Here we are, Scott Savage and Hayden Blake.
Posted by the group
Monday 30 June 2014
Meet the Gang!
This is us:
Here we are, Scott Savage and Hayden Blake.
Scott Savage
Hayden blake
Posted by the group
Here we are, Scott Savage and Hayden Blake.
Posted by the group
Andrew Goodwin's Media theory 2
Andrew Goodwin's 6 features of music video's:
In his book Dancing in the Distractions Factory Goodwin established 6 primary features.
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
This is suggesting that music video's will incorporate various elements that are there simply to establish the genre type of the artist and their music.
When looking at multiple music video's it becomes clear that for different genres there are different signifiers. Examples of this include the large use of gold jewellery in pop video's such as Will.I.Am's "Feeling myself" video.
In addition, and more relevantly to our project, when observing various heavy metal music video's (the genre our group intends to adopt) various signifiers became very clear to us. We have broken these into categories, they consist of the following - Clothing - Instruments - Colour scheme - Mise en scene - We intend to use things from each of these categories in order to better establish our music video into the genre.
Examples of things we saw in these categories are as follows:
- Clothing-
Long dark over coats
Tight black, ripped jeans
Gothic hairstyles ie. long black hair
- Instruments-
Guitars (electric)
Drums
Little to no acoustic
-Colour scheme-
Black
Grey
Mostly just dark!
-Mise en scene-
Chains
Skulls
Crosses
Very gothic with connotations of religion.
2. The lyrics are represented with onscreen images.
This, unlike the first feature, seems less obvious in the music video's that we watched, the basic idea is that as the video will illustrate the lyrics as they are sung. On a basic level, if the artist is singing about a break up, you will be shown an image of a break up on screen.
This is present in a large quantity of music video's and therefore we agree with the feature to some extent, however, this is not a constant law. This is to say, it doesn't always occur.
In our music video we do intend to adopt this feature as we feel it is a safer bet than trying to be overly abstract, trying to force levels of creativity that we don't naturally have seems more damaging than beneficial. Sticking with the feature is not by any means easier, overcompensation or being to literal with the representation can also be highly damaging to the video. this said we have to try and discreetly match the lyrics with the visuals onscreen.
3. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music.
This one I feel is very simple, if the atmosphere of the music is dark and aggressive (much like the music we intend to use) the video must reflect this. If we were to create a bright and happy video for a dark song it would be pointless, even trying to be ironic is dangerous as if this is not clear the video just wont make any sense.
The artist will usually have a rough idea of what they want, knowing what they want to connote helps to develop the video as every detail can be approved before it is compleated. An example of this is Will.I.Am's "This is love" video shoot in which various details are checked several times before being filmed in order to insure that both the artist likes them and that they suit the music.
4. The demands of the record label will include lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop a sort of style that will become individual to them.
Most video's that we have watched demonstrate this very clearly, almost every video will at some stage have a close up of the artist looking dreamingly into the distance. In addition we have noticed that a large amount of artists have a signifier that separates them from other well known artists. This however, is a lot more common for pop artists such as Gaga and her "fashion" or Miley Cyrus's twerking.
It is a lot less common for artists in the heavy metal genre to have a signifier that reoccurs on a frequent enough basis for it to become unique to that individual artist. It is not however unheard of for this to happen for example Motionless in White uses various signifiers that can be seen in the following advert for their new album.
We have for the reasons above, decided that we don't intend to deliberately introduce a different of completely new style instead we are going to tweak the pre existing styles to suit ourselves.
5. There is frequent reference to notions of looking, in particular voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
This feature we feel is aimed at pop music video's, no other genre dictates as much time to showing of the female body. Male artists often use women as objects to signify their dominance, power and respectability. Artists such as Tiny Temper usually have a group of female dancers wearing very little around them, this generates an image of sexual dominance for the artist and portrays them as better or more empowered.
Female artists often project their own bodies in sexual ways, the use of very tight or revealing clothing makes them seem as sexual icons for other women, parading of their well toned an often airbrushed bodies to demonstrate that they are in better physical shape than others.
Basically it is all showing of and we do not feel it is not needed for or piece as it is a lot less common in our genre of music.
6. Often there are inter-textual references to films, tv programs, other music ect...
This feature we do feel is important for our piece as it is often used in our genre of music. As a music video only has a short period of time to convey understanding and meaning to its viewers it will often use pre existing images from past texts to help create a better understanding of what is going on, what is meant and what the message is.
Motionless in White use this feature to help create a dark and gothic atmosphere for their music video's. An example their song "The last snow" connotes ideas from the film edward scissorhands with lyrics like "a man with scissors for hands" ect...
We feel this, when used properly, can be very effective when connoting the idea's we want without having to waste time establishing our themes.
Does it still apply then?
Overall we feel that Goodwin's theory does still apply to music video's as we have found lots of evidence for this, however, we also now see that sometimes avoiding rules and being more abstract when making a music video can be very beneficial.
This was posted by Hayden and Scott.
Andrew Goodwins Media theory 1
Andrew Goodwin identifies 5 key aspects of music videos that audiences should look out for:
Through beats
First step is to look at the music itself. Take into account the structure of the song e.g chorus/verse.
Secondly, the voice of the song. The artists voice is unique and can form identification or trademark that work well with the star image.
Thirdly Goodwin alos points out the artists mode of adress. Songs can be seen as stories and the artist is the storyteller, making the music videos a story.
Narrative and performance
Goodwin explains that music videos should ignore common narrative. it is important in their role of advertising. Music videos should coherent repeatability. Narrative and performance make it easier for the the audience to watch over and over without loosing interset. The artists acting as both narrator and participant the lip sinking and other mimed actions remains the heart of music videos.
Star image
The star image is a vital aspect of the music videos. This is the main person in the music video. This will be who the audience recognises and interprets. The star sometimes is the narrative and tells the story to the audience. Meta narrative, which is a big story, describes the development of the star over time. In boy/girl bands, the singer is mostly the star image as they are the most recognised and well known. They are also the narrative of the video.
Relations of visuals to song
Music videos can use a set of images to illustrate the meaning of lyrics and genre. This is most common. Amplifying is similar to repeatability. Meanings and effects are manipulated and shown constantly through the video. Disjuncture is more rare to be used. This is where the meaning of the song is completely ignored.
Technical aspects
This holds the video together through the use of camera work, movement, angle, mise-en-scene, editing, sound and special effects. Speed, camera movement, editing, cutting and post production are all forms of use of camera. Lighting and colour help set the mood and emphasise key moments of the song for dramatic effect. Mise-en-scene, the setting of music videos, is vital, it needs to look authentic and attain professionalism. Beats, music videos use cuts to go with the beat or rhythm, making the video more entertaining.
Written and posted by Scott and Hayden
- Thought beats ie seeing the sound
- Narrative and performance
- The star image
- Relation of visuals of the song
- Technical aspects of the music video
Through beats
First step is to look at the music itself. Take into account the structure of the song e.g chorus/verse.
Secondly, the voice of the song. The artists voice is unique and can form identification or trademark that work well with the star image.
Thirdly Goodwin alos points out the artists mode of adress. Songs can be seen as stories and the artist is the storyteller, making the music videos a story.
Narrative and performance
Goodwin explains that music videos should ignore common narrative. it is important in their role of advertising. Music videos should coherent repeatability. Narrative and performance make it easier for the the audience to watch over and over without loosing interset. The artists acting as both narrator and participant the lip sinking and other mimed actions remains the heart of music videos.
Star image
The star image is a vital aspect of the music videos. This is the main person in the music video. This will be who the audience recognises and interprets. The star sometimes is the narrative and tells the story to the audience. Meta narrative, which is a big story, describes the development of the star over time. In boy/girl bands, the singer is mostly the star image as they are the most recognised and well known. They are also the narrative of the video.
Relations of visuals to song
Music videos can use a set of images to illustrate the meaning of lyrics and genre. This is most common. Amplifying is similar to repeatability. Meanings and effects are manipulated and shown constantly through the video. Disjuncture is more rare to be used. This is where the meaning of the song is completely ignored.
Technical aspects
This holds the video together through the use of camera work, movement, angle, mise-en-scene, editing, sound and special effects. Speed, camera movement, editing, cutting and post production are all forms of use of camera. Lighting and colour help set the mood and emphasise key moments of the song for dramatic effect. Mise-en-scene, the setting of music videos, is vital, it needs to look authentic and attain professionalism. Beats, music videos use cuts to go with the beat or rhythm, making the video more entertaining.
Written and posted by Scott and Hayden
Bring Me The Horizon "Pray for Plagues" Video Analysis
Bring Me The Horizon Music Video Analysis:
-Very animalistic
-Abstract feel to it
-Editing matches the tempo of the song
-All of the cuts justify and match the song - eg the guitarist appears when the guitar tempo picks up.
-What is shown on screen matches who is playing the part of the song - Oli Sykes singing in the song and also on the screen.
-Lots of abstract transitions used.
-Greenscreen used/pitch black room.
-When the screamo grows longer the video becomes shakier.
-Moves from performance to other recorded footage.
-Switches a lot back and fourth from live footage to cinematic and later recorded video clips.
-All of the clips are synced perfectly with the song- makes the song feel faster.
This post was done by Scott
-Very animalistic
-Abstract feel to it
-Editing matches the tempo of the song
-All of the cuts justify and match the song - eg the guitarist appears when the guitar tempo picks up.
-What is shown on screen matches who is playing the part of the song - Oli Sykes singing in the song and also on the screen.
-Lots of abstract transitions used.
-Greenscreen used/pitch black room.
-When the screamo grows longer the video becomes shakier.
-Moves from performance to other recorded footage.
-Switches a lot back and fourth from live footage to cinematic and later recorded video clips.
-All of the clips are synced perfectly with the song- makes the song feel faster.
This post was done by Scott
Motionless in White Interview
Motionless in White interview:
This is an interview from Motionless in White, in this interview they discus various elements of their video's that we intend to adopt.
The band itself does the same type of music that we, as a group enjoy, therefore we feel it is very relevant.
-The idea of using elements from other genre's to help create a sense of something new or different whilst remaining distinctively heavy metal appeals, to our group as it will help us to produce something original and different.
- The concept of trying to bring a horror film to life is an great one, using images that grab the audiences attention and draw them in appeals to our group. Much like the artist in the video we don't want to just re-use every cliché that we know in order to establish our video.
- Watching the interview it becomes clear that each little detail is planned to perfection, much to our dismay, we are going to adopt this. We feel that it is important as it makes us less likely to make mistakes.
This post was done by Will, Scott and Hayden.
This is an interview from Motionless in White, in this interview they discus various elements of their video's that we intend to adopt.
The band itself does the same type of music that we, as a group enjoy, therefore we feel it is very relevant.
-The idea of using elements from other genre's to help create a sense of something new or different whilst remaining distinctively heavy metal appeals, to our group as it will help us to produce something original and different.
- The concept of trying to bring a horror film to life is an great one, using images that grab the audiences attention and draw them in appeals to our group. Much like the artist in the video we don't want to just re-use every cliché that we know in order to establish our video.
- Watching the interview it becomes clear that each little detail is planned to perfection, much to our dismay, we are going to adopt this. We feel that it is important as it makes us less likely to make mistakes.
This post was done by Will, Scott and Hayden.
What we are working with. How we constructed our prelim.
What we have:
This is our basic equipment; Canon EOS 550D with a matching camera stand, in addition we also plan to use a green screen, camera tracks and possibly a crane. The extra equipment, however is down to availability and as it sits now, we are focusing on what we know we will have.
The images above show the equipment that we used for our preliminary, in addition for the construction of our prelim we used premier pro below are a series of screen shots from the process.
Here you can see the process of which we edited our raw images, top of the pile is the final edit, as you can each shot had to be lined up perfectly with the music. This was very time consuming as each shot had to be accurate to the second, this however, was not accurate enough, in the final piece we intend to be as accurate as humanly possible.
In this image you can see us tweaking the music, we had to elongate small notes in order to make them better fit the images, in addition to this we could match the song with the noise of us singing to get better continuity.
In this image we are adding the visual effects such as speed and length of our shots, as some shots were to long when compared to the base music. By slowing down the video or speeding it up we managed to better match the music with the video
In this image you can see how we were doing colour adjustments. We were not happy with one of the shots as it was considerably darker, without a large amount of time we couldn't completely fix this however some minor tweaks helped match the colour schemes.
This post was done by Hayden
The images above show the equipment that we used for our preliminary, in addition for the construction of our prelim we used premier pro below are a series of screen shots from the process.
Here you can see the process of which we edited our raw images, top of the pile is the final edit, as you can each shot had to be lined up perfectly with the music. This was very time consuming as each shot had to be accurate to the second, this however, was not accurate enough, in the final piece we intend to be as accurate as humanly possible.
In this image you can see us tweaking the music, we had to elongate small notes in order to make them better fit the images, in addition to this we could match the song with the noise of us singing to get better continuity.
In this image you can see how we were doing colour adjustments. We were not happy with one of the shots as it was considerably darker, without a large amount of time we couldn't completely fix this however some minor tweaks helped match the colour schemes.
This post was done by Hayden
Prelim Upload.
Prelim:
This is the prelim project mentioned on the previous post.
When looking at this piece it is very clear that there are several problems that we need to address when attempting our final piece.
Although this video isn't particular serious it does still help us. Doing this project helped our group to isolate the main issues ahead of attempting our final project, issues such as timing, musical talent, co-ordinatin and editing.
Our main issue by far is editing, as we just downloaded the actual music and therefore only needed to shorten it we couldn't alter it in order to make our filming fit as well as we would have liked.
Due to this problem we had to break the shots apart in order to match the music. This resulted in us having to replicate or reuse footage, this took away from a possible professional look.
All in all we are happy with how this came out, although there are various problems, we are happy that we can now address them when coming to our final piece.
This post was by Hayden.
Thursday 26 June 2014
Video analysis 2 - Will.i.am - Feelin' Myself ft. Miley Cyrus, Wiz Khalifa, French Montana
Will.I.Am - Music video analysis:
The second video we are analysing is Will.i.am's Feeling Myself ft. Miley Cyrus, Wiz Khalifa, French Montana.
-Unlike the first video, their is very little performance, mostly this video consists of the artist trying to connote their power, sexual status and dominance.
- The image, top left, demonstrates how the artist is showing of their wealth, the large wad of money suggests that he is better off than most people and should therefore be respected. In addition to this the artist is wearing large amounts of jewelry such as rings and necklaces which help to connote his wealth. Will.I.Am - Music video analysis:
- The lack of mise en scene in this video is deliberate I feel as it causes the audience to focus directly on the artist. This further establishes the artist as powerful and central.
- The image, bottom left, demonstrates how the artist is showing off their sexual identity. Her body language suggests a sexual intention which is backed up by her facial expression which connotes power and sex. In addition the artist is wearing very skimpy clothing in order to show of her figure, this helps to signify sexual intent.
- The majority of shots focus directly on the artist with no real background, this keeps the artist as the main interest and helps to generate interest for the song. The angles of the shot are on average low angle shots which helps to connote a sense of power and status for the artist.
This post was by Hayden
Music Video Analysis 1 - Pierce The Veil's Caraphernelia
Pierce the Veil - Music video analysis:
- Mainly performance based. The video manly consists of shots of the band performing the song, however their is also a narrative running along side.
- Shows the bands everyday actions- drinking, recording music etc. Which draws interest from the viewers as it makes it easier to associate with the video.
- Jeremy's screamo represents shouting- anger and conveys an emotional response from the audience.
-Two peoples narratives- split screen talking to girlfriends and arguing. This narrative fits in well with the lyrics and makes the video more interesting for the audience.
- PTV are having a good time whereas Jeremy is arguing with his girlfriend. This again helps the audience associate with the band as they too have relationship problems, this also helps to improve the narrative.
- Raising of 4 glasses together shows unity, helping develop their image as a band.
- Most of the shots are focused on the lead vocalist, Vic. Establishing him as the main role, this is continued via the narrative.
-Final shot is of PTV playing live at a gig, this rounds of the video nicely as it ends with a real life situation.
This post was by Scott and Hayden.
- Cuts from band performing to a real life performance. This connotes the idea that the band members lives are fairly represented in the music video.
- Collaborations with other bands- Jeremy from A Day To Remember help to increase interest for the video and therefore both bands.- Shows the bands everyday actions- drinking, recording music etc. Which draws interest from the viewers as it makes it easier to associate with the video.
- Jeremy's screamo represents shouting- anger and conveys an emotional response from the audience.
-Two peoples narratives- split screen talking to girlfriends and arguing. This narrative fits in well with the lyrics and makes the video more interesting for the audience.
- PTV are having a good time whereas Jeremy is arguing with his girlfriend. This again helps the audience associate with the band as they too have relationship problems, this also helps to improve the narrative.
- Raising of 4 glasses together shows unity, helping develop their image as a band.
- Most of the shots are focused on the lead vocalist, Vic. Establishing him as the main role, this is continued via the narrative.
-Final shot is of PTV playing live at a gig, this rounds of the video nicely as it ends with a real life situation.
This post was by Scott and Hayden.
Prelim work - The construction
Prelim construction:
We have been working on a preliminary project to check our skills and knowledge ahead of our final piece. For the construction of the prelim we used Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 as we feel this program is the easiest to use and when used properly can produce a professional appearance.
For our prelim we used the song boulevard of broken dreams by Green Day.
We filmed ourselves singing along in the studio and then began editing the work together with the track. We have had several problems when putting the prelim together, however we are glad that we have come across these problems now as it minimises the chances of them occurring during the final piece.
The three main problems the we faced were the following:
Lip sinking -
As one of the main components when it comes to making a music, lip sinking is a big problem for us. In the prelim you will see that in places we have sinked well, however this is not consistent throughout. Because of this we have made the executive decision to try to minimise the amount of performance in the final piece
Instruments -
This is defiantly a problem for us as we are all very bad when playing instruments, so as you can see in the prelim, we had to improvise and this is very obvious. From this we have decided to ask friends who can play a series of instruments for the final video.
General appearance-
Without being prejudice the type of person that is usually associated with the music we have done has a very specific look. We as performers do not share this general appearance. In the video we stick out against the music as if we were lost in a mosh pit. We intend to change this! When shooting our final piece we will be using costumes, makeup and other accessories to insure our actors/ actresses look the part.
This post was completed by Hayden and edited by Scott
We have been working on a preliminary project to check our skills and knowledge ahead of our final piece. For the construction of the prelim we used Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 as we feel this program is the easiest to use and when used properly can produce a professional appearance.
For our prelim we used the song boulevard of broken dreams by Green Day.
We filmed ourselves singing along in the studio and then began editing the work together with the track. We have had several problems when putting the prelim together, however we are glad that we have come across these problems now as it minimises the chances of them occurring during the final piece.
The three main problems the we faced were the following:
Lip sinking -
As one of the main components when it comes to making a music, lip sinking is a big problem for us. In the prelim you will see that in places we have sinked well, however this is not consistent throughout. Because of this we have made the executive decision to try to minimise the amount of performance in the final piece
Instruments -
This is defiantly a problem for us as we are all very bad when playing instruments, so as you can see in the prelim, we had to improvise and this is very obvious. From this we have decided to ask friends who can play a series of instruments for the final video.
General appearance-
Without being prejudice the type of person that is usually associated with the music we have done has a very specific look. We as performers do not share this general appearance. In the video we stick out against the music as if we were lost in a mosh pit. We intend to change this! When shooting our final piece we will be using costumes, makeup and other accessories to insure our actors/ actresses look the part.
Inspiration for our prelim
Inspiration:
Green day's "Boulevard of broken dreams" music video is inspiration for our final movie. The video is mainly the band walking down a lone dusty, deserted road. This is significant as the opening lyrics are "I walk a lonely road". The band members have an expression of guilt and loneliness on their faces, as they feel alone. There is a variety of mid shots of the band walking along with close ups of each individual member and a few shots of the band walking towards the camera. These would be good shots to use in our final project as it tells a story. The road is significant in the song as it matches the lyrics, having a setting that matches the lyrics to this extent would be a good technique.
This post was by Scott and Hayden
Friday 20 June 2014
Introduction
Hi, this is our A2 Media blog. This year our task is to create a music video for a song of our choice.
We will be posting all of the steps of our journey this year from the start to finish of our project.
Throughout the year we will be posting our work on this blog in order for it to be moderated.
Firstly we will working on a prelim project to determine our skill set. This will be followed by a series of research posts into the music type we intend to do and indeed other music types. We will analyse video's and comment on media theorists and their theories.
We will plan out the video and the narrative, how it will be done, what will the narrative be, who will be our actors/actresses ect. Every detail of the production will be considered in detail and posted onto this blog.
Scott and Hayden.
This post was done by Hayden and Scott x
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