Planning - Annotated chosen song lyrics

This is a photo of our lyrics and surrounding it is our initial ideas as to what we want to film and have at certain lines of the song. I think this will be very useful as it would be hard to think of ideas on the spot when it comes to filming. Planning in advance is very important when making a music video as you need to know exactly what you need for certain lines so you can tell your band/artist what to wear and where to go. When we finish our music video it will be interesting to look back on this post and see how we developed these ideas or if we didn't change a thing and went along with the ideas we had in the first place.

Research - How have music videos changed?

Music videos have changed over time as technology has developed such as green screen, CGI and the quality of cameras. Also videos used to be more performance based as many people couldn't afford to go to the gigs/concerts and festivals such as Reading and Leeds were not available till 1989. This meant that if music videos were more performance based then people could have a feel to what the band was like live. It is now easier to distribute musics videos too due to the rise of the internet so this means bands can widen their target audience and sell more albums/songs.

This picture is from a Davie Bowie music video from 1970's. As you can see it is the artist playing live. Its also in black and white.

This is a screen grab from Love Story by taylor Swift. It is a narrative video and came out in 2008.

The comparison of the two videos is that for starters David Bowies is performance and Taylor Swift's is narrative. In my opinion I think Bowie's is performance as in them days people could not afford to pay to go to artists concerts or festivals weren't widely available so their music videos would be them performing live to give their fans an idea of what it was like to be at one of their gigs. Taylor swift's video however is in colour and is typically about a boy and girl being in love. Hers is narrative as more and more people can afford to go to her concerts and see her perform live so there is no need for her to do a performance based music video in 2008 like Bowie did in 1970.

Company name and logo.

The company name we have decided on is 'JC Records.' We have chosen this as even though it's not very creative it is a short, simple name and a mixture of the first letter in our names. (Jolie and Charlotte.) The logo will be 'JC' in bold letters and 'records' in smaller letters underneath.

I produced this logo on Adobe Elements 11. I think its simple but looks quite professional and smart.

Research- Shot Types and ASL in music video similar to genre choice.

Panic! At The Disco - This Is Gospel.

This is the establishing shot (birds eye view of the music video. It is the lead singer (Brendon Urie) lying on a table covered in a white cloth.

 These two shots are screengrabbed from when he starts to since the chorus. I love these two shot types as the close up of the side of his face shows him trying to break free from the doctors and it captures his facial expressions perfectly.

This birds eye view shot also shows him being held back and him trying to get free, yet again it captures his facial expressions of him passionately singing the chorus. I would love to have some shots like this in my own music video as I think it gives the video and lyrics more emotion and meaning.

These are the ending shots to this music video. Its a lot more dramatic than the establishing shot and again it focuses on his facial expressions and his passion.

These are all shots I would like to feature in my music video as they're very dramatic and effective in keeping the audience entertained.

These last shots link with the lyrics 'if you love me let me go.' This is shown in visuals as he is being held back quite violently by a lot of ropes and it is quite clear he is trying so hard to get free. Black and white costume is used in this shot as they are quite contrasting. White can be seen as pure and quite a positive colour which represents him trying to have a fresh pure start and be free. The black is the total opposite and is representing his depressive mood, however it can also represent death which is linked to how he wants to put and end / kill the  relationship he is in at the minute.

I think a flying shot in our video would fit with the emotive feel of the lyrics but would not be possible to do as it requires a lot of probably expensive equipment. 

Research- Music video with same genre as chosen song.

Arctic monkeys - Arabella.

This music is in black and white which is the same as our chosen song's music video (Settle Down). It also features the band performing the song. Goodwin's theory can be applied to this music video as it has a clear unique star image (Alex Turner, lead singer pictured below) and also he is singing in to camera which also fits in with Goodwin's theory.  This video is in black and white as it is not supposed to be modern and is meant to be set years ago before colour videos became possible. We are thinking of having our music video in black and white as I think black and white will look good and add emotive effect to the video and the band who originally sings the song have the majority of their videos in black and white too. I think we should keep to colour consistently and not switch between black and white shots and colour shots as it would  not look professional and would ruin the video in my opinion.

 Having the visuals match the song is another way this video links to Goodwin's theory. I think to an extent the visuals in this video do relate to the song as he is clearly singing about a girl and when he sings certain lines about this girl there is quick shots of a girl matching the description. For example when the line 'That little lady sitting on the passenger side' is sung there is a blurred shot of a woman sat on the passengers seat on the back of a motor cycle. Also at the beginning of the song when he is singing a visual description of 'Arabella' there is shots of a woman who the audience will interpret as Arabella. The girl has quite heavy make up on in some shots and I think this makes her look like a stereotypical girl who a boy sings about. The make up makes her look voyeuristic and this links with Laura Mulvey's 'male gaze' theory. This video also puts traditional gender roles in to place as it shows a girl with lots of make up being admired and adored by a boy.

Research- Analysis of Mise en scene, props and set design in music video similar to genre choice.

Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off - Panic! at the Disco.

Panic! at the Disco are a very unique and quirky band. Many of their music videos consist of a lot unusual props, costumes and set designs. I thought I would analyse one of their music videos for this particular post as I know they are very creative and strange and it may give me some ideas for my own music videos so I can make it stand out and be more creative/interesting. I think this particular video is narrative as it does tell a story about how a woman finds her husband dead in the middle of the street and decides to kill herself also. It is not performance as although the band do feature in  it they are not singing they are just being the paramedics who transport the dead couple. This video breaks conventions as it doesn't show the band performing into camera at any point and it doesn't feature any costume changes or involve hardly any props. It only has two locations which is again unusual as most music videos have many different locations.

The first 20 seconds show a few people walking around with fish bowls on their heads, it is unsure why they are doing this and this is why this music video is interesting as it keeps you watching as you don't know what is going to happen next. There is also little props in this video except cars.

The costume in this video is quite old and vintage as the men are seen to be dressed smartly and in suits and the women are in vintage clothes that would've been popular in the late 60's. You can see below the type of costume and set design featured commonly in this video.

The camera then shows a man laid on the floor with a smashed fish tank around him, representing he is dead. It is clear that he was the partner of the woman who we first saw with a tank on her head (top left in collage above) as then there is a montage of pictures of those two together. 

The video then goes on to show his partner pouring her own fish tank out representing suicide as she feels she can't live without him. 

The paramedics arrive and take them to the sea (location 2). They still have the same costume on and they are placed in to the sea together, I think this represents how they are now at peace and happily together again like the woman wanted to be.

Overall the quirky costumes in this video would be something I would consider, however I would like a wider range of set designs, more props and costume changes in my own music video. John Hartley's theory can be applied to this as he is against sticking to conventions and I think this unique video definitely breaks some conventions. Hartley says 'Genres are agents of idealogical closure, they limit the potential of a given text.' In my opinion if Panic! at the Disco decided to stick to codes and conventions with this video it would have been very boring and not as weird and wonderful as it turned out.

Research - Analysis of framing and angles in music video similar to genre choice.

Hozier - Take Me To Church.

This shot from the music video is my favourite Having the two males centre frame and kissing is very controversial as not many music videos feature homosexual relationships. The framing of this shot represents how important and prominent these two are in the video and in my opinion I think this close up shot is trying to put across how homosexual relationships in music videos should be as common as a boy girl relationship. This shot has a slight low angle, suggesting that they are powerful in this video. This is a modern social representation.

This over the shoulder shot where the male is in frame off centre is another good angle and frame as you can see whats going on in the background as well as seeing his reaction in the foreground. The pull focus on the male with his hands on his head shows his emotion and feelings without needing to see his face.

This is a centre frame shot is quite powerful as it shows the males face who is trying to find the couple. It shows is fierce facial expressions and dark clothing.

Most of the angles in this video are neutral and hardly no high or low angle. This represents how no one is superior in this video which is a strong message to the audience as its trying to say how all couples of every sexuality are the same and equal and should not be discriminated against. I think that more music videos in the present day should portray more different relationships such as this one instead of just the standard boy girl falling in love.

Blumler and Katz's theory can be applied here as there is a lot that goes on in this video that a modern audience can relate to such as homosexuality. The 'personal relationship' part of their theory is what people will relate to as more and more people are becoming more comfortable with accepting their sexuality and I think this video is very relatable to people who are thinking of coming out or already have come out. It is a very modern social representational video and in my opinion it is very powerful.

Research- Make up and Costume in Chosen Genre.

Pop punk and indie make up mostly consists of winged eyeliner and dark lipstick. My star image for the girls involved in my music video would be similar to the girls in the photos. Piercings and tattoos are also common in the pop punk/indie genre so I would like the people in my video to have some facial piercings and maybe try and find some people with tattoos to star in the video as well. The 3 people in the bottom right photo are perfect star images for my chosen genre. I will refer back to this photo when I am planning my filming and see if I can do make up and costume exactly like that. Clothing for this genre is mostly black T-shirts and jeans or band T-shirts and converse shoes.

I have a female actress booked with one facial piercing, multiple ear piercings and tongue piercings. So in my video I need to make sure I use the correct angles and maybe some side profile close up shots so I can include her piercings and make it clear to people what genre my music video is.

Planning- Costume and Make-up.

This slidely shows exactly what I want the people starring in my music video to look like. I want the girls to have winged eyeliner, dark lipstick and indie style clothes. On the other hand I want the boys to have their hair styled like the guys shown the video or have a beanie on. The type of clothes I would like the boys to wear would be black jeans a T-shirt and a denim jacket. I would prefer some of the people starring in my video to have visible tattoos and piercings. The star image overall will be a person who can be easily recognisable as Indie/Pop Punk. This is my initial ideas on what I want the actors too look like.

Update to ideas and Planning Locations.

We didn't manage to find an abandoned warehouse but we did find a tunnel which was abandoned and over grown so it gave us some very good shots and was very good to use as a frame when taking pictures of Ethan. We looked around at abandoned places we thought would suit our video but in the end we chose to shoot the video and take pictures in a tunnel and under a bridge looked better as the natural lighting was good.

As you can see from this shot the tunnel gives the same eery abandoned effect as a warehouse would and there is a lot more going on in this tunnel such as the greenery and graffiti on some of the wall. This tunnel adds more diversity of colour than an empty warehouse would.

Research - Location in music video similar to genre choice.

(Just plays through, don't press the arrows)

Research- Analysis of music video 3 (concept)

By The Way - Red Hot Chili Peppers (RHCP)

This video is concept as it doesn't really follow any type of story and also the visuals do not link with the lyrics. It is a very unique video as bands don't normally take the risk in doing a concept video unless they have a wide and active fan base like the RHCP's do so they can risk doing a unique and weird video because they know their fans will like it either way.

This is the establishing shot of the person who will be the main focus of this video along with the taxi driver he is about to encounter. It seems like a normal video up until the point where the taxi driver engages with the passenger. This is where the audience will come more interested in what is happening in this video. The editing in this video is minimal as its mostly just cuts between the band performing and the strange taxi driver in a tunnel.

The high speed car journey and shots of the car speeding past adds tension to the video as no one knows where they are going or whats going to happen.

They arrive at an empty tunnel and this is where the plot twist happens. The driver goes to his boot and gets something out, ovbiously we all think he is going to harm the passenger as the man in the car texts someone saying 'HELP been kidnapped!!' 

It then has a mid shot of the driver with some flares. He then starts crazily dancing and at this point we have figured out he is not going to harm the passenger. This plot twist of this concept video will keep the audience active and interested in what is going to happen in the end. The editing techniques in this video are simplistic as they are mostly jump cuts from the band to the driver. The driver shots are a normal shot length but the shots of the band are quite quick and over cranked.

There are a lot of quick close up performance shots in this of the band so in  a way this video is a mixture of performance and concept.

Research- Analysis of Music video 2 (Narrative)

Grenade - Bruno Mars.