This is Fergus Richardson, we are using him in our video as he is the perfect aged young child. He is 2 years old, and is very keen to star in our film!
This is Yasmin Basan, she is 17 and will be our dancer. She is keen and enthusiastic, and is able to sing along to a song which she will be lip syncing to. Yaz loves to dress up, so this is the perfect opportunity to do so and release here inner core.
This is Niona, she is our main protagonist in our video. I have picked her as I feel she could pull off the role of playing a mother, she is also a keen swimmer meaning she will be good to film in the swimming pool.
Below are all the locations that I am going to use to film my video. I have tried to make them really varied, this should help keep the viewer gripped, however the filming in each location has to be able to fit together smoothly, so it does not look random.
This is the swimming pool which we are going to use for the underwater shot. We have chosen this location, because the water is clear, and it is easily accessaible to us. Also, one of my friends is a lifeguard here, as we will need one to film in the water.
This is one of the locations where we will film one of the time-lapses. It shall be a close up of the barbed wire with the sky moving in the background.
We have chosen to film the main section of the chorus in the theatre, as it has a perfect big black certain, this will be great to use as a background for dancing. We can also hang a UV light and use florescent cloths and makeup.
We shall use this corridor for the child to crawl down towards the camera.
We shall have a guitarist sitting on this chair and film the guitar on a close up with a lens flair.
This is the location were we shall film our character riding a bike, and walking to the camera. we shall also have her hugging a tree while lip syncing here.
Most of the shots in this will be for the whole sound and could fit in anywhere but there will be some particular shots
The first shot will be a stop-motion very short title sequence
Then it could include the dancers that will be lit by black light and will be wearing florescent clothing this will vary in speed and will be synced up with the song
The next shot will be a very short shot of the mother then a longer steadier one of the babe maybe on a toy in a corridor kind of like the long steady cam shot of the boy in the shining
The next lip syncing bit will be with the mother maybe with a green screen behind her or woods.
There will be a series of time lapses at certain points in the video
In certain points there will be underwater shots , possibly lip syncing and slow-motion shots of the mother jumping in reverse in/out the pool
Another shot will include the mother and the child with the mother spinning the child in slow mo possibly in the leaves
In another section a tv behind will display the image of the actor slightly behind in time of the image of the real actor playing a wave type effect.
Above is our animatic. It show the scenes that are film is going to have in it and how smoothly our music video is going to run. We have used a variety of different types of images, this should help show how varied our video is going to be when it comes to looking at a particular style.
The intro to the song Kids is about 50 seconds long. Our plan is to shorten that down a bit, as it could end up going on too long. Once shortened we are going to build the word "KIDS" out of lego and use stop motion to bring it in.
When the lyrics come in, we will have running towards and then past the camera, There will be an empty corridore in the background, however the camera will be in a dutch tilt.
On the words "Makin Mama so proud" this is where we shall see the mother of the child smiling at the baby.
We then reach our first chorus, with this we shall have a black background with someone dancing, with many lights flashing on and off. The dancers will lip-syncing to the music wearing florescent cloths and paint.
In the third verse ("The water is warm...") There will be a high angle shot of the character singing and then falling back into the water. We will also have an underwater shot of the character as she dives into the water.
There will then be some peaceful time-lapses.
Chorus: This will be similar to to the previous chrous, however with different camera angles and shots.
The chorus repeats after that, but this time there will be a video of the child being lifted up by the mother and reaching out towards the camera.
You were a child
Crawling on your knees toward it
Making momma so proud
But your voice is too loud
We like to watch you laughing
You pick the insects off plants
No time to think of consequences
[Chorus:]
Control yourself
Take only what you need from it
A family of trees wanting to be haunted
Control yourself
Take only what you need from it
A family of trees wanting to be haunted
The water is warm
But it's sending me shivers
A baby is born
Crying out for attention
Memories fade
Like looking through a fogged mirror
Decisions too
Decisions are made and not bought
But I thought this wouldn't hurt a lot
I guess not
We have chosen a very specific genre, and know exactly what we want.
The plan is to use as many different effects and types of shots as we can; this should help to keep the video interesting and hopefully stand out when compared to other music videos watched by viewers.
Below is a video of me speaking about what our video is going to contain:
YouTube is one of the most famous companies to exhibit music videos. It was started in February 2005 and ever since has been a booming success. It was bought by Google in 2006 and is still recognised now as the leading online video website.
It allows a computer user to view and upload videos to their own accord. The website is also used for advertising film trailers, posting personal blogs, showing clips from films, playing songs and personal vlogging.
MTV was first started on TV in 1981. It was used to play new song and album releases for the public to see and get a taster of.
MTV runs by much the same concept as YouTube. The only difference is that the videos that are on there are usually less personal and normally artists trying to advertise their new song or album release.
If I had to pick an institution to exhibit my video, I would pick YouTube. This is simply because it is far more well known and popular than MTV; and the website gets more visits.
Below are some facts I found about YouTube viewing:
·More than
1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month
·Over 6
billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube – that's almost an
hour for every person on Earth, and 50% more than last year
·100 hours
of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute
·70% of
YouTube traffic comes from outside the US
·YouTube
is localised in 56 countries and across 61 languages
·According
to Nielsen, YouTube reaches more US adults aged 18-34 than any cable network
·Millions
of subscriptions happen each day, and the number of people subscribing has more
than doubled since last year.
(YouTube 2013)
I would pick YouTube, simply because it is likely to get more visits, and therefore more people are likely to see my music video, and it has a higher chance of gaining popularity.
Our target audience member likes to go onto websites like YouTube and search songs that they would like to see the video of. Our music video is directed at hip males and females that like to have a few tunes pumped into their lives!
They will often have a can of beer in their hand when it comes to relaxing, as this is what they like to do most. There clothes will be casual yet stylish, and not necessarily following the trends or fashions. Our type of audience member would be the sort of person that wears a Onesie on a Sunday, and plans not to leave the house.
In their free time they will often enjoy going to the cinema or just chilling with freinds. They are interested in the latest news, and probably quite a mature person, but when it comes to partying, they rule it, as the will be the first on the dance floor and the last off.
I have made a video of me asking some people why they choose the music they do.
I also spoke to some girls (15 - 18) and asked them if they preferred videos that accompany the music. Over half of them said it totally depends on the mood they are in and what is going on in the video. They all agreed that if a video is to go with the music, they like diegetic sound, for example them being able to see the singer singing. One of the girls I spoke to felt very strongly that the video should be very simple to watch without a confusing plot. She felt that people should listen to music to relax and chill out, and the person watching should not be thinking too hard about the plot as it appears in front of them.
When I watch a music video, for some reason I'm put off by cartoons in them, but more so by very futuristic cartoons. This is simply because I'm unable to relate to whats going on, and therefore find it hard to engage.
This is our mood board that Joseph, Bhupeshwor and I created. We have tried to show it with a slightly old fashioned style to it along with lots of colour. We are trying to give a happy, yet chilled out feel to the board; just like we will be trying to bring to the video. There will be some dark backgrounds in our video with funky lighting used.
Image 1: We get introduced to the two singers, there is a very simple black and white background. This is a good way to start the clip, as as we instantaly know who the video revolves around.
Image 2: We see an instrument used; this shows that it is not just lip syncing that can be joined in with the music video, but instruments can also be effective. Although in the clip you cannot hear the keyboard, it still adds to the effect. Like the first image, this is also a very simple black and white shot.
Image 3: In this top right hand clip we see a close up of the singer's face. Just by seeing this, we can tell straight away that the lip syncing has been done well which makes the clip so much more effective than if it was not. It shows that if well done it is fine, but if not, it can end up looking shabby.
Image 4: After that, a few seconds later we see one of our first coloured background images. This immediately helps lighten up the whole mood, and once again we see another instrument. This is diagetic sound, just after that shot we actually see the whole band.
Image 5: This image consists of men doing syncronised dancing to the music. This shows that the clip has an element of control and precision when it came to making it. As a viewer, I find it interesting to watch something other than just the singing.
Image 6: Though as a viewer, we are meant to think they are still in the same place singing the same song at the same time. I noticed that the main singer had changed his clothes to contrast with the background, this is asthetically pleasing to watch.
Image 7: Like a couple of clips before, we see dancing. This time it is girls; this evens out the male:female ratio in the video. It means that it provides something for all viewers, for example, young female dancers idolising the women in the video. This tells me that it could be good to make the target audience quite general, and therefore we are more likely to get more views of our video.
Image 8: There we see the keyboardist playing alone, this is non diagetic sound, as I cannot hear the keyboard in the video. However, this does not matter as it adds to the atmosphere in the video, and looks effective.
Image 9: The final image is the ending of the video. This is of the cast of the video dancing around the studio, it is effective as it interests the audience, and is a new idea..
This video has a similarity to the theme that we are going to try and create with our music video.
It has a set background that suits the style of music and dance, and the girls' personalities in the video.
Cinematography: Everything that the camera does; camera angles, positions, views and transitions.
The cinematography in this video is well done, there is quite a lot of very small jump cut sections, for example when the girls change into different cloths. There are not to many different types of camera shot in this video, most of it is shot in a medium shot, with some close ups of the dancers, and a little bit of zooming in and out.
Editing: The process in which clips are cut and reorganised to form a narrative.
Because the narrative in the lyrics is not connected to the video, partly because there is no narrative in the video, it means that the video could have scenes muddled up and intertwined. A very good example of this is between the timescale 3.10- 3.25 in the video.
To change the dancers' costumes there is a fade at 1.40-1.43. This is effective, as it is only the clothes that change, and not the background or anything else.
Mise en scene: Everything that is seen in the video, this includes, costume, props, makeup and set.
In this video, all the colours match well together, there is a lot of black on black, pink on black, and pink on white. This counts for the costumes, backgrounds, and props as well. It is very effective, and has a princess like feel to it when watched. The set is cleverly done, as far as i can work out it is looks a bit like the picture i have drawn to the right. It has a rotating center that the girls walk onto that spins to the new coloured background that is needed. To make the video quite glamorous the girls are wearing expensive dresses, along with the props being shiny and expensive. For example the chandeliers in the black scene.
Sound: Everything that is heard by the viewer of the music video.
Some of the singing in the clip is diegetic, it is mainly the chorus sections that are not, otherwise the girls' lips would be constantly moving to the same words.
There is no parallel sound in this clip, for example we can see the footsteps, but can not hear them.
This clip engages the audience in the same way that we want our video to. It has the right amount of movement, and is not overly active, yet still a pleasure to watch.
Cinematography: Everything that the camera does; camera
angles, positions, views and transitions.
The first thing I noticed when watching the clip was that the camera hardly ever follows the person, it is often just stationary, for example on a bi-pod when people are dancing and acting. This makes the viewer feel that they are watching a situation back in time, like looking at the circumstances through a window.
There is some zooming out and in onto objects, this is to show what the object is, and how it relates to the story line of the video. At 1.24s in the video there is a focus pull used. This is effective because it is on a disgusting paste, and when it focuses we see it more clearly.
Editing: The process in which clips are cut and reorganised to form a narrative.
The clip shows well known imagery that the audience can relate to as being acceptable in the 80's. The clip completely reflects the song lyrics for example, scientists experimenting with animal fats which would not be acceptable in the present day. We also see one shot of the scientist extracting the gunge, then a match cut of the scientist putting it in a pot, and the next shot of the consumer eating it. This is then repeated with intermittent shots of the artist inbetween.
I also found that just for effectiveness, they have used a tile technique. This is when the director duplicates a shot a number of times, and has the same shot tiled over the screen.
Mise en scene: Everything that is seen in the video; this includes, costume, props, make up, set etc.
The Mise en scene in this video is quite limited compared to some. The have used a lot of coloured backgrounds, this keeps the 80's stereotype of happiness and quirkiness. The actors have also dressed in contrasting colours to the background to make them stand out more.
The props that they have used are just enough to get the point across to the viewer. For example when the baby is being fed the gunge, there is not a whole kitchen in the background, but somehow we imagine their to be one near by. The costumes are simple yet wacky, with many bright colours like the background, and a few accessories just to add the the feel, such as sunglasses and headphones.
Sound: Everything that is heard by the audience in the music video.
In the video there is diegetic sound and non-diegetic sound. Calvin Harris does all the diegetic sound as he is the singer, and everyone else in the video has a non-diegetic part, for example, for example there is no visible source from the singer during the acting scenes.
Below is an email I sent to Cantora Records which is the company that recorded the song Kids by MGMT. The email is asking permission to use song for my A2 media project.
The email says:
Dear Who ever it may concern,
I am doing my A2 media project and the task is to make a music video. would it be possible to use Kids by MGMT?
There would be no profit made.
In class we have been looking at a variety of different types of music videos, and seeing which genre follows which stereotype. The thing I have found most interesting is seeing how lighting is used in so many different ways to create imaginative effects.
I have also found that drawings can be very effective. For example the music video Little talks of monster and men:
Time-laps photography I have also found very effective. Specially because it means you can cram all the good bits of photographs in to one quick decent clip. An example of it is below:
Typography is when an artist uses words on the screen in their video, as shown below:
Lip syncing, this is when the singer is mouthing the words to the song, but not actually singing it. An example is shown below:
I have chosen to do the music video Kids by MGMT because it has a great beat which should make editing to easier. It also has a very catchy and memorable tune, making it a song that is not going to be forgotten, we are going to attempt to do the song justice by making another good music video for it. The Genre is Indie Pop and the song was released in 2005.
In the music video above, their is a very strong lean to exactly what they are talking about, Kids! The Video is based around following a baby, and the perks and cons of having one.
