Filming Evaluation- Song- Day Three

Filming Evaluation- Song- Day Three

For the beginning of our opening, we have planned for a girl to be jogging to some music in her headphones in the woods. We discussed this and thought for it to be realistic, she would probably be jogging to a current pop track, however we aren't allowed to use copy-righted music. We researched some uncopy-righted music and there weren't any that a typical 16 year old girl would be listening to so we decided that to make the opening more legitimate and also to show more skill, we could record our own song which would avoid any copy-right issues; a lot of films also have pop soundtracks that they use during the film and then release as a single. 

Charley and Dave can both sing (and play the guitar) and we experimented firstly just having them sing individually and then choose one of them to sing the track, but then they sang together and the tones of each of their voices really complemented each other. We also thought that having and male and female voice could represent the male killer and the female victim. 

The next thing we had to do was write a song and this was probably the most problematic bit we faced because none of us had written a song before. The group kind of ignored this issue for a while until it came down to a few days before we were breaking up for Christmas and we realised we still didn't have a song. Myself, Charley and Tia tried to write a song during one of our free periods but we only came up with a first verse and chorus and we didn't think we'd be able to fit guitar chords with it. So one evening I came up with a set of lyrics for a pop song and with it a basic tune. I then recorded it and sent it to the group. We all agreed that we would just have to work with what we had and just rely on the production of the track to make it sound really good.

Charley's dad has a recording room in their house with instruments, microphones and computer software to mix songs, therefore we all met at Charley's house at 10.00am (Dave was late again) and we firstly just went over the song briefly and then discussed what we had to do that day. Unfortunately, we had to keep changing parts of the tune and so this made it hard for Dave because he wasn't too familiar with the chords or lyrics at the beginning so this took up a lot of time. 

Dave has has more experience playing the guitar than Charley so he played the tune into the microphone. First of all we had to record a reference track which was just going to be used to get our timings right and for Charley and Dave to sing to. Guy (Charley's dad) taught Tia how to use the Sony software so she was working the computer whilst Dave was playing the guitar. It took a long time to get it right though so if we were to do this again, we would have ensured that Dave had fully learnt the chords before the day so it would have been quicker. Once we had the reference track down, Tia was able to add some percussion onto the track to give it a heavier beat and this also made it more of a pop track and less acoustic so it was more ideal for someone to be running to. After finding the right drum beats and also the correct tempo, Charley and Dave were then needed to record some lyrics.

Because we were just working in a house, to sound-proof the area in which they were both singing into and to avoid getting any interference or background noise, we used Charley's duvet and held it in a semi-circle around the microphone and the person singing into it. Charley was up first because then Dave would be able to have Charley singing through the headphones and he would be able to harmonise to it. After having worked out who was singing which parts of the song, Charley sang the first two verses and then up to the end of the chorus. We then put that onto the track and then it was Dave's turn to harmonise with Charley. He then recorded the pre-chorus and the chorus along with Charley and the next two verses. After putting them together and listening to them back with the track, it sounded okay but it wasn't at the level that we wanted it. Charley decided to re-record her part but it was still out of time. By this point it was about 6:00pm and we had been going for about 8 hours straight so we had to call it a day. We hadn't finished recording the whole song with both the guitar chords (because we needed to record the bridge) and the lyrics and we also weren't happy with what we had done. Therefore, we have decided to meet after school on Wednesday to start again and re-record everything and both Charley and Dave have agreed that they will learn the song inside out so that we can maximise time on Wednesday. This day wasn't a complete waste of time because it showed us that we really need to know the song and it's also given us new ideas for when we rerecord. The mistakes we made yesterday have taught us a lesson and hopefully we will be able to record the song more quickly and more effectively, giving a better result and track to work with for editing our opening. 

Song lyrics for 'Living a Lie'

I used to stay awake with you

Talking till two

I was in love with you

But you were blocking my view

And every single time you spoke

I couldn't cope

Never wanted to let go

But now I struggle with hello

Just open your eyes 

And you will see

Now I'm flying

And I'm not crying

I'm living my life

Day to day

I want to find you now

Some place, some where, some how

I need to say goodbye 

Cos we were living a lie

Do you remember the time

You lay by my side

I couldn't call it then

Never thought that it would end

And every time you smiled at me

I could never believe

This was never meant to be

The end of you and me

Please just open up your eyes

And look at me 

Because I'm flying

And I'm not crying

I'm living my life

Day by day 

I want to find you now 

Some place, some where, some how

I need to say goodbye

Cos we were living a lie

I wish that I had known

How much we had to grow

But it's okay

I was better alone anyway

Now I'm flying 

And I'm not crying

I'm living my life

Day by day

I am flying

And I'm not crying

I'm living my life

Day by day

I want to find you now

Some place, some where, some how

I need to say goodbye

Cos we were living a lie