To plan the video, each of us in the group were assigned specific roles in order to complete the task quickly within the short space of time we had. I planned the story board and operated the camera, Elliot was in charge of listing and getting hold of the props; Ben also helped with getting props as well as been in charge of lyrics and timings and casting. The planning took around two lessons, as well as spending extra time at home planning the story board. However, despite our efforts in the planning process, when the shooting process began, we realized how difficult the music video actually was to film. This was due to not having professional and efficient equipment as the crane was difficult to operate; it produced unstable movement and needed two people to move it. The casting was another problem as there were a lot more people needed than we realised, who were hard to get hold of as nobody had free lessons at the same time.
Due to lack of time, we also couldn't spend a lot of time on one very small part of the video and we realised it would simply take too long to get the right shots needed. I also think, that while I did not object to operate the camera since we used my own camera and I had the most knowledge about each shot, it may have been easier if operated by someone taller as the angle that it was it was too difficult to clearly see the screen.
From these problems we first faced, I have learned to fully plan ahead and think of the problems that may arise before starting the project so they can be dealt with efficiently and not affect the rest of the project. However, due to our lack of experience, it did't occur to us that there would be problems such as this.
We also dealt with this problem of filming This Is Gospel by changing the music video. Ben and Elliot found Lotus Flower by Radiohead which is a much simpler video to shoot and was more efficient to film in college as only one person was needed and there were much less props. It was much easier to film as we only needed three shots at three different angles which we could then quickly edit. Since we only had 2 days left to complete the task, this was the quickest and simplest video we could re-create. However, due to other lessons going on at the same time as ours, the mac we needed to use to edit was already taken and so the editing had to be done at the end of college.
When I make my A2 project next year, I will make sure to
efficiently plan by scheduling what planning needs to be done by what time and
organise ahead of time, such as when I will shoot the video and edit etc., and
give myself enough time to complete the project.
From doing this task, I have learned about the process of making a
music video and what I need to do, in terms of planning, in order to begin
filming something. Without doing this task before beginning A2 I would not have
a clue how to film a music video and would be very unorganised. As well as
planning, I have also learned simple things such as attaching a camera to a
tripod and using the editing suite. This experience has also helped me
understand the amount of effort and time I will need to put in at A2 to produce
the best product I can. I now feel more comfortable developing to A2 as I have had experience and will know what to do and what to expect when it comes to producing my product and also the problems I may face.
The thing I found most challenging was working in a group. While it did mean extra help and less tasks to complete in such little time, I don’t particularly like group work as I prefer to produce my own work in my own way with no interference from others. Group work also stresses me as I worry about the completion of a task another person is doing and if they’re doing it right etc.
In conclusion, I am pleased with the final outcome. I think it was successful as we managed to re-create as accurately as possible. However, I do feel it was very simple and a better video could have been chosen which could have been filmed in just the same time. Saying this, it is not as complex as the video first chosen.
