EDITING Pt III: Rough Cut

24/01/13 - 29/01/13

Friday - Tuesday

By Friday's lesson we had finished all our filming. I decided to start editing from scratch, this was because of the new footage we had gathered and decided it would be easier to edit from the start rather than to add the new footage and then have to fiddle around with the other clips already on the timeline. 

I began by editing the opening beat sequence, which uses multiple split screens. Despite a lot of the dance clips being un-useable, we were able to incorporate all three in to the introduction. We cropped and scaled down the clips so that they would all fit in the frame, we did this using the crop and transform tool. We then moved the clips so that each dancer would enter the frame on 

one of the beats which signaled a change of position.

We also used a second split screen in the opening sequence, however rather than three clips we used just two from the new footage we had gathered. We dragged a close up shot of someone answering the phone and a mid shot of the same phone being answered. Originally, the shots appeared on the timeline seperately, using match on action, however the shot sequence looked less like a music video. So I decided to experiment using a split screen, using the crop and transform tool and placed the close up of the phone on the left side of the frame and the mid shot on the right. I then altered the clips so that the phone would be picked up, then matched the clips so it looked as if the phone was moving from one clip into the other as the artist answered it.

Then I began to re-edit the first verse, originally the first verse before contained the dance sequence, however so this didn't become repeptitive throughout the music video (due to the choreography being very basic and repetitive) we decided to use the silhouetted dance sequences during the chorus instead. Now our first verse contains multiple shots of the silhouetted profile and shots from the bedroom sequence. We dragged these shots onto the timeline so we had a variety of shot types to work with, including a mid shot, close up, profile and extreme close up. I then edited the sequence so that the shots would cut across eachother, using match on action. We used quicker cuts as the song lead up to the first chorus, at 0:36 where the song is silent, in order to build tension

We were also able to edit the opening of the chorus from "Bless your soul ....She ain't got your love anymore". This is where we introduced a third location and costume, the green screen. This section used multiple cross cuts between shots from the bedroom sequence, the silhouetted profile and close ups and mid shots of the green screen, using match on action between shots. For our green screen we used the same technique as before, mentioned in our Editing Pt II post, using a keyer and then applying multiple layers to give a 3D effect.

As the section ends, we used a four way split screen of the artist singing "Rumour Has It", this added variety to our shots but also established our music video style and genre, as split screens are very typical within Pop. To create the four way split screen we used the same technique as before, we layered the clips on top of eachother on the timeline and using the transform and crop tool, we were able to scale the images down and place them in each corner of the frame.

Below is our rough cut. Currently its only 1 minute long due to our decision to start again. There were also issues with the syncing once the video was exported and uploaded to Youtube which effected some of the feedback we received.



Feedback presentation from itsamuslimname

EDITING pt II

 

15/01/2013-18/01/2013

Tuesday

Today, due to the lack of footage we currently have, we experimented with a variety of effects. Because the keyer we attempted to use last week wasn't very effective we attempted a new strategy. We fiddled around with the exposure and contrast of the clips so that the white background became brighter and the black silhouette much darker. Using this effect solved the issue of the two thick strips either side of the image. We attempted to re apply the 'keyer' however, this was no better than our first attempt. Although the image looked a lot cleaner and clear, the original had character and a professional look. We decided to ditch the effects and keep our original shots.

 

The two images above is our experiment with the  colour correction
tool before and then after. Below is when we applied the Keyer
to the second image. As you can see it did not have the desired effect.

We also began editing the chorus today. Originally we had planned to use a moving gif image as our background, however when we keyed out the green screen and added the background, it looked too animated and robotic. We quickly solved the issue by dragging a second similar background onto the timeline below the gif, this filled the frame and made the image look more dense and the gif flow better. We also downloaded a gold glittering effect using a Youtube converter. We then dragged this over to our timeline and placed it above the shots using the green screen. We then altered the composition of the effect, by clicking the drop down menu and selecting "overlay". This made the green screen shots look a lot more 3D and less 2 dimensional.



The images above illustrate how we applied the keyer to our
original image and the layered multiple backgrounds to create
the finished effect. The first three images are our layers. The fourth
 image illustrates how we adjusted the composition of the glittering
effect and how the finished image looked.



 

Today we also solved the "keyer and multiple dancer issues". Instead we used a split screen effect, using three panels which come into the song at separate points. We used a similar effect in our Little Mix Edit, in the first four beats of the songs, each individual singer enters the frame at a different point. The split screen effect will be useful as it adds variety to our opening dance sequence.

The red box in the left hand corner shows that our three
different clips enter the frame at three different times. Shown
by how they have been stacked on the timeline.

During the chorus of the song we also attempted match on action, between the dancer against the white backdrop and the artist against the green screen. We also used match on action, by enlarging unique actions, so the camera almost does a close-up and we cut across to this. An example of this is when the dancer dips down, bending her legs outwards, halfway through the action we cut across to a close up. Although we didn't originally film the action in close up, we were able to manipulate this in the edit. 

She's a maniac, a maniac, on Final Cut Pro: EDITING pt I

08/01/2013
Today we began the editing process for our music video. I also finally had a chance to discuss with my group some of the issues we came across over the holidays. We first discussed the red leotard incident, and decided that once the leotards arrived, using the classroom we would set up the green screen and only have the artist perform the dance sequences and the lip syncing, as it would be too time consuming to reteach the choreography to the back up dancers. We also discussed about filming the bedroom sequence after the exam period. We will use both opportunities to take photographs for our inlays.

We first imported out clips onto the mac, by opening up final cut pro and creating a new project within my event. We then selected the clips we wanted and imported these into the event. This gave us a chance to look over our shots and clips. The shots of me performing were good and use able, as the dance sequences were danced in time to the music and it was clear I knew what I was doing. However the majority of the back up dancers clips are un useable, with the exception of Issy's improvised section. This was due to the back up dancers not being able to learn the routine to a high standard and despite dancing the routine as back up dancers performed it was still poorly danced and was clear they were watching someone. However I dont believe this is down to poor planning, as back up dancers were told to watch the choreography video online and Linzi had been taught the choreography the day the video went up. This meant that half our clips can not be used in our final product.

We also came across another problem, due to the amount of un useable dance clips we thought we found a solution in the suggestion made by a member of staff to key out the white background using a keyer, however instead of adding the three dancers to the same background, we were going to duplicate me. However when we attempted to use the keyer it wasn't very effective, as the entire image became blacked out and the background had speckles of white.

Once all the footage had imported we began playing around and trying out numerous effects. We began by editing the opening beat sequence. Looking through the shots we decided to use a mix of Me and Issy changing positions, as Linzi's tended to lack oomph. I also loved the second shape made by Issy in the video.

We also came across another problem when editing these shots, as they were long shots and originally the sides of the white backdrop could be seen this meant we had to crop the shots, however once cropped they then didnt fill the frame of the video. Although this wasnt a major problem, lining up the shots with eachother was, due to the black strip either side of the clip, if clips werent matched up, they would appear to move. We solved the dilemma by creating two plain black separate images and placed these either side above the shot, just so they slightly covered the edge. By right clicking we turned the images into one compound clip, this meant we could move them together. We dragged the time scale of the clip so that it covered all the shots in the first verse, this meant all our cropped images would be in line with each other rather than moving about.

So far the first verse is a compilation of Me and Issy dancing and Lip sync, both mid shot and close up. However due to not being able to have all three dancers at once, we wanted to add variety to our shots, as I wasnt overly happy with how the mid shot profile of the lip sync turned out, I decided to add a mirror effect, this was an effect we had planned to use later on in the video, during the bridge sequence, shown in our storyboards. However, I thought it would make our clips more interesting to watch, due to the current lack of variety.

The shots have been cut to the beat and the strong images the shots show are really effective. However once we film the bedroom footage, we will have even more shots for our opening sequences. We also began editing the opening chorus beginning "Bless your soul...." unfortunately the floor sequences didnt turn out exactly as planned, and although they appear during our storyboard, they wont be in our final product.

I'm slightly concerned about certain elements of the music video at this point, due to the amount of un useable shots and issues with the keyer, I am also slightly concerned that we may face problems later on using the green screen, as often shadows could be seen cast against the screen which may make using a keyer difficult.