Filming Update

Filming at Aldeburgh went well yesterday. I was able to get most of the shots I wanted despite the weather not being as sunny as I hoped. The only real issue I came across during filming was the arrangement made about filming at the Prezzo's in Aldeburgh. I had previously contacted the restaurant asking if I could film for a couple of minutes, using a table by a window as it would fit in nicely with the idea from the storyboard. Yet on arrival, and after talking to the manager I was unable to film. This was a slight issue, however I had pre-planned a plan B if we weren't able to film in Prezzo. Instead I had my actor and actress on the actual beach with a portion of fish and chips. This concept work equally as well.

Surveys

To work out what to include in my own music video survey I used an example questionnaire and made changes where I thought the questionnaire had a fault whether it was unclear or just unnecessary. The main issue I found with the questionnaire was when it cam to answering the question, to often the boxes were to limiting, with many questions requiring multiple answers. Such as question six 'What type of 'gizmosz' do you own?', it is more than likely that the audience will have more than just one of the forms of technology listed. Another problem with this question is it's highly informal using a sociolect term such as 'gizmo' may confuse the audience if they do not know what it means and put them off from answering the question reliably or at all.

The example questionnaire also asks what does the audience 'expect too see in a music video'. This is a reasonable question as the feeedback will determine the nature of the music video and whether it's a concept, narrative or performance. Yet, including options like, drugs, sex and alcohol is not necessary as I would be unable to include these in my music video.

Unfortunately the survey site SurveyMonkey, that I used, only allows questionnaires to be ten questions long, so I am having to split the survey in to two. The first asking about music genres and purchasing and the second to be on music identity and content.

To get people to fill out my surveys I will post the survey on my blog and on Twitter, I will also email it to people that have agreed to fill the survey out but do not have a way of accessing my blog or Twitter. 

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Final Cut Express Effects

Yesterday I went for a walk and practised using my camera for filming, to get use to using the camera and its functions. And also to practice using the effects in Final Cut Express, the program I will be using to edit my music video. Below are a series of effects that I applied to the video, to work out which if any effects suited the style I'm aiming for. This is particularly important as the school Mac's have Final Cut Express, this version does not have the light leaks effect that I was hoping to use.

Costumes

I have decided to go for a vintage look for my character in the music video I feel this look fits in well with the music genre, and the video.

The collage of images shows a variety of styles. For the main character the retro theme involves rustic heavy boots, worn jeans or chinos, a knitted jumper (some times christmas themed) and heavy coats, like the duffle coat. Accessories include a thick knitted scarf, retro shades and old school leather watches.
The tweed look turned up a lot when searching for the male character vintage look, this look is to sophisticated for the style that I'm going for, as is the more formal blazer look.

For the girlfriend character the vintage look takes a lot of inspiration from the 60's and 70's. Although a lot of the styles I looked at were more link to summer weather, I'll incorporate the knitted jumper and a stylistic vintage coat and scarf to make the costume appropriate for the season I'm filming in.





http://www.theatticpeople.co.uk/womens-vintage-clothing-archive-ebay I found this website really useful when deciding the costume of my woman character.


http://loveclothing-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/street-styles-celebrities-like-love.html This site was also useful showing the retro fashion with men and women.

Making the Sheep

Last night I started making my felt sheep for the stop motion animation part of my music video.  I have the basic body shapes, now I just need to assemble them. I have made them bigger then in the additional test of stop motion, which you can see as an older post. This is because the shot isn't going to be as close so for the sheep to be actually visible they needed to be larger.

Music Video Analysis

Concept Music Videos

Concept music videos are based around a single idea, the concept. Concept music videos can be quite surreal and unusual, as they tend to be en expression of visual art. There is no set music genre associated to concept music videos, and a range of artists and genres have used them.

The first concept music video I have chosen is Genesis - Land of confusion, this is a pretty famous music video from the English rock band. It includes the puppets from Spitting Image instead of actual people which makes the video surreal as they are trying to be as lifelike as possible. This video focuses on a political concept as we see major figures, as puppets. The video is a good example of how concept videos can be combined with another type of music video, narrative or performance, to strengthen the video and make it more entertaining. This video does both as the see the puppet band playing as well as the slight narrative of the guys dream. 

The next concept video is from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, their video for Don't Stop was inspired by the artist Ewirn Wurm. Wurm used people and inanimate objects to create his sculptures. The Chilli Peppers copied his style and made a successful music video and help Wurm become more highlighted as an artist. This type of video is focusing on the arts side of concept music videos.   

The last concept video, Ballad of Black Mesa, is made completely from noises from a video game, due to this it is undecided whether or not it's actual a music video. Yet many feel this is an extreme version of concept music videos as it is very unusual and different from the norm. There is not real plot or narrative to the video which fits it in to be a concept video also.

Narrative Music videos 

Narrative music videos tell a narrative story that typically relates to the lyrics of the song. The video can include a range of actors but generally focuses on a main actor or pair, this can sometimes be the artist or lead singer of the band/group. Some narrative music videos are set out like a short film, with beginning, middle and end. Others may include clips from an actual film they are promoting as they are included in it.

Enrigue Iglesias Hero is a narrative music video that follows Todorov's narrative stages; equilibrium, disequilibrium, recognition, reparation and new equilibrium. As we see the couple go from being all happy together, through the money issues and gang trouble to the new equilibrium at the end of him coming back for the girl (or possibly dying). His narrative plays on the songs title and theme of being a 'Hero'. This video also includes Propp's characters; hero, dmasel, villain.

Taylor Swift - Love story has a slightly more litteral link between visual narrative and lyrics. As the actions of the character link to what is being sung. The characters are also meant to represent Romeo and Juliet so the costum and mise en scene of the video links the lyrics, building the narrative story.

Music Analysis 

The music video for Rudemental's Not Giving In, is a narrative video as it shows the story of two boys struggle in a third world country. The narrative is of how different each boys method of coping is, one goes join a dance group, the other a violent gang.

The music video is set in the far east, in what appears to be a third world country. The buildings are unstable and supported by sheets of metal and scrap material. As the camera pull away near the begining of the music video we see that this is in fact a slum on the outside of a major city. The clothing that the people in the slum are wearing are very basic with no designer brands, some only wearing shorts. This tells the audience the they are unable to afford nice clothes, they get by with what they have. It also tells us that the area is hot.
As the music video goes on more high brand clothing is seen, mainly with accessories like a hat. This higher standard of clothing is link to the dance group.

There are a range of camera angles used in the music video, the majority of angles are eye line to create a link between the audience and the two boys. Yet high and low angles are also used to suggest power shifts between character. Like at the start where their father holds the power he is shown with a slight low angle.

The pace of the video as a whole is quite quick as it fits with the music, however there are periods of slower pace and at times slow motion is used. The fast pace editing keeps the audience engaged and entertained in the video. Where as the slower editing and use of slow motion is used to draw the audiences attention to a particular even or feature. Like when the boys pick pocket the man at the beginning  or when the boy is shot at the end.

Lighting in the music video depends of whether they are inside or out, as scene inside tend to be dark and unsettling, such as at the beginning where the two boys are stuck at home. But when they are outside, the lighting and mood of the video is brighter. By using the binary opposites that video forces this idea of a certain place being bad and another being good on to the audience.

Shot list

Here is my shot list which includes a brief description of the type, action and props to be used.

Storyboards

Here is my storyboard for my music video, it has the; shot type, movements and location as well as a visual representation - of which is hand drawn.

Performance Music Video

These are music videos where the band or artist performs, it can be a live on stage performance, set up in a room or recording studio or even in an unusual location, such as the beach, desert or roof top. Performance videos tend to include other footage of the band or artist. This can be backstage footage of the artist relaxing and fooling around.

This video is set in an unusual location of a church, with the lead singer as the priest or vicar and the other band members possibly as the quire.
Links with Goodwins's seven as there is a lot of close up of the band members, especially the important members like the sings and lead guitarist.

This is an official live performance of the group, yet it has obviously been set up as the audience is mostly women. This is to create a sense of identity for the band that the are attractive woman magnets.  

The video demonstrates the same examples of Goodwin's seven as AC/DC with close up shots of the group being used. The band is also ranked on how they look, depending on this decides how much screen time they get. 

Online Location Scouting

I decided to start looking at which beaches I could realistically use in my music video for the dream phase of the video. I used the well known search engine Google.co.uk with a broad search of beaches in Suffolk. I looked at a couple of sites, the most helpful being suffolktouristguide.com. The site listed a number of beaches such a Lowestof and Southwold. However after looking more closely at the suggested beaches I decided to go for Aldeburgh beach.


Aldeburgh beach and town has a set of features that I wanted to include in my music video, these features are typical to the British rural town but are being seen less and less. Fortunately Aldebrugh still hold onto these idyllic features with its; cottages, brightly painted housing, traditional corner shops and




Although I have visited Aldebrugh a number of times I still wanted to have a look at the location, to decide upon possible areas which would be good to use. Rather than actually visiting the location, which is some distance away, I used Google maps. The reason for using Google maps is because it has the feature of 'street view', where you are actually at street level giving a better representation of the location.

The first shot is of a stretch of beach that has partially been vegetated, this section of beach has a footpath through it linking Aldeburgh to the next beach town, Thorpneas. This location will be useful for my music video as I am planning of having a lot of shots with the couple waking through idilic beach locations. For the same reason the next shot of the beach will also be useful, not only can I have the couple walking on the actual beach, but on the path that runs along it. This means that I will be able to show both aspects of the English beach, the buildings and the actual beach.

 The main town has been relatively untouched by tourism, unlike other British beaches, such as Lowestof. This is why it is so perfect as the setting for my music video. The shops that run along the street are either boutiques or higher market retailers (such as Joules). These stores are broken up with the traditions fish and chip shop, beach cafes/restaurants or housing. I am particularly fond of the housing and think it will give my music video character during the 'dream state'.

Unknown

This is a video I came across whilst looking up the director to one of my Alt-J music videos. At first I thought the video was from that actual director, however it turned out not to be. I have included it in my blog still as I thought it was original, and peaceful as a video. It also has that sense of individuality  of which the band Alt-J seem to incurrporate in their music and music videos but in a different way to this video. Capturing the innocence of childhood, yet still highlighting the poverty of this particular child. I would love to talk more about the video, maybe when I have more time I will come back to it. For now I shall just post it for you to enjoy.

Previous Student Work

Mr Brightside - The Killers
During my research of looking at music videos I came across several past students work. One of the most interesting in my opinion was a students music video of Mr Brightside by The Killers.

The song is in a different genre to the song and group I have chosen, Dissolve Me by Alt-J, but there are techniques video and features of the storyline that I can adjust and hopefully I can apply to my own video.

The reason I am so interested by this student music video is because it plot-line has certain elements the link it to my own plan. The video starts with the main male lead in his dim light room. The video then goes into a more colourfully shot and we see a happy couple taking a few novelty photos in a photo booth. This is a part of the music video where is incorporates a link between lyrics and visuals, as we see the couple kiss with the lyrics "It was only a kiss". Yet as the video continues we see a divide in the relationship, caused mainly by the girl, seen by her shrugging him off her shoulder and when she answers the phone whiles he is serenading her. In the end we see the video go full circle, as the guy see that the girlfriend is cheating on him, he is back in his dim light room. The aspects from this plot-line that are similar to my own ideas are for the break up of a couple. My video will also start with the couple being happy together and then show their split, but I intend on making the signs of their break up more subtle then the rudeness seen in the students music video. I also want the actual break up to be more smooth, rather than the guy seeing his girlfriend with another man. I will have the girl actually talk and have it so she is also sad that their relationship has come top an end, a element not seen in this students work.

 The students music video also has a band performance which shows really good skills and understanding of the technology used as the band members playing and the singer are all in-sync with the music. I was particularly impressed with the drummer who is very believable and the singers lip-syncing.

The music video also used a range of shots and angles in the video, and the pace of the video also varies depending on the music.When the editing is faster paced it is fluid and well linked, even when we see images and memories of the couple quickly flash up.

Overall analysing this students music video has given me an opportunity to see what I can achieve and how I can make my music video more relatable to the audience by using actors (and actresses) a similar age as the audience.


Street Lights - Kanye West
Another example of a music video from a student that I thought was good is Street lights by Kanye West.

At the very beginning of the video we see a couple arguing, but they have been muted and a narration has been put over the top.  The narration is a spoken message about how to 'play this game of life'. This is something different that I haven't seen before in a students music video and is even quite rare in actual official music videos. The use of the message is very effective over the imagery and sets the scene nicely for the music video itself. 

From the narrated intro the music video starts with an effect of some lights, including street lights at night. The lights are out of focused, and slightly blurred. This is a cool effect and is made more significant when it is repeated again halfway through the video, when the two main character bump into one another and brush hands. 

  

The bumping into one another is probably my favourite moment of this music video. The scene is repeated three times, each time the camera shot changes and zooms, from a mid shot, close-mid shot and finally a close up to show their hands brushing. The repetition not only emphasises the moment and it's importance but is also in keeping with the rhythm of the music, showing a good skill of cutting to the beat. 

Another strong feature with this video is the use or lack of colour. Scenes which are from the present day are black and white, and scenes that are memories are show with a warm colouring. The likely reason for this is so the audience will have positive connotations with the memories. What I like so much about this music video is the editing of the shot, with the black and white effect on the present day, and the warm colour on the characters memory.

The actors involved in this music video were very genuine and realistic, this helps the videos believability. Also having the cast at a similar age to the audience helps the audience to engage. I have taken a lot from both of the students music videos, maybe the most important, that having a simple storyline can mean a really good music video, as it will be easy to follow and allows the ability to focus on detail and to edit later on making the video look even more professional. 

One Shot Wonders!

The song Sitting, Waiting, Wishing is from singer/ song writer Jack Johnson, the sixth song from the album In Between Dreams. 

The song is about a man you is continually rejected by a woman, and is asking the question "Must I always be waiting on you". Yet the actual video to the song does not have a strong link between visual and lyrics. 

The music video incorporates revers narration with Jack Johnson being the main focus and other coming in and out of the room.  The setting is a random room that starts of in chaos, with broken furniture and objects thrown about. As the video is played we see the room become cleaner as the objects come back together and food flys out. The most impressive feature of the music video is the fact singing Jack has to learn and sing the song in revers, so when the song is played back in revers he appears to sing properly.  

The playback narrative of Sitting, Waiting, Wishing is very similar to ColdPlay's The Scientist of their album A Rush of Blood to the Head. In this music video we see lead singer Chris Martin singing in revers as the video is played back, also seen in Sitting, Waiting, Wishing. The song has a better storyline to it then Sitting, Waiting, Wishing but then The Scientist is not a one shot wonder.

Alt-J Music videos

Breezeblocks was directed by Ellis Bahl, a relatively unknown and yet-to-be discovered director. Apart from the Alt-J Breezeblocks music video is was hard to find any other work from her. Because of the relative unknownness of the director and also the bands uniqueness the video hasn't been awarded or particularly highlighted. This does not mean however that the video wasn't good, the video itself demonstrates the attention to detail needed when playing back a video, especially when it includes a complex story line. Throughout the music video we assume that the make character is attacking the woman, this is until the last minute of the video where we see what's really happening. The storyline takes a huge twist as we now see the woman has his wife hostage and is in fact attacking the man, he is just defending his way of life. 

In my research to find out more about the director, Ellis Bahl, I came across the website www.ellisbahl.com/. The site has a number of work from various directors/artists, they all incorporate and embrace they indie warmth feel(?). The site has other work of Ellis, one is the example below called Ohio by Robin Bacior. The video is split into twelve, showing a dancer dancing in a empty room. The is effective as it keeps the attention of the audience.



Fitzpleasure is another music video from the band, this time it was for director Guillaume Cagniard to make his own, and he does just that. The video for ‘Fitzpleasure’ was shot in one day in a studio in Paris. The video includes living artwork performer Tim Steiner, tattooed by Wim Delvoye a Belgium artist who works with COSA. Tim turned his back into a piece of art and came especially from London to be part of the shoot.  Wim Delvoye was also asked to assist in the music video, we can see his input with the strong themes that run throughout the video. Delvoye takes inspiration from art history, Gothic cathedrals and sculptures of the 19th century, these themes can easily be recognised with in the video. 



Cagniard has previously worked with French artist and photographer JR, creating music videos for his huge urban based artwork. Also Cagniard is not afraid to nudity in his videos. With it appearing moderately in 'Fitzpleasure' and also blurred in 'Ain't Got No' by Patrice. Below is the music video, it uses a stop- motion animation effect of the speaker artwork to make it look like the artwork face is singing (I'm not sure of the significance of the naked people with trolleys is though). The other video below is just one of the examples of the collaborations the director has with JR.

 I feel by looking into other music videos of the band and also the directors, producers and artists they have worked with I am able to understand the bands specific characteristics and criteria for making a music video for them. After my research I am now more confident that the plan I have for my music video will fit into Alt-J's style of music video. 

Stop Motion - First Attempt

I decided to practice the stop-motion animation shots of my sheep as not only do I need to plan the movement of the sheep and their fluidity, but I also have to work with iMovie to edit the stills together.

This is my initial stop-motin attempt, it includes all of the shots taken. The only problem is that the sheep appears to be walking along the back-board of the bed, whereas it should be jumping. To alter the motion of the sheep I deleted some of the stills taken.

In this version I have only deleted some miner movements or duplicates of the sheep. This gives the sheep better movement and a judderyness I was aiming for, yet it still appears to be walking rather than jumping.  

Finally I deleted major sections of stills, it has created a movements that is slightly to quick for what I was aiming for. But has helped as I now know for my final piece that this type of movement is not right. I will be using a pace closer to the second edit, and make the sheep jump three times over the characters head rather than the initial one jump that appears to be more of a walk.