Our Finished video!

And this is what all our hard work has produced. Hours of blood sweat and tears in front of a computer screen has come down to this...

Showcase

Our rough cut is ready for the showcase!
Finally after a long few weeks editing, we have finished a rough cut of our music video, remarkably in time for showcase Wednesday. Although the video is finished, after we have been analysed by other students studying media and our teachers we will tweak our video to improve effects, transition and clips used. This will enable us to improve the video further based on the constructive criticism given by other students and our teachers. Hopefully after we have tweaked our video, we will have a finished video up to a good standard.

Reference to genre and Audience.

Our video has features that are typical of the Indie Genre, as well as some features that don't exactly fit.

The video consists of two main sections, shots of the band and shots of the rabbits. The band shots are a feature typical of most music video's regardless of genre, however it is a technique used in the majority of 'indie' video's as it gives out that 'organic' and 'unprocessed' feel. An example would be Arctic monkeys- I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor...





By only using band shots, grainy film and sound quality the video takes on the characteristics of an 'indie' video as it has that underproduced vibe that Indie bands strive for.

In comparison the 'rabbits' section, our underlying narrative, which breaks up the band shots and adds fluency to the video.This is a feature of the majority of music videos, narrative adds a layer of intrigue to the product which keeps the audience's attention. A good example is My Chemical Romance'- I'm not Okay (I Promise)...



By using these features we encompass many of the norms that artists of our genre use, this helps the video attract a certain audience. This is the primary function of a music video, to attract a wider audience. By utilising the existing conventions of the music video we provide the service that the audience expect,  therefore they are more likely to watch and appreciate the video.

editing nearly complete!

We pretty close to finishing now! The video is complete however there are some shots that need fine tuning to get in perfect time and the effects need to be added. Also there are now some shots that we are not sure whether or not we like at all. We have alot got to the point where listening to the song makes us suicidal which apparently is natural. This may have caused some slack towards the end and we know that cannot happen if we are to get a good grade so at the end we may go over the ending thoroughly to make sure we are just as pleased with it as we were with the start.

Editing

So we've made good progress and got about half way through the song with things roughly in the places we want them although it is highly likely that things will change. We have also discovered that even when you have more footage than you think you'll need it is still probably not enough to fill an entire film. Another plus is that at this stage we are all agreeing with decisions which helps save a lot of time and we are all very please with how things are progressing.

editing - Effects

Since we have started editing we have always had the effects part of the process in the back of our minds because we know we need to get those right to make it look like a professional video. We have noticed from looking at other peoples videos and having a little experiment with Final Cut that alot of the effects look very unprofessional and just ruin the film so we need to make sure we only use them when necessary and we don't over exaggerate them otherwise we could ruin our film. Also we have found out that Adobe After Effects may be a better way of making our effects look better although it would be a long process to import the footage into there, create an effect from scratch then import the film back into Final Cut; we are under a strict deadline and this may cause us alot of unnecessary time loss.

editing decisions

Okay, we have decided that going through the song and adding clips in as we go is going to be the easiest way to edit this video. We have agreed on the start of the film, just introducing everything so the audience knows what to expect and there aren't any random surprises. We have also realised that all music videos have some sort of effects no matter how subtle which is not something we originally thought of when starting the editing process but we have decided that it would probably be best to make the effects finishing touches to our final film rather than adding them as we go.  We have also agreed that it shouldn't be too effects heavy because it's not very fitting of the style of our music video.

Editing discussions

We have had a few discussions on the editing process in terms of how we should do it. We cant decided whether to go through the song and put each clip in as we want it as we go through the song or whether we should just place down the performance track and then go back to through and add the rabbit shots where we want them. We also can't quite decide on a cutting rate speed for different parts of the songs. However we have agreed on some things such as where we want certain rabbit shots because it just feels like it should go there so at this stage things are going well.

The making of: Weak(end) arrows- Rabbits

The basic process was simple, as we have access to a large, professionally lit drama space it seemed reasonable that we use it for the band shots, because we could control the space, ambient lighting and costumes it was easy to film on multiple occasions without risking embarrassing continuity errors, the only problems we encountered came in getting our gear to the studio, and a minor drum malfunction...

The problem with logistics was met with Sam's Dad's van, which we easily slotted out drum kit into, we also made it easier on ourselves by not plugging in our amps, saving us the effort of bringing extra cables. Of course the down side to this being that the sharp-eyed out there will spot that our amps aren't plugged in. The second problem to come from the 'band' stage of filming came when Louis's drum kit fell apart, literally. Nothing some chewing gum couldn't fix.

When filming in public dressed as 6 foot rabbits the problems become more obvious, with a curious public and motorists who were far to liberal with their use of car horns it was difficult to get a decent shot without it being ruined by a passing driver yelling "RABBITS". Cheers for that.

Aside from these minor hiccups though the filming process went without a hitch, now onto editing...

review on filming

So far we are happy with how much footage we have as we have shot all of the shots we think we are going to need plus extras because we know that when we edit we will need more than is used. Also, although it was quite time consuming, we done each shot multiple times so we can take the best take and aim for the best results. We had a slight hick up when one of the cameras ran out of batter but we came prepared and brought an extra battery. In the space we used we managed to create an atmospheric theatre like space, however the lighting was in a fixed place which we couldn't move and it did create some annoying shadows but if anything it created a more mysterious effect.

Filming Complete!

After a sunny spell and some embarassing dressing up, it is now done! All of the footage we think we will need is done plus we have some extra just incase. Now we have to spend a few weeks editing it all and making sure it looks professional to make sure we get a good grade. This next stage can make or break our music video because good filming is nothing without good editing!

Costume and prop list.

• Rabbit Costume x2
• Casual clothes
• HD Camera x2
• Tripod x2
• Dolly
• Guitar Amp
• Bass Amp
• Microphone
• Mic Stand
• Drum kit
• Guitar
• Bass Guitar
• CD player

Analysis of filming - stage 1

So far we've acquired all of our live footage and have begun to edit it with Final Cut. The only problem is we can't get too stuck into the editing because we don't have our narrative footage yet. We know roughly where we want these shots but as it so often is, when it actually comes to editing, the original plan tends to go out of the window. We plan to have the narrative footage within the next week or so, so until then...

Laters!

Filming!

It's been a long and strenuous task, but after a lot of blood, sweat and tears, we have done most of the filming for the "live performance" part of the video. To do this we had to arrange a day in which we could all make, get all of our equipment from our houses to our shooting location, get 2 HD cameras with tripods then get all the necessary shots that our story boards suggested (which i will post shortly) we needed, all of which had to be n time with the track so we had to use a PA system to play the track from and get it to go louder than the drum kit which is the only instrument which is meant to be heard when filming; all guitars and such can be mimed.

This sounds like a lot to do and makes it seem like it would be a tough task, and that is exactly right. It was very stressful and a lot of hard work!

Now we just have to film the shots which involve rabbit costumes and such... and then we begin editing!

Status Update

At this moment in time, we have done sufficient filming for our music video. We have uploaded all the film to the computer and erased it from the cameras. We converted the film into a compatible format so we could them begin to create our performance bed in Final Cut Express. We imported the recorded track ad begin cutting our film and creating the music video by following the storyboards. We will continue editing, but will need to film some more footage at a later date.
:)

Rabbits Storyboard

Rabbits storyboard

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Andrew Goodwin Theories

Andy Goodwin says that: The creation of character identities for stars provides a point of identification for the audience/spectator which is especially important when lyrics often lack depth.

Basically, if a stars lyrics aren't particularly deep or meaningful then it makes it harder for the audience to relate to them, however if they create an image or a character then it makes it easier for people to relate to and increases their popularity and their power to be an idol.

He also says that: The construction of stars is central to the economics of the music industry – only stars guarantee sales and long careers,

In some ways, this is true, stars will have bigger sales and longer careers but this does not always make them the most popular. sometimes smaller artists have much more loyal solid fan bases because they are more down to earth and not surrounded by a bubble of fame much like a lot of "stars" today.

He says that : Star loyalty is a key ingredient – fans are loyal to the star.

Again we would agree with what he is saying, people like Lady Gaga have a huge fan base all of whom are loyal to the artist and will probably side with them despite what other people may think or if the artist does something shocking (like wearing a suit made of meat).

He also says : The record industry is very dependent on stars – many record companies rely on a few big stars (or even just one) to provide stability.

We think this makes perfect sense, some record labels may only have one artist, but if it is a super star then they are sorted, they don't need anyone else, why would they waste time on artists who aren't going to be starts when they could just focus on the star thats going to make them the most money. It seems wrong but thats just how it is in todays music industry.