I feel like the hardest part of the recreation was framing each shot correctly so that we can perfectly imitate David bowie. Certain shots were difficult for us as the equipment and space which we had was limited. The expressions on the actors face was also a challenge as David Bowie shows a range of emotion through his performance which when capturing requires dedication to the role and performance. Lighting didn't go to plan in the original video, which we did attempt but changed as we realised we wouldn't have been able to produce the same quality of work ourselves which we wanted. Lipsyncing was somewhat challenging as we didn't record enough takes of each shot to cover the footage and match the miming.
2. What problems did you face whilst filming? (consider the logistics, could you get everyone together to film, did you have rehearsal time, were you able to frame your shots effectively, could you convincingly play/mime?)
The main problem was attempting to frame each shot identically the same as the original. After we had produced the best framing we could, I released David Bowie is right handed where as I who was the actor is left handed. This made the frames for us reversed, especially when Bowie was holding/playing the guitar. Therefore we had to re film specific shots so that the continuity and similarity was successful.
3. How did you overcome these problems? (did you alter shots/props, solve lighting issues etc?)
We overcame all of the problems we faced, firstly by doing alternative shots that looked similar to the original video but compromised with my left hand playing. The lighting in our shots was fixed after production on the music video as we didn't notice the low light quality until the editing stage. We worked on improving the lighting by adding an effect and increasing saturation & brightness whilst lowering the contrast levels. The guitar strap which David Bowie had in his video, could not be recreated in ours as the guitar we used had a broken strap and didn't attach the guitar properly. Therefore in the video hand actions and positioning varied, which compromised certain shots. In terms of the original video we could not recreate it with the correct lighting so instead we decided on another video which was more reachable in terms of the equipment we had to produce the music
video.
4. Which problems could you not overcome? (were some instruments harder than others to source, could you recreate the look of an artist, could you dress the set, were some shots impossible to emulate?)
We unfortunately couldn't overcome the lighting issue which we faced in our first video, and therefore compromised by attempting a video with less lighting concerns. It was also difficult to make the playing of the instruments in the first video authentic as nobody in my group knew how to actually play the guitar or drums. This then recurred as a problem with the second video. We realised we didn't have enough time the get the exact costume or make-up for the music video either, which made the overall product less believable and not as professional.
3. How did you overcome these problems? (did you alter shots/props, solve lighting issues etc?)
We overcame all of the problems we faced, firstly by doing alternative shots that looked similar to the original video but compromised with my left hand playing. The lighting in our shots was fixed after production on the music video as we didn't notice the low light quality until the editing stage. We worked on improving the lighting by adding an effect and increasing saturation & brightness whilst lowering the contrast levels. The guitar strap which David Bowie had in his video, could not be recreated in ours as the guitar we used had a broken strap and didn't attach the guitar properly. Therefore in the video hand actions and positioning varied, which compromised certain shots. In terms of the original video we could not recreate it with the correct lighting so instead we decided on another video which was more reachable in terms of the equipment we had to produce the music
video.
4. Which problems could you not overcome? (were some instruments harder than others to source, could you recreate the look of an artist, could you dress the set, were some shots impossible to emulate?)
We unfortunately couldn't overcome the lighting issue which we faced in our first video, and therefore compromised by attempting a video with less lighting concerns. It was also difficult to make the playing of the instruments in the first video authentic as nobody in my group knew how to actually play the guitar or drums. This then recurred as a problem with the second video. We realised we didn't have enough time the get the exact costume or make-up for the music video either, which made the overall product less believable and not as professional.
5. What next steps are you going to take? (learn how to: film/edit/light/perform/makeup etc).
The next steps I am going to take is considering the difficulty of a music video and, how far in advance we really need to plan for us to be ready to actually shoot a music video with all of the correct equipment ,props and knowledge. This includes doing extensive research into the lighting of the music video and how achievable I think it is. Also the look of the actors in relation to the original and how beneficial it would be to take time with the costume and makeup aspects. I feel like more practice is required in terms of the actually shooting of a music video including shots and angles.
The next steps I am going to take is considering the difficulty of a music video and, how far in advance we really need to plan for us to be ready to actually shoot a music video with all of the correct equipment ,props and knowledge. This includes doing extensive research into the lighting of the music video and how achievable I think it is. Also the look of the actors in relation to the original and how beneficial it would be to take time with the costume and makeup aspects. I feel like more practice is required in terms of the actually shooting of a music video including shots and angles.
