Camera, Shots & Editing Techniques

 

Throughout my music video, I wanted to include creative shots that weren't so basic and more unique. For example, this specific shot from "Fallen Angels" 1995 inspired the shot that I have for the bridge where Sara is feeling conflicted. It's supposed to give this sort of melancholic feeling and I really liked this shot in the film because the two main characters are feeling conflicted while everyone else around them is moving fast-forward, an idea which links to the meaning of the song I took and which links to my logo as well where Sara is the main character and everyone else is in their own world, and the camera should be prioritizing Sara's worldview.

In this shot, I used motion blur as an effect, and I told Sara to act like she's reminiscing because after this shot, she's fully accepting herself into this metamorphosis. 

During this scene, where Sara is sitting on a bench in the park, I used frequent jump cuts to reflect her internal stress and to ensure the audience remains engaged. Rather than making the editing feel repetitive or overused, I carefully placed effects such as brief black flashes to increase tension without overwhelming the viewer. This mirrors how Harness Your Hopes uses jumpy editing to create energy and a sense of instability.

SUBWAY & REVERSED ACTION

I wanted very much a shot like the reference photo , where everyone is passing by fast and the main character stays still and continues to move forward. I chose to speed up and reverse the background action, while Sara continues moving normally. I made this choice to show that everyone around her is in their own world, moving quickly and without awareness, while she is more focused on herself and her thoughts.

This connects to the Kuleshov effect, a classic Soviet film theory. Kuleshov showed a short clip of an actor with a neutral expression, and then cut it together with different images: a bowl of soup, a dead body, or a little girl playing. Audiences interpreted the actor’s neutral face differently depending on what shot came after it. If it was the soup, people thought he looked hungry,  if it was the dead body, people thought he looked sad. The point of his theory was that the meaning of a shot isn’t just in the shot itselt, but it comes from the shots around it.

 In my video, placing Sara’s calm figure and then editing to the fast, reversed background creates the impression that she is isolated, and separate from the world around her. This reflects one of the key ideas of the music video in which that even when surrounded by people, she feels separate from them and is going through something personal on her own. This was a creative choice that came to me spontaneously an that I adapted through the editing. Almost all the shots that include other people are reversed and sped up, apart from one shot of a man riding a bicycle, which is shown normally in order to emphasize the ending. I made this choice to suggest that by this point in the video, Sara has reached a calmer and more accepting state of mind, to show that everything has slowed down now. 

HOW I EDITED MY VIDEO AND WHY

When Sara first leaves the café, I added a black noise / grain effect to the shot. This is the first time we see her fully outside, and it was very windy when we filmed. I wanted the image to feel chaotic and unsettled, almost like the camera itself is being affected by the environment. The black specks make it feel rough and unstable, which reflects how Sara is feeling at this point. It helps the audience sense that she is stepping into something uncertain.
 

As she walks down the stairs, I slowly increase the scale (zoom) on the shot each time she appears. I did this to create a feeling of pressure and build tension, as if things are closing in on her. I then used fast cuts to jump to her already being at the bottom of the stairs, where she eventually disappears from the frame. 

During the dance break in the chorus, I edited the scene in a very chaotic way using jump cuts, camera shake, motion blur, and quick flickers to black. I did this because this part of the song is energetic and emotional, and I wanted the visuals to match that intensity. The fast editing and distorted visuals represent emotional release and confusion at the same time, making the audience feel the rush she is experiencing.

In the bridge, where the guitar riff becomes more stressful and Sara swings around the pole, I used a speed curve. This allowed the movement to slow down and speed up naturally, rather than staying constant. I chose this because it makes the movement feel more dramatic and expressive, showing her inner conflict and emotional build-up. It also draws attention to this moment as a key turning point in the video.

Throughout the entire music video, I used a cyan and red colour filter. I chose this palette because it feels slightly unnatural and off-balance, which fits the indie tone of the song. The contrast between cyan and red also helps communicate emotional tension, with cool tones suggesting isolation and warmer tones suggesting intensity or change. For example, in the shot with the trees behind Sara, the red makes the environment feel heightened and emotional, while the cyan gives a sense of distance or detachment.

This choice links to mise-en-scène theory, which explains how everything visible in a frame which including lighting, colour, costume, and props, contributes to meaning. By using this colour filter, I could shape the audience’s understanding of Sara’s inner feelings without relying on dialogue or narration.