Like discussed in the previous post, I needed to look for a female that would be suitable in order to ‘be Joe’s ex-girlfriend’ in the music video. This would be created by taking several pictures of Joe and Amy together in order to suggest that they have been in a relationship. The idea of the photos and Joe looking back at them will therefore suggest that it is the past and that they are no longer together anymore (created by only Joe being in the locations on where the photos were originally took).
These are photos of Amy (I did not take these photos – they are from her Facebook Profile pictures with her permission):
I did not realise that another song by Green Day (who did the original song ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’) had a relationship theme but had it from the prospective of the woman and the man – who are not involved in the band performance part of the video:
My music video will just look at Joe’s prospective and he will be ‘singing’ about it after the relationship has split – hence the use of photographs. I have also decided to try different techniques for visual metaphors; such as having Joe lip-syncing while looking into a puddle of water (reflecting back on the past), having him in the locations on his own compared to the photos (linking to the lyrics of him being alone), Joe looking over the bridge (looking towards the future). There are several others and these are only vague at the moment. I will shoot more different shots/ideas that I might come up with on the day to represent the past/present/future ideas and link that back to the relationship.
One of the aspects that I really needed to consider while constructing the narrative for my music video was whether or not the repeatability of the music video would be achieved by the plotline. The plotline that I initially thought of was to have a past relationship that had split up and that Joe was looking over the memories. I discarded this idea at first but when constructing my storyboard, I realised that I needed someone else to be in the music video as well as Joe in order to increase repeatability and so that the actual types of shots can be varied. This means that I could loosely suggest that a relationship has been and ended in the music video just by having several photos with Joe and the female in it.
Therefore, Musical Synaesthesia can be applied to the narrative because an overall mood is created by the tone of voice that the artist uses in the song ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ and also the use of the acoustic guitar indicates a sad/emotional mood along with the beat being slightly slower throughout the verses. It then quickens in the chorus’ and so this could mean that he is recovering from the relationship breakup – using maybe more ‘cheerful’ shots.
Repetition of the chorus shots could be suitable to create repeatability (such as the locations) but I would like to vary as much of the shots as possible in order to make it more interesting. Unusual camera angles can be used such as a shot looking up the guitar while Joe is playing it and worm’s eye view/bird’s eye view shots to signify importance, authority or how he personally feels about himself (confidence or to signify that he is completely alone). Direct Address to the audience is also very important because he is a solo artist and so there must be close up shots of him looking directly at the camera and that he is a participant and the narrator at the same time. These are all conventions of band/artist performance.
In terms of location, I am going to look into an unused farm that I might be able to use for the main sequence of shots in my music video (providing that I can gain the permission from the land owners). The place is nicknamed ‘Scare Farm’ and I am going to have a look at it this weekend so I will post some images soon. I am also going to use a bridge on ‘Whistle Way’ in Narborough for some of the shots.
After posting the pictures on Facebook and onto my blog, I have received feedback from my teacher and some friends that points out that the images that I took and edited looked just as they were – Joe in his bedroom. I realize exactly what they mean and so now I need to go out to the location and take some more photos of Joe behind more suitable backgrounds (such as a brick wall or somewhere which adds more depth to the photos).
Using some of the initial photos that I took a while ago of Joe, I have edited them using Premiere Elements (and then print screened them) in order to show the audience the progress of the band and also to gain some feedback of which pictures/effects the audience like better. I will post the feedback soon.
There are a few risks that could occur during the shooting process and it is the responsibly of the production crew to ensure that risks are kept to a minimum. Here are a few risks that could happen during shooting and the likelihood of their occurrence:
Although this music is from the ‘Power Ballad’ genre, I really like the way that the editing and cinematography has been used in order to produce the Still Motion technique. It is a similar technique to the one of Stop Motion and I really think that it adds narrative to the video. At first, I looked at the music video without the music and thought that the song must be quite fast in speed (as I have never heard of it before) because of the pace of the cuts between the shots. However, the fast cutting rate/rhythm of the shots I now think suits the tempo of the song and I might actually try do this technique because it could suit the speed of the ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ song that I intend to use. It also could be used to create a narrative (such as a person looking back at relationships/memories by using a photo album).
This music video is from another different genre of bands (indie rock) and I really like the use of colour that has been enhanced by rotoscoping. The purples, reds and blues enable the audience to pick up the mood of the song and a narrative is created just by the use of colour. I really like this technique because I could use it using my Premiere Elements software that I have (like the sort of technique used in the pitch on the photos).
This music video uses the rotoscoping effect in order to generate an intertextuality link to a piece of artwork. In this case, the rotoscoping links to the piece called Drawing Hands (by M.C. Escher) and really enables the narrative to be clear; even though the majority of the video could be seen as a performance video only. The narrative aspect would be that the lyrics link with the drawing – in the sense that he is able to control what he is doing by drawing it (he is driving his actions by being able to freely draw them).
Furthermore, there is a good transition technique that I am considering to look at and experiment with and that is simply placing one shot faded over another in order to create a visual metaphor. It would likely be similar to the shot in this music video where the audience can see the band member’s face faded slightly against the background.
(Click on the Above Image to go to the YouTube Video)
This music video combines live action with the animation technique rotoscoping. I think that the technique is really effective because the narrative suits the style – the woman is reading the drawn-styled comic that then includes her in it during the video. It enhances the narrative and also adds an artistic twist to it in order to make it more of a performance video and increases repeatability. The use of close up shots uses the male gaze because the audience is seeing what the woman is seeing as she reads the comic (notion of looking).
I like the way that the rotoscoping has been used and I may be able to produce a simpler version of this using the ‘line drawing’ effect with the lip-syncing footage that I have used previously. It will not be as detailed in terms of the sketching and shading in this music video but I will try it and post it on a later post.
After presenting the pitch (the video is shown on a previous post), the overall feel that I got was that the pitch went ok and the feedback that I received noted that Joe looked the right person for the project and that I need to focus on narrowing down the target audience to their likes/dislikes. This means conducting more research into the audience and producing an audience profile.
Using LyricsMode.com, I have found the lyrics for my decided song for the music video. On a later post, I will break down the lyrics to see if I could gain a visual idea for the type of shots, effects, mise en scene and lighting that will be required at that point in the song:
After the lip-syncing task that me and Joe completed at the weekend (using the ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ song by Green Day), we have come to the decision that it would suit Joe more to use that song for the music video; because the way that Matthew Bellamy sings in Muse didn't really ‘look’ right when Joe tried to lip-sync to it. I think that the Green Day song really suited him and so I am going to now go ahead on planning the cinematography, mise en scene, editing and special effects that I can/cannot use for my music video, CD cover and magazine advert.
-‘Watercolour’ – Pendulum (The song that was used for the lip syncing test on a previous post).
-‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ – Green Day
-‘We Cry’ – The Script
We have both decided to narrow the songs down to ‘Uprising’ by Muse and ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ because Joe has said that they appeal more to him. I obviously want him to enjoy doing the music video as well and so we have come to a joint decision on the two possible songs.
In order to establish the difference between the subgenres in the Alternative Rock genre, I have compared the ‘Eyes Open’ album cover by Snow Patrol (in the Indie Rock subgenre) with the ‘21st Century Breakdown’ album cover by Green Day (Punk Rock subgenre):
(Click to Enlarge)
From this task, I have learnt that the typography, colour, composition and use of motifs can really help determine what a particular audience will go for when they browse for a CD and how important the album artwork is to the sale of the song. As I am thinking of using the ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ song by Green Day, it will be the more modern and vibrant colours that I should think about; depending if that will suit the song and music video.
To gain target audience feedback and to conduct more research, I have set up a Facebook page for Joe that will include any album artwork that I complete, as well as the final music video and the magazine advert to see what they think of it as the appealing audience. I will put questions on there relating to the music video (such as asking their opinions) and trying to gain as much feedback as I can to use through the process – using the many features on there:
In order to see if Joe was comfortable lip-syncing to a song, I decided to practice it by asking him to lip-sync to the first part of Pendulum’s song ‘Watercolour’. I really think that he did well at it because I know how difficult it is to lip-sync (as I completed it as part of the preliminary task before the summer):
My neighbour, Joe Newman, has agreed to be the artist for my music video, digipak and magazine advert because he likes the Alternative Rock genre. He is very skilled with the guitar and already has his own YouTube channel and so I think that he will really suit the task and will be as enthusiastic about it as I am. This is his profile that I have done to outline his ‘career’:
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Also, this is my Audience Profile for my music video and ancillary products:
Another part of the marketing campaign that I have to produce to promote the artist’s song release is an album/single cover with the digipak. I have only looked at the covers to gain inspiration at this point such as artistic effects and motifs that are used for popularity and links to other album covers:
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I have gained a lot of inspiration from this task because I know that I can apply my creativity to not just the filmmaking but the photography and manipulation editing of the photos as well. I particularly like the watermark effects and has even inspired me to think of that effect in my music video maybe.
I have produced this map of all of the subgenres and related example bands that are in the Alternative Rock genre along with a few characteristics that run through the music/lyrics:
(Click to Enlarge)
This mind map has given me an overview of the Alternative Rock genre and the different subgenres that occur in that category. A lot of the bands cross over from subgenre to subgenre and have done a variety of music from either those subgenres or even of different fusion genres (such as Alternative Metal). It has given me the idea of which type of songs that I should think about and so now I will continue to research into the different music videos and also CD cover art for different subgenres and bands.
Although the genre of this music is not of Alternative Rock and is of Pop Rock, I have chosen to analysis this music video because of the cinematography used mainly (there are a few other features that I will discuss as well). To begin with, the first shot used is a close-of the musician for the video (Brandon Flowers) and he is looking downward with his eyes semi-closed. He then looks up to a point at which the audience cannot see (creating a sense that the character knows more than the audience and so they want to continue watching in order to find out what happens). This is a long take because the initial shot last for about one minute eight seconds and slowly zooms out gradually. Furthermore, the camera is shaky and so a hand held camera was probably used in order to bring tension and suspense to the narrative. The cutting rhythm is affected because the cut to the next shot is prolonged so that the sense of danger is built and subjective time is created because the long take enables the audience to feel how he feels – weak and unable to move easily like the camera. When the long shot is shown of Brandon, he looks right past the camera at something and an explosion occurs next to him following a man with his arm on fire flying past. This is when the theme of crossfire is introduced because the narrative shows that he is caught in the middle of it with whoever he is looking at. When the female character is finally shown, a motivated cut goes back to Brandon’s facial expression and the audience see him looking hopeful for the first time – showing that she has come to help him. It is then followed by a sequence of mid and close up shots in order to built the narrative and show their relationship. This relationship is supported and developed because a similar situation is then shown when a jump cut to the next scene is used. This implies that she is the hero in the narrative and that he is the one that needs saving every time (a role reversal from the stereotypical narrative of the male saves the female). This enables the narrative to become like a film because of the detail and moreover, neither of the characters ever look at the camera – Brandon always looks beyond the camera and the female does the same. It is like the audience it just a spectator and is not in the action. This loss of direct address is just like a film because the fourth wall is not broken – which normally is broken in a music video.
From this music video, I have widened my knowledge of the length of shots that I could use for effect and that maybe the cutting rhythm doesn’t have to be really faced paced. Also, I know that the narrative can be really creative and have a film-like edge to it in order to create a wider audience and make the repeatability increased.
After researching into what my target audience would listen to (so that I could gain an idea on what sort of people like which genres of music), I have collected 35 people’s views on their favourite music genres:
I have decided that most of the people that answered the questionnaire liked Alternative Rock the most. However, I can only presume that the target audience would be mostly male but a lot of females also said that they enjoyed that genre of music. I think that it will be hard to pin-down likes and dislikes of the audience (for an audience profile) but I will conduct more research into what those people like doing and their interests – to see if I can suit them in my products.
I have chosen to analyse this music video because I like the way that the strobe lighting effect has been used to bring drama and tension to the video. The lighting effect used when the woman is floating in the water creates an ‘eerie’ effect against the water background and implies the witchcraft theme to this woman; firstly being because she is a woman and that witchcraft was associated with women and also because the haze effect that is produced by the light hitting her at that angle from above. However, it contrasts to the idea that witchcraft is evil because bright lights have connotations towards the heavens.
Furthermore, the crystal ball shapes used in the mise en scene really amplifies the witchcraft theme because they are linked to ‘crystal gazing’ and foretelling the future. This progresses the narrative of the music video and helps to explain the distorted shots of the band singing. This is an example of the ‘Notion of Looking’ because it is as if the audience is looking through a crystal.
Another important factor that I think really enhances the witchcraft theme is the colours used for the water and how the lighting effects that. When the woman is in the water, the background is a purple colour and purple has connotations to poison; therefore linking back to the title and theme of witchcraft in the music video. Also, the black/darker shaded ribbons (or like an ink fluid) that shoots through the water towards her creates a narrative because the audience know that something is going to happen to her. At the end of the video, the ribbons wrap around her and she is pulled backwards away from the camera – as if she has been lost from the audience (direct address).
The shards of rock that start to reassemble around the band involves them with the narrative because it suggests that they are involved with the witchcraft – also supported by the strobe lighting effect used (which matches with the beam of light on the woman at the beginning). A performance video aspect is introduced as well because the special effects may have been used in order to create a performance and entertainment element to the video – as this increases repeatability for the audience.
What I have learnt from this music video is that I should really think about colour combinations and effects that can be created by the use of colour in order to see if it could link to the narrative. Lighting is a very important aspect that I should consider when deciding my genre of music because I think that the strobe lighting used in this video fits well with the electronic genre.
I decided to start my market research by using a social networking site (Facebook) to gain short answers and to ask my friends on there what their favourite music genre was out of the eight options that I gave:
I have done this in order to find out the target audience that would appeal to my decided genre of the music video (their likes/dislikes).
