Today in our lesson only 2 members of the group were present therefore I started to construct a timeline while Bertie was looking for gap fillers (other cool effects to add to the music video).
In the timeline I planned out what was happening every ten seconds linking it towards the music. I was only able to go up to the first minute however I may start repeating the same shots. I think this process would be easier once we start filming.
My teacher told me behind most reverse music video's there is usually an simple but interesting plot. So I may consider for a simple narrative where the lead singer likes one of the dancers but he can get her.
Our group was given advise to change our idea despite this late in the process . As our teachers believed our group group was too suck within the idea we initially had (focusing on peoples secrets). As a group collectively we believed in the idea however I felt changing the idea can be be turned into a more open minded music video. As my teacher felt that the message we tried to pulled through would be to hard to convey in the time frame given (we can be seen as too optimistic).
Therefore our group has chosen to focus on a song where the lyrics isn't as strong as our previous song tripswitch. This makes the our group to focus on cool technical areas rather than a powerful narrative.
The will be a lot of close ups of the singer (common tool used for pop music videos)
These scene's gave my group inspiration to my group to focus on a visually impressive song rather than a complex narrative.
This scene with the projections is one of the shots I'm planning on using. This would require with planning and a project in order for this to work.
We were given a talk from a executive producer from passion pictures. Whom currently make advertisement, music videos (Joe Jean & Gorillaz) and movies/documentary movies (Searching for sugar man).
On thing Passion picture does is tell a story and they do so using different mediums i.e.
Animation - 20 people for 1 character
Live action
Design
Visual effects
Passion pictures represent directors who have a clear vision of what they want. It is also very key for you offer a unique visual voice (new creative techniques). They also represent producers and VFX artist.
Why make a pop video?
MTV use to be a very powerful channel showing songs every 24 hours however over the years it has decreased. Causing music video's to become less popular however every since youtube was invented it changed the game for bands. It helped audiences see the bands ideologies.
The Planning process for making a music video
Who makes the call? - Its the commissioner and find a treatment -> management need to find out the budget - > but the treatment really speaks to the artist
Collaboration? - Artist and director share - > brief is going to tell us who the band are (where to perform and be seen) -> the lyrics also help the decree
Treatment? - introduce you to the artist - > be open (how it make you feel) - > gives you a voice or sell you and get commission
The shoot - fun/stressful - Directors voice has to help everyone else make sure we know every aspect (Planning is KEY)
The Edit crafting and you get to choose where and how people get to see emotion.
DON’T FIX IT IN POST!!! - take your time and get the shot
The general lighting throughout this music video can be seen as very dark (purple). This is most likely used as Imagine Dragon aren't going for the typical black and red lighting for a rock band.
The music video also contained a lot of close up. This isn't only for the for the singer but of the whole band to. As typical rock bands don't only focus on the singer but also the guitarist... This is very known for groups like ACDC where the guitarist is just as popular as the main singer.
This music video has a very similar concept towards our groups music video in turns of editing and camerawork. The transitions they use are very smooth this is seen when you see inside peoples lives (in the music video).
I decided to test out one of the effects we were planning on using for our music video. So the aim was to see how smooth the transition would be and so far I would say the results look pretty positive
So after the pitch our group came together to make some changes after hearing form the feedback from Luke.
Some of the area's our group needed to finalise was:
Make a general theme for each of the characters
-> Our groups indented on making binary opposites for each of the character i.e like happy business man and during the night he wanted to kill himself. Phil make our group realise that we should not make it too extreme as it should be things people are embarrassed of doing when we are alone.
We also needed to start casting for band members
-> Our school contains a lot of talented artist/musicians therefore it wouldn't be hard to find people who can play instruments. However they might be high in demand as all of the music video's are filmed in similar times. We also need for them to start rehearsals so they were familiar towards knowing how to play the song
Choose between the room idea or the bumping into people idea
-> Everyone in my group concluded that bumping into people idea would seem more visually impressive and creative. However this would take a lot of time to prepare everything.
Find a locations
-> We need to consider the street that we will be filming in to see if its visually impressive and to ensure it's not to crowded to film. So far our group has decided we should film at Crainleigh (10 min away) or Guildford (20 min away) mostly within residential areas like Sam Smiths music video stay with me.
->For the performance element we decided to perform it in the studio. Similar towards the music video from last year.
We pitched our idea towards the class. The general response was positive however we need to focus on making other peoples lives interesting, which could be the make or break of the music video.
From the feedback we were told that we would focus on creating more variation between the narrative of each character. For example a good way of doing this is by having each character have a different theme so they are all is completely different situation.
A song that was recommended to our group was Neighbors by The Rolling Stones as it shows the lives within different people living in the same area. This has similarities towards our idea as it shows what people do behind closed doors.
In this meeting our group decided to change our group idea. As we changed the main narrative of the story as we felt on changing the focus as having a SWAT team would be irrelevant to the song. As our group were group were brain storming I thought it would be cool to focus on people hidden sides, as I picked up inspiration from Spielberg film Saving Private Ryan at the beginning when you see the same face but a change in location (dissolve). Then after this our group discussed possible activities people could do behind closed doors. Our group attempted to make them binary opposites i.e Business Man wanting to suicide…
There was going to be 3 elements towards the music video:
Lip Sync
Performance
Peoples stories
Sam Smith - Stay With Me
For the Lip sync we took inspiration from Sam Smith. As we would like our protagonist to be singing walking down the street. Then the idea is the protagonist bumping into a person then it jumps to the victims activities during the night. Sam Smith does this in a couple of his music videos.
At the end of this we decided to focus on the possible activities that the characters would be doing that shocks the audience. This was very key as I thought it was interesting how society judges someone by their clothing and emotions.
In class we looked at a scene for Magnolia as there is a montage of many peoples lives dealing with different problems in their own weird way.
As a collective our group has decided that we follow up on the song Trip Switch by Nothing by Thieves. Then we expanded the idea about trip switch using mind maps full of possible ideas.
At the end of the meeting we had filled out A3 sheets of paper with post it notes on top. The idea we discussed had SWAT teams storm the ware house where a band is playing. Each post note contained possible ending, narratives, costumes.
The ideas I presented was not followed through as personally I believe it would be too technically difficult to perform as the effects I plan on using requires very careful placing of the characters. Plus for most of my song I have imagined a very cinematic dark atmosphere which pay seem simple but very hard to do. As the picture right here illustrates a guy walking down a street however this contains large amounts of different lighting for example the light at the back of his head to make him seem more 3D and to stand out.
My idea about the loss of his girlfriend was quickly shutdown by my media teacher as he conveyed how its hard to make a original love story. Plus I was relying on using the fade away effect which can be seen as a one trick pony where I may be overusing the same effect making the music video seem dull and boring.
Our group as a whole all liked the song Trip Switch by Nothing But Thieves. Especially as the idea was underdeveloped and had areas where our whole group could be able to have our own twist towards it. There has been a couple of ideas our group had to change the narrative of the song. Plus the song is very fast paced and would have a lot of cuts making it easier to fill out the whole song.
I presented my 3 initial ideas towards the class today. The music for the videos where Happy Home (Lukas Graham), Good Enough (Jussie Smollett) and Let it go (James Bay). All these songs carry a depression/sad theme throughout the ideas as the first two songs are about a loss of a father and a disappointed father while the last one is about the lost of his girlfriend.
Throughout the feedback the main comment I focused most on was on making my ideas more bizarre, as I may have been focusing more on the shots and cinematography than focuses the story line. For example the for the song Let it Go by James Bay instead of just making the music video just about the lost of his girlfriend, it should be he is trying to follow his girlfriend (in a ghostly figure) which leads him to her grave (audience only find out at the end).
Main Feedback comments
0: 56 - 1.05 - A lot of use of fade away. So do not be overly repetitive of technical area.
1:25 - 1:56 - Find other alternatives of the fade away technique i.e. Use one shot where the camera pans way from subject then when it turns back to the subject it is gone, therefore this will only require the actor to move before the camera pans back.
2:23 - 3:27 - Make the relationship (music video) situation more surreal s they are less cliche/strange.
4:32 to 4:45 - effect of where the son looks in the mirror and see’s someone else.
4:51 - 5:19 - Can shift the focus. So instead on focusing on the son, we focus on the father who has passed away. So he is in the shot but no one realises he is there because at the end it reveals he is dead.
In our class we had to each choose our favourite music video and hand it to our teacher. Then later our teacher played the music video and we have to find whats appealing about the music video and guess whom chose the song.
The Songs that were chosen
Style - Taylor Swift
Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson
Gibberish - Max
Stacey's Mom - Fountains of Wayne
Style - Taylor Swift
Taylor Swifts music video Style is very artistic, which is seen to be very original. This music video has a lot of stylistic elements which is aesthetically pleasing to watch which may be done in order to impressive Taylor Swift younger audience. This is adhered through the use of smooth and creative transitions as the shot below is very abstract.
The Narrative of the music video about Romance which suits the target audience. As girls of a younger demographic enjoy watching about girl & boy relationships. As this storyline is similar between all of Taylor Swifts songs therefore they know it appeals towards the target audience.
This music video also contains a lot of beauty shots which make the artist seem more attractive and innocent in all her music videos. This is used so allows the audience to idolise her as it focuses on her beauty as Richard Dyer star theory adheres this.
Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson
Mark Ronson music video Uptown Funk has a very fun and humorous style towards the music video. This makes the target audience wider as its appealing to all age groups also people of the elder demographic due towards the old setting.
Bruno Mars whom features in the music video has a very amusing feel towards the music video as when he dances it gives connotations towards Michael Jackson dances. As the routines that Bruno Mars does with his group makes the audience admire his moves. However Michael Jacksons dancers whore the same outfit as him to prove to his audience that he dances as well as them
Bruno Mars breaks the fourth wall in the music video, which makes the music video seem to be more fun as it feels like they are trying to involve the audience. This technique is commonly used when the character tries to explain or bring the audience into the scene with them so they are on the same page.
Humour plays a huge role in the music video. As the song doesn't attend to be taken to seriously. This suits well with the music genre as it fun and exciting. The dances and choreography are amusing as its to watch as its men in their 30's dancing.
Therefore the general target audience cuts across to all age and gender as the general message is to have fun
Gibberish - Max
In this music video MAX uses special effects to interest the audience as the song seems very futuristic. This music video has a young target audience due towards it upbeat song.
This music video uses a lot forward and reverse motion effects making this visually impressive to watch especially as the audience doesn't understand how it is done. This are also large amounts is smoke projects in reverse to make it visually impressive.
This suggest that the genre of the music is different and interesting due towards this futuristic look. As the genres are mixed between rap, electro and pop.
Plus the use of dances routines helps make the music video more dynamic to watch especially as its enhances with special effect. Causing the target audience to see the artist as a multitalented artist instead of just being a singer.
During the summer as I was thinking about my music video idea, I decided to try out a slow fade transition shot as I am planning to use it a lot in my music videos.
Hedegaard - Happy Home (feat Lukas Graham)
Rasmus Hedegaard or just Hedegaard is a Danish DJ and award winning music producer. The singer that is featured is Lukas Graham is a danish born singer and produces pop music.
As I couldn't find the story of the song therefore I had to study the lyrics to attempt to find the meaning of the song. From it indicated to me that it was of the loss of his father (and the press made it worst). The title of the song is called ‘Happy Home’ and I thought there was no direct link towards the song however maybe there was a ‘happy home’ when the father use to be there. Now the house may be quiet and miserable without him.
The music video would not have the singer break the 4th wall (making the music video more of the story). The main story I would like to give is that the son doesn't know how to describe his father and later on you notice the son is a splitting image of the father. Therefore I would have to focus on some memories that they both have had together, then make the father fade away while the son is still in the scene i.e. The son is doing an activity (the audience see’s his father helping him, sitting in his similar spot) then as the son begins to laugh he turn to his head to where his father use to be.
Later on everything the son is doing becomes a splitting image of what the father use to do to him i.e read the newspaper in this fathers spot… The ending of the music video would be him looking in a mirror and the reflection he see’s is his father in the mirror - giving the idea that he is a splitting image of this father so thats how he will remember him.
I believe this music video fits with the theme of the song as its very serious and it had a message that can relate to the loss of his father. This will also make the audie
nce sympathise for the singer loss as the music video had a very sweet story behind it.
http://www.universal-music.de/lukas-graham/home
-> when you first open the page it would show the band he is with as that is very important as they are also his best fiends
-> It would be a very simple yet modern look towards the homepage as Denmark are renowned for their modern designs
Good Enough (feat. Jussie Smollett)
Jusside Smollett is an American Actor/Singer whom is currently acting in the TV drama show called Empire on HBO.
I currently watch the TV series (Empire) and the song and lyrics is based on his father approving him. Therefore the music video will be based on his independence and strength despite his father disapproving him. Therefore the title of the song is called ‘Good Enough’ meaning he is wondering when he will be ‘good enough’ for his father.
The Music video will have more than 1 location as its going to illustrate his past and present. The past of the video is going to resemble how his is father was disappointed with him (as he wanted his son to go to university while he wanted to be a singer/artist). i.e Son arguing with the father while the camera slides along the door from a distance (makes it seem like we are intruding/personal)). There will also be some projects of his past behind him (while the light is shining at him. There may also be a cool sequence with the projector where the projector is black and white and the fathers section becomes bigger (hard concept to grasp) then son leaves.
There was be some scenes of the fathers disappointment (wants him to go into business but son wants to sing) and the son looking disappointed but in different shots to illustrate their separation/differences. The opening shot would be his father saying ‘i never wanted you anyway’ then the music fades into him playing the piano standing up. The ending will be of his dad listening to this song crying.
I believe this music video fits with the song as the song has more meaning behind the lyrics. This subverts a typical pop music video however the jumping between scenes is commonly used within pop music videos.
TASK 2
Homepage:
> It would have a very urban look towards it when you first open the homepage and all the text would be yellow/green to make it contest with the homepage
> The overall outlook would be very simple with details towards his concerts and gigs
The album cover would have a similar style towards Pharrell Williams albums cover. Where is is the main focus however he would be standing there alone with a mutual face.
The album cover would also have him standing in a cross arm position from a low angle (making him seem more like an idol)
James bay is an English born singer and he soul produces indie pop/indie rock music.
As I couldn’t find any story of why he wrote this song I had to use my imagination along with the lyrics. The music video will be based on the loss of his girlfriend which links with the name of the song ‘let it go’. The title of the song interested me as it says ‘it’ in the title (let it go), which makes it seem that he lost his girlfriend through an argument or something small that she can’t let go. Therefore making it seem like he wants to forget about the past and he wants to focus on the future that he may or may not have with his girlfriend.
The Music Video would be located in an big abandoned mansion/house to illustrate his ‘loneliness’ and ‘lost’. The ‘loneliness’ is key as the music video would illustrate him imagining his girlfriend in a ghostly figure (not in dead sense! but rather in an imagination) i.e. the protagonist in bed with his girlfriend then she fades away in his hands helping to convey the loss of his girlfriend and control.
The protagonist would be in a hangover during the opening of the music video as he get out of bed and as he gets up he notices a picture of him and his girlfriend, then he tares it in half (see the anger/sadness on his face). Then it is reversed all the way back to bed (start), to convey he is going back to the past (may use a fade to black transition as the reverse shot goes into the blanket).
I believe this video fits in with the style of the singer because it is very low key which is common for the genre indie. As the music video would be very specific towards the target audience through the singers believes. It also had a deep and meaningful story within the music video rather than it having just random story as its suits the genre.
Therefore our group has chosen to focus on a song where the lyrics isn't as strong as our previous song tripswitch. This makes the our group to focus on cool technical areas rather than a powerful narrative.
The ideas I presented was not followed through as personally I believe it would be too technically difficult to perform as the effects I plan on using requires very careful placing of the characters. Plus for most of my song I have imagined a very cinematic dark atmosphere which pay seem simple but very hard to do. As the picture right here illustrates a guy walking down a street however this contains large amounts of different lighting for example the light at the back of his head to make him seem more 3D and to stand out.
Bruno Mars whom features in the music video has a very amusing feel towards the music video as when he dances it gives connotations towards Michael Jackson dances. As the routines that Bruno Mars does with his group makes the audience admire his moves. However Michael Jacksons dancers whore the same outfit as him to prove to his audience that he dances as well as them 
Plus the use of dances routines helps make the music video more dynamic to watch especially as its enhances with special effect. Causing the target audience to see the artist as a multitalented artist instead of just being a singer.
I believe this music video fits with the theme of the song as its very serious and it had a message that can relate to the loss of his father. This will also make the audie
Digi Front cover:
The Music video will have more than 1 location as its going to illustrate his past and present. The past of the video is going to resemble how his is father was disappointed with him (as he wanted his son to go to university while he wanted to be a singer/artist). i.e Son arguing with the father while the camera slides along the door from a distance (makes it seem like we are intruding/personal)). There will also be some projects of his past behind him (while the light is shining at him. There may also be a cool sequence with the projector where the projector is black and white and the fathers section becomes bigger (hard concept to grasp) then son leaves.
I believe this music video fits with the song as the song has more meaning behind the lyrics. This subverts a typical pop music video however the jumping between scenes is commonly used within pop music videos.
Homepage:
The album cover would have a similar style towards Pharrell Williams albums cover. Where is is the main focus however he would be standing there alone with a mutual face.
The Music Video would be located in an big abandoned mansion/house to illustrate his ‘loneliness’ and ‘lost’. The ‘loneliness’ is key as the music video would illustrate him imagining his girlfriend in a ghostly figure (not in dead sense! but rather in an imagination) i.e. the protagonist in bed with his girlfriend then she fades away in his hands helping to convey the loss of his girlfriend and control.
The protagonist would be in a hangover during the opening of the music video as he get out of bed and as he gets up he notices a picture of him and his girlfriend, then he tares it in half (see the anger/sadness on his face). Then it is reversed all the way back to bed (start), to convey he is going back to the past (may use a fade to black transition as the reverse shot goes into the blanket).
Very simplistic cover which reminds me a lot of ed Sheeran’s cover ‘X’. 