Editing Continued

Over the past few days I have continued to spend a lot of time editing my music video. As it is only two minutes, I want to make sure that every single detail is perfect and well executed. 

So far, I have:

-Put majority of clips in order (trimmed/cut/edited colour)
-Added in transitions (cross fade)
-Edited flash back shots to old style black and white

Next time, I want to integrate my flash back shots with the present shots.

Here are some screenshots of some editing I have completed over the past few days:

Cross fade- barbed wire against shot of character sat against wall

Blur- as inspired by Ellie Goulding (blogpost on that can be viewed here)

Ellie Goulding- Music Video analysis of editing

Ellie Goulding- 'Anything Could Happen'

After watching this video, it has made it more clear to me about the kind of editing I want to do to my video. By this, I mean that I would definitely like to add slow motion as I found that in Ellie Goulding's video, it was a simple edit that was very effective (e.g. 0.05-0.07 seconds).   For my video, I could slow down the start of the film when she is walking towards the camera as it would bring attention to her and would convey the emotion and feeling better to the audience. It would also show the surroundings a bit clearer and indicate to the audience the type of situation the protagonist is in. 

What I also liked about the editing of Ellie Goulding's video was the blur they used at the start where Ellie just started singing. It is quite an interesting scene and the blur adds to the mystery and slight uncertainty. In terms of my video, I will definitely use this editing technique as it fits in perfectly with my concept and would work well with some of my clips.

As a whole, the transitions are very smooth and hardly noticeable which is exactly what I want to try to achieve with my video.

Editing

Today I transferred all of the filming I have done so far on to Serif - MoviePlusX5 in order to make a start on editing... 

After a while, I managed to remember how the software worked and completed:

- Uploading clips
- Cutting/trimming clips
- Adding effects (grey scale- black and white, desaturation)

I found it particularly challenging to get the timing of the clips exactly in time with the music. Today, as I was focusing on the start, I found it hard to ensure the character's eyes looked up to the camera just as the first beat dropped. I had to slow down the shot, then trim the shot in order to get it just right. Here is a screenshot of the close up:

Screen shot

Next time, I want to continue sorting the clips into the correct order, and trimming them in order to fit with the music.

Ancillary Research- DigiPaks

DigiPak- Britney Spears 

DigiPak- Rihanna 

DigiPak- Coldplay

All of the digipaks I have researched all inter-connect their panels for continuity either through a colour scheme  or through pictures. What I have learnt from this is that I need to make sure that my DVD cover links with my video through a particular theme derived from the video. This will ensure that it is as professional as it can be and therefore like a real media product. 

Filming day 2

Yesterday I managed to complete all filming. I concentrated on getting some shots of Imogen looking younger as those shots will be used int he flashbacks when the character was a young girl. I wanted to include flashback shots to try and explain to the audience how troubled the character is and just how young she was when the problems started.

I manged to get a high angle shot of Imogen sat down on a motor way bridge, a medium shot of her running from the camera, and more close-ups of her face which I may use as well. 

Before I filmed, I searched images on google for the type of shots I wanted to get:

Vulnerability- high angle shot

Long shot- running for an escape

Pie chart

Last week I made a questionnaire asking people aged 18-24 what their favourite music genre was. I then condensed the results into a pie chart:

Pie Chart showing favourite music genre of people aged 18-24

As you can see, alternative, pop and hip hop were most popular. This would mean that as ill Manors is categorised as hip hop, soul and pop/rap, my targeted audience would be 18-24 as it is most popular. Plan B started off as a very niche artist who has developed and grown within the last few years. I still don't feel he is completely mainstream though, as the views and subjects of his songs are controversial and could be classed as niche. As for the song 'Michelle', I would definitely class it within the niche genre.

Another reason as to why I would my video would be targeted for 18-24 year olds is because is is taken from 'ill Manors' which is certificate 18. The themes explored within the film are drugs, violence, crime, exploitation, prostitution, sex and gang culture.

I would definitly agree that people aged 18 and over could truly understand the video and therefore relate to it in some shape or form, however people over 24 years old could still enjoy this type of video, but it could just be a lesser majority than those younger. Today, drugs are very prominent within society, as well as gang culture and violence which means people can identify with the video in some way. An example of the crime today would be the London Riots in 2011.

ill Manors

Today I watched 'ill Manors' which is where my song 'Michelle' is featured. Directed by Ben Drew (Plan B) I found it really helpful in terms of gaining inspiration for my music video.

Dark lighting- ominous

Skimpy clothing- energetic shot, wanting to escape

Close up of face, shows cuts and bruises, could be a shot to show her determination in wanting to change- looking to the future

Above are pictures of the actual character of 'Michelle' in ill Manors. This is who I am basing my actress Imogen on and feel I have fitted the brief well in terms of costume and make up. What I gained from watching this film and actually seeing the character were the effects of simple camera shots to convey raw emotion. I want to portray an angry and broken girl who is seeking independence and freedom, whereas in ill Manors, Michelle is heavily prostituted and is involved with lots of hard drugs which is quite difficult to watch at times. Overall, I found watching this film inspired me to really think about the character I want to portray, and to plan ahead the types of shots and angles I want, as in the film, less is more.

Ill Manors

Ill Manors is a low budget British crime drama film which was written and directed by Plan B (Ben Drew). The film was produced by Atif Ghani, it features Riz Ahmed, Ed Skrein, Keith Coggins, Lee Allen, Nick Sagar, Ryan De La Cruz, Ahouska Mond and Nathalie Press. The film was distributed by Revolver Entertainment and three studio's called Film London Microwave, BBC Films, and Aimimage. Ill Manors was released on the 6th June 2012, a budget of £100,000, which raised to £453,570 in the UK box office. The film is set in Forest Gate, London which focuses on the lives of eight characters mentioned above, the director Plan B (Ben Drew) has six original songs which connects with the narrative of the film.


Plan B's soundtrack album was recorded during 2011-2012 in the UK at Edge recording studio and the Sanctuary, the album was released after the film 'Ill Manors' on the 23rd July 2012. The producer of the album include Plan B, Al Shux, Eric Appapoulay, David McEwan, 16 Bit, Labrinth and Saul Milton. Some of the recordings were featured in the film which were called Ill Manors, Lost My Way, Deepest Shame and Playing With Fire. The album had debuted at number one in the UK album charts and received positive reviews by critics which promoted the actual film too.