Production Schedule Revised

Our Deadlines have recently been revised to allow us to reshoot and edit certain parts of our videos in order for us to create some stronger material. Because of this I will produce a Production Schedule to outline the time frame i'm now working in.
 
- Monday 5^th January * Print Product Plans

This is essentially the

- Friday 13^th February *Music Video

- March 20^th Final Prints *Final Prints

- April 12^th *Evaluation

Noteworthy Tutorial for Shooting in Low-Light

This Video Tutorial has been quite useful to me for what to do when shooting in low light conditions as a particular section of my piece features (Incinerator Scene). I will summarise it after:


Low Light: DSLR Filmmaking Tutorial from Moritz Janisch on Vimeo.

To Summarise on some key tips to take note of:

- The Film Speed (ISO) should never exceed 1600, If it does the image will naturally pick up visual noise.

- The Shutter Speed on the Camera will likely be more effective in low lighting at a speed of 1/30s to 1/50s, because of where I currently am I am not sure whether or not I can make advanced changes to my camera right now but a test of these settings will follow very soon

- The Aperture on the lens is highly effective in low light when set between F/1.2 and F/5.6

- Make sure that there is no auto contrast settings turned on as they can dramatically reduce effectivenes of the other tips.

I think this guide could potentially help my piece greatly by clearing up any noise and thereby making the piece look more professional and less amatuer.

Front Cover of the Album

After looking at the other Album covers in my previous post I have produced the image that will be found on the front cover

 

The Fractured Glass on the front of the piece is used to match the title of the album in that it is designed to look broken similar to glass, I will be tweaking this a little bit more to get the result that I want but this will generally contain a fair portion of what the final version of the front cover will look like.

Narrative Idea Development

In terms of my ideas about the narrative, I have taken strong inspiration from Nickelback's Savin Me, the theme and the story in that piece is really quite interesting, coming to terms with something like a curse is interesting and I believe I could use a common theme of something like alcoholism or depression to really ground in the point about my characters weakness in the face of an implied emotional breach. My intention is that this will create a powerful story that will keep the audience engaged and interested.

Digipack Font Decision

An important part of my digi-pack will be in its presentation, one such factor will be the actual font used on the front. To understand which font styles are more well associated with the Rock and Alt-Rock genre I have picked out some key examples to try to formulate a font choice of my own.

A bold and powerful font with 2 different sizes used, the larger text is used as a strong underline to the first line

The First band I'm using is '30 Seconds to Mars', Their band font seen here is bold and powerful, while it may appear bland its can also be seen as minimalistic. I particularly like the use of the larger text as an underline

Impressively complex font, slightly worn out lettering with 2 different font styles as well as some small illustrations.
 

The font for 'Good Charlotte' seen here is made up of two different lettering styles, the first and most prominent is quite exquisite with a sharp edge and smooth curve placed in contrast to its slightly worn out edging, it gives it a timely and worn look which gives the impression that the music ponders in rough topics, not entirely dark but rough at least. The second section of the lettering is a dramatic contrast as it appears much more boundy and light, especially given the bright colouring, It gives the interpretation that the tone can also at times be fun or at least cheerful/sassy.

Very Bold and sharp lettering with intersecting sections.

The 'Linkin Park' font is quite sharp and bold, it really gives it a punchy and powerful look with the implication that the tone and music style will include a level of harsh rythyms and a rougher tone. Its similar to the first half of the lettering on the 'Good Charlotte' piece which is interesting.

Very worn out lettering with a mildly visible underline spelling the album name.

The lettering for 'Nickelback' is similar to the 'Linkin Park' piece and the 'Good Charlotte' Piece in the sharp use of black and white, I am particularly fond of this colour scheme and the worn out effect in addition to the sharp and bold lining on the 'Linkin Park' piece and wish to incorporate the three somehow.

In conclusion, to get across the edgy tones of my piece in addition to having a bold and highly visible album, I will be trying to formulate a mixture of the last three pieces as they have peaked my interest the most.

Change in target audience

There has been a dramatic change in my target audience but I feel that I should address this. Essentially the biggest concern that I have is that since the War theme has been omitted entirely, the niche anti-war message has changed into a more mainstream and widely experienced story about depression and the struggles of life after love.

Essentially what this means is that this piece will now need to be marketed to a wider audience, From personal experience I would assume that this style of music when applied to the concept of love would appeal to a younger audience of approximately 15-21.

At this age the youth will constantly be pursuing relationships that are new in concept to them, because of this there is a stronger level of emotion and confusion when things go wrong, as younger individuals they arent as mature with dealing with these breakups and that sadness is something that connects the viewers to my main character in my piece, in the song itself the connotations of being broken and weak are also possible feelings that teens could be feeling when experiencing these feelings.

Digipack Change to go with the new concept

 

 

I am writing to make it clear that the tone of my Digipack at the end of the piece will have subsequent change from its original plan, Obviously the old war theme wont work in the new context so I will be changing it to a Alt Rock themed album with a focus more on gloomy atmosphere and possibly including the concept of love somewhere

 

In terms of the actual visible differences on the album cover the new album cover will use more washed out greys and browns, My idea for the original of course wasn't so grim in its design, it simply had to connote war themes and I even considered the inclusion of the colour red to connote blood and danger. The grey and grim colouring of the new album cover is designed to reflect the depressive tone of the song and to make it clear to the target audience that there will not likely be any incredibly joyous songs on the album.



The Linkin Park Meteora album cover uses greys and browns in connection to a theme of rebellion



The Linkin Park Album 'Meteora' does in fact use a similar style, but the subject in the picture is seen to be rebellious whil I am intending to aim towards concepts like sadness and depression.

The Colours are not as prominent and while the visual is stunning there is an underlying tone of sadness and macabre
 

This album by 'The Offspring' has a similar tone to what im trying to achieve, the composition is intruiging and actually eye catching, the colours appear sombre and washed out and its quite depressive which matches the tone well.

 

This album cover from 'The Pretty Reckless' is possibly pushing the sombre mood too far and wouldn't fit my theme.

This Album Cover sadly is a way of illustrating how I dont want my album cover to turn out, this style is a little too dark and it actually looks more like it belongs in the heavier genres of rock, the clothing and the manner in which they are loitering also implies rebellion which my piece is sadly not about. The colours are interesting but I think the more subtle tones of 'The Offsprings' Album is closer to my tone.

 

 

 



Props

A simplistic breakdown of the props I feel I need can be put in a short list

• Empty Whiskey Bottle x2:

 For the fire scene two are required as their are two separate shots of the bottle falling and smashing, these bottles are required for the scene by the incinerator, they are feature in a slow motion break which should be visually stunning.

• Band Equipment (Lead Guitar and Microphone acquired, Drum kit can be easily acquired)

The bands main equipment, the placement of the actual band on the stage will be made clear soon

• Photograph (Has been taken and printed

Some Scenes may Require additional lighting so I have got lighting prepared in advance

Continuity concerns

In my original piece I had considerable concerns that the continuity could be seen an poor due the narrative scene with the fire at night being followed directly by a scene in the day time.

I have personally been given a strong set of ideas to counter this problem. Firstly, In order for this to work, it needs to be clear that the fire scene is chronologically implied to be before the church scene which takes place the next day when it is bright outside. The best way to show this is by having something in the fire scene change the physical appearance the main character in the next scene. Indicating that the fire scene recently happened in the narrative.

Strong suggestions Include:

• Having the Main Character cut himself on the broken whiskey bottle shards
• Having the Main Character burn himself while burning the photos

Both are highly valid and can easily be shot within the same film recording.

Getting the colour to match the tone

In order for my piece to match the tone that I am looking for I have looked into changing scenes in after effects to achieve a more washed out effect.

 

Another Idea that I have been playing with has been the concept of having the main character isolated from the rest of the world through a color filter which would have to require the main character having a bright color on his person somewhere to identify him clearly.

 

Costume Design Concept

Health and Safety: Incineration Scene

The Scene where my main character stands next to a large open fire has given me a number of concerns to think about, there are some serious health concerns to take into account here and I want to make sure that these concerns are adressed prior to shooting to avoid negligent accidents to happen.

1. Concerns with the Fire



In order for me to acheive the height of the flames that I need, we will need to use wood and kindling to raise the flame, if the flame is not high enough we have a small amount of petrol to try and raise the flames. there are of course a number of risks here but we will be taking the following measures to ensure that injury does not occur.

• During the first test of the fire,all wood and kindling must be placed in the incinerator prior to ignition to reduce the risk of burns, If it is necessary to add more wood Flame Proof Gloves have been acquired for the addition of additional fuel.
• If we are to add petroleum to the fire, we must do so before ignition of the incinerator as addition afterwards could risk a gas can explosion, in addition to this, minimal amounts of fuel are permitted to be added to the incinerator and this has been taken into account.
• When the main character places the photo into the fire, the long coat that he will be wearing will be removed, this isnt too much of an issue as the scene takes place on a different day to the next and this wardrobe change is permitted for continuity. The removal of the long coat will reduce the risk of the long sleeves catching on the fire and causing harm when dropping the photograph into the flames.

2. Broken Glass


This scene also includes the breaking of two glass bottles by dropping them from waist height onto the bricked ground. Two bottles will need to be smashed as this scene is going to be shot twice from 2 different angles for a visual effect i'm constructing. Because of the broken glass being a factor, there are a number of ways to reduce risk from occuring in the form of actors or cameramen getting cut with small shards of glass from the subsequent breakage.

• The actor will be wearing thick socks and shoes to prevent any glass shards from getting into his shoes or socks which could cause harm.
• The broken glass will be immediatly swept up after the scene and will be placed in a bin provided to make sure that noone else on set stands in it and cuts themselves on it.

These are my key concerns so far for this scene but I will post another blog if I believe that there are other concerns to account for in the future

Shooting the Moving Sections

There are going to be moving scenes in my piece as seen in my previous Storyboard and Shot by Shot Breakdown which is good in varying the shots but it raises some concerns in the execution of the scene.

Firstly, Without a Stedicam the shots may come out shaky if we are not careful, because of this I have personally spoken to the Individual who will be holding the camera in that scene to see if they can keep it still, hopefully they can then keep it still enough that the mild shake left behind can be removed with Premiere Pro CS6's Warp Stabilizer tool which I have actually used before and can confirm that it is effective in altering certain shots to make them steadier.

 

 

Secondly, Because of where the moving scenes take place, which is next to a main road, There are some health and saftety concerns that need to be adressed, Essentially since the Cameraman will be moving backwards while holding the camera, there is a great worry that he may accidently drift into the main road. However in order to help prevent this, I have asked another friend to stand behind them with a hand on their shoulder to stop them walking into the road and also to press down into them to try and keep them from shaking.

Shooting Locations

In my piece it will feature a variety of Locations but they will mostly be between Suburban Areas (Main Characters Home/Incineration Scene) near the country , Durham City Centre and Walton Park (Redemption Scene at the end) and Durham Car Park (Suicide Implication Scene).

Music Video Treatment

Music Video Treatment – ‘Castle of Glass’ by A Familiar Picture

The purpose of this writing will be to clarify exactly what I am doing and to make it clear to the audience and to myself. It will outline the basic concepts of my piece and allow me to express my reasoning for said piece.

The Piece itself focuses on the life of a young man who is implied to have recently fallen on hard times; this includes the loss of his wife/girlfriend, although the exact nature of the relationship is irrelevant, the ambiguity helps to connect the target audience to the main character by allowing them to exercise their own interpretation. As the video follows on there is a mood and tone shift from a dark and gloomy set of shots to lighter and more dulcet tones indicating the characters return to happiness in what is intended to be something of an emotional adventure.

The video will begin on a fade in to a moving shot through a high level car park in a slow and smooth forward fashion, Followed by a series of moving shots around the main character before returning to the moving shot through the car park, these shots will take place in succession and they will shift after one another, to the other. These series of shots will last for approximately 1:30, in the sections with the main character there are a series of shots to indicate he is in distress or saddened including a shot of a teardrop falling on his hand, a short section with blurry traffic sound indicating a slip from reality and a scene of the main character visibly gripping a guard rail tightly. Together these first few shots should appropriately express the characters distress and depression.

Following this is the first few lines of the song accompanied by the lead singer standing alone on a stage, hopefully the actor can dictate the lines with little feeling and emotion to begin with as it will help accompany the narrative theme just shown. For now the band will not be present but they will appear in due time. This section will last longer than most and will probably be 3-5 seconds in length.

This returns us to the narrative section where the main character is standing in front of a large fire, the scene is set at night so that the glow of the fire appears ominous on the main character and almost sombre to reflect his mood (5 Second shot), from a POV shot the main character can be seen dropping a photograph of his Partner (Level of Relationship is not highly explained but is not required) into an incinerator fire, the shot is continued with the photograph being seen to be dropped from a side perspective, after the photo has been burned the main character drinks from whiskey bottle he has in his hand and slumps it’s to his waist level loosely, a quick shot of the bottle swinging down to his waist helps to punctuate the main character loose and intoxicated nature which together when shot quickly in sequence will last approximately 5 seconds. after a short singing part by the bands lead singer on stage for 14 seconds we return to the main characters grip on the bottle visibly getting weak, as the band ups the tempo in a short scene where the emphasis is on the guitar playing strumming more harshly for 3 seconds , we quickly return to seeing the bottle drop and get smashed from two different angles in slow motion which I believe will be quite visually impressive especially when accompanied straight after by a strong band section with heavy use of guitars.

Moving on, this scene is followed by a moving shot of the main character walking down a side walk from an over the shoulder shot and a front facing medium length shot with the character walking towards the screen lasting in total 10 seconds, I have made it clear in my intention that there will be something to bridge these two scenes, the strongest of which will be a scar, cut or burn that the main character has sustained in the previous scene. In this scene the main character walks past a church with disinterest or care, in a deeper meaning this helps promote the sombre tone but its key meaning is supposed to represent the main characters situation, and how little the concept of death bothers him in relation to the implied preparation for suicide in the first scenes, the camera stops halfway when it reaches the gates and pans up the building, showing the height of the church.  Immediately following this is another section with the band lasting 6 seconds but it then leads to another scene, in which the main character walks carelessly past a homeless man from the front in an upwards facing ground shot for 3 seconds, indicating aggression from the main character, as the main character walks on in a tracking shot that walks in front of him facing towards his face and body for another 3 seconds, the homeless man in the background is blurred out to indicate a lack of caring from the main character in his current depressive state.

There is a quite long section with the band directly after this which is essentially the band playing out the end of a chorus, it’s a series of shots starting with the lead singer, moving onto the guitarist and then onto the drummer then ending on the lead singer again, this quick succession of shots will mostly be medium shots which will in total last 11 seconds.

What follows after these scenes is what I refer to as the ‘Emotional Redemption’ of the character, emotional scenes from a park bench show the main character sitting contemplating and gripping his leg to show frustration from a POV Shot, he is however interrupted by a female character seen walking up to him from a medium shot with low length focus set on the camera, she extends her arm to him in a friendly gesture and leads him away from the bench in a side medium shot, this scene will be done with a short set of mid-range shots and POV’s of the two characters looking at each other. This is followed by a short section of the band playing. But immediately returns to the two of them walking to a large rocky structure on a sunset, the implication of which is to show the main character the beauty he has been missing in his life. As they are looking over the sunset, their hands come together in unity and he lightly squeezes her hand slowly, this is seen from a shot from behind but it moves to a smooth tracking shot where it ends at where there hands meet.

Finally, the scene returns to where the piece started, the main character simply walks away from the railing in slow motion, and the scene fades out, at this point background noise of cars and people can be heard much more strongly indicating a return to reality proper.

 

Shot by Shot Breakdown of Piece

Cut from 00:00 – 00:10 off the original song to better time the Introduction

00:00 – 00:05 Fade in Camera in a moving shot through a car park in a straight line

00:05 – 00:10 Camera slowly moves up from ground level to the characters waist in a close up shot.

00:10 – 00:15 Camera Returns to continue previous motion shot. Still moving through car park.

00:15 – 00:20 Camera continues to move up past the characters waist to see the back of their head and a city view past them which is blurred slightly.

00:20 – 00:25 Camera still moves through the car park for another 5 seconds

00:25 – 00:30 Side shot Main characters hand can be seen on a railing gripping it tightly.

00:30 – 00:35 The Camera continues on with the moving shot through the car park for another 5 seconds

00:35 – 00:40 Droplets of water can be seen falling on the main characters hand, indicating tear drops, the shot is a close up.

00:40 – 00:50 Camera moves round a corner to reveal the main character standing at a distance still moving in a smooth fashion.

00:50 – 01:00 Side shot mid range. Of the main character tilting his head up, he begins to turn around

01:00 – 01:30 The Camera continues to move towards the main character however the main character has now turned around slightly, as the camera moves on, he casually turns back to where he was looking and moves closer to the rail, as the camera continues to move right up to him, it moves over him into the bright light, the bright light shines brightly and moves into another scene.

01:30 – 01:48 in the other scene the Lead singer begins to sing the first few lines of the song

01:48 – 01:53 Character can be seen from behind with a fire being in front of him.

01:53 – 01:58 Character goes to POV and sees a picture of a couple, one of the persons in the picture is the main character. He extends his arm over the fire to drop the picture.

01:58 – 02:02 from the side he can be seen dropping it in the fire and drinking from the whiskey bottle. Then dropping it down to his waist

2:02 – 2:05 Close up of waist level shot shows his arm coming back down harshly with the camera being close to the whiskey bottle, the grasp on it is light.

2:05 - 2:19 return to the Lead singer on the stage

2:19 2:22 from the waist shot the main character can be seen struggling to hold the bottle

2:22- 2:25 Quick moment of the band upping the harsh tempo

2:25 – 2:28 Glass bottle smashes at the feet of the main character slowly

2:28 2:36 – Band Plays out half of the next lyric line. Camera work is quick moving to indicate strong rhythm

2:36 – 2:38 Moving over the shoulder shot of the main character walking down a side walk.

2:38 – 2:46 Changes to front facing shot which then rotates around him and stops at a set of gravestones while he continues onwards

2:46 2:52 – Band continues to play

2:52 – 2:55 Main character walks past a homeless man from over the shoulder

2:55 – 2:58 The Main character is seen walking from the front, the homeless man can be seen in the background.

2:58 – 3:01 The Homeless man blinks lightly and then closes his eyes from a side shot close up shot.

3:01 - 3:12 Returns to the band playing with the singer at the forefront elongating a note, Rapid shots change between the band as the tempo of the guitar increases.

3:12 - 3:17  Main character sits on a park bench and runs his hands through his hair

3:17 - 3:23 Band plays once more with special focus to the lead guitarist.

3:23- 3:25 Main Character Grips his hand tightly over his leg from a close up side shot.

3:25 - 3:34 Return to the band with the Lead singer taking the key focus in a mid range frontal shot.

3:34 - 3:41 Female character walks in toward the main character, the shot is a mid ground level shot and the focus is set to the foreground, while she is blurred in the background walking towards the main character.

3:44 - 3:48 Lead singer continues song section with an enthusiastic shot of the drummer

3:48 - 3:58 POV shot looking down on Male character from the POV of the Female character, Then a switch to the other side with the Male POV of the Female. Then a close up side shot of the female character extending her arm and hand to the male character.

3:58 - 4:02 Return to the band briefly to say another line of the song.

4:02 - 4:09 Main character and Female character walk up to a rocky structure and look over the town, with a nice sunset scene.

4:09 - 4:13 Final Band piece with the lead singer taking center stage to strongly sing last note

4:13 - 4:18 Close up shot of the two characters hands coming together then the camera moves up and fades into the final scene.

4:18 - 4:25 Main character shot reminiscent of original few shots on tall building, he turns and slowly walks away from the railing towards the camera to a fade out/Main character walks to the side and out of shot. Faint car sounds and people can be heard.







 

 

 

 

 

Music Video Idea Progression

My concepts for this piece are coming together well and I am definitely coming to a stage where I can plan out a strong series of shots and establish a narrative structure. Expect a more detailed post soon.

Style of the Shots

Narrative Scenes

In the Narrative scenes the main character will have a wide variety of shots used and they will differ between the two main moods in the piece.

NEGATIVE SECTION

In the section where the shots are indicating a gloomy and depressed interpretation of reality the shots will designed to artistically show corruption and a general sense of gloom. As a result the shots will include darker imagery, a less diverse color scheme and shots of the main character in a somber mood.

POSITIVE SECTION

In the positive section of the piece the colors used will be brightened to indicate rejuvenation and the embracing of life by the main character. The imagery will be lighter and smoother, shots will be much cleaner and less shaky.

New Media Concept Simple form - A Journey To Find Meaning

The new concept that I have come up with after discussion with my teacher follows the story of a man finding meaning in his life after a depressive time.

1. Music Video Begins -  Main character is seen standing on top of a large structure, the bleak setting gives the audience the impression that he is about to jump off of it and end his life, this scene however cuts to a different scene before such an action takes place.

2. The Main character begins a slow moving journey through a suburban street, the area is in something of a desolate and worn down area. He then begins a journey through a series of depressingly bleak areas.

3. Intersected is sections with the band playing as usual on a stage area.

4. The main character eventually experiences as complete change with his perception of reality to a more positive outlook by seeing parts of the world that are much brighter and cheerier.

5. Main character is seen once again standing at the original point, he walks away from it and moves to a much brighter scene.

Planning the Music video after the change in concept

I have replanned the key themes for my piece in a simple mindmap, it is a rough outline of some of the major changes that have occured from shifting the focus of my piece.

Linkin Park Album Analysis- Living things

Linkin Park Living Things Digipack Analysis

 

 

Name of Album: Living Things

Release Date:  20/06/2012

Band: Linkin Park

Front Cover

 

 

The Front cover of the album is strangely ominous yet also very visually powerful, the sharp red colouring on the eyes and chin of the character really stand out in the centre of the piece, the crumbling effect on the character itself is also very interesting. What it could possibly signify is something akin to a personal shell or inner being. The Typography of the title is bold and stunning with its subheading slighlty smaller indicating that more importance is on the band name being seen rather than the album title, this isnt really an issue here because the front cover is quite abstract and easily definable among other albums covers in my opinion.

 

Back Cover

 

The back of the CD Cover is reminiscent of the themes and colours shown on the front cover, however the colour red is omitted, this less visually stunning image is however less concerning as some may think, it would be fair to assume that at this point the person viewing the album has already found and picked up the CD being drawn to the front. the back serves its purpose clearly and shows the songs listed on the back, I know from personal experience that the special edition of the CD comes with a live tour DVD so this could be something to think about.

 

Inside CD

 

The Inside of the CD casing contains a lyric book, this is one of the few decent pictures of it that I have managed to find, but the lyric book follows this style, its a series of beautiful paintings with the lyrics placed over it in white making it stand out on the background. I have checked and this is the actual inside, my confusion for this is that the piece inside doesnt appear to match the exterior of the CD, however, it will admit it is quite stunning. I am strongly considering using this idea for my piece by underlaying a beautiful picture, to avoid copyright infringement I will most likely take a photograph and edit it.


I have gotten some strong inspiration from this piece here, I especially like the Front Cover and Inner CD Casing.

Overhaul on Media Video Concept

After having a large number of concerns with the actual original concept I proposed I have decided to reconstruct my music video. The concept will be up shortly.

Linkin Park Castle of Glass Video Analysis

00:00 - First of all this quote is good in setting the tone of the piece as it tells the audience immediately that the story isn't going to be happy. Its also good in telling the audience that the story is feasible and relevant to them keeping them invested.

(NOTE: There is a filter it seems over the footage to give the shadows more prominence in the scene, this can be seen especially when the boy turns the handle on the door.)

00:00 - 1:08 - This scene still hits me pretty hard, The story is clear and understandably tragic in the implication, the undulated and constant tone adds to this sense of tension and slowly builds as the young boy's sadness does making a strong link.

1:28 - This piece uses slow motion well both at the start and especially here, it just gives everything a smooth tragic feel that really helps the story. 

1:29 - 1:48 - This is a brilliant concept as there is a seamless connection between the two scenes, the blank expression on the singers face also keeps the tone well and doesnt detract from the overall story.

1:49 - 1:51 - The sharp jump from the character is interesting but its good in that it helps promote this disassociation from society for the death of what I presume to be his parent.

1:52 - 2:00 - The way that the walls fade away is brilliant as it keeps the whole piece together, the narrative and the band exist as one in a sense, they occupy a similar space, it almost like a metaphor, that behind the walls of this broken home at the death of the parent these emotions (the song) truly lie.

2:04 - The music is more directly connected to the narrative, the soft beats of the boys hand for me seems similar

2:09 Good shot which gives the band a strong unity.

2:24 The way in which the band plays out the tempo is incredibly exhilarating in connection to the visual effect and they play out their most powerful notes on screen for all to see, empowering the audience.

2:42 The band continues this poweful playing of their instruments, it keeps this adrenaline flowing and the audience stays invested because of it.

3;05 - 3:15 This entire sequence is beautiful, especially the guitarist whose harsh riff shocks the scene into slow motion, and as the rain and glass fall the band all plays as one, the expressions are powerful and its incredibly exciting.

Sadly I cant comment on a large portion of this video because half of the video was used as advertising for Medal of Honor which sadly detracts from the theme quite a bit, it should also be noted that the ending of this piece notably at 4:07 is quite interesting as it shows a sort of loop in the theme, similar to the video for Nickelback's 'Savin Me'. It gives a possible interpretation to the story and it gives the piece a bit of a return to an equilibrium which is in some way similar to Todorov's Theory of Narrative.

I really like the effects used in this piece but I lack the resources to achieve something so spectacular, I am however fond of the grainy effect when the band is playing in the rain and the real power behind the way that they play, it just really gives me a strong idea of how a band is to work together in a music video. The narrative story for this piece is powerful in some aspects and it really shows me how you can visually depict personal conflictions of emotions through expression and tone.

Nickelback Savin Me Video Analysis

In order to get the desired concept style right on my video, I believe that it would certainly be worth while analysing a video in the respective genre closer to the themes I am trying to reflect. I believe that the music video for 'Savin me' by Nickelback is quite similar to what I am trying to achieve and so I have decided to break down the video into what it does well and explore possible concepts to include in my piece. The full video can be seen below with analysis following...

00:00 - 00:25 : I'm incredibly fond of the ambient opening this piece has, it quite slow yet dramatic and it gives the piece a cinematic feel which is very enjoyable

(Point of Notice: I have noticed immediately that there is a slightly dull colouring presented in the piece, it seems like the footage has been dulled and darkened slightly with colour editing to set the tone and I must say its incredibly effective in representing a dingy and lifeless city.)

00:30 - 00:35 : Aside from the brief moment of action, I've noticed that the camera is shaking slightly, it appears loose and seems to be handheld or edited somehow, the effect this gives is interesting as it connotes a shaky disposition in the original character we first see, then being passed onto the new character. In a narrative sense this would appear to be the main character inheriting a sense of unease and a troubled mind.

00:36: The band is first shown, not too much time is spent in waiting to show the band which when put immediately after the first shots seems to be indicating to the audience that the band members are trying to connote some sense of sadness of their own. A feat which could make the audience empathetic and emotionally invested, which is helped by the depressed stances in the dark building shown by the band. The shaky camera is also maintained from the previous shots which connects the band and the main character from the narrative and keeps the theme flowing.

00:50 - 1;10 - The shaky camera work here is incredibly prominent, more so than before, it really grounds in the confusion of the main character.

1:12 - A strain on the main character is evident and his clear stress is carried through well.

1;24 - First use of the timer effect, its interesting to say the least and quite a powerful concept but I'm not entirely sure how I would work any truly powerful special effect like this into my piece.

1:25 - 1:35 - The stronger lines of the chorus have a real urgency here that the band be seen singing them, they usually tend to pick up on the end of a line or the beginning of one and never seem to stick around for more than an average of 5 seconds.

1:35 - 2:00 From here we see a continuation of the main character walking around, he seems more panicked than before and his acting comes across well in presenting his panic.

2:00 - 2:05 This is a very powerful shot in my opinion, the sheer shake of the camera and the way in which the main character bolts is very powerful in showing him peak in worry.

2:14 This section features an incredibly powerful POV shot, giving the audience an intimate view of the characters panic through the rapid movement of his head.

2:19 The angle in which the camera shakes tilts is powerful and accompanies the tempo brilliantly. it really assists the strong guitar sound and powerful drum beat of the song.

(I've started to notice that this piece is dominated by the narrative more than the band, even the band doesn't have instruments, which is interesting but the piece just gets away with doing this because of the strong camera work and special effects telling an engaging and gripping story.)

2:37 about 5/8's into the song is when we really start to see the tragedy peak, from here the tone is about to change to one of acceptance and is powerful and intriguing.

2:50 - 2;54 When the old woman dies in the ambulance I've noticed that the guitar riff is perfectly in sync with her death, it stands as a marker of the tragedy and sorrow felt by the main character having witnessed that and the sharpness of the note can be said to be representative of the characters emotions reaching a 'breaking point'.

3:10 - 3:15 The smile on the characters face is the first indication of his redemption and it really brightens the mood in connection to the song changing its tone slightly to one of recovery.

3:55 - 4:06 The slow fade of the song and the switch back to the ambiance is quite powerful in explaining the characters unburdening and his return to normality. its also interesting in replicating the opening of the video as well, giving the story an ongoing approach and showing the audience that this gift keeps going from one to another.

Conclusion

What I like about this video is that there's a really strong narrative focus, its an interesting story and it has interesting twists and turns which keep it engaging. The filtering of the colours is powerful and it gives the city setting that much more of an edge in creating a dark soulless environment which represents the characters inner strife.

The camera work is superb in replicating the emotion of the character, his feelings and physical strife is reflected in the use of POV shots and shaky camera workings, where I'm questionable on this video however is in the band, between the main character and them, the band just seems too out of place, it isn't clear exactly what their purpose is and if they are a higher representation of power in the story it doesn't come across well. They work well as a simple connector for scenes but they lack any real part in the story and as a result they break up the sequencing while giving nothing to the overall story.

What I am going to take from this is the effective use of certain camera angles and filters and the general means to making a powerful and engaging story, I'm sure another video can do the band segment more engaging. all in all I think the video is still quite enjoyable and its no wonder the song is one of the bands highest grossing.

Brand Identity - Linkin Park

Linkin Park is an interesting case study for brand identity. The band itself has undergone a dramatic change in both its style and its actual music in recent years, originally designed as a rap group, the band has slowly drifted into having a strong footing in the Alt Rock genre.

 



The band originally began with intentions to rap their socks off!
 



The band itself began with the intention of joining in on the rap genre, such as with bands like Jay-Z and such which were becoming incredibly popular with their songs like 'Encore'. In moving with the trend of the time the band then moved into the Alt Rock Genre with songs like 'Numb' and 'In the End' and there was a subsequent marketing change.

In recent years The band will usually be seen with one of two logos, either a sharp texted font or a minamalistic logo featured prominently on their CD Covers

Full Title uses sparsely

Frequently used logo for CD Cover

Sometimes they are used together

 

 The use of the logo is especially effective because its so simple that its easy to remember, the logo isnt even that cryptic as the symbols spell 'L' and 'P' for the bands full title and can be easily figured out. I also think the striking edges and sharp contrast make it an excellent logo to remember.

The band itself has a interesting variety of 'characters'.

 The band itself has something of a classic Heirarchy to it, its reminiscent of the Rock/Alt Rock Genre the lead singer (Chester Bennington) is prominently shown to be the leader of the whole band. The usual style shown off by the band is a black casual look. While this band consists of 6 Members (2 Guitarists, 2 Singers a Drummer and a Bass Guitar) My band will most likely feature 3-4 members due to constraints with equipment and will most likely have a lead singer, 1/2 Guitarists and a Drummer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brand Identity - Good Charlotte

GOOD CHARLOTTE

The Bands Frequently Recurring logo

Good Charlotte is a highly prominent band in the pop punk and alternative rock genre that was formed in 1995. As for their style, they maintain there use of dark colours in both their outfits but they also frequent in either songs about life problems with a strong rhythmic pulse, examples inlcude songs like 'The River' and 'The Anthem', two of their most famous and highest grossing songs which both feature themes about depressive love.

The band uses rebellious clothing in dark colours frequently

Good Charlotte has a strong band identity that expands throughout all of their products by having them all feature depressive tones. for example...

... in a number of their albums either the colouring is dim and dingy or the concept is dark in nature. It should also be noted that the band always uses the same font, and always curves the text to a significant degree. It makes it stand out quite prominently and would give them the edge on a store shelf because of it.

This is a good example of a key flow between each album, there is a real promotion of a brand identity and the audience will likely be able to see what the songs will be like simply from the tones on the CD. the Dark tones of the bands actual appearance is easily found in their products as well

Name of the Band

I have recently been looking at Alt-Rock band names for my piece, from what I have seen Alt-Rock bands commonly use an adjective and a noun or object, or at least an object is the focus, Peoples names rarely come into use. Well known examples include...

• The All-American Rejects
• Barenaked Ladies
• The Dead Weather
• Bullet For My Valentine
• The Dead Weather
• Fall Out Boy

In keeping with my Mainstream approach I will want an album title that sounds like it belongs in the Alt-Rock genre to help it be more easily identified. To help myself with this I have decided to break down the themes of the piece to try to establish a series of adjectives nouns or objects.

Concepts of the Piece

•  Love
• Depression
• Redemption
• Violence
• Sorrow

Possible objects these concepts could relate to

• Hearts
• Tears
• Blood
• Glass
• Gifts
• Photo
• Picture

Possible adjectives

• Abandoned
• Beloved
• Crooked
• Familiar
• Guillible
• Reckless

Possible Combinations that I find appealing

• The Abandoned/Reckless Hearts
• A Familiar Picture
• The Guillible Hearts

In actuality I really like 'A Familiar Picture', it gives the interpretation of something being repeated like a memory which fits well with the concepts of this video at least given its focus on lost love as a theme

Slightly More Detailed Shot Narrative for the Narrative Portion of the Piece

1. Main Character is moving around his home

2. The Main Character starts to boil a kettle, he moves to another room, he stops and looks at a war cabinet - Distracted by the war cabinet, the hiss of the kettle disturbs him and gives him a quick flashback of a gunshot.

3. The Character runs from his home, while the camera holds the shot of the boiling kettle.

4. Clad in winter wear, the character moves through a busy town street, trying to keep to himself. People bump into startling him, a shot from the front and back indicate the forcible collision

5. After being shoved around enough the main character grabs someone's wrist harshly, then, realizing his mistake, he runs away in shame to a nearby alleyway.

6. Questionable scene: Inclusion of a flashback centered around seeing a homeless man in the alleyway. (Scene is questionable due to needing to find actors willing to appear homeless)

7. Main Character runs a long distance indicated by a currently unspecified passage of time effect.

8. Main Character has yet another flashback which finally inspires him to return home

9. Once he makes it home he gathers up all of his war materials and memorabilia. He then proceeds to burn the items one by one, eventually leading to a dramatic burning of his uniform.

10. The song comes to a close with a scene of the main character destroying a cabinet full of war medals.

This acts as a basic narrative for my story to follow, by using this I can keep my planning concise in order to keep myself from wavering into new concepts and ideas too much, although minor on set alterations are still highly welcomed.

CD Digipack Design Ideas

For my Digipack, as I mentioned in my video pitch, I will be attempting to theme the CD cover to look similar to anti-war propaganda centred around more recent wars. Certain aspects I really want to emphasize are the concepts of democracy, and the inclusion of a peace logo that is somehow tainted or distorted.

Green Screen Concept

Because my music video is part narrative story and part band visuals, I will require a stage for the band to play on. I currently have my mind set on using a green screen in the background of my piece which will feature a war torn city or combat of sorts to illustrate the war theme. As a result of this I have been looking at the workings of a green screen in detail, not only will I need a large area to set it up in, but I will also need the screen to be well lit and prominently visible so that the editing software can properly distinguish it from the rest of the colors on screen.

 

If my estimates are correct, in order to account for the width of the band members together with a little extra moving room, the screen will need to be 9ft across and 6 feet high which will be enough to account for the bands height. In addition to this, the use of a smoke maker on a very light setting to give the illusion of dust could be quite effective and so I will be looking into that.

 

As an alternative to sheeting, I can also use a brightly colored wall or even use a blue screen instead, however, I am quite set on the idea of a portable green screen set that can be set up with bracket.

The Lyrics of my chosen song

The Lyrics of my proposed song are going to be an interesting concept to work with, Especially now that I can consider the theories proposed by Andrew Goodwin.

 

At the very least I can breakdown some Ideas that I have...

Track Acquirement

In order to use the song in my Music video, I am going to have to formally ask the owner of the song for their permission to use it. Below is the email I have sent to legally clarify my intentions.

 

Brand Identity - Nickelback

To start of this research task, I would like to first clarify exactly what Brand Identity is, It is essentially the way in which a company is designed through its visible elements to be distinguishable among any other brand on the market.

 

In the sense of Brand Identity this is still the same as Music is still at the end of the day a product to be purchased. Nickelback has gone through something of a brand shift over time since their formation in 1995, having gone on to be one of the most commercially successful bands of the decade having sold 50 Million albums worldwide.

 

Chad Kroeger Band Leader

In terms of how the band Logos and CD covers were concerned, the early work done by the band was usually shown in CD's where the cover generally showed the entire band standing together in unity, the Logo shifted slightly from time to time but it was always in a consistently bold font, it stood out on what I was placed on, For example, in the album 'Someday', The Band Logo stands out on the white wall behind them.

Group Hugs!

At the same time however, Nickelback switched between the band and also used some imagery which generally focused on one item or object

 

Cars Roads and Benches!

 There is however one consistency, the Nickelback Logo has only changed itself on occasion, it has mostly retained its original cracked and scarred design.

 

The band retains a washed out and cracked logo design!

In this sense the band has a defining feature that is easily recognized in the form of a logo that both stands out and is seen throughout almost 20 years of CD covers from this band.

 

Even in their most recent albums, the Logo still remains!

In a majority of the cases as well the logo is kept at the top of the cover, spanning left to right, appropriate consider we read content left to right, although the eastern nations read right to left.

 

Moving onwards we should move into how the band presents itself. The band had a remarkably similar running theme in the 90's.

 

 

Chad Kroeger kept his hair long and blonde, which was of course the popular style at the time, This is of course a key feature and is one of the things people mainly remember about Kroeger, his hair never seems to deviate too much, except in a couple of circumstances.

 

The Outfits of the band are quite simple really.

 

Simple Black T-shirts and jeans

In a strong attempt to be relatable to the audience, the band wore simple fashion like t-shirts jeans and on occasion a shirt, but they never dressed incredibly formal, its all an attempt to look relatable and simplified so that the audience can simply enjoy the music and not feel like they should be focusing too much on the band.

Sven E. Carlson

Sven Carlsson's theory of music videos is that music videos can be split up into 'Black and White' boxes. All the content of a Music video can be seen as perceived opposites which drive the narration forwards.

 



Sven E. Carlsson

Carlsson also splits music videos into two categories, Performances and Conceptual pieces. The Performance aspects come from the artists singing and dancing throughout the video while Conceptual videos feature something other than the artist acting out a story. However, The performance music video style is usually a method of selling their personal image as 'Commercial exhibitionists'.

Michael Shore Music Video theory

Michael Shore's Music Video theory involves the idea that Music Videos are recycled styles of previous eras. Cynically he also believes that Music videos in some way will include elements of speed, women, money and most importantly, power. The imagery is clichéd and simply tries to recreate male fantasy.

Goodwins Theory

One of the key theories that I have come across is Goodwin's Music Video theory, The theory essentially outlines that their are some key links between all the areas of the music video. Each area somehow affects and compliments the efforts of the other area. As Goodwin Writes...

1.Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).

5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

 

6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).

 I will be keeping this in mind while planning my music video.
 

Brand Identity

Currently, alongside my piece creation, I am looking into the concept of Brand Identity. This includes other bands and how they market themselves as a brand and also how I intend to market my band as a brand as well.

FIlming the Piece

As required I need to film and edit together at least 1 minute of footage for a serious interpretation of a music video in my required genre. There are some key concepts I have already looked at and they are as follows...

In terms of the Camera Use...

 

- As seen in  the Nickelback videos the characters tend to be portrayed as omnipotent individuals witnessing a story unfold over time, it is therefore important to try to keep this illusion in the piece by not necessarily focusing on the instruments too much and instead develop a story. Examples of other Nickelback songs run with a similar concept include 'Photograph' and 'Hero' although here is a minor deviation as it shows the band playing on a downtown roof building, even so they still take a backseat to the action unfolding throughout the video.

 

In 'Photgraph' Chad Kroeger spends the video going through childhood memories accompanied only by his photographs and his guitar

 

- I would like to think that this video will include a character expressing his concern over an issue such as the way Linkin Park does in their videos, Because of this I would enjoy splicing some real life footage of some modern day issues for a narrative effect.
 



'Castle of Glass' Uses the concept of the war in Afghanistan to portray a young boys life after the death of his father, Linkin Park still aren't the key focus here in the video due to the powerful themes found elsewhere

 

- One such idea that I have in mind is showing the Miliatry individual move through a busy city street and be overcome by the noise leading to a sprint for silence.

- On another side of the video I have two strong ideas currently in development, One being the destruction of a cabinet of medals, the other is the soldier holding a medal so tightly it cuts his skin.

Media Pitch

I have recently given my pitch for my music video and it will be added to the blog shortly. For now I will add the Prezi here for viewing.

Outfits for an Alt Rock Band

In a number of Alternative Rock Videos I have seen a certain similarity in terms of the outfits, there seems to be an awful lot of casual clothing to be found in this genre.

Oasis Have a consistent theme of Jeans and Jackets

 

 

Paramore are embodiments of a more modern casual expectancy.

I think that I can put together a group of people with similar outfits like this, there appears to be a real consistency in the outfits from the old to the new.