My Finished Edit; Cocorosie - By Your Side

Thursday 29 September 2011

8. Mood Board

I have created a moodbord to show the timbre and tone I want for my music video.

Tuesday 27 September 2011

7. 9 shot grid



Beriut - Elephant Gun

From left to right;

  1. This frame is close to the start and introduces the theme of elephants to the music video. The people wearing elephant noses are often seen through out the video. Their behaviour is playful and like that of animals, this and their noses show that their characters represent elephants. The light hearted colour scheme and behaviour brings an uplifting tone to the video.
  2. This shot shows a dance sequence. The dance sequence comes in when the trumpet comes in in the song. The sound of the trumpet creates a variation and is an uplifting and joyful sound. The dancing mirrors the tone of the music creating a link between the tone the two.  
  3. This frame appears at the start of the video. It is where the singer is introduced. The camera tracks up from his feet to his head where he holds an old style mic and sings into it. The lip syncing allows the viewer to connect the vocals in the song to this man.
  4. This frame is just after the dance sequences where the centre of attention in the video is returning to being focused on the lead vocalist. Shots of both him and the dancers (like this one) allow for easy transaction between the two sections.
  5. This frame is from the very beginning of the video. It uses animation in the form of the circular shape which frames the shot of the ukulele. The animation fills the frame to begin with but circles out to the sides; introducing the video. This effect gives the feeling that you are entering the video. The colour schemes used are the same of that in the video.
  6. The video is divided into two locations; the indoor section with the dancers and the seaside section with only the singer. This shot shows the video moving into the second location. The singer turns and the wall falls and he is on the beach. Just before this there is a small A Capella section. This change in the song is mirrored in the change in location. 
  7. The two locations are edited next to each other to tie the themes of the video together. The shots are interchanged by using a wipe cut, wiping with the fabric from the dancers.
  8. This is a shot from the seaside location. The sunset and the waves tie in with the light hearted tone of the video which is why the two locations work together. The image is a very dynamic image and is a typical sea, sunset, silhouette image.
  9. This is the final shot. The video shows the indoor location and a party. The singer falls back and the shot fades out in a circular shape which reflects the opening to the video. The united singer with the elephants creates a 'happily ever after' feel, leaving a viewer feeling happy.

Wednesday 21 September 2011

6. Textual analysis of two inspiring videos (video 2)

Matt and Kim - Daylight


I liked this video as it is uplifting and striking even though it was done with a very small budget. It was directed by Micah Perta and was released in 2009.


The video is made in two different styles. It is done with regular filming then towards the end stop motion is used. I especially liked the stop motion that has been used i found it inspiring. I would like to use stop motion in my video. It is based around a pair who are playing a song in various different locations yet their energy and enthusiasm for the music never changes. This energy and enthusiasm become contagious for a viewer and suggests that the music is the most important thing.


The video begins with a mid shot if two people lying on a bed. Immediately the colour palette of blues and whites bring a lighthearted feel. The music begins and is shown to be diegetic music as the recording will have been matched to the piano playing. The shot then moves to a birds eye view shot of his hands then to a mid birds eye view shot of them both as he begins to sing which is lip synced. There are then close ups of his face with allow the viewer to see that he is smiling as he sings. The drum beat then comes in and there is a shot of a cupboard shaking. By inserting this clip before the clip of inside the cupboard is shown this shows that the cupboard is shaking; emphasising the volume and energy of the song.


The shot then changes to in the cupboard and they are playing in the cupboard where low key lighting is now used. The woman is playing the drums and the man sings and plays keyboard. The low key lighting reinforces the fact that it is a dingy cupboard and the two people are cramped for space yet their enjoyment and smiles show that this does not matter, emphasising the uplifting feeling.


They are then shown playing in a shower with the shower on. There are a couple of shots using slow motion such as the man flicking his soaking wet hair which is visually effective due to the spray of the water and emphasised how wet they are. There is another of a cymbal being hit which is just before the location changes to a street, the slow motion shot before hand allows a simple and visually easy change in location, introducing the next location with a long shot.


The location changes again to in the back of a taxi. There is a tracking shot of the window of the taxi as it drives past and you see them playing inside. This reinforces the abnormality of what they are doing as this is what a person on the street would see. We then go back inside the taxi before the location changes again to a long shot of a large bin where you can see the tops of their heads. A man throws his rubbish over them and they do not notice and continue to play. This is reinforcing that they only care about the music, which reinforces the tone of the video.


The scene changes again and they are playing inside a fridge. You can see that artificial light is used the light up the scene. Artificial light is used in these shots and some of the indoor shots as the light hearted feeling of the song generally needs bright and high key lighting to match the tone of the video. There is then a montage of shots from all the various locations before hand. There is a shot of them side on playing in a bed and the camera rotates 90 degrees to the right so they appear to be upright. There is then a birds eye view shot and the pillows and duvet disappear from behind them. This introduces the stop motion section at the end.


Stop motion section
The pair fall over sand then over pavement but are caught by hands. They do various things such as swinging from ropes, flying with an umbrella until they arrive back in their bed. The stop motion sequence is not relevant to the story line but the things they do in this sequence are all fun almost child like activity's which have only the purpose of creating a fun loving atmosphere.

Tuesday 20 September 2011

6. Textual analysis of two inspiring videos


The Vaccines - All in White


The video, released this year, was directed by a Spanish producer named Canada who has also done videos with the scissor sisters and two door cinema club.




I liked this video as it has a theme of freedom, enjoyment and losing control. I liked the way the colours of the shots along with the effects of the slow motion and the themes within the story are tied in together and used through out to give the video a wholesome feel. This video follows no specific story line but several threads of story's and a running theme through out.


The video begins with a high angle dolly shot of white ground which is briefly overlaid with a shot of a snake on rocks. The camera then swoops up to see a sort of sculpture of two large hands. The video only contains the non-diegetic sound of the song. As The bass guitar comes in (which is a running bass line) the shot changes to someone lighting a fire in the dark, then a man throwing wood onto the fire. The shots are slightly in slow motion to give the movement a graceful look. The camera is handheld which gives the effect that is feels homemade. The people in the shot are all wearing very regular clothing in warm colours. The colours within all the shots have a warm palette, this along with the handheld camera gives the video an earthy feel. There is then an extreme long shot of fireworks from beside the bonfire the shot then moves up to see them explode.


Then for twelve seconds there are various handheld shots of people lit up by the light of the fire, throwing things onto it and carrying torches. A girl throws petrol onto the fire and there is an eye line match to the fire lighting up then a mid shot of her. There is then a shot of the torch being planted in the ground which is matched to a loud guitar strum in the music.


There is then a handheld shot of a girl running through darkness with artificial light following her movement suggesting that she is being chased. A shot of rope round someones wrists being broken by the flame of a candle is then shown quickly before returning to the girl being chased up stairs. The editing of the shot of the breaking rope next to the girl running suggests escape or freedom. The girl is then seen to get behind a door and close it behind her.


The shots then change to scenes of a sexual nature running with the themes of losing control and enjoyment. These shots are several short takes becoming shorter as the music builds along side two shots of someone using aerosols and a lighter to create fire in the dark. When the music reaches its peak there are longer takes. The camera sweeps round to a man walking in a trance towards the camera. There is still the same colour palette of warm yellows whites and blacks. There is then a shot from behind the man opening the door creating a silhouette. Silhouettes are often used to emphasise iconic moments and this helps to build up the atmosphere. Match on action is then used to show a close up of the mans face. The room he enters if filled with smoke creating a mystical/unreal feeling to the video. Clever editing is used as the man walks up to a levitating girl there are several eye line matches from him to the girl where the person watching the girl changes implying that more than one person witnesses this. Closeups of their faces are then edited one by one very quickly next to shots of rooms in peoples homes which introduces the next phase in the storyline.


A man levitates a small pyramid in his hands, the same scene in a close up, a mid shot and  a long shot is shown and the shots are edited to the beat. This editing to the beat technique ties the video to the music closely. A theme of levitation is now brought into the shots. There are shots of a man levitating a chair. Then short takes of half a sculpture rotating alongside the hands from the beginning burning which ties the beginning and the theme of flames together. There are then more shots of levitation of various objects.


As the music begins to build again there are shots of a wild party in black and white showing the themes of freedom. The shots of the party are edited alongside shots of the same themes which have been shown before such as sexual scenes, running through the dark, fire, some of the shots in negatives to create even more variation, which layers the themes from each of the shots together creating a swelling feeling of enjoyment and excitement as the music crescendos and builds.


The peak is reached and a similar thing continues but with slightly longer takes and some new shots of confetti sticking with the free bohemian atmosphere. A similar thing continues of various different shots being shown quite quickly creating vague confusion until a contrast happens and at three minuets new material is introduced and the takes become longer again.


For the height of the video, the biggest build, when the peak is reached the shot moves from a low angle to a high angle shot showing a man dressed all in white (which ties in with the lyrics of the song being 'all in white') is seen riding a horse standing. This slowly rising shot creates a sense of awe when the spectacle is revealed which is the desired effect as it is also the peak in the music. The colours of white and bright green contrast to the duller shades of warm yellows and browns and blacks and whites before. A shot of a girl breathing smoke is layered over by a wolf creating the idea of the inner animal showing freedom and losing control.


The bass line then leaves the melody and the vocals are left almost alone. The shot changes to the male characters together on a green lawn which brings together two different parts of the story; the start were the men are from and the green colour palette of the out doors. They are throwing petrol bombs at the sculpture of hands from the beginning using the same slow motion effect that had been used through out. The hands burn bringing the theme of fire in a full circle as it comes back to the sculpture of the hands which frames the video.


   An example of super-imposition

Ideas...

I really liked the editing and the colour pallate in this video

The clever editing in this video i really liked. I might do something symilar in mine.

The stop motion in this clip I thought was really ispiring. Also the mood of the song really comes through in the video.

Sunday 18 September 2011

5. The email i sent to the record label

I sent an email to the record label to ask permission to use their song in my video.


Saturday 17 September 2011

Tuesday 13 September 2011

CocoRosie - By Your Side


This is a video which has a strong beat which would be good for editing and it would also be good for lip syncing. I would probably use idea's from within the lyrics and have quite a narrative based video. 

Passion Pit - Sleepyhead


This is a slightly more upbeat song I'm thinking of doing. It would be good because in the video I would do alot more editing to the beat.

The Vaccines - All in White


This is a song I'm considering for my music video. The video is one I admire. I had the idea of a man looking through his flat and finding things which remind him of a woman. I'd then use flash backs to show his memories of her.