Group meeting 20/11/12

Today we dissected the lyrics of our song and discussed what we wanted each line to look like on film and what shots we would do. We strategically went through the lyrics and made annotations of our ideas of what we envisage each verse and chorus to look like. I was very pleased with the work we got done as I feel a lot more confident of exactly what we want the video to look like and exactly what we will film on the shooting days and now we have begun to storyboard. Now it is very clear what we want to achieve.

Location Ideas/Plan

Fake band activity

In lessons we have been discussing all the possible ways to promote a band, and as it will be part of our coursework to make a website for our artist we did a preliminary exercise  which was to create a promotional website for a fake band (an artist that does not exist).

Click here to see the wix I made for the fake band The Dynobots:
Dynobots wix

Genre Research

Our chosen song is 'Life Happens' by surfer duo Brandon and Leah. The two have been friends since children and have been brought up in the sunny and 'beachy' location of Malibu. The duo quit the busy lifestyle that Hollywood demands in order for a relaxing and chilled life on the majestic beaches of Malibu. The pair's music reflects their happy and calm lifestyle and their music videos further enforce this and display their love of nature and their surroundings. The mood of their songs is light and fun. Brandon says that "Everything is groove based. We like things with a positive, beach vibe. If our songs don’t make you want bob your head, then we haven’t done our job." This tells us that their aim isn't to rock the world or to put across a political message or to express the negativity of the world through their music, but their aim is to represent that their is happiness in life and that nature is beautiful and that we should enjoy life and do what makes us happy. Their free-spirited vibe is infectious and fans can't help but smile when hearing their tunes. 

It is hard to label their music with a concrete genre such as rock, pop, or indie. However I personally would say their music is a combination of surfer, folky pop as their music is light-hearted and upbeat which would class it as pop, but the use of ukuleles and acoustic guitars gives them their added surfer-hippy vibe. 

The origin of this type of music comes from artists such as Joni Mitchell, who's folk music was hugely influential to many other artists. Her distinctive vocals, poetic lyrics and guitar style as well as her harmonic piano skill gave her an image of one of the most iconic folk musicians. I believe if it wasn't for artists like Joni Mitchell there would not be people like Brandon and Leah making their music today. 

Brandon and Leah themselves have stated that Bob Marley is one of their biggest influences. Bob Marley is one of the most recognised artists on earth and is one of the biggest icons ever. In particular to Brandon and Leah, I think that his reggae and laid back rhythmic sound to his music is what influenced them. Some of his most famous songs such as 'Three Little Birds' and 'Dont Worry, Be Happy' express as happy message and offer stress-free spirited vibes for listeners. Additionally songs such as 'Trenchtown Rock' he sings about the magic of music and how it can make one feel good. 

Again, I think this is what Brandon and Leah aim to achieve in their music, they want to offer upbeat and optimistic escapism for their listeners. 

Another band who I think created 'beachy, folky'/ 'Surf rock' type music are the Beach Boys. They are known for their sound and lyrics that reflected a Southern California youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance. Some of their most famous numbers such as 'Good Vibrations', 'Fun Fun Fun' and 'Surfer Girl' express as 'beachy' free spirited feel that has remained influential to this day. Their songs such as 'Don't Worry Baby' offer comforting lyrics and remind listeners that everything in their life will be just fine. Everyone associates the Beach Boys with the sea, surfing, beaches, relaxing and having fun, they achieved this through the sound of their music and their vocal harmonies, and I think this is exactly what Brandon and Leah want to achieve through their own music. 

Poppy/folky/surfer music isn't a mainstream music scene and artists who produce this genre of music tend to provide for a very niche market and rarely achieve worldwide fame, however they do their job of producing happy and upbeat music in which a specific type of person, such as a surfer, or somebody who enjoyes melodic, happy music, will appreciate. I don't think Brandon and Leah desperately want to achieve large amounts of fame, I think their sole aim is to provide art for their audiences and continue to portray their laid back and exotic lifestyle in the hopes that they can transport their fans their care-free life through their music. 

Casting

Our friend Malory Torr has agreed to star in our video. We specifically wanted Malory as she is known for her love of music and performing, she has all the attributes that a producer would want for a music video; she is charismatic, bubbly, funny and looks good on camera. We know that she won't be shy in front of the camera which could run the risk of ruining the look of the video as it simply wouldn't look professional, but with Malory, this will not be a problem. She also has the look that we want our star to have. Malory herself is a singer/songwriter and tries to market her own music by creating her own music videos and playing at various events and venues, so we know that she understands what it takes to make a music video, as well as what looks good and what doesn't. Ironically, Malory probably has more experience in the planning, production and editing of music videos than my group and I do!

Alongside Malory, our friend Matt is going to play the part of her boyfriend. Malory is certainly the star of the whole video, but Matt's role is important for portraying our narrative. Matt also does drama and we know he can act. He is also good fun and easy going as we know that he will be a positive attribute to our group and will do all he can to help.


We feel very assured and pleased about our cast!

Group Meeting 13/12/12

In today's sessions Ella, Madihah and I were further discussing what exactly we want our video to look like, we looked at some music videos that had the sort of look that we want to enhance in our music video. We were also discussing when we plan to shoot our film. Next week in our local area the Christmas lights are to be switched on and so we plan to do some filming then as we want to capture the togetherness and festivity of Christmas which will contribute to the happy and feel good vibe that we wish to achieve. We hope to have all our filming done within the next 3 weeks in order to have our rough cut done before the Christmas holiday.

Influential Video - Lucy Rose 'Middle Of The Bed'

Lucy rose from annawylde1234

Influential Video - Eliza Doolittle 'Rollerblades'

Group Animatic

My Chemical Romance 'Na Na Na' Music Video Analysis

My Chemical Romance's Na Na Na music video released in 2010 is jam-packed full of excitement, action and comedy. The video is a parody with a combination of western/badlands and comic-book style which is made apparent through the extravagant mise-en-scene. The video is very high-concept and narrative based as the video tells part of a story that merges with all the other music videos from their Danger Days album to tell the whole story of the album.  The premsis is that the band member are a gang named the Killjoys and they are being hunted by a sinister character and his vampire-masked henchmen. It is unclear as to why they are enemies but it is made very explicit that they are rivals. The Killjoys have a young girl in their gang who the sinister characters are out to get. Again, we are unsure why he is after her. The video uses many referenced to pulp fiction as there are car chases, shoot-outs and a Mexican standoff at the end which results in the sinister character capturing the young girl and telling the Killjoys to "keep running". The video is very dramatic and action filled with elements of mystery as there are some parts to the narrative that are confusing and unclear, however this is what adds to the excitement and intrigue of the music video, as though it was a real action film.

There are also references to other media texts that inspired the idea of the music video, such as the films Easy Rider, Blade Runner, Terminator 2 and the Mad Max franchise.

The video has a very sinister and violent theme and perhaps is making an inexplicit statement about reality as the lyrics say "Drugs gimme drugs" which could be talking about peoples dependence on drugs or other substances. Overall I think the song/video has a political message as it talks about people ruling the world and everyone just follows - "You run the company, na na na na na na na, fuck like a Kennedy" - this could be a reference to the way the country is run or how it was run by president JF Kennedy. Also, the song is about revolution and peoples desire to take over - "Everybody wants to change the world, but no one, no one wants to die". The visuals that we see on screen certainly amplify the lyrics as everything about the video is open to interpretation.

Every album that My Chemical Romance have released, they have had a slightly different look accordingly. Danger Days is the bands 4th album and they transported their image from emo to more pop-arty, comic style for the album. I think a reason that many artists constantly change their image is so that they don't become boring and predictable and to keep fans interested and guessing about what they will do next. 

Throughout the video many mid-close up shots are used to clearly show who the characters and more importantly, who the band are. The video also follows the conventions of a normal music video as it shows the lead singer, Gerard Way, the most in order to inform the audience that he basically is the main figure in the band (and music video). 

'All The Small Things' Blink 182 Music Video Analysis

Smashing Pumpkins '1979' Music Video Analysis

One of my favourite songs of all time and favourite music videos is 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. In my opinion the music video is a work of art and is similar to a short film as the audience is taken on this journey of a day in suburban life for teenagers in the mid 90's. Although there is no concrete narrative with a beginning and an end, there is a story that this song/video is portraying to us.

The music video is almost like a home-movie or video diary as we view 5 teenagers life's in mundane suburbia. It’s nostalgic. It generates feelings of events that happened in the past from your subconscious, and the video for the song captured that perfectly. There was this sense of familiarity within the narrative, despite the fact that it was depicting things you had never necessarily done. The whole music video displays to us different scenes of the characters searching for fun in the wrong places and feeling trapped by their current life. The sense of distain for their environment/life is shown repeatedly throughout the video for example at 1.10 where one of the characters looks down on his town and sticks his middle finger up, at this point we really feel the teenage angst within them. 

A number of interesting camera shots are used perhaps to exemplify the teenagers imaginations, for example at the beginning when one of the boys is rolling down a hill in a tyre and the camera is rolling too. This shot also makes us feel as though we are there too and makes this image a lot more meaningful to us. Another similar shot is at 0.25 where we get a 360 degree camera turn that shows us all of the characters in the car. Additionally, at 1.30 when the video cuts to a new location (the party) an ariel shot is used to give an overview of the party and gives the chance to show of the band performing. 

Many close up shots of the lead singer Billy Corgan are used throughout the whole video as this creates intimacy between him and the listeners/viewers, it also makes us empathise with him as we feel as though he is also one of the teenage characters in the video, it also implies that the lyrics he is singing are related to himself and his personal experiences. 

The use of mise-en-scene is used to build upon the theme of disconnected/bored teenagers, for example the sticker on the car at 0.53 that reads 'Proud parents of a 'D' student', this satirical comment implies that the characters feel as though they are a let down to their parents, and this is something a lot of the bands fans can reason with as many teenagers experience this feeling. Additionally the characters body language and facial expressions amplify the sense of mundaneness.

The editing pace of the video is relatively smooth during the video, however when the song pace speeds up at 2.35 the editing gets much quicker and this builds tension as the video (and the story it is telling) is drawing to a close. The speedier pace also represents the teenagers angst building up within them. 

The use of different locations such as the mountain/hill, the 7/11, the party all create the image of life in suburbia. Showing the characters cause havoc at the 7/11 and at the party (when they cover the tree with toilet paper) represents both their freedom in their youth but alternatively, their bordem and feeling of entrapment in their lives. 

In my opinion this music video is excellent as it presents so many feelings and experiences that many teenagers experience in their lives. What was so great about this video is how it glamorizes teenage boredom, making it seem rather epic. Smashing Pumpkins generated a video that they knew the masses could connect with. They basically showed us the joys and tribulations of being young and opened our eyes to realize that the things that teenagers  complain about so much would be what they long for later in life. The video opens our eyes, and this is what art is supposed to do.

New Moodboard

Group Meeting:Complete change of idea!

In todays lesson my group and I had a revelation as we thought that our original pitch for 'Hey Mickey' was getting far to complex and was going to be very difficult to actually get all the characters together to film and perform, as well as edit all the footage.

I personally always thought our original idea would have looked really good if it was made properly, but unfortunately we do not have the time/money/expertice/resources to produce it to the standard that would have been worth our while.

We have decided to make a music video for a completely unknown musical due named Brandon and Leah, and their song named 'Life Happens'. The song is very upbeat and happy, with a folk feel and I believe we can produce something very artistic and interesting to look at with a variety of locations and shots etc...I think this idea is far less cheesy and far less restricted, it gives us more opportunity to be creative and let our artistic ideas flow!

I will soon post a new moodboard on my blog in accordance with our new song choice, as well as further details to do with our planning.