Introduction

My name is Thakshana Yogeswaran and I am a media student at The Latymer School. My candidate number is 9179.

I am working in Group 3 with Gift Emesi (9044), Angela Chen (9025) and Monica Aghadiuno (9365)

In order to view my work please click on the 3 labels on the right named A2 Research and Planning, A2 Construction and A2 evaluation.

Group 3 - Music Video

Inside Panels

Inside Panels
Our Digipack, top left - back, top right - front, bottom left - inside panel, bottom right - inside panel (CD)
This is a link to our website, click the image above to enter our site

Saturday 18 July 2015

1. Did you enjoy the main workshop day? What role(s) did you take and what did you learn? What were your best bits and why?

I really enjoyed the workshop day as it was a new experience for everyone and everyone was really enthusiastic about the music video remake which made the experience a whole lot more enjoyable.


These are pictures from our rehearsals. 





I played the role of the lead guitarist in this video and I was kind of uncomfortable at first because I personally am not used to being in front of the camera. However, as the days progressed it became a lot easier as everyone was so encouraging and by the main shoot day it was all okay. Jasmine and Tash, our performance directors, really pushed to get the best out of us and they helped us come out of our shell and be able to perform.







Our set was already pre-made for us with the word 'RIOT' everywhere, just like in the actual music video. We also had a monitor set up where Dom, our director, could watch the shots as they were being filmed and also watch it back to see what we needed to improve/fix.




Jack was our cameraman and he needed our help with cable bashing and also pushing the dolly around on the track. We all took turns to do it and it was definitely tiring work but it was also fun. It also gave me an opportunity to speak to Jack about his profession and how he got into what he's doing now. It was very interesting to hear about another persons career path and it was also quite inspiring.







Above are pictures showing the shoot day.

The best parts of it were definitely performing but also encouraging our peers whilst they were on stage doing their thing. It was amazing to see us come together and really boost each others confidence and help each overcome the fears related to performing and being in front of a camera. Our crew were also so lovely to us which made the whole experience worthwhile and also amazing.

Below is a behind the scenes video that was shot on our workshop day which showcases how much fun and also how much effort we all put into it.


Friday 17 July 2015

2. What have you learnt from participating in each prelim task 1,2,3 and 5?

I have learnt an array of different things whilst doing tasks 1,2,3 and 5.

Task 1: Audition Video 


Above, is the audition video that Angela, Iggy and I filmed for the casting of our music video remake. This was a new and nerve-wrecking experience for me because I'm not used to being in front of the camera. We took a few takes of this and the first take I was really embarrassed and wasn't really giving it my all. However, Angela and Iggy really pushed me and encouraged me and I ended up actually enjoying myself. It also allowed us to get a feel for performing and also encouraged us to learn the lyrics.

Task 2: Learn and Practice Your Performance

The next task was to learn our specific roles and then practice them so that we knew what we were doing when it came to the shoot day. 



We had scheduled rehearsal sessions after school from Monday through to Thursday to ensure that we were fully prepped for Friday. I learnt that warming up before every performance/practice  session was vital as you can seriously pull a muscle/cause harm to yourself if your body isn't fully warmed up and ready to work.

The hardest part of the whole music video to practice and execute was definitely the massive knee slide that the lead guitarist does in the video. It took a while to learn and it was also quite painful when the attempts went wrong, but in the end I managed it with the help of Jasmine and Tash. There was also a bit in the music video where it was focused on the guitarist and his solo. This was also a difficult part to learn but overall, I think it all went pretty well.



Task 3: Help to Plan and Organise Your Costume 

Finding costumes for everyone was definitely a challenge. We all had to bring in clothes that we thought were appropriate from home and had a massive session with everyone there where we picked out our costume from a whole pile of possibilities. However, we didn't always get it right the first time around. For example, I initially picked out a costume after liaising with the teachers which we thought would look quite good. However, this costume didn't really look 'rock chick' enough so we decided to change it. In the end, we found a better alternative to the costume before and it definitely looked a whole lot better.

Costume before - orange vest top, black
ribbed skirt and black tights with black
trainers. 
Costumer after - Bright orange crop top,
black vest underneath, black leather skirt
and black tights.




















Task 5: Editing

Editing was definitely the hardest part of this whole project. We used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit it and we used layering on multi-tracks to make it easier for us to sync the video to the music and also cut up the shots as needed. It was difficult trying to get shot for shot match on these but Angela and I definitely tried our best to match the original shot as close as possible. As you can see above, the shot in the bottom right hand corner is the original shot and the shot in the center is the one we filmed and cut in. They both match pretty well. Below is another shot where we were able to get a pretty good match. However, this wasn't possible for all shots and eventually we had to learn to be creative and accept that not every shot will match perfectly.














Editing was very time-consuming and laborious and at times it was hard to carry on but we pushed through and managed to finish it. I also learnt how to grade and correct shots to adjust the lighting, brightness and contrast in order to match the original shots more perfectly. This was a hard and enduring task but it was still a lot of fun and the satisfaction after fully grading one shot was very pleasant. Adding the flashes and high exposure shots was definitely challenging as well but it helped bring the video together and adding them definitely made the video look complete as well.






Overall, this whole project has been a huge learning experience for me and I found myself really enjoying and now missing this whole thing. I learnt how to perform, get over my camera shyness, encourage, how to grade and also how to persevere through tough situations.

Thursday 16 July 2015

3. Are you pleased with you footage and your finished edit? Is it how you expected it to look? What works really well and what would you change?

I was actually pleasantly surprised when we viewed the footage after our shoot day. It was a lot better than I originally expected because during the day it's hard to tell whether or not all the shots have been covered and if we've got all the footage needed to create a decent music video.

Below is our finished music video remake:



Although our finished edit took a while to finish, I feel that it looks quite good and once we added all the grading, flashes and high exposure shots the video just came to life. I am so pleased with how it turned out but it was definitely a struggle to get there. It looks a lot better than I expected as well for sure. I didn't know at the start that this project would be as good as it was and the final outcome made it all worth it.

Angela and I spent quite a while trying to grade the shots according to the reference that we had from the original video but at times we couldn't get an exact match which was quite frustrating but it also gave us the opportunity to make creative decisions about what we should do with the shot to make it look good. This was quite a fun task as you watch a shot go from quite a flat, normal shot to something with life.

Here is an example of one of our flashes:



I feel like the way we cut the shots and the sync with the music worked really well as if you watch the original and then our take on the video it should look pretty similar and the words she's singing match pretty well with the song and the lyrics. The grading process, I feel, was also quite successful.

Here is an example of one of our graded shots of the guitarist:


Here's an example of another one of our flashes:


If we had the opportunity to do this again I would definitely film the shot where the lead guitarist kicks over the drum kit as it would've matched so well with the original video and also would've been a lot of fun to film.
Obviously, we didn't get the opportunity to do this as we were using the school's drum kit and also health and safety issues. I would've also liked a bit more time to edit so that we could've fine tuned certain shots to make it as close to the original as possible. Also, in the video they use the lights overhead to do some of the flashes and I feel if we had done that, it would've been a little bit easier on us and also looked a bit better.

However, having said that, I'm really proud and happy with our final outcome and feel like the time and effort we dedicated to this project really shows through.

Wednesday 15 July 2015

4. How do you think your prelim experience will impact on your approach to next term's music video coursework?

I think this prelim experience will have a huge impact on my approach to next term's music video as I have learnt some invaluable lessons from completing this task

Here is what I have learnt and how it will impact next years project:

  • Timekeeping is very very crucial, especially on your shoot day. I learnt that you have to stick to a very tight schedule with all your shot and timings written down so that both the cast and crew know exactly when and where to be. It also ensures that things don't run behind so that we can get all the shots necessary in time and not rush towards the end and miss shots out. 

  • We also had a call sheet which was also important so that we knew what time we had to be in and what time each rotation started. 

  • I didn't realise just how much time, effort and dedication this project requires especially since we have to do it all ourselves next year. This prelim task really prepares you for this and you know how efficient and organised you have to be next year in order to produce a good music video. 
  • Sticking to your edit schedule and getting as much of it done early on really helps because then you have more time to add creative touches to your shots and it also means you're not rushing towards the end
  • Being organised and punctual is essential. If we're unorganised then it will have huge, negative impacts on our project. 
This prelim task has also made me appreciate all the hard work that our teachers and crew members put in to make this task a success for us.

Here is a time-lapse video of our shoot day which showcases just how much work is required to make a project successful: