All posts by russellmcgilton

Russsell McGilton is published writer and performer. He has performed here and overseas and has had numerous articles published in The Age, The Australian and The Big Issue. He and his partner, Sarah Jane, have a gorgeous five year old girl, Ruby.

MEDIA 4 – DECLARATION AND STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP – BLOG 22

RUSSELL MCGILTON’S DECLARATION

Declaration and statement of authorship

  1. I, Russell McGilton, for the blogging information (Blogs 1 to 22)and as a crew member in the music video ‘Whose World is It?’ have not impersonated, or allowed myself to be impersonated by any person for the purposes of this assessment.
  2. This assessment is my/our original work and no part of it has been copied from any other source except where due acknowledgement is made.
  3. No part of this assessment has been written for me/us by any other person except where such collaboration has been authorised by the lecturer/teacher concerned.
  4. I have not previously submitted this work for this or any other course/unit.
  5. I give permission for my assessment response to be reproduced, communicated compared and archived for the purposes of detecting plagiarism.
  6. I give permission for a copy of my assessment to be retained by the university for review and comparison, including review by external examiners.

I understand that:

  • Plagiarism is the presentation of the work, idea or creation of another person as though it is your own. It is a form of cheating and is a very serious academic offence that may lead to exclusion from the University. Plagiarised material can be drawn from, and presented in, written, graphic and visual form, including electronic data and oral presentations. Plagiarism occurs when the origin of the material used is not appropriately cited.
  • Plagiarism includes the act of assisting or allowing another person to plagiarise or to copy my work.

I agree and acknowledge that:

  1.  I have read and understood the Declaration and Statement of Authorship above.
  2.  I accept that use of my RMIT account to electronically submit this assessment constitutes my agreement to the Declaration and Statement of Authorship
  3.  If I do not agree to the Declaration and Statement of Authorship in this context, the assessment outcome is not valid for assessment purposes and cannot be included in my aggregate score for this course.

Further information relating to the penalties for plagiarism, which range from a notation on your student file to expulsion from the University, is contained in Regulation 6.1.1 Student Discipline and Plagiarism Policy which are available on the Policies and processes website.

 

MEDIA 4 – FINAL REFLECTION ON OUR FINAL MUSIC VIDEO – BLOG 21

Our initial concept of our final music video was not fully realised. We were trying to push a narrative music video where our protagonist, Willy Dynamo, starts off as the underdog and because of his own inner goodness is transformed through a chance meeting, thus going on to triumph over his inner demon/ Bad Willy. The video was going to have a cartoonesque fight scene and thus a detailed storyboard was made up to help economise the shoot process. It was going to have a 70s look (aka Shaft), replete with big fluffy coats and perhaps women and his crew fawning over him in a convertible or indeed, on low rider bicycles sweeping along St Kilda beach.
Yes, well it’s nice to dream!
We lost most of this due to unforeseen circumstances in that our hero character was not available for designated shoots and was not on board with the suggestions in the script. Therefore, we cut our losses and did the best with what we had.
I guess this experience taught us all to be flexible, that the monster of making a music video involves goal posts being magically moved at the last moment, that what you set out to do doesn’t mean it will materialise. The art in the process of making art is knowing when to fight for something and when to let go.
Having said that I think we are all quite proud of the work. Where we did succeed was making excellent camera and editing choices.  Knowing that we didn’t really have much of a narrative left forced us to really consider each cut. The skill of matching the music beat to the cut or to an expression or to cover stuff that wasn’t working involved a lot of collaborative work and arguing for or against various scenes. Most of the time we agreed and there was no ill feelings when a shot wasn’t chosen. The key is learning to give distance to something for the greater good of the end result.
I enjoyed working with Luka and Sean. They were flexible and thoughtful. I’m glad I did argue against them planning to do two music videos as they initially wanted. Though I agree, it could’ve been done I just didn’ think it realistic under the circumstances of a student film shoot.
Where the video doesn’t work is the sameness of some shots such as Willy rapping to camera quite a bit. It was hard to make that interesting and we had to do a lot of work to choose the right shots to lift it. Also, the narrative we were left with was just Willy picking up a necklace and somehow is has some kind of magical properties that makes him happy. It doesn’t really make sense at all and we don’t see his metamorphosis or whether ‘Whose World Is This?’ has any bearing or informs the music video on any level.
In regards to other Hip Hop music videos, our video has elements that are similar such as the graffitied walls, the police sirens in the beginning, the hint of violence, the profanity, drug references (him smoking a joint and Willy being a charismatic performer.
Overall, our video comes across fitting the genre and has come up a lot better than we had expected considering the difficulties we encountered.

 

MEDIA 4 – SET REPORT – BLOG 20

(Outtakes from B Roll)

When I joined the group, Luka and Sean already had an artist in mind – Willy Dynamo. The initial issue I encountered was that they wanted to do two music videos which I was dead against – a huge undertaking. We talked a lot and brainstormed. Here are some of our notes:

PROPS LOCATIONS CONCEPT CHARACTERS 
Power tools

Garden tools

Smoke Machine

Bicycles
Low Rider bikes

Kids stuff – toys, water soaker, safety trampoline

Costumes

Karate Outfit x 2Buddha – saffron robeStylePalette – corny Dirk Diggler Boogie Nights look, Kung Fu Hustle comedy. Fighting is stylised comic style perhaps.Maybe black and white in the beginning and comes back in colour?

Castlemaine
Cinema Art Deco
LorneBush
Mornington Peninsula
Two Burmese CatsPrimary SchoolCoburg
Lebanese cafesBox HillAsian restaurants, markets, trains, cool underpassLittle BourkeDegraves StreetSt Kilda BridgeSwimming PoolHanging RockVolcano craterEureka TowerDocklandsBars – Section 8, Ferdydurke, Giant MazeBamboo Garden – Willy to run through being chased by someone/henchmen/etc.
China Town Arch – water featureInflatable WorldInteriors
DojoBoxing ringCoco Cabana – BrazilianWilly Dynamo
Big personality, super loud, brother, BrazilGuys at the beach – volleyballSkateboarding -Karate – dojo – fighting himself

  • Daniel-San Dojo Master
  • Girl Protagonist (Sora?)
  • 3 Baddies ‘The xyz Three’
  • Cartoon Introductory freeze frames when character appears on screen
  • Eg.

2nd thought as WILLY DYNAMOWilliam as EVIL WILLYSubtitles telling the
narrative

  • Can cut in and out of song to people speaking
  • Intro animation Willy getting beaten up
  • Cut to disorientated Willy (bloody and cable tied)
  • Willy riding low rider to dojo

·       Dirk Diggler kinda names?

  • Gets beaten up by his Evil Willy (and/or Evil Willy’s Henchmen). On his beaten up shitty low-rider/bike. Wax on Wax off – learns how to fight. Comes back blinged up riding a lowrider and kicks the shit out of Evil Willy. Leaves with ‘The Crew’.
Good Willy (Played by Willy Dynamo)Evil Willy (Played by Willy Dynamo / One Sixth)Referee –  for both fights (?)Kung Fu Master/Sensei/Buddhist (Played by Daniel San?)The Crew (?)Girl Protagonist (Played by Sora?)3 Baddies ‘The xyz Three’Films for InspirationBoogie NightsKung Fu HustleWillie DynamiteChungking ExpressFoxy Brown

Eventually, a narrative started to take hold after splurging our ideas about. Sean suggested looking at seventies style movies that Willy based himself on such as Willy Dynamite and Shaft. This soon shifted into movies of the time such as the Bruce Lee movies and we started thinking about Willy doing a Kung Fu fight scene and who he would be fighting. I said I’d write a story and the following week came up with a preliminary draft of Willy fighting his arch nemesis in a dojo – himself or Evil Willy. He gets beaten up, has an epiphany on the way home and later defeats Bad Willy. On my second draft, this evolved to no dojo and Willy getting beaten up by Evil Willy in an alleyway.
With time our roles became apparent. Luka was an obvious choice for doing camera and editing because he, rather modestly, said he had proficient skills (the man is a gun!). I nominated Sean as directed because of his connection with Willy. He agreed, despite having no experience in directing. Melody, who arrived a bit later in our group, offered to assist and procure props. I would shoot B roll and production manage.
To assist with making the experience more manageable, Sean set up a production schedule (prior to me joining the group) which included valuable things like contact details of our crew and a week to week break down of what we should try and achieve (see below:)

Production Schedule
Week Task / Item Due Date
1 Orientation
1.5
2 Lock Down and Confirm (with Willy) direction of Video. Due: 14-11-17
2.5 Story-Board & Shot List Due: 16-11-17A dot point narrative worked out – Russ
3 Collate all Information into Presentation 22-11-17 Willy Dynamo Album Launch
3.5 PB3 (Part 1) Pitch Presentation (15%) Due: Sean introducing the concept, Melody story, Russell locations, Luka doing visual styling/storyboard.
25th Saturday – Shoot?
26th Sunday – Shoot? Russell can’t do shoot this day
4 – 27th Monday DAY FOR LOCATION SCOUTING/LOCKDOWN. Russell not available (working).
4.5 30th Thursday
DEC 2nd Saturday
3rd Sunday SHOOT CANCELLED
5 4th Monday SHOOT CANCELLED
5.5 6th Wednesday
5.5 7th Thursday SHOOT (CONFIRMED – BE AT ROSE STREET CAR PARK BY 9 AM)
5.5 7th Thursday Edit Rough Cut (Afternoon/Evening)
5.5 8th Friday
6 11th Monday ROUGH CUT DUE TO PRESENT
6.5 14th Thursday SHOOT IN ST. KILDA, BIKE SCENE/INFINITY POOL (NOT CONFIRMED)
15th Friday FINE CUT DUE TO PRESENT
6.5 14th Thursday OVERNIGHT EDIT PROCESS
7 18th Monday PB3 (Part 2) Video Submission (30%)

Some of this flew by the wayside as we weren’t always available to meet or to do the shoot. Locations, which were initially going to be in the alleyways of Hosier Lane (which I recce-ed – see earlier post) were shelved for the quieter laneways of Fitzroy. Sean managed to find a car park that was excellent for shooting required scenes.
Shooting was delayed because of the unusual weather conditions on the weekend of the 3rd and 4th December and because of difficulties in locking down the talent to a date and getting him to fulfill that commitment. The only other issue was a crew member not really contributing to the project which did cause tensions within our group.

In the end, we only got one day with Willy (we had planned a second shoot in St Kilda with Willy riding on a low-rider bike) which was a shame because we all had such a good time making it. It would’ve been good to try more experimental aspects time permitting and availability of crew and talent.

MEDIA 4 – STUDENTS’ MUSIC VIDEOS – BLOG 19

It was great to see the realisation of other students’ work in our class from concept, presentation to finished product. Here are just some of the ones I’ve seen so far in our shared drive:

Electrical ways

With its dark tone and red tones, it reminded me of an 80s music video which I quite liked. I liked the use of the Sex Doll as a narrative device and the general silliness of the situations that followed (especially the ending with the panda eyes and the knife in the doll’s hand!) Simple but effective.  Maybe could’ve used more jump cuts or other filmic devices but otherwise great.

P.Y.T

Looks of great locations and freshness to this music video (street scenes, mechanic, swimming pool) Some beautiful shots such as the red tones when the lead is singing and I liked the idea he’s there/not there throughout the clip.  Overall, works well.

Fame H

Quite enjoyed this video. I liked the song and the energy of the performers. No narrative as such but liked the style of it. Loved the use of ghosting and lighting.  The music matches the style of the video with its choice of locations, frenetic cuts. Quite a  professional piece

Boats Soft Corporate

Love the pastel palette the chose for this. The softness of the look matches the narrative of the story. Great choice of shots and thoughtful framing and mirroring effects quite effective. This combined works well with the narrative of love lost.

Bloom

Great use of the motif of water drops throughout this music video from the outset with close-ups of flowers dripping to the protagonist in the bath/turmoil and tears. Loved the close-ups of water in reverse running down the bath and on the protagonist, use of ghosting, and excellent performance from the artist. Doubling of characters in one shot adds to the internal conflict of the character and adds to the narrative.  I can see the inspiration for this video from the music video they had shown to us in class (lots of close-ups of the protagonist sweating, reverse drops) and it works extremely well here.

MEDIA 4 – EDITING SUITE – BLOG 18

 

In the editing suite with Luka and Sean. Melody was not available to join us. The music clip was pretty much done, but due to not being able to do a second day of shooting, Luka, instead, trimmed the end of the song. Job done!


What took the rest of the time was spent doing post effects. For example,  ‘ghosting’, an effect to show that Willy Dynamo is in altered states from his fight or, as the narrative now is really out of shape, like he’s recovering from drugs. Another effect was feathering out the sunglasses of Willy because Sean and Luka are in the reflection.

This took time, as Luka was not familiar with tracking (a complicated process it seemed). Then we went on to trying to make the necklace glow which also took some time due tracking issues.
While the music clip wasn’t what we really wanted, it was proficient as it could be under the circumstances.

 

MEDIA 4 – DAY SHOOT 2 – BLOG 17

CANCELLED!

After much prepping and organising principally by Sean, Willy Dynamo cancelled again at the last minute.
This is frustrating because we wanted to get some closure on what is now a very loose narrative arch. After our shots last week where Willy is covered in blood in the side streets of Fitzroy and has found a medallion that brings about his epiphany (the original narrative was to have Willy pass a homeless man, stop,  and forgoing his own plight, go back give him some money. Because of his compassion, the homeless man was, in fact, a realised being and transforms Willy with the power of insight. Alas, Willy was not keen on this idea).
We were to see him as the new Willy transformed: clear sunny day on the beaches of St Kilda riding lowrider bicycle on the pier, the wind in his cap as he sings his song, free from the weight of the world behind him. We were going to get lots of B-Roll footage, we were going to get closure, we were…
Alas, no. Nada. Kaput Zilch.
This is disappointing because now we don’t have the music video we wanted. Rohan suggested (and I didn’t have any time after today anyway for another day to shoot) just to work with the footage that we have. It’ll work but it is a damn shame.
So there’s a lesson here.  The signs were always there with William. We never received the lyrics from him and it was difficult to lock him day to shoot. The fact that he cancelled only hours before the shoot was not helpful as for myself I have a family and had to reorganise my day to get my wife to do school drop offs and pick ups when she was working (I was not in the happy books!).
Lastly, it’s a shame we didn’t get to do the second-day shoot because I think Sean, Luka and myself were starting to find a groove with shooting and editing.
Next time, I’d find talent that was willing to do the days and stick to them or find an actor that could stand in.

MEDIA 4 – DAY OF THE SHOOT – BLOG 16


My job on the day apart from Production Managing was to shoot B-Roll, collect equipment and provide some of the props. As for B-Roll footage, despite collecting some great stills and video footage of our talent, Willy Dynamo and background shots, it couldn’t be used.

 

This was because I had a shot it at a smaller ratio/format than what Luka was shooting at. If we used my B-Roll footage, it would’ve pixelated. We should’ve checked before, although that might not have made any difference: my camera couldn’t go up to the same ratio.

Luka proved his mettle by shooting some amazing footage of Willy and his brother, one shot of which was slightly influenced by one of my B-Roll shots – a slow pan from the stairwell to Willy in the car park smoking (small mercies!). Luka also came into his own in the editing suite and really took command over such an unwieldy footage. Sean and I gave our editing suggestions and often we agreed on what to add/cut or a motif to consider.

There were some very minor issues. Willy didn’t want to go along with parts of the narrative arch we had written. There was to be no fight scene and no accepting of the medallion from the homeless person. This was a shame because Willy accepting a gift was to indicate his gratitude and compassion. What we have instead, is Willy picking up the medallion and marching off triumphant.

Losing those scene sped up the shooting time and we’ll see how it all pans out. Best not to get too attached to things you can’t always control.

Another, issue was we lost one of our crew members who seemed to have not read the call sheet and ended up in the wrong location. Despite this, in the end, their absence did not hamper our shoot.

The thing that shoot did teach me was also to be adaptive. For example, after struggling for some time to achieve the impossible task of fixing an LED lighting board suitcase, tripod and reflector on the back of my bicycle, I finally succeeded, wobbling and all, to get to the Fitzroy location. I set it up, put the batteries in and waited with glee.

‘We don’t need it after all,’ said Sean, as he flitted from the top of the car park to downstairs.

‘Oh…’

This was cool. I didn’t mind, particularly as this was remedied by Sean taking the gear back in his car. It was the least I could do. Sean had to pick up Willy, organise the shots and have a vision of the shoot.

Overall, it was a fun shoot and we all got along famously.

MEDIA 4 – PRE-SHOOT – BLOG 15

Due to the one-in-a-hundred year storm, we weren’t able to use our original locations around the CBD or in Fitzroy. A well-covered carpark was chosen in Fitzroy for the shoot for Sunday, 3rd December.

Scheduled for Sunday 4th December at 4pm, the shoot was abruptly cancelled some hours before shooting as Willy Dynamo, our talent, had to cancel. So we rescheduled for Monday, 5th December at 4pm even though I made this clear I was not able to attend due to family commitments.
In any case, I did my best from afar organising props that had to be rebought. This was no great inconvenience as missing items were easy to source near the shoot.

Using the Call Sheet template below was useful, especially prompts like ‘Nearest Hospital’. I hadn’t thought of that. Also, sunrise and sunset times were important to add to help gauge how much Day Shooting Time we had left. It further provided those little memory jogs like taking extensions, who was responsible for what props, the order of the shoot, what scenes and locations to table.

Sean set the list for scenes and from what I can tell from the Call Sheet, it appears that we were only going to do the first half of the video which was where  Willy Dynamo is getting beaten up.

MEDIA 4 – FINAL DRAFT OF MUSIC VIDEO SCRIPT – BLOG 14

Finally, we got to some agreement on the script of the music video, though much of this seems like it will fall by the wayside due to availability of actors and time constraints.

WILLY AND HIS EVIL TWIN – SECOND DRAFT
  • Hosier Lane – graffiti, rubbish, skips and homeless people.
  • Willy Dynamo falls to the ground injured. His doppelganger, Evil Willy, stands before him and laughs. Willy gets up, worse for wear.
  • On his way out of the lane, Willy sees a homeless person sitting by the wall and wearing a hoodie. The homeless person smiles at Willy but Willy ignores them. However, feeling bad about this, he turns around and goes to put money in the man’s cup when the homeless man grasps Willy’s hand. Willy is shocked by what he sees – the homeless man’s eyes are glowing and he is smiling at Willy.
  • The homeless man reaches up and places his hand on Willy’s heart. Willy feels something (positive life force), stumbles back. The man disappears in front him.
  • Willy can’t believe what he sees and walks the streets and feels this strange feeling of happiness.
  • Willy drops money, homeless man grabs his arm (Willy’s taken back) as Willy turns away symbolic item (eg. jade stone, necklace) gets slipped into his pocket
  • Willy walks away and reaches into pocket and finds object, has a reaction to the object (Stop motion spasm/synesthesia)
  • But when he turns a corner and goes down another laneway and finds it’s a dead end who but should be blocking his way is, Evil Willy. The smile drops from Willy’s face.
  • As Evil Willy goes to hit him, Willy takes a long breath and everything goes into slow motion. Willy ducks the punch and Evil Willy falls over. Evilly gets up and goes to kick him but Willy grabs his foot and pushes him backwards,  streams of ‘visual power’ shooting from his foot. Evil Willy grabs Willy by the shirt and the two have a stare off until Evil Willy’s face drops and he falls to his knees and evaporates.
  • As Willy steps out of the lane he’s suddenly funked up and his crew is waiting out the front with a new low rider bicycle. He thanks them and they go for a long ride on St.Kilda beach, smiling.