Production / Edit Log

Production / Edit Log

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  MUSIC VIDEO PRODUCTION LOG NATALIE LYNCH
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  PRODUCTION LOG: GUIDANCE • Thisdocument is for you to track the progress of your production – filming, editing and post-production. • This is so you can track what you did and how you did it, explaining and amendments and changes you made and tracking the decisions that have shaped the practical creation of your music video. • The more detail you include about how you made your music video, the better. The document is broken down in to two sections, Filming and Editing, each of these is then made of specific elements that occur in both. • For each slide there is a prompt detailing what you should include, delete the prompt after you have complete the slide. • Remember, images often show what you’ve done more effectively than words. Use text to explain an illustration.
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  FILMING Explain what workedand didn’t work about your filming and how you managed this covering the following areas: • Technical – During filming, I borrowed a camera and tripod from the college media department. On two days, I used the equipment to film outside of college and then then third day I hired out the studio in order to do some filming in there. I also used my own GoPro for some of the footage however didn’t end up using it due to quality. I used my own SD card so it was easier to take everywhere with me on the go and meant it was all in one place when uploading and editing in Premiere Pro. • Logistical – The locations I used worked very well. The first one being the college studio was easy to book out and had the right equipment set up that was needed. In the studio is where I filmed my lip sync sections for the video which would primarily be used at the beginning of the video however I used them for some sections later on in the video. The other location I used was a public area and walking route, which meant I had no access troubles when filming here. By filming in another location, it also added variety to my video which would make it less boring and repetitive.
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  FILMING • Personnel –My cast only consisted of 2-3 people with one being the main focus. This made it easier before filming as if they dropped out, it was easy for me to organise someone else to come in. The person who featured in my video was happy to help out and we filmed in the college studio on a Wednesday which is our day off. I also helped with their music video which was useful as when we booked the studio, we were able to share time and film footage for both music videos in one session. • Planning – Planning did help as it gave me a solid idea of what I was needing to film and then from that I could expand or change things to be used as extras if needed. Visuals and storyboarding helped me think of how my video would look once finished and allowed me to create a certain style for it. Planning also assisted when actually putting the video together because I already had a solid idea with what order the footage would go in therefore the process was made slightly quicker. • Next steps – I think if I was to re create my video I would change some of the planning and post production techniques, while still using the same footage. My footage filled the timeline through the entire song but I would maybe film some extras in order to create even more variation with the visuals. When looking at the planning for the video, I would maybe create an alternative storyboard with a simple but obvious storyline which could tell a story through the song being played. After placing the footage together, I would also maybe add some colour corrections, so that it matches all the way through and adds a particular style to the video which could link to a particular emotion.
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  FILMING – PRODUCTION STILLS Theseare some stills from when I was filming my music video. I didn’t use a tripod here so some clips were quite shaky, but the majority turned out good and went with the music when edited. As you can see, the image at the top is out of focus. When filming, I left the camera on manual focus and changed it from clip to clip. I feel this worked well as part of my video. The image at the bottom is set out the same as the one at the top with the pathway in the middle. When edited together in the video, one after another would create a good match cut which therefore shows a useful technique in film. Both clips were shot from different angles, the top one being from a higher angle looking straight ahead, while the bottom is from a more natural, medium angle.
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  EDITING – FILE MANAGEMENT Screenshotand annotate where you have saved your work and how you have organised your footage so you know where it is – this will also include your audio track for your video and any other images, found footage, etc I created one large file for my footage in which I created some smaller folders based on what day I shot the footage and what the footage involved (eg. Whether it was in the studio or general filming). I did this as there was a large amount of files that I had to look through and decide if I needed or not so therefore I am able to be more organised and know what is where. During this process, I then created another separate folder of shots I was definitely using so that when it came to actually editing the footage together along a timeline, everything was in one place and I wouldn't have to look through the footage again. For the audio track, I converted it to an MP3 file using the internet, where I then saved it in the large file I had created.
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  EDITING – SETTING UPPREMIERE Setting up Premiere was simple as I had to create a new project and then tell the programme where all my files were saved – which was in a file on my desktop. This is so that they were easy to upload and work with in the programme. When setting up the timeline, I clicked on the Digital SLR tab and selected the DSLR 1080p25 option. This will have ensured the right size and resolution for my video so that it was of a high quality once finished. When saving, I named my file ‘Final Music Video’ and saved it to my desktop so was available to open straight away when getting onto the computer.
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  EDITING – IMPORTING FOOTAGE Thisis the bin in Premiere Pro. After importing all my files into the programme, I was able to drag them all into the bin so that I could find them straight away in a suitable order. Each clip was shown with a thumbnail so I had a better idea of what each video was, making the process a lot easier when placing them on the timeline. I had to import the footage from each folder I had created, which took a while because there was a large number of clips going to be used. Again, when importing footage my audio track was dragged into the bin on the editing screen. From this I was able to drag and drop it onto the timeline where it was kept in the ‘Audio 1’ section.
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  EDITING – WORKSPACE This makesup part of the timeline in the programme. It allows you to create layers of video / audio which can be played together or edited to become a transition between two different clips. It allows you to also change the audio levels very simply. For example, making it louder or quieter or even muting it for parts of the video as a whole. This is the Preview Window which is on the left hand side of the screen in Premiere. When viewing clips from the bin, it allows you to view them fully without having to add it to your video. It you want to cut a clip and use only a small part of it, you’re able to do this using the preview window and its options. The Playback Window is next to the preview window on the screen and allows you to watch the full video of what is put together in the timeline, alongside the audio track.
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  EDITING – ASSEMBLY EDIT Afterimporting all the clips I needed, I then went back to my planning and viewed the storyboard I had created. I was able to refer to this the whole way through editing so that everything was in the order I wanted or at least similar. When deciding what clips to put onto the timeline, I would look at the thumbnails and then watch them in the preview window to ensure I had selected the right one. I then used the cut / trim tool in here so ensure I only used parts of the clip that I needed. From here I would drag it onto the timeline but with no sound, so that it wouldn’t interfere with the audio track from the song. When I had placed it on the timeline, I cropped the clip again and made sure it fitted in with the beat of the music. Rather than adding all the clips on in order and then editing each one, I added the clips individually and cropped them as I did this because I feel it made the process quicker and easier and then I could move on to the next. From this, it ensured there were no gaps in audio or video and made the video flow more.
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  EDITING – REFINEMENT After Ihad completed the initial edit of putting the clips together, I made small adjustments to the video to make sure it was visually correct. I mostly made changes to the speed of clips and didn’t really do any colour corrections, which is what I would change if I were to do it again. Luckily, the visual appearance of each clip was similar so the colour wasn’t a huge problem. When editing the speed of clips, I would usually slow the clip down to match with the emotion of the music but also contrast with the speed of the song in some areas. I cropped the song down to a suitable point so that my overall video wasn’t too long. To make this seem less of a cut off of the song, I made it fade out at the end and matched the video with this too.
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  EDITING – EXPORT To exportmy file I went to File > Export > Media. I selected the format I wanted my video in which is H.264 and 720p. This would mean its easier to transfer between devices and wouldn’t take to long to upload anywhere due to resolution and quality. I named my file ‘Final Music Video’ and then pressed ‘export’.