Final Video

Here is the final cut of our music video for Love Me Again.      

Editing Update: Export Disaster!

We were at the stage where we were ready to export our film out of Final Cut Pro and all was going well until our trusty Mac, Sean, had a complete meltdown!

This was a complete disaster as the whole of our music video, including ALL original shoots and footage was on this particular mac's hard drive. We were really worried that we were going to lose all of our work and would have to start from scratch. It was an extremely tense time but we were hoping for the best.

Luckily, our IT Technician managed to work his magic and save the file, however it was not exported in the best quality it could have been, but frankly we were happy to have it at all!

We have now uploaded our video up onto YouTube and are able to breathe a big sigh of relief.

MTV Dance Logo

We had almost reached the end of our editing process, but there was one final polish to do. To make it look like an even more professional video, we decided to overlay the MTV Dance logo onto our existing sequence in the top left hand corner.

This would make it more believable in terms of it is easier for the audience to identify the genre and where they would find the video should it be released. It definitely made our music video look complete and was the final element to add before exporting the final cut, so it was a great feeling to have it done.

Editing Update: Problem Solving

After starting to colour grade all of our clips, we suddenly struck a problem surrounding the aspect of sending the file back to Final Cut Pro from Color.

The issue was that whem the footage arrived back onto Final Cut Pro, there were some clips missing and some which hadn't been colour graded. We believe this was due to a glitch in our computer, as all of the files were the correct type and there was no other obvious explanation.

To solve this, we had to find the missing clips and slot them back into their positions by looking back at the original sequence (luckily we had saved a copy!) After we had put them back in their place, we had to individually put each one through Color, so this process was far more time consuming than we initially planned.

However, once this process was complete, we were really happy with the look of the footage. Beforehand we were unsure as to whether it all intertwined together well, but this must have been to lighting and colour issues, as when the filtered clips were finished, it had a much more professional feel to it.

Letterboxing

Now that our sequence was completely finished - including the colour grading - we could letter box it all. This is whereby you put two black strips onto the frame; one at the top and one at the bottom, and effectively makes the style more widescreen and cinematic, thus looking more professional.

This was another very time consuming task as as we had to do it individually clip by clip. We then had to change the aspect ratio of some of the clips as the strips had cut out people's faces, so we'd have to shift the clip itself up or down within the canvas.

We decided to letterbox our music video not only because we feel it looks more polished and professional, but also because it is a common convention of many successful music videos.

Colour Grading

Because we had shot in a number of different locations, we knew that we would need to colour grade in order for the sequence to be consistent.

The powder paint fight shots were rather grainy so needed the contrast and brightness levels adjusted. The studio shots needed lifting up as it was a little dull, and the smashing plates/lip syncing shots needed the saturation increased to highlight the bright colours within the frames.

We used the programme, 'Color' to filter our shots through, however, none of us had previously used this editor before. To gain experience and knowledge, we watched several different online tutorials which were all really helpful in getting us started from the basics. We also experimented with the programme first hand, playing about with the different features and what they do.

We eventually realised that we had to do this whole process clip by clip, applying different filters (which could be saved separately, then dragged and dropped) onto each clip. This was a lengthy process which required a lot of patience - especially due to the amount of choppy shots we used.


We changed the colours, the contrast and the lighting and we then sent the sequence back to Final Cut Pro so that we could edit more if we needed too. The colour grading made the footage look like one whole music video and what made everything fit together in the end. This whole process was very successful.

Editing Update: Sequence Complete

Today, we got the whole of our sequence laid donw in pretty much it's final order - bar a few tweaks that will have to be made. It was quite a stressful day as we were restricted by time limits, but really wanted the sequence complete so that we could have the whole of next week to polish and neaten it all up. Despite this, we all pulled together and distributed jobs evenly, so in the end we managed to finish.

We have realised we haven't stuck so strongly to our storyboards, as some of the shots we were hoping to include did not fit the conventions/didn't quite work with the rest of the video, whereas some of the candid/experimental shots we got were much more dynamic and relevant. This has in turn made our video more natural and convincing, which is the vibe we were aiming for initially. We watched it through a few times, noting down things which could be improved; we all observed that it still didn't 'feel' quite right.

We concluded that this was however, down to the colour grading within our film, which we will be working on over the whole of next week, so we decided to leave at that today and re-evaluate once we had colour graded all of our footage.

Powerful Video

I came across this short film whilst doing my usual social media rounds, and couldn't forget it for days.

I think the message it is conveying is so so powerful - it has a lot to do with the contrasts between the first and third world. It has obviously been designed to make an impact on people so that they realise they should apprieciate what they have rather than complain when things do not live up to their personal standard.

I observed that a large number of the comments were to do with technology, "I hate it when I leave my phone charger downstairs" and , "When I can't walk and text at the same time". This really got me thinking; we have become so absorbed by the innovation of technology that we now expect certain things as standard; everyday these standards are rising and I wonder, when and where will this chain of greed and competition end?

Of course I cannot be certain of what lies ahead, but if our technology develops at the rate it is, it is logical to predict that one day we will be completely controlled by technology. This of course has its pro's and con's and I imagine you could battle it out pretty well either way; only time will tell what will actually happen, but in the meantime we can but debate. I cannot deny that technology is an amazing outlet; I'm using it at this very moment in time! However I feel like we need to learn that it is not something to be abused, and we should embrace and perfect the technologies we have available before developing more.

Anyway, I decided to research into how this concept was thought up, and discovered that it was central to a hastag on social media site, Twitter called #firstworldproblems (click to view feed on twitter). The hashtag is made up of tweets from people living in first world cultures expressing their everyday issues with a touch of sarcasm and a dash of ignorance. Examples include,

" I haven't even had my nails done for 24 hours and have somehow managed to already break one"

 

"My dad got new wifi for our house and didn't tell me the password"

 

"Did an intensive hair mask yesterday and now my Skullcandy headphones keep slipping off head"

 

Additionally, I found the picture on the right accompanied by the caption, "Well, which one is right?!?!"

 

This video made me realise the strength and impact of contrasts. If you put one entity beside it's opposite, the effect will become exaggarated, when really all you have done is extend the process. It has inspired me to ensure we have plenty of contrasts within our music video, and also to make similar content on a personal level - maybe reverse the effect and have first world people saying third world problems, or a look into commercialism etc.

 

"First world problems are not real problems" - Water Aid. 

Editing Update: All Footage Complete!

we are now at the stage whereby we have filmed all of our footage we will need and imported it into Final Cut Pro. The powder paint and studio shoots were already uploaded, but this still left us with some gaps we had to fill, or our existing footage had started to become repetitive - losing the audiences' attention, which is why we chose to add more shots.

We can now focus on embedding the clips from our final two shoots (lip syncing and plate smashing). After the sequence is fully laid down and complete, we can start to add the finishing touches like colour grading, letter boxing and logo. It really feels like it's all coming together, and we are aiming to be finished by the end of next week. We have been spending any spare time we can find to work on our project so it's a mix of relief and excitement to see it come together.

Smashing Plates Shoot: Review

This was a really fun setup to shoot, despite the difficulties we had during our research in terms of safety.

One of us stood on a chair whilst the other filmed with the camera. Then, when everything was in place, the plate with the powder paint was dropped from a height and fell to the floor where it - on most occasions - smashed. Sometimes it landed too flat which meant the energy was absorbed by the plate so it didn't break.

The shots looked really cool, as there was so much movement in the explosion of china and paint; I think it will work really well with the rest of our footage as it gives that extra 'oomph'.

Smashing Plates Shoot: Research

GENERAL LOGISTICS
We will have to be prepared to clear up the pieces of broken glass after it breaks so we will have a hoover and dustpan/brush to hand. We will also have to make sure no pieces hit us or they could cause injury. We did look into either acquiring or making some sugar glas plates but it was too costly and time consuming. 

LOCATION
Again we need dark, black surroundings so we are going to use the dark room in the photography suite. 

COSTUME
No costumes will be needed.  

ACTORS
No actors will be needed. 

HAIR/MAKE UP
No hair/make-up will be needed. 

PROPS
We will need powder paint as well as the plates which we have bought. 

LIGHTING
We will use the LED light that attaches to our camera on full brightness to light the shots.

Lip Syncing Shoot: Review

The shoot for the lip syncing was a great success. We splatted powder paint n the lips at first by simply throwing it at the actors' faces, however we realised that although this is effective, it would look better if the lips were fully coated with the paint. So we used a paintbrush to lightly fill in any areas on the lips the paint had missed. This immediately improved the look as it appeared sophisticated yet spontaneous.

We shot the sequence with the 75mm lens so that it was close up to the lips and so you couldn't see any other features of their face apart from their nose. We also tested out different shots without them singing which we thought might be useful as extra fillers to use during the music video's sequence.

The final footage looked really effective as we used carefully experimented with the lighting levels which made the powder paint stand out really well.

Lip Syncing Shoot: Research

GENERAL LOGISTICS
We have decided to shoot the close-ups of the lips in order to add the element of performance. We were worried we'd have to order more powder paint but we are now confident we have enough, as we only need a very small amount to use on the lips. 

LOCATION
All we need is a black background so we are going to hire our drama studio which has black walls. We would use the studio again but we cannot justify the cost when there is something equally as effective, but for less. 

COSTUME
We will only see the actors' mouths so costumes are not necessary as such, but we have asked them to wear black tops just in case any head/shoulders slip in - in which case, they will all be the same. 

ACTORS
To help keep the storyline consistent and easy for the audience to follow, we have used actors from the powder paint fight. We have also used an external actor too, though it still meets conventions and flows so this does not disrupt the theme at all - you can hardly tell!

HAIR/MAKE UP
Again, this will be a very small element of this shoot. On one actor we will be filming half her face so we will keep the make up style similar to that used in the powder paint fight, but other than very light foundation, barely any make-up/hair will be seen. 

PROPS
The only prop we will need is the powder paint.  

LIGHTING
We are using the lighting which already exists in the drama studio. We are lucky that it has a range of spotlights and backlights we can use. We will ensure the lighting is bright enough in order to achieve good depth within the footage. 

Editing Update: Decision Making

After importing the footage from the two shoots we have done and editing it together, we still feel like it is missing something. To solve this, we decided to brainstorm as a group how we could solve this, and after going through more dance music videos, saw that there is often an element of performance within the piece.

So we have decided to do a third shoot which will mean we can embed the element of performance into our music video. We will film close-ups of people's lips covered singing the lyrics, covered in powder paint splatters so as the theme is continued and maintained throughout. We are going to use females only for this shoot as the paint will look more striking and lipstick-like rather than messy.

Additionally, to give the music video even more energy, we are going to do a shoot where we smash china plates. This action holds many connotations to do with love and relationships. We also think it would look really effective if we put a little mound of powder paint on the plate before we drop it, so as when it hits the ground, it is an explosion of colour and glass.

We think this will help break up the sequence a bit, as currently the powder paint fight and studio footage looks very dynamic and striking at the beginning, but it feels a little repetitive at times. It also means we will have employed narrative, concept and performance into our music video which broadens its appeal.

Studio Shoot: Review

We had booked the studio for 2 hours as we thought this would give us time to take all the shots we needed. We took all the shots we had storyboarded and tried to get the most out of our time slot by experimenting with different shots.

When we imported these clips into Final Cut Pro, we were happy with the general framing and composition, however agreed that they would need colour grading in order to make them fit in with our previous footage so as our conventions are maintained.

So overall it as a successful shoot for which we will not need to re-shoot, meaning we can move forward with the editing process.

Studio Shoot: Research

GENERAL LOGISTICS
We have decided to shoot the second part of our music video in a stylistic medium, whiich we will do in a photography studio. The one we have found is very local and offers a discount to students - which is always very helpful on the finance front!

LOCATION
We are shooting our video in a local studo used for all kinds of photography projects. They offer a white, black or grey backdrop so it is fabulous to have a choice - however we are going to use black as it will maintain our contrast of white/black/colour theme.

We are going to set up a stereotypical but simplistic dining table setup, so will need to bring plates, cutlery and a tablecloth etc and we have been informed that there is a table available at the studio which we can use; this definitely helps logistically as we do not want to have to hunt around for a table! 

COSTUME
Costume-wise, we want to stick quite closely to the theme of black and white/representation. Therefore the girl will wear black leggings and a plain white top, whilst the male actor will wear jeans and a T-shirt. This will mean that it won't take away from the concept we are trying to focus on, which is a fight for love between a couple.

ACTORS
To help keep the storyline consistent and easy for the audience to follow, we used one of the same couples we had used from the powder paint shoot. 

HAIR/MAKE UP
Again, we wanted to keep this stylistic and simple, so are having the girl's hair in a typical half up/half down style and the male's hair normal. 

PROPS
We will need a table and chairs which is being supplied by the studio. We are bringing the extras, including the plates and cutlery as well as the mobile phone and magazines. There is nothing too extravagant so it should be quite a straightforward setup.

LIGHTING
We are using the lighting provided by the studio, which has 2 brilliant bright white spotlights which will give our shots great depth. This is key as the background is dark, so it is essential that the actors and props are well lit in order to avoid shadows and out of focus shots. 

The lighting and colour is also very important in this scene because we have to get it to mirror that of the colours and tones within the last shoot so as to provide consistency.  This means we will have to experiment with the lighting levels quite a bit in the studio to make it the same brightness. If we don't get this spot on during the shoot, then we will have to try and sort it out in post production by altering the colour and brightness filters. 

Studio Shoot: Storyboards

Here are the storyboards for our second shoot:

Editing Investigation: White Stripes - Seven Nation Army

 

I haven't counted the cuts in Seven Nation Army as such because it is pretty much one smooth panning zoom shot which fades into different scenes. The editing in this song was truly iconic for it's time - and still is now. It must have taken great skill to put it all together with a number of clips being overlaid and precision timing in place.

 

What I love is how the visuals build up with the song and are exactly to the beat everytime - it really gets the audience into the rhythm of the already-catchy beat. The white and black theme with splashes of red relates to the band name, 'White Stripes' It is very disorientatiing at tiems because you do not quite know ehere to look as it is so fast oaced there is a lot to take in, but this is what makes the video so unique.

Editing Investigation: Animals - Martin Garrix

 

The editing within this music video has been effectively carried out to match the upbeat, club anthem sound of the song. There are approximately 144 cuts throughout which proves the fast pace and makes for choppy cuts.

 The effect of shrinking time is used within the whole video and reasonably choppy cuts are employed.

There is a large proportion of the music video which involves shrinking cinematic time, for example, the club atmosphere probablytakes place over a longer period of time, but we only see the highlights. This links to the theme of the animals coming out at midnight, and the connotations this holds to clubbing. 

There are also points in the video where cinematic time has been expanded, for example the shots of the group of men walking/dancing down the corridor has been put in show motion to match the build up of the song.

Following on from this, the visuals don't always match the music beat-for-beat, but they certainly follow the general pace of the song. There are more dynamic, choppy cuts that quickly switch between two scenes when the music is at its climax, then when the beat drops it goes back to the more static, representative shots the video started off with.

Overall, the editor(s) have created a successful dance video whereby the visuals which have been put together suit the music and make it aesthetically easy to watch and pleasing for the audience.

Editing Investigation: Spectrum - Florence & The Machine

In Florence & TheMachine's, 'Spectrum', I have observed that there are 122 cuts, which at first glance seems like a large amount whereby we would assume it is a constantly fast paced video, however considereing the song is over five minutes long, comparitively it is not quite as fast paced as initially thought.

 

A notably unique element of this music video is the fact that the first cut of Florence sitting on the Atlantis-like throne holds for 40 seconds. This is a huge amount of time in music video terms, and would usually have taken up a good third of the video in a more average three minute music video.

However the music video does fit in more cuts following this powerful opening scene which acts as a huge build up alongside the soft, harp chords which are the backbone of the song. The pace of the visuals speeds up immediately as the song bursts into the more instrument heavy chorus when , "Say my name" is sung.

Not only does the content within the video speed up - for example, the dancers become increasingly more fluid and dymanic, starting in textbook ballet shapes but evolving into more abstract shapes as the song develops - but the actual cuts themselves do too. The most cuts occured during the chorus and teh least during the more toned-down verses which demonstrates how the editor(s) built in this mirror-like set of visuals, as it makes it easy and interesting for the audience to watch; it makes sense for them and fits conventions.

Editing Investigation: You're Nobody Till' Somebody Loves You - James Arthur

I decided to observe James Arthur's new song, "You're Nobody Until Somebody Loves You". I counted the cuts in this, which came to 182.

There is a large proportion of the music video which involves shrinking cinematic time, for example, the party/performance starts earlier in the day which is visible through the natural lighting and also by usual everyday happenings, however this fades into nightime where everything is a little looser and 'wild'. In realtime, this would probably take at least 6 hours, however in the music video it took 3 minutes!

There are also points in the movie where cinematic time has been expanded, for example when he first enters the music video towards the stage, alongside some shots of the people dancing at night.

The cuts generally occur when we have taken in enough information to build a picture/understanding of the culture. For example, there are several quick close ups of individuals who contribute to the urban community which are embedded within the video. The cuts are very snappy and allow us to take in the concept without becoming bored. Once we have taken this in, the editor has made it so it cuts to a different representation.

I compared this to the amount of cuts in the first 3 minutes of the film, "stick it" which resulted in 44 cuts.

This shows that music videos often operate at a far faster pace than films, and more cuts are needed. This is something we need to refine and establish to move away from the conventions of film which we studied for AS and more towards that of music videos.

Editing Update: Importing the Powder Paint Footage

We started to edit our music video the day after we shot the footage we had shot of the powder paint the night before - we were very excited about seeing what it looked like!

We started by importing and naming all of our clips which makes finding footage so much easier. We try and describe the clip, e.g. 'Close Up Selina Good'. We realised when we put the footage into Final Cut Pro that the wide shots were of lesser quality and had no depth to them in comparison to the close ups & the mid shots which were sharper and better lit.

To solve this, we decided to use the less quality shots in quick, choppy succession and hold the greater quality shots for longer. We have decided to match the pace of the visuals to the pace of the song so this actually works quite well considering it's a dance video.

So far with the editing we think it has gone extremely well and we are very happy with how it is turning out. The powder paint fight was a huge success and we are very excited about it's potential.

Powder Paint Fight: Review

We only had one take for this shoot as the powder paint so it was essential that we stuck to our plans or it would come at a great cost to us.

To make sure we were organised, we briefed the actors with what they would need, what we were bringing, times and locations etc. We arrived half an hour earlier to set up the camera and do some test shots. We also set up the powder paint and put the rest of the equipment we were't using out of the way so it wouldn't get covered in paint.

We set the camera to shoot 50fps rather than 25fps so that when we slow it down in editing it will be a smoother shot. We waited till it got darker which was around 7pm, and because the actors had arrived at 6.30, we were able to get the most of our shooting time.

We only had one chance to film all the actors whilst they were clean as once the first handful of paint was thrown that was that, so we ensured we got all of the footage we needed for that particular setup.

We then got a wide range of different shots of the paint fight that we could edit together. We instructed the actors to throw it in different sequences and at different people, making their throws as exaggerated as possible. We also took some close up static shots to provide a contrast and also to make the footage more intimate.


Overall the shooting went really well and we all thought it was very successful. The paint showed up really well and the lighting was really good too. I also think that the costumes suited the convention of the image we are creating as they enabled us to show the effect the powder paint has when thrown.

If we were to do it again I think we would have got more powder paint and shot even more footage just to be certain that we had enough shots. However we ar confident that we have enough shots to use.

The only real problem we found was that one of our couples said they couldn't do it last minute, and neither of our reserves were available either! We managed to get a third girl but we couldn't find another partner to match it. We were definitely not going to reschedule, so to ended up having three girls versus two guys which in the end didn't look that bad at all and wasn't such a disaster.

Powder Paint Fight: Shotlists

Here are the shot lists for our powder paint shoot:

Powder Paint Fight: Storyboards

Here are the storyboards for our powder paint fight shoot:

Powder Paint Fight: Lighting Research

Lighting is going to be a key factor within our music video, as it will affect many other elements, such as depth, colour and focus. We knew from the planning stage that we would be filming undewr extremely low light level conditions, and were considering hiring generators to power spotlights we could also rent.

We wanted to maintain the effect that it was nighttime, so wanted to get the light balance and contrasts in place so that we could achieve this. After a test shot, we decided that the one LED light that attched to the top of our DSLR camera would create this effect, as it did not dazzle or take away from the image, yet you could see all the subjects on focus.

We did initially want spotlights placed behind the actors (so as part of the setting) so as to create a silhouette/shadow effect, but we dicided against this as it would have affected the light entering the camera lens and not made the collour come accross so clearly, which is one of the main elements we are aiming to portray.

Lastly, we agreed that we should use a bright white light rather than adding any colour filters at this stage, as this would allow us to demonstrate the full spectrum of colours we were aiming for without them being masked by any sort of particular coloured haze. If need be, we could apply a colour filter during the editing. Filming it with plain white LED's basically gives us more freedom in the post-prooduction, as we be limited as to where we could place for example, a scene with a blue filter which might be frustrating if the composition is good.

Audience Research

John Newman's demographic ranges from anywhere over 5 years old really; his music is upbeat and lively, appealing to younger generations, but also has a blues/jazz twist which makes it more sophisticates, broadening its appeal to older audeiences too.

I would say that the majority of his audience would however be teenagers/young adults, purely because they have the best access to such content through being active internet users. This is where a large percentage of new music is marketed and distributed now as opposed to more tradidtional methods, i.e. CD.

Our audience appeal will be similar to this. We are targeting more so the party/dance culture which appeals to teenagers/young adults. We are doing this through the creation of a bold, lively and vibrant visual to match the upbeat, electronic dance remix. We must be careful not to turn away audience members that are not part of this age category; everyone is individual in their music taste so we are not going to appeal it to a concrete, narrow audience by any means, however it is simple to observe that it will most likely appeal to the aformentioned demographic.

Powder Paint Fight: Actor Research

In our music video, we are planning to have three couples. In order for the video to seem realistic, we set out to find three actual couples rather than annonamous boys and girls so that their relationships would come accross in their body language and gestures, making it more believable for the audience.

We chose reliable people who confirmed the date and location, and briefed them on how to do their gair/make-up. We also gave them their costumes which we had provided. Just in case, we alse asked 2 couples to be 'reserves' in case any of our definates couldn't make it.

We wanted the couples to be of a similar age to those who would be listening to the track and watching the video, meaning it is more relatable. Therefore, our actors ranger from 16-19 years old. This also links to the party culture and young, energetic vibe we are trying to create within our music video.

Powder Paint Fight: Location Research

We had to brainstorm a wide range of locations, as obviosuly we have a huge logistical dillemma in the fact that we are going to make a huge mess, so will have to choose an appropriate place.

We originally thought of places such as abandoned houses/warehouses, the woods or a field, purely because we wouldn't have to worry about the powder making a mess. The problem of this was actually finding a place like this that would fit the conventions. We were left locationless, with 15kg of powder paint and were a little bit disheartened.

 But then we remembered an intimate location under neath our local bridge. It has huge arches which you can walk under, and one particular one was very desolate and disused - perfect! The space was big enough to fit everyone in.

We realised we will definitely need some form of lighting, as the location wasn't fabulously lit even in broad daylight, so this was something we had to consider when confirming the location.

Powder Paint Fight: Hair & Make up Research

Hair and make-up is going to be an important factor within our music video. We wanted to link to John Newman's retro style, so have decided to opt for a vintage look rather than a modern take. Therefore, we have decided that the, 'half up-half down' style will work really well for the female actors; it will ensure that we can see their faces, yet it will add to the concept of movement within our piece too, which perhaps a more controlled hair do would not allow. We wanted again, to relate to the dance/party vibe within our music, therefore, the actors will wear bold eye-liner and red lipstick to represent getting dressed up for a night out or a party. We thought that foundation/colour of skin wouldn't be of quite as much importance, as soon they would be covered in paint!

Powder Paint Fight: Costume Research

Initially, we thought that a 60's style fashion would look great as it would highlight the movement through all of the statement dresses. However, we then realised that this would not work so well with the modern, stylistic setup we are creating for the second scene.

We then became inspired by Tyler Shields' photography work, 'Chromatic'. His models wore white and black outfits which made the colours stand out very well.

From here, we made the decision that the girls will wear white, sleeveless skater dresses and black high heels, whilst the boys will wear dark trousers and a smart white shirt. We chose these outfits as they are a mixture of smart and casual, so can be dressed up/down as appropriate. Therefore, this holds connotations with partying.clubbing, which is where our song would be most likely to be heard; we are making small links for the audience to match the visuals to the music.

Powder Paint Fight: Prop Research

The most prominent prop we will be using is the powder paint. This is a chalk-like substance which creates some great effects when used in a variety of ways.

We had to be aware of the quantity we would need, as we want to avoid re-shooting down to a lack of supplies, and we also wanted to get as much footage as possible.

Another consideration was the cost side of things. We didn't have a huge budget so wanted to get the best value product.

Lastly, we thought about which colours we wanted to use. We decided to go for bright, vibrant colours as these would provide a greater contrast against the darker setting. We have chosen pink. blue, green, orange, red and yellow and have ordered 2.5kg of each which we think will be enough to last us for this shoot, and hopefully some left over too.

Ideas Update

We have intensely brainstormed about the features of our music videos. Our initial idea was to have the setting/concept as summer,parties, festivals etc as this would really suit teh vibe of the song. However, we thought that this was a little bit predictable and 'safe' and we wanted to push the boundaries a bit. Also, we would have been doing the majority of our filming over winter, so this idea was also impractical.

We further filtered through various ideas, and after studying several existing dance music videos, realised that there is commonly a narrative which goes alongside the concept. The concept within our song is love, fighting and forgiveness, so we came up with the idea of having a 2 person narrative between a boy and a girl which works alongside our concept.

Now we had this idea of narrative in mind, we had to develop a concept. Again after lots of research, we realised that colour was an essential theme within dance video, as it exagarates the bold, confident music. Therefore, we have come up with the idea of a powder paint fight. We will film this at night to contrast lights, darks and colours against each other.

To summerise, we will have 2 scenes; the first with a couple arguing in a non-naturalistic house setup (i.e. quite simplistic and representative rather than realistic) and the second, a poder paint fight between 3 couples.

Love Me Again: Lyric Analysis

Artist Research: John Newman Representation & Style

Newman's style is rather retro and vintage; high contrasts of black and white with splashes of bold colours. His facial expression in bith his album and single CD covers is quite reflective, which links to the style of his songs, as they often follow themes of love, regret and forgiveness; not giving up. He explains that his album is a break up album. Most of his influences come from blues/jazz music after he worked in a bar, which he expands on below:

In the cover of his Love Me Again single and the Tribute album, his retro influences are clear to see. From this, we can tell that his music will be more than a pop/indie album; it is a throwback and vintage with a modern twist. The colour contrasts add energy to what would have been a purely blackand white album, which again relates to the style of his music
In terms of his fashion style, his love of vintage and retro comes through in this sense too. In love me again music video, the dancers all were very 60's style clothing, so floral dresses with slim waists and bold skirts and casual suits. Newman's hair also reminds me of the 60's aura, due to the statement quiff and slight colour streak. So in conclusion, his retro roots have had a huge influence on the style of his music as well as his look.

Artist Research: John Newman Early Life & Career

John Newman grew up in Settle in the Yorkshire Dales. At the age of fourteen, he started to play the guitar which led him to begin writing his own songs. Naturally, he soon learnt how to record and produce musical content himself. He used this skill to create his own house tracks and did some freelance DJ'ing to gain even more experience.

When he was 20, Newman moved to London and started his own band who took part in many live gigs at a range of venues. Following this, he was spotted and signed by Island Records and produced, 'Love Me Again' as his debut single.

In May 2012, he featured in the established pop/dance group, Rudimental's single, 'Feel The Love' which reached number one in the UK charts. He then featured as the vocals in their second collaboration for the song, 'Not Giving In' during November 2012.

Now he was beginning to be recognised as an artist, he released his own single, 'Love Me Again' which peaked at number 1 in the UK charts in July 2013. Following the successof this, he released, 'Cheating' in October from his debut studio album, Tribute. He has immensely grown as an artist and become increasingly popular within the music industry in a short space of time which demonstrates the potential he has as an artist.

Song Choice

We wanted to avoid any copyrighting issues, so contacted the owner of the song to ask if we could have rights to use the song. 

We did have a back-up plan of using a different one, just in case there were any issues with this one but luckily the company emailed us back confirming that we could use the soundtrack no problem. 

This means we can power ahead with our planning and preparation for the shoot, which we are all really excited about. 

Island Records

Island Records are a huge institution who manage a number of very successful music artists. The label was founded by Chris Blackwell and Graeme Goodall in Jamaica in 1959. It then came to be based in the UK and is owned by the Universal Music Group, however they are based in many other countries, including America and Australia.

John Newman was signed at teh age of 20, amongst other artists including:

• Jessie J
• Dizzee Rascal 
• Disclosure
• Bombay Bicycle Club
• Drake
• Avicii
• Ben Howard
• Dappy
• Mumford and Sons
• Nicki Minaj
• The Wanted

It is clear to see that they support a wide range of genres, from Ben Howard's indie style to Dappy's hip hop/rap clique. They have grown to be one of the leading record companies across the globe and are well recognised by both musical talents and the public alike. 

Director Case Study: Shane Drake

Shane Drake is an American Director who's experience involves directing over 50 music videos as well as co-producing three films. Early in his career, Drake spent time working as an editor and cinematographer with such bands as Poison the Well, Deftones, Thursday and many more.  He now spends most of his time directing and is the owner of red Van Pictures, a Los Angeles-based production company. 

Drake has directed videos spanning the genres of Pop, Rock, Rap and Country, He has worked on music videos for artists including Timbaland, Paramore, Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, Fall Out Boy, Flo Rida, Will I Am, Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Daughtry and many more.

As well as working with multi-platinum artists, Shane has also helped shape some of the original visual styles for new bands that have also gone on to see great success, the most notable of these acts being Panic! At The Disco. Since the band’s inception, Shane’s work with them has earned several VMA nominations and won “Video Of the Year” at the 2006 MTV VMA’s for the video “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”.

His style wavers more towards indie/rock/pop combinations which are genres where his most iconic music videos can be found. Here are some more examples:

 

Synethesia

Today we learnt about the concept of synaesthesia, which by definition means, "the process of picturing sounds in the mind's eye". It is often seen as the joining of senses, for sensations in one modality (e.g hearing) produce reactions in the form of a sensation in another modality (e.g. colour) as well as it's own. These experiences are not often driven by sensory representations, but more so by symbolic ones, such as letters, numbers and words. It can also be known as, 'thought beats' or, 'seeing sounds in your head'

Andrew Goodwin is a contemporary theorist and on the subject of synesthesia in relation to music videos, he believes the most succesful sort is:

"A clip that responds to the pleasures of music, and in which that music is made visual, either in new ways or in ways that accentuate existing visual assosiations"
                  ~ Andrew Goodwin (1993)

I like his ideas; he is basically saying that when the visuals of media content complement the features of the sound, it all seems to come together and exaggerate what the visuals already in place. Also, when you are able to take in and understand the information your senses relay to you, you tend to have more interest in the content you are viewing, which in turn make the content more popular.

Steve Archer also provided many of his own ideas and opinions on the matter in the February 2004 edition of MediaMagazine. He believed that in order to judge appropriately, you need to fully be aware of the music and how it makes you feel.

HOW WE USED SYNAESTHSIA TO OUR ADVANTAGE
We did a task whereby we were asked to draw patterns, lines or markings - whatever came to mind - on paper, whilst listening to a certain music track. We basically had to draw what the music made us feel or what we felt represented that track to us the best. This would give us a better understanding of how the feel of the song affects the visuals that come naturally to us when listening to a particular type of music, which reinforces the importance of identifying and applying conventions of a certain genre. 

These are the two tracks we listened to:

Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
Being an upbeat and dance sound, our page was filled with jagged lines and short, snappy swerves which represented the repetitive, catchy beat. It was a very loud and dynamic page, filled with energetic, bouncy markings which demonstrated that the track made us feel so.

Phoria - Red
This track in comparison had a much slower pace and less energy. The marks we made were much more flowing, continuous and spherical. It is still a powerful song, but uses it's impulsion is different ways to the above song. The marks we made became more dynamic towards the end when the son increased its pace and energy, giving a sense of empowerment.

I thought I could adopt this approach within our music video, so I put my headphones in and had a go whilst listening to our chosen song, 'Love Me Again' by John Newman (UCF Remix). The result looks dynamic and filled with energy, which links to the song itself - being a dance/pop combination, it is designed to raise your heart rate and effectively motivate you to get up and dance. I think this is reflected in my own synaesthesia where there are lots of spiky lines and big shapes which represent the loud, pumping energy within the song.

Todorov's Theory

Narratives must have events or happenings that are structured by causality (the relationship between cause and effect)

Todorov suggested a slightly more complex description of narrative structure than the simple situation - problem - resolution scenario. Instead he suggested these five stages:

1. Equilibrim: A state of balance at the outset, although doesn't have to be perfect - it just has to work
2. Disruption: Disruption of the equilibrim, usually by the action of a villian
3. Recognition: The characters and/or audience recognise the disruption
4. Repair: An attempt to fix things (i.e defeat the villian)
5. Reinstatement: Equilibrim is regained, although it is usually a new equilibrim to the original one.

Todorov's recurring stories
~ The Quest: Where the hero is sent to sent to challenge evil and save the kingdom etc
~ Redemption Story: Where the central character sins, but redeems himself by self sacrafice
~ Journey to another world: When a character goes somewhere different and in turn changes
~ The Beast transformed by love: as title really e.g. Beauty & The Beast
~ The solving of riddles: Where there is a mystery to be solved e.g. Sherlock Holmes
~ The 'biter bit': Where the oppressed rise up and throw off the tryants
~ The Stranger Saviour: The stranger comes to town and acts as a catalyst for the residents to overcome their fear
~ The rise and fall: a family's or empire's rise to power and subsequent decline in their or it's fortune

We could use this in our music video when considering the narrative that will accompany the visuals.

Narrative, Plot and Storyline

Within one of our exam questions (1b) we are required to select one of our own productions and evaluate it in relation to media concepts. These concepts include:

• Genre
• Narrative
• Representation
• Audience
• Media Language

At first glance, the only one which seemed a little unusual to me due to the fact we have specifically studied it yet was 'media language'. However upon further inspection, it became clearer that actually 'narrative' was a concept in which held scarce knowledge about; you just assume it means the story.

So What is Narrative?
~ What distinguishes narrative from other forms is that it presents information as a connected sequence of events.
~ Progression - it links it all together.
~ The most basic narratives are linear - arranged in a straight line-like sequence (ABCDE). It is structured logically and is easy to follow as everything seems to make sense.
~ Many narratives sturcture their sequences causually; each event logically follows on from the previous one; each event causes the next event.
~ The majority are recountedin past tense.
~ Narative Hook: it should serve to intrigue the audience and give them a reason to keep on watching. This is often achieved through the use of an Enigma or McGuffin.
~ Most contain 'seeds' of the theme, which develop and grow later on.
~ Films which do not follow the conventions of a familiar genre can be harder to get into, as they have the potential to alienate the audience
~ Whilst sometimes it is the Director's intention to alienate the audience, most film openings incorporate generic conventions.

What is the difference between a story and a plot?
~ Films usually consist of events which are explicitly shown onscreen and events which are inferred to have happened off screen.
~ The Plot: everything that the film explicitly shows
~ The Story: the chronological order if all events explicitly shown and inferred.

Boris Tomashevsky
~ He suggested that the plot can be seen as the aesthetic arrangeent of ideas that teh firector wishes to bring to the attention of the reader.
~ So effectively the best bits of the characters' lives.
~ I think it is easy to follow this theory, as often with any film you watch, it is the conventional markers you see which move the plot along; you don't see the fill in bits of everyday life - which is just aswell really as you'd need the film in constant realtime, and would end up with a year long film!

Lion King
~ Is a good example, as we don't see many of the back stories - such as how Pumbaa and Timone met, how Scar and Mufasa were like as cubs, how Zazu became Mufasa's assistant etc.
~ We natually fill in the missing parts and details
~ However they did make some sequels following the success of the first film, so some of the holes are filled, but of course not all.

So it is now a whole lot clearer to me what measures to take when elaborating on the concept of Narrative within my exam question - there's a lot more to it than I thought!

Director Case Study: Director X

Director X is a Canadian director who has been working in the music video industry for over 15 years. His career as a director began with him directing the music video 'Richter Scale' by EPMD. He has worked with some huge names in the music industry including:

• Drake
• R. Kelly
• The Wanted
• Justin Bieber
• Nicki Minaj
• Sean Kingston
• David Guetta
• Ludacris
• Rihanna
• Usher
• Jay-Z
• Alicia Keys
• Little Mix

He generally directs music videos within the genre POP/R&B therefore the music videos he creates match the conventions of such perfectly as he is so experienced in what these are. They often carry some sort of message or narrative which stick quite closely to the lyrical representations. Furthermore, they all include the actual artist, who is usually the main feature/focus of the video. 

Here are some examples of his work: 

The Creativity Debate

As part of a refresher task we were all asked to define what creativity is. I think this is always a challenging and thought-provoking discussion seeing as everyone's thoughts and opinions are so different; you can learn a great deal simply through listening to other interpretations.

I have gathered some quotes from a range of people who have shared their views on what creativity is:

"The ability to share, improvise, invent, discover and create entities through any kind of source in any different way. It is not a pretty painting - it is a process which may or may not result in some kind of outcome"
      - Selina Swift
~  This is my own definition which I came up with at the beginning of our class discussion. I wanted to eliminate this idea that creativity is art, because although creativity helps with art, it is certainly not limited soley to that activity. Creativity has a part to play in absolutely everything.


“Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people" 
      - Leo Burnett
~ This quote particularly caught my eye as, being a curious person myself, I can account for the fact that wanting to know about something often automatically consequences in taking (creative) action to satisfy the question. It evokes a kind of child-like sense of wonderment, which Burnett is implying the majority of people lose. 


“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try" 
     – Dr. Seuss
~ I really like this definition because it is poetically creative within itself. Also, it is suggesting not to confine yourselves into a narrow minded way of thinking; you should consider every aspect and beyond


I think the mistake many people make is trying to concretely define something which is so broad, that it is effectively indefinable within one sentence. To experience creativity is the best shortcut to understanding it externally.

Director Case Study: Emil Nava

Emil Nava is a British director who works with lots of well known artists including:

• Jessie J
• Rita Ora
• Paloma Faith 
• Ed Sheeran
• Katy B
• Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding

He is in the UK urban pop industry for music video directing. Since making it into the industry, he has also come to direct adverts too, such as the L'Oreal adverts with Cheryl Cole promoting for the company, and the vitamin water advert featuring Jessie J. He has had a great success with Jessie J; her video for Price Tag received over 180 million views on YouTube and was the #1 viewed video in the UK. Emil Nava also won best video for Jessie J 'Do It Like A Dude' at the 2011 Q Awards. When asked why he loves making music videos as opposed to feature films currently, he said: 

"I think it’s just having such an open playing field to work with. When Ed Sheeran comes along with a song simply about love, it’s such a wide canvas try and make your video. So you really get to express really strong narrative on some, conceptual ideas on others or simply just a really strong, cinematic look. You get to express many different areas of your creativity and get to show it off a lot"  

His music videos are mostly narrative based and they have an edgy, fast cutting style which grabs audience attention. Although he enerally sticks to the genre of pop, this can be at any end of the scale; from Ellie Goulding's raw, edgy sound to Tinchy Stryder's street rap style, so he has to adapt the conventions of these sub-enres. 

In my opinion, they are all quite predictable videos in that they are what you expect to see when you hear the song, which obviously shows he is meeting the genre conventions successfully. 

Here are some examples of videos he has directed:

Genre Investigation: Rock

Rock music originated in the 1950's as 'rock and roll', after being heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music. It also drew strongly on a number of other genres, including blues and folk and incoporated influences from jazz and classical sources.

Musically, rock is centered upon the electric guitar, usually as part of an ensemble including bass guitar and drums. Song structure-wise, rock is usually within a 4/4 time signature using a verse-chorus form, with heavy, dramatic guitar and/or vocal solos. However, it has expanded in conventions ever since it's roots; some of the greatest songs were musical experiments which became known for their originality and innovation.

Like pop music, the lyrics are often inspired by romantics/love tales, but also addresses a wide range of other themes including those more socially or politically based.

The generic conventions of rock music videos include:

• Documenting live footage - adds energy and focuses on the talent of the musicians.
• Often focuses on the lead singer, close-up shots of them whilst the rest of the band are represented through more-so through wide shots and mid-shots.
• Focus on the instruments used and the musical element within the piece
• Strong links between the visuals and the music - often cuts to beat.
• Often fast paced to recreate the energetic live performance.
• Shots of the audience/crowd
• Expressing strong emotions such as anger, love, depression or regret.

Modern rock videos appear to be swerving towards creating a narrative within their videos, perhaps to try to gain more popularity through crossing genres, however it is no doubt that the most generic and successful rock videos are heavily performance based. 

Textual Analysis of Little Things - One Direction

'Little Things' by One Direction is a mellow, romantic ballad which reached number 2 in the charts, after falling behind Gangnam Style. Originally written by Ed Sheeran, it is an cross between pop and indie, holding conventional features of both:

• There is a high performance element
• Lots of close ups of artists
• Repetitive guitar riff
• Puts you in a good mood
• Steady tempo

The music video is shot entirely in black and white, which gives the video a raw, simplistic vibe. It focuses is shot in a recording studio and shows the boys in an extremely stripped back light. It includes many close up shots shots of them looking directly into the camera, so as to appeal to their audience - as if they are singing it directly to the person watching. It also shows some wide/mid shots of them messing around with each other and being 'normal' - again so as to widen their appeal, for they are just like the, 'boys next door'. It has a real personal touch and you feel like you get to know each band member better as the video goes on. This combination of shots keeps the viewer captivated by the boys and thus makes them want to watch more and/or buy the song. It works well because existing fans see the boys as they know them and can recognise their personalities, and new fans get a glimpse of the boy's characters and can make a decision based upon this. 

As a heavily performance based video, the lyrics relate to the visuals in the fact that they are being sung. However there are some smaller references to the lyrics within the visuals too, for example, with the lyric, "You can't go to bed without a cup of tea"- there are several mugs of (what I'm assuming is tea!) placed around the studio. Another reference is made to the first line, "your hand fits in mine like it's made just for me" during the opening shots, where there are a range of shots focusing on the boys' hands, itching their face, pushing a slider on the music deck, plucking the guitar strings etc.

The song as a whole relates to the visuals, as the concept of noticing the little things about someone is the simple thought behind it, and the fact that it is all shot in black and white adds to this rather minimalistic representation of the band members. Another major reference is made to guitars, with all of the boys having shots of them playing/holding a guitar at some point. This matches the main guitar riff/chords that are consistent throughout the whole song, and further emphasises the acoustic, natural tone of the video. 

Arguably the most powerful and significant entity within the music video is the star image motifs used. The band are represented as being normal teenage boys, and perfect boyfriend material for the intended audience. Each have their own individual style/look outside of the music world, but this is transferred through the costuming etc so they appear to be in their natural environment. It is arguable that this sense of normality is what is convincing for the audience, as it actually seems like a possibility to marry one of them as opposed to the likes of Robbie Williams or Justin Timberlake who sometimes appear unreachable/fantasy. This particular video is very different from their other music videos purely due to it's relaxed, mellow tone; usually One Direction create energetic, pop tracks such as, 'What Makes You Beautiful', 'Live While We're Young' or , 'Kiss You', so it is refreshing to see a nonchalant side to the band.

There is absolutely no reference to the notion of looking, in fact it is quite the opposite! You get the impression from the video that these are the kind of boys that would look after and appreciate you rather than use you for pure sexual attraction of any kind.

The music video is largely performance based, however there are some narrative elements within the lyrics, but they are not transferred directly into the visuals. 

Overall, I absolutely love this music video. I think it suits the song and the band perfectly - it is something I could put on repeat, watch all day and never get tired of.