Youtube Tutorials

Though all members of the group were able to use Adobe Photoshop to some degree, we needed some extra help in order to create the effects we wanted for our music video. In particular, we wanted to make our portrait (the Dorian Gray reference) become increasingly distorted and cracked over time. For that we had to turn to YouTube, where we found a number of tutorials that helped us create the desired effect. Here are two of those tutorials.

For the video itself, we also wanted to add some effects to the love interest in the final shot, in order to make it clearer that she was turned into a vampire. A video cannot be edited in Photoshop, however, so we were introduced to Adobe After Effects, which none of us had used before. Again, we were able to find a video tutorial that enabled us to easily learn what we needed to do.

(ADELAIDE)

Monster Music Video [2nd Draft]

In this post, we have improved our first music video drafts and made amendments based on the feedback we have received earlier on. By doing this, the audience will have a clearer outlook on our music video. However, this is just the second draft as we need to re-shoot the band scene and have more references to Dorian Gray.

Audience Feedback

This is a power point presentation addressing the feedback received in reference to the first draft of our music video, including the steps we will be taking in light of the thoughts of our audience.
The most common comment about the:

- Narrative is about the love interest and her role in the music video is unclear to the audience. We will improve this by having the love interest more camera time.
- Camerawork is about there needs to be more angles from the band scene and individual shots of each member in different camera shot and angle. We will improve this by re-shooting the band scenes in different shots and angles.
- Editing is the overall effects are all positive feedback. However, personally, I think we need to create more transitions and video effects to the music video as it will create more atmosphere to the "fantasy" themed video.
- Mise-en-scene has a good and positive feedback on the costume, location and props. However we need to make the band scene livilier, thus re-shooting it.

Feedback presentation from AsianSensation

(Explanation by ATHENA; Presentation by KAWSAR)

Monster (First Draft)

In this post, we have edited the first cut of our Music Video for the song Monster by Imagine Dragons.

Behind The Scenes Day 5

(ATHENA)

Behind The Scenes Day 3 & 4

(ATHENA)

Behind The Scenes Day 2

(ATHENA)

Behind The Scenes Day 1

(PRESENTATION: ATHENA

VIDEO EDITING: ADELAIDE & ATHENA)

Sid - Enamel (Music Video Reference)

In this post, I will be discussing some music videos we will take reference and inspiration from.

The second reference is a Visual Kei Japanese Rock Band “SID” and their song is entitled “Enamel”. Enamel is featured in an anime programme “Kuroshitsuji Book of Circus”. It is the third season of Kuroshitsuji in which continues the journey of revenge of the main character, Ciel Phantomhive and his demon butler, Sebastian Michaelis.

The music video is dominantly performance with a hint of concept. Their concept shows an apple and is the little snippets of a rotten apple shows a foreshadowing. This relates to the anime programme Kuroshitsuji Book of Circus as it perhaps shows the consequences of pursuing revenge. It also relates to our intertextual reference to Dorian Gray.

Dorian Gray 2009 Trailer

This is the opening of the music video which shows an apple surrounded by wires which connotes confinement, relating to the transformation of out main artist on our music video Monster.

Foreshadowing

The chains connotes again confinement which relates to the lyrics of our chosen song "I'm only a man with a chamber who's got me..."

Drummer Mid Shots and artist's solo performances

Guitar mid shot and solo performances

We will be incorporating the idea and the mid shots of each member of the band to show the we are still adhering to the codes and conventions of rock/indie genre.

(Athena)

Breakerz - Rusty Hearts (Music Video Reference)

In this post, I will be discussing some music videos we will take reference and inspiration from.

The first one is a Visual Kei Japanese Rock Band “Breakerz” and their song is titled as “Rusty Hearts”. Rusty Hearts is based on a free-to-play MMORPG video game developed by Stairway Games and published by Windysoft in Korea, Perfect World Entertainment in North America, Sega in Japan and Xunlei Games in China.

The storyline is about the Bartbarod in which the Royal family maintained a pure bloodline until a genetic mutation nearly wiped them out and gave rise to a new race of mutants called vampires. They in turn gave rise to new race of half-breeds, causing the pure-blooded vampires to grow wary. The ruler of the Vampires at this time, Lord Vlad, decided that he would eliminate the impurities that threatened the existence of his people and declared war against humans and half-breeds alike.

Opening Performance of the Music Video

Guitar Performance

Vampire References which is related to the game

Heirarchy

Love interest

Two shot of the actress and singer

The lighting shows pureness and innocence which contrasts with the next photo in which they used special effects to shows her transformation. 

In these two photos, the artist shows his regret for transforming his beloved.

We will incorporate the theme of this music video to our own project. We will also use the same kind of lighting using ambient and low key lighting to show the contrast between innocence and the aftermath of the transformation.

(Athena)

Organisation of Props/Locations/Equipments

We made a small presentation to show our plans in terms of obtaining items and booking locations for the production of our video.

Item and Location organisation from aatomey

To show how we organised booking for our locations and equipment, here are a few of the emails that were exchanged between our group and outside sources. (Read from bottom to top!)

(Adelaide)

Production Schedule

Day	Location	Note
Monday 10th November	No filming	We’ll be going out and buying props needed for the other scenes.
Tuesday 11th November	Bathroom and Bedroom
Wednesday 12thNovember	No filming
Thursday 13th November	Drama Pod	Will need instruments and the three band members.
Friday 14th November	No filming
Saturday 15th November	No filming
Sunday 16th November	No filming

Day	Location	Note
Monday 17th November	Street 2 (Flashback)
Tuesday 18th November	Street (Watney Market)
Wednesday 19thNovember	Bathroom
Thursday 20th November	Drama Pod, Cemetery	Will need props bought on Monday 10th.
Friday 21st November	Bathroom and bedroom
Saturday 22nd November	No filming
Sunday 23rd November	No Filming

(Adelaide)

Screen Test

This is the screen test for the vocalist or main artist of our music video. A screen test is essential to make sure that the artists is able to perform well in front of the camera as the star image's sells would depend on him.

(ADELAIDE)

Artist Profile

In this post, I'll be presenting our band's profile that includes their band name, age, brief biography, values and ideologies, and representation.

(Athena)

Artists' Agreement Forms

These are the agreement forms that we let the artists (Kawsar, Shannon, Riordan and David) sign to make sure that they abide by the production rules and to make sure that we, the production, also abide within the rules stated.

      

 

      

     

Costume Design and Props

In this sketch that I made, I explored the different possibilities that the artist could wear for a costume.

The first on is a casual look with a hoodie and this is very modern and urban which the audience can easily tell that the genre of music is indie rock.

On the other hand, the second one is a Victorian era look and this is because Dracula and the Picture of Dorian Gray is set during that time period (1800s). By doing so, we can capture the "vintage" essence of both references. However, the audience mught not easily recognise this costume and might associate the band to the genre of goth, steampunk or Visual Kei.

On the other hand, these are the props (i.e. The make up) we have to uitlise to make the image of the character more effective and obvious to the audience.

In the first image, we have our fake blood that we used at the cemetery scene, we also used bronzer and cream foundation and some eyeshadow. As we can see on the second image, we have our liquid foundation, BB cream and some moisturizer for the base.

Risk Assessment

Before we could start filming, we needed to identify what the potential risks were. By making a list of the risks and assessing them we're able to make everybody aware of them, and thus take measures to avoid them. Here is the list of the risks we found for our locations.

General:

Indoor Scenes (Bathroom and Bedroom):

City Street:

Graveyard:

(Adelaide)

Mise en Scene Plans

Planning is also an important part of filming, and the organisation helps to ensure that we have everything we need for each day. To that end, we've made a list of what will be needed in terms of costume and props for each location, and the clothes chosen reflect on the personalities of the characters.

Bedroom:

The room will be a bit dark, indicating that it’s still early in the morning. The room will look a bit messy, but nothing alarming or out of the ordinary for the average teenager. At the beginning of the video, the main character and his love interest will be in bed together, waking up.

The male will wear:

•           A black (or another dark colour), long sleeved shirt
•           Dark Pajama bottoms (though none of our planned shots will show these)
•           No shoes (since he is in bed)

The clothing that the female has will not matter, since she will be covered by the duvet for all of the shots in this scene. The only thing of note would be that her hair would be down and messy, showing that she has only just awoken.

Bathroom:

The state of this room will be more likely to raise some eyebrows. Clothes are on the floor, seemingly thrown towards the laundry basket but missing. It’s darker than it should be, but not enough to bother the male, and his lack of care shows that this might be normal to him.

He will still be wearing the same clothes as he was in the bedroom scenes.

City Street:

An average sidewalk, though more populated than usual.

Here, he will wear:

• A long, black leather jacket
• A white t-shirt
• Blue or black jeans
• Dark coloured trainers
• A cap or other hat

He may also wear this upon returning to the bathroom scene, but without the jacket.

The female will wear:

• A long jacket (but not black, and preferably not anything dark)
• A light-coloured blouse
•  Black trousers
•  Open, flat shoes
• A hair accessory, like a flower or bow-tie

Graveyard:

The scene in the graveyard will obviously be quite eerie and mysterious. It taking place at night also heightens the atmosphere, and makes it clear nothing good will happen there.

The male will wear:

• A jacket (the same as above or another one, but preferably another)
• Trousers
• Trainers
• A shirt (preferably long-sleeved)

All of these items should be black, if not another dark colour, in order to show him being darker than before. In addition, we will the following as part of his transformation:

• Fangs
• Makeup
• Liquid latex

In contrast, the female will be wearing:

• A light coloured dress

OR

• A light coloured shirt, with a cardigan on top
• Black or navy blue leggings
• Open, flat shoes

(Adelaide)

Recce

Below is a list of our locations of filming with possible issues we may face trying to film in each and solutions to overcoming these problems.

Photographs of location	Possible issues	How to overcome issues
Location 1	There may be quite a lot of unnecessary objects in the bathroom. We may also be tight for space with the bathroom most likely being quite small making it difficult to film.	The objects that we don’t want in the frame can be moved away easily. We have found a bathroom suitable for filming and will take a lot of portable camera shots to battle any possible problems of filming in certain areas.
Location 2	The bedroom will play a huge part in creating an overall representation of the main artist and so has to look a certain way which may be difficult as we may not find a bedroom matching our desired image.	We will decorate the room accordingly with permission and then take it down after we are finished.
Location 3	The weather can heavily affect our process of filming with it possibly damaging our equipment. The number of pedestrians on the street is unpredictable, meaning possible interruptions may occur.	We will check the weather forecasts before heading out. We will station ourselves accordingly in response to how busy one street may be and one may not be.
Location 4	A possible issue was whether we’d be allowed to film at the cemetery or not. There is an issue of lighting with us having the plan of having all filming at the cemetery take place at night.	We asked those in charge of the location who gave us permission to film. The cemetery has some lights set up during the night and just in case, we will also bring sources of portable lighting.
Location 5	The main issue associated with this location is that of availability as the stage and drama pod within the school are not always free for use.	We will book the stage beforehand to ensure we are able to use it at the time we need to.

By: Kawsar

Star Image Mood Board

This is the mood board for our star image. It involves pictures of certain individuals who fulfill the look we imagine our main artist to have. The look consists of an all-black attire, with cool and slicked hair, pale looking skin, and a look of severe internal pain. The star image is one of toughness yet vulnerability. The colours of the outfit will be black to highlight this dark, tainted nature of the artist, with the impression that we are trying to give off being that he is very mysterious and distant in a sense. The images consist of The Twilight Saga, Dracula, a k-pop band who also made an intertextual reference to vampirism, an emo, an anime character who upholds the mysterious look we desire, the transformation of Dr Jekyll, lead singer of The 1975 Matt Healy, and the artists of our chosen song- Imagine Dragons.

By: Kawsar

Project Monster: Shooting Script

Presented in this post is our group's shooting script for Project Monster, a music video for Imagine Dragon's Monster.

Shot	Camera/Action	Time	Editing
1	Long shot of the painting	0:00 - 0:05	Slow zoom in
2	Close up shot of the painting – shows a handsome young face (reference to dorian gray)	0:05 – 0:07	Shallow Focus
3	A split second of a close up shot of the painting showing an ugly rotten face (show foreshadowing)	0:07 – 0:08
4	Close up shot of the painting – shows a handsome young face (reference to Dorian Gray)	0:08 – 0:10
5	A long shot of the guitarist performing	0:10 – 0:12
6	A low angle medium shot of the guitarist	0:12 – 0:14
7	A close up shot of the painting	0:14 – 0:16
8	A close up shot of the vocalist with the drummer which can be seen through his shoulder	0:16 – 0:18	Deep Focus
9	A low angle medium shot of the guitarist	0:18 – 0:21
10	High angle shot of the drummer	0:21 – 0:23
11	Medium shot of the drummer	0:23 – 0:26
12	Long shot of the window; the sunrise	0:27 – 0:28
13	Zoom in on the window	0:28
14	Bird’s eye view of the bed with the main protagonist and his love interest	0:28 – 0:31	Slow zoom in on the main protagonist
15	Close up shot of the main protagonist as his eyes open, they are blood-shut	0:32 – 0:33
16	Close up shot of the vocalist	0:33 – 0:34
17	Protagonist sits up, medium shot	0:34
18	Silhouette of the protagonist, shot taken from his back to show his vulnerability against the sun	0:34
19	A high shot of the love interest, focusing on her neck	0:34 – 0:36	Eye line match
20	Low angle hand held camera of the main protagonist, covering his face in shame and regret	0:37 – 0:38
21	Medium to close up shot of the artist	0:38 – 0:40
22	A shot of the protagonist’s hand opening the door to the toilet	0:40 – 0:41	Eye Line Match
23	A long shot of the toilet – worn-out and dilapidated	0:41 – 0:42	Eye Line Match
24	Over the shoulder shot of the main protagonist as his washes his face	0:43 – 0:44
25	Over the shoulder shot of the main protagonist’s reflection in the mirror	0:44
26	Extreme close up shot the main protagonist’s eyes, he frowns and looks irritated	0:44 – 0:45
27	Rule of thirds is used in an over the shoulder shot. It shows the protagonist looking at the sun shining outside.	0:46 – 0:48	Deep focus
28	Establishing shot; the character pulls away the curtains to show the street below.	0:48 – 0:50	Eye Line Match
29	Close-up of his face, showing that he has to squint to avoid being blinded.	0:50 – 0:53
30	Slight high angle shot from behind the protagonist. The change in lighting and clothing shows that time has passed.	0:53 – 0:54
31	Panning shot following his footsteps	0:54 – 0:56
32	Stationary mid shot, showing the protagonist from the side, having come to a stop.	0:57 – 0:59	Time lapse used to show the people passing by.
33	Close up of the main artist from the side, showing him singing.	0:59 – 1:01
34	Handheld low-angle mid to close up shot of the protagonist, showing his confusion.	1:01 – 1:03
35	Close-up shot centred on the artist, showing him singing	1:03 – 1:05
36	Close-up on the protagonist’s hands, suddenly chained	1:06 – 1:09
37	Similar shot to 31, only from the front and with the protagonist in the centre of the shot	1:09 – 1:10	Time lapse used in the same manner as 31
38	Similar shot to 11	1:11 – 1:12
39	Similar shot to 2, but the person in the portrait has visibly aged	1:12 – 1:14	Shallow focus
40	Similar shot to 21	1:14 – 1:16
41	Female love interest is running through the (still stationary) crowd – the camera is handheld, panning moving towards the left, female is positioned in the right side of the screen	1:16 – 1:18	Time lapse used in the same manner as 31
42	Cut shows a small passage of time as she reaches him and stretches a hand towards him	1:18 – 1:21	Time lapse used in the same manner as 31
43	Mid two shot. The protagonist is to the far left, meaning that the love interest is in the centre. She had grabbed his shoulder from behind.	1:21 – 1:22	Time lapse used in the same manner as 31. The people in the background begin to speed up to normal speed
44	Slight high angle shot of the love interest from over the protagonist’s shoulder	1:22 – 1:24	The people in the background begin to speed up to normal speed
45	Two shot of the characters to show the protagonist’s surprise	1:25 – 1:27	The people in the background begin to speed up to normal speed
46	Over the shoulder shot. The protagonist is looking back towards the love interest – and at the camera, slightly.	1:28 – 1:30	The people in the background begin to speed up to normal speed
47	Mid shot low angle of the protagonist turning around and offering his hand to her, a smile on his face	1:30 – 1:32	The people in the background should be at normal speed by this point, if not by the next shot
48	Close up on the love interest’s face, showing a smile of relief	1:32 – 1:34
49	Close up showing the two’s hands meeting	1:34 – 1:35
50	Silhouette of the protagonist, shot taken from his back to show his vulnerability against the sun (Similar to shot 18 to shows the progression of time)	1:36 – 1:39
51	Close up shot of the male protagonist face in a side view shot and shows his anger	1:39 -1:40
	Long shot of the band performing	1:40 – 1:42
52	Male protagonist stands up and camera pans up, following his action. The panning is set in a low angle shot to his vulnerability and disorientation	1:42 – 1:43
53	He heads to the toilet, the camera follows his actions and is shot from behind	1:44 – 1:45
54	He looks at the mirror and is infuriated	1:45 – 1:46
55	He starts breaking stuff in the toilet and throwing things away, this is shot in a long shot, mid shot and close up shot	1:46 – 1:47
	Close up shot of the vocalist	1:47 – 1:48
56	Every close up shot, we cut to the face of the female protagonist smiling and being happy – this shows a contrast in their values, contrast between the past and the present.	1:49 – 1:50
57	He starts breaking stuff in the toilet and throwing things away, this is shot in a long shot, mid shot and close up shot	1:50  - 1:52
58	Every close up shot would show their happy past, these shots are supposed to be in high key or ambient lighting to contrast the low key lighting in the present	1:52 – 1:54
59	Shots of the band performing, close up of the vocalist, guitarist and drummer playing	1:55 – 1:57
60	The girl arrives and is positioned in the left side of the screen, long shot. She looks at him with worry and surprise	1:58 – 2:00	Eye Line match
61	The girl runs to him and comforts him, slight low angle mid shot	2:00 – 2:02
62	Eye line match, high angle shot of the guys hands, he is hallucinating that his wrists are bound by chains	2:03 – 2:04
63	Close up of his face in a low angle shot, showing his extreme confusion	2:05 – 2:06
	Mid shot of the vocalist performing	2:07 – 2:08
64	Eye line match, high angle shot of the guys hands, he is hallucinating that his wrists are bound by chains	2:08 – 2:09
65	He looks again but the chains are now gone	2:09 – 2:10
66	He stands up, panning up from a low angle shot	2:10 – 2:11
67	Grabs the girl’s arm, panning up, two shot	2:11 – 2:12
68	She pushes her out the toilet door, shot from behind in a hand—held camera	2:12
69	Closes the door, shot from behind	2:12 – 2:13
70	Close up shot of the hand as he locks the knob	2:14 – 2:15
71	He looks at the mirror again and we him yelling in anger	2:15 – 2:16
72	He is about to punch the mirror, over the shoulder shot	2:17
73	The painting is evidently older than before	2:18 - 2:19
74	A bird’s eye view of the mirror breaking	2:19 – 2:23	Slow motion
75	Close up shot of the male protagonist face, we see a hint of relief but his anger is still present	2:24 – 2:26
76	He looks at his hand with blood and glass embedded to his flesh	2:25 – 2:27
	Mid shot of the vocalist performing, has to be in a limited source of lighting	2:28 – 2:29
77	Close up shot of the male protagonist face in a low angle shot, we see him being really upset	2:29 – 2:30
78	A split second to show the face of the love interest	2:31
79	Close up shot of the male protagonist face in a low angle shot, we see him being really upset	2:31 – 2:32
	Mid shot of the vocalist performing, has to be in a limited source of lighting	2:32
80	He turns away from the right hand side of the screen to left but the camera stay still	2:33 – 2:34	Slow motion
81	He starts to open the toilet door, This has to be in a fast paced (like a time lapse thing) Shot from behind, his back should be out of focus and the back ground is in focus.	2:35 – 2:36
	Close up shot of the vocalist singing from the side view	2:36 – 2:38
	He starts to open the toilet door, This has to be in a fast paced (like a time lapse thing) Shot from behind, his back should be out of focus and the back ground is in focus.	2:38 -2:39
82	We see him running to the cemetery towards the left of the screen. Male protagonist has to always be in the right hand side of the screen, considering the rule of thirds. This shot is a handheld camera and panning to left	2:40 – 2:45
83	Flashes of the past	2:46
84	Similar to 82	2:47 – 2:48
85	Shot of the band performing wide shot	2:48 – 2:49
86	Similar to 82	2:49 – 2:50	We zoom in slowly every cut
87	The painting become older, as if it is decaying	2:51 – 2:52
88	Similar to 82	2:53 – 2:54
89	Flashes of the past, the “happy” couple life	2:55 – 2:56
90	Similar to 82	2:57 – 2:59
91	Similar to 85	3:00 – 3:01
92	Similar to 82	3:02 – 3:03
93	Shot of the mirror from before and it is revealed that he doesn’t see his reflection	3:03 – 3:06
94	Similar to 82	3:07 – 3:08
95	Similar to 85	3:08 – 3:09
96	Similar to 87	3:10 – 3:12
97	A shot of the love interest’s neck	3:13 – 3:14
98	Similar to 87	3:14 – 3:15
99	A shot of blood dripping, in the right hand side of the screen (foreshadowing)	3:16 – 3:17
100	High angle shot of his transformation, he kneels down on the ground in the middle of the cemetery	3:17 – 3:18
101	Close up shot of his teeth, fangs are growing	3:19 – 3:20
102	His hands are on his neck as if he is choking	3:21 – 3:22
103	A long shot of the male protagonist in his transformed look	3:23 – 3:24
104	A close up shot of his eyes as they flooded with the red colour	3:24 – 3:25
105	A close up shot of his lips, and his fangs growing sharper and longer.	3:26 – 3:27	Close up shot of the fangs are in shallow focus. Him strangling his neck would be out of focus, to show his struggle, despite his transformation
106	There is a cut to a hand held camera panning to the left of the love interest running towards him. This shot is similar to scene 41. This is to show her desperation to reach out to him, whether he is human or not.	3:28 – 3:30
107	The love interest stops in front of the male protagonist. Male protagonist is in the left side of the screen, kneeling down and struggling. The love interest is in the right side of the screen. Camera should be focused on the male protagonist.	3:30 – 3:31
108	Low angle shot of the love interest reaching out her hand to male protagonist which is similar to scene 47 to show role reversal.	3:31 – 3:32	Eye line match
109	Similar to 87. Picture should almost look like it is decayed or age by time	3:33 – 3:34
110	Close up shot of the vocalist singing	3:34 – 3:35
111	Similar to scene 108	3:36
112	Male protagonist refuses her hand, this shot is in a high angle, over-the-shoulder shot of the love interest to show the male protagonist’s vulnerability and his denial of his circumstance	3:36 – 3:37
113	She reaches her hand out again, high angle shot	3:38 – 3:39	Eye line match
114	He pulls her to him and hugs her tightly, medium two shot	3:40
115	Smells her hair, close up shot	3:41
116	Extreme close up shot of the girl’s neck	3:41
117	Close up shot of the male protagonists mouth as he reveals his fangs	3:42
118	A cut to a low angle mid two shot, as the camera revolves around the two characters. Male protagonist has his head tilted to the love interest’s left Cortaid.	3:43 – 3:48
119	Close up high angle shot of the love interest’s face. She is flabbergasted, shocked and scared, but she still strokes the male protagonist’s head to give the sense of acceptance and comfort	3:49 – 3:50
120	A low angle close up shot of the guys face as blood trickles down on the side of his mouth	3:51 – 3:52
121	Love interests close her eyes and lets out a sigh	3:53 – 3:54
122	Love interests falls to the ground but male protagonists supports her, close up shot then goes to mid low angle shot	3:5 – 3:56	Slow motion, Panning and zoom out
123	She is lay down on the grassy area, her skin becomes pale	3:56 – 3:
124	Low angle mid close up shot of the male protagonist face	3:57
125	A slow zoom out of the painting, it is focused on the main protagonist in which he looks decayed and monstrous, A it slowly zooms out, the painting reveals that he is joined by a portrait of the love interest but she looks very young but very pale ahs red eyes and dark red lips	3:58 – 4:01
126	Close up of the love interests eyes, they are closed. Then they open and reveals her vampire eyes	4:01 – 4:02
126	Fade to black	4:02 – 4:04

By: Athena