We have found another possible song choice for our music video, 'Hold Me Down' by Halsey. I really like this song as it has a very strong beat that would be easy to edit to. The song also changes in pitch and volume throughout, this helps to create different moods and would be great to use for a music video with a narrative as the feel of the song helps to tell a story. There isn't currently a music video for 'Hold Me Down' which I think is advantageous as we can make our video wholly unique, unaffected by an existing video.
Halsey is an American singer-songwriter signed to Astralwerks and Capitol Records, Astralwerks focusing mainly on electronic and dance music. Halsey is categorised as indie/electronic pop so this song is perfect as we wanted something belonging to the indie genre. 'Hold Me Down' was released in June 2015 ahead of the release of her 'Badlands' album in August 2015. She is rising in popularity, with her previous album 'Room 93' reaching 159 in the US and 'Badlands', released only a year later, peaking at number 2 in the charts.
Friday, 14 August 2015
Wednesday, 5 August 2015
St Patrick - PVRIS
We have found a possible song choice for our music video, 'St Patrick' by PVRIS. I really like the intro of this song and think that it has a strong beat. The song is quite fast paced which creates an energetic atmosphere that is suited to a performance video. I think that the religious references in the lyrics would provide us with interesting visuals and locations.
PVRIS are and American band signed to Rise Records and Velocity Records, both independent companies. Although they are a band, the lead vocalist is female, making it easier for a member of our group to be in our music video. Previously a hardcore metal band, we felt that their current music, which is categorised as electro/synthpop, is better suited to the style of video that we hope to create. 'St Patrick' is from their debut 2014 album 'White Noise' which peaked at number 12 on the UK Independent Album Breakers chart.
PVRIS are and American band signed to Rise Records and Velocity Records, both independent companies. Although they are a band, the lead vocalist is female, making it easier for a member of our group to be in our music video. Previously a hardcore metal band, we felt that their current music, which is categorised as electro/synthpop, is better suited to the style of video that we hope to create. 'St Patrick' is from their debut 2014 album 'White Noise' which peaked at number 12 on the UK Independent Album Breakers chart.
Friday, 17 July 2015
Prelim Outtakes
Here are our groups' outtakes! I hope that this video provides an insight to the hard work that we put into producing our prelim. We thought that making this video was beneficial as it provided us the opportunity to practice our editing skills using the new version of iMovie.
Tuesday, 14 July 2015
Prelim Evaluation
We experienced a few difficulties when producing our prelim. As previously stated in another post (Filming for Prelim), the dance routine was probably the most difficult aspect of the prelim. I also found that editing was harder than I had expected, it was quite time consuming trying to edit to the beat as well as matching the lip-synch correctly. Towards the end of the prelim, at around 00:28, the lip-synch is slightly off, which is very distracting for the audience, for our final music video we will spend more time carefully editing to ensure that this mistake is not repeated. I also think that it would be helpful if we didn't include as much performance, this would cut down on the amount of lip-synching required.
Unlike the original video, we filmed outside of the school instead of on the street, this was for practical reasons, it would have been too busy to film in public, this would have made it harder to obtain the required shots. For our final music video, we would need to pay closer attention to our mise-en-scene to ensure that it is relevant to the chosen song and genre, thereby creating a more professional-looking video.
Whilst the setting was very different, we wanted our costumes to be as similar as possible. We put a lot of effort into our outfits and I am quite proud of the results. The best costume, in my opinion, was Janadhi's (below left) as she had an almost identical blazer. For the other costumes, we had to compromise and substitute certain items, for example, we didn't have black or white blazers so, instead, we wore other items of clothing but in the same colours (below right) so that it was clear which characters we were portraying.
We managed to match Jane to Bruno Mars almost perfectly (hat, chain, sunglasses) with the exception of the pink blazer.
I think that costume is an extremely important element of a music video as it helps to set the tone, for example, bright colours for an upbeat song, like our prelim, and darker colours for a sadder song. We will continue this attention to detail in our final music video.
Below is a vlog showing audience reactions to our prelim. I thought that this was helpful as I could listen to criticisms from an outside perspective to see how others thought we could improve.
Unlike the original video, we filmed outside of the school instead of on the street, this was for practical reasons, it would have been too busy to film in public, this would have made it harder to obtain the required shots. For our final music video, we would need to pay closer attention to our mise-en-scene to ensure that it is relevant to the chosen song and genre, thereby creating a more professional-looking video.Whilst the setting was very different, we wanted our costumes to be as similar as possible. We put a lot of effort into our outfits and I am quite proud of the results. The best costume, in my opinion, was Janadhi's (below left) as she had an almost identical blazer. For the other costumes, we had to compromise and substitute certain items, for example, we didn't have black or white blazers so, instead, we wore other items of clothing but in the same colours (below right) so that it was clear which characters we were portraying.
We managed to match Jane to Bruno Mars almost perfectly (hat, chain, sunglasses) with the exception of the pink blazer.
I think that costume is an extremely important element of a music video as it helps to set the tone, for example, bright colours for an upbeat song, like our prelim, and darker colours for a sadder song. We will continue this attention to detail in our final music video.
Below is a vlog showing audience reactions to our prelim. I thought that this was helpful as I could listen to criticisms from an outside perspective to see how others thought we could improve.
Prelim Vlog
We finally finished our prelim today! We had to refine the editing slightly so that the lip synching was correct and that everything looked as smooth and seamless as possible. Here is our vlog where we reflect on the prelim production process:
Thursday, 9 July 2015
Female Indie Artists
We have decided that we want a song with a female vocalist, this will allow a member of our group to star in the music video, making it more practical for filming as we won't have to rely on outside help. Starting to think about song choices, I began to research female indie artists. I discovered an article in The Telegraph, titled '10 Amazing Female Singers You Haven't Heard of Yet', which introduced me to many potential artists that we could use for our music video. It is important to look at existing videos by female artists so that I can gain inspiration and to identify common themes within the indie genre.
My favourite artists from the article, for either song and/or music video, are listed below:
Rescue -
Yuna
I really like this song as it is very upbeat and would be ideal for a performance video. The video contains some very interesting editing techniques, for example (below top), a landscape shot has been layered over a close up of the artist, making the shot more unusual. Another shot that stood out to me (below bottom) showed the sun seeping through the trees, illuminating the artist's clothing, the contrast between her golden scarf against the dark background and the light reflecting in the camera lens creates a dream-like atmosphere.
This video conforms with multiple elements of Andrew Goodwin's theory. The relationship between the music and visuals is clear, the upbeat, lively song is paired with the vibrant visuals of the locations and the artist's clothing. There is also a relationship with the lyrics. There is a theme of freedom and escaping throughout the song, 'she don't need rescuing, she's okay', this is shown through very open spaces, such as by the sea, this is further shown by the strong wind that blows her scarves throughout the video, presenting an idea of being free like a bird. The lyrics are also very hopeful, for example, 'things were bad, she was in despair...she came up for air...she found herself', this is represented through the inclusion of light in the video, making the artist look bright.
There are also many close ups of the artist, typical for an indie music video as it helps to promote the artist and create a 'star image'. The music video also fits the conventions of a performance video, there are multiple settings and there is lip-synching throughout.
Every Time the Sun Comes Up -
Sharon Van Etten
Whilst I think that this song is too slow to use for our music video, I was intrigued by its existing video. The narrative is very unusual and unique whilst also being very emotion, the viewer is able to empathise with the main character, this is an element that I would be interested in including in our music video. Unlike most indie videos, this contains very little performance, and even then it is only an animation instead of the real artist (below), which I thought was quite entertaining.
Andrew Goodwin's theory can be applied to this music video due to its notion of 'looking', there are many television screens shown throughout, as well as mirrors. There is also a relationship with the music and visuals, the slow paced song is matched with long, drawn out shots and the use of slow motion. A relationship with the lyrics can also be seen, for example, as the lyric 'I see double' is said, there is a shot of two layered clips that give the effect of blurry vision or 'seeing double'. I found it interesting that there was a very obvious link to the lyric 'we broke your glasses but covered our asses' where a woman can be seen holding a card with this written on.
Portrait -
Josephine
This isn't the genre/style of song that our group is looking for, we would rather indie pop or indie folk, however, I really liked the techniques used in the video. The entire video is in reverse, I found it very interesting to watch a narrative backwards. This is a technique that I think we could use in our video, possibly on a lesser scale.
Typical of a narrative video, there is no lip-synching and a clear story. Applying Goodwin's theory, there is a link between the music and visuals, the calm beat is complimented with the slow paced video, creating a relaxing atmosphere. There is also a relationship between the lyrics and visuals, for example, the lyrics talk about 'portraits' and identity so it is fitting that the video focuses on a single person, allowing the audience to connect with them. Also, the lyric 'every rose we grow' is paired with a shot of some flowers (below). Close ups of the artist throughout help to create a 'star image'.
Closer
Rae Morris
I think that this would be a good song to choose for our music video. I think that it has a strong beat that would be easy to edit to, there is also a clear differentiation between the chorus and verses, making the song less repetitive and helps to create different moods throughout, this would be helpful if we choose to create a narrative video as the atmosphere would also change throughout.
My favourite artists from the article, for either song and/or music video, are listed below:
Rescue -
Yuna
I really like this song as it is very upbeat and would be ideal for a performance video. The video contains some very interesting editing techniques, for example (below top), a landscape shot has been layered over a close up of the artist, making the shot more unusual. Another shot that stood out to me (below bottom) showed the sun seeping through the trees, illuminating the artist's clothing, the contrast between her golden scarf against the dark background and the light reflecting in the camera lens creates a dream-like atmosphere.
This video conforms with multiple elements of Andrew Goodwin's theory. The relationship between the music and visuals is clear, the upbeat, lively song is paired with the vibrant visuals of the locations and the artist's clothing. There is also a relationship with the lyrics. There is a theme of freedom and escaping throughout the song, 'she don't need rescuing, she's okay', this is shown through very open spaces, such as by the sea, this is further shown by the strong wind that blows her scarves throughout the video, presenting an idea of being free like a bird. The lyrics are also very hopeful, for example, 'things were bad, she was in despair...she came up for air...she found herself', this is represented through the inclusion of light in the video, making the artist look bright.
There are also many close ups of the artist, typical for an indie music video as it helps to promote the artist and create a 'star image'. The music video also fits the conventions of a performance video, there are multiple settings and there is lip-synching throughout.
 |
| Vibrant shots are shown throughout |
 |
| Freedom shown through wind |
Every Time the Sun Comes Up -
Sharon Van Etten
Whilst I think that this song is too slow to use for our music video, I was intrigued by its existing video. The narrative is very unusual and unique whilst also being very emotion, the viewer is able to empathise with the main character, this is an element that I would be interested in including in our music video. Unlike most indie videos, this contains very little performance, and even then it is only an animation instead of the real artist (below), which I thought was quite entertaining.
Andrew Goodwin's theory can be applied to this music video due to its notion of 'looking', there are many television screens shown throughout, as well as mirrors. There is also a relationship with the music and visuals, the slow paced song is matched with long, drawn out shots and the use of slow motion. A relationship with the lyrics can also be seen, for example, as the lyric 'I see double' is said, there is a shot of two layered clips that give the effect of blurry vision or 'seeing double'. I found it interesting that there was a very obvious link to the lyric 'we broke your glasses but covered our asses' where a woman can be seen holding a card with this written on.
 |
| Notion of 'looking' |
 |
| 'I see double' |
 |
| 'We broke your glasses but covered our asses' |
Portrait -
Josephine
This isn't the genre/style of song that our group is looking for, we would rather indie pop or indie folk, however, I really liked the techniques used in the video. The entire video is in reverse, I found it very interesting to watch a narrative backwards. This is a technique that I think we could use in our video, possibly on a lesser scale.
Typical of a narrative video, there is no lip-synching and a clear story. Applying Goodwin's theory, there is a link between the music and visuals, the calm beat is complimented with the slow paced video, creating a relaxing atmosphere. There is also a relationship between the lyrics and visuals, for example, the lyrics talk about 'portraits' and identity so it is fitting that the video focuses on a single person, allowing the audience to connect with them. Also, the lyric 'every rose we grow' is paired with a shot of some flowers (below). Close ups of the artist throughout help to create a 'star image'.
Closer
Rae Morris
I think that this would be a good song to choose for our music video. I think that it has a strong beat that would be easy to edit to, there is also a clear differentiation between the chorus and verses, making the song less repetitive and helps to create different moods throughout, this would be helpful if we choose to create a narrative video as the atmosphere would also change throughout.
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