The main piece of software needed to create the storyboard and music video was Final Cut Express. This software is used across the film making and editing industry which meant we had the best technology available in making our own short animated video. The program allows the user to add clips of film or still photos and create a video. It also gives the availability of adding transitions such as cuts and fades to the video made, this can give a more professional look when making the music video, and a clearer view of what our video will look like on our storyboard.
Here is the interface of Final Cut Express. When first opening the program it looks a confusing piece of software. However after watching numerous videos on the internet (here, here and here) and we finally got our heads round the concept of Final Cut Express, however Matt seemed most comfortable so we decided he should be the main editor. The right hand side screen is a preview of the final clip which will be created, and the left hand side screen is the editing screen. This means when editing transitions or adding effects the left screen shows how the editing and the right the final clip once you have finished editing the clip or photo.
The lines shown at the bottom of the image above are the guides of long the song is, this allows the user place an image in this case for a set amount of time before cutting to the next shot. There is also a vertical gray line which runs across the horizontal bars, this line shows where the song is relative to the shots. This enables us to set the shot we want with the correct lyrics easily, as well as plan where certain fades will be evident in the final video.
During the past few weeks the group and I have been making a storyboard for our music video. This was a long process which needed many ideas and sketches for the video itself. Myself and Jay were in charge of creating the storyboard as Matt was editing the song as it was rather long and repetitive.
This is a photo of Jay and I creating the storyboard. This required listening to the song constantly so that we could illustrate our video to certain lyrics and timings. We often decided to take on certain stages of the song separately so we could complete it in the quickest time possible, we would then show each other our ideas and give feedback, this enabled us to change or keep certain points of the video we felt were necessary. The idea of using this storyboard is so that when filming we know exactly what we are going to film and where, which will save us time in the long run production of the music video.
This image is Matt editing our storyboard on Final Cut Express, this software allows the user to add transitions such as fades and decide how long each shot will be. Getting to grips with this software proved difficult to Jay and I so we thought Matt would be better suited as he was relatively comfortable using it. Although Matt was editing the majority of the storyboard, Jay and I also used it as we wanted to be familiar with the software in case Matt was unavailable to edit our work during the process of creating the video.
Here is an image of our storyboards once finished. As it shows there were many sketches drawn for each shot which was fairly time consuming. However the process was made slightly easier as in some parts of the song we intend to have the same type of shot, so we didn't need to draw each one as they were the same. The idea of creating a storyboard at first seemed unnecessary and just another complication, however now it is complete the group and I can see why doing it was worth it as it gives us a clear idea of what we need to do. It will also save us a huge amount of time when actually filming as we will know exactly what shots we need to create the music video.
The conventions of music videos are still seen today in modern music videos. Here are some examples of modern videos which follow the conventions set by Andrew Goodwin.
Example
The image above is from the music video of Example - Stay Awake. This video was produced in 2011 so is very recent, the idea of using close ups is therefore still a popular part of music videos today. The ability to use close ups allows the artist to make eye contact with the audience which may enhance audience interaction, thus causing more people to want to watch the video.
Rizzle Kicks
Music videos either correspond or contradict the lyrics of the song, this is shown in the video to Rizzle Kicks - Down With The Trumpets. The chorus is the title of the song and at this part of the video one the artists is seen with a trumpet, this therefore corresponds to the lyrics. The way in which this video corresponds to the lyrics is through narrative and live performance shots.
Swedish House Mafia
This shot is from Swedish House Mafia - Save The World. It portrays a sense of voyeurism as the restaurant the man was working at was shoplifted. As the song shows a pack of dogs save the people or catch the criminals involved. The man is therefore watching the dog run after the criminals who attacked the restaurant. This notion of looking adds to a sense of the audience watching the artist perform, which adds exclusivity to the video. However in this particular video the artists are not visible, but the dogs which are acting as the artists are.
Eminem & D12
This shot is from the music video Without Me - Eminem. It portrays Eminem dressed up as Osama Bin Laden and surrendering to the other members of Eminem's band D-12. This shows an Intertextual Reference which is a typical convention, although this one is slightly controversial. The reason for him dressing up as the terrorist is a patriotic move towards his fellow Americans, as the video was made in 2002; mid flow of the war caused by the 9/11 terror attacks. The reason for this could be to increase the views the video has, as usually a controversial or memorable video is popular as people want to see it.
A famous author named Andrew Goodwin writes in a book of his called
about the typical conventions of music videos. His theory is apparent in old and recent music videos which means his theory was correct. Music videos also use either performance or narrative, in more recent music videos both styles are used to entice the target audience to watch it.
The first music video created 'Video Killed The Radio Star' by The Buggles shows both narrative and performance, although this style is now around 30 years old it is still used in many recent music videos today. Some videos, more towards the Rock genre now use solely performance style videos as this shows the technique used to make the music as well as it being live as it evokes a more exciting atmosphere to the song. Other genres such as RnB tend to use more narrative than performance, as they are generally about love so the videos show parts of a love story or relationship between two people.
One of the most used Conventions of music videos is seen by the music video called 'Video Killed The Radio Star', this means the video either corresponds or contradicts the lyrics of the video. In this image below it shows TV's pushing radios over which corresponds to the chorus to the song as the TV's are essentially 'killing' the radios. This may show the music video was made to become a more popular way of listening to music than on the radio.
The convention of having many close ups is shown in this video through-out, this is due to the record company wanting to promote the artists as much as possible. This theory from Andrew Goodwin proves correct as so many music videos in recent times follow this trend started in the video to 'Video Killed The Radio Star'.
The final convention of music videos created by Goodwin is that there is a sense of voyeurism, this is evident within this music video as the actual music video shows the artist on a TV. This notion of looking is used through-out the music industry as it enables the audience to see the message behind the video, it also makes the video more exclusive as it shows how people are watching the artist. This may help the promotion of the artist.
Below is a mp3 player which shows a short audio clip of Jack playing the guitar. On the basis of this clip he is a talented musician which is a good sign for the video, as he can therefore actually play the guitar instead of pretending.
After listening to this clip the group and I need to make sure that Jack learns the lyrics to our song, if he can learn to play the song on the guitar that will create a more professional image for our video. However learning the lyrics are vital for the video as it needs to match the audio, otherwise the visual and the audio will not flow continuously. Luckily our chosen song has relatively simple lyrics, so learning these should hopefully prove easy for Jack.
The song's lyrics are shown above which shows some simple lines, this is due to the chorus 'What a life!' being a main feature of the song. We may however, edit the song so that it is not the full length, as the ending lyrics of "woo hoo" may be too repetitive which would prove difficult to have different shots.
During our time up London on the 30th November we decided that filming the London Eye for a whole 360 degree movement then speeding the film up would be effective. We took some photos of the eye itself from two different angles to see which would look more effective for the video.
Once the photos were taken we then thought we could have our artist standing in-front of the eye singing in normal time, with the eye itself moving faster as we would have sped the footage up. This idea however proved difficult to create in reality, so we thought again amongst ourselves as we still wanted to film the London Eye. After discussion we thought filming the Eye from across the River Thames would be ideal, as this could show pedestrians walking by, thus emphasizing the idea of time going quickly as they too would be under-cranked. The lyric to this visual is "Some say you might lose your mind", the idea of the Eye being under-cranked would therefore illustrate the concept of someone losing their mind as time is going by much faster than normal.
Filming the Eye from this angle would portray a sense of loss of control as the movement of the wheel would be easily distinguished, the cloud movement shown in the footage could also create the idea as the clouds would be moving faster across the shot. Using this location to film the shot would be ideal as the shot would solely show the Eye's movement along with the clouds. A second idea would be to shoot the Eye from a bench which is a few meters from the side of the pavement which could include pedestrians walking past to, this may however over-crowd the shot.
This is the second possible angle we could film the Eye from, it is located on the bridge by the Royal Festival Hall which therefore gives a higher angle to view the Eye. Filming from this angle could show the movement of the Eye as well as the cloud movement, we did however think the Big Ben clock tower in the background of the Eye was an effective shot, as it illustrates another famous landmark of London. This photo was taken at around 4pm which in Winter means the sun is setting, under-cranking this shot would therefore show the sunlight disappearing which could reference time in the song, as the time of day is moving on as would the song.
On Wednesday 30th November the group and I went to London to find some ideal places to film our video. We planned to go to Leake Street which is near Waterloo East train station, this street is dedicated to street art and it therefore holds some very creative work on the walls.
We took some photos of the location which are seen below:
Leake Street will therefore be evident in our video as we all decided it portrayed some of London's finest street art, as well as it being relatively busy which could prove to be an ideal place for a busker. It also follows our idea of the artist coming in from one end of a tunnel, and walking out the other at the end of the song. The tunnel itself portrays a range of cultures, with the street art representing a younger generation of people, and because the tunnel is near Waterloo East many business workers use the tunnel which could show the higher class people of London. There is also a car wash company near by the tunnel and therefore more working class people are seen there, thus showing a varied amount of people use Leake Street.
The image above shows the artist of our video, he name is Jack Thomas and is Jay's team-mate at their football team.
He is a keen musician who sings and can also play the guitar and piano. His passion for music makes him an ideal character for our music video as he can learn the lyrics to the song 'What A Life', and he can actually play the guitar so it doesn't look like he is simply putting his hand over the strings.
Due to the fact that he plays live music on a regular basis we may gain advantages such as his advice on certain shots or location, as he could give us a musicians perspective on the video. With him being a natural musician he is therefore confident in standing up in front of audiences, so filming in busy areas such as London should not cause a problem.
Here they are guys. They have been carefully thought about and planned in order to break your work up into manageable pieces and for this reason they are non-negotiable.
There is SO much to do this year and your ancillary tasks come out of your main task so getting that finished is of the utmost importance.
As well as this you have a huge amount of work to do on your Evaluation questions which are going to be more detailed in terms of content and more sophisticated in term of presentation so these will take you about a month to complete.
Monday 30th January 2012 - Rough Cut
(Feedback completed by Friday 3rd February)
Friday 24th February - FINAL CUT
Friday 9th March - BOTH ancillary tasks
Evaluation Question 1 - Thursday 15th March Evaluation Question 2 - Friday 23rd March Evaluation Question 3 - Friday 30th March (end of term)
Evaluation Question 4 - Friday 20th April
FINAL deadline for EVERYTHING finished and posted on your blog - Friday 27th April
Above is the copyright letter the group sent to Noel's record label:
Sour Mash Records
in which we wanted to ask for permission to use 'AKA...What A Life' for our music video.
A problem we encountered was that we could not find an e-mail address to contact Sour Mash Records, however we managed to find an address in London so we will therefore send a letter to the company and wait for a response.
The group will now await a response from the company deciding whether we can use their song or not. If we are not given permission to use the song we will need to re-plan and choose another song by a different artist.
The walkway leading up to the stadium could show as an effective area to film part of our music video, this is because the crowded area will portray many types of person as watching football is done by a varied group. If we go before an England match at night we could also catch the arch in the background as a shot, this will help show one of many landmarks in London which can show the different ethnicities and social groups of London.
Leake Street is a dedicated street art tunnel which is sometimes known as 'The Banksy Tunnel', the street was used for the 2008 Cans Festival which is primarly for street artists to show their work. This area would help show the varied culture in London as it differs greatly to the more upper class areas of London such as Westminster and Chelsea, as our main idea is to film a vast amount of cultures within London to show many types of life.
Southbank offers a whole host of landmarks such as Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament and The London Eye. Showing these famous landmarks will hopefully connote the idea of having a range of culture, religion and social class across London and thus portraying the varied lives people experience in the city. The Southbank also has many street performers which may help with some shots as a street performer's daily life will differ to the tourists surrounding them.
The area of Chelsea is a well known high class area of London, using this location will definitely help evoke the sense of varied cultures in the music video. This place will differ greatly to other areas we plan to visit as poorer regions such as East London will have a completely different culture to those in Chelsea, this could be heavily influenced by the variety of ethnicity in East London, where as West London is mainly white and of high social classes dominate as the area is expensive to live in. Having our artist in these areas will also be a clear way of showing how he has traveled London and experienced all the cultures and religions in those areas, thus showing a range of people's lives.
Filming within a tube station may prove difficult due to certain regulations, however if we are allowed to do so we may use tube stations such as Piccadilly Circus at busy times to film. Using a tube station to film will guarantee too show a diverse range of people as London's tube network is used by thousands daily, as we want to create an image of the variety of lives people live in London so go with the song 'AKA...What A Life'. Using the tube stations and filming the tube itself will also help show the areas of London and the famous attractions to London, as the tube network is widely known across the world.
The official video for the song 'AKA...What A Life' by Noel Gallagher was released on October 6th 2011.
This image is from Noel's official website which shows the video for the song and a short description for when the song is available for download. It also goes on to give a brief explanation to where it was filmed and who was involved, the actor and comedian Russell Brand plays a large part within the narrative of the video.
"Noel Gallagher has shot an amazing video for Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' new single 'AKA… What A Life!'. The video was co-directed by Mike Bruce and Blake West, who worked with Noel on the video for 'The Death Of You And Me'. Filmed in California, Arizona and New Mexico, the video features an outrageous performance by actor / comedian Russell Brand"
Below is the video for the song which will therefore give us many new ideas for our own video, it may also evoke some problems for the group as we cannot plagiarize the original video.
The video for the song 'Wonderwall' by Oasis has reached over 30 million hits on YouTube, the song was released on 30th October 1995 and is probably the bands most famous song.
The start of the video shows an empty, almost derelict room with a record player situated in the centre of the shot. The Long shot used allows the audience to see the setting and possible trend the video will connote. The shot also shows a clown walking from right to left towards the record player, the diegetic sound of his footsteps shows a slow pace which is used to build the pace of the song up gradually. The clown then goes on to turn the record player on and an LP with 'Oasis' begins spinning, the close up used to show the LP is effective as it boldly promotes the band as the name of it takes up the whole shot which makes it easy to see the video is for an Oasis song. The desaturated effect may have been used to evoke a retro style is popular for the typical Alt Rock genre. It could also have been used to make the video more simplistic as the video is supposed to be about an "imaginary friend who's gonna come and save you from yourself", this quote from Noel Gallagher could show the video is trying to show someones imagination, if so the black and white effect works well as it's often used for a nostalgic theme or shots involved with people's memory.
The next stage of the video begins with the song starting, and the next scene is of Noel Gallagher playing an acoustic guitar. This is broke up into many shots which chronologically get closer to Noel with cuts to each shot as the song continues, it starts with a long shot which shows him isolated in the same room the clown was in before hand. This could continue the idea of an imaginary friend as when Noel is on screen the clown isn't, this could show he is within Noel's mind. The way in which each cut gets closer to Noel is effective as it could portray a sense of closeness between Noel and the audience, or the series of close ups could build a sense of voyeurism, which according to Andrew Goodwins's theory is a typical convention of music videos as the close up promotes the artist. The notion of looking is effective as it illustrates people watching the band which emphasizes its popularity within the Alt Rock genre.
The video also uses a range of narrative and performance shots, this is an ideal way of shooting a music video as it allows the audience to see the band playing the instruments and singing which actually makes the song, as well as a story which can be illustrated by the lyrics. The story in this video is about the clown being an imaginary friend to Noel Gallagher, and the clown is there to save Noel from himself. This idea was shown on Wikipedia (click for link) which Noel told to NME in 1996 about it being based on imaginary friends helping people overcome certain problems they face in life. Below is a short video which shows some of the performance and narrative shots within the music video.
The narrative shots above create the theme of the video, which is everyone needs an imaginary friend or place to go when they need saving from the pressures they face in reality. The shots of the clown reference the idea of the video and as they appear it may evoke a sense of imagination by Noel. The person juggling could create an idea that Noel's favourite imaginary place is to do with a circus, as a clown and juggling is often associated with a circus, these shots illustrate a subtle theme of imagination and possible nostalgia for Noel as the circus could play an important part of his life.
These shots are part of a continuous clip from the video, it shows Liam Gallagher singing part of the song with the rest of Oasis being faded in and out. This could show how Liam is the lead singer but it could also portray a sense of more importance, as he is in the shot through-out where the other band members are only in them for a few seconds each. The use of fades is seen many times within this video as it evokes a sense of imagination, the shots shown with the fades may have been used to add to the sense of nostalgia or imagination and to show the main singer in the band which is Liam Gallagher.
During the weekend I was reading 'The Sun' newspaper and within the 'ShowBiz' section I saw an image of Noel Gallagher, I then went on to read the featured article.
The article informed me that Noel Gallagher is to release a music video for his new song 'AKA...What A Life' which will feature Russell Brand. The video will apparently be shot in Mexico, California and Arizona. This may cause a potential problem as we do not want to copy his style, because we want to create our own original house style for the music video.
The news of Noel producing a video for the song is not all negative, as it may help us think of more possible shots to take and a method to follow the style. Although the video is to be shot in other countries it could still prove to be useful as we want to follow an Alt Rock image in our own video.
The Sun website also revealed some shots which will be used in the video. Here are three possible shots which will be seen when it's released.
The genre of alternative rock portrays a vast range of style, as many want to look unique but also follow the genre it certain aspects. For example the image here shows a small number of alternative rock styles, the similarity is seen through the trousers as they are all slim fitting. The type may vary with some opting for jeans and some for chinos, the colour is mainly blues and black. The other colours such as red and purples which are seen are more in the indie scene, as they prefer the brighter colours to stand out, where as those in the Alt Rock group like to look more subtle. From this research I believe our artist should wear some dark coloured jeans or chinos, with the style being either slim fit or skinny fit, this should therefore evoke an image of a typical Alt Rock artist.
The Alt Rock music group also wear a range of t-shirts which are usually of basic design, with some being stripey and others plain colours. Retailers such as Topman may acquire for the Alt Rock group as they provide a range of t-shirts which show a simple design, for example here, here and finally here. At this time I believe a simple plain coloured t-shirt will fit in with the Alt Rock style, the colour could ideally be dark in colour or white. As an idea for our artist is a busker he cannot have a suave and lavish style, as typically buskers wear simple clothing.
Typically the Alt Rock fashion uses some sort of plimsol for footwear. These can range from items from River Island and Topman, or a more designer brand which is Vans. In more recent times the footwear has expanded which includes desert boots, boat shoes and some formal styled shoes. These style of shoe can be seen easily in the streets today as they are growing in popularity, personally I like the style of using a smart style shoe (bottom left in the image) as they will go well with the slim fitting jeans. This would therefore connote a typical Alt Rock artist such as Noel Gallagher.
Here are some of the styles Noel Gallagher uses, for our video to look more professional and more importantly convincing, I believe the artist we choose must have one of these styles incorporated in his clothing. As you can see Noel uses a range of styles to promote his Alt Rock image, as he wears mainly dark jeans and simple styled t-shirts and jackets.
I visited the website UK Tribes to research what kind of brands the Alternative Rock audience like to use and wear. The website portrays an image of originality within the Alt Rock genre group, with it saying "While open-minded about music and fashion they are wary of the Mainstream tribes and determined to be different – together". The image on the left hand side shows a number of brands such as Quicksilver and Topman which are commonly seen in the Alt Rock scene. The brand Vans is also seen in this genre as the retro style of Vans shoes is popular in modern fashion. Other styles in the Alt Rock genre can range from board-shorts to skinny jeans, and plain t-shirts to check flannel shirts. This may help us dress our artist as the typical style of Alt Rock varies, this therefore allows us some freedom but at the same time means we do need to follow certain stereotypes such as medium to long hair, and an acoustic guitar.
The website also shows media brands the Alt Rock genre fans enjoy using in their leisure. The likes of XFM and NME are well known to play the type of music we are aiming to make the video for. The social networking site Facebook is universally used by many different types of social group, therefore this is not a surprise as the website is used by so many people to communicate with friends. The TV channel four shows many programmes such as: The Inbetweeners, Fresh Meat, 8 Out of 10 Cats, One Tree Hill and finally Misfits. I believe these TV shows relate to the Alt Rock genre as they often play songs in the shows that are in this genre. The people within the shows also relate to the target audience as they are teenagers and young adults, the shows may relate to this audience as they show teenage characters and often re-enact typical teenage situations.
The image above shows the amount of different media consumption within the Alternative/Young Alt group. The usage of internet is heavy which may be due to the teenage section downloading most of their music and visiting their favourite band's website or social network page. Other high media consumption is via television, magazines and radio. The high use of television can be due to music channels such as Kerrang, MTV Rocks or Q, these music channels often play rock music which will appeal to the Alternative Rock tribe thus causing the high consumption in TV. Magazines also have high consumption which can be down to Alt Rock people often reading magazines such as Kerrang or NME, the magazines often show tour dates which will prove popular with the Alt Rock tribe as they enjoy watching live music.
The low consumption levels of newspapers and cinema may be down to newspapers often focusing on mainstream artists such as Tinie Tempah, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Example in their music or show-biz sections. The newspapers do this as they will attract a wider audience if they show mainstream artists as Alternative Rock is more of a niche market audience wise, so Alt Rock people tend to not read newspapers as much as magazines as they do not show their favourite artists. Cinema may also have low consumption as many Alt Rock listeners are teenagers or young adults who use the internet heavily, this may mean that they watch most films online rather than going to the cinema.
Above is a simple Prezi presentation which shows the process of our song choice of Noel Gallagher's 'AKA...What A Life' which is to be released on his bands new album 'Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds'.
The ability to use Prezi is very useful in this case as it allows the user to click to see the show from start to end, as well as zooming out to see the whole presentation as a whole and therefore choose what areas of the presentation they wish to read.
The lyrics to the song of 'What A Life' have enabled us to create ideas of potential shots, as the song uses basic equipment such as an acoustic guitar and Noel's voice we can have shots with our artist with a guitar miming to the song.
The lyrics"chasing down that rainbow"and "take this tigerout for a ride" have given us ideas for shots such as the hustle and bustle of London streets, with people commuting to and from work. This may prove difficult as some places such as Rail Stations may not allow us to film inside, due to security reasons. However we will ask for permission and if we can take some shots in a rail station it may be a possibility for the video.
The chorus of the song could possibly sho
w people of London going about their daily routes and work. As the line "what a life" could show other peoples lives in relation to our performers life or just what he witnesses during his time in the city. This could range from the shoppers in Oxford Street to people living on the streets. We have not yet decided what time of day to film the shots, however we all like the idea of starting the video at dawn and ending the video at dusk, this will therefore show continuity and have a simple flow to go with the lyrics.
Another shot when "what a life" is sung could be part performance, with our artist miming the words within the streets or other location we choose. The image we may portray of our artist could be a busker, as we feel a busker in London will see many different people and experience different types of life as London is full of unique people. The shots could include Point Of View shots from passers-by who are watching the busker, this could create a sense of voyeurism.
Other lyrics to the song such as "maybe you dream" could show people with a facial expression
showing they are thinking about their life, and maybe how they want a more fulfilling life. This
could include someone after work or on a lunch break at a cafe or bar, thus portraying an idea of regret or sorrow during the song. A person with their face in their hands I feel would be an affective shot for this lyric as it easily shows despair or a high level of stress.
The song 'What a life' by Noel Gallagher is classed as Alternative Rock which emerged in the 1980's. The genre itself is made up of sub-genres such as Grunge, Brit-Pop, Indie-Pop, Rock-Pop and Gothic Rock, these sub-genres were influenced by the ethos of Punk Rock back from the 1970's and 1980's.
Other examples of Alternative Rock artists can be seen in a short video I created:
In the early 1990's the form of Brit-Pop was introduced by the media, this classed bands such Oasis, Blur and Pulp. The formation of these bands were to compete with the American Grunge scene, and they showed similarities to other genres such as Punk Rock and Glam Rock. Oasis was the most popular Alternative Rock band of the 1990's, with their album (What's The Story) Morning Glory being the third best selling British album in history.
More recent Alternative Rock bands such as The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand and The Killers found commercial success in the 2000's. The magazine Entertainment Weekly said in 2004 "After almost a decade of domination by rap-rock and nu-metal bands, mainstream alt-rock is finally good again."
During our group discussions over possible songs to use for our music video we all selected an Alt Rock genre, as this genre is popular between us.
Jay visited the Soccer AM website as he knew there was a section about music the show uses, we all thought this would be an effective idea as the show often uses less famous songs by a wide range of artists. After listening to a selection of songs Jay came across a Noel Gallagher track which was played on one of the previous shows, after all listening to it we agreed it was an ideal song as it was fairly unknown. As the song 'AKA...What A Life' by Noel Gallagher was popular between the group we did struggle to find inspiration of what type of video it could be, we therefore played the song and brainstormed possible ideas.
The image shows where the song was found on the website. Although the song was reasonably unknown at the time there is a risk of it becoming very popular as the show did promote it to its thousands of weekly watchers. If the song does eventually become more popular and a video is released we will have to ensure our video shows some similarity but has our own unique style, as we do not want to plagiarize the original video.
The song choice was extremely important for the whole A2 course, as the video we create will correspond with the song.
We had a group discussion on the song we will use for our video which showed so many different artists, we all decided on the general genre of the song which was between Indie and Rock. The artists we discussed to use ranged from:
After discussion we preferred to use a song by Coldplay called 'Clocks', however the band is one of the most famous british bands of this era, so therefore we decided that making a music video for one of their songs may be too challenging as they are 'too famous'. We also discussed using a song by Plan B called 'Hard Times', we agreed that the song created many ideas for a video, however as Plan B is known worldwide we felt using him would be difficult as he already has many music videos out and connotes a certain style in many of them, therefore we would have had to copy his style and therefore the video would not be original. We therefore decided to use a song which is fairly unknown, which proved difficult as researching a song you haven't heard of is very time consuming.
After individual research Jay suggested a song by Noel Gallagher, which is'AKA...What A Life' which has recently been used on the Vauxhall motor advert and had been on the TV show Soccer AM a few weeks earlier. After listening to the song in both studio and live format we decided to use the studio version as the sound was crisper and had clearer vocals.
Another reason for choosing this particular song was that it hasn't got a music video as of yet, this therefore allows us to be more creative with our video as we cannot copy any ideas from the original music video, as there isn't one.
I have looked on Wikipedia and The Box website to find out when and where it formed. Looking at these websites has shown what types of music The Box plays on its many shows, from this I can see if we chose to have The Box play our video it would be on the programme UK Airplay. Even though this could be appropriate for our song 'What A Life' by Noel Gallagher as The Box operates in the UK which is mainly Noel Gallagher's audience, I feel that MTV would be more suited as it is a larger corporation than The Box.
The Box is a TV channelin theUnited KingdomandIreland. The channel was formed in April 1992 and is one of many within the Box Television network, a joint venue betweenChannel 4andBauer Group. The channel mainly broadcastsmusic videos, although it also features other music-related programming from 4Music. The channel broadcasts 24 hours a day withTeleshoppingshown late at night.
Here are some of the programmes available on The Box:
UK Hot 40
Fresh4Summer!
UK Airplay
VIP Track of The Week
The Crush Party Bangers Top 20
Teleshopping
Brief History
The channel was brought to the United Kingdom by Vincent Monsey (ofRadio Carolinefame) and his partner Liz Laskowski, who discovered the channel inMiamiin 1991 asThe Jukebox Network. The UK company, Video Jukebox Network International Limited, was formed in 1991 and the channel was launched in 1992 as THE BOX in the early days of cable television.
I visited the website YouTube to find videos which use shots that I think are memorable and in general look professional. I tried to search for a range of music genres as at this stage the group haven't decided on a song to choose for our video. This will hopefully help us decide on a genre for our video and hopefully narrow that down to a song choice. The videos chosen are all fairly popular which I think shows they are professionally made and therefore the shots used can be mimicked to some extent for our video.
This clip is from 0.00 - 0.06 of the music video, it was shot in downtown Los Angeles and the city skyline with the sun rising is very effective. I believe this as it's the start of the day and therefore the start of the song. This type of Wide Shot works when there is a slow start as it's subtle and allows the music to build up as the sun rises up the image. Using a similar shot in my video however, will take time as the sun rises slowly and would use a lot of film, it is still a possible shot which can be done if it fits the chosen song.
This shot is very powerful and shows a lot of emotion. This connotes with the song as it is based on a homeless woman who has a heroin addiction, and is also a prostitute. The Close Up shot of her face shows her teary eyes and worried facial expression, I believe this is effective as it enables the viewer to see how she has no choice of the life she lives. The black and white effect gives her a dark persona, which could show she see's no way of escaping her lifestyle. The frightened expression however, helps the audience realise she doesn't want to carry on in this way, and therefore sympathy is evoked from the shot.
This shot shows a reflection of Wretch 32 in a puddle. The shot itself may be based as a point of view shot for Wretch 32, the fact it is a reflection may emphasise how the singer is in a reflective or sorrow state of mind. There is also a use of over-cranking during this shot which adds to the reflective or even regretful persona of Wretch 32. I like this effect as it prolongs the feeling of regret which is the basis of the whole song.
The video to this song portrays the discrimination towards African-Americans. This shot shows a chain of slaves marching together, with them also marching to the heavy beat of the song. I believe this is effective as the video corresponds to the track, which helps the song and video flow easily. The blackandwhite effect used also adds to the dark persona of the song, which I believe creates a powerful message to the audience about the terrible times of the slave era.
The use of a cross dissolve is a very nice effect in this video. The way it changes from Alicia Keys playing the piano to the city of New York may be used to show a change in time, if not the way it has been shot definately shows a sense of professionalism. The location was chosen to pay homage to the hometown according to Alicia Keys and Jay Z. I like the idea of using a cross dissolve as it can show two different people in different situations, which is common in many music videos.
