During the research stages, I had a look at other similar videos to ‘Stan’ by the same artist ‘Eminem’ and acknowledged that all of them had a decent variety of shots and each one was relevant to the narrative continuity. By doing this, it really helped me so that I could have a better insight into how to condense a plan for suitable shots, which could be placed in necessary points of my music video.
Although the included shots in the continuity of my group’s music video had positive feedback from teachers and other students, we did face some degrading limitations during the process. A common example that constantly occurred in my group was, not being able to use most of the shots stated on the shot-list due to timeline issues.
A limitation with filming certain shots for the music video was having to film in bad weather conditions such as rain and wind, which managed to slow down our group’s daily deadline’s for each filming day.
However, a positive outcome of the shots is that they all match the timeline, in a variety of different ways.
My group and myself realized that there was an element missing from our practical work, which at the time we didn’t seem to acknowledge. However, we later dis
covered that the music video was lacking indications of studio performance, due to constructive criticisms from teachers and students from our sector, which was vital to acquire to the music video because of its importance in boosting our video’s overall grade and it being able to give our group a variety of new skills and a creative cognition.
So then towards the final stages of the music video’s editing, luckily we had enough time to include a performance aspect to our music video, which gave much more depth to our video’s narrative content, based on Goodwin’s theory. We were able to have the opportunity of using the three studio complex, professional cameras, each located in different angles within the studio, which gave the video HD quality in some instances, such as the studio performances.
Being able to have different angled shots in the studio meant that we could include jump shots from different angles in the studio as well as the rest of the continuity of the music video. However, due to the last minute timing of the studio work, my group was un-a
ble to select the role for a person with a female gender and has no issues about performing to camera, to adlib the lyrics of the chorus within the studio, which my group and myself personally believed would of allowed us to achieve, much more of a believable performance to convey to the audience, rather than myself having to commit to that role. So if I my group had structured the timing of each aspect of the music video’s progression, we would have had more time to advertise this role to female students of our college, in order to better ourselves.
I found connecting the timeline together in my video, was rather straight forward, although I did take my time attaching each sequence to one another. What I really admire about this software is that it enables the user, to go back to any sequence and adjust or make small changes to it, which then has a massive impact on the entire video’s quality.
These then of a sort suggest the idea that success is defined by the material objects one possesses. Because of our reluctance to follow these rules it could be said that our video hails back to the early videos of the past with Madonna’s material girl in particular containing a strong narrative based on a Music mogul being attracted to Madonna. 
This therefore means our video strays away from conventional videos which we have purposely done to portray another view of what music videos can be like with them showing abstractions such as anger and hate. Our video also shows issues 
that are present in today’s society such as bullying. This therefore links in with the song, which in itself contains dark themes and a strong narrative. Ours does not follow the lyrics exactly but does have a strong link in the form of a stalker as the song goes on, gradually becoming more angry and obsessed.
However that is not to say that our video strays away from established conventions completely, in fact it is often the opposite, for example our video contains numerous uses of elliptical editing and montages to provide a logical storyline that can be explained and does not contain any plot holes. Although it is worth noting that our use of Theo singing a Chorus that is made by a women is not typical of music videos and was a factor we took into consideration. However as it is was unreliable to get a girl to do the video due to timings we decided the most efficient way to shoot the video was to use people from our groups, which we think was fairly effective.
Another Convention we decided to use were filters for certain scenes to show there was a flashback occurring, which in essence helped us to manipulate the narrative. Filters are quite commonplace in music videos to show things are not what they seem or provide a stylistic feature, an example could 
be in The Games Dreams video, which uses filters to create a atmospheric and serious tone, filters in the video also serve another purpose to show the differences between the story line and the parts in which The Game is Performing to the lyrics.
Another important convention of music videos is the use of lightning to provoke certain emotions towards the audience, for example low key lighting creates a dangerous atmosphere; for 
example Lady Gaga’s video uses low key lighting towards the beginning to create a mysterious feeling with the audience being unsure about what is about to occur. We have employed a similar technique in the beginning of ours, which once again proves that while we do distance ourselves from some conventions, others we decided to stick to in order to keep the quality of our video up.
Scene one:
Within the first scene, there is a clear demonstration of the former high school bully, inside, what appears to be a dark and sinister bedroom. Which the bully has no idea of whose room it is. However, later on in the music video, the person whose bedroom the bully is in, is to be later revealed. Whilst in the bedroom, the bully is unaware of his current danger, which is being inside the bedroom itself. The reason why the bully’s presence is in this bedroom is due to one of the several notes he had been receiving from an “anonymous secret, admirer” which this one said, for him to go to the location of the house the bully is in, because it will be a worthwhile experience. So being the young and naive person the former bully is, he showed up not fearing any consequences that may occur during his presence in the room.
Scene two:
Scene two shows a montage transition from the shot of the bully in the studio, to the establishing stairs scene, which was shot in a Manchester museum. In this scene the bully is seen coming down the stairs with his friend, unaware of his stalker’s near presence as he too is on the same set of stairs. The bully’s friend bumps into the stalker; this was used to create sympathy for the stalker’s character, which I believe with myself being the director of the music video, it managed to convey sympathy to the audience, which then lead them, at this stage to be on the stalker’s side, because it displays him to be a vulnerable victim.
Scene three:
This scene appears to show the stalker/victim in a public toilets establishment, where he is seen reflecting and reminiscing about the bullying he had earlier received from the bully’s friend on the stairs in scene two, and also the general amount of bullying he had experienced from the bully during his school days. We managed to display clear indications of his frustration, and self-pity through the stalker’s performance in this scene, i.e. in the opening shot of scene three, the stalker is viewed, banging his fists against the wall. By doing this, we were able to take the audience on an emotional journey through brief clips of the stalker’s trouble with the bully during the continuity of the music video, which may have been seen as a bias approach to the true belief, that only the bully is to blame for the stalker’s anti-social response, which we did cleverly convey the audience of.
Scene four:
The location of scene four is set within Loreto’s sixth form college, this education establishment was too targeted as well as the stairs shot in scene two, to represent the educational environment, which both the bully and stalker attend within the footage. By doing this, we were able to build up tension from the audiences perspective about the two being close in proxemic distance, which yet again leads the audience to experience sympathetic emotions towards the stalker at this point of the music video, due to the fact that, he can’t seem to get away from his past, almost as if he is physically and emotionally trapped. However, during the continuity of the scene, the bully is d
demonstrated leaving the classroom, only coming back to find an anonymous note, which from his perspective, is visualized on screen to be (what he thinks to be) a secret admirer of his. Although, the bully is certain the note must of came from a person of a female gender, the audience are more aware of the situation, than he is at this point of video, allowing him to be more vulnerable and possibly naive. Also, it is revealed to the audience, that the stalker (who in this scene is in the same lesson as the stalker) was the consumer of the note, as we see him quickly write out the note, cautiously looking out for the bully as places it in position. On the note it basically said, how nice this secret admirer thinks he is, this then stimulated the bully’s mind making him feel more confident and good about himself, which then conveyed a belief to the audience that he now has an aspect of innocence, which extremely contrasts between his actions of being branded a bully, earlier on in the music video, to have a detection of more purity to his past, unsuitable behaviour towards the stalker, to match the upcoming scenes of the bully’s appearance.
Scene five:
Scene five, is set in Alexandra Park, where the bully is viewed, carelessly throwing sticks into the lake, which is based in the park. The bully is unaware that the stalker is carefully observing him as he continues to throw sticks into the lake, in order to draw attention to the ducks. The main shot which is displayed in this scene is a P.O.V shot. This creates suspense to the scene and also shows the bully to be in a vulnerable situation of being harmed.
Whilst disturbingly watching the bully, the stalker accidentally literally takes a step to far, trying to get closer to the bully, but he stupidly steps on a bunch of crinkly leaves, which raised the attention of the bully, forcing him to anxiously turn around, cautious about his safety at this point of the video. Suddenly, he then runs to grab his bag, which is located next to a park bench and then with no hesitation, he begins to exit the park.
Scene six:
The location establishment of scene six is at G-mex (tram station in Manchester city) where both the bully and stalker are present. The stalker is displayed in this scene, again watching the former bully; his behaviour has an indication of abnormality. As for the bully himself, he is seen, waiting for his tram, as he waits he goes through his jacket pocket and sees another note telling him how good he looks at the met stop. Eventually his tram comes and he boards its, as it departs from the stop the stalker watches it.
Scene seven:
Scene seven consists of a de-saturated picture with a glow effect, to represent a flash-back from the stalker’s cognitive memory, which displays the bully, verbally and also physically showing degrading signs of behaviour towards the stalker, as he bullies him. This goes back to the beginning of the music video, where the audience feel sympathy towards the stalker, reassuring them, that he used to and still is going through a hard time. This action takes place on a grass field, exposing the behaviour being shown in the scene, to be publicly displayed.
3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
We recorded some viewers of our video to ask them what they liked about our music and what we could improve. We recorded 5 viewers to get a range of opinions and different points of views on things they liked and things we could improve on. When we interviewed our first viewer of the video he (Gasim Hassan) said that he liked the camera work e.g. the steady hand behind the camera and the different shots used, he also said he liked the effects used such as the gloomy effect that was put on when the stalkers victim was in the stalkers room and also the black and white flashback effect of when Theo (Stalkers Victim) was bullying Josh (Stalker) on the football field, he also liked the different locations used and thought they complimented the song chosen well. He said we couldn’t do much to improve the music video but didn’t specify on what we could actually do to improve the music video.
Our second interviewee (Mai Shettima) said he also liked the range of camera shots used in our music video; he also liked the range of locations used, he also said he liked the actual song chosen and thought it was a really good move on the groups part saying that it was a great foundation for good ideas for a music video. He thought that to improve our music video we should find other locations other than college to do our filming e.g. libraries or local universities.
Our third interviewee (Jubil Kunessary) said he also liked the effects, he also said he liked the various locations used also stating that they complimented the video and song chosen well, he also said the editing was really good and the fact that it was fast cut really went with the tempo of the song and complimented it well. He thought the only thing needed to improve our music video was a polishing up on the lip syncing, he said even though it was good it could still be improved on and thought if they were polished up our music video wouldn’t be out of place on a top music channel.
Our fourth and fifth interviewees were interviewed together both being females from our class, they said they liked the concept of the video and thought it went very well with the song and both agreed that it was an idea that could attract a lot of marks for the group, they also thought that the performances of the actors in the music videos were very good and that the acting was so good it looked very realistic they also thought the video would not look out of place on a top music channel, they also thought the locations used were very good and that it matched the video very well. To improve the music video they thought we could include more continuity and less jump cuts to make sure it all made sense.
Scene eight:
The establishment of this scene presents the bully to be in his home watching television. However, whilst in this process, he appears to find another note, which was located in his jacket pocket, although there has been a repetition of the mysterious notes throughout the performance, this note was the final one, due to the secret admirer, telling the bully to come to their home for a worthwhile opportunity, stating the address and day and time on the note, as a clever plan to lure the bully into the “secret admirer’s” bedroom. Being the young and naive person the bully is, he does not show any indications of contemplating whether he should go or not, but in fact he has already considered it, and plans to show up to the home. At this point, the audience should be more engaged in the bully’s situation, due to acknowledgement of the stalker being the consumer of the anonymous notes, being sent to the bully. This is able to create a tense moment for the audience. This forces them to be worried about the bully’s safety, which is a massive emotional, contrasting transition to do knowing that he is a former bully, and also having that insight into the person he used and still shows some signs to be.
Scene nine:
Scene nine shows the bully, intensively drawing nearer and nearer, to his secret admirer’s address. This scene displays the bully calmly making his way to the house, on the way to the house; he encounters a problem, in where the location of the home is, so he asks a stranger for directions. However, whilst in this process, the bully is uninformed about the stalker’s near presence behind the bully from a far distance, abnormally watching his every move towards the house. At this moment we are able to invest into the belief of the situation, as it has a possibility of occurring, so the audience should have the tendency to be able to relate to the situation. Although the audience can witness the presence of the stalker, the bully carries on his journey to the house, ending the scene on the street of the secret admirer’s home.
Scene ten/Final:
Being the last scene of the music video, my working team and myself were able to bring a great idea into the execution of the ending. When the former bully reaches the house safety. Once inside, he turns his head and sees a note telling him to go upstairs, so he follows these instructions. Once halfway up the stairs another note appears on the wall, telling the bully to turn left at the stairs, the bully still not knowing who his secret admirer is, he goes through the door of the bedroom, which he is first seen in at the start of the music video. However, there is a shot of the stalker walking up the stairs with a weapon in his hand, going into the same room of the bully. During the bully’s presence in the room, he looks around the dark and sinister bedroom, which is lighted by small candles across the entire room, and he sees a variety of photos of himself of the walls of the room. At this point the bully is really scared about seeing his shrine like tribute. Suddenly the door opens and the bully quickly turns around, the bully is aware that it must be the stalker who is in the room, and we see bully’s desperate reaction on screen, displaying his feared emotion, which was extremely designed to show the bully’s near death, to end the scene.
Artist/Artists: Tyler The Creator, featuring Frank Ocean
Song Title: “She”
Introduction: This entire music video is clearly identified to be a narrative video, meaning that, within the footage it tells a story, which gives the full continuity of the music video a storyline. However, there are some abstract/random elements also participating within the narrative video. This I believe really adds to the music video and gives it more depth. All these aspects to the “She” video are highly relevant and link in with the music video “Stan” by Eminem featuring Dido, this is because they both share the same stalker element. That is the aim for our own group, to be able to portray the same stalker element both music videos have in common.
Examples of intertexuality (if appropiate): Like the majority of group’s within my class, our group also used the Internet browser, to analyze the a few music videos. We used “Youtube.com” as our main source, to get the information we need for the music video. During the video, our group managed to detect a use of intertextuality established in the music video. The part we highlighted is in the clip, when the old man and young girl are in a scene together, where he is seen telling her off and there is a sound clip of a audience perhaps located in a auditorium in a show of some sort, laughing and clapping, which then portray this specific clip to be very comical. So therefore with this added element, the footage is made to look like a sitcom. In addition in the early stages of the video, there is a divided split screen moment between Frank Ocean and the police officer during the scene of the phone call. In many television sitcoms I have seen this element a variety of times, this tool is used to create a better, comical, observational affect, i.e. on one side of the split screen one person may be doing something funny. Overall we have come to the conclusion that the examples of intertexuality during the continuity of the music video, was used for humorous purposes and effects.
Camera use (including types of shots): At the opening scene, there is a downwards tilt shot from the “Nilbob” sign to the gang of males gambling on the drive way. Our group believes that this was used as the opening establishing shot. Also it has come to our attention that majority, if not all the video is filmed by hand-held, we believe this was used to create suspense and a great atmospheric feeling towards the characters in the music video. However there is a great use of the hand-held’s presence during the chorus of the song, whilst Tyler is rapidly, rushing down the hill, accompanied with his friends, all on bikes. The shot this scene by using shaky cam, again this was used in a different way to try and create the same sort of atmosphere, as if the audience was experiencing the thrilling bike ride as well as Tyler and his friends. The most common shot our group has witnessed in this video is the close-up shot; we have established this to be the most used shot, due to its superiority. It brings a great focusing presence to the video, and being mainly facial close-ups there is a purpose to watch this, as the reactions of the characters in the music video has importance.
Lighting: Throughout the entire video, there is low-key lighting going on all through the continuity of the video. We believe that this indicates a link between the lyrics and visual footage, due to most of the lyrics being quite sexual. However only very few of them have sinister, perverted elements, which adds to the song. Also the majority of the music video is filmed at night, this is another factor to the sexual meaning, this cinematography was included because of sexual, dark interpretation many people may have on the video and lyrics. An example of this is located within the scene of the girl and Frank on the bed about to have sexual intercourse before they heard, which I presume to be her father, come in through the door.
Locations: There are a very few establishing locations in the video, such as the main setting, which is in the girl’s house, and neighborhood. Also other locations are useful to mention such as, the park where the girl and her friends are riding their bicycles through, the big field where Tyler and his friends are found riding down it fast etc.
Artist/Artists: Tyler The Creator, featuring Frank Ocean
Song Title: “She”
Introduction: This entire music video is clearly identified to be a narrative video, meaning that, within the footage it tells a story, which gives the full continuity of the music video a storyline. However, there are some abstract/random elements also participating within the narrative video. This I believe really adds to the music video and gives it more depth. All these aspects to the “She” video are highly relevant and link in with the music video “Stan” by Eminem featuring Dido, this is because they both share the same stalker element. That is the aim for our own group, to be able to portray the same stalker element both music videos have in common.
Examples of intertexuality (if appropiate): Like the majority of group’s within my class, our group also used the Internet browser, to analyze the a few music videos. We used “Youtube.com” as our main source, to get the information we need for the music video. During the video, our group managed to detect a use of intertextuality established in the music video. The part we highlighted is in the clip, when the old man and young girl are in a scene together, where he is seen telling her off and there is a sound clip of a audience perhaps located in a auditorium in a show of some sort, laughing and clapping, which then portray this specific clip to be very comical. So therefore with this added element, the footage is made to look like a sitcom. In addition in the early stages of the video, there is a divided split screen moment between Frank Ocean and the police officer during the scene of the phone call. In many television sitcoms I have seen this element a variety of times, this tool is used to create a better, comical, observational affect, i.e. on one side of the split screen one person may be doing something funny. Overall we have come to the conclusion that the examples of intertexuality during the continuity of the music video, was used for humorous purposes and effects.
Camera use (including types of shots): At the opening scene, there is a downwards tilt shot from the “Nilbob” sign to the gang of males gambling on the drive way. Our group believes that this was used as the opening establishing shot. Also it has come to our attention that majority, if not all the video is filmed by hand-held, we believe this was used to create suspense and a great atmospheric feeling towards the characters in the music video. However there is a great use of the hand-held’s presence during the chorus of the song, whilst Tyler is rapidly, rushing down the hill, accompanied with his friends, all on bikes. The shot this scene by using shaky cam, again this was used in a different way to try and create the same sort of atmosphere, as if the audience was experiencing the thrilling bike ride as well as Tyler and his friends. The most common shot our group has witnessed in this video is the close-up shot; we have established this to be the most used shot, due to its superiority. It brings a great focusing presence to the video, and being mainly facial close-ups there is a purpose to watch this, as the reactions of the characters in the music video has importance.
Lighting: Throughout the entire video, there is low-key lighting going on all through the continuity of the video. We believe that this indicates a link between the lyrics and visual footage, due to most of the lyrics being quite sexual. However only very few of them have sinister, perverted elements, which adds to the song. Also the majority of the music video is filmed at night, this is another factor to the sexual meaning, this cinematography was included because of sexual, dark interpretation many people may have on the video and lyrics. An example of this is located within the scene of the girl and Frank on the bed about to have sexual intercourse before they heard, which I presume to be her father, come in through the door.
Locations: There are a very few establishing locations in the video, such as the main setting, which is in the girl’s house, and neighborhood. Also other locations are useful to mention such as, the park where the girl and her friends are riding their bicycles through, the big field where Tyler and his friends are found riding down it fast etc.
Similar video analysis
Artist/Artists: Eminem
Song Title: “Mockingbird”
Introduction: This entire music video is clearly identified to be a narrative video, meaning that, within the footage it tells a story, which gives the full continuity of the music video a storyline. However, is a great element of montage during video, this is seen whilst the home video footage is being played. This I believe really adds to the music video and gives it more depth and meaning. We used this video to analyze due to it being a different record by the same artist Eminem who our group is currently being inspired by his music video “Stan” to create our own similar music video to his, using the same lyrics and some established material from the music video.
Examples of intertexuality: The only indication of intertexuality, is the repetitive home made footage clips of Eminem’s younger days with his daughter. This is a great link between the lyrics of this song, ad the visual footage of what is going on in the footage.
Camera use (including types of shots): Linking back to what was mentioned in the examples of textuality sector, being mainly filmed by an old video camera (home footage) the music video is filmed by hand-held. However in the opening stages of the home footages into, there are a few close-up shots on Eminem’s face whilst he is focused on watching the footage in his own home cinema. This indicates the importance of the footage and also the historical depth and emotions involved in his life.
Locations: There are a few locations of this music video, most of them being in home made footage, but where Eminem is watching the footage, it’s in his own home, within the cinema area. Most of the homemade footage is filmed outside in the park with his daughter and ex-wife, or on tour with Dr Dre and his former music band “D12”.
Lighting: All of the music video is filmed in low-key lighting to show an cinema atmosphere.
Similar video analysis
Artist/Artists: Mariah Carey
Song Title: “Obsessed”
Introduction: This video is unusual as a it has a number of different Narrative types all in one video. For example the Video contains cut a way’s to Mariah lip syncing at times yet still has a clear narrative in the form of a Story about a Stalker following Mariah. This therefore makes it ideal to compare to our video as both contain stalkers. However Unlike this video ours contains little if any comedic elements.
Examples of intertexuality: This video contains numerous Intertextual references, which mostly center around the film mean Girls which Mariah Carey was a fan of, Example of this can be scene towards the end of the video were the Stalker Is Run over by a Bus. Another possible Intertexual reference could be to the rapper Eminem who is parodied in the video as the stalker
Camera use (including types of shots): Due to the Video being very much focused on promoting Mariah as a Star the camera use mainly uses Close ups of Mariah as she lip syncs to the lyrics.
Lighting: The lighting in this video is fairly lit to once again enhance the feeling of Mariah as a figure to be both admired and as the title suggests “Obsessed” over
We have used a number of locations of numerous reasons, for example Alexandra Park in particular has been used mostly because of its pond which fits well with our narrative, but also the surroundings being very much natural creates the feeling that the bully is very much surrounded in his environment and places the control very much in the stalkers hand who in comparison knows the area well, it also presents the slow switching of power that takes place throughout the video with the Stalker at this point being in control
G-mex was chosen primary because we wanted to include the visual of an MET passing the two characters has also been used because of the clear separations that occur between the two as a result of both being on opposite platforms, this creates the image of both being two separate people and further enhances the clear divisions between both characters. A possible effect we are hoping to create is the sudden disappearance of
the stalker when the tram passes
The college/ Manchester university is almost certainly vital if we wish to
create our story as the vital parts of the story (i.e. flashbacks) must be set in a class room like setting, this creates a conflict for us as to whether or not to shoot in College which is not usually suggested or use the university setting that while would be better in some aspects isn’t in others
Our music video uses a number of characteristics that are common in rap videos, Perhaps the most obvious are the performance aspects that appear when the bully and stalker mime to the lyrics of the song. This is very much a staple of rap videos with many of the artists miming during their performances.
However originally our video had no lyrics what so ever and was solely a narrative based video that centered around a stalker storyline. It is also worth noting that apart from this there is very little content that rap as a genre contains that we have included, this was deliberate as we wanted to draw away from the lavish lifestyles created in many modern rap videos and show a more realistic dark approach to stories
For our video we at first struggled to find a purpose for our video as the original story we created needed a female lead which we, as a group could not find. This created problems also in the fact that the Lyrics of the song we chosen we were clearly centered around a celebrity that lived a lavish lifestyle with many adoring fans. To help combat this problem we instead chose to create a storyline that did still feature a stalker but instead of the stalker following a celebrity we thought it best to instead have him obsess over a bully that tormented him. This therefore allowed us to explore similar themes to our original concept in a easier, less risky way.
In terms of the demands of record labels wanting close up we decided to turn away from this, as we believed it would deter from the original dramatic atmosphere we wanted to create with our video. However one could argue that the studio shot sections of the video that feature the bully and stalker miming to the lyrics fulfill the record labels requirements. This then leads on quite clearly to the voyeuristic features of music videos that our video in particular does frequently with the Stalker in particular looking out into the difference numerous times as he ponders the
depressing situation which the Bully keeps putting him in.
Another cliché of music videos is the frequent intertextual links to previous works, which pay homage to them. Our video doesn’t directly do this however we have been inspired by a number of things which could to some people be seen as intertexuality For example the shot were The Bully walks into the Stalkers room and is crept up on by the Stalker is a directly influenced by a picture that featured a similar image which can be seen below.
Use of Technology in filming
We have used technology in our filming by using a digital camera and a tripod. The digital camera is very handy as we can play back shots to see if they are good enough to make the cut into the actual music video and the light on the digital camera was a massive advantage as a few of the scenes on our music video was In the darkness. The tripod came in handy to steady our shots and make things seem a lot more professional because without it our music video would just seem like a high quality phone recording. I suppose a HD camera would make the music video seem more professional but the current digital camera is doing the job just fine. The memory cards in the digital camera acts as a great storage device as we can upload footage onto the computers easily using them and pick and choose between the footage that we want to keep and the footage we want to get rid of.
Comparing AS and A2 production work
In AS all we had to do was make a 2-3 minute starting of a movie. However, in A2 we have to make a 3-4 minute music video and also do about twice as much blog work and print based work such as making posters and making CD covers and CD cases associated with the group and with the song. This means we need more skills in the group than just being able to edit we need good Photoshop skills and good idea skills.
The time management hasn't been much of a problem because in AS and A2 we managed to update and finish our blogs on time, and finish filming our videos on time as well, and the print based work did not hinder us during this as well. In AS it was much easier to manage our time because we only had two things to do at one time.
The editing is different as well. We have to film in more of a montage style than continuity editing, because in a music video you don't have much time to do that as you would in a film. You also have to include more effects to make the piece seem more like a regular professional video where as in AS the effects were included to help your grade and not obtain it.
In terms of costumes possibly the most difficult problem we faced was choosing the costumes that would make the Bully look less physically dominating, This is especially noticeable in the Bedroom scene were the group decided the Bully should have light layers of clothes o
n and the Bully should have winter coats on to “bulk” him up and make him seem more dominating than he was.
The General costumes however had no specific requirements as the story is set in modern day life except the addition of a hood for the Stalker to add to the feel he is shrouded and invisible from the bully. It is also worth nothing that the biggest continuity errors we had to remedy were those that had different or slightly altered costumes.
The third day of filming done was at G-Mex. This of all the scenes was probably the most technically difficult for us to shoot because of the rather busy tram station and the people that were entering and leaving the area. This meant that as in the first day of filming we once again had to stop and start filming to allow the public to walk past, However the public were in general very understanding and at times waited for use to finish our short shots before walking past.
Dead Prez - Lets Get FreeThe second day of filming was done in Open Shaw, Manchester outside that in it self was a challenge in the fact that the weather was not in our favor. The rain in particular meant that the camera had to be covered at all times to ensure it was not damaged during filming. This in turn created another problem in that all the scenes in that location had to be filmed at once so continuity was kept with the weather and we did not return when it was sunnier.
Also a challenge was whether to include the bully’s friend when the bully asks for directions or a member of the general public, we eventually decided however that because we did not include a third bully in the earlier scene it would be easier to use a him.
However despite these complications the shoot all in all was very productive with the group all deciding to include the Stalker in some of the shots to add to the feeling that the Bully was in danger and heading effectively heading to his demise.
