Over Cranking and Under Cranking

One of the first practical lessons of the year was learning about the use of Over and Under Cranking. It is a very clever technique that can be used especially in music videos. Over Cranking is when the music video looks like it is in slow motion, but the singer is singing the lyrics at the correct speed. This is to portray the music video being in slow motion, but still in the present. It makes the viewer feel chilled out and in the moment.

Over cranking can be achieved by playing a song at a 2 times faster speed whilst you are recording the footage of the singer voicing the lyrics. If the singer sings the lyrics 2 times faster when recording the music video, whilst acting normally, in post editing, you can reduce the video to half the speed, so the video is slowed down but the singer is still singing the lyrics correctly.

Under cranking is the opposite, the song is slowed down to half when recording the music video, and then sped up 2 times in post, for a hectic feel. A good example of under cranking is Yellow by Cold Play. The song is very slow and chilled. The slow motion effect, whilst the artist is singing at a normal speed gives off the impression of living in the moment, and very peaceful. Being at the beach also gives off this impression.

A good example of over cranking is White Lie by Contradash. This is a fast tempo pop song, with lots of intensity. using over cranking in this setting gives off the impression of high energy and intensity, as well as matching with the fast editing and speed of the song.