Problems we encountered whilst filming

When planning when and where we were going to shoot our music video, we tried to consider any problems that we may encounter and think of resolutions before hand so that the shoot could run more smoothly. 

However, during our shoot, we did encounter a few unexpected issues that we had not foreseen which we had to overcome.

The first issue that we encountered was that the camera battery life did not last as long as we had planned to shoot our films, which meant that we had to stop shooting and leave some scenes unfinished. However as previously mentioned, we were able to quickly return to Joe's house to charge the camera, so that we could continue with our shoot. Because of this, when we next planned to shoot our music video, we secured another camera battery so that we would not encounter the same problem.

The second issue that we encountered was that we struggled to find a suitable location to shoot the interior of the restaurant, as we soon discovered that it was not going to be as easy as we initially anticipated. This was because we could not find a suitable house which even remotely resembled a restaurant, nor did we have the correct furniture or props to re-create the feel and ambiance required. Due to the fast approaching deadline, we had to make best of the limited options available to us, and found that our best option was to shoot the scene in the school canteen. This was because there were large cream walls in which we could create the scene around, and suitable small tables and props available to us to quickly shoot the scene required. Even after carefully assembling the props, it did not look as aesthetically pleasing as we would have hoped, so we simply changed the shot types to reveal less of the background whilst showing enough to put across to the audience that they are on a date in a restaurant. Although this was not ideal, it was more practical for us then shooting in a restaurant, and we felt that the scene was essential to the flow of our story, and therefore we had to make do with what was available to us and compromise.

The final problem which we forgot to consider, was that although we planned to shoot the shots of the couple when they were in love, at the same time as the shots of when they are become bored of each other, we forgot that they would need to change costumes as if not it gives the false impression that both events occurred on the same day, which they did not. This meant that we had to quickly re-shoot some of the shots on the first day, as when we reviewed the footage, we noticed this error.

However, as we learnt this mistake on the first day of our shoot, we made sure to prepare with costume changes when shooting both scenes for the remainder of our shoot.

Locations

Representation of gender and stereotypes in the music video 'Skeleton'- Yeah Yeah Yeahs

The song 'Skeleton' by the Yeah Yeah Yeah's is within the same hybrid genre as our own (electric indie/alternative) and therefore I chose to investigate the representation of women to see how they are portrayed within the genre, and how our female protagonist in our own music video will conform to the genres expectations.


Throughout the video, beginning with the first shot in which the artist introduces herself, she appears mysterious and enigmatic. She appears this way due to the small lens, and extreme close up of her face in the darkness which reveals only a few of her features, predominantly focusing on her mouth to present herself as the artist singing to the audience. Although the audience can see very little, she appears beautiful and feminine through her dark red lips and large eyes enhanced through her make-up. The glamorization of women in music videos is a typical feature expected across all genres, and typically women are portrayed as more promiscuous and are treated more voyeuristically, which is a key narrative convention common within music videos according to Goodwins narrative theory. However, within this music video, there is no notion of the male gaze present, as the artist is hardly exposed at all throughout the entire music video, and the camera tends to focus on her facial features or a long shot of her entire body, instead of focusing in on her feminine appeal.

Rather than remaining passive, the artist is actively engaging with the audience by looking directly into the camera, in some shots almost intimidatingly, such as in this example screenshot. Her eyes merge into the rest of the sky, as if she is Godlike and omnipresent, presenting her as powerful and judging, and above all men.
This idea is emphasised within the opening shot, of a statue above what we can assume to be a tomb, due to the grave yard setting from which she appears, which appears similar to iconic religious symbols such as the 'Angel of Mercy' who is a religious symbol of caring, hope and selfless love. This statue stands alone overlooking her surroundings, showing how she as an artist is strong and powerful, without threats from others, perhaps symbolically reflecting her confidence within her music and an individual artist. However, a more likely interpretation of this is how she feels she is alone and abandoned, isolated from the rest of society which is a more stero-typical characteristic of a female that is often presented within music videos.
The latter idea is re-enforced in the following shot, whereby it shows a statue of a women, crying besides a grave stone, surrounded by darkness and mist, connoting the idea that this woman's past and story is unknown and unclear, but that her circumstances have left her alone and the darkness is approaching her, perhaps being a symbol again for the artists own isolation and feeling of loneliness and sorrow.

The artists face is faintly visible within the right
 hand corner

However, it then cuts to a close up of the statue, and it is much more well lit, and the artist herself appears faintly in the corner amongst the fog, as if consoling her as she sings 'Love don't cry, Love don't cry.' The fact that she is trying to comfort a statue, could show how she is desperate to try and help others in her lonely world, as if to suggest no one was there for her, and she wants to present the same happening to others, showing her as a motherly female figure within the music video.

The artist continues to take on this nurturing role throughout the video, by presenting her as angelic, through her gleaming white silhouette on the darkness, reflecting her innocence and goodness in a flowing gown and her arms spread apart, again similar to famous religious statues or as if she is flying, regardless she is presented as above human, as if protecting those, such as the statue, from darkness.
Women are often presented in music videos as nurturing and gentle as it is stereo-typically seen as part of a woman's nature, and how the ideal women should therefore behave, and by conforming to such roles, they therefore appeal to a wider audience, by appealing to not only men who therefore see the artist as the 'ideal woman' but to other females who aspire for role models, meaning women are still heavily stero-typed in this way within music videos.

It is for only a brief moment in the music video that we see the artist herself as a person, in which she is the center of a shot, surrounded by birds eye close up shots of her playing the instrument. Close up's of the artists playing are another feature commonly used within music video's as identified by Goodwin, as it shows the artists true capabilities, so that the audience are reminded that she as an artist is successful and a talented musician and this is what she wants to present herself to the audience as. By portraying her as human for a brief moment, it makes her appear much more fragile and brings a sense of realism to the far fetched and imaginative video, as if to bring home the idea that the video is a meaningful symbol to the artist, and is relevant to her personally so that the audience can relate and sympathize with her. By allowing the audience to sympathize with her it breaks down the power relationships between artist and audience, and allows the audience to feel as if they have an established personal relationship with the artist, which is often achieved through frequent close ups of the artists looking into the lens of the camera, as if straight into the audience.

However, after we see her as a person, the shot fades into one whereby she is presented as a skeleton, symbolizing how although she appears normal at a glance, she is internally dead. This again portrays her as vulnerable and weak compared to the strong angelic figure we see at the beginning, so that the audience feel that as the video progresses the true feelings of the artist are revealed as the song and lyrics progress. The editing itself is also feminine, with no hard fast cuts, but instead, cross fades are used throughout to give the video a soft and gentle flow, helping to construct her as delicate and cautious, as women are stereo-typed to behave. The concept of the video therefore conforms to many stereo-types of women, as any portrayal of her being strong and powerful are undermined by later images of her being isolated and weak.


However, one still from the video can completely change how the audience views how the artist is represented. In this still, the artist appears to be slightly demonic, with multiple legs out stretched and at the center of the shot as if the audience cannot escape her. With brief shots of ghostly men that appear and then vanish, it could be interpreted that she is alone because she has lured men to her, which is visually portrayed in the still as herself as a spider, as if luring her into her web. However, as she is alone in the video, is suggests that she lures men, and then disposes of them, making her appear powerful and threatening and completely alters the original interpretation of the character, so that the audience are left unsure about the artists true intentions making her appear slightly enigmatic.

This concept is also reflected within our own music video, in the way that Holly our main protagonist sets herself up at the beginning of the music video to be strong, confident, and set out to begin her day. For example, she puts her shoes on, and cycles, knowing the exact direction and location she is headed both on the bicycle and in her life.

When she then bumps into Joe (played by Felix) , she uses renowned stereo-typical feminine body language to spark Joe's attention and lure him in, as shown by the screen shot of Holly tucking her hair behind her ear in a flirtatious manner. Joe is as a result flustered and left love struck by Holly, and the two's relationship begins to blossom.
This idea is strongly re-enforced when the shot from our video reveals Holly and Joe in bed in Holly's room, and Holly caresses him with her feet, and it is apparent that she has managed to reel Joe in. This is implied by Joe's feet being shown in the bed, however they look insignificant and marginalised, within the long shot of the feminine room that is used, and the bars at the end of the bed symbolising Joe's entrapment. 
Holly is also seen to 'dispose' of Joe, when he begins to bore her, by ignoring his calls and arguing with him to try to spark a reaction as if to entertain herself and bring some excitement and sinister enjoyment out of the relationship. This again changes how the audience view the character, initially portraying her as a mildly eccentric and idealistic woman, however the audience now view her as slightly viscous and sadistic in the way in which she treats men, again rebelling against the stereo-typical voyeuristic representation of women to fit in with our indie genre style of music.

Characters and Costume- Joe (Felix)

Our main male
character

For our male lead, we are going to use the character of a young adult male named Joe (Played by our friend Felix) who is a admirable and tentative young man who falls in love with Holly, but the relationship pushes the two to their limits and reveals an irritable, dull and impatient side to himself.
Myself and Joe therefore chose to cast Felix as our male lead, as his own qualities perfectly match those we desired to be present within the character which we felt would portray a sense of realism within our music video,and therefore strengthen the narrative and the audiences emotional response from the video. As well as this, Felix is also aesthetically ideal for our music video, being tall and prominently masculine looking which we felt was especially important to put across in our music video, so that the audience are aware of the characters roles and their relationship. 
We also felt that Felix would be suitable for the role as he also had previous modelling experience and was confident in front of a camera, and as he is also a close friend of both us, and Holly, it meant that we knew we would feel comfortable working with one another and the whole shoot would consequently run smoother.

For his costume, we decided that he would wear a simple jeans and a shirt, as it shows him as much more ordinary, masculine and mainstream in contrast to Holly, and therefore is an early signifier to the audience that there are subtle differences between the couple, even from early on in the music video, suggesting to the audience that the relationship may not work. Like Holly, we see Felix progress from the much more casual outfit we initially see him wearing, which will be a dark jumper and Jeans, to smarter shirts to again represent how the two characters feel they need to adjust to be comfortable around one another.
For footwear, we want Felix to wear simple plain black trainers which again do not stand out, but conform to men's mainstream fashion but also are obviously male, so that the audience are clearly aware by not only the size of the shoes, but of there style, when they are watching footage of Felix, and when they are watching footage of Holly.

We decided that we would change Felix's name, as we felt that the name did not quite fit with the character we wanted, as we wanted a more common and ordinary name to fit in with our bland character that would not stand out as much as 'Felix.' This is why we decided to change it to 'Joe' as it seemed more fitting.

Shot list

Characters and costumes-Holly

For our main protagonist we are going to use the character of a young adult named Holly who is initially a single, shy and feminine woman who has a brief romance with a man, but throughout the video and the relationship, she develops herself as a character to show her strong and firm sense of personality, arguing and bickering with her new lover until she firmly decides to end the relationship.
Myself and Joe therefore chose to cast Holly as our main protagonist, who is not only a close friend of both of us, but has done previous projects before, starring in my own thriller last year, as well as helping on modeling shoots and plays and would therefore be confident in front of a camera as she is used to acting in front of an audience. As well as this, her own personality fits perfectly with the character, as she is feminine, confident, and slightly kooky to fit in with the whole theme of the video. We decided to keep her name as Holly as it perfectly represents her as a character, it is both a slightly unusual name, and connotes the idea of both her initial beauty, and her edgy anger like Holly itself.
Influences for such a character have sprung from characters in films such as '500 days of Summer' and 'Along came Polly' which both feature strong, quirky confident female leads, which are often classed as 'Manic Pixie Dream-Girls' which is a term coined to define these more active, indie, high-spirited female leads who differ from the stereo-typical passive cliche female roles in Romantic-Comedies and are considered a genre characteristic for indie Romantic-Comedies.

Shooting Schedule

Storyboard

Moodboard

The images used on this moodboard represent the feel that we want to create in our video. This includes the kinds of locations we want to use, such as a feminine looking bedroom, urban city streets and city Parks. The moodboard then develops to the general feel of Mise-en-Scene we want our video to have, such as the low angle camera shots, and the contrast lighting we want to use. Finally the mood board reveals the kind of costumes that we want our main characters to have, including a variety of different shoes which will be especially significant in our video which donates many of the shots solely to feet.

Changes to our orignial concept

When planning the story board and shot list, we reconfigured our ideas to better suit the song itself as we decided the classical typical love story was too cliché for the kooky alternative genre of indie electro, and instead  decided on a more unexpected tale, of what begins as a promising romance, and ends in bitter resentment between the couple. We felt this would make a more interesting concept for a music video to keep the audience engaged, as they are lulled into a false sense of security, during the opening minute as the two characters meet, and the audience will automatically have created expectations and assumptions about what will happen for the rest of the video, which we will deliberately not follow. Instead, we will gradually show the tensions and conflicts between the couple, shown through realistic subtleties that inform the audience that she is losing interest in this seemingly perfect man. These subtleties however progress as the song does, until more drastic scenes occur of the two fighting, and the song eventually ends with him being stood alone at her door.

Treatment

An opening shot of a womans bedroom floor is shown. The lyrics kick in and the still shot is abrupted when a womans feet swing into the shot. She begins her day and the camera follows only her feet and lower body as she makes her journey, hard cutting between each shot, until she eventually leaves the house in time for the increase in beat and tempo. Square on shots are used as the camera runs on a steady track besider her, walking to the beat, cut aways from low angle shots are used to slowly reveal some more of the setting, until it cuts to her cycling until she dismounts her bike, and the camera follows her as she walks down an urban street setting. The music again increases in tempo and the song reaches its climax as she bumps into a stranger, both stepping out of the way, to allow the other to pass. We then see her lower her head and play with her hair in mild embarassment, and a shot then lingers on the man who awkwardly shuffles at the attractive woman whom he has just walked into and the audience sense the attraction between the couple. The story takes its full stride, unravaling the tale of a girl meets boy, told prodominantely through their feet and lower body, leaving the enigma of exactly who these characters are, to keep the audience engaged and to create a slightly unconventional feel to perfectly fit the slightly unconventional song. The song ends on the same opening shot, creating the feeling of a circular narrative, however the womans feet again swing into the shot, along with the man whom she has just met.

Inspiration for the concept for our video has come from short films such as Pixars 'The Blue Umbrella' whereby the story follows the story of two umbrellas, and never reveals the holders of the umbrellas, similarly to our own concept of telling the story through the characters feet, until disequilibrium occurs as they lose one another, until they finally find one another and a new stage of equilibrium is established.

Development of our chosen concept

Video concept ideas for our chosen track 'Bloodstream'

A music video of the same genre as our chosen song

Our chosen song which we will create our music video to belongs to the alternative/indie electronic genre, similar to that of the artist 'Owl City' who are an alternative electro group. This chosen song is similar to ours in the way of its general electronic alternative feel, with a strong lead male vocalist over the top. It's tempo is also similar due to the minimalistic pace at the beginning of the song, until it gradually increases building up to the climax of the song.

The first opening clip introduces the audience to the setting in which the music video takes place. From this first opening shot, the audience can establish that it is in an Urban city, due to the tall skyscraper like buildings against the sky. 
This is a typical characteristic of the electronic genre, as an urban setting has connotations of a busy, bustling and cool location, whereby something is always taking place, and somewhere that everyone wants to be. It is most likely to also be where the audience of electronic music are located.

Another example of an urban opening
clip 'The Prodigy-Voodo People'

An opening clip of an urban setting is used in a vast majority of electronic music videos, including other well known examples such as 'The Prodigy'-Voodo people, where we again see that the opening clip clearly establishes an urban setting through the road, street lamps, and buildings.

However, this urban electro feel is altered when the next few shots are shown, of the well presented artist performing, and playing a piano in an abandoned looking industrial area. This is because singing and the piano are old and traditional, and so combining it with electronic music is rather post-modern, and as it completely contrasts the original electro tone it hence brings out the alternative undertone into the music video.

This mix of urban electronic, and more natural and traditional feel is also portrayed through other aspects of mise-en-scene, such as lighting. At the beginning of the video it has a gentle quiet tone,  and the scene is lit using natural sun setting colours so that it has an organic feel to compliment the start of the video. The aesthetics are carefully structured to look peaceful and natural, as for example he is mainly in shadow as if they do not want to ruin or interrupt the beauty of the scene with false artificial lighting.
However, as the song progresses and the song develops and leads towards the chorus, a gradual sense of arterficialness is introduced, not only through the increase in electronic music, but also by the floodlit scene, such as in the screen shot of the example below, whereby they are supposedly in darkness, but still well lit, and crystal clear to the audience.
This element of artificial lighting is then developed further during the chorus of the song, and edited in post production to become a concept of the video whereby a beam of light emanates from within the characters and leaves trails of their paths, as if they are alight with energy and excitement from the music upbeat electronic music.

After effects lighting used.

The editing too complies with the pace of the song, as it orginaly merely cuts from one scene to the next to the pace of the song, however again as it reaches the chorus at 1:14 fast cuts from a multitude of angles, making the image of the artist flicker before the audience, and conforming to the quick cuts and cut aways usually used in an electronic music video.

Characters joining together at the end of the video

The music video begins as if it has a paralell narrative, but ends with an interweaving narrative, as several different locations and characters are shown, and they cut away from one to the next, until the very end of the narrative where we see all characters running onto the scene of the artist, until he too moves from the frame, as if the music has united them all.

Aspects that we will incorporate into our own music video:

-The urban setting, which after a large amount of research, I have found to be in predominately all electronic music videos and therefore I think would be wise to use this convention in our own music video.
- An Interweaving narrative of two characters who are joined together in the end is now an idea which we may use in our own video.
-Strong lighting and key themes of lighting in general seem to be a dominant centre focus in electronic music videos, and we may decide to add into our video, however as ours is more indie and alternative than videos such as this, we do not have to stick to all the conventions, and can comply with the quirky nicheness of our music track.

Chosen song 'Bloodstream'-Firehorse

Myself and Joe decided upon collaborating to make the music video together, and after considering both mine and his possible song choices, decided that 'Bloodstream' by Firehorse would be the best sound track to make our music video to. This is because we felt that we would not be restricting ourselves to conform to the standard genre conventions, as the song itself is a hybrid genre, and therefore we were giving ourselves more options to explore creatively as opposed to if we chose a more traditional accoustic folk song like my other considerations.
In addition,the recording quality itself is far superior than the other music tracks meaning that if the video is created well, it will have a far more professional feel than if we used an amateur sounding track. The length of the song we felt was also just right, as it does not need to be adjusted or amended in any way. It's dynamics do however conform to the expected structure of a music video, with it's introduction and gradual increase in instruments meaning that we can easily build up a narrative to suit the flow of the song and show our understanding of conventions of music videos in that sense.
Although this song is by an American signed band, we ensured that we had full permission to use the music video, and although it is American, its general impression is simply that of an urban setting, so that it will not feel out of place if set in our local town -Norwich.

Lyrics to the chosen song 'Bloodstream:

I am wicked without it
I am afflicted to no end
I tick tick tick tick to the days end
A little taste will fix me up,
just to make the shaking stop.

Don't leave me,
Don't leave me,
Don't leave me,
…shaking

I am guilty of obsessing.
What I want is your attention.
Satisfaction is the devil's lie.
If we had eternity,
it would only be a tease.

This is what pain is,
to leave me wanting.

Just kick my craving;
get in my bloodstream!
Is this what love is?
Don't leave me waiting.

I want you mainlined!
Get in my bloodstream!

Don't leave me pale and weak!
Get me on an IV!
I don't want to get clean!
Get in my bloodstream!

Scratching the ceiling;
when will you inject me?
Get in my bloodstream!
Get in my bloodstream!
Get in my bloodstream!

Performance in a music video- Avril Lavigne 'Sk8er Boi'

Performance elements, depending on the genre of music, are often what make up the majority of a music video. Performances are so frequently used in music videos because it helps portray the bands image as well as their iconography and ideology, therefore selling and promoting the band, as well as the song itself. An example of a music video that uses a performance element is 'Sk8er Boi' by Avril Lavigne.

Close Up shot used

The camera shots used in a performance element of a music video are very generic, regardless of the genre. For example, close ups are frequently used in a performance video so that we can see the emotions that the band are feeling whilst playing their music, which consequently enhances the lyrics or overall mood of the song, and makes the artist put across the meaning behind the song. As well as being a Close Up shot, this shot is a good example of an eye level shot, which gives a true representation of how we would expect to see the subject in real life. This makes the audience feel as if they are truly their, witnessing the performance, and through this camera shot, the director is able to trick the audience into believing they are establishing a personal relationship with the artist.

Similarly, Extreme Close Ups and tight shots are also commonly used in a performance element of a music video to make the audience feel literally closer to the band, as well as enhancing the emotion shown by the artist. However an extreme close up is typically used to show the artist 'singing' (lip syncing) the lyrics of the song.


High Angle Shots are sometimes used in performance elements of a music video to change perspective, for example, this high angle shot portrays Avril as weak, and angry, where as throughout the majority of the remainder of the video, she is seen as powerful and influential. By making her appear weaker and less powerful it makes the audience
 change their outlook on how powerful she truly is, making the audience feel almost a sense of pity at how she appears so passionate and strong about what she is singing, but has little influence, making the audience feel a sense of almost obligation to support her as an artist.

However, in contrast to the previous idea, Low Angle Shots are most frequently used during the performance element of the scene, as it makes her seem strong and powerful, and implies that what she is doing as an artist, is significant and that she is to be taken seriously by us as an audience, and by fellow artists. This is further emphasised when she directly addresses the camera, by bending down and looking into the lens, making the audience feel threatened by her almost invading of space, as most of our view is then obstructed by her close presence.  This seemingly mild hostility that is captured in this screen shot is however typical of the punk-pop/rock genre, and is captured by the use of low angle shots.

This idea of making the audience feel almost insignificant compared to the artist can be further exaggerated by using a 'worm eye shot' which makes the artist appear enormous, and puts the audience through the positioning of the camera lens, at a position of vulnerability.

Long Shots are generally used within a performance sequence to allow the audience to be fully aware of the setting and surrounding in which the artist is performing in. For example, this long shot shows us that she is performing in a city, because of the shops, traffic lights, and cars, in addition to the crowds of people. We can also assume that this city is American, due to the style of cars, and its modern appearance, as well as the general dress sense of those in the shot which all indicate an American setting. By performing to an American audience, it also inadvertently implies that these people are her target market, and the market she is attempting her music to reach.

Example of the Still Shot used

The camera movement in a music video is as equally as important as the shot type, as it too conveys meaning about the artist and the song itself. In the music video 'Sk8er Boi'
during the main performance, there is only one still shot throughout the entire scene, whereby she is sat in a car, and the camera has very little choice about its placement as it is obviously restricted by how much it can move, as the car itself is also moving, so even in the only still shot, the camera still apears to be moving.

By keeping the camera constantly moving through scenes and transitions, it creates the feeling that the video is fast paced, making it a job for the viewer to keep track of. By constantly moving, it makes the scene appear more interesting and real and therefore relevant to us, as the camera lens acts as the viewers eyes and how we would view the scene. Because of this, many hand held shots are often used, as again, it brings a sense of realism to the sequence, as if what is happening is spontaneous and natrual, and we as an audience are part of that.

Tracking shots are also sometimes used in a performance sequence (as seen by the example screen shot) as it creates and maintains a natural flow of the music video, as if still shots of the artists were taken, it would restrict the artists movement, and they would have to adjust themselves to the cameras needs, rather than the camera following and adjusting to the artists movement. For example, if a still shot was used instead of a tracking shot for the example, then she would only be able to take a few paces before having to cut to another scene before the rest of those involved were cut out and before she reached the camera, but by using a tracking shot, all individuals in the scene are captured, and it does not feel as superficial and rigid as a mere still shot.

Panning shots are the main transitions used from one band member performing to another, as it smoothly changes the focus of the audiences attention, without using cuts to keep the flow of the music video going. It again also seems the most natrual movement, as it is what we as an audience would do if we were actually present, we would merely turn our heads to see the rest of the scene, and that is what the camera does on our behalf.

As well as the camera physically moving in performance sequences, often it is just the lens that moves, using zoom ins and zoom outs to focus in on an element within the scene, or for the audience to be able to put the scene into perspective. An example of this is shown at 1:40 where the lens zooms in quickly to the drummer to show him playing, and then to the emotion he portrays. Because it cuts quickly to the drummer, zooms in, and then cuts to another band member, it also adds to the feeling of disorientation about what is currently happening, again making the audience feel the emotions that they would if they were actually there. Another example in the video of how editing and the effect of zooming out creates the feeling of disorientaiton is between 2:03-2:05 when we again see the drummer, it zooms out from the drummer, cuts quickly to Avril, and cuts quickly back to the returning zoom of the drummer. Here both the editing and the effect of the zoom equally contribute to create the sense disorientating movement that fastens the pace of the scene.

The impact that editing has on the overall feel of a music video is siginficant. This is because the editing sets the overall pace of the video, which is why slower paced music sub-genres like acoustic have a slower paced editing, with frames being held for much longer, and less hard cuts, compared to faster paced music genres, such as punk/rock/pop. Avril Lavignes performance element in the video 'Sk8er Boi' is a brilliant example of fast paced editing, as between 1:38-1:43, we see 8 different shots, lasting less than a second each. This is often done in a performance video to merely make the scene more interesting for the viewer, as if just one shot of the artist was used, and held for a long time before being cut, it can feel dull and repetitive.
But as previously mentioned, it also sets the pace for the video, which usually is matched to the song, meaning it usually picks up the pace towards and during choruses, by increasing the cutting pace and decreasing the lengths of each individual shot.

Same scene but shot from
an extreme Long Shot

As well as this, during a performance in a music video, often the scene is cut from the same scene, but shown from different shot lengths, to replace the action of a zoom. This may be done to add variety between transitioning between shots, or simply to add a raw jumpy sharp roughness that a cut as opposed to a zoom can add to the feel of the video, which in this case, perfectly aligns with the slightly angry jumpy punk roughness of the song.

Same scene but cut to Long Shot

 In conclusion, although performance elements within a song tend to use certain features such as tight close up shots, and fast paced editing, all of the aspects used in a performance sequence of a music video also generally reflect the genre of music performed throughout the video.

Contacting the band

The email conversation between my group member Joe and the band to confirm we have permission to make the music video.

Possible music track choices

In order to create our music video, we have to first find a suitable track that has a variety of different tempos, is between 2:30-3:30 minutes long, and is of high recording quality. Below are my top 3 possible tracks to use for my music video.

The first track that I am considering using for my music video is by Hudson Taylor, a Northern Irish unsigned band and are an acoustic folk band similar to that of Mumford and Sons. The song itself is ideal in its song length, lasting just over 3 minutes meaning that we do not need to cut the song down to match the criteria set, as well as this, it also gives us enough time to create a good story and narrative structure. The song itself is quite well written, however the drawbacks for using this song are that the recording is not of a high quality compared to my other alternative music choices.


My second song choice is by 'Josh Flowers & The Wild' who are a small local band from Norwich, who again fall under the genre of folk. The advantages of this song are that the recording copy itself is better than the previous song. It also has a variety of different dynamics and tempos in comparison to the Hudson Taylor song, and although the song itself is my personal favorite  I do not think the recording copy is of high enough quality to be used for my music video.


My final possible song choice is by Firehorse, an American band, under the genre alternative electro. The advantages of the song are that it has again a variety of instruments  beats and tempos, making it dynamically interesting as a song choice, as well as the high quality of its recording. However the song is very quirky and creating a music video to accompany such an alternative sounding song may be difficult.

Coldplay-The Scientist narrative structure

The video for the soundtrack 'The Scientist' by Coldplay uses a reverse linear narrative and plot structure, whereby the whole video is played in reverse, so that the audience know at the start of the video the unfortunate circumstances that he ends up in, and the remainder of the video is the plot slowly unraveling itself as to what resulted in him ending up in such a bleak situation. However, the slow revealing of the serious and devastating plot of the action code of the car crash that starts (although technically ends the music video) acts as the driving enigma throughout the video and keeps the audience engaged, relying heavily on the narrative structure of the video to sell itself to its audience.
The narrative structure of this video conforms to Andrew Goodwin's theory that states that visuals should amplify, or contradict the lyrics and music (in this case the lyrics are amplified). 

Lyrics:

Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are
I had to find you, tell you I need you
Tell you I set you apart

Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions
Oh, let's go back to the start

Running in circles, coming up tails
Heads on a science apart

Nobody said it was easy
It's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh, take me back to the start

I was just guessing at numbers and figures
Pulling the puzzles apart
Questions of science, science and progress
Could not speak as loud as my heart

Tell me you love me, come back and hold me
Oh when I rush to the start
Running in circles, chasing tails
Coming back as we are

Nobody said it was easy
Oh, it's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard
I'm going back to the start

The song itself plays off the repetitive one line from the song 'take me back to the start' as the narrative structure is in reverse, which along with the desperate and sorrow lyrics echo his desire and longing to go back to how his life was before the accident. The video amplifies the lyrics by literally showing him walking back through his life and the events that caused him such misery.

The song itself has a diverging narrative, as the establishing shot is the only one whereby both the performance and narrative align. It is the key line 'oh let's go back to the start' which acts as the prompt for the performer to literally walk the audience through the painful events. The performer continues to perform the lyrics directly to the camera, as if acknowledging the audiences existence as a performer would, making the viewer as an audience feel closer to the artist; again using another of Goodwins conventions of regular close up's so that the audience establish a seemingly personal relationship to the artist. However by performing in such a way, it takes away the realism and seriousness of the narrative, and therefore conforms to the conventions of a music video with the focus on the performance element, as opposed to merely the narrative element such as a short film would.

Brtiney Spears-Hit me baby one more time Narrative

The video for Britney Spears- Hit me baby one more time uses a circular narrative to put across the feeling of her apparent dull and repetitive life style. However, it uses a dream sequence and fast motion takes of her to show and portray to the audience her inner ambitions and to show her breaking the normal conventions although she is stuck in a repettitive lifestyle. The opening of the video makes it apparent of her impatience and lack of interest at her day to day life, with the shot of her tapping foot, to her tapping a pencil, and then to her sighing, to a cut to a close up of a ticking clock. All of these signs make it clear to the audience of her impatience for the day to end, and the audience are intregued as to what she is waiting for. The scene then changes to one of dull emptyness, to one of chaos, with excited students who are free to begin their day. At the end of the video, the sound of the bell is once again present, making the audience realise the circular narrative, which is then followed by the same shot of her in class to show that she hasn't yet broken free from her entrapped life.

Interesting music videos

Kids by MGMT is an obscure music video because of its several unique and quirky features, such as the long opening which contains a quote which they have used for the basis of their music video. The music video itself uses juxta position to make broad statements throughout, such as the serious and ominous music the audience is introduced to whilst the quote is played, compared to the upbeat and contemporary music of the track itself, as well as the innocence of the child, which is repeatedly shown to be shot with monsters. In addition, the music videos quirky mise-en-scene such as the shots of the band members in bold unusual clothing, shot in a forest, juxta pose the seemingly ordinary urban setting and costume of the mother and child,

This video 'Adventure time' by BriBry uses a individual narrative perspective which makes the music video interesting for its audience. It does this by initially using quite natural seeming shots of a man beginning his day, and it is apparent that during this sequence hand held cameras are the most dominant type of shots used. 
However, as the song develops and he speaks of his unhappiness of their relationship, a faster pace of edit is used, and more shots and sequences of the couple are shown, so the audience can get an understanding of the longstanding unhappiness between the couple. It then develops so that two shots are shown side by side, of his expectation of the following events, and the reality, adding a very personal feel of the narrative so that the audience can understand his personal disappointment which are then reiterated through the lyrics of the song.


'All The Small Things' by Jedward is an interesting music video as the video itself breaks many generic conventions of a music video, by including inter-textual references to other music videos, or personal idols of theirs, including Beyonce, Briteny Spears, and Lady Gaga which they represent through iconic music video props, such as the metal glove worn by Beyonce, or the lady Gaga 'telephone hat' worn in her music video.
 As well as using replica props from other music videos, they also replicate scenes, such as the iconic Britney Spears locker scene from her video 'one more time.'
 As well as referencing other videos, the music video itself includes many shots of them making the music video, for example, they are shown painting props and controlling the camera, which in itself acknowledges the existence of the music video within the video, unlike the majority of music videos which are often dramatized to fit in with an idea which portrays the song well and so do not show such 'real' aspects of the production side of the music video.

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