First Shoots

The first time we chose to film was the Thursday afternoon. We focused on filming some of the portrait shots on our main camera as well as the iPhone app Fyuse. Also, we filmed some close up shots of Julia on the train as the single character which will most likely be a part of the opening section of the video. We had a few initial problems with equipment with SD cards being full and not working in the camera. Luckily we had two cameras so could alternate between the two when necessary. Our second time filming was more efficient as we all had a much clearer idea of what we wanted to film and where. We predominantly filmed the date scenarios and couple on the tube. 

Initial Shooting Schedule

Our music video relies on lots of changing locations, light levels and mise en scene. Therefore we have decided to film in chunks, storyboarding each section as we go along. A lot of our filming will be more circumstantial in that we can't entirely plan who else will be around when filming in public/on transport. Therefore, some of our planning is more of an outline as opposed to exact shot composition and precise location. We will be filming around the Shoreditch area and then on various forms of transport. 

In the next couple of shoots I will use Microsoft Excel to be more organised and have quick access to the schedule on my phone. 

Track List and Artist Name

After looking into similar artists largely under the genre of neo soul, we found that almost all artists go by their real name (forename & surname). Therefore we decided upon the name Alexandra King and then began to think of track names. As well as keeping the original song Teenage Fantasy, we used a mixture of names generated by the games we played in class as well as titles in keeping with the focus on youth. 

Yoni Lappin

Yoni Lappin has directed a number of music videos under the same or similar genre. We hope to partially recreate some of the same shot composition and colour palette in our own video.

Pitch feedback

Storyboarding

Pitch Outline

Different cameras & lenses

We're hoping to use different camera effects as cutaways in our music video, so we began to do some research into creating a sort of 3D image in our video.

In a professional production, the camera most likely to be used is shown below, which works by taking an image on four different lenses places at slightly different angles. This camera however costs quite a lot, luckily we found a app called 'Fyuse' which creates a similar effect. We will need to practise using it a bit more before filming properly, but the above video shows our first attempt. The clip can be saved in mp4 format and therefore imported to iMovie or Final Cut Pro to eventually be edited in sequence.

Planning (specific lyrics)

Planning (opening)

New Group, New Song

River, Julia and I have been talking a bit more about the angle and mood we want to go for in our music video. We've strayed a bit from out initial genre of indie rock/hip hop more toward hip hop and "neo soul".

Our final song choice:
Teenage Fantasy by Jorja Smith




















Wanting to focus on youth, particularly British youth, and the day to day  we thought this song would suit it well. We also considered the song People by Yellow Days but the song was a lot slower paced and therefore more miserable than we hoped for.

Final Lyrics (highlighting key lines)

You weren't the boy I thought I knew
Maybe I was blind, I was young, I didn't have a clue
You were the topic of my lunch times
I'd bore the girls about our chance
And get upset when you didn't text back

I was warned by my brothers to find another lover
Stop falling for these boys who didn't want the same as me
I was warned by my brothers to find another lover
Stop falling for these boys who didn't want the same as me

We all want a teenage fantasy
Want it when we can't have it
When we got it we don't seem to want it
We all want a teenage fantasy
Want it when we can't have it
When we got it we don't seem to want it

I've got a lot of things to do
What if I had been a fool
And thought I was in love with you
I need to grow and find myself before I let somebody love me
Because at the moment I don't know me

When I was told by my father
If I look into the future
Do I really see this boy
That I think I've fallen for
And I was told by my mother
If I look into the future
Do I really see this boy
That I think I've fallen for

We all want a teenage fantasy
Want it when we can't have it
When we got it we don't seem to want it
We all want a teenage fantasy
Want it when we can't have it
When we got it we don't seem to want it

When we are young
We all want someone
Who we think is the one
Just to fit in
There's no need to rush
Take your time
Life's a big old ride
Sit back and enjoy the vibe
When we are young
We all want someone
Who we think is the one
Just to fit in
There's no need to rush
Take your time
Life's a big old ride
Sit back and enjoy the vibe

We all want a teenage fantasy
Want it when we can't have it
When we got it we don't seem to want it
We all want a teenage fantasy
Want it when we can't have it
When we got it we don't seem to want it

Mood Board

Possible Songs

1. Chronic Sunshine by Cosmo Pyke



2. Find the Words by Jamie Isaac



3. Easy Easy by King Krule

Rat Boy Artwork

Where Rat Boy comes under the genres of indie rock and British hip hop, you can see how his brand differs to artists under solely the indie genre. Where the indie genre often uses quite neutral colours and low key lighting in their videos, Rat Boy's work is generally very colourful and "in your face". This idea is demonstrated in the artwork below.

 

 

 

Music Video vs. Film Opening

In making our prelim and looking more closely at music videos, I've began to notice more clearly the differences between the style and planning of music videos compared with film.

The shot length varies greatly between music videos and film, most notably due to the idea of editing to the beat. Films editing however often correlates with the mood and consequent tension in a given scene. Tension can be enhanced in film by the change of pace (done in editing), however in music videos this role is replaced by the music itself. Typically music videos are between 3-4 minutes so the mood of the narrative is consistent whereas films have the opportunity to alternate between tones as characters develop. Most simply, music videos change shot more but have a consistent mood whereas films often change mood more frequently but are able to include longer takes. As music videos explore a greater shot variety in a shorter space of time as well as transitions, arguably planning needs to be even more precise.

Another key difference is the more stylised/performance element of music videos. When making the film opening at AS, we had to ensure a sense of realism in mise en scene and also pay particular attention to continuity. Though continuity will still be important, in making a music video we'll have the freedom to be more abstract. The performance element of music videos means the fourth wall becomes less of an idea to consider unless doing an entirely narrative piece.

Rat Boy NME Magazine

Born February 21st 1996, Rat Boy plays on the reckless youth image, shown perfectly in this image from NME's Ones to Watch list 2016. A few particular things to note in the picture are the fire, the swearing on the hoodie and the alcohol to the left of the picture. The sort of familiarity of the pub/club setting attracts his audience (of a similar age to him). This kind of mise en scene feeds into Rat Boy's music videos and his genre more widely. The candid style of the photo continues on from the scruffy/DIY nature of his music I mentioned in the previous blog post.

Rat Boy DIY Magazine

"The Class of 2016 is led by Rat Boy, a peerless Essex troubadour who does everything on his terms. From graffiti’ed artwork to game-changing singles, he’s thrown himself into the spotlight. We get to know Jordan Cardy as he readies himself for 2016 domination."

Rat Boy creates quite a scruffy/DIY image of himself both practically in how he makes his music but also in his overall brand itself. This particular magazine cover captures that with the way he's styled against the clean white background.

Most notably, the graffiti style writing of 'Rat Boy' itself sort of summarises his overall image and is used repeatedly used in publications as well as his own artwork.

The generally quite relaxed appearance conforms to the overall conventions of the indie rock/hip hop genre.

Rat Boy

 Jordan Cardy is an English musician who performs under the stage name of Rat Boy. He began writing songs in his spare time before releasing them on SoundCloud (his first release being 'The Mixtape'). Following this, he was signed to Parlophone records in early 2015. As well as this, 'The Mixtape' received further support from being featured in NME magazine and broadcasted on number of radio stations such as BBC Radio 1.

 

He received further recognition in being added to the BBC Sound Of 2016 Longlist and was also nominated for the Best New Artist 2016 by NME magazine. In April 2017, his song "Knock Knock Knock" was sampled on Kendrick Lamar's song "Lust" from his fourth studio album titled Damn.

 

Rat Boy's music itself is a mixture of several styles, namely hip hop and indie rock. His approach it noted as being "DIY" as he generally records and produces his own tracks whilst also creating all his own album art.

 

Genre Videos

As I've began to look at a number of artists, they all seem to fall into the Indie Rock genre overlapped with British Hip Hop. Looking further into the genres themselves, I've noticed a trend in the overall style of music videos. Most simply I would describe a lot of the filming and editing "home style" linked to the lower production value. This links to the genres themselves, particularly INDIE rock. The videos themselves still conform to a number of the features of Goodwin's theory as well as the editing style of conventional music videos (transitions for example).

Also, a number of the music videos see performance and narrative integrated where sometimes the artist will even play a character. Personally, I'd love to explore more the narrative side of the videos and possibly incorporate performance within that.

Possible Cutaway Ideas

Whilst on holiday, I visited a number of cities so decided to film a few clips on my Iphone focusing on landscape. I changed my mind about having the same shot composition, and instead vary it as it seemed more interesting (especially if eventually used in sequence). 

I roughly edited a few clips on iMovie, speeding them up and removing the audio entirely. In two of the clips I used a fish eye lens attached to the back of my phone. I think maybe using iPhone footage cut between maybe higher quality footage would fit the "home style" video I'be began to look at. 

Beginning to Think About Location

 Beginning to think about possible locations, I would love to take advantage of the more urban landscapes we could easily access in London. One place in particular is the terraces on top of the National Theatre on the Southbank which are open to the public and have amazing views of the street below and the Thames. From the style of music videos I've been leaning towards, most simply less Pop and more Indie, I think exploring a contrast between rural and urban areas would look really interesting. Also, focusing more on narrative would rely on a character view point or story to follow which I think would stand out against quite vast/harsh backdrops. Naturally, in exploring more narrative and performance solely by the character themselves I think a focus on people in relation to location would be interesting. Therefore, whilst on holiday, I'm thinking of filming lots of short clips of different streets (using the same shot composition) to possibly use later as cutaways in between the main narrative.

 



Initial Genre/Artist Ideas

Andrew Goodwin

Theorist Andrew Goodwin proposed that "Music videos ignore common narrative as they are essentially advertisements. As consumers, we make your own meaning of a song in our minds: a music video can anchor meaning and gives the record company/artist a method of anchoring meaning."
 
The theory itself consists of six key ideas:
1. A relationship between the lyrics and visuals
2. Genre characteristics - style and iconography
3. A relationship between the music and visuals - editing to the beat
4. Close up shots of the artists to create the"star image"
5. A frequent reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mobile phones, billboards and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body)
6. Intertextual references to other media texts may be present

Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One
This largely narrative music video perfectly demonstrates Goodwin's proposed relationship between lyrics and visuals, in this case complimenting each other. The music video plays out the events detailed in the lyrics, most broadly the breakdown of a marriage as the husband cheats. The fact that the song doesn't start till around 40 seconds into the video make it appear as I direct commentary on the visuals. From the perspective of the wife, linking directly to the title of the song, the pain and overall mood of the lyrics is reflected in the often low key lighting and close up shots (uncomfortably long takes).



Kodaline - Love Like This
Demonstrating Goodwin's second key concept, Kodaline's video conforms to the key characteristics of the indie genre. The muted colour palette, dim lighting and performance element (with particular attention on the artists playing instruments) are all conventional of indie music.
As well as this, the video explores the relationship between the music and visuals in editing to the beat. The visuals cuts quite cleverly with the beat as the lead singer is initially slapped in the face, leading into a wipe transition to the next shot.



Taylor Swift - Shake It Off
I've found that the pop genre most commonly creates the "star image" which much more focus on performance as opposed to narrative. Throughout the Shake It Off video, Taylor Swift is almost exclusively centre frame, in the foreground of shots (sometimes use of selective focus) and close up shots.



Jason Derulo - Swalla
Like a number of his songs, most recently Jason Derulo's visuals for the song Swalla are almost entirely focused on voyeuristic images of the female body - links the idea of the male gaze.



Madonna - Material Girl
The video itself perfectly demonstrates intertextuality as a parody of a scene from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with Marilyn Monroe. The mise en scene and shot composition of the video are almost identical to the original. Most simply, Madonna modernised the scene from 1953.

Madonna (1984)










Marilyn Monroe (1953)

Rough Prelim Schedule

Filming our prelim will be in two main sections: 1) shots in the second half of the clip in the kitchen are and 2) the two individuals playing a board game.

Although the actual video is filmed in one location, a house, we are unable to do this so will be filming 1) in Julia's house and 2) in the school library in front of the book shelves to try and create the look of a living room.

TO FILM IN JULIA'S HOUSE

TO FILM IN THE LIBRARY

Animation in Music Videos

I'm leaning more towards the indie rock genre however in researching the indie genre more broadly I've found various quirky videos. The fun and upbeat tempo of the Of Monsters and Men song Little Talks perfectly suits the quite random, childish nature of animation chosen to be used in the video. 
I was really interested in the use of colour in high saturation amongst black and white footage that makes up the majority of the video. Personally, having listened to the song first I would not have even thought of using black and white due to the more mundane mood associated with such. 

Ed Sheeran Bloodstream

For our music video, I think I would prefer to focus more so on narrative rather than performance. Typically these are the kind of music videos I enjoy watching as well as the relationship between the song itself and the story is really interesting. 

One of my favourite music videos, due to the strong narrative and protagonist, is Ed Sheeran's Bloodstream. The protagonist is obscured in a series of lavish locations, alternating between both high key and low key lighting to emphasise the contrasting mood of what was and how the protagonist lives now (almost in the shadow of his past - the line "all the voices in my mind")

Final Prelim

Class Feedback

In todays lesson we showed our finished prelim to the class, which allowed us to gain feedback about the successes and possible areas of improvement. Though the sort of cheesy pop genre of music videos isn't something we're likely to do, it was fun to do. 

One question we got quite a few times was how long it took us to both film and edit. In doing our prelim, one key thing I learnt was that it is easier to edit chronologically even though this isn't always possible. The video for Foundations by Kate Nash is almost entirely lip syncing so the accuracy of our editing was really important. If we changed something earlier in the video, even if it was really really small, the whole video would then be out of time. I had actually experimented with stop motion in my AS film opening evaluations so wasn't as complicated as it could have been. 

Genre Conventions

In Friday's lesson we were introduced to some of the genre codes and conventions, relative to the style of music. Alongside this, we saw a number of theorist interpretations of genre including Steve Neal who said "Genre is a repetition with an underlying pattern of variations". One theorist that particularly interested me was Susan Haywood and her idea that genre was "according to the ideological climate of the time". This works around the principle that genre is relative to, for example, political or social circumstance. Immediately this made me think of Katy Perry's video for Chained to the Rhythm, which on the surface conforms to the conventions of a Pop music video but actually has political intent. 

Making Our Prelim Overview

For the prelim, our group decided upon Kate Nash's video for her song Foundations. First off, we story boarded the opening 40 or so seconds of the video to ensure our shot composition was as close to the original as possible. We filmed the second half of the video first in Julia's house, where the lighting was initially a problem. However changing camera positioning that direct natural light was either avoided or coming from behind the camera. This is something we paid extra attention to at AS and will even more so at A2. The entirety of the video is lip syncing meaning the accuracy of shot length and general timing of movements was really important. Throughout filming we have had the video playing in the background and Emma actually singing along. In editing we've taken the audio off and had the song added back over the footage. Mise en scene is the area in which we had to adapt and find objects/locations as similar as possible to the video. When we make our own music video we will have a lot more freedom with this. There's still a few little bits to finish editing and then hopefully it'll be done.