Mini-Vid Rough Cut 1

Rough Cut 1

This is my first rough cut. As we were all in a group we were each asked to produce our own edit of the mini-vid, this was a chance for us to experiment with the different effects available on Final Cut Pro. I thought the footage that we had filmed was of a great quantity however, when it came down to what was actually relevant to our mini-vid we had very little to work with-this was a problem. Nevertheless, i worked with what we had and produced my first rough cut.

Following the audience feedback from one of my group members mini-vid (Bens, which was very similar to mine) I decided that my mini-vid could be improved massively. That is why i produced a second rough cut in my second rough cut i was aiming to achieve:

• More continuity 
• Relevant effects
• Relevant clips
• Less diegetic sound

From these basic points these were the things that i was going to focus on in my second rough cut in order to improve the quality on my mini-vid as i am un-happy with the quality it is at the moment. 

Mini Vid Editing

Editing our Mini-Vid

For our mini-vid we were each asked to edit our own version. This way we were able to familiarise ourselves with final cut pro a lot more. We used this time to test a number of different shot/shot types and used the range of advanced effects that final cut pro offers. Therefore from this task we will be able to gain feedback on our individual mini-vid final cuts and we will be able to take any advice given. We will also be able to see which effects work to the advantage of the video and those that don't. Through this process i will gain valuable skills and techniques that i can take forward to the actual music video we will be creating for our A2 coursework.

This effect is called 'Water Pain' this connotes to the audience that it is raining or that the actors are doing some swimming of some sort. The device on the right hand side allows me to change a number of different things to do with the effect such as, changing the refraction amount or changing the refraction softness. This is a very good feature as it can make the take look a lot more realistic and it can be personalised to my taste.

Another device that i found very useful is a device called 'Layering' this is where one clip is over another this can make the shot look a lot more effective. This is done by copy and pasting one clip and dragging it on top of another in the time bar on final cut pro. Again the device on the right hand side comes in very handy when doing this as when the clip is on top of the other you can only see one clip. The right hand device allows the user to change the opacity on the top clip which results in the viewers being able to see two different clips in one shot. The opacity can be changed so the dominant clip can

be made clear which is a useful feature.

This tool is called 'X-ray' this effect worked really nicely as the character jumps in the pool. This is one of the effects i chose to keep on my 2nd rough cut because i think it worked really nicely.

This effect was 50's TV this was one of the effects i initially liked however, it proved to be in-effective with the rest of the video as it added discontinuity therefore, this effect was removed for my 2nd rough cut.

The 8mm effect again was an effect that i was experimenting with, this was one that i chose to keep in the mini-vid because it did work well with the clip.







The Halftone effect was an effect i really didn't like for the clip this was removed. In different circumstances i think the halftone effect could work really well. However, on this clip it wasn't effective.

The rain effect i found worked really well in the mini-vid as it connoted the theme of the video, also i was able to change the size of the rain drops and the direction in which they fell which i thought was a really good feature.

Rough Cut 2 editing

The flashing effect is one that i used frequently in my second rough cut because i thought it worked really well as it connoted a thunder storm which was the effect i was trying to achieve following the theme of our video.

Mini-Vid Planning TBC

Planning:

As our mini-vid has a pirate theme through out we needed to organise everything we needed before hand to make the time we had to film sufficient. Because we had to film in a very small time slot we had delegated certain tasks amongst ourselves to use the time effectively.



Costumes:

Eye Patch 

For our costumes we wanted to connote the pirate them of the video, and what better way to connote this than stereotypical pirate gear. Our first accessory was an eye patch we had planned for each of our actors (4) to wear one this signified strongly the theme of the music video as well as linking in with the lyrics 'Jolly roger'



Pirate earring

Following the streotypical theme of pirates, we also opted for the

traditional earring. This will be very handy as the earrings that we will be using are clip on earrings. 



The other prop we used was a pirate hook this signifies the theme of the

pirate hook

song also, our character ben wore this it was a very key piece of mise en scene for our mini-vid.



Location:

Location is a very important factor for our mini-vid because we want to signify our pirate theme through this. We feel that this is key for our mini-vid as it provides key connotations to our audience.

Our first location is the gym:

• Access to props (ropes)
• Good amount of space
• Mats to jump on
• Ladders to climb
• Ropes to swing on
• Mats to use as the 'sea'

The gym is probably our key location as this is where we plan to shoot almost all of our footage. The gym allows us access to a lot of props that we can include in our mini-vid.

Our second location is the school pool:

• Good amount of space
• Access to props
• Goes with our pirate theme 

Mini Vid Q&A

Questions And Answers:



This was my first part of audience questions and answers on my pitch i presented to the class, this was a way for my peers to ask any questions or mention any uncertaincies they had about my idea. It was also a way in which i could gain feedback on how my idea could be improved however the lack of timing for my questions was unfortunate due to the bell.

Baggy Pants

Nevertheless, i managed to answer all of the questions as well as i could despite the odd interuption from my classmates.

The things i gained from the Q&A were the finalisation of the decision for my costume which i had originally left up to my peers to decide to which they would prefer, however, this lead to me choosing which one i wanted. this was the iconic baggy trousers MC Hammer wears over the idea of a red t-shirt to single the character out.

Now i'm glad that i went with the decision to use the baggy trousers (If my idea got picked) because it would provide intertextuality for a possible target audience and reach a wider audience base.

Group Concept for vid TBC

Group Concept

The class was divided into two groups, our original idea of splitting the groups gender wise was not condoned by our teacher, as the results of the final mini-vid would be a large contrast between the two videos. As the skill base in the male group is alot more advanced.

My group includes:

• Tilly
• Kate
• Ben
• Dom

The pitch we were told to choose was Tilly's this was Adam Ants Jolly Roger.

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The concept for the video was that the mise en scene would be a key signifier as the costumes would be pirate attire, this would go along well with the theme of the song. The idea therefore was to have a number of different scenes around school filming 'pirates'.

Mini-Vid Pitch

Music Video Pitch

MC Hammer - Can't touch this 

My idea originated from some aspects of the original music video which is why (if my pitch gets chosen) i plan to include intertextual references to the original music video in my mini-vid. 

Here is my pitch:

My Mini-Vid Track

Mini-Vid Track

My mini-vid track is MC Hammer's 'Can't touch this' (1990)

My original thoughts on this track are quite positive. I feel as though this is something that i could experiment and work well with when taking into account my class mates. With the skills that we have amongst us, if i were to produce a satisfactory liked pitch, i would like to think that we could produce a high quality min-vid form this.

For the song itself and its genre i feel as though the hip-hop element would be targeted towards a younger audience however taking into account a secondary audience this may be for people much older depending on their taste. As it is a relatively dated song people may be unaware. Therefore, i would like to produce a mini-vid that would make people remember the song.

Here is the original music video:

The Tracks I Got To Pick From

Old Skool Rap

Tracks:

Digital Underground - The Humpty Dance (1990)



Eric B and Rakim - Paid In Full (Cold Cut Mix)



LL Cool J -Mama Said Knock You Out (1991)



MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This (1990)

The Mini-Vid Task Explained

The mini-vid task is similar to our preliim we did on our AS coursework. It is designed to start making us think about music video production. However, it involves considerably more research and planning than our prelim did, as for our prelim we were aware of the shots we had to use. Where as in this case we have to pitch an idea to our class mates and therefore complete our production whether its between 30-60 seconds.

The aims are:

• To advance our understanding of the factors behind track selection
• To provide practise pitching
• To provide a sense of scale: A music video production is more demanding than a film opening
• To provide opportunities for editing experimentation and creative expression
• To deepen our familiarity with FCProX tools and FX
• Generating significant evidence on A2 coursework criteria