Filming Day 4

Today we all met at Becky's house at 2:30. Duresh did my hair and make-up and then we went to film in Richmond Park. Unfortunately as the light was fading so quickly we couldn't get to the exact location we wanted to. But we found another hill that worked well and was closer. We filmed a couple of different shots of me walking through the trees and also filmed a great 360o shot which will look great. However as it got dark so quickly I am a little worried about how some of the shots will come out as they could be too dark.

Filming Day 3

Today we filmed a scene where we spread candles on to a black tarp the floor and I sat in the middle of the candles and lip-sang the song, and shots where we used a fan to use a wind effect. It took us about an hour and a half to set up the scene as we had to set out the candles, light them and get my make-up and costume ready.

I really enjoyed the filming as I was able to have input on camera movements by turning around the screen to look at shots and make sure we were getting the best footage possible. The shoot was really successful, we got a lot of good footage as well as getting pictures for the album cover and the website. 

It took us about 4 hours to film, and I am really pleased with the shots we have. 

Problems with Filming

Unfortunately we found out today and hour before we were meant to film that our artist Yvette was ill and couldn't make it. This presented a big problem as we are running out of days to film as Yvette has also just told us she is not available to film Monday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday this week or Tuesday next week. Due to this Duresh and I decided it would be best to change the artist, as otherwise we will not get any more footage before Christmas. Therefore I will step into the role.

Media Filming Day 2

I was really nervous at first as I really want to give the best possible performance and make the best music video we possibly can. However after filming today I have found getting the footage and shots we want has been much easier as I have a clear vision of what shots I would like and how I would like it to look. Duresh was extreamly helpful and took over filming duties as Becky was unable to make the filming today. Duresh and I also both worked together to set up props, lighting and the camera and I asked a friend whose house we were using to film in if she could help. 

Filming today went really well and we have managed to get nearly half of the shots we needed filmed. However, I am not entirely happy with some of the framing of shots so we may re-do some shots next week as we now have more than enough time to do this.

Media Filming the Music video Day 1

We filmed the first shots of the music video with our artist Yvette. It went really well and I really enjoyed getting to film. I found a few shots that looked really effective during filming. For one shot I got the idea when I was on the floor making sure I was out of shot and realised how effective the angle would look in the music video.

My roles today were to get props as we needed to use an acoustic guitar and have a set of house keys. I also had to brief our artist on what shots we wanted and direct her so that we could get the footage we wanted. I also encouraged her by mouthing the words to the song with her to make her feel less self-conscious.

Candle Scene Inspiration

We have an had an idea for the artist to sit in the middle of lots of little candles and lip-sync to the song. The inspiration for this idea came from the music video 'A Thousand Years' by Christina Perri. The shots in this video are not only eye catching and beautiful but they also create calm mood and represent the idea of grieving for someone that has left you. In our shots we used a white background and put a black cloth down on the floor to keep minimalist colours and to convey the heartbroken and grieving concept.

 

Music Video Influence - The Saturdays My Heart Takes Over

The Saturdays - My Heart Take Over

• I really like the use of camera. The camera movement makes this video feel more realistic and fits the location and song perfectly.
• I really like the locations used the stunning scenery.
• Cuts between the artists lip-synching and dramatic long shots of the artists work really well and help to sell the artists aswell as the song. I would really like to encorporate shots similar to this.

Music video influence - Olly Murs Heart On My Sleeve

• This is really helpful for planning shots in our video as the house location and then lip-synching in another location concept used is similar to our concept, which can help us to create great shots for our video by giving us pointers.
• The many different angled close-ups in the video create a main focus on the artist which works well for the star image and also for the emotion of the song. I particularly like the profile close-up as it looks striking. This could be something we try to encorporate into our video.
• The shot of the artist in the mirror creates a really great effect. This shot could be used in our music video as it would fit the concept we have.  

Music Video Influence - Rihanna We Found Love

• The narrative of this video is really good. The voice over at the start gives the song and the video a deeper meaning and gives it a different effect.
• The shot of the star standing against a wall with a projection being cast on the wall is really effective and striking. This type of shot would be a great to encorporate in to our video, as it is quite simple but creates quite a dramatic effect if it is done right.
• The shots where the camera spins around the artist and her boyfriend create a good effect. This could symbolise that they are each others worlds or that they only see each other when they are together or that they are madly in love. We could use this in our video but to a diffferent effect. We could use this type of shot to show the over whelming emotion the artist feels.
• The shots of the couple doing average things such as going to get fast food, skateboarding and gambling, creates the sense that the couple represent something everyone feels and that is common for everyone.

Artist Logo

These are some logo ideas I have put together using the website DaFont. The fonts are all different and are all interesting and they the fonts or style are all memerable.

Lyric Analysis

This is my lyric analysis for our chosen song I'm Still Here.

New song concept - "I'm still here"

I found a new song called I'm still here by American artist Cady Groves song is about someone not being able to let go of a dying relationship, even when the other person has already moved on.

 

I have already come up with the concept of a girl returning home, she comes in the door and throws down her bags and lip-syncs the first line. The lyrics "let me in your polaroid" could be reflected in the video with the artist looking at shots of her and her boyfriend. The guitar is prominent throughout this track so the artist could play guitar in one of the rooms of the house. Throughout the video we would cut between the artist playing guitar and lip-syncing and walking around the house looking at their possesions that are still together such as their toothbrushes, shoes and socks (similar to Kate Nash's Foundations music video) and writing 'i'm still here' in each room on mirrors and the fridge as she walks around the house hoping he will see it when he finally comes home. The girl would be seen sitting by the window and looking out hoping to see him. There would also be shots of artist playing guitar in a forest. In the final shot the artist would be sitting huddled on the floor in the hallway waiting, and we could either see the door open or just end on the idea that she will always be waiting if she doesn't let go because he isn't coming back.

Issues with the song: we need Another song choice

The group and I feel that after watching videos such as Pixie Lott's Boys and Girls, Cher Lloydd's With Ur Love it is clear our video would not realistically be able to create a pop video on our budget and in this time limit. We feel if we were to continue with this song we would make a music video that we wouldn't be proud of and could look amature rather than having the professional music video feel.We  also feel our ideas for the video will not be possible to create as we can not film a party scene as the locations we could use are not big enough the residents would not be happy with the party. We would also have a problems filming as we would not be able to control 15 people. We would also not be able to film the party scenes as other people in the class will be using the cameras and in order to get the shots we need we would need to film using at least 2 camera. The lighting would also be an issue as we would be filming in the street in the dark. The lighting would be bad and it would create a bad quality of film.

This is why we have decided to change the song.

Concepts for Put Your Hands Up

We have 2 concepts so far

 1. Girl(artist) is getting ready to go out, she turns on her i-pod and is dancing around her room lip-synching. We have cut away to make-up. Dancing on the bed, singing into a hair brush, looking in the mirror. We then move out to the street where she meets her friends and dances down the street with them. The girls dance and pose around various locations in London. Cutaways to artist lip-syncing with a colourful bright backgroup behing her to reflect the happy mood of the song.

2. Cutting bewtween shots of a dull party and feet walking and dancing down the street. The girl(artist) arrives at a door and we see her face, door opens and girl dancing in lip-synching the first line. She enters the main party room and everyone looks bored. She dances in the middle of the room and gets other people to join her. The particular dance having them putting their hands up in the air linking with the song. Cutaways to girl lip-syncing song with balloons and glitter and flashing lights to reflect the party feel of the song. Toward the end of the song everyone is outside, the party is fun and exciting and all the guests are outside on the street dancing.

We will continue to develop these ideas, throughout this week.

Ideas for Concept

I have watched some music videos to help put together ideas for a concept for the music video for Put Your Hands Up.

Cher Lloyd's video - With Ur Love
I really like the idea of the artist and her friends walking down the street. We coulda similar idea and our artist was walking down the street with her firends to a party in the opening of our video. I also really like the idea of using ballons in the video. Put Your Hands Up feels has a party feel to the song so using ballons in our music video would really fit the mood of the song as well as creating interesting shots.

Pixie Lott video - Boys and Girls
I really like the shots of the artists feet stomping to the beat as she arrives at the party. This is a simple idea that we could incorporate into our video. I also like the cut away shots of the artist particularly the ones that are quite odd like the shot of the artist sitting in a big tea-cup shot. Watching this video has made me realise that as well as having a concept we also need to have interesting cut aways.

New Song Choice

We have chosen to use Put Your Hands Up by Alex Roots as the track for our music video. She is an unknown artist and the song is fun and upbeat.

Changing the Song

We have just found out that we are going to have to change our idea as we can not do a song by a well know artist. The Saturdays have an image which we may not be able to distance our ideas from so we are going to have to find a new song.

Song Choice - Decision

We have decided to make use the track Open Up by The Saturdays for our music video.
We feel the song is fun and has great potential for a music video that we could shoot.

For this song we have decided we will have a girl band as our artist.

As a rough idea the concept so far is that a girls get home early in the morning all to their seperate homes, and their boyfriends won't let her in. In the video the girls calls through the letterbox to their boyfriends, lipsynching th song. The girls would lip-sync the song, calling looking through the window, throwing pebbles up at the window, trying to get in the back door. We will also coreograph a dance routine the girls perform at their front doors. At the end the boyfriend opens the door.

Top 3 Song choices

My top 3 song choices would be:

1. The Saturdays - Open Up
I think the video could be really interesting, I already have several idea for a concept and the song has a great pace that would be great for editing shots to. I really like the idea of the artist arriving home and then trying to convince her boyfriend to let her in.

2. Aly and Aj - Potential Break-up Song
I think this song has so much potential for a really interesting video. The pace of the song changes through ou the song so the possibilities are wide open.

3. Ed Sheeran - Small Bump
This is such a beautiful and touching song so it would be hard work to create a music video that would match the song, however I think if it was done right it would be an amazing music video.

Song choice

This is our list of songs we are choosing from

• Crash-Matt Willis
• Potential Break-up song- Ally and Aj
• Lego House- Ed Sheeran
• Move Along- All-American Rejects
• Lights-Ellie Goulding
• It's Only Life- Kate Voegle
• Open Up-The Saturdays
• Put your Hands Up- Alex Roots

We like all of these songs and we are currently brainstorming ideas for each song in order to find the best track we can make a great video for.

Ed Sherran Lego House Music Video Analysis

The song genre is indie, and the music video matches this.

The music video is based on the fact that the artist Ed Sheeran once said he looked like Ronald Weasly a character from the Harry Potter films played by Rupert Gint. Ed Sheeran and Rupert Grint met by chance and he was asked to appear in one of Ed Sheeran's music videos.

The genre is indie-pop, because of the pop hooks used in the song and indie feel to the song has as well as the paler colours used in the video which makes it look less glamourous and similar to real life(realism).

The song is amplified through the music video. It is expected that the song would be about a couple, however the music video changes this to the love a fan has for an idol. Towards the end of the song as the fan's behaviour becomes more angry and mad this contradicts with the slow melodic feel of the song.

Video uses a ange of static shots and shots that feel more shaky.
The Music video cuts to the beat and the pace builds once it is revealed that Rupert Grint is playing a crazy fan who is obsessed with Ed Sheeran rather than portraying Ed Sheeran himself, as we are mislead to believe. This is most likely to dramatise the reveal and to emphasise his mad state of mind.

The record company uses Rupert Grint's star power as a world famous movie star to sell the song through the music video. This draw of film star power is likely to gain the video many more viewings, as Ed Sheeran has only just recently managed to become well-known.
Other than pictures in the fans house, the artist Ed Sheeran himself is not seen until the very end of the video for a few seconds. Instead he is portrayed through Rupert Grint's character throughout the first half of the video as we are led to believe that he is.

Ed Sheeran's is also shown very little in both his previous videos. In the 'A-Team' Ed is only shown during when he buys a copy of the Big Issue and talks to the homeless girl who is the star of the video and is only seen in flashes in 'You Need Me I Don't Need You' between shots of a man using signing the lyrics. 

The idea of looking is used in this video when Rupert Grints character looks into the mirror. In this video it is used to represent his characters confusion and feeling of anomie. 

The video is mostly narrative but is also shows Rupert Grints character miming the song throughout.

Intertextuality

Intertextuality is a mix between two different media texts. John Stewart theorises that visual reference in music videos come from a range of sources. The three most popular being cinema, fashion and art/photography.

One example of intertextuality in a music video is Eminem's video for 'Without me'. In this video Eminem parodies many different pop culture references in the music video. Throughout the video the narrative is told like a comic strip, and Eminem dresses up as Robin (Batman and Robin). This pop culture reference immediately tells the audience that Eminem is acting as a hero. In this video Eminem also parodies reality TV shows, talk shows and people such as Elvis and Osama Bin Laden.

Another video to use intertextuality is Example's 'Last One Standing'. This video is based on 60's cop shows, however instead of catching murderers and bank robbers they are chasing people who have pirated his album. The title used at the beginning of the video as well as the costumes used establishes the concept of a 60's TV cop show. In the video the typical cop show is parodied with the use of a chase scene in which Example's character does unnecessary tricks and flips while chasing the criminal. It is also parodied with the use of bad fight scenes, stereotypical characters and a cheesy freeze frame at the end of the video. 

Tinie Tempah's video for 'Wonderman' is a homage to 70's TV show The Six Million Dollar Man. Tinie Tempah stars as the hero (Wonderman) and is on a mission to save the world and Ellie Goulding who features on the track playing a doctor who is helping him. The video follows narrative matches the TV show where an astronaught crashes and is badly injured and has to be rebuilt with bionic limbs, and becomes a secret agent. This is all seen in the video, and also uses action shots that would  be part of the TV shows story line, such as cathing criminals and exploding buildings. The video is meant to be fun and also connect with the song. 

Marc Webb- Music Video Director

Marc Webb is a director who started his career directing music videos and has since moved on to directing critically accliamed film (500) days of Summer. 

Webb's first music video was for Canadian Rose by Blues Traveler, made in 1997.Webb has since directed music videos for many genres. For example he has directed pop artists such as Ashlee Simpson and Miley Cyrus, videos for american bands such as Maroon 5, All American Rejects, My Chemical Romance, Green Day and Jimmy Eat World and for more indie artists such as Regina Spektor, Hot Hot Heat and Gavin DeGraw.

Webb's signature which has appeared in some of his videos in a white lamb. This can be seen in such videos as Yellowcard's Ocean Avenue.

Webb moved from music video into film with 2009 romantic drama film (500) Days of Summer, which recieved a positive critical reception. In January 2010 Webb was named director of the next Spiderman film, which will be released in 2012. 

Music Video History Timeline

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c1900		Edison invents the gramophone in the USA: first shift from music as a solely live and audiovisual experience to recorded audio on various forms of disc
1920s		Fischinger experiments with sound/vision synchronisation on film
1927		First sound film The Jazz Singer (Alan Crosland, USA)
1930s		Creation of first 'soundies'
1939		Introduction of the Panarom
1940s		Peak period of MGM Hollywood musical
1954		Elvis Presley records That's All Right (Mama)
1960		Scopitone introduced in France
1963		UK's first music TV programme, Ready Steady Go (ITV)
1964		Top of the Pops TV programme begins (BBC)                                                         The Beatles releasethe film and album, A Hard Day's Night (Richard Lester, UK)
1966		The Monkees' TV show starts on NBC in the USA
1967		The Beatles release TV promos for Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever
1975		Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody
1977		Saturday Night Fever (John Badham, USA)
1979		Buggles: Video Killed the Radio Star (Russel Mulcahy)
1980		David Bowie: Ashes to Ashes (David Mallet and David Bowie)
1981		Pop Clips Nickolodeon                MTV Starts Duran Duran: Girls on Film (Kevin Godley and Lol Creme)
1983		Michael Jackson:Thriller (John Landis)    Beginning of Country Music Television (CMT)
1984		Music Box starts in Europe           MTV Video Music Awards launched
1985		VH1 begins                     MTV taken over by Viacom                                          Live Aid
1986		Dire Straits: Money for Nothing (Steve Barron) is top video
1987		MTV-Europe (MTV_E) launched, broadcasting to 1.6m homes             Perter Gabriel: Sledgehammer (Stephen Johnson), wins best director award
1988		MTV-Europe achieves 3.5 m subscribers
1989		MTV-Europe reaches 6.7m homes                      Live broadcast from Moscow Peace Festival                                             Madonna: Express Yourself (David Fincher), wins best director award
1990		Madonna: Vogue (David Fincher), wins best director award    Launch of MTV-Unplugged
1991		Madonna: Justify My Love (Jean-Basptiste Mondino)
1992		MTV launches The Real World, a fly-on-the-wall documentary following the lives of seven people sharing a New York loft
1993		MTV launches TV series Beavis and Butthead
1994		REM: Everybody Hurts (Jake Scott), wins best director award      Launch of VH1 in the UK                         Launch of MTV Music Awards
1997		MTV UK and Ireland launches as stand-alone channel
1998		Launch of Celebrity Deathmatch
1999		Fatboy Slim: Praise You(Spike Jonze), wins best director award
2000		Launch of Jackass
2001		Launch of MTV Dance