Filler shots.

Instead of using footage of just lip syncing i also plan on using some filler shots of a heavily backlit person to provide just a silhouette with movements. To create this effect i will use a set of photography lights and a darkened room.

Comparison

Heres a quick screen grab presenting the new video style of my project alongside eminems newest music video "no love"

the evolving project

Essentially the entire project has had to evolve multiple times, now the footage is set to take on a more gritty movie look combined with the graphic images, this makes the actual footage look more professional, one person even said it didnt look like it had been filmed with school equipment. 

(a scene from Luma films "the Covenant"

("inception" movie poster) 

New screen grab

First cut feedback from Mrs Allison

The major problem with what you showed was the lack of filmed performance to show camera skills. Your graphics are impressive but we can't grade you on this!

You need to :

• film performance of THE WHOLE SONG - not nec lip synching throughout but using body language and expression to interpret song
• Experiment with a range of camera angles and lighting effects - see Kanye West's Love Lockdown for an example of this
• Use on screen text to highlight key words from lyrics
• The superimposing of graphics over performer works well but you need more ideas to show creativity in postproduction e.g. multiple layers, split screen, different types of transitions, multiplying images, changing saturation etc etc

Get help with these ideas by coming to the workshop class with Miss Grant-Muller

Screen grab

This shot is from the chorus of the song the effect was achieved by placing this image:

On the video line above the footage of the chorus being lip synced, this layer was then set to a specific blend mode to achieve the desired effect.

Before this was applied the shot was filmed from a low angle to represent the power of the performer and backlit to create a specific effect that reflected a scene in the original video which was also backlit. The performer is wearing a hooded leather jacket; the material of the jacket again ties in to the outfit of the performer In the original video so as to help better fit within the stereotypes of the genre. Overall the shot was framed to make the performer the only thing that could be focused on and seen in any real detail.

Creation of images.

Speaking to people there was some confusion over how the images to be used in the video were created and were they came from. These are personal pieces of work they vary from typographic work to photo manipulation works and digital paintings, all have been created by me some in as little time as 45 minutes and others up to 4 weeks of hard work, they are my images otherwise i wouldn't be using them in this video, i hope the fact that i have created the bank of iamges the ones in the video will come from over the past 2 years will be taken in to consideration.

Below are some images i have created and their making of process:

Structure for the new video

Structure for the new video:

Eminem’s intro -Text on screen to explain the set up for the video (a series of images created by me that show our fears and tells us we shouldn’t be afraid of them)

Verse 1 - Should tie in to images of words, graffiti, and protest images, end with snake/dragon demon

Hook (Chorus) – Performance, make sure performer over emphasis movement of hands and use camera cut away. Strong back lighting to create interesting shots.

Verse 2 – Images of war and destruction, natural disasters, tsunami, devastation.

Hook and bridge – final performance and closing images and text.


The structure for the new video came from combining the random sledgehammer and the idea of honesty from the all american rejects video "dirty little secret"

Possible ideas.

As the project has now shifted directions i need a way in which to incorporate this new mash of random images in to the video. I think i may have solved this problem as the video will be based on the song not afraid, why not launch a concept of people being not afraid to display how they feel using images i have already created as a representation for their feelings, i have around 150 images for people to chose from and using modern technology gathering survey results would be easy so compiling this collection of images with an overlay of performers footage for a base this video could become a representative of teen emotions from happy to sad to funny and quirky, this also provides a reason for the random mish mash of imagery and gives the whole idea a great deal more depth, this idea could be briefly summarised at the start of the video in a few liens of text.

Testing....testing....

After much work and many attempts at processing the initial 30 seconds of footage, animating it and then exporting it in a format which is actually viewable with a degree of quality, I can draw one conclusion about the initial idea of the footage, it has failed. In all the preliminary tests with still images and the animation it appeared that this idea would work. However when the footage was exported to a format that photoshop could read the quality was grainy and slightly distorted, after a variety of attempts I concluded that I would have to settle for a lower standard of footage to get the project rolling. Unfortunately when i exported a test from photoshop of some animated footage the quality was basically un viewable. So now after much deliberation and debate i’m left with only one realy option. To completly modify the project, now rather then animation i’m hopping to keep the basic imagery but use still images overlaid on the video in quick succession in a form similar to the randomness of sledgehammer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqyc37aOqT0

But with still images and as an alternate to the original enter shikari style

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAVne8dOzEA

Some information

Hi Liam,


I've tried to export your file but it won't work on my PC at home...I should have taken the tape to import! However I have found the links below that might be useful. The first mentions exporting as .FLM filmstrip from Premiere. I don't have the extended Photoshop to try this out with.


The second one gives a tutorial on using Photoshop with After Effect. This would be the ideal program as it is much more managable to create animations. I have created videos with many layers using this program...but I'm not sure if that is what you are looking for.


Animation is unfortunately a painstaking process....have you thought of shooting your singer against a white of green/blue background, masking it out in Premier and layering abstract video clips/or effects around the singing subject instead of using a more time consuming hand drawn method?


Perhaps it might be better to work to your strengths and showcase your talents experimenting and demonstrating the differnet types of effects you know how to use.


Hope that offers some help!



About how to rotoscope

http://premierepro.wikia.com/wiki/Tutorial:_Rotoscoping

Importing from Photoshop to Afteraffects

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-after-effects-cs4/rotoscoping-using-after-effects-and-photoshop/

Importing from Premire to photoshop

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/short-and-suite/using-video-in-photoshop-cs4/

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-photoshop-cs4/using-photoshop-with-premiere-pro/

Importing files to Photoshop CS4


http://www.garunawebdesigner.com/?p=4683

Some infomation!

Hi Liam,

I've tried to export your file but it won't work on my PC at home...I should have taken the tape to import! However I have found the links below that might be useful. The first mentions exporting as .FLM filmstrip from Premiere. I don't have the extended Photoshop to try this out with.

The second one gives a tutorial on using Photoshop with After Effect. This would be the ideal program as it is much more managable to create animations. I have created videos with many layers using this program...but I'm not sure if that is what you are looking for.

Animation is unfortunately a painstaking process....have you thought of shooting your singer against a white of green/blue background, masking it out in Premier and layering abstract video clips/or effects around the singing subject instead of using a more time consuming hand drawn method?

Perhaps it might be better to work to your strengths and showcase your talents experimenting and demonstrating the differnet types of effects you know how to use.

Hope that offers some help!

About how to rotoscope

http://premierepro.wikia.com/wiki/Tutorial:_Rotoscoping

Importing from Photoshop to Afteraffects

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-after-effects-cs4/rotoscoping-using-after-effects-and-photoshop/

Importing from Premire to photoshop

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/short-and-suite/using-video-in-photoshop-cs4/

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-photoshop-cs4/using-photoshop-with-premiere-pro/

Importing files to Photoshop CS4

http://www.garunawebdesigner.com/?p=4683

Production: The trials and tribulation stage.

After I filmed the opening 30 seconds of footage I decided to use it as a trial run for effects and the rotorscope process. Firstly the base footage had to be enhanced in a suitable way, to do this i applied multiple effect layers, below are the print screens of the two layers of video footage to show the exact details of the effects used:

An aproximate production schedule

Pre-Production
Developing the idea
Treatment
Pitch
Storyboard
Animatic
Script
Locations
Shot list
Production Schedule
All pre production work takes place between the 6th and 20th of September.
Production
Actors
Shooting (primary test shots) Week beginning the 27th
Realistic Film time week beginning 4th Oct.
Crew
Post-ProductionCapturing week beginning 11th Oct.
Editing prep for animation during the week beginning 11th Oct
Animation and image manipulation Starting 18th Oct aim to have a rough cut finished by the 1st of Nov. Animation fully finished between the 8th and 15th of Nov.
Music-Sound if animation is finished then sound will be added on the 15th
Mastering on the 22nd of November.

Analysing a professional media product

Analysing a music video: Not Afraid by Eminem

Basic information: The music video is directed by Rich Lee and was partly filmed on the streets of Newark, New Jersey in early May. The video premiered on June 5, 2010 in the states and on June 6th in the UK. The record is produced by eminem's company "Shady records"

Eminem presents two images within the music video, one is the version we first see on top of a sky scraper, he’s wearing a leather jacket, jeans and decent trainers overall he looks clean cut and successful but not overly corporate as his clothing isn’t particular formal. This would appear to represent the success he has had in his professional career and is reflected in one of the first lines which is “I guess I had to come from there to get here” implying he has achieved something and got somewhere of note. The contrast to this is the Eminem we see in the darkly lit dingy basement; here he is wearing a vest (which he refers to as a “his wife beater” which is common American slang for vest) and dark jeans, this dirty unkempt appearance seems to be used to reflect the hard work and gritty side of what he does. The jump from the image of him in one set of clothing to this other provides a juxtaposition and aids in highlighting the contrast between what the outside world sees of him and how he appears in his more private life.



Eminem performs throughout the song, but he isn’t simply on stage or in a studio going through the basic motions of a music video, he emotes his performance using his whole body to translate the feeling and mood of the song, he performance stretches throughout the streets of the city where people can see him and contrasts with the practice style performance he has in his basement, again this seems to represent the contrast between what the public see and all the hard work that goes in to making it. Overall though there isn’t a particularly specific iconography to Eminem’s image, the leather jacket and jeans could just as easily be worn by someone like Chad Kroeger of Nickelback and his vest and jeans could be the lead singer of a metal bands outfit, there is no majorly defining feature of Eminem that relates him to the rap genre.

The videos imagery represents what the song tells us about his life and his journey, how he was trapped and broken then broke down the confines that encaged him to reach new heights, we first see him break out of the cellar, this represents how he first broke out as an artist then we see him slowly entrapped by mirrors suggesting he became a prisoner of himself following this (which could relate to his personal issues with drugs etc.) The eventual climax comes where Eminem reaches what appears to be the edge of the world as everything just drops away, he steps of in to this void highlighting the “not afraid” aspect of the song. An interesting way in which the other section of the chorus line (“we’re not alone”) is highlighted by the fact for the most part of the video Eminem is in fact alone but he is confident, un-fearing as if to say although he is appearing alone on screen he isn’t actually alone. There are some more specific examples of lyrics being related to what is happening in the video such as the line “You can try and read my lyrics of this paper before i say them but you won’t take the sting out of these words before I say them.” At this point Eminem throws the piece of paper he’d been holding up at the camera in an obvious visualisation of what he just said.




The song is classed in the rap/hip hop genre of music. There aren’t many key features of the video which relate to this genre, Eminem himself is a very well known rapper and one of the icons of the rap world so it could be said that by featuring in the video he is a form of iconography for the rap genre. The video initially starts with a fair degree of realism, the un-realistic features build up over time with the music, the first unrealistic part is when he walks between moving traffic without being hit, the video then gets more surreal as mirrors enclose Eminem, next he’s punching through brick walls the worlds dropping away and he begins to fly ultimately this change from realism to fantasy and surreal helps further represent the journey of the song.

I found the most dramatic shots to be the parallel ones in which he breaks out of his two prisons (one of mirrors and one of brick). The light that floods in to the shot when he breaks down these walls is perfect and everything about them is dead on what you want to see from someone breaking out. An interesting part of this is that the two very similar shots are ran in parallel, some may see this as a lazy and repetitive but i think it’s meant to represent the two prisons he is confined to, the brick one is representative of any physical confines he faces and the mirror prison is more of a metaphor for being a prisoner of himself and all the mental restraints placed on him by himself overall this adds to the dynamism of the song. A real example of a stereotypical music video is the fact that a lot of close up shots of the performer are demanded and the “not afraid” video is no different but the close ups of the performer aren’t just for publicity they are also because the focus of a rap video are the performer and his lyrics.

Most believe that the video is set in the city were Eminem grew up as the song and video are more of a metaphor for his life journey this would seem to make sense and be a logical setting. The only things that Eminem interacts with are the walls of the “prisons” and the sheet of lyrics at the start of the video. The lyric sheet obviously relates to lines in the song and Eminem’s profession, and the meanings of the prisons have already been discussed. The lighting in particular in the break out scenes seems to be key, in the basement it is dingy dark and dirty and then later in outside shots it’s very bright to the point of being over exposed creating an almost dreamy, surreal feel. The contrasting lighting seems representative of where he came from and where he is now. Special effects play a large part towards the end of the video when Eminem takes flight in particular. They are used to achieve this effect which represents him being free and feeling like he is able to do anything. Tying in to this form of flight through a city is some intertextuality as whilst in flight he looks allot like the superhero “Hancock” from the film of the same name which is interesting because the journey Hancock takes in the film (from alcoholic to superhero) is similar to story this song is trying to tell. The other piece of intertextuality is the basement which looks allot like a location from “8 mile” which is a film based around Eminem.

The lyrics and the visuals are tied together in many ways, the entire idea of not being afraid and being able to do anything is what the song and visuals are all about. The line “not afraid” is key as Eminem pretty much jumps of the edge of the world, other lyrical-visual links can be seen in the opening scenes with the lyric sheet, which has been explained earlier on. There’s also the multiple visual metaphors for not being afraid such as walking through moving traffic and running through a brick wall. In summary the message of this song can be found in the opening lines
“Yeah, it’s been a ride...
I guess I had to go to that place to get to this one
Now some of you might still be in that place
If you're trying to get out, just follow me
I'll get you there”
Basically it’ll be a hard journey but you’re not alone and so long as you’re not afraid you can get to where you want to go.

A brief test

I wanted to have a test run of the animation style just to clarify in my mind what process i would need to export the file and make it viewable in programmes other then photoshop. So I chose a still image i'd previously drawn and then did a brief animation highlightign the outline in a pen and ink style which will be the style i plan on using for the final production, here is the result.

Lyrics with anotations

The reason i've used this as a form of planning over conventional methods is because of the animated nature of the video and reliavley low number of varied shot types that will actually be filmed because the focus of the videos appeal are the animated sections that surround the artist and coincide with the lyrics.

[Chorus]
I’m not afraid to take a stand
Everybody come take my hand
We’ll walk this road together, through the storm
Whatever weather, cold or warm
Just let you know that, you’re not alone
Hola if you feel that you’ve been down the same road

[Intro]
Yeah, It’s been a ride…
I guess i had to go to that place to get to this one
Now some of you might still be in that place
If you’re trying to get out, just follow me
I’ll get you there

(Intro and first chorus an EKG style lien across the screen, white line on a black background also the first 17 seconds of the intro will be cut so it starts from "if your tryign to get out")



[Verse 1]
You can try and read my lyrics off of this paper before I lay ‘em
But you won’t take the sting out these words before I say ‘em
Cause ain’t no way I’m let you stop me from causing mayhem
When I say ‘em or do something I do it, I don’t give a damn
What you think, I’m doing this for me, so f-ck the world
Feed it beans, it’s gassed up, if a thinks its stopping me
I’mma be what I set out to be, without a doubt undoubtedly
And all those who look down on me I’m tearing down your balcony
No if ands or buts don’t try to ask him why or how can he
From Infinite down to the last Relapse album he’s still sh*ttin,
Whether he’s on salary, paid hourly
Until he battles out or he sh*t just battles out of him
Whichever comes first, for better or worse
He’s married to the game, like a f*ck you for Christmas
His gift is a curse, forget the earth he’s got the urge
To pull his d*ck from the dirt and f*ck the whole Universe

(Verse 1 starts with the EKG line widening and taking out all the black space then scrawled writing begins to appear all around the artist and parts of him begin to be drawn over as he say’s “me” then he becomes fully drawn and the words in the background become ME in big letters either side of his head, towards the end of the verse when he mentions Christmas a present appears that a snake rises out of and surrounds him covering the screen in black)





[Chorus]

(On the now black background sketchy white highlights are drawn a child stands before a monster or snake of some kind and the words not afraid appear above its head)



[Verse 2]
Ok quit playin’ with the scissors and sh*t, and cut the crap
I shouldn’t have to rhyme these words in the rhythm for you to know it’s a rap
You said you was king, you lied through your teeth
For that f*ck your feelings, instead of getting crowned you’re getting capped
And to the fans, I’ll never let you down again, I’m back
I promise to never go back on that promise, in fact
Let’s be honest, that last Relapse CD was “ehhhh”
Perhaps I ran them accents into the ground
Relax, I ain’t going back to that now
All I’m tryna say is get back, click-clack BLAOW
Cause I ain’t playin’ around
There’s a game called circle and I don’t know how
I’m way too up to back down
But I think I’m still tryna figure this crap out
Thought I had it mapped out but I guess I didn’t
This f*cking black cloud still follow’s me around
But it’s time to exercise these demons
These motherf*kers are doing jumping jacks now!

(After the black of the chorus has faded, then we’re back to the drawn performer at a med. close up. When he mentions teeth his own mouth and teeth enlarge and bite down on a crown between here and the line about the gun it will be a sketchy draw over of the performance until the gun line where a gun appears at his temple on one side and shoots and confetti blows out of the other side. As he says “there’s a game called circle” lines and squiggles begin to build up behind him then form in to a map that gets more complex until the point it turns in to a swirling mess along with the words “black cloud”)







[Chorus]

(the screen is now black again for the chorus, different imagery this time out lines of people heading towards the camera reaching out.)



[Bridge]
And I just can’t keep living this way
So starting today, I’m breaking out of this cage
I’m standing up, Imma face my demons
I’m manning up, Imma hold my ground
I’ve had enough, now I’m so fed up
Time to put my life back together right now

(in the bridge the camera moves to a longer shot so there’s more room, a cage is on one side with the performer facing it a monster swells up breaking the cage, performer reaches out and sends a blast of white light in to the monster cleaning the screen)



[Verse 3]
It was my decision to get clean, I did it for me
Admittedly I probably did it subliminally for you
So I could come back a brand new me, you helped see me through
And don’t even realise what you did, believe me you
I been through the ringer, but they can do little to the middle finger
I think I got a tear in my eye, I feel like the king of
My World, haters can make like bees with no stingers, and drop dead
No more beef flingers, no more drama from now on, I promise

To focus solely on handling my responsibility’s as a father
So I solemnly swear to always treat this roof like my daughters and raise it
You couldn’t lift a single shingle on it
Cause the way I feel, I’m strong enough to go to the club
Or the corner pub and lift the whole liquor counter up
Cause I’m raising the bar, I shoot for the moon
But I’m too busy gazing at stars, I feel amazing and

(Verse 3 will be more subdued the tear down his cheek will be heavily emphasised and an outline of a heart will be on his chest beating and towards the end of the verse the heart grows and bursts in to a black screen with white stars and planets to set up a screen for the chorus)





[Chorus]
I’m not afraid to take a stand
Everybody come take my hand
We’ll walk this road together, through the storm
Whatever weather, cold or warm
Just let you know that, you’re not alone
Holla if you feel that you’ve been down the same road

(final chorus he is drawn in white and hands reach for him, touch him not grab but gently reach.)

Pitch for a music video

Not afraid power point

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Feedback received after giving pitch:
Interesting visual ideas amd references
Agree with the idea of a plain background
Double check the target audience as the performer has a complex target demographic
Questions raised about the lack of other real shots and performance but with the additional animations it was agreed that the lack of real shots would be made up for with animated work.

Development of skills

Recently our media class visited knebworth house to practice our camera skills and when we returned we used the footage to create a music video. From this I learnt how important a stable shot is that can be continuously cut back to during a music video so as to fill in gaps, for this we used a shot on a train so it wasn't static and provided an interesting cut away. I also realised that, although difficult, Lip syncing is not an impossible task and overall shouldn't provide a challenge in the future. Overall as a skills exercise it went well, using new editing techniques like echo I realised how to turn a rather static and boring shot in to something far more interesting and I also developed better camera control and a greater understanding of how long the editing process for a music video can be.

Evaluation

Trunk

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Sound

We only really wanted a single piece of music to play as our titles appeared and to be used as a pace setter for the film, we needed something fast paced and hard we found what we needed on a website called http://audio.lgfl.org.uk as it was all copyright free music. After a while of narrowing down our choices we selected a piece with fast guitars and a good beat. The music fit well once we removed the sound of the cars and other background noise and placed the new audio over the top. Sound wasn’t as key in our production as it may have been in others, but it was useful in setting the pace of our film and giving the viewer some idea of how the film would start and continue.

Film animatic

Editing

Editing was most defiantly a last minute affair because of the vast chasm of technical issues which arose before us. The continually crashing editing software was something everyone endured what others avoided was the problem importing files we had when we attempted to use a digital camcorder for one of our multiple re shoots the computer freaked as we tried to import the files and refused to accept they had any video and just played them back as audio files. We thought we had overcome this when one of the schools IT workers converted the files unfortunately when we imported them this time there was chunks missing, and audio out of sync. All of this resulted in us editing right up to the deadline.

So after hours of hectic cutting, audio adjustments and title creation we were ready to begin to piece together all the sections, unfortunately my partner was “unavailable” for a large portion of the final editing process so, despite his large input on early cuts, the absolute final editing became somewhat of a solo project.

Once the best copyright free audio track had been found and a clever title sequence created we deemed the project to be as finished as we could get it, there was no fancy effects or intricate camera work it was a simple rough independent British film which is exactly what we wanted, that isn’t to say it couldn’t do with some polish but we didn’t have the time.

Feedback on first cut

The first viewing highlighted how far behind our group had been pushed by its technical issues and all we could show was a very rough cut, sound included, so obviously there were a lot of adjustments to be made. Some major points were:

· missing first half of production
· poor sound
· What is the package pulled from the trunk
· Poor titles-lacking in directors names etc
· shots poorly lined up with actors out of shot or cut in half
· blank space issues in one shot

The majority of these issues are purely coincidental of the time at which we had to show our rough cut as it was right in the middle of our re filming (for the third time) due to increasingly frustrating technical issues. Things such as half the production being missing would all be solved when we finished the re shoot, titles and the blank space could easily be fixed with some minor editing. The key issue to deal with was the re filming.

DVD product mock

A mock product design for the DVD