Filming Schedule

This is my filming schedule that I sent out to both of My actors Brock and Ramy. I did this so that I had a plan of what I knew I wanted to film but also so that They knew what they needed to bring and what shots I was expecting to film. I felt this helped because they both understood the direction I wanted to take the music video into.

Filming day 1 schedule from BetsyJoWarren

Props and Equipment list

So far throughout my music video process I have used:

A camera- I chose to use a Cannon camera because it has 1080p quality potential which would help to make my music video look professional. Another pro to this camera was that it is digital and means that I can store all of my clips onto an SD card rather than film, This helps as it makes it easier for me to transfer my clips onto my editing software and save them in more than one place.

Tripod- I chose a tripod so that I wouldn't have hand held camera shots within my music video. I feel that hand help camera shots are only used to create tension and it would make my video look armature.  

A scalpel- to use when cutting out the 'micro-chip' controlling Brock, makes the shot more sinister as rusted surgical tools are formerly known to be used by crazy scientists who torture their subjects. Makes the main singer look like the antagonist.

Opaque sheet to block sunlight- This will be used in order to make my filming room dark and the coloured lights that I am using stand out and brighter.

Bandannas x3- These fit with the style of the Rock genre and I will be using these as costume, but also as a blind fold in order to suggest that they are blind to what is going on around them and they just follow the crowd.

Black jeans x2- Converges with the rock genre as the colour black is associated with 'emo'.

Boots x2- The use of boots to almost give the close up shots of the band members running an apocalyptic feel as the world seems to be divided; by the ones who can see the truth and the ones who cannot.

White shirt- to give a contrast to the black in the rest of the costume but also to give the band a colour scheme, Black white and Red, This was important to me as I could carry this colour scheme further into my digipak and poster.

Grey shirt- To represent his dull life as he has not been 'awakened' to the truth

Black and red checked shirt- This adds an edgy style to my main singer but also converges with the colour scheme.

White Beanie- to emphasis the hope in Brocks life and to contrast the enclosed part of it in the beginning

Black hoodie- For the band members to wear when chasing Brock through the forest in order to blend into the darkness and add tension

Printed black hoodie- For Brock to wear in order to distinguish between the Band members and Brock. The use of contrasting colours depicts to the audience that Brock and the band members lead very different lives.

Fake blood- In order to make the removal of the micro-chip realistic and to add an element of gore into the video that converges with the Rock Genre.

Bandages for fingers- These fingers will represent the Guitar players fingers to show that he has strummed his guitar so much his fingers are bleeding. Also representing that his love for the music is endless as he will play until his fingers bleed.

Sim card for microchip- A sim card is the perfect size to 'pull out of Brock's body' and it also has circuit board qualities to it suggesting that this chip has been placed there in order to take control of Brock's freedom.

Skull, blood drip candle- This is useful in order to fill a gap or layer on top of another clip in order to get an extra element of the rock genre into my video and links to death and the after life.

Cross necklace- To suggest some ties to Christianity which links to the song 'Blasphemy'

Picture frame and family photo- to use over the first 'What would your mother say' throughout the song.

Bible prayer- To use over the lines 'The words don't make sense no more' creating a link to religion but also a doubt in your own faith. 

My notes and plans for each section of the song

Blasphemy lyrics and notes 2 from Betsy-Jo Warren

Oh No Bring Me the Horizon Music Video Analysis

The video starts off with narrative. There are close ups of record buttons and the use of the word Hostage suggests some type of interrogation plot. Then Shot then crosscuts to a recording studio and the use of sliders on a circuit board and a record button symbolising the band recording the song that we are listening to now. There is then a close up on the main singers mouth near a microphone. This shot is then graphic matched with the producers in the recording studio adjusting the levels on the sliders.

At 0:21 we see a mid shot of the whole band this is the first shot that doesn't just have the main singer in it converging with the star theory as the main singer in the main star of the band. The mise en scene is plastic sheets draped around the room where the band are recording. This links with the narrative of the music video as plastic sheets have connotions of murder and spy's.

As soon as the lyrics start to be sung the visuals cut back to the narrative, this linking with the interrogation theme as the lyrics said are " You don't have to lie I know exactly where you've been".
The visuals of the music video are then followed up with a mid shot of a detective watching the witness in slow motion.

As soon as the guitars and drum kits kick in the narrative becomes darker as the interrogators pull out a knife.

At 1:30 the performance and narrative are following a guide on a piece of paper, the narratives being a map and the performance's being a plan of how the song is meant to sound. These small graphic matches make the performance and narrative feel in place and linked together.

At 1:56 the recording studio equipment dies this preparing the audience for the climax of the song and video. The music equipment then starts to spark which gives the shot more dimension and doesn't make it repetitive for the audience to watch.

"Be careful what you wish for" links back to the detectives in the narrative as they come back to where they left their witness and realise he has escaped the scene then escalates as the detectives pull an alien playing the trumpet out of the box in the interrogation room. this adds an element of stupidity in the music video. Although this emphasises the instrumental in the song it is still seen to be unbelievable by the audience.

At 3:30 The performance focuses on Oli Sykes which is the main singer on the band. The element of back lighting has been added to give the visuals a more atheistic and exiting appeal.

At 4:07 The added use of a wind machine and break dancers gives the song a 'happy ending' and emphasises the climax within the song. It also uses different forms of layering in order to make the boring visuals of the band members singing in a recording studio, more entertaining.

The Music Industry

Character Profiles

Meet the Crew!

These are all of the people who have taken part in the creation of my music Video. At the beginning of creating my music video I had a few people come forward and nominate themselves to help me. In order to pick the best ones I had everyone come over and take a few practice shots to the chorus of my song. I picked The people that seemed to have connected to the song the most and could present the band the way I imagined it.   

I chose Brock to be apart of my video because when telling him the plans I had for my video he was really intrigued and was already planning ways in which he could act the character. Brock also has Acting experience so I knew I could count on him to be professional when it came to filming. I liked this initiative as I knew that I would be able to get a lot done in little time. This was a bonus for me as I am working by myself and need all the extra time I can get. 

I chose Ramy to be a part of my Production as out of all the people that volunteered to help he was one of the only ones with acting experience This helped a lot as it would make my video more believable. He also showed a want to research into the band and genre further so that he knew he was playing a character that would converge with the Rock genre. This was impressive to me as it showed a real want to help and again would make it easier for me to work on my own as I wouldn't need to direct them as much as some of the other people that auditioned.

                                         

Story board

This is my storyboard, I have planned all the shots, edits and lighting that I plan to film for my music video. I have done this so that I can stick to a plan instead of not knowing what to film and loosing the message I want to convey through my video. I am currently Researching into the locations that I can film in. The big one is the church. I have a friend who is a vicar and I am going to try and arrange an evening that I can use their church to film in.

practice shots

These are some of the practice shots that we filmed in order to figure out how to execute certain editing techniques and to make sure the framing is right. This is great practice because I i do decide to include any of these shots within my music video I would know how to set it up and not waste time trying to figure out how to do it.

Permission from Columbia records

After deciding that I wanted to use Bring Me The Horizon's Blasphemy, I emailed the artists record label; Columbia Records in order to receive copyrights permission. 

Focus group

Within this video I relayed my initial ideas for my music video to my focus group, the purpose for this was for them to have an outside perspective on my ideas and improve them. This was even more important for me as I am working alone and don't have another pair of eyes to tell me if an idea is good or bad. My focus group were able to help me decide that I should combine my two narrative ideas together, and that the use of a church would be a good location for the narrative. After this video one of the focus group members suggested 'Prey' as a band name for me as it includes the animalistc themes I want to include and also converges with the obvious christian references within the song. I have taken this on board and am using it as my band name as it fits all of the themes Iwant to include within my music video.

Ideas presentation from Betsy-Jo Warren

Initial ideas

these are some pictures of the notes I made when thinking about the initial ideas i want to use within my music video. I was stuck between the rock or rap genre, in order to figure out which one would suit me better I listened to all of my chosen artists songs without music videos and tried to come up with some sort of narrative I decided on Rock because I know the genre better and because of this I know what codes and convention are needed within my video.

You Gov research

From my YouGov research it is clear that my target audience are young adults and predominantly women. This means I have more of an opportunity to add intertextuality that links with this demographic. It also enables me to experiment with Mulvey's male gaze theory and reverse it for my female audience, challenging the conventions and also making my music video much more interesting to watch.

Target audience survey

Survey from Betsy-Jo Warren

I put together a survey that asks my target audience what they like to see within a music video. The reason for this is so that I could get Inspiration from my results and also make sure that my music video converges with my target audience like. I will wait until I have 10 responses and then look at my results. 

Unsteady X Ambassadors music video Analysis

Within the first 18 seconds of the video we see crosscutting between a child walking towards his father and a woman walking through a restaurant. Suggesting a linked narrative or something similar is about to happen to these people.

20 seconds in we see a location change to show the performance element of the video with close ups mainly on the lead singer of the band. This Red lighting implies danger or anger coming from the band members. This conation gives the video a much rawer tone as it depicts that it is about a past experience of one of these members.

At 0:26 we see the woman who was walking through a restaurant with her arms wrapped round a man, these proxemics suggest a date between the two. The shot then cuts to the same man swinging his son around in circles. This telling the audience that this narrative includes the same people in different time periods of their lives. This converges with Todrow’s theory as it shows an equilibrium which is the couple happy on their date.  

At 0:55 we see the couple laughing at the table they are sat on, this shot is cut into the family sat at their dining table laughing too, however the lyrics “this house doesn’t feel like home.” Acts as a warning, to the disruption of the equilibrium, the next stage in Todrow’s theory.

At 1:12 there is a downwards panning shot of the boy on the date, it pans down to him holding a flask, in this scene it is shown as a fun and rebellious act; in the next scene however it has proved to get out of hand, this shown by the close up of the mum watching him pour whiskey into his morning coffee with a worried look on her face. The eye line match at 1:35 shows that she doesn’t want her child to see this and have bad habits in the future.  

At 2:12 there is an extreme close up of the mum shouting in the father’s ear, this shot is contrasted by an extreme close up of her whispering positive things into his ear on the date. This two shots alone prove Trodrow’s theory can be applied to this video as it starts off with an equilibrium and then it is destroyed by the deterioration  of the father to alcoholism, The mother is constantly looking to restore this equilibrium by using their son as motivation to stop.

The performance element of the music video also follows the star theory as the only band member we have seen clearly throughout the whole video is the main singer. This depicting he is the only important member of the band and that he is the only one that fans and audiences want to see.

Katy Perry Part of me Music video analysis

Katy perry part of me music video analysis from Betsy-Jo Warren

Intertexuality

Intertexuality is the linking of different forms of media. It can refer to music videos, Dance, film and cultural references. Each audience member will experience a different form of intertextuality as it all links to your readings of certain media texts and your cultural and social backgrounds. This implies that the audience member will only understand a reference if they know what it is referring to.

There are three main ways that intertextuality is used, the first being Parody. This means obviously copying the original and changing aspects about it to add a comedic lilt. An example of this is changing the words to a song.

The second way intertextuality can be used is through Pristege, This is smililar to parody however it references the media text it was influenced by but doesnt copy it and is more respectful.

The third way is through Hommage, this means borrowing ideas and themes directly from another media text but doesnt replicate them.

An example of this would be Iggy Azalea and Charlie XCX's Fancy Music video. Its clear that Iggy is almost parodying the Classic teen film Clueless. This resemblance is a great example of cultural references as if an audience member had not seen Clueless, They wouldn't have understood the reference within the music video.

Product placement is also a huge part of intertextuality and synergy within music videos. This allows for the record label/artist and a company to promote each other. An example of this is within Miley Cyrus's We Can't Stop music video. We can see that one f the first shots within this video is of a beats pill. This obvious product placement means that Miley's fans will want it because she used one and Beats will promote Mileys new song.

Narrative and Character Theories

The Todrow Theory has 5 basic points

1. The narrative starts with an equilibrium 
2. An action or character disrupts that equilibrium
3. A quest to restore the equilibrium begins
4. the narrative continues to a climax
5. Resolution occurs and equilibrium is restored 

When applying this to a music video points 1,2 and 5 are the most relevant. 

Propp's seven character theory

The hero

The Villain

The doner/enabler

The Helper

The princess

The false hero

The dispatcher.

Usually there is always one of these characters in a media text however they don't have to be literal as the villain in a post apocalyptic film could be the elements, similar to The Book of Eli the dispatcher is God as he told him to carry the book to safety.

Andrew Goodman's Star Theory

I have researched into the codes and conventions of Music videos and explored The 5 aspects of Andrew Goodman's Star theory. At this moment in time I am wanting to make a Rock music video because of the creativity of the Mise en scene and editing.

Andrew goodwin from BetsyJoWarren

Digipack Analysis

Digipack analysis from Betsy-Jo Warren

Digipack Mood Board

This is my Digipack mood board created so that I could have abetter understanding of what they are. From my Research I found that they are a different style of CD case. They usually have 6 sides and are a way to release almost limited edition albums now days. I feel that they are a great way to spill your albums themes onto the CD case. I feel that I will create a colour scheme through out my music video and then it will make it slightly easier to link both my video and Digipack together.   

Digipack moodboard from Betsy-Jo Warren

What is a Digipack?

A2 Media Studies Preliminary Music Video

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

I have decided to continue with A2 Media studies as I enjoyed the subject so much last year. I found learning about all the different edits and camera angles that go into a section of moving image so fascinating and I would like to continue to learn and expand my understanding to other aspects of media.

This year I will be learning about the codes and conventions of music videos and then creating my own. I look forward to understanding the differences between the videos of contrasting music genres, whilst also finding similarities between them all.

My favourite music genres are rock and rap, and I'm excited to explore the different themes between them both. My current favourite music video is 'False Alarm by The Weeknd' as I find one take music videos engage an audience and tell the story continuously so that we don't feel like we've missed anything about the 'characters'.

I hope to emulate the same talent and skill that I improved upon in AS within this year of my media course.