Post Done by Humble Awan(Me)
For the Post-production phase of our Advanced portfolio task of a music video, We started off using Adobe Premiere to edit the music video and added in all the footage from the narrative shoot that we had done. After this we added shots according to the shot list. not all shots were the same as that identified in the shot list as we had to deviate from that and add more shots and rearrange them with the performance shots to make sure it did not become monotonous. So we added the shots and fitted them according to the amount of seconds we wanted to allot to each shot, after adding all these narrative shots we added the performance shots as well and the music video started to have its shape. After adding and putting the footage in its place between narrative and performance, then we added effects and transitions, the most we used were "Cross dissolve", "Film dissolve", and "Dip to Black". Then I also added the effects to merge performance shots with each other and with the narrative as well. Then we also added a diegetic of the thunder where we showed the black rainy clouds, for this we had to download a thunder sound and then crop out the part which we required by adding a sound effect to the music video, for this we picked out the part which had a more appropriate thunder sound and then placed it to the music video editing window. Then we also did the color correction and added Video effects as well to make the music video more meaningful. We kept a slightly dull and Sepia tone till the middle of the music video to show the struggle and hopelessness and even used black and white shots as well in the start. for this we reduced the saturation and also the contrast, our teacher advised us to not disturb the brightness levels as that makes the footage look unprofessional and pale. below is a comparison of how a shot looked before video effect and after adding the saturation and reducing contrast We also increased the lighting and saturation in the shot of the 2 homeless guys and increased contrast in the shot of the old man. Finally towards the end of the music video when the plant grows and it rains overnight which is a sign of blessing we added more color to the shots and increased the contrast to depict hope and blessing. After adding all these audio effects, video effects and video transitions and improving on the drawbacks of the first 2 drafts we took out a final music video in Mp4 format and uploaded it on Vimeo.com. This was our production journey which was full of learning and a fun experience that helped us learn a lot and also show our creativity by using the tools provided. Music video Post production editing done by Humble Awan(Me) and Fatima Ali
Post Done by Humble Awan(Me)
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So finally after our teacher's approval we finished our final music video task and did the final editing and color correction as well. I will be posting a post about the production journey soon in which i will in detail explain the steps we did through the post production and editing phase.
After making a number of changes in the first cut, we were able to come up with something a lot more stronger. Here is an analysis of the various shots and artistic elements added to the music video in order to make the concept of the entire video stronger. These two shots are the opening of the music video, this isn't where the song starts but it establishes the mise- en- scene and the idea of the music video with the diegetic of the wind in the background. Most famous music videos begin this way to interest the audience. With the clear sky and and the cloth tied around the water tap the first signifier that comes to a persons mind is of infertility, desolation and barrenness of the entire environment. The feel of the music video is developed in the beginning so the viewer is curious to know what is going to happen next. The introduction of the protagonist is given after an establishing shot of the barren location is shown, right before the song begins officially. This leaves an impact of the viewers to get to know about what is going to happen in the entire music video. The dryness of the environment and the miserable conditions are seen through the cracks that portray the deserted area. It compliments with the establishing shots of the music video also being able to give the audience a constant reminder about what the entire concept of the video is going to be about. The performers for the music video are not overly dressed, they perfectly portray the kind of band they are: being indie artists. The clothes they are wearing are a part of everyday life, showing modesty and a very down to earth feeling. The brick background and the warm and cozy atmosphere gives a very strong feeling of a gig; which is culturally related to indie pop bands. A very significant point to be noticed is, usually when a full shot of the entire band is shown eye contact is made directly in the camera. For our music video, however, it was not the case as the performance has been kept very natural, the concept of the music video has been taking to a spiritual level. The lyrics of the song are very emotionally engaging. Focusing on the element of digging was important for the music video to be understood and for a connection to be made with the entire concept of the video. The digging of the ground is a sort of an enigma code as when she begins to dig, it makes the viewers curious to know what is to happen next and why this process was important. The minute the protagonist opens her palm is where the crux of the video begins; the seed represents growth, hopefulness and an element of life contrary to what has been shown in the beginning to develop the bleak atmosphere. The entire concept of our music video is emotional and is meant to create an impact on the audiences and for that to happen, the expressions of the protagonist mattered the most as it developed the entire feel of the music video. In the beginning of the music video, Mahnoor is seen as being disappointed and somewhat upset with all that is happening and the condition of the society. Despite her still having some sort of hope, she is yet waiting for an outcome to get over the dullness of the society. The expressions of the performer also played an evidently important role in developing the feel of the song; the song is all about yearning and pray and the performers seemed to be involved at a spiritual level and hence, there was little or no direct eye contact with the camera. The intensity of the song can be felt with such expressions. The dry grass and bare stems signify the barrenness of the land; a greater meaning being of the dry situation in the society overall. A number of artistic shots have been used in order to complement the concept of the music video and also to signify the various elements of the society that describe the environment as being dull and dry: with immense lack of hope. The lack of happiness and contentment has caused the death of the general mindset of society in all spheres of life. Mahnoor is shown running in the barren land to see if there has been any growth of the seed she sowed. There is a sense of curiosity and desperation to find out what has happened, this also helps in engaging the audiences to figure out what is to happen. An over the shoulder shot is shown, with hand held camera movements to give it a very realistic feel and to make the audience feel like they are a part of the music video as well and are able to feel and understand every moment of it. One of the very significant shots of the music video included the breaking of earth on the barren ground. It gave a very strong message about the aggression that exists in the society which is causing more harm as people are intolerant to many things. The destructive nature of society aids in its deterioration, hence the frustrations and unhappiness.
The rain at the end however signifies life- a new start to the countless blessings; it meant the the prayers had been answered and the desperation and determination of the little girl to get the society out of the hopeless atmosphere was finally fruitful. Setting a moral at the end: If you work hard enough to achieve something, there is nothing that can stop you from getting to your goal even in the worst of times. After making the first draft of the music video, our media teacher decided to hold a jury in order to have a third person analysis about what we had created. This not only gave us a clear- cut idea of what we have to improve but also what we can do to depict the meanings of every shot further. My group members and I had worked together on such a scale for the first time and knew that there were flaws that had to be corrected at all costs. One major problem that the jury felt was of the performance of the music video; the lighting and camera shots were a big issue and hence that being a major flaw was taking over all the effort of the narrative as well. After discussing the good and bad parts of the video we came to a conclusion that we will have to do the performance again at all costs. This was one of the shots from the first draft, and as it can be seen the lighting is very off and does not seem to appeal the audience at all even if the narrative makes sense. The continuity and flow of the music video was being hampered. Even though it was going to take some extra time and effort, we decided that we're going to conduct a re-shoot of the performance. We were told to get performers with stronger expressions as the male vocalist seemed to be weaker in portraying the correct expressions needed according to the feel of the song- hence, we replaced him and the guitarist with performers who had already performed in real time and this added to making our music video stronger. The jury was an important part as it helped us improve the overall outcome of the entire project, we knew what flaws we had to overcome in order to produce something that is going to attract the audience in the first look. The addition of the artistic shots to depict the meaning of the entire narrative were also a plus point added. Post done by Fatima Ali. So we finally started working in Adobe Premiere and prepared a rough cut for our narrative in the music video. The rough cut is basically the shots of the narrative in their specific order, the order in which they will appear in the music video. The screenshots above are part of the footage of the narrative in the music video, we did not add the shots of the performance in the music video because they have to be lip synced and therefore have to be precise. the rough cut for our narrative is about 3 minutes and 10 seconds long, which is twice the size of the narrative that we will end up putting in the music video after editing.
the rough cut has allowed us to make sense of the narrative as it is starting to work in a flow, the slight problem that we realized is that the color and light tone of the narrative and performance are contrasting and therefore we will try to match them with editing and effects.
So after completing the music video shoot we sat down and had a look and finalized the shots that we were going to incorporate in our music video, below are some of the shots which we rejected..
we rejected this shot because although the angle and light were the way we wanted them, but the actress did not get the act, and therefore very quickly picked up the bowl to pour the water.
the second shot we rejected is below and is because the shadows of my fellow members can be seen in the frame , therefore we re-shot this in a similar way and selected that one.
This one was a slight blooper, as the actor ended up laughing while he was acting on eating the food.
the fourth shot we rejected is because the actress wasn't able to show the emotions we expected of her, she was supposed to look hopeless and sad whereas in the shot she doesn't look like that at all, so we had to reject this shot.
another behind the scene blooper yet again, our actor was finding it difficult to hold back his expressions, in this shot the actor was supposed to look up into the camera after 3 seconds which he forgot to do so i reminded him, after which he ended up laughing,
Shot= Rejected
we shot this scene twice and rejected the second one because the soil already looked watered because of our first try at the girl watering the ground. plus the water in the bowl also finished
we misread the shot list and this shot was supposed to be a Close up of our hand with eh camera slightly more closer tho her hand, therefore this one was rejected too.
These are some of the shots which we rejected.
Post done by Humble Awan (Me) |
AuthorHey! I Am Humble Awan, an A'level media studies student at Learning Alliance. Archives
May 2016
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