In this post I'm going to be analysing shot by shot the purpose of the mis-en-scene, editing techniques and camera work. Looking at how they support the target audience and genre conventions compared to my original plan alongside how I think they will have been interpreted. For the much finer detail on the techniques I used when editing you can see my P5 Editing and post-production post.
SHOT 1-
SHOT 2-
The second shot is the first shot backed by music meaning it had to be a reasonably striking shot without making the following shots look weak in comparison. It was also an opportunity for me to establish the idea of rain in a more abstract sense - with the multiple copies of the actor fading in to represent raindrops which initiates the cyclical structure. As the ending shot is one single copy of the actor fading away it supports this and means that that shot links back to the start. In addition, introducing this effect to the audience at the start of the video means it's less disorientating when used in the middle of the timeline. The character fading in also connotes to the conception of aliens to show that the character feels alienated - further emphasising his loneliness. When shooting I made sure to set my camera up on a tripod because this meant that as the actor moved to different positions in the frame the composition would stay the exact same which makes the process of duplicating the actor much easier in editing.
I was happy with the 50-50 composition as it added a sense of balance and meant that there was plenty of negative space in the top half of the frame meaning this shot wasn't too intrusive. The full shot framing and eye level angle were also executed as planned and I feel that they were effective in keeping the audience distant from the character to represent his mindset. I created the main effect (duplication) by using keyframed opacity masks to separate the actor in his different positions and have him fade in whilst appearing on frame at the same time as another copy.
SHOTS 3 AND 4-
SHOT 5- 
These 3 shots follow a simple shot of the actor leaving his house, meaning that the setting has moved outdoors. The 3 shots are time-lapses of traffic passing through the town and similar to shot 27,show the progression of time and everything passing by the character too fast. I could've solidified the idea that everything is passing him by too quickly by having him still in the frame whilst the traffic time-lapsed. Furthermore, these shots could've been made much more effective by shooting in the rain, especially seeing as they are on the chorus where "rain" is repeated. In terms of editing I started by decreasing the exposure of the shots to try and make them look like they were taken on a more miserable day to fit the theme. Then I sped up the clips for the time-lapse effect to create the feeling of time passing too quickly to keep up with. This disorientating mood was supported by the blurred edges look. I created this by using an inverted elliptical mask with lots of effects (VFX glitch, gaussian blur, lens distortion and geometry distortion.) I feel like these shots will be subconsciously perceived by the audience as the passing of time because this a technique frequently used in media which indicates that it is effective. Also means I'm using indirect intertextual references.
This shot lasts for a longer duration than the previous shots to represent boredom which is supported by the jump-cuts from position to position which repeat each other to show the repetitiveness of the character's life - something that is relatable for most viewers at the moment. I used the cut tool to create this effect and it is one that is often used in media productions to show the passing of time and a preoccupied mental state. This was taken on a tripod so that there was no change in composition when the character moved position and I used a fish eye lens to ensure the you could see all of the room in frame as I knew the 4:3 crop would be added. This wide, fish-eye angle helps to distance the audience from the actor which reflects his mindset. There was no camera movement in this scene as I wanted the setting to appear stagnant and uninteresting to further emphasise the bored mood. When shooting, I lit this scene poorly, which I tried to combat by increasing the exposure in editing however the I didn't really have the dynamic range to make much of a change which meant this shot was poorly exposed in comparison to others. Also similar to shot 4, the white balance in this scene was inaccurate due to my own error which makes the shot seem more unprofessional. I tried to adjust for this in editing however I couldn't make it look how I had planned. Overall I think this shot will be perceived how I intended (boredom and repetition,) because this is a convention of most media productions so people clearly associate with it. In addition, I think that now more than ever people are understanding these emotions due to the situation we are all in - meaning they will find it easier to relate. This shot does adhere to genre conventions as repetition is something often outlined in 'dream pop' videos due to the songs' heavy repetition and texture - whether it be through cyclical transitions or effects.
SHOTS 6,7 AND 8-
This is a quick sequence of B-Roll shots simply cut together to fill time and support the motif of rain and bad weather. Shots 6 and 7 are both of houses from a high angle and tight framing whilst shot 8 is of moving water (still high angle and tight framing.) The meaning of these shots is not very deep and only serves to both fill time and support the song. The houses were shot to show being confined to them in the miserable weather and I think they were effective due to the solemn tones. Shot 8 (the water) was originally intended to be shot under heavy raining conditions to support the rain theme however I was unable to do this which created an ineffective shot which didn't fit well with the ones surrounding it in my opinion. If I were to recreate this video I would swap that shot for one with more meaning and that works more harmoniously with others. Shots 6 and 7 were shot on a tripod as it was available and shot 8 was shot with stable handheld movement which also set it apart from the others. A wide aperture was used to shoot all of these scenes as they were all quite dim due to the dark weather however shot 8 was slightly brighter which I compensated for by increasing my shutter speed. No editing techniques were used on shot 6 or 7 as I thought they were effective without the need of any special effects or colour alterations so I left them how they were. For shot 8 I started by scaling the shot in so that the river banks were not visible in the frame which made the shot look slightly better. After that I did some basic colour grading to darken the shot and make it appear heavier in contrast. Following this I cut the shot on beat and used the reverse speed tool to make the second half play backwards to create a more dynamic sense and fill out the time. The final effect which I applied to shot 8 was the blurred edge look. To create this effect I added a VR glitch, Gaussian blur and lens distortion to the clip and then used an elliptical mask so that these effects only altered the edges of the frame. 
SHOT 9-
In shot 9 I returned to the duplication style effect seen in shot 2 to continue the abstract connotations of rain so that it made sense with the ending shot. Although the purpose of the scenes is to isolate the subject and make him seem lonely I liked to include shots where he appeared to be in the company of himself and was therefore occupied, as the video progresses this effect is used less to symbolise that he isn't even occupied in himself which builds to the anti-climactic ending. As with shot 2 I used a tripod to ensure that the compositions of the actor in each position was exactly the same so that the effect could be executed more effectively. As with the majority of shots in this video, I framed it fairly widely to distance the character from the audience in order to remove a personal connection which reflects his mindset. I had to do some slight colour adjustments to make the shot appear darker, higher in contrast and less saturated to reflect the more melancholy mood. To create the duplication effect I just used opacity masks and stacked multiple clips so that the actor could appear in the frame multiple times. 
I think the target audience would respond well to this effect as it differentiates the video from others and gives the listeners something to align the song with. In addition, the target audience of this song and video are typically younger viewers who are normally much more accepting and enthusiastic about new special effects. Overall I was happy with how well this shot compared with my original plan and I think it supports the genre convention of strange special effects as well as further establishing the mood. The meaning of this shot was purposefully vague as I wanted it to be decoded with an oppositional reading approach as the character is unsure about himself and doesn't know how to interpret his situation - so this is mirrored by the audience. Even if the audience don't pick up on the underlying meanings of alienation and raindrops it still familiarises them with the effect and makes the ending shot more cohesive.
SHOT 10- This is a tightly framed, high angled shot of chess pieces on a board as the camera moves backwards. Only very subtle colour correction was done to this shot and the blurred effect was created by shooting using a macro attachment for added interest. The sole purpose of this shot was to transition the audience (aided by black clap transition) into the chess themed scene so that the contrast between shot 9 and shot 11 wasn't too disorientating. I am happy with how it turned out and don't think there is much room for fluctuation in audience reception.
SHOT 11-
In this shot I was originally going to use the duplication glitch to make it appear like the character was playing chess against himself however I decided to use a simple jump-cut effect instead so that the actor didn't appear in frame twice at the same time. I decided to do this instead of duplicating because I wanted to establish that the actor is starting to feel distant from even himself. The jump-cut also establishes a sense of boredom as mentioned earlier which is useful as this is one of the key moods that the character is feeling and this should be relatable to most viewers. This shot also intertextually references 'the queen's gambit' - a tv programme revolving around chess. Once again there was no camera movement to solidify the sense of loneliness and boredom. The framing in this shot was fairly wide to allow for the whole scene in frame with the actor still being unrecognisable to the audience to support the apathetic mood. I used a single light source which is visible on screen to create a very heavily contrasting and 'moody' scene with an eye level angle to establish distance and balance. I feel that this shot is effective in emphasising the bored mood and that this will be relatable for the target audience as they have been confined to their houses for what would have been one of their most lively and active years.
SHOT 12- A quick shot featuring the actor walking through his living room and turning his light off. This was taken from a low angle with wide framing and a central composition and was solely used to fill the gap between shot 11 and shot 12 whilst supporting the agitated feel which can be identified through the actor's body language. The upwards tilt movement adds a transitional feel to this shot, showing that he has got up from his chess game and is moving to another activity. Furthermore it helps to outline the low angle which is used for the next two shots. Only basic colour correction was applied to this shot alongside no other effects in an attempt to make it appear more professional. I'm not happy with this shot due to the inaccurate white balance and over-cluttered scene. I think I could have taken a more effective shot which joins the two scenes together more seamlessly through lighting and composition.
SHOTS 13 and 14- 
These two shots feature the actor lighting and smoking a (fake) joint. The purpose of these shots was to introduce the theme of drug use which is something often associated with the target audience and can be related to boredom and depression - emotions represented by the character. Furthermore, the introduction of this theme means that the ending shot can be received as an overdose which adds weight to that final shot. Tight framing was used on both of these shots to maximise the amount of detail shown. In addition, this is the first close-up which the audience get of the actor which tells them that he feels closer and more open when intoxicated and more close-up shot are used past this point as well as some subtly disorientating special effects to elevate the idea of drug use. Shot 13 is composed centrally from a high angle to draw all attention to the prop whilst shot 14 is composed using the left third line to leave sufficient headroom and create a bit of space. The handheld movement in both of these shots adds a raw sense however I would've preferred for the movement to be a smooth pan/tilt alongside some more direct, single source lighting. Little was done to these shots in terms of editing however small effects were used to make the transition between shots smoother such as the 'luma fade' transition into shot 13 and out of shot 14.
This transition is created by animating the highlights in both shots to fade to black and I use it when the contrast between the two shots in terms of lighting is too much - masks out the contrast. Between shot 13 and shot 14 I used a fast zoom transition to add a more dynamic feel to the shots, this is created through the keyframing of the scale property and increased the pace of the video. The only remaining effect besides some slight colour grading was the cut to slow-mo in shot 14 which extended the focus on the smoke and meant that the pace was slowed back down before shot 15 - to create this you just use the cut tool and reduce the speed to 15%. I think this shot is fitting and relevant to the target audience as many people in the demographic have turned to drugs in lockdown as a way to self treat their mental health and this means the shot could be relatable for many. I feel like I was successful in not misrepresenting drug users as no stereotypes were outlined and effects weren't dramatised, instead left for interpretation. For more detail on how I avoided misrepresentation you can see my M2 Consideration of ethical issues task.
SHOTS 15,16,17 AND 18-
All of these shots were B-roll and were used to solidify the themes of rain and travel whilst filling in the space between one scene and the next. A couple people who watched this video said that shot 15 was their favourite due to the colours and composition however I just can't see the appeal because I think it looks unprofessional (even though this was the intention) but I'm glad people enjoy it. Shots 15 and 16 feature the actor walking through the city at night using a wide, low composition to emphasise the lonely motif as well as outline the brightness of the lights and strong structure of the scene. I was lucky to have taken the first 3 shots in the rain to support the rain focussed chorus and re-introduce the importance of this motif. To shot 15 and 16 I added a 'glow' effect through the use of the gaussian blur effect and used the linear dodge blend mode at 25% opacity to create the surreal and disorienting blur of the lights in the video to represent the characters intoxication. Only un intrusive effects were used on shot 17 and 18 in an attempt to make it more professional - colour grading and rotation. The 'luma' fade effect was used as a transition from shot 14 to 15 due to the high contrast in scene - so was needed to blend them more seamlessly. Apart from that no other effects were used. Despite me thinking otherwise the first shot was clearly effective in connecting with the target audience for some reason because every 16-18 year old who saw it said it was their favourite shot. These shots didn't stray far from my original plan and were reasonably effective in solidifying the theme of rain however I would've preferred if they looked more professional (better exposed.)
SHOT 19-
This shot features a man walking down the bridge from a low angle. This man isn't the actor but the shot still establishes the sense of movement and travelling whilst showing the progression of time. The strong leading lines composition paired with the low angle adds undertones of overwhelming power that cannot be overcome. Once again I used a wide angle with stationary camera movement to create that solitary mood. In addition shooting on a tripod makes the special effects editing process a lot easier and the shot less 'shaky'. To create the faded time lag effect I imported the colour graded clip into Adobe After Effects and duplicated it 100 times, putting each duplicated clip one frame in front of the previous. Then I altered the opacity of the collected clips to create the faded look to represent the actor's distorted view and intoxication as well as adding a ghostly feel. This supports the solemn feel of the song and adheres to the genre convention of using different special effects. This shot wasn't encoded with too deep of a message so I think it will just be received by the audience as a normal shot to represent motion. This shot did go how I planned however I think that a cleaner look could've been achieved by shooting on a darker and rainier day to better support the mood of the song.
SHOT 20- 
This shot shows the actor entering a church from an extremely wide angle. The presence of the church supports rain's holy connotations and outlines the idea that many troubled people often seek the guidance of religion. The EWS thirds composition represents isolation, a technique used throughout the video, thus adding continuity. Once again there is a lack of camera movement to add to this solidary and bored feel which the song presents. The only notable effect besides some colour grading is the duplication effect which I created by using an animated opacity mask. 
The purpose of this effect is to add the idea that the character is a burden to himself, kind of looming over and dooming himself. The idea that he is avoiding something that eventually catches up to him is supported by the use of this effect throughout the video alongside the ending shot where he fades away. I was happy with how this shot turned out in conjunction with my plan even though it was not shot in rain (which would've improved it.) It is encoded with everything I was wanting - mainly the holy connotations which I hope will be received by the viewer. I did originally want this EWS low shot to be inside of the church to showcase the stained glass and outline a sense of power but this wasn't possible because of restrictions. I feel that this sense of power is still shown through the low angle though even if it looks less professional/ cohesive than I originally planned.
SHOT 24- 
Following on from the low angled and close-up shots (21,22 and 23) shot 24 is introduced through a simple clap transition which is created through a simple block of colour being spliced where the clap in the beat hits - this seamlessly and unimposingly blends the two shots. Shot 24 features the actor calling a friend on his phone to match the lyrics and act as a prefix to shot 25 where he hangs up the phone. This shot was taken from eye-level and is framed quite tightly on a 135mm lens however there is sufficient head space to make sure the composition is balanced. In terms of editing only simple colour grading was applied to make the shot appear more harmonious with the ones that surround it long with a simple cut transition into shot 25 as the mis-en-scene was quite similar. I decided to go for smooth handheld movement in this shot as it added more interest than shooting on a tripod but the mood was not abrasive enough to have more dramatic movement. I was successful in meeting my original plan with this shot as I stuck to the same composition and mis-en-scene and it was effective in showing a link between visuals and audio. I feel like this shot could've been improved by being lit more professionally, most likely with 3 point studio lighting although I do quite like the soft feel.
SHOT 26-
Shot 26, similar to shot 11, features the actor playing against himself. However in this shot he plays black jack against himself instead of chess and there is a more urgent and agitated feel created by his body language and the harsh cut transitions. This shot serves to represent boredom however there is a certain progression from the start of the video with the character now being frustrated and impatient in himself. The only editing done to this shot was colour alteration to make the shot a better exposed and more harmonious with the others. For notes on composition and camera work see shot 11. This shot did go to plan and I was happy with how it turned out. I think this shot is easy to decode as frustration and boredom and any other receptions would be effective in allowing the audience to better relate to the character - aided by the use of close-ups in recent shots.
SHOT 27- 
Originally this shot was going to be a time-lapse of a clock to show progression in time however when it came to creating the shot I decided to instead show a time-lapse of chess as this fit the board game theme as a way to pass time and avoid boredom. This was taken from a birds-eye angle as this best encompassed the full chess board and helped to diversify the range of shot types in this video to retain viewer attention. The tight framing and central composition served to draw all attention to the chess board however this attention meant that I had to pay more attention to detail - using black cloth to reduce lighting hotspots and uneven background surfaces. To create the sped up effect all you do is increase the speed of the clip (was to around 5000% I think.) The tones were slightly altered to increase contrast in order to fit the look of the rest of the video. Overall I think this shot was effective and showed the progression of time like I wanted however I think that I could have used camera movement to make this shot more interesting for the viewer. A pan shot or crane movement could have been used.
SHOTS 29, 30 and 31-
SHOTS 32, 33 AND 34-
These 3 shots don't have much embedded meaning and only serve to both fill time and create a contrast in pace when paired with the shots that follow. They are all centrally composed B-Roll shots that show location and solidarity through the minimal subjects. Shot 32 is stationary whilst shots 33 and 34 feature the same sideways movement as they were both taken on the train of similar scenes. The stationary scene is a slight breather and the other two shots infer a sense of progression/direction - the character going somewhere. I barely edited these shots besides using regular cuts at a fast pace to outline the much slower pace of the shots that follow as this will increase their emotion and create the sense that time has stopped and it's all coming to an - technically and metaphorically. These shots went to plan.
SHOTS 35, 36 AND 37-
These 3 shots maintain a somewhat fast paced for the reasons which I outlined in the previous paragraph however the mis-en-scene is much more plain and they are placed directly before one of the longest shots in the video which increases the effect of that shot (also aided by the light to dark contrast.) Furthermore, I kept the shaky movement of the time-lapse as it adds a sense of rawness and urgency as well as contrasting the smooth stable movement of shot 38. As usual I sped up the clips to give the time-lapse look and signify the passing of time - the shaky movement was natural because I shot on a super windy day however I really like this effect. It reminds me of a Pontus Alv directed skate video. The colours were slightly altered to make the scene appear 'moodier' however no more editing techniques were used - just regular cuts. I am happy with how these shots turned out as I like their simplicity and I think they are effective in creating a lonely feel. I feel like these shots would've been greatly improved by shooting in heavy rain because it both supports the song and also symbolises the the mood is possibly getting more solemn and heavy.
SHOT 38- 
Shot 38 is an 8 second time-lapse tripod shot of night traffic in Leeds with a slight difference created by the editing technique. This shot was taken from a high angle looking down onto the streets with a pretty full leading lines composition. On the left side of the frame we can see the red tail lights whilst on the left side there are white lights and some buses. To kind of process what going on in the frame and the effect being used you have to look at the shot for quite a while which is one of the reasons why I let this shot run for a longer duration. Another reason why I decided to do this was to abruptly capture the audiences attention and break the fast paced cycle - preparing them for the slow ending and outlining the feelings of boredom and loneliness. Once again this shot symbolises the idea that time is passing by too quickly for the character to process and he feels lost. The blurred effect supports this idea and also alludes to the drug use seen earlier on. The method for creating this effect after speeding up the clip is the same as shot 19 - adding continuity and supporting the overall cyclical structure of the video. I like how this shot turned out and I'm glad that it was shot in the rain to work with the theme of the song.
SHOT 40- 
This shot follows on from a short time-lapse shot of clouds passing on the moors which reflects the mood of the song. Shot 40 then features the actor walking through the moors (shot 39 re-established this location). Shot 40 has been taken from a low angle to create a slightly overwhelming yet minimal composition alongside the leading lines which add direction (which is contrasted by the ending shot.) In terms of editing effects I followed the same process as shot 38 and shot 19 (blurry movement) to add continuity and support the idea that the character feels disorientated and lost. I avoided camera movement in this shot and the shots surrounding it because this aided the lonely feel and supported the boredom felt by the character. I think that I'm happy with this shot overall as it is fairly synoptic with the look I had planned however I think that once again it could've been improved by shooting in the rain as this would've led to more muted tones and a more dramatic feel. I'm not too bothered about how this shot is decoded by the audience as I feel that it subconsciously establishes the sense of direction which I will cut of at the end - and if the audience also pick up on the lost feeling then that's an added bonus. I didn't come into the creation of this video with a set way of how I would like he video to be decoded as I think things can be much more relatable if left up to interpretation - especially with a boring song like this where there's time to.
SHOT 41- 
Shot 41 is the penultimate shot of the video and is just a basic time-lapse of the actor walking across the horizon. I purposefully went for a more basic composition than Shot 40 to gradually reduce the sense of direction. There are no leading lines in this shot and the direction is only established by the actor walking from left to right in the frame (left to right is more natural for a western viewer to watch.) There are two thirds negative space above the horizon, following typical thirds compositional rules - this super basic mis-en-scene is purposeful as it represents a move back to simplicity when the actor finally disappears in the final shot. To create the time-lapse I just increased the speed of the clip to the correct value which fit the slot I needed. The shakiness was created by the unstable tripod in the extreme wind and I did originally intend on stablising this clip when editing however I really like how it looks as it kind of contrasts the stable feel of the mis-en-scene. In addition it is reminiscent of Pontus Alv's style - one of my favourite film-makers and thus adding an inter textual aspect. I am happy with this shot and I think that all I would've done to improve it would've been better exposure/dynamic range to make it look slightly more professional.
SHOT 42- 
This 20 second shot is the finale of the video and features the actor walking into the centre of frame and then slowly fading away until invisible in the scene. The shot was taken from a below eye-level angle to subtly infer a sense of power and stability which is supported by the strong central composition and very simple block coloured mis-en-scene. The lack of camera movement besides a slight shake adds a raw feel whilst supporting the characters now resolved mindset as he disappears. His fading away has multiple purposes which is intentional as I want it to be open for relation and interpretation like the rest of the video. The first purpose is to add a cyclical structure, the opening shot of the video sees multiple copies of the character fade in like rain drops whilst this shot sees a singular character fade away like evaporation which adds a nice loop to the plot of the video. This shot can also represent the death of the character, either via a suicide or a drug overdose which would link to the special effects and disorientation/confusing feel. In addition it can also connote that the character possibly feels he is not fit for this world, following on from the surreal and outer-world mood of the first shot. To create the fading away effect I collected two shots - one base shot of the scene without the actor and another of the actor walking into frame and standing still. Then in editing I used key-framed opacity to have the top shot (actor) disappear and have the base shot show. I'm happy with how this shot turned out and wouldn't have changed much besides possibly adding some non-diegetic rain sounds at the very end to add further circular structure and remind the viewer of the song's theme because the shot wasn't taken in the rain unfortunately.
Summary
Overall I think I was fairly successful in using editing techniques to support the mood and meaning of the song although the rainy theme should've definitely been supported by shooting in rain more often if not for all of the video (besides the inside scenes). I think that this would've made a huge difference in making the video more synoptic with the audio and added much more continuity/style. Furthermore I feel that I should have utilised camera movement better to possibly bend shots or just add a more professional/dynamic shots towards the middle where it was needed to retain attention. Some special effects such as the data mosh effect which I had to replace due to them not looking how I hoped would've been cool to use alongside some deep dream effects after the character smoke however this required lots of camera movement for a good effect. This meant I had to decide between lots of camera movement or these effects. Overall I feel that the overall mood conveyed and the mood which the audience decode will be boredom. This video should be relatable for the younger viewer (or anyone under the current circumstances) as it supports the bored mood of the song, we can see the artist sort of vent his boredom through the lyrics and instrumental which I tried to mirror in the video through the character and imagery - with more morbid connotations as it progresses.
No comments:
Post a Comment