Our task was to create an exact copy of the first minute of a music video. We chose the song "In The Sun" by "She & Him" due to the cheerful style and school setting making locations easy. We experienced problems like losing footage, uncooperative actors, and continuity issues with changing dancers. However, we learned new filming, editing, and pacing skills for music videos. Fast cuts and constant movement are needed to keep the audience engaged throughout. Planning and having cooperative actors is also important for high quality results.

1. Transition project
Evaluation
Music Video

2. The Task...
Our task was to create an exact copy of the first minute from an official
music video, we had to utilise the filming and editing skills we had
learnt during our AS Media course and we were introduced to new
skills used during the production of music videos. We also had to
create the back and front cover of the artist/band’s album cover on
‘InDesign’.
To ensure that our copy music video was as identical to the real video as
possible, we had to choose similar actors, props and locations to the
ones used in the official music video. We also had to replicate the
exact camera shots, movements, and mise en scene of the video with
the same timings. So it was quite a challenging task considering we
had never made a music video before.
Fortunately before we started the transition task we had a workshop
from a man that had experience of directing music videos, short films
and feature films, which was extremely helpful and fascinating as he
had directed music videos for the likes of The Pet Shop Boys, Alison
Moyet, and George Michael.

3. Our Music Video
My partner and I chose the music video for the song ‘In The Sun’
by ‘She & Him’ to copy as we like the cheerful, indie vibe and
the light hearted style. It’s also set in a school which makes
finding a location easier as we had to film during class time. We
used a long corridor with lockers down either side and our
school library for the majority of the shots, which was perfect as
they looked really similar to the sets used in the official music
video.
The actors were easy to find as we both knew people who looked
similar to the characters in the video and the costumes were just
casual everyday clothes. The props in the music video were
sunglasses, a locker, posters and some books; all were easy to
find which ensured our music video looked as close to the real
thing as possible.

4. Problems...
We experienced quite a few problems when filming our music video. The main
technical one was when we lost the first bit of footage as our memory card didn’t
allow us to upload the footage from the camera to the computer; this was
frustrating as those shots had taken a long time to film.
The next problem was our actors weren’t as co-operative as they could have been.
We chose our actors based on how similar they looked to the characters; acting
ability and willingness to participate wasn’t put into consideration. In the end
our main female actor refused to participate, so we had to quickly persuade
another girl to take the lead role, because of this she doesn’t have the same
features as the character in the official music video. But Luckily she had
previously acted as our backing dancer for the music video and she was more
than happy to play the lead role.
The last problem was the fact that our backing dancers changed to different people
half way through the music video and there is also one point when their
costumes change too, which doesn’t show good continuity. However we tried to
disguise this problem by cutting the two shots together when the characters are
mid–spin in a dance routine, so it is less obvious. This problem could have been
over come if we had been more organised, however we had a time constraint
which meant filming had to be completed quickly; thus proving how important
pre-production and planning is during the filmmaking process.

5. Knowledge gained...
I have not only learnt new skills during this transition project but I have also
refined my filming and editing skills; I am now very confident using the
editing software Final Cut Pro.
One of the main skills I have learnt is how to match a soundtrack to the shots.
The editing has to be completely in time with the soundtrack for the lip
synching to look realistic; otherwise it can easily slip into looking amateur.
The pace of editing in a music video has to be fast paced and the shots have
to be cut much quicker than in a film as the audience must stay hooked
throughout. I also learnt that you can’t have many static shots in a music
video; there has to be a lot of movement e.g. through panning, tilting,
zooming, etc. This ensures the music video flows smoothly.
I have learnt that for a film or music video to reach a high quality, the director
has to have a good working relationship with the actors; more over the
actors have to be co-operative and extremely patient. I learnt this the hard
way when our actress dropped out, however we then found a very
determined, hard working and enthusiastic replacement, so it worked in our
favour in the end.

6. Here is a comparison of shots from our imitation music video with the official music video...
Our Music video Official music video

7. Our Music video Official music video