FILMING OUR PRELIMINARY VIDEO

PRELIMINARY MUSIC VIDEO COPY TASK

THE PRELIMINARY TASK

For our Preliminary Task, we were asked to work in small groups to re-create a minute of a previously existing music video; to the best of our abilities, in a short time frame.

We have chosen to focus on one of the opening clips from 'Pompeii' Bastille, as it was a relatively simple set up with basic clips, but would help us in learning to work together as a team and to focus on each particular shot we would need to re-create.

Eddie, Helen and I began firstly to make a small list of all the shots, including -  

1. where we could film them
2. what actors we would need for that particular shot
3. what camera angle was being used
4.  the lighting used in the frame  
5. how it would be filmed.

This could then give us a basic structure for how we could carry out our filming, which for this particular video would mostly have to be shot at night.

The opening shots were originally going to be filmed at Exeter St David's Station, but unfortunately we were not allowed to film on the platform without permission and because we had so little time, we were advised to film the shots at school. This has made us realise that if we need to film at special places, we would need to get permission weeks in advance. Helping me learn that organisation and planning is key for this project, so we can get the video finished in time and start filming as soon as possible!

The second half of the shots had to be filmed on a quiet night so we could film on the roads.

This evening started off at 7:30 as we meet up with:

• Angus - Our driver for the evening so we could film out the back window of a car for particular shots involving our main person riding a bike.
• Ollie - Our main actor in the music video who would be acting as 'Danny' the main singer from Bastille.
• Helen - Working on our preliminary task with us!
• Eddie - Working on our preliminary task with us!

Our Equipment:

•  Several torches
• Bike
• Car
• Tripod
• Camera

BASTILLE INSPIRATION

BASTILLE - 'THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE'

I have taken a lot of inspiration from this music video in particular; including its themes, use of shots and ideas of looking back through time. 

In this shot at the beginning of the music video we see a car used as a foreshadowing technique, to show what will come in the rest of the video, but it also shows the car in the future as the whole music video is looking back through time and explains how the car came about here. 

I really like the idea of using a particular symbol, such as the car to look back as I think that could be a very powerful technique to be used in my own music video, which also features looking back through time and remembering memories. Eddie and I have discussed that we'd like symbols to be fairly powerful in our video, including using a repeated colour motif in every scene to symbolize  blood from the war. 

This is another screenshot focusing on a bullet which is also a reoccurring theme in this video. An idea which could possibly be explored in my own video, as this symbol connotes war and murder.

This flashback technique is my favourite shot of the music video, as from a simple light he sees in the darkness, it evolves into a past scene which develops around him; yet they still make it clear it is in the past by him looking behind.

Here we see 'Danny Smith' getting into a car, which then flips instantly back to the past using a match editing technique. This also works as a fantastic technique to stem flashbacks from.

I have noted the emphasis on the gun in this shot, which foreshadows the ending with the blood coming out of the car. I really like the idea of again using symbols to foreshadow particular events or putting particular emphasis on them like in this shot.

LYRIC BRAINSTORM

Taking a copy of the lyrics from 'Wake me up when September ends', I have jotted down possible ideas along with the structure of the song. The aim with this is to then share it with my partner Eddie, who will also share his own version and from there we can create strong ideas which have come from both people. This will help us agree on certain aspects we like to keep and use, but also to see which ideas will work or not by gathering a second opinion. Doing this also helps us with setting particular shots and not only the ideas and themes of the music video but the structure and way it will all flow together.

Pitching our Music Video Idea

So today we pitched our Music video idea to our media studies class in order to gain some audience feedback about the basic idea structure.

Our main idea is to do a long music video, much like the original 'Wake me up when September ends'. We will have a narrative running alongside shots of the band playing in a derelict barn. The narrative will focus on one man, who has killed someone and is now running away from home, leaving his family behind in order to get away from the army who are looking for him.

We originally had the idea of him being an innocent man but had to commit a crime for a secret agency against the government. i.e killing someone.

The shots may then flick back to his family, and leaving them behind.

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

Positives:

• Good Narrative
• Liked the tension from the idea of 'Has he killed someone or not?'
• Loved the idea of the band playing in a broken barn.

Negatives:

• Too complicated - may not make sense to the audience - might be too much going on?

This feedback was incredibly useful to us, helping the two of us to be realistic about our ideas.

We began thinking how we could keep the tense possibility that he has killed someone, but in a less complicated way. So we came up with the powerful idea that our main protagonist would be dealing with post-traumatic stress from being in the war and struggling with the idea that he has killed someone - making it harder for him to deal with everyday living, so he runs away. He thinks the army is after him, and at the end they catch him in the woods surrounding him. This would also give us a fantastic ending which will leave the audience wondering if it was all just in his mind, or if he really was in trouble with the army.

For our first set of audience feedback, it was fantastic to pitch our ideas and get opinions of them from a realistic view and from young people who will make up a massive part of our target audience.

When thinking of ideas together, you can sometimes get carried away and too excited over particular ideas and all it takes is to get further opinions to help settle ideas and discard others.





INSPIRATION IDEAS

These 4 music videos have greatly inspired my ideas for our music video. Each have particular elements/ shots which I think will work really well with our music video.

BASTILLE: THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE

EVENU: OWN WAY HOME

GREENDAY: 21 GUNS & WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGR4U7W1dZU -BASTILLE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V5H9DynU-Q - EVENU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r00ikilDxW4 - 21 GUNS GREENDAY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU9JoFKlaZ0 - WAKE ME UP GREENDAY

Deciding on the Punk Rock/ Alternative Genre

For Eddie and I's music video, we have decided to go with the punk rock/alternative genre; not only because we enjoy the music, but for me personally it's a different and more challenging genre than what I have studied and worked on with last year.

Last year I focused on the acoustic genre, taking inspiration from bands like Hudson Taylor and Ben Howard, who in my opinion really capture the essence of acoustic music and the codes and conventions of that genre.

By choosing the punk rock/alternative genre, we can experiment with their codes and conventions including creating not only a music video but also a story to go with this. So in a way we are doing a mixture of a short film and music video, because in the alternative genre, telling a story through the music is very important.

I'm really excited for this project and although I know what we are trying to create will be challenging, I can't wait to get started!

Music Video Song Idea

MUSIC VIDEO

Eddie and I have decided to do a music video as we are particularly stimulated and excited for the music video brief - by doing a digipak for the album and a magazine article, promoting the artist. We were really inspired by this idea and because we are both very passionate about music, we jumped at the chance of putting our enthusiasm and passion into our video. From here we will now look into all possible genres and see which we are most interested in making a video for.

What's Important?

Things to look for, analyse and to make clear in my short video.

G:enre
R:epresentation
A:udience
N:arrative
M:edia Language
a

When I have finalised my ideas for either a music video or short film; I must do my research into all of these elements, in order to  put these ideas across to my audience in a clear but clever way. For example, making the genre clear helps the audience to understand the video more and reassures them into that genre 'comfort zone'. However when genres are unclear or mixed too much with other genres, the audience can feel uncomfortable because they are out of their 'comfort/ safe zone' which may therefore lead them to disliking the video. Yet as directors, if we stay too safe within the genre, the audience can become bored as they may have seen it or something similar before. This means that I must be creative when exploring my genre to keep the audience's attention.

THE TEAM AND OUR RESPONSIBILITIES

THE TEAM

MR EDWARD TOWERS AND MISS JESSICA OPIE SET OUT ON THE MISSION OF CREATING AN OUTSTANDING MUSIC VIDEO!

In order to organise ourselves and achieve great heights we have decided to focus on separate elements of the video in which we will be responsible for. We made the decision that I would focus around the Camera work and Eddie would focus on the Editing in terms of planning and process. However we will work as a team in deciding our narrative and choosing certain editing styles and camera angles in order to fit with our genre and to obtain a second persons instant feedback.