Our Own Rough Cut Critique

Before we handed in our rough cut we decided to sit down as a group and write down all of the things we thought that we needed to work on in terms of the narrative and performance to see if this was replicated in the feedback we get from our peers and teachers after the rough cut is handed in. 

Here are some of the things we wrote down:

We know that all of our performance footage needs to be re-shot so there aren't really many specific things we wanted to take note on just the footage in general needs improving in all aspects.

In terms of the narrative, we have found quite a few aspects we need to improve in order to make the narrative as clear and as affective as possible, whilst also only making up 50% of the video. Our rough cut was very narrative heavy due to the issues we had with our performance shoot. 

We also just generally want to make some of the narrative scenes cleaner and more professional as well as really making the story understandable by improving the acting. A lot of the changes we have wrote down to make about the narrative, are to do with the pace of editing. whilst filming some of our scenes we didn't film from enough angles in order to make quick cuts. This then resulted in some pretty slow paced editing which becomes quite borrowing and doesn't match the song.

Editing Process

So far, we have done quite a lot of editing with our footage and in order to make our group as efficient as possible. To do this, we have worked in two alternating groups of two. One pair to actually do the editing and the other to conduct research, find filming locations and come up with even more ideas for the gaps in our editing which need filling with new ideas in the form of footage.

The video is really starting to take shape at this point. We still have some small bits to film before the rough cut deadline but we have enough time to get that done confidently. We aren't sure at the moment whether our editing might be a bit too slow for the pace of the song and the structure of the narrative, however, we are working on improving that whilst we are gaining more footage from each shoot, so these are issues which will most likely be resolved in time.

These pictures were taken in a media lesson when we were editing our band footage into the narrative footage we already had. This took quite a bit of time because we had to make sure that the guitar, bass, drum and singing were all in sync with the music.

Filming: Day 4 - Band in Drama Studio

This morning, our group assembled at 7am to set up our set for the performance aspect of our video. This setting up included setting up a drum kit, guitar and bass and a  microphone stand. We then had to organise our lighting to make sure that it was at it's optimum for filming and was the right colour for what we wanted to do.  We also had to get all the camera equipment ready to start.

We then proceeded to record enough footage for our rough cut after having to finish filming 15 minutes after starting due to our set being used by other people and so we had less time than we intended, especially with how long we spent setting up and packing away.

The footage itself isn't as ideal as we would have liked, given that we were experimenting with the lighting just this morning, before we started filming and so we only got it adjusted to the way which we wanted literally moments before we had to stop filming.

Here are some images from when we filmed the performance. 

Filming: Day 3 - Bedroom Videos

As well as the photographs we took whilst on our bedroom shoot, we also took a couple of videos to show the process of directing our actors and how we were deciding to position each shot. 

This may be interesting to watch later on once we have done our rough cut and had our feedback to see what we were possibly doing wrong. Watching this footage later may help us improve what we already have to create something even better.

This was taken as our main character was leaving the house. As you can hear in the video, Annabelle keeps asking Orrin to stop so she can start filming from a different angle. We wanted to do this because we wanted to show different features of each scene and using different angles was the best way to do this. It took more time but we think it is really going to work and help us create faster paced editing whilst still looking continuous.

This clip was taken as we were trying to create the shot where Orrin is pictured on the bed alone and the camera pans round to the mirror and all of a sudden Laura is with him too. This took quite a few attempts but we really wanted to get it right as this is a crucial moment in hinting what our storyline is.

Filming: Day 3 - Bedroom

Today, we filmed the bedroom scenes. This took several hours and multiple retakes of shots, not just to improve what we were filming but to also allow us to film shots multiple times from different angles, allowing greater flexibility in telling the narrative as the different shots show different things, e.g. close-up = emotion or establishing shot = to show a setting, so it was imperative that we recorded what we thought would add to and improve our video.

As a group, we had all agreed that the footage which we had filmed previously, was taken from too far a distance to convey the emotions and expressions of the characters and so we used this day of filming to help counteract the shots taken further away and in some cases, to replace some of that footage.

In the final cut, we would like to try to be a bit more brave in terms of what we shoot. By that, I mean filming shots closer up and being more daring in terms of the shots and angles which we want to film. This would improve our video and make it seem more like what you would expect from a music video rather than maybe some of our rough-cut shots.

Here are a selection of images taken from within the set of where we were filming:

These two pictures were taken as we were getting some close up shots of our main character looking unstable and unwell. We wanted to include some really close up shots on this shoot because it is something we didn't really think about before when we have filmed previously and so we thought these scenes would be the perfect time to create these shots.

This picture was taken as we were shooting the section where our main character leaves the house. This is going to appear very early on in the video as it sets the story about where he is going etc. so it needs to be really good. We got a lot of different shots for this section so we can use faster paced editing showing some parts close up and some parts further away to show different things.

This was taken when we also had "the drug" with us. This was us trying to create a really interesting shot where our main character is shown lying on a bed and as the camera pans round to the mirror, the mirror reveals that she is lying next to him. We spent a lot of time on this shot because we wanted it to reveal a lot about the storyline, starting to really hint to people what is going on.

This shoot went really well, we got lots of footage and we are looking forward to editing it all in with the footage we already have and watching the video really start to come together.

Dealing With Illegal Substances

We couldn't make our cast take actual drugs or drink real Vodka when we needed them to be sober and for filming and so we decided that instead. In terms of drugs - In our video, in place of illegal drugs, Orrin can be seen flushing ibuprofen wrapped in a receipt, this alludes to it being the real thing and so works well as a prop. In terms of alcohol, rather than forcing Orrin to drink a 35cl of Tesco's cheapest Vodka, we in fact found an empty bottle and filled it with water which he then drank from, giving the appearance of Vodka with it being a clear liquid without making him drunk in any shape or form. For the smoking scenes, instead of making Orrin and Laura smoke a joint containing illegal substances, we instead used a rolled-up piece of paper which we then lit up, at no point did he actual inhale or smoke any illegal substances.

Here is the proof that this is what we did.

Filming Day 2 - Newcastle

We went to Newcastle at night again to film with both of our narrative actors unlike the last time we filmed as we only had our main character available due to Laura not being able to make it. This had meant that we had previously only been able to shoot scenes with Orrin in which in turn meant that we could only film so much of the video and so by having Laura on this shoot, we were able to address this. Here are some pictures during the shoot to show how we overcame obstacles involving lighting etc during filming.

As you can see, in the image above, James is adjusting the camera in order to make sure that the shots are what we planned and that the angles and focus were what we were intending to capture, giving us our desired effects. If we hadn't have ensured this, the would have been quite a strong chance that our footage might have been totally unusable which thankfully, it hasn't been for our rough cut.

The picture above here shows just how much dedication our group have put into our music video as Jamie, seen top right, is quite clearly hanging from a drainpipe in an effort to improve the scene's lighting whilst it is being filmed. He hung on to the railings with one arm and an LED light in the other for around 10 minutes. But thanks to him, the scene was shot with better lighting than it would have otherwise had been. Had he not done the, our footage could have turned out totally dark and unusable for this rough-cut.

These images were taken in back alleyway which we had chosen from our blog post on filming locations in Newcastle. This although a very good setting, meant that getting our lighting right was essential, not just to get it light enough but to make sure that there weren't too many shadows or highlights etc as this would have made the scenes appear to fake and scripted.

This scene was recorded on the high level bridge, again chosen from our Newcastle locations post. We are really happy with the shots we got at this location as we filmed over the bridge showing the river and all of the other bridges in the dark which made a really nice shot with our two main characters in it which has from our research been found to be quite a common theme in music videos of this genre.

In short, I think that so far we have done really well with our shoots in Newcastle and the video is really starting to come together. The more we can get filmed earlier on will also help us as it means that we will have more time to edit this all and make this footage look the best that is can, whether that means doing something with after effects or just taking our time to make sure that our editing gets the best out of our footage.