Task 5: Lip Synch Tutorial Experience (planning)

In lesson, we were given the song 'If I can't have you' by Yvonne Elliman for which we had to make a practice music video to.

I learnt how to add the soundtrack and video footage onto Final Cut Pro and match the footage with the soundtrack, to ensure the lip synching is accurate. Some of the shots that we filmed looked at a better angle when the camera was vertically straight. I did not know how exactly to rotate this and learnt so during the editing process.

We were not given tripods to use and were told to practise filming hand-held. However, whilst filming, I found this very difficult because the camera was very heavy and my arms began to ache. Because of this, I found it hard to hold the camera still and so the shots were not as effective as it could have been if shot on a tripod. There was one shot in which my group wanted to include. It was a shot of our team member's legs showing her walking down the stairs. However, it was very hard to follow her footsteps holding the camera in my hand. In addition, the shot did not go with the music when we were editing, so we decide as a group to leave the shot out.

Whilst editing, it was quite hard to get the footage and the right moment in the song. However, as a group we manged to successfully complete it and the lip synching was impressive for a first practise. I learnt to put some footage on top of each other in final cut pro and cut bits out of each footage to show a cool effect. This included opening the sound up and listening out for a particular word and putting a marker there. I used the same word to put markers in the footage, to ensure I get accurate lip synching. In my group, we did shoot many shots, some of which were in a classroom, while the others in the hall. The classroom shots were cut out as it did not go well with the other shots or song. Although we did put many shots in our video, we still needed more. This showed me that a music video contains many different footage and that the shorter the clips in the video, the more effective they are. This is something that as a group we will be doing to ensure that our video stays as appealing as possible.

With a thriller opening, the longer the clips were, the more suspense it created. This was much easier to edit because it didn't require lip synching or matching beats. A music video needs quicker editing which is quite hard because you have to get the right footage on the beat of the music. However, I feel as though creating a music video will be more exciting than it was creating a thriller film as it is more fast-paced and entertaining because it has repetition and rhythm and can be used for repeated viewing.