G324 Music Video - Bombay Fun Censor

Use of Adobe After Effects - Censored Edits

During my production of my music video I recieved a warning from a local company for using their company name on a badge that one of my characters appear to be wearing in the video. In this case I had to privatise my previous edits and immediately edit my video in order to avoid further precautions.

In order to avoid this mistake I had to use 'Adobe After Effects' in order to censor the name of the company on the badge. This method of censoring the name was produced through the use of a mosaic effect on the video and transferring the 'mosaic footage' on top of the new footage therefore creating a blurred and pixellised censor.
This edit took a few hours for me to over come but I had successfully censored the shots that the badge name appeared. Some home and city shots have been affected for example mostly close ups and the grabbing of the badge are the main shots where the name of the company is clearly seen on screen.

Future edits of my video will be censored and posted onto YouTube however past edits which are uncensored will remain private.

ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS

THE USE OF THE MOSAIC EFFECT.

G324 Research into target audience - Profile and Audience Consumption

G324 Music Video - Bombay Fun Draft 3

G324 Music Video - Bombay Fun Draft 2

NEW VERSION AVAILABLE ON BLOG AND YOUTUBE, SEE ABOVE FOR REVISED VIDEO EDIT.

G324 Music Video - Bombay Fun Draft 1

 
NEW VERSION AVAILABLE ON BLOG AND YOUTUBE, SEE ABOVE FOR REVISED VIDEO EDIT.

G324 Research into music videos - Grand Narratives in Billy Talent's Red Flag

G324 Planning Music Video - Change of Synopsis

I have changed the amount of people to appear in the video, instead of four it has now changed to two. The contextual references that would appear in my video will remain intact. The video is now about a young man who reunites with an old friend, he is a 'cool' and 'energetic' type of character to connote the behaviours from 'The Inbetweeners', the young man feels awkward as his friend had changed, by the end of the video the two then become best friends once again.

Also locations, shots and main outline of the plot will remain the same.

G324 Research into music videos - “Audiences always want a beginning, a middle and an end”. What drives the audience consumption of Blur’s ‘Coffee & TV’ narrative?

The music video for Blur’s 1999 track ‘Coffee & TV’ uses a linear narrative structure which can be fully understood applying Tzetvan Todorov’s narrative theory. The theory involves the idea of a feature being split into 3 acts, the acts are known as ‘equilibrium’, ‘disequilibrium’ and lastly ‘new equilibrium’.

The video begins with the equilibrium which depicts the living milk carton walking towards London’s centre in search for a missing person who appears to be Graham Coxon who is the band’s guitarist and lead vocalist of the song as opposed to Damon Albarn who is usually the main vocalist in the band. This search for Coxon is then disrupted when the milk carton faces dangers such as people and other ‘deceased’ bottles and cans. The new equilibrium then begins when the milk carton finds Coxon with the other members of Blur, Coxon is then lead home by the carton and returns to his family, Coxon then consumes the contents in the milk carton and throws it in the bin.

The video also has a prologue and epilogue to accompany the main video. The prologue establishes the main plot of the video, this is introduced with the image of Coxon on the side of the carton and the sadness and despair that his family is going through during his absence. The epilogue then takes place immediately after the milk carton is thrown into the bin, it displays the carton flying up to Heaven and this creates a

comedic and happy ending, this leaves no further questions of what will happen next as the epilogue will answer possible unanswered questions. The epilogue also creates satisfaction that the ending is clear and answers questions, this is all due to the issue being resolved and completed fully, the main video then adds on a sad note as the milk carton dies and is thrown into the trash, this is reversed when the milk carton rises as an angel and goes to Heaven therefore creating a happy, comical and warming note and leaves the audience with a smile. The resolution that is projected in the video is considered to be an ideological closure as it is resolved in a positive way, Coxon is found safely and unharmed and the milk carton is now a good samaritan and goes to Heaven.

By examining the narrative in the Coffee & TV video the audiences will be able to clearly identify the beginning, middle and end of the video, the beginning establishes the plot, the middle establishes the dangers that the carton faces and the end establishes the safety of Coxon therefore the issues are resolved and answers questions of where Coxon was and that he is safe.

The video also uses a proairetic and enigma codes to create uncertainty and tension within the video’s plot. These codes are linked to Roland Barthes’s narrative codes. Proairetic builds up tension which refers to any other action or event that indicates something else is going to happen, the audience is guessing as to what will happen next. Enigma codes is when a certain concept, thing or person is hidden and mysterious. An example of Barthes proairetic code is when the milk carton faces the dangers of man and other cartons and cans. With the carton continuously facing dangers it is unknown on what he will face next but it is explained and revealed later on the video as the plot progresses.

The enigma code is used in the milk cartons missing sign, the audience may not be able to tell who it is fully as the name is blurred so it cannot be read easily, the audience also have no knowledge why the missing person is not to be seen within his family’s home and how he went missing, this creates a tense atmosphere as the audience will need to continue watching the video in order to answer their questions about the missing man.

The video thirdly uses of narrative device, the example that the Coffee & TV video uses are images. There are multiple images of Coxon in the video including a family photo, a portrait within the family’s house and on the milk carton. The multiple use of Coxon’s photo creates an important aspect for the plot, and also to create a main focus for the plot. The images disappear after the milk carton finds Coxon with the rest of the members of Blur. 

G324 Planning Music Video - Narrative Devices and Storytelling Techniques

In my music video project I will use the following storytelling and narrative devices:

• Symbolic Devices -

- Definition = The use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them meanings that are different from literal sense.

- Example used = I will use the time on the mobile phone to connote that time flies and life is too short for people. The car used in the mid and final section of my video will serve as the symbol of freedom and escape.

-Examples of Media = Arctic Monkeys 'The View From The Afternoon'

• Repetition -

- Definition = The recurrence of a certain action or event that took place.

- Example used = I will repeat the prologue at the end of the video which will serve as the epilogue to connote the realism of life and how boring it is on a continuous basis. This method will also contribute to my narrative taking the form of a cyclical story.

- Examples of Media = Björk 'Bachelorette'

• Embedded images / photos -

- Definition = Images that are embedded within the video.

- Example used = I will use this method within the group photo at the end, the camera will zoom out of the photo and show the phone which has this photo as a wallpaper.

- Examples of Media = Death Cab for Cutie 'Grapevine Fires'

• Clocks -

- Definition = In media terminology this is the use of time within the video (literal showing of time).

- Example used = I will use the alarm on the phone to show the time of work and boring lifestyle, this is also used to connote that time goes by way too quickly. I will also use different times of the day to show that the day has gone once again quickly and create a juxtaposition that work life is slower and dull in comparison to fun and happy times that are bright and go by quickly.

- Example of Media = '24' TV Series

• Ellipsis -

- Definition = The filling of a gap within the video's narrative.

- Example used = This will be used within the transitions of the three sections, also I will use this within my prologue to fill in the times of getting ready and going to work.

- Example of Media = 'The Walking Dead' (Use of 'now' and 'then' to fill time)

• Framing Devices -

- Definition = In literature, film, television, music and other forms of media, a framing device is a technique where the same element such as a setting, event or piece of music is used in the beginning and the end of the video.

- Example used = This would be the prologue and epilogue of the video as it will take place in the same area (bedroom) and the phone will be used the exact same place, time and context.

- Examples of Media = 'Lost' TV Series

• Proairetic Code - 

- Definition = The opening of an action which the audience want to see the close of it, this builds tension and does not directly raise questions, this foreshadows future events.

- Example used = The alarm will connote a foreshadow of the use of time, a text from the characters boss may also appear in my video which my connotes him being scolded for taking time off work in the future.

- Examples of Media = 'The Walking Dead' (Many Examples - Prologues foreshadow events), 'Breaking Bad' (Mike's investigation throughout the series, each section of a series leads Mike to the breaking point of Walter and leaves him without support). 

G324 Planning Music Video - Colour

G324 Planning Music Video - Shooting Schedule *IMAGES TO BE ADDED*

IMAGES TO BE ADDED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

G324 Planning Music Video - Mise en Scene Planning *IMAGES TO BE ADDED*

IMAGES TO BE ADDED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

G324 Planning Music Video - Annotated Lyrics with evidence

G324 Planning Music Video - Storyboards V2

G324 Planning Music Video - Storyboards

G324 Planning Music Video - Timings and Location Diagram

G324 Research into target audience - Teenage Collage

The following piece of work depicts the mind of my target audience of "Teenage / Young Boys / Men". These are all aspects that can appear in my video including cars, beaches, and technology.

G324 Planning Music Video - Narrative

In our lesson today, we were taught how different music videos use types of narrative to produce their video. There are three main types of narrative we were shown that artists can use in their music video productions:

• Prologue - An introductory scene that establishes the narrative / story of the music video,
• Framing Device - A technique which the story is surrounded by a secondary story which creates the story within the story of the video e.g: In Blur's 'Coffee & TV' an image of one of the band members is on a milk carton which sparks a secondary story.
• Epilogue - An ending scene which creates another story e.g: Coffee & TV the milk carton goes to Heaven after being used by a band member, and in Björk's 'Bachelorette' the story's ending circles back to the beginning signifying another story to be told to the audience.

By combining my knowledge that I acquired in this session, I was able to use these narrative methods to adapt into my own production. I will firstly comment on the prologue, as stated in my previous posts I want the beginning of the video to start in the morning of a Monday (This does not have to be filmed on a Monday as the date of my mobile device can be changed and state stereotypes that people hate Mondays - this creates a sympathetic connection between the video and the audience as they suffer with this also) I imagine and would like a shot of the phone screen when its off and then the alarm turns on, the camera would then gradually zoom out from the screen to reveal the rest of the room, the character will then get up tired and continue with his morning routine. This is a direct reference to the show 'Skins' as it uses similar shots of the camera zooming out to Tony's bed and showing his daily morning routine of exercise and getting ready. 

Secondly we now focus on the framing device, this is the zooming out of the phone shot where we see a phone then the room is revealed, the video will then end with the camera zooming into the phone and the alarm goes off, therefore producing a cyclical narrative similarly the 'Bachelorette' when it begins with the forest and then ending with the forest, if my video was repeated it would continue on with the beginning of the video. This ending is connected to my epilogue as another story can be told. 

Blur - Coffee and TV "Milky"

Skins Series 1 Episode 1 "Tony"

Björk - Bachelorette "Björk on stage".

G324 Planning Music Video - Possible Locations

In order for a music video to be visually appealing to the audience, I will need to think of some locations to shoot on to produce my final product. 
Lets begin with the start of the video, it will start within a bedroom (Probably mine or one of my friend's rooms) as one of the characters will awake in their bed will a loud alarm. The use of the room can also connote a cycle of life cycle as it is part of our lives and creates a sense of boredom as we enter it everyday. The bedroom is a direct reference to the show 'Skins' as the first shot and scene consists of the protagonist Tony in his daily routine in his room which connotes a cycle of routine.

For the duration of the video I will then use a multitude of locations spanning from the interior of a car,

seaside locations

 and areas within the city centre,

these locations are widely key locations of a youth's life as they travel by car through parents or singular driving due to recent passing of driving tests, seaside is a place to unwind and relax and the city centre is a key meet up place and for leisure and fun. All of these connote a sense of teenage life and freedom, the car can connote freedom to go anywhere they like, the sea connotes relaxation and the stereotype of teens being laid back and chilled out and the city connoting their minds as it is busy - later on they will escape the city to go to the seaside location which is a motif of escaping the hustle and bustle of work to freedom.

In total there are 4 different locations and they are all achievable as they are local and easy to access. The car, city and bedroom scenes will be shot within Norwich and the seaside locations will probably be shot in Gt Yarmouth (This is something I will not need to worry about as I could easily get a bus from Norwich for a cheap price so I will not need to pay a high amount). 

G324 Planning Music Video - Simple structure of casting

For the music video, I will now focus on casting. This will consist at about 5 or 6 individuals (sexes are not specified). There will be one male character that we will focus on and he will have 4 / 5 friends. I have produced a Facebook Group chat room to find possible candidates that will be able to participate in my project. 

G324 Planning Music Video - Final Concept

It is 6:45 on a Monday morning, a man can be see laying in bed peacefully and in a hard sleep. A sudden alarm goes off on his phone and he wakes suddenly, he instantly switches off the alarm and falls back onto the bed. A few moments pass and a text is then seen on his phone from a friend, he wakes again tired and angered (The colour pallete during this scene will be grey and black to connote bordom and unhappiness), but the concerned and harsh facial expressions change to a grin and happy mood (along with the dull colours, it changes to bright and full colours).

The music video then escapes from the dull world of work and changes to him and his group of friends having a good time (this will include a sort of road trip and fun on the beach etc / what youths do during the holidays).
After the fun the group will take a photo and the camera will zoom out of the phone with the same image into a dull scenery again meaning that the video has gone back to the beginning to connote an endless cycle of bordom.



The video uses a range of colour palletes to empathise on the type of scenery, the grey and dull colours will connote the unhappiness of the main male character in the video as he is stuck in a loop of repetitive and boring work (I will empathise through the alarm on the phone as it will read 'work again' to show that he is stuck in cycle). As mentioned above the video will transfer to a bright and happy colour pallete, this will empathise on the freedom and joy that the character(s) are experiencing during the holidays.

The ending of the video may be considered to be a reference to 'Groundhog Day' as the video loops beginning with a dull start to the day and ending on the same dull start to the day to display that everyday life is boring and repetitive without fun and freedom, the bright colouring and freedom can also be considered to be a stereotyped representation of youths as in some examples of media such as 'The Inbetweeners 2' when the boys go on a road trip this can be a reference to this to show that the media may have a negative connotation towards the youths of today.

G324 Research into music videos - How music videos and my song choice use genres

G324 Music Video Mood Board

G324 Research - Beirut "Elephant Gun" and Andrew Goodwin's conventions

FINAL DECISION OF SONG! And Premise of our video

After many weeks of deciding and analysing the appropriate song, we all decided to use The Shakers track "Bombay Fun".
As a collective group we decided to use this track as there are no strong and definite themes so we had more to play around with and try themes that we thought of. The song is not as cliché as Maybe We Believe as we thought the lyrics were predictable and 'cheesy'. The song is very uplifting and fun which matches our criteria of what our video to be like. With this we will be able to complete our video successfully and make accurate matches of the song to our video.

We also decided to create the video based upon the summer holiday period, the video starts with a phone going off and the alarm reads "work", with the dark and grey tones this creates a dull and boring tone. But everything lightens up when the characters receives a text from one of his friends about meeting up. The video then transfers from a grey and dull atmosphere to a bright and uplifting atmosphere, the video will then include shots from beaches and road trips to create the sense of freedom and youth activity. 
  

Proof of contact of artists

During the holidays, me and my group members made contact with all three artists of the three songs we chose. 

FIRST CONTACT:

We first contacted The Touch who were the band that produced the song Maybe We Believe.
Cameron one of our team members made contact with them through the use of Facebook Messenger to obtain instant reply, they agreed for us to use their track.

REPLY FROM 7HE 7OUCH


SECOND CONTACT:

Also we made contact with The Shakers who produced the track Bombay Fun. Our other member Rahim made contact with them through Twitter.

REPLY FROM THE SHAKERS 


THIRD CONTACT:

We finally then contacted the final artist No Love the producers of the track Young In Love, once again Rahim opted to make contact with the band as he already followed them and he has easy contact.

REPLY FROM NO LOVE

Possible tracks to use for Music Video project

For the past few months me and my project group members have been researching unsigned music bands. We had found many of these bands and songs but some where turned down and some we discovered may not fit the concept for our video (which is still in discussion), however we have showed three songs to our curriculum tutors and we were given the go ahead for any of the three that I have embedded below.
The songs that were chosen are:

• 7he 7ouch (The Touch) - Maybe We Believe 

= This is a British Unsigned Band, they have an official YouTube account and many social media accounts, which gains only a few followers. The song is very touching and upbeat which matches our concept of our video targeting for an 'Summer' theme and an upbeat atmosphere. The idea of the lyrics could match a road trip / or a certain journey "Take my hand" is the lyric that sparks this idea and the song is also upbeat and used probably in festivals which connotes an idea of adventure and endurance.

• The Shakers - Bombay Fun

= Another Unsigned British Band, once again connoting another Summery theme through the calming instruments of the electric guitar and the soothing voice of the singer of the group. The song once again attires an upbeat atmosphere and the title of the song seems exotic and 'fun' and Bombay can connote an overseas trip as it is a popular holiday location.

• No Love - Young in Love

= The song is very upbeat and electronic which matches the concept of a youthful lifestyle that is present in our video, similarly to Bombay Fun the instruments are very soothing and the song is catchy which is a common connotation for Summer Songs.

All of the songs that are embedded above are still being decided by myself and the rest of my team, all of these match our video and they are all appropriate. With more research on these songs we will make our final decision soon.

G324 Research - Aphex Twin "Come to Daddy" and Andrew Goodwin's coventions

Introductory post 2

Hi, Luke here and welcome to my A2 Media blog! Here I will be posting my content, planning and research based upon the music videos!

Introductory post 1

Hi, Luke here and welcome to my A2 Media blog! Here I will be posting my content, planning and research based upon the music videos!