Looking Back at What We Accomplished

So we're on to editing for our music video! Let me tell you that I was so excited to do this. I can't wait so see the final project because I know it's going to be great and it's going to be so fun to look back at what we accomplished. Saying look back at what we accomplished sounds a little extra, but with all the complications and mess ups we had during filming, I think I can say that. During the editing process, my group split up what we did in order to lessen the work for each people. Kathy was in charge of the split screen. She did it for our last project and since we know we will be working with her again she was the one in charge of the split screen. Kathy also had to cut/razor blade the clips. Aitan's job was to import and export the files into the computer and the editing software. He was also in charge of coordinating the music with the video. This was new for him so Kathy and I were able to teach him. 

The first thing I did was download the music. I had to go to YouTube and find the song. Since there are different variations and videos on YouTube, I had to find the exact one that we used to plan. If I didn't do that, the sound could have been off by a few seconds. After finding the video, I had to go to another tab and search up YouTube to Mp3. If I used a website that was Mp4, I would download the whole video instead of just the sound. I found a link that worked with the school WiFi and copied the YouTube video link to the Mp3 downloader website. It converted and I pressed download and I had to drag the downloaded file onto my desktop. In order to get the sound onto the editing software, I had to import it like we imported the other files and videos we had taken. I imported from the desktop to the software using drag and drop. 

Then before adding the audio, I had to detach the previous audio. What this means is I had to get rid of all the audio off of the filmed videos. To do this, I had to put the downloaded music onto AV track 2. I then muted the vision on the video of the 2nd AV track. I muted the first track so the 2nd track audio would go over it. Doing this made it so the sounds did not overlap and you only heard the song, not the sounds during the filmed videos. 

My last job was to add transitions. I did this by right clicking the scenes we wanted transitions between. I then clicked "In Transitions" and added the cross dissolve transition for all the ones we wanted. These transitions allowed for our music video to look smoother. 

Before writing this blog, I also realized that they don't have to be as serious as I was making them. I hope you enjoy the new titles and added information. See you on the flip side :)

2nd Filming Blog for Music Video

On Sunday, we finished filming our music video. This time, we had a lot of complications. To start off, the camera that was supposedly charged, was not. Another problem was that one of the actors forgot to bring in the SD card. Luckily, their mom was able to drive home and back to my house quick enough where we didn't lose a lot of filming time. During this time, we got ready to film, changed, and organized everything we needed. We also were charging the camera during this time. Because of the camera not being charged, we had to have it plugged it in at all times. This wasn't easy but we made it work. While we were filming outside, we had to use an extension cord because the camera wouldn't turn on for even a second without being charged. We are lucky that my dad was able to get us a cord and that it was long enough to charge the camera while we were filming at the car. 

We decided it would be easiest to do my scenes first, then Katherine's, and then Aitan's. We wanted to do Aitan's last because we wanted to give the camera enough time to charge before we went outside, this was before we knew we had an extension cord. The first thing we filmed was a shoe scene. To show that Aitan was my assistant, he picked out my shoes for me and I was pleased with what he picked. To prepare, we had to set a lot of shoes out and choose which ones we wanted. After we were done, we had to put all the shoes back organized so my mom wouldn't think the house was a mess. The next thing I filmed was a lipstick scene, where I had to get out a lipstick and put it on. We then zoomed into a nearby alarm clock and when we zoomed out, it was Katherine's scene, where she was putting on chapstick. This was able to show that as two different people with varying lives, we lived similar lives and did mirroring things. 

We then had to film Katherine and I's dance scene. She was jamming out in her room and I was performing to a crowd. We both had lights but mine looked more like stage lights then hers. We had to figure out the exact timing in order to sing the perfect lyrics. In the next scene, we're doing mirroring moves and singing. This adds to the "mirroring lives" affect we were trying to uphold in our music video. The last scene we filmed was the car scene. I had to move my dad's truck so we could get a clear view of the car Aitan was driving. We had to film this scene a few times because we all forgot that when you leave a car, you have to close the door. We wanted to make the scene as realistic as possible. During this filming day, we got a lot done even with all of our complications. 

Filming Blog for Music Video

We have officially started to film our music video. This has been long awaited and my whole group was so excited because of the vision we had. The song, "Best of Both Worlds" is very near and dear to us and we knew exactly how we wanted it to be filmed once we chose the song. My main job was to be the "celebrity" actor. This meant I had to dress well and act like a celebrity. Before we even started filming or even storyboarding we decided the actors would live mirroring lives with small differences. This showed how a celebrity and a normal person lived their lives. I also carried the tripod around all day once we signed out the tripod and camera. This was annoying to do but it showed how a real director would feel. We all decided to meet on Thursday after school because that was a day we were all able to meet. 

We all were meeting at filming at my house. I had to prepare before they came by cleaning my room and getting out any props we would need. Everyone got to my house and we decided on what we would need to do first. I had to change into pajamas to show that I just woke up. We filmed me putting on makeup and getting ready for the day. The "normal person" actor, Kathy, was filmed putting her hair up to show that we both get ready but, usually, celebrities care more. The next thing we filmed was me adjusting my straps of my outfit. During this scene, I couldn't stop laughing so I had to tell Kathy to get out of the room. She kept staring at me and it made me laugh every time. Even though this was an issue, we were able to solve it quickly and get back on track. We were about to film Aitan, my "assistant" arriving at my house when the camera died. We decided to charge the camera and then get food just to see if it would charge a little. When we came back, it wasn't charged. We started to plan how we would film next time. 

The next time we film, I think it will go a lot faster. We already know how we are going to film so we will be prepared and won't have to discuss as much. Kathy and I will probably film a few scenes by ourselves because Aitan is gone for the week. This is fine, however, because he is only in 1 or 2 scenes and we will meet up with him again when he gets back. Kathy and I will probably film at her house because she has the materials for the scenes we need. We will hopefully film earlier in the day, too, so we don't have to worry about the sun going down. Filming has been already a lot of fun and I can't wait to see the end product. 

Storyboard Blog

Our music video based on the song "The Best of Both Worlds" written by Hannah Montana. We will start the music video when the song is at five seconds and finish the video at one minute and eleven seconds in order to hit the time requirements. We drew eleven different scenes on our storyboard. Each lasting six seconds each. In our first scene, our celebrity actress, Amy, will be walking to the bathroom while listening to music while in pajamas. She will be filmed using a tracking shot following her to the bathroom. She will be seen picking up an eye shadow pallet and then seen applying mascara with an extreme close up. In the second scene, our normal actress, Katherine, will be seen putting her hair up into a ponytail also in pajamas with a medium shot. In the third scene, for three seconds, Amy will be adjusting the straps of her romper in front of her mirror. The scene will transition into another three seconds scene where Katherine pulls down her sweatshirt and pulls up her shorts. Both of these scenes will be shown with a medium close up. The following scene will play while the song says "I got the limo out front." The assistant actor, Aitan, will be filmed arriving at Amy's house in a nice car with a long shot. In the fifth scene, for three seconds, Aitan will be handing Amy a pair of heels from an assortment of shoes. As he picks up the shoes, there will be a low angle shot. However, as he gives the shoes to Amy, there will be an eye level shot. For the next three seconds, Katherine will be picking out a pair of socks to wear with a medium shot. In both of those scenes, the lyrics "hottest styles, every shoe, every color," are playing. In the sixth and seventh scene, we will be attempting a graphic match. In the sixth scene, Amy is putting on lipstick while being filmed with a medium close up. There will then be an eye line match as Amy looks at an alarm clock. In the next scene, the beginning is the camera on the alarm clock which then moves to show Katherine applying chap stick with a medium close up. At the beginning of the chorus, Amy will be seen partying under LED lights while singing with a microphone with a medium close up. Afterward, Katherine is seen listening to music and singing along with a hairbrush with a long shot where she can be seen dancing on a bed. At the scene where the song plays "mix it all together," there will be a split screen showing Amy and Katherine doing similar dances to the song with a medium shot. In the last scene, for three seconds, Amy will be shown getting into bed. These two scenes play while the lyrics finish the chorus. It is supposed to imply that the end of the chorus can be seen as the end of the day. In the final three seconds, Katherine is shown pulling up covers and going to sleep using a long shot. This scene will conclude the music video. 

Planning Blog

1. Location
We are planning on filming at one of the actor's house and around their neighborhood. This allows us to have different locations and backgrounds without having to go to a lot of places. She lives near a shopping plaza too, so if we need more backgrounds, it is easily available to us. We also might film at one of the other's actor's houses because they have lights that would be beneficial to our video. These lights will make the video more flashy and will look good with the "celebrity" actor.

2. Health and Safety
At the houses, we have medical aid and parental supervision. A few of the actor's neighbors are doctors and are fire-fighters, who are guaranteed to be home. The main filmer/one of the actors is CPR/AED and first aid certified. While filming in the street, we will have the person not in the shot be cautious of any cars that may pass.

3. Props
We are going to use a car for the scene where it goes "I got the limo out front." Another prop we are going to use is makeup, such as lipstick and eye shadow. This is going to show how a celebrity and "normal person" live differently but still do a lot of the same things. We are going to have an array of shoes to show 'Hottest styles, every shoe, every color."

4. Costumes
The "celebrity" actor is going to wear a nice romper, high heels, and sunglasses. Celebrities are known for wearing nicer clothes and heels everywhere. The "assistant" actor will wear a nice shirt and black pants. This is normal attire for an assistant of a celebrity, who should still look nice, but not over-shine the celebrity. The "normal person" actor will wear regular/everyday clothes. This shows that normal people don't go all out when going out and how they differ from celebrities.

5. Schedule
11/18: Didn't have media so we couldn't do anything
11/19: Starting to plan and storyboard our video
11/21: Finishing storyboard. We are starting to film after school but we won't finish everything that day.
11/27-11/29: Week of Thanksgiving, will not work on music video
12/1: We will finish filming anything we didn't finish before
12/2: Starting to edit
12/4: Finish editing
12/6: Editing blog and submit music video

Music Video Research

We recently finished our Gatorade commercial. The process of creating, filming, and editing took a long time, but when we finally finished, it was amazing to see our vision come alive. I learned a lot throughout the time. I learned the process and how it isn’t just a short thing for an even shorter commercial. It takes a lot of time and effort, but in the end it’s all worth it. Storyboarding and research is very important to make sure the commercial is planned out and comes out perfectly. Filming is a lot of fun, but there’s always a lot of outside factors that you have to beware of. The editing process is steady and slow but puts everything together. We are now starting to work on our next project, the music video. I’m super excited to film and execute this and I think it’s going to come out amazing.
The song we chose to do is from the artist Hannah Montana. The song is called "The Best of Both Worlds". It fits in the genre of pop-rock and country. The song is from the show "Hannah Montana" but is in the album "Hannah Montana." She leads a double life as a pop star and a regular person but in our commercial we are choosing to do two different people for each side of her life. At first we wanted to do "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift. We ultimately decided against it due to the fact that you cannot express what the video is portraying.
 In our music video we will be going against conventions. In the original video and many pop-rock videos, they have a band playing in the background. Since we don't have a band or a stage to perform, we will do more of an original video. The camera angles of a lot of pop-rock music videos are always dutch and pan. Our video will have more of a still and eye-view angle. We think this will capture our shots best. A lot of songs that are pop-rock tend to be very upbeat and there's a lot of dancing. The background noise will just be the song. The editing is usually just shot to shot, so we won't have to edit a lot.

1. Costume: Pop-rock songs tend to have colorful and flashy clothes. We will probably have to buy some clothes, but we might have some of them.
2. Lighting: The lighting tends to be flashy lights and luckily, one of our group members has colored LED lights. We can also use flashlights to create the spotlight that a lot of these videos have.
3. Acting: In most videos, there's usually just actors dancing to the music and having fun. It won't be serious and filming should be fun.
4. Makeup: Most videos have glam makeup because they're performing on a stage. We probably won't do a lot of makeup because we are not following how a normal video would be shot.
5. Props: The props in these videos are usually microphones, a stage, and instruments. We will use cars, a guitar, microphones, and more.
6. Setting: The setting tends to be in an auditorium. It's usually a concert but we are going to film in a house and around a neighborhood.

Editing Blog Part 2

Today, we finally were able to edit. The computers we had before did not work. The new laptops we got had pinnacle studios and all the wifi worked. Unfortunately, our previous laptops slowed down our editing process by 2 days. When we finally did get to edit, other periods had trouble with their new laptops. Ms. Cats didn't think it was fair if they got extra days and we didn't. Therefore she gave us 3 days to edit, instead of the planned 2. This was great for my group to hear because we were doing a split-screen while editing, which is very complicated. Since this was a part of our storyboard, we had to stick with this way of editing. Our last day of editing is on Friday and all we have to do is go over anything that isn't perfect. (10)
My 1st job during editing was filming voiceovers. When we were planning out the commercial, we imagined a voiceover as our choice of sound. My job was to film everyone and put it into the software. During the days we couldn't edit, we filmed the voiceovers. I made sure everyone knew their part and would say it clearly and loudly. Even though my group members didn't want to film our faces, we had to make sure the sound was the best. This was because the microphone on the camera is right below the lens. We had to film the voiceover a few different times. This was because we didn't know how long all our clips were. We re-filmed the voiceovers to make it longer or shorter and to be louder or quieter. Although this process sounds short, it took a lot of time making sure the audio was perfect. (11)
Another thing I had to do was put the voiceover on to the final video. This was hard because we had to make sure that the sound fit exactly with the scenes. The first thing I had to do was detach the audio from the original videos, with the content on them. This was done by right-clicking the footage. Then I deleted the attached audio. We had to put the voiceover videos onto AV Track 3. This allowed us to hear the audio but not see the footage that was recorded. I had to listen to them and watch the clips to make sure that they fit perfectly aligned with the content. We even had to sign out cameras again and film a few of the voiceovers again. In the end, the audio worked perfectly and I got to learn how to edit voiceovers, which will be very helpful for future problems. (10)