My name is Sailesh (9329) and this my AS media blog. I worked in a group with Aisha (9129), and Laith (9274) and together we were Group 2. To see my portfolio evidence, please click on the 3 labels on the right named AS Research and Planning, AS Construction, and AS Evaluation.
What I enjoyed:
Overall, the main workshop day was hugely enjoyable and also a great learning experience. Below is a time-lapse of the main workshop day so you can get an idea of the kind of set design and lighting equipment we wereworking with:
I enjoyed:
-Helping with the set design and equipment set up
-Cable bashing
-Acting to camera, particularly shots that required a range of emotion
-Learning about the media industry through the professionals that were on set
An example of me acting to the camera
An example of me helping with setting up equipment
My roles:
-Acting as the character of cool kid 1
-Acting in place of other cool kid shots
-Set designer, particularly the moving in and out of props
-Cable bashing
-Using the clapper board
An example of me cable bashing
An example of me acting as cool kid 1. I am on the left and cool kid 1 on the right.
Best bits:
For me the best bits were acting in the group shots as it was much more of a team effort, but also talking to all the professionals such as our director and really getting a feel for the industry.
This being the first audition video I have ever done made it a very good learning experience. It taught me the importance of learning the lyrics beforehand as otherwise it is really obvious by your lip syncing and where you look that you have not done so.
I feel that doing it with someone was very helpful as it allowed me to feel confident and really go for it, not to mention I did not have to waste time pressing record and framing all of my shots and vice versa for my partner. Additionally, having a partner also sped up the editing process.
From an editing standpoint, the audition video prepared me for the main video in the sense that for such a short media product it was very time consuming as you have to match the lip sync and there are also frequent cuts. However, it provided an opportunity to determine the best ways in which to match the lip sync, for example comparing the sound waves in Adobe Premiere.
Task 2: Learn and practice your performance:
Our performance director was hugely helpful in teaching me how to effectively show emotion and also in feeling comfortable around everyone so as to just go for it and not worry what others think. In order to get myself and everyone else comfortable enough for this we all met frequently in the lead up to the main shoot for practice sessions.
Task 3: Help to plan and organise your costume:
In terms of my own costume I brought in my own shoes and jeans which were then signed off by our teacher and costume designer. My white polo shirt was kindly lent to me from our technician.
Me in costume
I also brought in some other pieces of costume for other actors to wear, for example Laith who acted as Jamie wore my jacket, and Tom who acted as cool kid 3 wore my plain black hoodie.
This costume task taught me the importance of analysing the model character for their identity and how the costume connotes that identity. For example, my character of cool kid 1 was portrayed in the music video as a cool, popular character with a good sense of style and so it was important to make sure my costume had the same connotations, so as to improve the quality of our remake.
Task 5: Complete the remake edit:
Editing the Cool Kids remake introduced me to a different style of editing than what I am used to as music videos do not follow the rules of continuity. However, by the end of the edit I felt a lot more confident in this style of editing and also my editing skills in general. I completed the edit with Laith and we both contributed equally to this edit, sharing many roles in the process.
Me editing
In the edit I:
-Named shots, making it easier to find in the editing itself
-Cut the shots and put them in the right place in the timeline
-Edited some shots to play in reverse
-Edited some shots to play in slow-motion
-Graded shots
-Matched the lip-sync to the music
In conclusion, I have learnt lots of new skills from these prelim tasks, particularly music video exclusive skills and I have also consolidated other skills such as grading which I had picked up from previous media edits.
I am more than pleased with our final edit and this is partly due to the variety of good shots we had our disposal.
Our final edit
What works really well:
-The lip sync matches the music throughout
-All cuts are perfectly timed with the original
-Our set design and background are very similar to the original
-The majority of shots match to the original
-Our grading was effective in achieving the desired look
Comparison of set designs; our remake is on the left and the original on the right
The primary grading tool we used to create a look similar to the original video was ProcAmp, a feature within the editing software of Adobe Premiere.
ProcAmp - the primary grading tool we used
Below is a side by side comparison of a shot before and after the grading process, notice how it compares with the original shot which can be seen in the bottom right.
Ungraded (left) vs graded (right)
What I would change:
-I would get all the shots we needed as in some situations we did not have the required shot and had to use a different shot to fill the gap. This can be seen below:
See how the main shot differs from the original in the bottom right
-I would also consider using more lighting, perhaps from behind the character as in some situations we could not replicate the look of the original video due to there being a lack of shadows. This can be seen below:
Notice the lack of shadows in the main shot when compared to the original in the bottom right
Pre-Production:
Having spoken to the supervisors of this music video project I believe we should approach pre-production the next music video with the following:
-A clear understanding and familiarity with the chosen song and music video
-A clear understanding of the genre, styling, character and set design choices
-Costume and make up lists
-A clear understanding of the choreography, and to have well rehearsed the choreography before the shoot day
The costume and make up list
Main shoot:
This prelim task has taught me the importance of having a good team where everyone knows their role as this is essential to ensuring the shoot runs smoothly. For example, having an assistant director to organise everything behind the camera and runners to carry out tasks efficiently greatly improved the quality, performance and overall experience of the main shoot day. Additionally, I learnt the importance of the studio lighting in creating the desired effect and improving the quality of our shots.
From the prelim I will do the following in the main shoot:
-Frequent use of studio lighting
-Establish a team within which everyone has a clear role
-Lip syncing throughout
-Dancing as it was fun to choreograph and also raised the quality of our final product
Post-Production:
From the prelim, I have learnt the conventional styles of editing a music video and will have to include them in the edit for the next music video.They are listed below:
-Mini montage sections
-Discontinuous editing
-Solo shots of the lead singer
-Frequent cuts
An example of montage editing
In conclusion, my prelim experience will certainly impact my decisions in every stage of next term's music video coursework, however I will continue to act efficiently at a high standard as I have in all previous media projects.
