Music Video Filming: Filming but not Actually

        This weekend was the first opportunity we were given to film. Unfortunately, my group and I couldn’t film over the weekend. I was busy during the weekend doing things both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday I was helping my mom watch my little sister and on Sunday I was running errands with my dad while also having to study for a chemistry test. Sometimes family takes priority over things like this and we still have more chances to film so I think it was fine that we didn’t film this weekend.My group and I had also discussed the unlikely hood of us being able to film over the weekend, so we didn’t end up checking out any equipment such as the tripod. With that being the case, even if availability for us to film became available, we would’ve been vastly underprepared. We still have thanksgiving break to film and the week after to edit so as long as we don’t procrastinate we’ll be fine. We have a plan for which day we plan on filming and in what order we want film. In reality, i’m not that stressed seeing that we have so much time left.

        I plan on filming with my group on 11/29. We all have pretty busy schedules seeing that it’s thanksgiving break and that’s one of the only days we’re all available. I’m personally busy on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, which makes Friday the best chance to film. There are some small parts of the music video that we can film on our own, so I’ll probably try and get the best shot i can for those parts before we edit. I’m prepared to film on 11/29 unlike this weekend. We have a plan on around what time we’re gonna meet up, where we’re gonna meet up, and where we’re going to film. This will allow for a smooth process once we get our first real opportunity to film. Filming then also allows us to have approval form our parents which is very important when it comes to this. If we are unable to get all our shots done due to maybe the sun setting early, we will still have Sunday to film. We have time in our hands so everything will work out.

        Just because I couldn’t film over the weekend doesn’t mean I did nothing at all. I personally brainstormed some more ideas on how we may edit the music video. Editing is a crucial part so the more ideas the better chances that the video could look nicer. I also happen to be the main person being filmed this time around. This caused me to try and decide what I wanted my costume to be. In the beginning of the music video i’m wearing sleepwear but after that i’m in normal clothing. I decided on what costume I would do for the sleepwear but I only thought of some possible outfit combinations for the normal clothing. Overall, my group and I weren’t able to film this weekend, but I was still able to get things done that will help once we start filming. Complications arise sometimes but that won’t stop us from doing what we have to do. I’m just really excited to finally start filming this music video!

Storyboard for Music Video

        My group and I are going to be filming a music video for the song “8TEEN” by Khalid pretty soon. Before then we’ll have to storyboard our ideas. The storyboard allows us to have a general idea of what we’re gonna film and what we’ll be incorporating. We’ll be incorporating multiple shots, movements, and angles throughout our video. For example, our first scene involves us filming our group member Leo waking up and we think a high angle would establish this the best. We’ll include other high and low angles somewhere in the video to show everything that we’ll be doing. The next scene would involve us using a long shot to film Leo opening his bedroom door. An action match, which is a fork of editing, allows for our next scene to happen which is Leo opening the rest of the car door. A wide shot will be used here to establish our member Leo and the car. The shots/angles/movements help build on what’s being filmed.
        When it comes to the mis en scene we plan on acting as friends who know each other. Throughout the ending scenes in the storyboard you can see us acting as if we’re friends hanging out. Our costumes were dependent on the setting which is shown in the storyboard. The first setting is at a house so sleeping attire. The other setting is outside and at a park so normal attire. Natural lighting will be used since the daylight will be present during the park scenes. We will mostly film handheld so a more natural look of teenagers having fun is shown. Our sound is our song choice which was 8TEEN by Khalid. When it comes to editing we have a couple ideas. We want to include an action match during our second scene involving opening a bedroom door then cutting to a car door. We plan on using a reaction shot for the scene where Leo smells the thing in the car. We also plan on using jump cuts, dissolves, and fade outs for a nice and smooth process.

Planning Blog for Music Video

        Today we’re currently planning for our music video. This is essential so we can have a smooth process once we start filming. A plan last time helped us tremendously, so we’re sure it’ll help us this time. The main parts of our planning involves location, health & safety, props, costumes, and our schedule.
1. Location-  We have a couple of locations we plan on filming at. One of the locations would be at our group member Leo’s house. A couple of our scenes involve him waking up so we plan on filming in his house. We’ll also be filming around the exterior of his house. We will also film around his neighborhood for scenes possibly involving the road. We will also be filing at the part for the second half of the music video.
2. Health & Safety- When it comes to health and safety, there are some precautions. We plan on filming some scenes in a car. Since we plan on filming in a car, we will wear seatbelts as a precaution incase we have to drive. In that situation, we’ll have an adult present just incase. If we have to walk and cross any roads, we’ll check both sides and make sure no cars are coming.
3. Props- We’ll be using a couple of props during the filming. We’ll need a car. This is for certain scenes where it talks about the way a car smells and talks about traffic. We’ll also need a phone for our beginning scene. We’ll need it to show the time, which is needed for our opening scene.
4. Costumes- For the music videos there aren’t that many costumes we will need. For the first couple of scenes we may need our group member Leo to wear sleeping attire. That would consist of gym shorts and a shirt. For the rest we will all be in normal attire. That will most likely be jeans, shirts, and sneakers. Our music video is essentially showing teenagers so that’s why it will be normal attire.
5. Schedule- Our schedule may change based on availability. Right now we have three dates we can all possibly film. Those dates are November 27, November 29 and December 1. These are the only dates where we can all most likely get together. We plan on editing the following week during our class periods and at home.

Intro to Music Video

          We are officially done with the Gatorade commercial. There are a couple of things we will probably do different for the music video. I think we most likely are going to use our phones to film the commercial instead of the cameras. The phones just allow us to film more frequently.  This time we have to film outside of school instead of on campus. I think this will actually be better seeing that we’ll have so many more locations we can go film at now. I’m way more exited to do the music video seeing that we get to decide what song we want to do. 

        The song we ended up choosing was 8TEEN by Khalid. I went through my music playlists to try and find songs that we could consider using. We didn’t really know what type of song we wanted to do. We just chose what we thought was the best that could be filmed. Khalid’s songs allow for a story to be heard and makes it easy to make a video. I think the chill sound and storytelling allows for a simple process. 

          The genre that our song is in is R&B/Soul. This genre usually consists of medium shots and close-up shots. These camera angles are normally the most popular and are used a lot in this genre. They film slowly and the camera doesn’t move very fast. The sounds are are mainly smooth and calmly but sometimes can be more uplifting.

1. Costumes: The costumes are generally normal attire. In the music videos, the people wear everyday clothing.  

2. Lighting: The lighting normally used is natural lighting or indoor lighting. They use this lighting because in the videos, they are mainly outside and indoor. 

3. Actors: The people acting appear to be normal people and appear as friends to the music artist. This is mostly because in the videos the people seem to have some form of a relationship. 

4. Makeup: In most music videos like ours, there doesn’t appear to be much makeup. The girls would wear everyday makeup.

5. Props- The props used are usually cars and items that fit the lyrics in the song. This is because the lyrics tend to tell a certain story. 

6. Setting- The setting in these type of music videos are at normal places depending on what the lyrics are trying to say. They can vary from houses, the beach, or the mall. 

Editing Blog 2

        These past 2 days we finally got computers that allowed us to edit. Last time pinnacle studios wasn’t working and all the technology was messing up. I was so happy that we would finally be able to edit. The first day that we had a computer to edit on we had to figure out how to get our footage onto pinnacle studies. With the other computers we had a folder with our footage, but now it was all on our google drive so we didn’t know what to do from there. The first thing I did was log onto my google drive since that’s the one we were using.  We all tried thinking of what to do and then decided that we should just download all the footage. The footage got downloaded and then we figured out we could just put it in a folder. Once the footage was all imported I looked through every single clip with my group members. This took a while since each scene had a couple of takes.
        Just trying to figure everything out and import had taken us about twenty minutes of the class time we had. The first thing we did was go through our opening clip which was Madeline walking onto the track. Since all the footage was on my google drive I had already gone through it earlier. This meant that I had some knowledge on which clips we should use for our commercial. I told Brooke to go use the second take since I knew the first take was essentially a blooper. Now we went to look at the next takes which were of madeline unzipping the duffle bag. I grew a little frustrated since the footage in pinnacle studios kept lagging. After the best clip was chosen we essentially did that for the whole period. I noticed that we didn’t have that much time left and grew a little worried that we wouldn’t be able to finish next class. I made sure everything was saved, logged out, and then carried on with the day.
        Today, I quickly went to class because I knew we would have less time to work on the commercial today. I grabbed the computer and logged onto my account since that’s what everything was on. Another group came and interrupted us since apparently their footage was also on that computer, so I had to log out and wait for them to finish. After that I logged back into my account and waited for Brooke to open pinnacle studios. Pinnacle studios was taking a while to open so I started to panic since it wouldn’t open. My group members kept trying to get it to start while I asked someone else if they knew what we could do. I went to grab another computer but was disappointed since that meant all the editing we did on the other computer was for nothing. Technology failed us once again so we prepared to work on it during the weekend. The good thing is that we weren’t that far along so it’s not as big of a struggle then it could’ve been. My group members and I plan on FaceTiming this weekend and finishing the editing.