My name is Sian Richefond and my candidate number is 9319. I am in group 1 with Meera Nakrani 9292 and Laith Lyster 9274. To see my portfolio evidence, please click on the 3 labels on the right named A2 Research and Planning, A2 Construction and A2 Evaluation.
My Music Video
My Outside Digipak Panels
My Inside Digipak Panels
Please click the image below to view our finished website
I enjoyed the workshop day so much and honestly had such a good time with everyone. The entire day went really smoothly as well, which was a plus, and we didn't have to shoot loads and loads of takes because everyone was performing so well. I learnt a lot from this prelim from performing and lip-syncing to cable bashing and music video editing.
Below is a time-lapse of the workshop shoot day, showing the studio set up and lighting as well as us all performing and helping the crew.
My Roles
Me, Jack, Laith and Ray performing as the band
Throughout the day I had many roles both in front of and behind the camera, including being Band Sydney. Although I do dance outside of school and have since I was little and am used to performing, it was still a little weird and awkward for me at the beginning to be lip-syncing, directly addressing the camera. I got over this quite quickly though, with help from our performance director Jasmine, director Dom and all of the cast that sang along with me the whole time. I also really enjoyed the shots where I was with the whole band, Jack, Laith and Ray, as we supported each other a lot and made it fun.
After the first few takes, I was really getting into being Band Sydney and although I still cringe watching myself back, I am quite pleased with my performance.
Gif of me as Band Sydney
When I wasn't performing as Band Sydney, I was cable bashing, on the clapper board and cheering on those who were performing, trying to make them feel as comfortable as possible and letting them know that they were doing great.
Me on the clapperboard
Us all supporting each other
Best Bits
In terms of performance, I would say my best shot was the one in the chair as I matched the action really well
Me getting my make-up done
I really enjoyed getting my hair and make-up done
I loved working with my friends
Learning new skills and getting to help out with the crew - such as cable bashing
Overall, I had a great time on the workshop shoot day and am really proud of us all for just going for it on the day and having a laugh.
Although I wasn't really looking forward to filming the audition video, it was actually really fun to film and doing it as a group made me more comfortable and made us all perform better I think.
Our audition video
From this task, I learnt that the best way to create a believable lip-sync was to actually sing out loud, as doing this gives authentic throat movement and facial expressions associated with each word, and then just delete the sound in the edit. As well as learning about how to convincingly lip-sync, task 1 taught me that you really have to go for it and perform to the camera no matter how silly you feel because those give the best shots. This was made really obvious in the edit where some of the first shots we took were just not used because we looked to self-conscious. I also realised from this task that whoever I was cast as in the remake, I would need to work on keeping my eyes focused to the camera.
Editing the video took longer than expected because we had so many different shots with different people in the lead position to get through and I had to watch each take to the very end to make sure I didn't miss a good bit. It was still fun to edit and see ourselves having a good time just going for it.
Task 2: Learn and practice your performance
As the music video doesn't really have set choreography, in our rehearsals we mainly focused on just getting comfortable moving to music, making sure that we knew the lyrics, learning the person we were playing and ensuring that we could portray the right emotions throughout the song.
Each rehearsal started with us all doing a dance warm-up to music, lead by our performance director Jasmine. In lines we would follow each other down the studio doing a move before running back round to start again. We also each took turns at leading the group with a move that we had chosen which pushed us to get out of our comfort zone and prepared us for the end cool kids dance scene in the music video.
Me, Meera, Jasmine and Dom at rehearsals
In the later rehearsals we also spent time in front of the camera to get us used to what it would actually be like on the day. Jasmine, our performance director, would give us a line to say and prompts to say it in different ways, showcasing various emotions and how much more believable it gets when you connect the words to real feelings that you have. I learnt a lot from this exercise as it made me really think about the lyrics and what thoughts and feelings I could associate with them to improve my performance. I also think this really did work and can be seen in everyone's performance in the remake - I believe what we're all doing and singing.
The rehearsals were also where I realised how much easier it was to perform when my friends sang along with me. Meera and I took turns supporting each other when we were performing in front of the camera by signing along and cheering for each other, which honestly was a massive help to me.
Task 3: Help to plan and organise your costume
Example dresses I looked at
In preparation for the shoot, we each had to help find costumes not just for ourselves but everyone else if we owned something that could work for their costume.
My costume was quite hard to find as the dress Sydney wears is very particular. We tried on a lot of dresses before finally settling on a white mini dress that, although being quite different to the one in the original, stood out against the backdrop and fit the indie vibe.
This task highlighted how important it was to style characters so that they connoted the genre of the song and became a strong, easily identified icon of the artist's brand image.
Below is a picture of Sydney's costume (left) and our take on it (right).
Sydney
Me in costume
Task 5: Complete the remake edit
I worked with Meera to complete the remake edit and we each shared the responsibility of editing all parts from naming the rushes all the way through to grading. Editing for a music video was a new experience for me as although I had used all of the software before I hadn't edited in this way before. Throughout this task I learnt about and consolidated my understanding of:
The principle of discontinuous editing
Post-production slow-motion
Re-sizing shots
Grading
Lip-Sync matching
Title overlays and opacity
Me editing
From all of the prelim tasks I learnt a lot of new skills and consolidated old ones that will be very helpful fr when I come to do my own music video next year.
Below is a link to our finished music video remake.
I am really pleased with how our final edit came out and how well, on the whole, we matched the original. The quality of the footage was amazing and shows, not just how well rehearsed all of the cast was, but how much work the crew put in, which is really what made the remake so professional.
Things that I thought went well:
The accuracy of the lip-sync matching
The grading, in particular for the MS and CUs of Jack (Noah the bassist) and I (band Sydney)
The white flicker insert shots and fades on the Cool Kid CUs and Flower dress Sydney with the band
Video of me showing the difference between a shot with its grading and without
Grading examaple
Shots with white flicker
Example of flicker fade shot
Improvements
The main thing that I would change if we were to redo this task would be to change the lighting for some of the shots. In some cases, the original uses low-key lighting, making our shots too bright to be a perfect match and for some of the Cool Kids CUs, we have their faces lit from the opposite side to what the original has.
Face lit from the wrong side
Shot where the lighting wasn't right
We also had a few quick shots missing which meant that we had to substitute in others that we thought would work - this did allow us to be a bit more creative though which I liked. In our edit as well, we've actually skipped over a short cutaway shot of some writing, which we didn't realise until we had exported.
Gif of the shot that we accidentally left out
The dance sequence at the end is also different in our edit as none of us could actually break dance so we just took shots that we liked for that and where we were having fun to fit the mood off the original.
Gif of the end dance sequence
These are all very small issues that don't affect our final edit too much and I am really proud of our work.
Completing the prelim task has made me conscious of so many aspects of music video production and post-production that I hadn't realised before. For one, the huge number of shots used in music videos and how quick they are was new to me as well as the importance of styling and beauty shots. The prelim has also made me more comfortable with the equipment such as the cyclorama and the sound desk and set design, for example achieving the infinity curve for the backdrop.
Below I have explained some of the key things I have learnt from the prelim that I will take forward into next term's music video.
Pre-Production
Genre is one of the most important parts of this stage as it dictates conventions in styling, set design, props, camera work, colour scheme and whether the video includes narrative or is more conceptual.
Plan what shots you want and the desired lighting and set design in advance
Put thought into the styling of your characters as this helps connote the genre
Casting needs to be done as soon as possible and it is important that you get people that are willing to really perform and just go for it
Rehearsals are key so that your actors aren't just thrown in at the deep end on the day and they know what they are doing and you can get the best possible performance out of them
Make detailed call lists for everyone involved in the shoot so that they all know where to be and when
Make a detailed shoot schedule so that on the day you just have to follow it - this reduces the chance of you not filming all the shots that you wanted
Rehearsal Schedule
Production
Studio set up for shoot day
Getting a huge variety of different shots and takes is key in ensuring that we can do the rapid montages conventionally seen in music videos
This will also give us plenty of choices for editing and lower the risk of our music video looking to the same throughout and getting boring
Make the most of the high quality equipment we have and don't be afraid to try new things
Always handle the equipment safely and be careful of wires
Make sure that the actors are actually singing along to get the best possible lip-sync
Encourage your actors and be supportive of them as it can be very nerve-wracking and tiring being in front of the camera
Post-Production
Create an editing schedule as a group so we don't end up falling behind and not meeting the deadline
Take your time grading using ProCamp, Levels and Three-Wheel Colour Corrector to get the desired look which fits the genre and mood of the song
Montage editing is key in keeping the audience interested and following conventions
Our week 1 edit schedule
Overall, the prelim was an amazing experience which taught me so much through all the required stages and has made me even more excited to create my own music video next term.
