Music video production log

Production log

I have been given the task of creating a music video. My task is to pick an artist and song and then analyse it thoroughly to find the best idea for a music video. I have picked the song "T-Shirt Weather" by the band "Circa Waves".

To begin my production I have decided to look in to the group that sings this song. I am aiming to find out there style to determine how this video should be pulled off.

I have started off by looking at their website
http://circawaves.com/?skipSplash=1
On their website they have videos and pictures of their music. They also have other features like their latest news and a merchandise store. By looking at these features I am able to define the kind of band they are. They seem to be an indie band who are just starting out. Because they are indie I will try and avoid making a typical chart music video.

I have had to look further in to them to find if they have a specific style. In a lot of their videos they show footage of themselves doing different things. There is generally no story. An example of this is their music video for the song 'Fossils' is entirely made up of clips of them when they were on tour.

This is the video for that song
What I can also notice from this video and some others of theirs is that they tend to edit their videos to make them look old fashioned. It looks as though it was filmed in the early 90's or late 80's. I think this defines their style and I should do this to my video. In their videos they wear very plain clothes. This tends to be a blank t-shirt and jeans. This gives them a simple appearance so I will have to try and not over complicate my video.

This is a lyric video to the song I will be making a music video for.

I have searched for a document with the full lyrics. This screenshot shows what I have found. Now I have this I will begin analysing the song to find the meaning behind it. The song is pretty self explanatory from what I can gather. I believe the song is showing how the singer misses being younger and being able to enjoy the summer time. He basically explains how he does not enjoy himself as much anymore. I can gather this as T-shirt weather obviously refers to summer as this is hot weather. He says in the lyrics that he remembers it. This is not implying that there is no hot weather anymore as this is something that will and always has varied. I think he is implying that he cannot use the phrase T-shirt weather anymore as he cannot go out and enjoy it. People use this phrase when they have been out in the sun. From this one phrase I think that the singer is saying that other things are getting in the way of him going out and enjoying the sun. Other hints towards this are that through the whole song he is referring to past times. An example is when he says '17 went far too quick'. From this I believe he is talking about the age 17. He is saying that it didn't feel like he was 17 for long until he turned 18. This gives me the idea that this was the last year where he could enjoy the summer. When you turn 18 you often go on to get a job or to further education like Uni which would mean your time would be taken up and you wouldn't be able to enjoy the sun. This is the point I think they are trying to make. They want to be young and enjoy their summers again.

The song is fast and up beat so I think i should make the video more positive. This means I will try and avoid making a depressing video that shows someone living a boring life and not enjoying the sun even though this is what the song is about. Instead I think I will make a video of the opposite. I will try and make a video that shows someone young out enjoying the sun so it gives the idea that they are reminiscing to their youth. 

When filming my video I have decided that I will go to Stewarts park. As it is the start of summer, the parks will be full of people that will be out and enjoying the sun. Also, Stewarts park isn't too far from where I live and so should be easy for me to access. I am going to do some research into the park so I can get an idea of what is there and where I can film. 

Image from: http://www.visitmiddlesbrough.com/the-latest/story/1652/farmers'market-and-craft-fair-returns-to-stewart-park

Image from: http://www.kbiuk.co.uk/portfolio/stewart-park-middlesborough-city-council/

Image from: http://www.docbrown.info/docspics/cleveland/clevpage15.htm

These images all show different areas of the park. I think I will film in each of these areas specifically as I already have ideas of what I can make actors do in each of them. From doing research in to the park, I have found that it is owned by the council and is public ground. For this reason I do not need to get an individuals signature to allow me to film there. Also their is no main office at the park that I can request to sign a location release as the only building there is a cafe and a gift shop and the managers of these buildings will not have rights over the whole park.

I will find actors to accompany me and I can film them enjoying the park and the sun as well as the other people who will already be there. I will now begin my script for my production. I have two people in mind to help me film. I have two friends who both live around 10 minutes away from the park so it will be easy for them to access. I am going to contact them to see that they will be free to film. I will need to send them a script so they know what will be required of them

This screenshot shows my script. This is a basic idea that I will try and follow when it comes to filming. I have showed this to my actors and they are happy with it and agreed to take part in the production. I have included a shot which involves the actors playing football. I have added this because I know both of my actors are talented at football and so it will be entertaining to watch. We have all agreed to film on Tuesday 26th of May. This is a useful day for me because it is during the half term holidays so I will have all day to film. Also, because it is half term there will be plenty of young people at the park so it will look busy which I think will make my video look more effective and help get the point I am trying to make across. The song is about being young so it will help if there are a lot of young people around. 

I am going to carry out a risk assessment now so that I can identify any problems that may occur and can try my best to prevent them from happening and keep my team and the equipment safe. 

These pages are of my risk assessment. I have identified any risks I can think of. There are not many risks at all as the majority of the park is just open space so there is not much that someone can hurt themselves on and there isn't much around besides people that could damage equipment. When I meet up with my actors to film, I will have to make sure they sign a release contract so they understand what is being provided to them and what is expected of them. 

I believe I have completed everything I need to before I begin filming. I am going to book out some equipment that I will need to film. The equipment that will be available to me for filming that I will use is a black magic camera, a small tripod and the battery pack to go with the black magic. I will need to arrange a day that I can pick up the equipment as this is being filmed in the half term so I won't be able to go whenever I need it, I will need to find a day that the technicians are available to give me the equipment. I have emailed the technicians to ask when they are available.

It is the day I am supposed to be filming however I have only just received an email back from the technician which meant I could not give my actors the go ahead on filming and one of them has cancelled on me. Also the weather is not as good as expected and the weather is important to the production. For these reasons I have decided to cancel my plans of shooting. Due to other my other attachments (mainly work) I cannot film for the rest of the week and I have decided that I will make a found footage music video instead so I will have something to hand in on time. My found footage video will have a similar theme to my originally planned music video. I will find multiple clips of summer and summer activities and cut them all down to fit the music. This will fit to the music as it is still representing young people in warm weather which is what the song is about and what I am going to film.

I have recently received extra time on this assignment which means I can go and film my original idea. My new film date is Saturday 6th of June. I have already got in touch with my actors and they can both film on this new date. I have also booked the equipment to pick up on the Friday and can return it on the Monday.

It is Saturday 6th of June and I have just shot my music video. Once again I encountered multiple problems however I managed to overcome them. This was necessary as I did not have enough time to cancel another shoot. My first problem was the weather. It was sunny outside which is what I needed however there was a lot of wind. This was a problem as if I got a shot and it was clear there was wind then it would take away the idea that it is summer. I overcame this problem by trying to shoot when there wasn't much wind however you cannot predict when the wind will blow so with some shots I just had to leave it and try and avoid filming anything which would be affected by the wind. 

My second problem which had an even bigger effect on my project was one of my actors didn't show up. This was because he had other commitments to attend to and could not get to the park until 4 o'clock at the earliest which was too late for me as the park would be almost empty at this time and other people would make the video look more effective. To get around this problem I decided to make the music video first person. I still had my other actor show up so I filmed it from the other persons perspective. This does not look as good as it could have as some of the footage is now shaky. Also, I could not get some of my planned shots in and instead had to improvise and as I had to think up on the spot these new shots don't look as good. Besides these problems I am pleased with the footage I have and will have to make do with what I have because I don't have enough time to film again. I am going to go straight into the editing process. 

I have ingested my clips through Adobe Prelude and put them on to Adobe Premiere Pro. This is the program I will be using to edit my footage and make my final music video. 

This shows that I have Imported all my clips on to Premiere Pro. My next step is to cut them down and add them on to a timeline. I will be cutting my clips so that they cut to the beat which will make it look more fluent when played with music.

This is a screenshot of my finished timeline. This shows that I have cut down multiple clips and put them on top of music. The smaller clips have been put on the row above so it is easier for me to select them. Now I have all my clips together in a timeline, I need to colour grade and correct them. This is a necessary as they are all shot on a black magic camera and so they all look grey and bland. I am going to make them brighter and more colorful. 

This screenshot shows all the different effects I have added to one of my shots. I have added pretty much the same effects to the other shots however I have altered them to fit each shot specifically. 

This screenshot shows one of my shots after I have colour corrected and graded it. It is a big difference. Colour correcting has allowed me to give the shots more of a summer time look by making them brighter. 

I have finished correcting and grading all my shots which means it is time to export it and upload it to YouTube. 

This is a screenshot that shows me exporting the video. I have altered some of the setting so that it comes out in the highest quality possible. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnOGILNjGRE

Here I have included a link to my video.The screenshot shows that I have uploaded my video to YouTube after exporting it. I will now submit it and complete the assignment.