Major Influence for Music Video

When initially thinking of what I wanted from my music video, I often came back to how Dallas Green's video for Comin' Home looked. The slow pace was something I was very interested in alongside the feel of the video, it seems to have a 'lonely' feel about the video which is quite haunting.

Risk Assessment

Here is a list of things that could cause harm or in general should be avoided.

Possible Risk

1. Actors must be careful when filming in the recording studio.
2. Loose wires could be tripped on.
3. Be wary of lights overheating.
4. Water in the bathroom could affect camera equipment.

Resolution

1. Make actors aware of surroundings and possibly set a guide rope when not filming.
2. Use cable tidies when shooting.
3. Switch between lights when off camera.
4. Check taps before setting off to shoot.

Call Sheet

Music video

This is my call sheet discussing, areas and locations of my shooting schedule.

Possible Font Choices

I am yet to decide completely on what theme I would like the album to be but at the moment I have 2 options to choose from. I can either have the song as part of a metal album and have it as a break away track often seen in albums of this genre, such as Bring Me The Horizon - 15 Fathoms, Counting. The other option I have is to theme the album around an acoustic band and have this as a single being released. The 2 options are shown from the types of font I am deciding over.

Questionnaire Results

These are my questionnaire results, showing my findings amongst the results I took from other music fans.

Treatment Sheet

History of Chosen Song:

"The Girl" is track 10 from the band City & Colours second full length album, "Bring Me Your Love". The song was written, composed and performed by Dallas Green. The album was recorded Catherine North Studios in Hamilton, Ontario. The studio itself is a renovated church, the entire studio is open plan. Green explained that "its like a totally open concept studio, like theres no studio room or vocal booth or stuff like that".

Dallas described that he wanted a live feeling for the record and this is can be heard as a majority of the songs have a slight echoced sound when playing in the church. Green also explained that the reasoning for this studio was so that his music was not over produced like so many other bands are in modern times.

My interpritation of the song is that He is in love with a girl who does everything for him to keep the relationship working. Even though he's off doing his own thing as stated within the song. He promises to be faithful to her and he hates to see her sad because he think it's his fault.

The Music Video:

My music video is mainly performance based with limited narrative. The main bulk of the music video will be set within the theatre within Hartlepool 6th Form College and also within the colleges recording studio. When filming I would like to get a natural run especially whilst in the studio to give it a more realistic feel. After receiving the results to my questionnaire I have chosen to shoot a black and white video as I believe it is very suited to relaxing music and is very easy on the eyes when watching.

My reasoning for choosing to having a black and white video is also that it is a common convention within a lot of acoustic music videos. Another convention which I intend to use is being able to portray emotion through the video complimenting the music itself. As it is an acoustic video there will not only be focus on the front man but I also want there to be heavy focus on the guitar itself.

The idea to shoot in the studio was to make the video a little bit more interesting as the majority of the shots would have just been in the theatre which I feel for to long, would have gotten abit repetitive.

Breakdown of Lyrics

0:00 Intro 0:23:

0:24 I wish I could do better by you, 0:30
0:31 Cause its what you deserve. 0:35
0:37 You sacrifice so much of your whole life, 0:43
0:44 In order for this to work. 0:47

0:49 While I'm off chasing my own dreams, 0:52
0:53 Sailing around the world, 0:55
0:56 Please know that I'm yours to keep, 0:58
0:59 My beautiful girl. 1:01

1:01 When you cry a piece of my heart dies, 1:08
1:09 Knowing that I may have been the cause, 1:13
1:15 If you were to leave, fulfil someone else's dreams, 1:20
1:21 I think I might totally be lost. 1:25

1:26 You don't ask for no diamond rings, 1:29
1:30 No delicate string of pearls, 1:32
1:33 That's why I wrote this song to sing, 1:35
1:36 My beautiful girl. 1:38

1:38 Instrumental 2:35

2:36 I wish I could do better by you, 2:41
2:42 Cause It's what you deserve. 2:45
2:46 You sacrifice so much of your life, 2:49
2:50 In order for this to work. 2:53

2:54 While I'm off chasing my own dreams, 2:58 (my own dreams) 2:59
2:59 Sailing around the world, 3:02 (around the world) 3:03
3:03 Please know that I'm yours to keep, 3:06
3:07 My beautiful girl. 3:09

3:12 When you cry a piece of my heart dies, 3:16
3:17 Knowing that I may have been the cause, 3:20
3:21 If you were to leave, fulfil someone else's dreams, 3:25
3:26 I think I might totally be lost. 3:28

3:29 But you don't ask for no diamond rings, 3:33 (diamond rings) 3:34
3:34 No delicate string of pearls, 3:37 (string of pearls) 3:38
3:38 That's why I wrote this song to sing, 3:41
3:42 My beautiful girl. 3:45

3:46 Instrumental 4:21

4:22 But you don't ask for no diamond rings, 4:25 (diamond rings) 4:26
4:26 No delicate string of pearls, 4:30 (string of pearls) 4:31
4:31 That's why I wrote this song to sing, 4:33
4:34 My beautiful girl. 4:41

Song Ends 4:44

My Song Choice

At the time, the reason for me choosing this song was because it was probably one of my favourite songs around when we started the project.

Primary Research Questionnaire

1. Are you male or female?

[] Male

[] Female


2. What is your favourite music genre?

[] Acoustic

[] RnB

[] Blues

[] Rock

[] Pop

[] Hip Hop

[] Folk


3. How old are you?

[] 16-18

[] 19-21

[] 22+


4. Where do you hear most of your music?

[] TV

[] Radio

[] Internet


5. Do you prefer music videos to have a story line?

[] Yes

[] No

[] Not Bothered


6. Would you expect to see frequent meat shots (close ups) of the front man within the video?

[] Yes

[] No


7. How do you think a video for the acoustic genre should be presented?

[] Black & White

[] Colour

[] Sepia

[] A mix of both B&W and Colour


8. What type of music video do you prefer?

[] Amplification (Lip syncing, beat matching)

[] Illustrative (Represents the lyrics)

[] Disjuncture (Irrelevant to lyrics)

Permission Request

This is my permission request to use the song
"The Girl" by City & Colour. I sent this through
the bands official myspace.

Genre & Convention Research

Typical features of my chosen genre are videos fueled by images depicting the band usually playing at live venue. Another feature often used by artists when creating music videos is the appearance that they are the life of the party, this often shown by having the band playing at a house party or another event.

An example of this:



Another convention seen within this video is to make the band look humble. As can be seen in the video for "Alexisonfire - Born and Raised" when the audience can see the band members playing domino's. I believe this makes the band seem down to earth and also adds an element of humor to music video which another aspect seen alot during this genre of music video.

Another example which combines the live aspect and the humor:

Audience Profile

The intended age of my listeners, I would expect to be between 17-21. As a student of 19 myself this is the type of music which I prefer to listen to.

An example of my audience is:

Matthew is 20 years old and currently unemployed, he is a big fan of the acoustic genre and is also an avid guitar player. At the moment he spends his days playing Xbox and job hunting, whenever he has a spare second he is always playing and learning new songs with his guitar.

Development Of Initial Ideas

Representation of chosen Target Audience.

- At this stage in my development I believe that the video will be focused on appealing to 15-21 year olds. I am judging the age rage on the genre of music I am itending to use for my video; Alternative & Punk, Rock and Metal.

Logo Ideas to represent Record Label.

- As shown below, for my own record label logo I would like it to be very simple but effective. I would like something smart that sticks in the mind for a lasting effect. Most likely when it comes to designing my own it will take inspiration from already existing logo's used within the record business today.

Advertisement Deconstruction

- The only image that can be seen within the advertisement is the album cover itself. There are minor uses of editing in which the album cover is made to look like an ink blot, this itself could be a direct link to the name of the album (Artwork).

- The font used specifically on the band name and album name, I believe is a very sophisticated font. It is that largest of the fonts used which is clear to see why as it is an advertisement for their album. Another use of font is used on the other details of the advertisement, it seems to match with the editing of the album image fitting the same style of the ink blot again.

- The overall style of the magazine spread does suite the overall expectations that fans have come to expect from the band. It also represents the style of the grungy, dark and emo rock music.

- The advert seems to have changed the overall appearance of the band for this album, but in someways kept specific signifiers which cannot be explained because of the overhaul used on the image of the album.

- I believe the image being put across is that of an accomplished band as the name of the band itself is not included on the album cover.

9 Screen Analysis

0:04 - In the very first shot within the video we see the bands front man sitting on a windowsill looking very regretful of what looks like a very long and drunken night. The camera shot used is a medium long shot, I believe this was used to show the mess around the singer indicating to the audience that their has been a party. This shot leaves the audience wondering why the singer looks in such a way. There are no editing techniques used within this first shot. The camera shot itself looks handheld possibly to show the mindset of the young man or to show that he is feeling tired and sluggish after the party.


0:21 - As the front man wanders through the house he see’s that everyone has just slept wherever they can, I believe this was used to show a typical party of today’s youth culture. The camera shot used again is another medium long shot. This again used to show surroundings. The lighting used within the shot, looks to represent a time of the day, I believe it is used to show that the youths have slept through the majority of the morning. The colours of the shot looked drained as if to show a lack of energy. Upto now the video has shown the lead singer to be the story’s narrator, sitting on the stairs singing the audience through the narrative of the song.


0:53 - This is the first we see of a performance in the typical sense of the word. An over the shoulder shot has been used within this scene which I believe is used to show the blinding light in background of the shot. This may be used to give the effect of waking up with a hangover (everything is to bright). Yet again the singer of the band is the focal point of the shot. As the rest of the band have yet to be introduced to the audience. The costumes used through out the video up to now have just been everyday casual clothes. The style of the clothes sets the genre of the music, wearing skinny jeans, caps, and skinny fit t-shirts. The lighting has drastically changed within this shot it has gone from cold blues, to a warm orange glow. At this point of the video, the video takes a break from the narrative to switch to solid performance.


1:11 – The next shot which I have chosen to include switches from performance back to the narrative. At this point in the video, time has been taken back so that the audience can now see the party from the night before. The camera shot used is a close-up shown with an over the shoulder shot used to show the thoughts within the band members head. He seems to look very confused and regretful of seems to have taken place within the bathroom. The room appears to be filled with smoke, presumably caused by a joint.


1:28 – In the next shot another band member can be seen downing drink after drink after drink, later in the video we see him causing trouble for everybody else at the party, this I feel fits well with a line within the song, “I’ve become what a mother wouldn’t want in a son”. This is just saying he is disrespectful and aggressive to others around him, pretty much embarrassing himself. Yet again the clothing is very typical of today’s youth culture. No editing as of yet to note.


2:08 – In this shot we are sent back to the front man of the band kissing a girl as his girlfriend enters the room. Yet again the lyrics link in well with the video another line singing, “I have done a few things I’ll regret”. The whole video seems to be themed around regrets and what ifs. The camera shot used is a close up, this is used so that only the young couple can be seen, this gives the effect that they are being watched as they are the focal point of the shot.


2:19 – This shot is where the first editing techniques are used in the video, we see a shot that was already used being rewound to give the effect of travelling back in time. This brings up another strong theme of the video of second chances. As this is happening we see all the members of the band going back through there mistakes and leading the audience to realise the meaning of the line in the song, “Practise makes perfect”.


2:44 – I have chosen this shot of the band performing to show that after they have made there mistakes, It is only them alone that can fix what they have done wrong. A long shot is used to show the entire band and also show the vastness of the room, once filled with adoring fans now is desolate because of there decisions through out the night.


2:50 – This is the shot in which the audience finally witnesses the singer righting his wrong and turning the girl at the party down. The video then ends with the front man leaving the party with his girlfriend before he can make anymore mistakes.

Analyses Of Shots Within A Music Video

Within the video there are approximately 116 different cuts within the video, I believe that the slow pace of the editing is a representation of the slow relaxing tune of the song. The video mainly consists of meat shots of Dallas Green, following him through a regular day running up to a performance in the evening.

Digipak Analysis

Front

Within the cover of this Digipak the band are clearly central figures of the cover.

Their stance and positioning on stage alerts the audience that this is a live album.

Tom DeLonge can be seen alongside Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker completing the line-up of the band.

Janine Lindemulder is included on this album cover as she was the focal point of Blink’s previous album Enema of the State.

Fans can be seen in the bottom left of the cover, yet again insinuating the premise of a live album.

The name of the band is written in a very cartoony font, it is also included on the billboard of a drive thru, this is a very American culture relating to the fact that the band are American.

The name of the band is included twice on the cover once on a billboard in the background and again written on a fans head in the crowd.

Each band members caricature is very accurate to their real life appearance which is strong link to the genre as the audience can see the way in which they are dressed and can also see Travis’s tattoo’s. For fans of the band they will be able to easily identify the band.

The clothing seen on the cover being worn by the band seems very stereotypical of the genre of music the band are best known for; Pop punk, punk rock, skate punk, alternative rock.

The colours of the Digipak are very bright which I feel fits in with the cartoon look of the cover.



Back

There is an alien spaceship on the back cover of the album, this in relation to a song, which is included in the set list of the album, called “Aliens exist”.

The bands name can yet again be seen several times on the back cover including, appearing on t-shirts, tattoos and body paints.

There is an image that gives the audience the idea of the type of person who listens to the music, there is a man in a suit who looks angry and boring whilst reading a newspaper at the concert.

In the background of the image there is an image of a prison shower, this is to depict the toilet humor included within most of the songs.

Another reference to the band is used, the man in the banana suit was included in the bands video for the track “All the Small Things”.

Album Covers

Music Video Analysis

As you can see the initial shot shown in the video is slightly blurred to disorientate the viewer watching the the video. Another feature I noticed when reviewing the video is that the costume is very simple, this is the kind of style I would like my video to be like. Another key feature of this video is the amount of meat shots seen within just the opening 40 seconds and continued throughout, this is a very stereotypical aspect of many music videos.

As you keep watching the video the blurry theme continues throughout, the word 'love' is echoed through the lyrics but also scene visually through the imagery shown in the video. Despite the fact that this video is not specifically illustration, it does have some references to other types of video such as amplification as the I stated before the video focuses on the themes of love.

As for the use of camera shots within the video there are also lots of extreme close ups focusing on lips, hands and other features that seem to have some representation towards love and how gentle life can be.

The illustration aspects of the video seem to follow the story of 2 young lovers throughout there life. The shots used just seem to follow them through youth to adulthood showing their innocence and love for one another.

Warhol-Self

OpieMe