Music Video rough cut one - no grade

This is my first rough cut for my music video. Overall I have quite happy with how it has turned out. I feel that I have done a good job of bringing my storyboard to life and I think this video represents what I had in mind for the video to look and feel like. I really like the structure and progression of both the narrative and performance elements of the video and feel they build really nicely, giving the video a really nice rhythm and dynamic in relation to the music. This cut was only to establish the story of the piece and get a rough idea of where I wanted shots to be fit in and to get a sense of the overall feel of the music video. Overall I'm happy with how the video looks visually however there are some things that need fixing, for example there are moments within the video where the lip syncing is out of sync. These will need amending before moving onto colour grading. To colour grade these clips i want to create a sense of night to all the shots so this will mean colour grading will be quite a large task in order to make this convincing. Another aspect I am unhappy with is some of the Gopro footage as I don't think it is sharp enough however this may jus be down to lack of contrast so I may be able to correct this in post. I want to create a continuity between the performance and narrative colour grades also so the video flows a lot smoother. I am contemplating a title for the first shot as I have seen in in some of the music videos I had researched prior to shooting. I have altered the beginning of the video as the long tracking shot I had planned and shot was just too dark and unusable however I do feel this intro works just as well and could be enhanced by putting a title over the first shot. My next step would be to produce the final video including shot corrections and fixing lip syncing.

Ed Sheeran magazine ad analysis

This is an example of an advert which does not follow the same form as the previous ones I have analysed. It consists of a large photo of the artist which helps links to the iconography of Ed Sheehan, being the face of his own brand. The advert however still focuses on a minimalistic form using a large photo as the primary focus followed by text which provide further information about the album and where it can be purchased. The main photo has a slight orange tint which relates to the colour of the actual album which is positioned within the advert in the lower right corner. To link to Ed's style of music being very down to earth and linking to his "everyday guy" brand style a more vintage, typewriter style font is used which creates almost like a home made style to the advert and this links to the music within him album being very humble and addressing real life scenarios his audience could be facing. His line of view is facing the album cover it self which draws the eye to the album and text surrounding it. Overall I really like the layout of this design as I feel it focuses more on the iconography of the artist over the album its self which could help create a sustained brand image which would help continue the buyers appeal to future albums linking to the same style branding. 

Production Log 2

2/2 shoots complete for the narrative section of the video. For this part of the overall music video I wanted to lift the oppressive tone I had crafted within the narrative for the build up to the chorus. I wanted to create an overall sense of success and prosperity as the protagonist finally started his car along with his friends help and they finally get to drive it through the lovely country roads surrounding his house. I wanted to set this section at dusk to allow us to get a sense of mystery within the area which is then burnt away by the warmth of the cars headlights. I felt this would really help tie in with the visuals I will also aim to create with the band in the studio shoot. With the band working within the indie genre you will often hear the music primarily played at night or within the winter months and I felt shooting at night really suited the tone and rhythm the song had. I feel this shoot was a success as I was lucky enough to be shooting on a day with really dramatic and cold weather which contrasts to the mood within the car, giving the overall message that friendship and hard work can face and beat any problem which gives a nice overall message to the song its self.

Initially I had planned to spend a lot more time shooting this section of the narrative however instead of working shot by shot from the storyboard I decided to go more with my gut when shooting this part of the video taking key shots from the storyboard and making sure they were shot before collecting additional shots I could place within the video should they be needed. I wanted to shoot in better light conditions so I could make the shots seem more into the night than they were and this would allow me to retain more detail within the frame. My next step is to create a rough cut along with the footage I will obtain from shooting the band which will be done tomorrow 6/02/17.

I decided to take more photos on this shoot but only for social media purposes so I could promote the progress of the video giving people a sense that it is soon to be released. This will create an interest leading to the release of the product which will hopefully be the end of the week. I aim to use existing band photos I have taken along side the front shot of the car in the garage door in order to create the digipak and magazine ad as I feel this would suit the aesthetic of the band and overall tone to their music more.