Skills Development Work

Over the course of A2 fortnight we were tasked to recreate various music videos in groups. My group recreated:

- Frozen - Do you want to build a snowman

- Green Day - American Idiot
-  Iggy Azalea - Fancy

Whilst creating my three segments of music videos I have learnt a lot about the process and the organisation required to create a video of a high standard.
The main issue I found when creating our music videos was managing our time effectively. We had a very short amount of time to plan, film and edit our product. This meant that we had to be highly organised and work efficiently all of the time. I found that it was important to plan the majority of shots that we intended to take, as we had to set up three cameras which would be simultaneously recording. Therefore we needed to ensure that we knew what we wanted each shot to look like, in order for us to record the footage efficiently. I also learnt that when recording my final product I should do numerous takes of each shot; as when we came to editing our footage we found that there were problems with some of our shots, but we did not have any spare footage to replace it.
Another element of organisation I found to be important were costumes and props. When filming our music videos we encountered the problem that we forgot some of our props on our first day of filming. This meant that we had to rush filming the designated shots on the second day, meaning that they were of a lower quality. Therefore when filming my real music video I will ensure that I have both the costumes and props prepared in advance.
I have also learnt that it is very important for the actors/actresses to practice the song thoroughly prior to filming, as when filming our videos a lot of the lip syncing was out of time, making it very hard to rectify during the editing process.
Whilst creating our music videos I have developed numerous skills in cinematography and editing, which I will be able to take forward with me when creating my final product.
I have learnt how to create various effective shots, from different angles and distances using specialised equipment such as a tripod, fig-rig and track. I used this professional equipment to my advantage, allowing us to collect a wide variety of interesting and visually pleasing footage for our different music videos. It also allowed us to try out different techniques for each of the videos we were recreating. As each video had a different style, some of the equipment was suited better for individual shots. For example the Figrig was ideal for shooting the segment of 'fancy' that we were recreating as it meant that the camera remained steady whilst moving backwards, tracking the singer as they walked down the hallway
I found editing our video footage and soundtrack together quite difficult, as it was hard to get the images and sound perfectly in sync with one another. This was mainly due to the lip synching being slightly out of time when we recorded, making it difficult to amend in postproduction. When editing it was simple however to add effects and transitions to our video using Final Cut Express, creating a more professional looking overall product.
From this skills development work I now believe that I will be able to create my own coursework to a high and professional standard. When planning my own music video there are now numerous thing that I believe I must focus on in detail. I feel I should conduct thorough research into existing products, in order to gain an understanding of the different shooting styles that are currently used in professional music videos.
When planning the video I intend to shoot I will also create detailed storyboards and shot lists of the shots I wish to take - explaining angles, distances and equipment needed to film it. I will also try and account for any re-shoots that I may need to conduct if there are any problems with my footage/if I need to collect a wider variety of shots.
I will create a full plan of all costumes and props that I will need for the video. Which I intend to organise into days of shooting, so that nothing will be forgotten/needed when filming. This will save valuable time which I may need to collect further footage. It will also mean that I will have a record of which costumes/props I will need for each shot, which will be particularly beneficial if I need to reshoot any of my footage.