Experimentation and techniques

Experimentation

When filming my music video, I decided to experiment with different types of shots, not simply shots from my storyboard and decided to use the storyboard more as a guideline rather than strictly following it. This helped me as during the filming process I was able to experiment more freely and wasn't stuck in a boy where I only did certain things that I had planned. One of the shots that I was experimenting with was the shot at 1:17 when it is a point of view shot of from the walls perspective and one of the actors sprays the camera with spray paint, to achieve this shot I covered my lens with a clear plastic bag and secured it with a rubber band to make sure it would stay in place, I also had a lens protector on to make sure if the spray paint did go through the bag it wouldn't mess up my lens. This shot worked really well and there were no problems with the spray paint going through the bag so it was worth the risk. When editing, I also tried to experiment with the different elements Final Cut pro 10 offers, such as the already made effects and transitions, however since I want the pace of my music video to be upbeat and have a fast tempo especially at the  start (stealing from the shop scene) I decided that this wouldn't work for the overall look I was going for. All together I haven't experimented with my music video a large amount because from the start i've had an idea of what I want the overall appearance of my music video to look like and therefore when it came to experimenting I didn't think to do all that much.

Techniques

The techniques I used when filming were making sure I used a range of shots so that the shots used weren't samey and similar and created a more interesting appearance to the audience. One of the techniques I used a lot was pulled focus and generally fiddling and experimenting with the focus to adapt the depth of field and to create a shot that looks aesthetically pleasing to the eye. An example of this sort of shot is the shot to the right. As you can see I focused the shot so that the character was in focus but the background was blurred creating a warmth to the shot and a focal point for the audience. Another technique to do with cinematography that I often used was making different aspects in focus such as the shot on the top left I decided to make the bin really sharp and in focus whilst the boys walking behind were blurred, I chose to do this as not only is it nice to look at but it adds to the setting and the lifestyle as it presents them as being real rather than being glamorous. The other shots I decided to use nature such as the trees and make them sharp while the boys were blurred in the background. I really like the effect this gives and I am glad that I had a DSLR so that I was able to experiment freely with the focus.