Our first video project in 2018 was to find a music video we liked, and then recreate it to the best of our abilities. It was a group project, so everyone had a specific role to focus on. I was appointed as the editor, but I ended up doing a couple of other odd jobs along the way (such as storyboarding, holding onto the camera+tripod until the filming date, even being in the video itself).
Getting Started
Before we could even think about filming, we had to choose a music video to replicate. There were a lot of good options that we came up with before we ended up choosing Try by Colbie Caillat. The first thing we had to do was create a beat sheet, which was basically just a sheet of paper with all the necessary information regarding the video and song, such as publisher and release date.
After that came the film scape -- which is a selection of possible props, backgrounds, etc... which we didn't necessarily have to do since all we needed was a white background. Next in line was storyboarding, which I ended up doing because I am (somewhat) good at drawing, and was willing to draw as much as I did to complete the storyboard. It was five pages of different angles, zooms, and facial expressions which we didn't even end up using since we forgot to bring it on filming day. Worth it? Absolutely.
Filming
Since the video features many people of different appearance, we ended up asking some friends to volunteer in the filming. All they had to do was put on a white t-shirt and some makeup, lip sync, take off the makeup, and lip sync again. Easy!
I will admit that I was a little shaken up by the thought of spending a few hours or more filming with people I either barely knew at best, or who were complete strangers at worst, alongside a sudden schedule change. I'll admit it was a little silly to get so worked up over, and deep down I knew everything was going to be okay, but my dormant chronic social awkwardness was telling me otherwise.
My fears were dashed entirely as soon as I set foot in our art director's house (where we were filming). Everyone we were working with was friendly and cooperative, and we ended up having a lot of fun filming everything! Since we were short a few people, both the director and art director (named Jess and Jessica respectively) had to step in and be in the video as well. I wasn't planning on being in the video unless it was absolutely necessary... and, as fate would have it, I ended up being filmed for the video as well. It wasn't hard at all -- I brought my own white shirt to use in advance, let one of the other girls put makeup on me (which was awkward since I don't wear any makeup aside from chapstick, and eyebrow pencil if I'm feeling up to it), and lip-synced a couple parts of the song. Remembering the lyrics wasn't a hassle at all, since I had heard the song so many times at that point that the lyrics were basically drilled into my skull. After a few hours of filming, impromptu makeup sessions, and awkward lip sync, we were done and ready to edit!
Well, not yet. We ended up leaving the equipment at Jessica's house, so that she could film another friend in order to accommodate for the lack of people, which was still in the way despite our last minute fill-ins. These later clips were harder to work with due to a difference in white-balancing, but it was easily fixed during editing.
Editing and Exporting
As the main editor of the video, I got to work saving clips and audio as soon as I walked into class that day. There were a lot of clips to work around, including some we couldn't use in our main video, so just saving everything from the SD card to a separate folder consumed a whole day of our time.
Since I wanted the final product to look as much like the actual video as possible, I did my best to make the lip sync in our clips match up to the song, along with cuts to other people in lines to keep the video from going stale. After the opening verse and chorus, there was a short instrumental break that was perfect for some makeup removal filler, followed by another verse and chorus plus instrumental filler. Since we didn't have enough footage to make the whole video (and also because frankly, I was getting tired of editing at that point), we cut out the final verse and did our best to mask the sudden transition between the instrumental break and the final verse.
Throughout the entire editing process, I had to keep continuity in mind. I couldn't use clips of people with makeup after showing them removing it, and vice versa with using people without makeup before showing them with it on. The lack of clips remained an issue through to the end, necessitating some clip-stretching and slowing in order to fill larger gaps.
Editing was still fun and manageable, and we were able to finish editing the video before the deadline and export it for all to see.
Conclusion
This project taught me many things -- refreshers on storyboarding, working with general video equipment, and everything few and far between. The main thing I learned, however, was in regards to working with a group. Setting dates that would work with everyone's schedule, working with each other during filming and editing, agreeing on decisions made by part of the group, and generally making sure that everyone was working together as a team and not on their own without other members' consent. There is no "I" in "team", after all.
If I did this project again, I'd obviously gather more varied footage to keep everything fresh, along with more footage of people lip-syncing in general so that we don't run short. A possible solution would be to film everyone in three parts- one run of the whole song with and without makeup, and removal filler.
In editing, I'd pay more attention to color correction and syncing so that everything runs smoothly. I'd also do a better job masking the cut in the audio so it sounds more natural.
Overall, the project went very well and I'm pleased with the final product. And I hope you'll like it too.
Until next time,
Tate
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