Music Video Conventions

My third idea

The song 'Nina' by Ed Sheeran is about an artist who had to choose between his girlfriend or his career, and he chose to try and pursue his career in the music industry.
For the camera work, we would begin shooting the artist going on stage and touring on his own, but we would be able to see (as an audience) that he is uncomfortable and is missing his girlfriend. There would then be a parallel cut to the girlfriend, Nina, who wants to be with his Boyfriend however he can only have one choice. However the artist is adamant that he cant be with her any more because he now 'lives on the road'. We can then see his career develop and for it to go wrong as he starts to take drugs and has been synthesised by his record label.

 

My Second Idea

My second idea:

The song Travelling Alone by Passenger is about two stories. the first part of the song is about an older couple who both decided once they have saved enough money up and once they have retired, they would travel the world together. This is because neither of them went travelling before and they needed to stay in work until they saved the money. However, sadly, a week or so before they were going to go travelling together, the wife suddenly and sadly passed away. Despite this, the husband still had the bravery to travel around the world on his own. The second part of the story is about a couple who were in a relationship for over 10 years had broken up after the soon to be husband cheated on his girlfriend. The lyrics both mirror each others stories as to how difficult life is and how they have to cope with their individual circumstances.

We would start by shooting the man sitting on his own, with people walking past him and him feeling sorry for himself. He would then stare at a picture of him and his wife. We would then track him and emphasise situations, such as dining for two, where he can only dine for one. This would then create an emotional bond with the audience as we don't want him to feel lonely.

The second part of the song would then start and we would see her burst into tears and talk about his ex boyfriend, we would cross cut to the boyfriend find a new girlfriend and cut back to see how she suffers. We can see a shadow of the couple holding hands. the video would end of the old man from the first part of the video, meeting the woman from the second part of the video. This would come together as continuity editing.

 

3 ideas for the music video- My 1st idea

I will be in a group with Ethan Wall this year for the media project. We have each come up with 3 ideas, so we can then compare our ideas, pitch it to the class, and gain feedback and agree to what idea we will choose.

My first idea:




The first idea I had in mind was using the song 'Dance With My Father' by Luther Vandross. This is narrative based lyrics which is about a young boy growing up who has lost his father, which had happen to the songwriters, Luther Vandross and Richard Marx. This song can relate to many people, and so with the correct visuals, it would express and emphasise the emotions.

The main visuals would start as a baby/little boy and see him grow up with his dad and so the audience can see that the two characters have a strong bond between each other. We would then cut to the iconic shot from the Pursuit Of Happiness and then fade the father out of the shot which just leaves the boy on his own. From listening to the lyrics and seeing these visuals we can see he has died. We would then cut to the family's reactions and cross cut to the boy (who would now be grow up through a time ellipses, to be lip singing the words. Another parallel edit would be made of the father and son dancing with each other in a ballroom that is empty. This is an intertexual moment from Corrination Street, where Roy and Hayley share their last dance together in a wonderful ballroom in Blackpool. Although their situation was a marriage, and dance with my father is a father and son, it will still be just as emotional as there is a death involved and it is their last dance together.

Digipack Practice- Kula Shaker

This year we have to create a digipack, however we knew that we need some practice before hand in order to experiment with the editing software. The activity was to find individual images and edit them together using a number of tools in order to create the Kula Shaker album cover. 

First we had to crop the images down in order to make it the correct size and shape. The original background trees were bright green, so in order to make them more like the original, we had to invert the colour. Next, we had to colour balance the trees, we did this by adding more cyan and less green to the picture. We had to drag the other two images, and on both occasions we had to remove their backgrounds of those separate images. We did this by using the eraser tool and the magic wand mask tool. 

My re-creation

 

 

 

Original

Lip syncing task

The following clip is our lip syncing task, where my group and I filmed and edited a clip in order to understand the importance of getting the lip sync correct and in time to the music, while also adding a number of new editing techniques.

 

 For our lip syncing task, we chose the song 'Too Close' by Alex Clare. By filming and editing the music video, we were able to gain valuable skills in order to develop our editing skills, and learn the new tools as the editing system has been updated. During the filming, we had the music playing in the background so we could make sure the lip singing was kept in time, so when we added it to the editing software, the timing was good. We could then cancel the sound of the background music in the editing room and then added the official audio clip to it. We added a title at the beginning as we forgot to film something before the singing so it was added as an introduction. This is a mistake we can learn from before we film the real task. We also added a number of different transitions to make the flow of the video better and try and use and discover as many techniques as possible. The first video edit we made was to duplicate the same clip 4 times and put it in each corner of the screen. We then zoomed in, using Adobe Premiere Pro to the mouth, which acted as an extreme close up. During the next instrumental, we had to film more footage, doing something a bit different, so we had to re-film after editing the majority of the footage. Therefore we can learn by this through taking our time when we film the real music video and film each shot a number of times so we have a wider variety to choose from. Soon after, another transition was made, and we filmed Daniel Aboudy and edited it in black and white. The next clip we added a trio of colours to, which made it look more modern and funky. The video ended with a two shot of Daniel and myself lip singing to the video. The task overall helped us to get used to the new software, to develop our video edits, as well as getting to know a larger variety of different transitions.

Phillip Phillips- Raging Fire

Raging Fire is sung by Phillip Phillips, who won American Idol in 2012. This music video analysis will focus on the editing and visuals of the video, which are extremely unique.





As the music starts, there are a number of quick cuts in time to the beat of the music, filming the artist, Phillip Phillips, who is stood in the same position however, in a number of different locations. This gives the music video an instant eye catching and unique feel to it.

In the locations filmed, there are different settings; consisting of different buildings, street graffiti, and even being filmed on the train. This gives the music video a modern feel to it. The camera work shows a number of different shots, from close ups, medium shots, and extreme long shots, which becomes a repetitive pattern. The quick change of shot types, and the quick rhythm of the song, helps the editor to make a variety of montages in the video. Both urban and rural areas were chosen as locations which also helped the contrast and the flow of the shot types.

There is a parallel edit to Phillips laying on white paper and other people are painting a fire around him, which reflects the name of the song. 

A parallel cut is made back to Phillip Phillips in the city location playing his guitar and singing raging fire. Close ups are made on both the instrument and the mouth. This shows he is an organic artist, as the director is not selling his looks, he is selling his voice and ability to play guitar. 

 As the chorus begins, the cuts are quicker and the tempo is raised. Quick whip zooms are made of the locations as the next chorus kicks in. 

Another parallel cut is made back to the painting scene, and ellipses is used as an editing technique, as the painting quickly evolves, in fast motion. This is a clever way of breaking up the video and changing scenery. This keeps the audience’s attention and prevents them from boredom from the repetitiveness of the footage.

There is a cut to a close up of Phillips hand being painted in red, after the rest of his body is also painted, the whole fire comes together; which helps the continuity of the video. 

At the end of the video, the artist gets up and it leaves a great look to the painting.
From this music video I can learn to cross cut in the music video to create two stories or to keep the audience engaged with the video. From this video I can also learn the effectiveness and importance of cutting in time to the beat.