Final Product

After the whole post production process, this is the final product we came up with:

Digipak and Advert - Penultimate Draft

Editing Process

We had to give real importance to the editing of our video because the look of our idea and theme would only be demonstrated if it was edited properly. We used Final Cut Pro to edit our video which we were all comfortable with using.

We first started of looking at all our footage to decide which shots were good and we could use, and those that we couldn't. As we were doing that, we also put markers on the shots so we knew which bits of the shot were useful. After doing all that which took up a lot of time, we finally began to cut the shots. It was quite intimidating at first because of the large number of shots that we had and because there was so much we could do with this video, we didn't know where to begin from. Also, we didn't have a standard format to follow with our video because it has no narrative element - it is solely performance. Anyway, the next step was to start to put our shots in sync with the music on the timeline which took up a lot of time because we had a lot of shots to sync up.

                                                    This is what the timeline looks like

We then started cutting the shots according to the music which was quite random. This was a big mistake because we starting losing focus and our video was turning out to be completely different to what we had in mind. We lost a lot of time because of this and we had to start from scratch after realising this. However, the new edit looked much better and it helped maintain our focus on bringing out the main idea of randomness in our video, yet letting us have new ideas that fit in our intentions as well. We started editing it on the beat and we used markers to help us mark the beat at times. The editing looked very snappy, which was what we were going for.

We carried on doing this for the entire video, often leaving gaps in the song which had bits that we didn't know how to work with. We decided to tackle those later on or after we got some ideas for it. Our video was becoming repetitive and we thought this was becoming an issue because the viewer would lose interest after a while. We then decided to cut one verse of the song to make it shorter so it wouldn't be as long and dragging. We also cut off a bit from the beginning which wouldn't match the editing style of our video and would give the viewer a different idea of the video than intended.

Our editing included a lot of cropping of shots which resulted in a lot of different black boxes that could be seen. After our edit, we moved the file to colour, where all these black shades could be turned to one single shade of black so that the boxes wouldn't be an issue. This was the last step to our edit. It was then uploaded to Youtube where it could be available for everyone to see.

Account of Shoot

Our shoot was on Friday 11^th November 2011. We had set up a day earlier, but we ended up changing the position of the band so we could benefit from better lighting. We didn’t much to set up in the first place because our set just consisted of the four band members and their instruments. We did, however have to collect and bring all the props from the off-campus storage to the cabins outside our set so they could be accessed during the shoot. Also, a lot of time was spent to arrange the lighting correctly which our video depended on. It was crucial to spend time on this because the camera would be in a fixed position the whole way through the shoot, which means that the lighting had to stay the same throughout.

This is the camera we used – the same one we shot our AS Thrillers on.

We started by shooting the wide shots of our band. The lights were synchronised and were placed on the perfect spots after spending a lot of shoot time to arrange this. We then proceeded with the single band member shots where the light was still.

Each of our band members played at all four different positions - front, back right and left. This is an example of our bassist who in this shot was playing on his left.

By the time we finished that, it was time for our lunch break. We were on schedule with our shots, so everything was pretty smooth. After that, we filmed all the shots we required with our props. We then ended by filming the close-ups of each of the band members in various different positions. We also filmed a few shots of the band members swapping instruments and playing each others’.

This is an example of our band members swapping roles and instruments.

All in all, we had a hassle-free shoot that ran pretty smoothly and thankfully we didn’t face any big challenges, other than synchronising the lights. We got all the shots we needed on time, and our band was well-prepared.

Preparation before our shoot

We had two weeks to prepare our shoot, which was very useful for us. We used our time to arrange props, rehearse our band and it gave us the flexibility to make last minute decisions. We ended up getting a lot of props that we hadn’t planned which was useful because our video depended on props and so, the more we had the better it would be.

We had to juggle this along with our band rehearsals, which was a challenge because they had very busy schedules and it was hard to get all of them to be present at the same time. Also, we needed permission to use the band room, which was only available during certain times. We ended up rehearsing each band member separately, which worked out perfectly fine and even though they didn’t rehearse as a group, it seemed like there wouldn’t be any problems.
We did, however have a big problem with our lead singer who didn't turn up to any rehearsals and was difficult to contact. George from our group then stepped in to play the part of the lead singer which we thought would turn out well since he already knew all the lyrics.

Digipak: First Draft

This is the first draft of our digipak

Final Cast List

Due to the busy period of our shoot, a lot of our cast backed out of acting in our music video. This was a problem because it was difficult to find appropriate cast that would suit the image of the band memeber we required. There was a shortage of people but we finally managed to have all four of our band members a week before our shoot.

This is the final cast:

Drummer: Jamie Parker
Bass Guitarist: Jim Troughton
Pianist: Ryan Heenan
Singer + Guitarist: Kyle Foreman 

All our cast members have the appropriate skills of the instrument they are required to play. This is the basis on which we decided to cast our band because it is vital to know how the play the instruments seeing as our video is performance based.

Shooting Schedule

Coming up with a shooting schedule is another task that is vital for the preproduction of our video. We need to realistically evauluate whether all our shots can be done on time and we needed to decide the most efficient order to shoot them in so as to not loose any time or miss out on important shots.

This is what we came up with. The shots towards the end are not vital to have in our video but we would choose to shoot them if we had more time. We placed them at the end because it wouldn't cause us a problem if they weren't i our video.

Wiriting to the record company

Part of the pre-production process of our video was to ask the record company of the band for permission to use the song we wanted to shoot our video for.

The record company for The Eels is Vagrant so one of my team members emailed them asking for permission.

Sourcing Props

Before our half term holidays, we made a list of all the props we needed and discussed how we would source them. Some of them could be arranged by the school and the remaining would be brought by us (the crew). This is the list we came up with after we divided up the required props.

Storyboard

One of the tasks we had to do as part of the pre-production process was to storyboard all the shots that we would have in our video. We did this by drawing each shot and writing other details, such as the length of the shot, the angle and a basic desciption of the shot. After that, we had to cut them out and stick them on a large white paper so we can film them in order to create our animatic.

One of the problems we faced was that we changed our idea after we drew all the storyboards. We therefore had to re-draw all our storyboards which was a time consuming process in order to create our new animatic.

These are some of the new storyboards we drew which didn't look as good as the first ones because they were done later and were a bit rushed because we had to finish our animatic on time.

Band Brand Image

The bands image is quite a “Geek Cheque” image with pastel coloured jeans, chinos or cords, geeky t-shirts and scuffed old trainers, bands that already exist like this are Eels, Weatus and Pavement. In terms of Dyer these guys would be a quiet clean group of guys with a geeky disposition, the sort of guys that are mates and have taken there friendship and produced a band from it. Despite there personalities they sing about a much more mature theme of career and life in general in baby loves me. They promote a there star image through there quirkiness and there appeal through there abnormal normality.

They would be considered a organic band through there naturalistic formation.

Costumes

The costumes we chose for the band members needed to decided based on the brand image we were going for. We decided to opt for a more simple look for the band following Dyer's theories of being present and absent at the same time. By having the band dressed normally, the target audience can relate to the band because they look similar to them.

The dress suit for the magician on the other hand, is part of the narrative element of our video and it brings Dyer's 'absent' theory into practice. One wouldn't normally see a band member acting in a dress suit and by doing so, the audience encounter an unrealistic side of things.

Mood Board

This is a basic mood board explaining what the theme of the video will look like

The cards in the mood board are part of the magician's act - he thumps on the card with his fist and then reveals the shattered heart print on the ace of hearts card. He will be dressed in a dress suit with a top hat which is the conventional look of a magician.
The hanging rope, knife and the poison are the props that will be used by the 'suicidal guy' in our video. He uses one at a time to try to kill himself however he seems to fail every time.
The desk lamp represents the main concept of our video - lights. We plan to use different sort of lights that will be coordinated at different times to reveal something unusual.

Cast List

When casting members of the band, we wanted to make sure they don't look to boyband-like which was a challenge because of the people available to choose from (they look quite boyband-like). We anyway managed to find people who when cast together will look quite different.
We had to come up with backups as well so that we were covered in case someone that we chose was taken.

Props List

This is the list of props that will need to be arranged for our video.

The instruments are pretty generic - they will be required for the performance element of our video.
The chair is needed for the performance and narrative element of our video. The singer will be sat on it at some points and it will also be used in conjunction with the table for the magician's sequence.
The hanging rope, poison bottle and knife will be used by one of the characters as suicidal weapons in attempt to kill himself.
The hat and the pack of playing cards are the magician's props which he will use for his magic sequence.
The M&M packets are a random prop that we might spread all over the piano which when shot with the light sequence, could potentially be a random and interesting shot.

Artist Brand Image - The Eels

The Eels is an alternative/indie rock band formed in America in 1995.
Singer and songwriter Mark Oliver Everett, also known as 'E' is known for his strange and often depressing lyrics. He is the permanent member of the band and brings in different collaborators for his compositions.This suggests that The Eels is a synthetically formed band. They are targetted towards a more niche market with their dark and possibly cult style of music however they have also had certain moments of mainstream fame.

 

How the video will appeal to a target audience

Researching Codes and Conventions of a Genre

The Eels are very diverse in terms of the genres of music they produce which makes it really hard to choose one specific type.

The song we've chosen for our pop video (baby loves me) is a sort of an electronic pop-rock genre.

It has a lot of electronic tunes in addition to the traditional rock genre instruments such as drums and guitar.

In terms of conventions, most of the videos of this genre have conceptual videos that are based around a specific theme, as opposed to having a narrative that is being told.

The official video of 'Baby Loves Me' plays on the concept of miniature places which are meant to look half real and half fake. This adds the strange and eerie sort of approach that such music opt for in their videos.

This is also shown in their video of Novocaine For The Soul - the main concept of the video is no gravity/flying. The band members float around in the air throughout the video portraying a sort of surreal, unusual and unique code for their music. They also pay close attention to the lyrics and they ensure that their concept ties in with the implications of their lyrics. They aren't too fancy when it comes to costumes, they keep it simple but instead focus on the high concept of the video itself.

Typical Member of Target Audience - The Eels

Typical audience member for music video on Prezi

Changing our idea

After we received some feedback for our idea, we tried to develop it further to try and make it more interesting. We thought of a couple more ideas that we could add to this, but ultimately we figured out that it would not work out because it would still be very simple resulting in an unentertaining final product.

We thought of different concepts and songs we could use and settled on the song 'Baby Loves Me' by The EEls. The concept we thought of was lights, and how light reveals something that you may not normally see.

This is our final idea, we simply need to develop it more in order for it to work. We even tested this lighting concept in the studio, which looked really good as long as the narrative/performance elements were figured out.

This is the song we chose:

Pitching our idea

On Friday 23rd, we pitched our idea to Luke. He thought that it was too simple and straighforward - a couple arguing and then getting back together - it was nothing out of the ordinary.
He said that we needed to come up with more exciting for it so that it doesn't seem too cheesy.

Choosing a final track

After everyone was done with their pitch, we were divided into groups. I'm in a group with Emma Styles and George Spooner.

We further developed each one's idea and after a lot of discussion, we decided to settle for George's idea.

His idea is of a man and woman going to troubles in their relationship, but eventually getting back together. This is also connected to a performance element where the main character (the man) is playing his guitar and singing at a bar.

This idea is for the acoustic version of the song Wheels by Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters.
There isn't an official video for this song which is a good thing for us.

Response to Initial Pitch

After my pitch, we had a feedback session from the people in my class. This was useful especially because they were part of the age group of the target audience that I had in mind.

In terms of the comic book themed idea, most of the people really liked it. They thought it was original and unique, however the technicals of animating the footage would need to be figured out.

These are some videos that I was suggested to watch. They have the same comic book theme that I would want for my video.

In terms of my multiple-narrative idea, it wasn't liked as much as the first one.
It sounded complicated, but mainly, it needed to be developed more. 

Pitching Initial Ideas

After coming up with our initial ideas, we had to do a powerpoint pitch to introduce them to other people in our class.
This is the presentation I put together:

Pop video pitch

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Initial Ideas

As the first step to coming up with ideas for our A2 Pop Video, I looked up different songs I would like to use for it. Not only do we have to like the song, we also have to make sure the video treatment for it is going to be different from the original one.

The initial idea I came up with was to have three different narratives that seem completely incoherent however towards the end of it, they all turn out to be linked.
The first narrative concept that I had was to have it set in a shelter in a war zone and perhaps have the start of a love story between a young boy and girl.
The second narrative was to have a man at a wedding altar, waiting for her fiancé to turn up.
The third narrative would include a man sitting on a bench in real time, while the background (maybe a street) behind him would be fast forwarded.
Towards the end of the video, we would find out that the people in all three narratives are the same, however they are in different stages of their life.

I really like the song Open Your Eyes by Snow Patrol, and I was keen on designing a video based on this song. The current video for this song is a footage from a French film called C'etait un Rendevous. It consists of a car driving around Paris throughout the song until a man comes out of his car to meet his girlfriend at the end of it.




The song Zombie by the Cranberries is another good one, however it didn't match the concept I had in mind and so it had to be ruled out eventually.



Another concept I had, was to have the whole music video in the theme of a comic book. Real characters could either be animated to look like a comic book character or the narrative could actually be a comic book film.

The song Bulletproof by La Roux would be a good song choice for this concept because it is quite upbeat, energetic and fun.
Their current video might be similar to the one I have in mind because it focuses around a unique visual concept - in this case the special effects with the maze-like set. However, the actual concept is different.

Keith Negus

Keith Negus on Prezi

Richard Dyer

Richard Dyer is a cinema theorist who came up with the concept of a star being a constructed image that behaves as a commodity that is produced and consumed based on its meaning. This image is constructed by record companies and are designed to appeal to a specific target audience.

Richard Dyer

A star is an image, not a real person, that is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (e.g. advertising, magazines, etc. as well as films (music)).
They are commodities produced and consumed on the strength of their meanings.
Their star image must be seen as fixed for an audience to identify with meanings contained within.

A star persona is a preferred 'constructed' image of HOW the star wishes to be seen; not their real personality.

It must also maintain some fluidity - as in the image must be able to shift within certain fixed parameters.
The image will reflect the expectations of the audience and should move within the times if the artist is to keep their popularity and credibility.
Once an image has been 'fixed', it is difficult to shift audience expectation - it may desirable for artist but not for the record company.

Another aspect of Dyer's theory is the concept of being present and absent at the same time. The star seems to be present with their audience for example, due to close ups of the star looking at the camera - it makes it seem like they are connecting with us. Also, we follow them on twitter, read articles of them in magazines and newspapers which keeps us updates about their lives.
However, we do ultimately know that they are not physically with us but we are inclined to know everything about them and we therefore 'feed' on their star image.

<include example - gaga?>

Dyer also talks about the idea of being ordinary and extraordinary at the same time, similar to the concept of absence and presence. The stars come across as ordinary, so that we as an audience can relate to them however they are extraordinary in the sense that their image is crafted to look the way it does.

<include example - adele> 

Analysing a Pop Video Product

In    this  essay    I    will    be    analysing    the   video   “Dynamite”  by  Taio  Cruz  who  is  an   English    R&B   singer.  

    

The  image  that  Taio  Cruz  has  managed  to  put  across  through  this  video  is  that  of  a    conventional  womanizer,    which  is  common  among  R&B  stars.  His  masculine  character  is    shown  in  many  ways:  Firstly,  his  opening  shot  in  this  video  is  of  him    riding  a  motorbike.    He  then  takes  his  helmet  off  and  puts  on  some  sunglasses.  These  objects  are  associated    with  power  and  masculinity,    thus  establishing    Taio’s  manly  character  portrayal.    In  terms    of  editing,  the  juxtaposition  of  the   BMW  symbol  on  his  motorbike  reinforces  this    masculine  stereotype.  

There  are  a  lot  of  women  in  this  video  who  are  dressed  in  skimpy  outfits  

establishing  a  sexualised  representation  of  them    and  reinforcing  Taio’s  

‘womanizer’  image.  There  are  a  lot  of  close  ups  of  the  women’s  bodies  drawing    

attention    to  this  portrayal.      

Taio’s  image  is  carried  on  throughout  the  video  in  various  ways:  he  performs  stunts    on    his    bike,  he  performs  on  a  stage  with  fire  blowing  around  him,  he   always  walks  in  front  of  all    the  women  and  he  is  given  the  most  privilege.  Also,  he’s  almost  always  placed  at  a  very  low    angle  putting  him    in  a  high  ‘star’  status  in  comparison  to  the  women  where  the  attention  is    drawn  mainly  on  their  bodies.  

    

This    song    falls    into    the    R&B  category     and    the    video   is   quite   conventional  in   the    sense  that  it  portrays  Taio  Cruz  as  a  manly  figure  that  the  audience  of  this  product    will    look   up    to    as  an    idol    and  star.  It  doesn’t  challenge  the  norms  in  any  way  since  the    main  element  is  the  performance  element,  which  is  done  in  a  style  that    adds  to  his  image    that  conforms  to  the  generics.  

    

This  video  would  be  aimed  at  teenagers  (mainly  male)  who  would  look  up  to  his    masculinity  and  maybe  even  wish  to  be  like  him.  The  sexual  content  is  done  in  a  rather    safe  way,  making  it  available  to  the  young  teenage  audience  as  well,  thus  widening    the    target    audience.  

Researching the Prelim Video Artists

Since we had no experience of shooting a video for a song of this genre and the band didn't have many other videos from where we could understand the style and themes for what the video should look like, we decided to research similar bands (in terms of song genres) as part of our planning.

We looked at bands such as Green Day and watched the different sort of camera shots and performance elements they had.

We quite liked the editing and shot types that Green Day had in their American Idiot video. This gave us an idea of the kind of snappy editing the video should have so that it fits the band's star image. However, due to the time restrictions we had, we couldn't capture the ambitious shots that are found in this video. We instead did multiple steady shots which were easy to film and edit for our situation.



In addition to that, we also looked at the band's myspace, twitter and facebook accounts to get a better idea of their star image.

Music Video Analysis - Star Image

Star Image analysis

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Evaluation of Pop Promo Prelim

For our A2 Prelim task, we had to shoot a video for a band called Acres of Life. The song we shot was called Doc Vs Cupid.

We had a very restricted time limit for this project and so we opted for multiple steady shots since it would otherwise be very time consuming. It would also be easier to edit seeing as it was a video for a band (quick, snappy editing would work best) and such shots would be the best to work with. We started off with a wide shot followed by a midshot and a close up of the lead singer. This was the most convenient order to film in since it required the least amount of movement of the equipment. We them moved on to the midshot and close up of the guitarist followed by the same for the drummer. Since we were in a good position in terms of time, we decided to do the slightly more ambitious high angle shot of the drummer. Finally, we ended by getting the last shots of the bassist.
I think the shots worked quite well given the time limit we had and we knew that we could make the final product look good after the editing process.

There were four main jobs in this project (cameraperson, director, playback and assisstant) and we all had a decent amount of time at all those four positions. The cameraperson operated the camera based on the director's instructions, the director framed the shot by watching the large screen and also shouted out the directions (standby, roll camera, playback, action, cut). The person doing the playback was in charge of playing and pausing the music according to the director's instructions. They would shout "playback in 3,2,1" before playing the track to give the  band and the director a cue to start. The assisstant's job was to help the director and move the camera around from one place to another. He/She would also make sure everything was in order.
We worked well in terms of a team: our planning was good and when it came to the shoot we all worked as planned. We listened to the director at the time and responded well to their directions. We communicated well.

Because we were the last group, we had the least amount of time to edit. This did pressurise us slightly since the other groups were done and the style of editing for this project was slightly different and it took us a while to get the hang of it. However once we did, we got on with the editing rather well and we were quite happy with the final product. Having said that, if we had more time we would've worked more on the editing and it could've possibly improved the final product.

The way we edited this sequence was different from the way we did our thriller: for this project, we laid out all the usefull shots/footage on top of each other on the timeline. They were all synched with the song and we then cut bits of shots from each of those footage sequences and used it for our final project. Also, we chose the shots sensibly since our bit of the song involved a guitar and drum solo and we had to draw significance to them without having the shots too long. We then added in extreme close ups of the drumsticks and guitar strings.

This song would be part of the emo/rock/scream genre and since it had a high tempo, we decided that the appropriate mood would be created if we had lots of cuts which would work with the high tempo of the song.

We made the visuals match the right beats and characters of the band: as I mention before we had a guitar and drum solo in our bit of the track and we matched their close ups appropriately to the point in the track. We alse ensured that it was perfectly in sync.

We can assume the target audience of this song to be teenagers and fans of the emo/rock music genre and in terms of audience appeal, the video fits the song perfectly and so would appeal to this target audience.

This what the final product looks like. We shot and edited the last 59 seconds.

Audience Feedback

After our Thriller sequence was complete, it was uploaded onto Youtube for public viewing. We could then share the link with friends and family which allowed us to collect some feedback.

We got mixed reviews: some people found it too complex and incoherent and therefore couldn't understand it. Others said it was very captivating and grasping and kept them entertained throughout.

Also, a very common feature that the majority of our audience enjoyed was the special effect where a title was blown off with the smoke.

We also constructed a questionnaire that we gave out to people to fill out immediately after the first viewing to gather some quantitative and qualitative data.

These are some of the questions that were included in them:

- I found the sequence: a: clever b: interesting c: confusing d: strange

- The special effects were: a: very well done b: alright c: too much d: annoying
- The music was: a: captivating b: annoying c: interesting d: asynchronous
- Did you find the sequence thrilling/scaring? Yes/No
- Would you watch the rest of the film if it was made? Yes/No
- What did you most enjoy about the thriller sequence?

Our sample population consisted of 35 people.

These are some of the statistics we gathered from the quantitative questions:

41% of the sample found the sequence 'interesting'

32% of the sample found the sequence 'confusing'

19% of the sample found the sequence 'clever'

8% of the sample found the sequence 'strange'

59% of the sample found the special effects 'very well done'

36% of the sample found the special effects 'too much'

5% of the sample found the special effects 'annoying'

42% of the sample found the music 'captivating'

23%of the sample found the music 'interesting'

19%of the sample found the music 'annoying'

16% of the sample found the music 'asynchronous'

73% of the sample found the sequence thrilling/scary

27% of the sample did not find the sequence thrilling/scary

71% of the sample would watch the film if it was made

29% of the sample would not watch the film if it was made

These are some of the qualitative data we gathered from our questionnaire:#

'What did you most enjoy about the sequence?'

- music, special effects, smoke, backgroud score, idea, handwritten bits, colours, theme.

Getting audience feedback helped us understand how successful we were at reaching out to our audience.

Task 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Looking back at my preliminary task, I can confidently say that I have developed my knowledge and understanding in the creation of a media product - in all aspects: planning, filmmaking, use of camera, sound and post production.

Obviously since this was a more important task in comparison to the preliminary task, we had to put in much more time and effort in the planning of 'Askew'. We weren't given storyboards, dialogues or any other details for that matter, we were simply told about the basic requirements: an opening sequence for a thriller film of up to two minutes. We had to do our own research to see what thriller opening sequences are like, so that we would have a basic idea of what the final product should seem like. We also had several options within the thriller genre to choose from; such as horror, narrative, thematic, etc. and after we had looked at all these different areas, we opted for a thematic opening sequence. In terms of arrangements, we also had to go more in depth. We got to choose our own shoot locations and so we also had to arrange the required props, actors, design a set, plan all the shots, etc. - something we hadn't done in our prelim task.

 In terms of film-making, again, more time, planning and thinking was required to be put in so that our sequence would have to visual intentions we wanted it to have. We chose to make the sequence a thematic one, therefore we had to focus on details, especially in terms of mise-en-scene. Every little thing that would be seen, or not seen, adds to a specific meaning, or feeling that would affect the audiences' interpretation upon the viewing of the final product. Details such as the mouse, was one of the shots we spent most of our times arranging. One thing I learnt was that it is important for the shot to be logistically possible and realistic so that the shot works out. We suffered in the case of the mouse, since the shot we had in mind didn't work out due to technical issues that we hadn't kept in mind (the camera could not zoom in beyond a certain point). Due to this, we had to change the shot on the day, and luckily, with the aid of post-production, we managed to make the shot look good in the final product.

Use of camera was another aspect in which we could spend lots of time on, especially since we had access to better equipment such as the genie, tracks, etc. We learned how to do focus pulls during a tracking shot, which took quite a long time to get right.

We also focused on details while framing the shot, in oder to bring about the correct intentions. This required us to place the objects in terms of rule of thirds in addition to making sure it was well lit. 

One of the shots that look us a long time to finally get right was the fruit bowl shots. Not only was it just a tracking shot, it also included a focus pull in between. We made small marks on the camera using a special kind of chalk in order to mark the positions of the focus ring at which the focus pull had to be made. The main challenged we faced was that the shot wasn't smooth - we assume this was due to some mishap of the wheels on the tripod which made the shot jerky. Another challenge was to place all the rotten fruit in the exact same position as the fresh fruit in order for the shot to work in terms of continuity. The rotten fruits were much smaller in size and so arranging them took us some time to master - we also had to add in pieces of tissue to make the fruit bowl look right.

In terms of sound, we had to tackle a completely different skill since we used dialogue that was recorded from the build-in microphone of the camera in our prelim task and decided to compose a soundtrack based on the events of the sequence for 'Askew'. We had to learn how to use Sound Track Pro, which is a great software for sound composing and mixing. We layered the voiceovers (that we recorded along in the recording studio) with ambient music and heartbeat sounds that were in the Sound Track Pro sound beds. 

Our sequence heavily depended on Adobe After Effects, which is quite an overwhelming yet extremely powerful software for adding the special effects to any video. It works in a very similar way to Adobe Photoshop, the only difference is that it is for motion instead of pictures.
We had used Final Cut before in our prelim task, however we were completely alien to After Effects. After spending our time and patience on it, we got the hang of it and played around to see what we could add to our sequence. We added in smoke, the journal entries that we had handwritten, different textured layers and we played around with colours. We found that After Effects changed the outlook of our final product and made it look like a complete polished media product.