The Used - Empty With You

American band The Used have just released a music video for their new single 'Empty With You' and while watching it I realised that it featured a few of the elements we aim to put in our video, so I took a few screen shots. I really liked the sunset beginning, the colours are beautiful, and I also liked the representation of loneliness with the eye contact with the camera from the lone band member, which also engages the viewer. I also liked the moving traffic and people in contrast with the stationary band member, and the use of street and car lights out of focus in the background. The close ups of the anguish and emotion of Bert, the vocalist, are similar to ideas we have had for our video, and could provide an example of how to effectively frame and light our footage. I also liked the writing in the condensation on the mirror; this is an idea I will pitch to my group.

Mood board

My group decided to construct a mood board to gather all our ideas together in one place. We used our location pictures, music video screen shots, lyrics and words such as REGRET and LONELINESS to enrich our mood board. This task will help us focus and organise our existing idead hopefully provide further inspiration.

Locations

Grace's garage - Greenhithe

Grace's garage has the potential to become a room or bedroom for our actor. We will decorate it accordingly; shabby furniture, messy floor, torn wallpaper/brick walls, basically a neglected environment, to reflect his life and mental state.

Leake Street - Lambeth SE1 - behind Waterloo Station

Matt Brown has hosted two amazing photographs taken on a Holga camera on his Flickr account, of Leake Street, a tunnel in London which features some incredible graffiti. The lighting in this tunnel, and the art on the walls, would provide some interesting shots for our video. The atmosphere in a tunnel, and what being in a tunnel symbolises (feeling trapped, alone, oppressed, helpless) is perfect for the video we want to create.

Hackney Road - Hackney E2

This East London location is perfect as it's rough and urban, adding to the image we want to portray. The railway bridge and alleyways also add to the environment we want to create. Some interesting night shots could be created here, as shown by the photograph.

Battersea Power Station - Battersea SW8

Battersea power station is an old abandoned building and a less obvious choice for a London landmark. The ruined insides would provide a perfect grimey environment, although we may not be able to film inside the actual building. The facade would still provide some aesthetically unqiue shots for our video.

Richmond Park - Richmond SW15

Richmond Park is the largest open space in London, and has some wildlife such as deer and birds which would create interesting footage for our video. A herd of deer running or a flock of birds flying would be dramatic and reflect the subjects confused and disorientated state of mind.

Dartford Town Centre

We've decided to use a kebab shop closer to home for this part of the filming, and using Google Maps, found a suitable location.

Asking permission.

We have to ask Mercury Records, who released our chosen song End Credits by Chase & Status ft. Plan B, for permission to use it in our project.

If we do not recieve an answer, we can still use the track. However, obviously if Mercury refuse to grant us permission, we will have to find another track.

We couldn't find Mercury Record's email address, so we'll post the letter instead.

Rihanna & Director Anthony Mandler

Director Anthony Mandler has directed three of RnB singer Rihanna's videos, and the stylistic elements of the videos have influenced how we want our own video to look. Rihanna's recent change of style to a more edgy, gothic and rough look are reflected in her clothing, hair and make-up, and also in the content, style and direction of her music videos. We as a group are inspired by this new image.

Rihanna - Wait Your Turn
The overlaying technique is something we liked, where two or more pieces of footage are placed over eachother, creating a dynamic, ghostly effect, which could convey our subjects confusion, despair and disorientation. We also like the way Rihanna smokes in the video in one of her close ups. There are also lots of unconventional angles in this video, something Mandler employs often in his work. Lower angles are used to make Rihanna seem confident and in control, which links with the music, lyrics and attitude of the song. We could also use some unusual angles, but to convey regret or anger instead of confidence. The cityscape in the background of part of 'Wait Your Turn' is aesthetically interesting, and could portray our subjects feelings of insignificance and loneliness in our video. Lastly, the grainy effect on the video is a potential effect we could use.


Rihanna - Russian Roulette
This video also contains some interesting lighting and colours; we aim to use dramatic colour in our video, such as red lighting to insinuate passion or anger. More overlaying and unconventional angles are used to convey Rihanna's emotions throughout the song, and represent her as vulnerable or anguished. The use of a spotlight in the jail footage links to the single window shape of light in Evanesence's video for Everybody's Fool.

Rihanna - Disturbia
There are more examples in this video of overlaying and interesting colours and angles, which have helped inspire our own music video. The overlays in this video create a eerie effect, which links to the theme of the lyrics, which are about going mad.

Inspiration.

We decided to look at existing music videos, past and recent ones, to gain inspiration, and to have visual evidence of our initial ideas. From looking at several videos of either rock or urban music, we have noticed some conventions:

• Dark and dramatic lighting
• A dark blue or green tint to the lighting
• Several close ups of the artists
• Heightened contrast with lighting

Brand New - Sic Transit Gloria.. Glory Fades [link to video]
This video depicts a man who finds he can control others around him, making them copy his every move. He is tormented, screaming the lyrics and using his powers to create chaos by smashing glasses and turning over tables. There is a twist to the video that we really liked; he is really being controlled by a man in the shadows.
Things that we liked about this video:

• Use of mirrors to disorientate
• Close ups of anguish/screaming
• Close up of glass smashing
• Imagining a person is there
• Being destructive
• Out of focus lights in background

Glassjaw - Ape Dos Mil [link to video]
We liked this video of a couple who are dressed as clowns, and the wife is adulterous, and the husband, who watches her via CCTV, finds out. There are two parts to this video; a performance and the narrative, and it switches between the two throughout.
We really liked the soft focus/out of focus/close ups in the bedroom while the wife is cheating on her husband, as it reveals the intimacy of the situation, and we could employ this filming technique for the intimate parts in our video.

Evanescence - Everybody's Fool [link to video]
This video shows a models despair at the false life she leads, and how she hates the way she is portrayed in the media. The contrast between the modeling footage and the hotel room footage is shown with dramatic lighting changes; the dark lighting and shadows illustrate her dark mood. We also particularly liked:

• The sunlight through the window making her silhouette.
• The shadows on the wall
• The use of mirrors
• City lights in background
• Running make up/crying
  

Green Day - 21 Guns [link to video]
There was only a small section in this video we liked; the way the lighting changes quickly and dramatically, almost like spotlights, and the way that the mirrors are smashed and fragment and distort the mans face, showing his anger, frustration and confusion.




Plan B - Stay Too Long [link to video]
Plan B, one of the artists in our chosen song, has recently released a new song and the accompanying video features an interesting effect, shown in the images to the right. We could use a similar effect to show disorientation or reflection of past memories.

Pieces - Chase & Status ft. Plan B [link to video]
This video by the same artists as our chosen song, features a girl getting revenge on a partner. There are some aesthetically interesting shots in this video that could inspire our own footage. We also really liked the use of a fisheye lens for some of the video, and seeing as I have a fisheye conversion lens, we could experiment and include some fisheye footage in our own music video.

Initial ideas.

When listening to the song we began to brainstorm ideas for our video, and in my group we put forward individual ideas which we all developed and discussed to form the basis of our video.

We decided to hint at a narrative, a convention of music videos, and also feature a main male actor in our video.

Our initial idea is of a man, who regrets his actions, something to do with a girlfriend he has hurt and pushed away, or he has left home, losing family and loved ones, perhaps done something like cheating or injuring/murdering someone. He is lonely, full of remorse, made mistakes. All these ideas link to the lyrics of End Credits, regretting something and hoping for something positive.

Disorientation, despair, loneliness - shown through dim lighting, grimey locations such as a garage converted to a room, street lighting, car headlamps, surrounded by strangers rushing past him, contrasts in paces of editing to reflect moods and events. Other locations such as alleyways, tunnels, derelict buildings. Actions such as smashing a mirror, screaming, smoking, bleeding, violence, expressions of anger/hatred contrasted with expressions of emptiness and regret. Grainy, desaturated effects on film to convey moods, contrast with lighting to show intimate flashbacks - strong colours such as red, high saturation, brighter colours. Main actor singing to the camera/mouthing lyrics occasionally, to convey emotions.

A female actress may be included, to show intimate scenes as flashbacks to his relationship, or the woman he cheats with. Soft focus and point of view shots to show passion, intimacy, love and intense emotion. Red fairy lights to light the couple showing love and intimacy. Home-video style footage showing quick flashbacks to past moments with a partner - contrast with grey/green/dim lit shots of man on own, emphasises emptiness and regret.

End Credits lyrics.

When the blood dries in my veins and my
Heart feels no more pain
I know, I'll be on my way,
To heavens door,

I know when I'm not,
I'll be hoping I don't drop,
To a place where I will rise, like before,

I know when I'm not,
I'll be hoping I don't drop,
To a place where I will rise, like before,

I can feel, something happening
That I've never felt before
Hopeless dreaming will start,
Dragging me away from heavens door

I can feel, something happening
That I've never felt before
Hopeless dreaming will start,
Dragging me away from heavens door

When my mind stops thinking,
My eyes stop blinking,
I hope
Somebodys there.

And my heart stops beating
And my lungs stop breathing
In air,
I hope somebody cares,

When the blood dries in my veins and my
Heart feels no more pain
I know, I'll be on my way,
To heavens door,

I know when I'm not,
I'll be hoping I don't drop,
To a place where I will rise, like before,

I know when I'm not,
I'll be hoping I don't drop,
To a place where I will rise, like before,

I can feel, something happening
That I've never felt before
Hopeless dreams will start,
Dragging me away from heavens door

When my mind stops thinking,
My eyes stop blinking,
I hope
Somebodys there.

And my heart stops beating
And my lungs stop breathing
In air,
I hope somebody cares,

When my mind stops thinking
My eyes stop blinking
I know
At the end.


I feel from the lyrics, this song is mainly about regret. The singer is however being positive about his situation, and the intro music feels slightly uplifting, he is full 'hope' for better things. Perhaps he has done wrong, maybe pushed someone close away, or hurt them, and regrets his actions, hoping they'll be there 'at the end' of his life, or forgive him? His heart is feeling 'pain', showing he feels remorse over whatever he has done. These lyrics hint at a narrative, which is good as we can then interpret them in our own way, to create something unique.

Choosing music.

We sat down as a group, me, Paige, Elle and Grace, and put forward some songs we liked, and decided to choose the one we all felt drawn to, and most excited about, to ensure we are all passionate about the same song, and can all be on the same creative wavelength.

We initially chose The Sadness Will Never End by British metal band Bring Me The Horizon, as we really liked the dynamics and impact of the song, as it's very powerful in music and lyrics. However, we changed our minds as there were conflicting ideas for the video, and it is quite a long song.

We then looked at Bring Me The Horizon's remix album: 'Suicide Season - Cut Up', for a equally impactful song, but of a slightly different genre. We then thought of the London urban artist Plan B, who has worked with drum and bass DJs Chase & Status , and we eventually decided on End Credits by Chase & Status ft. Plan B. We all felt, although this sounds cliche, an instant connection with this song, and immediately ideas began to flow.

Starting my coursework...

For my A2 Media coursework I decided to choose the music video brief:

1. A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

• a website homepage for the band;
• a cover for its release as part of the digipak (CD/DVD package);
• a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).
  

Having done a music video in July to get some filming and software practice for this year's coursework, I really felt drawn to this brief as I wanted to make another music video, as I enjoyed it so much in July. As a group we decided that we wanted, as well as the music video, to do the digipak art work and magazine advert for the digipak, as we could use our Photoshop and Indesign skills we learnt last year while producing our AS Media coursework - a music magazine.

This is the video I produced in a group of 4; we planned, filmed and edited it in 2 weeks. We had had no previous experience with the editing software Final Cut, so it was a challenge, but I am very proud of the results. The chosen song is Warrior's Dance by The Prodigy.

I couldn't get our video to upload so I took some screen shots of it. The title was 'The Journey', and we decided to interpret this as a journey through someone's mind; a nightmare in which they are possessed by a strange version of themselves. We used overlaying to illustrate the change from normal to strange, and used dramatic lighting and make up to create an unusual character. We also used echo effects to create disorientation and portray the weirdness of her nightmare.