Location Reccy

Finding locations proved quite easy; all we needed were 3 or 4 locations in which we could cut back and forth from throughout the video that would tie in with the narrative style of the video.
We decided that we would need a bedroom set and after comparing each of our own, we deduced george's room was the preferable location due to vicinity to the school, from where we would be travelling from during free periods etc to film, and also it is more or less equidistant from Hugos and Alex's houses so no one had to make a compromise travelling. The next thing we needed was a kitchen that looked like a 'hip-hop pad' i.e nicely furnished, big and modern looking. Fortunately a friend of ours' Harry Cotton had just the location having just had his house rennovated and a modern kitchen fitted, and we were fortunate enough for him to let us film some our video there. The kitchen is ideal as it is open-plan and has a kind of lounge area aswell which means two locations could be realised in one actual location. The house is in central Tunbridge wells, again easy for the crew to travel to and from.
We needed a recording studio aswel for which we used the school music department's newly furnished recording facillities with an editting studio overlooking a performance booth type area. This was ideal, especially with Hugo's technical music expertise with which he contributed some extra equipment such as a DJ decks, groovebox and synthesiser to enhance the mis en scene, so we picked it as a location. It was fairly practical, apart from having to book a session and moving equipment like the mics out of the vocal booth and moving the drum kit and make sure not to clash with GCSE music student's courework recording, as it was an in school location and so were we.
A location which we had originally planned on using was another friend Tom Parrish's garden with a decking area which we originally planned on trying to have a BBQ scene, but the relentless weather including a heavy snowdrop stopped it from being practical so we had to rethink.

All in all, i think our locations help create an authentic mis en scene with all of the realistic locations that we could use.

Technical Analysis- 'Mystery Repeats' Pete Philly & Perquisite

I chose to analyse this video as i thought it would give us a good insight into the style of a Pete Philly & Perquisite and hopefully give us some ideas to make our video fit their style and genre of music. It also might help us decide on locations, colours and shot sizes for our video.

Here is what i have found out from my analysis:

-The shots are very fast and quickcutting, often using several shots for several seconds of music, I think this helps to keep with the fast pace of the track.
-Almost all of the shots were 'meat' shots, which means they focus on the artist, so this video was entirely a performance based video, with no narrative fuzz as at all. This helps to keep artist authenticity, but this may also cause problems with lip syncing when we are making our video as the music is very fast paced and as is the rapping.
-The video features a sunny blue sky in almost every background, even when the surrounding buildings and backdrop of the shot are all in black and white. I think this helps to show the upbeatness of the video, and keep with the sunny feel of the music.
-As almost all of the shots are 'meat' shots the artist does a lot of movement with his body and arms, as often seen in rap performances, this means he is leaning in closer to the camera, moving his hands closer and leaning away from it. For this reason i think a lens that creates some sort of distortion would be useful and it would create a good effect when the artist is close to the camera. It would also distort all of the surroundings except for the artist who is in the centre of the shot, leaving the focus of the shot purely on his performance.
-The video uses large amounts of CGI digital wipes, such as people carrying the screen away to reveal the shot behind. I think this would be very hard to recreate with our music video so i think we should generally stick to normal cuts.
-The artist has several costume changes throughout the video, and i think this is definetaly something that we could encorperate into our video. The clothes he wears are general Hip Hop type clothing, such as baggy jeans and a baggy t-shirt.
-There are some shots of the music actually being played, such as shots of Perquistie playing the chello, and shots of him using the keyboard, and i think this should definetaly play a part in our music video as there is a long section where there is rapping at all, and there is jazz music.

Technical Shot Analysis: Radiohead - 'Fake Plastic Trees' -- Alex

I chose this video to analyse technically as it features a mix of performance based shots, (performance being the main artist Thom Yorke singing but not the rest of the band playing bcause its going to be hard to for us to reproduce a jazz ensemble in our own video plus the music is electronic for the best part), and a narrative fuzz element also. I wanted a video that repeated sequences, meaning that due to editting it appears that there is more action even though there are only a handful of different locations/ scenes.

• 'Meat' shots are of Thom yorke who is for the duration of the video sitting in a shopping trolley. MCU and CU shots are used in many different angles and different times
  Sequences are repeated; Narrative fuzz of people around the 'supermarket' type setting are seen - other people are in a trolley - using similar MCU and CU shots as the main meat shots; a high angle shot which could be positioned like a CCTV camera films a man pulling items off shelves; a man shaving his head, twins in childrens trolley seats, a man pushing and tipping a trolley, etc
• The video is mainly about capturing expressions; the majority are MCU or CU shots of the people including Thom Yorke
• in some cases like the man walking up the isle and a different one shaving his head features an editting effect which shows the same shot but delay cut so that the it 'speeds up' the action but keeps it at normal speed i.e. without the need for undercrancking.
• a handycam is used in a low position to get to the level of the wheel of a trolley which is used in a quick sequence.
• Different types of focus are used, particularly in the meat shots of Thom Yorke; soft focus is used at the start of many shots, viewing him through the rungs of the trolley side, slowly sharpening the focus before a cut.
• LS and ELS are used to capture people far off i.e down the long straigh isles
• Editting effects are infrequently used for stylistic effect e.g a MCU of Thom Yorke in the trolley from a left perspective is coupled with an insert shot of thom york shaking his head in BCU before cutting back to the MCU from another angle.
• Overcranking and slow panning/ tilts are used to possibly emulate the feel of the slow tempo of the track, however cuts are quite quick, averaging about 1 cut every 1 to 2 seconds, and the cuts are even more frequent towards the end of the song where it becomes more 'heavy' i.e singing is loudewr and more intense and guitar riffs are aplenty.

This technical analysis has helped me realised the complexity and detail required to construct a music video which to the untrained eye may seem simple or uninterlectually demanding to watch. This will help with developing our pitch as i will know how to link shots to eachoither, what types of shots should be used to create a particular effect, and also how long into each shot a cut should be made to make for an authentic music video.

Feedback #3

Hugo - your evaluation was focused and technical, however I need to see the shot list. George, your shot list looks detailed, but your evaluation is missing. Alex, I have neither pieces.

As individuals, you must start to meet deadlines; your planning grade will be signficantly reduced otherwise.

GET ORGANISED.

Audience Research - Results

Audience research was carried out by George, Hugo and myself in the form of a 'focus group' (shown above) in an afternoon in Tunbridge Wells which helped us to draw a (somewhat) mixed audience whom to present our ideas to. We started by handing round a copy of the questionnaire put together by george and, whilst we played them our chosed track 'Lazy' by Pete Philly and Perquisite, the six-strong group used it to help them record their own initial ideas about a video for the track in terms of setting, words, colours, mood etc. Next we showed the group a copy of each of our own moodboards and asked if this had changed any of their minds about their response to the track, or if this prompted them to add anything, and after this we read out the gathered ideas and had a general discussion lasting around ten minutes. The combination of these different questioning techniques allowed us to gather both qualitative and quantitative results to aid us a group in the design and idea generation process.

The results of the focus group show:

-A unanimous trend in the types of colours that were imagined; predominantly yellows, browns, oranges - 'Warm, 'Mellow' tones
-People generally generally associate this track with summertime – which could be a problem for us being that filming will be in winter/spring. – Perhaps we could try and recreate the ‘feel’ of summer by filming on a sunny day, or by applying light filters or something in the post production process?
-Happiness, relaxation, and contentment were all words used to describe the feel of the track and how it should be represented
-A focus on particular aspects of the lyrics were raised – for example “lying on the couch, bag of chips on my belly, focus on one thing, only on the telly” was a line that everyone agreed should be literally reconstructed. An idea of having a shot of performance (by us) within the T.V screen was another idea agreed on at this point. Images of the bed, and things associated with the general bedroom e.g classic alarm clock was the other thing that the majority showed in their individual responses, and when discussed, it was agreed that there could be a big focus on the bedroom as a key part of the video.
-Other scenes were also envisioned including the beach, a BBQ, a sofa, sunny day, sitting under a tree/ in grass in a park, a flowerpot looking to the sun on a window ledge,…
-It was also raised that the video should include emphasis of the some of the jazz elements of the track, be it a performance (‘old man playing piano’ was a specific image that was suggested), or featuring a jazz instrument in the mis-en-scene etc. This is one way we are going to create a unique unconventional hip-hop video to do justice to this frankly unconventional hip-hop track.

Overall it was agreed that hosting a focus group proved invaluable in helping us see past the preconceptions we had drawn in each of our own minds about how our video should look, and taking the group advice from a mixed demographic who did have a certain extent of hip-hop appreciation but all had musical interest on the whole allowed us to come up with some ideas that would appeal to a broad audience and be effective in amplifying the track in question.

Alex Auteur Research #1 - Michael Gondry

Videos which i have seen by auteur Michael Gondry include 'Protection' by Massive Attack, and 'Around the World' by Daft punk.
What i have noticed mainly about this director is the heavy focus on narrative fuzz and abstract imagery. and the way that performance is almost subliminal to the video itself. the video for 'Protection' shows a block of flats featuring all a host of people going about their everyday lives in odd ways, occasionally moving to a window featuring the artist singing but not too much of a focus on her and also featuring her in the video. metaphors and abstract imagery i have noticed include seeing a solid brick wall through the window in 'Everlong' by foo fighters. This video has a host of artistic wierd features but isnt too serious. The artist drifts in and out of dream and reality using stylistic effects such as colout to black and white. Objects morph into others as does the background, his hands grow and his clothing changes. Daft Punk's 'Around the world' Has absolutely no performance. and the video is soley based on abstract stylistic imagery such as changing colours and odd dancers all together dancing in different styles but to the beat of the music. This does amplify the track, as does the slow camera movement from window to window in the slower more atmospheric track 'protected' by Massive Attack, but this shows me Michael Gondry is clearly an artist and his videos show this though their complexity and narrative depth rather than a classic focus on the performance as a main feature.

Audience Research Rough Plan

Purpose- To gather ideas, images, colours and moods from a target demographic other than us.


5 or 10 minute focus group of about 5 or 6 people, qualitative open ended questions

Stratified sampling technique of people who are into the genre of hip hop

First play the people the track, and give them each a questionnaire to fill out about the track and play the track while they fill it out

Questionnaire will include questions such as:

What colours come to your mind when listening to the track?

What images come to your mind when listening to the track?

Write a list of words that come to your mind when listening to the track?

What mood do you think the track creates?

What locations and weather types come to your mind when listening to the track?

Then show them the mood boards we have created and ask them to answer the final question which would be about any ideas they have.

Feedback #1

I am glad to see that you have finally decided on a track and your video analysis has detailed technical observations. However as a blog it is incomplete - you need to evaluate your moodboards in more detail, Alex you have a number of posts missing (auteur research, your first textual analysis).

Also - you need to clearly state your track and discuss your initial ideas for the video - document your discussions. Make sure the blog is well organised, post names signpost your research.

Currently 3+/4- level for planning

Alex Textual analysis #2 - Pete Philly and Perquisite - Self Reflection

This video once again blends a combination of performance sequences with some narrative fuzz. There is a literal sense of amplification as words and parts of lines that are rapped appear on the wall behind the artist.

Narrative fuzz is featured showing a young boy most likely supposed to be him in a 'home video' type shot with amateur-like lighting feautures which are probably supposed to emulate a sense of a nostlgia, seeing as the track is entitled 'self-reflection' Old cassete tapes and a a tape recorder is shown which is a clear signal of something from the past and has connotations of old skool hip-hop iconography. Other effects like time-lapse of a building showing people going past and the artist rapping on a rock at the docks provide something for the audience to interpret in their own way and this makes for repeatability of the video.

Throughout the video, a couple of 'lines' encase the artist moving apart and back inwards as he raps. this is possibly supposed to be a stylistic feature of an old video, or maybe a type of metaphor of him being 'trapped' in the future.

Other narrative fuzz include the 'dated' video effect showing the artist walking through the streets greeting people. A large focus is on the 'North Metropolis' the area of the city in which he most likely grew up in and again amplifies the meaning of the lyrics and also contributes to the meta-narrative in promoting the name of the EP this track is taken from.

The meat of the video is mainly of the artist rapping directly to the camera adressing the audience. As mentioned above, the lyrics appear behind him on the blank background and coordinate in his hand actions - a convention of a rap performance. This is a feature used to simplify the meaning of the track and once again it amplifies the meaning of the lyrics as the track is partly about growing up music and rhyming was the main thing in his life.

Music Video Analysis- 'Insomnia' Pete Philly & Perquisite

This video is a part narrative and part performance video. The narrative section shows Pete Philly in a mental hospital which relates to the title aqnd lyrics of the song 'Insomnia'. The song is amplified by the video as the lyrics match what is going on in the video, giving them more meaning, so people are able to put pictures to the words of the song. It does demonstrate some Hip Hop genre characteristics such as the way that the artists raps directly to the audience and the way that he uses his arms to perform actions while he raps. In some of the shots the artist raps in the middle of a circle of other people, this is a genre characteristic of hip hop as artists are often shown surrounded by their 'posse' or 'gang', and the people are dancing to his performance. These are really the only hip hop genre characteristics seen in this video, but this is understandable as Pete Philly & Perquisite create mellow hybridised hip hop that uses rapping, hip hop break beats, singing and jazz to create a new genre. Lots of the meat shots in the video use a circular fish eye lens which gives a 180 degree view from one shot. This also creates an effect of stretching when the artist leans towards the camera, and also creates the view that the artist is surrounded by people, as you can see all thew people standing around him but they are distorted and because the artist is in the centre he is the only person who is properly focused, leading to the audiences attention to be focused upon him.
The narrative section of the video is designed to give the video narrative fuzz and this will create repeatability for the audience, as if the video merely had a linear narrative people would see everything that happened the first time they watched the video. With part narrative videos the quick cuts and short shots of narrative leave the video open to interpretation by the audience and also means that the audience may not notice everything the first time they see the video, and so willw ant to watch it again. The artist is seen in a mental hospital and is clearly having some mental problems. Some shots are shown of him from cctv cameras, they are blurred and black and white and give the video an eery feel, but also convey a key feature often seen in music videos which is the notion of looking, as if spying on the artist. Shots of the artist when he is in the mental hopsital include meat shots very close to his face which use the fish eye lens and distort the shape of his head while he says "head feels funny". Point of view shots are also used to give the artists view when he is strapped down on an operating bed looking up at the doctors. These POV shots are distorted and coloured differently. The narrative section of the video is uses greens and blues implying a feeling of looking back or remembering, whereas as the colour of the artist performing is normal, which gives the artist authenticity and shows it as reality.
Jump cuts are used on the meat shots of the artist to fit with the break beat style music and to add to the eery effect of insomnia and crazyness that the video is trying to portray. The narrative shots of the artist also often use a high camera angle, as if looking down upon the artist, and he is often in a submissive position of lying on the ground in a corner. The lighting in all of the shots is very dim, not bright, as the song is about insomnia and seems to portray the view of not being fully awake. The shadows are often emphasised to create a darker look. Close ups are used on medical equipment and on the artists eye, where you see a strange pattern of dots, similar to what you see if you stare at a light for too long, and then these same dots are also seen on a computer screen and projected on the ceiling. All of the features help to portray the feeling of ill-mental health and insomnia that this video is trying to create.

Auteur Research- Chris Milk

'Whose Gonna Save My Soul' Gnarls Barkely (Chris Milk)


'Mono' Courtney Love (Chris Milk)


Chris Milk is an American Music video director, known for creating videos for such artists as Kanye West, Gnarls Barkely, Courtney Love and Jet. He is also know for creating tv commercials. In 2008 he was awarded the title of "Music Video Director of the Year".

The video shown above that is 'Whose Gonna Save my Soul' - Gnarls Barkely is one i particularly enjoyed becuase of its strange part narrative style and the fact that during some of it you can barely even hear the track. This is very strange for a music video as it draws attention away from the track, but as this is the first of its kind it will bring the artist publicity through the originality of it.

Alex Lazy Moodboard

heres my moodboard. now hugo do one and we can hybridise the three.