Music Video Blog

Today Stephanie and I filmed our music video. I came to Stephanie’s house at 10 AM and we began getting dressed for the film. After getting ready, we filmed the first two scenes in the bathroom which were the eye and lip close-ups. They were both filmed at eye level. Then we moved on to the living room where we filmed most of the scenes. We started with the scene where Stephanie and I were talking. Next we did the scene  where we filmed Stephanie pouring water into the plant. We had to do many takes because she kept spilling the water.

We also had to do retakes of that scene because I kept looking towards the camera when I was supposed be looking away. Before we did scenes in the hallway, we had to sit and take a look at our storyboard because we were confused on who was doing what in the scene. When we finally figured it out we began filming. Then we went into the kitchen and filmed two scenes. When we filmed our kitchen scenes we were presented with three safety concerns. The first one was that we filmed the scene where Stephanie was coming up behind me with a mallet at a high angle, so the camera had to be propped up at a very high place. We had a person on stand by the camera just in case. The second issue was that in the scene Stephanie swung her mallet as if she was going to hit me in the head.

This posed a serious safety issue because one wrong move could’ve lead me to actually getting hit in the head. However Stephanie signaled when we she was going to swing the mallet so I wouldn’t get hurt. The last safety concern was that after Stephanie “hits” me with her mallet I collapse to the floor. We placed pillows in the area where I am supposed to fall so I wouldn’t get injured. After that scene, we touched up our makeup and did a costume change for the two phone call flashback scenes. We both wore Christmas pajamas to show the viewers that the scenes are apart are the flash back. We wanted to include another scene where Stephanie would be dragging my lifeless body to show that she ended up killing me but we didn’t have enough time to do so. Overall, since we knew how to work the camera and manage our time better, filming the music video went by smoothly.

Music Video Storyboard

Today Stephanie and I created our storyboard. First, we drew the scenes we wanted to include in the music video. Our first scene occurs before the song starts. It will be a close up of Stephanie getting a text message from me that says "I'll c u soon!". This will set up the scene for our shots that come after. Next there will be an extreme close up at eye level of Stephanie's lips as she puts on lipstick. Then it will cut to our third scene which is an extreme close up at eye level of my eye as a put on eye shadow. We included these two scenes to show that the two best friends are getting ready to meet each other.

Our fourth scene is a wide shot two shot at eye level of Stephanie and I sitting and talking in the living room. We include this scene to show that the two girls have finally meeting up. The next scene is an over-the-shoulder eye level shot. It will be filmed over Stephanie's shoulder. The scene will show Stephanie rolling her eyes as she excuses herself to the next room and will show me making a taunting expression towards her as she walks away. This will show the viewers that the two girls actually don't like each other. Next, will be a close up at eye level of me putting poison in Stephanie's drink. The scene after that will be an extreme close up at a high angle of Stephanie walking back into the room with a mallet. This demonstrates that the two friends are out to kill each other.

The seventh shot will be a long shot two shot of Stephanie re-entering the living room with the mallet behind her back. I will be welcoming Stephanie back with a warm smile. This illustrates that the two friends are trying to hide that they want to kill each other. The eighth scene will be a wide shot two shot at eye level of me looking away while Stephanie pours her drink into a nearby plant. We included this to show the viewers that Stephanie knows that I am trying to kill her. The next two scenes will be me saying that I will go refill Stephanie's drink then it will cut to me going to the kitchen to refill it. In the kitchen scene Stephanie will be seen hiding around the corner. We wanted this to allude to Stephanie's chance to try and kill me. The scene after that will be an over-the-shoulder two shot of Stephanie walking behind me and striking me with her mallet. There is a part in the song where there is a phone conversation which is why we had the next two scene after that be a flashback of Stephanie and I talking over the phone, they will both be medium close ups at eye level. The last scene will be a tilt of my phone falling while I drop to the floor as well. This shows that Stephanie was able to successfully kill me.

Music Video Planning

Today we started planning our music video. We will be filming at Stephanie's house on Sunday. We already got permission from Stephanie's mother to do so. We do not have a back up location because we will be filming inside so we will not be affected by factors such as bad weather. A safe issue we have is that in our film we will be using a mallet. We will have a first aid kit on stand by in case we get injured by the mallet. The mallet will also be put away in a safe place when it is not used so we can prevent any injuries. 

For props, a mallet, a old-fashioned telephone, a glass cup, and red lipstick. We wanted to include the mallet to show how the two best friends are turning on each other and want to hurt each other. There's a part of the song where there's conversation over the phone which is why we will be using the vintage phone. A lyric in the song talks about poison, so we wanted a scene where one of the friends puts poison in a drink which is why we need a glass cup. Last, we will be using red lipstick because we want a scene where one of the friends is looking in the mirror and putting on lipstick. For costumes, we wanted the actors to have an elegant vibe which is why they will be wearing solid-colored dresses and heels. We we're also thinking of having the actors wear jewelry because we may include a scene where one of the actors yanks a necklace off the other actor's neck. 

For our schedule, Wednesday we will be creating our storyboard. However, I may time today so I can begin drawing the storyboard. Sunday I will go over to Stephanie's house at 9 a.m.. We will be finishing doing hair and makeup at 10 a.m.. First, we will film the lipstick scene for 10 minutes. We will continue filming till 12:30. Then, we will have a lunch break till 1:15. Then we will change our outfits and touch up our makeup and hair so our appearances look more rugged and messy. We'll keep filming from 2:00 to 5:00. There will be another costume change at 5:30. Our schedule will mostly change when we actually film but this will just give us an idea of what we will do. 

Introduction to Project Music Video

     Stephanie and I have just finished our commercial project. The best parts of the project were working with a partner and filming. Stephanie and I are a great team and we stayed ahead of the game throughout the project. Collaborating with Stephanie during all the productions stages made the work much easier and I had someone to bounce my idea's off of. Filming was also an enjoyable experience because my partner and I had planned our filming schedule and we prepared our props ahead of time so the process went smoothly. However, editing our film was my least favorite part of the production process. Since it was our first time editing it took much longer than it probably should've.

     We are now transitioning into our music video project with some filming experience under our belts. We chose to do the "Secret" by the Pierces. We discovered that the song as used as the theme song for the show "Pretty Little Liars" so we want to derive some inspiration from the show. The genre of our music video will be suspenseful thriller because song gives an ominous mood and has small mentions of murder. Elements of a suspenseful thriller invoke feelings of anxiety and curiosity and starts at a slow tempo. 

     For costumes we want our actors to wear fancy clothing because we want them to resemble two rich teenage best friends who actually hate each other. We wanted the actors appearances to slowly get messier to show how that the two friends are starting to show their true colors toward each other. We want the lighting of the video to be dark because it correlates with the mysterious vibe of both the song and the music video's plot. The actors will be Stephanie and I because it will make filming go by quicker since we are serious about our project. We want the actors to at first be very friendly which each other since they're pretending to like each other. Then, as the video progresses, the actors will being to start showing their hatred toward each other. For props we are thinking of including, a mallet, glass cups, a vintage phone, and makeup. Last, for scenery we will mostly be filming in front of a white wall, hallways, Stephanie's room, and my dining hall. 

Editing Blog

Today we were finally able to edit our footage. Stephanie and I were struggling a bit because we were having trouble importing our footage. Pinnacle Studios was also being very slow. We asked our teacher for assistance and we were finally able to get working. As we waited for the footage was being transferred into the software, Stephanie and I discussed our plans for editing. After importing our footage, we discovered that the retake we did of Stephanie doing rhythmic gymnastics was deleted. However, we had enough footage for a 30 second commercial so losing the footage didn’t impact us much. We rewatched our raw footage and put the footage that we’ll be using in Track 2. Next, we extracted and deleted the audio so that we could insert background music into the commercial. We remembered that we didn’t record a voiceover like we planned. 

We decided that instead of doing a voice over we would insert the dialogue as text into the video. Tried to add transitions but they wouldn’t work so we made the transitions between scenes be jump cuts. We cut each of the clips to the length we wanted. However, while we were cutting the footage, Pinnacle Studios froze multiple times and we had to keep restarting our computer so the program would work again. This made Stephanie very frustrated. It also made us worried because if we didn’t know if we’d be able to finish editing since we only had two hours to work. Once we were able to get Pinnacle Studios to work and finish cutting the footage, we added background music. We used the audio that was provided by Pinnacle Studios. At firs, we chose an electronica song but then we changed it to an action song because it correlated with our sports themed commercial. The last step was to insert subtitles.

We typed the subtitles in white Times New Roman font. I had already written the things that would go on each clip. I gathered inspiration for the dialogue by listening to voiceovers in commercials that advertised sports products. The voiceovers were usually about working hard and how the product being advertised helps athletes work even harder. I’m proud of the dialogue I created because I feel that it stays true to the conventions of sports product commercials. I also think that the dialogue sounds like a voiceover that would be in a real commercial. I was a bit disappointed because we didn’t add a blue coloring over our commercial. I noticed that some sports product commercials have a blue coloring over them. I want our commercial to be as similar as a real sports Prost commercial as possible which is why I wanted to include it in our commercial. Sadly, we ran out of time so we weren’t able to do so. We finished our editing just in time. We were very relieved that our hard work had paid off.