Monday, 15 October 2012

Florence and the Machine reconstruction video evaluation

Evaluation of Florence and the Machine remake video

To start this task we organised ourselves into groups of four or five. Within our group we looked at the storyboards we had created for our summer task and there was only one that we could recreate, Rabbit Heart by Florence and the Machine. The reason we couldn’t recreate the others were due to props or locations that would just be too difficult to find and shoot in in the short period of time we had for example the protagonist in my video was a gymnast and some of the things he did and the equipment that was used would not be able to be done without also using a gymnast and none of us know one. Philippa was the creator of the storyboard we were using and knew the video the best so she was the director and we then decided as a group what everybody else would do. As Philippa had only created 30 seconds of storyboard for the video we had to do that part but that worked well as following the 30 seconds used a lot more props and unrealistic things that we would not have been able to use or find. 

At the start of the process we put together a production plan of when we were going to meet up to do filming or editing and where we were going to meet. We also sorted out who was going to bring in different props and costumes and who was going to download the song onto their phone so we had a copy of it at all times. With it being on a phone we could then play it out loud whilst we were filming so our actresses knew when and what to lip sync. Our production plan didn’t really work from the start of the project as we had many issues due to lack of attendance and this made it very difficult and annoying for those of us in the group that were turning up. Because of this and the lack of work we had done in three days we decided to converge with another group that were having similar problems to us and once we had done this we started getting a lot of work done and we worked really well together.

The things that worked well for us when we actually started was the team effort that went in to the project, I think we worked well as a team and were always prepared to help each other. Our time management was also very good: if we said certain people were going to meet up to do some work in a certain place at a certain time they generally would and we would get a reasonable amount of work done. Our best working days were our second big day filming and the two editing days we had. A lot of hard work went into those lessons and at the end of the filming I think this showed when especially as at one point it looked very unlikely that were going to finish the project to the deadline.

When filming I think most of it went well although there are things we can learn from. Because it was continuity editing I think we should’ve tried harder to film it all at one time especially with us filming outside. The lighting in our video wasn’t continuous as on the first day it was dull and on the second day it was sunny with the odd bit of cloud. We managed to edit this to make it look similar but it is something to think about when I’m filming. Another thing to consider is the movement of the actor/actress when they are been filmed. At the start of our video I wasn’t aware of how Hannah M was going to move and I lost the top of her head in the shot because I didn’t move the camera smoothly and quick enough to keep the top of her head in the shot. When I am filming my video for “I Was Here” I will need to know exactly what I am filming and when and I will choreograph what movements Hannah C will be making so I can make sure the camera is in the right place at the right time.

One thing that made the editing of the video very difficult was the fact the lyrics we had printed off were wrong so the lip syncing and the song didn’t fit together exactly. We’d had a similar issue during the filming too and we had to stop filming to listen to the song clearly to determine the correct lyrics. When I was researching the lyrics for “I Was Here” I looked at different websites, the album cover and also listened to the song so I hopefully have the exact lyrics and I won’t have this issue.

It was difficult to find the clothing for the Florence and the Machine video because it is all so “weird” but we worked together and managed to get it sorted as close to the real costumes as possible. I shouldn’t have these problems when filming my video because BeyoncĂ© is very fashionable and wears average clothes so I don’t have to be too creative with the costumes although I do want to make some hair and makeup creative. The hair and makeup in our Florence video was very natural as we didn’t really have the time to do much about it. It will be very important to manage my time carefully especially when it comes down to filming and making sure I have enough time to edit.

Overall I don’t think we did too badly on the task but I have definitely learnt a lot from it and I know what I need to change when I’m filming to make my video more successful. I think the main thing I need to do is be certain on what I am filming before I do so because in our project that definitely wasn’t the case and I don’t think the storyboard was used to its full potential. It’s something to think about.

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