My personal blog describing and updating teachers/examiners on the progress of my media knowledge and the progress of my media production: A Music Video. Throughout the course I will analyse multiple music videos and discuss their Mise en Scene, Conventions and the directors other similar productions to understand the way they work.
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
Filming Progress!
Sunday, 26 December 2010
Filming Timetable
Tuesday, 21 December 2010
Costume
Thursday, 16 December 2010
Bloc Party- One More Chance
One More Chance by Bloc Party is an interesting video which is a subtle parody which doesn't make you connect with the song straight away. The song is obviously about a relationship however the video seems to show odd characters trying to live the "American dream" of becoming rich and famous. Th
ere is a 40 something keyboard player/music producer creating songs in his basement studio. An older woman who also seems to want the Hollywood lifestyle, she is seen covering her self in make up and hair spray and trying to resemble Marilyn Monroe or a prom queen. A young talentless tap dancer dancing in his homemade studio w
hile a friend is watching unenthuastically. The final characters in the video strangely are a young couple playing with a Ouija board trying to connect with the dead. This strange twist to the video doesn't make much sense however you can still connect to the representation of mainstream Hollywood.
What I most like about this video is the Mise en Scene of all of the scenes. They seem low budget but they all match the characters that are shown in the scenes perfectly, the underground basement studio in particular; the cluttered mess of records, dodgy coloured curtains and the garden gnome really give you a sense that it is being filmed in his parents basement. Also the scenes where the couple are playing with the Ouija board, the clothing is a new "retro-vintage" fashion, the room consists of an old looking
pale pink carpet with loads of stools and vintage lamps surrounding the room. I mostly like the way they use the lamps when the girl is supposedly taken over by a spirit. All in all I think this is a good video which can be analysed in many ways, Bloc Party were known for the slightly odd videos, but I believe this one attacks the issue of the American dream and shows some of the weird behaviour wanting fame so much can bring about.Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Deadline Time
As the first draft deadline approaches it is clear that we are struggling to produce enough film. This has mainly been because of the bad weather of the last week or so making the driving scene too dangerous, however now the person who had agreed to spare some time to help us do the scene and drive the car has chicken pox. It may seem like a made up excuse, unfortunately it is not. Currently we have all the footage reuired for the band scene however we now need to film the car scenes and some footage in the characters house. Today the weather forcast for next weekend is not looking promising snow is on the way.
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Unavoidable Problems!
Today was the day that the first of the winter snow hit London and Essex which has created some problems. We had planned to start filming the car scenes on saturday, however snow and ice on roads creates many problems and also does not look very nice. Originally we wanted the car scene to be filmed down a road with trees towering over each side and golden brown leaves covering the floor, however the reality of this happening is now very slim.
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
DigiPacks
Today we started researching Digipacks and discussing what we should do to create our own DigiPack. A DigiPack is simply the CD cover, beck page with song listings and the booklet inside the CD which normally consists of song lyrics, notes from the band and a "thanks to list". For our DigiPack we still have not decided on a final idea, however we been discussing using some of the locations in our video such as the forest scene. I am looking forward to creating the DigiPack and think it will be an enjoyable experience.Also we have now completed the filming for our band scenes, however we still need to film the remainder of the scenes.
Monday, 22 November 2010
Music Video Band Scene Teaser
Saturday, 13 November 2010
Shallow Focus
Below is a video by Majestic Micro Movies displaying Shallow Focus:
We want to use shallow focus for two scenes in our music video; one of the scenes is within the opening 20 seconds and will involve a close up of the charcters face as he closes his eyes, the shot will run along side the lyrics "I closed my eyes and you were there". The other will another close up of the main charcter for the last verse "life is such a funny thing, you lose your love to love again , then you start again."
Friday, 12 November 2010
Animatic: I Ran You Down-Tweed
NOTE: The scene from 0:16-0:32 shows a couple at first having fun/reflecting on good time in the past, when the screen turns red its the same scene however they are having an argument.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Framing and Camera Angles: The Streets- The Escapist
The video for the single The Escapist from Mike Skinners latest album Everything is Borrowed has a very simple basic video which was done while he was touring Europe. The video simply just shows him walking down roads, up hills and through doorways. The locations the video was shot in make the video interesting for what could of been called a boring video. As I said before nothing really happens in the video however it somehow suits the s
ong. I don't think that another artist could get away with making a video like this however Mike Skinners unique style and meaningful lyrics allow him to create songs which are not mainstream however receive similar amount of success."During a great period of intense mixing we decided that it might be nice to shoot a video. This isn't the way the record industry works and so it was under the radar of the label and done totally for us by us on a shoe string. It was totally different from any other promo that I've made in that it was something real that we just filmed rather than trying to create something real looking using lots of people and lots of angles. I feel like it's more than a video in that sense. As well as looking quite odd without all the singing and quick cuts"
I think that it was a brave choice by The Streets to create this video and i admire the honesty normality of Mike Skinner and his public comments. In another of The Streets videos on YouTube, "Everything IS Borrowed" the description reads "An artistic piece of credit crunch drama. Album is out September 15Th." The simplicity of his words seem to have more of a meaning than a big advertising campaign, it may not appeal to as many people but it portrays him in different way to "billboard artists".
The video its self seems to tell a story which can be portrayed in many ways, to me it seems as if the main character (Mike Skinner) just wants to get away from everything. The title obviously points this out but the lyrics seem to point to him just wanting to think things over, he seems trapped the lyrics seem to support this"All these walls were never really there, Nor the ceiling or the chair Im' eking weeks of peace at the beach, I see the breezes weave the trees." I have the understanding that the song is about a point in someones life where they just want to escape reality and think things over. The locations in the video are the peaceful places he wants to escape to and through out his journey he is alone, until the final scene on the beach where he is with what seems as his friend who takes him back to reality.
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
Problems With Filming Inside a Car
As you can see from the previous post we recently experimented with camera angels we could use within a car. This was valuable experience that has made us realise how hard or impossible it is to film certain shots. One of the main problems we had was the limited height we had to get certain angels, this was because the car we used was a small three door hatch back. This is not the car we intend to use in
Monday, 1 November 2010
Filming Inside a Car: Finding Plausible Camera Angels
Friday, 22 October 2010
Possible Future Issues: Filming Inside a Car
We are currently creating drafts of our storyboard for our music video and we are planning on using a car for a considerable amount of shots, we aim to film a few scenes from inside the car but the majority will be from the outside. Within the next two weeks will attempt all the angels and in car shots we wish to do to see the likely hood of the shots being of a high quality. With the ideas and plans we have any poor shots could ruin the quality of our video.Monday, 18 October 2010
Making the Most of Available Locations
While searching for well known videos with low budgets on YouTube I came across another Bombay Bicycle Club music video this time it is "Always Like This". The video makes excellent use of simple locations, something which we will have to do because of the lack of budget. During the video the band are playing at a bus stop, in front of garages, in a park, on a high street, in front of a row of houses, in a car park and in front of a ice cream shop.Bombay Bicycle Club: Evening/Morning

Apart from having a great sound Bombay Bicycle Club have some interesting videos with simple but effective ideas. The video Evening/Morning is one that i am interested in particularly; the video has an odd them that doesn't really make sense but it is enjoyable and fun spirited. What i like in particular is the deep focus in
the opening scene of the "Panda man" sitting on the bench, this year with the use of high definition cameras I believe we can make some very high quality scenes if we use natural light correctly. The problems we experienced last year were due to poor light conditions because we started filming approaching sun down at around 6pm, for this years project for out
side scenes I think because of the time of year and the mood of our song we should start filming around 5pm to catch the autumn sky's sun sunset. The scenes we plan to shoot outside involve our main character driving or being driven down a country/forest one way road which is covered by tall trees on each side. I think this will create a conditions good effect because there will be light shining in between the trees and due to the autumn the orange/brown leaves will off set the trees and bring some colour to our scene.I also like the semi-slow motion scenes which make up a majority of the video, however I am not sure if the character is moving slowly or the film has been slowed down, obviously I know that the two men chasing him are over exaggerating every step to add comic effect. However the lead singer Jack Steadman seems to be lip sycnhing in real time. I think the slowed down effects emphasises the location and colours within in the scene although they are plain and dull you notice them more.
The band scene where they are playing the instruments is also interesting the use of stop/start jump shots gives a simple but unique feel, the band are wearing bright colour clothing and as it jumps from shot to shot they have exchanged clothing, this is another simple but effective idea which can bring colour and a fun feel to a music video. Also i like the fact that they are in front of what seems to be a garage with no one there but them. Gig scenes with screaming fans appear in too many music videos and have no real effect unless it is a parody, yet again another simple but effective idea. Evening/Morning is one of my favourite music videos by on of my favourite bands and with different ideas than most artists their videos portray them in a different way than other similar artists.
Progress!
Today we received an email to confirm the use of I Ran You Down by Tweed. We had previously been granted permission to use another of Tweed's songs "The Better Part of Me" however when we had listened to it a few times we thought that we could not do much with the song due to its heavily emphasised chorus. Similar artists
Now we have permission to use I Ran You Down by Tweed, I have started to research similar artists to give me ideas to put forward to the group for the video. I have found a British artist called The Hoosiers who were the one hit wonders of July 2007 and have a similar sound and appearance to Tweed. I have researched the Hoosiers to give me ideas and inspirations of the conventions from the Hoosiers which may suit our video.Friday, 15 October 2010
Tweed
Tweed are a five piece band from Australia who have made relative success and have their album The Power Of Silence on ITunes. They consist of Oliver Jones (guitar, lead vocals, bass and keys), Artie ( vocals, guitar, bass, keys and sax), Matty C (bass and vocals), Karl (drums, percussion and vocals)and Watto (keys and vocals). We have a slight issue at the moment we have permission for their song "Better Part Of Me" however we no want to use " I Ran You Down." I Ran You Down has a slow intro which builds and builds into the chorus with great effect. The song also has a few strong lyrics such as "My hands tight on the steering wheel, I lined you up with a ton of steel."Thursday, 14 October 2010
Atlantis
A Course of Action
Finally the third band is an american quadrette called A Course Of Action the members of the band are; Greg Lucy (drums), John Culberson (vocals and rythm guitar), Jonathan Byrd (lead guitar) and Tony Hawkins (bass guitar). A Course Of Action seem to have achieved relative success and have toured through out Europe. There song screaming at first seem good for our video however the song stays at the same pace all the way through, and also the guitar riff overpowers the vocals.
Tweed I Ran You Down LIVE
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Monatage Of Tweed Ideas
This is my montage of ideas and images that i collected while listening and reviewing I Ran You Down by Tweed, the australian four piece band we are currently seeking permission for use of their song. The basic idea is that a man is reflecting on a boken relationship, which due to the lyrics seems as the woman was the one who ended it. However it seems as the man is reflecting he realises he is better off without her and seems happy.Saturday, 2 October 2010
Four Year Strong: It Must Really Suck To Be Four Year Strong Right Now
From watching the video it is clear that it may have taken many takes and planning to get all the timing right, but it seems they have succeeded in the end. The video is simple but effective; the single continues shot of the fans walking around in East London's Brick Lane looks amateur; however the fans performance makes it a fun enjoyable video to watch. The final scene where the actually band turn around and start singing completes the video and make's it what I think one of the best "fan" videos around
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Preliminary Excercise: Warren Holmes- I Need Your Pain
There have been a few changes in our 6th forms Media department since last year; andthe most impressive of changes is the upgraded editing software: Apple's Final Cut Express. Final Cut Express is significantly more complex and advanced than our previous software (IMovie). The purpose of the lip syncing attempt was to make us discover the many options and effects that are available on Final Cut Express
Sunday, 26 September 2010
What Is A Successful Music Video?
In the current media climate because the way we consume music videos has changed so has the criteria we use measure a videos success. As the Internet has evolved sites such as YouTube, Itunes,Myspace and LastFm have become big players in the music industry and have achieved a large fan base. Music Videos are now judged as a success through;- The number of YouTube views the videos receives
- The number of Itunes Downloads it achieves
- Record sales (although downloads are more popular)
- Big awards such as MTV's Video Music Awards (VMA), The Mercury Prize and NME Music Video Awards.
Monday, 20 September 2010
The xx Crystalised
The xx are a new alternative band whose music could be mistaken for ambient background music. Most of their tracks have mellow low tone vocals accompanied by a sightly more upbeat base. The xx have been called "Britain's new favorite band" in the current media as they have recently shot into the music charts with their first album simply named The xx. The xx recently picked up the Mercury prize and the £20,000 prize for their hit album "xx"Mise En Scene:
Most of their tracks have mellow low tone vocals accompanied by a sightly more upbeat base. The video for the single Crystallised from the album The xx does not involve any movement from the band or does not follow any story. However the background constantly changes and moves. The background is projected on to what must be a plain white painted wall or a blue/green screen. This effect gives the video a unique and interesting feel that most other alternative bands fail to produce.
Saturday, 18 September 2010
The Purpose of a Music Video
Music Videos are produced for many different reasons; from self publication to artistic statements, big egotistic artists take the concept of the video more seriously that the music itself. The first music video burst on to television with "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggels and from then onwards artists have changed the way we consume music. Music videos were created to:
- Promote a single or album
- Promote a product which is appears in the video
- Create an artistic statement
- Promote a film in which the song features
- To attract a wider online audience, who may watch the video without understanding the song (YouTube)
The one artist of the modern day music industry who puts a lot of thought into her music videos is Lady Gaga. However her concept is simple; wear something odd and dance, her career is built on her music videos, because after all she is not a powerful impressive singer, just someone who has used image carefully and got extremely lucky. Her first video Pokerface shot her into the spot light because of her odd dress sense and the semi-graphic scenes of her covered in men. Lady Gaga did seem to have her own "unique" feel when compared to other artists in the same genre but in a mainstream industry when her image is analysed has borrowed her look from multiple people. Although not everyone likes Lady Gaga everyone knows her, this is how image and representation in the media thought music videos can work to promote an artist.
Friday, 17 September 2010
Using a Camera and a Tripod
In the last few weeks our project has taken some big steps. We have now filmed and are finishing editing Preliminary exercises, but before we could film we had to learn the basics of how to use a camera and a tripod. The camera was fairly simple to use, the only task that required any thought was removing the tapes. However the tripod was more complicated. The tripod is made up of three expendable legs which balance and stabiles the camera. The camera its self is attached to a removable plastic stand and screws in to place using a small bolt to attached to the thread, which is already built into the camera (and most cameras on the market today.) There are a few handles on the tripod, which are used to position the camera to make sure it is level, and to extend the camera to improve its height and range.The camera and tripod was simple to use however making sure the camera was level was a harder task, after filming a few shots once we watched our film on the computers it was obvious that the camera was off center and unlevel. We were told to look through the camera at a doorframe to make sure its lines appeared vertical on the camera.
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
Requested Music Video Track
In the past week I have continued looking on websites such as; Myspace.com, Unsigned.com, LastFm.com and FreePlayMusic.com while browsing on Unsigned.com I came across a band called Atlantis from Little Rock Arkansas in the United states. The band have a powerful lead singer called Paige LeFluer whose vocals standout while not overpowering their songs, I enjoy their music however they slightly remind me of the American band Paramore. Their demo track Signs was quite impressive, I like the bass and the change of pace attracted me also the song was just over three minuets, which is the time period recommended by our teachers. I sent the band a message over MySpace to ask for permission to use their song.
Sunday, 12 September 2010
Survey
Sunday, 5 September 2010
Finding Tracks: Last FM
In the past few days i have been browsing free music sites for tracks to use in my music video by unknown artists. My plan is to find four or five decent tracks which i can see my self using and then send out emails to the artists requesting permission. I am currently feeling confident that an artist would agree to let me use their track in my music video, but you can never speak to soon!
Friday, 13 August 2010
Powerful Performers: Zack De La Rocha
The recent return of Rage Against the machine has brought back to life the powerful personality of the bands front man Zack De Le Roach. When thinking of Rage Against the Machine there is no doubt that their unique front man Zack De La Rocha pops in to mind. The singer’s political outbursts received so much attention because of his powerful on stage performances; Rocha seems to attack the government with his powerful style of what can only called shouting. However his deliverance of lyrics has its own unique sound which emphasizes the meaning of the song. Rage the machine has songs attacking racist policemen, the government and corporate America which seem to be above the law. If Rocha was a softly spoken front man there is no doubt that Rage Against the Machine would have not made the impact they have on the music indistry. Rage Against the Machine are of one the lucky few to be inducted in to Kerrang's hall of fame; which includes Slipknot, Metalica, ACDC, Motley Crue and Ozzy Osbourne.Magnetic Man-I Need Air
The reasonably new video I Need Air by Magnetic Man has received some good publicity recently and is rated highly by NME as it has been shown recently in NME's most requested. The video it's self is a fairly simple club scene, however the blue lighting vastly improves the music video's basic mise en scene. What i like about the video is how the semi-slow motion camera shots make the people in the crowd stand out, and also the way the club scene rewinds slightly to emphasise the movments of the people in the scene (1 min 24 sec). The blue tinted lighting in the video is accompanied by dark shadows of the dancers which i think is a nice contrast and what i think is great about this video is that for a simple widley used style of video it does not become boring to watch or padded out.Below is a link to the music video I Need Air by Magnetic Man:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2vWQFHP3D0
Copyright ©
Copyright will most deffinatly be the biggest problem with the music video project this year.Obtaining permission for a decent music track from an artist will be a big time consuming task. I have been browsing websites such as Myspace, Freeplaymusic and Unsignedacts.com for artists offering copyright free music. However I have not yet decided on what genre the song for the music video will be. I would like to gain permission from a good up and coming artist by mid september. I believe an up and coming artist will be most willing to grant me permission because if the music video gets a hint of Youtube success it could put them in the spotlight, and if the video is failure there reputation will not suffer.
Monday, 2 August 2010
The History of the Music Video
The first ever music video to be aired on MTV was ironically called Video Killed the Radio Star by the Buggels. It was shown for the first time on the 1st of August 1981 at 12:01 am. The Buggels had created a new trend in the music industry, music videos were at first used to promote artists songs and as music videos were being shown regularly on television it became a battle to create the best music video.
Music videos have grown in the same ways films have; as technology evolved new innovative techniques and effects became popular and each new development inspired a creative mind to push the current technology further. A good example is Money For Nothing by the Dire Straits; this revolutionary music video was the first to use computer generated animation. In modern times the video looks like a humorous Lego like animation, however in 1985 it was ground breaking technology.







