couple problems but I did make some improvements based off my last blog and previous issues. For starters, I made an effort to those unnecessary background items that I didn't like. For example, in my first scene, which required the actor to wake up from the bed, I noticed a pile of baskets and books on top of the shelf. They were messily placed on top so I made the decision to remove them from the shelf. I will say that caused an empty space in the shot so in the future I would be mindful of setting the scenery. Considering the shot was a bedroom scene, I could have kept the basket of books but replaced them to look more sophisticated. Another issue I ran into was daylight. Majority of my music video was taken with natural lightening so it was very important to align with the sun and its timing. The sun had began to set in the midst of my recording and I'm pretty sure you can differentiate the lightening differences in the shots. That was a problem that I am confident I can fix. I'd just schedule myself a specify time of the day to film, preferably in the mornings. I also included an extra scene that I did not plan on my storyboard. I am not one hundred percent sure that I will include in my music video yet. The scene has both of my actors in the grass taking pictures of each other with polariod cameras. Polariod cameras are also new additions since I did not mark it as a prop item. 

One of my proudest  the most moments in my filming process, was my use of scene cutting. I tried my first attempt at filming the same scene from different angles. In my editing, i will connect these clips so they move in a continuous motion. This is my first attempt and I think getting familar with this technique will help me with future projects. Something interesting that happened, was the unusaul places I had to stand and set my camera. For the mirror scene, I stood in the tub to a good enough shot of my actors. Overall, my filming process went pretty smoothly. My actors were cooperative and patient for majority of the time. My actors were my family members and towards the end of filming they got pretty irritated but I'm happy they pushed through for me. 

Planning Storyboard for my Music Video

 Storyboard Blog:

I have very shaky thoughts on these ideas. Though I am in the earlier stages of planning I am not completely confident in my music video just yet. I actually entirely transformed my initial idea and song. I am now using the song "Just the Two of Us" by Bill Withers and Grover Washington Jr. It is a very old song that falls under the the genre of R&B/ Soul music, so it is not super far from my original idea.

First Scene

- the first scene will consist of two point-of-views, one for each actor or "bestfriend." It will be a two separate bedroom scenes where both actors will be waking up from a slumber then getting out of the bed. This scene will be a master-shot with the actor and the bedframe in the camera, partially. For one of the actors point of view, I swap the angle of the camera from master-shot to a mid-shot, only to capture getting out of the bed from a different angle.

Second Scene

- Second scene will require track movement. In this scene actors will walk down a mini hallway. This is supposed to give off the concept of a morning routine styled introduction to my music video. The significance this has to my music is introducing the characters. In this case, the characters are bestfriends with an intense yet platonic love for each other.

Third Scene

- this scene is a continuation of scene #2. The actors have walked down a hallway to enter a bathroom where they both stand in the mirror examine each other, to then release a small smile that ques the beat drop of the music. The camera will record from the charaters point-of-view and only record what is seem in the mirror.

Fourth Scene

- Scene #4 will an entirely different setting, characters are now outside. This shot will be a close-up of the "bestfriends" and their hands, which will be interwined. I want to try and included friendship bracelets as a prop. This is the first scene that establishes the relationship of the actors. 

Fifth Scene

- This scene is a mid-shot of the actors continuing to hold hands but now you will see the entire body and face of the actors. They will walk towards the camera naturally and slowly, and the camera whill simultaneously move backwards.

Sixth Scene

- Now this scene is another continuation. In scene six, it will now be a back-shot of the actors as they continue to walk forward. This time the camera will not follow the actors in a traking motion. This is a still shot.

Seventh Scene

- This is the first scene that I will include lipsyncing in, possibly. I mentioned in the conventions how lipsyncing in music videos is very common if not necessary amongst the R&B Soul genre. This is a close shot of an actors face and I will attempt to blur the background of the scene, possible with my equiment. The actor will lipsync "and I wanna spend my time with you" directly at the camera.

Eighth Scene

- This is another continuation of my last scene. This lipsyncing with continue in this scene done by my other actor. This scene is suppose to create point-of-view of the "bestfriends" holding each other by the fist and spinning. I will do this shot by grabbing the actors hand and spinning with the camera being hand held in between us. 

Nineth Scene

- This scene is exactly the same as scene #8, except the other actor while now carry out the point-of-view action I previously explained. I want both actors to lipsync while recording the spinning scenes in scene eigth and nine.

Tenth Scene

- This scene is a wide shot of the spinning. This shot will capture the action in its entirety. I included this because I want to capture an aunthentic depiction of a close friendship. This is a moment of enjoying time spent together, as if nothing else is more important but the moment these two friends are spending together. My song is a musical representation of this concept.

Eleventh Scene

- This scene is a pan shot of a photos of the friends together. These photos will be spread across a table or container top showcase various amounts of captured moments. This scene conveys the long-lasting friendship storyline I am trying to create.

Twelveth Scene

- Last and final scene that I have to plans for. These scene are fairly simple, the only action or movement is done by the camera. I would like to capture a wide, backwards shot of the "bestfriends" walking hand and hand into a distance. My alternative idea is to capture a shot using reverse zoom movement. The actors will be still resting each others head on one another.

I changed my song and idea because I was having the tough time with creating a storyline that I felt matched the song. So with the help of my cousin, we found a simpler song that is one of my all time favorites. I also like my new concept a lot more, as it relates to my actual life and close friendships. I am a person that loves my friends alot more than I love myself, when I am with them I feel like no one else exist and I am a very firm believer that healthy platonic friendships are very important in life.

Planning for my Music Video

Planning Blog:

Song Title: LOVE AGAIN by Brandy & Daniel Caesar

Props

In this music video I will use a cellphone as one of the props. The cellphone will be the only prop that holds significants to the storyline. Other props include: blankets, pillows, chairs, toothbrush and handbags/purses. As you can see yall my props are home essentials, which I already own. These props are not definite its just a vague idea for scenes I have in mind.

Costumes

The costumes will align with the concept of walk through the day of someone. Meaning, the attire will include pajamas and everyday clothing. What I expect the everyday clothing to consist of is jeans, sandals, flowy blouses, graphic tees and jewelry. Some of these items are a product of my research blog.

Schedule

On 11/16/2020, I wrote and complete my research process

On 11/17/2020, I planned out my costumes, my props,filming location 

On 11/17/2020, I expect to start my storyboard

On 11/20/2020, storyboard and storyboard blog should be completed

On 11/22/2020, is the start of my filming and should be the only day I spend filming

On 11/23/2020, my editing begans. Will spend the 23rd - 25th doing such.

Location

Most of my recording will happen at my home or at the home of one of my family members. Like I stayed before, the whole concept is supposed to be relatable to an audience. I personally believe, shooting at the a home is the only appropriate. 

Backup Plan

I dont have much of a backup plan. Everything seems pretty bulletproof and accesible as far as my set goes. The only thing that I think could go wrong is the availibity of my actors. In this case, I do have backup actors.

Research Blog: Music Video Conventions

  Research Blog:

The song I will use for my commercial is Love Again by Daniel Casear x Brandy. This song falls under the R&B/ Soul genre. My research process consisted of me binging this genre on Youtube and taking note of all the common techniques, elements, and sophistication of these music videos. One of the main things I noticed was that every video consisted of a love interest. Not only is this very common in the R&B genre but it is very common amongst music videos in general. I believe including a love interest well help me in conveying a storyline and establishing some kind of plot.

Another common element I noticed was slow motion video editing. This was most common in the early 90s R&B music videos and still used to a fair amount. Now in days, this technique is not as reccurring in the videos but without a doubt, you are expected to see it. Along with slo-mos, I noticed alot of cutting scenes of random objects that would corelate with the scenery of the video. What I mean is, in these videos I noticed brief scenes that did not consists of the actor nor did they necessarily add to the storyline. But, I believe they served a purpose of establishing the scenery, establishing the mood of the video. Depending on how you look at it, you could agrue that including scenes of the surroundings does help in conveying the mood or message of the story or song.

Some scenes you would find in music videos are the solo scenes of the artist lip syncing the song. This is very common, you could even classify them as essential. I dont intend on inluding this because my main proirity is to convey a storyline. I also should keep in mind the 1 minute limit I have to do so. Another common scene are closeup/ extreme close up of the actors faces. This is something I found very common in the early 90s videos and I think this technique would be very cool to use. So I will try close up shots on the actors faces and body language, if possibly.

All this information was very useful, I think I have a clear enough understanding on how I could recreate a R&B/Soul music video.

Introduction to the Music Video Project

 Introduction Blog:

For this music video project, I will be working by myself. For one, I rather have full control of what I do. Working in groups can always be bitter sweet because everyone's input is not always valued or your not able to produce something you are fully proud of. Also, especially in this time, where social distancing and a pandemic is very present, is not the safiest nor reliable thing to do. I dont want struggle with getting in contact with people or the struggle with knowing whether or not my groupmate are going to properly contribute.  So, working by myself would prevent this from happening, allowing full creative control without the hassle of depending on others to pull through for everyone else in the group. I am very aware of the extra work that'll be pinned as an independent worker.

The song I choose is a 2019 R&B/Soul record called "LOVE AGAIN" by Brandy & Daniel Caesar. This song is one of my favories. Its a love song that highlights the strife in relationships at the hands of miscommunication and inability to express genuine intentions. I love the artists in general and I love the instruments in the background. The simplicity of this songs makes it very beautiful, very catchy, and definitely something you could use to portray a story. Actually, that is my main reason for choosing this song. I wanted something that could portray a storyline that relates to audiences. 

I think in general, love songs are some of the easiest songs to connect to story. I would to create a story based on two people that are having a strain in their relationship due to miscommunications. I am not sure if I will necessarily make the portatyed relationship romantic or not but it will definitely be between two people that have love for each other. This song is suppose to narrate that message. I think it will do a good job at that, along with introducing a new song to the audience. Not only is it a beautiful but it holds a very beautiful message. The message they convey is something I can somewhat relate to. I am very certain many people will do the same.

the cover of the single