Planning of Shots

In today's lesson Amy and I listed to the actual track of 'The Fray - How To Save A Life', we went through a verse by verse and made decisions on what would happen on that part of our video so we can soon start storyboarding. It was harder than we thought to pick exact shots, because the chorus repeats so many time, and our ideas can't really be repeated. So here is what we have done so far!

Piano – The boy sitting looking sad, (waiting room, someone walking by casting shadows) in living room at table.

"Step one you say we need to talk,

He walks you say sit down it's just a talk" - The girl is in her room singing, it then cuts to the  boy being sat down by his parents (or a doctor, depends) and being told about his girlfriend killing herself.

"He smiles politely back at you" – An extreme close up of the girl’s lips smiling.

"You stare politely right on through" – The boy looking sad.

"Some sort of window to your right,

As he goes left and you stay right,

Between the lines of fear and blame" – The boy looks to the window, and in the window he sees a clip of them kissing and then a sudden flash of her dead.

"And you begin to wonder why you came" – The boy just gets up and leaves.

"Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend,

Somewhere along in the bitterness" – The boy walking down the street and he sees a broken bottle on the floor, the camera then cuts to him drinking at a party with friends.

"And I would have stayed up with you all night,

Had I known how to save a life" – The boy out drinking with his friends at a party, and then the girl crying laying in her bed, cutting herself (relates to broken glass).

"Let him know that you know best,

Cause after all you do know best

Try to slip past his defence,

Without granting innocence" - Flashbacks of them together at a wall, being normal, happy, like laughing and kissing.

"Lay down a list of what is wrong,

The things you've told him all along" – The girl walks away, (split screen) we then see him still being happy, but she is crying and shouting.

"And pray to God, he hears you,

And pray to God, he hears you" – Little flash of the girl hanging, then the camera goes back to her, upset.

"Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend,

Somewhere along in the bitterness" – The boy sees an old couple, one in wheelchair, they look really happy.

"And I would have stayed up with you all night,

Had I known how to save a life" – He then sees a couple arguing, and remembers her upset.

Piano – Flashback of him with a bunch of girls, ignoring her.

"As he begins to raise his voice,

You lower yours and grant him one last choice" - The boy walks into her room, happy, he sees her cutting, and then he is mad at her.

"Drive until you lose the road,

Or break with the ones you've followed" – The girl reacts by dropping to her knees, and giving in.

"He will do one of two things,

He will admit to everything" – They are talking on her bed, (She’s telling him everything that’s wrong).

"Or he'll say he's just not the same" – He is shaking his head at her.

"And you begin to wonder why you came" – The boy gets up really quickly right at the end of verse, and walks out.

"Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend,

Somewhere along in the bitterness

And I would have stayed up with you all night

Had I known how to save a life"

"Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend

Somewhere along in the bitterness

And I would have stayed up with you all night

Had I known how to save a life" - We see a montage of flashbacks, with cuts to the boy being angry and walking home. Flashbacks are of him remembering them together, and he realizes how depressed she was. At end, he sees her blood on him.

Piano, How to save a life x2 – The boy is trying to scrub blood off hands panicking, whilst cutting with her shots of her about to kill herself. At the end of the piano playing she jumps to hang herself, then there is a sharp close up of the rope being pulled. (All done in slow motion)

"Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend" – Camera cuts back to the boy in current time, he is really upset about walking out on her.

"Somewhere along in the bitterness,

And I would have stayed up with you all night,

Had I known how to save a life" – There is constant cutting between the girl in a dark room crying and shouting at the camera (like she is trapped), and the boy showing how he is now really upset and worrying.

"Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend,

Somewhere along in the bitterness,

And I would have stayed up with you all night,

Had I known how to save a life"

Piano, How to save a life x2 – A montage of short clips of them together, really happy, laughing and messing around. Right at the end the boy just sitting and staring sadly.

Andrew Goodwin

Goodwin's six from carolinelautey

Here is my powerpoint on Andrew Goodwin's definitions of a music video!

Foster The People 'Pumped Up Kicks' - music video analysis

Music video analysis  - Foster The People ‘Pumped Up Kicks’

Foster The People’s ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ music video is mainly a performance music video, and arguably a concept music video – the fun they have together as a band during their work and outside of work.

I think it is a very effective music video as it suits the genre of music that the song is. The song is very upbeat and cheerful and fun! And the music video mirrors this.

The video conforms to a few of Goodwin’s Seven. One of which is how the visuals match the music; editing and camera work and the band’s on-screen actions are often if not always in time with music. However, this video does not fit in with Goodwin’s theory that the visuals match the lyrics, as there is definitely no relationship between the visuals and the lyrics in this video. An example of the visuals matching the music would be when there is a close-up shot of a foot tapping along in time with the music.

This music video also conforms to Goodwin’s theory that the demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist.

I really like some of the special effects in this music video; particularly at the start where there is a pink tint and grainy film effect over a long shot of someone jumping off a cliff into the sea. This shot creates a dream-like effect and shows the adventurous and fun-filled life the band lives and makes the audience envy them and possibly idolise them and wish for a life like there’s.

Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl, Analysis.

Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl

Rick Springfield is a Australian singer, songwriter, musician, and an actor. He released the track to ‘Jessie’s Girl’ in 1981, the track reached Number1 in the US and Australian charts, the song then got Rick a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in 1982. The music video was released in 1991, by BMG entertainment. The video is performance as well as narrative. The narrative consists of a man watching Jessie and his girlfriend writing a wall, and singing about it. It then shows the band performing in a street with the writing on the wall behind them, and the camera switches to just the main singer singing and clicking his fingers. Next it shows the band performing on what seems to be a stage, with bright lights behind them. It then goes on to show the man walking into  ‘Jessie’ and his girlfriend, and looking ‘rather awkward’, they then walk away and he watches them as he walks in the other direction with their arms around one another. In the next part of the narrative the man is washing his face in the mirror and when he looks in the mirror he can see himself performing with Jessie’s girlfriend in the background, he then breaks the mirror. It is basically him wishing that Jessie’s girlfriend is his.

In the music video a two shot is shown of Jessie and his girlfriend to represent how they are separate from the man and together as a couple. There is also a group shot used of the band to show how they are one as a band, and are performing. Close ups are used on only the man, to show his emotions; how he is jealous when he sees them together, and his expression when he is singing. Another close up is used on the man when he is seeing himself in the mirror; this shows his reaction to seeing the girlfriend in it. At this point there is also an over the shoulder shot used to show the man looking in the mirror, this shows us that it is actually him looking in the mirror, and we can see both his face and his body. The costumes of the band and of the man are all dark and plain, where as Jessie and his girlfriend are dressed more brightly, this could represent how the couple are happy together, but the man is jealous and sad. Most of the settings used in this music video are plain, or simple, with the exception of the garden the man walks into. This could once again represent how the couple are happy (because of the colours), and he is not. Similarly to this the lighting throughout is very dark and harsh, (with the garden exception), with very strong bright light used on the man’s face, this emboldens his emotions. Editing in this has been kept quite fast-paced, however is a shot lasts a longer period of time then the editing is slower.

As far as Goodwin’s seven goes this music video does conform to some of the aspects. Firstly it demonstrates certain genre characteristics through the performance and guitar playing which shows they are a rock-type band. Secondly, this music video has many close ups of the lead singer (not actually sure if it is Rick though?!), which as suggested by Goodwin is because of the demands of the record label. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals, as when the man sings “Jessie is a friend” at the beginning of the song, he is shown to be looking at Jessie. There is many more examples of moments like that. Finally there is a slight relationship between music and visual, as when the beat speeds at the end (about 1:40) the actions on the screen change in time with the music.

I do lik this music video because of the mix of narrative and performance. I think the producer fitted in the performance very well with the storyline off the narrative, Its showing to me, how he is singing out his feelings because he can’t actually tell her, because “Jessie is a friend”. I find inspiration in that longer shots promote slower editing, this may be something Amy and I could use in our music video!

Music video director study - Paul Hunter

Born in California, Hunter got a degree in Radio, TV, and Film at California State Unifersity Northridge. His career began working on sets and shooting spec commercials. He continues his work in commercial directing by helming big budget product spots for major corporations, including The Gap and Coca Cola. Paul received overwhelming recognition for his work on the projects for Nike and Jordan. The Nike commercial went on to be nominated for an Emmy. Some of his best work includes directing Michael Jackson’s come-back single, `You Rock My World'. And also directing the multiple award-winning 'Divas' video for the soundtrack to the film Moulin Rouge! (2001).

Hunter has gone on to work with musical artists including Snoop Dogg, Aaliyah, Jennifer Lopez, Lenny Kravitz, Christina Aguilera, Eminem, Ashanti, Marilyn Manson, Mariah Carey, Will Smith, TLC, Nicole Scherzinger, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson.

Hunter made his feature length directorial debut with Bulletproof Monk for MGM, starring Chow Yun Fat and Seann William Scott. 

One shot wonder music video - Feist '1 2 3 4'

A one shot wonder video is where there is no cuts during editing, and the whole video is just one continuous shot.

I think this is a very clever technique that has been done really well here by Feist. I think the reason it works so well is partly due to one of Goodwin’s Seven; the visuals always match the music and the lyrics, which makes the audience feel very comfortable and happy that everything is in time – which was probably the effect Feist wanted as it is a very happy song. In addition, the camera movement is always in time with the music and lyrics as well, which makes the video extremely effective as it all fits in so well. For example; when the actors/dancers make a spiral and the lead vocalist is picked up and walks around them on her side, the camera tilts into a bird’s eye view shot and follows her around the spiral.

Another thing that makes this video so effective is how the audience never views something boring. The actors/dancers are always doing something interesting and are all dressed in really bright and interesting clothes. Although there are no props and the location isn’t very interesting and is the same throughout the video, other elements of mise en scene make up for this.

All American Rejects - Dirty Little Secret, Analysis.

The All American Rejects - Dirty Little Secret

I decided to do a textual analysis of this music video, because I really enjoy it and find it quite inspiring. It is a mixture of concept and performance, and the music video really suits the song. The song 'Dirty Little Secret' was released in 2005 by The All-American Rejects, they then went on to release the music video later on in the year, it was directed by  Marcos Siega, who is well known for music videos such as ‘Blink 182 - All The Small Things’, and ‘Papa Roach - Broken Home’.  Siega has a background in music which really helps his music video career. The music video consists of the band performing in a room with loads of photos pinned up in the backdrop behind them, it also features a series of random people holding up cards sharing their "dirty little secrets", (a montage). The secrets that are written on the cards were posted on a website, anonymously, and when Siega typed in 'secrets' on Google, the website came up. The band and Marcus Siega then paid the website to use the cards, and all the funds went to 'The Kristin Brooks Hope Center', which is a non profit organization which pays for a suicide hotlines.

The music video for ‘Dirty Little Secret’ conforms to Goodwin’s Seven in that it includes many of close ups of the artist, as demanded by the record label. It also follows that it demonstrates certain genre characteristics, for example stage performance for rock bands. In this music video there is a slight relationship between lyrics and visuals, as in the chorus when the band sing, ”I’ll keep you my dirty little secret” we see the visuals as being the random people holding up the cards with their secrets on. However their music video has no reference to looking, and there are no intertextual references. This music video also shows no relationship between music and visuals. 

Throughout the music video there are many mid-shots that zoom into close-ups, of the people holding their cards, this shows me that they are emphasizing on the secrets that they have written, and it also makes us able to read them clearly. Most of the shots of the band are group-shots, this is to show the audience that the band members are together, and not part of the random people. The close-ups of the lead singer are used to represents how he is the leader of the band, and the main singer. There is a shot in the video which is a bird’s eye view of the guitarist playing; this is stereotypical of rock bands. The video opens with a montage of people holding their cards; it has been edited to be fast-paced so that it fits in time with beat at the start of the song. The people with the cards are firstly shown in a mid-shot, and then it quickly cuts to a close-up of the card, I think that this has been done to accentuate on the secrets. Most of the editing through this music video is fast paced, but still allowing us enough time to read the cards. The lighting of the shots of the band is kept very dark, and at times their faces are hidden, this is to create mystery and to once again emphasize on the idea of ‘secrets’. The clothing of the band are just plain, and dull, whereas the random people are wearing normal bright coloured clothes because it is suggesting that everyone has secrets. The settings of the random people are just normal places like on the streets; this again notes how they are normal people. Where as the band are in a dark warehouse which is creating an element of mystery.

The performance of the band of good as it is mixed in with the concept, however, if the music video was just the concept it would still make sense, but if it was just the performace I don’t not think that it would be quite the same. The montage of images at the start of the music video may be something which we would consider at part of our music video. 

One Shot Wonder!

Ms Hill showed us some 'one shot wonder' music videos, meaning that the whole music video was filmed in a single shot! She then asked us to go home and find a different one and create a blog post about it for homework, (as long as it wasn't OK GO). Below I have analysed my chosen music video and included a link so you all can watch!

Gary Jules - Mad World 

I chose the music video of 'Gary Jules – Mad World', the song itself is originally performed by ‘Tears For Fears’, but it was then later recreated by Gary Jules, for the film 'Donny Darko', and then released again as a actual single. This music video was directed by Michel Gondry, and released in 2004. The video consists of children coming out of a school, and onto the streets of a city, joining together and making animated scenes for example a boat on the sea. 

I think that this music video is performance and concept, as I don't really see any sings off narrative throughout it. The lighting in this music video is very dull and dark, to highlight the sadness of the song, and relate to the lyrics he is singing, it has clearly been filmed in a winter sunrise or sunset. The children are all dressed in black which gives an element of mystery as well as showing the sadness, similarly, the artist is also dressed in black when he is seen singing and playing the piano. A high angle is used from the point of view of the artist on the building, showing the children making animations on the street below, it shows how he is watching all around him - relating to the lyrics "all around me are familiar faces..". A wide shot it then used of the artist, it includes the backdrop of the city behind him, which shows him to be alone, which fits in with the song genre.  

This music video really does not conform to Goodwin’s Seven definitions of a music video. Firstly the music video only features the artist 3 times, so it does not follow the statement that ‘The demands of the record label will include the need for lot’s of close-ups of the artist, however as the artists appearance seems quite irrelevant to the rest of the music video this could be the demands of the record label, requesting that the artist must be seen. There is also no link between the lyrics and the visuals as suggested by Goodwin's seven. However, there is a slight relationship between music and visuals, although it is hard to tell the children's movements completely. The music video also does not have any references to 'looking', or any inter-textual references, showing that Goodwin's seven does not relate to every music video. 

We do see the artist performing as he sings on top of the building, but it is not very clear. I think that if we got closer to the artist singing then the music video could be better and we might be able to relate more. The concept of the music video is not exactly clear but it really suits the song, and the mood it creates. I do not really like this music video because even though it is only one shot it is very bland, I feel that a lot more things could of happened during it, instead of just the same going to the artist and then back to the children on the street. I don't think I take any inspiration from this for our music video, it is rather dull.