The original video (finished video near the bottom of the page)
Recreating section 1 –
When it came to filming the first section of the song, which we filmed last, their were some changes to the original idea. I wanted the viewers of the video to understand the situation. The situation of the story is that Jack is in a relationship with Kate, but the relationship isn’t working out properly because Jack has a secret love for Rose and vice versa. In the third section of the song, Kate brakes up with Jack. The way in which the third section was filmed was very similar to the way in which section one was set to be filmed. In section three, Kate complains to Jack from a close-up shot, before cutting back to a close-up of Jack with little emotional response before Kate slaps him and leaves him for good. But in section one, I had planned it out so that the same angle would be used for the same shot. But this was being repetitive and did not add anything new to the story. By doing this, Jack came across as a strange person, he seemed creepy. But by changing the first section, he came across as some-one different.
The idea to change the first section was actually suggested by Kate’s actress. And I really liked what she was suggesting. I said to them that section three would be unchangeable because of the lyrics and what they are saying. But we seemed pleased with the third section. So we changed the first section.
Instead of having an emotionless Jack ignore Kate, who would be complaining right up in his face. before Kate stormed out of the house. We had Jack and Kate share a moment of emotion. Kate knows that Jack wants to be with Rose, so she kind of said goodbye to him in a way. Kate is starring out the window, thinking to herself about the situation. While Jack is understanding Kate’s thoughts and feelings. But he then receives a text from Rose asking for him to come over. At this point Jack then has to make the decision of whether he stays with Kate and tries to fix the situation by ignoring Rose, or he finally gets together with Rose and leaves Kate behind. Jack then makes up him mind by responding to Rose. We as the viewers know what decision he has made. He then hugs Rose and without either of them saying anything, she kind of says goodbye to him, before slowly leaving the house.
I much prefer this version of the first section. It adds more depth to the story and it improves Jack’s character. However because this section lasted for about 45-60 seconds, with music coming in about 50 seconds in, I decided that I wouldn’t include the majority of this section because you can’t watch it for that long without music, also considering that their is no dialog. The section ends the same way as I had planned it to end in my original plans for this section. So I was able to link up the alternated section 1 to section 2.
Editing problems
Whilst editing, I encountered several problems with my music video. One of which was the focusing of the camera. The shots were not in focus as much as I would have wanted them to be. My dad’s Pentax camera that I filmed on has a strange focus system; my dad sometimes wears glasses when he is filming, so he looks as the focus of the camera slightly different to me. So I didn’t have as many in focus shots as I would have wanted.
Another problem was the continuity; their were several shots that I did not film, but needed to. In one scene, Jack takes out his phone before later putting his phone back in his pocket. However I only filmed the part where he puts his phone back in his pocket. So I had to use the clip twice and where he take out his phone, I had to reverse the clip of him putting his phone back. You can tell that the clip is one of the previous shots but in reverse. So I cut out the beginning of it, to make it a bit less noticeable. Another continuity issue was that in one shot, Jack has a clean face, but in the next he has a little bit of mascara on. These are both close ups, so it is hard to ignore. Thirdly, in the first section, Kate is hugging Jack, but in the next shot she is stood near the door, when they were previously near the middle-front of the room.
Furthermore, I experienced a problem with my shots being long. Because I planned each shot to the lyrics beforehand. It means that some of the shots are quiet lengthy and last quiet long. The problem is that I do not really have any shots, that I can use to break it down. This is quiet irritating for me, and this isn’t just one or two shots, it is several.
Because we altered the first section of the video, I did not have the shots that I wanted on paper, in comparison to later on with the other sections. This contributed to the continuity errors.
In addition to these errors, many of the shots had a very greyish look to them. They seemed quiet white or grey. This affects the viewing of the video. It is annoying and unpleasant to look at, along with the fact that some of the shots are slightly out of focus. This occurred often during the song. But the light from the sky was not a continuity problem, as on the first and second day of filming, the weather was very similar to what it was the previous day of shooting.
In one part of the video, Kate slaps Jack several times, and what I did in editing this was that I used four very short shots of Kate slapping Jack, each from a different angle. And matched it up with the lyrics, because the lyrics in this part of the song go by syllables…’Slap…By…I…Am’. I then left it like that, but then I tried using an effect which separated the screen into four boxes, and although I did like it, I chose not to keep it. Because it just doesn’t look right from an audience’s perspective.
Altering section 2
I altered the bathroom section of the video. This section follows on from section one; where Kate leaves Jack. The problems with the original section of this video is that the continuity isn’t great and you have three shots of Jack’s face in a row (including one from the next section)
Jump cuts
In the final version of the video, I used jump cuts in section 1. This is where Kate leaves the house and Jack walks upstairs. I think the jump cuts work well, because they work with the tempo and beats of the music. Because the guitar is the central instrument to this song in my opinion. It has a catchy tune, it is loud, and it is easy to remember. I didn’t want to use those jump too much, so I only used them in the first section.
Song duration
I cut the song down from 2:55 to about 2:15. I mostly cut out what was in the middle section of the song. So I had to sync up the sound from one part of the song to the sound in another part of the song. I did this listening predominantly to the guitar, because it is the same few notes that are played over and over, so I just added one from later on in the song, to the end of one from earlier on.
Because I cut it down, the video doesn’t contain the time-lapse type section. Because I didn’t keep that part of the song in the video. I took that out and more from the fourth section of the song where Jack sees Rose across the road.
However their is one part of the song where it has been cut less softly. The volume levels sound as if they have changed, and the music is being played at a higher tempo. This is the only part of the song where you can tell that it has been edited.
The song ends earlier. It would normally have the guitar playing for about 20 seconds at the end without vocals before it would end. But I chopped it down. As well as this I faded the music out with the video, which I also faded out.
Tempo
In order to match up the peak parts of the music to the clips, I kept looking at the bar on the right displaying the peak at which the music was playing. When it was right at the top, this was when one of the guitar notes.
Effects
Their are several effects in this video which I used and their are also several effects in this video, which I didn’t use. I used the speed duration effect, to speed up a few clips near the end of the song. This was in order to match the footage which the tempo of the song. It was suddenly a lot higher, than previously before.
I also horizontally flipped the very first clip, to make it match with the next shot. The scene starts with Kate starring out of the window, before changing to another shot of Jack hugging Kate,which was shot from another angle, but because the previous shot was flipped, it looks like it is just a continuation fro the last shot.
As well as this, I reversed the speed of a clip, so it played backwards. This was because I needed a shot of Jack both taking out and putting away his phone. But I only got the shot of him putting his phone away, so I reversed it, and used that clip twice. You can tell it has been reversed. Not massively, but you can.
In a shot of Jack and Rose in the bathroom. Jack is starring into the mirror before seeing Rose, but she is fairly hard to see from the original medium shot. So I zoomed in on the shot, so she is easier to see.
Colour effects and filters
I tried altering the colours in the video, but I did not have much time left, so I decided to leave the video as it was. So next time , I need to make sure that I have enough time aleft towards the end for late changes.
I also used a vignette and some grain, but I was not overly keen on the vignette. I thought that they both worked in a way, but I think that it completely changed the way that you look at the video. I think because of all of these effects the playback quality of the video was downgraded, but I wanted it to play as smoothly as possible, so I removed the effects.
The overall video
I am fairly pleased with my final video, but I am not overly keen on many things about it.
Firstly the lighting on some of the shots is poor. When the camera pans into someone, the light behind them becomes ever increasingly white and over exposed, as well as some shots having a natural white look to them.
As well as this, the time lapse/sped up section wasn’t as good as I had hoped for because their were not as many cars going past as I had hoped for and so, when you watch the section, the cars go past as normal, but then they stop coming. Which means that you are looking at two people standing still for several seconds, which is uncomfortable and off putting. And because of this, as well as shortening the song, I removed it.
Furthermore, their are many continuity problems because their were several shots which I needed to get but didn’t end up getting. This means that their are slight jumps from one place to another. In one scene, Kate goes from standing with a blanket around her to standing without the blanket, in another spot. In another, I filmed Jack putting his phone away but not taking it out. So I had to use the same clip, and reverse it. Although I have chopped part of the clip off, it is noticeable.
Additionally, I had to change the speed/duration of some of the clips and it is noticeable in one particular clip. This again makes it annoying to watch. But I used an effect that kept made the clip smoother and less rough when moving.
My favourite part of the song is the slapping section. I think the clips work really well with the tempo of the music. And I think that they are good angles that have been used for it.
But overall I think that the next time I make a music video, I should aim for better lighting and to make the video less reliant on the story and use some cool effects or filters to make the video look better.
Archie Bean 