Filming a Conversation - the better edit w/ text and music

I think you can definitely see a difference between the quality of this video and others that I have shot so far this year, and I have certainly learnt a lot about the way a basic conversation should be filmed. It was also interesting using Final Cut Pro properly for the first time, as it exposed me to brand new editing techniques and methods which were different to those on iMovie.

From filming this conversation, I learnt a variety of things that I should consider when I conduct my coursework, whether it be a music video or a film trailer:

• Film more than you need - in Final Cut Pro, you can view all of the clips individually before you insert them into the final cut, and then you can also add labels to each one. This is useful as it signaled to me which ones I didn't want to use, the potential clips, and the clips that I thought had to go in because they were the best quality. There is nothing wrong with filming too much, it's if you film too little that becomes the problem as if you don't have sufficient quality footage, then you are going to have to take more time out to set-up your scene again, and even then, it might not completely match up with what you already have.
• Definitely script dialogue for your actors, and ask them to take small breaks in between sentences. This doesn't matter so much with this example because we weren't focusing on the actors, just the filming technique, and we also muted the speech and placed music over the top. However, when it comes to filming my coursework piece, the dialogue will have to make sense, which is why it should be scripted so that no matter what the cuts are like, the speech will make complete sense. I also learnt from this example that if your actors talk too quickly, it makes the job of the editor so much harder as it becomes virtually impossible to make a clean cut and reduce the shot timing/increase speed.
• Today I also learnt about inputting a freeze frame and slow motion footage. A freeze frame image is important in a film clip as it can pause the image but allow for additional narration over the top. Putting slow motion into a clip also reduces pace but allows the viewer to focus on that specific aspect of the clip for longer. It also makes a clip look much more dramatic. 

Overall I am really happy with the outcome of this video, especially the editing-together of the clips. What I would do to improve this of course is provide a script for the actors, unless I am going to apply music like I have today. I also don't like having two different people filming for the same sequence, as the different angles don't match-up as much as I would like them to if I was filming it individually.

Filming a Conversation - Editing Using Final Cut Pro

Shooting List

Using the proper cameras, on tripods, filming a conversation. This is the order that it must run in:

• shot-reverse-shot
• master shot
• shot-reverse-shot 
• shot-reverse-shot
• shot-reverse-shot
• shot-reverse-shot
• master shot
• 1 person getting up, exiting and leaving through a door
• add in a freeze frame and some slow motion 

Filming Door Sequences

For the first task of the day we went out to film based on what we learnt from filming conversations during transition week, but instead we practised filming someone walking through doors. This is an important technique to learn because you have to think about the continuity of the cut when you get to editing the clip. As easy as I thought this task was going to be, it proved a lot harder when it came to editing the clips together. The actual filming of the sequence was really easy, as it just involves you filming the same event from two different angles: one behind the door and one on the other side. To edit the clips together however, we used new software called Final Cut Pro which I have never used before, which proved to be difficult as the controls are very different to that on iMovie. It's very difficult to shorten the clips so that they match up to each other once you place them into one sequence, as it is important that you show continuity. 

If I Was To Make A Movie Trailer I Would...

I can honestly say I am still torn at the moment about the type of movie trailer I would like to make if that is what I was to choose to do for my coursework. At the moment however, I am more torn to shooting a Horror film trailer for many reasons. Firstly, I think because it is SO conventional that it will be the easiest to set-up for shooting - I won't need many actors, eerie music can be placed over the top if people are worried about speaking in the film, and most people are likely to be caked in costume make-up anyway that they shouldn't worry about being filmed either. Also, the final editing will be quite easy to conduct as it will mostly feature many spooky sound effects and mood music over the top that I won't have to worry about editing conversations. The colour scheme associated with horrors are dark or black and white - film trailers won't typically be all in black and white so I can at least edit some shots into black and white and the rest reduce the brightness to set the tone. My only other worry for this coursework task is having to come up with the storyline. Essentially for a film trailer, the plot for the entire story has to be thought about as it won't just feature the first 5 minutes - this won't sell the film as viewers won't know what to expect. However, like stated before, horror movies are so conventional that most plots are very similar for this genre, meaning that it won't take me long to think of a plot for my trailer. However, I feel like horror film trailers are so commonly picked for media coursework pieces that it will be hard coming up with something that will set mine aside from everyone else's and make mine better. With that in mind I am also leaning towards a mixture of a sci-fi/fantasy/supernatural trailer as this is also a highly conventional film genre, and it is unlikely that many other people will choose this genre, or do it well. But again, this may mean that I have to supply more costumes as characters in these genre films look a very specific way, which could cost me money or take me a while to find something that is suitable. With my sci-fi/fantasy idea, I have some friends who could possibly help with the make-up and props, but this could require a lot of special effects which may not be replicable by me.

Initial Investigation into Film Trailers

If I Was To Do A Music Video, I Would Want To....

If I was to create a music video for my coursework this year as part of A2 Media, I think I would want to produce a mostly-narrative based video. I think that narrative music videos can lead to a lot of creativity as it gives you the chance to play on viewers' emotions quite well, and a variety of different story-lines can easily be created. I believe it is a good style to choose also because it will be relatively easy to shoot - I can use many different actors or as little as one to help tell the story. There are very few limitations with this type of music video so it would enable me to potentially incorporate various different filming and editing techniques too. However I do really like the idea of a performance-based video because it allows the viewers to directly interact and connect with the performers. I also believe that it ends a sense of fun to the video, and will allow viewers to easily identify the genre of the video/music before getting much further into the video. 

I am more inclined to forget the idea of a concept video at this moment in time as I believe that they don't offer a distinct connection with the music genre of theme of the song in any particular way, and to make it effective, it would require some unusual techniques or special effects to make it stand out against other concept videos, which may not necessarily be able to be created by me. 

Types of Music Videos

There are three different types of music video available to us:

• Concept Based Video - these videos are based around a single concept or idea, they tend to be fairly unusual and utilise a particular filming or editing technique. These types of video are more uncommon than the others.
• Narrative Based Video - contains footage that attempts to tell a story. They usually contain actors and will link to the the lyrics, but this isn't always the case. This is a common type of music video if the song features in a film, as film clips will often be played in the background.
• Performance Based Video - these feature the artist, band or group performing the song through most or all of the video. 

Music video types from laurenbarrettphotography