Evaluation of Music Video Project
My main roll in the group was editing and camera work, we also all sometimes contributed to other rolls such as directing if we felt we had a good idea that would make the current scene more interesting for the audience to watch.
Before we started filming are music video we made a in depth plan (see section 2.4) outlining what roles everyone would have, where we would film and who are actors where going to be. Although we had this plan we still came across several problems when it came to filming it, such as actors being unavailable and some group members not being able to make it to one of the filming days because certain commitments that they where unable to turn down. Despite these problems we where able to work around them by re arranging the dates and made sure everyone was available.
Our music video was going to be performance/ narrative, we decided this as a group by sitting doing and noting down several ideas (see section 1.2) We planed to have the band playing in there actual rehearsal area which is the bassist/ guitarist’s front room. I believe that this was a good idea because it helps portray the band as more down to earth people, not these gods that most record labels and directors try to portray bands as. It also helps the audience connect more with these people because they don’t seem so intermediating.
The idea behind the narrative side of the video was to have a love story where there is equilibrium at the start where everything is going fine, but then the girl finds a text that she falsely perceives and this causes the disequilibrium. The girl apologies at the end of the video and restores the equilibrium. This is different to most love narratives in music videos because neither of them have actually done anything wrong, and so this challenges most love stories in music videos. This idea developed from looking at the song lyrics (2.1) and then as a group came up with several ideas shown in (1.2). These would act as a guideline when creating the narrative side of it because we knew what we wanted for our performance side of the video. The locations that we originally suggested when in the first stages of planning deviated from the ones we ended up using, because of availability issues of a hall, or the actors being unable to make there way to a distance location. I do believe though that the locations we ended up using has worked in the favour strengthened it by making it relatable to the audience because there quite mundane locations. Something that I would have definitely changed would have been the lighting on the interior sections because we where unable to correct this at the time because we did not have access to the lighting controls.
The music video is mainly aimed at a teen/ young adult’s audience who are in a relationship, this because of the love narrative running through it and because of the band being young adult’s. But it may also appeal to people who like indie music. The video would also represent this young group of people because of the actors being in it are the same age, so it would make it easier for an audience of this age to be able to connect with them.
A record label would distribute my music video to help promote the band that they have signed to there label, this would also help them gain more revenue and the band a larger audience. This is because since the first music videos on 1st august 1981 it has been seen in sales that a good music video can make the song and the bands reputation, where as a bad one can break it.
The music video has been uploaded on the bands website on Facebook so that there fans can watch and comment on the video, all the feedback I got back on the video was positive. Either It being the “like” or comments by fans such as James Root “The different camera angles used were really good, like the close ups of the band etc. However, I didn't like how some of the drumming wasn't in sync with the music.”. By having this on there site it has increased there fan base, and this proves that a good music video can increase a song and bands popularity, there members have gone from 100 to 117 since uploading the video. I may also upload this to Youtube as well to get further feedback on the video seeing as though you have to have a Facebook account and join the bands Facebook group in order to watch the video, so by having it on Youtube it will allow for a much wider response.
During the production of this music video I have learnt a lot about the different technologies used to create these moving video masterpieces. Such as cameras can really affect the quality of the video if they are not set up right, lighting can also play a major role with cameras because some cameras can capture light a lot more effectively than others, resulting in a clear or fuzzy image depending on how the lighting is. Careful use of effects is essential when it comes to editing, if effects are just added in with a “because you can attitude” then it can ruin a music video, but sometimes work well in fast R&B music. The other option is to only use them when necessary such as fades showing that the scene is in a completely different place to the previous scene or to represent the passing of time then it can make the music video look really good. When I came around to editing our music video in Final Cut Pro, which I have used a lot in the past and I have a good understanding of how to use it. I took the seconded approach because I felt that this would be the most appropriate for the style of music and the tempo. I used fades between the narrative and performance to show a clear transition between the two, and some different effects at key moments in the song such as a black and white filter during the slap to show the change in the equilibrium.
Other things I have learnt during the production of this music video is how to synchronise the music with the video footage, whether it be synchronising the instruments or lip synching. Synchronising the music overall did prove to be a bit of a challenge because the performers where playing live to there studio finished song, so this meant there actions would not always fit the music you here because playing live is completely different to a polished version of the song. This especially came apparent with some of the drum parts that James Root did point out on his comments, because the intended footage for a specific part of the song was slightly different actions compared to what you hear and this makes it look odd. The way I would get around this problem in the future would be to recorded the same drum for the entirety of the song, but because of time restrictions with the band I was unable to do this.
Another program I have used during the production of this music video was Live Type. Live Type allows you to create professional text overlays for videos. I have used this program on all my other filmed coursework, so I have a very good understanding of how to use the program. I did however discover about pre made motion graphics which I felt would add extra impact on the opening and closing of the video, because they add a lot of motion onto the video they also help introduce the band and song to the audience. During the video I did add an extra bit of live type in, the intention was to give it a music channel kind of feel, but the actual reason behind it was down to a technical problem. Which was a time code error, and this caused us to lose an important piece of footage and because of time restrictions we where unable to re film this relatively small piece of footage. So instead to add motion back into the scene this bit of live type was added in. I believe this has worked and has added back the intended motion into and otherwise stationary scene.
Since working on this project in comparison to last years project which was to create a website, I have learnt that planning is key for the project to run smoothly, and I fell that that I have done this in both projects. I feel I have done this by having a thorough plan of the whole project before even starting to work on the actual product, and once I feel that this is finished I will begin on the actual project. But even though there was a plan it won’t stop all problems, especially if there unpredictable such as locations being unavailable and text stretches on different monitor resolutions.
I do fell that the production of the first project was a lot easier compared to the production of the seconded project because I was working on my own. I was able to set myself goals that I knew that I would meet and work efficiently when it came to constructing the website. But working in a group did seem to restrict efficiency because of trying to get together the rest of the group, and put extra work in, in order to meet the deadline. This was mainly apparent with some of the editing stage so I ended up working on my own to edit most of the video because the rest of the group had certain commitments they had to do. I feel that I have learnt that I work better and more efficiently on my own, compared to working in a group. Overall though I had fun working on both projects and have worked hard on completing both projects and I believe that this shows in both final products.
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Friday, 23 April 2010
3.4 Didgi Pack
This is my finished Didgi Pack design for my project. As you can see the colour scheme is similar to the poster in 3.3 and so are a few of the effects used, this is to keep continuity between the products and be easily recognisable as the same product brand. I decided to keep one of the sides black to help break up all of the lively patterns on the rest of the product.
3.3 Band Poster
This is the finished band poster for my project, quite a few parts of it have changed from the initial drafts in 3.1.This is mainly because the changes make the poster stand out more for the audience.
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
3.0 Promoting the Band
This whole unit is about creating products to promote the band such as, didgi packs, posters and websites. We had to chose two products and develop several ideas for each of them, before finally creating the final product.
I decided to go with createing a didgi pack and a band poster.
I decided to go with createing a didgi pack and a band poster.
Thursday, 28 January 2010
2.2 Song Permissions
Wednesday, 16 September, 2009 5:30 PM
From: "Joe Rudd"
To: "James Goodman"
Dear James Goodman .....I give you permission to use our song, I’m recording the dam thing now....its a beast, so yeah....ill let you know when its out the oven ....toodles!
This was the email reply from the band after requesting permission to use there song for our music video.
From: "Joe Rudd"
To: "James Goodman"
Dear James Goodman .....I give you permission to use our song, I’m recording the dam thing now....its a beast, so yeah....ill let you know when its out the oven ....toodles!
This was the email reply from the band after requesting permission to use there song for our music video.
2.1 The Song: Lyrics
Just Maybe
Words and music by Max Sander and Joe Rudd
It’s just insane no mistake,
I’ve been going for too long, yeah I’m gone
The feelings there not out of place
I’ve been looking for time to waste, yeah waste
Drag you down, know your smile,
Then I noticed you said maybe
You said maybe
Drag you down, flag you down,
Said I’m sorry, yeah I’m sorry
I can’t breathe your holding me
I’ve been trapped in your psychedelic scheme, is this you hoped for
To keep me in not let me move,
Just so you can have things the way you choose, is that ok with you?
Drag you down, know your smile,
Then I noticed you said maybe
You said maybe
Drag you down, flag you down,
Said I’m sorry, yeah I’m sorry
Patiently I meet your eyes
I’m in no mood for surprise, or the lies
Accepting you is a matter of time
If you can wait, I won’t change my mind, my mind
Drag you down, know your smile,
Then I noticed you said maybe
You said maybe
Drag you down, flag you down,
Said I’m sorry, yeah I’m sorry
Drag you down, know your smile,
Then I noticed you said maybe
You said maybe
Drag you down, flag you down,
Said I’m sorry, yeah I’m sorry
Words and music by Max Sander and Joe Rudd
It’s just insane no mistake,
I’ve been going for too long, yeah I’m gone
The feelings there not out of place
I’ve been looking for time to waste, yeah waste
Drag you down, know your smile,
Then I noticed you said maybe
You said maybe
Drag you down, flag you down,
Said I’m sorry, yeah I’m sorry
I can’t breathe your holding me
I’ve been trapped in your psychedelic scheme, is this you hoped for
To keep me in not let me move,
Just so you can have things the way you choose, is that ok with you?
Drag you down, know your smile,
Then I noticed you said maybe
You said maybe
Drag you down, flag you down,
Said I’m sorry, yeah I’m sorry
Patiently I meet your eyes
I’m in no mood for surprise, or the lies
Accepting you is a matter of time
If you can wait, I won’t change my mind, my mind
Drag you down, know your smile,
Then I noticed you said maybe
You said maybe
Drag you down, flag you down,
Said I’m sorry, yeah I’m sorry
Drag you down, know your smile,
Then I noticed you said maybe
You said maybe
Drag you down, flag you down,
Said I’m sorry, yeah I’m sorry
2.0 Finding The Band
Our first Task in creating our music video was, to find and unsigned band who would give us permission to use one of there songs to create our music video. After researching into some local unsigned bands and looking around on MySpace Music, we decided to use a band called Crayola. Crayola are a small unsigned band from Lincoln. I found out about this band, because I am good friends with the members of the band, and they are quite popular around school and Myspace Music. We decided that this would be the best idea overall because we can help promote there music, it will also be easier to contact and work with the band, and help create a music video that will promote there songs message really well. Because of being good friends with them.
This was also a good idea because the songs they perform are really versatile, and there own songs also have a very unique sound which means there tragic audience is really diverse and therefore can be really flexible with how to promote the band.
After this we had to decide on which song to use, we started by listening to all of there own material and covers. When we had done listening to all of there material we discussed several quick initial video ideas for a selection of there songs to decide which would be the strongest song to create a music video for. After we had all given all the ideas we could think of we then made the crucial decision of which song we where going to use.
We decided to use one of there newer songs called “Just Maybe” because its sound is very unique and had the strongest potential to create a music video for, because the song is abut relationships, this will appeal well to the audience because most will be or been in a relationship and be able to relate to the meaning of the song
This was also a good idea because the songs they perform are really versatile, and there own songs also have a very unique sound which means there tragic audience is really diverse and therefore can be really flexible with how to promote the band.
After this we had to decide on which song to use, we started by listening to all of there own material and covers. When we had done listening to all of there material we discussed several quick initial video ideas for a selection of there songs to decide which would be the strongest song to create a music video for. After we had all given all the ideas we could think of we then made the crucial decision of which song we where going to use.
We decided to use one of there newer songs called “Just Maybe” because its sound is very unique and had the strongest potential to create a music video for, because the song is abut relationships, this will appeal well to the audience because most will be or been in a relationship and be able to relate to the meaning of the song
1.2 Initial Ideas
Initial Idea (Performance/Narrative)
One of the possibilities for our music video is doing a Performance/Narrative music video. This will consist of a lot of shots of the band performing while a narrative is running along side it. The narrative could be related to the song direct or could deviate slightly, it could also consist of some of one or all of the band members, or It could be a completely random person acting out the set narrative. Some prime examples of performance/ narrative videos would be, Green Day’s “21 guns” video, 30seconds to mars “The Kill” and Three Days Grace “Animal I Have Become”.
Main Idea (Performance/Narrative)
We have decided that if we where going to create a performance/narrative video, that we would have the actual band involved in the narrative side as well. This is because we believe that It will give a better effect overall for there first promotional video to actually have them in it all the way through. It also means when it comes to filming it, there will be less inconvenience in gathering all the actors, and effectively lowering production time. Based on the tempo of the song being quite slow, we have decided that we will mainly use slow cuts rather than fast cuts to help mirror the pace of the song, but we may start to add some slightly faster cuts in when the song reaches the crescendo.
We have also decided that the location where the band performs will also be the same place where the narrative takes place, but the narrative and the band will not be in the same shot. Potential locations that we as a group have come up with are the Terry ‘o tool theatre or Imp Art. The Terry ‘o tool theatre would be more ideal if we wanted to use a lot of lighting but we feel that this would not really suit the song, so we decided that we will use Imp Art as the desired location. This location would also give the desired fell that we want the video to have because it is quite old hall, and we can adapt it to have an abandoned look which we fell will suit the song more. The narrative itself we have decided based on the lyrics could be a love relationship break up, and when the clips of the narrative come on the video they could have a sepia tone to make them look like a memory, and have the performance itself as the present.
We also came up with synchronising the video with the music, so when a symbol smash happens on the drums or when the music momentarily stops the scene will then change.
The camera shots that we could use, will mainly be several close up’s of the band members performing and then some long shots of the entire band performing and in these long shots the camera will be either panning from right to left or visa versa depending which band member it zooms out from, the panning will create a sense of movement and action even when the band members are still, much like Green Day’s video “Know Your Enemy”. The shots that will be used in the narrative will be very varied, because this will have a lot going on so a wide selection of angles will be needed, but quite a lot may consist of close up’s in order to show the characters emotions more clear.
We have decided that we are going to have a minimal amount of effects, because we feel that they do not suit the particular song. But we may use a few subtle effects in order to either empathise something or make it bolder, an effect that we may consider using could be slow-motion because this can really make a video look really dynamic, a really strong example of this effect done well would be Three Days Grace’s new music video called “Break”.
Second Idea (Performance)
For the performance part of the music video making, we commonly see performance pieces from bands as this creates a more personal video, drawing the audience even closer to how to musicians are portraying their feelings through song and shots of only the band in a specific location. This type of video, is commonly used by popular bands such as; Paramore and their single “ignorance”.
For our own video we may include this aspect, as it’s an easier way to draw in an audience and a cheaper way to create a music video for our chosen band. One idea for the music video with the inclusion of pure performance is the band in a studio performing their single without them being in a different location. This idea could be a great way to “show off “the band as the audience would be able to establish the members in the band as this would be their first debut video in front of an audience.
Another idea, which we could use to help promote the band with their first video, is to perform in an area which differs from a music-related set such as a recording studio or within a professional setting. This could be done outdoors or in places which we tend to not relate with the music video, doing so could make our video more realistic within our budget as we do not have to spend too much on the actual making and location of the video.
Doing this would help create a video which gives off a professional finish as many bands such as All American Rejects and Nickelback have succeeded in this type of video, attracting a large audience and following towards their music and videos created in the performance way.
Our group believe a good way in creating a music video is to use all the instruments, which you would find in the studio such as the drum kit and microphones and would like to possibly incorporate this into the band music video. This could be a good idea as this would show the group as a whole without the lead singer being within the video alone or most of the time. This could be a great way in again showing the band off as a whole as it clearly shows who are actually in the band and what their role is.
These ideas could be used to create this video as specific aspects of these ideas above could be used to create a professional music video for the band.
Alternative Idea (Art)
An art music video, tend not to have any meanings to what the audience sees. They are often abstract and thus makes the audience think about what is on screen, a common trend amongst art performances is the use of SFX and graphics on screen. The genre these art performances are often related to is Rock/Indie and sometimes R’n’B.
The lyrics of the song do not follow the common convention of relating to the images on screen. An example of this being used is with “Red hot chilli peppers”.
One idea we can use is; less focus on the band singing, and more emphasis on different graphics appearing on screen. We could even use a wax crayon streak effect, to match the band’s name; ‘Crayola’.
This would create a simplistic almost child like effect, relating to a younger audience as well. Expanding on this, as an overall influence, we could focus on the uses of colour, and representing moods. A good example of this is “Queen of the Stone Age – go with the flow”
Another idea could be to use stop moving characters to create an animated feel to the video, again this could use several effects and graphics making it more obscure. This would relate to more of a ten audience, especially those who are university students. Again, the camera would’t be focused on the band performing as much or members of a live audience, the emphasis has to come on the abstract feel.
Overall, the art performance video emphasises on SFX and lack of continuity between lyrics, images on screen and the narrative. Of the three types, this would probably be the hardest video to create and therefore achieve a good finish.
Also, this style would take the longest to create and would’t fit the style or image of the band, and this could impact on the popularity of their first video, it would also struggle to promote the band coherently to this new audience.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we are most likely lo do a combination of both performance and narrative, as we feel this portrays the bands image the best and promote the band in the best way. In terms of resources, it will also be easier to create and shows more of our camera and editing skills as well as our knowledge of the band. We feel the band would prefer to stay away from the art style, as it does’t really relate to their style of music.
One of the possibilities for our music video is doing a Performance/Narrative music video. This will consist of a lot of shots of the band performing while a narrative is running along side it. The narrative could be related to the song direct or could deviate slightly, it could also consist of some of one or all of the band members, or It could be a completely random person acting out the set narrative. Some prime examples of performance/ narrative videos would be, Green Day’s “21 guns” video, 30seconds to mars “The Kill” and Three Days Grace “Animal I Have Become”.
Main Idea (Performance/Narrative)
We have decided that if we where going to create a performance/narrative video, that we would have the actual band involved in the narrative side as well. This is because we believe that It will give a better effect overall for there first promotional video to actually have them in it all the way through. It also means when it comes to filming it, there will be less inconvenience in gathering all the actors, and effectively lowering production time. Based on the tempo of the song being quite slow, we have decided that we will mainly use slow cuts rather than fast cuts to help mirror the pace of the song, but we may start to add some slightly faster cuts in when the song reaches the crescendo.
We have also decided that the location where the band performs will also be the same place where the narrative takes place, but the narrative and the band will not be in the same shot. Potential locations that we as a group have come up with are the Terry ‘o tool theatre or Imp Art. The Terry ‘o tool theatre would be more ideal if we wanted to use a lot of lighting but we feel that this would not really suit the song, so we decided that we will use Imp Art as the desired location. This location would also give the desired fell that we want the video to have because it is quite old hall, and we can adapt it to have an abandoned look which we fell will suit the song more. The narrative itself we have decided based on the lyrics could be a love relationship break up, and when the clips of the narrative come on the video they could have a sepia tone to make them look like a memory, and have the performance itself as the present.
We also came up with synchronising the video with the music, so when a symbol smash happens on the drums or when the music momentarily stops the scene will then change.
The camera shots that we could use, will mainly be several close up’s of the band members performing and then some long shots of the entire band performing and in these long shots the camera will be either panning from right to left or visa versa depending which band member it zooms out from, the panning will create a sense of movement and action even when the band members are still, much like Green Day’s video “Know Your Enemy”. The shots that will be used in the narrative will be very varied, because this will have a lot going on so a wide selection of angles will be needed, but quite a lot may consist of close up’s in order to show the characters emotions more clear.
We have decided that we are going to have a minimal amount of effects, because we feel that they do not suit the particular song. But we may use a few subtle effects in order to either empathise something or make it bolder, an effect that we may consider using could be slow-motion because this can really make a video look really dynamic, a really strong example of this effect done well would be Three Days Grace’s new music video called “Break”.
Second Idea (Performance)
For the performance part of the music video making, we commonly see performance pieces from bands as this creates a more personal video, drawing the audience even closer to how to musicians are portraying their feelings through song and shots of only the band in a specific location. This type of video, is commonly used by popular bands such as; Paramore and their single “ignorance”.
For our own video we may include this aspect, as it’s an easier way to draw in an audience and a cheaper way to create a music video for our chosen band. One idea for the music video with the inclusion of pure performance is the band in a studio performing their single without them being in a different location. This idea could be a great way to “show off “the band as the audience would be able to establish the members in the band as this would be their first debut video in front of an audience.
Another idea, which we could use to help promote the band with their first video, is to perform in an area which differs from a music-related set such as a recording studio or within a professional setting. This could be done outdoors or in places which we tend to not relate with the music video, doing so could make our video more realistic within our budget as we do not have to spend too much on the actual making and location of the video.
Doing this would help create a video which gives off a professional finish as many bands such as All American Rejects and Nickelback have succeeded in this type of video, attracting a large audience and following towards their music and videos created in the performance way.
Our group believe a good way in creating a music video is to use all the instruments, which you would find in the studio such as the drum kit and microphones and would like to possibly incorporate this into the band music video. This could be a good idea as this would show the group as a whole without the lead singer being within the video alone or most of the time. This could be a great way in again showing the band off as a whole as it clearly shows who are actually in the band and what their role is.
These ideas could be used to create this video as specific aspects of these ideas above could be used to create a professional music video for the band.
Alternative Idea (Art)
An art music video, tend not to have any meanings to what the audience sees. They are often abstract and thus makes the audience think about what is on screen, a common trend amongst art performances is the use of SFX and graphics on screen. The genre these art performances are often related to is Rock/Indie and sometimes R’n’B.
The lyrics of the song do not follow the common convention of relating to the images on screen. An example of this being used is with “Red hot chilli peppers”.
One idea we can use is; less focus on the band singing, and more emphasis on different graphics appearing on screen. We could even use a wax crayon streak effect, to match the band’s name; ‘Crayola’.
This would create a simplistic almost child like effect, relating to a younger audience as well. Expanding on this, as an overall influence, we could focus on the uses of colour, and representing moods. A good example of this is “Queen of the Stone Age – go with the flow”
Another idea could be to use stop moving characters to create an animated feel to the video, again this could use several effects and graphics making it more obscure. This would relate to more of a ten audience, especially those who are university students. Again, the camera would’t be focused on the band performing as much or members of a live audience, the emphasis has to come on the abstract feel.
Overall, the art performance video emphasises on SFX and lack of continuity between lyrics, images on screen and the narrative. Of the three types, this would probably be the hardest video to create and therefore achieve a good finish.
Also, this style would take the longest to create and would’t fit the style or image of the band, and this could impact on the popularity of their first video, it would also struggle to promote the band coherently to this new audience.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we are most likely lo do a combination of both performance and narrative, as we feel this portrays the bands image the best and promote the band in the best way. In terms of resources, it will also be easier to create and shows more of our camera and editing skills as well as our knowledge of the band. We feel the band would prefer to stay away from the art style, as it does’t really relate to their style of music.
1.1 Video Analysis
To generate ideas and deepen my understanding of music videos i had to analysis three music videos of my own choice.
Artist: Queens of the Stone Age
Song: Go with the flow
Genre: Rock/ Heavy Rock
Narrative Structure: Art
The video is heavily stylised, with a black and red colour style and some white outlines to give it a very striking visual style, which is why the video is considered an art one. We are welcomed in the opening scene with this deserted desert road, and the sound of crickets to empathise this bleakness. This is then interrupted by the start of the music and a pick-up truck crashing through the fence from the left hand side, which introduces us to the band the audience in an exciting way. There are then a few quick camera cuts to keep up with the sudden change in pace, the camera then focuses in on the side of the pick-up truck and we see the drummer playing in the driver seat and the rest of the band playing stud up in the back of the truck. We then get a long shot of the band to empathise the speed of the pick-up truck and it also mirrors the tempo of the song. We then get a shot of the driver change gear and, then the camera goes to a close up of the speed gage to again remind us again of the speed. We then get an action that goes with a lyric as the front man throws a can out of the truck “She said I throw myself, away”.
When the songs tempo slows down for a short period all we can hear are the drums and base, this change in tempo is reflected in the video, with the use of a slow motion down effect. There are a lot of innuendos used throughout the video, which hints towards sexual urges. They first start out subtle but towards the end of the video they become a lot more blatant. When we first see the other car we are zoomed into to see the reaction of the driver, we then have a series of quick camera shots at different angles to show the car burning out then launching in the direction of the pick-up truck. The camera tracks the new car from the front view, then we get a camera shot of the pickup truck form the other direction from the front to show that both cars are racing towards each other. This is done to put the audience on the edge, wondering what is going to happen. Both cars crash into each other at the climax of the song, and instead of an explosion. We get an explosion of passion. This is shown by the flamboyant flourishes that appear after the crash, and the sperm like creatures that speed away form the crash and flurry around. So the actual climax of the song is used as a symbol of a sexual climax. Overall this video works really well as being a completely original video and very visually striking.
Artist: Linkin Park
Song: Numb
Genre: Rock/ Heavy Rock
Narrative Structure: Narrative/ Performance
The first thing we see is a mid shot of the main character stood against a wall and a landscape of a city behind her. She then looks around and as she does this the camera shot changes to a long shot of the entire city, it then quickly zooms into a church which has relevance to the song at the end. The camera then changes back to the original mid shot of the main character, but this time she is looking down and depressed. After this we switch to the performers, we first get a bird’s eye view of the turn tables and when the guitars kick in the camera zooms and gives a longshot of the room so we can see all the performers. We then get several quick shots of individual performers playing, this is until the tempo slows down again and then we get a close up of the front man. Straight after this we are thrown into a classroom and are looking forwards towards the teacher. We then get a close up of the main character drawing, we then get a quick shot of the frontman singing, before going back to the the classroom and the teacher telling off the main character for drawing. Throughout the song there are constant switches between the main character and performers used to create a bond between the character and performers. A key effect that is used throughout the song is the one that makes it look like everyone around the main character are just blurs and that the main character is just stood or sat still, this effect relates directly to the meaning behind the song, which is being unable to feel any empathy or emotions, or anyone feeling any sympathy or care for them. This effect does work really well in putting this across because it makes u fell exactly how the main character fells, which is alone and unloved “I’ve become so numb, I can’t feel you there”. But we see throughout the video that the only thing keeping them going is there love for art, even though there parents disagree they still do it so that they can have something worth living for “Tired of being what you want me to be” . The narrative follows a set path unlike most narrative music videos that use a broken plot. At the climax of the song we see the main character violently flicking paint over the camera to try and release all off there anger out. The video finishes with the main character running into the church where the performers where playing, and there equipment is still there but they are not there anymore, the reason the director has probably done this is to show that there was sort of a bond between the main character and the band. The reason behind her running into the church could be that she was looking for salvation.
Artist: Green Day
Song: American Idiot
Genre: Rock/ Alternative Rock
Narrative Structure: Performance
The first thing we see is a long shot of the front man playing in front of an American flag which colours have been changed to green, in the foreground there are what looks like old fashioned TV cameras. We then cut to a close up of one of the screens on the old cameras which has the albums graphic shown and animated on it, this then changes to live footage of the frontman playing, the camera then zooms out from the screen and changes to a few quick close ups of the front man’s face. Before giving us a low angle shot of him playing guitar. After this we get a longshot of the entire band standing in front of the green American flag the camera then slowly moves towards them. The entire opening of this song is very highly charged because of the tempo of the song form the beginning. This energy begins to level out when the song gets going. To make the performance more interesting and the illusion of motion the camera Is high crane angled to look down towards the performers and pans around them the create this sense of movement. There are also effects used on the bassist and drummer to make the video more dynamic, the drummer has a slow motion effect while at the same time the bassist has been drastically sped up, this is within the same piece of footage and would take a lot of editing but the overall effect does work to a high level of degree. The green American flag does play more in the video than just being a backdrop, in the middle of the video waster is ran down it to release the paint that was on it onto the performers. The two sets of amplifiers shortly after when the guitar solo is initiated pours out a tremendous amount of green paint that then floods the performance area and covers the performers in green paint. The reason why the paint is green relates to the name of the band, and for this being one of there first big music videos it works well. Towards the end of the song there is a series of camera shots that are in the dark but a strobe light shows the performers covered in green paint, and doing things like saluting for there country which adds a lot of irony because of the meaning behind the song. The meaning is basically, down with the government. The end shot is of the performers abandoning there equipment and leaving in separate directions, which is almost like they have done something wrong against the law.
Artist: Queens of the Stone Age
Song: Go with the flow
Genre: Rock/ Heavy Rock
Narrative Structure: Art
The video is heavily stylised, with a black and red colour style and some white outlines to give it a very striking visual style, which is why the video is considered an art one. We are welcomed in the opening scene with this deserted desert road, and the sound of crickets to empathise this bleakness. This is then interrupted by the start of the music and a pick-up truck crashing through the fence from the left hand side, which introduces us to the band the audience in an exciting way. There are then a few quick camera cuts to keep up with the sudden change in pace, the camera then focuses in on the side of the pick-up truck and we see the drummer playing in the driver seat and the rest of the band playing stud up in the back of the truck. We then get a long shot of the band to empathise the speed of the pick-up truck and it also mirrors the tempo of the song. We then get a shot of the driver change gear and, then the camera goes to a close up of the speed gage to again remind us again of the speed. We then get an action that goes with a lyric as the front man throws a can out of the truck “She said I throw myself, away”.
When the songs tempo slows down for a short period all we can hear are the drums and base, this change in tempo is reflected in the video, with the use of a slow motion down effect. There are a lot of innuendos used throughout the video, which hints towards sexual urges. They first start out subtle but towards the end of the video they become a lot more blatant. When we first see the other car we are zoomed into to see the reaction of the driver, we then have a series of quick camera shots at different angles to show the car burning out then launching in the direction of the pick-up truck. The camera tracks the new car from the front view, then we get a camera shot of the pickup truck form the other direction from the front to show that both cars are racing towards each other. This is done to put the audience on the edge, wondering what is going to happen. Both cars crash into each other at the climax of the song, and instead of an explosion. We get an explosion of passion. This is shown by the flamboyant flourishes that appear after the crash, and the sperm like creatures that speed away form the crash and flurry around. So the actual climax of the song is used as a symbol of a sexual climax. Overall this video works really well as being a completely original video and very visually striking.
Artist: Linkin Park
Song: Numb
Genre: Rock/ Heavy Rock
Narrative Structure: Narrative/ Performance
The first thing we see is a mid shot of the main character stood against a wall and a landscape of a city behind her. She then looks around and as she does this the camera shot changes to a long shot of the entire city, it then quickly zooms into a church which has relevance to the song at the end. The camera then changes back to the original mid shot of the main character, but this time she is looking down and depressed. After this we switch to the performers, we first get a bird’s eye view of the turn tables and when the guitars kick in the camera zooms and gives a longshot of the room so we can see all the performers. We then get several quick shots of individual performers playing, this is until the tempo slows down again and then we get a close up of the front man. Straight after this we are thrown into a classroom and are looking forwards towards the teacher. We then get a close up of the main character drawing, we then get a quick shot of the frontman singing, before going back to the the classroom and the teacher telling off the main character for drawing. Throughout the song there are constant switches between the main character and performers used to create a bond between the character and performers. A key effect that is used throughout the song is the one that makes it look like everyone around the main character are just blurs and that the main character is just stood or sat still, this effect relates directly to the meaning behind the song, which is being unable to feel any empathy or emotions, or anyone feeling any sympathy or care for them. This effect does work really well in putting this across because it makes u fell exactly how the main character fells, which is alone and unloved “I’ve become so numb, I can’t feel you there”. But we see throughout the video that the only thing keeping them going is there love for art, even though there parents disagree they still do it so that they can have something worth living for “Tired of being what you want me to be” . The narrative follows a set path unlike most narrative music videos that use a broken plot. At the climax of the song we see the main character violently flicking paint over the camera to try and release all off there anger out. The video finishes with the main character running into the church where the performers where playing, and there equipment is still there but they are not there anymore, the reason the director has probably done this is to show that there was sort of a bond between the main character and the band. The reason behind her running into the church could be that she was looking for salvation.
Artist: Green Day
Song: American Idiot
Genre: Rock/ Alternative Rock
Narrative Structure: Performance
The first thing we see is a long shot of the front man playing in front of an American flag which colours have been changed to green, in the foreground there are what looks like old fashioned TV cameras. We then cut to a close up of one of the screens on the old cameras which has the albums graphic shown and animated on it, this then changes to live footage of the frontman playing, the camera then zooms out from the screen and changes to a few quick close ups of the front man’s face. Before giving us a low angle shot of him playing guitar. After this we get a longshot of the entire band standing in front of the green American flag the camera then slowly moves towards them. The entire opening of this song is very highly charged because of the tempo of the song form the beginning. This energy begins to level out when the song gets going. To make the performance more interesting and the illusion of motion the camera Is high crane angled to look down towards the performers and pans around them the create this sense of movement. There are also effects used on the bassist and drummer to make the video more dynamic, the drummer has a slow motion effect while at the same time the bassist has been drastically sped up, this is within the same piece of footage and would take a lot of editing but the overall effect does work to a high level of degree. The green American flag does play more in the video than just being a backdrop, in the middle of the video waster is ran down it to release the paint that was on it onto the performers. The two sets of amplifiers shortly after when the guitar solo is initiated pours out a tremendous amount of green paint that then floods the performance area and covers the performers in green paint. The reason why the paint is green relates to the name of the band, and for this being one of there first big music videos it works well. Towards the end of the song there is a series of camera shots that are in the dark but a strobe light shows the performers covered in green paint, and doing things like saluting for there country which adds a lot of irony because of the meaning behind the song. The meaning is basically, down with the government. The end shot is of the performers abandoning there equipment and leaving in separate directions, which is almost like they have done something wrong against the law.
1.0 The History of the Music Video
In order to create a music video I first needed to first look into the history of music videos to get a better understanding of how to create my own, and this is the reason of the following essay.
The term “music video” first became popular on the 1st august 1981, with the launch of Music Television (MTV). It came on air at 12:01pm followed by these words “Ladies and Gentlemen, Rock and Roll” spoken by John Lack. There was then a picture of the “Apollo 11” Moon landing, with a flag and MTV’S logo on it to represent that this was a ground breaking moment in television. Straight after this they played the first music video on MTV, which was “Video Killed The Radio Star” followed by “You Better Run”. Inadvertently MTV had just created a global phenomenon, which would change our understanding of music forever. From that point onwards everyone would tune into MTV hopeing to see the latest music videos from there favourite bands or artists. MTV was originally given these promotional videos for free, and it was not until MTV started to become extremely popular before record labels decided to charge MTV for there promotional videos
It took another 6 years until MTV was available in the UK and Europe, and was called MTV Europe, and then a further 10 years later MTV decided yet again to expand the TV Empire and create specific MTV channels in Europe for each country. This lead to the birth of MTV UK& Ireland, which then again 10 years later got its name changed to MTV One. But the station name changing didn’t end there, 2 years later it once again got its name changed for hopefully the final time to just MTV.
As well as MTV changing there stations names a lot, they have also played around with the programming, this first started to arise in the early 21st centaury, with shows such as “Dirty Sanchez, Pimp my Ride and MTV Cribs” flooding the channel and surprisingly getting positive feedback. Since this success MTV has decided to make MTV more of an entertainment channel and less of a music channel, and instead shifted the music to there sister channels, such as MTV Two, VH1 and TMF. This allows for MTV to make more revenue because they are now catering to a much wider audience instead of just a select audience.
After the successful launch of MTV, most bands have decided that having a music video to go with a song is mandatory for the success of that song and for them as a band. The band probably most responsible for this craze would be “Queen” with “Bohemian Rhapsody”. The video was considered ground breaking at the time, and it most certainly was because it helped shape the conventions of most music videos we still see today. The song stayed at the top of the UK charts for nine weeks; partly do to the help of the promotional video. Sales boomed again in 1991 after the death of Freddie Mercury, raising the sales of the record to over 2,000,000 and made it the UK’s third best selling single of all time. Most people say that “Bohemian Rhapsody” is considered to be the magnum opus of “Queen’s” songs.
In most cases such as “Bohemian Rhapsody” it is good for gaining popularity and revenue to have a promotional video, but some fans might watch the music video itself to determine how good the song is, even is the song is not good itself. This is most apparent in gimmicky less talented bands, which create funny videos to gain an audience, even if they do not poses any musical talent at all. This is almost opposite to the more talented bands, where they will create videos for there songs usually to a much higher quality then the less talented bands, but most the time there songs would popularity would not require them to need a promotional video in order for there songs to be good.
There are currently around 18 Music channels available through Sky’s satellite service, and 2 on Freeview. Before the launch of MTV back in1981 the prospect of having a channel specifically just for music would just seem incomprehensible. But because of MTV’s success and the rapid advancement in technology having 18 channels just for music seem the norm. It is mainly because of this very advancement in technology that music channels might soon become a thing of the past in the same way as Television has made the radio a thing of the past. Now it is the internet that will make Television a thing of the past. The availability of an endless source of media direct to your finger tips, weather it be a missed episode of “Coronation Street” or the latest music video from your favourite band or artist, or even what your favourite band or artist is currently doing by reading there blog. The way that we consume and process media is changing at a rapid pace, and may soon destroy the traditional ways that we used to consume media.
But in the mist of all this chaos the music video can adapt with these rapid changes, nearly every music video that has been made used to be available on “YouTube” or is still available. But since a current affair involving “OFCOM” “YouTube” have decided to crackdown on copyrighted music that is being used on user made videos by disabling the audio in order to save money. But this does not mean that “YouTube” can not have copyrighted music/ Music videos on it, as long as the user owns the rights to the music. This has made a lot of bands switch to this median to push there music videos out to there fans. This in most cases is a much more effective way, because fans can just go onto “YouTube” at any time and watch there favourite bands videos for free. This means that music channels have to adapt in order to still make a profit, because there target audience is quickly slipping away to the means of new media. The way the channels are adapting is by having entertainment shows as well, as having music videos broadcasting; in an attempt to claw back some of there lost audiences. One channel in particular has changed completely to an entertainment channel which is MTV; it is now listed under the entertainment section on “Sky” instead of music.
My conclusion of “The History Of The Music Videos” is that the music video have come a very long way over the past 28 years, and even with the rapid advancement technology they prove to be able to adapt with it and continue to fur fill there role of prompting a song and the band, and proving that they are still a very strong form of entertainment. Even 28 years later.
Bibliography
Some history on music videos
http://ezinearticles.com/?Some-History-Facts-on-Music-Videos&id=85854 – 8th Sep 2009
Bohemian Rhapsody Facts
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Bohemian_Rhapsody -8th Sep 2009
Rise of MTV
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1456093.stm
-8th Sep 2009
MTV facts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV_UK#Former_MTV_shows
-10th sep 2009
Bohemian Rhapsody Queen Facts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Rhapsody
-10th Sep 2009
The term “music video” first became popular on the 1st august 1981, with the launch of Music Television (MTV). It came on air at 12:01pm followed by these words “Ladies and Gentlemen, Rock and Roll” spoken by John Lack. There was then a picture of the “Apollo 11” Moon landing, with a flag and MTV’S logo on it to represent that this was a ground breaking moment in television. Straight after this they played the first music video on MTV, which was “Video Killed The Radio Star” followed by “You Better Run”. Inadvertently MTV had just created a global phenomenon, which would change our understanding of music forever. From that point onwards everyone would tune into MTV hopeing to see the latest music videos from there favourite bands or artists. MTV was originally given these promotional videos for free, and it was not until MTV started to become extremely popular before record labels decided to charge MTV for there promotional videos
It took another 6 years until MTV was available in the UK and Europe, and was called MTV Europe, and then a further 10 years later MTV decided yet again to expand the TV Empire and create specific MTV channels in Europe for each country. This lead to the birth of MTV UK& Ireland, which then again 10 years later got its name changed to MTV One. But the station name changing didn’t end there, 2 years later it once again got its name changed for hopefully the final time to just MTV.
As well as MTV changing there stations names a lot, they have also played around with the programming, this first started to arise in the early 21st centaury, with shows such as “Dirty Sanchez, Pimp my Ride and MTV Cribs” flooding the channel and surprisingly getting positive feedback. Since this success MTV has decided to make MTV more of an entertainment channel and less of a music channel, and instead shifted the music to there sister channels, such as MTV Two, VH1 and TMF. This allows for MTV to make more revenue because they are now catering to a much wider audience instead of just a select audience.
After the successful launch of MTV, most bands have decided that having a music video to go with a song is mandatory for the success of that song and for them as a band. The band probably most responsible for this craze would be “Queen” with “Bohemian Rhapsody”. The video was considered ground breaking at the time, and it most certainly was because it helped shape the conventions of most music videos we still see today. The song stayed at the top of the UK charts for nine weeks; partly do to the help of the promotional video. Sales boomed again in 1991 after the death of Freddie Mercury, raising the sales of the record to over 2,000,000 and made it the UK’s third best selling single of all time. Most people say that “Bohemian Rhapsody” is considered to be the magnum opus of “Queen’s” songs.
In most cases such as “Bohemian Rhapsody” it is good for gaining popularity and revenue to have a promotional video, but some fans might watch the music video itself to determine how good the song is, even is the song is not good itself. This is most apparent in gimmicky less talented bands, which create funny videos to gain an audience, even if they do not poses any musical talent at all. This is almost opposite to the more talented bands, where they will create videos for there songs usually to a much higher quality then the less talented bands, but most the time there songs would popularity would not require them to need a promotional video in order for there songs to be good.
There are currently around 18 Music channels available through Sky’s satellite service, and 2 on Freeview. Before the launch of MTV back in1981 the prospect of having a channel specifically just for music would just seem incomprehensible. But because of MTV’s success and the rapid advancement in technology having 18 channels just for music seem the norm. It is mainly because of this very advancement in technology that music channels might soon become a thing of the past in the same way as Television has made the radio a thing of the past. Now it is the internet that will make Television a thing of the past. The availability of an endless source of media direct to your finger tips, weather it be a missed episode of “Coronation Street” or the latest music video from your favourite band or artist, or even what your favourite band or artist is currently doing by reading there blog. The way that we consume and process media is changing at a rapid pace, and may soon destroy the traditional ways that we used to consume media.
But in the mist of all this chaos the music video can adapt with these rapid changes, nearly every music video that has been made used to be available on “YouTube” or is still available. But since a current affair involving “OFCOM” “YouTube” have decided to crackdown on copyrighted music that is being used on user made videos by disabling the audio in order to save money. But this does not mean that “YouTube” can not have copyrighted music/ Music videos on it, as long as the user owns the rights to the music. This has made a lot of bands switch to this median to push there music videos out to there fans. This in most cases is a much more effective way, because fans can just go onto “YouTube” at any time and watch there favourite bands videos for free. This means that music channels have to adapt in order to still make a profit, because there target audience is quickly slipping away to the means of new media. The way the channels are adapting is by having entertainment shows as well, as having music videos broadcasting; in an attempt to claw back some of there lost audiences. One channel in particular has changed completely to an entertainment channel which is MTV; it is now listed under the entertainment section on “Sky” instead of music.
My conclusion of “The History Of The Music Videos” is that the music video have come a very long way over the past 28 years, and even with the rapid advancement technology they prove to be able to adapt with it and continue to fur fill there role of prompting a song and the band, and proving that they are still a very strong form of entertainment. Even 28 years later.
Bibliography
Some history on music videos
http://ezinearticles.com/?Some-History-Facts-on-Music-Videos&id=85854 – 8th Sep 2009
Bohemian Rhapsody Facts
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Bohemian_Rhapsody -8th Sep 2009
Rise of MTV
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1456093.stm
-8th Sep 2009
MTV facts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV_UK#Former_MTV_shows
-10th sep 2009
Bohemian Rhapsody Queen Facts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Rhapsody
-10th Sep 2009
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