Final VCE Media Folio Kane Midgley

KANEMIDGLEY
Media Production Unit 3 Portfolio
VCE NUMBER: 17182255G



-Worked in this medium before -Haven’t worked in this medium outside
- Have the equipment and used it ber- of class
fore -I don’t really know much about
-I can use audio and photography skills the medium
together in film
-My favourite sort of art! Zine -Not really
interested in
Film this medium
-Don’t know
how to con-
struct a zine in
the slightest

Production Area
Brainstorm

Audio Photography

- I’ve worked in this medium and have the -Have some previous experience and have
equipment available. the equipment
-Could create a really good podcast. -Important to find interesting subjects and
-Very limiting medium areas
-Can easily get boring -I need to learn more photography skills
that I don’t have at the minute.

-Chances to do cool editing Music Video Comedy
things with colour and light Documentry
-Learning colour grading is -Combines my
exciting for me love for music Drama
-A duplication effect with the and film. Romance
band members. -Can stay away
-Make the video look from a narrative Animation
anamorphic or cinematic. structure which I
don’t have much Thriller
experience in.

Editing Genre

Film Ideas
Brainstorm

Themes Love

Fear Losing relationships
Wanting love
Revenge Loss
Waiting for love

Justice Patience
Innocence

INSPIRATION

Slow Dancing in the Dark - joji Directed by Jared Hogan (Music Video)
It is soft and introspective love song produced and performed by joji. It
chronicles a satyr with an arrow in his back stumbling around a city. The
last shot shows the characters death. It is filmed very experimentally
and absurd. It is full to the brim with weird and surreal imagery.
Blue light pastel light.

Interesting aspect
ratio
(not a common one)

-Set Design: Worn
down street,
abandoned
-Single Subject in
centre of frame

-Absurdist imagery
-Interesting use of colour

La La Land Directed By Damien Chazelle (Film)

La La Land is a movie musical/romance created by Damien Chazelle. The
film has a very dreamlike quality and is full of pastel colours. It goes from

being very surreal to being very naturalistic.

-Dark aesthetic
-Blue lighting

-Street Set Design

-Oblong bokeh
created from
anamorphic

lenses
-Cinematic
Aspect Ratio

-Pastel colours
-Single subject in
the frame
-Darker aesthetic

My Type - Sugar Pine 7 (Music Video) Directed
by Steven Suptic

My Type is a Music Video created by a small production company called
Sugar Pine 7. It is shot very stylistically, starting naturalistically then really

experimental.

-Anamorphic look
in full force here
-Set Design: Street
-Cinematic Aspect
ratio

-The “b” section with
the band is red
compared to the blue
“b” section.
-Over stylised editing.

-The music video has
a distinct band
section.
-More stylised editing

AUDIENCE

My target audience of my music video are young people around sec-
ondary school age (15-20). Particularly a male audience because the
main subject of the music video is a male and people normally sym-
pathises with people they know. They are people who are in touch
with their feelings and like to reflect on themselves. They enjoy slow
tempo music which really asks questions of itself. My video will appeal
to young adults who are struggling about falling in and out of love and
people who are dealing with love. My product will hopefully reach a
wider audience than this but I will be focussed on the teenager/young
adult age range as my primary focus.

Some other media forms that my audience enjoys are introspective
and stylised media, music videos, movies, etc. The artist Joji is an
influence and my audience would enjoy that sort of music and mu-
sic video. They would enjoy slick and interesting editing such as Edgar
Wright’s filmography, especially Baby Driver and Hot Fuzz.
Seeing these similar types of media like the above my audience would
bring some conventions and preconceived notions to my project.
They would expect stylistic lighting and colour grading in the footage
to create a dark and introspective feel. They would also expect the
slick editing in the product to convey a sense of “coolness” and inter-
est within the piece.

Distributing my finished to a streaming service like YouTube is the
easiest and most effective way to communicate my product to a will-
ing audience and also an audience that hasn’t seen my work. YouTube
also works in the way that as it gets more views and and clicks it will
be distributed more and creating a wider audience for my product.
The best part is that the whole platform is free to use.

INTENTION

I intend to create stylish music video of a song that I have written
and recorded myself which covers the ideas of finding and deal-
ing with love as a young person. I find love to be a very strong
emotion for writing in music and filming. It is very common emo-
tion for the audience to grab onto and sympathizes with. Almost
every human has fallen in and out of love. Ever since there was
music and therefore music videos, love has been a central as-
pect and I’m not one to stray from it.
The purpose of my piece is to communicate and show the strug-
gles of young love in teenagers and young adults which often
isn’t discussed in media as often as it should and when it is it is
often from a young woman’s perspective. Hardly no media cov-
ers love and dealing with love from a younger males perspective.
Traditionally men don’t really show their feelings but in recent
times masculinity has gone through a change to become more
complex and the idea of masculinity itself is changing and shift-
ing. Through my music video “Waiting In The Stars” I hope to con-
vey the complex masculinity of the current day and age which
most men sympathise with but don’t vocalise.
A main inspiration of mine is the R&B and soul artist joji. In his
music he talks about love and falling in and out of it. He is a main
supporter of the complex masculinity idea. This is especial-
ly present in his song “Slow Dancing in the Dark”. His calm and
soothing vocals are not typical of the macho idea most men
have. The music videos also conveys the ideas of love from a dis-
tance. After repeated watchings and listenings of the music vid-
eo I was inspired enough to use these ideas within my own work
and I hope these are conveyed in my final product.
In my piece I use many aspects to convey the ideas of love and
complex masculinity. Particularly in the colour of the lighting and
props. The main prop the main character holds are flowers (a
typically feminine look to directly oppose toxic masculinity) and
most pieces are red to symbolise love within the band. The light-
ing/colour grading also reflects this in the use of red and warm
colours.
I want people to walk away from my product with the inspiration
to challenge the idea of toxic masculinity and particularly make
men feel it is okay to talk about their feelings of love. I hope my
product would make the concept of masculinity more progres-
sive than the old ideals.

Production Exercise 1 - Colour Grading

Intention

The purpose of this production exercise is to learn to manipulate footage to
change colour, contrast, saturation, etc. Colour grading is used in film, including
music videos, to enhance and change the colour of the original footage to cre-
ate meaning and symbolism. It is also used to add visual interest in a piece of
media of engage the audience.
To achieve this effect it will require some practice to make it realistic or believ-
able and not jarring to an audience. This is why I have chosen it to be my first
production exercise.
I intend to use this technique in my final product to distinguish the “a” and “b”
sections of the music video. I want the “a” section to have a sort of narrative
flow and a cool grade while the “b” section is of the band with a warmer grade. I
also want it to be very stylised to engage the audience.
This exercise requires a basic understanding of Adobe Premiere Pro. I have
used this software in the past for prior projects so I know my way around it.
This task also requires me to film test footage with a camera and tripod both
of which I own and used in prior projects.
I will take a couple test photos to grade for this exercise.

Research

I honestly have no clue where to start with colour grading so I just searched
some YouTube videos about the topic specifically using Premiere Pro, the soft-
ware I’m using. Here’s what I found:

Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2017 - Lumetri Color Panel & Color Correction/Grad-
ing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvlQa4a8cvY&t
This video explains all of Lumetri Colour one slider at a time. He explains
that you can achieve almost any colour effect with Lumetri Colour by playing
around with the sliders and wheels of all the sections.

The Sections

Each section of Lumetri Colour has different purposes and can be used to cre-
ate different effects on the footage.

Basic Correction Creative
The Basic Correction In this tab you can
tab lets you make ba- add different tints.
sic corrections to the This means you can
footage. For instance add a colour over
if your footage is un- the footage. You can
der or overexposed also change how
you can fix it here. sharp (focussed)
Also if your white and saturated (how
balance is off you can much colour is pres-
also fix it in this tab. ent) the footage is.

Curves Colour Wheels
The RGB curves The three wheels in the
tab allows you colour wheel tab allows
to change how you to change the co-
much red, green lours of the highlights
or blue is within (the light parts), Mid-
the footage. tones (the mid parts)
and shadows (the dark
parts).

HSL Secondary Vignette
HSL Secondary al- The vignette tab allows you to add a
lows you pick a sin- vignette to your footage.
gle colour from your
footage and change
that colour. It is com-
monly used to fix
skin tones and co-
lours of clothing like
jackets, etc.

LUTs FilterGrade Free LUTs:
The video also talks about the use of LUT’s or Look
Up Tables. So I found a video that explains LUTs and
also directs you to some free ones.
Free Cinematic Video LUTs Tutorial & Download
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScvZ1kud9kE&
This video explains that LUTs are a sort of preset for
colour grading. You don’t have to move any sliders or
wheels a LUT does that for you. The video suggests
that a LUT is a good starting point then you can play
around with the settings explained above to get the
desired effect for your footage.
I went to the FilterGrade website and downloaded
their free LUTs.

Evaluation

Through the process of learning how to colour grade I
have had a lot of success. In the production exercise I
graded the same footage three different ways. Cine-
matic, a Red Grade and a Blue Grade.
The cinematic grade was the most successful out
of the bunch. I first used a LUT or a Look-Up Table
from FilterGrade.com and then adjusted the contrast
through curves and lowered the exposure to correct
the footage. It ended up looking very cinematic and I
will use this in the final product or atleast aspects of it.
The next grade was the red one. To make this I low-
ered the saturation of the footage then changed the
colour of the footage with the colour wheels tab. It
looks quite good but maybe a bit harsh in some spots.
I will use this effect in my final product but I’ll be sup-
press the effect a little bit.
The last grade was the blue one. I once again lowered
the saturation of the footage and then graded it blue
with colour wheels. Again this footage did look alright
but making it more subtle may be more effective in
the final product.
For my final product I will be colour grading the foot-
age but I will be more subtle in the way I do it.

Production Exercise 2 - The “Film Look”

Intention
The purpose of this production exercise is to learn to make footage have a anamorphic look
or the “film look”. Anamorphic lens are quite expensive plus I would have to buy an adapter
to make it work with my Canon 80d so using editing software to create the effect would be
easier. Most professional pieces of film use or simulate anamorphic lenses and it has be-
come synonymous with the “film look”.
To properly achieve this effect I need to change the aspect ratio to a anamorphic one, ma-
nipulate lens flares and bokeh. It takes some preparation to get all these pieces ready thus it
is one of my production exercises.
I intend to use this technique all throughout my music video to make it have the “film look”
and therefore making it more professional to engage the average audience. I want to have
anamorphic type lens flares at the start of the music video. I also want a nice anamorphic
bokeh throughout the piece.
This exercise requires me to have basic Premiere Pro skills which I have from prior projects. I
would also need basic craft skills, the use of scissors, tape and cardboard, which I developed
in Grade 1.
I am creating a small sequence to test out these effects. It will be a simple exterior shot of
a house to maybe achieve some lense flares and then I close up of an actor to test out the
bokeh.

Research
Anamorphic Lenses are synonymous with the “Film Look”. So this is where I
started to research:
Anamorphic lenses uses a wide aspect ratio.

It films a distorted image
that is then artificial-

ly changed to a normal,
undistorted image. This
provides a oblong shaped
bokeh and interesting lens
flares in the raw footage.
A wide aperture is essential for
the anamorphic effect.

A non anamorphic lense An anamorphic lense

Through the research of anamorphic lenses I found the main aspects of the anamorphic
/film look are the oblong bokeh, lense flares and the aspect ratio.

Aspect Ratio

One of the essential parts of the anamorphic look is a wide aspect ratio. So I de-
cided to research aspect ratios in media.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio_(image)
The wiki page for aspect ratio’s describes an aspect ratio as “the proportional
relationship between height and width of an image.”
The aspect ratio is shown through two numbers seperated by a colon, 16:9, 4:3,
etc. These numbers describes the relationship between the height and width not
actual measurements of the screen therefore this can work among all measure-
ments cm, pixels, inches, etc.

The wiki page also displayed some common aspect ratios in media and I made
this graphic of them above as an example.
16:9 is a common aspect ratio used for modern television/HDTV and smart-
phones, tablets and computer monitors.
4:3 is an older aspect ratio used for older television/SDTV and older computer
monitors.
2.35:1 is the wide aspect ratio for anamorphic film and hollywood films. This is
the aspect ratio I will use for my product to achieve the anamorphic effect.

Lens Modifications

To create an anamorphic feel expensive lenses and adapters are neccessary
but unfortunately it costs money I don’t have. I researched around on YouTube
and it turns out that you can achieve the same effect with a lot less money.

In both videos it states to
achieve the anamorphic
look you can add lens mod-
ifications. A circular piece
of cardboard with a verti-
cal oblong shape cut out of
it with fishing lines across
it is placed on the back of
the lens and this creates
an anamorphic look.

Step By Step Lens Modification Instructions
Photos by Tim Olsen
Step 1: On a piece of cardboard trace around the circum-
ference of the lense used for the modification.

Step 2: Cut out the cardboard circle with a pair of scissors.
Step 3: Draw an oblong shape across the cardboard mak-
ing sure to stay in the middle third of the circle
Step 4: Cut out the shape and tape up any rough edges to
make it smooth.
Step 5: Add a piece of fishing line across the hole in the
card board and tape either end. Make sure the line is taut.
Step 6: Finally add the modification to the back of the lens,
put it on the camera and film some anamorphic footage.

Evaluation

The three aspects to make the anamorphic look are the aspect ratio, lens flares and oblong
bokeh. Throughout the process of trying to achieve these effects I succeeded and failed
in some aspects. One of the parts which was successful was the aspect ratio. I successful
changed the aspect ratio of the footage and it effectively emulated the anamorphic look.
The lens attachment is a different story. I made it but it didn’t quite work as much as I tried.
I even tried to make it multiple times but the best result I got cut out the bottom third of the
frame. I could cover most of it up because of the changed aspect ratio but it’s still notice-
able.
But the actual anamorphic bokeh did work in the footage. The blurring of the background of
the footage did look anamorphic and contributed to the look. I did create lens flares but it
didn’t capture the streaky lense flares that I would have liked.
I used a thicker fishing line then the tutorial so that may have contributed to the changed
lens flares.
All up the homemade attachment is not going to be used for my final product it is too un-
reliable for the little results it produced in the footage. The anamorphic effect did look great
but this effect can still be achieved through other means which I may undertake in the final
product.

Style and Genre

As said above the genre I’m working in is the music video. From my research all music videos
can be put into three categories. A narrative heavy music video like “Take On Me” by Aha,
where a story is told using the song as a guide. The second is a music video which is purely
performance such as “Somebody To Love” by Queen, where different performances are
filmed and cut to create the music video. The third and final category is a mixture of the first
two.
The category that I intend to fit into is the last one. I want two contrasting sections, one with
a narrative feel and the other performance taking inspiration from the “My Type” music vid-
eo by Sugar Pine 7.
The style that I’m going for in my product is dark and introspective. I will convey this through
the costuming of the main subject, dark settings and the lyrics present in the song. Some
portions of my style come from “Slow Dancing in the Dark” by joji. Along with this I will include
a slick editing style similar to that of Edgar Wright films, Baby Driver, Hot Fuzz, etc. I also
don’t want my style to be to full of itself, I want it to be playful and self aware.
An audience would expect from the music video is dark and sombre yet playful and have a
slick editing style.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS

Codes

Camera:
In all of my research of “Slow Dancing in the Dark” and “My Type” the camera is handheld but
smooth with elements that are locked off as well. This effect makes the audience become an
omnipotent observer of sorts. To achieve this effect of course I would need a camera opera-
tor. Alternatively I could just film statically then add camera shake in post.
Lighting:
Through my research I found that lighting is very important in music videos. I going to take in-
spiration once again from “My Type” and have a distinct “a” and “b” sections distinguished by
red and blue lighting. The blue represents the sadness in the song and the red is the passion.
For this effect I would need to purchase a lighting set up with different coloured gels to cre-
ate the desired colour.
Setting:
From what I researched in the music videos that I want to emulate they are set at least part-
ly in a street or rundown alleyway. The other location prevalent in these videos are a setting
where the band performs. It is normally represented by a stage or black void. I want to use
both of these locations for my music video.
Editing:
I want the editing to be slick and “cool” similar to Edgar Wright films, Hot Fuzz, Baby Driver,
etc. I want the editing to tie the piece together and not be too distracting. I will also use colour
grading to emphases the different colours in the “a”and “b” sections.
Sound:
My piece is a music video and the music I’m using for it is an original piece called “Waiting in
the Stars”. The song is a laid back, synth heavy song with a message of wanting a lost love
from the perspective of a introspective young man.

Conventions

Structure
Most videos are structured with two things in mind. The first is a narrative sort of style where
almost anything goes and the other part is a shot of the band actually playing the song. I
want to use this structure within my piece so it can properly emulate the music video style.
Time
The time of most music videos and therefore my piece is as long as the song that is used, so
on average 3-4 minutes. This can be lengthened if it is a narrative heavy music video.
Character
Commonly in music videos the lead singer of the band is often the main actor of the piece
and the other band members are not characterised at all and are reduced to just players of
their instrument.

Music

The music I decided to use was a song that I wrote and recorded myself. This is the case
for two reasons. One of which is copyright because since I created it myself I have com-
plete copyright on it thus I don’t have to jump through many hoops to secure the rights to
the song. The second reason is because I love creating and listening to music and by mak-
ing a music video it ties my two loves of the screen and music together. With this opportu-
nity I also could potentially create a message with what I’m making as stated in the inten-
tion.
I first came up with the concept of “Waiting in the Stars” song two years ago at a time
where I just wanted to create some original music so I set a goal for myself to create five
tracks in one month. As it was my first time seriously trying to make music as you would
expect most of it was utter trash and it didn’t see the light of day. Earlier this year I found
the track again and played around with it and after adding more instrumentation I ended
up in a place which I think is half decent and in turn deserves a music video.
My song “Waiting in the Stars” lyrics deal with the love and loss of love from a perspective
of a introspective male which is not to prevalent in media today.
I created the song entirely in FL Studio 12 on my Lenovo Desktop. I used a Rode NT-1 for
the vocals, midi keyboard for the synth parts and a electronic drum kit. I recorded all the
instruments and sung all the vocal lines myself.

This is the music editing
software I used called
FL Studio 12 and on
the screen is the project
file of “Waiting in the
Stars”.

I first came up with the chord progression of FDom7 to BbMaj7 and repeated this
throughout the song with a spacey sounding synth. I then improvised some lines over the
progression and kept the good ones in. I added a basic kick on the 1+3 and a snare on 2+4.
In the chorus I added 16 note hi-hat to add urgency. I then eq’d and compressed all the
tracks to create the final mix and master.

The Gear:

Rode NT-1 (XLR Microphone)

Akai Mini Mpk MkII (MIDI Keyboard) Behringer UM2 U-Phoria (Audio Interface)

This allows me to play notes on the keyboard This allows me to connect my microphone to
which is then converted to MIDI which I can my computer.
edit in FL Studio 12

Lyric Analysis

sspppRaareclcoofeetveaebringeeidonntintwcceieaserstteeeastnotntt.hdhee Verse 1 “ps“rWpoisaltaoacaivtegienro”eginbnfieietsnerttewtrahenenescedteSnttthtaoheres”
inotfTreothShxesteeap“nreWpstcur”atoaliiyvtttareienigcsgnoaatinnhltsieusottrhee
tdhEeismtlpoaprvnhoecateasinigsbtoeeonrtneiwssttetha.eennd Starshot gaze, supernova faze
aTmnhodeenmyroeetppaohernantysiitneoivgsfefftoilhnyredrilcoinsvge I miss you

Neverending days, cosmic rays
I need you

I don’t even really care where you are
But this is where I’ll be,
I’ll be waiting in the stars

Chorus

Waiting in the stars x4

Verse 2

Cosmic Abyss, how did I end up like this
I miss you

Floating away, what did I say
I need you

I don’t even really care where you are
But this is where I’ll be,
I’ll be waiting in the stars

Chorus

Waiting in the stars x4

Bridge

Oh oh oh oh oh oh x2

Chorus

Waiting in the stars x6

SHOT LIST

Section Title/ Shot Description Point in
Location Song
1A Shot of stars pan down to alleyway with subject in it.
Alleyway Intro

2A Alleyway Wide Shot of Alleyway with subject down it Intro

3A Alleyway Subject on ground leaning against alleyway then gets up Outro/
and walks away Fade Out

4A Alleyway Mid Shot of Subject talking on phone then puts ear Verse 1
phones in.

5A Alleyway Mid Shot of Subject stumbling down alleyway mouthing Verse 1
lyrics. Tracking shot. and 2

6A Alleyway Locked off wide shot of subject looking into the camera Second
Verse and
Chorus,
Bridge

7A Alleyway Wide shot of subject from behind stumbling again, pan Verse into
up to sky Chorus

1B My House Wide shot of band, singer, drums and keyboard on black Verse into
background start of
chorus
for rest of
song

2B My House Mid shot of drummer Chorus’

3B My House Mid shot of keyboardist Chorus’

4B My House Mid shot of vocalist Chorus’

5B My House Close up of drummer hand held Chorus’

6B My House Close up of keyboardist Solo/In-
strumen-
tal

TIME

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wedn
19 May 20 21 22

26 27 28 29
Folio Due

2345

9 10 11 12

16 17 18 19

23 24 25 26

ELINE

nesday Thursday Friday Saturday
23 24 25

30 31 1 June
e Filming may begin 8

67

13 14 15
20 21 All props and
equipment ready
22

27 28 29
Holidays Start

TIME

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wedne
30 1 July 2 3
Part A Part B Any extra
7 Filming in Filming at House
Alleyway
9 10
8

14 15 16 17
Holidays End POST Editing Editing
21 PRODUCTION 23 24
Editing STARTS Editing Editing
22
Editing

28 29 30 31
Editing Editing Editing Editing

4567
Test Screening Any Adjustments Any Adjus

ELINE

esday Thursday Friday Saturday
5 6
4
a filming

11 12 13
Refilming if Refilming if All filming done
needed needed 20
18 19 Editing
Editing Editing

25 26 27
Editing Editing Editing

1 August 2 3
Editing Hand in for
Test Screening

8 9 10
stments Any Adjustments Any Adjustments Any Adjustments

TIMEL

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wedne
11 12 13 14
Upload Final Evaluation Evaluation Evaluatio
on YouTube
19 20 21
18 EVERYTHING IS
Evaluation DUE!!!!!!!

LINE

esday Thursday Friday Saturday
on 15 16 17
Evaluation Evaluation Evaluation

22 23 24

CASTING

For my music video I decided to cast myself This is
as the only actor. I did this to follow the me!
convention of music videos where the
person creating the music is a main actor in
the product. I have acting experience from
local productions, “Sunraysia Gang Show”,
“Electric Light Theatre”, etc. I’ve been apart of
and I am studying theatre at school so I should
have enough experience to pull this off. Since
this project only requires one actor there is no
need to cast anyone else.

CHARACTERS

Although I am only casting one person there are multiple characters throughout my
music video.
The Man
The first of which is the stumbling character in the A section of the music video. The
character is a guy in his late teens or early twenties that has just been broken up with.
This character is supposed to represent the yearning and uncomfortable nature of
longing for someone after a break up. This is shown in the music video through
unnatural movements almost like the character has been physically hurt. The
character is also supposed to demonstrate the stages of grief throughout the music
video.
The Band
The band is a physical representation of all the instruments played throughout the
song. I will be playing all of these characters as I’ve played all the instruments on the
piece. The aesthetic of these characters are that of a soul/rock band. They should all
have attitude in there playing especially the singer. The band represents The Man’s love
and passion.

FONTS

For the beginning of my music video I want to add a title but I need to find a font
that best suits the aesthetic of the product. I want it to be strong and prominent
but not illegible. I came up with three fonts which I think could work and then asked
friends and classmates for their opinion.

Good Brush:

Waiting in the Stars

*chosen font
The Bold Font:

Waiting in the Stars

Long Shot:

Waiting in the Stars

The chosen font ended up being the first one "Good Brush". From the people I
asked it was said it encapsulated the sound of the song the most. It also fits the
urban aesthetic that I want to emulate in the scenes in an alleyway.

EQUIPMENT AND SOFTWARE

Canon 80D 18-135mm Tripod

I chose to use a tripod to
keep the camera steady
in the clone scenes. It is
also tall enough to film me
standing up which is a bonus

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1225877-REG/ Softboxes
canon_1263c006_eos_80d_dslr_camera.html

I chose this camera because I chose to use softboxes
it can be used manually and it because I didn’t want harsh lighting
can record in full HD (1080p). in my final product. My location of
the front lounge is quite dark so this

is a good option to evenly light it.

Neewer C 160 Light Panel
https://www.hypop.com.au/products/spectrum-illumi-
nate-mate-double-rectangle-softbox-lighting-kit

This is a cheap and Rode SmartLav+
portable lighting panel
that can be put on top of I chose this
my camera. It is perfect microphone because
for the alleyway scenes. it’s quality is good and

it can be easily
hidden.

https://www.amazon.com/Dimmable-Digital-Camcord-
er-Panasonic-Samsung/dp/B004TJ6JH6

Premiere Pro CC 2017

I chose this software because of multiple reasons. First of which is that I have a lot of previous
experience with it and I know my way around the program. Secondly, the program is robust enough

to make my final product look professional.

PROPS

Blue Bouquet

This is a example of the blue bouquet I
want The Man to hold in Part A. I am using
this prop to emphasise the blue and red

themes of Part A and Part B. It also
represents love in the music video.

Microphone Stand

This mic stand is used to hold the
microphone in the band scenes in Part
B. I chose it because it is a neutral colour

to not throw off the red theme.

Keyboard
Electronic Drum Kit TD - 1K

Shure SM58

I chose the keyboard, electronic drum kit and Shure SM58 microphone so
that the band have instruments to play. They are all neutrally coloured

black and white so it doesn’t interfere with the colour scheme of Part B. All
of these instruments cover the generic band stereotypes. The microphone

is also common in the music industry for live performances.

Apple Earphones iPhone 6

These two items an iPhone 6 and Apple Earphones are used in Part A. The
phone is important because it is the contact between The Man and his significant
other. The earphones also establish that the music is diagetic in the music video.

They too are neutrally colour to not affect the colour scheme.

Introduction Script

EXT. Alleyway Night
A man stands in an alleyway frustrated on his phone talking to a
significant other.

THE MAN
No I’ll be there in a- no really- I am literally

around the corner.

The man’s face shifts into sadness

THE MAN
Yeah, yeah, okay… bye.

The man is defeated, hangs up the phone. He puts headphones in and
plays a song. The music begins.

LOCATION

For the music I need two locations. An alleyway and a sort of soundstage or a “timeless void”
where the band would play.

Alleyway

In multiple music videos I’ve researched the
most popular location is an alleyway so to feed
into that convention I’m going to film a music
video in one.
There are a couple of alleyways in Mildura that
can fit the dark aesthetic I want for the music
video. But I ended up choosing Midgley Lane,
(how fitting). The location has brick walls and
an asphalt road which is perfect for the music
video. The road isn’t very busy too, so it would
be perfect to film in. It overall has a good
location too with the background facing the
“city” of Mildura.
The location is symbolic of The Man’s grief. The
darkness of the alleyway feeds this idea.

The Void

In most music videos the band is intercut
within a narrative and these sections a
filmed in a soundstage making it look like
a timeless void. Since I don’t have
access to a soundstage I’m going to
improvise. I have access to a green
screen rig with multiple coloured
backgrounds. So I’m going to set this up
in my front room as the background and
use it to simulate a soundstage.
I decided to do it this way so it can be
easily lit and time in the space isn’t an
issue as it is my families house.

Permissions

Alleyway

I emailed the council to ask about permissions for filming in Midgley Lane. They
responded with that filming in public places is fine, and since the road is public
permissions shouldn’t be needed as long as the filming doesn’t disturb anyone or
anything.

“The Void”

Securing permissions for filming at my house is very easy as my parents own it.
The location release is below.

COSTUMES

The Man

The look for The Man I wanted to have was a dressed up one. This man is
desperately trying to make it to his significant other but is late. He is dressed up
like he is ready for a date.

Option 1

I chose this costume because of the neutral
colours that wouldn’t conflict with the
aesthetic of Part A. Also the look is quite
smart and definitely fits with the date “look”.
The costume is also all black which might
conflict with the night background.

Option 2

I chose this costume because of the neutral
colours that also wouldn’t conflict with the
aesthetic of Part A. Due to the contrast
between the two colours in the costume and
the background the shot will be more
interesting to the eye. This costume also is a
reference to Sebastian from “La La Land”, an
inspiration for the music video.

Option 3

In the final option I decided to add some
colour to the costume. Unfortunately the shirt
didn’t translate well to film and it looks kind of
messy. This costume looks more like a fathers
outfit then a young guy going to a date.

The Final Decision

The look I want to go with is Option 2. It looks the most smart and I believe it
will translate well in the location and on film. The white shirt would particularly
stand out in the dark aesthetic of the alleyway. I also like the idea of a
reference in the costuming of my production.

The Band

All the band has red
costumes to fit with the idea
of love and to go with the
aesthetic of Part B. The
convention in music videos
of bland band members are
present here. All the band
members are one
dimensional looking to fit this
convention. I also kept the
same pants in each costume
to easily change between
costumes for efficiency when
shooting.

Singer Keyboardist Drummer

TREATMENT

We open on a wide shot of an alleyway where a man is on the phone
clutching a blue bouquet of flowers. He is obviously frustrated and it
is evident a significant other just broke up with him. A medium shot
shows his face as he ends the call and puts in earphones. I close up
reveals him playing a song on his phone “Waiting in the Stars”. Smash
cut to stars where the title appears. We then pan down to an alleyway
as The Man is in denial about the break up and fake happily singing to
the song. The first verse ends with him dropping the flowers. As we
go into the chorus in a wide shot we cut to the band drenched in red
light playing the song passionately. The band represents The Man’s
love and passion. We cut between medium shots and close ups of the
band. We cut back to another medium shot of The Man in verse two.
This time he is more frustrated in the alleyway. For the solo we focus
on the keyboardist for awhile (as it is his solo). Then we cut to a close
up of The Man mouthing the bridge and then we cut to a similar shot
of the singer singing the same. A montage then begins cutting to pre-
vious shots of The Man and The Band. The Man is angry now and er-
ratic camera movement is present. As we hit the outro The Man in a
medium shot of him against is depressed. As he gets up it and rips out
his earphones. This implies his acceptance. The closing titles roll with

sounds of cars and ambient noise as we fade to black.

NARRATIVE

The narrative of my music video is that of a break up and
the grief and frustration that comes with it. The Kübler-Ross
model or the five stages stages of grief are incorporated
into the music video to exemplify grief.
I also aim to challenge the idea of toxic masculinity in my
music video. This is demonstrated through that The Man is
very emotional in his actions and feelings which is not
traditionally a male attribute. I hope this can help my
audience of young men to believe that being emotional and
displaying complex masculinity is a set of ideals that is
valuable.
My music video will follow a chronological narrative with a
simple plot. Although many music videos portray complex
plots I wanted to keep mine simple to exemplify the
messages of love, grief and the music itself. I believe, through
my viewings of other media, that an art piece is more than
flashy visuals and interesting lighting, (although those things
are cool). I think that a narrative is more interesting with
underlying, implicit themes that an audience has to unpack
themselves. The visuals, lighting and editing just aid the
message and story to be shown.

PRODUCTION/
POST-PRODUCTION

TITLE TEXT

With the font choice of “Good Brush” I
wanted an animation sequence almost
like the text was painted on screen. To
edit it I separated each letter into each
paint stroke to animate them individ-
ually. To do this I made a mask over
each stroke with the crop effect on the
mask so the mask conceals the layer
beneath. I then keyframed the mask off
the letters to create a realistic brush
stroke effect.

The different strokes are nested into
different letters to make the project
neater and for the timing of each letter
to be changed and tweaked easier.

I then nested the whole sequence so
the whole title is in one layer, so I could
time the whole sequence to the music.

FILMING THE BAND

I decided to film the band with a black back- Soft Box 1 Hair Light
ground so it can emulate a soundstage where a Soft Box 2
band would perform. So to do this I purchased
a green screen set-up that also came with a
black screen. I set this up and soon realised that
I was taller than the actual set-up so to fix this I
added stools underneath the two stands so the
camera could capture me and the background
fully.
To light the shot I bought two softbox lights and
put them on both sides of the subject at about
45 degree angles. This was done to have no
shadows and to make the shot lit evenly. I also
used my Neewer CN-160 as a spare light to add
some interest in the shots.
For the vocal takes I kept both softboxes on
and used the other light as a hair light. For the
keyboard shot I turned the left softbox off and
used the Neewer light just to fill out my face
ever so slightly on the left. I did this to make the
shot have dramatic and interesting lighting. In
the drum shot I reversed what I did in the key-
board shot and turned off the right softbox. I
then used the Neewer light to brighten my face
so I could be seen better.
To film I used my Canon 80D and tripod with my
18-135mm lens to take advantage of the wide
angle so I could get my whole body in the shot. I
used this set-up for every full band shot. For the
close-ups of the instruments I used my Canon
50mm 1.8 lens to get nice bokeh and to minimise
the visible creases in the background fabric.
First I did the full band shot, so to do this I filmed
the shots with the camera on a 90 degree an-
gle so my whole body is in the shot. I shot three
passes of the song, once for each instrument.
By doing this I could combine all these shots in
post so it made a full band scene.
I then took mid shots of the vocalist, drums and
piano respectively. Then I did an alternate take
on each instrument for coverage. All of these
shots were as per the shotlist.

FILMING THE ALLEY

The next day I filmed down in the alleyway,
Midgley Lane. To help me shoot this part I em-
ployed the help of my brother, Noah, to be the
camera operator while I acted and directed. My
plan was to film during the night to get the stars
in the sky but the lane had no street lights and I
couldn’t get any equipment to light the lane, so
I decided to film during dusk to take advantage
of the natural light.
I followed the shotlist very closely and most
shots were easily done. The only thing that was
an issue were random cars driving down the
lane. So a few shots were cut short by traffic
and it was frustrating but with perseverance
we got the shots.
I used my Canon 80D with the Canon 50mm 1.8
lens to get nice bokeh in all the shots to contrib-
ute to the cinematic look I wanted. Also the lens
itself is light so therefore the stabilizer rig would
be easier to hold for longer periods of time.
I started shooting all the locked down shots first
to get them out of the way. Then I moved on to
the stabilizer shots. The stabilizer shots were a
bit shaky because Noah wasn’t used to using
the stabilizer and we had strong winds that day.
But I got a couple good shots out of it.
To frame and focus the shots I used my brother
as the subject so I could be in full control of the
camera, making sure that the shot is in focus,
not under or over exposed and framed cor-
rectly. Then I would act out the shot with Noah
making sure the camera is focussed and telling
me if I’m off the mark in real time.
I thought all the shots were good but once I got
home I looked over the footage and the whole
opening was out of focus. So reshoots were
then planned to cover the opening.

RESHOOTS

A couple weeks later on the 11th of August we filmed the reshoots. It was
smooth filming, I got all the shots I need and in a quicker time as I was getting
used to setting up all the equipment. I used the same camera, tripod and lens
set-up as before. But this time I had to record audio on site so I used the Rode
Lav Mic hidden under my shirt so I could get clean audio. This time I checked all
footage while I was still on location to make sure I didn’t have to do more re-
shoots and (thankfully) I got everything!

EDITING

Opening Audio
The first bit of editing I did was to enhance the lavalier audio. For this I used the
free program Audacity. After I imported the audio I immediately used a com-
pressor on it. A compressor is used in audio to lessen the dynamic range or to
put it simply make the soft parts louder and the loud parts softer. This is useful
if actors trail off a bit in their line delivery to make sure they are heard. The next
thing I did was to equalise or EQ the audio. An EQ allows the different frequen-
cies of the audio to be boosted or reduced. I used this to boost the high end
slightly to add clarity to my voice and I boosted some bass as the mic itself is a
bit treble heavy. I then exported it as a .wav file ready to edit in Premiere.

Timeline
Compressor

Equalisation

Premiere Project
To start editing in Premiere I needed to get all the footage, audio and music
in one spot. So I took all the footage off the SD card, exported the final mix
of the song and got the lavalier audio and put it all on my computer. I also
copied all these files onto my external harddrive so I had back-ups in case of
a catastrophe.
First I created the project and made the sequence I’ll be editing in. I put the
editing mode on custom so I could change the framerate and frame size. I
put the framerate at 23.976 because that’s what I filmed at and it is also
the framerate that most cinematic music videos, films and tv’s are filmed at.
I also set the frame size at 1920x824 as that is the anamorphic aspect ratio
of the “Film Look” I was going for. To organise the footage I put the Alleyway,
band and reshoots into different folders.

First I put the song in the project and followed the sholist and storyboard to
edit the different shots together. Some shots didn’t quite fit the feel of the
project so some shots were switched around but editing was pretty smooth.
I kept a general rule throughout that every cut was made on the beat of the
song which made the whole video flow naturally and smoothly.

Finished Timeline

Making the Band
To make the band I lined all of the band shots together so that they were in sync.
To make the shots less jarring next to each other, I cropped the footage so differ-
ent layers didn’t overlap. Finally to make the layers seamless I coloured the indi-
vidual layers to match each other so it really looks like I am in multiple places in the
room.

Without Cropping and Colouring With Cropping and Colouring

Colour Grading
After I cut everything together it was time to colour grade the footage. I colour
graded A section or alleyway section with cool tones. I used lumetri colour and I
used the SL BLUE COLD LUT and I also boosted the contrast in the image. By do-
ing this it creates a cool look in the footage without being too overdone. In the B
section or the band scenes I used the FGCineWarm LUT and played around with
the contrast and saturation to get the warm feel. I dialled down the intensity com-
pared to the earlier tests because it looked a bit jarring.

Cool Grade Warm Grade

Exporting
To export the whole video you go to
File, Export, Media. I set the export
location and set the format to H.264
which is a .mp4 file which is suitable
for YouTube. I also made sure that
the framerate was 23.976 fps and
the frame size was 1920x824 pixels. I
then clicked the export button and 10
minutes later it was rendered.

FEEDBACK AND FINAL EDIT

On the 7th of August the class held a feedback session for our media projects.
I presented the first cut in class and handed out feedback sheets to get some
specific feedback. All of the responses are given on the next page. The main
things I was worried about was if the plot of the music video made sense and if
the emotions were strong enough. To my delight every piece of feedback said
that they liked the flow and the video made sense.
The main suggestion given by the audience was to break up the piano solo and
to add some star imagery into the video. The star imagery was a bit hard to
incorporate with the shots I completed. Also the time of day wouldn’t match up
in the edit, so I decided against adding in the star imagery. But what I did fix was
the keyboard solo. I agreed that having all the shots locked on the keyboard for
almost 30 seconds got boring so I added in some shots I had of the man frus-
trated in the alleyway. These shots broke up the solo and made the final product

PUBLISHINGflow better.

To publish the video I decided to upload it to YouTube to make it accessible to
a wider audience. After all, sharing a link is easier than sharing a large video file.
To upload the video all you need to do is create an account and go to the up-
load section. I uploaded the video on my already created channel which has a
couple hundred subscribers so it can reach the widest audience as possible. To
upload a video you select a file and fill out the title, description and thumbnail.

I titled the video “Kane Midge - Waiting in the Stars (Official Music Video)”. I
chose this title because it is the convention on YouTube and audiences would
expect this type of titling from a music video. I filled out the description with
credits for the music video to properly mention everyone who helped out. I also
made a thumbnail for the music video in Photoshop. To make this I simply took
a screenshot from the music video and added the title in the same font in the
music video. The video took about 10 minutes to upload and it was public to the
world.

MARKETING

To market my music video I also advertised it on my social media to get a wider
audience. I kept the accompanying text with the link very conversational to con-
vince audiences to watch the video. If it was more official sounding the posts
would come off as fake and I would seem full of myself and that’s not the feeling
I want my audience to have.

Marketing
on

Instagram

Marketing
on

Twitter

FINAL REFLECTION

What worked well throughout the project?
I thoroughly enjoyed filming and editing the whole thing. I haven’t planned and fully cre-
ated a project as big as this before and it was insanely fun. I believe the band scenes
were done really well. Particularly in the first chorus it has a good feel cutting between
all the shots. I’m also very proud of the lighting and colour grading in this section. It en-
capsulates the typical rock band music video feel that audiences expect.
The filming also went very smoothly. When filming in the alleyway I got all the shots I
needed quite quickly and without much hassle. I thought since it was a public space I
would have to compete with traffic and random pedestrians but those were hardly
issues.
I believe the overall feel of the product also conveys the introspective tone I was aim-
ing to achieve. The moody lighting in the band scenes and also the overcast weather in
the alleyway reflected the intention I outlined for myself.
What didn’t work well throughout the project?
I didn’t check the footage after shooting on the first day and because of this I filmed
the entire opening out of focus. This was a bit frustrating but it was a blessing in dis-
guise as we had a test screening before I did reshoots. By getting this feedback before
doing reshoots I could tweak and change a few shots to make the end product as best
it could be.
Also some of the shots in the final product I just settled with. For example the full band
shots were a bit rough. You can see where the background ends and also the colour
grading doesn’t quite match in places. With more time and motivation I could have
reshot a couple shots so they could be more polished.

What codes and conventions were used to engage the audience?
The lighting was something I used to engage the audience, particularly in the band
scenes. I tried to light the band moodily to reflect the introspective nature of the song
similar to how it is used in joji’s “Slow Dancing in the Dark” and Sugar Pine 7’s “My Type”.
The use of handheld camera shots was used to convey the unstable nature of the
protagonists mindset and to break up the continuous locked down shots that feature
so heavily in my video. This change of pace adds interest to the piece that in turn en-
gages my audience. Also by adding subtle zooms into the last chorus it adds urgency
to the product which adds further interest to the piece.

Conclusion
In conclusion my folio shows I made a product that encapsulates my creative inten-
tion and is something my intended audience would enjoy. Although it does have some
flaws, I believe it adds character to my final product that conveys the indie nature of
the music and music videos that were an inspiration to me. All in all I am very proud of
what I created and I can’t wait to refine my skills in the future.