- This video neatly illustrates the lyrics by creating a complete narrative and fragmenting it using editing techniques rather than narrative ellipsis. I think these elements are definitely something we should consider in the filming process by shooting an entire set storyline.
- I think that the portrayal of the sex scene in this video is appropriately shallow, sexualised and detached, however for our video I think a the depiction will require more depth, as it will feature our artist himself.
- The camera work in the club scene is very influential on how I would like our party scene to be filmed, especially with the lighting effects. The rest of the music video is also filmed very smoothly and conventionally close up to the artist, which are both things that I think we need to replicate regardless, as it will lend professionalism to our finished product.
- Drug use is another key point, as it is very explicit in this video, although we are bound by school regulations prohibiting such portrayals of this lifestyle, so will have to be more implicit instead.
A music video which could inform our creative decisions
The Street's video for 'Blinded By The Lights' provides a rich source of inspiration for us, as the lyrical themes, narrative ideas and target genre audience are directly applicable to our song choice.
Looking at an Amateur Music Video
This is the independently produced music video by a small local band called Slowyear for their song 'Baby Arms'. After all these months of research into professionally made pop promos and key theorists, it is shocking to me how negatively I see this video. Although it loosely follows the conventions of rock band performance shots (close ups of each performer, group shots etc), the camerawork is never dramatic enough to excite or elicit pleasure from the viewer. Seeing as any potential concept or narrative is disregarded, its use of performance should not have been this dull (little physical movement or dynamic camera work), particularly considering the energetic roots of the modern punk genre.
However, there are some redeeming aspects. Some shots are well constructed, such as the final guitarist;s image and a few cutaway closeups, although these are few and far between. Similarly, although the camerawork is indeed accurate and stable, and the editing is able to carry the pace of the music, neither is particularly exciting. The video does utilise some split screen effects however, which do generate some interesting clashes within the screen.
Essentially, this is not so much a music video as it is just a capture of the band's rehearsal from several angles, spliced up and forced through a black and white effect to give a faux-professionalist quality.. This is disappointing to see, as recent history has taught us that even the cheapest video can propel an artist to a global audience and unprecedented fame through YouTube, by simply having a unique and interesting music video.
Analysis of a Music Video
One of the artists we orginally considered making a video for was 'Dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip', which has similarly rap influenced male vocals, although this particular song ('Get Better') focuses more on a positive, didactic tone towards the important issue of sexual promiscuity compared to Jamie T's Ike & Tina, which is more visceral, personal and grievous.
The video takes the educational tone of the lyrics and applies it literally to create a classroom visual, with the artist taking the role as a lecturer character. This is a fairly obvious interpretation of using the song to illustrate the lyrics, although the cross cutting between the seminar and various activities sustain interest.
One of the outstanding things about this video is that, assuming the artist is taking on the role of his lyrics in the song (ie by being teacherly), then we can also assume that the collection of student characters are there to represent the target audience of the artist. This broad cross section of unique people is a brave move by the director, as instead of giving a loose definition (such as 'fans of alternative music'), they present a daring, honest and unashamed amalgamation of different subcultures through extreme costume and makeup (apparently using real people instead of actors, giving the video realism as well as respect), not being afraid to highlight their differences by cutting between close ups of each character.
As well as the lyrical content, the music video can be seen to have a relationship with the musical textures. The clinically clean and repetitive musical beat is matched through regular edits, and represented visually through the use of a single, blank canvas location (a large empty characterless white room), and by showing development through narrative of the lyrics. It is a full 2:50 into the video before a cutaway from the location is used, matching a sharp change in the beat of the song and illustrating the points made in the lyrics. However, I think that this unchanging nature of the video reflects perfectly the musical style, and provides an important soapbox for the artist's didactic lyrics to stand out.
The only real thing that develops in this video is the relationship between the student characters. Whereas the opening section (0:23-0:49) juxtaposes them to highlight their contrasts, through the exercises they turn into an amiable group. This deconstruction of social barriers is key for letting the artist's student audience as well as the video's consumer audience open their minds to the educational content of the lyrics.
The video takes the educational tone of the lyrics and applies it literally to create a classroom visual, with the artist taking the role as a lecturer character. This is a fairly obvious interpretation of using the song to illustrate the lyrics, although the cross cutting between the seminar and various activities sustain interest.
Decisions: Locations
The party scene was filmed in the drama studio at our sixth form. Not only was it conveniently accessible, but it also gave us the advantage of stage lighting to create a real life club effect. Camera experimentation (dynamism, angles, claustrophobic close ups and focal blur) as well as selective editing should make at least some of the footage usable in concocting a sense of diegesis.
The clinic scene was filmed at a small, official-looking building near the school, as actual NHS locations we considered were far too busy to use for filming outside. This was the next best location with a legitimate feel (such as the iconic NHS-blue colouring, and a car park), as well as an interesting shape to film inside.
The interior bedroom scene was filmed at Harry's house, where we were able to experiment greatly with different lighting to contrast the party. Cold blue lights were used to add a sense of the uncanny to the chaotic scene, as well as yellow torch-light to add warmth to what is essentially a sexual scene.
The opening pub scene was a very interesting location we found, and fitted our proposed plan perfectly. Located in Roehampton, it was suitably derelict and decaying, and also provided interesting filming positions (ie the tree trunk). The street performance sections were filmed at several different anonymous suburban streets in various local areas, such as Roehampton, Kingston and New Malden, creating a montage of monotony and monochromatism contrasting the chaos and colour of the party)
More photos to be found here [link].
The clinic scene was filmed at a small, official-looking building near the school, as actual NHS locations we considered were far too busy to use for filming outside. This was the next best location with a legitimate feel (such as the iconic NHS-blue colouring, and a car park), as well as an interesting shape to film inside.
The interior bedroom scene was filmed at Harry's house, where we were able to experiment greatly with different lighting to contrast the party. Cold blue lights were used to add a sense of the uncanny to the chaotic scene, as well as yellow torch-light to add warmth to what is essentially a sexual scene.
The opening pub scene was a very interesting location we found, and fitted our proposed plan perfectly. Located in Roehampton, it was suitably derelict and decaying, and also provided interesting filming positions (ie the tree trunk). The street performance sections were filmed at several different anonymous suburban streets in various local areas, such as Roehampton, Kingston and New Malden, creating a montage of monotony and monochromatism contrasting the chaos and colour of the party)
Decisions: Makeup
As stated above, our idea of creating a representation of teenage reality (as well as the extremely masculine quality of the lyrics) meant that makeup was not a big concern to us while creating the film. I think this was because our idea of make up held the mental image of Bowie/Ziggy Stardust rather than slight touch-ups for camera. However, As lighting was much more important to us while shooting, particularly for facial closeups, I think our choice to go for normality (ie no makeup) was although amateurish, not an important set back at all.
Decisions: Props
We used a number of props to add realism to the shoots, with much of the decisions being made instantly and incontestably, such as the empty bottles at the pub, cigarettes to add to the self-destructive 'carpe diem' character of our artist, and the STD letter envelope.
However, other props were also used in a more conscious way, such as the painted backdrop in the club scene to imply drug use (as we were not allowed to show or imply the consumption of certain substances on film).
However, other props were also used in a more conscious way, such as the painted backdrop in the club scene to imply drug use (as we were not allowed to show or imply the consumption of certain substances on film).
Decisions: Costumes
Visual style, particularly that of the star, is key when creating a marketable 'image' to accompany the music. One important part of this, outside of the filming/editing style and visual iconography in the music video, is the way our artist is dressed. After research into Jamie T's (the original artist) style, and that of other frontmen in similar bands, we took test shots of a number of different outfits for Freddy. We wanted to use several costumes in the video and yet still be able to create a continuous, non-conflicting visual style for the character. We drew on a number of influences (see this post for more information), yet always focused on the idea of 'ordinary', as establishing a relatable, down-to-earth artist is much the convention for this genre, rather than the idea of a godlike, distanced superstar.
Costumes of other characters in the film were decided on through the same process - favouring normalcy over incredulous wardrobing - such as the Letdowns in the opening pub sequence and the background characters in the club. This is not to say however that our attitude was simply to 'film people in whatever they happened to be wearing that day', as we did focus on making sure each outfit met our weak adolescent criteria for fashionable.
However, there were some stand out outfits, such as Devil costume (used to provide a humorous counterpoint to an otherwise dreary and pessimistic opening), the police costumes (metaphor of age/maturity/lifestyle), the child's 'normal' wear (to contrast Freddy's clothes), and the girl's leopard print jacket (carrying connotations of seduction as well as animalistic threat - she does give him an STD after all).
Decisions: Casting
- FREDDY: For our artist, (despite getting let down by the first potential actor we contacted), we had the sublime privilege of working with Sam Barnham. Not only is Sam a massive fan of Jamie T, but his A2 Drama skills are sure to come in handy, as well as the convenience of us all being at the same school, are all positive factors in this choice for our artist.
- THE LETDOWNS: Tom Roberts, Archie Harris-Eva and group member Harry Moppet will form 'Freddy's' backing band, featured at the beginning of the video and also during the party scene. Again, local convenience, enthusiasm for the project and connections as friends all played a part in our decision
- GIRL: The 'love interest' of the video is to be played by Hannah Watson. Also a drama student, close friendship ties with Sam will make the filming of one particular scene less awkward.
- FRIENDS: For the 'background' characters, we will use friends at the school. This will make the filming easy, give the characters pre-existing chemistry for screen, and also will hopefully make the party scene enjoyable to film.
- POLICEMEN: We will use two children, David (pictured) and Julek, to play the role of policemen in the film to metaphorically illustrate ideas about maturity, age, and childhood/adolescent/adult lifestyle.
Analysis of previous student work
We decided to look at previous examples of student work to establish the standards expected from a student group in the exact same position as us in terms of equipment, skills and time pressure. After choosing a blog at random to analyse from the list of the previous year's work, I ended up with 'Just another Coombe Media group' group [link to blog], and their video for the song 'Fallen' by their artist 'Emily Quinn':
- The first thing I noted was the genre difference between this song and our own. Whereas we are making a video for a fast paced male rapper, this is a slow pop song with a female vocalist (see my post on grain of voice), and it is clear that this genre definition influenced many of their decisions while making the video.
- For instance, the editing pace perfectly matches the tempo and withdrawn rhythm of the song, using several long-duration shots and a clear preference for soft dissolves instead of hard cuts when transitioning between shots, giving the film a suitably dream-like quality, demonstrating a clear relationship between the music and the visuals.
- I also like their obvious use of star image to appeal to their primarily female target audience, through careful consideration of costume and makeup to represent an empathetic image of purity and beauty , with respectful closeups rather than a sexualised, objectified, voyeuristic treatment of the star.
- Although their location choices are interesting and unique, and the composition of some shots provide specific pleasure(see two below examples of the frame-cut close up and the mirror), the reuse of similar shots (eg same locations and character position shot from the same angles) gets boring and repetitive as there is no real development or clear narrative, just performance. (The only exception being the fast montage at 3:04-308, which fits the beat perfectly.)
Their digipak [link] also fits many of the conventions of the genre, as well as fitting with the thematic elements of their music video. The colour scheme and use of leaves as backgrounds creates a sense of continuity within the product, and the personal message provides a unique form of dialogue directly to the fan community. The website [link] they created for the artist is also successfully identifiable as part of the same collection of materials for the one product (again through the use of repetitive images like leaves and also star focus), as well as fulfilling the conventions of artist websites, such as a list of upcoming gigs, unique photo albums, embedding promotional videos and a biography of the artist all for fans to engage with.
Production Company Name Brainstorm
Band Name Brainstorm
The band name formula we used has been around for over fifty years and has been implemented in many genres. However, most have one thing in common: the named artist always exceeds the others in fame, public interest and career success.
See this list for the range of genres: Bob Marley and the Wailers, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, to modern acts such as Florence and the Machine, Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls, et cetera, et cetera...!
Analysis of Lyrics
This enabled us to realise the true meaning behind the lyrics, identifying the key subtextual themes and ideas behind literal interpretation, as well as picking out key places where the lyrics changed to show a shift in the artist's attitudes (ie on the second page, the song expresses a new, regretful tone). This exercise allowed us to discuss how best to represent the lyrical ideas with as video.
These notes show how we will link the content of the lyrics to the visuals we plan to create.
Case Study of Two Record Labels (Part 1): SFR
This diy, punk ideology (Sage was the first ever hip hop artist to be signed to legendary punk label Epitaph) is still in place today, with each shop order coming "with various ‘random goodies’ Uncle Sage had hanging around his Rhode Island home and office". Sage has said that "it would probably be more profitable for us to carry popular music but that’s not the impetus to our being. We will continue to uphold our standard for art and business until there’s no demand for it, at which point we will gladly bow out of the game."
(Above: Video for 'Let Em Come' off Scroobius Pip's latest album, featuring label-mates Sage Francis and POS. On Soundcloud.com, the label offered a free, exclusive remix of the same song, featuring new verses from new SFR artists:
Let Em Come REDUX (Scroobius Pip, Sage Francis, Metermaids, Cecil Otter))This shows how SFR has not only carved and accepted its niche, but fights to represent it. And with only fourteen artists in its roster,the label has effectively created a close-knit community within the genre/movement, but on a national scale. The artists tend to support each other on tours, guest on each other's tracks, and appear in their videos, and re-record different mixes of songs. The (now online) store is the company's way of maintaining a "direct link" with the fans who support these artists, stocking a variety of items, including those who are not signed by the label directly, but closely associated through the music community, and also features a free, exclusive mp3 every week.
The music videos of SFR tend to be low budget (such as Scroobius Pip's £100 video for 'Introdiction', see below), featuring guest appearances from associated acts on a friends-basis. Often, the style is amateurish and the videos rarely get much exposure. In Sage Francis' video for 'Escape Artist', the location used is legendary New York punk club CBGBs, a real-life intertextual link to demonstrate the artist's true roots (see bottom).
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