Second shoot

The second time we went out to film, we had very sunny but windy weather which wasn't a big issue as we were mainly filming the 'single' person shots which consisted tubes/walking ect. However we were also able to film some cut away shots which we believe were executed very well. We still need more footage of the single person and a few more cutaway shots but here are some screenshots of what we have got so far.. 

Single person shots:





Cut away shots:

First day of filming

We encountered many problems on our first day of filming. As we want to incorporate many portrait shots in our music video, we decided to go to Shoreditch as we believe that this fit into our 'Urban London' theme. As a group we decided to use strangers for our portrait shot as we believed that using a wide variety of people that you know nothing about allows us and the audience to have a first impression without feeling connected to a character. When we decided to do this we figured that we may run into some issues. This would of included not having many people to film. As we went just after lunchtime we figured that there was not many people about. This resulted in us filming (just about) 3 portrait shots. We knew using strangers would be risky as we would of had to rely on other people however we have set out a filming schedule that will allow us to film during peak times in order to get a wide variety of people. 

Yoni Lappin

Yoni Lappin is a director of multiple music videos that we found inspirational as a group. She has directed a number of Mura Masa videos that have to the same shot variety we are hoping to re-create. The shot composition and colour pallet is something we hope to re-create as a group.

This is our interpretation of Yoni Lappin's shots, we are aware that we need to pay close attention to focusing and the composition.  As mentioned above we wanted to incorporate a vivid colour pallet and that is something that I hope we achieved.

Filming

We are planning to film with a Cannon EOS 60D. We are aware that we have to pay close attention to lighting and focusing and especially getting the right shot composition. We also like the idea of the contrast between a dark sky and neon lights (which the video below portrays perfectly). We do also need to consider lighting and weather conditions in order to get our desired shots. The video below was filmed on the same camera.

Portrait shots

As mentioned in my previous blog post we want to incorporate portrait shots. 

We want the majority of the portrait shots to be dedicated to this verse. We want to include at least 8 portrait shots this again reinforces the idea of the audience relating to the music video. Here are some examples of portrait shots.

Most of these shots are still but when they are in a music video they move. Usually starting from close up and slowly panning out. The composition of these shots is thought out very well, creating repeated lines and including a vivid colour pallet make these particular shots very aesthetic. This is something we hope to re-create in our own music video. we have played around with some camera work and this is our re-creation in forms of a video.

We have also story boarded a few of our portrait shots that we hope to film.

Main Angle

As a group, we have decided that we want to focus on youth and journeys. The main concept would be focusing on finding yourself this would be portrayed through the story of girls struggling with teenage love. The tediousness of the relationship will be mirrored through the use of public transport and her daily commutes.

Planning to cut between other narratives (the couple and the single person) and include portrait shots this will allow the audience feel related to the music video. Whilst listening to the lyrics we realized how we want to incorporate the portrait shots. 

Song choice

Having to choose a song was difficult. In order to get a message across and have a motive behind our music was important to us. As a group, we decided to choose Jorja Smith's 'Teenage Fantasy' as we believe that the lyrics hold meaning to them and the audience will be able to relate to the lyrics and perhaps the struggles that the character is articulating.

After analyzing the lyrics to the song we decided to focus on the theme of teenagers being forced to be in love in order to 'fit in'.  Our idea is to have a couple followed on their daily commute's and to have the camera to capture the outer perspective but as well as the inner perspective but less implicitly. We also want to include a single person followed on their daily commute but showing how her life is different to the characters in the couple. Our location is going to be heavily concentrated on public transport, however, we have taken into consideration that this may be a problem as we may have to ask for permission and may not be able to film in certain areas, however, this is subverting the ordinary conventions of the R&B genre. We also want to concentrate on the theme of 'journeys' and subvert the theme that you don't need to be in love to be happy. Offering the inner perspective of the girl in the relationship allows the audience to understand that being in love does not ultimately mean that you're happy.

Example

Whilst making our music video, we would like to include a '3D image' like the one above for example. We made this using a app called Fyuse this creates a gif which you can import into iMovie. This will be one of many cutaway shots but we don't want to these to dominate the whole music video. These are seen in numerous other music videos including 'What If I Go?' by Mura Masa (shown below) This creates a young edgy vibe. However you can achieve this effect by using a Nimslo 3D camera however they cost around £120 so it is a cheaper alternative to use the app Fyuse.

Nimslo 3D camera 

This camera works by taking a image at the exact same time just from slightly different angles and once they are merged together they create a '3D image' or a gif. 

When this video starts you can see the cutaway shots that were filmed on the Nimslo 3D camera. Tis is something we would love to re-create in our music video.

Finding insparation

Whilst researching for inspiration, i have come across multiple music videos that i really enjoy. By doing this i hope to pick out different aspects of each music video and turn it into something unique. Here I put together a series of different images that are all filmed multiple. The 'urban indie' genre is something that i would love to follow, i want to make an ordinary day look exciting.

Inspiration

 The style of this music video is something that Me and Lucy are definitely considering. There is a serious 90's vibe surrounding this particular music video, even though this is not the genre we would go but the aesthetic of the music video is a huge inspiration. There is also a casual feel about it which is something we will also consider. We would not want to create a completely narrative nor performance based music video but would prefer to do a mixture of the two. For example in this music video there is lip-syncing followed by performance. I feel like it would be quite hard to create a strictly narrative video but with the support of the performance aspect it make it that little bit easier.

Film opening vs Music video

Looking back at our film opening in contrast to our Prelim (constructing a music video) I noticed that they are very different to each other. With our film opening we did not have to stick to certain guidelines, we had to come up with a new fresh idea and just throw in different camera angles and then edit it all together, it was still quite difficult because we were all new to editing and trying to get the hang of how to film but not that our skills have progressed we are ow finding it easier to edit, film act. Constructing a music video is very different you have to pay much closer attention to detail and timing otherwise it throws everything else off! whilst editing the prelim we inserted the song we used first (Kate Nash - Foundations) so that we could sync the music with the action (lip-syncing) which worked out perfectly, however the next day when we had to add in extra footage we found that if you change a frame by 0.1 sec it shifts all the other frames and that eventually meant that the shots did not match with the music so we had to go and re-time all of the shot until they were perfectly in time with the music again! It was so tricky and has really prepared me of what is to come when editing my finial music video.

Prelim

For our prelim we decided to take Kate Nash's Foundations music video. We chose this as a group because we knew it would challenge our editing skills as it is very fast paced. Whilst filming we noticed that we needed to keep an eye out for how many different shots there were. We found this difficult because it was so fast paced we kept missing some shots out which then left us having to go and re-film certain scenes. We also only filmed in two different locations my house and our school library. Over the course of three days it only took us an hour or so each day to film. When we finally collected all the footage but then found it difficult to edit. Whilst editing you pay closer attention to detail and we realised that we forgot to film a shot, so we had to do that quickly, but then slot it in the next day. The only problem we found with this was when adding a few more seconds into the movie, its shifts all of the other shots so then we realised the shots were not in sync with the music! It was very tricky and we all had to be very precise when it came down to the timing of each shot! Eventually we did it all and we all found it very fun making our prelim.

Goodwins Theory

How do the videos conform to Goodwin’s theory?

Andrew Goodwin’s Theory	Alt-J Breezeblocks	The 1975 - A Change Of Heart	Arctic Monkeys -When The Sun Goes Down	Mura Masa - Love$ick	Comso Pyke - Chronic Sunshine
Genre characteristics: style and        iconography  (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band)	No	no	no	no	Following the singer down the street
Relationship between lyrics and visuals with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics	The idea of a ‘Breezeblock’ Deeper meaning to the song and easy to follow	Yes , there is also a relationship between this video and another 1975 video where he repeats the same lyric in both videos but has a real impact on fans who understand.	The whole story is very easy to follow and each lyric has relation to whats happening in the visuals	Lyrics have a relationship with the music video itself	no
A relationship between the music and visuals, eg editing to the beat	Yes when the music starts to pick up the pace , so do the visuals	no	As the music gets more intense and fast paces so does the visuals	as the beat changes with people within the music video dance along with the beat	people dancing along to the beat fast cuts when music gets faster
Multiple close up shots of the artists to create visual style, a ‘star image’ to sell the artist	no	Main singer is in the music video	no	no	not explicitly , but follows main singer down the street
A frequent reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mobile phones, billboards and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body)	no	no	no	no	no
Inter-textual references to other media texts may be present, (eg films, TV programmes, other music videos etc). Often used in humorous or parody videos	no	no (to another music video)	no	no	no

Music videos used above

Artic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down

 This music video has a clear relationship between the lyrics and the visuals , each lyric of the song has some sort of comparison witht the video, also as the music starts to pick up speed and become more fast paced so does the video. It is a narrative video that has a very clear and easy story to understand.

Arctic Monkeys - R U MINE?

 Again , another performance video following Andrew Goodwin's theory of the 'star' image , this video includes a couple of the band members in a car with a handheld camera , this could coinside with the 'rock 'indie' genre as it is usally quite fast paced. The video is also in black and white which is quite mysterous and gives a edgy vibe to the music video on a whole.

Spooky Black - Without u

This has always been a favourite music video of mine although it may be very cringy!
it is a performance music video but some parts can be considered as abstract, the fast paced short clips at the begging followed by the layering really adds a cool edgy vibe to the music video.

Amy Winehouse - Fuck Me Pumps

 This is a very generic performance video , it fits with Andrew Goodwins theory of the star image , follows the star around but in different environments, it also includes lip-syncing. The lyrics have a clear relationship with visuals and has an easy story to be followed.

Loyle Carner - Florence

This is again a mixture of narrative and performance and follows Andrews Goodwins theory that there is a implicit realationship between the lyrics and the visuals. I really think this music video is effective because it tells a very deep story with such a simple video i think this can relate to the genre itselfs as it is very calm and relaxed.

Robbers - The 1975

 This music video is strictly narrative , it contains a story that is easy to follow , it does not include any sort of lipsyncing , but does include the idea of the 'Star image' eventhough it is not a performance video. They included the main singer matthew Healy in many of their videos , this helps the video to appear to the main target audience and draw in more views.

Mura Masa & Charli XCX - 1 Night

I've chosen this video because it fits with Andrew Goodwin's theory of the star image , Also it also half narrative incorporated with performance. It includes a start image of Charli XCX lip syncing in a gym but the other half is telling a story. There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. There is a few examples of editing to the beat. The idea of the star image is apparent as she is central to compared to the other girls while dancing and there are a few close ups of her face. they also include moving portaits that has be done with a film camera. this is something i would love to include in my future music video.

Tame Impala - Feel Like We Only Go Backwards

 I chose this video as it fits the the abstract genre , Abstract videos usually do not tell a specific story but instead set a certain mood. In this video a specific happy mood is presented and is very appealing pleasing , by doing this they are aesthetically to a certain audience or genre (indie, hippie)