Audition Video

Prelim: Personal Achievement

For our A2 Prelim we are remaking the music video 'Girls' by The 1975

What do you personally want to get out of the whole A2 prelim experience?

Firstly, I would love to gain experience in working with a full crew, as this is the largest project i have ever been a part of, therefore it will be different from working in a group of a few people which is what I'm used to. Hopefully this is going to develop my teamwork skills. I hope to learn about a full day on a professional set on the day of the shoot and how we will stick to the tight schedule throughout the day. I would also like to gain confidence in performing in front of the camera and in front of others. Above all i would like to gain experience from this shoot that I can transfer to our own music video shoot.

Is it a challenge for you or within your comfort zone?

It will be challenging for me to perform in front of a camera in the studio, as well as the whole cast and crew, because I feel quite uncomfortable when acting or presenting in front of others. However on the day it may be easier and I'll be less nervous.

Have you achieved/learnt anything so far?

Already, I have learnt about how much time and effort goes into the selection process and preparation process for the actors. As a group we had done a 4 hour performing session, in which we did exercises, and it was only the beginning, as we have so much more we have left to do.
In addition, the lip sync audition videos were helpful for all of us, as it taught us how to convincingly lip sync and act comfortably in front of the camera.

Prelim: My Role

Describe your role and how you feel about it

I am one of the three photography girls near the end of the video, I'm happy with my role, as I don't have too much camera time but it's a fun role and it's not too pressuring as, for example one of the band girls.

What does the performance actually consist of?

I have to have fun, pose with a guitar and move around a bit on the photography set for a few shots. No lip syncing is involved.

Is it challenging for you, or something within your comfort zone?

Even though it's a small role, I think performing in front of everyone will still be outside my comfort zone, however this experience will help me improve my confidence in front of the camera for projects later on.

Prelim: My Costume

Describe or list the specific costume/look you are aiming for

I have a black skirt, black leggings, black t-shirts, black crop tops and a pair of black heels, so I have a variety of costume to choose from. I'll decide by trying each on and seeing which looks best on me and for the role.

Do you have the items you need or are you planning to beg/borrow? Is there anything that may need to be brought?

I do not have a fitted black blazer, which the model wears in the second shot, so I'll have to find someone to borrow that from.

Prelim Evaluation Question 1: Did you enjoy the workshop day? What were your best bits and why?

Personally, i enjoyed the whole day. Being able to work and participate on a professional shoot was an interesting and really fun experience.

The camera we used to film

I was worried about my acting part in the video however it turned out to be a bit less scary than I anticipated, and I actually had fun doing it while it being a beneficial experience. It was made easier by the positive and energetic atmosphere the crew created for the actors on set.

Me, Kayvon and Georgie on set

Also getting to spectate and watch the whole set was really interesting as you could see all the different things going on around the room, like make up, playback, acting, directing and runners clearing the set. This gave me an idea of how a professional set is constructed of in the industry.

The finished set of the photography scene

I was really interested in how much work went into the make-up and costumes side of the production to make the characters true to the original video while making sure everyone look their best. I also loved watching everyone perform as everyone looked so good on screen because the make-up, lighting and costumes.

The make-up table

Prelim Evaluation Question 2: What have you learnt from participating in each of prelim tasks?

From each of the four prelim tasks, I gained skills that will benefit me for the following year during the A2 course of the next music video.

Audition

The lip sync audition videos were helpful for all of us, as it taught us how to convincingly lip sync and act comfortably in front of the camera, which was transferrable to the shoot day for everyone, as everyone had an acting part.
Also it helped to prepare us for editing and syncing the music to our lips, which we would have had to for the final remake.

Costume

When I chose my costume, I had to take into account what the actor was wearing in the video but also what I was comfortable with wearing on the set. I had to wear something I was comfortable in to ensure I was comfortable on set so I could give my best performance.

Me practicing my part on set

On the day we were choosing costumes, I found it useful to bring in many different combinations of clothes and ask others for their opinions. Also a number of people needed to borrow items of their costumes from other people, which is probably what will happen during our music videos.

Shoot

The shoot day was very different to any filming I had done before, because I'm used to being in a small group and all being in charge of the shoot. On the day there was a camera crew, lighting crew, director and runners, so the set was full of people. I saw how the crew worked together and from this learnt how to work productively as a large team.

The view of the set from the lighting section

Secondly, I gained knowledge on how to stick to the schedule. To help us, we had a printed out a shoot schedule stuck up on the walls, with the shot number and time next to it, then we crossed out each shot once we had completed it. Any shots we hadn't completed in time, we pushed to the end of the day. This method was really effective, also our director and assistant director were good at pushing everyone to keep to time, which is what we will have to do when we direct our own videos.

Left to right: Camera Op and Director

Left to right: First assistant director and Producer

Lastly, I discovered how on shoots with large crews and casts, such as ours, the cast had lots of waiting around when they are not acting, whilst the crew were always working. This meant for some parts of the day I got to be included in other jobs, like playback and being a runner, with the rest of the crew.

Us waiting around while the shoot is going on

Editing

When editing, I learnt new skills such as adding flashes to the photography scenes using key frames and the brightness and contrast tool.

We used key frames to make the flashes in the photography scenes

I also improved other skills such as lip syncing the music to our mouths, which was more difficult for the remake than the audition videos because the clips were shorter, therefore there were many more of them to sync.

I also improved my colour correcting skills, using procamp and the three way colour corrector tool. We graded all the shots, especially some which were too dark or the skin tones were off.

The graded shots of the yellow scenes

Prelim Evaluation Question 3: Are you pleased with the footage and your edit? Is it how you expected it to look?

I'm very pleased with the footage and my edit, personally, I think it is better than I expected it to look.
We recreated all of the shots, with our own adaptations were necessary, for example changing the band girls' costumes to be less revealing and changing the car to a motor bike. All of the other props and sets were almost identical, as well as the lighting of the shots.

The bike scene set on shoot day

The final edit Mahalia and I created was very alike to the original when compared side-by-side. Different groups chose different takes for their edits depending on personal preference, but I feel Mahalia and my shots fitted very well. We managed to grade all of the shots to bring the colour out of the video, adjust skin tones and brighten the darker shots.

Our graded shot of the poolside scene

Prelim Evaluation Question 4: How do you think your prelim experiences will impact on your approach to next term's music video coursework?

The prelim has helped me to understand how key planning is to creating a successful music video, especially for a large scale video like this one.

By seeing our final edit, I think we all have the confidence to be more ambitious with our projects next year, as we can see how difficult, but attainable, it is to make a music video as professional-looking as our one.

The lighting kit lighting the set

Also we have discovered how many creative possibilities there are with make-up, lighting, props and costume. For example the lighting in the photography shot inspired me to try something similar in our music videos next year.

The band being filmed in the photography set

My editing skills have improved which I will benefit from next term, therefore I will be able to lip sync, grade and cut clips together more efficiently. I have also learnt new things about key frames which I can transfer (if necessary) to my project next term.