Group Roles

We have discussed what roles we are going to have in the production of our video. Due to our group consisting of three members we thought that it would be best if we all played a part in all aspects of creating our video. Therefore, Rob, Nat and myself will all Direct, Edit and Produce different shots. These leaves room for our own individual creativity and we can all try out shots that we wish to experiment with. As for the performance part of the video, Lucy will play the main character walking through the streets.

EDIT:
We have now decided to have a narrative fuzz in our video and it will be Ed Thorn playing the role of someone following a female character, played by Lucy Shilling. The other roles of director, editor and producer is unchanged.

Location Reccie

Rob and I went on a location reccie to see what sort of locations we can use in the music video. We walked around Tunbridge Wells and found quite a lot of good potential locations that we can take into consideration when storyboarding our ideas. Some of the many pictures we took can be seen on the right side of our blog page. We also filmed some footage.
After seeing some of the shots afterwards we feel that we have found some good locations, such as a dark alley, a large car park and the middle of town near the Millenium Clock. However, after going out on the reccie we have realised a few problems. For example, we didnt predict how hard it is in such a popular place to get a shot with minimal movement from other people or objects in the background. We also realised that there was a potential problem with lighting in the streets. Some of the footage has a 'reddish' look to it due to the lighting in town. However, the Blacks' car park seems like an ideal location as the lighting is exactly what we are aiming for and it is often empty at night time.

Initial Response to Track

Here are some of the basic ideas that Rob and I have had. At the moment, they are just initial plans, themes etc:

• Voyeurism - This is conventional in music videos but me and Rob want to take it further than just the obvious use or mirrors etc. We would rather use reflection and be more subtle with the idea of voyeurism. CCTV and Television for example.
• Speed cutting - We have seen other videos where quick cutting has been successful. We have not yet decided what we are going to use the jump cutting for but we think it will be a good recurring theme throughout the video.
• Camera movement - We want to use 360 shots and maybe some POV shots. We will experiment with the camera before we start filming and hopefully this will give us some ideas for our video.
• Text - We have discussed inserting text onto the screen in the video. We do not want to do lip-synching and we think that text on the screen will compensate for this.
• Camera shots - We think that we will include quite a lot of close-up shots of our actors face. We think that this adds a bit of emotion to the song and after studying other music videos, we think that this is a successful technique.
• Star persona - We do not feel like our video will be constructing the star's image very blatantly. The band will not be in the video, only the guest vocalist, who's voice is Richard Ashcroft. The actor will remain quite emotionless throughout, as we feel that this is unconventional and will grab the audience's attention. It will also make the video more interesting and the emotion from the song will be drawn from elsewhere, like the camera work and the background along with the mise-en-scene.
• Editing - We will do the editing after filming but we want to leave a lot of ime to edit so it is vital to film as early as possible. We will use slow motion and other editing techniques to create different feelings on-screen such as speed.
• Sound - We will use little or no non-diagetic sound in our music video. We may have a point where there is our actor/singer speaking over the top of the music.

Audience Research Ideas

Josh and I are in discussion currently about the way in which we are going to collect, and then collaborate our audience research. We have come to the conclusion that we will use the idea of a focus group. A focus group is a form of qualititive research in which a group of people are asked their attitudes towards the music and to get their views of what should be involved in the video (location, clothing, style and artist looks).
What we are going to do is approach a selection of people, all who have the same music taste. This music taste would be the sort of Indie/Chillout music with bands/artists such as Richard Ashcroft, Moby, Chemical Brothers and LCD Soundsystem. We would then have them all together, with around 10 people if possible. Then, we will play them the track (UNKLE - Lonely Soul), and ask them various questions afterwards regarding the track. Some ideas of questions to ask our focus group are:

• What emotions does this track make you feel?
• Where would you expect this music video to be shot?
• What would you expect the actor in the video to look like?
• Do you feel this should be performance, narrative or concept based? (Would obviously have to operationalise these concepts).
• How many people do you expect to see in this video?
• What would you expect the actor to be wearing?
• At what time of day would you expect this video to be shot?
• Why would you want to see these kinds of things in a video?

When we have asked the focus group these questions and various other ones, we will pitch our basic ideas to the group, and ask for their feedback on this, whether they agree or disagree with andything, and if they disagree then what they feel would work better.

planning review # 2 - CF

Well done Josh/Rob - excellent product analysis, use of key terms and you show real perception in deconstructing the texts. I particularly liked your choice of videos - alternative, a variety of styles and yet you are clearly looking out for inspiration, techniques and considering how your own work can stand up to repeatability.

I'm looking forward to your pitch and seeing how your own concept develops.

Make sure you blog all of your ideas.

Well done.

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: Richard Ashcroft - Break The Night With Colour

• Opening scene is the use of a crane movement moving in from a yard to the prison entrance with guards close by.
• Music first heard after 15 seconds when camera (steadicam) first moves in to the prison.
• Lyrics first heard after 19 seconds, all music has a lot of echo to it, as if it is in a large empty area (the prison)
• First shot is 30 seconds long, fairly long for a music video
• Music gradually getting louder, almost at full volume at 32 seconds, gives the idea you are getting close to Ashcroft.
• After 41 seconds you see a guard closing a cell door, and Ashcroft playing on a piano in a large derelict cell/recreation area of a cell.
• All camerawork up to this point is used with a steadicam, all from floor level.
• Medium shot of Ashcroft playing the piano from behind him at 46 seconds.
• After 50 seconds, there is the first extreme close up of Ashcroft's face, which is used many times throughout this music video. The "meat" of the video.
• Many shots in time with the music - a visual/music relationship. Examples are when cuts from Ashcrofts face to his fingers playing piano when he begins to sing the chorus.
• At 1.16 there is an ECU of Ashcroft's mouth as he sings. This technique is also often used throughout the video.
• From 1.31 to 1.33 there is an empty prison shot showing a dark, derelict environment, possibly signifying that is is a very depressing, negative place to seriously avoid going.
• Again, all cameras up to this point have been steadicam, and at floor level.
• There is the use of voyeurism at 2.24. This is projected through CCTV, and is used in many music videos.
• Many shots are MS, CU or ECU. There is very vew uses of LS apart from at the beginning of the scene, and when the shot of the prison environment is shown.
• At 3.50 Ashcroft is released from the cell environment he is in. The music then gently fades as he is led away.

Conclusion

This video is not that related to the convention we wish to use in our music video. We plan to use a dark, urban environment at night with street lighting. The hair style in this video is perfect for genre. The following points are seen repeatedly throughout:

1. ECU of mouth
2. ECU of lips
3. ECU of hands
4. MS of Ashcroft's upper body including face

This gives us a great idea of what shot distances and angles to use. However, this video is peformance/concept based, and we intend to make our music video narrative based. However, this video is very much linked in to our song of UNKLE - Lonely Soul, as Richard Ashcroft sings in Lonely Soul as well.

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS - The Killers ft. Lou Reed - Sawdust

• CU shot of candles, deep red colours with a dark background. Creates an eerie effect, with a deep base noise. Build up of drama and suspense.
• Camera positioned looking through chairs, depth of field. The chairs are in focus but you can see someone coming into the pictures making his way though the chairs.
• The camera is out of focus, the man comes into the shot, walking across the screen and sits down on the chairs. The room has a church like feel. With the low base this makes the song feel biblical.
• Introduction of another band member, who comes and sits down in front of a keyboard at the front of the church. This is realistic as it enforces where they are, in a church like building.
• Quick cut back to the candles, still deep red, but your looking at a reflection of them in cracked glass, as if something had been thrown at it. The candles image is fragmented.
• Some ones arm sweeps across the image of the fragmented image of the candle in the glass, distorting the colours and the jacket/jumper their wearing.
• Cut back to the band member on the piano. Depth of field again is used, the camera is focused on him playing the piano while you can see someone in the background coming through the door. The pianist is looking down at the keys on the grand piano, and its clear to see that he hasn’t noticed the other man.
• Change of perspective..The camera is positioned behind the man looking through the door. You can’t see his head, but you can tell his slumped over and looking at the pianist.
• CU of foots walking up the stairs. There is a window behind his feet so you can see light streaming in behind him. In front of the stairs it is dark, This puts the image out of focus and makes the image of the males feet walking up the stairs feel dream like, and almost like an illusion.
• Cut to a POV shot, showing what the guys looking at while walking up the stairs, although it is hard to see, as the image is not focused. You can tell he’s walking into a brighter area of the building, as the foreground looks lit up. Again the camera is positioned behind him.
• Medium shot, you can see from the mans face to his waist. Light is streaming out of the window onto him, and there is a stuffed dog in front of him in the shot.
• The next shot is of a figure walking up the stairs, but you are positioned behind the banisters. Everything is out of focus.
• Cut back to the singer of the band sitting on the chairs, where there is light streaming in through the window through the gaps in the chairs. The singers face is in darkness, and this shot is a medium long.
• Close up of the side/back of his head. POV of where he is looking and the light is refracting off his hair and his facial hair, mainly his moustache. He turns his head towards the camera and then starts to sing. Starting the performance part of the MV.
• Hand griping his knee, in a dark light, showing uncomfort.
• Band member is walking up the stairs looking upwards, as if hes either exploring the building or looking for someone.
• He getting out the chair, medium shot.
• CU, camera positioned under his chin, showing off his facial hair, masculinising him.
• Hes looking up the stairs now, showing an intention of walking up there and following his fellow band member.
• Camera is positioned behind an object in the dark, as hes walking into the room with the candles. Red filter is used. Hes all in black and wearing a tight t-shirt to excentuate his biceps.
• Shot looking over everyone from the band sitting down at the table with the candles, still red filter. Paintings in background and the curtains are pulled across, this makes the scene feel like a secret meeting.
• Hes looking over the hand rail while walking up the stairs, with a low angled camera position looking up at him. The skylight is beaming light on him creating shadows across his face. (lead singer again)
• People in the candle room round the chair, almost dancing, lifting their arms as if they were flying.
• CU of a hand in a lighter room as the man raises it. Palm out with his fingers fully extended.
• Back to the guy standing under the window with beams of light coming across the room, he’s dancing with his arms full outstretched to his fingers making circle movements. As if hes floating.
• Very unfocused shot of the man hunched over the keyboard as if hes putting all of his effort into playing it.
• Camera panning around the people at the table, singer is singing and the band are moving with rhythmic movements to the beat of the song. The camera keeps a focus on the singer.
• Cut to a different angle of the singer, looking at the side of his face, still at the table.
• Band member is hunched over, head resting on his hand and looks out of it. This room is brighter though. Camera tracks across and there is a shot of two men in white coats sitting down.
• Back to the candle room, focused on the singer looking up and singing.
• Performance CU shot of the singers face. Everything in the background is out of focused.
• Singer is sitting on the sofa and the camera quickly zooms in and out.
• Back to the candle room, where the band seem to be conferring about something. They are all looking in each other’s eyes, and the camera is focused on anyone in particular. Looking through the broken glass.
• POV of the pianist looking at the singer through the door. It is lighter on the other side of the door and you can see the light beaming in through the doorway behind him.
• Older man looking moving his face upwards, as if finishing his prayer, CU of his face from the side, the other half is in darkness.
• New singer, one of the other band members, performing to the camera (first person mode of address) and half of his face is in darkness.
• Camera movement is jerky, handicam is used, and you are looking through old glass stained with white streaks going down it, water stains.
• “I’ve got this feeling that there going to come back for more”, singer is hunched over the seat in front with his arms crossed, showing fear.
• Handicam again panning round the singer sitting on the church like chairs.
• Close up of a moose’s head on the wall. “See I was thinking that I lost my mind”.
• CU of the singers face again, he’s moving viciously, back and forward as if he had lost it.
• Voyeurism, singer is looking in the mirror shaking it. Image of the singer is all black and a white background.
• Man coming through the shadows only his face can be seen emerging from the darkness.
• Distorted faces, 5 of his faces, red filter, performance as the singer is looking into the camera and directly at you showing again a first person form of address.
• Back to the candle room, the candle seems to be the centre of the MV, has references to how the band is feeling and is a meeting point.
• Distorted faces again, a different band member singing into the camera.
• Quick cut to the candle room again.
• Distorted face again, duplications of his face turning into the jet black background.
• Cut to the singer in the chair room again, still camera, and the singer are moving as if he’s at unrest.
• Cut to the sofa room, singer dancing with his arms outstretched as the beams of light go past him missing him as he positioned under the window.
• Red filter of him singing, side on medium CU.
• Looking through the glass again with jolty handicam movement.
• CU looking under the singers chin looking up as he moves jolting about.
• CU of old guy coming out of the darkness dressed in black, looking downwards in sorrow.
• Back to the chair room, as the singer sits back down with his hands on his head.
• Singer in a new room, camera is being purposely moved about. Black and white.
• Singer in doorway again, going to his knees and shrinking into an almost ball.
• New character, sitting in the chair room, he has a frizzy ginger afro, and is menacingly staring into the camera.
• More kids are in the chair room now, surrounding the singer, as the lyrics to song are now in a childs voice. Singer is always in focus.
• Quick change of focus putting a childs face into focus and the singer in the background. The childs eyes seem to be all black and his skin is pale white, this seems devilish (like the Omen).
• 3 quick cuts showing different children, each time more people are entering the room and is filling up quickly, these all focus on different children’s faces.
• Singer is dancing, background is a doorway that has been fenced off with metal strips.
• CU of the singer slumped over resting his head on his arm on the table. Showing his is delusional. Everything seems like a dream to him.
• Focused on the pianists face as he looks into the camera.
• Then cut to a shot of someone shining a torch walking into an attic. As he walks towards you the camera moves towards him.
• Cut to candle room again to focus on the band and show this is a band and not just a single act by the singer.
• Old guy turns his head to look at the camera.
• Medium shot of the singer poring his heart into the song, hes blacked out with bright window behind him and he lookds like a shadow against the background. Jolty camera action again.
• The guy in the attract with the torch is getting closer, quick shot
• Voyeurism shot as he picks up the mirror.
• Cut to the pianist again
• As the tempo of the music is building the shots come quicker.
• Reflection of the singer on the table, red filter.
• Sitting in the chair room again, light coming through the window behind him, making his face half in the dark and half not again.
• “I still here the children playing, deadbeat dancers come to us and say”, montage of all the previous scenes changing with each word of the lyric.
• “And I don’t care what you’ve scene” pointing at the pianist. POV shot, he seems more energetic and almost aggressive.
• Keeps cutting between the pianist and the singer, and back to the red room to create an ore. It is clear that the song is almost ending, and the MV is trying to do that with a ‘wow’ factor, by quick cuts.
• Ends with a POV of the singer in the door looking at the pianist and walking away out of the room, with the pianist gazing.

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: Fatboy Slim - Don't Let The Man Get You Down

0.01 - Garage door opening outside an american looking house with man. LS so mans identity is not clear
0.06 - Cuts to the man's upper body. Large text going across screen saying 'THIS IS DON'
0.09 - Shows Don in what looks like his garden, a Medium Long Shot, with his fishing rod going out of view. Same style text comes up saying 'DON LIKES FISHING'
0.16 - Cuts to a Neighbourhood watch sign on a lamppost
0.19 - Two coloured boys cycle past him on a bike, Don looks back in disgust. Panning camera movement. He mouths something to himself and then 'DON IS A RACIST' appears on the screen. There is a rural background of a typical american neighbourhood.
0.33 - MLS of Don handing out a morning paper to a white lady with subtitles at the bottom saying 'Morning paper?'. He then says 'not for you' to an ethnic lady behind her waiting for a paper.
0.45 - Don in Cafe and an Indian man sits next to him. Starts at medium shot. Shows his reaction then goes to a MCU of Don then the Indian before going back to the original shot to show Don moving his stuff away.
1.00 - POV shot of Don sitting in car. Black family walks past in front of car. Then cuts to side MCU and shows Don's reaction and then shows him locking the door of his vehicle when a black man is walking nearby. Subtitles 'Oh God'. Ironically, he is outside a church and that is where the black man had come from. Cuts back to POV shot of same man walking past the front of car and then back to previous angle.
1.14 - MS shows Don using urinal. A black man comes to use the one next to him, but we can only see their backs. Subtitles 'What are you doing?', then 'What do you mean "what am I doing?"'. Don moves to next urinal.
1.25 - Tracking shot of Asian couple then cuts to MCU of asian man getting into his vehicle. Cuts to MLS of vehicle moving away to reveal Don behind the vehicle watching in disgust. Cuts to CU of Don's reaction. He is next to a fishing trophy.
1.36 - Shot from front of Don drinking from water fountain. Man in tennis equipment in background. Cuts to MLS of a black lady playing tennis bending over to get a ball. Cuts briefly to Don's reactionless face still drinking, but from a side CU angle. Then cuts back to lady playing tennis and back to Don again like previous.
1.45 - MLS of Don topless leaning against a bar holding backetball. Cuts to same shot but closer in. Follow by another cut to an CU of his face. Still the same expression as previous two shots though. Cuts to people playing basketball, including ethnical people. Then cuts to a CU of Don's face and subtitles 'Selfish Bastards'.
1.54 - Shows Don and three others in Cafe around a table. Subtitles 'Because they don't have to work in the morning'. Audience assume it is the punchline of a racist joke. Shows the four men laughing. Then cuts to the same thing but from a MLS and subtitles 'Ha ha ha ha ha'. Cuts back to previous shot and shows some mexican men walking past. Cuts to closer in shot and Don and his friends aren't laughing anymore, they are suddenly cautious and unhappy. Subtitles 'Watch Don's trophy'. Cuts to similar shot but the four Mexicans around their table laughing instead of Don and his friends. Then cuts back to Don's table looking miserable.
2.16 - Camera positioned behind Don's head looking into a mirror doing his hair.
2.21 - Shows kids jumping around in Don's fishing boat outside his house with a MLS. Cuts to Don storming out his house. Then quick cuts Don getting angry with the kids chucking them off the boat. He takes trophy back off one of them.
2.32 - MCU Don looking angry to one side, garage like at beginning in the background. Cuts to Don walking up to the lamppost with the sign as seen earlier, MLS. Back to previous shot but this time Don is looking the other way. Cuts back to MLS as he is about to cross the road next to the lamppost. Cuts a little closer in and he starts crossing road. He gets hit by a really quick car, quite graphic. Cuts to the same shot of the neighbourhood watch sign like earlier in the video. Cuts to Don dead lying in the road. Cuts to Trophy on the floor next to him, then to a different angle of his on the road. Text across screen 'ALWAYS LOOK BOTH WAYS BEFORE CROSSING THE STREET'. Shows a man appraoching the body, he looks asian. Cuts to front view of the man, MS. He is on the phone. Subtitles '{This is 911}'. Cuts back to previous shot, subtitles '{What's your emergency?}'. Man walks away. Then Like the previous text, it says 'AND DON'T BE A RACIST'
3.04 - Cuts back to shot where he gets hit by a car and replays it but with the text across the screen saying 'OR ELSE'

Conclusion: This video is not really what we are aiming to achieve in our music video. However, it does demonstrate the use of text along the screen, which is a concept me and Rob have talked about using in our video. It also demonstrates a continuous story throughout, which me and rob have also discussed. Techniques used in the video include the use of black and white throughout and the use of text across the screen. These will be taken ino consideration when making our video, as I believe the text compensates for not doing lip synching, which me and Rob do not want to do. The music video also does a lot of cutting back to the previous shot, i found this to be a very good technique and made the video more entertaining and understandable. It is a completely concept based video, which applies to me and rob and I think that the content, along with the almost humourous ending, makes the video stand up to repeat viewings. The video uses quite a lot of MLS that then cuts to CU shots of his face. I enjoyed watching this as it emphasised the characters reaction. The Mise-en-scene in the video is pretyy basic. It is just a typical American neighbourhood. In some shots the costume helps us to understand a bit about the context. For exmaple, the man dressed in a tennis costume allows the audience to recognise the context of the situation. Overall, I think that me and Rob can implement a lot of ideas that we have seen in this video.

PRODUCT ANALYSIS - Massive Attack - Protection

-starts with a toy gun, walking along the street with the camara facing downwards. the camara the goes to a high angle in the elevater and is held at an angle.
-you scale the building looking into different peoples house, u see the singer going into her house. the next window along theres a women in a wheel chair, struggling.
-a performance shot were the camara comes through the window, and a narrative happens, looking into everyones life through their windows. You see the singer laying on her coach.
-the camara seems to be foating, and their is a man floating in his room. Conoting that everythings gone upside down, as we see different peopls different situations, and the grim living conditions they have to put up with.
-we then see the singer next to her self, as if she were a gost, shes laying on the sofa as if shes drunk.
-the first person that looks into the camara is a black man, and it seems as though they have a conection, the singer and this man "your a girl and im boy". It seems as though they have a history as he stares at the camara with menace and follows it with his eyes at it leaves the building.
-there are children present in this video as well, represented as miss treated. and having hardship as her father drops the girl off from the begining to another house, and she seems in destress. The camara then focusses on an empty car seat where the girl would have been before. This portrays sadness.
-i think the main meaning behind this video, is that we live in a time of hardship, and the location, of a coucil appartment building backs this up. We are looking into peoples lives, and seeing the struggles they have to through in life.

PRODUCT ANALYSIS - Chemical Brothers - hey boys hey girls

-dark colours on a bus full of children. This is unusual, as when children are shown on television, bright colours are used, to enforce the fact that their inoscent.
-rebelling by spitting, as scene in teen movies, rebelion is a large part of this film.
-School kids on the streets running about without parental guidance. This enforces rebelian as well. There are only homeless people about and children are running round without their teachers.
-Skeleton museum, the kids are playing about wi8th them, enforces rebellion.
-X-rays are shown, to create the illusion that the people are changing to skeletons
-The kids seen tormented
-Changes from a girl to a skeleton to someone in a club, two people sexually active in the toilet.
-Everyone keeps changing to skeletons, makes the video seem magical. Clearly scares the women.
-Narrative, follows one girl mainly, as a child and as an adult grown up, dark colours are used and people in the video are transformed into skeletons.
-Video links to the lyrics and the beat of the song.
-‘Super star DJ’ – there’s a DJ in the club. ‘here we go’ all the children start running as if they were suddenly sparked with enthusiasm. This makes the video seem more upbeat, and the goes with the beat of the song. Its contemporary electronic music, made by a DJ not a band, therefore a narrative video goes well with the song. As narrative videos are used in other electronic songs such as massive attack – live with me, this song sounds electric, but there are instruments used in it aswell.

PRODUCT ANALYSIS: Moby - Natural Blues

• Opens with shots from an old persons home. Panning across seeing motionless old people. Early idea of depressing video. It then cuts to an Old Moby in a wheelchair being wheeled through a corridoor. This is eye-catching and grabs an active audience's attention as they would not expect to see a normaly youthful artist looking old and in a wheelchair.
• POV shot from wheelchair at other old people staring at him.
• As keyboard kicks in, we get to see how disbaled Moby is in his wheelchair, which although isn't graphic in terms of gore or anything like that, it is still quite shocking for the audience.
• The lyrics "ooo lordy, troubles do hard" and "Don't nobody know my troubles but God" are repeated a lot. This is synchronised with going down the corridoor past wheelchairs watching TV's, really giving off the idea of repetition. The lyrics also make the audience think whether the video has a connection with religion and try to see the links.
• Gets pushed in a room to watch TV with others in similar situation. This enforces the idea of voyeurism, all of them watching one thing. There is a model angel on top of the TV.
• As the TV shows a sunset going down, Moby's character starts looking through a photo album of him in a young age. This is where the audience really start to think about the connection to God. Has a lot of CU shots on his face.
• Moby is then shown on the TV in his young age, again displaying voyeurism.
• So far, the video could be described as quite depressing. The setting reinforces this. The location is a run down old peoples home, somewhere which we don't like to think about.
• The TV is showing parts of his life and growing up. Remeniscent.
• The angel (Christina Ricci) comes alive on top of the TV. This could be seen as enigmatic. Has he died and is being taken away? Has he discovered or even rediscovered religion?
• The lighting is very bright and her arms are spread, very angelic, not represented sexually at all. A light is shone on to Moby's face.
• A white screen cutout then cuts to the angel carrying Moby in her arms down a long hallway going into a bright light. Again, this could be enigmatic. Is he dreaming? Is she carrying him to heaven?
• It then cuts to the final shot of the angel holding a baby into the air with a bright white background. Is he being reborn? Or is the video saying that getting older brings about realization of ageing and that the best is behind you in a young age? enigmatic
  Throughout the video, it uses a lot of MCU and POV shots. The audience is positioned as voyeuristically watching Moby.
• The Mise-en-scene in the video is of a typical old peoples home. Although not told, the audience can make the assumption due to the costume, dressing gowns and nurses etc, and the props such as the wheelchairs. The lighting is also very important in the video, especially on the appearance of the angel. It helps to exaggerate her role as the angel.
• I think that the video stands up to repeat viewings. It makes the audience think and perhaps even question themselves and makes them realise that everyone has to get old one day. The video portrays ageing as it is, most enjoyment when you are young and then when you are old looking back on it with fond memories.
  

PRODUCT ANALYSIS: The Chemical Brothers - Elektrobank

• Directed by Spike Jonze.
• Narrative based video.
• Opens with quiet digetic sound of clapping. Shows a gymnast in a changing room. The audience assume that clapping is for a gymnast in arena that we cannot see. It cuts to a close-up of her face and the audience can now see that the girl is Sofia Coppola, a familiar face in the film industry.
• POV shot as she leaves the changing room. The clapping gets louder as she gets closer and the audience can now see the audience from the gymnast's point of view.
• Dialogue with her trainer suggests she is competing with previous act for the competition. The other gymnast presented as stuck up, quite attractive but the audience doesn't form an on-screen relationship with her. The audience is positioned with Sofia Coppola, this is done with the use of POV shots and a lot of time on-screen.
• Digetic sounds used a lot, however these sounds wouldn't be used on track normally, only in video.
• Soundtrack starts as she starts her routine, although her dance isn't necessarily performed to the song, as the song seems inappropriate for the situation.
• Uses quite a lot of long shots cutting to close-ups of her face during the sequence. The fast-pace tempo of the song as and pace of the dance creates a feeling of speed, something not normally associated with gymnastics.
• Lots of reaction shots to express the audiences surprise at the routine.
• Use of slow motion, exaggerates the stunts.
• The dance is in parts, synchronized with the music.
• Location isn't very stylish, looks like school gym or something. This helps to add to realism of situation.
• Slow-motion finale of dance routine. The slow-motion along with reaction shots help to create a sense of climax to the song. Supported by the reintroduction of digetic sounds from the audience. The audience create a sense of voyeurism, which is a common concept in music video.
• The Mise-en-scene in the video is mainly focused on the costume. We can see that it is a serious competition with that and the use of props. Me and Rob can learn a lot from this and the importance of planning. The lighting is also important as it doesn't look that proffesional and hepls the audience to feel like theyu are actually there at the time.
• Has a degree of shock factor in the sense that an accomplished director, Sofia Coppola, is shown to be doing very advanced gymnastic moves. For this reason, I believe that the video stands up to repeat viewings.

PRODUCT ANALYSIS: UNKLE - Rabbit in your Headlights

• One of the main points to note from this video is there is a huge "shock factor." This is fairly rare from generic music videos.
• Again, the video is set in an urban location, however this time it is all set in one urban location - the underground tunnel.
• Can't tell what time of day it was shot because of the fact it's underground.
• Again, a narrative based video
• The character shown is seen to be talking to himself. This raises an enigma, is he mental? Why is he walking down the middle of the road in the tunnel by himself talking? What language is he speaking? What is he saying?
• He is hit around 5 times by different cars, all of which are shown full on, and are very shocking and graphic to watch. This video would probably not be able to be shown before the watershed due to the content of it - not very commerical.
• When he is hit by the cars, not a single one of them stop, or even seem to be worried about the fact they ran someone over.
• This again shows a sense of loneliness and the fact that nobody cares about the person
• The lyrics are very related to the video, "I'm a rabbit in your headlights" - twinned with a man walking alond the road in front of a lot of cars.
• At the end of the video, the man waits for a car to hit him then unleashes some kind of power. Was this mental power he was builiding up? The car then smashes around him in a very surreal and postmodern scene.

PRODUCT ANALYSIS: UNKLE - Burn My Shadow

• At the beginning there is the first shot of a TV showing a programme, showing a sense of voyeurism, evident in multiple genres of music videos.
• The video is set in an urban location, very suitable to the genre and suits the genre of music very well.
• The appearance of the main character connotes a sense of laziness, or dirtiness. He has stubble, shaggy hair, and looks somewhat like an alcoholic.
• There is the use of flashbacks, showing the night before where he was drinking too much, and cant remember anything.
• Notices there is a timebomb strapped to his chest, and cant remember why it would have been put there the night before, possibly a message that binge drinking is not advisable?
• The director chooses to use his conversation and screaming to the 911 operator on top of the music, this is obviously just in the video and not in the actual song. This use gives a sense of emergency, and sets us in a more intimate way with the character, and the storyline makes a bit more sense than it would have done without it.
• A very much narrative based video, no singing involved at all.
• He seems in a sense of loneliness when he tries calling for police and then running around trying to get help, suggesting that he had done something bad the previous night whilst drinking.
• There is then a shot showing a smashed picture frame with a picture of a girl in it. This is not unlike most music videos, with the reason for depression or something negative happening because of an argument involving a girlfriend/boyfriend.
• His emotions throughout the whole music video are shown by the use of close-ups. This is not the "meat" however, as they are not portraying him at all in a sexual way, and this is not what the video tries to achieve.

Planning Review #1 CF

Rob / Josh - based on our discussions, I know that you have picked a suitable track and have made some progress in discussing visual ideas as a group. However, you have not met the deadline for completing product analysis. Rob - as I commented on the JayZ post, you have chosen to write up the comments from our class analysis of two videos, however for coursework, you are expected to choose your own videos that are related to your genre / video style to help inform production. Josh - you have done the same and only for one video.

You both need top marks for this project and this is a shaky start to planning. The blog must reflect focused, relevant research into videos. Rob - please delete the Britney analysis, that is homework for the exam text.
You must now invest time in researching, planning and post all of your ideas, discussions.

Track Choice

Me and Rob have talked about it and we are going to make a music video for a song called 'Lonely Soul' by 'UNKLE'. It is quite an ambient song and we think that it gives off the idea of lonliness and engages the audience effectively with the easy-to-follow beat. We are going to use loneliness as a theme throughout the video and have already decided a few small things. We are not going to be lip-synching as we think it will be quite hard to do accurately and we also feel that the lyrics being lip-synched could also be quite depressing and take the interest away from what else is going on in the video. We have also decided that a lot of the filming will be done in an urban location. We feel that this is fitting with the song, and if possible, we will try to get some filming done at night time, depending on the weather situation.

Analysis of Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Can't Stop (Directed by Mark Romanek)

• Opens with yellow air tunnel before using a point-of-view shot to take the audience through to the other side.
• Has performance shots, a typical convention for music videos for bands similar in style to Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
• Use of mirrors - another convention in music videos, shows Anthony Keidis singing to his reflcetion.
• Lots of shots of band members doing loads of crazy things. Promotes their image of them being a fun band and them having a good time makes the audience feel like they are 'friends' with the band, or they want to be 'friends'.
• Often cuts back to band playing but playing with a bit of attitude (jumping around topless etc). This gives the audience the idea that the band have a lot of stage presence and perhaps promotes their live performances. It is reinforcing their rock status.
• Lip-Synch
• Notice at end of video saying 'Inspired by the 'One-minute sculptures' of Erwin Wurm'. The audience then see the significance of the strange activites just witnessed. It puts the video into context.

Analysis of Massive Attack - Live with Me (Directed by Johnathan Glazer)

Key points of this video:

• Postmodern
• Beginning of video in shop - social realist, engima - is she having a party with all that alcohol?
• Lots of use of jump cuts at start, quickens time up
• Pace of the music picks up and she begins to walk faster - visual relationship to the music
• "Day and night I've been missing you" - cuts to a CU of her face
• Sitting on the toilet - fairly explicit for a music video - however, it is not glamorised at all (visible with the bleach and toilet brush shown)
• She is almost suicidal, won't stop drinking even when she is on the toilet.
• Use of depth of field
• A visual relationship - the camera jolts as she stumbles from drunkenness
• Dream sequence - postmodernism (Glazer - Sexy Beast)
• Final shot in video of the stars - is she dead? Enigma

Analysis of Jay Z - 99 Problems (Directed by Mark Romanek)

Key Points of this music video:

• All filmed in black and white
• Hip-Hop music genre
• Mise-en-scene of the video, all meeting the generic conventions (guns, urban setting, scantily dressed women, prison, motorbikes, jewellery etc.)
• Very fast shot video, gives the impression Jay Z is always moving about, never settled and always active.
• The use of CU camera shots, this would be considered the "meat" of the video according to article by Steve Archer.
• Narrative/conception based video - gives the idea of Jay Z's upbringing in the socially deprived area of Brooklyn, NYC.
• The police are represented as racist, and in a negative way ("Do you know why I'm stopping your for?" "Coz i'm young and i'm black and my hats real low?", also "Are you carrying a weapon on you? I know a lot of you are."
• There is a large use of low angle shots, which aggrandizes Jay Z's celebrity status and shows that he has moved up in the world and has now made it to the big leagues.
• Shows him getting shot many times at the end. 50 Cent pastiche? Or is this the way he sees his life ending if he carries on that way?
• Video reinforces capitalism, shows a young black child at the start of the video (possibly representing Jay Z as a child?) and then him with his expensive jewellery on etc.

R.A.

How do audiences consume music channels?

How do audiences consume music channels?

Audiences consume music channels in two ways:
Focus – this is where the audience is attentive, with 95% of their attention being directed towards the music channel. They have a deeper relationship with the programme or channel being watched, and the adverts on this channel suit them, e.g. the Creative Zen adverts shown on Kiss, Smash Hits and Kerrang.
Ambient – there is less surfing of the channels between different songs, as the channel is just left on in the background. This is a kind of television radio, as the audience is consuming what is being shown, but not attentively. This has a mass appeal, as they can listen to the genre which they want to on different channels, and don’t have to pay any attention to the actual TV set.

By JOSH:

Why are music channels commercially viable with such small audience shares?

Music channels have a very specific target audience, which is the 16-34 age bracket. With this information they can choose which genre of music they show, the use of language used by presenters, and the adverts shown. An excellent example of the way in which music channels are commercially viable is the Creative Zen campaign appeal. The Creative Zen Micro is the number 2 in the MP3 player market, only behind Apple’s iPod. Creative joined forces with Emap, in an attempt to boost sales. Emap are owners of Kerrang, Kiss, Smash Hits and Magic, all BSkyB television channels. They used 272 hours of advertising a week on these channels, using 9 different adverts of 3 genres split between Kerrang, Kiss and Smash Hits. The result was they reached over 76% of the 16-34 target audiences, and sold out the Zen Micro nationwide within weeks.