Editing Blog, Editing my music video

Two days ago my group and I were assigned to start editing our music video. We were a little behind on some footage so we barely got anything done. To start we didn't even have the song downloaded on the computer. So I went on YouTube, copied the link of the song and downloaded it.Next problem was that majority of the footage was filmed by phone. This meant that in order to start editing we have to get that footage from the phone onto the computer. This process took a long time to do, My partners had to download google photos first. Then upload those photos to google photos, after that they go on google photos one computer. Finally, they had to download them onto the computer. This would've took shorter,but all the videos had to be backed up first, which took about 20 minutes at least. After they finished backing up, we ran into another problem. It turns out that a lot of the footage that we had was filmed vertically. This happened because the footage that my partners filmed on their phones vertical instead of horizontal. The only footage that was horizontal was mines, because I was the only one who brought the camera home with me. But thankfully I found a way to make the footage horizontal. All that had to be done was to right click, go on scaling and change it from fit to fill. If there was no way to change that, then that would've been really bad considering how many days we have to edit. And last, which was the biggest problem, pinnacle studios which is the editing software was going really slow. When we first grabbed a laptop and tried to edit the music video with it, it took like 10+ minutes to load up. When it finally loaded up, it lagged really hard; this made it really hard to even edit anything. So to sum Tuesday all up, not much got done because we ran into a lot of problems, which took majority of our time. Today was a better day of editing, we were much more organized and we got more done. The only problem that we ran into today was that pinnacle studios took a long time to load up. This would interfere with our time to edit, but we would get enough done. When it finished loading up, we got right to it. I imported all the footage to pinnacle studios, and the song was added too. The entire time all we were trying to do is get at least 60-70 percent of the music video done. This is because today and Monday is the last classes that we have to edit, and Monday is the day that it is due. The teacher had told us that we wouldn't have the whole class to edit, because to avoid technical issues they want to make sure that every group email their music video on that same day. So with about 40-50 minutes of editing, adding transitions and adding other necessary things, I'd say that we are about halfway finished. We wanted to get a lot more done,due to the fact that we have less time to edit on Monday. Based on what we have edited so far, I really like what see. On Monday, if we want to get this done on time,we have to get right to it; we'll see what happens.

Filming blog, My day at the park

Last week Tuesday, the teacher told us we could check out a camera to film during the thanksgiving break. To avoid what happened last time to my partner, the teacher told us that we could not leave the equipment in the room and get it at the end of the day. Between me and my group members, it was decided that I would take the camera home this time. My group members told me that they'll record more footage on their phones. I thought that was a great idea, because this project is longer than the last one. For the rest of the class all we really did was catch up on any missing assignments. So it was about the last 10 minutes of class, and I grabbed the camera checkout paper to fill it out. After I filled out what was necessary, I turned it in and my teacher gave me a camera. I checked to see if everything was there. It was my responsibility to make sure that none of the equipment gets stolen, broken or lost; if any of that happened I would have to pay a lot of money for them. Class was just about to end, and before we were about to leave the teacher told us we could also not leave the camera in other classes. So throughout the day I had to carry the equipment everywhere I went. Finally, it was the end of the day and I had to take it back home safely, which I did. When I got home I had already told my partners that I would film on Saturday, Sunday and maybe Monday. I made this decision because I wanted to enjoy my Thanksgiving break. They agreed and just told me to make sure I get good shots. On the same day I asked my friend if he could come with me to get footage at the park. He said sure, but it would have to be early in the morning because he had to go somewhere later on in the day. I said that's cool; we then set up a time and place to meet up. The time was at 10:00 AM and the place was at the fitness center by the park. So Wednesday, Thursday and Friday passed and I personally had a great break. It was Saturday, and my alarm was set to 9:00, after doing the basic morning routines, I was ready. I called my friend to make sure everything was good at it was. I packed the camera and the tripod in my backpack, and brought a little cash with me for a mid-walk snack. I was out the house and began to walk, the park was a good 20 minute walk from where I live and 15 where my friend lived. I eventually made it to the park, and after about 5-7 minutes of waiting my friend had arrived, but he brought along another friend of ours. We began immediately, I asked my friend to borrow his phone to hear the lyrics of the song, and I filmed what the lyrics said. After being at the park for about 45-50 minutes, I was done for today. The next day it was the same thing but the I didn't film in the morning because it was Sunday, which meant church for me. This time my friend couldn't come with me because he had to get a Haircut. After I was finished, the plan was to film on Monday, but the camera had low battery and the charger was not in the box. So today is Monday and because the camera has low battery I ended up not filming today. I told my friend the parts of the lyrics that I did not film and he just did it for me on his phone. Tomorrow I have to     return the equipment and it'll be time for dumping the footage.
                                                                                                             

Filming blog, The minor setback

On Friday the entire class was given the option to take the camera to film or not. I told my group that we should take the camera to have an early start, we agreed on it. So after the class period ended one of my group members was going to take the camera and the tripod with him, but he didn't want to walk around with the equipment on him. So he asked the teacher if he could leave it in class and get it back at the end of the day, the teacher agreed. So the day was going by and my personal job to my partner was to remind him to grab the camera in between classes. Every chance I got to see him I reminded him. It was the last period of the day and my partner just so happened to have the same class with me, I reminded him once again. About 10 minutes before class was about to end he asked me do I want to go out with him so we could get footage for the music video. I asked him who's going to drive us around, he told me his friend could. I told him I wish I could but I have to get a haircut, he said its fine. It was dismissal time and class ended, my partner told me he was going to go get it and I just made my way home. After about 45 minutes I made it home and I was going to chill knowing that my partner would come back to school with good footage. About 3 hours later I called him on the phone and asked him did he get some footage already, he said no " I have some bad news". I asked him what happened, he told me he never got the camera. He went on to tell me that when he went to the classroom to get the camera, nobody was in there. I said its fine we need to improvise. His plan was to go record some shots on his phone and put it on his google drive. It sounded like a really good plan, I said that I would do the same thing. Over the weekend I would go on my phone and record like roses, trees and everything that the lyrics said. One thing that my group and I knew that would be hard to get that was in the lyrics was a rainbow. Because the weather is starting to get cold it started raining less. To my luck it rained on Sunday, but also not to my luck there was no rainbow in the sky, that was a bummer. Besides the rainbow I got all my footage, and I was positive that my partners got some good footage too. Today we all kept each other updated on the footage that we have, so far everything sounds good. Although we didn't get to film with the camera and the necessary tools, we did get some good footage on our phones. When we actually do record with the camera we will have extra footage, which is a good thing because this project is longer than our previous one.

planning blog music video

The song we have decided on was "wonderful world" Louis Armstrong. We had checked out a
camera but I was not able to retrieve it later in the day. So I will be using my phone or the
camera I have at home to get the shots and angles needed. For the weekends of November
23rd and 24th my group mates and I will get plenty of nature shots and videos. figure out what
to cut and what is needed for the next class. The last couple of days and weekend will be
getting multiple shots of the night sky to try and capture the full moon. Another thing during the
last couple of days will be cleaning up the shots. Most importantly syncing the videos with the
music and lyrics. We will go to different parks and other places that have a wide variety of
flowers,trees, and etc. Filming the video should be an easy part but when the editing comes that
will be the real test.
For our health and safety concerns, certain group members have pollen allergies. So we will
keep a first aid kit and Epi pen just in case. And if we are not near a first aid kit and something
were to happen we have a group member who is certified in CPR and first aid.Since we are
going to be near plants and in other animals environment we have to take precaution of any
dangerous plants and diseases animals could have. Props that will be used in our commercial
could range to a variety of things. rocking chairs, cloth, blankets, and etc. these will be use to
help develop the meaning of the lyrics into the video and be shown. blankets or towels will be
used for siting in a grassy field maybe to create a picnic. The rocking chair will be a part of the
dark blessed days scenes, possibly others if it comes down to it. The cloth will be used for our
baby that we will have. For the baby part we might have to use a baby doll or a sibling of the
group members if willing.
Our actors will have different costumes and clothing help with the developing of the lyrics. The
costumes will include casual wear,comfy clothes, and swim wear. The casual wear will be for
normal park scenes and walking through grassy fields. Comfy clothes will be used for our actor
in the rocking chair during the dark blessed day scene. The swim wear will be used for the
beach sunsets and any recordings of our actors playing in the water. The schedule for all of this
is pretty straight forward. Most of it will be going with the flow and doing whatever is needed.
Certain days will be filming, while others will be editing and figure out if we need to re-shoot or
add more. Overall The team is a great one and will do good with getting shots and their parts
done. I am excited for the future projects and adventures this class will take us on.

Storyboard blog music video

For this part of the music video process, we were assigned to create our  the making storyboards. We must use at least 15 boxes. The song that we will be using is "What a wonderful world" by Louis Armstrong. Most of the lyrics of this song involves us to be outside in nature. The idea for this music video is for us to do the action of what the lyrics States. By doing this we must film different angles and movements and shots of what the song lyrics say. This has been the challenging part for us to do.As of right now we do not have angles and shots for all the slides yet, so for the ones that do not have them, when its time to film we have to decide on them on the spot. The storyboard begins with an establishing shot  and pan of a forest or wooded area. The second box is a pan of trees and a low angle of roses. That is all we really have as of right now, when we start filming we will decide on them. The angles, shots and movement will depend on the lyrics of the song. For this project the only sounds that will be heard are the song audio. We still could add some sounds like diegetic and non diegetic, but as of right now we'll just stick with the audio. There is no costume in our project, because our song selection is not like other songs where people must dance. Our song is about the wonderful things scene in our planet; a lot of the lyrics is things that are seen outside in nature. The only instance where there would be a costume involved is when in the song there is a lyric that says "i see friends shaking hands saying how do you do". for something like that we could have two people wearing dress clothes or casual clothes. As of right now we will not have costumes. The lighting of the music video will not be too much. The lighting will be natural: things like the sun and the moon that gives out natural light, will be the lighting design. The only acting that will be seen in our music video is the bit where the friends will be shaking hands and saying how do you do. And or the baby crying but that's not really acting. There will not be any makeup because once again there aren't going to be much people in our video, majority of the film will be shots of nature. No props will be needed for our music video. The setting will depend on the lyrics of the song, so if the lyrics mention a house then we would film in a house. So based on the lyrics majority of the settings will be outside which is where most of the filming will be done. We are excited to do this music video, the only downfall is that it is to be longer than the commercial we did which will take more time.

Music Video Conventions Blog

The last project that we did which was the commercial, Id say it was a success. I really liked the commercial video and I can really say that I have learned a lot throughout the process. I learned how to film better and edit better. For the current project that we will be working on, which is a music video I plan to do what it takes to make it better. All the skills that I have developed from the commercial that was just completed, I plan on applying them to the music video. The music video will be a little longer, but I am prepared for it.  For the music video the idea is for my group and I to pick a song with lyrics that we hear and can do that action. Just like the commercial we plan to add quite a few camera angles and movements. Once again, the goal is for the music video to be better than the commercial already was.

The song we are going to use for now is"Creep" by Radiohead. It is a depressing song about a lovestruck boy who likes a girl. The problem is the boy thinks she is a beautiful being and that he is worthless and hideous aka creep. This is what we think the song is about and how we interpret it. The song is in the classic rock genre and was released back in 1992. We are going to have the boy watch the girl sing  while there are flashbacks and shots of his fantasy of her and him together. The costume part will be casual or student clothes also, a dress and tux for the flashbacks and fantasy parts. This will create the affect that he is a young boy with troubles on talking to girls. Also, we will show that they are both in school. The lighting will be kind of gray lighting like cloudy on the boy and then sunny on the girl. The lighting will show how they feel and show their emotion. Cloudy being the depressed and sad person and sunny is the joyful and spirited person. 

This song has been chosen because like I said we wanted to choose a song where we can do the action that that the lyrics say. And the song that we are using for now has a lot of that. we plan to add a lot of different camera angles and movements to make it more interesting. For actors we will have jack be the boy Aka the creep, also we will have a girl not sure who will be the girl Aka the angel.  We will have other people be the friends or friends group for the girl. For Makeup we wont have any for the girl. The lighting will do most of the affect and show the emotion of the characters.For props it will be items like flowers. This will help develop the mood and dialogue of the characters. The setting will be at a park or in a field to have the boy watch the girl behind a tree or something else. But once again this an idea and we still are searching for songs.

Editing Blog, My day of Editing

After waiting about 8 days my group and I finally got to do our commercial. 8 days ago, we were told that we would not be able to edit our commercial due to technical difficulties with pinnacle studios. So due to that we had a date setback. Over remind we were told that we would start editing on Tuesday. So, 2 days ago we started editing our footage; and this is how it went. Editing day #1 Tuesday, I came into the classroom and the teacher told everyone to get to editing. So, one of my partners grabbed the computer and logged in. After the computer finished loading up, I took my flash drive and stuck it into the USB port because all the footage was on it. I opened pinnacle studios; it took a while to load up, but when it finished loading up, my partner deleted the sample footage that was already there. I clicked the import button and another tab popped up, I then clicked the folder with the flash drive name on it, and I imported the footage from my flash drive to pinnacle studios. When all the files finished copying, we were ready to start editing. To start it all off, the plan was to get the footage that we need and separate them from the one that are trash or can be filler. So, I watched all the footage and told my partners which ones will be edited. After my partner did that, I put all the ones we need on the editing strip and trimmed some of them, just so we don’t go to far off the limit of 30 seconds. We could not even look at the footage all together because pinnacle studios was running so slow. The play button worked to watch the footage, but it would lag heavy and play slowly. After about 2 to 3 minutes of waiting, the footage was finally going normal speed. After we watched the footage together, the play time was a little over the limit, so I trimmed some of the footage even more. We watched it again and the timing was all good. Next, I added transitions that matched the theme of the commercial, I then passed the computer to my other group members and we they added transitions that they liked. We all liked what we saw with transition selection. Time was running out and my group members and I would watch the footage with the transitions added, and overall it looked pretty good. We were about 70% finished with the commercial, all we had to do is add an extra shot that was required and add music. Day #2 today was the day that the commercial was due so, we got right to it. I had music instrumentals that I downloaded the night before so I can insert it into the commercial. We used the song “seven nation army”. After I inserted the song, we watched the finishing product and I personally thought that it looked great coming from 3 teens. There were about five minutes left of class and we needed to export our commercial. I clicked on the export button, but some note kept on popping up, we asked another group can they help us, but they did not know why it was doing that. I clicked export a couple more times, but the same note kept popping up. So due to this exporting issue my group and I could not send our commercial to the teacher.