Editing process

As I began the editing process for my music video, I came across various things which worked well, but also some mistakes which needed to be corrected from the first round of filming. As I filmed the majority of Stefi's solo scenes over 1 day, and the various group shots over different days, this meant that some of these shots did not match up.

For the beginning opening instrumental part of the song, I intended to pause the music whilst she held her hand and then continue it once she began to start dancing. However, this break was too quick which made the gap in the music look strange. As a result of this, I decided to cut from the wide shot to the zoomed medium shot and continue the music to play over this. It meant that I could still use match-action, even though I could not cut the music to fit with it.

A part of my filming which went well was this window shot, although it was shot from one angle for the majority of it, the break in between, shot from the other side of the window allowed for a sharp editing cut to follow with the upbeat and sharp lyric that I matched 'pane'. In terms of the length of the shot, I will consider this after filming my backing dancing scene. I am unsure whether the pan to the right, followed by the next location and the break in the middle is enough to keep the audience interested in the shot and what will come next, therefore, this shot may need to be broken up by a group shot.

The group shots all went to plan in terms of the actors which I chose. As I needed to use an all female cast, choosing an upbeat group of women was important. There was all but one shot that worked, which I have cut out and replaced with a longer shot of Stefi (outside shot). As I have discussed above, I may need to film 2 or 3 more of these type of shots, dependent upon the choice when I go on to edit further.

This shot will follow with a tilt down from the dance routine scene. I have cut this shot so that a group shot proceeds before. This was needed as I filmed the outside shot in one take, and then the tilt in one take, so that for it to fit, where Stefi stands in near enough the same place, the group shot before became ideal.

The shot outside was then followed by a downward tilt to change the locations between outside to dance studio more swiftly. I have matched the pointing of Stefi and the dancers (Louie and JJ) so that once the outside shot hits the sky, the dance studio shot comes down from the sky.

The wind shot had a warm lighting which I liked, but the shot is too long which makes it become boring. I will need to film 1 further group shot to break it up half way through. However, my favourite parts of this shot are the dancing and champagne drinking which are in the middle. In this case, I may use the beginning of the champagne shot for the break, so that the drinking part and kisses to the screen are shown of Stefi.

A further issue with my first set of filming was with one of the group shots. An editing technique which I wish to use is whereby Stefi will start a slow spin, followed by a match-action spin of a group shot, then Stefi finishes her spin after. However, the group shot did not match up with Stefi's spin, so I will re-film the group shot, as I cannot film this Stefi shot again given that most nights it is raining. This will require a further actor, which I could also use to sing a missing line earlier in the song too.  

The main editing technique that I was going to do was similar to that in the 'countdown' music video. This would involve a pan across the room with 8 Stefi's dancing in cannon as this pan moved. However, when it came to filming, I needed to keep the camera completely still and then pan in editing, but I panned the camera on the day, which resulted in Stefi being cut when she did certain movements, as well as the floor not matching up in each shot. Therefore, I am taking this as a practice of the shot, which I will need to repeat. Next time, I will need to keep the camera in the same place and record on a continuous basis, so that when Stefi moves along and she will repeat the dance several times. This will then need to be cropped in size and the shots stacked, before I change the angles of the shots so it appears as if it is panning along the room, rather than doing a circle of the room; like in my practice.