Speedy Gonzales

Whilst editing my mini music video for "Poet", I have decided that I am going to experiment with the speed of different clips which is something I have never done before. Unlike my AS video, I have freedom to play around with different editing techniques and I am enjoying doing so. 

Below, you will see the "Inspector Window" that appears on iMovie whenever you want to edit a clip, and the speed of the video is currently at "100%" meaning it is the normal speed of when it was captured:

I have slowed down the clip now, and you can see that the speed of the video has now decreased to "80%":

I believe that changing the speed of different clips at different points in the song will be a highly effective technique to help create an ambience for the audience as they watch my video. The song itself changes from being quite slow paced to a moderately quick beat, and by changing the speed of the clips to fit the song's speed I hope to grab the audience's attention as they will (hopefully) be subconsciously drawn to the narrative as it will match the song's mood/lyrics. 

So far so good!

No luck so far...

I have been tweeting Bastille a lot these past couple of weeks, and have had no response. As a result of this, I have decided to change my song choice. I have decided to use Bastille's cover of Lana Del Rey's song "Blue Jeans", as I have always been a massive fan of the original and I believe Bastille's cover does the song justice and creates a whole new tone/meaning to the song.

They change the original lyrics, so that the song is no longer from a woman's perspective as the lead singer is male. I have highlighted the lyric changes in bold:

Blue jeans, white shirt
Walked into the room you know I made my eyes burn
I was like James Dean, for sure
I'm so fresh to death and sick as ca-ca-cancer
I was sorta punk rock, you grew up on hip hop
But I fit you better than your favorite sweater, and I know
That love is mean, and love hurts
But I still remember that day we met in December, oh baby!

I will love you till the end of time
I would wait a million years
Promise you'll remember that you're mine
Baby can you see through the tears?
Love you more
Than those bitches before
Say you'll remember, oh baby, say you'll remember oh baby ooh
I will love you till the end of time

Big dreams, gangster
Said I had to leave to start my life over
You were like: "No please, stay here,"
We don't need no money we can make it all work."
But I headed out on Sunday, said I'd come home Monday
You stayed up waitin', anticipatin' and pacin' but I was
Chasing paper
"Caught up in the game" that was the last you heard

I will love you till the end of time
I would wait a million years
Promise you'll remember that you're mine
Baby can you see through the tears?
Love you more
Than those bitches before
Say you'll remember, oh baby, say you'll remember oh baby ooh
I will love you till the end of time

I will love you till the end of time
I would wait a million years
Promise you'll remember that your mine
Baby can you see through the tears?
Love you more
Than those bitches before
Say you'll remember, oh baby, say you'll remember oh baby ooh
I will love you till the end of time

The cover song "Requiem For Blue Jeans" by Bastille was released as part of a free mix-tape called "Other People's Heartache" that the band promoted on their website and other social media sites. As the song is part of a free download, and I have no intention of using it to sell, I believe I will be able to use it for my video.

Here is a link to the song on the band's SoundCloud page:

https://soundcloud.com/#bastilleuk/requiem-for-blue-jeans

Editing of "Poet"

I have imported all of the clips that I filmed for my music video into iMovie on my laptop, and have started to piece the clips together according to my storyboard I created.

When I have completed piecing my scenes together, I will experiment with the colouring of the video to hopefully achieve a low-key lighting effect - something I have gathered is a necessity in the alternative rock genre from my music video research. 

Above are two screenshots demonstrating how I am muting the clips before I include the song "Poet", so I do not hear any wind or any directions from myself behind the camera. So far, things are looking good, however I have spotted a couple of continuity errors that I am trying my best to disguise by using different angled shots. 

Props for "Poet"

I spent hours the day before filming writing Sarah's name out onto pieces of paper and photo copying them, then cutting them all out individually. I stuck pieces of paper with her name on all over Bearpark Woods, as well as on a lampost leading to the woods. I did this to achieve the "stalker" character that I wanted to include in my video, and used the names as clues for Sarah to find the tree and love letter from the stalker character at the end of the video. From looking at the footage quickly, I believe the multitude of Sarahs lurking around Bearpark looks quite good on film and hope that the idea that I created in my head is portrayed well through film.

Filming

Filming for the "Poet" music video went great today! Despite the wind, I believe Sarah did a magnificent job. I was able to capture the scenes necessary for the video, despite having to stop several times to let dog walkers past. The weather was dry and the sky was clear for the most part, so I hope that when I edit the colouring of my footage I am able to create the "moody" look created in most of the videos I have analysed. Here are a few behind the scenes photos:

Storyboard for "Poet"

*Insert image here*

Above is the storyboard for the music video I will create for the song "Poet" by Bastille. The storyline is that the protagonist, Sarah, walking aimlessly through her village, is listening to her iPod and is completely unaware of the world around her. As she begins to walk through her village she notices that there are pieces of paper stuck up with black tape on buildings and lampposts, and obviously she starts to get a little worried.

She then decides that the pieces of paper she is finding with her name and various song lyrics on are clues, and she follows them to the woods where she finds a tree decorated with multiple slips of paper and string:

 

The tree used in the video is a symbol of the "stalker character", which happens to be Dan, and his ever growing love for Sarah. It also reirforces the idea that Sarah will "live forever" through Dan's love as trees are on the earth for longer than the average human. Another interpretation that the viewer may collect from the use of the tree is that the roots of the tree are the roots of Dan's love for Sarah, which shall forever be there and will not change despite the changing weather (which can be a metaphor for the hardships we face through life). 

Location for "Poet"

Before I begin filming on Sunday, I thought it was necessary that I investigate the location. So I dragged my mother and dog out of the house and took a walk down to my local woods to take some photographs:

I have chosen to use this location as for the video I want to create a sense of isolation for the protagonist, much like the atmosphere created in Bastille's "Pompeii" video. I like the idea of incorporating nature into my video as I believe the natural beauty surrounding the protagonist will help create a beautiful image as well as message for the song. The beauty of the protagonist's surroundings will also contrast with the storyline of the video, mimicking Imagine Dragons' similar technique for their video for "It's Time". I have been heavily influenced by the two bands and music videos mentioned and hope to create something that I can be proud of. 

Call sheet for "Poet"

Name: Sarah Hewitt
Outfit: Dark skinny jeans, a pair of Converse, over-sized checked shirt
Make up: Very subtle make up, with bright lips
Location: Bearpark Woods
Time: 11am - 2pm
Date: Sunday 21st July 2013

Filming will take place for roughly three hours in the same location. I will bring my Canon camera, my tripod, necessary props and my storyboard with me to ensure that I stick to my plan and pray that all goes smoothly.

Casting for "Poet"

I have decided to use my friend Sarah Hewitt as the protagonist of my mini music video, as I think her clothing style suits the song perfectly as she is what I like to think of as the female version of a member of Bastille. We are busy discussing possible ideas and situations for the music video, and within the next week I hope to create a storyboard for the video.

Poet

For my mini music video (which I think is actually going to be a full-length music video), I have decided to use Bastille's song "Poet", and have came up with a somewhat creepy idea for a music video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBrvHvJAt1Q

Poet is quite possibly my favourite Bastille song. I love the upbeat tempo and fast bass notes, as well as the exquisite harmonising by lead singer Dan. This song, for some strange reason, is not on the band's debut album and is in fact a B-Side to their single "Pompeii".

When listening to this song, no matter how uplifting the melody might be, I get the feeling of something quite sinister, especially with the repetition of the word "obsession". I can imagine the lead singer being so in love with someone that it becomes borderline obsession, and hope to convey that in my video.

So, my initial idea is to incorporate a stalker character into the video, as well as focusing on the obvious tones of love from the lyrics. I'm unsure how I'm going to do this, and am going to experiment with a few different ideas before constructing a storyboard.

Getting Bastille's attention

I hope to use Bastille's song "Things We Lost In The Fire" for my music video, and in order to do this I need permission from the band. I am considering emailing their management, as their is a link to the necessary email addresses on their website. For the time being, I have created a Twitter account dedicated solely to grabbing Bastille's attention as all four members of the band regularly interact with fans on this social media site and I believe that this is my best possible chance of getting permission.

This is the Twitter account! ^

I have already started to tweet the band, and will do so regularly when they come online to try and get permission (prepare to cringe at my fangirl-ness):

A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do! 

Naming my band

I have decided to create a band in the "alternative-rock" genre, as that is the genre of music that I listen to and appreciate most. I have decided that the band is going to be made up of four friends from the North East of England, making it something young people can relate to, and something that older people can admire as well. The band will be named "Northern Downpour", and I got this idea from a popular Panic! At The Disco song with the same name. The song is about forgetting your problems and your past by dreaming and using your imagination, at the same time being a massive "wake up call" for some listeners. It's a very meaningful song to me, and I'd like to think that this fictional band would create meaningful music for others.

To me, the name Northern Downpour has very specific connotations. "Northern" is reflecting where the boys are from, showing that they will never forget about their humble upbringing and the roots that they call home. "Downpour" connotes a heavy rainfall, and I believe this is a touch of pathetic fallacy to help reflect the band's sound - they have inspirational, meaningful, and sometimes melancholic, lyrics  that prove to their listeners that every cloud truly does have a silver lining. "Downpour" can also symbolise an outbreak of emotions, as when you cry (referring to the rainfall previously mentioned) it can be cathartic and can improve your mood. By listening to the band's music, they hope to achieve the same effect.

Northern Downpour are all about their music, and do not try to sell their image like some artists in the charts nowadays. Their focus will be solely on the music they create and the fans they have. They will be a very down to earth, edgy, "indie" band as there is a niche in the market for indie bands at the moment.

They will have all sorts of social media accounts, meaning they can easily gain fans from all over the world and from all different age ranges and social backgrounds. By having a band this easily accessible, fans will truly believe they have a connection with the members.

I am insure about the band's image and their branding at this time but hope to create something truly unique as my project develops.

Question answered

I asked a group of people, aged between 16 to 40, "What makes a good music video?" I did this to create a clear outline for what to follow in order to appeal to all ages in my music video task. Here are a few of the quotes from the people I asked that I believe are most relevant to my project:

"I like the storyline of videos. I don't particularly pay attention to the song or lyrics when I'm watching a video, so if it's a boring song but has a great storyline in the video I'll still watch it." - 17 year old female.

"From seeing a few music videos in the alternative rock genre, I've decided that the thing that's most iconic to me in a good music video is the colouring and the setting. If the band and its image are portrayed through the video then I'm happy." - 24 year old female.

"I'm not too bothered about actually seeing the band in videos. And I'm not bothered about seeing anyone singing along to the song, I pay more attention to what's going on. By that, I mean the plot of the video." - 30 year old male.

"I don't like overly edited videos. I don't like the creepy eyes in the Bastille video (Pompeii) and I don't like things that look too 'over-done'. I'd prefer to have a standard video with the band or actors, no fancy gimmicks." - 56 year old female.

"I really admire videos that have a gripping storyline. And, of course, the video has to somehow reflect the lyrics and the tone of the song." - 43 year old male.

From asking this question, I have a clear indication of what direction I should take when creating this music video. In agreement to a respondent, I don't like overly edited videos and believe that music videos in this genre should be fairly plain with quite "easy" editing. By that, I mean no special effects added. Or, if effects are used, they are tastefully done. I think having a narrative driven video will help me reach out to my target audience, as most people I spoke to said they preferred watching what goes on on screen opposed to listening to the band's lyrics. However, I must make sure that my music video fits the mood of the song and its lyrics.