Production Diary –
Gabriel Floyd
Intial Meeting with Greg
Our first meeting with Greg went well. He came into Bhasvic
and we discussed our ideas for his music video. His feedback was positive on
the initial idea, so I presented the mirror element, to add an individual twist.
I showed him our power-point pitch, to give him a broader understanding of what
we had envisaged for his music video. After some poor tea and organisation of
the dates to film, we said goodbye.
Rockery
After our dates of filming were pulled back because of
illness, we decided to scout out the rockery (one of the locations for the
shoot) and take some nature shots. I took a filming and directing role and
filmed many of the shots. The weather was bright and sunny so the majority of
the shots looked aesthetically pleasing which presented the improved mood in
the second half of the video, following the narrative. It also gave us some
insight into where to film when the talent was with us, which would prevent
delays. Challenges we found however, was the road that the rockery looks onto
restricted our shots. I wanted the shots to portray only nature as the urban
road I felt ruined the mood, so we only filmed facing upwards away from the
road.
Greg Rockery 22nd of May
Filming with Greg at the rockery was the easiest of the four
days. We had strong ideas which locations to use and only required Greg to play
the song, which he dutifully did many times. I was especially pleased with the
shots where he perched on a jutting out rock. The low angle I chose to film at
gave an uplifting, thoughtful mood which was appropriate for the arch of the
narrative. The weather proved to be challenging, as I wanted sun to enhance the
mood, but the weather wasn’t on our side and we were pressed for time after illness
and weather had previously delayed the shoot.
Metway 25th of May
Our filming at the Metway got off to a rocky start; I was
late and no filming was done when I was absent so we were consequently pressed
for time. However this meant we were efficient when it came to choosing shots.
Again I took a filming and directing role and to make up for my punctuality
took a leading role. All three of us chipped in ideas and usually filmed our
own, as the individual would have a vivid image of what the shot had to look
like. Greg was very cooperative and the Metway gave us a good variation of
shots and locations within the building. Grace responded to our direction well
and gave us ideas. The challenge we found was the initial room we wanted to
base the majority of the shots in, was too small , which led us to expanding
out into different rooms.
Grace Rockery 29th of May
Filming with Grace at the rockery was interesting and
challenging. We explored how to advance the narrative in such a short space of
time, in a small area. I wanted to diversify the shots which was difficult due
to the size of the area, but its natural beauty gave us some good locations to
work with. Grace herself had to act and did so well and responded to our
direction. Again weather couldn’t be helped as the grey clouds were less than
ideal, but to combat this I gave Grace exaggerated direction so the mood could
be conveyed in her facial expressions and body language.
Editing
I found editing the most enjoyable part of the production of
the music video. Filming had been challenging due to different factors, but
when I could finally put the shots to the music I felt more confident. I did my
editing during study break and the holiday in college. Therefore I had to
revisit the editing experience gained from the documentary and experiment with
effects as I felt the mood generated from Percipient couldn’t have a plain
linear video. This experimenting was challenging and time consuming but I
managed to (with no previous experience) create some interesting sequences. I
found myself using transitions such as cross dissolve in a far greater quantity
than the documentary, due to the need for a particular mood. I also enjoyed
syncing the video in with the beat and quickly found this was one of the most
effective techniques to use in the creation of the music video, as it linked
the visuals and music. The main challenge was the limitations of the computer
and Premiere Pro, which would always crash.
Evaluation
The feedback I got from the group was strong, with the
majority of scores out of ten being eight. This was good as I felt Greg’s song
was going to be the most challenging to visualise in a music video; it was
going to require a clear narrative, executed with limited resources. On one
card the editing rating was 6-7 and I understood this as parts of the video
weren’t as tight as I would have liked. If I were to go back and improve it I
would spend a few more hours polishing and perfecting. A major problem we had
was that we didn’t film enough footage and didn’t film any shots with panned in
or out. Therefore when it came to editing I would envisage I different shot
where I would have to put another. Whilst repetition was always going to be
used to follow the narrative of entrapment, I was forced to use it a bit too
much due to lack of shots. However despite this I was pleased with the outcome
as I could observe the narrative clearly and I felt the video evoked emotion
and presented an interpretation of the music.
