Preliminary Copy and Director's Commentary

We had to find a music video, and re-create one minute of it, for our preliminary task. As a group, the video we chose was "Enemies" by Shinedown. The reason behind choosing this song was because two of us new the song really well, but also because the video as a whole seemed relatively simple to copy. 



We decided to copy the first minute, because we thought it would be the simplest as later on, the band members get into a physical fight. (which is staged an choreographed... obviously...)

Above is our copy of the video. Overall, I think it's not that bad- there are some things which could have made it better, which we have mentioned in our Director's commentary:

Like I said, for a first attempt at editing and syncing the song and the video to match and go at the same pace and everything, it's not too bad. One of the main differences is the fact that we had three girls and one guy, instead of four guys. I don't think this is a massive issue in some cases, but we needed some people so we went with what we could get. Towards the end, editing the song to sync with the singing part became a bit more difficult, because we didn't have quite enough footage that was long enough for it to flow fluently. However, the majority of the video is relatively similar to the original, and I am proud of our preliminary task of copying a music video.
What I have learnt about recording over our copy for the commentary, is how vitally important it is for the audience to be able to hear what is being said. When we recorded ourselves talking, we were in a classroom, and we hadn't thought about telling everyone to keep the noise down a bit. I now know that when we film our music video, even though we'll be using a song over the top, the extras are going to need to be quiet so as directors, we can think and hear the song alongside with the acting for the narrative.

-Janet

Narrative Theorists

Music Video Codes and Conventions

Andrew Goodwin said that there are certain things that need to be included to make a music video what it is, which are basically some of the codes and conventions you are bound to see in a music video, but may not notice. 

• Thought Beats:
  Editing the clips together to the beat of the music
  Represents the voice of the artist.

• Narrative and Performance:
  Must be able to watch again and again, so there has to be an element of performance.

• Star Image:
  Used to promote the star with certain angles
  Gives them the most screen time
  Proliferation of a close-up on the artist

• Disjuncture- the video has nothing to do with the meaning of the lyrics
• Amplify- meaning is exaggerated through visuals
• Illustrate- meaning is made clear throughout the video and the most common use!

• Technical Codes:
  Camera angles
  Lighting
  Movement
  Editing
  Visual effects

In our music video, I feel that it will maybe amplify the lyrics. The plot doesn't exactly tell the same story that the lyrics do, but I think that it will help exaggerate them. I mean this by having certain visual motifs- such as the girl in the red dress, and then we see her later on with a red necklace. Red will be a common colour in the video, as the song is called "Bleeding Out" and it's also the colour of love, but also danger, which can be associated with many cultures around the world. We are following these codes and conventions, as there is a strong narrative (as we found through our Audience Feedback) and there is certainly an element of performance and star image. Lighting and editing will be really important, as I imagine the video being fairly dark, as well as the fact we plan to start filming mid-October/early November. 

-Janet

Audience Feedback: The Pitch

"Bleeding Out" Lyrics

Here, we have written our points as to when certain things will happen in the music video, a bit like doing a pre-storyboard, so we know when to film the singing and when to film the narrative (singing highlighted in green, narrative in pink). I think this will be really useful, as it means there will hopefully be no gaps in the filming process and it can run as smoothly as possible. 

-Janet

Inspirational Music Videos

Below are some music videos by artists who, I believe, have influenced the idea behind my music video, which I have chosen to be "Bleeding Out" by Imagine Dragons.





"King and Lionheart" by Of Monsters and men was inspirational for my ideas, because it is about adventures, being chased, and fighting for someone that you love. It also includes the theme of protection, which I think will be evident in my final product.
This video is more animated, even though it has real people in it, and it doesn't have the band in the actual video, which mine won't be like. 


 



Walk The Moon's "Tightrope" was inspirational behind our idea, because although it is lighthearted and upbeat, it has a group of Tribe-like people who have animal characteristics. Again, it has the idea of trying to escape and chaos. 






My final choice of inspirational music videos is "Rain" by Mika. I think this is the most like our idea, and watching it again has been really useful, because things such as the mise-en-scene, the setting, and the lighting. I really like the outfit Mika is wearing in this video, and I think it would be really good to try and get something similar for when we make our video. Also, the narrative is fairly similar to ours, in the way that he is in the forest being chased away.


-Janet

Initial Ideas!

So far, I have decided between two songs. The first is "Bleeding Out" by Imagine Dragons:

My idea for this song is to have a singer, plus a narrative running alongside it. The only thing I'm worried about is my idea being too ambitious, but I have thought in a lot of detail about how I want it to go. The plot will include a man (the singer) who is in a forest and is looking for something, and it will cut between him singing and him playing the character.
The man finds a flower, which is protected by a group of people who live in the forest who, for now, I will call Amazons. The man picks the flower, and gets chased away by the Amazons. Later on, he has managed to get away, and he sees a girl, who is the love interest, wearing a red dress. He tries to get to her, but he realizes that she isn't real- he's dreaming. Then there will be cuts to close ups of the Amazons faces, and I will probably use a canted angle to give the effect that he is having a nightmare.
In the final scene, he is going to arrive at the girl's house, and give her the flower. It all seems fine, but I want to have it end on a cliffhanger, so I will have an over-shoulder shot of one of the Amazons (maybe the chief?) who is hidden from view of the two people, watching them. The camera will then focus on his face, maybe an extreme close up, and on the last beat he will look at the camera and it will go to a blackout.

The second song I was thinking of doing is quite lighthearted, as it is a pop song:




My idea for "Unlikely Hero" by The Hoosiers would be more cliche, and possibly more simple than "Bleeding Out" as I was thinking of the protagonist being the stereotypical school nerd, who is in love with the girl who is dating the school Jock (the villain of the story).
The nerd will also be the singer, and the difference between my two ideas is that he will be singing as the character, as well as being either a single artist or a frontman for a band (I haven't decided yet...)
I want to make the video quite funny, and cliche, so the nerd is going to see that the Jock isn't treating the girl very well, so it's up to the nerd to overcome the High School social status that separates him from the girl he loves... and to save her from her evil boyfriend, of course.

-Janet