Compared to how we initially envisioned our music video in the first week of classes through to the pitch phase and finally the rough and fine cut screenings, I feel that we have achieved well beyond what we had originally intended. Given that our concept was non-narrative and very much postproduction dominated, to begin with it was evident that each of us had varying ideas as to how exactly we would go about bringing our concept to life. Using the Tame Impala video as inspiration certainly helped us get on the same page and going into the pitch we had a firm grasp on what we planned to include and loosely how it would be structured. Despite what we laid out for our pitch though, once we had all our footage and reached the editing stage things started to sway a little. These changes weren’t because we had realised that our originally intentions were beyond our reach but more so because in playing around with the footage that we had we discovered ways of presenting the material that proved more effective than what we had intended. The main changes from our original pitch included:

• Having only one band member’s head (lead singer, Dan), feature in the video.
• Instead of having the experiment content (food dye, milk, lights, stop motion) appear both inside and outside of the heads, we darkened the image and used the silhouette effect.
• We had planned to edit the heads so that the number of heads and their movements in the frame became more intense as the song built, however, we found it worked better to manipulate them depending on the section of the song (verse, chorus, bridge etc.). Instead of necessarily building the craziness of what they were doing as the song progressed we worked with the element of surprise, introducing different aspects in each new aspect of the song.
• Instead of finishing with a lot going on in the frame, we used a simple slow changing background with a larger silhouette that hadn’t been seen anywhere else throughout the piece

I feel that we stuck to our original concept throughout the entire process but were able to build and vary certain aspects of it where appropriate. Overall, I think this is what helped our piece to come together so successfully. The way in which we were able to communicate as a team and structure the production phase, sharing the load of work equally, was really a major reason for this success.

Things I personally think worked well included:

• The movement of the silhouettes throughout piece and how their movement is structured depending on the section of the song
• The use of the varying types of silhouettes that flash throughout the chorus
• Working somewhat with the element of surprise (aside from the second chorus, the audience isn’t able to predict what the silhouette heads will do next)
• Taking a really simple idea and using a lot of experimentation and teamwork to make it into something that is really visually effective and engaging

Things I feel we could have done better if given the opportunity again included:

• There are a few areas where the syncing of the movement of the mouths and music aren’t 100% right (which can be quite distracting) and although we were able to get them to a near perfect stage, with more time I would have loved to reshoot these areas
• There were a lot of beats going on in the song and I feel like on occasions we maybe could have chosen better beats to cut on
• I would have loved to have been able to play around more the key framing in certain areas, but it was a very complex process in Premiere and time was limited
• Looking at some of the backgrounds I feel we maybe could have reshot some of them in order to enhance quality

Overall I believe that our final music video well exceeded my expectations. I am really proud of what we were able to produce and I really hope that Pockets are excited with what we have made. Although a bit of a whirlwind, this course has been one of my favourites from throughout my entire degree and I am so happy that I was able to take as my final subject. It is exciting to leave knowing that I have made something that I can be really proud. I also feel this course has provided great revision on a lot of the things I have studied throughout the past three years as well as teaching me new skills and this is something that has set me up really well entering the next phase of my life, post-uni.

With the password (available upon request), you can view our final music video of Ten Different Names by Pockets below.