My Finished Music Video!

So obviously I finished a while back! But I thought it was about time I uploaded my completed music video for you all to watch! I hope you all enjoy it, I certainly enjoyed filming it and putting it all together! 🙂

 

Evaluation: Question ONE

Taking my choice of song, ‘Keeping On Without You’ in a lyrical sense, it is clear to see that this song represents a relationship and after effects of a break-up, however in more depth it could be said that it perhaps could represent the death of a partner and their struggle to continue life without them. Either way, it is all about a male getting over his once girlfriend. Therefore, when considering and deciding on the structure of the narrative, in some way I was constrained to relating the plot in ordinance with a relationship element, so for the audience to make sense of the music video. However, personally I wanted to add in a diverse representation throughout the music video in order to challenge forms and conventions of other ‘love’ music videos. So, I added in the representation of youth, fashion and the idea of friendship coming through a relationship.

I used the conventional shots of a ‘love’ video, by showing a boy and a girl doing stereotypical relationship things, such as holding hands, smiling and laughing with each other, stroking their hair, etc, and all of these things were used as pointers for the plot for the audience to relate to and make sense of. I took inspiration from a few films in terms of intertextuality, so I tried to re-create the final scene from Cloverfield where the couple die together then there is a past clip from camera footage where they seem happy. This begins at 1:39 in the video below:

I also wanted to intertextualise the ending from Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging where they go off holding hands walking along Eastbourne Pier. This begins at 2:34 in the video below:

These are all iconic scene to represent relationship in slightly unconventional sense. But I also made sure that I challenged the ‘norm’ by creating sub-plots to add depth into the narrative. I did this by not concentrating too much on the relationship side, and showed an equal amount of friendship shots in sort of a ‘hoes over bro’s’ kind of way. And also expressing the fashion side of it, by including shots of converse shoes, beaded necklaces, leopard print coats, union jack knitwear, all of these shots accentuated youthfulness and sparred away from creating too much of a ‘heartbreak and lovey duvey’ music video, which I particularly wanted to reference but limit at the same time.

In terms of costume, I was inspired originally by Jack Wills Photoshoots. These all took place outside in natural forest surroundings which hosts a great similarity to my music video. I particularly wanted to present a patriotic addition to the piece, showing union jack cushions and flags also, but this didn’t quite go to plan because of filming days and prop limitations. However, I did host a union jack jumper, that can be seen here:

This was inspired by this fashion promotion photograph:

Since I also wanted to create an autumnal effect and the filming was actually in production in a very cold spell of November, I was important to include various fashion items such as, knitwear, scarves, hats, etc… And the colours of these pieces had to compliment the music video, so I used red’s and grey’s as a sub-colour to the forestry colour scheme. Leopard Print coats and knitwear cardigans were also at a high trend at the time, and so I featured this too:

I also included shots of fashionable footwear and this definitely accentuated the difference between the frontman band member and the cast representing friendship:

I also included a close-up of the lead singer’s beaded necklace:

In terms of camera shots and movements, other music videos of the same genre and meaning contain various amounts of shots and movements, but I made sure I included more shots that the ‘norm’ that you’d expect in a professional music video. I noticed that a lot of official music videos, tend to go for a simplistic approach in terms of camera use, not only to maintain the budget but also to be easy for the audience of all ages to understand and relate to too. However, in order to challenge these conventions, I went for a detailed approach in terms of shots and movements, not over complicating things, but still being creative and using lots of different shots, and not repeating anything. I decided to look at the original video by This Providence for ‘Keeping On Without You’, and noted down all of the camera shots and movements. They used very minimal and repetitive shots which consisted of: long shot, mid shot, worm shot, birds eye shot, panning shots, zoom in and out shots, blurred in and out of focus shots. Whereas I used all of these features and a lot more. And here are the list of my included camera shots and movements and their placement in my music video:

LONG SHOT

I used a long shot to introduce the friend characters and to also show the entire outfit, in terms of the fashion representation and also establish the setting.

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MID SHOT

I used a mid shot to introduce Rob has a character to focus in on him lip-synching but still showing what he is wearing.

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CLOSE-UP

I used this close-up shot of jess to show the expression of happiness and fun on her face as she spins round with the camera.

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EXTREME CLOSE-UP

I used this extreme shot of Rob’s features to mix up the pace and shot types and also to show the emotion of heartbreak he is feeling at the beginning of the song.

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WORM SHOT

I used this worm shot as continuinty from where the friend group throw leaves up in the air. This shot shows the leaves falling back down again and expresses the autumnal season and setting.

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CRANE SHOT

I used this crane shot to imitate that other characters were filming their friends whilst climing a tree. This was also another way of getting all the female characters in the shot.

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CRAB SHOT

This shot is a still of the crab shot as it pans across Rob whilst he is lip-synching. It happens just as the verse ends to bring movement into the chorus.

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ZOOM SHOT

This is a still of the zoom shot where Rob is in the tree and the camera zooms in. I used this shot as it shows the different levels of ground, eg: ground, tree, sky. And also focuses in on what Rob is saying.

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ARC SHOT

This is a fast paced arc shot where all of the friends are holding hands spinning round with the camera in the centre. It is fast paced to go with the pace of the song and also represents fun and freedom.

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POINT OF VIEW SHOT

I used this point of view shot from Rob’s view to give the audience an insight into what he would be seeing on his day with Daisy. It was also inspired by Cloverfield, in the home recording ending scene.

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TILT SHOT

I used this tilt shot from the ground up to the sky to establish the setting and the autumnal wear of the trees.

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TWO SHOT

As well as being a tracking shot, this is also a two shot where 2 characters are together in a frame. This is in the bridge where Rob walks away from Daisy, showing he has moved on.

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TRACKING SHOT

I used this tracking shot by using a camera in the back of a car. It follows as the characters ride their bikes to the woods. And shows the friends coming together to joing Daisy.

On the school equipment camera, I didn’t focus in and out blur shots very well since I wasn’t completely sure on how to do it, but I used it on some tree shots whilst panning up from a worm view. One thing that I noticed in the beginning of the music video, is that a lot of the filming was done by hand held, giving quite an amateur but personal take to the video. And this was inspiration for one of the scenes I did where it had a ‘shakey cam’ effect. Another thing that inspired me, was in the original music video also, there was a lot of ‘lens flare’ usage, in which I decided to include on some of my shots as well:

LENS FLARE

This adds more depth into the shot and accentuate and signify the warmth of the weather. These are areas where I have used media conventions in accordance with this product.

Another shot I particularly enjoyed producing was the ‘ghost shot’. This is where the song states, ‘I need you more than ever, all I have is your holy ghost’, and Daisy is stood as a ghost character beside Rob and slowly fades away. I believe this gives a great effect and creating a direct translation of the song but also suggesting the relationship slipping away. I did this by putting in a shot of Rob lip syncing the part of the song with Daisy IN the shot, then repeated the same one with her OUT of the shot. I then kept the frame without Daisy in it. Then with the shot WITH Daisy in it, I cropped the shot so it was just Daisy in it, then put it as an overlay on the shot WITHOUT Daisy. I then changed the opacity to make her look ghost-like. And voila!

GHOST SHOT

However, my original storyboards and plan doesn’t quite match up with my final product because the casting was difficult with people being busy, and I couldn’t get some props due to the weather, location and lighting issues. So I couldn’t do some of the things I originally intended, and obviously since we’re only media students, we didn’t have professional equipment like famous bands have. In ‘Keeping On Without You’, a smoke machine was used, and although it’d be great to include this effect, it simply wasn’t available to re-create. Of course, I made sure I included a performance element to make it seem more like an actual ‘music video’. However, due to the difficulty of the availability of cast members, where I originally planned a whole band set-up at a band-stand, it ended up just being Rob (the main male character) miming along with the song, and in comparison with most music videos out there, this definitely challenges most conventions of music videos which host the whole band performing. Much like the original music video though, I made sure I made the most of outside surroundings in my area, luckily where I live in Lincolnshire, all around are fields, lakes, forests and a couple of beaches too. So in similar ways of conventional music videos, I filmed in various locations with perfect scenery.

Casting was another decision that had to be made as it is fairly obvious that to create a perfect music video, meeting the right criteria, you need the character listing to ‘fit’ perfectly with the brief and genre of music. And I believe I achieved this very well! For the lead singer, I needed someone to look stereotypical for the type of song, and that would give emotion and confidence to portray the songs lyrical meaning, which is why I chose Rob Corrin for this role. As for the main female character, I had to think of a person suitable which is why I picked Daisy Richards. I didn’t want a girl who was a stereotypical pageant queen type, with blonde hair and orange skin. I wanted a girl who looked beautiful but in a natural way. And I think as a couple, the two look perfect together within shots, and so I believe they were flawless characters for the job.

In conclusion, I would say it’s a little mix and match with my music video using and developing and also challenging the conventions of other real media products, being music videos. In some ways my music video does follow certain ‘rules’ of being a music video, simply because it has to be distinguished of a music video, of this genre, and style in relation to the choice of song. But in other areas, I think I challenged the ‘norm’ conventions of music video, by representing different areas of youth in a positive light, and creating a warm, charming product, about being strong and being able to be happy in the end.

Album Lyrics Insert FINISHED!

Okay, so I went out yesterday afternoon and took pictures of the polaroids all lined up in location, and what I liked most is the fact that it’s been snowing recently and all the present locations are covered in snow, so in relation with the stills of the music video, it distinguishes the past and present. So here they all are in order of the set original tracklist!

Sure As Hell

Letdown

Waste Myself

This Is The Real Thing

Keeping On Without You

Squeaking Wheels and White Lights

My Beautiful Rescue

That Girl’s A Trick

Selfish

Chasing The Wind

Playing The Villain

Sand In Your Shoes

Somebody To Talk To

Finished Logo!

I’m really pleased with the outcome! I think it looks really suitable for the band and style of music, but also relates well to my music video 🙂

CD Covers & Posters

One of the main ways a band promotes themselves and their music is through poster page spreads in a magazine and advertisements. Therefore it is important to create the perfect style through colours, images and text that is relevant and in consistency to the band themselves. This Providence class themselves as an Alternative Rock band, so this comes across as quite a broad genre to relate to. In my opinion, since listening to every track on all their albums, I would say they have a little hint of soft punk too. Their songs are always pretty positive and have a happy beat to them, even if it is about heartbreak.  Therefore I am planning on using quite bold and positive colours for the style of the advertisement and CD cover. Since I am including the friends and the relationship of Rob and Daisy as differing elements in my music video, I shall have to include them somewhere in my promotional product to relate to the music video.

So far, in my research, I have been inspired by the Heart Balloon Girl by Banksy, it looks like this:

It represents love, but not being able to reach out for it. And this links well to the relationship within my music video between Rob and Daisy.

Also, since I wanted to concentrate on youth, friendship and fashion within the planning of my music video, I will also relate back to this within the poster and CD covers. I like the idea of a montage type of thing, a little like this:

Another UPDATE

I am supposed to be filming the band performance shots this Sunday, however… Unfortunately some people I casted to be in the band can’t make it as they have other things to do, sad times. Ashley who was meant to be miming the guitar bits, is pretty much fully busy until after New Years and Tom who was meant to be on bass cannot make it this weekend either, so I’ve decided to cut them out of the cast as there won’t be any time to film either of them. Rob too, who was going to be the singer, also can’t make it this weekend as he is actually out of the country! But he can be there next weekend instead! Obviously, since he is the frontman, and he looks perfect for the role, I will just have to wait til he is free because he is one of the most, if not the most, important character in the music video.

So… the plan is, find a substitue for Ashley and Tom… Before this Sunday. Andy is still on drums. And I’ve managed to swap Ashley for someone else, so now Chris Elmer will be on guitar. I just need to find someone to mime bass for me, then it’ll be fine for filming to go ahead. Since Rob isn’t free until next Sunday, and I am filming him then, this technically means that he won’t be present in the shots of the rest of the band, but I have come up with an idea. Since I am filming the instrumental band peforming at the Bandstand in Woodhall Spa, I thought I could have Rob separately, miming in the forest in the background where everyone else is meeting. Then in the bridge of the song, instead of the pillow fight going on, it could be the band walking with their instruments to the forest, where they will all come together to perform the final chorus. And I think this will work better actually, as it concentrates more on the music and the appeal of a music video, rather than telling a story like a short film.

Music Video: UPDATE

Okay, so since doing the filming just over a week ago, I’ve spent my time editing all the shots I filmed and putting them all together to match up with my animatic storyboard. Firstly, I’ve had to change the brightness, contrast, colour and sharpness of all the clips because the weather that day distorted the desired outcome. Since I wasn’t able to get any summery looking footage, editing has given me a helping hand! I used the Colour Correcter tool to accentuate the oranges and reds in my film to appear more warm, but the fog in the background still gives an eeriness to the background, which I think contrasts well. The starting shot of Daisy riding her bike from behind didn’t need much editing as the lighting at that moment in time from the little sun we had that day, was perfect. However in the next shots where all 3 of us meet to cycle down the road, the fog overcasted the little sunlight we had which gave a mist to the footage along with it being a lot darker. So when I imported all my footage onto the computer and onto Final Cut Express, I tended to each clip separately since each reflected different light tones, but I had to make sure they all ended up looking very similar. I used the brightness tool a lot more with the 3 girls cycling shots since it was a lot darker. I put the white balance key under the colour correcter higher to give a slight sepia rustic feel to the shots. One thing that had to change was the opening to the music video. I planned on having Daisy coming out of her house, and mounting her bike. And although I filmed this, it ended up being too long of an intro before the music started. I did play around with the speed levels, making the movements faster to cut down the time, but it looked too jittery and forced. Therefore, I am leaving it out of the music video and just starting straight with the song, and Daisy riding her bike down the long road. I still think this works well, infact in my opinion, starting it off with the music straight away makes it appear more like an actual music video, and less like a short film.

During the editing process, I couldn’t help but notice that the film looked a lot like Bat For Lashes – What’s A Girl To Do.

It gives the same effect of a girl riding her bike down a long road. Although there is a difference within the timing of the video seeing as she is riding at night, it just instantly reminded me of it. One thing I love about this music video is when the chorus comes in and men on bikes wearing animal masks come out from behind her and do a choreographed dance on their bikes, which involves doing some tricks along with clapping with the drum beats, which works really effectively. It almost gives a spooky effect to the video, for me personally, the song reminds me of Halloween. The keyboard riff gives an eerie sound and reminds me of old cheesy Horror films, and seeing as she is a girl wearing quite child-like clothing cycling in the dark, the men behind her wearing masks which could be seen as child-like characters from Disney films, but they appear a lot scarier. I just love this music video, I think it’s original and quirky and it has inspired me a great amount.

Filming – DAY ONE

Well, on the 20th November, Emma, Daisy and myself met up to film the beginning sequence where we’re riding our bikes down to the woods. It was pretty successful actually! Got all our footage done in just over a couple of hours, but it was absolutely freezing! As you can see from this weather report, not only was it ridiculously cold but there was so much fog, the visibility into the distance really wasn’t great so I was hoping that the film came out clearly enough! Also, riding bikes in 4 degrees for a couple of hours really makes your bum so sore haha, so I went through pain for these shots! If I do not get a good grade, I will not be happy! Haha 🙂 But obviously, due to the weather, I’ve had to make a few kind of major changes. When I first envisioned my music video at the start of September, I imagined more of a summery feel in my head… but I sort of forgot that it’s coming up to Christmas… So I’ve had to adapt all of my thoughts and some of the costume actually to be adequate for the weather conditions at this time of year. Obviously when I plan future filming days, I definitely won’t be shooting in rainy weather, but I’ll have to put up with miserable English weather! Anyway! There was one little thing that changed too, originally we were going to film the 3 girls cycling bit on the cycle path near Dower House, but  the fog was so bad down this bit and because it’s crowded with trees and there was no sunlight it was too foggy and dark to film in, so instead we used a straight road just outside Emma’s estate, but this did work well! And it helped with the continuity from the shots between Daisy coming out of Emma’s house, to properly cycling. But yeah, on the whole it did go really well, I made sure I got plenty of shots from all different angles to help with the editing process of choice and continuity. One of the main shots I absolutely loved was when we were driving down the road on our bikes and we had the camera filming in the back of someone’s car, so it was following it us cycle. I decided it was better to use a car than a dolly because the ride would be a lot more smoother and keeping the shot centred and steady was a lot easier. But yeah, this plan and shot worked so well, I was pretty impressed myself! Haha, however there was one little problem! Although it’s a fairly quiet estate, lots of cars were trying to drive out of their houses to go into town, which meant sometimes we’d already be half way through filming, the camera and tripod set in the middle of the road, us cycling down, and we’d realise there were cars behind us, actually going quite fast haha, so we were like OH MY GOD, RUNNNNNN!!! (well cycle…) and we just had to bike down so fast and grab the camera with one hand and a leg and crash onto the pavement. And I swear at one point, I felt like I was on E.T.

Oh my actual lord, you have no idea how much it took to upload that picture of E.T. on here. Brrrr, so scary. ANYWAY!! Here’s a little snapshot picture of how what we got up to and how it looked!

The Planning Starts: LOCATION PLAN

Since all of my music video is set outside, and since Lincolnshire is so vast with countryside and great scenery, I had a lot of choice! When thinking of a location, I needed it to be fairly local, seeing as there were so many people casted, I had to make sure everyone could get to the place easily. I moved house at the start of the year from Horncastle to Woodhall Spa, and one of the main things I love about where I live now is how pretty it looks, and the atmosphere it gives off. Since I walk my dog a gazillion times a day, I am able to see many possible potential locations for my music video, such as the bicycle trails and woods surrounding the area. So I decided I would use Woodhall Spa for the location, not only is it visually suitable for filming, but the people I want to be part of my film are either living here or living within a couple miles of it.

At the start of the storyboard, you will see a girl coming out of her house and getting on her bike, then to ride along an empty stretch of road with trees either side. I thought this would look pretty good, but safety is a huge concern and since filming different angles and shots multiple times will take hours, I knew that we couldn’t just bike down any old road we find, because it’ll cause traffic, and it’s dangerous. So instead, I remembered a walk I went on, just shy of the Kinema in the Woods. It’s a walkway/cycle path overlooking golfing greens and massive trees either side, and this would be perfect! No cars come along this path which means it will be completely safe. My second worry was continuity between coming out of the house, to the bike trail, then to the forest, but what I’ve got in my head will eradicate the noticeable difference between locations. When Daisy walks out of the house and gets on her bike, the song won’t be playing, instead there will be outside noise with birds tweeting, as she mounts her bike she will cycle off shot from the camera, and once she disappears off screen it’ll still film for a few seconds of just the outside of the house, with the noises of her gradually cycling away from it, the camera will then switch to a shot of her cycling down the path. This slight pause with her off camera, will give time for the audience to think she has moved to a different location which we are yet to see… And the second continuity area that I was concerned about was filming from the bicycle path to the forest. However, both places are located in Woodhall Spa, and luckily since I am filming the forest parts at ‘Ups & Down’s’, there is a path leading into the forest, which will line up well with the start and end of each location shot. The surrounding scenery is similar too, with tree’s and woodland, so although I was worried about this at first, I’ve come up with solutions that will manage these possible errors!

So… the starting scene of the house where Daisy comes out of a house, will be at Emma Frankland’s home, in Woodhall Spa, because this house looks suitable for the style of the music video.

It will then cross to Daisy cycling down the bicycle path near Dower House/Golf Course in Woodhall Spa.

Then onto Up’s & Down’s in Woodhall Spa!

The Planning Starts: PROPS & EQUIPMENT

Since my music video is set outside, I am fairly limited to what I can include prop wise, due to the arrangements of getting things to the location and how big these might be. But the props and equipment I will be using and needing will be simple but very effective for the style I am trying to produce. Firstly of course, I will be using school equipment which will be…

EQUIPMENT

Video Camcorder

Yeah, it’s pretty obvious that you’d need a Video Camcorder, it’s the most important bit of equipment used for filming the footage and shots you need.

Tripod

The tripod is incredibly important. The camcorder secures onto this to ensure a steady and firm handle. There are features which allow you to easily change the movement and direction of the shot without making the camera ‘wobble’, and you can also alter the length of the tripod legs to allow height ranges of shots, altogether making a smooth and professional piece of footage.

Tracking Dolly

A tracking dolly is an optional piece of equipment but very useful for creating footage. You place your tripod with camera attached onto the base of the dolly. The dolly itself is almost like a skateboard, but with frames. It has wheels underneath that means the camera can record footage whilst on the move, in a smooth fashion, in contrast if you were holding the camera itself, the film would be shakey due to footsteps, but with the wheels gliding over the ground, it can move freely over any surface. This effect will be useful when filming the start of my music video, with the 3 girls on their bikes. It will track their movements along the road smoothly, helping with continuity and making it look professional.

Lighting

Some of the shots I am hoping to produce will take place at dusk and evening time, which means even though everything will be visible through human eye, when filmed, the footage can appear much darker than it really was. Therefore I will need to use artificial lighting to create brighter shots when filming. Not only will I be using handheld lighting which is used on film and TV, etc… But I will also be using a car. This will be parked offset with the headlights beaming, this will create a bigger area of light and accentuate shadows too.

Apple Mac Computer

The Apple Mac Computers are all in the Media Classroom, they will be most useful once we’ve filmed all that needs to be done and is uploaded onto the computer. It will then be put into folders and imported into appropriate editing software.

Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro is the editing software on the Apple Mac Computers that we use in post-production. Once our footage is imported into the program we can then drag different film into the timeline and fiddle about with it, using the cut tool to cut down the clip, applying cross fades, and many other effects to make the film appear more slick and appealing, and the way that you want the music video to look.

Red Giant Colorista

 

Red Giant have brought out a new program called Colorista. It turns very amateur footage into ‘Blockbuster’ looking film. Which would be perfect for my music video as it represents youth, I want to edit and change the style of the film so it looks flawless in terms of skin pigment and warm in colour tones.

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PROPS

Fairy Lights

I will be needing outdoor fairy lights as part of my stylistic feature. I will make sure they are battery powered and there is a fair length of them so they will fit adequately around the trees in the woods.

Bunting

I will be using Bunting accessories alongside the fairy lights, and hanging them from tree to tree. The Bunting is a traditional British decoration which originated from signal flags for the Royal Navy. It then went onto serving a decoration at the Queen’s Jubilee events, which displayed true British patriotism. This will also relate well to the Jack Wills Photoshoot in relation to the Union Jack element.

Blankets

I want to include blankets in the setting of my location, all among the floor of the forest where the main activity of the footage will be taking place. They will mainly be in focus in the evening shots, to create a warm atmosphere – friends huddled underneath them.

Union Jack Cushions

I will be placing cushions with a Union Jack pattern all around the specific part of the forest we will be using. This will create a stylistic approach to the project, bringing colour and representation to the video.

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