[GROUP] Outkast - 'Hey Ya' Task

As a class challenge we were set the task of filming and editing a video for the Outkast song 'Hey Ya', given a short amount of time. This was done for two main reasons:

1. To get some experience in filming a music video.
2. To get to trips with some of the school's new kit.

In terms of experience in filming a music video, it was important that we could think of our feet to come up with good ideas for footage and make them a reality very quickly. This is something that could easily happen in our coursework, perhaps if we find we don't have enough footage or if we don't like what we have. We all found it difficult initially to come up with ways to present the song as a class using the limited resources and settings offered in school, however, once we got into filming we got a lot of ideas down on film, and discovered that they don't actually have to be all that related.

The new kit we had to experiment with made a lot of jobs easier, and allowed us to try shots we wouldn't previously have been able to do.

Track and dolly

Our track and dolly enabled us to have smooth crabbing shots, as well as smooth tracking shots. The fisheye lens gave parts of our film a different look, and caused more of the mise-en-scene to be captured by the wider lens, meaning we had to be more vigilant about the positioning of objects in the room and the framing of our shots.

Fisheye lens

The curved mini motion cam was designed to create smoother handicam shots. We found this useful in some respects, but found it on the whole somewhat awkward to use effectively, and so we are planning on testing this piece of equipment more in the near future. One thing we did find useful for this purpose, however, was the cam frame. Using this would make it much easier to create a lot of movement in our music video, which is important in keeping our audience interested.



Curved mini motion cam



Cam frame

We also got a chance to experiment with a green screen. This would allow us to superimpose an actor into a different setting, or simply change the background colours. This may be useful in our music video for changing the background, and we look forward to testing what it can do and what we can do with it further in the future.

Green screen