Plot Video

This video explains exactly how the plot of my video will look.


Plot Video from Freddy Allen on Vimeo.

Examples of my new slow song/alternative approach

A slower, more emotional song,shot in the almost juxtaposing American pool bar. The composition of the scene shows the sense that the song is narrating the true mood of the bar, behind its initial impressions. I aim to create a similarly sombre mood in my video, using the composition of the location, which hopefully will be similar to the bar/hall being used in this video.

 Jake bugg plays the song very delicately in the corner of the bar, with simple shots held for often a line of the song, create a realistic feel that he is watching the happening in the bars whilst singing his sad song. I want to create this concept in my video, as the singer is watching the narrative whilst almost narrating it.

 Similar close ups on instruments are used to faster Alternative Songs, like 'In the Morning' and Miles Kanes' work, but shots are held for much longer to emphasise the sombre nature of the song and the scene.

This shot summarizes the idea of the narrative and the performance coexisting in one location, as Jake Bugg is watching over the scene, whilst playing the song that tells the story of the bar.







How this compares to 'In the Morning'

A much faster happier song but yet it uses the same composition technique of including the narrative and the performance in the same room/scene. This was my inspiration in my (soon to be posted) new concept for my alternative video, as the idea is very easy to film and achieve.Its aims are for the audience to see the two sides to the video, performance and narrative.This was my intention from the start, and the opportunity to re-do my music video has enabled me to see that the best way to get the most from narrative
ans performance is to intertwine the two in one scene; just like 'In the Morning' and 'Broken' by Jake Bugg.




The difference between the two, and why I prefer a slower song like 'Broken' for my video is that I believe based on my final project last year, I excel in shooting using more drawn out emotional shots. My transferring of skills and strengths I developed last year has not been good enough so far in the creating of my music video, therefore this new approach I believe will capture the abilities I showed in my video, which got me a good mark last year. My variety of performance shots still needs to be stronger, and this is something which  I must focus on achieving in my next shoot.

Video Clarification Post

Here's me reiterating what I've said in my last few posts, just to show that I am in control of the evolution process of my video (i.e the big revamp) but importantly I am trying to highlight this is still exactly what I've been working towards in my research. In fact my research will now be needed more than ever.

Music Video Change Explained from Freddy Allen on Vimeo.

Clarification of My Earlier Post

I have no plans to start from scratch. I need to re shoot all my footage in any case, therefore I feel this is a good opportunity to see where I've gone wrong with my first attempt. A song more suited to my editing style, a slower song (The Only Ones Who Know by The Arctic Monkeys), with a better narrative (the dinner date scene which I will explain in a post very soon) will allow me to still use my research to develop my new video. The performance features of the Jake Bugg Video and the Miles Kane video I looked at are still very much relevant to my new performance idea, as the professional range of shots (typical of the genre) can help me improve where I needed to improve previously. 

Evolving My Project

On the advice of my media teacher I have decided to re-shoot my music video. This is due to bad quality and badly framed footage potentially pulling down my video mark. Instead of risking this damaging my overall mark I have decided to start fresh with my media project, this means new footage and an alteration to my concept is needed.

I am currently considering my options as planning re-shoots over the Christmas period is quite difficult due to the naturally hectic schedule. My new concept is likely to be a slower song, as this I feel better suits my editing style, and it will also be within the alternative genre to support my research.


A video will later follow this to give greater clarification to what I plan to do.....

Music Video Progress

music video 2 from Freddy Allen on Vimeo.

This is an update to show the first draft of my music video, the final few seconds aren't included as I have not fully completed the ending just yet. As this is just the first draft of my video and much is still needed to done to perfect it (such as sound timing for professionalism, and an adequate end to my narrative so it makes perfect sense) I am open to suggestions and criticisms of my current video arrangement. Please Comment!

Black and White Music Video Sample

Black and White Music Video Sample from Freddy Allen on Vimeo.

Here is my reworking of the first 30 seconds of my music video, including most notably the switch to black and white. I'm still not delighted with 1 or 2 shots, but as this is part of the rough cut (which will be uploaded on Friday) I know that I'm heading in the right direction. Please enjoy, and comments opinions on the video!

What About Black and White?

Razorlight's music video was filmed in 2006, since then a lot more music videos of the alternative genre have been filmed in black and white, recent bands of the sub-genre of guitar based alternative-pop have favoured a back to basic, retro approach of having their videos put in black and white. It creates this subtle atmosphere which I believe entices the target audiences. Acts like the Jake Bugg and The 1975 have adopted this approach in their videos and I believe I should too, in my reworking of the original song for a modern audience. I am looking forward to editing my work accordingly.

It's Time To Stop and Reflect

Amidst a melee of shooting and editing to meet the demanding deadlines that a music video provides; it would be valuable to pause for a moment and reflect. My ideas of Narrative,

Genre, Representation, Audience and Media Language have all developed to my liking; I have a set view on how i must approach these areas in the execution of my media project. I must elaborate in order to show you (the viewer of this blog) what I'm looking to achieve and explore in each key concept, and how I will meet but also challenge codes/conventions for each.

Narrative

The content of my music video (i.e what will happen, what order and why) became obvious quickly after I decided my genre. Iconic videos by Coldplay and Radiohead taught me to keep it simple, and when discovered more modern videos by the Razorlight and Miles Kane, I saw that potentially a divide between performance and a story would be a good idea.

My plot for my music video has been constructed to link to much of Goodwin's theory, demonstrating my awareness for the conventions of music videos, as there is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). Therefore I can add my own unique touch for my target audience to this theoretical convention, to accurately create an effective piece.

Additionally, the tempo of 'In the Morning' is allegro, very brisk and cheerful, demonstrating a contradicting to how the characters in the original video (unable to move normally, zombie like) and the more conventional character in my video is similar in his visible weariness. Again linking to Goodwins theory as there is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

Genre change



Early in the process I wanted to make a rap video; attempting to make a psychedelic-come -rap video for Kanye Wests 'Blood on the leaves' Having reviewed my previous efforts of making a rap video or similar, I used my  knowledge of music video theories and representations to understand how poorly thought out the video in fact was. Rule 1 of Andrew Goodwin's- Dancing in the Distraction reveals this (video link explaining the theory); as the low morals of man passed on the floor were not fully explained or justified, creating a confusion which did not view well.
In addition the hazy, slow motion camera shots do not get the effects which was looking for, therefore research had be done into which camera shots suit which genre best.

I realized I would be better suited making an Alternative music video rather than rap, as objectively speaking I have known more about that genre for a longer time. After researching alternative videos like  Arctic Monkeys, Jake Bugg, Miles Kane, and then discovering the video for 'In the Morning' by Razorlight, I discovered that the fast band cuts layered with simplistic narrative would suit be better.

 

Rough Cut Improvements/Possible Reshoot Consultation

After comments from my teacher on what needs to be improved within my piece to make it worthy of a higher grade, I've studied the imperfections of some of my shots in terms of mise-en-scene and image quality concluding that it would be wasteful to re-shoot the whole thing based on what has been criticized.


This is what my teacher had to say about my taster of my rough cut.




In response to this I have argued that as this is only first cut, perhaps re-shooting is pretty extreme. Using the adjust and contrast tools I can significantly improve the master shot; my media teacher added that I could also improve the angle of my master shot using other tools on Premiere Pro. Therefore I am beginning to find a consensus on what needs to be improved and why.