Research and Planning - Final Cut pro 7 Effects

I have been searching for the effects on Final Cut Pro that I thought would be suitable for our music video. I have found several tips and hints that would help ease the use of an already complex programme.

The Film Look

The film look makes the footage seem more professional and is often seen in the mainstream films. It gives the footage a tint/filter which helps to bring out the colours and make the film look radiant, giving it a polished look. To create this look you have to:

1. Press Cmd+C to copy the clip
2. Press Cmd+V to paste
3. Drag and place it over the original footage in the above film track
4. Click on the duplicated footage
5. Go to Effects -> Video Filters -> Colour Correction -> Colour Correction 3way to bring out the pallet.
6. Adjust the Colour Saturation
7. Adjust the Whites & Blacks
8. Right click on the footage -> Composiotion Mode -> Overlay, This will overlay the original footage with the edited one, giving the desired effect.
9. If the footage is too dark, go to Bottom Footage and adjust colours

Sin City Effect 

This allows to single out a colour and make the background black n while, making that colour vibrant, To create this, go to:

1. Effects -> Color Corrector 3way
2. Drag onto picure
3. Limit Effect bar
4. Pick the eye dropper and pick the colour you want to stand out.
5. Uncheck Luma and Saturation
6. Lower saturation to make the background colourless
7. Press the invert button
8. If the main colour appears pixelated, Increase the Softening

General tips

To open a new track on either Audio or Film, press Ctrl+Click

Lock audio tracks when working with film footage so that audio isn't cut along with it

Research and Planning - Bedouin Soundclash

In one of our creative lessons we have been given a task to re-brand a band called Bedouin Soundclash. It is American and is of an alternative rock/reggae style. However due to the artists' unusual style, they are not as well known. The aim of the lesson was to think about the creative process we had to go through in order to encourage ideas about marketing our own artist.

So in order to help them become more popular we decided to change their name to Soundclash to make it sound more modern. We also decided to dress them all similarly, as Jay Malinowski does, so the band would look more mainstream n therefore attract more attention. We also thought of an idea to always put Malinowski in the middle of the group, creating a structure within the band to let the audience know he is the lead singer.

When it comes to the music video, we had ideas about contrasting their reggae genre with more of the pop's elements. Such as fields and city tops. Peaceful locations such as the central park will reflect their reggae genre well, along with some performance. Whereas performing on roofs and gigs will give them that 'pop' edge that everybody is used to. We believe that this way the band will still be able to keep their originality but also blend in with the rest of the bands that are more mainstream, to give out the likeability factor.

Research and Planning - Creative Lesson

In one of the lessons my group mate was absent and I decided to brainstorm ideas for our cover album.

This idea was to draw and colour in a 'funky' style writing as Skrillex normally has his album covers in a techno and futuristic style of font. However we need to decide whether doing so would be too similar to the artist's creations that already exist.

To recreate this idea we would have to use Photoshop to layer Dan's face into the same position but from different angles. Make it look transparent and add a tint to it. I felt like this type of close up shots and editing would represent the confusion that is meant to be portrayed in the single. The name would also be included at the bottom, however we have to decide on the font. Do we make it simple to focus attention on the picture, or do we make it stand out as the faces will be greyed out?

Research and Planning - Editing music

The song that we have chosen to do is originally 5 minutes long and would therefore be very difficult to shoot for. So my group mate and I have made a decision to cut the song so it would be under 3m30sec. That way the song won't be too long and tiring to watch but also give us more scope in producing a good music video and inserting more footage.

We have first made the markers on the beats that we would like to cut by listening to music and pressing 'M' on the suitable beat. That way we would know exactly when to cut the music.

To make the track blend in nicely we had to select the right effect, for this type of music ( dubstep ) we chose 'Cross Dissolve' as it blend the slow parts nicely with the rigid dubstep. So we clicked on effects, chose 'Cross Dissolve' and dragged it onto the timeline.

When the effect has been dragged onto the desired section of the song, we altered the effect by stretching it out to make it blend in softer and smooth the transition.

Research and Planning - Male Actor

We have found a male actor for our music video. We can now start storyboarding.

Dan Brown

Research and Planning - Marketing Artists

I have looked at several artists and at their album covers, in order to understand how the artists are presented to the public and also to get some ideas for my own artist. I have noticed a few simillaritie that are present in nearly all the album covers.

> The Covers are done in either a close up or a midshot
> There is also filter applied to the picture
> The Album/Single name is either big&bold or in the middle of the cover
> If the Cover has a filter, the album name is done in colour

Each Album cover also represents the artist in their unique way, for example Carlys cover features pink background to represent her femine side and the italic title contributes to that outlook. However it is not too bold but also in the middle, drawing attention to the name. 

David has gone for a more simplistic approach that still looks effective as the black background makes the focus on him and the bold name still stands out with the underline drawing even more attention to it.

Eminem has gone for a black and white midshot, with his name big and bold at the front, perhaps representing his attitude or the mood of the album. The big inverted 'E' stands out and creates a unique selling point.

Nicky Minaj uses all the bright colours however her position in the centre helps to keep her spotlight and the bold title still lets the public know the name of the album.

Rita Ora's cover is in black and white witha bold bright red title to allarm the target audience about her single

JB's cover is also lacking in colour however the title compensates for it and the sparkles create a festive mood.

Skrillex however does not use pictures, only futuristic fonts and effects which represents their chaotic dubstep music. However my group may have to think about rebranding the image by using a picture of a lead actor, and perhaps including a few effects, to still keep up the image.

I have also noticed that male artists use more midshots for their albums whilst females often use close ups. Perhaps by using this approach men like to emphasise their musculinity, when women like to show off their beauty

Research and Planning - Lesson Overview

In today's lesson we have been discussing how the artists and their albums are marketed in todays world. We have agreed that creating a music video for A2 for an already established artist may restrict us in creativity as we would have to copy their image n style. However an idea of rebranding is possible: creating a video of different style, creating a narative if the artists hast used it before or envolve live singing.

 

We have also looked at Ed Sheeran and the way he's been presented to the public for the 1st time. His 1st music video You Need Me I Don't Need You has been done in black and white to hide his unique appearance and ginger hair as he is different to the mainstream artists. 

His producers therefore decided to hide his identity in order to give people the chance of listening and liking his music before judging using stereotypes. They have also made his cover look like a traditional cover for the mainstream stars; his face was shot in the dark, hiding some aspect of his face, putting an orange filter on the cover so his face isn't clearly visible. Luckyly for Sheeran, his unique style and bright ginger hair has now become his Unique Seling Point.

Research and Planning - Actors

My partner and I have found 2 females that are prepared to star in our video. We have chosen these girls as they have a different hair colour that will create contrast between them and will allow the audience to differentiate the two. The male lead is still to be confirmed.

                                                                          Lisa Hibbitt                                                               

                                                                        Tess Warn
                                                                             

Research and Planning, A2 Video - The main idea

In our music video we would like to show the story of a confused guy that cannot decide between his two loved ones. The video will contain sections of a male lead being and enjoying time with the 2 girls, each seperately and the dubstep will contain fast flashes of images and videos of the couples and actors to represent the guy's confusion.

Research and Planning - Skrillex First Of The Year

I have looked at the videos that were shot for Skrillex singles

This video creates suspence from the start of the video by using a close up tilt upwards revealing the man with a sweet. The next shot of the man's back with a playground infront of him creates a stereotype of a paedophile. Skrillex use jump cut edits and reversing to match the dubstep beats of their songs, varying the speed. They also tend to have a narrative story line, a slow beginning speeding up and culminating towards the end.

Research and Planning - The chosen song

Their single does not have a video and exists only as a single.

 This remix is fast and will be challenging to do but me and my group mate would like to accept the chalenge that would require gaining new skills to produce a video.

Research and Planning - Permission

I have been searching for the appropriate artist and their songs n have found a song called 'Cinema' by Skrillex. I have asked their permission but have not yet had a reply.