Hi and welcome to my blog where you can see the research, planning and pre-production work of a new music video for Daft Punk's Around The World. You can also find on here sample footage, rough cuts, behind the scenes and other vodcasts, weekly podcasts, and ongoing reflection on the process. Please use the links list provided to quickly find what you looking for!

Thursday 28 June 2012

Using HD Cameras

The HD cameras that we are using this year are much better than the mini DV cameras we used last year. I first used one of the HD cameras when we filmed the Jason Donovan 'Too Many Broken Hearts' mini-vid and I found it easy to use. The quality of footage is really good and this will be useful if we need to enlarge a shot in post-processing, so we wont lose much quality. Its also easier to get the footage from the camera to the macs because they use SD cards. When the footage is uploaded it is already split into different takes which didn't happen with the old cameras. This should make editing quicker and easier.

Tuesday 26 June 2012

WL - Getting Footage For The Mini Vid

On tuesday we went out to get footage for our mini vid task. We decided to go up to Ilkley moor for the shoot due to it's nice scenery and because the original video being set on moorland. Also in the comments of that video someone mentions the fact that videos set in the countryside are timeless. We used the camera hand help to save time setting up a tripod. We did struggle at times to keep it steady, however it did save us  a lot of time. Overall the HD cameras where easier to use than the mini Dv as we didn't have to worry about tapes or filming over footage. 

We experimented with different camera angles and zooms. We took performance footage and some scenery of things like ducks and flowers fitting in with the genre. It took us around 45 minutes to get all the footage as we had to go to different locations on the moor. We took shots from low angles and different distances using pans across showing moorland. We managed to sync most of the song well due to having the lyrics sheet on us at all times.  We had a few problems filming due to random people walking around the tarn, but there weren't that many people around which was good.



Monday 25 June 2012

WL - Editing The Mini Vid

We used Final cut again for the editing of the mini vid and developing our skills using layering and effects. The first challenge was syncing the video clips to the original song and matching up the footages. We used keyframes to animate certain shots to zoom and spin into the flowers. We also synced certain parts with the beat of the song. When the drum machine makes a fill the shots cut in time with the song. Overall the editing went well We attempted to keep the cuts fairly fast to engage the audience. We used layers to make the scenery shots more interesting.

Saturday 23 June 2012

My Role in the Mini-Vid

My role was to do most of the camera work and film the mini-vid. I also had to be in the video so was playing guitar in the background at a couple of points. I thought that the shoot went well and we got some good footage, but I think next time we need to take a tripod with us as the footage is very shaky which doesn't suit the tranquil mood of the location in the music video.


I also helped edit the video with Sean and Will, where we added some layering and effects to improve the footage and make it fit with the song.

Friday 22 June 2012

Past Student's Blog - Richard McLachlan

I looked at Richard Mclachlan's blog from last year.

His group produced a music video for 'Like a Match to an Arsonist' by Sunburnt in December. The video they made is inspired by the 1981 film An American Werewolf in London.


Richard's blog included:

Digipak - this is a style of packaging for the CD. They created all of the artwork for the digipak and updated and added to it throughout the blog before coming up with the final digipak.

Final Front Panel of the Digipak

Magazine Advert - A magazine advert was created to promote the digipak. Additions and changes were made to this through the blog and it has been made to connect to the theme of the video.

Final Magazine Advert

Genre Research - Richard looked into the history, culture and trends of the genre and also sub-genres of metalcore. He especially researched the bands, songs and music videos of the genre.

Music Video Deconstruction - Richard looked into and researched music videos of different bands and different genres. In these he wrote background information of the songs/videos (ie release date and video director) and commented on their uses of conventions of music videos and he deconstructed the camera work and mise-en-scene.

Podcasts and Vodcasts - In these Richard's group discussed their video idea, the genre and provided behind the scenes footage.

All - Learning from the Mini-Vid

What makes for a good pitch? 
First of all to have a good pitch you need to have a good idea of what you want to create. You also need to have confidence behind your pitch and a good idea of where you want to film and what you want to be filming.



What are the key steps involved in R+P?
Firstly listening to the song and seeing if there are any noticeable lyrics, you can also watch the music video for inspiration, in the comments there was also feedback from someone in the comments "If you're gonna make a classic video that never ages - have nature scenery as a backdrop!"



If this had been the actual coursework, what would you have to add/improve (look at the assessment criteria) to get good marks for R+P?
We would of firstly spent much more time on looking at the songs music videos and music videos that are of the same genre. We would of also created things such as story boards and call sheets, we may have also asked for feedback on our idea from a number of people; including teenagers and adults. 

Related to the last point, was your shoot well organised?
In terms of knowing where we wanted to shoot- yes. Although we didn't have much time to pick locations due to the sudden suprise of actually shooting part of a music video. 



What can/did go wrong on a shoot, and what steps help you overcome such problems (better still, prevent them from happening in the first place!)? 
School children cut short our filming. We also didn't have a tripod which on reflection didn't work out as well as we'd hoped.

Did shoots take more/less time than you estimated?

Finding different locations took longer than the actual filming as we were productive with the time we had.

What difference does working with HD as opposed to mini-DV make?
We get sharper images and you can get more detail and better quality when either zooming in or out. 

Is it necessary to stick to a genre you're familiar with to have a good idea?
No. We had a great time listening to Jason Donovan. 

What issues are raised by working within a group
We had different ideas on where to film and where not to film.

Do you think you could manage a full music video production single-handed?
With a greater collection of clips as well as equipment such as multiple cameras and a tripod I think I could.

What more have you learned about Final Cut Express?
We have used new editing techniques such as key framing and rotating clips. 

How many shots do you now think a good music vid will have for every 30 seconds of screen time?
For 30 seconds they may have 20-30 shots.

Did you shoot each planned shots repeatedly (from different angles)? did you need to shoot more sequences repeatedly to create better shot variation for editing a dynamic video?
As we had limited time we only shot a few of the shots at different angles.

Anything else that occurs to you (eg importance of mise-en-scene and locations; pre-preparing cast with lines + basic direction; having loud portable media player to play track when shooting, dance choreography if relevant etc etc)?
We had a lyric sheet as well as a an iPod with the song on to play the music, this helped us to keep in time.

Tuesday 19 June 2012

Mini-Vid - The Confirmed Idea

We decided to use the song Too Many Broken Hearts by Jason Donovan for our 'mini-vid' group task. We will film on Ilkley Moor as the scenery suits the pop style of Jason Donovan. Our video qill follow Will (who will be singing) walking over ther moors, standing on rocks and lying on the ground. Me and Sean will both be in the background playing a guitar (which we will borrow from the music department) at some point in the video.

Mini Vid - My Idea

My idea for the mini-vid is to have a person walking down the street kicking over bins and trashing up the street. He then comes to a big abandoned urban warehouse-like room where two other people are waiting for him. All three then start to break things and mess the place up.

Sunday 17 June 2012

Albanian Music Videos

We watched three Albanian music videos with different styles to compare them with music videos we would expect to see. The first video was really bad.





The video is very slow paced and boring. All of the takes are really long and there is nothing visually appealing about the video.


The next video had better production and was slightly faster paced, but the narrative was also poor. It isn't a video you could watch and enjoy. 





The final video was quite good. It has faster paced editing, better cinematography and looked decent.





There are a lot of connotations of Albania in the video though, the only colours used were red and black and they made bird-wings with their hands which are both features of the Albanian flag.

Video Idea for People Are Strange by The Doors

We had to come up with an idea for a music video for People Are Strange by The Doors, using the written lyrics to help us think of something.


My idea was to have a singer standing on a busy street with other people walking past him as though he is not there. There would be loads of different types of people walking but all would have emotionless expressions on their faces and be walking in straight lines, not paying attention to whats happening around them.


All of the ideas from people in our class were very similar which I think is because of how limited the range of possible readings of the song lyrics is.


Our ideas were also similar to the video used by The Doors, which is below.


Michael Jackson - Thriller

Artist: Michael Jackson
Song: Thriller
Genre: Pop
Director: John Landis
Year Released: 1983


Michael Jackson's Thriller music video is roughly 11 minutes long. Micael Jackson commissioned John Landis to direct the video after seeing his horror movies. Landis's video forever changed MTV and the concept of music videos. It is essentially a short film which is an early example of postmodernism.

There is an intertextual reference with John Landis's An American Werewolf in London, which was the video that Michael Jackson first saw of his.

Saturday 16 June 2012

E.g. Vid 1: Green Day - Walking Contradiction

Track: Walking Contradiction
Artist: Green Day
Genre: Punk rock
Director: Roman Cappola
Year Released: 1996





Walking Contradiction is a narrative based music video which follows the three band members separately walking through town causing chaos and explosions without realising what they're causing around them.




Steadicam shots are mainly used when following the band members whereas shots with a tripod are mainly used for long shots and extreme long shots that show the setting.


Attention to mise-en-scene
The band members are wearing casual clothes which fits in with the narrative that they are just out walking through town. There is also attention to mise-en-scene with other character's clothing and props. For example in the screenshot above there is a lot of attention gone into the newsstand.

The editing is maybe slightly slower than what would be expected for an average music video today but it helps you to follow the narrative and the video doesn't seem slow paced.

Overall I think the video is very good as it has an engaging plot and visually looks very good.

Friday 15 June 2012

First Lesson of A2 Media - Music Videos

The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star





In 1981, 'Video Killed the Radio Star' was the first music video to be shown on MTV. The video mainly shows a performance by The Buggles and is quite slow paced, whereas today we would expect more narrative and faster paced editing. Video could of completely killed radio but people began to listen to the radio in the car, so it's still popular today.


MTV have helped to shape expectations for music videos, with faster paced editing and interesting narrative. They have been one of the most important and dominant exhibitionists of music videos.


Michael Jackson - Thriller





Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' music video is actually more a short film at over 13 minutes long. John Landis was hired to direct the video after Michael Jackson was impressed the SFX in Landis' indie film An American Werewolf in London.


Music videos are a very postmodern format so are much more open to new ideas instead of meeting genre expectations as much as films.

Thursday 14 June 2012

Track Selection Issues

Length - The song can't be too short as we wouldn't be have time to show enough skills in the video to get a good mark. It also can't be too long as too many shots would be needed and it would be difficult to have an interesting enough video for people to keep watching it. It should preferably be between 3 and 4 minutes long.

Language - The can't be much swearing and there can be no offensive (such as racist, sexist, homophobic etc.) lyrics.

Contacting the Artist/Record Label - The artist, record label or another representative of the artist needs to be contacted for permission to use the track, so contact details are needed. 

Recording quality - The track needs to be broadcast quality and a high quality MP3 of the track is required.

Content of video - The video can't contain drinking being portrayed in a positive way and it can't show nudity, so the lyrics should preferably not be associated with these.

Wednesday 13 June 2012

The A2 Brief

At A2 you produce a portfolio of productions: a promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options: a website homepage for the band; a digipak for the album’s release; a magazine advertisement for the digipak. So, that's a music video as your main text, plus two 'ancillary texts' linked to this.