​Preliminary Task
​Lip Sync Practice Task
Our first preliminary task that started the Advanced Portfolio course is the lip sync task. This is a task where we worked as a group of 3 to produce a lip sync video of a random chosen song. The main objective of the task is for us to determine the difficulties that may come up while doing the music video, especially with lip syncing. Through the task, I realized how challenging lip syncing is as it always has to be clear and matched with the song played beneath. Lip syncing is a freshly new field for me therefore having an opportunity to do this project enhances my knowledge in the production of music and my current capability in different media texts.
What went well:
-
Good range of camera shots
-
Editing and lip sync matched the song’s lyrics and rhythm
Improvement:
-
Can used a more creative and diverse type of camera angles
-
Lip sync can be clearer as currently it’s not obvious that the singers are singing
-
Adjust better and more uniform colour filter
During the production, our group had to film several times because it’s quite hard to balance between managing your facial expression and still remembering the lyrics. Furthermore, the idea of finding different locations and setting is also challenging as at that moment, we weren’t sure which type of setting would be the most suitable for the song. To prevent any unexpected events, we also filmed a surplus of shots in order to prevent the chance of losing footage. However, despite these difficulties, editing is the most overwhelming part to me as we had to ensure that the lip sync of singers is definitely matched with the playing lyrics beneath. I spent a certain amount of hours on the editing part of the video, which I believe that is everyone’s case.
Campus - Vampire Weeknd
This is another task that I did in a group of two people. After the lip syncing project, this next project can be seen as a more advanced version where we have to combine most of the theories from Andrew Goodwin’s music theory. With this task, we as a group have to produce a basic music video from the song ‘Campus’ of Vampire Weeknd. We have to show clear links between music and visual, lyrics and visual as well as a combination of performance and narrative music style. Our teacher gave us a 50 second part and asked us to make our own version of the music video. She chose this song because it doesn’t have an official music video, meaning that there would not be a certain standard for our music video. In contrast to the others, our group decided not to make the video fully based on the lyrics as our peers. We decided to develop a specific story along the song but the camera shots and editing still matched the song’s beat.
Regarding the existing challenges, we changed our ideas at the very end of the time so everything including the filming production is quite rushed. The rushness limited our capability and potential to produce an even better version. Furthermore, in the video, we also used the technique of whip pan for the fast-paced beats. However, due to the lack of experience and skills, we hadn’t made use of the tripod and hadn’t moved the camera fast enough to be completely matched with the beat. Additionally, in the editing parts, I found it quite hard to create a uniform color filter for all of the shots as each shot has a different lighting so in the future, I may have to enhance my color shading skills. Finally, one of the most common problems that I always try to avoid is the issue of lacking footage. It’s absolutely hard to match existing footage with a newly filmed one so in every production, I always try to take a certain extra number of shots to prevent unexpected occurrences.
What went well:
-
Various range of camera shots and techniques (whip pan, pan…)
-
Creative style of editing
-
Good acting from the actor
-
Distinct narrative style
Improvement:
-
Various range of camera shots and techniques (whip pan, pan…)
-
Creative style of editing
-
Good acting from the actor
-
Distinct narrative style