Similar Media Product Research #4

Mercury Summer - Fightstar





This music video circulates around Charlie Simpson, the band's lead singer and a female character, of whom he is in a relationship with or has been in the past. This is communicated through the close ups of the two at the start of the video. The fast pace transition between Charlie and the girl's face shows that they are in some way linked to one another. The facial expression of the girl is seductive, whilst Charlie's face is focused and stern as he focuses more on singing the lyrics in the song. This gives the impression that he is disconnected from the girl and perhaps the relationship.

This growing distance between the two is shown through the lack of colour saturation in the video footage. The desaturation shows a lack of spark in the relationship and a lack of passion betweeen the two. This is something I wish to achieve in my own music video, perhaps going even further and filming the whole video in black and white.

The mise-en-scene in this video also displays a dying relationship as the band are all dressed in black or dark grey suits as if they were going to a funeral. The dark room the band are playing in also empahsises this as there is a neat contrast, at one particular point in the video, between the girl's pale white skin and the dark room and the suit Charlie is wearing. (0:43)

The editing is something to be admired. Facial expression is a key part of this music video and it is conveyed through some skillful editing. To cite one time-frame in particular where this is most effective (0:48-1:10) - the girl looks like an innocent young lady; when her facial expression changes we see the effects the relationship has had on her. She suddenly becomes dispondent and
nothing like the innocent young girl we previously saw. The use of black and white footage furthers this change in character.

So far, this is the closest example I have found in relation to what I want to achieve. I won't be able to achieve the professional editing, but I believe I can create something that has the same effect on the audience as this music video, through the use of mise-en-scene and tecnhical elements such as close up shots and editing the music video into black and white.

 

 







Similar Media Product Research #3

The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten

 

 

 

 

The video for 'Handwritten' shows how one record can pass through many different pairs of hands, with each person that previously owned the record having their own individual story as to how they got their hands on the record. This is shown throughout the video via elipsis, as we see around fifty years pass in the space of four minutes.

 

The title of the song is shown implicitly throughout the video with the use of close ups on handwriting and the messages within the writing; this relates to the lyric "... I'm in love with the way you're in love with the night. It travels from heart, to limb, to pen"- as the theorist Andrew Goodwin would state, this is a way of engaging the audience with not only the video, but the song being played.

 

The shift in time is also shown through the change in mise-en-scene throughout the music video. The video starts in what appears to be the late 50s/early 60s in an American garage, with a musician playing on a Fender Stratocaster that would have been particularly popular at the time. The musician is dressed in typical 1950s/60s wear, with Levi jeans and a denim shirt. The audience in the venue are all dressed similarly too, which highlights how music in the 50s/60s influenced a lot of young people. The audience (watching the music video) would be able to relate this to today's music industry.

 

The music video uses performance shots to directly associate the band with what is occurring in the main narrative. The lead singer, Brian Fallon, shows a lot of emotion when he is singing along in the video - which draws the two parts of the video together. The mise-en-scene in these scenes furthers this as they are in an old house, but dressed fashionably in today's clothing. This implies that there is a link between the characters in the main narrative and the band itself within the context of the music video.

 

There is a patriarchal element to the early parts of the music video, whereby the men are dominant in the narrative, i.e. the musician, the boy-come-man who goes to war, the Father who gives the record away and the band itself (all of whom are male) - this however, does change towards the end of the video as the boy who receives the video grows up to be nothing much at all and ends up selling his records to a woman behind a counter in a record-store. This is a comment on how society has changed from the days of the 1950s, whereby a man would buy a girl a pretty dress and take her dancing (as seen in the music video by the audience) to the society today whereby women are very much liberated and can act of their own accord, not necessarily you're typical housewife or prim and proper girlfriend as shown in the music video.

 

This is a heartwarming video, which has a deep narrative. In my music video for "Hide and Seek" I would love to recreate the emotion generated from this music video.

 

 

 

 



Thoughts about setting... (Plan B)

So this is the second time I have done a post in this fashion. I'm beginning to think about the setting for my music video (again).

I want the video to include shots of central London as this gives the two characters already something in common (their national identity) - the viewer will begin to see the similarities between the two and begin to think about what could happen further down the line.

I also want some shots of the two characters on public transport, perhaps even on the same carriage but still in split screen.

I don't want to change the location of the shot throughout the video as I think it will lose a sense of flow and meaning. It has to convey a sense of real time.

A Change in Direction...

Over the past few days I've been thinking to myself whether I am going in the right direction with my music video. Although I think that the footage I shot in the summer is of good quality, I just don't think I quite like the idea anymore. Not only that, in terms of practicality I have some major issues.

My actor lives in Manchester so the only time I can film with him in the shot is over the Christmas period and let's be honest, we both aren't going to have the time available to shoot a full music video.

No worries though, as I have a plan 'B' that I will set out in brief bullet points...

• The video will center around two main characters, one male and one female
• They both will be from London and aged around 20/21
• Both of the characters will be having bad days and this will be shown in a split screen style
• Similarities and contrasts will be shown via split screen
• I eventually want the split screen to disappear as they both come closer to each other throughout the day
• And, in the end they'd live happily ever after as they are both as misfortunate as one another

In order to achieve this I will have to get someone else to film the bits of the music video that I am in as I feel that I am a good enough actor to convey the emotion necessary in this music video. I will film the parts that do not have me in them.

I aim to get this all filmed by January/early February. I don't have much time at all between now and the editing process but I am 100% certain that I will produce a high quality piece of work.

Until next time...

Audience Research Survey

In order to gather sufficient audience research, I have set up a survey on Survey Monkey.

I'd like to gather as many responses as possible and in order to do this I will have to post the link on several social media websites, including Facebook and Twitter. Hopefully I can get around twenty responses from various age groups.

Andrew Goodwin: The Music Video Theorist

Andrew Goodwin suggests that most popular music videos contain the same elements. If not all of them, there is at least one of the following features in a popular music video:
 
- Music videos generate 'iconography', e.g. a punk band being shot thrashing their guitars and shouting down microphones whilst dressed in a particular style of clothing

- The lyrics in a song are shown through images. These images can either be illustrative, amplifying or contradicting

- The mise-en-scene adds to the representation of the characters, e.g. in the music video 'Jesus of Suburbia' the setting and costume are descriptive of the characters being described in the lyrics of the song

- The tone and atmosphere of the images reflects the tone of the music

- Close ups of the artist are demanded in popular music videos to show them off

- Voyeuristic view of the female body. Also, there are elements of voyeurism across both genders, via the use of windows and mirrors. This can be seen in the "Knights of Cydonia" music video.

- Intertextual references are common. Again,"Knights of Cydonia" has strong links to old Western Films.

Thoughts about setting...

Having watched many music videos and analysed a variety of them in depth, I've begun to think about the setting and characters in my own music video.

Following on from my initial ideas, I've decided that I'm going to include a variety of interior and exterior shots. The camera will follow around the central character in their every day life, telling the story as it unfolds.

The setting will be in and around my local area which is suburban London. However, I think getting some shots around the rest of London will add to the regional identity of the characters, whilst at the same time having a variety of scenes to keep the audience interested. I don't want to make it seem like I have gone out and shoot footage all in one day in my local area. I'll have to travel around a bit in order to make the video look that bit more professional.

In terms of performance shots, I'd like to get footage of Joe performing in a local venue. If I can combine the acting and performance together in one (or a collection) of shots then I think that would add another dimension to my video, blurring the line between the actors and performer.