Editing

I've yet to receive the final version of the song, so in the meantime I have created a Premiere project file with all the clips and have started to sort/separate the footage into categories as well as marking the timing of each clip so it will be easier to insert the clips into the right part of the song (so the performance matches the song).

What I did to sync the videos with the song was to match the instrumental version of the song with the audio of the VHS clips using the waveform and by matching the beat of the drum in the background. This will ultimately help me to match up the new audio later when I get the final song so I know where the clips belong.

I hope to finish by sometime in the next two weeks, luckily we don't have to film the Creative Critical Reflection this time around, so I'll be able to take my time perfecting the piece stress-free. Considering the footage gathered, it doesn't seem like it should take too long to edit the piece, I'm estimating two days at most if I grinded it out. Hopefully this does not come back to haunt me.

Filming Day 3 — Band Performance Video (ft. The creepiest/ugliest mask you've ever seen)

 We were originally gonna film in the morning and the afternoon, but we eventually decided to just film in the afternoon since Seb could only film later in the day (and literally everyone forgot to wake up), so at around 5:00 PM we finalized the main performance scene at Sergio's house. 

One major issue we ended up facing was that our singer, Maxx Nunn, was not available to film since he had to go back to college in Boston, so we came up with the idea to bring a mask and have the various members of the band "sing" verses of the song throughout different parts of the video. The result was ultimately funny as hell were all laughing our asses off as each member put on the creepy ass grim reaper/skeleton mask, especially since we had the mask wear different accessories so you could differentiate between the members (you'll see what I mean in the pictures).

Main Performance Clips

The abomination mask

Filming Day 2 — Sergio's House (planning day and performance shots)

 I'll admit today was pretty convoluted, but we did get some work done. Mateo couldn't come, so we decided that today we would film individual shots of each of the band members playing as well as work on the song's vocals. Although I didn't storyboard anything, I also took the time to think about more in-depth what shots I wanted for tomorrow and synching it with the newly recorded vocals for the song. Overall, it was more of a planning day and we just chilled out at Sergio's house and had fun.

Stills of the band members playing (minus Mateo)

Bloopers from today

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Filming Day 1 — Markham Park (random vids and having fun)

 Filming went pretty well today, I forgot to plug in my camera to charge so I just brought the charging cable and used an AC outlet in one of the gazebos at the park. Everyone started arriving fairly soon, and within 30 minutes, everyone was ready to film. Today, we focused on filming funny clips to reflect the band's playful and lighthearted tone with clips such as the band members doing the "Sunshine dance" (I dunno, I just made it up), Mateo skateboarding, Jake and Sebastian rapping, and Sergio playing the drums on a garbage bin. For the performance aspect we did focus on today, I had the band stand in the middle of a small amphitheater and pretend to play their instruments as the song played on a speaker.

Today's Film Sesh

Sergio beating the shit out of a garbage can

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Filming Tomorrow

 Big day tomorrow, we're filming the Sunshine music video! Hopefully all goes well. I will be charging my VHS camera and bringing spare batteries in case one of them dies and I'll also bring a spare tape in case I run out of space on my main one. Recently, I've been having issues with the camera staying on during use, so hopefully in the middle of their performance the camera doesn't die because that would be very annoying. 

For tomorrow's shoot, we'll most likely be at Markham Park and get those shots out of the way, then we'll film at Sergio's house for the remaining two days we're filming. It should go pretty smoothly considering the amateurish look of music video, so filming shouldn't be too meticulous or convoluted.

Markham Park

We'll most likely film in one of these gazebos

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Shooting Locations?

 As I said in my previous post, the music video will mainly consist of performance and aesthetic/tone clips, so it doesn't exactly matter where we film everything. For simplicity, we are most likely going to film the "random clips" at Markham Park and I might include older videos from my VHS of the band members skating at the Tamarac and Lot 11 Skatepark. For the performance bits, we may also include some footage from Markham, but mainly we will film at Sergio's house since all the instruments are there and we can manipulate the lighting easily. In general, it's just more pleasant than transporting all their instruments to another location to film. 

Considering the band's brand identity of being lowkey and chill, I believe this low-budget amateur look will not effect the quality of the piece and will facilitate the filming process by loads.

Song Progress

 Okay...

So the band has yet to give me a final version of the song with vocals, so in the meantime Sergio made a draft version where he sings over the instrumental for reference when editing.