CASTING
For our music video we decided to cast my friend Kitty. She has a cool quirky look and we felt that she would fit perfectly as the role of the singer in the video and she has a similar appearance to Hannah Reid from London Grammar.
MAKE-UP
We decided that the make-up on Kitty is going to be a natural look, nothing over the top; just basic eye-liner, mascara and a lipstick. Her hair will be straight and open with a few small braids.
COSTUME
Black jeans or leggings with a vintage top and boots preferably in doc martin style.
PROPS
Red powder/sand(which will be thrown in the air), paper(to burn), glitter(to throw in the air), glass to smash.
For our A2 media studies music video we have chosen the artist London Grammar; so I thought I would research and analyse some of their music videos to gain a better understanding of the artists video concepts and the creativity within them.
The video begins with thick sparkly confetti blowing through the room which is empty. The camera shot stays in one place but a shaky effect has been edited in to it. The shaky effect looks like an effect that would be used in a horror movie so the video can be expected to be quite mysterious and strange. As the confetti is moving, there is no vocals; just string music giving the concept an eerie vibe. The video has been edited in to black and white which portrays a dull atmosphere and intrigued me in to wanting to watching more of it.
As the deep vocals begin we are introduced to the main singer of the band; Hannah Reid. A close up of her lip syncing is used to show her serious facial expressions and emotion. The lyrics and the visuals match at this point as the lyrics "you crossed the line" is negative and she is showing that emotion on her face.
After this, there is emptiness with a person floating in the air in a paralysed/dead looking state. This is very unusual and scary looking; it as if the person is possessed and levitating as a result of possession or in a vegetable like state. What makes this visual more frightening is the use of old film tape effects, giving the video a dated, old and abandoned feeling. The lyrics 'I'm wasting my young years' are portrayed in the video through the floating people which gives the idea that these people are representing her emotions and how she feels about her 'young years'. It seems as if she and maybe other young people are stuck and unable to move emotionally, but for the video a physical representation of this has been conducted.
A slow motion/frozen effect is added to the visual of smoke/powder in the air. It appears as if this has come to a stand still which conforms to the theme of the music video- the idea of being unable to move; shown in a physical way but mainly based on emotions.
The camera does a 360 degree spin around the band, showing each of them equally. This is an interesting way to show all band members to show that they are part of the song too and not just the vocalist Hannah Reid. The way in which this has been filmed makes it seem as if London Grammar are trying to fly upwards but they can't as something is holding them down; perhaps preventing themselves/people for being who they really are and embracing and making the most of what life offers. In another cut, London Grammar are in the same position but this time there is a close up of each of their faces. Close ups of artists face are commonly used by record labels to allow viewers to see the artists face(s) clearly and this helps get the artist's face recognisable. All the band members are included in this shot to show that London Grammar do not consist of just one person which many people would be likely to mistake it for.
As the video is quite simplistic, the black and white effect makes the video work because it adds a great deal of mystery which the video would probably lack if it were in normal colour.
Throughout the video, the visuals of the other people in the video link back to London Grammar. For example, we see other people floating in the air but further on in the video we see London Grammar in the same type of position as the other people in their video. This portrays that London Grammar are just like these people even though they may not appear like that to people in real life.
Our chosen song for our music video is 'Darling Are You Gonna Leave Me' by London Grammar. The song has a very dark and atmospheric feel to it so we have to show this. We made sure that we cast the right person to fit in to this video who looks fairly similar to Hannah Reid; (the girl who sings in the song).
Our key ideas:
Once we have all the footage we will colour grade it and change it to black and white. We thought that this would look most effective as it would express part of the emotions being portrayed in the lyrics. These emotions are; pain, hurt, curiosity and uncertainty.
We will have camera shots of Kitty from various different angles lip syncing to the lyrics, looking straight in to the camera lens with a serious face. We will intertwyne these shots with different shots to add more visuals; for example we will have shots of breaking glass, rippling water, tears rolling down her eyes and Kitty walking in a subway and on the streets.
We decided that we will use more abstract ideas for the music video instead of a video with obvious literal meanings as this would suit the genre of the song a lot better.
My group and I have decided to chose a song by a band called London Grammar. London Grammar consist of three members; Hannah Reid, Dominic Major and Dan Rothman who are a music trio of young adults. They met in 2009 and after completing university they started to perform at low key gigs and soon became noticed by people and were then signed to the Ministry Of Sound record label. Their genre of music is trip-hop which is a genre of electronic music which originated in the 1990s.
London Grammar's style of music is very atmospheric and unique which is very intriguing and it makes it contrast with typical pop chart music. What makes London Grammar appealing is Hannah Reid's deep powerful vocals, their unique approach to music and their fascinating abstract music videos. With this artist, I believe that my group and I can make a very exciting, interesting music video.
Music genres are categories in which music can be identified. They tend to have certain conventions and we associate music with genres. Genre enables people to specifically find what type of music/music video they are looking for.
Some popular genres and their conventions:
POP:
Pop is the most mainstream genre of music.
Artists mostly wear interesting, designer, fashionable clothing. This shows that they are up to date with fashion and have a good sense of style.
The lyrics of pop songs tend to be about love or heartbreak so that's what people expect when a new pop song is released. In music videos about love/heartbreak, a romantic relationship is shown between the artist and another character.
The tempo of the song is usually consistent throughout and is around 3 minutes long.
Close-ups are commonly used to establish the artists face so that their face can be identified clearly and so that people will recognise them outside of the music video.
ELECTRONIC:
Electronic music is music that consists of music that has been created using technology or instruments such as keyboards.
The music videos of this genre tend to feature the artist DJ'ing or of another person living their life or dancing at a club.
Some of the popular electronic music artists are Skrillex, Martin Garrix and Steve Aoki.
Some electronic videos may feature a performance of the artist at a gig or festival with wide-shots, close-ups, high-angle and low-angle shots.
A lot of electronic music tends not to have very many lyrics in it or sometimes not any at all.
ROCK:
Rock bands/artist tend to have a very 'badass' or 'rebellious' look and nature to them and their music.
The music can range from being of an angry or more positive nature.
In the music videos, there is usually a narrative following the characters within the video and shots of band/artist singing/performing.
HEAVY METAL:
Heavy metal music tends to be very full of emotion and anger.
Electric guitars and drum kits are associated with this type of music.
Heavy metal band image tends to be very significant with members usually having long hair, dark makeup, they wear dark clothing, they may have tattoos and piercings.
The style of music rebels against the mainstream pop culture.
During early research in to music videos, I was interested in the conventions of a music video. Looking in to the conventions of music videos will enable me to apply those to my group's music video and will allow us to plan our music video knowing what these conventions involve and how to use them appropriately.
Here are the key features that Andrew Goodwin identified:
Music videos have genre characteristics: for example a live stage performance in a heavy metal video.
There is a relationship between visuals and lyrics- illustrative, amplifying or contradicting.
Relationship between music and visuals.
Lots of close ups of the artists so their face can be seen clearly so the audience know what they look like due to the demands of the record label. Also, the artist may use motifs that recur throughout all or most of their work/music videos.
References to the notion of looking: for example voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
there can be inter textual reference to films.
These categories will be useful to use as a basis for analysing music videos as part of my research and adding professionalism in to the final music video.
COSTUME
