Song Choice

After deciding that I wanted to create a hard hitting music video I started to look at different genres and artists; I then started to narrow down what style of music I wanted to use. I decided I didn't want anything with overpowering instrumentals, I felt that by choosing a track with only one or two instruments in the background it would take the focus away from the music and the audience would concentrate more on the lyrics which will help to convey the message.

When listening to the tracks on YouTube I also made sure I didn't look at the videos because I wanted to make sure I interpreted the songs in my own way and wasn't influenced by the artists video; this has resulted in me taking a different approach to the song I have chosen compared to the artist.

To try to find my song I searched for 'controversial songs' and 'songs with a message'; although it came up with some suggestions the only result that I found useful was the VMA best social message nominees. 'Same Love' by Macklemore would have been a perfect example of controversial song with a hard impact on it's audience however, I have already seen the video many times and I would have been influenced too much by the original music video when planning my own production.

I then asked people in my class if they had any recomendations for songs I could use. This resulted in me listening to songs such as Daughter by 'Medicine', The Temper Trap 'Rabbit Hole' and concrete gold wu lyf. whilst all these songs had a sad feel to them wehn listening I couldn't imagine a video that had the right feel to compliment the songs.

Finally, Mr Buckmaster told me to look at the song Ellie Goulding sang for Children In Need 2013; 'How Long Will I Love You'. I listended to the song twice in a row and immediately I began to imagine the kind of music video I could create to go with the song. After brainstorming I told Mr Buckmaster and we both developed my idea and he helped me to expand on what I was thinking of. This is the song I have chosen to use for my production.

Looking into Similar Products

After deciding I wanted to shoot a video that was a bit more true to life and more about the harsh reality of the society we live in I decided to start looking at music videos with similar story lines. Not only would these videos give me ideas for shooting styles and themes for my own video but they may also lead to to artists who produce music with the right feel that I'm looking for.

The first video I looked at was 'The A Team' by Ed Sheeran. It follows the life of a homeless female that turns to prostituion to make money; when she gets the money she then spends it on drugs leading her into a downwards spiral. The video starts with a young girl crying over a dead body the end is poignaint because the audience realise that the girl lying on the floor at the begining, dead is the girl we follow through the video and it is her spirit that is looking over the body after she dies of a drug overdose.

Another song I looked at was You're Too Young by Lucy Spraggan. The song is about a young girl who takes the wrong path in life, getting kicked out of shcool, involved in crime and getting into a relationship with a 'bad boy' who is into drugs and has many relationships at one time. The song is about the journey to her death after she gets into a fight with another female and ends up getting stabbed by her. The girl that stabs her is actually her dates girlfriend. The video visits the harsh reality of choosing the wrong path in life.  

Shooting Styles

At the weekend I saw the Sainsburys 2013 Christmas advert; 'Christmas in a Day' The advert, like the music videos I have been watching, had a big emotional impact on it's audience. The advert was directed by Oscar-winning Kevin Macdonald.He created a 45 minute festive film for Sainsbury's to be released on YouTube week comensing 18.11.13. Macdonald collected various christmas home videos from across the UK and collated them to create a short film - he also created a 3 minute teaser advert before the film was released.

The 3 minute teaser includes emotive footage; including, a man eating Christmas dinner alone and a dad coming home from Afgahnistan to surprise his children on Christmas day. This realtes to the theme I want for my music video becuase it has a hard hitting, realistic, emotional impact on the audience.
 

It wasn't just the theme and the impact of the advert that attracted me but also the style, I like that they were home videos included in the filming and clearly not set up situations; this gave it a much more realistic feel increasing the emotional impact.
Read more: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-sainsburys-christmas-day-will-bring-tears-your-eyes-153935

Hozier: Take Me To Church

In class Mr. Buckmaster showed us a music video: Hozier, Take Me To Church.

Ireland's State noted that the video, directed by Brendan Canty, echoes the wave of violence currently plaguing the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Russia. The songs lyrics speak of the harsh reality of religious view on homosexuality in many places: "Every Sunday's getting more bleak / A fresh poison each week / 'We were born sick,' you heard them say it". Although these views are considered very outdated in many places these opinions are still practised in many places across the globe.

I like the video because it shows the harsh reality of many societies and opinions; it doesn't sugar coat the situation. The hard hitting impact of the video, gives the song a lot of power over the audience because it very quickly makes people realise the cruel truth about things that Homosexual populations have face in certain societies.

I also like the colour treatment of the music video; I think the black and white video takes away any distractions. The audience’s attention isn't drawn to any insignificant parts of the scenes. I think it signifies that the shooting of the video is not the important part of the video but the message it is trying to send. Also, the black and white colour treatment helps to prevent and other difference the characters may have being introduced to the audience, by all being very plain it almost takes away their individuality.

Things that I will be taking from this video and applying to my own production are:

· The use of colour treatment and the impact it has on the message of the story

· The hard hitting effect of the story

· The controversial manner of the video

I will use this video as the first influence into similar products that I will be looking into to.

Song Choice

The song I have chosen to use for my music video is 'Clouds' by Newton Faulnkner Sam Newton Battenberg Faulkner (born 11 January 1985); an English singer-songwriter and musician from Reigate, Surrey. He is known for his unique, percussive style of guitar playing.

I initially chose this song because I like it, I am fan of Newton Faulkner and I decided to listen to his album for some inspiration on what song to use for my A2 music video. After listening to both 'Hand Built by Robots' and 'Write it on your Skin' I liked 'Clouds' the most.

When looking more deeply into the song and its meaning to try and fit a message for my music video around it I conducted some further research. Some of the lyrics slightly contradict each other and the message isn't completely clear when looking at the lyrics. To help me identify the meaning I found a video made by Newton Faulkner to help me research his interpretations; he said the main message of the video was that things get better if you just staty possitive and persue things. The video has since been taken down from his website but below is an article that I found that gives a further in-sight to the meaning of the song from an audience persepective. http://glipho.com/rnbryant/stop-looking-down-at-the-ground-just-pick-it-out-of-the-clouds

Here is a link to the lyrics: http://www.tunewiki.com/lyrics/newton-faulkner/clouds

Music Video Genres

There are different styles of music video that artists can use.

Performance:
 

This is where the video is based around the band/artist and shows them performing and their gigging lifestyle. It's a common genre with new, up and coming artists that are trying to establish their place in the music industry and make themselves known to the audience. An example of a music video that has used the performance genre is 'Let Her Go' by Passenger; please see bellow.

Storyline:

This is where the song and lyrics are used to tell a story. This is a very common theme among many music videos and allows for the artists interpretation of the song to be conveyed to the audience. An example of a music video that has used the storyline genre is 'The A Team' by Ed Sheeran; please see bellow.

Dance:

This is where the music video is based around people dancing to the music, it is often used with 'upbeat songs' for a feel good effect. Often, the artist or band are the dancers in the music video.  An example of a music video that has used the dance genre is Love On Top' by Beyonce; please see below:

 

 

 

Conceptual:

Conceptual music videos are based around a single idea or concept and are usually unusual and obscure, even surreal for the audience. Conceptual videos are often quirky.  An example of a music video that has used the conceptual genre is 'Needing/Getting' by OK Go; please see below:

Special Effects:

Special Effect videos are often disjointed, they allow for a slightly surreal feel to the video. An example of a music video that has used the special effects genre is 'Safe and Sound' by Capital Cities; please see below:

 

Animation:

 

Animated music videos can range from the images being hand drawn, created by computer graphic ot moulded out of material such as plasticine. This style of music video is very creative and visually entertaining to watch. An example of a music video that has used the animation genre is 'One More Time' by Daft Punk ; please see below:

 

 

Practising Shots

Another shot that I wanted to do was a sunrise Time lapse.

I have the idea of starting my video with a person sat on a hill side watching the sun rise, this will be the male protaganist in my music video who is trying to better his life. I will then end the shot with the male in the same place but he will be sat next to a female. I think it will link the story together well and give it a romantic feel.

Here is an example of a dunrise times lapse that I've found (skip to 10 seconds when the time lapse starts). I also found a still picture of the end shot that I envisage.



Practising Shots

On thing that I'm really keen on doing when filming my music video is playing with the depth of field on some shots. I want some shots that go from being blurred to focused and vise versa and I want some shots that have a blurred background whilst the focus is on the main feature of the shot. Above is a video that I found with lots of examples of the kinds of shots that I want to try when filming my video.

I have also found another video where it is specifically the fairy lights that are blurred, this is a shot that I have in mind. It's 'let her go' by Passenger. I plan on using an SLR camera to create these shots as I feel they will be very effective when adjusting the depth of field


Finally I have taken this idea and tried to create my own shot. I have used a Nikon SLR camera to film some  fairy lights using different depths of focus.