CAST MEMBER UPDATE

As I want a performance element to my music video I have asked a fellow media student - Brandon - to be the main cast member in my music video. This will involve Brandon having to learn the song and be able to lip sync correctly. I think Brandon fits the image of indie rock/ alternative as he has an indie look about him therefore by following costume ideads of plain baggy tees, this will reinforce the indie rock genre through the mise en scene.

1ST DRAFT OF MUSIC VIDEO

This is the first draft of my music video, with all the footage collected in new york. Im not completely happy with the sequence I have chosen to put the footage in therefore I may change the sequence and add shots such as my Passport and boarding ticket. The aim of my music video was to take the audience around new york with the help of the subway and signs filmed.

After watching back my music video I have decided it does not look like a music video and more like holiday footage. Because of this I am going to use a male cast member and have him as the abstract centre piece adding an element of performance to the music video wiht varied shots and lip sync.

THEORY APPLYING TO MY NEW CONCEPT FOR MY MUSIC VIDEO

Narrative Theory-

Sven Carlson (1999)  suggests that music videos in general fall into two roughly groups:

Performance clips - when the video shows mainly the artist or artists singing and dancing
Conceptual clips - when the clip shows something else during duration, often with artistic ambitions
Performance clips, if the video clip contains mostly filmed performance then it is a performance clip, it can show the artist in more than one settign and takes place anywhere from in a bath tub to outer space. Walking down the street is another performance cliche whihc is commonly used in rap videos.

Performance can be three types - song, dance and instrumental.

Narrative clip, if a music video is most appropriatley understood as a short silent movie to a musical background, it is a narrative lip. A narrative clip contains a visual story that is easy to follow. A pure narrative clip contains no lip-synchronized singing.

Art Clip, if a music video clip contains no preceptible visual narrative and contains no lip synchronized singing then it is a pure art clip.

In terms of Sven Carlson's theory I feel my music video is an art clipwiht an element of performance within as it has lip synchronized singing and features clips of New York such as Architecture and popular sights. This choice of narrative fairly typical of my song choice's genre, indie rock, and it is typical of the band - Alt J's previous music video's, therefore, I feel the clips will fit to the song choice of Fitzpleasure perfectly as the lyrics are clear enough to be able to lip sync and it varies in beat, allowing me to edit the clips to match the changing pace of the beat.

FONT SAMPLING - FITZPLEASURE

Due to changing my song, re sampling the text choices is also a task I want to complete for my ancillary texts. Here are some of the fonts I like for my ancillary texts and may considering using on my ancillary texts. I particularly like the second font used and may consider using this on my ancillary texts, it would be ideal as it is bold, readable and fits with the genre of the song.

Chosen Logo:

 

LOCATIONS

My chosen location for my abstract video is several places of New York such as:

Times square
Liberty Island
The observation deck on the Empire State building
Grand Central station
Ground Zero

Additionally the performance element will be filmed in the media green room on the white wall with the light set up.

Another location I want to film is from the window of my car travelling down the back roads of Tickton, just outside of Beverly to capture the headlights of oncoming cars at speed.

SHOOTING SCHEDULE

I plan to shoot the first half of the lyrics with Brandon on Monday 24th February when both me and Brandon have free lessons and the green room in the media department is free.

The second half of the verse is scheduled for the following monday at the same time where we can  also reshoot any footage needed to be re filmed.

At both of these sessions the first section of the song 'Tra La La Tra La La' will be filmed as this is the most tricky section of the song and is the part were lip sync issues could arise.

LYRIC ANALYSIS AND TIMINGS - FITZPLEASURE

ANIMATIC

 

Here is my animatic of my music video produced from my story board. I hope to follow my storyboard as close as I can as I feel the ideas I have come up with and the juxtaposed clips work well in creating an abstract music video.

STORYBOARD AND ANIMATIC

This is the story board for my new music video idea for the song Fitzpleasure by Alt J. I hope to combine performance elements of Brandon singing with video images of New York.

WHAT I AIM TO CAPTURE IN NEW YORK

Coach journey, through the window
In the airport - flight information board and departure lounge
Out the window on the plane
Coach travelling to the hotel - through the window
Landmarks we visit such as:

Empire State
Central Park
Ground Zero

Brooklyn Bridge
Times Square
National History Museum
Hard Rock Cafe
Broadway theatre external view
Busy Street, People walking
Traffic - Yellow Cabs
Top of the Rocks
Statue of Liberty
Imax cinema
Tilt up of all the buildings

Try and get a sunset from the top of the empire state building or the plan window.
 

ALL FOOTAGE FROM BREEZEBLOCKS

Here is all the footage I have filmed for my narrative music video I intended on doing - Breezeblocks. this footage was the first set of footage I have taken and other than experiment with it this footage as it stands now has no editing or effects and is simply a collection of the different shots pulled together with the song 'Breezeblocks' in the background.

MUSIC VIDEOS SET IN NEW YORK

As the setting of my music video is new york I researched into music videos that are set in New York and what sort of features they have such as landmarks and particular shots.
 

Jung&Weise - New York City Love



Andy Favre - New York



Jay Z & Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind

 

U2 - New York

 

50 Cent - NY

 

All these above music videos are all set in New York and contain similar elements such as the landmarks of New York and the busy day to day city. These music videos are constructed in a way that captures all the facinating element that make the city unique. I particularly like the New York City Love music video shown above as it shows a someones personal journey to and round new york, even down to the food they eat and so forth. This is the kind of abstract music video I want to create within my music video.

OTHER ABSTRACT VIDEOS OF MY GENRE

Tesselate - Alt J

This music video also by Alt J is abstract and is the narrative choice they seem to stick by with their music videos. There is no real story behind the music video therefore no real narrative. This abstract video is very create and is very interesting and intrigues the viewer into the inspiration behind the music video.

Balloons - Foals

This music video is very artistic and the abstract feel to it makes it edgy and interesting. Combined with slight performance, this music video is rememberable and has no real link to the lyrics in the song.

IDEAS FOR MUSIC VIDEO

First Idea:

Abstract video based around New York, containing footage of the sights, editied to the beat of the track. Take the audience on a tour of New York via the subway with footage of different stations. No lip synchronized featured within the art clip.

Second Idea:

Take footage in New York but intertwine it with footage of a male, head shot, asif the audience are looking into his mind at his memories of a happier time in his life. He is the abstract center piece for my music video and will feature in varied shots and angles with lip sync.


Chosen Idea: Second Idea

CHANGE OF IDEA - MID PROJECT CRISIS

During the development of my advanced portfolio I have stumbled upon the same problem as I have done previously in my foundation portfolio - reliable models and actors. The female cast member has other commitments and I am finding it hard to find a slot that is conveniant for both of my cast members and myself to shoot. In addition to this I have now decided I want to change my song and not have a narrative but an abstracct video as I feel it will look more effective and creative. The song I have now chosen is Fitzpleasure, also by Alt J and is of course the same genre as my previous song choice Breezeblocks, therefore all my previous research, photographs and ideas are still valid and useful in my production of the music video and ancillary texts - digipak and magazine advertisement.


I am set to visit New York on the 10th February with the media department and have come up with an idea to take a video camera along with me and film my journey and experiences via a hand held camera. This will then provide me with enough footage to produce a creative, interesting abstract music video.

FIRST DRAFT OF MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENT

This is my first draft of my magazine advertisement, again like my digipak I have stuck to conventions and have used an abstract image to relate to my genre. The simplistic style and same image as my digipak allows continuity between all of my products and allows the audience to identify the digipak from the magazine advert and vise versa. The white writing against the dark background makes the writing stand out however, I am not entirely happy with my magazine advertisement and will do several more drafts before to see which I prefer.



Audience Feedback:

FIRST DRAFT OF DIGIPAK

This is my frist draft of my digi pak for my song Breezeblocks. I wanted to keep the digipak simple and quite absract to keep with the conventions of the indi rock genre. The blocks as the main image reflect the song and as the same image is used throughout this creates continuity between my product. The main title is centre front cover so it can easily be identified by the audience and the colour of the text stands out in contrast to the whit background. The back cover has several conventional elements as it has the barcode, record label, information on copyright and the tracks of the album listed in order on the back. This is conventional of any CD cover and makes it look industry standard.

THE TEMPLATE FOR MY DIGIPAK

This is the template I will use to create my 6 panel digipak, this is a conventional cd package used in the industy today.

IMAGES TAKEN ON HULL MARINA/ OLD TOWN

Due to the genre I have chosen having abstract images on their front covers of their album's I have collected together a few images I feel will look good on the front of my digipak.
The song title is 'Breezeblocks' which inspired me to take several photos of the paths along the marina which have different patterns.