Unit 29: Music Video Production - Production Diary - Week 2

9/11/15
Today was our first day of shooting. All of our group, including cast (Reece and Kelsey) met at Middlesbrough Train Station to travel to Saltburn, our first location. When we arrived we headed down to the pier, getting some establishing shots on the way.

Taylor and I capturing an establishing shot of the pier

Once we arrived at the pier we started filming the main sequence we had taking place in Saltburn. As Director of Photography I handled and set up the camera and the equipment and framed the shots. I was often assisted by Taylor who was directing the video. He would come over and examine the shot after I'd framed it and the majority of time give approval. I think working on the shot list together helped this because it meant we had already discussed the shots we each had in mind and there was a very clear understanding of what we wanted when telling each other. I personally think we had a very good working relationship on this shoot.

First proper shot of the day, figuring out
how to have the actors enter the shot

Filming the scene in which Brandon
kills Jenny

For this sequence we mostly used the tripod so the majority of shots were static, however we did used the shoulder mount for one shot in this scene. The tripod was used for all shots leading up to the scene where Brandon accidentally kills Jenny. The shoulder mount was used to follow Brandon when he is running away. This was used both because it would be easier and look better following him this way and because it adds a sort of panicked look to the film, which is how the character would be feeling.

The wind was noticeable in this scene as it was very heavy and effected actors hair and clothes, but it couldn't be helped and didn't make the footage look bad, so it was not a massive problem.

Once we had finished filming one the pier we headed up to the cliff top to film the next scene, where the wind was far worse than down on the pier as we got much higher up. While it was very inconvenient practically it actually worked well for the content we were filming. It made the scene look very intense which is what we wanted originally, so in a way the wind was in our favour.

In this scene Brandon has fled up to the cliff top and doesn't know what to do, he moves around, panicked but upset at the same time. Reece was directed very easily in this scene, which helped our filming greatly. As for the filming itself we decided to opt for the shoulder mount as our main equipment in the cliff scene because we wanted a lot of moving/tracking shots, which we were able to achieve as we wanted. Using the shoulder mount also achieved a similar effect from earlier on the pier, creating a panicked like feel to the shot as it was shaky and never quite straight (on purpose). The tripod was used in a few shots but only when we wanted a more focused look at what was happening. I suggested experimenting with canted angles for some shots and I personally think they worked well when used because it, like the shoulder mount, it almost displayed the characters panic and confusion through the actual film.

Setting up the camera for one of the
final shots of the day

10/11/15

Today, the second and final shoot for the music video. In this shoot we just had the final scene left, the interrogation scene. This is the scene which runs along side the pier scene and the cliff scene. This would also be the sequence in which Brandon would sing.

We arrived at 10 am to begin shooting. Unfortunately the room we needed to film in wasn't free until 11 am so we had to wait an extra hour before we could set up and start to film. We used this extra hour to discuss what we would be doing and how we would shoot it. Once the room was free we went and set up. This involved us taking down any posters, moving the majority of chairs into the studio and rearranging the table's position to make the room look as much like an interrogation room as possible. A large problem was the light coming in from the window so we had to find something to cover it. We used a large black photography backdrop to cover the window and block out any light.

Blocking out light was important as we were using a studio/film light to light the room like an interrogation. Having basically no experience with using these sort of lights before and having to figure out from scratch how to get it to look right made this very difficult but in the end the scene actually looked very good. It gave an orange/yellow colour which contrasted with the more dull looking scenes we filmed in Saltburn.

Once we had the room set up exactly as we wanted we discovered that due to a miscommunication between a member of the group and our actor, they would be turning up late. Not having Reece to play our protagonist (until 12 pm) meant that we had to work around the problem by filming scenes in which we only needed Kieran. This was very few scenes but it was more productive to get these done before rather than wait an extra hour doing nothing.

Once Reece did arrive we got straight on with filming. Unlike yesterday where our shot list was heavily followed, today was a bit more improvised. We did have a shot list but we decided that it would be better to film in the way we ended up doing which was filming Reece singing from 3 different angles which we could just cut between. These were not on the list originally and some shots which were on the list were not filmed because they were either seen as unnecessary or because of our time constraints.

Filming for one of the 3 singing shots
we got of Reece

Testing out different angles for filming
Kieran writing in his notebook
(this one wasn't used)

11/11/15

Today was our first day editing the footage. We started by getting all the footage off onto our hard drives and sorting them into bins. For example I put my clips in separate folders depending on the scene they were from. I also renamed each individual clip as the shot type it was (and numbered them if there was more than one). This helped the whole process be much more organised and allowed our footage to be much more accessible. 

Once we'd done this we moved onto the actual editing. Everyone in the class did their own edit since we would all need to be graded for our editing. This meant Taylor, Jess, Ben and I split up and began editing on our own. I personally found it fairly easy to get started as I already had an idea of what the video would look like. I started the video with establishing shots followed by the shot of the handcuffs (my favourite shot). I also decided to add text over the video, while not a usual music video convention it does sometimes get used and I thought it worked for our video as it felt more cinematic than usual music videos due to the narrative being a main factor of it. Lip syncing was very difficult to begin with as it has to be exact, even if its off by a very small amount its noticeable. This first day of editing was spent more experimenting with what I could do with the video editing wise.

12/11/15

Our day today started with looking into what the budget for our video would have been like and whether we would have went over or not. Everyone in the class had gone over budget (it was impossible not to) The second day of editing was much more organised and everyone just went and got on with it as they now had an idea of where they were going. The way I edited it together so far has the interrogation scene taking place along side the pier and cliff scenes as if they were a flashback of sorts. I've managed to edit together the first minute of the video and I'm happy with it so that section is complete.

Unit 29: Music Video Production - Production Diary - Week 1

19/10/15

Today we pitched the ideas which we had been individually working on. We pitched them by sitting with Kelly as the group we will be doing the assignment in (Me, Jess, Taylor & Ben) and presenting our ideas to her. This let her hear all of our ideas side by side before deciding which we would be doing. This was decided by which was generally the best idea and also whether we would be able to pull off our ideas.

22/10/15

Today we were told that our group would be doing Taylor's idea. Once we knew this we began to discuss which roles we would be taking on for this project. Taylor took on the role of Director as it was his idea we would be doing. I was given the role of Director of Photography so I will be in charge of filming and setting up what the shots look like. Jess chose to be Production Manager, in charge of organising the paperwork and shoots and Ben is the Assistant Director, . After our jobs had been decided on we started to look at pre-production and filled in a worksheet with information such as actors we would need, locations etc.

2/11/15
After returning after the half term, we began to work on the paper work which needed to be completed before we began filming. We could only do some paperwork as much of it involved us knowing information such as the cast of our video. The paperwork we could do today included risk assessments, location, costume etc. The paperwork was split up between our group, but all of it was overseen by Jess, fully taking on her role as production manager. I mostly worked with Jess on location paperwork.

4/11/15
Today we put our usual editing session aside to continue work on our music video and the paperwork we needed to complete for it. We would be using editing our music video for our editing assignment so this was still relevant in lesson. We were able to get actors for all of ours characters, Reece taking on the role of Brandon and Kieran taking on the role of the Detective. There was some difficulty with casting for the part of Jenny but we cast Kelsey in that role as she was not part of any filming group. Also after discussion amongst the group changes were made to our music video shoot. We decided to change our location from Whitby to Saltburn as it was much easier for us and the cast travel-wise and price-wise.

5/11/15
Today was our final day of paper work. This was mostly making sure we definitely had everything we needed to be able to go and shoot. Taylor and I worked on the shot list for the different scenes/locations. We filled in the lists for both Saltburn and interrogation scene (the meeting room). After doing so we made a last minute decision that another sequence should take place as having only 2 scenes seemed like the video would be lacking variety. We decided on inserting a scene where the protagonist will have a breakdown on top of the cliff in Saltburn. By adding this we required a change on the risk assessment, adding that we would be filming up on a cliff, which Jess added for us while we continued work on the shot list. Taylor and I continued to work after today's lesson had ended to ensure that we had the shot list exactly as we wanted. Taylor took the storyboard home with him to complete over the weekend. Other than this all the paper work was complete and we were ready to begin filming next week

Unit 29: Music Video Production - Task 3 - Pitch

Track Title: Small Bones

Track Artist:The Courteeners

The intended audience for this music video would be a very wide range as it is a subject which is relatable to a lot of people of all ages. However as the video contains young people doing things a young person would generally do so the audience would most likely narrow down to young adults and teenagers.

This music video will have a narrative style as it will tell the story of two characters and follow them throughout the the video. While it will tell a story, the most important part of a music video is to sell the artist so the video will frequently cut to shots of the artist (whoever is cast in that role) performing the song.

The story which will be followed in my video is about two people in a relationship and takes place over 3 different stages.

• In the 1st stage we will see the first time they met which will take place in a club/bar. The setting would be very dark and there would be flashing lights (like in a nightclub). The boy and girl will have just met and will be sat together. She will then stand up and ask him to go to dance which then takes us into the chorus e.g. “she’s asking me to dance”
• The 2nd stage will take place in about the middle of their relationship (this could be several different moments put together but the idea that they are happily together would always be there)
• The 3rd stage would be the end of their relationship. We would start to see this at “she moved to london yesterday” because the girl is trying to move away and leave the boy. The rest of this stage would mostly be seen towards the end of the song and the boy would get up and go after the girl after she is left, he would go to the train station to stop her leaving and would see the train is leaving/has left. He would look sad but then he would see that the girl didn’t get on the train and stayed for him.

All these stages will be in order for key parts of the narrative but will be mixed up throughout the video for the less important parts of these stages.

The passage of time between these stages would be shown by how the characters are acting and their change of costume.

The main locations which would be seen in this video would be:

• Nightclub/Bar
• House/Apartment Bedroom
• Park (sunny day)
• Train Station

Jobs in the Film Industry

Director of Photography (DoP)

 

DoPs need to:

• have good technical knowledge of cameras
• have knowledge of lighting techniques and how to achieve them
• be flexible in order to adapt ideas instantly
• be able to take decisions quickly
• know about photography and moving image
• have creative and artistic vision
• pay precise attention to detail
• have good colour vision
• be able to give and accept direction
• have excellent communication skills
• be diplomatic and tactful when working with cast and crew

What do DoPs do?

• DoPs are key Heads of Department on film productions and theirs is one of the major creative roles. They provide a film with its unique visual identity, or look.
• They must discover the photographic heart of a screenplay, using a variety of source material including stills photography, painting, other films, etc.
• They create the desired look using lighting, framing, camera movement, etc.
• During filming, they also work closely with the Gaffer (who runs the lighting team), the Production Designer, Costume Designer, and the Hair and Make-up Department.
• During preparation DoPs also test special lenses, filters or film stocks, checking that the results fit with the Director's vision for the film.
•  On each day of principal photography, DoPs and their camera crews arrive early on set to prepare the equipment.
• On smaller films, DoPs often also operate the camera during the shoot.

Unit 29: Music Video Production - Task 2 - 'You're Beautiful'

Music videos use all sorts of styles and involve lots of techniques. These styles and techniques usually differ depending on the genre and sometimes the artist.

First of all, in the music video for 'Take On Me' by a-ha (Directed by Steve Barron) is considered to be a Pop song and follows many of the typical styles a Pop song would. For example the lead singer is featured prominently throughout the video as a character as opposed to using an actor for the role and he is also seen to be singing the song too which creates an image of him as the 'main' member of the group.

There is a link between lyrics and visuals in this video which are either very clear or very vague depending on how you look at it. The video shows a woman who is dragged into what seems to be a fictional world in a comic book and there is a love story between her and a character from the book. So as I see it the lyrics are also telling a love story so they link with the video in that respect however they do not specifically tell the same story except for in the chorus with it saying "Take on me, Take me on" because the woman in the video is taking on the character from the comic book into her own life, this is clearly seen in the final sequence of the video when he is drifting between the comic and real life in her apartment and he eventually settles in real life.

The relationship between the music and visuals is very clear as the video tends to cut to the beat of the song for the majority of the video and the pace of the music does directly effect the pace of the video. For example, at the start of the video the visuals are frequently changing and are doing so to the beat of the song however as soon as the lyrics start and the beat slows down there are less cuts and the shots are more drawn out. Also, during instrumental parts of the song the instruments being played are shown, for example later on in the song when there is a piano being played there is a shot of the male character playing the piano and in other parts of the video other members of the group are shown playing their instrument e.g. guitar.

The record label behind the artist tries to sell the artist as a product of their own in this video. The lead singer displays an image which would, at the time, appeal to girls as attractive and could also appeal to boys as 'cool' which meant there would be a wider audience/fan base for the group and the song which means more of an income for the record label backing them. This was the first big video for a-ha so their image was not necessarily set when this was released however in future videos the same look and style was used. The members of the group kept the same look they had in this video however, while the videos were similar, their next big hit 'The Sun Always Shines On TV' had little narrative and focused on showing the group playing as a band which still very much put forward their specific image as a product.

This music video is mostly narrative based as it tells a story throughout and is only a small part performance based as it contains small segments of the band playing their instruments. This video also uses animation, which is a popular technique but not as often used as often used as many other techniques. Animation in music videos, especially at the time 'Take On Me' was released, would make it stand out among other videos by other artists as it was very unique. This sort of animation even became a sort of trademark for a-ha as it featured in 2 more of their videos in the future.

Bands such as The Gorillaz used animation heavily throughout their career as every one of their music videos featured animation. They even had animated characters who would act as members of the band in place of the actual musicians:

'Paradise City' by Guns N' Roses is another good example of styles of music video. Guns N' Roses are in the Rock genre which is very different to the Pop genre a-ha are part of. The video for 'Paradise City' includes many characteristics which would be considered as stereotypes for a rock music video. For example the band are clearly shown playing their instruments. Also the video has a very fast paced editing style to match the fast pace of the song.

In this video there is no relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as the video purely consists of in-concert footage and backstage footage of the band. This video is 100% performance-based. However the relationship between the music and the visuals is very prominent as throughout the entire video the editing is done so that the shots change along with the beat of the song. The pace of the music does effect the pace of the video which is clearly seen as towards the end of the video, when the song is at its quickest, the cuts between shots are rapidly changing, faster than they had before in the video however the pace is constantly fast so the video is always cutting very quickly.

Similarly to 'Take On Me', 'Paradise City' heavily features the band in the video. They are shown playing live during a concert which would promote the band to the audience as a band they should go and see live which could increase ticket sales for live shows they do. The other footage which is used in the video is footage of the band backstage and out of the concert supposedly in their own time. Even in this footage they still display their usual 'rocker' image which is a large amount what appeals to their audience. The band having this image even when they aren't performing creates the idea that this is their real image and not just something they put on. Throughout the whole video there are many close ups of each member of the band which is because they are a product and the video needs to sell so showing them would help that.



'Writing's On The Wall' by Sam Smith is a good example of music videos linking with outside products such as Film & TV. The song was created for the film 'Spectre' and the video links with the film to promote this. For example, clips from the film are shown throughout the music video. Sam Smith is also dressed similarly to how James Bond would and he is shown singing in locations from the film.

In this video for 'Anaconda' by Nicki Minaj there is very much a reference to the notion of looking. All the females in the video are on a sexual display to the audience due to their costume which is very revealing and doesn't cover up very much and the also because of the choreography used in the video as it focuses on sexual parts of their bodies. The camera angles and shot types used in the video force the audience to look at these parts as there are frequent close ups. All of this was most likely used to draw attention to the video because many people would want to see what it is showing them.

In conclusion, the content of music videos very much depends on the genre of the song the music video is made for and each genre has it's own set of characteristics which tend to appear in the majority of videos which fit that genre. The videos used in this essay very much demonstrate this as they all have very different styles and techniques used in each of them.

Unit 29: Music Video Production - Task 1 - 'Money For Nothing'

5/10/15 - Monday
In this lesson Me, Taylor, Jess & Ben began to work on 'Money for nothing' which is Task 1 of our assignment. For this task we have to make a presentation informing people of the purposes of music videos. To do this, in the lesson, we created a presentation on Prezzi. As a group we sat together and did research on the different purposes, working together to decide what we should/shouldn't include in our presentation. We tried to include to most relevant and the most interesting information we could by picking out ideas from the research and also putting forward ideas ourselves.

'What if...' Story - Character Task

Josh

Dominant Impression:

Age - 15

Sex - Male

Mannerisms - Lazy, Minimal Effort

Clothes - School Uniform

Grooming - Scruffy Hair

Movement - Careless, Slouched

Style of speech - Fairly deep voice, Quite mumbled speech

Dominant Attitude:

Personality - Very outgoing amongst friends, quieter around others

Temperament - Easily agitated, 

Self image - Doesn't particularly care about how he looks or what others think of him

'World':

Relationships with others - good relationship with mother but is easily annoyed by her 'nagging'

Ethnicity & Cultural background - White British male, brought up in a middle class family

General History - Born in 2000, very modern upbringing

Personal History - Dad left before he was born, never had a father figure

Josh's Mother

Dominant Impression:

Age - 46

Sex - Female

Mannerisms - Bossy (doesn't mean to be)

Clothes - Tshirt & Jeans

Grooming - Short hair

Dominant Attitude:

Personality - Kind,

Temperament - Short temper but never overly angry

Beliefs - Catholic

Self image - No longer cares about her look

'World':

Relationships with others - Gets on well with just about everyone, struggles sometimes with Josh

Ethnicity & Cultural background - Brought up in a working class family

General History - Born in 1969, old fashioned upbringing

Personal History - Husband left her just before Josh was born

Crime Boss/Gang Leader

Dominant Impression:

Age - 48

Sex - Male

Clothes - Suit, Tiger print shirt

Grooming - Well groomed, Not much hair

Movement - Slow, Steady/Stiff

Style of speech - Russian accent, speaks calmly

Dominant Attitude:

Intelligence - Very smart, criminal mastermind

Personality - Very intimidating, not friendly

Temperament - Seems calm until suddenly becoming angered

Fears - Being caught by police

Goals - Gain information for his crimes

Self image - Tries to look smart/intimidating

'World':

Relationships with others - doesn't have friends, doesn't trust others, just uses people

Ethnicity & Cultural background - Eastern European, poor upbringing

Personal History - Made all of his money from crime, criminal from young age

'What if...' Story - Synopsis

When Josh, an ordinary boy, discovers a strange object in his cereal he thinks nothing of it. Little does he know it is of very valuable information to a gang of criminals. Josh is now unknowingly a target of this gang and has got himself into danger he must try to avoid.

Music Video Shot Anaylsis

Establishing Shot

Over The Shoulder Tracking Shot

Group Mid-Shot

Wide Shot

Mid Shot

Master Shot

Mid Shot

Master Shot

Close Up

Cutaway Shot

Mid Shot

Master Shot

Close Up

Mid Shot

Mid Shot

Master Shot

Extreme Close Up

Close Up

Cutaway Shot

Close Up

Class Work - Writing - Six Word Stories

Happiness is...

Doing what you want in life

Childhood memories...

Not a worry in the world

When I grow up...

My dreams can become a reality

The best thing about this week will be...

Something I'm not able to predict

Romantic gesture...

Will you marry me? Great. Thanks.

Future Epitaph...

He came. He saw. He conquered.
The Uninvited Guest...
Door swings open. Room falls silent.
The reason you write...
To leave behind the boring reality
Some really bad advice...
Low on cash? Rob that shop.
The future world will be...
A wasteland of chaos and destruction
The past was...
Expecting a far fetched future world

Being a writer is...
Exploring your mind for
The world today is...
A horribly sick and twisted place
The thought of this assignment makes me...
Realise there's nothing original left anymore

Making A Music Video

Before you make the music video you will receive a brief of what the record label wants the video to include. You will then respond to this by pitching your idea back to them. Your pitch will be amongst other pitches by other people. If yours is picked as the best pitch then you move onto the pre-production of the music video. During this time you finalize all the ideas to create the plan for the final product, which you will then go on to properly make.

Ideal Job In The Industry

There are many jobs in the Film industry which interest me but if I was to choose one i would ideally be a Director or definitely something more on the side of filming as opposed to writing as i'm much more interested in that aspect of film making.

Image Analysis Through Time - Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was an American singer and songwriter. He managed to be one of the biggest pop stars in the music industry from a very young age and maintained this success up until his death in 2009. He is still known by the world today as 'The King Of Pop'.

Michael Jackson started his music career in 1964, when he was just 6 years old, by joining his four older brothers in The Jackson 5. It was not until 1967 that the group signed to a record company and not until 1970 that they began to gain popularity. By this time Michael was still young, being only 12, yet he was the lead singer of the group (likely one of the reasons for his successful solo career). Despite this Michael was still displayed as the young, cute member of the Jackson 5 which can be seen in early videos of the group by his clothing and the way he acts.





While performing as part of the Jackson 5, Michael was also producing solo albums and in 1979 he released 'Off the Wall' which was his first real step to becoming a solo artist. This album consisted of some well known songs such as 'Rock With You' and 'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough'. By this time Michael was much older yet his presentation in his music videos hadn't changed much. He was still being presented as a child in ways. For example in the videos for the songs mentioned he has a very similar display as in the Jackson 5 videos as he is still shown dancing and wearing colourful/bright outfits. However the content of his songs have changed to suit his age.





In 1984 he left the Jackson 5 to work solely on his own career. Around this time 'Thriller' was released, which became the best-selling album of all time. Some of Michael Jackson's most famous songs came from this album. For example, 'Beat It', 'Billie Jean' and 'Thriller'. By this point in his career Michael was becoming more of an icon and a product of the music industry. His music videos became much more cinematic, especially 'Thriller' which was directed by John Landis, a popular director at the time, and ran for nearly 14 minutes. Unlike his previous videos, which often just showed him singing and dancing, these new videos combined his singing and dancing with story telling, making more short films than music videos.



Michael starred in all of these videos as his career was not only based off his music but off his appearance too. People would not only associate his name with his music but equally with his dancing and various performances in his videos. In his videos, Michael's costumes and general look is often quite unique but considered 'cool' at the time he wore them. These costume choices would've added to his popularity as he didn't just have good music he also had a style which fans could copy and be like him.

Michael's videos involved a lot of close up shots of his face because he was a product of his record company so his videos were like an advertisement for him as an artist which helped. The videos also include a lot of wide shots to show his dancing because it is an equally big part of his image. Depending on the music video the editing varies however there are a lot of long shots as he is performing continuous dance routines so the single long shots will show them of better than any fast-paced editing.

I think that Michael Jackson's popularity came from him being in the music industry for so long and having so many image changes throughout his career. Obviously, Michael being in the music industry from an early age boosted him into popularity as he had his entire life to gain it but his unique style, especially in his videos, also contributed to this.

Music Video Analysis

Woodkid - Run Boy Run

I like this music video because of its straightforward, simple idea. The video shows a boy running while being chased by monsters. The video simply follows the boy running for the majority of the video which, while very simple, fits along by the song perfectly. The video also has a very interesting/unique style which makes you want to see more.

"One of the great things about being a director as a life choice is that it can never be mastered. Every story is it's own kind of expedition, with its own set of challenges"

- Ron Howard