Proposal

Lip synching evaluation

Our lip synching task was based on the sond "Lego House" by Ed Sheeran which has a slow pace and what seems like an unhappy mood.There were many outstanding parts of our music video, however there were also many shots that could have went better. The first shot presented in this post resembled the original quite a lot due to the unfocused first plan books which gave the scene a voyeuristic feeling whereby the audience might feel like they shouldn't be there, making them more intrigued by what happens next. However, the shot that we have used is very much a medium shot, whereas the shot in the actual music video is a bit further back. This might seem like it doesn't change much, however the actual scene gives away more of the mise en scene, for example the carpet which is untidly set. This connotes that the protagonist is careless, making the mood different, as this could further connote depression or having  trouble with life

The second shot is representing the actual lip synching of the song; the shot itself is very similar to the real one, even though we did not the right props, such as the table or the lamp. Therefore, we have improvised and put a bag in the back to show the dominance of the character within the shot. One thing that we have noticed after posting the music video is the fact that it is possible to hear our character sing the song to fit the lip synching. This is a great mistake in the editing process as it takes away the genuineness, making the audience doubt the credibility of the protagonist, which might, if this happens in our own music video, ruin the brand image that we will try to build up for our artist. 

The third shot, although looks extremely similar to the original, the framing was not correct due to the fact that in our replica the light is too close to the door as well as the camera. This has caused the light to be the center of attention, whereas within the excerpt the protagonist is still the main part of the shot. In the real music video that we will make, we will have to make sure that the lights are not shining directly at the camera and are in a suitable distance away from it. Nevertheless, the shot could have been also improved by lowering the saturation of the shot to get rid of the white spread of light on the entire shot because it lowered the quality of the shot itself. Furthermore, something that we could work on is the movement of the camera due to the fact that this scene the camera moves from behind a wall to the right to see the protagonist open the door. The difference between the original and our replica is the shakiness of the camera which makes the mood drop and allows the audience to realise that this is indeed a music video, and not a real situation. What we could have done to reduce the shakiness is putting the camera on the tripod and the tripod on a chair with wheels which would be pushed to create the smooth movement.

The last shot in this evaluation is exceptionally similar to the real shot due to the framing and composition being so alike. In both shots, there is a close up and the character is in the middle of the shot, but slightly to the left, however the crucial difference between the two is the depth of field. Our replica is clearly of less quality due to the background being without the effective blur. Many music videos nowadays use this kind of depth of field to allow the audience to focus on the main thing, which is the protagonist. In our real music video we will try to use such depth of field to represent our artist as the most important person on set, giving him the brand image that we want.

Lip synching task

Shoot schedule

Schedule

24th of November - On this date we will aim to film the scenes in the park with our female actor because this is one of the days on which we all finish school early before it gets dark outside, which is crucial because we are not able to film in the dark due to the editing software being unable to brighten up the footage if it is too dark. We also need the weather to be a bit gloomy and possibly even rainy to set the mood of the scene and from our research we know that there is a high chance of that happening.

3rd of December - On this day we will aim to shoot the scenes at Khaleem's house because it will be dark outside, however we will be able to control the lighting as we will be indoors. We want to do it on a Sunday because I finish work at 4 p.m and it is one of the days that everyone else has a day off.

4th of December - We want to film the hospital scene on this date because we will be at school and there is a room which looks exactly like a hospital, meaning that we will be able to stay after school to get the shots that we want.

28th of December - During the half term we have decided that everyone will be free and we will be able to get some more scenes in the park because we will be able to film in the morning which means that it will be bright outside giving us more time to focus on our shots and camera movement before it gets dark.

3rd of January - On this date we aim to finish filming all of our lip syncing and close ups of the artist walking and singing. We will use the outside of school location as we know there will be a lot of puddles which will be helpful when setting the mood of the music video.

Brainstorm

First Treatment

While the first few notes of the piano in the beginning of the song "How to Save a Life" play,  our main character will be walking slowly, looking sad or maybe depressed, towards the camera(medium shot) through an alley where there are trees on his left and right in a bright hoodie lip synching "Step one, you say we need to talk". The camera then quickly forwards towards the singer's face making it a close up, allowing him to finish the next lyric. This is followed by a slow motion of the character performing the action sitting down on a bench, looking into the sky as the lyrics go "sit down..." The lip synching continues until the end of the verse on the bench.

The chorus starts with a more fast paced beat which has a second or two of build up where we will have an extreme close up of someone about to play the guitar. This will then create an unzoom effect to a medium/long shot of the band playing the instruments and the singer singing, however his back will be turned to the camera until the shot pans around the person playing the guitar creating a over the shoulder shot from behind the guitarist looking at the singer lip synching.

After the chorus there is quite a long break where the music quietens and this is where the camera moves towards the artist and another person and a blur that was originally there will disappear significantly. When the lyrics start the lack of a blur shows that the two people are arguing in a medium, still, shot; as the lyric goes "try to slip by his defense" the second actor/actress will bardge through our main character hitting him shoulder to shoulder. The scene then cuts to another room where the second character is doing some sort of drug, however it will be an over the shoulder shot and as the person takes the drug the camera will switch focus to a painting that will be hung on a wall and the actor/actress will be blurred out. When the next lyric comes, the camera will be switched to a medium shot of the character sitting on the same bed/couch and then falling back to lay down. This is where the camera cuts to an eagle's eye shot of the character's crying face and as the verse finishes there will be a steady zoom into the eye of the character to create a smooth transition into the lip synching part of the chorus sung by the main character.

The start of the next verse will be a long shot(from the same room) of a door opening quickly and the main character walking in, looking irritated. The camera then switches to the second actor who has previously been taking drugs, as the lyrics go "you grant him one last choice" to show the actor about to go furious. Then, the camera goes back to our main character who is still standing in the door, looking a bit calmer now, saying "Drive until you lose the road or break with the ones you've followed". It is important that the actor says this instead of singing as it adds more realism to the situtaion. As the next line of lyrics is being sang, there will be a transition that will swipe the screen to the left, creating an "what if" scene of the second actor looking guilty and saying "I'm sorry" and then a swipe right to the actor intaking the same drug again and saying "I'm just not the same". The camera then goes to an over the shoulder shot to show the main character walk out and slam the door behind him which will transition to the chorus, where the main character will be lip synching.