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Rough Cut and Audience Feedback

As soon as we started filming and had some footage we started the work on the creation of the rough cut for Bruises. To edit the video we used Sony Vegas Pro 11 which we had some experience from in regards to our previous work such as the preliminary music video task, our horror opening last year and AS preliminary task. Since starting in year 12 in which our knowledge of how to use Sony Vegas Pro was non existent, myself, Annabelle and Kathryn now felt well equipped and experienced in using the software and how to carry out all the basic tasks as well as some more complex. To start off with when it came to editing we watched and reviewed our animatic and I dragged the music track for Brusies which I had obtained and put on my memory stick on the bottom track so we could allign the footage we had collected in line with the song by referring back over our storyboard and animatic. We often edited and had our animatic alongside the editing software so we knew precise timings and positioning of frames especially since the initial editng happened during the collection of all the footage. By closely referring to our animatic it allowed us to avoid the risk of footage overrunning or it becoming out of synch with lyrics, timings and the narrative. I felt I took a lead role in the entire editing process spending the most time out of all members when it came to the creation of the rough cut although my team members did keep busy by carrying out some work on the ancillary tasks which included the digipak and magazine advert. It took some time to edit some of the clips in terms of cutting them down and keeping timings fixated and was also difficult to allign the lip synching clips especially some of the ones that aren't the best in terms of Ryan's accuracy. I often asked my team to review what editing I had done and quite often I would have someone work alongside me and when necessary especially at the beginning and nearing the end worked together as a team to ensure no errors were seen and to allow all the team their own personal feedback. Since we were only editing our video for the rough cut, we chose not to put all the effects we wanted on the rough cut and keep it minimalistic so that we could add these later when it came to the final cut as well as any improvements given to us by our audience feedback so that we could increase the professionalism of our video from perhaps what some may perceive as amateur to a reputable professional music video. By keeping the effects to a minimum it allowed us an insight to what the finished product would be like but via a basic representation. The editing of the rough cut was a continuous process with the addition of more footage regularly but like previously mentioned was only a basic representation in regards to what our music video would be like in terms of the concept, narrative if there is one etc. Therefore, when it came to our music video our effects consisted of a credit roll at the beginning which was overlayed over the initial shot of Christian and showed both the artist's name and the name of the song in what we wanted to depict as his signature trademark font which we will also use during our magazine advert and digipak. By having this fade on right at the beginning it enforces at an early stage who the artist is and makes it memorable. At times we used the basic straight cuts when applicable but mainly opted to use fades especially between the shots of the present day in comparison to memories as we believed the fade made it seem more realistic as if reflecting back on the past which is the effect and impact we desired. We knew from an early stage that an effect would have to be added to the flashbacks so that they could be easily distinguished from the present day and finally opted for our rough cut to use a light sepia effect with a slight film grain to not only distinguish between the two but also to create the effect of the flashbacks being of a lower quality as if filmed on a camera phone which we believed made it more realistic to our target demographic. At this stage we put no effect on the present day scenes as felt with the effect on the flashback scenes the distinction between the two was apparent. Other small things done during the rough cut involved alligning the lip synching and parts of the narrative that matched the song and also speeding the pace of some clips up slightly and zooming the performance element frames such as Ryan on the stage in so that the shot was more of a mid-shot than a long-shot in order to avoid our target demographic feeling disconnected from the artist and also the shots where Ryan is standing by the incinerator . We felt as a basic representation our rough cut was good in that we incorporated the main features of what we all wanted in some format. Once finally completed we rendered and uploaded to Youtube and then went on to obtain audience feedback on our video so that we could work on making it better. Please view our rought cut below as well as some image showing some of the effects we put on.

 

 

When it came to our audience feedback we choose to collect our results by a video and asked two members of a media class with the knowledge to help us when it came to our improvements; we choose both a female and male so we could take their different perspectives in to account and ensured they were within our target demographic in terms of age to see whether our artist and video appealed to the demographic we specified. As a group we thought of some generalised questions such as What did you like about the video? and What didn't you like? and What would you improve? I then created further questions for Lucy and Kathryn to ask who carried out the filming of this as myself and Annabelle finished work on the magazine advert and digipak and also began editing the final cut in terms of what as a group we wanted added. Additional questions I thought of which I felt allowed us to gain a thorough insight in to the success of our rough cut included Could you tell the flashbacks were actually flashbacks? How could we improve the flashback scenes?, Do you think the lip synching was accurate and finally How could we improve our post-production? Once Kathryn and Lucy returned with the footage I began editing the feedback however, due to the length of some of the footage in which a lot of irrelevant content was filmed this took longer than it should have which meant Annabelle took it upon herself to take what I had started home and finish the editing of this feedback and upload it to Youtube. By using this form of feedback it allowed us to gain qualitative data which allowed us to gain feedback in terms of reactions, thoughts, opinions and feedback. The feedback received from Lois and Sam (audience feedback participants) were effective in terms of helping us to improve our video as well as offer praise for things done well. We reflected upon our audience feedback when it came to the finer points of editing before completing the rough cut and acted upon the majority if not all the feedback given which included using a film burn, crushing the blacks and using colour correction to alter contrast etc. The complete feedback from our participants can be viewed below and helped us a lot when it came to the production of our final cut of Bruises which reflecting on the feedback allowed us to make our video appear more professional, interesting and enjoyable.

 

By using our audience feedback as well as what we wanted to do we ended up altering our video to create the best version we could. We ensured the allignment of lip synching was accurate and also changed the effect of the flashbacks by reducing the graininess and altering the sepia effect and alterating the brightness and contrast of some clips. We also alligned the ending with the music and sped up the clip near the beginning of Ryan walking as the camera pans round his face to fit the pace of the music and to also make it more realistic as when filming he walked abnormally slow so that we could minimise shakiness of the camera. We also sped up the clips of Ryan ripping the photos of Ruby and himself down from the corkboard as at this point he should appear angry yet took them down slowly; this is also the reasoning behind speeding up Ryan when he storms away from the bowling alley and drops Ruby's phone as we wanted to ensure the emotions being felt within the video were being shown and represented. We also zoomed the clips on stage in close so that we could show the li synching and performance elements even more so and allow our target demographic to feel closer and more connected to our artist and also alligned these shots to be more straight as before they were at a slight angle. When it came to reflecting back over our audience research as a group we decided to take on Sam's comment about crushing the blacks within the performance elements of our video to enhance professionalism as it crushes the light in any of the shadowed areas which increases the quality of the shot and increased the feeling of isolation and lonliness. We then ended up using the effect of crushing the blacks throughout all the present day frames as we felt this enhanced the difference between the flashbacks and present day scenes especially since we altered the flashbacks to make them seem more surreal and dreamlike. We also referred to their feedback by using a film burn to enhance the difference between the two time frames and increasing the appearance of the flashbacks seeming dreamlike and surreal which enhances the fact they happened in the past. Kathryn and Annabelle went on to act upon this during the alterations ready for the final cut by downloading a film burn effect from online and putting it at the beginning alongisde the credits and also at intervals during the video such as just before the flashbacks happened to allow clarity to the audience when it came to going between the present day and performance elements and flashbacks. The film burn worked extremely well and was something we wanted to do initially but struggled to find on Sony Vegas hence why Annabelle and Kathryn downloaded the effect instead. This effect enhanced the surrealism as well as the professionalism of our video and has been viewed in other music videos within the same genre; furthermore, we also altered the brightness in some shots in which it was either too dark or like the ending shots of the burning incinerator I actually made this darker to connote darkness and reinforce the effect of the burning occuring at night. Our audience feedback gave us clear guidance and insight when it came to making the final alterations and improvements for our final cut which we finished completely including all improvements on the 16th April where we also rendered it to Youtube. Please view the audience feedback below as well as some pictures showing some of the extra effects we applied.

Rough Cut Audience Feedback

Flashback Before- Rough Cut

Flashback After- Final Cut

Flashback Film Burn and Credit Film Burn Above. Below shows a zoomed in performance shot, fade and film burn and on the right a darkened shot of burning.

Performance Before- Rough Cut

Performance After- Final Cut Crushed the blacks and zoomed in

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