MS - Animatic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v44jC8dnqbk

Above is our animatic which details what shots will appear where in our music video, our drawings of the shots showing the sequence playing out at specific points in the video. When we have filmed some footage and have later captured it, our animatic will help us a great deal as we can substitute what we have filmed for the drawings. Each drawing shows the shot size and the movement (if any), and again, this will help us when shooting to remember what shots we need to do and what the camera will reveal.

MS - Stop Motion Animation Practice

We decided it would be a good idea to practice stop motion animation so we could learn about any problems we could encounter on our music video shoot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk4cuP-_wOo

NW Shot Idea - Stop Motion Animation 4

Posted by Nick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANKjz-7uZIc

Above is a link to a music video in which the band We Have Band use stop motion animation with make up to create a truly surreal as well as slightly scary effect, the people involved given ‘artificial’ life through paint representing their facial features in the video for ‘You Came Out’.

The video is extremely clever as it is obviously lo-fi, with the shots being very jerky from one to the next, giving it as rugged and supposedly ‘rebellious’ appearance, but on the other hand, the video pushes boundaries and thus is postmodern and artistic.

As the video is very bland, using simple make up against a black and white background, colour is subtly applied to great effect, bringing out a vibrant and exciting flare in, on what would appear to be on first looks, a relatively simple and bland video. We will look at this video again and perhaps take influence from its style when producing our video.

NW Shot Idea - Stop Motion Animation 3

Posted by Nick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLUAbkRUvVQ

Here is an advert which incorporates stop motion animation as well as lots of other simple editing techniques, including sped-up time.

The video is truly inspiring as it has accomplished complete realism and believability using the time consuming technique, I particularly liked the beginning establishing shots where the shadows moving are captured as time elapses.

We managed to achieve this same effect when we filmed our practice stop motion and thus we hope to achieve a similar effect when filming our video. Obviously, we will not be able to achieve such a high amount of believability as we have practically no budget and have a limited amount of time to produce the video, however, we can always come back to this advert, watch it, and gain motivation.

NW Digipak Idea - Moodboard

Posted by Nick

These are a few ideas which we will look at when designing our album cover as well as the back and interior as the whole digipak has to consist of four sides.

We chose to use themes of a Victorian circus, with ‘freaks’ including moustached weight lifters and men dressed as women. This eerie cover will be in keeping with the supernatural feel we hope to achieve in our music video. Also apparent on the moodboard are images of bright patterned clothing garments as we intend to use a bold and eye catching layout with various colours, shapes and characters apparent.

NW Shot Idea - Stop Motion Animation 2

Posted by Nick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_ivhQUkLfo

Above is a link to a video by local Indie group The Help Movement with their song ‘Windowsill’.

The video consists of roughly 1000 still images and thus gives it its desired lo-fi feel which we hope to imitate for ‘Give Yourself Away’, however, after watching the video as a group, Mark and I have decided that this video is too jerky and thus we would like to use more shots to ensure our video runs smoothly, but this means we will need to make sure that every consecutive shot is exactly the same as the last (except from the main ‘animated’ object), and this will take a lot of time and effort!

NW Stop Motion Animation Practice 1

Posted by Nick

Above is our first stop motion animation practice in which we tried to imitate Mark walking up a set of stairs. The sequence of the stop motion reads from top to bottom on each column. We are very happy with the outcome of this test, however we both feel we need more practice using the camera to make stop motion animation seem believable.

NW Pitch Script

Posted by Nick

Below is the script which we used to raise certain points and information when giving our pitch, it gave us a basis of what we must say as well as backing up our design which we wanted our class and teachers to approve of.

(First two slides – Title and Introduction)

Slide 1

Nick- Hello and welcome to Mark and Nick’s pitch, where we hope to entice you to give us the go ahead to produce our video. Our brief was to produce a music video for any song, by any artist, as long as the song did not already have a video. Whilst keeping to some stock conventions of our genre, we have been free to develop artistic and concept- based ideas

Mark- For our chosen song, we have decided to use Jack Peñate’s song ‘Give Yourself Away’ off his second studio album, Everything is New. The songs up beat and energetic feel is in keeping with the indie genre, however its wide variety of instruments used gives us, as producers, a chance to create a different video, in keeping with the alternative sound.

(Play song)

Slide 2

Mark – after listening to the song as a group, we found that it contains many loud instruments, thus producing a lively atmosphere; we thought the video would contain a lot of people, playing instruments etc., and the choruses are much livelier than the verses, slowing the tone then building it up to speed very quickly

Nick – the song is also very different to traditional ‘Indie’ music, using more complex instrumentation, and listening to the lyrics, we’ve decided to make a concept rather than narrative based video, as the words do not make much sense…

Slide 3

Nick – What have we learnt? Well, firstly, from our product analysis, we found that Meat shots of the band are not always needed for concept based video’s, that to achieve ‘repeatability’ in ‘Indie’ videos, directors normally go for the artistic and challenging route, and finally, with simple editing and very few effects, a ‘documentary’ type video can be made.

Mark- from our technical analysis’, we found that the Majority of the shots in indie videos are CU and MS. LS is occasionally used, but only to establish the scene, and that Lo-fi techniques can be very effective

Slide 4

Mark – so, our concept... begins with a reverse painting, using combination of colours being smudged together to reveal the title, ‘Jack Peñate in Give Yourself Away’. Next, in the first chorus, we will use stop motion animation, following single strands of cloth which leads to a doorway in a woods, and through these doors the camera reveals Jack Peñate performing with his band, once again in stop motion and this is the first verse.

Nick- next, we go back out through the door into the woods, following once again the cloth in stop motion. After this, we go through another, different door where we see jack performing again, with his band members slowly moving out of shot. The final verse shows the lead guitarist performing his solo in reverse time, again using stop motion, and for the finish, the camera will just track out of the woods.

Slide 5

Mark – Mark – in our audience research we required to know what people who watched music videos of all genres wanted to see. We asked twenty people to answer a questionnaire in which we asked questions such as ‘Would you expect to see jack Peñate in the music video?’, and ‘Do you think stop motion animation would offer an exciting video?’ Feedback from the questions certified what we had thought our target audience would want with stop motion being highly approved of, and thus helping us to gain confidence when making our video. 58% of people thought it was important to see the singer in the video and so thus, when designing our animatic we have decided to make our video equally performance and concept based.

Slide 6

Nick- our ideas for costume are just reinforcing the indie connotations, skinny jeans, long hair, and to keep in with the artistic theme we have been thinking of using elaborate make up on the bands faces, kindly provided by my sister.

Slide 7

Mark- for our locations we have looked around two local woodland, trying to find a place that will be visually impressive, as well as not very busy as we don’t want to disturb to many dog walkers when were filming. Our first location is Dene Park in Tonbridge. This is a suitable location with lots of beautiful areas we could film in. (wait...)

Slide 8

Mark- The second is Knole Park in Sevenoaks, here there are lots of interesting trees and open spaces to film in, and it is not very busy.

Slide 9

Nick- here is a few of the shots we hope to use in our video, first of all, we intend to shoot the majority of our video in stop motion animation, Used in the choruses and the verses, next we hope to use reverse time for the guitar solo in the third chorus. Other visual techniques which we may use are using a fish eye lens to provide an eerie and supernatural feel, and we also may use the green screen, but this will seriously dig in to our time in which we have to make the video.

Slide 10

Mark – our biggest challenges will come from trying to use the green screen and stop motion animation effectively without them looking horrendously shabby.

Nick – stop motion animation will be a challenge because the process is time consuming, having to shoot roughly 5 to 10 frames each second, If something is accidentally knocked or moved, then the singular still image will look out of place, and thus the whole stop motion animation sequence will be ruined and may have to be done again. For the shot to be convincing, everything has to appear to be ‘living’, therefore lots of objects have to be individually altered for each frame. The singer will have to break down each line of the song into syllables or half syllables, and this can be confusing, as well as it potentially not being convincing in the final edit

Mark – green screen will be another challenge because everything has to be neat with no creases, otherwise when removing the green background in post production, there will be lots of areas to move, adding to the time. If we combine stop motion animation and the green screen, each background will need to be put in for each frame. It is time consuming to assemble and difficult to move from location to location

Slide 11

Nick- to solve these problems regarding stop motion, we will do shots quickly as possible to minimise capturing anything changing.

Mark – to solve any green screen problems, we will only use it in certain parts of video, using only one character at each time, as well as spending time making everything smooth. Finally we will film all green screen footage first

Slide 12

Nick - for our digipak, we have looked at a lot of previous album artwork and this has inspired us to think of a few initial ideas and themes which we may use for our final album cover. Since we will predominantly shoot with simple camera techniques and editing we will have simplistic artwork, using Victorian imagery as well as a circus theme, highlighting the songs lively and quirky feel. Here are a few images which we think are in keeping with the theme of our desired digipak. And here are a few throw-up designs incorporating the simple yet artistic artwork. This one uses a picture of Adam and Eve in which we have applied a postmodern twist, altering it to make the image livelier.

Slide 13

Mark – there are certain aspects of production which we must consider when making our music video and digipak in order to promote Peñates music and himself as an artist.

Nick – we must make a video which uses a variety of CU to reinforce the singer’s indie appeal as well as his stylish ‘look’. We should also make a video which is in keeping with the singers previous videos, therefore we will make an artistic and challenging video which lets the music shine.

Mark – For the digipak, we must make an album artwork which is similar to the music videos visual style as well as giving an idea as to what the song will sound like, using visuals which connote a lively and energetic feel which the song has.

Slide 14

Nick- finally, thank you for listening, hope you like our idea for our video.

NW Pitch & Evaluation

Jack Penate, Give Yourself Away Powerpoint

Posted by Nick

Jack Peñate powerpoint presentation (pitch)

(PLEASE CLICK ON THE BLUE TITLE 'JACK PENATE GIVE YOURSELF AWAY POWERPOINT' TO WATCH THE SLIDESHOW ON THE SLIDEBOOM WEBSITE)

Above is our pitch in which we told our classmates and teachers what our general idea for our music video and digipak was.

The idea was to give our peers visual stimulus as well as research from other music videos, audience and styles present in the ‘Indie’ genre, so that everyone would be able to start to picture together what our final video will look like, our suggestion of using the green screen as well as stop motion animation giving them a clear outline of the work which we will create.

We needed to tell the class what our initial ideas were from listening to the track, as well as what our biggest challenges were and how we would overcome them. By analysing our idea and discovering our challenges, we have been able to alter the video’s plan to cater for the time consuming processes which our video will possess.

Our audience research backed up our ideas which we pitched to the class, with the majority of people we asked wishing to see someone playing Jack Peñate in the video, as well as a large majority agreeing that stop motion animation would give the video its eerie and supernatural quality which the music conjures up.

We also gave a brief outline of what both our product analysis and our technical analysis’s had taught us, with both research tasks allowing us both to gain a deeper insight into the ‘Indie’ genre’s conventions.

Included in the pitch were ideas on location, costume, and types of shot for our video, and these visuals helped us certify with our audience what our proposed idea would look like, each photograph we had taken in Dene and Knole park were potential shots we would use in our video. Ideas on costume gave a brief idea on what we may use, however, the class feedback to the pitch shgowed that they felt a need for more vibrantly coloured outfits to be used in the video, rather than the traditional ‘Indie’ skinny jeans and baggy coats.

We also included themes and inspiration which we will look at when devising our album cover, with images of old Victorian circus freaks and loud vibrant patterns being the main visuals which we intended to use.

Finally, we told the class how both our digipak and our music video would promote our artist, and we will do this through keeping in with Peñate’s previous visual style, as well as using CU shots so the audience can identify with the artist.

Overall, our pitch was a major success with many positive comments coming back from both our teachers and classmates and thus we are now extremely confident with our proposed ideas

MS - Audience Research

We conducted audience research using Survey Monkey on the Internet. The advantage of using Survey Monkey is that it collects and helps us analyse our results. The purpose of the audience research was to test our concept and to see what people thought about it. We asked questions about stop motion animation as this going to be used for the majority if not the whole video.

57% of people said they liked the idea of stop motion animation. Although 43% of people clicked other it did not necessarily mean that they did not like the idea of stop motion animation. The people that clicked on other said that they thought it was 'innovative' and 'interesting'. There was a weakness in my question in that other the 'Like It' there were no other positive responses so people had to click on other. Another question we asked was if people had seen any other of Jack Penate's videos,

Although, this clearly shows that the majority of the people haven't seen a Jack Penate video, the people who had thought it was 'visually interesting' and 'innovative'. We also asked if the audience would expect to see Jack Penate in the video.


This clearly shows that an overwhelming majority would expect to see Jack Penate in the video. The audience research as a whole was a success as it showed that the audience thought our idea was good as they liked the idea of stop motion animation and they expected to see Jack Penate in the video.

NW Video Analysis 2

Posted by Nick

'Ulysses' by Franz Ferdinand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31sZ9xZr_Ew


Genre and Narrative

The video for the single ‘Ulysses’ by Scottish Indie rockers Franz Ferdinand, (from their third studio album ‘Tonight: Franz Ferdinand’), sees the band venture into a dated and somewhat uncanny town to endure a night of endless revelry in a variety of the towns eerie setting.

Exploring Andrew Goodwin’s theories about the basic structure evident in all music videos, we can see how the director has used specific conventions to make sure the audience easily identify the video as being from the ‘Indie’ genre. The video is a combination, with narrative and concept based, as well as a performance aspect, depicting the band going out to various places, including a bar, a motel and a dry-cleaners, all throughout their night on the town, thus giving the video it’s narrative, however, it does not conform to traditional ideas associated with the ‘Indie’ genre, as the band are shown to all have insomnia, not able to sleep, their physical appearance depicting them as either drunk or high, residing in a very different setting, the town they visit is old and dirty, with cheap, harsh lighting, which gives the visuals a distinctive artistic feel, whilst also making the video concept based. There are also aspects of performance as on a number of occasions, as we see the band performing together in the desolate bars of the town, causing mayhem, wrecking hotel rooms, all conventions associated with the genre.

The beat of the music is in keeping with the visuals, as whilst in the verses, there are shots that have been slowed down in the editing process, slow-pans and lingering shots, whereas in the choruses, as the music builds to its up-beat and livelier feel, the visuals are faster and contain shots which include quick-zoom’s and fast-pan’s, which connote the heavy party atmosphere that the band are experiencing at the time, in the normally quiet and fairly creepy town.

There is also a link between the lyrics and visuals, as the director chooses on many occasions to amplify them, with the lyric, ‘come on let’s get high’, the band are shown jumping around on their beds, (giving the lyrics its literal meaning) whilst in their drunken state, and when we hear the lead singer, Alex Kapranos sing ‘Am I Ulysses?’, in the phone box in which he sings the line, there is a poster asking the same question.

There is very little reference to the notion of looking, with only a few shots giving a further insight into the personal lives of the band, as we watch the band member’s reflections in the washing machine of the dry-cleaners, these shots being used to add to the confusion of both the band members who perform their actions in the video, and for the audience, who watch from a distance whilst the band lose their minds in the psychedelic hedonism.

The video is an example of illustration, as the song describes the drug abuses and drunken antics experienced by the group, and the audience immediately understands the concept, the strange visuals, depicting one eyed cowboys and china dolls, all highlighting the disturbed thoughts and feelings one has whilst in this state of mind.

The editing rhythm speeds up as the chorus begins, with the first chorus beginning with a drum roll, each hit of the drum in the music showing a different visual in the video, illustrating the pace of which the band live their lives.

The video is very postmodern, placing the band in an unfamiliar setting where they are free to run wild, thus creating bricolage, as we see the band behaving like traditional British rock stars,(with beliefs certified in the media that many musicians take drugs and drink heavily), in a strange town, where everything seems to have been left in the past, with the traditionally bland interior evident in the hotel, similar to those in the 1970’s, with images of Jesus and God certifying the idea of a heavily religious and therefore potentially intimidating town, in keeping with the bands meta-narrative of powerful, hardcore rock stars.

The video is both ‘commercial’, using meat shots and the first person mode of address to make sure the audience identify with the band and buy into the ‘product’ which is being sold, but it is also postmodern and artistic, with captivating imagery, highlighted through the lighting and mise-en-scene, which gives the video its repeatability factor.

Media Language

There is a wide variety of shot sizes, angles and movements used in the video, and I believe that the director has chosen to do this to add to the sense of mystery and bewilderment already established with the eerie locations and activities the group encounter. In the beginning of the song, meat shots and XCU, as well as images from all locations apparent in the video are shown on screen, and this is used to allow the audience to identify with the band, understand what the song is about and where the journey will take them. There is a sequence where the group run through a desert area, and here LS, MS and CU are all used at both a low and mid angle, showing the band from all perspectives in a variety of directions, and this is a prime example of the camerawork evident in the entire video, which uses an array of camera shots, the audience getting the feel that the video has been shot very quickly, with no set structure defining that there should be a certain amount of shots of the lead singers face, with the random shot sizes, angles and movements all flowing as one big visual insight into the bizarre and quirky world of the band.

When analysing the editing of the video, we can see how the director has chosen to use a variety of simple techniques to highlight the drugged up state in which the band perform, using slow-mo to highlight the bands drowsiness, one such shot of the lead singer depicts him in his tattered clothing, (mouth ajar, due to the state that he’s in), with everyone around him laughing jokily, as if mocking him as well as his lifestyle, the slow-mo emphasising the feelings which the singer experiences at this moment. The director also uses reverse time when the lead guitarist jumps to his bed, again, this technique adding to the style of the video, with its unfamiliar setting with a band who will find it somewhat more unsettling, due to the spirits in which they are in. The editing slows down and subsequently fastens when the music turns from its slower verses to its up beat choruses, emphasising the high’s and the low’s the band experience.

Analysing mise-en-scene we can see how the director has added certain props, and used certain lighting techniques to add to the visual style maintained throughout the song. In a shot from the first verse, we see a stretch limo in the background highlighting the party life the band lead, and in subsequent shots we see the old 1980’s game arcades, and from these subtle props, the viewer is lead to believe that either the band or the town which they are in is very dated and un-modern, and this adds to confusion of the entire visual style. The lighting is very stark and harsh, making the bands complexion seem poor, as if they haven’t washed in a long time (highlighted through their greasy hair and ragged clothing), and this directly challenges mainstream videos which heavily airbrush singers to make them seem perfect, here, Franz Ferdinand saying to its audience that not everyone is how the media portray them to be.

The director has made the video with the idea of avant-garde and pastiche firmly in their mind as there is evidence of intertextual reference, using ideas from iconic films such as ‘Fight Club’, where the lead character suffers from insomnia which leads to his wayward lifestyle, similar to that of the band. The director uses semiotics, images of God and old children’s toys to create a ghostly atmosphere, the audience getting the feeling that, like the band, they are lost in unknown territory, similar to conventional American horror films, where an unsuspecting group of friends find themselves trapped in a forbidding town stuck in the past. This use of intertextual reference helps the audience to understand the bands concept and make them draw on past experiences from other films to heighten the feelings of nostalgia and restlessness depicted in the visuals.

Representation

Like many of the bands previous videos, they are seen performing in a variety of settings and locations, all with postmodern connotations. With the video for ‘Matinee’ the band perform in a dilapidated school, and in the video for ‘No You Girls’, in a studio, with explosions of colour going off around them, and thus this artistic, pastiche, and postmodern video for ‘Ulysses’ is in keeping with the band’s meta-narrative, the audience expecting tem to produce new and exciting videos with an unconventional twist which they have executed so well in other videos. The use of meat shots help to maintain identity with the band, however the visuals of the rebellious lifestyle which they lead (one of Richard Dyer’s key paradoxes), take their fans to an area which perhaps they are not familiar with, the director choosing to show the band in a dream-like state, not wary of what happens around them.

All of the people in the video (excluding the band members) are depicted as being rather strange and stagnant, with CU of the one-eyed cowboy, the man dressed in leather, and various people at the bar all having quirky attributes, whether it be their peculiar dress sense not immediately recognisable by ‘Indie’ fans, their wild hairstyles or their flamboyant mannerisms, and thus the audience connotes that the director is trying to convey these people as odd and dissimilar to the supposed ‘normality’ of the band. All men in the bar are shown drinking, reinforcing the image of masculinity, drinking alcohol in order to have a good time, and other people present, for example the bald man in the dry-cleaners, is dressed in very dated clothing, suggesting the band are perhaps well far ahead of their time. Whilst the lyrics illustrate the bands rock star lifestyle, the visuals also add to their image, with their unkempt clothing and hair showing their poor living conditions whilst also glamorising the music business, as with their newly found image, they are shown to have an extremely enjoyable time.

In many mainstream videos, the ‘stars’ are seen enjoying life’s luxuries, coated in jewellery, surrounded by gorgeous women, and whilst this belief that to have a good time, one must own such items, and thus be wealthy is not evident in all ‘Indie’ videos, it does appear as a strong ideology in many other genres, ranging from ‘Pop’ to ‘Hip-Hop’. In Franz Ferdinand’s music video, this ideology of capitalism is challenged, as the band are seen enjoying themselves in perhaps a childish manor, finding enjoyment from jumping around on beds and spinning round in a tumble- dryer. The band talk of ‘getting high’, and whilst they are not shown doused head to toe in jewellery, they gain much enjoyment (and on the downside, later, paranoia), from their supposed binge on drink and drugs, although the video does not directly show them doing this.

Institution and Audience

As the video is by a relatively well known band (Franz Ferdinand gaining chart success throughout Europe and America), it would be shown on the majority of music channels associated with ‘chart music’ as well as those which specify in the genre, such as NME, which shows a variety of ‘Indie’ and ‘Rock’ videos. Due to the video’s lo-fi feel, specifically detailing a night in the lives of the band, with simple camera techniques with no special effects, the video could be consumed in a focused manner, with the director relying heavily on the visuals to entice the audience to watch more, the style serving as an enigma as to what strange escapades the band will encounter next, creating ‘narrative fuzz’, and giving the video its ‘repeatability’.

Analysing the mise-en-scene, we see the band messing around together in a hotel room with their instruments, and thus this could mean that some audience members watch the video in an ambient manner, the performance aspect of the video being relatively similar to mainstream videos.

The production company has obviously stressed a need for meat shots, adding to the bands star image persona so the audience can identify with them, but apart form this, the band have been free to do what they want in the video, a ‘documentary’ feel being created, showing the mischief and mayhem the band get up to on a night out in a town which is shown to have no life nor energy, and thus the only way to have fun is ‘get high’, the director successfully documenting what happens, through various shots in various locations when the band do so.

MS - Video Analysis 2

Daniel Merriweather featuring Wale – ‘Change’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F5hFana8JA

Genre and Narrative

The music video or ‘Change’ by Daniel Merriweather featuring Wale is completely a performance video. This is common with this genre of music, especially for solo artists. Solo artists want to make themselves as recognisable as possible so they can sell themselves as a product; especially as he is a fairly new artist. The notion of looking is definitely used in this video, throughout virtually the whole video Daniel Merriweather is singing directly at the camera; this is the notion of looking. The notion of looking is used to make it seem as if the artist is singing directly at the viewer, this creates a personal feel for the audience and makes the artist more accessible; therefore they are likely to sell more records if there audience can relate to them. The video is an example of a loose illustrative video. An illustrative video is one that describes the lyrics and sound of the track. ‘Change’ is an example of a loose illustrative video as it shows the broken society in the background that they are singing about. This video could be considered artistic as it is all shot in front of a green screen, which is not very common, so that in itself is a challenging idea as it is not often seen within this genre.

Media Language

The whole video is shot from a low angle looking up at the artists. This gives the artist a feeling of having a high status. When you couple this with the notion of looking which gives the artist a personal feel with the consumer, it reinforces Richard Dyer’s ideas about stars when he says that ‘The star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary from the consumer’. This means that the star need to be ordinary enough so that people can relate to them and they must be extraordinary to make them intriguing and therefore people will buy their products. The majority of the shots used are CU’s and MCU’s, this is so that the audience can really remember what Daniel Merriweather looks like and therefore will instantly recognise his products. When it comes to editing, fades and cuts are used for the transitions between shots. Fades are used to give the video a slick, smooth feeling. The mise-en-scene in this video is the clothes that Daniel Merriweather is wearing. They are clothes that would typically connote the indie/alternative genre to which Daniel Merriweather belongs. The skinny jeans, shirt and jacket with converse shoes are clothing that many of the artists of this genre would wear. Therefore, the clothing is used in this video to reinforce the genre of the artist. The other mise-en-scene in the video would be the images in the background. They are pictures of very urban streets; they are very dark and gloomy and the walls are covered in graffiti. The images in the background are used to connote the brocken society that Daniel Merriweather is singing about. The video is all shot in front of a green screen and the urban images have replaced the green in the editing process. This is a post filmic effect. The video is quite lo-fi as the director and artist would want people to focus on the message that is portrayed by the song, not the video. The message is that society has broken down and people have to learn to work and live together. The reference to popular culture is the clothing worn by Daniel Merriweather, as they are generally considered to be trendy and stylish in today’s society.

Representation

This video would represent the artist in a very serious and political way from the message he is trying to convey. It would differ from any previous work as he would just be viewed as someone making music and trying to make it in the music industry. The fact that Daniel Merriweather is trying to convey a very serious message would help sell his product as people would start taking him seriously if they weren’t already. The social groups that are represented in this video are white middle class males and black working class males. White middle class males are represented through Daniel Merriweather and black working class males are represented through Wale. The fact that they are collaborating on this song reinforces the message portrayed in the song as it shows two people from different background and class working together, so there is no reason why this can’t work in society.

Institution and Audience

The target audience for this video would be as wide a demographic as possible so they can get there message out to as many people as possible, but as it is Daniel Merriweather and Wale in the video it is more likely to be consumed by young adults and teenagers. They would try and get this video on as many music channels and radio stations as possible so they can get as many people as they can t hear it and take in there message. I think this video would be for focused viewing as if it was just on in the background you wouldn’t get the message the artists is trying to put out there.

MS - Location 'Reccie' - Dene Park

Myself and Nick went on a location 'reccie' to Dene Park in Tonbridge. We took a snare drum and a high hat, this was so we could a good feel of what the location would look like if we chose to use this location. We found the location to be very usefull and we shall definately consider using it. After visiting Dene Park we went on a location 'reccie' in Knowl Park, which is in Sevenoaks.

MS - Idea

From my technical analysis I have noticed that silhouettes are used by bands and artists of this genre. Jack Penate in the video 'Today's Tonight' has shots of himsleve in front of a very bright background so all you can only see a silhouette of him. Perhaps this is something we should consider for our own music video.

NW Shot Idea - Reverse Painting

Posted by Nick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFnugokGlkw

Above is an embedded clip of a reverse painting, with the artist having filmed himself creating his artwork, and later, on editing software, he has applied the reverse time setting, so the paint seems to come off the page with each stroke.

We will be using a similar idea in the beginning of our music video, with our title of the song and the artist (‘Jack Peñate in Give Yourself Away’) seemingly coming off the canvas on which we will paint on. This will be played in the beginning thirteen seconds of the song, building up the tone of our video and thus leading our audience into the next sequence of action, as at the end of our reverse painting, our stop motion animation will begin.

NW Brighton Photo's

Posted by Nick

After our trip to Brighton, (in which our aim was to capture a variety of shots using different sizes and movements, as well as creating images which were individual to our own video), we have made a collage of photos from the day out, showing the variety of locations which Brighton has to offer, thus making it an ideal location for any music video, keeping in with all genres, ranging from the sandy beaches for the ‘Pop’ videos, and the graffiti wall’s for all ‘Indie’ videos.

We wanted to capture some interesting and artistic shots which we could perhaps recreate for our music video, and thus we tried to reach some hard to reach areas which weren’t clearly visible from the main streets, for example, as you can see in a couple of shots, we ventured into a dirty and empty alleyway and took a picture with me in the shot, similar to ‘Rock star’ images, and the album cover for the Libertines 2004 self-titled album, as well as underneath the Brighton pier, capturing a beautiful shot which showed off the intricate yet rusted metalwork, compared to the natural beauty of the sea and pebble beach.

The wide angle shots of the beach also show off Brighton’s variety of untouched areas, which would be ideal for an ‘Indie’ video which was designed to give a ‘documentary’ feel, a style which has been incorporated for a variety of videos, including the Maccabee’s ‘Can You Give It’, and Peter, Bjorn & John’s ‘Nothing to Worry About’.

Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to create our short video showing the shots which we hope to use in our own music video, incorporating a variety of angles and movements, (as well as reminding ourselves how to use the camera equipment, as it has been just under a year since the last time we used them), as on the day of the Brighton reccie, we shot all our footage on my HD camera which has not been recognised by the school computers, the HD format not compatible with the editing software Premier Elements 3.0.

At the moment, technicians at the school are downloading software which will hopefully allow us to change the HD format with which our footage is in to a format which we will be recognised by the school computers, and when this is done we will be able to quickly edit and post our video. Whilst the images we shot have much more definition, as a group we have decided not to shoot again in HD as it is incredibly time consuming to convert the format, and this will consequently negatively effect our production as it slows down all aspects which contribute to making the video.

MS - Group Roles

Nick - Camera Man, Producer, Director

Mark - Camera Man, Editor

Although we have our roles it does not mean that we will not drift into different areas. For example Nick might need/want to do some editing work, and I may need/want to do some Directing work.

MS - Tuesday 6th october Reccie

On tuesday 6th October we have an inset day from school. This could be the perfect oppurtunity for us to go on some 'reccies' as we would have a whole day of daylight in which we could try out shots in several different locations, and we wouldn't have to try and squeeze it in within the couple of hours of daylight after school. This 'reccie' will give us a good idea of what our music video will look.