Reflections On The Directors Challenge

• We learnt how to use final cut and get to grips with the different tools and options whilst editing our video.
• We learnt about researching conventions of a specific director to figure out their specific style.
• To analyse at least 10 videos of a genre/director/artist in order to get a good idea of the specific conventions they use.
• To do further reading into the genre/director such as reading books or articles online about the videos Rather than only watching the music video.
• The ability to adapt and be flexible when it comes to filming as the conditions may not be as planned or you may not be able to get the initial cast you had planned. 
• Organising people for the shoot and the different roles they will take part in such as acting/filming/directing.

Directors Challenge Video

Here is our video for the directors challenge, it took us about 40 minutes to film and a couple of lessons to edit. This is also the footage we are going to use to show the year 12's how to use Final cut pro X. The idea of the video was to try and replicate the style of Chris Cunnigham.

Year 12 Final Cut Pro X Introduction

Finding Final Cut Pro X

Uploading Footage

Extracting Audio

Basic tools

Using the Blade Tool

Managing Layers

Selecting Clips

Transitions

Effects - Audio and Visual

Naming

Saving

Zoom Slider

Rendering

Exporting

Cropping

Panning

Key Frames

Layers

Compounding Clips

Preview Window

Speed

Reversing Clips 

Eg. Video 10: Alt-J - Breezeblocks

Song: Breezeblocks
Artist: Alt-J
Director: Ellis Bahl
Year: 2012
Genre: Alternative





I chose this video to analyse because of the recent directors challenge, a few of the elements of this video link into the style of Chris Cunningham. The video is interesting because the whole of the video is played backwards and in slow motion. It's narrative depicts a fight between two people which ends up in one of them being drowned in the bath.

The video has a dark theme and this is emphasised my the blue colour correction applied which gives a cold feeling to the video which is in fitting with the song and style of the video. The video uses simple jump cuts throughout and the speed of the takes is generally slow paced fitting with the slow motion. There are lots of shots which used interesting framing as well as multiple cut away shots. 

If the song wasn't reversed and slowed down the editing style would be continuity, however due to the reversing of the video it means the audience is continually trying to figure out what's going on using a narrative enigma.This video is dissimilar to the genre as it features no performance footage however the closed narrative does fit in with the song. I think the video is effective in putting across the mood of the song and well done.

Editing The Directors Challenge

We decided to cut to the beat in our edit for Brown Paper Bag because it is a fast paced song with and we wanted to keep it in fitting with the directors challenge. We did this and increased shot variation by adding jump cuts, always going back to the same framing every other shot.

We added a fisheye effect to one of the clips because it is a convention used in music videos when a person leans in towards the camera. It was easy to access using the search bar in the effects tab and add to our video. We also played around with the speeds and played some shots in reverse. This fitted well with the music and made the video more engaging whilst keeping the video in the style of the director.

The lighting wasnt very interesting and didn't reflect the style of Chris Cunningham, so we changed this in Final Cut Pro X using effects. We added a night vision effect to one clip and changed colours and lighting to some others to add to the impact of the video and reflect the style of Cunningham more. 

There are more effects on Final Cut Pro X and they are easier to find and apply than in Final Cut Express or iMovie. You can also change the settings of each individual effect which means we can change the intensity of an effect on a clip and other settings. This means that we can easily add selective effects to our footage which would be especially useful in pop videos or metal where you want to create a certain mood.

Final Cut Pro X - Initial Thoughts

Today we took our first look at final cut pro x, I was immediately impressed with the speed of the software and the more user friendly interface in comparison to the previous version of final cut. The lack of constant rendering made it a lot quicker to edit clips together and play them back.

 I also liked the way you can apply transitions and effects to your clips by simply dragging and dropping your desired effect onto the clip you want, there is also a preview box meaning you can see what the effect will look like before you apply it. You can also compound clips together to avoid timeline clutter and this allows you to apply effects to multiple clips.

I found most things pretty easily and the software is very user friendly allowing you to import clips from iMovie or regular video files. Also quick short cuts allowed me to split clips quickly and rearrange then as I please. In comparison to Final cut express, this version  is faster, easier to use and allows for a quicker workflow. 

Directors Challenge Video Idea

My idea for the direcors challenge is for the song 'No Cars Go' By Arcade Fire. The song currently doesn't have an official muisc video for it.



My idea for the video is:

• Opening shot in slow motion of a car driving down a road similar to that in 'California' by Wax
• The shot then cuts to the drum beat of the different scenery around Ilkley, just outside school
• Then cuts to two or three people skateboarding down an empty street also in slow motion, similar to the video of the 'Suburbs' by Arcade Fire this is to emphasise the no cars aspect of the lyrics. This is also similar to 'Yeah Right' the film from Girl Skateboards.
• The video would cut to lip syncing with the start of the lyrics.
• Also there would be performance footage from the band members inbetween different takes.
• Shots of the band walking through ilkley similar to 'Da Funk' video.
• Aswell as Cars driving past in slow motion.