Editing

Most of the editing has gone quite well. I have managed to master getting the clips exactly where we want them. Although it has been going well we have encountered quite a few problems. One of the first problems was the green screens. When editing some of these they did not edit smoothly. We found that no matter how hard we tried we either had some of the green background showing or it caused some of the hair to look fuzzy and the background to show through. We eventually had to just make do as this was a result of technical limitations. When we had finally edited all the green screen shots we liked we found that we liked different performances for certain parts of the song. We then decided to match up these bits we liked with the song. The hardest part to match up and use shots we liked was in the 3 chorus’ at the end of the song. We found that this got a bit repetitive and so we had to have lots of shots to make it appear interesting. For this we decided to break up other shots so we could have snappier edits. We spent a long time making all of our edits look snappy but still edit on the beat. As we began editing more and more of it we became fussier about the lip syncing and edits. We had to have it perfect! I think that now we have it all in sync and we are happy with it. When it came to editing the narrative we found that we had to break up the narrative and have performance shots in between. I think this was because we had to rush the pub filming and therefore it didn’t look quite right when it was all edited together. When we split it up however it worked and made sense. As well as splitting up narrative we also had one or two continuity issues but we managed to solve these as best we could. The main one was in the bedroom scene when I sat up in one shot and again slightly in the next. When filming in public places we had some problems with people walking into shots. It looked good if people were appearing natural if they walked into a shot. When filming outside KFC a man walked into the shot, looked shocked and then posed before walking out again. Although this was entertaining it meant we had to re-film this. There was also a shot in the pub when Luke walked into the back of the shot. When editing we found that we had wanted to use that exact bit however we couldn’t. Instead we had to find an alternative shot we could use. We shot the common room shots so we could use them in case we needed to, but when we came to edit we found that they did not fit with the rest of the video so we have not used them. There was one shot where I left the shot and walked up the stairs, we decided to reverse this shot so I sat down instead. We then used this to fill a small blank we had with no singing. We still have one or two blanks at the moment but we are working on something to fill these gaps. I’m pleased with how the editing has gone and how good the music video looks. I can’t wait to finish it all and see the final product!!

Filming Update

We have been filming all our performance sequences and narrative over the past few weeks. We found that on some of the days the lighting was not right but there was nothing we could do about this. Instead we just postponed filming. When we did eventually get the desired lighting, the filming went well. We managed to get it all done however some shots we had planned did not look right. This meant we had to change some of them. The shots we chose to do on the day often came out a lot better than we originally thought they would. An example of a spontaneous shot we particularly liked was the birds eye shot in the bedroom scene.

Voyeurism- Kanye West

The voyeurism seen in Kanye West’s ‘Gold Digger’ is different to that seen in Rihanna’s music video. The main reason for this is the difference it artist gender. In Rihanna’s music video she is seen is being sexually desirable and the central focus of the men in the video. However, in Kanye West’s video the women are seen as sexual objects as he is the main focus throughout. The use of the mise-en-scene helps to create this voyeuristic view of women. The use of minimal clothing that highlights the sexualised features and exaggerated makeup makes the women appeal to a male audience. The camera is also shot as if from a male perspective, which highlights these features. The use of fragmented shots of body parts also adds to this sexualised approach to the music video. Paralinguistic features have also been used to highlight this sexually desirable appeal to men. The use of the seductive looks and the poses also accentuates certain body parts. The female characters also often look directly into the camera through their lashes which is often seen as very sultry, flirty behaviour. Attention is also drawn to their lips which has sexual connotations. The men in this video are often very stationary which draws more attention to the female characters. This also shows they are more dominant as the women dancing around them. It is almost as though they are aiming to please the men. 

Shooting Day 7

Shooting Day 7: When it came to editing the narrative we had previously shot we noticed that the pub scenes were too dark. This meant we had to re-shoot it. We also decided that we should use the first verse for narrative and we could film this here. We decided on what shots we wanted to do and we found a nice pub. We then went to ask for permission and they said we could use it before opening times. This was perfect as we would be able to use any space we needed to. I had asked two of my friends, Sam and Sean to come and be extras in this scene. They turned up late so while we were waiting we decided to shoot some more performance shots including more close ups which we noticed we had been missing with the other shoots. When they finally turned up we only had 10 minutes before the pub opened. We had to quickly rush the shots and we were worried we wouldn’t have what we needed but we had to make do. There were also dramas between the cast members which meant this shoot was quite awkward. After we finished we all decided it was time to go and get some breakfast.

Website Research 2

Justin Timberlake's countdown website is very different to the other websites I looked at. This website was just a countdown site to the release of a new single. It features an autoplay of the new video and links to buy the single on 'Amazon', 'iTunes', 'Google Play', 'Spotify' and 'Myspace'. There is also an open letter from Justin Timberlake. This adds a personal touch and a direct link between the artist and his fans.

Pink's website is also mainstream and features many of the same features including; tweets, photos, videos, tour dates and news. The use of fan activity again allows for this link to be made between the artist and the fans. There are various fan photos on the site as well as professional photos of Pink looking very glamorous.

Marina and the Diamonds website was particularly key for research as it is also from the genre of 'Indie Pop'. Key features are still seen in this website including; news, photos, videos, shows, lyrics and the store. This allows fans to purchase merchandise for example, jewellery, t-shirts and accessories. A unique feature is the use of the exclusive free download of  a song and the members only area. This means her members will feel exclusive and have a closer link with the star.