3. RESEARCH
There were many interesting videos I watched for my research however, only a few influenced my
final product. Beastie Boys' Intergalactic, in that video they used time-lapse which had an
impression on me. You can also see this influence in my edit test video which has a time-lapse. I
really like the look of the sped-up footage, it's interesting and dynamic. There is also a reason
behind the technique in my video, as stated in my planning- the third layer of the characters
mind, the sped-up footage shooting round Helmsley, looking for something or someone- the key to
unlock himself to come to terms with his past and accept it.
One of my favourite directorsis David Fincher, I knew he came from making music videos, so in
my research I went out to find some of the videos he worked on. Sure enough they were great,
not my type of music but the video is well made. In particularYogue by Madonna. The shots are
so smooth, especially the opening dolly shot. This impacted my use of the rig. Fincher famouly
sticks to using the camera on a dolly or set up, rarely handheld. Therefore I wanted to make the
choice of using a handheld shot impactful to the audience. Of course the tracking shots, were
handheld as that was the only way, I don't have a gimble or stedi-cam.
Not only did I watch music videos so I could understand the conventions and styles, but films went
into my research as well. For example, The Converstaion. The segment of my video with the
character sat at the desk is all inspired by that film. However, I have my character listening on his
memories rather people. A more direct piece of inspiartion is Pulp Fiction, I didn't rewatch the film
in preparation, it's the opening scene. That scene has stuck with me ever since I watched it, it's
incredible. Music videos are littered with intertextuality, I wanted my video to have the same. Both
direct and subtle.
4. PLANNING
The planning helped me be relativley prepared for the shoot. I knew what was
happening when, this was thanks to the structural breakdown.
I could've planned better. I could have covered more detail which could have
potentially quickened up the day of shoot and made things a tad smoother for myself.
For example, write out a full scrept for the video, to act as my 'bible' on the shoot. All
the shots are composed in my head, the script will help we stay on track, so I know
what to shoot, as we almost forgot to shoot the final sequence.
5. TIME MANAGEMENT
I shot the video over the course of two days. Day one, wasn't a problem for time
management, we exclusively shot everything in my bedroomthat day, so we wouldn't
have to come back and move things again. It just made sense. Jack lives in Helmsley so
he didn't need to be back at any certain time. It was easy going, we got everything we
needed to shoot.
Day two was on location. I had Jack and Abi; Abi was coming in for 10am my mum
picking her up. Only two main locations. Under the bridge. And the restaurant which
closes at 3 but reopensat 5, only we had 90 minuets as they set up at 4:30. I allowed
us plenty of time under the bridge and for lunch. Just before we went into the
restaurant, we had enough time to film a few segments in Helmsley, that are only
briefly seen in the final product. The restaurant was tight. Luckily, I had used that
location on a previous film, so I knew what the time limit felt like.
I feel I managed my time well. We were never rushing to get shots done, the project
was completed on time. If I had additional time in the restaurant it wouldn't have made
much difference, as while filming I thought I wouldn't have enough footage and when it
came to editing, I found I had loads of footage. So extra time could've been used to
get better shots, but I still would've had to fight over shots.
6. TECHNICAL QUALITIES - CAMERA
The similarities and differences between existing products would first directly be the
properties that inspired my video that I paid homage to. Wever that being a lighting
decision, set dressing, narrative, or shadowing the movement of characters from the
property like in my reference to Pulp Fiction additionally the robbery plan could be an
extension of that reference.
7. TECHNICAL QUALITIES – EDITING/POST
In editing, it's quite hard to compare to other products. However, I can talk about an
inspiration of the editing, which affects the structure more. I had planned this before I
edited, it was to inter cut throughoutthe video from memories to the visual metaphor
to his mind scrambling through the streets. Part of this was influenced by the editing of
Nicolas Roeg's films. It's exceptional. If I could go back and improve it, to would use
more match cuts linked the memories to the visual metaphor. I did shoot a match cut
however, that got left on the cutting room floor, so to speak. And it didn't work the way
I wanted it to.
8. AESTHETIC QUALITIES
I set out to make the video have a very distinict aesthetic, especially with the lighting. I think I achieved that greatly. The
visuals were a big thing, since it was all visual storytelling, I imagined it as a silent short film, but with a song playing
guiding the narrative.
One of the weaknessesof the use of colour is not always having a meaningful reason to the narractive for the chosen
colour. For example, the brief flashes of green the only reason I chose that was to have more diverse colours, it looked
cool, and one of my inspirations Paris, Texas uses that green, but in a different shade, still I wanted to make an homage.
The segment of the video at the desk. Pattern in
colours- orange, red, yellow,a tint of pink to
reflect greif loss and his death love, that being
the pink as she wears a pink coat. It's a dark
state of mind, but colourful for the video, nicely
juxtaposed.
One thing I would've liked to improve on would be the lighting in the restaurant,
specifically this shot. I just think it could've used another main colour. We did light the left
side with blue, but obviously the light setting was on low. And the right side was on purple
and red.
