The Oast theatre in Tonbridge is perfect for the performance sections of our
song. It is a fairly small theatre, but has a stereotypical stage and
auditorium. The location should therefore look far more professional than
anything we can set up and gives us plenty of room. There is also a possibility
that we will have access to the lighting and sound which I have experience
with, this would potentially lead to some very interesting lighting effects,
and the speakers would make lip-syncing easier.
Risks
-The action would take place on a stage, therefore there is the small risk
of falling off, damaging people or equipment. We could prevent this by keeping
the steps by the stage as well as ensuring people are not blinded by the
lights.
-Another risk is the lighting and sound equipment, they are delicate and
powerful meaning if not warmed up initially they can be damaged, and this is
something we need to be particularly careful to avoid since it is a working
theatre. To prevent this we would have the lights on a very low
setting and while they are doing this, practice shots and movement.
-There is a small possibility the stage will be set for a play, hopefully we
would be able to remove anything that does not work with the film however doing
so could be dangerous, pieces of set could fall on people, we could
be hurt moving the pieces and sharp objects such as nails could be on the
stage. In order to reduce risk we will comb the stage carefully as well as
getting assistance if we move items around.
We plan to use three locations in our film, depending on our final treatment. Firstly is the Oast Theatre in Tonbridge in which we plan to do performance, the other two are Tom's house and a park close-by which we plan to use for the narrative flashbacks, the house being where he writes the song and the park being used to show him in a less cluttered location giving more emphasis to the emotions of the artist.
-By the 5th October Tom will have done a location recce of his house and the park.
-On the 30th September Dan will do a location recce of the Oast Theatre.
I can't see where you're comin' from The song is about lies.
But I know just what you're runnin' from:
And what matters ain't the who's baddest but The song is also about rebellion.
The ones who stop you fallin' from your ladder.
And you feel like you're feelin' now
Doin' things just to please your crowd,
But I love you like the way I love you, We would require another character.
And I suffer, but I ain't gonna cut you cuz There is a lot of slang in the song. This ain't no place for no hero, Rebellion - visualising this in the narrative would be through elements of mise-en-scene.
This ain't no place for no better man, This ain't no place for no hero, To call home. This ain't no place for no hero, This ain't no place for no better man, This ain't no place for no hero, To call home. This is the chorus of the song. It is repeated a number of times throughout the song.
Every time I close my eyes, I think, I think 'bout you inside,
And your mother, givin' up on askin' why
Why you lie, and you cheat, and you try to make The theme of lies is consistent. A fool out of she... There is another character involved.
I can't see where you're comin' from,
But I know just what you're runnin' from.
And what matters ain't the who's baddest, but the These lyrics are quite well-known and conform to the rebellion in the rest of the song.
Ones who stop you fallin' from your ladder, cuz This ain't no place for no hero, This ain't no place for no better man, This ain't no place for no hero, To call home. [Chorus repeats twice after this] We think that the start of the chorus should always be shown on-screen in performance.
After the final chorus is a long instrumental sequence which we will use to invert the proportion of each line of action; the narrative will be more frequently shown and the performance less so. The video will probably finish with the band performance though.
We think that the narrative for this song could be centred around a character who wanted to be a successful artist but did not make it, or alternatively, it could be about a recollection of a previous lover who lied to him.
0-14 Soft focus of lights in the background with titles `Hozier Someone New`, CU of main character as she moves into shot from left
0.24-18 LS track of artist walking along street past cars and bikes while holding guitar case
0.18-24 back to previous shot, woman looking away
0.24-26 MS of artist on stage, out of focus, blue lighting across location with smoke
0.26-29 CU of main character looking into distance while on rooftop in city, aerial in midground
0.29-31 Slow motion MCU of woman walking through club, pink/purple lighting, extras move around
-34 Jump cuts through club
0.34-44 MS Focus on artist playing bass guitar, zoom to CU, begins to sing, bright light moves behind head
-0.47 BCUs of woman, light flashes and location changes
-0.49 arc shot of performance, bright lights and lens flare 0.49-53 MSs of woman walking through crowd, flash of light- Changes into different woman
0.53-55 MCU of woman walking across shot, main character looking from background
-1.01 Main woman in club leaning against wall looking bored
1.01-06 Resumes arc shot of performance
1.06-08 Canted angle of woman flirting with man on stairs, pink lighting from club mixes with green lighting of man
-1.10 Range of CUs woman and man on stairs looking around
1.10-11 Performance
1.11-13 MS of man and woman kissing in toilets
1.13-15 Pan to artist on stage
1.15-21 Pan to MCU of kissing, door closes turning the screen black
-1.26 Performance intercut with CUs of guitar
1.26-28 MS high angle of woman in left third of shot walking up stairs towards camera, looks at man, man in previous position -0.32 Performance
1.32-35 MCU tracking, again there is a pink tint to the shot man lights woman's cigarette, person walks past- cuts to different woman in her place
1.35-37 CU over-shoulder shot from behind as woman looks back, neon signs and shops are out of focus in the background
-39 Performance
-42 continuation of previous shot
-45 Performance
1.45-49 MS front of woman walking down street, again with bright colourful lights
-52 Performance
1.52-54 Low angle CU, woman looking at reflection in train window, right third of shot
-58 Performance with over-shoulder shot from artist to audience, the artist head takes up the whole left side while the audience heads line up with the centre line.
1.58-2.00 BCU of man on train moving to music, woman looking at him in background, focus changes from man to woman 2.00-03 MS of the man and woman
-2.05 CU Performance
-2.07 man and woman kissing on train
2.07-08 MCU, low angle, soft focus woman in right third, wakes up on train with reflection, similar to a previous shot
-2.08 BCU Performance
2.08-13 MLS tracking an of two woman at train station, woman in background
-2.16 Performance
2.16-19 MS The two women drinking while walking through corridor in slow motion
-2.20 Performance
-2.31 CU pan track, main character replaces one of the women, laughing and happy, as she walks past camera other woman disappears and is revealed in distance with previous woman
2.31-34 Side CU as woman walks into shot, vehicles go past and bright lights out of focus.
-2.42 Performance
2.43-45 MS main kisses man on bridge
-2.47 Performance
2.47-50 MCU track of kissing
2.50-53 MCU man actually with another woman, pans to main walking past looking back at them
2.53-54 CU of man kissing main again from other side
-2.55 Performance
2.55-58 MCU Woman looks forwards again
-3.10 MS of woman in house intercut with her and the man from bridge kissing in same locations
-3.12 Performance
-3.29 same format as previous shots
-3.20 Performance
-3.20-3.22 MS of woman and man on rooftop, colourful but faint lighting across location,
-3.25 Performance
-3.30 BCU of woman looking in mirror looking sad intercut with her on rooftop with man
-3.31 Performance, coloured bulbs scattered around
-3.36 MS of woman and man on rooftop, jump cut to her taking off shirt
3.36-37 MCU of main wearing jacket again looking around on rooftop, similar to fifth shot
-3.39 Performance
3.39-41 Soft focus MCU of man taking off his shirt
-3.42 Performance
-3.46 BCU of main woman looking into distance thoughtful, intercut with her and man kissing
-3.47 Performance 3.47-49 BCU looking into distance again eyes closed
-3.50 Together on rooftop
3.50-52 BCU of woman's head sinking into arms
3.52-53 Performance, low angle CU of artist silhouetted against lights
3.53-56 Zoom on main character on rooftop staring into distance breathing heavily
3.56-4.02 Low angle BCU of artist, fade to black
This video intercuts performance with a narrative. While the performance aspect is fairly basic it does have some interesting techniques such as continuing an arc shot through several shots, and the use of lighting to highlight the artists face. A large proportion of performance is used, especially when changing scenes or implying a change in time in the narrative, however the narrative still has prevalence. This narrative appears to have two realities, the real one where the woman is lonely and the imagined one where she takes the place of others and imagines relationships with them. Framing of the characters is quite important in the film which almost always uses rule of thirds. Soft focus is used regularly as well as some very interesting shot transitions, generally using a change in lighting which would be difficult to recreate but would be very effective and convey professionalism and solid planning of our piece.
This music video is very similar to our concept; there are two lines of narrative which involve a band performance on stage and a separate story of a future event. I also chose this video as it is by a band I have studied throughout this project.
0.00 - Three shots of audience consisting of men and women; MLS, MCU, MCU.
0.06 - MLS of the lead singer on stage in front of an American military flag.
0.09 - Two MLS of lead, rhythm and bass guitarists playing riff; they are also all on stage
in front of the flag.
0.11 - Two more MCU shots of the audience as they interact with each other.
0.15 - A CU of the lead singer then quickly cuts to the final member of the band - the
drummer - and quickly returns to the lead singer as he starts singing.
0.16 - MLS of the singer is at a higher angle and shows the three guitarists behind him in
shallow focus.
0.21 - Another high angle shot of the guitarists is followed by a lower angle CU of the singer in
the foreground and the flag in the background. The singer is positioned in the centre of
the frame.
0.25 - CUs and MLSs of the two audience groups - the men and women - lead to a tracking
shot...
0.31 - ...where the audience sees the men getting up out of their chairs to proceed to dance
with the women.
0.36 - This LS shows all of the partners dancing in front of the band performance. They are all
wearing similar colours in their uniform and form a sea of dark green beneath the
colourful flag and backdrop to the band's performance.
0.42 - CU of the lead singer as the pace of the song increases and changes from a slow,
melancholy track to a faster tempo rock rhythm.
0.46 - As the chorus begins the location changes and the audience are suddenly placed on a
WWII landing boat full of soldiers. The location is a bleak, grey and rainy day which
contrasts the calm, pleasant dancing hall.
0.52 - Following a number of CUs of soldiers on the boat seen trembling and feeling the
pressure and anxiety, the camera pans 90 degrees to show the lead singer also on the
boat, with a determined expression.
1.00 - More CUs of other members of the band follow this and at one minute, a MLS shows all
of the soldiers jumping off the boat into the sea to reach the beach.
1.04 - The chorus ends and returns to a slower paced song. As this happens, a MS showing the
singer on stage returns. All of the shots in the narrative sequence were handicam shots;
none of them were static and most were fairly shaky, to add to the terror the soldiers
were facing. As the band performance returns to the screen, static shots resume.
1.06 - A LS shows all of the dancers in front of the flag again, once again portraying a sea of
dancers in front of the artists; drawing attention to them to gain more prevalence.
1.12 - A couple of MS of the band members are followed by two more MS of them at canted
angles.
1.17 - A third line of narrative is introduced, when another canted angle MLS shows the band
members with some members of the audience at a bar where they all look happy and
are portrayed laughing.
1.23 - After returning to the dance hall quickly afterwards, a few CUs of the singer are followed
by a slow motion MCU of a band member walking away from his dance partner. This
symbolises the men leaving to go to fight in the war.
1.29 - My favourite shot in the video follows; a bird's eye view shot that portrays the two main
lines of narrative together in one shot. Initially with the dancers dotted across the
dance floor shown from above, post production effects then show waves an soldiers
flooding across the screen from the bottom left corner to the top right, effectively
wiping out the dancers. This is a very powerful transition between the two events.
1.33 - More handicam shots filmed at MLS and LS distances show the soldiers embarking
onto the beach. Very quickly after this, pro-filmic techniques are used to show
explosions happening all around the soldiers.
1.35 - A low angle shot is used to transition between two different shots, covering 180 degrees.
The camera showing the sea dips into the water and emerges facing the beach then
remerges to show the sea again. A very slick shot-reverse-shot.
1.38 - A series of shots showing more soldiers dodge explosions is next, cut at a fast pace.
1.43 - We return to the setting of the band members at the bar. The lead singer is shown
consolidating another member who appears upset.
1.47 - Back in the narrative sequence on the beach, an over-the-shoulder shot at LS distance is
positioned behind the enemy as they are shooting at the main protagonist and other
band members.
1.48 - Ten different shots are shown in the space of ten seconds from this point. The cutting
rate is very fast and shows a montage of the fight taking place on the beach.
2.04 - The beach scene is then cut as the chorus ends and a slow motion MLS shows all the
band members walking away from the female dancers.
2.06 - A tacking shot moves towards the dancers as they watch the men leave.
2.09 - A double shot-reverse-shot portrays a dancer and one of the band members exchange
their last sight of each other as the slow tempo bridge comes to an end...
2.17 - ...And the faster tempo resumes as the scene on the beach resumes, with a handicam
shot moving in towards the band member we just saw leaving the room. This frequent
cut-backs to him connote to the audience that something is going to happen to him
here.
2.24 - A motivated cut follows a longer clip of him struggling to get up.
2.25 - A cut back to the stage performance shows him smiling but then very soon after a jump
cut returns to him on the beach.
2.27 - A few shots show the lead singer shouting at him to try to warn him of where he is
running, followed by the same over-the-shoulder shot of the enemy as before and then...
2.31 - ...A MLS shows him fall to the floor as a jump cut then proceeds to show him on the
ground in pain at MS.
2.33 - After this - his fatal accident - a cut back to the performance shows the lead singer but
with a post production filter that makes him appear ghost like; relating to the death of
his friend and the title of the song.
2.35 - After this, we return to the beach where to MCUs show the band member in pain, then
showing his wound and then cutting back to his face at CU.
2.38 - A LS shows that more and more soldiers are falling all around him as another band
member attends to him as a medic.
2.42 - Another shot similar to the one at 2.33 is shown as the section of the song finishes and
then a cut to the bar scene follows. Here, the band are the only people left, and the lead
singer is shown centre of shot singing with lots of emotion.
2.44 - A sequence of multiple MLS are shown next, in both lines of narrative and performance
as filler shots during the final chorus.
2.56 - A handicam shot shows more soldiers lying on the ground.
3.04 - A CU of the lead singer on the beach is shown and he is singing here now too.
3.09 - A canted angle of the wounded band member at MCU is shown as he sighs and appears
to be dead now.
3.11 - A low angle MCU shows the band member acting as the medic give up, denoting that he
is in fact dead.
3.13 - The final cut returns to the lead singer on the beach at CU, as he finishes singing the
last line.
The song then finishes and SFX of explosions and guns can be heard as extra-diegetic
noise.
The handicam shot begins to move towards the singer and ends in a BCU.
3.23 - Lastly, a cut to black ends the video as the singer blinks.
We have decided to go for the track `Short Change Hero` by The Heavy, its genre is alternative rock.
-We had narrowed the choice down to Short Change Hero and Fake Your Death by My Chemical Romance, however we decided against Fake Your Death due to the fame of the band, and because it did not have much variation.
-We chose Short Change Hero because it has lots of sections, such as the introduction, verses, chorus and other easily identifiable changes.
-As well as this, it has a strong beat which gives us plenty of points to cut.
-It is not a very well known song or band which means we can take it in any direction without the viewer having expectations.
-It does not have much of a story in the song, again giving us more freedom in our interpretation.
Observations of track
-The artist has a distinctive grain of voice, this could potentially make it difficult to convincingly lip-sync, however there is the option of changing the pitch of track or other small modifications.
-The overall tone of the piece is very bleak, therefore we may decide to use a filter or filters over the whole video.
-As well as this we are going to try and keep characters to a minimum for ease as well as expressing the isolation of the main character.
Initial Track Ideas
-We would like to have a strong performance element in this song as well as a narrative.
-The themes of the song are lies, and heroism/antiheroes, however we may decide to make the piece more disjunctive as long as the narrative is interesting and fits the style of song.
-One idea is to have the artist performing on stage throughout, this would be intercut with flashbacks to the artist thinking about his previous lover who lied and betrayed him, the video would then show him writing this song and at the end to show him performing but to an empty audience.
-Another is to have the central character mourning the loss of a loved one, visiting places they have been together, finally moving on by the end.
This close-up has some feet in centre frame with the rest in a line stretching out of shot and focus, this creates a very nice effect as it shows the unity and synchronisation of the characters in a very minimalistic way, without cluttering up the shot.
This tracking shot is clearly very staged with the camera, car and people all moving at the same speed. However despite this, because the piece is a music video it is acceptable. We have already discovered in our own work that tracking shots of performance are very powerful and it would be nice to have something similar in our final piece.
Close-ups of the artist are extremely important in a music video as they allow the viewer to empathise with the artist.This shot adds comedy to the film by placing the gang in a traditionally feminine setting, as well as mimicking earlier shots such as the shoes at the beginning, again connoting unity of the group.
Although only a static shot, the techniques used are very interesting. The main thing is that instead of the camera moving to capture the action, it is the character who move. They surge forwards in time with the music to get a closer view of the artist. As well as this, a fisheye lens or something similar is used to create the impression of the camera being surrounded.
This shot plays with the angle and focus, it is a fairly low-angle long shot. The shot contains the group and the artist with the upper third in line with their heads making them the protagonists of this shot. However, out of focus, women walk past, as the larger figures they are shown to be most important, but by cutting of the head with framing are objectified.
This video utilises some very unusual shots, in this case the camera tilts a full 360°. This kind of shot is very unlikely to be used in most film because it is unnatural, however it works well for this piece making it unconventional and making the video very dynamic. It would be difficult to emulate without something to hold the camera steady but does show that camera tilt can be used to great effect.
Our location recce to Brighton went very well, we were able to create a two minute music video from our footage, and we gained a lot of practical knowledge for our final piece.
-In terms of negatives, I learned that we need to have a fairly detailed plan for our final piece as while we tried to create a narrative, the narrative arc was not very clear.
-As well as this, preparation of props such as the drawings would have been beneficial as I had to draw them while I was there, wasting time.
-The main limiting factor we came across was time, since we only had a few hours to shoot the video, and our batteries had very little charge, however I think this would have been solved almost totally by a simple location recce beforehand.
-Despite all this I really liked the use of an outdoor location, because of the empty sea and the fame of the location we did not need to worry about getting people in shot as they added to the ambience.
-Also it was fun to play with different camera movements, as in a music video it is acceptable for them to be more unusual and artistic.
-We also decided to experiment with montage in this video, I think that while it did in a way detract from the narrative, it was very useful to have footage that could fill any gaps in the film and they did add to the overall sense of place.
-I thought the performance elements were quite strong and helped link the video to the lyrics, however there probably needs to be more emotion to make it truly realistic
In conclusion I learned that preparation was very important for any narrative and even performance based music video as long as there is some room for improvisation. Not having done a recce as well as not having enough batteries limited us severely but these are easily solved. In terms of technical ability we had some very useful practice with lip-syncing, use of the track and other aspects we would like to carry over to our final piece.
The location recce at Brighton was very beneficial to me in a number of ways...
-Even more than the recce to Wilderness Woods last year, I learnt that time management is vital. We were able to get lots of shots in multiple locations. This enabled us to pick and choose shots in the editing process with freedom. On the other hand, time ran out for us when capturing stills for our digipak/magazine advert.
-I really enjoyed filming outside, I feel that this provided good lighting throughout the montage sequence. We did not get round to filming many shots in interior locations, but I don't think we needed to on reflection.
-In terms of practicality, one of our batteries did run out quite early on which didn't help. In spite of this, we still had enough charge on the camera to shoot a good amount of film.
-The actual footage captured in Brighton was of high quality, with a variety of shot ranges, angles and movements.
-From the trip, I have learnt that I should pronounce lyrics with greater mouth actions to make my performance more believable. Furthermore I have learnt that for a sequence like a music video where there is often a fast cutting rate, steadier handicam shots would help make the end product appear more professional. Obviously there is not always time to set up a track or tripod set, but nonetheless it would be good if in our final product we could incorporate as much specialised equipment as possible.
We recently went on a filming trip to Brighton during which we made a two minute music video. Unfortunately the wind does make it difficult to hear our evaluation but there was very little we could do to prevent it.
This big close up sets the tone for a lot of the other shots of the
artist in this video; his identity is hidden through big close ups of his face
and his dark tinted sunglasses. I like the reflection seen on his glasses, the
framing of this shot in particular draws the eye to them
This shot
would be very hard to emulate; a lot of time has been spent into creating this
low key lighting with two flashlights seemingly doing enough to light the two
characters' faces. I like the the flashlight's line of light in the dust, and
my group could re-create this at one of our proposed locations.
Once
again the protagonist's glasses are used as a device to illustrate what he is
seeing; rather like a POV shot but much more artistic. There will be
opportunities to use POV shots in our video, but perhaps time
constraints would mean that investing time into re-creating this shot may not
be worthwhile.
A mid
shot allows the audience to observe the artist in greater detail. I admire this
shot's framing, there is rule of thirds in the form of diagonal thirds - the
protagonist's face in the middle third. My group's video
should not waste a shot; every shot used to establish the artist's character
should be interesting.
This shot
allows the audience to see the artist's face in full and in good lighting too.
It is a bit boring in relation to framing but there is movement in the shot. As mentioned above, we must not waste a
single shot in our video. Movement is vital in producing a professional-looking
music video.
This
medium long shot portrays the artist in the background. At first glance, this shot places the officers at more significance
than the artist because they are in the foreground. But the
protagonist still maintains screen presence because he is shown facing the
camera; the audience know who he is.
Genre and Narrative -This video, according to Goodwin's theories is narrative based, since it includes no performance, instead focusing entirely on the story of this family making it a slightly unusual music video. -It has amplifying lyrics, since their focus is on a man and woman. The man is referred to using the religious iconography of a snake `I slither here from Eden`, suggesting he is tempting the woman to sin, this is reflected through the video since the man is the only one who actually commits the crimes. However the lack of the child in the lyrics or any specific detail stops it from being illustrative. -The video has many artistic shots which is consistent with the genre, utilising soft focus and slow motion for many aspects.
Representation -The artist only features in the video as a character and has no noticeable shot prevalence over the others, however does appear to be the instigator of the criminal actions, and is the one shown with the gun and later money. -The positive artist meta-narrative is therefore created in several ways, firstly through the child, since the viewer sees him playing with his son, making him more empathetic. Also, the video as a whole contributes to the artist as it shows how he cares about storytelling and emotions rather then conventional industrial video of performance. -In terms of Dyer's paradox theory the artist is simultaneously present and absent in the video since he plays a major role, but no real information is given on him, or his real persona shown. The paradox of ordinary and extraordinary is less visible, however the artist is constantly presented with a juxtaposition between the loving father figure and the criminal, which could be interpreted as the paradox. -The film deals with several groups, for example gender is an interesting representation because while the woman is also a criminal she is presented far more positively, she is not shown surrendering to the police, does not have a gun and is regularly shown with the child, most notably in the final shot. This connotes the stereotype that the woman looks after the child more, but also suggests that she is merely an accomplice. -The video may be trying to stop the demonisation of criminals by presenting them as normal people with families, this contributes to the artist's meta-narrative by showing he cares about interesting and potentially ideologically destabilising subject matter.
Where Are U Now Skrillex and Diplo with Justin Bieber
The first significant element of the music video for this song is the colourful, upbeat visuals which accompany the equally upbeat dance-genre music. The video is a stop-motion compilation of illustrations created by people. The illustrations are created over series of pictures of Justin Bieber in stills as he is dancing and singing. Originally, there would have just been a video of him in a room performing all these actions. Then, these were broken down frame-by-frame and the public were invited to draw on each frame - as is shown during the music video.
The illustrations in the video are just colourful pieces of artwork at first glance. As the stop-motion sequence is such a fast-paced device to use, the audience cannot make out the writing or drawings very easily. As a result of this, the bright colours flashing fast reflect the song and conform to the dance genre of the song. It is an upbeat, fast song and so the visuals are certainly illustrative of the song. The actual drawings act as semiotics for Justin Bieber. Most of them present him in a positive light and support his reinvention as an artist. Featuring in this song by Skrillex helps with his 'comeback', and the creators of the drawings in the video support him.
Dyer's theory of 'star quality' values are present in the video. Similar to the drawings helping with Bieber's meta-narrative, his youthfulness and talent is shown through his performance amidst all the illustrations.
The construction of his 'star image' - being a famous singer - is reinforced because he is shown on screen when lyrics are sung. This connotes that he is the main artist despite him only featuring in the song.
The two paradoxes that Dyer theorises about in music videos are present in this video too. Firstly, Bieber is presented as normal because he is dressed like others in society. However, he is extraordinary because he is famous. This is connoted through the volume of people providing illustrations and the nature of the messages; people are aware of his star image.
Secondly, Bieber is close yet far from the consumer in the video. He is close to others because it is as if they are drawing on him and contributing to his performance in the video. Yet, he is far from them as it is merely an image and he is portrayed alone in the video.
Barthes' narrative codes can be applied to the music video. The semic code can be applied because the audience has to pause the video at certain points to understand the illustrations on-screen and then ideologies stemming from these have to be looked into.
The action code applies to the illustrations too because these drive the narrative, and construct the star image of Bieber.
Finally, the cultural code can be applied to the illustrations too because there are a lot of drawings that only mean something to those from certain cultures, such as famous icons.
In conclusion, this music video portrays Justin Bieber in a youthful, positive way and it certainly helps him to reinvent himself as an artist. As his name is on the album cover for the song by Skrillex and Diplo, his star image is also being sold to a larger audience.
DH
What Do You Mean? Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber’s video `What do you mean` has an interesting
genre combination, the majority of it is in a cinematic style as evidenced by
the large titles at the beginning, with deliberately stereotypical font and
dramatic sound effects, which is clear movie iconography. As well as this, the
serious emotions and dialogue at the beginning are fairly generic, with use of
pathetic fallacy of the rain, to establish a dark tone. Later on however this
is completely flipped as after the dramatic conclusion to the story, during
which no music is played to give emphasis, the set changes to a skate park. The
video then becomes more performance based with a large amount of people dancing
and celebrating, with the artist singing throughout. This is a deliberately upbeat
ending, in order to negate the more serious and darker beginning and therefore
show the lighter side of the artist.
Apart from this sudden juxtaposition, most of Goodwin's overall genre
conventions are there, with the overall focus and prevalence on the artist.
This means the viewer is positioned with Bieber rather than a character,
allowing them to build up an impression of him. Another key aspect is the voyeuristic and fetishistic nature of the bedroom scene with the
sexualisation of the woman and the artist; these contribute to his
meta-narrative as an attractive person as well as giving the video sex appeal. Another famous theorist is Derrida who's binary oppositions can be seen in this video, the binary opposition is created between the Bieber
and the woman in this film. He is shown to be confident and prepared,
organising for him to have the lighter as well as convincing the woman to trust
him; he comforts her and tries to fight the two men who grab him. In contrast
the woman is presented more negatively, the man not being able to understand
her and her lack of decision making is the main plot of the song, as well as this,
while she tries to fight her single kidnapper off, she does so very
ineffectually and relies greatly on the male, further reinforcing the artists dominant
role.
The album cover is of a slightly different tone since the whole
image is very simple consisting of just a black and white image of the artist
on a white background. The artist is also wearing casual clothes but is still
well groomed and the album name is written on a white card, with the artist
name in a handwritten style font above. Overall this connotes a simplicity to
the artist, and therefore implies a `down to earth` attitude in order to combat
his status in recent media, and celebrity status. In using just the bare
minimum of content, with just the artist image and titles, as well as the white
colour scheme the piece implies a fresh start for the singer, clearly linking
him more fully to the music and making this appear to be his main concern. This
allows future pieces, and subsidiary content to build up a new image.
Something I Need by OneRepublic
(2013) was directed by Cameron Duddy and is an interesting example of artist
construction. It is a fairly standard pop song and this reflects the upbeat
style of the film. Andrew Goodwin,
Dancing in the Distraction Factory (1992) carried out research into mainstream
music videos and identified typical conventions, however even with this
framework the video is difficult to decipher at first. However the video is
most likely amplifying due to the references to life and death in the song, `If
we only die once/ I want to die with you` and the death and revival of the main
character. The use of lyrics describing waking up and dreaming such as `woke me
up right after two` certainly do not influence the video and prove that it is
not illustrative.
The video does have a linear story which
conforms to Toderov’s narrative theory, he believed most stories could be
explained as an equilibrium which then changes, the main character after a
struggle eventually establishes a new one. This video begins with the man
reading which establishes an equilibrium and while the appearance of the woman
changes this slightly, it is the attacking dog which poses the real problem to
overcome. This man fighting the dog is the struggle which through the help of
the girl is overcome creating a new equilibrium in which they presumably are
together
Richard Dyer in his works believes
that most music videos are used to help build up the star’s meta-narrative through
common features, topics and symbolism. At first it does not appear that the
video does much to publicise the band, however there are shots of performance
scattered throughout the film. Even in just the second shot the singer’s eyes
are shown, and the shot length and size increases throughout the piece which
helps build up an enigma, also makes these sections more interesting and
clearly shows the paradox of absence and presence. As well as this, a more
subtle piece of publicity in the video is seen through the posters on the wall
advertising the band and album. It is
only in the final scene that the context of the singing in the church is shown,
therefore making the unusual presence of the singer more ordinary, relating to
the paradox of ordinary and extraordinary. In terms of associations, the
comedic aspects of the film such as the main character’s overacting allow the
band to mentally associated with laughter, and shows their content is not to be
taken too seriously. There are very few traditional artist stereotypes such as
drinking, which suggests the artist is more normal, as well as this the lack of
artist prevalence shows their focus on music and storytelling which diverges
from much of modern music.
In
comparison, `Say Something` (2013) by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera
directed by Christopher Sims, is also a pop song, however is much more sombre
in mood and style. Just as with `Something I need` the lyrics relate to the feel of the
song, with the line `I’m giving up on you` and the subsequent characters moving
on from people.
Interestingly there is no clear
narrative arc in Toderov’s sense, instead there are three main characters who
all are dealing with somethingin their
lives, meanwhile the artists sing throughout, making the video both narrative
and performance based. The film also has many cinematic shots such as the
close-ups of water droplets which serve only emotional purpose, possibly
representing tears. This and the low-key lighting help create the impression
of high-production values contributing to the star images of the artists. This
is very different to the much more naturalistic location and shooting of
`Something I need`.
The star image, just as in the first
film is not very typical in some respects, due to the lack of
anti-authoritarian behaviour or the use of alcohol/drugs. Instead, a far more
emotional piece is created, giving the impression of a more thoughtful and
deeper meaning. In terms of the star this makes them far more interesting and
mysterious.Similarly to the first film
again, the two paradoxes are used to represent the artists, for example despite
their prevalence throughout, their respective backstories are not explored,
adding to the enigma. For the second paradox there are shown to be
extraordinary through singing and musical talent and ordinary through this
shared emotion and lack of story again, making them significant and
insignificant at the same time.
The idea for
this album cover began with a simple photo of a friend sitting on a bench. I
wanted a cover that focused on the artist, giving an introspective atmosphere,
and replacing the bench with a rooftop seemed an interesting idea. The second
step involved removing the background from this image so the more interesting
location could be used. To do this I increased the contrast on the top layer to
make the colour differences more profound and utilised several selection tools,
deciding to remove the background instead of copying the figure so I could be
more accurate and make smaller selections.
I then played with filter effects,
eventually deciding to posterize the figure as this not only made the image
more interesting and colourful, but also reduced lighting discrepancies when I
added the background. The background was a simple stock image of a city, by
adding the figure as another layer and erasing the lower legs I was able to
create the illusion of him sitting over the edge.
The text is
a key part of the album cover and I decided to focus on very clear traditional font. While repositioning however I found I liked the inverted colours, and
decided to create that effect permanently by selecting a square of background
behind the text and inverting the colours through effects. However I was forced
to change the colour of the artist name, since while the sky inverted to a dark
colour contrasting against the white text, the buildings inverted lighter
meaning white text was not very visible.
Pre-filter version
Then to
create a more three dimensional effect, I used the eraser again to place the artist name just behind
the figure and rooftop. This meant that the foreground building almost appears
to leave the image which was a simple but effective technique. I almost
finished there but decided that the colouration was too warm, to combat this I
changed the colour balance of the whole image to give a blue tint, this helped
to link all the aspects of the cover and unify the whole image as well as
create a calmer atmosphere.
Night is perfect timing for shoots, as fits with isolation theme and lyrics
Song does not really lend itself to a narrative, however does explore the feelings of isolation of one man now living in London
Tomorrow Morning; Jack Johnson 2.50
Themes of night, loneliness
Slow music but positive spin
Introduction play through radio, before switches to real (or old radio to modern)
Walking home throughout video, reaches just as the sun rises
Song does get repetitive after a while, but this could be used to our advantage.
Short change hero; The Heavy 3.57
Themes of love, heroism, lies
Long intro and outro, contrasting section Man walks onto stage during intro, sings throughout, during outro, is revealed he is alone and not singing, is only imagination
The song does not have much of a narrative
Inspirational Music Videos
Good for you; We are the Ocean
Only cuts are at the beginning, flash forwarding to later events, afterwards the whole video is one continuous shot, which gives a greater sense of realism.
Focus throughout is on the singer, despite him never being acknowledged by the characters, giving the impression of a narrator, character prevalence is given to the blonde woman to give a central character to connect with.
Interesting lighting through the use of set and props like the flare.
Video introduction gives context of bank heist that is built on throughout.
Makes use of the contrast between quieter and louder parts to link the visuals and music very effectively.
Difficult to make out the story as the one shot makes it difficult to follow characters
Best I ever had; Gavin DeGraw
Very faced paced cuts and camera movement make the video very dynamic and match the upbeat nature of the music.
Prevalence is given to the singer, dictates his emotions, the only other character is the woman who features in the flashback shots and occasionally on the TV screens.
Images of the word are show in various interesting ways, through the blurry old TV screens which could represent memories, images are also projected onto the brick wall behind the artist, this does not only give an interesting texture to the images but this also brings the artist into the foreground, and sometimes when projected over him incorporates him into the scenes giving interesting contrast.
Even more contrast is shown when the artist is playing guitar and/or with the woman, all these (flashback?) shots have lots of plants in the background which is a harsh juxtaposition between the rest of the video.
The way I tend to be; Frank Turner
Prevalence is with the artist, his viewpoint of events, yet remains relatively expressionless
However the imagery and visual indicators build an impression of the artist, for example comedy through the use of the `golf sale` sandwich board for the end of the world prophesising, and the `born free` tattoo connoting a free spirited person.
The whole video uses the hole digging as an extended metaphor, in the video it generates great interest and brings people together, as well as being a very unusual event making it memorable.
The story appears to be about a man in a relationship, the woman following represents his partner. He knows his relationship is ending hence the sandwich board, and feels he is constantly digging holes for himself while his partner looks on. While she does help him up he decides to stop himself and move on. This viewer interpretation aspect means it can be consumed multiple times without it getting boring.
Interesting shots are created, such as the camera on the spade, and the news report.
-There is a small possibility the stage will be set for a play, hopefully we
would be able to remove anything that does not work with the film however doing
so could be dangerous, pieces of set could fall on people, we could
be hurt moving the pieces and sharp objects such as nails could be on the
stage. In order to reduce risk we will comb the stage carefully as well as
getting assistance if we move items around.
