What went well?
I thought that the whole task generally was good, because there weren't many times where either Reshma or myself were out of synch, although where there are some parts they could have been improved through some more editing. We both looked at the camera the majority of the time, and as the only camera angle we used was a close up on our faces, no fidgeting could be seen! The best way I found to synch was to definitely sing along with the song rather than try to mime it, this makes the miming look so much better than it would had someone been miming the lyrics.
What could be improved?
As this task was the second lipsynching task we did, we had to film it in a shorter space of time as well as edit the footage; so if we all had more time we could have used a variety of camera shots and possibly done a third take so that we'd have more footage. I say this because in some cases, two takes may not be enough especially if one is synching to just the chorus, because sometimes it takes two takes for people to loosen up and relax in front of the camera. Therefore a third take would have been just right and the lip synchers/actors would have possibly been more calmer and less rigid which essentially makes the video look good. Because we would not watch music videos if artists were not confident enough in front of the camera.
What tips or advice would you give your future self on effective lipsynching?
The foremost tip I would give is that everyone sing even when just a few people are being filmed because it helps boost them in their performance and they feel less awkward singing themselves. Especially since the actual sound will be muted so it doesn't matter if others are singing... Another tip would be to hold the lyric sheet straight under the camera, (how they do it in news rooms with prompters) so that it looks as if the actor is looking into the camera when they're reading the lyrics, this is what Reshma and I did. :) Further, I would advise my future self not to shrug or hunch my shoulders because it makes you look awkward, even if you were doing cheesy bops and gestures previously... Lastly, the main thing is to focus on the timing of the lip synching and the song at the same time, because there were moments where I was just a few milliseconds out of time, or ahead, so, just try not to think about how dumb you think you may look and concentrate on the rhythm, listen to it properly beforehand, maybe drum out a beat with your feet so you remember the rhythm and can drum away while singing!
Fini.
