Another music video

I chose to look at this music video in order to remind myself, that the ideas that we have come up with can be added to or changed, and that we can still research new techniques and learn from what we see before the filming process.

Below: this is 'clocks' by 'coldplay' which focuses on the use of colour, light and shadow, three main elements that have been considered throughout the planning of our own music video.

The opening starts with the silhouette of a piano, and player as blue rays of light pic out their outlines. this makes it effective because already the viewer wants to know who the person is. this is then drawn out by the entrance of the band, although the viewer can see them, their faces aren't very clear and it isn't until the actual singing that a close up shot is shown of a face.



The video continues playing with light effects and special angles (for example the silhouette of the singer which is defined by a ray of blue light down one side of him) and also adds in the use of smoke. the positioning of the singer and musicians is also very important. sometimes the singer is center of the frame, and sometimes he is placed to one side. one specific shot is where the singer is facing to the left, and also placed on the left of the screen. this adds interest and variety to the use of negative space within each shot.

The whole video is just of the performance, but because the lighting is so varied and the angles so different, it still captivates the audience. the use of colour is also recognized when the blue turns to yellows and greens, reflecting hos the tone and mood of the music has changed. we must not forget to reflect the mood of the song through the video that we produce.

Natalie Palmer

feedback on animatic

Really good stuff- very clear how it will progress, good pace. Keep pushing on and really aim to extend yourselves with this video. It can be great!

pete

Feedback

'yes,good continuity, some decnt shots-for animatic.'
'making some scenes making it clearer would improve it'
'good shot variation, pace and effects'
'good shots particuary liked the shots where the singer is close and the other musicians ae further away, good pace.'
'nice dynamics shots, good pics, nice editing and split screen.'
'good drawings, although no body parts. good idea. eyes=good.'

Our response:
the feedback we got is very encouraging, it seems to be entertaining the audience already, even though it is just an animatic. hopefully the storyline will become clearer with the use of moving image, and colour.

Natalie, Hannah Ben

General explanation of the animatic

The animation below shows how our ideas have come together so far, althouh all shots are not drawn, it gives us a good idea of the cut away shots and how they fit with the live band performance shots, as well as the lyrics. the animation deosnt show the use of colours, but it does show the use of time and how that should effect our editing. we havent finnished to the end of the song, but we plan to use the walk to conclude in the meeting of two people. Rounding of a generally good day. "Back to the roots, get your wellies on and sit under a tree and shout fuck off to the world. Enjoy life." this is a quote from the artist himself, which has inspired all our work so far.

Natalie, Hannah, Ben

Our Animation

Reminder for Natalie:

-suggest the use of glitter ball
-ask about flashing lights(from Lloyd)
-use the glass distortion idea(explain to group)

Natalie

Equipment and Props

Equipment people responsible...


Ben:
3x amplifiers
1x acoustic guitar
1x electric guitar
1x whole drum kit
1x keyboard
1x mic stand and mic
leeds
Hannah:
white sheets
glow sticks
Nat:
cut up paper
college:
swively chair
camera


Locations..
media filming room (white room)
media filming room (green room)
media filming room (black room)
college field (trees in background)
parkers peice? (dissapearing tree shot, along path shot)


for clothing we are planning on wairing smart casual whair for example checked shirts bangles and other colourful clothing items to make us stand out form the background colours of the room.
we are also planning on using the sheets for the paper drop shot to save time on clearing the paper up afterwards.


Ben Smith

Date set for filming band

Friday 28th of September, time: 1:55


Natalie Palmer

The Visual Influences of our Music Video

above: this is just one idea that we had to perceive the idea of gravity, trying to link visual images to the lyrics.



above: the fish eye technique is demonstrated here as it distorts what the audience sees.



above: i love this video because of its use of colour and it has always been a main influence in the back of my mind which is why i looked it up and put on here for you to see. this footage also includes how they made it happen, and shows how far some directors will go to get the effect they want. although we wont be bouncing a million bouncy balls down a street, we can still pick up on the idea that colour can be moving on the screen.



above: continuing on the visually entertaining theme, these editing effects are mind blowing to watch, they also link with the idea of distortion.



above: this video shows how complicated some effects are and the amount of time that goes in to developing ideas for effects. i like the idea of using colour rods and this isn't the first footage i have seen using glowing rods. an idea here would be to use glowing rods as the drummer's sticks, this incorporates the idea of using colour, and light contrasting with dark.



above: this video although homemade, reminds us that there are many techniques to be made without spending millions of pounds. there is a very quick shot that shows the boy in blue standing in a doorway, while he is in colour, the rest of the house is in black and white. this is where i got the idea for the video experimentation i uploaded on here earlier.



above: the ipod advert is very famous for its use of block bold colour backgrounds. i love this footage because it seems so visually simple, barely more than three colours on screen at one time, but is actually very complex in its making. the ipod itself has been coloured white in contrast with the black figure, making it the main focus point on the screen

Natalie Palmer

A Music Video Analysis

Lindy
The stands: ‘Do it like you like’

This video uses black and white as a theme to portray the boy band genre which the video entails. I chose this video to analyse because of its artistic compilations of the band. Although an audience may presume that watching a band for such a long time would be boring, this video shows that using interesting filming techniques and effects can add enough interest to captivate the viewer. This included the kaleidoscope effect, where the image of the artist is repeated within the same shot and layered.







To use the black and white means that silhouettes and light sources can create dynamic contrasts on screen. The opening uses a light source at the bottom right as the band walks towards their instruments. I like this because it hides the identity of the band and leaves the audience wanting to know what is going to happen and who the band members are. Shadows are used specifically behind the singer as the band can be seen moving behind him.

The lyrics talk about it being ‘tonight’ which can link to the dark setting where the band is playing. As well as lip syncing there is also interestingly angled shots of the instruments, which would also have to be synced in beat with the track.

The shots of the band become clearer as at the beginning most shots are distanced from the band, but as the song progresses the instruments and singer come into the foreground of the shots, and the audience can finally see who has been playing the music.

Finally it is clear that the editing has been based around the beat of the song, and the layering of voices particularly towards the end of the music video. Overall this video is successful because of its visually entertaining shots and the use of composition within each shot.

Natalie Palmer

The Week Plan

10-16th September:
-The Pitch
-finnish drawing story board
-upload visual influences
-upload one music video each and write about it

17-23rd September:
-Anamatic
-Planning prop
-Organise filming dates

24-30rd September:
-Start filming (even if just for testing) start experimenting with use of artistic shots
-arrange the band filming
-start editing any footage already accumilated

Natalie Palmer, Hannah Bresnen, Ben Smith

The Pitch

The overall video is based on the email we got from the artist telling us that the song was written just after the 9/11 crashes. he wanted to basically show that there is still a happy side of life even if bad things happen. using this as our basis we decided to keep the video bright with different portrayals of colour. we didn't want to make the video too complicated by adding a storyline, but at the same time we still want to add interest. finally we decided to focus on a character walking through a good day used as the cut away scenes. this leaves us to create imaginative effects that can either reflect the lyrics or just be portraying video effects. these ideas will be included either in the background of shots, with subtle links to the lyrics, or we have shots where the character themselves has something happen to them; for example we shall use a shot including two trees and the character shall walk behind the first one and then appear walking from behind the second tree. this leaves a gap where the audience presumed they would see the character between the two trees.

we want to make the video very artistic to create interesting visual effects, and we have a lot of leeway to make the band perceived from different points of view. one method which we have found in other music videos is the use of a fish eye lense. we can then play with light and refraction, and also link the distortion of the images on screen to become a metaphor for how life can become very distorted (links to everything seeming so bad, but when you step back you see that good things do still happen).

we shall use a variety of shots included hand held swooping shots and also close ups of features like eyes or feet. as the character finally reaches their destination, the song is almost concluded. the character embraces their partner in a hug (not too cheesy, but just gives a sense of love existing and being a good thing). the last few shots of the song include a close up of the guitar string that has played the last note, and a wide angle shot of the whole band as they stand in the echo of the song, and fade away.

Natalie Palmer

The Get Up Kids - The One You Want


we might use the spinning camera idea in our own video, we also like the idea of swapping charictors, or in our case band members in the video.






I Was A Cub Scout- "Our Smallest Adventures"


from this idea we are going to experiment with the idea of maybe attaching glowsticks my drum sticks, i think it again would play with the idea of vibrant eye-catching colours.


Ben Smith

An overview of our ideas so far

The video is going to be focused around the band, the use of a fish eye lense will add variety to these shots. the cut away will link to a character walking along, past images and interesting effects that line to either the lyrics or to carry the journey on, to make it interesting.

Natalie Palmer

Test Shots

Below: This video was made to show that we understand the logistics behind a green screen, and to try it out.



Below: This clip shows experiments with backgrounds i have tried. this involved using acrylic paint and honey, and an asoortement of solutions filmed close up.



Below: This shows some more close up exepriments focusing on colour and auror of the images.



Below: this is an experiment to show how the use of colour over a black and white location is very effective.



All these videos where made at home.

Natalie Palmer

more videos

taking back sunday-"makedamsure"


we like the ideas that are encoperated in this video, especaly the idea of merging the cut away/alternative shots with the band performing. we think that this will make our cut away shots seem more involved with the performance in our video, rather than them being seperated.





(+44) "when your heart stops beating"

in this video we like the idea of the moving shots (camera moving arround the performing band), we think that it will provide the viewer with unusual angle performance shots. we also like the idea at 2.04 where the camera is zooming (in time with the song) and the instraments constanly moving position.

Ben Smith

Email from the artist himself

Hi Hannah, well I'm flattered you're using it, thanks.

It was written a while back just after 9/11, holy war an all that. It's all about escapism really. There's a song by Macca called 'Heart Of The Country' and it was a little influenced by that emabracing of nature. Back to the roots, get your wellies on and sit under a tree and shout fuck off to the world. Enjoy life.

Hope that helps?

Pottsy

Hannah Bresnen

Teacher comments

You need each post to be dated separately- check your spellings !

great ideas so far- keep it going