Commission Reflection and Research

Filming day:

On Sunday the 10th of April I book myself and my client Verity Rae Martin into a rehearsing studio known as DEF Studios, which just so happened to be located within Chatham's historic dockyard.

The space was nice and big for me and my client to work in plus it was also good knowing that we had this big room all to ourselves for 8 hours which gave us plenty enough time to shoot the whole video. The only thing that was a setback was the guitar player couldn't turn up so I had to make the music video work with just Verity. So a couple of times I could refer back to my storyboards but most of the time I knew I had to wing it in terms of what I could record with in the studio and turn that setback into my advantage.

Commission Report


What was my role?

• Director and cameraman of commission/ music video
  
• Video Editor of music video
  

What did my role involve?

• Directing an actress
  
• Listening to client's song and forming an idea
  
• Organising dates to record with my client/ actress
  
• Finding a location to film
  
• Researching the music video genre and directors
  
  

Music Video Research:


Ariana Grande - Problem (Lyric Video) ft. Iggy Azalea

I examined the black and white and how the director Jones Crow used this method to make the video stand out. What made this video unique was the fact that it remained in one shot and this was the use of close ups of the face and nothing else. What made the black and white effects interesting was the use of lighting.

Justin Timberlake – Suit and Tie

Directed by David Fincher, who also directed ‘Fight Club’ and ‘The Social Network’. Fincher’s work is often dark, which is what I saw in this video as well, plus knowing he did the social network I can see how he got the chance to work with Justin again. What interesting aspects of the video was the fact they showed the process of how they made the music in the studio and then showed it in an ‘as live’ performance which is an interesting way of storytelling.

Avichi – Hey Borther

Although I couldn't find a director of the official lyric video there were things I got from the video I thought I could use in terms of editing. Using the text to appear creatively at certain times when the song lyric is sung was an interesting creative touch. If I was to utilize this within my commissioned video I could see it developing in a variety of ways;

1. It could be done and would look really nice and professional.

2. Even though it would look nice, the amount of time to do it might be a little too much work to do    before the deadline. 

3. If done correctly, the text needed to be visible in each shot and should have an impact.

Goo Goo Dolls: Black - Balloon

Want I love about this video apart from the effect of black and white is how it transitions between scenes in a very creative and artistic way. How the band is presented but also how at the same time it showed a story.  Not all music videos shows singing for every shot, music videos show a story and cut to a main character representing the music video and what is about.



Reflection:


What went well?

• The shoot for the video went surprisingly well, the weather was on my side so we thought we would get some shots outside of the studio where we were filming.
  
• Finding a location, the studio I booked was called DEF Studios and it's a rehearsing studios which is within Chatham's historic dockyard.
  
• The outside shots of Verity outside the dockyard was beautiful also managing to get some shot of a steam train as well as other cool dockyard equipment and events.
  

What didn't go so well?

• Client's problems often getting in the way of my work, I didn't receive the final version of the song we were going to be doing until the near end of my easter holidays even though I planed us to have filmed by that point. 

• Some plans didn't go so well as the storyboards I made didn't really suit the shoot we were doing. For one thing there was many to be a guitarist to help out, but since he didn't tern up, most of the shoot was thought and done on the spot and I had to think visually.

• Finding a location before a deadline

Storyboard examples:

What I learned:

• Sometimes making a music video or sometimes any video filming project can often go wrong in terms of vision. At point I had to ignore the storyboards and visualise what to film on the spot.
  
• Don't waste an opportunity, since the weather was so nice that day, me and Verity decided to film around the Dockyard and get some outside shot which came out very well.
  

What I can do to improve myself:

• Try being more firm with clients, if there is information that you need to know, always try and call them just in case you can get more insight and ideas from them. Don't feel like your bothering them just ask if it is an appropriate time to call them, if not ask when they can speak with you.
  

Bibliography:

ArianaGrandeVevo. (2014). Ariana Grande - Problem (Lyric Video) ft. Iggy Azalea. (Online Video). 1 May 2014. At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoJ8s90NLc4. (Accessed on 16/04/2016).

AviciiOfficialVEVO. (2013). Avicii - Hey Brother (Lyric). [Online Video]. 1 November 2013. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxIiPLVR6NA. (Accessed on 16/04/2016).

Goo Goo Dolls. (1988). Goo Goo Dolls - Black Balloon [Official Music Video]. [Online Video]. 25 October 2009. At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emguA0RIH4k. (Accessed on 16/04/2016).

justintimberlakeVEVO. (2013). Justin Timberlake - Suit & Tie (Official) ft. JAY Z. (Online Video). 14 February 2013. At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUsVbTj2AY. (Accessed on 16/04/2016).

Martin, V (2016) Verity Rae Martin Website. At: http://www.verityraemartin.co.uk (Accessed on 31/01/2016).