Music Video Rough Cut- BEN RODWELL, TOM HUNTER, ANTON GODWARD, RUTH COBO

UPDATED: Narrative Structure- BEN RODWELL

When planning our music video we had two options: a narrative based music video or a performance based music video. Andrew Goodwin stated that music videos fall in to two categories: videos focused around performance or videos focussed around narrative. Taking Goodwin's theory as an insight in to generic music video convention, we decided that while we wanted to incorporate a performance element in to our music video, trying to base our video around a performance would be difficult as we did not have access to the band who wrote the song. So instead we decided on a narrative focus for our video. We decided to use a traditional three act narrative structure. This act is the basis for most narrative music videos and can be seen in examples such as Mike Posner's video for his song "I Took a Pill In Ibiza". We also wanted to incorporate some kind of cyclical structure to our video and the 3-act narrative structure can incorporate this well. The main theme of our music video would be the ida of duality; the good and bad within one person. We wanted the narrative structure of our music video to relate to and represent this theme in someway.

This is how our music video will align with the 3 act structure:

Equilibrium- The super villain ( metaphorically representing the bad side of an individual) is portrayed as being washed up and powerless. He commits minor offences and annoyances but does not do anything to seriously disrupt anyones lives.

Disequilibrium- Slowly his crimes start to become more severe.  He squashes someones head, fights with people and eventually ties up his ex-nemisis, the super hero (who metaphorically is representing the good side of an individual), and harasses him. This section of the narrative structure is key in highlighting the theme of duality and furthermore the struggle between the good and the bad.

New Equilibrium- The super villain, the bad, is in control having tied up the super hero, the good. The balance between the good and the bad has been disrupted, the super villain portraying how one side can often overpower the other.

Disequilibrium (etc)- Returns to the beginning where the super villain he has lost all his power and control and dominance. He is yet again washed up and powerless. The cyclical structure is complete and could continue for ever. The theme of duality has also been repented as fluid and intertwined; often one side over powers the other, but both always remain.

In addition to this we implemented other narrative techniques: 

UPDATED: Explanation of Planning- BEN RODWELL

Throughout our planning we decided on most elements of our music video via group discussions and then transformed these discussions in to blog posts. On initial prezi mood boards, we all contributed aspects and ideas. We would then discuss these further in class. On certain prezi mood boards, we would allocate certain people to write up different parts of our discussions. For example, I would write about the decisions we had made about costumes where Tom would write about the decisions made about locations. The tasks were divided equally among al four of us.

Inter-textual References- BEN RODWELL

Many texts have influenced and inspired aspects of our music videos. Throughout our planning and research we have incorporated  these texts in to our video via implicit and explicit references. We feel that by making these subtle references to other texts, our work is more sophisticated and has more meaning and value behind it.

The costume of the main character and the thematic basis of our music video was inspired by the video for The Hoosiers song 'Goodbye Mr A'. This videos's premise is that the band kill Mr A, a super hero, and then take his place as vigilante protectors of a town. The cliche, comic book-styled super hero basis of the video was what influenced and inspired our music video's theme. We think that the idea of a hero vs a villain is a well trodden and explored path- in essence it's bout good vs evil. However the super hero vs super villain take on this classic narrative conflict is modern and has lots of opportunity to adapt it. As well as providing inspiration for there basic thematic principle for our video, the style of the superheroes in 'Goodbye Mr A' was a large influence on us. The costumes worn by Mr A and then consequently The Hoosiers, provided us with inspiration for our own music video style and costumes. We decided to add a slightly more modern twist to the style however we feel we kept enough classic, cliched elements such as boots, a cape and a large sign on the chest, to provide the audience with a subtle reference to The Hoosiers video.

One of the main themes that we are trying to portray through our music video is the internal struggle people face between good and evil. For example the line from our chosen song "try as I might, I'm loosing the fight, to get better" highlights this well. The super villain is in conflict with himself. The 'good' side of him is "loosing the fight" to the bad side of him. This is a classic thematic and narrative structure in media and literature. One of the famous example is "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde". This novella is about a man who experiences two very different personalities, one of them good and one of them bad. We wanted to take this traditional, classic narrative theme and add a modern edge to it. We feel by mixing this idea with a superhero theme, we have achieved this. This reference is less explicit than the stylistic reference to  The Hoosiers and instead is implied through the repetition of the lyric "try as I might Im loosing the fight to get better" and the visuals which amplify this lyric.

Finally, a far more explicit reference we made was to the music video "Passing Out The Pieces" by Mac DeMarco. In this video a melon is used as visual effect to make it seem as if someone has squashed and stamped someones head. In the video a quick cut is used to make it seem as if someone has stated and squashed someones head where in actuality it was just a watermelon. We thought this comedic affect was highly affective and wanted to emulate it in our video. We feel that this effect is both surprising, innovative and adds comedic value.

By including explicit and implicit references to different media and literature texts, our final product arrives far more meaning and overall is a stronger piece of media text itself.

Locations- BEN RODWELL

Our thriller will have 3 main locations. These will be a forest or wooded area, an urban/suburban/streeted area and an indoors location. To decide on these locations we visited each, took photos, evaluated the light and space potential and then made a decision based on these properties.

Potential locations

Forest/wooded area

1. Smock-mill Common- Newton Flotman

Advantages:

• Large and open wooded areas
• good light
• good variety of locations
• large site

Disadvantages:

• Not easily accessible
• Far from Norwich
• Very popular and busy

2. Marston Marshes- Norwich

Advantages:

• Not very busy
• close to central norwich
• easily accessible
• good light

Disadvantages:

• Smaller site

Chosen Location: Marston Marshes. Because of the ease of getting there and the good light we chose the marshes. As we only needed one scene filmed there the smaller size of the site would not be an issue.

Urban/sub-urban/streeted area

1. Norwich Lanes

Advantages

• Easily accessible- central
• good variety of locations
• large site
• good light

 Disadvantages

• busy
• legal issues with shops being in footage

2.Cringleford/Eaton

Advantages

• Easily accessible
• good variety of locations
• large site
• not busy
• near to Marston Marshes

Disadvantages

• Not as central as Norwich Lanes

Chosen location: Cringleford/Eaton. Logistically it makes more sense to film here as it is very close to Marston Marshes. Additionally it has a good array of different kinds of urban locations and has streetlights and open areas resulting in good lighting.

Indoor/House location

Chosen location: Ruth's House. One member of our group, Ruth offered to let us use her house to film in. The advantages of this were: 

• The room was well lit
• The room was large enough to film in
• Its layout worked well with our storyboarding shots
• It was central and easy to get to
• It was available at any time due to ruth being in our group

This as the location we chose.

UPDATED: Shooting Schedule- BEN RODWELL

ROLES OF THE GROUP:

When we are not in the scene as extras or main actors, me, Ruth and Anton will uptake different roles to ensure a smooth, productive shoot.

Ruth- Makeup, Costumes, Lighting
Ben- Composition of shots, Camerawork, Camera Angles, Positioning of Actors
Anton- Shot schedule (ensuring all shots are filmed and in correct, logical order)
Tom- Although in almost every shot, Tom will help with the composition of shots                          and camera work

For four of the main scenes which included multiple camera shots and camera movements we drew up rough shooting maps/floor plans to help us on the day of the shoot. These included numbered cameras telling us in what order to film specific shots, placement of actors and rough diagrams depicting the camera and actor movement. As well as helping us on the day, these diagrams helped us ensure that we didn't break the 180 degree rule as we could clearly see the position of each of our cameras.

This is the scene where the hero is tied to the tree being intimidated by the villain. As this scene effectively occurs twice (at the beginning and end) lots of shots are needed hence why there are 5 camera angles. Camera 3 will move back and forth capturing the action via a moving shot.

 This is scene during the first verse. Because we are filming inside in a specific space, we knew the area we were working with well. We could therefore effectively plan where cameras should be placed to achieve the shots we wanted. Camera 3 breaks the 180 degree rule. However this is not an issue as camera 3 will be showing the audience the villains perspective.

 This floor plan is a very rough guide to depict how we want the handheld, lip sync shots to happen. We'll film the scene once with Tom (playing the villain) walking and miming toward the camera and then once again where he is walking backwards away from the camera.









This is the floorplan for the scene where the villain fights with the anorak man. To help with seamless, continuous editing, this scene will have 3 camera shots which will be cut between. This helps the audience see al aspects of the fight and is far more effective than a single camera.

Selected Actors- BEN RODWELL

UPDATED: Storyboard- BEN RODWELL

Initially, for our storyboard we chose to roughly sketch out the general narrative structure of the video. Our video was based around 4-6 key shots and scenes with bridging and linking shots between them and so we felt that to precisely plan every shot at this stage would not benefit us. Instead we sketched a variety of key shots and aspects that convey the key narrative of our music video. 

We then created a second storyboard of the 'filler' or bridging shots that we needed. These are not strictly planned shots instead they are footage we can cut to and from in post production and editing and will help the overall flow of the video. 

Finally we created a much more detailed and strict stroyboard including tehcnical details such as shot type, descirption of the action, camera movements and transitions. This is the storyboard we took when shooting to take reference from.

UPDATED: Pitch- BEN RODWELL

INITIAL/BASIC PITCH: Our music video will feature a washed up, ex-super villain who walks around causing petty annoyances, trying to relive his glory days.

Throughout our planning, as our ideas became more developed and we focused on the larger, macro narratives and themes of the video, our pitch became more detailed and specific in what we were trying to achieve.

FINAL PITCH: Our music will video will feature a 'super villian' character who portrays the negative side of one personality. He will go around causing petty annoyances and will end up directly fighting with a 'super hero' character who portrays the positive side of a personality. The video is a physical metaphor for the inner struggle one person can have between the good and bad parts of their personality.

Costumes- BEN RODWELL

The Super Villain will be the main character in our video. Even though he is supposed to be evil and bad the audience will connect and sympathise with him. He will have a shaved head, a painted skull face and wear a hoodie with a symbol painted on the front. He will wear black jeans and black shoes. By giving the character a painted skull face, it not only portrays to the audience his significance as a main character but also provides him with a clear and unique identity. He is clearly abnormal and

Skull face paint such as this would
give the character a certain motif
and standout characteristic. It would
highlight him as the main character

 separate from the other characters and furthermore the skull connotes his enigma as a character. Additionally it shows that instead of being a super hero he is instead a super villain; historically skulls often represent death and furthermore evilness. On his torso the Villain will wear a hoodie with a symbol painted on the front. The symbol could either be the letter V, standing for Villain or a skull symbol. The symbol will again help the audience understand that he is a super villain not a super hero. It will make his appearance coherent and help establish him as an important and significant character. If the character had a V on his chest he would appear more like a classic and clichéd image of a super villain where as a symbol would portray a more modern look. The clichéd letter could be used as it would portray a retro, vintage aesthetic whereas the more modern symbol would fit with the urban locations and modern day setting. The colour of the hoodie itself would also portray these two differing styles. A dark hoodie would be more modern as it would appear sleeker and more stylish. A brightly coloured hoodie would fit with the more traditional super villain look. Villains and heroes in traditional super hero films and comic

A dark Hoodie such as this would
reflect an urbanisation or modern
aesthetic of the character.

books would wear brightly coloured outfits. An example of this would be the original Robin outfit from Batman and Robin. If we used a dark hoodie the character would look more sleek and modern where as a brightly coloured hoodie would be an inter-textual reference to older, traditional super hero films and comic books. The trousers and shoes of The Super Villain are not overly significant as the face and torso of the character connote the majority of his personality. On his legs he will wear black jeans and on his feet he will wear black shoes. By keeping these elements simple, more emphasis is placed on his abnormal face and hoodie.

The Super Hero is the second main character. Similar to the Super Villain, the character will have left his days of fighting crime behind in favour of a more normal life. His costume will reflect this change in his lifestyle. The Superhero will have a large quiff, wear a cape but also wear suit trousers, smart shoes and a blazer. This hybrid style allows the audience to understand that he is a Super Hero (and therefore in conflict with the main character) but also that he has moved on from

A slick quiff and cape are synonymous
with the image of a superhero and so by
using them it makes clear who the character
is

being a super hero. By having a quiff this is a reference to the classic ‘Superman’ look. This look is widely recognisable and so is a way of portraying his character efficiently. The cape will help audiences realise that he is a super hero. Whereas a quiff is a sign of many different styles, a cape is entirely symbolic of a super hero. However these items of clothing will be worn in combination with office clothes; a jacket, suit trousers and work shoes. By doing this the audience will understand that he has left his super hero life behind- similar to how the Super Villain has left his glory days behind him.

The extra characters in our music video are The Band Members and The Anorak Man .The band members will wear a similar costume to The Super Villain but instead of a skull face with will wear plain white or plain black masks. This will show both their link to the main character but also show that they are below him in terms of importance. The anorak man will wear black trousers with black shoes and wear a large dark anorak. This costume links to the songs lyrics

An Anorak such as The Anorak Man
 will wear

and fits with Andrew Goodwins theory that "there is a succinct relationship between music and visuals". It will create a connection between the lyrics "man who died wearing an anorak". Using costumes to portray narratives and characters personalities is a conventional technique in rock music videos. For instance in The Hoosiers video for ‘Goodbye Mr. A’ a traditional, clichéd super hero costume is used to clearly show the audience the characters job. Combining traditional, clichéd styles is less common however and by creating a hybrid kind of style for our two main characters we are challenging these conventions.

UPDATED: Bad Sounds- 'Avalanche' | Lyrics- BEN RODWELL

To start with I annotated the lyrics in a power point with potential meanings and rough ideas for how they could be developed in to my music video.

The lyrics of the song are quite abstract and quirky and don't necessarily tell a strict story. As a result of this the music video can not follow directly the lyrics. Instead taking aspects outlined in the lyrics and implying in the video will be more effective. The first line "Joe stayed in with dad and watched something about a time some people got themselves caught in an avalanche" could provide the setting for the first scene. It depicts a scene where someone is staying inside their own house watching TV. This could be an effective opening scene for our music video. In addition the use of the word 'avalanche' as well as its use as the songs title highlight its significance so incorporating some kind of visual reference to avalanche would work well.

The chorus of the song doesn't depict any kind of story but instead an emotional situation: someone trying and failing to improve themselves. Our music video could incorporate some kind of failed self improvement as a reference to this. The second two verses are similar to the first in that they roughly outline a new character and a vague story line. However as the lyrics and the song as a whole are quirky and not necessarily focused around telling a story, having lyrics that "enhance and amplify" them (Andrew Goodwin) would work effectively. Throughout the music video, new characters could be introduced fitting with the introduction of "Julie" and "Pete".

Contacting Artist for Permission- BEN RODWELL

The song we have chosen is 'Avalanche' by Bad Sounds. As the band is a young, modern band we chose to message them on Facebook as it was clear they responded quickly on this site. The responded saying they were happy for us to use their song as long as we made it clear it was an unofficial, 'fan' video.

Mind map of initial ideas- BEN RODWELL

Song Possibilities- BEN RODWELL

To start our search we decided what genre of music our song would be. We wanted something slightly quirky and alternative as we felt this gave us a wide range of options for the music video however the structure and conventions Pop and Rock music videos have is useful in actually creating ideas. Therefore we decided the genre of our song should be slightly alternative Pop or Rock. After much research we found 4 possible songs:

• 'Avalanche' by Bad Sounds
• 'Dead by Summer' by 20 Cent Dreams
• 'Foule' by Waste
• 'SOIA' by Strange Bones

Having shortlisted these songs we created a web diagram that clearly highlighted each songs strengths and weaknesses in relation to aspects of a successful music video song. These included: different chapters in the song, good quality recording, interesting lyrics, broad genre and dynamic music. By doing this it was easy to visualise each songs strengths and furthermore help us decide on the best song.

• Pink- 'Avalanche'
• Blue- 'SOIA'
• Orange- 'Dead by Summer'
• Green- 'Foule'

Avalanche

Strengths

• Very distinct beat
• Very high quality recording
• It's an interesting, quirky genre
• Interesting, narrative lyrics

weaknesses

• Not the most dynamic song- virtually all one volume and intensity
• There are different chapters but they're not as clear cut as other music videos

SOIA

Strengths

• Very distinct beat, excellent to cut to
• high quality recording
• There are different chapters to the song
• Fairly broad and hybrid genre

Weaknesses

• There aren't many highly distinctive or iconic lyrics
• The song isn't as dynamic as others

Dead By Summer

Strengths

• Clear and distinct chapters
• Dynamic changes throughout
• Clear beat
• Good quality recording

Weaknesses

• Lack of iconic and distinctive lyrics
• fairly narrow genre

Foule

Strengths

• Distinct beat
• Clear sections and chapters to the song
• Distinct lyrics

Weaknesses 

• Mediocre recording quality
• Quite narrow genre

In conclusion we decided to go with 'Avalanche' by Bad Sounds. The distinct beat, alternative,broad genre and iconic narrative lyrics meant that we had a lot of inspiration and ability to experiment with our music video. Whilst it wasn't the most dynamic of songs there were clear chapters and the distinctiveness of the lyrics helped define these chapters. A narrative can clearly be seen in the lyrics and this is very useful when brainstorming ideas for the music video.

Music Video Mood Board- BEN RODWELL, TOM HUNTER, ANTON GODDARD, RUTH COBO

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