For our music video we have had ideas for cinematography, the majority of which are how we are going to present our artist in the video.
One idea we have for the presentation of the singer, during the performance aspect of our music video, is to have the singer partially obscured, using a lot of close ups and odd angle's of the singer, particularly focusing on the microphone and his mouth.
During the performance parts of the video, we will be using dim lighting to create a moodier ambience to reflect the lyrical content of the song.
For the mise en scene, the shots of the house and the performance shots we want to have the area feeling cramped therefore we'll be having a lot of equipment for the perforances or general clutter for the house.
We may also make use of filters for our music video, to create a different mood than possible without using these filters in editing.
One of our possible locations is Long Road Sixth Form College. The reason for this is because we can use this area to film certain scenes, such as filming the performance aspects of the video as Long Road has their own music facility. Therefore, we can capture this footage here.
Next, we have the Coleridge Recreation Ground. There are a couple of scenes we are thinking about which would need an outside area, it would also need to be quiet. This area would be good as it is quiet during the day and so we would not have many disruptions when filming.
We would be using this area of Cambridge City Centre just for a couple of scenes where we intend just to shoot the artist walking. As the area would not be used for a major part in the video, the fact that the area is busy would not matter a huge amount, and continuity errors which would be possible would not occur.
Christ's Pieces would be used for the same function as the previous location, except we might do some close-ups of the artist here as the location is larger and there are also quieter spots with minimal disruption.
Cambridge City Centre is just another possible location that we could shoot the artist dependent on how busy the area is at the time.
The target audience for our music video would be anybody aged between 15 and 25. Predominantly female, though we expect males to be part of the fan base as well.
The genre of the song we've chosen is expected to have a video with the fans participating in the video, and actual footage of the band playing music. Due to lack of performers / actors and instruments for our video project, this wouldn't be feasible, and so we will not be following this genre characteristic, and therefore challenging the audience's expectations.
Above is the first video we chose as a video we were influenced by. The reason we chose the above video is mainly because it shows great examples of editing on the beat and the cuts match the pace of the music. Another reason we chose it is because it has no instruments in the video, and it's mainly just lipsyncing, which is what we plan to do. Seeing this video reasures us that our video can still be interesting without any band shots. It's also filmed completely outdoors, which shows us a great example of what it looks like to film outside.
Above is our second video we chose as a video we were influenced by. The main reason we chose this one was not so much due to the visuals, but mostly the narrative of the actual video. Because we plan to do a video where we have our singer interacting with friends in an outdoor environment, we thought this video reflects our idea nicely. Another reason we chose this is because of the wide variety of locations, which gives us more ideas for places to film in.
When looking at professional music videos we took inspiration from certain ones, either in the way it is presented (abstract/simple or surrealist/realist) or the cinematography and how it presented the artist.
One of the videos that we took inspiration from was The Foo Fighters' "The Pretender" by Sam Brown. The way he uses cinematography is interesting and something we want to try to integrate into our music video, with a heavy use of panning, zoom and tracking shots. He also focuses heavily on the artist and edits on the beat to create an interesting yet simple music video.
Another music video we saw that we thought was a good place to draw inspiration from was The White Lies' music video for "Death" which uses interesting cinematography to create a unique and interesting look for the video.
The video that I am going to be deconstructing using
Goodwin’s points is Pitbull ft. Marc Anthony – Rain Over Me, as this video also depicts genre characteristics,
relationships between lyrics and visuals and depicts a dance routine between
both singers.
1.Music Videos Demonstrate Genre Characteristics
Throughout the music video there are references made
depicting the genre of the song, however the most powerful scene in the video
that illustrates this is when the video reaches 1:26. Pitbull and Marc Anthony
perform what resembles a mini stage performance where they are exemplified
dancing on screen where their moves are sharp, fun and fast paced as the frame
rate is exceedingly quick. The dances that both singers perform in their music
video portray an element of hip-hop which is the genre characteristics of their
video.
2.There is a Relationship Between Lyrics and
Visuals
In this particular music video there is a
distinct relationship between the lyrics and visuals as they are amplified.
This is depicted in the chorus when Pitbull and Marc Anthony sing “I’m rising
so high, out of my mind, so let it rain over me”. When you watch the dance
routine to the lyrics that both Pitbull and Marc are singing you begin to see
how they dance according to what they sing. For the lyric “Out of my mind”,
Marc raises his hand to his head and begins to point and turn his finger to
show that he is out of his mind. Additionally, they do the same for the lyric
“so let it rain over me”, as they both raise their arms into the air and the
rain suddenly begins to fall down upon them.
3.There is a Relationship Between Music and
Visuals
The video begins with the sound of a helicopter flying
overhead even though it does not make an appearance in this scene, yet a few
seconds later a light, mellow electro tune is heard very softly in the
background as Marc Anthony sings the beginning lines of the song. However,
moments later the tune begins to increase and get louder as the song progresses
and a stronger upbeat, bass drum is heard overpowering the main tune as the
frame rate speed up according to the individual beat of the song.
4.The
Demands of the Record Label Will Include the Need for Lots of Close Ups of the
Artist and the Artist May Develop Motifs Which Recur Across Their Work
Pitbull and Marc Anthony are promoted as being the main
stars of the music video. They are each represented by the use of close ups of
their face which clearly allows the audience to feel as though they can connect
with them as they feed off their facial expressions and emotions. Particular
close ups portray the singers confidence, attractiveness and charisma as they stare
into the camera providing the audience with a warm, gentle smile and they will
sometimes use their expression to show a slightly cheeky side of themselves by
raising their eyebrows and making signals towards the female dancers.
5.There is
Frequently Reference to Notion of Looking and Voyeuristic Treatment of the
Female Body
The video focuses on many close ups of the female dancers –
not only of their facial features, but mainly focusing on their physique,
therefore using the women as a sexual objects. With the camera capturing the
female dancers body the directors and producers are the flaunting the girls
sexuality to help sell the video as it will capture the audience’s attention.
Additionally, in the video there is use of screens within screens whereby
wire-framing is used to import two different videos displaying two different
scenes of events and importing this onto one screen.
6.There is
Often Intertextual Reference (to Films, TV Programmes and other Music Videos)
In the music video one of the female dancers is depicted as
a silhouette dancing in front of a special effect that makes up Marc Anthony’s
face using lights and consists of rain falling down upon it. The dance moves
used in this scene are sharp and slightly robotic due to the frames changing
and zooming in onto one another and this particular clip is an intertextual
reference to a TV programmes opening titles called “Tales of the Unexpected”,
whereby female dancers are displayed as silhouettes’ dancing in front of
backdrops that consist of fire and water.
The hue of the videos are usually quite dark, but with high
contrast levels to give the video an overall dark and edgy tone. The music
videos are usually incredibly performance based, shots covering the whole band
playing, yet focusing mainly on the front vocalist. Narrative music videos are
also used; however I would say it is very likely that a narrative video would
also show many shots of the band performing. The story lines are usually dark,
to match the dark sound of the music, and dark meaning of the lyrics. The
performance it's self usually has a dark and 'scary' tone to it, the performers
are usually dressed in completely in black, appearing as stereotypical
rock/metal listeners/performers with multiple piercings, dark makeup, and a
dark and edgy demeanour. The editing is usually snappy and fast paced, to match
the normally fast tempo of rock/metal songs.
Example:
Pop
Music videos that belong to the genre of pop are usually
extremely performance based, with the singer, or band lip syncing throughout
the song, as well as performing via dancing or in a narrative story that
reflects the meaning of the lyrics. The overall tone and hue of the video will
be very bright, with the artist wearing bright trendy mainstream clothing. If
the lyrics are of a more sad nature, the overall tone of the video may be
brought down a little, but will still be quite bright. In pop music videos the
main artists are almost always present in their music video in some shape of
form. Pop music videos are usually fun and light hearted to appeal to a younger
audience.
Example:
RnB
This genre of music video usually has a light tone to it;
the hue is usually bright similar to pop videos. Typically the video will
involve the artist in a narrative setting or simply performing in a setting
such as a nightclub, mansion, beach etc. There are usually dancers present, to
reflect the sound of the music. The clothing is usually revealing on women and
shows the wealth of the artist, with lavish jewellery and expensive cars. The
narrative of the story usually reflects the lyrics of the song, and like pop
videos usually the artist will lip sync throughout the video. Again similar to
pop music videos RnB videos have a good, positive, light-hearted feeling to
them.
Example:
Indie
This genre of music videos has a huge variety of
conventions; the hue can be dark, bright or black and white depending on the
tone of the lyrics. Indie music videos are also split generously between being
solely narrative and performance based; sometimes the artists do not even
feature in the music video for their songs. However Indie music videos can be
performance based either featuring the entire band, or simply featuring the
main vocalist. Narrative music videos in the Indie genre are typically quite
arty, and symbolic, rather than spelling out exactly what the lyrics say.
Auteurism was coined by the Cahiers du Cinema saying a film should reflect the directors vision thus making them an auteur.
Sam Brown is a music video director that the label of auteurism could be applied to, as he has a very clear style to his music videos.
In every video he has the star or the band as the focus of the video with them performing the son in a non-ordinary venue. He also makes heavy and repeated use of panning, tracking & zoom shots while using a letterbox format for his videos. He also makes use of juxtaposing to clips of either opposing images or visual/lyrical content.
Above is my Slideshare powerpoint, pointing out the six Goodwin's points in the videos "Californiacation" and "By the Way", both by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
Goodwin came up with a theory about modern music videos, and what nearly all of them must have to be a good music video.
They are;
Genre Characteristics are Shown in the Video
Visuals and Lyrics Often have a Relationship
Visuals and Music Often have a Relationship
The Video Sells the Artist with Close Ups and Recurring Motifs
A Video Often has a lot of Voyeurism and Focuses on Looking
One or More Intertextual References are Often Shown
We used this YouTube video to help us improve our Photoshop skills so that when we come to designing a DigiPack for our music video project, we will be able to use more of the tools available to us in Photoshop.
I used this photoshop tutorial to make a similar image using photoshop.
It goes into detail that can be used in other projects such as how to layer, how to fill in select images, linking layers together and various other things that can be used in making a poster of CD cover for our media project.
A star - when interest in their personal life outweighs interest in their profession.
Start image is constructed out of a range of materials.
Stars represent shared cultural values e.g. being thin, fashion trend, religion.
We get the idea of what we should be like from stars.
Some stars support hegemony by conforming to the ideal.
Celebrity magazines compare us or encourage us to conform to the ideal.
A star persona is fragile & can be broken at any time.
A star - when interest in their personal outweighs interest in their profession.
Star image is constructed out of a range of materials (films/posters/videos/magazines).
Star represent shared cultural values e.g. being thin, fashion trend, religion.
We get the idea of what we should be like from stars.
Some stars support Hegemony by conforming to the ideal.
Celebrity magazines compare us or encourage us to conform to the ideal.
Star persona is fragile and can be broken at any time.
To practice using Photoshop, I followed an online video tutorial. This was to help me understand how to use Photoshop more efficiently, and to teach me the basic and advanced tools.
The tutorial covered a multitude of methods to be used in Photoshop, which included; using the pen tool, cutting out and silhouetting a figure, layer effects (Like Overlay and Screen), adding text with different sizes and fonts, posterizing an image, using images sourced from the internet, and adding brushes downloaded from the internet.
When it comes to designing our group's final digi-pack design, all of these methods will be useful, and the video will act as a good reference if I ever forget any of the taught methods.
Below you can see the tutorial I followed, made by a man called "tutvid" on YouTube:
This slideshow shows what Goodwin's 6 points of music video tropes and what they usually include.
In the list is;
Visual/lyrical content - the use of visuals to reflect the lyrical content of a song e.g. if the songs references champagne then the video will include accompanying shots of champagne etc.
Visual/music content - the video will be edited in time with the music (editing on the beat) or will reflect the mood of the song with fitting visuals.
Genre characteristics - The video will reflect general themes of the genre, for example a rap music video will likely include shots of "gangsters" whereas a pop music video will likely include some form of narrative.
Need to sell artist - This is where the video will portray the artist in the way they or the record company wants to be shown. So a rock artist may be shown as a rebel. This can be seen with Ke$ha where she is sold as an alcoholic party animal in her videos. (see Tik Tok)
Intertextuality - This is where the video will reference other forms of media, such as re-making scenes from famous films in the music video, this is not the same as product placement as it is not trying to sell the other form of media to the public.
Voyeurism - This is where the music video will show the artistic in a voyeuristic manner, such as showing the exposed stomach or legs of a female artist to appeal to men and to show a "perfect" female to the female fans. Slowly this has been starting to include male artists as well.
