This is some of the feedback that we got from some of our classmates, we plan to fix all of the problems that have been commented on so that we can improve our video
In order to make our music video better we are going to change the editing so that the drums are timed a bit better with the music, make some of the shots shorter in length and re-shoot so that we have another chance for our singer to get the lyrics right so we can appropriately place them in the video
We also need to shoot a lot more footage of our guitarist because a lot of the footage that we have of him cant be used at all because he isn't actually strumming the guitar so we need to remedy this.
Here is a link to a presentation that I have made about the planning for the filming of our final cut...
We actually faced a lot of problems whilst filming that we didnt expect to come across, we found actually finding the time to film really hard as well as organising not only our own time but the time of our actors aswell, as well as this we had problems securing a location. We are still currently trying our hardest to finish filming and get our music video up to a professional standard.
We eliminated the storyline of our video which we planned to do originally, and decided to do a complete performance video, we used the school hall because then we could use the projector and the lights. As well as this, they had speakers so we could play the song loudly which gave our actors more confidence. We borrowed instruments from our school's music department and set them up on the stage in the hall, we tried to use the lights and the stage to our advantage and use camera angles to make it look as though they were playing in an actual club, we feel as though we accomplished this in a few of our shots but not all of them.
We did the first but of filming for our media video yesterday, and are currently in the process of editing our video, we shot the performance part of our music video and here are some pictures of how it all went...
We used a projector to put the 'Foster the People' image onto the back curtain, we were going to buy a white bedsheet and paint on it but we figured that it would be cheaper and more effective if we used the projector because it would also light the stage a bit
We have used Final Cut Express to edit our video, we have used the speed control to add slow motion in our video and used the desaturate tool to make some of our footage black and white. Final cut has allowed us to ensure that our video is precisely timed and all the cuts are made on the beats and the miming is believable.
We borrowed a drum kit, microphones, a keyboard, a guitar and wires from the music department at our school and set them up for our music video, we used coloured lights that shon onto the stage which, we think, made the band look as though it could have been playing in a club
We asked our band to do a practice run before we started filming - especially our drummer - because he is an actual drummer so we wanted him to get the beats so that we could match them with the song easily whilst editing our video
The desaturate tool allowed us to make the middle section of our video black and white. We did this so that it would clearly separate the performance side of the video and the story side, this is the only 'story based' element of our music video and doesnt last very long but we wanted it to look like they were turning up to the venue.
To create what we have of our music video we used:
A tripod
2 camera's
A projector
A drum kit, guitar, keyboard, microphone and speakers
In theperformance part of our music video we are planning to have close up's of both the band, and specific instruments, medium close ups of the bands with their instruments and medium shots of the entire band playing. We also plan to have over the shoulder shots of our drummer and singer
We have taken ideas from some of The Killers' music videos as well as some from Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian, we looked at their videos that were performance based and looked at the way that the band and the instruments were representedand how the camera moved toflatter the band
We want some close ups of our band's faces similar to this one, we are going to film the close up from the front and side and see which one looks better and creates more of an effect, the main person that we are going to have close ups of is our lead singer so that is establishes him as the band front man.
We like the angle in which the camera looks down the bass guitar because it actually shows the instrument being played, we plan to do a shot similar to this but start at the body of the guitar then move the camera up to the neck to add camera movement into our video.
We want to have over the shoulder shots of both our drummer and our lead singer so that it offers a sort of point of view perspective to our audience, we want them to be able to feel what it would be like behind a drumset or microphone because even if you go and see a band live you dont get the availability of seeing everything.
We like the close up of the hands playing the instrument and plan to get a shot similar to this in our music video, we would also like to have the lighting similar but will find it hard to recreate this with coloured lights so we are going to create an effect with white lights
The song choice for our music video is in the indie genre so the clothing that our musicians wear is important to how they will be perceived by their fans, fashion is a big part of the indie genre so we plan to make our band members look stylish whilst still fitting theindiegenre. We want our lead singer to wear a harrington jacket and we want it to come across as though it would be his signature thing to wear, we are going to put all of the band members in skinny jeans, Tom in a plain t-shirt and Tom Mcmahon in a shirt.
It is harder to dress boys and give them more than a couple of outfit changes, we think, because you can easily put girls in a skirt or a dress or shorts but boys' clothing genereally centers around trousers and a t-shirt. Because of this we're going to addaccessories such as Ray-Bans and, in Joe's case, a hoop in his ear, this will compliment the clothes more and give us more outfit changes. We kind of want a 60's element to the fashion side of our music video so we've been looking at mod clothing, this is also convenient for us because Joe tends to dress like this anyway so he can help us with the outfit choices.
We have looked at the clothes that are worn in a lot of bands in the indie genre, we looked, obviously, at Foster the People but decided that we didnt want to copy what they were wearing, we want every aspect of our music video to be completely different to the video that already exists for 'Pumped Up Kicks,' we also looked at Arctic Monkeys, Stone Roses, The Courteeners and mods in the 60's, we think that a combination of all of these clothes will be perfect for our band. We just want to take pieces from each band that we have looked at and create our own signature look.
Here are some screenshots from music videos, we actually looked at a Foster the People video and saw that they're quite casual when they perform, wearing t-shirts and jeans, but when they arent performing they dress slightly smarter. Because our video is performance based we want to encapsulate the casual clothing that they wear when they are performing. Many bands take the casual approach when they are performing - especially drummers - for comfort and ease.
There are quite a few locations that we need to go to to film the different parts of our music video. We want to have a kind of fun 'boys on tour' aspect to our video so want to film our cast just doing what a band would do if there were in London waiting until they have to play their gig. Although some of the shots that we shoot in London will be based around this idea, we also want some serious images that establish the band as legitimate. We plan to go to:
The Millenium Bridge - we have chosen to do some shots here because it is a very recognisable location and we think that it would look good on a winter evening. We plan to have the boys standing in the middle of the bridge and we will film it for about 5-10 minutes then in editing we will speed it up so that the boys are standing still but people are blurring as they walk along beside them.
Brick Lane - we have chosen to shoot in Brick Lane aswell because the surroundings and feeling of it generally fit the genre and target audience that we are aiming our video at. Brick Lane has been established as an 'Indie' locations because of the amount of vintage shops that are there, as well as this, the famous record label 'Rough Trade' has a store there which we think establishes Brick Lane as a place that musicians would be interested to visit
Charing Cross - underneath Charing Cross station there is a tunnel that leads to southbank, a lot of busking happens in this tunnel and we think the brick setting would be good to film some of our video in, because there are a few shops along this are this is kind of where we want to get ourtour video type effect with the boys just laughing and looking around London. This is also a convenient location for us because its really close to Southbank and the bridge that we want to film on so it will be quick and easy to get some shots here
Pub Hall - to film theperformance side of our video we are going to a hall that has a stage, we are going to put the boys on the stage with instruments and film them as though they are performing to a crowd, this is also where the opening part of our video is going to be set; we are going to film the boyssetting up their instruments then speed it up and perhaps put it in black and white for the openinginstrumental of the song. This adds to theauthenticity of the video because it establishes them as an independent band.
Robert's got a quick hand. He'll look around the room, he won't tell you his plan. He's got a rolled cigarette, hanging out his mouth, he's a cowboy kid. Yeah, he found a six shooter gun. In his dad's closet hidden with a box of fun things, and I don't even know what. But he's coming for you, yeah he's coming for you.
[Chorus: x2] All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you better run, better run, outrun my gun. All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you better run, better run, faster than my bullet.
Daddy works a long day. He'll be coming home late, he's coming home late. And he's bringing me a surprise. 'Cause dinner's in the kitchen and it's packed in ice. I've waited for a long time. Yeah the sleight of my hand is now a quick-pull trigger, I reason with my cigarette, And say, "Your hair's on fire, you must have lost your wits, yeah."
[Chorus: x2] All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you better run, better run, outrun my gun. All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you better run, better run, faster than my bullet.
[Whistling]
[Chorus: x4] All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you better run, better run, outrun my gun. All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you better run, better run, faster than my bullet.
Although the song itself is quite upbeat and dancey, the lyrics actually add a really dark meaning to the song. It is basically about a psychotic teenager who wants to kill everyone and many have speculated that it is actually about the Robert Hawkings shootings. Mark Foster himself has said,"'Pumped Up Kicks' is about a kid that basically is losing his mind and is plotting revenge. He's an outcast. I feel like the youth in our culture are becoming more and more isolated. It's kind of an epidemic. Instead of writing about victims and some tragedy, I wanted to get into the killer's mind, like Truman Capote did in In Cold Blood. I love to write about characters. That's my style. I really like to get inside the heads of other people and try to walk in their shoes." The phrase, 'Pumped Up Kicks' actually refers to the Reebok trainers that were popular in America in the 80's/90's which had a pump at the back which added extra air into the shoe for "an extra lift," the lyrics are saying that those who can afford 'pumped up kicks' should run from the psycho killer. Its an indirect threat.
So that our music video actually relates to the title of the song, we are creating a character for our music video that is slightly psychotic and as well as this we are planning to create a montage of different 'kicks,' our music video is going to be a mix of shots that are relavant to the story line behind the title/song, and some shots of the band touring and generally being laddish.
To create the look of the band touring, we are planning to take some shots of the boys in the car, we want it to look similar to the shots that are used in the Arctic Monkeys video to 'R U Mine'
We like the handheld effect of this video because it makes the band seem more independent and the simplicity of the band holding the camera and miming whilst still making the video entertaining to watchinspired us to want to use similar shots.
Our group e-mailed Startime International, the company that manages the copyright for Foster the People, to ask for their permission to use 'Pumped Up Kicks' in our music video. We are yet to receive a reply but are hoping that they will take the time to e-mail us back.
We found deciding which song to feature in our music video one of the most difficult things in this process. We considered a range of songs such as:
Florence and the Machine - Dog Days are Over The Vaccines - Wetsuit The Vaccines - If You Wanna The Naked and Famous - Punching in a Dream
We finally decided to use 'Pumped Up Kicks' by Foster the People, this is an upbeat song and we plan to use three boys and film most of our video in London, we have chosen this location because the band is from California so it would be difficult for us to stay true to the origin of the band, so we are aiming to make the band seem British as opposed to American, and what better way to portray this to the audience, than to use London! The landmarks are easily noticed as being British and the scenery is urban.
Foster the People have only released one album, 'torches', and since its release in may 2011 it has already won, aswell as being nominated for, over six awards in 2011 alone. As well as this, they played in the NME tent at Reading, only second behind the headliners and the album has already gone platinum. The band are well known in the indie genre so this is why we have chosen their song; people would want to watch the music video if they had already heard the song.
As this picture shows, Foster the people have won 3 awards, two of which were for the specific song, 'pumped up kicks', from the album and one for the new artist of the year. They have been nominated for awards from big names such as MTV, Q, BRIT Awards and NME. Considering the fact that the album only came out just over a year ago, that is a long list of awards. This is another reason why we want to use this song for our music video, it is a well known song and we are fans of the band so we would like to do the song/album justice.
This picture shows that the band have only released one album, but three singles which would add to the recognition that the band gains, the best received one of these singles was actually Pumped up Kicks which is why we have chosen to do this song.
The audience that we plan to target our video at are the...
According the UK Tribes, bands that Indie Scenesters like are bands such as Vampire Weekend and The Kooks, although this was true in 2008, when the site published these findings, the Indie Scenesters have moved on to newer bands like Spector, Kasabian and Two Door Cinema Club. The brands that the website claims that Indie's like are still very relevant today,
Fashion is an important part of the 'look' of being an indie scenester, again, the look that is described on the UK Tribes website was published in 2008, since then the look of Indie's has changed - although the favoured brands have remained the same.
The kind of person that we want to aim our music video at would be a 'festival goer,' someone that you would expact to see at Reading or Glastonbury. And considering the fact that the band who created the song that we intend to do our music video to have played at Reading, I think that this is an appropriate relationship between the audience and the song.
The media that UK Tribes says that Indie Scenesters are interested in has changed a lot since it was published, the media that Indie's are now interested is more along the lines of NME, XFM and E4.
I took some pictures of the type of audience that we are aiming to target...
A classic sign of an indie scenester is the Baracuta Harrington jacket, very popular amongst mods and skinheads in the 1960's so are now seen as being vintage a retro - a label that Indie scenesters strive to uphold.
Whilst taking these pictures we asked our 'models' questions about where they shop, what they do in their spare time and what music they listen to.
Tom Mcmahon:
Where do you shop? - Asos -Topman - Brick Lane (Rokit) - Urban outfitters
What music do you listen to?
- Oasis
- Jake Bugg
- Mumford & Sons
- Paolo Nuitini
- Foo Fighters
- Vaccines
- Arctic Monkeys
- Stone Roses
What do you do in your spare time?
- Go to the gym
- Read magazines (NME)
As well as speaking to Tom Mcmahon, I also spoke to Tom Hammond who likes similar music and shops in similar places to Tom Mcmahon. However, his interests were different, he likes to play football and has more of an interest in media, he watches TV (mainly E4) and also reads magazines. I spoke to Joe Robinson, (bottom right picture,) the answers that he gave to my questions were very different to that of Tom Mcmahon and Tom Hammond, he likes music such as Joy Division, Madness and the Specials. He buys his clothes from Ben Sherman, Fred Perry, Uni Qlo, charity shops and John Lewis and in his spare time he plays rugby, goes to the gym and works, this shows that he has little interest in media because he spends little time on the internet, watching TV and reading magazines/newspapers.
We want our target audience to be able to relate to our band and feel as though they understand them; this turns a target audience member into a fan, the distinct difference between someone that we want to target our music video to, and someone that we want to be a fan of the band is that a fan will may like the band for many reasons other than because they like the music that they produce, they may like the bands appearance, like them just because everyone else does or even just generally like the band as a whole, but we want our target audience to specifically relate to the music that is produced by the band as well as all the other reasons why a fan may like the band, it is for this reason that we want our target audience to be music lovers and in turn, festival goers.
I think that British youths will be able to relate to the band especially because the indie genre is more or less an evolved version of British pop which was created when - The Beatles especially - the British took American rock like Elvis, reconstituted it and sent it back to America who in turn added their own style and created bands such as Foster the People.
I have decided to analyse the music channel, MTV Rocks. I have chosen to analyse this channel because I think that our music video - when completed - will fit in well with the other videos that are aired on this channel. As well as this, the audience that MTV Rocks targets will also be the audience that we will aim to target with our music video.
I watched MTV earlier during the top 10 songs, I was surprised to see that not all of the top 10 songs were new singles, number 5 in the list was The Killers old song 'dancer,' this surprised me because I thought that they would all be new songs, but it showed that people obviously still buy the single to 'dancer'
I personally think that there are three types of song/video. There are songs that are so good that they dont need an amazing video to be recognised, there are songs that are pretty average, and cover that up with a really good video so that people recognise the song by remembering the video. And then finally, there are songs that are iconic, that also have amazing video's, songs like Thriller that have success in both the charts, and the views of their video.
By watching this channel for a couple of hours, I found that there were different programmes listed, regardless of whether the channel is just going to be playing music, it has to have a programme name that can be listed. When I was watching it, it was listed as "mtv rocks unleashed, top 10!," the programme that was coming on after was called, "ultimate stateside rockers," and after that, "marilyn mansons takeover," and then a regular feature on the channel "Biggest! Hottest! Loudest!"
There were several different artists that were featured on the channel, some were more indie artists than rock artists which I found a bit strange because there are other channels that are devoted to showing indie bands, there were a range of artists on the channel during the time that I watched it, I saw The Maccabes, Greenday, Paramore, The Killers, Muse and Linkin Park among others.
When I was watching the channel I actually saw a video that literally struck as one of the best videos that I personally have ever seen, as soon as I saw it I wanted to watch it again and felt a strong need to tell me friends to watch it and how good it was, this made me realise the power that a single music video can possess and how easily a song can become well known just because of its video. The video was to the song "All I Want" by Kodaline
The message behind this video is amazing and the way that its shot is almost like its a short film instead of a music video because it has dialogue aswell. This video shows how easily music can convey amoral message, when in unison with youtube which allows it to be broadcast all over the world, music videos have the power to change the way people think.
This video has already got several positive comments and over 100,000 views since its recent release in September of this year.
During this research I realised how easily it was for videos to become widespread. From their debut on music channels, people will then watch it again on youtube, then tell their friends about it so that they will spread via word of mouth, the internet AND via music channels.
I also spotted many different cross promotions whilst watching the channel. Its not very clear fromthe pictures that I uploaded but whilst the videos were being played there was a logo for the new MTV show 'The Valley' at the bottom of the screen throughout the programme. As well as this, before the commercials would begin, there would be an MTV commercial either for the new series of 'Geordie Shore,' the final series of 'Jersey Shore,' or an advert promoting their new show 'The Valley,' this has been done to ensure that people will come back to watch MTV once they see the commercials for these shows which will increase their ratings as opposed to just advertising via the internet or by posters.
As well as the music channel, MTV Rocks also has a website. The channel promotes this which shows intertextual linking, in the logo at the top of the screen, in the little box underneath is the address of the website, www.mtv.co.uk/rocks. Featured on the website are all the links to the different MTV channels such as MTV Classic, MTV Music and MTV Hits. As well as this, there is also aplayilst featured on the website which offers the audience a range of new songs to listen to. I noticed that teh channel is mainly aimed at boys because on the website there are loads of adverts for xbox games and trainers.
We want our music video/song choice to fit in easily with the playlist that is featured on the MTV Rocks website, we think that it would be appropriate and relevant in the playlist and would be believable. I searched 'Foster the People' in the search bar on the website to see if they were actually featured on the website, I found that they have a section of the website just for them which adds authenticity to our music video.
I have chosen to analyse Foo Fighters video to 'The Pretender,' I have chosen this as my second analysis because I thought it would be helpful to me to analyse both a narrative-based video and a performance-based one, 'The Pretender' video directed by Sam Brown currently has 58,465,355 hits on Youtube and the band itself has had a massive following since the demise of Kurt Cobain - and evidently Nirvana - and the advent of the Foo Fighters.
This music video belongs to the genre of Rock, it possesses many characteristics of this genre, for example, there are a lot of close ups of the members of the band playing their instruments and a lot of 'headbanging,' mostly from the lead singer Dave Grohl. As well as this, there are a lot of long shots so that the whole band can be seen by the audience. A lot of aggression is shown and the mise en scene is typical of a rock video, the band members are dressed mostly in black and white and are wearing skinny jeans and vans. The colour scheme is simple and effective white, black and red.
Due to the fact that it is a performance video, there are very few links to the lyrics and the video because the camera mainly focuses on the link between the music and the shots. However, there are a few lyrics that are illustrated by moments in the video.
The line "and so it all began," is illustrated in the video by the song actually beginning at this point. Although the guitar starts as soon as Grohl walks out onto the 'stage' the drums indicate the beginning of the entire band contributing to the music.
The drum beat that is used in this sequence is almost like the introduction to the second verse of the song. Many have said that drummers in bands are talentless and pointless but this single shot shows that without that drum beat the song would not have a real start point, I think that this is an important part of the video because - with Dave Grohl being a previous drummer himself - it is as though the video is blatently showing the importance that the drummers position holds in a band and this is being emphasised through this one shot.
Another line that is illustrated in the video is the line, "the secrets that you keep are ever ready," when Grohl says the word 'secrets' the camera moves up to look at the ceiling, this shows that the camera does not want to invade any secret that may be being kept by Grohl so the camera shot is almost personified by the fact that it 'looks away'
The final connection that I found between the lyrics and the video was when Dave Grohl is repeating the line "who are you," he does this whilst staring at the guards that have approached the line, this gives the impression that he is antagonising the guards and daring them to come forward and attack them, he makes them feel insignificant and inferior by literally saying to them 'who are you?'
Because it is a performance video, there are a lot of ways that the music is illustrated by shots in the video. For example, there is a close up of a William Goldsmiths guitar when his distinct guitar riff is heard at the beginning of the video, this shows the audience who is playing the instrument and what specific instrument is being played, it also illustrates the sounds that are being heard.
One of the most obvious links between the music and the video is the diegetic sound of Dave Grohl singing. When he is singing the camera is almost always showing him at the microphone miming/singing the lyrics. This clearly shows the audience that Grohl is the singer and the shots of the other band members with intruments establishes who is playing what instrument and what talents each member posesses.
Something that happens frequently throughout the video is cuts from shot to shot that occur to specific beats of the music. These happen really quickly and there are often several different shots in the space of one or two seconds. The video changes pace with the music and after the red wall explodes the pace of the video drastically changes.
There are many close ups of the lead singer, Dave Grohl, and he is flattered by the camera a lot throughout the video. The video actually starts with a solo of him singing and playing the guitar, then after the first verse the rest of the band come out and start to play their instruments. Interestingly, you dont actually see Grohl's face until the other band members start to come out which, although establishes him as the front man, suggests that he does not want to be seen as superior.
There are a lot of close up of Grohl's face where as the close ups of the other members of the band are mainly of them playing their instruments, this emphasises the point that Andrew Goodwin makes about the fact that there is a lot of demand on the part of the record company to offer a lot of close ups of the main singer to the audience, this video accomplishes this goal.
This video is very dissimilar to most of the other videos that are made by the Foo Fighters, videos such as 'Walk,' 'Learn to fly,' and 'Everlong,' are comical and story based which gave the band a "carefree" reputation. However, the performance side of this video is similar to their video to 'All My Life.' The mise en scene is very similar with the simple set out of the stage, the backdrop and the very similar close ups of Grohl...
I dont think that this video really puts the band/singer on sexual display; thats very unconventional of a rock video, its more in rap videos that there are provocative dancers and the artist is seen as sexual. The clothes that are worn by the band and the policemen are very conservative and casual, interestingly, there are actually very few notions of looking in this video, I think that the reason for this is because the video focuses mainly on the performance and talents of the band as opposed to telling a story - which would usually use notions of looking, such as windows.
As I said earlier on in this post, there is only one main intertextual reference in this video. The video relates to the way that the band performs on stage, the movements and facial expressions that are shown by Grohl in the video are similar to that that he does when he performs, the headbanging especially.
The song itself, as said by Grohl, is about political unrest and people not getting what they were promised by the government, this is shown in the video through the use of the police squad - evidently hired by the government - trying tomaintain social control andthe band represent societies outrage to the government, there is a line on the floor in the video that suggests the divide between the government and society, and when the police squad step over the line they should be prepared to face the consequences - in this case, the paint. However, Grohl also said that he wants the song do be open to personal interpretation.
In conclusion, due to the fact that this is a performance based there are more links between the music and the video then the lyrics and the video, this is very common amongst performance based videos, its a very typical video in terms of what to expect when Foo Fighters release a video that is performance based, the close ups of the lead singer and drums, the mise en scene and the shots of the individual band members are all very similar.
