2. Final Cut
Express
When starting to edit my music video, I had to use an Apple Mac To edit my music video, I had to use a program called ‘Final Cut
Laptop, in which I stored all my footage in folder, so that it was easy Express’. Final Cut is a professional editing base where a lot of
for me to access it. professional music videos are edited and also how A2 Music Videos are
edited.
Final Cut Tools
Motion keyframing
Opacity keyframing
Video Tracks
These are all the technical features
All these different tools are useful, as they
Audio Tracks require different sources that are needed
or that are useful when producing a music
video.
This is what ‘Final Cut Express’ look like, once it was loaded. As you can
Although the tools may seem quite complicated, after experimenting
see, there are different technical features that are required, when
on Final Cut Express a few times, I found them quite easy to use, in
producing the music video, in which as a student I was quite aware of
which I started to get familiar with the program itself.
what I needed to do and where I needed to put it.

3. Importing files, is something that must
be done correctly, but can always be
done again if done wrong the first time.
However, there are easier ways for you
to access your footage, when trying to
put it on the ‘Video Track’, by importing
the whole folder of where your footage
is stored, in which it will be in on the
space, scene on the left. This made the
process of accessing my footage a lot
quicker.
Once Final Cut was up, I needed to get started with editing my music video, as I had to get it done by a specific deadline. In doing so, to get my
footage onto the video track bar, I had to ‘File’ then ‘Import’ and then ‘Files’. In some cases, when I found doing this consistently, it was quite
exhausting so I put my folder (with footage in it) to the open space on the left hand side (next to the opening of ‘File’ on the bigger outlet of Final Cut
Express).
Once I clicked import my ‘Files’, the folder that had all my footage in it, showed the
different clips that I could choose from, depending on if I wanted to use it or not in The area where all the footage is accessible, when
my music video. Once I had clicked on the clip I wanted to use in my music video, it clicking import ‘Files’. This is bigger version, as what is
would appear in the space on the left, in which I was able to drag it onto the ‘Video shown on the left, as I wanted to make it easier for you to
Track’. This made it easy for me to use a whole clip, or cut down so that I only use identify this through my explanation.
the useful areas of my footage in my video

4. The space on the left shows the folders that store all my footage (e.g. K.Daley,
Folder 6 and Khalid Daley NEW!) and the track of ‘Ellie Goulding – Your Song’
(that I’m going to use in my video).
Without any sound, the music video would be incredibly pointless as the video focuses the main attention on the song, so that the audience are
persuaded into buying it. In doing so, I had to put the track of my song on the ‘Audio Track’ so that I can keep of the video being played at the same
time as the song. I imported the song, the same way I imported my footage, in which it appeared in the space on the left.
The ‘Gradient Colourize’ gave a
black and white effect to my clip,
which linked to it being a flashback.
As you can identify from this image, I have started to edit my music video, in which I have also used some
effects on my clips, so that it brings out the storyline more clearly for the audience. As there were pieces
of footage, where there were scenes of the couple, being portrayed as a flashback, I needed to make this There are loads of varied and different
black and white so that this portrayal was clear. In this case, I used an effect called ‘Gradient Colourize’ effects that can be used on Final Cut, to
(although Gamma Correction may be highlighted, but this is a general mistake). enhance the look of your clip/image.

5. To make my music video interesting and engaging, I wanted to use a lot of the transitions provided in Final Cut, This shows the transition being
so that it made the video more engaging and exciting for the audience, when they were watching it. Through used in my video. As you can see,
doing research, I noticed that a lot of music videos used different transitions, as a way of showing a difference there is a fade of scene being in
between once scene and another scene. Transitions would also be used to show the fluency in the video, when colour, fade into a different scene
camera cuts from once shot to another. In this case, I went into ‘Video Transitions’ and used the ‘Additive that is in black and white. This
Dissolve’ transition. This was the first transition I used in my music video, in which it made the changing of the evidently shows a beautiful
scene look beautiful and simplistic as it was not overrated. I did use a lot of the same consistent transitions, as I contrast between the scenes, as it
didn’t want it to draw too much attention away from the video, as that was the audience’s main focus. I will makes the shot look like it’s in the
show other transitions that I used in my music video, and how this effect was used between to different season of autumn
shots/scenes.
Throughout my music video, you are able to see that this beautiful young lady playing the role of the music artist ‘Ellie Goulding’ (who is selling the
song to the audience through the music video). These four different shots, show different camera angles needed to make the music video diverse in
it’s appearance. The season of my music video, was for it to be autumn, in which you can identify this through, the leaves, trees and field of grass (with
leaves surrounding it). Although the young lady was mainly in the same costume, this reflected the narrative storyline being shown.

6. As shown here on the left, there
are a lot of transitions to choose
from. Unfortunately, the
‘Additive Dissolve’ and the
‘Cross Dissolve’ were the man
transitions that I used for me
video as they were the only
one’s that looked realistic and
professional.
Although it may not seen
varied, I was happy to use these
two transitions throughout my
music video
As I have mentioned before, I used quite a lot of the same video transitions in my music video as the song was mellow, in which I didn’t want the video
transitions to be overrated as it wouldn’t go with the video, at all. Since I already explained about me using the ‘Additive Dissolve’ transition, another video
transition that I used was the ‘Cross Dissolve’ transition, as it showed a natural fading from one shot to another. This is evidently shown, as you can see from
the images shown above. From looking at the image in left hand corner and the image in the right hand corner, you are able to see the transition effect of
there being loads of trees and leaves. This makes the video look peaceful and calm, in which this is how it suppose to be portrayed. From looking at the image
under the image in the right hand corner, it shows another transition happening in the video. However the scenery of this transition is more beautiful, as
there is a beam of light coming from the sun, in which it shines upon the leaves, grass and flowers. This highlights the aspect of nature in my video. Next to
that shows the ‘Cross Dissolve’ transition, in the ‘Video Transitions’ section.

7. There were a lot of areas of my music video, that I found quite challenging, due to the accuracy of cutting from one scene to the next and keeping the
duration of the video in place, as I didn’t want to waste time on just experimenting with Final Cut Express. In this section, there was a lot of fast past editing, in
which the cuts had to be sharp and accurate. To make sure I did this properly, I had to watch my clips on ‘QuickTime’ so that I could indentify what I was going
to use in my video and what I wasn’t going to use in my video, so that I could instantly cut out sections that I didn’t want. Doing the editing section, for the
images above was very difficult, as I had to make sure that the lip-synching of the young lady was in time with the music and also that I showed the different
angled shots of the couple running away from each other (as though the young man is chasing after the young lady). I had difficulty doing this, as I wanted to
show the continuation of the couple running, when the young lady would finish lip-synching a lyric from the song, but this was quite challenging as I had to
make sure that I wasn’t repeating the same scene, as the audience would notice this, in which they may get confused or slightly bored of seeing the exact
same scene being repeated continuously. However, this was a success, as it showed continuous cuts of the couple running from two angles, which made it
look extremely effective when watching it.
After I had finished doing that, I had to make sure that the shots of the couple were in black and white, as I was portraying it as though the ‘couple scenes’
were flashbacks. In doing so, I had to put the ‘Gradient Colourize’ effect on the shots, then render them. This showed an in-depth awareness of how detailed
the flashback is for this young lady and how she enjoyed the relationship she had with her boyfriend.
*HINT*: Always know what clips you want to definitely use in your music video, as it’s easier and less time consuming. Also when trying to edit scenes
that requite a lot of cuts, make sure that the cuts are correct and that the scenes aren’t being repeated. Although it took me a while to edit this section,
due to the fast pace of the cuts, the result came out extremely great, in which I am very happy with how it turned out.

8. This was another area of the music video that I found difficult to edit, reason being was because the scene that I was editing had to start and end at a certain
point in the song. I also wanted this edited section to get with the rhythm of the song, meaning that the cuts from different angled shots would have to be
clean and accurate, although it would still have maintain the narrative storyline, otherwise the audience wouldn’t understand why that scene was put into the
video. This scene shows, black and white image of her and boyfriend in love, in which the black and white images represent the relationship being in the past,
which also identifies the portrayal of the young lady looking at the past. I filmed this section from loads of different angles, so that I had a variety of footage to
work with and also so that the music video would look effective through the editing of different angles, that give different views from the eyes of a
viewer/audience member. In this scene, the young lady didn’t need to lip-synch whatsoever, as this scene was mainly focusing on the acting and the
narrative storyline that was being portrayed by the acting of the young lady and the props identify in the shots.
When finishing editing the scene and looking back at it as a whole, I was really pleased with it, because it showed a difference between the scene of the
couple running in the park (the young lady being chased by her boyfriend).
Editing this scene wasn’t as difficult as editing the scene of the young couple running in the park, however it was hard to get the accuracy on point to
portray the storyline in the right way.

9. This is one of the scenes that I blended in with the young lady lip-synching to the song. This
scene is mainly featured near towards the end of the song, as the lyrics get a lot more sadder.
In this case, it shows the featured girl putting her images (of her and her boyfriend) in a box, as
a sign of moving on from the break-up/the past. The editing for this is extremely clever, as it
shows the young lady looking at an image of herself and her boyfriend, in which she drops it
into the box (which is shown from another angle, and it shows it in the box from another angle.
All of this is done accurately, quickly and sharply when watching it all together.
Filming a scene, from different angles can look
very effective when editing, as it shows the
variation in camera angles and camera shots. A
lesson I learnt from doing this, was that I had to
be aware that when I did scenes from different
angles, I had to do the exact same thing when
repeated so that it was accurate, otherwise the
audience/viewer would be aware of major
mistakes in the video, and this could effect the
views of a music video.
This is another one of the scenes that I blended in with the young lady lip-synching to the song. The editing of this
was a lot easier, however it was quite hard to get the timing of each of the two shots on point, as it wouldn’t make
sense if they were out on sync. This shows the young lady closing the box, where she put her images of her and her
boyfriend in. The two shots show the box being closed from one angle, in which the camera is inside the box and it is
facing upwards to show it being covered by the lid of the box. It then shows the closing of the box, from another
angle, in which the angle is a mid-shot and it shows the box lid being covered on the box. With both of these shots, it
makes it more effective and can be more engaging for the audience, as from seeing it from different angles can vary
the quality of how much effort has gone into editing the video.

10. These are the shots of
the young lady, playing
the piano at the
beginning of the music
video. Accuracy was
key, so that it looked
realistic when the
young lady was playing
the piano at the same
time as the track.
As seen on the left, I featured the young lady playing the piano at the
beginning of the music video. Although these images, aren’t the finalised
ones, I was absolutely definite that I wanted the young lady to play the
piano at the beginning of the music video, as I thought it would be effective,
since the track of the music has a piano instrumental at the start.
By making the white
light fade into the
black and white
scenery, I had to use
the ‘Cross Dissolve’
transition for this to
happen as the white
light, was another
people of footage that
was separate.
As seen on the left, it shows the young lady and her boyfriend sharing a kiss
in the park. As you can identify, there is a white light that is fading into the
scenery/shot , in which it makes it look amazingly effective, with the shot
being in black and white and also it shows a sign of something special
happening in the relationship.
*HINT*: Something that I learnt throughout editing my music video, is to keep on planning ahead of when to film, what to film, what to edit and what
tp take out, as it is better and easier to have an idea of what you want the music video to look like.

11. This is where, I was able to create the text to
put at the beginning and end of my music
video. I found this easy to do.
In music videos there is always a little caption that gives the artists’
name, song, record label and director of the music video. In this case,
I did the exact same thing (shown above) in which I did it in a way
that was simplistic as the music video was not overrated.
This is at the end of the music video, where the young lady ahs finished playing the track of the song. In this case, I did it from two different camera
angles of the young lady finishing playing the piano and walking away from the piano. I thought this was be logical, reason being was because I thought
it would evidently show that the video has ended. From doing it at two different angles, it almost shows the imagery from two different perspectives, in
which I believe that the accuracy of it, is brilliant. Also something that is noticeable is that you are able to see the caption that gives detail of the artists’
name, song, record label and director of the music video. This is evidently visible for the audience/viewers which also shows the that video has ended,
in which it gives the audience time to reflect upon the storyline.