Comfort Areas of Music Video

This is an important aspect for me, I'm not necessarily comfortable with certain styles of music, in particular recent pop hits to me are empty, repetitive and incredibly lackluster. As a result the song that I pick will be slightly older but not too much. I don't see this being too troublesome however as the task requires I understand the concepts and conventions of these videos to receive a clean grade, It isn't based on how new the song is.

For clarification the genre I feel most comfortable with is Rock/Pop and Alternative Rock from the Period 2000 to 2010. This includes bands like 'Linkin Park', 'The Red Hot Chili Peppers' and 'R.E.M.'.

The Reason I find such bands interesting is the interpretations these songs can be given and the variation between individuals especially in Alternative Rock, In Pop Rock there can be moments of extreme cheer and adrenaline that are simply marvelous.

LINKIN PARK

Linkin Park in particular was a very popular band when it first hit the music scene, I personally enjoy their newest album 'Living Things' (2012) which does break my aforementioned tastes but I think that there are a lot of different emotional scenes that can be explored with some of their new content.

Roads Untraveled in my opinion would make a superb music video. I do actually have some ideas for this song, but they need developing before I consider them relevant. I am actually considering the use of this song.

Old Linkin Park Video's tended to have a very specific style to them which I found interesting most of them actually follow the theme of war a lot of the time which is something a lot of bands tend to focus on including 30 Seconds to Mars and Nickelback.

Software of Choice

For my piece this year I will mainly be using 3 different programs to construct the different areas of my piece...

 1. Adobe Premiere Pro CS6

Premiere Pro has been a dependable program which is easy to use and has all the utilities and canned tools I need in order to edit my piece together, I am fairly well experienced in its use and can confidently create what I need.








2. Adobe After Effects CS6

Adobe After Effects is something that I have personally used in the past to make small changes and effects to scenes in order to better suit the theme to my desired choice, this includes advanced colour correction, Tracking of focus and overlayed effects. I am sure that at some point it will prove useful

 

3. Adobe Photoshop CS6

 

 

Photoshop will be used in the 'Digipack' section of the piece, I will be using its features to construct an album cover and an album sleeve. The program can be a bit finnicky but I think that I have had enough experience with it to properly utilise it.

 

Scrapping the Concept of Animation

After studying the concept of animation in considerable depth by taking out books on animation theory and execution, I have come to the conclusion that I simply do not have the time and artistic capability to create a fluid animation like I had hopes, instead I will be aiming to put my efforts into using visual filters and effects to change the tone of my piece instead of relying on something that is relatively new to me. Hopefully this will be fine given that I am much more comfortable with After Effects CS6 and Adobe Premiere Pro.

Music Video Story Structure

There is some solid evidence to assume that Music videos follow the same story arc's that regular films do, the difference is the method of execution. In a lot of cases music videos can follow Todorov's Narrative Structure.

However, There are a number of Music videos that simply follow the disrupted part of the Structure and then follow it to the end. For Example the Song 'Jar of Hearts' by Christina Perri follows my theory that music videos consistently keep their theme, it means that they don't have to deviate from comfortable tone and tempo in the song. It can get a little repetitive in my opinion.


Another Prime Example can be Cee Lo Green's 'Forget you' in which he consistently feels heartbreak throughout the entire video. Things only mildly get better but don't fully deviate from this concept.







On the otherhand Todorovs theory can be applied to certain music video's.


The Foo Fighters song 'Learn to Fly' follows Todorovs theory quite well, There is a equilibrium(The begining of the flight), a disturbance (The Turbulance) and a resolution with a return to an even flight.








It does seem however that more recent songs tend to deviate more than the classics did, A large number of Nickelback songs back in the day, followed this story, for example, in 'Savin Me' the Protagonist gets the power to see the exact date of death for people, a power that he eventually passess on to another after he saves his life from a falling piano.

If I am to make my music video appropriate for modern times I must disregard Todorovs theory, If I aim to make my piece with a classic older theme, then I will likely use Todorovs theories.

Advanced Portfolio Decision

My Final Decision is that I am going to do a music video because I think it is the one where I have the strongest number and integrity of ideas.

Different Forms of Animation

I am currently reading through a large index of various types of animation and the effects each one has. While the traditional flash and CGI animations may be the most prevalent in the area of film, Music videos tend to access many other forms. For Example...

1. Bruno Mars- Just the Way You Are


Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars OFFICIAL... by asronline

The Interesting thing about this piece is the sped up creation of text and moving images with cassette  tape which looks fantastic and really helps to express the theme of the song.

In my case I think that It would take a bit of effort, however there are many online tutorials on the subject and I could consider this style for use in my piece as it is absolutely stunning.

2. A.H.A- Take On Me

Aha.-.Take.on.me by herzchen

Its a Little bit dated now but this video was an instant classic back when it was created. It actually comes across as a rather interesting story for the viewers. The style itself involves a lot of gruelling work for each hashed pencilled frame, however, with the use of video editing software a filter could make it a little easier.

3. Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.

Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc by Gorillaz-WMG-Official

Impressive but unlikely is this form of animation, it is unlikely I will make anything close to this given the crafting ability but I could at least animate sections if need be. Little needs to be said about this style, it is both creepy and stunning at the same time in my opinion.

The Road I Aim To Follow

My general idea for my final piece is currently limited but I will express to the best of my ability my idea.

Essentially it could go one of three ways, Firstly, for the idea following a short story I have a strong of ideas including:

- The personal interpretation of a modern city from one who sees it as corrupt or tainted, this would be expressed through edits to the colours and the highlighting of certain objects in Adobe Flash or otherwise.

- A film taken from the point of view of someone who is struggling to come to terms with the death of a close friend or relative. The concept would be that the world would be represented as a dull grey figure with bright representations of objects that mean a personal significance to the Protagonist.

On the Otherhand I could take the route of the Music Video which would generally include the following:

- Quick Pans of a rock group or such with certain lyrics being written in animated text which would somehow connect with the video.

Alternatively I could take the route of Movie trailer which is less preferable but I have at least one video:

- The Movie would focus around the remaining time a person had left as a cancer patient in the harsh stages of his treatment. The Footage would generally involve the sick man seeing a vision of another who acts as an emotional and physical point for the character to connect with. This idea could be done by having footage of a person taken, discoloured and then touched up in Flash before being added to the scene. I would actually like to do this as a short story more than a film, the one repeating idea that I would have is that the bond between the characters is so strong that in the end, the physical being would fade as the protagonist slowly dies.

Beginning of the A2 Advanced Portfolio

This blog will act as the documentation from my work in the production of my A2 Media Studies Piece.