Thursday, 5 December 2013

Learning how to use iMovie

Throughout watching the iMovie tutorial videos I have managed to pick up some well needed skills and technique from the videos. I have implemented what I learnt from the videos onto my rough cut video and will also start implementing what I have learnt for the proper video when I create it this month. The iMovie tutorials have taught me many different skills such as the precision tool, allowing me to precisely edit the clips I have in my video to start and stop the clip when I exactly need it to.

I have also learnt from the iMovie tutorials how to stabilise footage so the video is much more stable and clearer without any sudden shakes or movements that would make it look unprofessional. The stabilisation tool takes a long time to implement as it has to go through all the clips but it is well worth it once it is complete. I have learnt how to trim down clips to the precise size I want them, I have also learnt how to add text and effects into the video. The most important tool and skill I have used is the clip, video and audio adjustments, allowing me to change the volume, clip length and video effects, meaning I can create the exact video I want. 

I have learnt how to add audio tracks in and learnt how to put video footage on to iMovie. I have learnt how to add colour effects in and also how to add transitions such as the ripple, zoom and cross dissolve which I used on my rough cut.




Friday, 29 November 2013

Mise-En-Scene & Planning

Camera angles: Throughout the music video we will be looking to have a variety of different camera shots such as close ups to props, facial expression, clothing, location etc. We will also have establishing shots, long shots, POV shots and medium shots that will all compliment the location, costume and lighting. The POV shots will be to show the view of the character when he is walking around, the medium shots will show a blend of the character at the location either still or walking. The long shots will show the character from a distance walking around and the establishing shots will locate the scene and give the audience an idea of where the scene is being filmed.

Lighting: Some of the scenes will be dark, others will be light. We want a contrasted mix of dark and light in the music video. The scenes in the woods and the deserted country lane and fields will be filmed in a more mysterious darkness but we will still allow enough natural light for clear visualisation. Some scenes will be located in a garage and bar which will be dark but have lamps on to add effect.

Costume: The costume for the music video will keep a consistent base just like Kings of Leon music videos do, we will have the main character dressed in skinny jeans and a smart colourful shirt with brown boots or trainers on. Other characters will wear similar clothes but there will be some exceptions. The reason for the character standing alone is to create an isolation over him that he is alone and is feeling down, the character will be in blue jeans to create a casual look, as they are always relaxed. It will be a very cold setting that we film at. We want the character to dress accordingly to the weather conditions that will be featured in the music video. The shoes will be either brown or blue. There is also a second plan to have the character wearing smart clothes such as a shirt, waistcoat, braces, black jeans and smart shoes.

After flicking through many Kings of Leon videos, I was able to come up with a very consistent costume setting for our character: White vest like tops due to the heat and sun in the Southern States of the USA; also there are a lot of buttoned thin lined shirts with white vest tops underneath them. Chequered and pattern shirts are also very popular throughout the music videos by Kings of Leon. The characters throughout the video are wearing skinny black jeans and skinny black blue jeans. Some characters throughout the videos are wearing country hats that are connoted with the Southern American states such as Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Louisiana. The characters are also wearing country boots, again connoting the Southern States of the USA.

After looking through several videos by the band I have decided that the characters in my music video will be wearing either skinny black or blue jeans, a white vest top with a chequered pattern shirt along with country boots, a country hat and a leather jacket.




Props: A bin filled up with items that will be burned, a lighter and book of matches that we will use to drop into this bin to set fire to items. A shovel which will be used to show the burial of more personal and meaningful items. We will also be using a car and musical instruments such as a microphone, electric guitar, base guitar and drum kit. The reason we will be using fire in our video is to relate to the fact the song is called Pyro which is short for pyromaniac which means an obsession with burning things and setting things on fire. We want to use props that we can set on fire, safely of course. The colour of fire will also stand out beautifully at night and in an isolated place in the winter, we really think it will make the video look nice.

Setting: The video will be set in three different locations, a house, a woodland/field and deserted road, the purpose of this is to create an alone and isolated feeling for our character. We have chosen to set our video in a field because it's a very isolated place, its mysterious and it's where someone would go to bury items and to get fresh air and clear their mind. The house will be where the bar scene will be filmed along with the band planning in the garage which will be at my house.

Colour schemes: Colour schemes will be the whole band wearing white with the main characther wearing more distinctive clothing to make him stand out. The character will stand out at all of the settings. As we are using natural light and surroundings to create this video we aren't looking for any specific colour schemes that have to be perfect and stick to the scheme, we are looking for the character to wear clothes and colours that aren't green, brown, or any shade of natural surroundings like trees, plants, grass and etc. When we film in a group for the band scenes at the bar and garage location the costumes will be all very similar, smart clothing, braces, black trousers, as if they are ready for a big social event. The lead singer however will wear something that is different to make him stand out, we want the band all following the same colour schemes!

Monday, 25 November 2013

Location and Setting

Here are some images of the locations and settings we are going to be filming at:

- Field
This location is where the beginning scenes of the video will take place, this is where our character will go when he is upset to burn the clothing and bury the pictures and items that mean a lot to him. I have chosen this location because it away from the city and away from a big population of people, this location is very isolated which is perfect for the character who is feeling alone and empty inside, so the location links to him. The location is on a hill side which makes it have great views, again good for the video.

- Bar
This location is where the character will go to drown his sorrows, after burying all the pictures and items and burning other items he will come here to drink himself to insanity. The character will walk into the bar and have drunken people all around him, which will then make him feel even more alone.


- Woods
We will see the character walking through woodland from the car to the deserted field area, and then back through the woods to the road where his car is. Woodland is lonely area, its connoted with mysteriousness.
- Country Lane
We will see the car driving down a country lane which will contain the character with his belongings going to a field and woodland area ready to bury and set fire to them. The country lane will connote peace and be the calm before the storm in terms of the setting fire of the items.

- Garage
The garage is where will have a band playing, the drums, guitar and microphone will all be featured. The reason for this is due to Kings of Leon having themselves playing in every music video they have created we felt the need to keep the tradition and pattern of this consistent.


Monday, 4 November 2013

Directors Previous Music Videos

Phil Griffin

As well as directing Notion by Kings of Leon, Phil Griffin directed some other very popular songs and music videos by Amy Winehouse, including songs Rehab and Back to Black. He specialises in directing documentary's of artists such as Rihanna, Paul McCartney, Britney Spears and Madonna. He hasn't directed too many music videos but he is obviously a great director as these videos are all very popular ones.

Rehab - Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

Song
Rehab was written by Amy Winehouse herself and was released as a single in 2006, although it was later part of her 2007 album Back to Black. It was produced by Mark Ronson, the song is about dealing with her drug and alcohol addiction and how she refused going to rehab to sort it out. The song made it to number 7 in the UK charts and number 9 in the US charts. 

Music Video
The music video was directed by Phil Griffin and released in 2006, the video is more performance based as she is singing into a camera whilst her band play their instruments. The video was nominated for video of the year by MTV but lost to Rihanna's song Umbrella.

Analytical
Amy is laying on a bed at the beginning of the video as she starts to sing, she is dressed very colourfully as he band sit at the back of the room playing instruments and she focuses on the camera. The music video features her band playing everywhere she goes as if she if following them and that she can't go to rehab because her band rely on her too much. She is in different locations throughout the video, one is a bedroom, the other is a hallway, the other is outside, she seems to move around alot. The camera is always focusing on her with the band in the background, middle close up shots and close ups on her face to show her emotion. 


Back to Black - Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

Song
Back to Black was written by Amy Winehouse herself and was released in 2007 as part of her album Back to Black. It received "universal acclaim", the lyrics are about her addiction to alcohol and drugs, claiming that back to black basically means going back to doing these things. Mark Ronson helped produce and write the song.

Music Video

Phil Griffin directed the music video and it features a headstone that reads R.I.P the headstone of Amy Winehouse, this was removed after her death in 2011 as it was deemed disrespectful. The music video was nominated for music video of the year in 2007 but lost out to Kanye West and his song Stronger. 

Analytical
This video is in a black and white format, it is to depict the song name Back to Black and show a representation of darkness and death. Black is connoted with dark, death, pain, funerals etc. Amy herself is dressed in black with a low cut dress, she is looking revealing and sexualised compared to the others attending the funeral. The camera shots really focus on the emotion of Amy singing, they close up on her eyes, mouth and facial expressions. The camera is also looking down at her at some points, to show that she is low and feeling down. The setting is very spooky and mysterious, in an old church in the countryside.



Sophie Muller

As well as directing Radioactive and Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon, Sophie Muller has directed hundreds of music videos all from big popular artists such as Rihanna, Beyonce, Coldplay, Maroon 5, Kings of Leon, Alicia Keys and The Killers. She is one of the best music video directors out there in today's music industry, she is a very popular and well liked director, alot of artists seem to like her and have her directing alot of their music videos, just like Kings of Leon have done with two of their most popular songs.

Stay - Rihanna - Unapologetic

Song
The song Stay was written by Mikky Ekko who also features in the song, it was from Rihanna's 2012 album Unapologetic. The song is about always going back to the one you love and not being able to resist it. The song received positive and worldwide acclaim and made it to number 3 in both the US and UK charts. 

Music Video
The video was released in February 2013, it features Rihanna and Mikky Ekko in the video. The video was of course directed by Sophie Muller, the video was one of the most watched videos on YouTube in 2013 and gained major acclaim. The video was a success and it has over 200 million views on YouTube!

Analytical
The video opens with a shot of running water. Rihanna is then presented undressing and climbing into a bathtub. Throughout the rest of the video, the singer is presented nude in the tub full of cloudy green water; subtle camera angles protect her modesty. She is wearing little make up and the camera is always focusing on her emotions, it is a very emotional and passionate song so the camera is being used to full effect in terms of representing her feelings. Some parts of the video are in slow motion to show greater effect. Rihanna is naked, again showing the tension she has with this man. 

That's Not My Name - The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing

Song
The song was released in 2009 from their album We Started Nothing. The song was written by the group and received high acclaim, it got to number 1 in the UK chart. It made it to platinum in the United States and the United Kingdom. The song is about the lead singer in the group expressing her anger and disappointment in the record industry. 

Music Video
The song has three different music videos which is very strange for a song. I have decided to obviously concentrate on the one that was directed by Sophie Muller. 

Analytical
The video starts with a still image of the band which is moving around, the drum kit with the bands name is on there and the lead singer (female) is holding a microphone. The male in the band starts playing the drum while the female starts to dance. The camera then focuses on the female as she starts to sing, the camera is always moving around to make the song seem very jumpy and fun, which it is. The video is very boring with its white background, the band are dressed up in bright colours to make them stand out more. The background then changes to multiple colours such as blue and then red.






Friday, 18 October 2013

Initial Ideas

Pyro

Initial Ideas
My initial ideas for the music video were that at the start of the music video we would have the character that will be portrayed having an argument with his girlfriend/wife and then storming out with all of his personal belongings. We had an idea of when the beat comes in for the song to drop a match on a load of old pictures and personal belongings as watch them burn, we came up this idea due to two reasons; one being the song is called pyro which is short for pyromaniac which is an obsession with setting fire to things, the other reason was because the song lyrics are "single book of matches gonna burn what's standing in the way". 

We also had ideas for the next part which is when the lyrics are "bury all the pictures and tell the kids I'm ok". We thought that the character digging a hole up in the middle of a field or woods and burying his most important and meaningful belongings like photos of his children etc.

When the line "drunkards and babies seem to all agree" we had ideas to place this scene at a bar, with alcohol being consumed. For the line "I won't be your cornerstone" we pictured someone holding onto a wall but being dragged off of it.

Other ideas were from looking at previous Kings of Leon videos which always have instruments being played, so for the chorus of the song we would have instruments being played as if we were the band playing the instruments.

Feelings/Visual ideas
Visual ideas we had for our music video once listening to the song and lyrics became apparent more or less straight away. Pyro is short for pyromaniac which means having an obsession with setting things on fire, the lyrics link to this with "single book of matches gonna burn what's standing in the way" straight away we thought about basing the story around a man who was upset with his current life and wanted to leave his current situation with his girlfriend and kids. We thought about having the character driving off with lots of his shared belongings and burning them in a big bonfire and dropping a match on all the belongings as the beat kicks into the song. We want to base the video around fire and anguish; we have other for the video when the lyrics "little shaken babies and drunkards seem to all agree" we are thinking of setting this part of the song in a bar with a few characters laying around smashed out of their skull, we want the main character to walk into the bar and suck up the atmosphere.

Obviously more and more ideas will come into our head when we start creating our storyboard and going through the production process of the video. 

Record company and label
RCA (Radio Corporation of America) Records signed Kings of Leon in 2002. They are owned by its parent company Sony Music Entertainment who have now taken full ownership of the record company and label.




Wednesday, 16 October 2013

Lyric Annotation

Pyro - Kings of Leon - Come Around Sundown

Lyric annotation 




Artist's Target Audience (Kings of Leon)

Due to Kings of Leon being such a popular and well known worldwide band, they have a mass market audience with their music appealing to all generations and ages. Obviously there are certain age groups that will be into Kings of Leon more than another age group. Tracks such as Sex on Fire and Use Somebody got Kings of Leon to become well known, the album Only By The Night got them establishment in the music world, they were seen as the next big thing. Before the worldwide popularity, Kings of Leon were in a more niche type of market, there music was being listened to by fans mostly between the ages of 16-35; the target audience was more for people who were younger, liked the indie and alternative rock genre and could relate to being in a band. Ever since there real worldwide mass audience came into their marketing they have been aiming there music between the ages of 10 to 50 years old. My mum loves Kings of Leon, my friends mum loves them, my dad likes them, lots of people seem to love them although they have been aiming there music at a much more younger generation.


The methods used by Kings of Leon to target their audience can be refereed to social networking sites and social media, examples are the Kings of Leon YouTube channel which is connected to Vevo; all of their music gets uploaded, from advertisements, songs, interviews and extra content, all for their fan base and supporters to look at. The reason they have targeted YouTube is that they know millions of people use it; they have over 70 million views for their Sex of Fire video, this just proves their popularity. YouTube, social networking sites and the internet in particular are more suited to the younger generation of people, this is a big reason behind Kings of Leon targeting their audience at the age group between 16 to 30. They also use Twitter and Facebook to promote their music and target their fans, they have verified accounts on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Social media sites are connoted with youth and the younger generation, Kings of Leon are aiming most of there music here at a young generation who use the internet and are into the modern day society.

When I create my music video and two ancillary tasks, I will be targeting the age group of 16 to 30 years old, the music is very modern alternative and indie rock. Kings of Leon are known for playing at festivals, again another prime example of their connection and connotation with the new generation, they stay in the modern times.