Below is a picture of the lyrics to the song that I have chosen to use for my A2 music video. The song is called Mine by the American musical artist Phoebe Ryan. By analysing the lyrics, it made it easier to create the narrative for my video to ensure that it fits with the lyrics. I have looked at all of the devices that she has used such as imagery and also an extended metaphor to convey isolation to the audience. Furthermore, after watching her video for 'Mine', the narrative of the video doesn't really relate to the lyrics so this is where I am able to take advantage of this and produce a storyline to match the lyrics.
The storyline that I have created involves two characters: a male - Mark, acting as the boyfriend and a female - Faye, acting as his girlfriend but also the singer. My video will be both narrative and performance based which is similar to Phoebe Ryan's video for 'Mine'.
Below is the video for 'Mine' - Phoebe Ryan...
Previous Student's work that I have looked at...
Above is a video that previous students created with the song 'Crying for no reason' by artist Katy B. This song is quite similar to 'Mine' by Phoebe Ryan and would therefore fit the narrative that I have selected. In addition to this, The video above is both narrative and performance based so it is again similar to what I am going to do for my music video and it has inspired me a lot with the different shots and angles that I will be able to film when recording my footage. For example, using close up shots to portray the protagonist's emotions towards the situation that they are currently in.
Above is another video from a previous student which I looked at. This video is for the artist Birdy's song called 'Imagine'. I like in this video how there are a couple of shots where the artist is walking towards the camera and singing at the same time whilst making eye contact with the audience through the camera. This makes the video personal to the artist but is clever in the way that it also involves the audience too. I am going to use this idea when I come to recording the footage for my music video.
You have started a number of blog posts which shows that you know what to do but you have not completed them. This suggests a lack of application and a need to focus as deadlines approach. You have explained the development of ideas and mind mapped original ideas.
Some basic storyboards are published which provide an outline of the narrative.
Location recce photographs are published
You have made some attempt to identify a target audience using the work
covered in class. Again you must develop this exploration.
I am hoping that you can go beyond the generic and show creativity and flair
There is some limited analysis of print artefacts.
Your posts show that you know what you need to cover but this has not
happened yet. there is a lack of progress so I hope that your project
gains some momentum from here on.
The deadline is Christmas so move up a gear to ensure that you achieve
your potential. At present the web-log does not reflect your potential
and needs addressing.
Your edit needs to be completed at least to a first cut which we can provide feedback about.
Targets
Move the blog from level 2 (basic) to level 3 (proficient) by adding detail and provindg thorough reflection.
At the beginning of the video for Madonna's Like A Prayer, you see a mid shot of her running towards the camera. Only in the next shot do the audience see what she is running towards - Jesus being burnt on the cross. This video received a lot of criticism when it was first released due to the fact that the Jesus in the video is of black origin. Moreover, the woman (Madonna) who falls in love with him is white and so are the people who crucify Jesus. Madonna didn't intend on discriminating white people in her video
Preparation needs to be more thorough.
Three cells in a storyboard leaves you looking poorly prepared for a pitch to
an audience.
You showed the music video and clearly
explained your choice of artist due to her being unknown and covering well
known artists. I like this idea as it gives you a blank slate to brand the
artist.
The lyrics provide you with ideas and I
need to see them annotated evidencing development of ideas.
Schedule effectively so that you gain
momentum at this point.October
half-term is late to start filming, begin now.
Publish storyboards on the blog
How ill you brand the artist, come up with
some mood boards and descriptions of style, costume, hair.
Prepare for a photo shoot with your artist.
Could we record the artist here if she is a
friend. Use the recording studio and make your own cover of the song.This will improve your grade and allow a performance
element to be filmed.
At the beginning of the music video, all of the men are dressed in black. They are dressed in black because they have the authority over the women; they are the ones in control. All of the women apart from Lady Gaga are dressed in white. This portrays them as being innocent and vulnerable to the men around them. However, she is wearing gold to show that she is the main attraction to the men, which is also emphasized by the fact that she is in the middle of the wide shot so Lady Gaga is the main focus.
The shot above is of Lady Gaga wearing glasses that are made out of razor blades. This suggests to that audience that she feels on edge and so is being defensive against or towards someone. She has them to protect her and she will use them as a weapon if she needs to. This portrays Lady Gaga as being a very vulnerable character in the video and also foreshadows that something bad will occur later on which therefore intrigues the audience to watch the rest of the video.
In this part of the video we see 6 people dressed as monsters coming out of pods. This is a connotation to show them being born as innocent and vulnerable people. Furthermore, their clothing covers their eyes so that they cannot see. This implies that they are not aware of their surrounding or anything going on around them and therefore are blind to what will happen later on in the video. The monsters in the video are also wearing white which emphasises their purity and innocence further.
From this close up Lady Gaga's eyes appear to be really big. This conveys her to be like a child who notices everything but is also as naïve as a child. She notices everything whereas the monsters are blind to it and don't know what is going on. She wears white and her hair is pale pink. These are colours which you would expect to see on a baby. It is also the most innocent that she looks throughout the video.
Throughout the start of the video with the montage of shots, there is a close up shot of Gaga showing her face and the fact that she is naked in the shot too. This conveys vulnerability further because she has been striped of everything including her personality leading to her being powerless. Her lack of make up emphasises this further because when you usually think of Lady Gaga, an image of her full face of make up comes to mind but it doesn't show in this clip; it is a contradiction to what is expected from her.
After she has been given the drug you see a wide shot of her and other monsters/prostitutes that have been given the drug performing in front of the superior men. The men are dressed in black and some of them are topless showing their tattoos. The tattoos highlight to the viewer that they are superior and not ones to mess with. In this shot, Lady Gaga is dressed in diamonds and jewels whereas the other females are just in white meaning that she is the main attraction and all of the men want her. Furthermore, this is also implied through the fact that she is dancing in the middle of them so is the one that they will naturally look at first.
Following this, there is a mid shot of her in something that looks like a cage with low key lighting. She is naked and looks severely malnourished as you can see all her bones and distinctively, her spine. Animal connotations are created here, she is caged and mistreated like an animal. The men don't care about her welfare and only want her to be able to perform for them and that is it.
All of the animal connotations throughout the video are summed up by a close up shot of a sphynx cat. The cat is seen hissing which could symbolise Lady Gaga rebelling against the monsters when they were trying to give her the drug. Also, the men are treating her like an animal and the shot of the cat emphasises this further.
After Lady Gaga has performed, in the now high key lighting, with the other prostitutes and she goes over to one of the superior men, all of the 'Beats by Dr Dre' branded laptops change to say 'Sold'. This is significant as it relates to the fact that women were and still are seen as being property towards men, especially prostitutes. She has been bought by one of the men for $1,000,000. Moreover, the high key lighting symbolises her innocence and purity when she is performing before she is bought by one of the men. After this, the amount of light decreases to show a low key lighting wide shot of another auction where in which she is performing in front of the men again. Lady Gaga uses several branded objects throughout her video such as the 'Parrot' MP3 device at the beginning and then the 'Beats By Dr Dre' laptops. Furthermore, she also wears jewellery from her own collection. This works as advertising for the companies and it will equally encourage fans and others that watch the videos to purchase something that she has. They will have the mind set of 'If it's good enough for Lady Gaga, its good enough for me'.
In this next scene, a wide shot is used which pans around the room and then zooms into a mid shot of Gaga (as shown below). In the shot, we can see that she is the main attraction to the men surrounding her. Here, she is objectified again as they get to bid in an auction for her, she is property for sale.
Gaga is wearing minimal clothing and so this portrays her as being in a state of vulnerability like an animal being backed into a corner or caged; this is shown earlier on in the video when she is caged like an animal. She has beads and diamonds wrapped around her, restricting her movement. This adds to the aspect of her being in a vulnerable position and trapped by the possessiveness of the dominating males around her.
Following this is a wide shot showing Lady Gaga walking away from the camera wearing a white fur coat. The coat was made from a polar bear as you can see its head facing the camera. A polar bear is presented as being a dominant animal but here it is no longer in control because it is dead. This links to the fact that at the present moment, Gaga has lost her control, however, it could also foreshadow that she is going to gain her control and power back at some point towards the end of the video. More over, this emphasises the use of animal imagery within the video and also highlights Gaga's gain and loss of power throughout.
Then the camera does a 'shot - reverse shot' as it shows who she is walking towards, the man who purchased her. He is sitting on the bed, all dressed in black and leaning forward to imply that he is waiting for her and is engaged in the moment. A shot of the bed implies that they are about to have sex and that he is going to be receiving the service that he has bought the prostitute (Gaga) for. The entirety of the room is white whereas the male is dressed in black. This creates symbolism as the whole situation and scene would be innocent if he wasn't there. He takes away the innocent aspect of it just like he has taken away Lady Gaga's innocence too.
Next, she is laying on the floor with the other prostitutes in another scene. They are all dressed in red, a colour of desire and passion but also danger. The characters are all lying on the floor hinting that they are exhausted from being sexually used and abused. Their innocence has been taken away from them and they feel useless and vulnerable, hence the fact that they are lying on the floor because they do not feel worthy. Then, there is a dramatic dance that happens in this same scene when Lady Gaga raises her head and the others follow. She stands up and they all follow, again. From this, the audience can pick up that she is sick and tired of being mistreated like an animal or an object and she is standing up for what she believes in because she knows that she shouldn't be seen as being a piece of property. Furthermore, she is going to fight to gain her control and power back from the male.
Lady Gaga removes the polar bear coat to reveal that she was only wearing underwear underneath. The underwear is white which links to that fact that she is about to gain her innocence back and also her power over the male in front of her. She raises both of her arms open wide to tease and fool him into having sex with her. Gaga does this as she will then get to use him rather than him using her, she takes advantage of the situation in order to deceive and trick him.
Fire ignites, surrounding them and closing them off from the rest of the room, symbolising her trapping him. In this wide shot, it also shows the polar bears mouth as being open as if it is growling at a predator and this is exactly what Lady Gaga is doing. She has trapped her prey and isn't going to let go of it until it is dead. The room goes up in flames and she is no longer in the shot which implies to the audience that she has set him on fire and has left him to burn which is then confirmed by a close shot of her standing in front of the fire and its flames. She is standing extremely close to the fire but isn't being burnt, adding to the symbolist effect that has been created here. She has killed him meaning that he has lost his control and she has gained it, she is superior to him.
The final shot shows Gaga lying on the bed next to a corpse who we assume is the male who used her. There are sparks of fire coming out of her chest and she is smoking a cigarette like the men were in the beginning of the video. With the flames sparking out of her chest, it is confirmation to the viewer that it was in fact her that killed him and also, she is seen looking at the camera as it moves away which implies that she has no shame for what she has just done and that she is proud of her actions. Her underwear is now black, just like the antagonist's clothing was. This highlights how the power has been gained by Gaga.
At the beginning of the video for Lady Gaga's Paparazzi, calm non-diegetic music is playing throughout the establishing shot of the white house which is surrounded by flowers. You can also hear the diegetic sounds of birds and the sea. This sets a very tranquil mood but also hints to the audience that all could be not exactly what it seems. Next, cartoon/animated style writing appears on the screen titling 'a serial pictures production'. The style of the writing implies that the video was made to look as if it was set in the 1950's. The video looks as if it is set
somewhere hot and sunny in the Mediterranean; it is somewhere you would go on
holiday. Along with the flowers as well, it looks like a perfect place
where nothing could go wrong so it is deceiving to the viewer.
All the way through the video, you see shots of different designer brands for example, the rings that she wears from Dior and her own jewellery that she has designed herself. It is promoting the companies to a wide range of audiences that may or may not want to buy them. Furthermore, fans and others that watch the video may be influenced to then go and buy something from one of the brands because she is seen wearing them in the video. It would have the biggest affect on her fans which would then want to have a look at her collection and merchandise and then might be persuaded to buy it.
When she gets pushed off of the balcony, her boyfriend is looking straight into a camera as he knows and has asked someone to take pictures of him throwing her over the edge. He has done this to create headlines and then he would get a lot of publicity and a lot of money from it too. When she is falling, there is a background behind her of a black and white illusion. This conveys the fact that she didn't expect him to do what he did and she was blind to it. As Lady Gaga has landed on the floor, her blood is full of glitter and jewels. By doing this, she has glamorized the fact that she has died and turned it into a not so negative thing. It also adds emphasis to her fame and status and its what she is through and through, its what makes her. There is also a montage of shots of women that have died due to being victims of male violence. This portrays women in a good light and shows them as being innocent and vulnerable. More over, at the end of the video when Lady Gaga kills her on-screen boyfriend, she gains back the power that she lost to him so it makes her look superior and the one with the most control adding to the good presentation of women throughout.
In this scene near the end of the video, her clothing has a pattern which is similar to that of Minnie mouse. By her wearing this it makes her look as innocent and naïve as a child but it is ironic that she then goes on to kill her boyfriend. The clothing that she is wearing is yellow which adds further irony as yellow is seen as being a happy colour and yet she is about to kill him. Her revenge is unexpected for the audience. When she hands him the drink he doesn't make eye contact with her at all and this is because he believes that he has the control and power over her. However, the only time when he does look at her is once he has drunk the poison and he does this as he now knows that he has lost the control to her and she has won. The fact that he never looks at her also portrays women from in the 1950's as being irrelevant to society and therefore, the men never pay any attention to them unless they want something; they should be seen and not heard, like a child.
The drug that she gives him comes out of her ring from her own brand in which she designed herself. All of the jewellery that she is wearing represents danger as it is covered in sharp, metal spikes. It is deceiving to the audience because again, it is something that they wouldn't have expected as the ring just looks like an innocent piece of jewellery. In addition to this, she is wearing blacked out sunglasses too so that you cannot see her eyes. By wearing these, it creates a sense of mystery for the viewer due to the fact that she is hiding what she is about to do. The poisonous drug that she gives him is a red liquid. The colour red conveys blood and death which is foreshadowing what will happen next. Lady Gaga's on-screen boyfriend is wearing an eye patch in this scene, implying that he is blinded by her and doesn't know what she is planning to do.
After she has killed her on-screen
boyfriend, she removes her blacked out glasses so that we can finally see her
eyes. She then puts the glasses over his eyes and smiles. This shows the viewer
that her revenge was meant to kill him and that she has done it on purpose.
Lady Gaga has no shame for killing him and it comes across through her facial
expression of smiling too. The fact that she leaves her glasses on him when he
is dead emphasises her revenge further because it would be obvious that she had
intentionally killed him and the media would find out. However, because he
tried to kill her first, the media would love her for getting her revenge on
him.
In the picture above, Lady Gaga is seen having her prison photo taken. The entirety of the mid shot is captured in black and white apart from her nails which are purple and also some running makeup on her face which is also purple. This is significant to the start of the video when she arrives back at her mansion and walks on a purple carpet. The colour purple relates to royalty which portrays Lady Gaga as being a rich character who is highly important to society.
There are 3 different categories for the types of music videos that there are. They are Performance, Narrative and Abstract. They have different varieties so that they can appeal to a range of audiences meaning that people will down load.
Performance: Sam Smith - Lay Me Down & Jess Glynne ft. Clean Bandit - Real Love
This type of music video is where it is mainly about the artists performance rather than narrative or abstract. These are usually set in a studio, from one of their concerts or a specific scene relevant to the song and its lyrics.
As you can see from the Sam Smith - Lay Me Down video, even though this has narrative concepts to it, it is mainly him performing the song in a church and the main focus is on him. There are mainly mid and close up shots in this video to emphasize the emotion that the artist is putting into the song, by doing this it will automatically intrigue the reader even more. Furthermore, they might be able to relate to the story line that is shown and they will become more emotionally attached to the song.
Also, from the Jess Glynne ft. Clean Bandit - Real Love video you can see that it is also mainly performance but shows you some clips from scenarios which fit the song and its genre. In this video, Jess Glynne and Clean Bandit are the main focus and it is mainly filmed in the music studio and also on stage at some of their concerts where this song has been performed.
Narrative: Lady gaga ft. Beyonce - Telephone & Ella Eyre - Comeback
A narrative video is where it is based on a story line pretty much all the way through however the artists could be performing the song also.
For example in the video for Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce - Telephone, there is a story running throughout it and even though it doesn't really relate to the lyrics, it still works to engage the viewer. The story line that is running throughout is of both of the female criminals getting revenge on a lot of people mainly to prove a point and not for a specific purpose. Even though Beyonce doesn't sing that much in the song and is only featuring in it, it helps to get a wider range of audiences to watch it with it having two of the biggest international singers in the video rather than just having one.
In Ella Eyre's video for 'Comeback' she is performing the song at the same time as acting in the video. Her acting consists of her boyfriend cheating on her with another girl so she confronts him about it. Then she gets his house keys and goes to trash his house as an act of revenge. This can be relatable to a wide audience because it is a regular occurrence nowadays so they will be more likely to listen to the song and then want to watch the video. The video matches the lyrics completely and it all fits together. Abstract: Ella Eyre - Gravity & Calvin Harris ft. HAIM - Pray To God
An abstract video is where the concept of the video has no relation to the lyrics or the song. It can be completely different from what the artist/artists are singing about.
In the video for Ella Eyre's Gravity the video is of Ella and a man - possibly her partner - in a car chase with two police cars throughout. This does not relate to the lyrics at all but in doing so, will grab the audience's attention and intrigue them to watch the rest of the video and to discover why the two are involved in a police car chase in the first place.
In Calvin Harris' video Pray to God featuring HAIM, sees three females all dressed in black with a changing back drop behind them. The back drop first starts off as being of a red/orange/brown coloured sunset sky and then it changes to a mountain range. In this scene, there are animals in the video that you would typically associate with a snowy landscape such as a wolf and an arctic white rabbit. Following this, there is another back drop that is set in the middle of a forest again with an animal that would be stereotypically associated with a forest - a bear and then there is a hawk and a lion too. The camera shots flick between the artists, HAIM, and the animal which connotes that the artists are similar to the animals that their picture flicks to. At the end of the video, there are flashbacks to the parts in the video so that it reminds the audience of what they have just seen. This has been done so that they are more likely to remember the video and therefore download it or recommend it to someone that they know.
In the lesson we looked at various adverts for video games for example, Xbox and PlayStation. The main video advert that we looked at was for a game called Fallout 4. A new game about a nuclear post apocalyptic future. (Official trailer shown below)...
Fallout 4 is the fourth in the series of the 'Fallout' video games. It is a sci-fi dystopian game about an on-going war after a nuclear apocalypse. Fallout 3 was released in 2010 as Fallout New Vegas which looks very similar to fallout 4. All 4 instalments have the same basic plot but each game has varying qualities and new designs as the gaming world has improved.
The opening of the trailer fades in alluding to an old fashioned TV being turned on, the black and white effect adds to the idea that it is set in a past time. As the camera zooms out we see that the TV, car and the state of the house connotes this game might be set in the 50’s maybe slightly later. The run down house shows that there is probably nobody living there however, the lighting is quite high key meaning that the game genre probably isn’t horror such as ‘Outlast’ or anything as such else there would be high key lighting.
The make of the TV is ‘radiation king’ this gives us a hint that the plot of the game might be something to do with radiation/explosives resulting in the game being within the action genre. The camera then defocuses and a new image of the same house is shown. The house looks more upper class and like a typical suburban American household. The before and after shot shows the difference between what the house looked like before and after this nuclear apocalypse and sets the scene for the rest of the game. There are many varying shots showing the house a few years/months ago and then back to present time. Within the present day shots we meet a dog, this is the same dog that has been in all of the previous Fallout games. It is insinuated that this house is where the dog once lived.
In one of the rooms a crib can be seen painted in blue, it seems that this is the only brightly coloured and unchanging thing within the house. This could cannot that there is still hope for the future generations of this nuclear damage. When the dog leaves the house we then see a montage of images showing what happened to this location. We get to see what has gone on and make assumptions as to what the game will be about. Finally we see the ‘hero’ of the game and probably the protagonist. The blue costume could be linked with the blue from the crib earlier on in the trailer and the connotation of hope that is linked to it.
Music:
The music at the start of the trailer fits the 1950’s theme with a quite uplifting jazz song, however about 1 minute in with the addition of diegetic sound the music changes to one which is more fitting with the genre which is quite loud and booming. A voiceover is also used with the introduction of this music which is used as a narrator, to explain what the narrative is.
At the beginning of the
video when the music is playing, after each bar, the picture changes
showing different statues/ornaments around his house. The ornaments are
quite biblical and religious figures which reflects on his personality
and lets the viewer know a little bit about him through the way he thinks
and acts.
The next thing that you
see is a close up of Johnny Cash himself playing the guitar and then it
goes into a scene in America with the American flag. The director and
producer has done this to give the audience a bit of background
knowledge into the life of Johnny Cash as he was very famous in America
in his time. The colours of the video are fairly dark apart from the brighter shades of yellow which could symbolise the sun shining on him. Furthermore, this would reflect on how he was a massive star back in his time and is still portrayed as being a star.
Next, this transitions into
a shot of a sign saying "House Of Cash Museum - closed to public". From
this shot we can see that the star had an amazing career and was
extremely well known so that they even made a museum dedicated to him
however, we also know that it is in the present tense due to the fact
that it is now closed. Throughout the video, there are black and white clips from when Johnny Cash was younger and in his prime. The black and white indicates that the video is old due to the fact that this video is in colour.
Later on in the video, there is a close up of Cash's face followed by a wide shot of a picture hanging on a wall in his house. The picture is of a woman who we assume is his mother and she is no longer around. After this, there is a another wide shot which shows a room with some Johnny Cash memorabilia in it. From this setting, we can gather that this was taken at the museum which was dedicated to him but is now closed. The room looks like it was once full but is now bare with broken merchandise. Due to the merchandise being broken, this shows that the museum has been shut for quite a while so he is nowhere near as famous as he used to be.
There are several close up shots of food which is laid out on a large table. From all of the religious connotations so far in the video, this looks as if it could be symbolism for 'the last supper' which Jesus has before he was crucified. We have only ever seen Johnny Cash present in his house which could mean that he feels isolated and lonely so whoever the big banquette of food is for is a mystery to the audience.
Towards the end of the video there are several religious connotations such as a low shot of the cross and a montage of images of Jesus and nails being hammered - Jesus being nailed to the cross. These convey Johnny Cash's religious background and how he follows religion. The lyrics are as follows;
I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything
[Chorus]
What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liars chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here
[Chorus]
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
If I could start again
A million miles away
I will keep myself
I would find a way
