The editing process at the end of February is going well. The first minute of the video has been completed and the final minute and a half is finished too so the middle segment of the video is the only thing that remains. That part of the video is the remaining section of 'Hey Ya!' and requires a disc-scratching sound effect before entering the 'Roses' remix.
We also need to find a way of creating a relevant background for the green-screen clips as without it it looks bland and unprofessional. We independently filmed Ollie writing out our band name 'Rough Cuts' in a graffiti-style on to a piece of card and this could be one potential background that we use. We were thinking along similar lines for the white-screen footage but feel that even without a background it looks smart and resembles a a photo studio. This gives the impression that we are a genuine band who have access to such facilities - and we can say that it is a "behind-the-scenes", documentary type video.
We may require to do a couple of slight re-shoots for small sections but as it stands we've not encountered any major editorial problems and the progress we are making is good.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
Filming + Further Photoshoot
In the last few days we've completed what we hope is our final round of filming and implemented a new idea where we captured myself and Safiye in a 'photoshoot' type environment. It played in to the montage/satirical style that we are wanting to portray.
We've filmed against a projector that had a background of kaleidoscopic colours and patterns and that will feature midway through the video and reflect our 'wacky' theme that we'd mentioned in the pre-production stage.
We took the opportunity to take some more photos with the white screen we set up, as well as the projector, and these will feature on our websites and, as you can see below, on here. These are photos from the white screen shoot because the ones with the projector are currently being edited on PhotoShop:
We're very pleased with how all the photos have turned out and the colour effects boast the sleek look we were looking for. Ollie was in charge of the photography and changed the aperture of the camera so that the colours would be more noticeable than myself, Safiye and Dan, who feature in them. As we did it in a dark room they illuminate a little bit and it can be portrayed as a dream-like state, which is conducive to the viewer's vicarious living. The photos in question will be uploaded at a later date.
We've filmed against a projector that had a background of kaleidoscopic colours and patterns and that will feature midway through the video and reflect our 'wacky' theme that we'd mentioned in the pre-production stage.
We took the opportunity to take some more photos with the white screen we set up, as well as the projector, and these will feature on our websites and, as you can see below, on here. These are photos from the white screen shoot because the ones with the projector are currently being edited on PhotoShop:
We're very pleased with how all the photos have turned out and the colour effects boast the sleek look we were looking for. Ollie was in charge of the photography and changed the aperture of the camera so that the colours would be more noticeable than myself, Safiye and Dan, who feature in them. As we did it in a dark room they illuminate a little bit and it can be portrayed as a dream-like state, which is conducive to the viewer's vicarious living. The photos in question will be uploaded at a later date.
Friday, 25 January 2013
Radio Podcast Now Complete
Today I managed to complete the edit of the radio podcast I referred to last Friday. The length of the podcast is 8 minutes and will soon be uploaded to the website I'm still in the process of creating.
I did encounter some difficulties with the editing in that some of the cuts aren't as slick or professional as I hoped they would be. This is because when we miscued a line in filming, or made a mistake, we didn't restart that section of the podcast again sufficiently and therefore I had to make do with the footage we did have. As a result there are a couple of shots that are clearly not edited particularly smoothly but as this was a side project we have no choice but to use what we've got. I still feel the content is great and we approached it as if it was a real interview, so the questions asked and answers given were well thought out. What we wanted to make clear was that Rough Cuts consists of members that are down to earth and relatable, so we made the decision not to remove one or two pieces of bad language from the podcast. As we filmed Ollie naturally happened to swear in reaction to something that was being discussed and at the time we said we'd bleep it out from the final edit. However, upon cutting the footage, I saw how it happened and felt that it was in keeping with the informal nature of the interview. From that point I decided that the language wasn't particularly offensive or aimed at anybody in particular so it could remain in the podcast and therefore I left it in. Our demographic (late teens - early twenty year olds) would not be taken aback by the language and would probably come to expect it from a band and that's why I believed it shouldn't be edited out.
As I mentioned above, this podcast is a side project and wasn't worth spending too many hours on, so instead of going through the trouble of importing it to Final Cut I simply used iMovie. It is a very basic programme with limited editorial features, but it was an effective way for me to cut together the video in a short space of time. The music video is, however, being edited on Final Cut and will benefit from the additional functions it possesses.
Rough Cuts Radio Podcast
I did encounter some difficulties with the editing in that some of the cuts aren't as slick or professional as I hoped they would be. This is because when we miscued a line in filming, or made a mistake, we didn't restart that section of the podcast again sufficiently and therefore I had to make do with the footage we did have. As a result there are a couple of shots that are clearly not edited particularly smoothly but as this was a side project we have no choice but to use what we've got. I still feel the content is great and we approached it as if it was a real interview, so the questions asked and answers given were well thought out. What we wanted to make clear was that Rough Cuts consists of members that are down to earth and relatable, so we made the decision not to remove one or two pieces of bad language from the podcast. As we filmed Ollie naturally happened to swear in reaction to something that was being discussed and at the time we said we'd bleep it out from the final edit. However, upon cutting the footage, I saw how it happened and felt that it was in keeping with the informal nature of the interview. From that point I decided that the language wasn't particularly offensive or aimed at anybody in particular so it could remain in the podcast and therefore I left it in. Our demographic (late teens - early twenty year olds) would not be taken aback by the language and would probably come to expect it from a band and that's why I believed it shouldn't be edited out.
As I mentioned above, this podcast is a side project and wasn't worth spending too many hours on, so instead of going through the trouble of importing it to Final Cut I simply used iMovie. It is a very basic programme with limited editorial features, but it was an effective way for me to cut together the video in a short space of time. The music video is, however, being edited on Final Cut and will benefit from the additional functions it possesses.
Rough Cuts Radio Podcast
Friday, 18 January 2013
Update: Radio Podcast, Filming
It's been well over a month since I last blogged on what's been going on as we've had a mixed few weeks.
Unfortunately just before Christmas we were prevented from doing any internal filming as the green screen we have access to was broken and needed to be replaced. As this type of filming is central to the video we're creating it meant there was little else we could do but wait. We attempted to come up with contingency plans that would see us film more external shots and make some slight alterations to our storyboards to reflect this. Just before Christmas we came up with a fantastic idea that would give our video a new focus that we'd not really considered before - to make sections of it a behind-the-scenes montage to offer an insight in to what it is like being part of a band. We felt it would be a statement of intent that Rough Cuts don't take themselves too seriously and were willing to poke fun at themselves in a video that was deliberately made to look low-budget. I feel this challenges the codes and conventions of a typical 21st century music video where every effort is made by directors to create the illusion of grandeur, wealth and happiness. We don't want to create a video that attempts to mimic the content of professional videos as it would be clear that we are just copying what we know to be successful. What we wish to portray is a video that highlights the vast difference between the big money spent on music videos in the professional industry and just how far away that we are from that as a young band. If we present it as we hope to - in a way that doesn't show us leading idyllic lives and reminding our audience that we are just like them - we hope to reinforce that we understand why professional acts are branded in such a way and that they are designed in order for their fans to live vicariously through their on-screen experiences. Our decision to create a video of a much different style perhaps hints that we don't believe in the hype of a popular band (which is how we've begun branding ourselves on our websites) and want to develop a relationship of equality with our audience.
Despite the fact that we feel it is fresh and unusual, I have been inspired by the way one famous band have done something similar in recent years. British band Snow Patrol developed a similar idea for their single 'Hands Open' in 2007 and the way that did it could prove to be the basis for how we format ours:
Unfortunately just before Christmas we were prevented from doing any internal filming as the green screen we have access to was broken and needed to be replaced. As this type of filming is central to the video we're creating it meant there was little else we could do but wait. We attempted to come up with contingency plans that would see us film more external shots and make some slight alterations to our storyboards to reflect this. Just before Christmas we came up with a fantastic idea that would give our video a new focus that we'd not really considered before - to make sections of it a behind-the-scenes montage to offer an insight in to what it is like being part of a band. We felt it would be a statement of intent that Rough Cuts don't take themselves too seriously and were willing to poke fun at themselves in a video that was deliberately made to look low-budget. I feel this challenges the codes and conventions of a typical 21st century music video where every effort is made by directors to create the illusion of grandeur, wealth and happiness. We don't want to create a video that attempts to mimic the content of professional videos as it would be clear that we are just copying what we know to be successful. What we wish to portray is a video that highlights the vast difference between the big money spent on music videos in the professional industry and just how far away that we are from that as a young band. If we present it as we hope to - in a way that doesn't show us leading idyllic lives and reminding our audience that we are just like them - we hope to reinforce that we understand why professional acts are branded in such a way and that they are designed in order for their fans to live vicariously through their on-screen experiences. Our decision to create a video of a much different style perhaps hints that we don't believe in the hype of a popular band (which is how we've begun branding ourselves on our websites) and want to develop a relationship of equality with our audience.
Despite the fact that we feel it is fresh and unusual, I have been inspired by the way one famous band have done something similar in recent years. British band Snow Patrol developed a similar idea for their single 'Hands Open' in 2007 and the way that did it could prove to be the basis for how we format ours:
They have made it black and white throughout to symbolise that what the footage/photographs they are showing are from the past - a collection of memories. The editing techniques used include a slow zoom in and out of certain shots which offers a greater perspective in to what is being shown. From this you can see that it is a 'story so far' kind of video that charts their journey in the build-up to this particular song being released. Whilst ours will not be similar in that regard, some of the photographs are from behind the scenes when Snow Patrol aren't conforming to their stage presences and that is the type of trait we wish to reflect.
The whole idea gave us added impetus going in to the Christmas holiday to go and film as a group around our hometown of Bristol. We planned on coinciding our filming with visiting a skatepark and picking up the shots we needed from that particular environment too. However, we were not all available at the same time over the two week break and it meant we were unable to go out as we'd hoped. Knowing full-well that we've slipped behind schedule with the video we have worked twice as hard since the turn of the new year to ensure we are making the most of our time. Ollie has got some shots of him skating (from ground level) and that is one element of the video that we are pleased to have now got sorted. There may still be further skate shots that we need to film but the bulk of it is in place and will be uploaded shortly. Safiye is trying to arrange an appropriate time to meet with her friend who is part of a dance group and we hope the opportunity will arise for her to get some footage of a males vs females dance off. Ollie and I discussed using a podcast for our websites last Wednesday and wondered how we could include one another in them and I suggested that we could all use the same footage if we were to stage a 'radio interview'. Both Ollie and Safiye liked the idea and we set about creating a mini radio studio equipped with low angle cameras that showed the interview taking place at the table below. Safiye assumed the role of radio presenter whilst myself and Ollie played ourselves and answered the questions that had been devised by the radio company. An additional feature was that we were interacting with our fans who were sending in questions to the radio station's Twitter account during the interview. We came up with the name 'Fresh FM' and pleasingly it went really well. All three of us settled in to our roles quickly and it felt as if we were a part of a proper band who were being interviewed as part of their PR duties. The questions and answers were completely spontaneous as we felt it would give the impression of a live radio broadcast when uploaded to our websites.
That will be our main video and, certainly in terms of my website, it will be the focal point of the 'podcast' section. The footage has not been edited fully just yet but should be done relatively shortly over the next couple of weeks. We did, for contingency purposes, film a second interview with Safiye being interviewed by me and Ollie in a role reversal. However, this will only done as a back-up should for some reason we lose the footage from the original.
The plan at this point is to go out and film both externally and internally as quickly as we possibly can over the next fortnight, but we have been dealt a blow with the heavy snowfall we've experienced in the past 24 hours. Our Media Studies facility at school was closed today (Friday 18th January) and with the adverse weather conditions set to last well in to next week, we could face the same problem. Hopefully the snow will melt sufficiently for us to be able to go in and have access to the cameras and iMacs to edit but we'll have to wait and see how things are on Monday.
We're a little worried that we have fallen behind as much as we have but from my point of view I'm very pleased with the radio podcast idea and how that's turned out. We're all just hoping we can make further progress over the next 7 days!
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
Band Name Update:
This morning myself and Ollie felt that we weren't quite clicking with the band name we settled upon previously. Whilst at the time we felt it was the ideal choice with the meaning we had attached to it, we've been updating our websites and just didn't think it was working.
We had to make an executive decision in the absence of the other two bandmates and thus we went through the naming process once again. This time we wanted to go in to more detail and provide ourselves with more options, so we came up with a list of adjectives and began associating other words to them. We felt as though we needed to go through a much more in-depth process this time around in order to select our name so that's what we did. We listed the most noticeable adjectives and tried combining some of them together. For example, we had 'hollow' and 'hero' and experimented by putting them together. We felt no real affection for 'Hollow Heroes' but we did like another of the combinations we created.
We had the words 'rough' and 'cut' and immediately after putting them together we decided it was the perfect name. It's suitably edgy, it's dynamic and it possesses a little bit of indie charm. We feel that our band's identity is surmised perfectly with the name and even though it's just myself and Ollie that have voiced it, we hope the others will appreciate it too.
The two absentees will be with us in half an hour so we will have a group discussion on it and hopefully settle upon Rough Cuts as our new name. It may take a bit of persuading because Safiye was an advocate of Clique originally, but it's got a ring to it, which will hopefully tip the balance in our favour when we suggest it.
We had to make an executive decision in the absence of the other two bandmates and thus we went through the naming process once again. This time we wanted to go in to more detail and provide ourselves with more options, so we came up with a list of adjectives and began associating other words to them. We felt as though we needed to go through a much more in-depth process this time around in order to select our name so that's what we did. We listed the most noticeable adjectives and tried combining some of them together. For example, we had 'hollow' and 'hero' and experimented by putting them together. We felt no real affection for 'Hollow Heroes' but we did like another of the combinations we created.
We had the words 'rough' and 'cut' and immediately after putting them together we decided it was the perfect name. It's suitably edgy, it's dynamic and it possesses a little bit of indie charm. We feel that our band's identity is surmised perfectly with the name and even though it's just myself and Ollie that have voiced it, we hope the others will appreciate it too.
The two absentees will be with us in half an hour so we will have a group discussion on it and hopefully settle upon Rough Cuts as our new name. It may take a bit of persuading because Safiye was an advocate of Clique originally, but it's got a ring to it, which will hopefully tip the balance in our favour when we suggest it.
Friday, 30 November 2012
Stop Motion Demos
We decided to create a couple of stop-motion dummies this week to test whether we could do it to a high enough standard. This also allowed us to discover whether we'd have any problems when we got around to filming it for real for the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2rBhD1IyZM
This time we we spelled the word 'Clique' out of tripods, camera bags and any other random props that were around at the time.
It has been a huge help to complete these practices and we feel very encouraged as we prepare to do it for our music video.
This is our first attempt using chairs we have in the media department. Basically we took several sequential photos of the chairs but with them moved slightly between shots to tell the story.
It isn't the most professional or ambitious stop-motion but it was our first attempt so we weren't too concerned with the content as long as we encountered no problems.
Thankfully we didn't and we felt confident enough to do another:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2rBhD1IyZM
This time we we spelled the word 'Clique' out of tripods, camera bags and any other random props that were around at the time.
It has been a huge help to complete these practices and we feel very encouraged as we prepare to do it for our music video.
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