My intial idea for my video is a dramatic, phycological story about the misforunes of a mans life; it will feature a total of 5 characters.
Chris - Protagonist/Other Subject
I have chosen Chris as he is easy to contact as well as meet with as he is one of the people who in the group of friends that I posses does not o to university so getting a hold of him is a simple task. When thinking of this video I didn't intially think of him as the main protagonist, the person I had in mind was completly different but he now lives in London for university so he imediatly had to be crossed of the list. Chris is ideal for this video as he has the look of an average, 'boring' (no offence to Chris), person. He also has acted within many production that have been created within the group before as my friend was in the same situaion 2 years ago. As well as the fact that as a group we have created a seriers of independant videos for a Youtube channel that we created. So this was protocall for most of the people involved with these filming situations.
Lewis - Taxman/Random Jogger
I have chosen Lewis as both the Taxman and the Random Jogger as I didn't have enough people who were willing to be apart of this production as they were otherwise indesposed with being unreachable or the fact that they were too busy with work or university. Lewis is easy to get into contact with as well as being at regardless of the fact that he is a university student. He also live across the road from where I live so getting into contact with him isnt a problem. Lewis is ideal for both of these roles as he is what I imagined what would be the role for the Taxman, (not giving Taxmen a face), and would think that he looked like the ideal Taxman. This as well as the fact that he isnt bad a jogging.
Melissa - Girlfriend I have chosen Melissa as the Girlfriend of the music video as she was the only female who would be willing to the video for me. This and the fact that she, just like the others, is easy to get in contact with as she lives within the radius and also drives so getting to and from placs isnt a problem or her. Melissa is ideal for the role as she is female and as though as following the character description from what we get from the lyrics of the song we assume that she isnt overly fond of the character that Chris is playing. In real life Melissa is going out with Lewis so having an unfeeling and awkward relationship with Chris and Melissa is ideal for the narrative within the video.
Day 1 - 6th December 2014 - There and Back Again - The Filming of the Outside Scenes.
Filming outside in the harsh winter cold was a tiersome task that needed great effort and time to both get used to and work with. A limited time frame is what we had as the main actor was needed somewhere else by 1:50pm. So filming started at 12:00pm, as we met up at 11:45am, some people were running late for the arranged time. So filming the ouside scenes had to be done within 2 hours as this time was met in the end.
Day 2 & Final Day - 9th January 2015 - Home at Last - Filming the Inside Scenes.
The location for these scenes had to be changed quite quickly as originally it was my home that was the intended location for these scenes. This was changed and adapted to a friends house that was also close to my house. The rest of the footage that was needed was indeed filmed and has now allowed me to start the editing process.
In this The Beatles refer top themselves as they have turned over a new leaf as it were and are creating a new look for themselves. This is tied together by the fact that it indeed in reference to the song.
Fall Out Boy - This Ain't a Scene
In this video you can see that it has taken a different perspective as it is tying to the narrative of the video.
These are examples of videos that are self aware of the band that they have been produced from. As you can seen from the era differences, it is a style that has been carried across throughout the decades of the music industry.
In terms of promotion it is a clever technique. Almost subliminal towards the audience it lets them know of the other productions that they have to offer. This is a well thought out marketing process and technique.
In terms of my own video, I think that having this technique would be a rare convention and it shall be featured in a different way. Very little relation to the music video and mostly about the promotion.
For my music video I plan to have a narraive based video. Like many music videos I ave seen I feel the narrative element within some videos are engaging and very entertaining for the audience. The narrative for my video is purly based upon representation as it is a constant phycological conundrum that I hope the audience shall continue to quetion in the nicest way possible. A man who continues to wake up for a nightmare or possible reality is tormented by events that happen within his his or imagination.
Take note that the actual song doesn't start until a few seconds in.
Though there are near to little risks apparent in this table. It doesn't mean that there arent other risks to be considered. These are in relation to what shall be relevant to what my music video consists of. Everyday risks such as falling down the stairs or a weather mishap that potentially makes the terrain hard to walk on without slipping can be avoided by planning and a simple warning. For my music video I shall be filming in wo locations (My home and an abandoned airfield) these both being very close to me, as wqell as the cast members, enables a easier shoot.
When doing the test shots I discovered that formatting the SD card is an important element when filming. I did not format the card so when it came to filming, footage was already on the card. This meant that space was being taken up unnecessarily. This somehow meant that the footage that I had taken only saved to the camera and not the SD card, luckily connecting the camera directly to the computer meant that I had my footage.
Ben also said that formatting the SD card would enable larger space for footage to be taken. So in the near future I shall keep in mind that formatting the SD card is key.
These are test shots of what I think the locations would be in my music video.
This is an abandoned airfield which could act as a very interesting location to shoot as it is always free, very few people walk around there and it is very close to home. This would give great oppritunity to use the stop motion effect technique which is inspired by my previous research.
This dilapidated shelter could make an interesting element for the muisic video as it could be a use of representation or be a diverse location.
This gate is opposite the test shot above.
Down roads such as this I would have the camera tracking the subject/performer.
This is a lake.
All of these locations are very close to where I live and I think that some of these location would be relevant to the music video that I am producing.
In a questionnaire that I composed, I asked a series of questions that I felt would further help me decide what to do for my music video. From the information that I have gathered, I have found that all of the more conventional choices are popular such as having a music video with both narrative and performance elements and using YouTube for a streaming mechanism. These shall help further research in the future.
Bordwell and Thompson, the narrative within this music video is simple, but told in a complex way. The story is literally about girls wanting to have fun. Cyndi is our protagonist and her parents are the antagonists, she wishes to be independent and doesn't want her parents to tell her how to live her life and to coddle her out of her 'fun'. According to Tim O'Sullivan, all media texts have some kind of a story and that these stories are not usually personal to the creator of the song but reflect the culture or the story of us as a culture. The videos then become a shared experience as the audience (who are all apart of the collective culture) are able to relate to the video since we are able to understand together. The reason why she chose this specific narrative was due to the feminist ideology of the time. Relating to the culture at the time that it was created, it became a feminist anthem and well known for its forthcoming strength and intelligent undertone and message. It was a song engineered at the time for the sexual freedom of women and for this it became a cultural tagline as it was a time when feminism was becoming a cultural consciousness. This song also set the template for future artists to address social issues within their songs. The ideology of the song was deliberately changed by Cyndi Lauper due to the fact that before hand it was produced by a male director who wanted a narrative that portrayed the 'Girls' as stereotypical and doing 'girlish' things that consist of a males perspective which consisted of female bedroom shenanigans that were considered typical of the female genre. In relation to Sven Carlson the music video falls within the performance category, though it has narrative elements and both are equally used within the video. This is due to the fact that when the performer, Cyndi Lauper, lip-syncs it breaks the verisimilitude of the established narrative environment. In relation to Kate Domaille, the narrative type which the particular video falls into is that of the Candide category as Cyndi, who is still the protagonist, is being judged and ridiculed by her parent because she just wants to have fun. As she is not dominated by the parents and is still singing 'Girls just wanna have fun' by the end of the video it appears that she is the indomitable hero who cannot be put down. Todorov, who produced the Equilibrium of Diegesis, can be interpreted into many form of media as long as they have a narrative. In terms of this video, it can be applied as the audience view the parents as the enigma within this narrative and cause the disruption, the quest is taken throughout the video and Cyndi confronts her parents and goes on a journey with her friends through the city having fun, thus defying her parents. It is unsure whether of not this disruption is ever solved as the parents do not consent to Cyndi having fun and she just continues with it anyway. In the end it could have deeper meaning as the parents may have the power, but having too much power over people may have the opposite effect of conformity and may cause them to rebel against them. The cause being the parents disallowing their daughter having fun and the effect being that she rebels against them and does it anyway. According to Pam Cock, Cause and Effect are important to any narrative and that the audience are pleased when they achieve narrative closure, which is what happens within this narrative. The audience are rooting for Cyndi to be able to have fun and this is what the outcome is by the end of the video, thus leaving the audience satisfied and with closure. It is the overall trajectory of the enigma resolution.
When the audience look at this music video they are able to see a distinctive pattern since it is clear what genre the band is trying to portray. The red and black colour scheme which they have chosen to use is a conventional indicator. Both of these colours possess the connotations of a rebellious and dangerous outlook. This is something that we associate greatly with this band as they were known to use these colour schemes on all album covers and throughout most of their videos. The locations that were chosen for this are places in which the younger audience (their target audience) would usually associate with. Places such as the park and the underground subway station, rebellious happenings would take place in these sorts of places. giving the younger audience a craving to go against social norms. This would be due to that fact that they are an alternative rock band, as these colours are what are normally referred to when alternative or indie is talked about. This band were signed up to Warner. Which is a strange factor considering that Warner is a conglomerate that does not tend to dabble in the not so mainstream spetrum of the music industry and they are not a band that really conforms to a 'mainstream' outlook with their ideologies and style. This video largely consists of long shots which shows the all of the instuments and the artsists that are playing them. All two of them. This would be used to show the progression of the stop motion effect of the editing and allows us to see both the artist and the location. At some points of the video the singer is presented in a close up to show expression and the artists face, just because. The camera is usually possitioned in a low angle shot, this gives the feeling that the artists are the dominant people within this situation since we, as the audience, are the ones listening to their music. The lighting in this video is all the same in the sense that it only changes when it is turning from day to night. Most of the locations are outside and the only one that is inside is the subway station that is very well lit. The content of the music video doesn't necessarily match the lyrics of the song. The lyrics indicate that the song is about life. As in life is the hardest button to button and that when you button up your shirt it is bringing something together and making it stay together. This is shown through the lyrics "now were a family, and were alright now". The beat of the song is matched by the content of the video as it is done in a way similar to stop motion.
Radiohead - Just
When the audience look at this music video they will notice that it has intelligent and subtle messages that you would consider quite conventional for the genre of music. The colour scheme that you see within the video, which are greys and browns, reflects a dull and mundane atmosphere which represents the overall mood of the music video. It has a tinge which does not allow to much colour to come through and this would connote the depressing and mood killing atmosphere of the modern day society. This would be due to the fact that all of the other people apart from the band members are dressed in grey and brown suits as though they are going to work. The only real colour is worn by the band members this could be to ensure that the audience know who are the band members or it could mean something deeper which connects to the message behind the video. All of the other people being subjected to the dull life of modern society that no longer seems to evolve into anything better and that they, as the band members, are what goes against these ideologies, being the small amount of anarchy that seeps through the cracks of ordinary life. These sort of ideologies are what would be associated with this genre of music as by the public, or people who listen to a different genre of music would find pretentious. When following the narrative you are able to see that it has a link to the ideology of modern society. A man whom is apart of this society has something on his mind that seems to be bothering him and when other members of the public find him they are desperate to know what is on his mind. This in the end is something which effects them all as they all lay down on the ground with blank expressions. This could mean, as they are apart of the same society, that they all have the same problem or are effected the same way by a certain ideology or just their own lives in general as they all are living the same lives continuously. This would be what the lyrics are trying to explain to the audience as they are saying that you make your choices in life and because you have made those choices you are responsible for them and if they are bad choices it's your own fault. Most people conform to the rules and regulations of society and even the government as that is whats expected of them to do. This could be the problem that everyone is suffering from in the video and all the people who are surrounding the man seems to have discovered the answer to what everyone is suffering from. All they needed was for someone to acknowledge the problem. Odd angles and framing are used throughout the music video as if it is trying to reflect the message or ideology of the music video. It is a mixture of performance and narrative which is constantly switching between the two. Mostly close ups and medium shots are used throughout to really see the expressions of people. This could be a convention for this particular genre as it usually takes an alternative or artsy outlook on the production. A time when a long shot it used which is predominantly at the end of the music video is presented in a high angle shot overlooking the people who are laying down, who themselves are laid out in specific way. The lighting within this music video is high key lighting, but due to the tinge of the overall colour scheme of the video makes the lighting look less prominent and as though it is natural day light that is giving it light. Radiohead are signed to many record labels and many of them are independent record labels. This could reflect the way they as a band are presented, they seem to initiate their own actions without the influence of the companies that they are signed to. They are signed to 6 labels and out of them 4 of them are independent labels. Hostess, XL, TBD, Ticker Tape Ltd, Capitol and Parlophone. The 2 labels that are not so independent are Capitol and Parlophone. Parlophone has been owned by three conglomerate companies, EMI, Warner Music Group and Columbia Graphophone Company. (Currently owned by Warner Music Group which is a cause for distribution) Capitol are a subsidiary company of the Universal Music Group and are still currently owned by them, but were created by EMI. Ticker Tape are a label that was created by Radiohead but is licensed to XL Records. Hostess Entertainment is a independent label company based in Japan. Due to the fact that they are signed to all of these labels means that they have a larger audience.
Kate Bush - Cloudbusting
With the blinding simplicity and whimsical tune, this video captures the audience the good old fashioned way. (though it is an old video since it was produced in the 80's). By using a very straight forward narrative and cinematography. Within this video we can see that the colour scheme is very natural, consisting of browns and greens due to long shots of landscapes and the general costume design. Behind this video there is no distinctive message that can be defined, it is blunt about what narrative it is trying to get across. Though no messages are hidden beneath the old exterior of this video, you are able to see ideologies that are both presented through the narrative and lyrics, but you are also able to see some stereotypes shine through. The inventive father whose creation is a groundbreaking devise also has the fatal flaw of drawing bad attention, almost as if it is summoning the authorities to take advantage of it or ridicule the fact that it may take away their power. The inventive farther also always seems to have facial hair and also has no spouse for unknown reasons. The inventors son, a motherless boy that enjoys his fathers work and is his apprentice whom, when the father is taken away, is left to finish the unfinished job that the father left behind. The government, who are the main antagonists in the music video, are stereotypically power hungry figures who desire nothing than to destroy the dreams and hopes of those they have control over. In this sort of narrative they would be the ones that are the captors or the hope destroyers but never seem to realise that the inventor does have a son and a potential legacy that may lead to what they were trying to prevent in the first place to become a reality anyway.(arrogant and stupid according to stereotype?) These stereotypes are in accordance to Tessa Perkins ideologies of her stereotype theory.
For my music video I have chosen to do The Kinks - Sunny Afternoon. This is an old song that has an equally old music video. Not really making sense, has very few locations and is in black and white. I am going to ensure that my music video is nothing like this.
The First idea that I have for this music video was that it consisted of an abstract narrative, as taking inspiration from the music video created by The White Stripes for their song The Hardest Button to Button. This would then include the stop motion effect that I find very interesting and think that it would go well with the song. The locations that I had in mind would be chosen to match the lyrics of the song. A house as the location for when the tax man comes to claim it and wide open spaces (in a field most likely or a dirt track road since I have these at my disposal) for the chorus and 'summer time' effect.
This music is taken from the film in which Cliff featured in. Having the popularity that wasn't riveled by The Beatles at the time. This meant that Cliff was a famous figure and a mainstream artist which allowed large budget films to parade him due to his good natured image and popularity. The fact that this film is in colour tells us that it is a large budget film since the cost of producing a film in colour was substantially higher than black and white.
This video (as I'm sure the rest of the film) contains comedic stereotypes which reflect on the time that it was made. An example of this would be the French stereotype of wearing berets and black and white striped shirts. Creating these stereotypes ensure that the product appeals to a larger audience.
The Beatles - Hard Days Night (1964)
This music video was one which made quite a difference in the development of music videos, influencing the many contemporary artists today. The Beatles have been an extremely large part of the musical culture throughout the decades. being as popular as they were at the time meant that they had the opprotunity to promote themselves in new ways. They began with this film, which features this song. This was a crucial part in the media industry since this was naturally a big hit, it was also a great way of promotion. Though some had done so before hand such as Cliff Richard, this was the groundbreaking film which lead to technological advancements. This film gave The Beatles a new sort of image, it made them take on a mischievous and strange personality that fans would think was an adoring trait. That as well as the iconic suits gave them a personality to work with and make their own
The Beatles - Ticket to Ride (from the film HELP!) (1965)
This is the second feature film that The Beatles produced and it featured the album HELP! You are able to tell that a higher budget has been given to them as they have the ability to travel to exotic places like the Bahamas and the Alps in Austria. It is also in colour which gives further indication that they have a high budget.
Bob Dylan - Don't Look Back (Made in 1965 - Released 1967)
Bob Dylan was the first to have created a music video in this fashion. Instead of having a feature length film, he broke that down so the video only consisted of the song and visuals. This meant that they were cut down to around 3 minutes (it was revolutionary in the music industry). In 1965 an extremely simple yet effective video was made in the backstreet of a hotel. The 'set' itself gave great links and connotations to the lyrics of the song. That being the lower/middle class. The lyrics themselves are that of a controvercial nature as Bob Dylan was considered a controvercial man of his time in the music industry. Specificwords are picked on the cards (that being the last word of every line) which hold a key element to the video as they are what the attention is drawn to by the audience due to the framing (rule of three) and boldness of white against black. Colour by this time had come out for the public but as black and white was the cheaper option and Bob Dylan was an artist that had a niche audience at the time, having a smaller budget would be compulsory.
The Beatles - I am the Wallrus (1967)
This is a music video which is apart of the Magical Mystery tour film that was The Beatles last film together. This was the closest that we got to a feature length music video as it was made using the songs from a small album that they produced. The Magical Mystery Tour was broadcasted on Boxing Day in 1967. It was aired on an international scale, but the tragedy was that in America whilst they were watching it in colour, BBC who broadcasted for the UK aired in black and white much to the UK's dismay.
The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever (1967)
Originally named a promotional film and later referred to as a music video, Strawberry Fields Forever as well as Penny Lane were major influences. These films were more sophisticated than the bands earlier counterparts and had impressive cinematography. These promotions were created without the intention to perform the songs so the actual content was a different approach which had a glorious and artistic outcome.
The Beatles - All You Need Is Love (1967)
This was the first live performance on the first global link television production Our World. Over 400 million people tuned in to watch in 25 different countries. The BBC commissioned The Beatles to write a song for the UK's contribution. This was yet another groundbreaking event in the media industry. It allowed audiences, whom were part of the growth of television in homes, to be apart of the experience of a live broadcast. The technological advancements that only The Beatles were capable of due to their popularity allowed this single to hit number one in the charts.
Queen - Bohemian Raphsody (1975)
This was the first video which set these conventions for a music video. As well as this genre.It created the ideal music video which allowed the performance and visual effects to become one in this particular genre. This video only taking 2 days to make had agreat impact as Queen, when this song came out, weren't in the charts for long. But when a music video came out for it, it shot straight to number one and stayed there for nine weeks. This was also the first music video to come out on VHS.This style started a whole new era for the music video and
the introduction of "Top of the pops" which would promote the music
and then created a competion between artists for the first time.
MTV (1981)
In the early days of MTV, music videos wanted to revive
rock stars like Rod Stewart and promote new acts like The Stray Cats. The 1983 film Flashdance was the first film in which its musical segments were supplied to MTV as music videos, which the channel then aired in regular rotation. This would have helped marketing and enabled to capture a larger audeince for the film.
The first videos had small budgets and clever videos like Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer". Music videos soon became the most innovative stuff on TV. Some, like
A-Ha's "Take on Me" which set new standards in special effects and animation. The Buggles - Video killed the Radio Star (1981)
Though written in 1979, it was the introduction of MTV and the
first video aired was "Video killed the radio star", it was a real
break-through in the evolution of music videos and as you can see it was a very
high-budget video in which we can see more development in editing such as
"Over-laying". MTV was responsible for the succes of artists like
Madonna as it played a centeral role as marketing.
Dire Straits - Money for Nothing (Released 1985 - Aired 1987)
(This is a preview of the video)
In 1987 this video was aired as the first in Europe on MTV. The release of this video was a great marketing scheme for the record companies. CD's had just been brought out at the same time and this was what was played in the record stores. This was around the time when people began to replace their old music collection with a new one. Records becoming worn out from continuous playing and becoming old fashioned in the making were then overruled by the same companies through the CD. The CD was greater in many ways, being that it was smaller and lasted longer than any record would. This and the fact that it sounded a great deal better than the record. Hearing this songs guitar riff at the beginning in the record store would surely impress many. A smart move for the companies as it caused people to by their collection a second time from the same people.
The music video itself was a groundbreaker at the time of its release due to the animation that was used. As it was one of the first of its kind to use computer animation to illustrate human characters. This song was also considered quite controversial as it was criticised as being sexist, racist and homophobic. So this in a way proves the power of music videos as it was a big hit and topped the charts in America.
Michael Jackson - Thriller (1983)
This video was the pioneer of the 'Storyline' video which
has a plot. It contains sophisticated visuals and
it took the music industry to another level. Now music videos were really being
seen as promotion and made into high-budget productions. A total of 14 minutes and costing $500,000, it was featured on television in and out of advertisments people were enthrailed. This was due to both the effects, which were done by the same man whom worked on 'An American Werewolf in London' (these were impressive effects at the time), and the sheer length of the music video which had never been done before.
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer (1983)
Sledgehammer was widely popular and influential. It was produced by Adam Whittaker. Aardman Animations of Wallace and Gromit fame provided claymation, pixilation and stop motion animation that gave life to he song. Though nothing really makes any sense when you watch it, these techniques that were used for the music video were new and inventive which was groundbreaking and also influential to other music video producers.MTV later announced that Sledgehammer is the most played music video in the history of the station. Most likely due to the creativity of the video. It has made it into the list of Top 100 greatest music videos of all time. And more than 16 hourse was put into the video in it entirity to make it.
Madonna - Vogue (1984)
This was the music video that created an image the black and white gave it the classic look which would fit in with the theme of film stars from an early time period. Film starts such as Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Jimmy Dean, Marlon Brando and Grace Kelly. It has interesting lyrics as well as performance which captured the audiences attention the most and what the famous "Vogue" dance was born from. Madonna becomes a true idol as she dresses and gives a great performance as Marilyn Monroe would as this impersonation of her says that Madonna is the new Marilyn Monroe. This music video also shows the power which they had as it was a music video to produce specific conventions within performance music videos. It set some very high standards.
A-Ha - Take on Me (1985)
The comic book/live-action combination is called rotoscoping
and took 16 weeks to complete. This just shows how the song relies on this type
of promotion, mainly because it was the only the form of marketing for a song
in the 20th century. Like the Dire Straits song, this would have been a ground breaking technique at the time as it is something that hasn't been done before.
How the audience view women who are presented in the media.
Women are used to be seen and the use of the camera portrays them as sexual objects (through shot types and movement).
How men look at women.
How women look at themselves.
How women look at other women.
Ephasis curves of the female body.
Refering to women as objects rather than people.
The display of women is how men think they should be percieved.
Female viewers content through the eyes of a man.
How the audience or viewer is put into perspective of a hetrosexual male.
The man emerges as the dominant power within the created film fantasy. Women are passive to the active gaze from the man.
The female gaze is the same as the male gaze because women look at themselves through the eyes of the male gender.
These are conventions that I do not wish to use within my media text. In this particular video, though rather old, it is proven to be controvercial as it objectifies women for the pleasures of the male gender. Showing nothing more than a women dancing in a provocative way. This is a surprising example within the archive of this band as they did not use risque footage usually for there music.This music video being the first and last of its kind for the band.
This particual video shows all 5 aspects which prove this theory.
Emphasis the curves of the female body.
Show women as objects rather than people.
Display women in a way to please men.
Female viewers view content through the eyes of men.
Women are sexualised.
I think that its a rather odd idea that when typing into the Google search engine in images 'music video screencaps' all you are able to see is female artists and some which are of a provocative nature.
I have chosen Chris as he is easy to contact as well as meet with as he is one of the people who in the group of friends that I posses does not o to university so getting a hold of him is a simple task. When thinking of this video I didn't intially think of him as the main protagonist, the person I had in mind was completly different but he now lives in London for university so he imediatly had to be crossed of the list. 
I have chosen Lewis as both the Taxman and the Random Jogger as I didn't have enough people who were willing to be apart of this production as they were otherwise indesposed with being unreachable or the fact that they were too busy with work or university. Lewis is easy to get into contact with as well as being at regardless of the fact that he is a university student. He also live across the road from where I live so getting into contact with him isnt a problem.
