After plenty of discussions as a group about our song choice & genre/style of band, whilst also looking at examples of others music videos we decided to start searching for a location for our music video. We wanted to emulate Au Revoir Simone's Somebody Who music video (as said in my previous post- advice/tips from directors) and we felt that our choice of location would have a huge impact on the success of this.
We wanted a location that offered us a lot of space to film in (high ceilings and grand staircases) so we could use the same panning and sweeping shots as the Somebody Who video which required a lot of space, but also somewhere with character so I didn't just look like an empty and even 'boring' building that would not reflect well on our song choice or band.
The search started by asking around people that we knew, Cotesbach Hall was one of our first thoughts due to its huge amount of character and grand features, unfortunately that was unavailable for us to film in.
We also looked at locations such as Stanford Hall, Kilworth House, Stapleford Park & The City Rooms. All of these are large stately homes, mansions or listed buildings with lots of character, open space and high ceilings that could be compared to the mansion used in Au Revoir Simone's music video.
Phoebe contacted these locations, a couple replied but were unable to help us due to budget issues and filming dates. However, we received a reply from The City Rooms, they were happy to let us film in that location on our chosen date (Tuesday 8th October) at a student price of £50 and were very flexible about what and where we could film. This gives us exclusive access to the whole venue including the ballroom, entrance halls, all corridors, staircases and the bar area.
Although The City Rooms wasn't our first choice of venue due to its commercial nature as a wedding venue it has given us a lot to work with. We have high ceilings and an open, unfurnished room to film in (unlike the other locations which were fully furnished). We are also allowed exclusive access to the entire venue from 8am-7pm, the other venues couldn't offer us this due to other guests and customers. Therefore filming a music video where we would be playing music, moving large pieces of equipment and making a fairly large amount of noise when customers and guests would be around would not be ideal for us as we would not be able to get on with our filming within the small amount of time we have to do so.
We feel that The City Rooms is a great place for us to film our music video. Although it is usually a function room for weddings and parties it is a 'sophisticated' location that works well with our band and their genre, the style of our music video (performance) and the style of song we have chosen (MSMR- Hurricane, which has a sort of eery/deep wave echo to it).
The City Rooms:
Main Staircase (reception hall)
Ballroom (will not be furnished on our day of filming)
Ballroom (will not be furnished on our day of filming)
The storyboarding stage of our pre production was a relatively lengthy and also challenging task as a result of the fact that our video is performance based. This style of music video proved particularly difficult to storyboard as it is easy to become repetitive with shots- especially nearing the end of the song when we had exhausted the majority of our ideas. To overcome this issue we viewed numerous pre existing music videos which gave us inspiration for shots of our own.
For the creation of our animatic we decided to take individual images of each frame on the storyboard and edit them in accordance with the songs timings. This speeded the process up, as oppose to using the Wacom- Bamboo and was equally as effective. On the day of filming we will be taking a laptop to the location and we can review our animatic to assist us with the production of the video.
However, as this video is only a draft preceding our final video there are certain things which we may have to reconsider. For example, most of the music videos we have analysed place a huge amount of emphasis on the main vocalist with imagery of the lead singer dominating the video. As a result of this we may have to adjust the amount to shots which Alex is present in and allow Ellie to take command of more frames. This issue can be overcome in the production stage however, for example when we film a long shot we will also shoot a mid shot and also a close up incase we need to focus more on either Ellie or Alex. This will ensure that we are fully covered when it comes to post production- as it will be beneficial to have more shots than necessary so that we can be experimental with editing.
An aspect of the visuals which we included slightly in the storyboard, but not extensively, is the expressions of our models. Within the videos which have influenced our own, the artists often appear fairly unexpressive and vacant which is something we will attempt to emulate in our own visuals- in order to create this effectively we will have to make certain that Ellie is able to remain interesting to viewers and doesn't seem 'dull' with such an expressionless face.
After completing our storyboard, we have now created an animatic. This hopefully shows what our music video will look and run like once filmed and edited, it will also help us (alongside the storyboard) when filming, so we can plan each shot in time with the music.
Together as a group we have discussed what roles we will each take on the day of filming.
We have considered our strengths and weaknesses within the group and taken advice from our peers on what roles we should each take and how they would be suited to our personality.
Initially we all wanted to take part in the filming of the music video (using the camera), but we soon realised that this would not produce a consistent and smooth finished product as we will as have different styles and ability in filming. We all came to the decision that we would all take separate roles and responsibilities to help the process of filming our music video.
Roles:
-Meg: Directing shoot with the help of Phoebe, all camera work, filming and framing the shots, directing Jess with the placement of lighting, setting up the camera, tripod and dolly.
-Jess: getting all the equipment ready for each shot, makeup, hair and styling for band members, get lighting in correct position (with help from Meg).
-Phoebe: Directing each shot and working with the storyboard, helping Jess to set up all the equipment needed, playing music within each shot.
To present our ideas concerning the music video we created a pitch which aimed to give others an insight into what we had planned. After presenting it to our class we received some feedback which encouraged us to think about certain elements of the filming process. Below are the comments we received.
Fortunately, all of the comments left noted that our pitch was precise and provided viewers with a vivid image of what we were hoping to achieve. This is something which will work in our favour as it indicates that we have established exactly what we want to create and how we aim to do this. Although it is crucial that we, as the producers, have a clear understanding of the type of video we want to make- it is equally as vital that our audience is just as clear.
However, some of the commenters questioned how we would be able to light the buildings we were aiming to film in. As we stated in the pitch, we were focusing on locations which were fairly old, with high ceilings- which are typically large and fairly dark. Since having posted the pitch we have received confirmation for a location called The City Rooms which fortunately has a considerable amount of natural lighting, due to the grand windows which decorate the ballroom. However to ensure that there is sufficient lighting we are also bringing our own artificial lights which will cancel out shadows and ensure the artists can be viewed clearly.
The feedback from our pitch was relatively helpful as it made us aware of some of the issues we may encounter while filming in such large, dingy conditions. This will be beneficial when it comes to pre production as it will prompt us to be be constantly aware of the lighting. However, it would of perhaps been useful to us if we had received some more constructive criticism as this would have helped us improve certain elements of our pitch and, consequently, video.
Week Commencing 30/09/13, To Do This Week:
- Complete Risk assessment
-Finish Animatic
-Post feedback on blog about pitch
-Consider and blog about representations in our music video
-Video location post
Plan & Prepare video shoot (Tues 8th October):
-List of items to take
-Test shoot with camera
-Get costumes sorted with band, post on blog
A few days ago I decided to try and contact the NY based directing duo HARRYS and Executive Producer Jeff Pantaleo (both part of the Partizan group) all of which played a huge part in the filming of Au Revoir Simone's Somebody Who music video. We decided to base our own music video on this piece of work in particular because we loved the classy yet simplistic feel to it, we also felt it would really suit our song choice (Hurricane- MSMR). 'Somebody Who' is a performance video set in a stunning mansion, during the entire music video the architecture of the location is constantly brought to the viewer's attention by using plenty of panning, large frames (beautifully filmed) and long shots. This was something that we wanted to really incorporate into our own music video. However, the stability and elegance of the panning shots as well as the soft lighting with beautiful frames would be pretty difficult to achieve without any solid advice or evidence from the people that filmed the video. So this is when I decided to try and get in contact with the Directors and Executive Producer to get some advice and information on how we could go about achieving the same stability and elegance as shown in the Au Revoir Simone music video. Below are the emails I sent to directing duo HARRYS and Executive Producer Jeff Pantaleo:
Unfortunately I didn't receive a reply from either of the emails. However, I found a couple more sources of information & advice that we can take into consideration as a group when filming the video. Firstly, a fellow student of mine (Kelly Maxwell) also decided to get in touch with a professional Director (Daniel Broadley) although she is not filming a music video in the same genre as mine she is going to produce a performance video. Her reply from Broadley was very in depth and also gave me some information and advice on how to go about filming our music video (I have highlighted in bold what I think applies to our music video in particular).
'What would you say the most important element of a performance video is? I constantly argue with myself on this question, I guess it really comes down to the artist, they are the most important part of a music video as they are the person you are creating a marketing tool for (however this excludes videos where they are not shown at all). But you have to build elements around them to do that I've narrowed down a few things which will hopefully help you identify what makes a performance video great.
1) Location: This is one of the most important elements of a performance video, it is going to fill the screen more than the band are and therefore has to be interesting and reflect the mood of the artist.I prefer locations with space, i think it's easier to exploit a bands performance when there is a large area around them which reflects the amplitude of their sound and charisma. However, this is not to say a small intimate location can work just as effective, it just depends on the band. A band like Don Broco are quite adaptable as their sound varies, for 'You Wanna Know' it was all about exploring their performance personality in a big space, where as 'Hold On' was much more whimsical and quirky which meant the performance elements could be condensed in a smaller space. art direction is something I overlook when dressing a location but again it's an effective way of smoothing out anything that doesn't look professional or neat, whether it's finding a way to disguise lighting stands or tucking in bright coloured cables it all goes a long way, you'll never see a high end commercial rock video with an un neat location, attention to detail is crucial to stop the viewing being distracted by subtleties of imperfection.
2) Lighting: Lighting is overlooked by almost everyone when starting out, mainly because of budget and logistics, lighting things outside requires power which usually isn't available or even lighting indoors requires soft light which is expensive to hire, it's always down to there not being enough (or any) budget. We overcame this when I first started making music video by shooting outdoors, choosing our timing carefully and using the sun to light the scenes, I would always put the sun behind the bands, which often meant shooting at sun set, then using a simple silver photography reflector, bounce that setting sun back towards the band, and that is the easiest and cheapest way to create some amazing images, this is a great example of that and one of the first music videos I ever made - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzlpo0UvIpg
Lighting indoors becomes tricky as it's really project specific, I tend to feel safe shooting in the day in a location that lets in daylight somehow, then using Kino Flo fluorescent lights (with daylight balanced tubes) light the subjects to make sure everything is evenly lit. But no matter what you end up using for light, always remember that skin tones are the most important thing to light, above all else if the bands faces are lit properly then it will be a great video
3) camera work: This is a preference based point, everyone has their own way of shooting but it's imperative to think in advance about the dynamics of the song, if the song is aggressive or pacey then shooting handheld always looks great because it enhances the energy, however if a song is delicate and subtle then using tracks and dolly's and tripods are the way to go to help retain that graceful feeling that the song carries. you can also mix these together if the song has different sections that carry different energies. it also doesn't matter what you shoot on, people always get really snobby about cameras, but truth be told I spent the first year of my business shooting on a canon 550D, the crappy kit lens it came with and a really cheap canon 50mm prime lens, all in it was well under £1000, people would always comment on the results and ask if I was using a cinema camera... the other sneaky thing was I would barely do anything in the edit either, I prefer to just make it look as good as possible on the camera and then mildly tweak it in the edit suite, the video above has had barely anything done to it, that was pretty much what it looked like on the back of the camera screen on the day.
Another great source of information I found was an interview with directing duo HARRYS about filming Au Revoir Simone's Somebody Who music video:
1. Your Au Revoir Simone video is visually stunning and beautifully framed. It definitely stays true to the HARRYS aesthetic that you guys have developed over the course of your directing careers. Would you guys say that the performance video is something you would like to continue to explore and expand upon?
We’ve always been interested in performance videos. In the 80′s and 90′s it was the norm for musicians to perform in their videos, across all genres. Although that standard faded, it’s not something to shy away from. The music is always connected to the person making it and it’s nice to see the two together. We always go by the logic that less is more in terms of a performance. We’re completely open-minded about non-performance videos as well, but some tracks just call for it.
2. Along with the impeccable framing, there is a dream-like quality to “Somebody Who.” The colors, combined with the camera floating through the space and environment of the video, make for a really surreal viewing experience. What was the overall concept for this video?
It’s hard to say there really was a concept. The song has a glossy, luxurious and somewhat haunting tone and so we wanted to find a space that matched. We wanted to explore the mansion in a sort of architectural study and frame the performance within the eery, emptiness of the space. It was more of an effort to match the tone than anything.
Meg: - 'Song and music ideas'
http://jessphoebemega2media.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/song-music-video-ideas.html
Do something with the comments above to show the examiner your R&P extends to more than just embedding clips which you say nothing about. Explain why you selected them, explain what you like about them, explain what you dislike, explain what you could copy/recreate, explain what you couldn't, identify motifs and iconography (both auditory and visual) This post has been amended according to the feedback left.
Try and explain how you will appeal to these people via the visuals in your video as well as the promotional devices (twitter, instagram and the digipak and poster)
-Complete story board and animatics
-Ammend posts that have been affected by the change of band member
-Practise some test shots with the camera
-Attempt to upload some footage using the FireWire cable
'Gun' by CHVRCHES is a performance style music video, different to most other music videos within this synth pop genre of music as it is without any narrative 'story' to it.
Genre Characteristics:
As I have just stated, 'Gun' by CHVRCHES is a performance based music video, different to the normal conventions of a performance & narrative music video as we saw in my previous analysis which is usually typical within this genre of music and their already existing music videos e.g. Mother We Share. As a performance video Mayberry (lead vocalist) is lip syncing whilst Cook and Doherty are in their role of playing instruments (Keyboard, synthesisers, samplers & electric drum kit). This music video also contains a group of dancers that have been choreographed and visually edited in to the beat/pace of the song. Featuring a group of choreographed dancers is again unusual for a band that sits within the 'indie' genre, as this is more of a pop genre convention. CHVRCHES have set themselves aside by choosing a style of video like this that does not conform to the normal conventions of indie/synth/electronic pop music videos. I think that this is a positive decision as music videos within this genre of music I find can be fairly predictable.
Relationship between lyrics and visuals:
There is no connection whatsoever between the lyrics and visuals in this music video by CHVRCHES. This lyrics have connotations that the female vocalist is singing about an ended relationship (on her part) that she is still bitter about and is seeking revenge for/ on a manhunt. The lyrics 'I will be a gun and its you I'll come for' and 'you better run' suggest this.
Andrew Goodwin's lyrics and visuals theory: 'disjuncture' is shown between the lyrics and visuals as they have no meaning to the footage we see, the meaning of the lyrics/song have been completely ignored in the video.
Relationship between music and visuals:
As no connection is made to the lyrics in the music video, they have compensated by creating a huge relationship between the music and visuals; it is what the entire video is based on. The video is edited heavily in post-production, with a finished product I can only describe as psychedelic and even 'trippy', I feel this fits in well with the iconic voice of Mayberry. The visuals are mesmerising and they create hypnotising imagery that the audience are drawn into throughout the duration of the video. A myriad of colours and imagery are also used as effects within the video as well as strobe lighting, all of this would of been edited during the post-production stages (after filming).The most important connection between the music and visuals throughout the song is the beat/pace of the song consistently causing the visuals to change, this is heavily shown in the opening of the video (0-0.7 seconds).
Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?
As an indie/synth pop band I believe that CHVRCHES have less of an aim to glorify an image of themselves as your stereotypical 'pop star'. Take Rihanna for example, she screams pop stars at you through her clothing, tattoos, stage performances etc. I think CHVRCHES are more inclined to focus on their music. However, some star image motifs are still shown within the video, especially with lead vocalist Lauren Mayberry who is the 'front woman' that helps to actually sell the band, clearly her image is fairly important. Performing with a mic in hand and fitting with the band's indie genre in her clothing and appearance, these are some examples of star image motifs on a smaller, less obvious scale. There are lots of close-ups of Mayberry but less of Cook and Doherty, the close-up visuals only last for a second or two before they are manipulated into psychedelic images.
Is there reference to the notion of looking?
There are lots of close-ups and footage of lead vocalist Mayberry in comparison to the rest of the band. This relates to Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory, meaning that women are objectified in film because of men being in control of the camera. However, overall not much eye contact is made with the camera in comparison to your usual performance style music video, only specifically at 1.45 and 2.16-2.27seconds does Mayberry make strong eye contact with the camera and audience.
Are there any intertextual references?
There is a heavy reference in this music video as it is in the same style as Bonobo's Cirrus music video, they have emulated the editing techniques that manipulate the visuals on screen into a sort of 'optical illusion' as stated before, below is the music video for Cirrus where you can clearly where CHVRCHES got their style of music video from. The video is performance and music/visually based, therefore focusing on the band and track so there is no hidden narrative/story in the video itself only in the lyrics (as stated before, vocalists broken down relationship & revenge).
Is the video performance, narrative or concept based? How much of each?
'Gun' is primarily a performance based music video, there is no narrative (surprising for this genre) or concept style to this video. Although it is solely performance based, it is also heavily focused on the edited psychedelic visuals which takes up most of the footage rather than of the band actually performing. The footage of the band performing is only a matter of seconds in each shot, then each members appearance is edited with either strobe lighting or a kaleidoscope of colours and shapes. The band members profiles are manipulated frequently throughout the video, again reiterating my point that the video is heavily based on the visual aesthetic of the professional editing.
What have I learnt?
I think that the psychedelic and mesmerising visuals that are used in this video work really well and create a very innovative/unique video. As much as I'd like to recreate a video similar to this, a huge amount of professional and complex editing has gone into this music video. This would make it very, very difficult for me to incorporate into my own work due to the limitations I am under (budget, experience and equipment/technology). However we would be able to use the same fashion/styling that the band are dressed in as these are just everyday clothes that are accessible to us without exceeding our limited budget.
As Jess has mentioned in a previous post we have unfortunately had to change around our band due to one of the members being unable to make any filming dates due to work commitments. Now we have a new member (Alex) featuring in our band to replace George, Ellie will still remain lead vocalist and Alex will fill George's place in the duo. Name: InfluxxMusic Video: Will feature both band members. As a performance video, Ellie as the lead vocalist of Influxx will lip sync and Alex will make brief/mysterious appearances in the video living up to his name as the mysterious 'brains' behind the band. Female- Blonde hair, blue eyes, natural face make-up & red lips, mono-tonal clothing, polished style (similar to Lauren Mayberry, CHVRCHES)
Genre:Indie/Synth pop,alternative rock,dream pop,dark wave. Nationality: English Instruments: Synths/Sampler, Electronic drum kit, Vocal & Guitar (Bass) Influences: MSMR, AlunaGeorge, CHVRCHES, Swim Deep, Peace,The XX, Crystal Castles, Hurts, London Grammar & Daughter. Members: Female- Ellie, lead vocalist (Similar to Lizzy Plapinger, MSMR) Male- Alex, producer (Produces songs & writes lyrics. Similar to Max Hershenow, MSMR) also similar to Jamie XX and Guy and Howard Lawrence (Disclosure) Male- Tall, dark brown hair (quiffed), chiselled jaw, smart, buttoned up shirt or tshirt, mono-tonal clothing, minimalistic style, serious and known as the 'brains behind the band' Influxx's debut single 'Hurricane' was released online earlier this year, now we have the task to plan and film their debut music video. As we have had to make changes to Influxx and the members of the band we don't yet have updated pictures of the band to share. Hopefully these will come in the near future and give a good representation of how they will look together in a band format. Update: 15/10/13 Band image update
'Attracting Flies' by AlunaGeorge is a performance and narrative style music video, this conforms to the already existing Indie/Synth pop conventions that are commonly used within this genre.
Genre Characteristics:
'Attracting Flies' by AlunaGeorge conforms to the usual conventions of Indie/Synth pop music videos by combining a performance and narrative style. The use of slow motion for example is a huge genre convention for Indie/Synth pop this is used especially within the narrative 'fairy tale' scenes of this music video. There is also a huge focus on the female vocalist (close-ups for example), who plays the main character throughout the whole music video and each individual 'tale', the main focus on Aluna (the main vocalist) is another existing convention that is regularly used within this genre.
Relationship between lyrics and visuals:
'Little grey fairytales and little white lies'- there is a huge connection between these particular lyrics and the 'fairy tale' connotations made throughout the entire music video. This relates to Andrew Goodwin's theory of the relation of visuals to the song as the connotations of 'fairytales' are illustrated throughout the video by characterising the female vocalist as different fairy tale characters with an urban 'decayed' twist. However, the lyrics 'everything you say, is attracting flies' also creates another underlying meaning between the lyrics and visuals that creates the impression that the female vocalist is bitter about a relationship with a male and that everything he says is lies and 'rubbish', it also connotes that his words are like horse manure for example, that attracts flies.
Relationship between music and visuals:
During this music video, slow motion footage is used when the narrative 'fairy tales' are introduced and acted out (0.15-0.23). This emphasises the different narratives which are changing throughout the video and gives the audience a chance to understand the connotations between each 'fairy tale' and ensure they are not lost in the visuals due to a fast pace. The pace of the shots have also been edited in post-production due to the beat/pace of the song changing as it reaches the chorus (0.52).
Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?
The footage throughout the video is mainly the female vocalist (Aluna) she is filmed in many close-ups and framed shots. This is because she plays all the main characters in the 'fairy tales' and remains the main focal point throughout the video as the only vocalist/performer in the video. However, this also relates to Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory that women are objectified in film because of men being in control of the camera, this theory is heavily shown throughout this entire video as most of the footage is close-ups of lead vocalist Aluna. George Reid (the other half of AlunaGeorge) also plays his own part in the music video and there are some shots where he is the main focal point/only person in the shot. This is shown where he pulls the sword out of the stone (Arthur style) and where he leans in for a kiss with Sleeping Beauty. Close-ups are also used at the beginning of the music video (0.15-0.23) to introduce the first few 'fairy tale' characters Aluna plays. These alongside slow motion footage help explain the different characters being introduced to the video and give clues to the audience as to who the next character is if its not initially very clear. For example: the close up of 'beauty' on a necklace Aluna is wearing and then showing her accompanied by a beastly dog, connoting she is in fact the tale of Beauty and the Beast.
Is there reference to the notion of looking?
The female vocalist makes lots of eye contact with the camera in several scenes. This helps keeps the audience in tune with the 'story' going on in the video. For example in the scene where Aluna plays Goldilocks with the three 'bears' all of the characters in the kitchen shot make constant eye contact with the camera this is also the same in the Snow White and the 'Seven Dwarves' scene, this draws the audience in and also helps give an eery/scary feel to what should be a 'nice' children's fairy tale scene. However George on the other hand makes much less eye contact, if any as he plays less important roles in the 'fairy tales', he acts as the stereotypical knight in shining armour fending to help Aluna's characters e.g. pulling a pill (what should be a pea) from under a mattress Aluna's character is laying on.
Are there any intertextual references?
As I have said previously, throughout the entire music video there are connotations to 'fairy tales' however these are not just your average childish fairy tale they have an urban 'decayed' twist on them which overall creates a creepy and dark music video.
The intertextual references to fairy tales are: -Rapunzel (Aluna plays Rapunzel who is locked in a tower in the middle of London in what looks like a drugs sweat shop, growing her hair like the narcotic Cannabis and attaching it to her hair to place out the window)
-Little Red Riding Hood (Aluna plays this characters carrying a basket of food through a housing estate with a backdrop of a woods, whilst George and a dog are spying on her whilst waiting in a car, the dog plays the wolf which howls after she walks past)
-Goldilocks (Aluna plays Goldilocks as she is sat in the kitchen with three rather scary men acting as the 'bears' whilst holding a bowl of porridge each. There is also a reference to 'attracting flies' in this as there are a swarm of flies around them).
-Sword In the Stone (George plays Arthur drawing the sword out of a stone)
-Princess and the Pea (Aluna plays the princess laying on top of several mattress', George pulls out a pill from under one- what was originally a pea)
-Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (Aluna plays Snow White stood on a street corner with a gang of seven 'hoodies' behind her armed with weapons)
-Sleeping Beauty (Aluna plays this character, however a dark twist on the original. It looks as though she has overdosed on pills due to depression- this is where George steps in to save her with a kiss)
-Beauty and the Beast (Aluna plays Beauty with a dog on a leash as the 'beast').
Is the video performance, narrative or concept based? How much of each?
'Attracting Flies' is performance and narrative, it is based heavily on narrative due to the constant references of fairy tales however it still features a fair amount of performance. Although narrative and performance style music videos are a huge existing genre convention for indie/synth pop I feel it would be very difficult to recreate this in my own work due to the restrictions I have to work with (locations, equipment etc).
What have i learnt?
Getting a band together that are willing to feature in our video and perform is one thing but relying on their amateur acting skills to pull of a decent narrative story would prove very difficult. I am also on a very restricted budget and are therefore limited to locations and lighting rigs which I think play a key part in creating the fairy tale story lines within this music video e.g. the tower block. Some of the shots of Aluna I would also be unable to recreate due to the nature of some them, which would not be appropriate in my music video as they are heavily based on the male gaze theory. The costumes Aluna is wearing would also not be appropriate for my music video as they all fit into the 'fairy tale' narrative and the cost of them would be way out of our budget. However I would be able to emulate some of the shots of Aluna as there is a lot of emphasis on her as the main vocalist and only female in the duo (same as our band INFLUXX). For example the close up shots of Aluna in the character of 'Little Red Riding Hood' walking towards the camera and the long shots of Aluna dressed as 'Beauty' from Beauty and the Beast zooming in. Both of these shots would be something that we would be able to recreate in our own music video.
We have had to reconsider George as being a member, as he is unable to attend to the filming days due to other work commitments. This has knocked us back slightly off of schedule as we now need to find another male band member. We have ruled out a few other males, and have decided to use Alex Parr. We will have to alter the band biography post slightly, and take some pictures of both members together.
After having contacted various locations, via email, for the location of our music video we have decided to use The City Rooms. We encountered a few problems when searching for an appropriate venue as some of the places we contacted didn't respond, which we expected. However some of those who did respond weren't suitable as we later realised they were too far away, considering our transport and the transport of those featured in the video.
We have now booked The City Rooms for the 8th October from 8am to 7pm which is a large window of time, allowing us to set up, do styling and film without having to rush. As we have the venue for the entirety of the day we will hopefully be able to be experimental with shots and retake certain parts of the video various times to ensure we have a sufficient amount of footage to work with in post production. Below is an email confirming our booking.
I have done some research into the genre of music we are basing our music video on and how we should dress our band/models to fit in with this genre, song choice and band profile (ensuring that each band member's costume matches their individual personality). Below i have found various images as a starting point as to how we could dress our band. We initially had the idea of a monochrome style to base our costume on. After further research i think this idea is still viable, however we must ensure that due to our choice of location(s) the way we dress our band must work with the location, lighting and song choice we have chosen for our music video. We must also ensure that our band do not become lost in our chosen location due to the busy mise en scene that we want to include in shots. The scale of location is also going to play a huge part in our music video.
The list of bands i have researched includes MSMR, Au Revoir Simone, Haim, AlunaGeorge, Mo, Wild Belle, CHVRCHES, Lorde, The XX & London Grammar.
Secure a location for our music video: - Ensure models can fit into our scheduled days of filming
- Replying to emails from various locations and securing filming days
Feedback:
- Analyse and work on received feedback from peers
- Give feedback to other students on their work
Storyboard:
-Start and create storyboard
-Create animatic
I have experimented with some of the camera features, and have done some background research on the camera. In the next few posts I will be featuring some test shots to show the cameras quality, and to decide whether or not we want to use this camera. I have also purchased a FireWire cable so when we have some footage, we can test how long it will take to import the footage onto the computer.
Influxx are an English indie/synth pop duo formed by Ellie Cartwright and George Sherratt. Influxx have been active for around a year, and currently have three tracks available online, including their first official single Hurricane which was released on the 1st September 2013. It earned positive reviews for it's "vintage" sound. Their first music video for 'Hurricane' will be released around Christmas.
Both vocalists met at school in 2009, they both starred in numerous open mic's, and decided to collaborate. The band was formed in 2012. Their genres are; Indie pop, alternative rock, dream pop, dark wave.
Influxx music has been compared to Lana Del Ray and Florence and the Machine. Ellie writes the lyrics, and George contributes to the lyrics sometimes, which he describes as "emotionally affected". Ellie "writes about people who come in and out of my life."
Choosing the genre of music for our video is one the most crucial decisions we will have to make, which will dictate the style of our video. After some consideration we chose to focus on Indie Pop music and specifically chose the song 'Hurricane' by MSMR.
Indie Pop is a genre of alternative rock which originated in the UK in the mid 80's. The people we select to feature in the video will have to correspond with this genre, for example it's important that we style our models to look interesting and captivating. This appearance could be achieved by choosing certain clothing choices, for example monochrome styling. From analysing music videos we have noticed some common characteristics within the Indie Pop genre and these will be taken into consideration when we are in the pre production, production and post production stages.
Other artist within this or very similar genre are:
