Friday, 26 June 2015

"Shake it Off" Music Video Lip Sync



As part of an introduction to the course, two classes were taken to the studio, split into three groups and rotated around 3 camera set ups,  and filmed 30 second shoots to the Sogn Shake it off by Taylor swift. A song deliberately chosen because the department new we all hated it.

In order to prepare for the shoot, we all had to learn the lyrics, and bring some costume to wear.
People brought morph suits, flowers hats, and a whole array of items to be used as props.



Initially i was appointed as Assistant Director, and had to audibly inform the studio, when shooting was about to commence.

"Quite on set", get everyone ready, a preparation command to see if everyone is ready to shoot the next take.

"Standby" once i have confirmation from the crew that we are ready do go.

"Rolling", the DOP's press record

At which point i give the Playback operator a polite nod, to indicate to them to press the play button on the soundtrack/song. The playback also doubled as a Clapper board which was placed in front of one of he cameras before each take.



Like i said, the 3 different groups rotated around the three stage set ups...


1. A Canon SLR, Tripod, and a stationary lens, facing a couch, the set up was designed for good visuals, and camera quality, the stationary lens meant that the camera only had to focus on one length instead of compensating for many.

2. The green screen, though it wasn't used for any visual effects, it gave us an idea about working with backgrounds. The camera, a Sony NX5, was set on a tripod,  and eye-line hight.

3. The dolly, a Sony Professional Grade NEX-FS100, was set on a dolly track, with a rocky background, the track carrying the car the length of the Set, this made for some interesting shots, and gave the music video more dimension.


After we shot for a few hours, we went up to the editing suit to put together the footage, splitting up into smaller groups from the ones before. The footage had been shot over the top of 'Shake It Off' playing in the back ground, and when piecing together footage, we had to match the clapper board in the videos to the one on the soundtrack, otherwise the lip sync would not work.

What did i learn from this exercise?

In short, i found out that there are plenty of other things which need to happen on the set of a music video than that of a regular shoot. But this taster did give me ideas on how to shoot the music video that we do for our final piece of course work, the use of the dolly etc... I also learned that on the set of a music video there needs to be more control over the cast and crew on set. For idea that i have, that involve a lot of extras, this is essential for me to get the hang of now!

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