Blog 7 - Copying an existing video

As a group we created a copy of the video for 'Teenage Dirtbag' by Wheatus. This involved analysis of each shot of the video in detail, enabling us to create an accurate reenactment. Each group was given a shooting script for different shots of the video. On this shooting script were details of; the shot type, description of action and camera movement/direction. we were also told to make notes on the different takes for each shot to state how successful they were.
During our first session of filming as a small group my role was the director. This included giving instructions to the camera man and the cast. From directing these shots I learnt how important it is to make sure everyone understands their role and that it is very important for people to communicate on set if they are unsure at any point what they are meant to be doing.

To create the remake video to the best of our abilities it was important to understand fully how all the camera equipment worked and how to utilise this best. This involved learning how to mount the camera using the tripod and make it stable. The tripod was useful when creating shots that involved a steady zoom, panning and tiliting. The tripods we used also had a spirit level on them which helped to get the camera exactly horizontal. Another important element was setting the white balance. As the shots we filmed were outside we set the camera to 'Daytime Filming', this avoided the footage having a blue tinge to it. By manually adjusting the exposure we were able to experiment with the shutter speed, apeture and gain. The composition we chose to use was a widescreen 16:9 ratio, this was recommended by our teacher as giving a more cinematic effect. We then applied the rule of thirds to this ratio when positioning the actors and extras.

An essential part in the planning of our music video will be the storyboard, we practised using this in the Wheatus video as shown here.

For our storyboard we will take photographs as apposed to drawing the shots. this is because if we were to draw stickmen it would not give a clear impression of how the frame should be composed or show the correct proportions.