Editing the music video

The editing of our music video was the most crucial aspect to our coursework and so we needed to be sure that it went accordingly and linked back directly to our planning. The first thing to that needed to be edited was the actual music itself as we did not need to use the whole file. This was done by using a 'Fading' technique. We used this to build tension in our music video and this also gave us continuity as we used this effect at the beginning and the end of our music video. By using a pan and establishing shot at the beginning of our music video it allows the situation to be introduced to the audience and our main character is evident from the outset.

To make our work load more manageable we decided to name each individual shot we achieved to ensure that we did not miss any important shots.

As we were planning to put a separate music file behind our edited shots it was important that each shot we placed in Serif Movie X3 had the sound behind it removed. This meant that the music file we chose to use would be the only file heard.

Becoming familiar with using Serif Movie X3 allowed us to play around and experiment with the shots we have gained in order to improve our overall video. By slowing down the pace of some of the shots we were able to focus more attention on certain aspects of our video. We did this with the close up shots mostly as this focused attention on Alice's movements and decisions, such as having a slowed pace close up of the pills which Alice swallows, as this is a climaxing part of out music video. Slowing down the pace of some shots also improved the quality of our filming as the occasional shakes from us holding the camera were diminished which allowed the video the appear more professional. We used this effect throughout the video to gain suspense and tension.

Throughout the video we used either sharp cuts or cross fades as these are quick paced which link to the beat of our chosen song. The most successful cross fades are those which go from the starting shot to black and then to the following shot and this improves our overall continuity. We used this transition shot during the video between Alice being in the bathroom to her sitting on the bench waiting for her friend; continuity is clear here as the transitions link to the transitions in our locations.

As well as enabling us to change from scene to scene, using the cross fade technique allows us to create successful transitions from shot to shot in the same scene, such as when Alice is looking at her reflection in the mirror we wanted to allow the audience to see this in many different angles. We also used this when Alice steps into the bath as at first the audience can see a side shot of Alice and this cross fades to a mid shot and birds eye view.

These are some more screen shots which convey our use of the cross fade technique:

As our song choice focuses highly on Alice's fast paced decision making based on her turbulent emotions we felt it was necessary to produce a music video with fast paced cuts to different shots of Alice's face which convey her emotions. By allowing our shots to move quickly we can create tension within our music video and link it directly to the lyrics in our video. Quick cutting shots presents Alice as frustrated and a build up of urgency links well with our video and we felt that this would work well in our final product. 

One of our main problems during filming was the effect of using natural light within our video. As we did not have enough lightening equipment to produce a completely professional video we had to rely on the natural light entering the bathroom and re shoot thoroughly to make sure that the shots conveyed continuity. The screen shot below portrays a shot which was far too bright compared to the rest of our video:

In order to overcome this issue without re shooting the shot again we decided to experiment with some lighting effects on the shot to match them to the rest of the  video. By using a 'half an half grey scale effect' we were able to dim the lighting in this shot which allowed the shot to look similar to the rest we had previously filmed. 

This effect was extremely successful as by using 'half and half' we were able to match the shot to the rest of the scene and the use of effects was not obvious to the audience.

This effect has allowed us to convert the majority of our scenes to the same colour as external factors such as the sun going behind the clouds in our bench scene meant that it was near impossible for all of our shots to be exactly the same brightness. Due to the colours outside being varied compared to the bathroom we had to use another effect called 'brightness and control' on these shots to allow them to all look the same.

Instead of decreasing the brightness we decided to increase the contrast function which worked better. This can be seen in the shot below when Alice tries to hold Jessie's hand, this is a focal point in our video and so this shot needed to be good. By increasing the contrast to 20 we were able to adjust the natural lighting to one which worked best for our video, giving us a successful result. 

By linking all of our shots together it enabled us to create a good quality video, as if one section of our video did not flow with the rest it would evoke confusion from our target audience. By cutting from scene to scene in different locations such as the class room and bathroom scene we asked Alice to do the same movements with her hands in her hair to allow the audience to become aware of her distress and the actions conveyed continuity throughout our work.

By using quick cutting towards the end of the video we were able to focus the attention of the video on Alice's face and her inner emotions. By linking all of the scenes together at the end of the video we are conveying the story in a fast paced way to show how Alice's emotions has stayed the same throughout the whole of the video, we did this by cross fading and cutting each shot quickly.

Learning to use Serif Movie X3 has allowed us to create a successful, in our opinion, music video. Using several editing techniques which have been displayed in the above post has allowed us to understand the production element to real media products and appreciate the dedication it takes to create music videos.