Copying An Existing Video

As a class we re-created some of the video for Teenage Dirtbag by American rock band, Wheatus. To gain experience with the production equiptment I have been taking part in all aspects of creating this video, including camera work and directing work. I have also been practising editing on the Mac software Final Cut Pro.

Planning Techniques & Storyboarding Firstly, we started to develop our planning techniques. We learned about story boarding and the necessary part it plays when creating a video of any sort. It is important so we know what shot is meant to go where and exactly what is happening in that shot to enable smoother filming and editing. Each frame and the notes in the storyboard will depict shot type (e.g close up, medium shot, long shot, extreme close up), camera movement (static or dynamic), description of action and sound or audio (reference to the lyrics of the song). Below is an example of the storyboard we made for the Teenage Dirtbag video. I will create a similar one for my own music video.

Then we learned about the importance of using a clapperboard and shooting script when filming. A clapperboard is a simple not placed in front of the camera and filmed reading, for example, "shot 4 take 1". This, in conjunction with the shooting script, makes it easier to monitor which shots are suitable for use in editing and which aren't. We then started to develop our planning techniques.

This is an example of the clapper board we used whilst filming, used so we can log each take of what we have filmed.

Filming Techniques To practice filming techniques we learned how to use the cameras and how to mount them on the tripods correctly to avoid damaging any of the equipment and to give stability when filming. This is useful so that when we learned about the different positions we could put the camera in using the tripod, for example panning and tilting positions it enables a smooth shot. The tripod we used also has a spirit level on it, which means we are able to tell when the camera is at an exact horizontal. We learned about setting the white balance correctly for indoor or outdoor filming in order to avoid a blue tinge to the footage.

Test Filming We then carried out some test filming of our own. During this test filming we were shown how to direct a shot correctly and how to communicate on set. It is important for production to run smoothly so that all participants within the filming know exactly what is going on. When we were test shooting we had the director work with the camera operator to set up each shot, they then positioned the actors and extras in the way they wanted for the shot. After checking the composition of the shot they call actors to be ready and then the camera operator presses record - the clapper board will be placed infront of the camera and the shot is called out, followed by "action" when the shot begins and "cut" when it has ended.

This is the final outcome from our test filming.