Sam Wilkinson's A2 Media Blog
Monday, 18 February 2013
Lenka - The Show: this was one of my original song choices, but decided against it because of how recent the video was, and how little ideas it left me with for my own video to be original. I liked the emphasis on the artist with the use of one other character, the stop motion, and the use of setting and colour; all of which I tried to incorporate into my own video.
Adele - Someone Like You: I liked the simplicity of this video, I liked the simplicity of the video and its overall emphasis on the artist and the setting; which is what I have tried to replicate in my own music video.
In the Kate Nash music video for Foundations, she concentrates almost entirely on her, with good use of colours and effects like stop motion. This kind of style is what I wanted to follow, like the flower scene and the "I love you" stop motion scene.
Adele - Hometown Glory only has two components, artist and use of background; which is what I made sure were two of the most important components of my music video.
Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve shows how a fairly calm, light and upbeat song can be highlighted by using dark clothes and urban areas in the video. This can be seen in mine, using the graffiti tunnel.
Uploaded videos (playlist)
My video is FINALLY on youtube, after a lenghty editing process and a long long wait, although the quality is not the best for some reason. I will have to go to the technician and ask for help in making the quality better, this is the first attempt of the uploading (bad quality)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTZCbhXPiNE&list=UUzCuzU6TJVKZ_Khku1FndtQ&index=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTZCbhXPiNE&list=UUzCuzU6TJVKZ_Khku1FndtQ&index=1
Monday, 21 January 2013
I have now finished my editing for my final music video, I completed it in a week as I was able to take the Mac home in order to catch up with editing
SONG
The song on the album which I chose actually contains a hidden track at the end, which I of course had to cut out. I aolso had to trim the last of the song as well as it goes on for an extra 2 minutes after I had run out of clips. I had never planned or intended to use the last of the song, as its very quiet and slow.
CLIPS
I think I was quite lucky with the clips I chose to film, as I had lots to choose from. I took at least two takes of each clip in order to ensure that I had plenty of choice, and no need to refilm, as getting to London is expensive. Especially the panning shots on Hampstead Heath and Primrose Hill, as it took so long to get there I made sure I had more than enough material. One of the most difficult scenes to edit was the flower scene:
The scene took about 20 minutes to film and the clip doesnt last more than 10 seconds. I used stop motion in order to create this effect that the flowers were moving. During editing I had to cut the clips down as much as possible, and move them all into place one by one, all 53 of them.
EQUIPMENT
The equipment that I used to film; camera, tripod, were a little awkward to carry around London, but it was worth it in order to get the clips of scenery. During the editing process it was noticable that I had used a tripod because of the steadyness and smoothness of the camera, whereas one or two clips were filmed without it, they were not used because of the apparent unsteadyness and how it looked compared to scenes filmed with the tripod.
LIGHTING/SCENERY
As it was a sunny day I had to ensure that the camera was in the right place in comparison to the sun in order to ensure that the sun did not affect the way the shot looked. In some of the shots it is clear that the sun was in the artists eyes, but some things are impossible to get round unfortunately. Most of the settings were carefully planned and chosen, for example the rooftop at St Pauls, Primrose HIll and the graffiti tunnel at Waterloo. But some were stumbled across, like Liverpool Street Station and the shots by the London Eye. I wanted to ensure that I used lots of different locations in the video to make sure it looked varied, taking inspiration from the Bomay Bicycle Club video for "Always Like This" where key locations were what made the video what it is. Other issues with lighting was the the darkness in the last shots, as it took longer than expected to get to Chalk Farm, it was dark when we got there. originally it was meant to be sunset on Primrose Hill, but it looked ever better with the lights of London behind the artist.
OTHER ISSUES
other issues included filming in busy places like Liverpool Street station of course conjured up some issues, people wandering into the line of the camera of interrupting filming by accident but this is to be expected with filming in such a busy place. Another issue was the battery of the camera which was running on empty when we filmed that last shot, thankfully it lasted just long enough to get us through filming. Issues with editing included the battery on the mac dying and iMovie closing unexpectadly, deleting work. The real issue was timg though, ensuring that the lip syncing was in time the whole way through. it took time, but when it all fitted perfectly it was worth it.
SONG
The song on the album which I chose actually contains a hidden track at the end, which I of course had to cut out. I aolso had to trim the last of the song as well as it goes on for an extra 2 minutes after I had run out of clips. I had never planned or intended to use the last of the song, as its very quiet and slow.
CLIPS
I think I was quite lucky with the clips I chose to film, as I had lots to choose from. I took at least two takes of each clip in order to ensure that I had plenty of choice, and no need to refilm, as getting to London is expensive. Especially the panning shots on Hampstead Heath and Primrose Hill, as it took so long to get there I made sure I had more than enough material. One of the most difficult scenes to edit was the flower scene:
The scene took about 20 minutes to film and the clip doesnt last more than 10 seconds. I used stop motion in order to create this effect that the flowers were moving. During editing I had to cut the clips down as much as possible, and move them all into place one by one, all 53 of them.
EQUIPMENT
The equipment that I used to film; camera, tripod, were a little awkward to carry around London, but it was worth it in order to get the clips of scenery. During the editing process it was noticable that I had used a tripod because of the steadyness and smoothness of the camera, whereas one or two clips were filmed without it, they were not used because of the apparent unsteadyness and how it looked compared to scenes filmed with the tripod.
LIGHTING/SCENERY
As it was a sunny day I had to ensure that the camera was in the right place in comparison to the sun in order to ensure that the sun did not affect the way the shot looked. In some of the shots it is clear that the sun was in the artists eyes, but some things are impossible to get round unfortunately. Most of the settings were carefully planned and chosen, for example the rooftop at St Pauls, Primrose HIll and the graffiti tunnel at Waterloo. But some were stumbled across, like Liverpool Street Station and the shots by the London Eye. I wanted to ensure that I used lots of different locations in the video to make sure it looked varied, taking inspiration from the Bomay Bicycle Club video for "Always Like This" where key locations were what made the video what it is. Other issues with lighting was the the darkness in the last shots, as it took longer than expected to get to Chalk Farm, it was dark when we got there. originally it was meant to be sunset on Primrose Hill, but it looked ever better with the lights of London behind the artist.
OTHER ISSUES
other issues included filming in busy places like Liverpool Street station of course conjured up some issues, people wandering into the line of the camera of interrupting filming by accident but this is to be expected with filming in such a busy place. Another issue was the battery of the camera which was running on empty when we filmed that last shot, thankfully it lasted just long enough to get us through filming. Issues with editing included the battery on the mac dying and iMovie closing unexpectadly, deleting work. The real issue was timg though, ensuring that the lip syncing was in time the whole way through. it took time, but when it all fitted perfectly it was worth it.
Friday, 18 January 2013

The bottom right is the front cover of the digipak. I originally planned for the picture to be of the artist and the boy from the story to give audiences some indication of how the story will go. The images were taken on south bank because of the quiet spots and views over the river. As I created the cover I used both the artist and the boy, but edited him out to create more of a focus on the artist herself. Even though the shot was taken in London, I wanted to find a more natural shot rather than urban. This is why I chose a day when I knew the weather was going to be clear, and a time where the sun was going down to create a softer image. I also wanted the artist to be wearing white in order to signify purity and angelic features. I was very careful with my choice of text as well, I didnt want to make it too girly or floaty to only appeal to a certain type of audience. The spine is obviously similar to the front cover, using sky from the same shot and the same text type. The bottom left shows the back cover of my digipak. The text used is the same as the front cover, and the songs are taken from the Kate Nash album "Made of Bricks". The shot was taken on Primrose Hill, one of the main locations for the video. It is also at night to contrast the front cover, with the lights of london contrating the natural setting for the front. The artist is also wearing a dark colour, this is becuase the flash would pick up the white too much and drown out the lights of the background. The CD and background on the top left is also of Primrose Hill, showing that its a significant location. The text is also the same as the other three. The inside cover on the top right was without a doubt the most technically difficul of the four parts. The pictures themselves had to be imported onto a plain page, edited to size, copied and pasted onto the main page, rotated, cut down to size, and put into place in the specific place. The pictures were taken in a wooded area in Harlow, with the artist pulling different faces, possibly to show different aspects of her personality. Also the fact that you have to open the CD cover to discover this is symbolic of the artists hidden emotions. Out of the two ancillary tasks I found this the hardest because of the technical ability needed to operate Photoshop and the precision and detail needed.
Friday, 11 January 2013
Health and safety is obviously an important issue when creating a music video, ensuring that everyone is safe whilst filming, these are the ways we considered health and safety on filming day:
- making sure the area was safe
- makign sure the area around the camera and tripod was clear so nobody would trip
- choosing quieter streets to film where we wouldnt disturb anyone
- making sure the actors were in a safe position
- ensuring the camera and tripod were secure when travelling to a from places on the tube
- ensuring there were no loose wires
- in busy places, keeping together rather than spreading out and keeping close by
Friday, 21 December 2012
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