At the beginning of fourth year I
had only created two videos previously; a title sequence in second year and an
experimental video in third year which was the inspiration for this project. It
was a risk taking on a video based project for fourth year having very little
experience but I knew that video production was what I wanted to do as future
career- and still do. The experimental video in third year was the first module
out of the three years that I genuinely passionate about and it didn't feel
like work, I enjoyed every part of the process, from the concept, pre
production, filming and editing.
Filming and cinematography
When I started fourth year, my
videos were below average in regards to understanding how to make an
interesting and engaging video. I have experimented and therefore learned about
the power in using different camera shot/ angles, camera movement, location,
composition, lighting etc. These techniques developed naturally through
comparing my videos to videos that I watch and artists work that I was looking
into for the literature review. An example of one of my videos that didn’t have
enough location, camera angles, movement and well lit is “Dee and Scope- I’m
done”. This was through lack of time as the two boys lived in Glasgow and so I
only had one day to shoot everything for the video. This put a cap on how much
I could capture and if I had more time I would have taken more time to light
the green screen better so it would have been easier to edit, I would have shot
at least another 2 more locations and used a dolly for camera movement.
Learning how to set up my camera
and how to prepare for a shoot has also been important. I have learned to take
more time finding the right composition in the shot and not rushing into
filming.
Premier Pro and After Effects
When I first started fourth year,
I had never even opened Premiere Pro or After Effects. I feel that my editing skills have been the
most significant and greatest learning curve. I used to have to google “how to
cut a clip in premiere pro” which was soul destroying and frustrating. But
through trial and error and the help of tutorials I have came out the other end
with a vast knowledge of both. Through learning the software from scratch I am
most importantly efficient with time. I don’t have to spend hours trying to
figure how to do something and because of that I can get more done.
Understanding and learning the software has improved the quality of my footage
and I now understand the techniques that can be applied to raw footage to adjust
to make more professional and of a greater quality. As Colour is an important
part of my project it was very important to understand how to alter and control
colour within my videos.
The Construction of videos
Doing “Visual music” as my
project has made me significantly more aware of music and the power it can
have. When exploring the field of visual
music, I very quickly became aware that it was not just artists who specified
specifically in visual music but that the relationship between music and
visuals is everywhere from music videos, tv adverts, installations, title
sequences, live performances etc. Having
this in depth knowledge of visuals and music will hopefully improve the way in
which I construct visuals in future and I will never throw in a piece of music
at the end without putting considerable though as to how the aesthetics of the
two work together.
What can I take away for my project “Visualising Music”?
Not only have I learned a
significant amount about the history, current artists and the construction of
visuals for visualising music. I have a great knowledge about the relationship
that visuals and music have together which I hope will give me a great
advantage when going into video production. I have learned so many transferable
skills that can be applied to any future jobs.
Musical and visual
characteristics have taught me so many valuable lessons from timing, dynamics,
repetition, rhythm, tone etc. All these characteristics can be used in any
video and by learning significantly about how to use them and how to reflect on
the music I have taken on a whole new outlook on constructing my videos.
One of the best personal outcomes
from this project is being able to critically evaluate and analyse my own work
through the development of the critical framework which assessed the case
studies , practise based research and finally my own work.
What could I learn in the
future?
Even though my editing skills have gone from basically
nonexistent to being able to edit confidently and efficiently I still have a
lot more I can learn to produce higher standard and more professional videos. In regards to filming and cinematography,
camera movement has been my weakest area but that has more to do with the
equipment than my ability to do it. I plan on buying a dolly for my tripod
which will give me freer and smoother movements.
Finally, I am very proud of what I have learned in the span
of 9 months. This project has produced my biggest learning curve in video
production to date and with further development, learning and the right guidance
I will hopefully achieve in getting a job that I want.
