The Finished Article

The Real Deal

At the beginning of the project we decided that we would not watch the official video for this song, just in case we made one that was similar. Needless to say, when we watched this we were absolutely shocked at the similarities, especially the beginning and end, the blue 'shiny box' effect, the character exploding, the alarm clock... It's eerie how much our music video resembles and parodies the real thing without us once watching it for reference.




Weird.

Class Feedback

We were pleased that most feedback from our peers was good. To summarise:

• Good editing pace.
• Good use of special effects.
• Plenty of interesting shots/locations.
• Near-perfect lipsyncing.
• DON'T DROP THE N BOMB LOL.
• Split-screen is effective.
• Awesome jacket.
• Narrative slightly confusing?
• Excellent performers.
• Definitely improved since rough cut.
• Lipsyncing is amazing.
  

Techniques of Note

Cool things we did that should be pointed out:

Colour filter dissolves out.

Interesting events in background.

Double-team achieved with a mixture of layer masks, cross-dissolves and colour-correction.

Slow-motion zombie voyeurism.

Stock explosion layer from Detonation Films.

The Plans Have Changed

It was a strange realisation when we neared our final cut and saw that what we had made was so very different from what we had planned. We did end up 'conforming to (some) rap video conventions', we did 'create visual puns' but not enough, and we did include the narrative we had planned from the start. What we did not do was keep the focus on our literal lyric jokes, instead shifting very much towards the narrative and zombie shots (which became so much more than the 4 seconds they were going to be. You know what else we didn't do? The ducks.
No ducks at all in our video, although we know what sound we'll use if we need to censor the swear words...

In the end we had three performance settings, a narrative and other small cutaways. A strength of our video, we feel, was the sheer amount of footage we had that made it very easy not to repeat ourselves. Things we made sure to do were make the performance sequences tie in to the others. For example, the zombies clash with the shiny box, and the nerd in the narrative runs through both other performance settings. In a way it's interesting to see how the video has progressed, and what things worked and didn't under the limitations we were given.

We managed to use conventions better that we had thought at first, fitting in slow motion, split-screen, focus on performer, voyeuristic representation of the female body (zombies), but still no cars. Our final video is a product of taking some of our good ideas and letting them evolve over days and weeks of filming with intelligent, like-minded people.

Lyrical representation we did achieve:

• as live as it gets / dead wrong
• dogs
• these bitches...
• quit talking
• listen to my shit
• you don't chew...
• blow up your box

Speak With Our Hands

Check out our mad editing skillz2paydabillz:

Rough Cut Feedback

• Zombie people look cool, although a bit random. (We need to make our ideas more obvious.)
• Editing fits well but is repetitive. (We need to finish our other location shots.)
• Lip-syncing is accurate. :]
• Good, original ideas, thoughtfully planned etc.
• Interesting costumes and make-up.

We've had a lot of positive feedback, but also some confused audiences. With our final shoots we will try to make our theme more obvious.

OUR FIRST ROUGH CUT^.^

The rough cut has a few gaps (which will be filled eventually). We are yet to film the narrative parts and some of the cutaway images. We also are going to film the female speaking parts in the video. We have messed around with the colour filters in some of the shots so the Youtubers can watch and hopefully give us their opinion of the different effects.

First Day of Filming

12:10
This is Bing, blogging from the first day of major filming. Today we're hoping to get most of the Outdoor/Zombie shots done today. As we speak, our make-up expert is finishing a gash above and below Tomska's eye.

12:43
Abi's now moved onto herself, leaving Tom and Rosie fully zombified. We're about to go and film, using this laptop as our portable CD player. Tom looks like this:
End of the Day:
We've completed filming on the outdoor performance. Our location ended up being a farm lane near Bing's house, which we will also use in the narrative.

Bingmix

We had some trouble finding a good copy of the original song, so we had to piece one together from two different versions. It's by no means perfect, but it'll do...

Planning Our Shots

Outdoor Performance / Zombies:

This will mainly be simple performance shots. Our aim is for these cutaways to be fluid, so the camera should always be moving. Since we don't have a steadycam we will try to adapt a tripod so our footage is less shaky.

Location: a street in Feltwell.
Props: record decks, zombie make-up and costumes, pimp gear.

- Low angle wide, looking up at performer.
- Medium tracking past performer.
- Wide tracking out zombie shot.
- Low angle medium with zombies in background.
- Close-up hand reaching for shoulder.
- Close-up faces (show off make-up).

Narrative (Bomb Story):

Location: Bing's house / Feltwell / Cambridge / College?
Props: Alarm clock, dynamite, bag, glasses, detonator.

Feltwell
- Close-up alarm clock.
- Medium waking up shot.
- Medium stairs (?).
- Wide exiting house.
- Close-ups running.
- Wide running down street.

(We aim for all of these shots to have some tracking in them to keep the video moving.)

Town/Other
- Wide running shots.
- Close-up running shots. (shoes, hands, face, bag)
- Medium establishing shot of indoors. (Same location as indoor performance.)
- Close-up hand in locker.
- Wide running.
- Medium (Hollywood) character shot.
- Close-up hand on button.

Shiny Box:

All the footage in the shiny box will be static, filmed on tripod (in keeping with the convention), but it will be cut quickly to avoid slowing the editing.

Indoor Performance:

This will be filmed in the same location as the narrative character ends up placing the bomb. This will tie in with the narrative quite effectively. The shots and angles will be similar to those being used in the outdoor performance.

1st Problems

No-one on the internet seems to like the version of this song we have, and since we have a glith in ours we may have to settle for a different version like:



or



or

Animatic

This is our animatic, and it's pretty terrible. Don't worry, we do know what we're doing.

Feedback:

We are going to need a lot more cuts in our final piece, and our animatic sadly fails to represent all the shots we've planned. A verbal list of shots would probably be more descriptive. Our storyboard didn't have any close-ups, so we created some by using Final Cut to crop and resize the pictures. Also in light of the fact we may be using a different version of the song, some parts of the video may be reordered.

S1-18 Rapgirl

Although poorly lipsynced, this video explores a lot of useful techniques like slow motion, backwards footage, panning and tracking etc. The feel of the video goes hand in hand with the song, so it's quite effective. There is also an effective use of green-screen on the television and some fade transitions.

Overall this video is quite effective, with good use of effects and editing as well as props and costume.

Bing Freaks Out to Music

I've taken the liberty of uploading some syncing and performance tests via youtube, and here they are:



Check back for more additions to this playlist.

Over and Over

This video is interesting partly because of the way it represents sounds like the loops and synths used, but also because it does a lot of unusual visual things. The setting is basically a green-screen room, without editing in any background.



I love the use of colour. Especially the bit when the balloon pops and changes their t-shirts.

Karaoke For The Deaf

This is a hilarious video of David Armand miming the lyrics to Torn by Natalie Imbruglia. This scores high on the funny-representation-of-lyrics scale.

Lyrical Possibilities

[ticking]

[Royce Da 5'9]
Uhh.. boom...
Tick tick tick.. yeah.. 5'9 uhh
Yo..

I'm the verbal-spit Smith Wesson
I unload with sick spit the quick wick could split a split-second
Bomb with a lit wick expression
You here a tick tick then you testin..
My saliva and spit can split thread into fiber and bits
So trust me, I'm as live as it gets - zombies much?
Everybody claimin they the best and head the throne
Since B.I.G is gone, if you ask me, they dead wrong
My flow is hotter than the flash from the click
When the hammer slaps the bullet on the ass from the clip
You wind up in a room full of my dawgs
I'll have you feeling like a fire hydrant in a room full of dogs
So come, come now, get pissed on, shitted on
Tough talk turns to, "Can't we all just get along"
You get blazed when the mic's off, shot when it's on
You probably ducked when they laid the gun shot in your song
My gun strrr-utters when it speaks to you
Utter shit to repeat to you
Nothing the clip, then give a speech to you
Me and Premier, we kind of the same in ways
We both speak with our hands in dangerous ways
Rap now is a circus of clowns
A whole lot of lip from cliques I'd probably wrap? circles around
I'm the next best to reach a peak formerly known
as the best keep secret, I guess that I just leaked it

[Hook - 2X]
(Boom!)
Somebody better duck or (RUN)
Somebody better (Watch out cuz he's bout to blow up)
"Boom..boom, bam, God-damn!" "..Royce 5'9"

I'm a motherfuckin star, I don't battle no mo'
I provide the the gun clappin a round of applause after ya show
We can go toe to toe cuz they calling you hot
Steppin around all ya punches like, "That's all you got?"
Everyday I'm meetin somebody and all of they peeps
Quick to shake a nigga's hand and show me all of they teeth
And these bitches I be pattin they asses
They be all dumb and googly-eyed lookin at me, battin they lashes
Rappers think Detroit niggers not as down as them
Or since I'm down with Slim that I sound like him
Quick to judge me and tell me that my hook might sell
And say faggot shit to me like I look like L
My advice quit talking it's over
I was knockin niggaz out when you was knockin sticks offa they shoulders
I got dirt done in my past, I know y'all sweat
I got regrets older than some of you so called vets
Niggaz say I found God with the flow
Bring the police to the studio and bring the bomb squad to the show
Ain't a nigga touching mines
When you listen to my shit - you don't chew, you don't breathe,
you'll miss a fucking line
Every time I spit, I tick to show you it's hot
Leave me in the deck too long I blow up your box
Boom! *explosion*

"God..God-damn!" "..Royce 5'9"

[Hook - 2x]

"Boom..boom, bam, God-damn!" "..Royce.. 5'9"
"Boom..boom, bam, God-damn!" "..Royce 5'9"
"Boom..boom, bam, G...God-damn!" "...Royce 5'9"

[ticking] ..
[explosion] ..
[more ticking]

Pitch

Our first idea when we came across the song was to do some kind of spoof, while conforming to (some) rap video conventions. When we listened to the song a second time we analyzed the lyrics, and decided to create visual puns, representing words literally on-screen. (For instance: the line 'circle of clowns' would coincide with a literal circle of people dressed as clowns.) On listening to the song for a third time, we wanted to also create a basic narrative cut-away about someone smuggling a bomb.

So our idea will hopefully be a combination of these things, with the main rapper shots weaved in. We also want to plan props like TNT and ducks and costumes (suits and bling). The theme will be entertaining, but still constructed as a highly stylized rap video.

Lyrics

These are the 'lyrics' to Boom, which will become a big part of our plan...

[ticking]

[Royce Da 5'9]
Uhh.. boom...
Tick tick tick.. yeah.. 5'9 uhh
Yo..

I'm the verbal-spit Smith Wesson
I unload with sick spit the quick wick could split a split-second
Bomb with a lit wick expression
You here a tick tick then you testin..
My saliva and spit can split thread into fiber and bits
So trust me, I'm as live as it gets
Everybody claimin they the best and head the throne
Since B.I.G is gone, if you ask me, they +Dead Wrong+
My flow is hotter than the flash from the click
When the hammer slaps the bullet on the ass from the clip
You wind up in a room full of my dawgs
I'll have you feeling like a fire hydrant in a room full of dogs
So come, come now, get pissed on, shitted on
Tough talk turns to, "Can't we all just get along"
You get blazed when the mic's off, shot when it's on
You probably ducked when they laid the gun shot in your song
My gun strrr-utters when it speaks to you
Utter shit to repeat to you
Nothing the clip, then give a speech to you
Me and Premier, we kind of the same in ways
We both speak with our hands in dangerous ways
Rap now is a circus of clowns
A whole lot of lip from cliques I'd probably rap circles around
I'm the next best to reach a peak formerly known
as the best keep secret, I guess that I just leaked it

[Hook - 2X]
(Boom!)
Somebody better duck or (RUN)
Somebody better (Watch out cuz he's bout to blow up)
"Boom..boom, bam, God-damn!" "..Royce 5'9"

I'm a motherfuckin star, I don't battle no mo'
I provide the the gun clappin around of applause after ya show
We can go toe to toe cuz they calling you hot
Steppin around all ya punches like, "That's all you got?"
Everyday I'm meetin somebody and all of they peeps
Quick to shake a nigga's hand and show me all of they teeth
And these bitches I be pattin they asses
They be all dumb and googly-eyed lookin at me, battin they lashes
Rappers think Detroit niggaz not as down as them
Or since I'm down with Slim that I sound like him
Quick to judge me and tell me that my hook might sell
And say faggot shit to me like I look like L
My advice quit talking it's over
I was knockin niggaz out when you was knockin sticks offa they shoulders
I got dirt done in my past, I know y'all sweat
I got regrets older than some of you so called vets
Niggaz say I found God with the flow
Bring the police to the studio and bring the bomb squad to the show
Ain't a nigga touching mines
When you listen to my shit - you don't chew, you don't breathe,
you'll miss a fucking line
Every time I spit, I tick to show you it's hot
Leave me in the deck too long I blow up your box
Boom! *explosion*

"God..God-damn!" "..Royce 5'9"

[Hook - 2x]

"Boom..boom, bam, God-damn!" "..Royce.. 5'9"
"Boom..boom, bam, God-damn!" "..Royce 5'9"
"Boom..boom, bam, G...God-damn!" "...Royce 5'9"

[ticking] ..
[explosion] ..
[more ticking]

Knights of Cydonia

This is an excellent Muse video, and deserves a mention. In it's bizarre mixture of science fiction and western it plays with all kinds of filming conventions. This is a detailed and eccentric exploration of the few seconds of strange noises that can be heard at the beginning of the track on the CD.



As far as representation goes, watch out for the guy playing the small trumpet and the way characters speak or shout some of the lyrics (while the lyrics are being sung, but intentionally not in sync).

Frontier Psychiatrist

This song by The Avalanches is basically a load of sound clips put to a beat, and the video is in keeping with that style. Each clip is represented by a different item or person on the stage and they take their turns to interact.



This kind of funny representation and exageration of lyrics is something we're thinking of doing.

Still D.R.E.

This is an example of a gangster-rap video, pulling out all the stops with cars, voyeuristic representation of women and slow motion. Enjoy!



The filming this time is far less static, which is something we will use. The editing is fluid but not fast-paced, with some use of fades and multiple screens. At one point cars, women, slow motion AND split-screen feature at the same time!

Get Over It

This video's significance will become apparent when we post our pitch. It highlights lyrics by representing them on-screen in a number of ways.



One thing we do not want to take from this video however, it the static way it's been filmed. Although the fast pace of the editing makes it work, we do not want still camerawork in our production.

Searching for Inspiration

^^ First post! We've spent all lesson browsing YouTube for videos and here's a strange selection. Next post we'll pitch our idea and post some videos that relate, technique-wise, to our idea.

The Beginning

For our music video A2 project, we have chosen the track 'Boom' by Royce Da 59. Our limited knowledge of rap music should leave us free to create our project objectively and explore things that we wouldn't usually do.