D E V E L O P M E N T D I A R YM U S I C V I D E O

Once me and my partner had completed filming our footage for our music video, we used the application Final Cut Pro to piece and edit the filming together. We had already completed our edit decision list and had chosen the clips that we were going to use . We began by piecing the clips one by one referring back to our storyboard. Due to unforseen weather circumstances, we were unable to completely stick to our storyboard which means that our music video did not portray the narrative in the same way. For example, one of our main scenes included the use of sky lanterns. Unfortunately due to the wind we were unable to create this scene and instead, we had to film another day and use sparklers instead.

To begin with, we double clicked a chosen clip from the browser so it would appear in the viewer. We then watched the clip and decided on the parts that we wanted to use from it, and in some case the entire clip. To trim the clip and to select where to start and finish we pressed ‘I’ to show where it would begin and ‘O’ to show where the clip would end. After this we dragged the clip and placed it into the sequence, in time with the music.

To make the editing process easier and simpler, we decided on piecing the entire narrative together before adding any effects or making alterartions. Placing the clips together was easy and a tool that made it simpler was the Snapping tool, which was used to prevent black screens inbetween gaps in the

clips. The tool was effective in linking the clips directly together, ensuring they transitioned fluently to the next. Having direct cuts was pretty basic

so to make the transitions more advanced, we put the clip we wanted in the video bar above and added Fade In/Dissolve effect. To this, we used the Pen tool and placed two dots – one at the beginning of the clip and one almost half way through. These dots were placed on the

black line near the top of the clip – which is the brightness – and meant that when we dragged the first dot down to the bottom, the screen went black and then would fade in to the rest normally. Additionally, in some clips we thought is

was suitable to have a Fade Out/Dissolve so we did the same but dragged the second dot down instead of the first.

Our music video consists of footage based in the present time and also of flashbacks in the past so we added Fade Ins/Dissolves to make sure the audience would know there was a difference in time. The smooth transition looks much better than a quick cut and it also shows the passage of time, easily making it appear like a memory that the character/s is thinking about. In some parts of the video we did not need to use the Pen tool to create a Fade In/Out as we didn’t

want an overlay in some of the clips. Alternatively, we

went to EFFECTS/VIDEO TRANSITIONS/DISSOLVE and chose the type of dissolve we wanted; in our case it was the Cross Dissolve.

The next step in editing the flashbacks was to change one inparticular. The instrumental near the end of the song was like a build up so we decided to use the Slice tool to split two clips into many pieces. One clip was in the present and the other in a flashback. Once we had cut the clips we placed them one after the other, alternating between the two scenes.These quickcuts were also effective because they fitted in extremely well with the beat of the music.To help with positioning the clip on time with the beat, we pressed ‘M’ at the desired place which then placed a marker. This allowed us

to

postion the clip precisely where marked and exactly on time with the beat of the song.

After watching the clips back, we wanted to make some of them slow motion to emphasize the emotions going on in the scenes, which would further exaggerate the themes of the narrative. We did this for the opening clip and other clips that fell on the chorus, most of all the ones that fitted in with the line “I will try to fix you”. Along with emphasizing the narrative, it also made the lyrics & the music seem more powerful. To alter the speed of the clip, we held down CMD+J which brought up a pop up window. In this, we reduced the percentage of the speed from 100% to whatever looked most suitable. For this clip in particular, we took the percentage down to 45%. We also looked to see what it was like if we reversed the clips. We did this by clicking the ‘reverse’ box in the speed window. We experimented with this because near the end of our video, we used the flashbacks but in reverse order and made sure they were of the same flashback but from a slightly different moment or angle. However, the reverse effect didn’t turn out as expected so we did not use it.

After we had completed piecing the video together and had added in all of the desired transitions, we

wanted to change the colour scheme of the flashbacks/memories so it would make it more obvious to

the audience. Me and my partner clearly understood the narrative and what was and wasn’t the

flashback but since we were so familiar with it, we wanted to put ourselves into the position of

somebody that hadn’t seen it and thought of what could help make things clearer.

The first clip that we experimented in with colour was an establishing shot of Covent Garden. Since

the first shot was at night, we wanted to make the clip appear slightly later in the evening instead of in

the day when it was originally filmed. To do this we used the 3-Way Colour Corrector to darken the

clip and reduce its brighter

tones. By changing the

‘Blacks’ in the clip, we

made appear as if the shot

was taken in the evening

and by giving the footage a

slight deep blue tint, made

it seem colder, which

helped foreshadow some of

the negative themes to

come.

When it came to editing the colours of the memories, we wanted to achieve a vintage affect to represent the age of the flashback. We tried using Black & White by reducing the saturation, however, we did not feel that it suited our music video. Most of the video consited of flashbacks which meant that only a few clips were not it Black & White. After watching it through in this colour scheme, it looked as if the footage was wrongly edited and we had missed out in changing the clips to Black & White. We then attempted to search the internet for tutorials on how to create a vinatge effect. Once we found one we liked, we followed its steps. Once again we used the 3-Way Colour Corrector and altered the ‘Blacks’ making them look slightly more red and yellow. After bringing down the saturation, we achieved the vintage/sepia toned look we wanted. To ensure that each flashback had the same filter, we either copied the filter from the previous slide using the Arrow tool (with 1) or dragged the filter (middle tool) onto the slides that we wanted. Doing this ensured the continuity of our editing and kept our video ‘error free’.

For one of our scenes we wanted to cut the corner of the actors face out to place emphasis soley on the male character. To do this, we zoomed out of the actors face by making the clip bigger. This resulted in us losing the rectangular shapes at the top and bottom of the

screen. This clip would have stood out if we did not put them back in and to do so, we inserted two rectangles that would act as the frame. We ensured that the rectangles were the same size as the frame because this would also act as a continutiy error if they wernt.

Additionally, we also wanted to zoom in on one of our clips nearer to the end to create a close up that currently did not exist. We trimmed the clips so we had the long shot first and then trimmed the close up version. When we did this we had to time the two clips so that they flowed from one to the other smoothly, without repeating or skipping any time. We zoomed in on the original clip y again making the image larger. This allowed us to show the audience the emotions that

were being

portrayed more closely. Like before, when the image was made bigger, we had to replace the frame with the rectangle shapes.

Finally, to conform to the standard coventions of a music video, we added text which featured the song title, band name, and the production company/distributer ; which additionally gave the audience information about

the artist and could influcene potential buyers. To add the text we

selected the text option and insterted it where we wanted to type. Once we dragged it down on top of the clip we wanted – the opening & end of the video – we added a Fade In and Fade Out to make it appear more fluent.