Video Idea #1: 'Please Don't Touch' - Motörhead/Girlschool

Account Of Lip Sync Exercise

We entered the studio at about 9am and began to set up our cameras in front of three different set pieces, one green screen, one fake stone wall and a kind of living room set-up with wallpapered walls, a wooden floor, a couch and a window. In front of the stone we put a tracking dolly, the other two setups were stationary shots, the couch camera usually kept high-angle, the green screen one pretty much eye level and all of them had varied degrees of close up shots. Upon completion of the shot setups some issues were already apparent, the studio is quite a small space as it is and with three different sets operating simultaneously in there, things were crowded and hectic. The choice in music was an issue on a personal level, listening to the same appalling song again and again for an entire morning, but sometimes you just have to deal. I think overall though the shoot went pretty well, the tracking shots especially turned out very clear and professional looking, the green screen was probably the worst, the shots just didn't really capture any attention during editing and I thought that they looked boring. The couch wasn't too bad, wasn't great either. I think it also had a lot to do with the lighting setup, the wall had really effective side lighting so it looked professional, whereas the others were front lit, which doesn't bring out the actor/singer/lip-syncer's features as well, they look slightly two dimensional. The studio is a really good space to work in, if there are fewer bodies in there, we had two (maybe more) different classes in there all shooting at the same time, so it really could not be utilised to the extent that it usually can. One thing I will say though, there were no sound issues, which is one of those small, everyday blessings that are so uplifting in our lives. Editing was also a breeze compared to our previous thrillers, it is much easier to know when to make cuts if there is a beat and lyrics, though I must stress that we didn't just cut on the beats, I've wasted enough time watching music videos to know better than that. Unlike our thrillers, we also had a lot of useable material to work with, as opposed to trying to peice together something from nothing. The only problem we had really during editing was the fact that the computer kept crashing whenever we tried to drag a clip onto the timeline, technology can be so tempramental, but Matt came and sorted that for us. As a team I thought we worked pretty effectively, we got the job done and we did it as best we could, which as it turns out was pretty damn good. Pats on the back all round I think. The morning shoot and the editing that followed really went very well and was a fun process to be involved in.

Organic & Synthetic Stars

An organic star is someone who has gained fame and success on their own, relying on talent and in most cases, a band, and being part of that band is the main reason that they have become a 'star' in the first place. Rock and Metal bands are the best examples of organic stars because they are are the best, musically and otherwise, they are what most people think of when the word 'star' is mentioned, in reference to music anyway. Synthetic stars are something different entirely, rather than being recognised for their talents (if existent), they are a persona created by the record companies to generate revenue for a few years until the next big thing comes along.

Organic Stars:

Johnny Ramone 

Johnny Ramone is an ultimate example of an organic star, being in a punk band and everything, he's as organic as they come. The Ramones are a punk rock band from New York, formed in 1974, they started their career by playing in small clubs like CBGB and were signed to Sire Records after being noticed by one of it's representatives, Seymour Stein. Throughout their recording and performing career, they stayed true to their original image, singer Joey Ramone allowed the label to shape and mould him into their money making star, whereas Johnny maintained the same mentality and attitude up until the day he died. Johnny invented and retained their classic look of black perfecto jackets, jeans and trainers and really didn't care what anyone had to say about them, he could certainly tell today's artists a thing or two about integrity, that's for sure.  

Synthetic Stars:

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga is a synthetic act because her image and music are generated by her record label rather than by her. She was first spotted by talent scout Rob Fusari singing for SGBand, her own organic band and was picked up which would eventually lead to her being signed to Def Jam records and then eventually CherryTree records. For her and her fans, it is more about her image than her music, both of which are exploited by the record label as another way of making money and giving another aritst their shot at fame until the next big thing comes along. Is that really harsh? Anyway, Lady Gaga = Synthetic.

AS Thriller Poster

 

 

 

My AS thriller was called Umeå, it is named after a town in Sweden, so i designed my thriller poster accordingly.