For my preliminary work I have chosen to create a music video for the first minute and 38 seconds of the song 'Cinnamon Girl', by Lana Del Rey.
Before filming, I have planned the process: I thought about potential locations, props, and when I will film it, as well as a schedule for the filming day.
Ariana (the model) and I went to the park first, however since it was the first time I filmed her the shots weren't great - I was getting accustomed to filming and figuring out which angles work best and such.
I chose to project photos on a white board in one of my school's classrooms because of the interesting color combinations and patterns when they mold to the model's face and body. Initially I wanted to project videos meant to be visuals for psychill music or dj sets, however I didn't manage to, because the visuals lagged when projected.
I focused on taking close-ups, mixing up shots that are in focus and out of focus, as well as alternating colorful shots with black-and-white shots. I also used the cut-to-the-beat technique in order to conform to the more upbeat part of the song and the alternate quick shots taken in the park/the rooftop of the school to contrast the ones taken in the classroom.
I edited the music video in iMovie, which I haven't used before, but it proved to be quite straight-forward and easy to use. I inserted all the footage in and then selected the parts which I wanted to use in the music video. The more complicated part was arranging them in such a way that the scenes change concomitantly with the beat, and making sure that the lip-sync is actually synced.
This is the link to the music video: https://youtu.be/GkUkuUrvTn4
For the vinyl cover for the song I chose to layer two images: one with the hands, and a photo of Ariana under the grid projection. Due to the meaningful lyrics of the song, I chose to showcase the two sides of the artist: the one who is free-spirited, and the one captured in her relationship with her significant other and all her past relationships. I approached the back cover in a minimalist way, only writing down the name of the song and the artist.
I have edited them in PhotoShop, which I have a lot of experience in. Besides layering the two photos, I have adjusted the exposure, brightness & contrast, as well as the levels, vibrance, and saturation in order to conform to typical alternative music vinyl cover conventions (such as conceptual style, photo of artist, colours which invoke a certain mood).
Here are the vinyl's front and back covers:
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