Filming: Performance Filming

On 20th December, we filmed the performance parts of our music video. We used one solitary location, which was the TV Studio. We had a black curtain backdrop and manually selected which of the lights above we were going to use. The reason we selected this location was to create an authentic looking studio for the band to perform in.

We used suitable props borrowed from the music department including a drum kit, two amps and a microphone with a stand (We couldn't get a full drum kit and had to improvise). The two guitarists brought their own Guitars for the video.

The band members came in their own clothes as we were going for a "Casual" costume design and wanted to make it seem more natural like an actual band practice would be. Because one of the initial band members was unable to show up, we had to replace him with someone else in our group.

For the most part, the filming went quite well. The lead singer got most of the lip synching down after listening to the song to a few times and him and the other guitarist managed to make their miming of the song look believable.

We managed to get a large amount of close-up shots of the Lead Singer which is typical of band performance based music videos. We also managed to get plenty of shots of the instruments being played along with the music which should match the song's sound.

However, there are some clips we couldn't use for a variety of reasons. Some because the lights were too bright and over-exposed the band members. Other clips we couldn't use because the visuals of the instruments being played didn't match the sound of them being played (Guitars/Drums being played too fast.) Also, the amount of different shots are quite limited. There aren't many long shots in comparison to the Close up/Medium shots and every attempt at a panning shot failed due to either the camera shaking too much or not looking like it's panning at all.

Overall the filming shoot was successful though.

Pre-Production - Storyboard (Narrative)

Pre-Production - Editing Technique Practices

Pre-Production - Music Treatment

MUSIC TREATMENT

“No Tomorrow” by Orson

The overall tone and feel of the song is very bubbly and optimistic. The lyrics carry the connotations of a party atmosphere. Because of this tone, the music video itself will reflect this by having a lot of energy in it.

Our first idea for the music video was to have a narrative going in that eventually moved into a performance. The narrative would be about the several band members of the group getting ready to go to a party of some sort. After cutting from the different perspectives between the band members, there stories will merge into a single narrative and eventually merge into the performance.

After a while we decided against the idea of a full blown part idea as it was a little too ambitious and getting the right amount of people in a single place at the same time would have been too problematic due to scheduling and timing. As a result, we decided to go with something a little more condensed, focusing more on the band itself and not on the party like atmosphere a lot of people would be needed for.

In the end we went with a dual Performance/Narrative motif where each section would be inter cut between each other to keep some variety throughout the song. The performance will be the band partaking in band practice, continuing on without a missing band member, which is where the narrative comes in, The narrative will follow the absent band member and his attempts to get to the band practice before the band finishes. Throughout his journey, he gets caught in an series of unfortunate events that escalates the more the song continues, getting more silly and implausible to match the party like mood of the song and its lyrics. Eventually the music video will end with the missing band mate finally arriving, only to reveal that he has missed the performance and all that's left is the bands instruments.

Pre-Production - Target audience research

Pre-Production - Camera Techniques

This video was made to test various different styles and techniques of using camera effects to see if any of them could be used in our music video...

Experiment 1

Moving Objects



Experiment 2

Walk backwards and reverse footage

Experiment 3

Duplicating Actor

Experiment 4

P.O.V Shot (Drunk Vision).

Pre-Prodution - Mindmap Timelapse

Finished Mind map

Shot by Shot Remake

Pre-Production - Cover Art Analysis

In order to draw up some idea's for our Digipak, I am going to analyse in depth the bands previous album covers as well as other bands that covers a similar genre of music our chosen band is. Our chosen band music "Orson - No Tomorrow" is a Rock-Pop Genre, with it more leaning to the Rock part.

Orson - "Bright Idea" and "No Tomorrow"

I decided to analyse these two album covers together as they are pretty much the exact same album artwork design. Each one has merely minor differences. For example, the typography for the album name is different for each album cover.

Pre-Production - Shot List

I have been tasked to do a one minute long, shot by shot remake of a pre-existing music video that we could realistically imitate to a certain degree. I am doing in order to gain an understanding of the amount and different styles of shots used in a short amount of time in a professional music video. The music video we have chosen to do a shot by shot remake is "Tighten Up" by "The Black Keys".

Here I have created a shot list of each shot in the video.

1 - Medium/Close up Shot of Man dropping/strangling a child
2 - Medium/Close up of Woman biting her lip
3 - Medium shot of another guy punching another child while a third pulls on him
4 - Close up shot of woman looking suggestively at the camera
5 - Close up shot of man looking stunned
6 - Close up shot of another man looking stunned
7 - Medium shot of the same man winking
8 -
9
10
11
12 - Medium low angle shot of guitarist
13 - Medium shot of drummer
14 - Close up shot of the woman
15 - Close up shot of hands playing drums
16 - Close up shot of hands playing drums
17 -
18 -
19 - Aerial shot of drummer who turns and gives the camera the middle finger
20 - Medium/Long shot of Guitarist kicking the drums over
21 - Close up of Guitarist's hand playing the Guitar
22 - Medium shot of Guitar Solo
23 - Close up shots of drums
24 - Close up shot of guitarist punching the drums
25 - Long shot of the drummer tackling the guitarist
26 - Close up of Guitarist rising
27 - Close up of Guitarist elbowing the drummer
28 - Close up of  Drummer spitting blood
29 - Medium/Close up as the Drummer strangles guitarist
30 - Close up of Guitarist being strangled
31 - Close up of Guitarist kicking the Drummer in the Groin
32 - Close up of the Guitarist struggling
33 - Close up of Guitarist grabbing a drum
34 - Medium/Close up of Drummer getting hit
35 - Close up of the Drummer grabbing a Cymbal
36 - Close up of Guitarist being hit
37 - Medium/Close up of Guitarist spitting blood
38 - Close up of the woman looking disgusted
39 - Medium/Close up of Guitarist's head bleeding
40 - Medium/Close up of Drummer holding his head in pain
41 - Medium, low angle shot of kids shaking their heads in disappointment
42

Urban Tribes

In 1985, Michel Maffesoli coined the term "Urban Tribes", using it to describe the theory that people who consume media will often split themselves into different groups or "tribes"in order to find other people to identify themselves with. They will often imitate different aspects of the media they consume like clothing, language, lifestyles etc. For example, people who are in the "Goth" Urban tribe will most likely be wearing black clothing in order to imitate the stereotypical Goth image. People join Urban Tribes in order to find their own personal identity, as well as to find comfort in belonging with other people with similar interests and beliefs.

Personally, I feel that if I had to belong to a certain Urban Tribe, it would have to be the "Gamers" Tribe as I believe that is the one that fits me the most. I don't have a specific style of clothing I wear and the media I consume the most is definitely Video Games

The "Gamers" Tribe are not particularly concerned with music videos as they don't consume as much music media compared to most of the other tribes. If they want to listen to music, they will simply listen to the song on its own, much like how I do.

Practical Task - Lip Sync

For my lip-synch task, I have chosen to sing to "All Star" by "Smash Mouth". This was a test to see how well we could lip-sync to a songs lyrics, as well as testing how well we could edit different takes together while keeping the lip movements in sync. (Visual cuts off at 2:25)

Postmodernism

Postmodernism is a movement that began in the 1970's. In a nutshell Postmodernism is the breakdown of barriers between genre's and styles, often combining genre's that wouldn't normally mesh together i.e. Sci-fi/Western.

A common theme of Postmodernism is the use of Intertexuality. Intertexuality is where one form of media references another form, whether it pays homage to it or mocks it through a parody. When a video flat out imitates it, it is known as a Pastiche.

Video Examples of Postmodernism:

The Darkness's music video of their song "I believe in a thing called love" is littered with plenty of references to Sci-Fi, among other things. The music video takes place mostly on a ship flying through space, a staple in any Sci-Fi movie to begin with. The interior of the spaceship looks identical to the interior of the USS Enterprise, a spaceship belonging to the Star Trek franchise.

For a short moment of the music video, there is a small reference to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", with the floating, disembodied heads superimposed into the background signing along to the lyrics.

Genre Theory - Queens "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Firth

Performance

Nearing the end of the music video, the "Bohemian Rhapsody" music video abruptly switches from  Conceptual to basic stage performance. The stage is lit up with bright vibrant lights and the artists switch to a more 70's rock-esque attire.

Narrative

The music video has no real narrative plot per se. However, the lyrics for two-thirds of the song seems to suggest some semblance of a story. It seem to be about a man who just murdered another man and is being sent to jail/hell.

Conceptual

The beginning of the music video seems to be very original and experimental in style. There doesn't seem to be a narrative, neither do we see the artists playing there instruments like a performance piece. It is simply the heads of the artists singing along to the music video in the dark.

Carlsson

Commercial Exhibitionist

A commercial exhibitionist is where the artist is prominently featured throughout the music video, with plenty of close-ups being used on the lead singer. The genre this typically applies to is Pop.

One well known example of a Commercial exhibitionist is Beyonce. In the music video "Single Ladies" Beyonce is almost always on screen, with plenty of close ups on her face and voyeuristic shots of her and the background dancers.

Televised Bard

A televised bard is where there is usually a narrative implemented into the music video to tell a story or to get the meaning of the lyrics across.


Electric Shaman
Electric Shaman is an artist who is never seen performing in his/her own music video. This is essentially the exact opposite of a Commercial Exhibitionist. The genre this typically applies to is Techno/Indie

One of the more popular examples of "The Electric Shaman" are the music videos of Fatboy Slim. He is known for not appearing in his own videos and in the music video "Weapon of Choice", it is neither a performance piece (owing to the artists absence) nor a narrative as their is no story involved in it (Christopher Walken is sitting down, he gets ups and dances, then sits back down).

Textual Analysis - Nickelback "Someday"

Nickelback – “Someday” Textual Analysis

The media I am analysing is the music video to Nickelback’s “Someday”. The person who had directed the music video was Nigel Dick, who has also directed music videos for Nickelback before and after this one. The genre of this music is Rock (Specifically Alternative Rock). The characteristics of this genre is shown through the mise-en-scene and the artist’s costume. The music video takes place in a modern day city setting with the band playing in a highrise building behind a window. The band members are wearing casual clothing like most modern rock stars.

The story behind the lyrics of the song is about two peoples relationship problems and how the artist wishes he could talk out their problems rather than breaking up. This similar scenario is played throughout the video as cut between scenes of the band playing, there is a narrative storyline about a woman seemingly breaking up with her boyfriend and moving out of his apartment while crying. The narrative takes place in the point of view of the boyfriend and his attempts to win his girlfriend back. The ending of the narrative actually subverts the meaning of the song as it is revealed that the boyfriend had died before the beginning of the narrative and the girlfriend was mouring his loss rather than leaving him.

While there maybe a narrative being conveyed throught the music video, around half of the video is the band performing the song. Throughout this there are plenty of close ups of the main artist/lead singer, even starting out with a close up of the lead singers face. Overall, there seems to be an even amount of narrative and performance based content in the music video.

 

Todorov's Theory on Music Videos

Todorov's Theory is that the narrative of music videos can be split into five different sections. The Equilibrium (The setting is set), Disruption (A problem arises), Recognition (The problem is recognised by the main character's), Attempt to repair (The main character(s) go off to solve the problem) and the Restored Equilibrium (The problem is fixed and Equilibrium is restored). Usually the new Equilibrium is not exactly like the old one.

NickleBack "Far Away"

Equilibrium
The narrative is set up as a love story between a couple in bed. They appear to be quite happy with each other, with no problems being shown at the moment.

Disruption
The disruption comes in the form of a phone call on the man's mobile phone. Immediately the couple start to look depressed. The man takes the call and soon afterwards gets out of bed. The woman look distraught.

Recognition
The man grabs a firemans uniform, showing that the phone call was him being called out to put out a fire. This is why the woman is sad as she is obviously concerned for his safety. He comforts her for a moment, then leaves.

Attempt to Repair
The man, along with others, are trying to put out a forest fire. It seems like an impossible feat and the firemen begin to leave via helicopter. The man, however, gets left behind trying to save another fireman and is implied to have been killed by a falling tree. The woman gets the news through a phone call and breaks down in tears.

Restored Equilibrium
The woman leaves the house, hearing the sirens of a car. She sees several firemen and eventually, the man walks out of the car, revealing that he survived the fire.

Conventions of Hip Hop

1: The lyrics of hip hop are quite often boastful, the artist usually being quite confident with him/herself.

2: Low Camera angles are often usually make the artist look a lot more larger and dominating.

3: There is typically a very large focus on the main artist, with plenty of close up shots and shots solely focusing in him/her.

4: A lot of the time there is a voyeuristic treatment of female extras and the artist herself if she is female.

5: The type of clothing/costume the artist wears is very casual and urban. Hoodies and Baseball caps are the usual style of clothing worn.

Conventions of Rock

1. There is an extensive amount of close ups of the band members, but mostly the lead singer is focused on throughout most of the shots.

2. At least half of the the music video is comprised of the band performing alongside the music and singing the lyrics.

3. Some of the time, there will be a narrative interwoven throughout the music video. The most common form of narrative is typically a love story with it usually taking place in the mans point of view.

Nickelback Album Art Analysis

#1 - "All the Right Reasons"

The main image of the album cover is a long, straight road in a lone, desolate desert leading toward the horizon. This suggests that the albums theme is a about someone's lengthy journey through life alone. The sun appears to be either setting or rising, symbolizing that the journey has either just begun or nearly at it's end. However, the title of the album has little to no significance to the album art. The title "All the Right Reasons" has no connection to a Black car driving into the sunset. 

#2 - "The Long Road"

The main image of the album art is a long highway bridge leading into the background. This of course is the eponymous "Long Road" mentioned in the name of the album. The colors of the sky is primarily dark red, but as it reaches the horizon line it progressively gets lighter. The long road also is heading towards the bright horizon line as well. This could suggest that the overall theme of the album is about a journey of sorts. 

#3 - "Dark Horse"

The colors used in the artwork are primarily Black and Gray. This relates to the name of the album "Dark Horse". The name and the colors suggests that the overall theme of the album will be a lot darker than in previous albums with a more mature outlook. The central image appears to be similar to that of a horse shoe. The connects to the album's name "Dark Horse".

Conventions of Pop

1 - Extensive use of close-ups on the main artist. This is done so that the artist is advertised as much as possible as Pop artists are typically solo with less focus on the people actually making the music.

2 - If the artist is female, then there will typically be voyeuristic shots of said artist in order to increase sex appeal and keep people focusing on the music video.

3 - The overall atmosphere of the music video is very optimistic. There is a lot of enthusiasm with little to no subtlety. The main artist is typically overactive through the music video.

4 - There are usually a large amount of extras in the video, but they are in the background and out of focus so as not to take any attention away from the main artist.

5 - The locations used in the music videos are many and varied, with them seemingly being random. These locations are also typically man-made rooms as opposed to natural locations.