Mood board - initial idea 2

In our second idea that we came up with we created a visual story that includes costumes, props, visual effects and lighting that compliment the narrative of a female group going out and having fun. This mood board is all about female friendships.

Mood board - initial idea 1

This mood board shows the visual effects that we want to create for our initial idea 1 as a group. This idea clearly shows the atmospheric tone that we want to create alongside a dark R&B song.

Music video group

Post it shower

Today in our lesson we initialised our final groups for the creation of our music video. Using post it notes we were able to write down what ideas and themes we wanted in our music video. The general feel that came about in our discussion was that we wanted a mixture of the music video to have a narrative as well as a performance aspect in it. The feeling that that we wanted to project from the creation of the music video was that it needed to be atmospheric due to the main genre of our song choices being dark R&B. We all agreed with the genre of music and then from there we came up with artists that were similar to each other and to this genre, these being, The weeknd, Frank Ocean and Banks etc. A concern of using the weeknd's music is that it could be classified as quite mainstream and the songs could be quite popular. The positive thing about the weeknd is that they have only just released their new album so not many people are aware of all of their songs just yet. This means that none of them have a music video presented to the audience yet so this would make it easier to create our music video for one of their songs as we wouldn't be distracted by their current music idea themes, so our music video can be original.

 In class we took a picture of the 'post it showers' and this is what we came up with as a group:

And here is an image to finalise our music video group:

Task 1 - Music video idea 3

'Dark times'- The Weekend Feat. Ed Sheeran 

Although this song is similar to the first song because of its darker R&B genre it is good to have yet another song that does not have a music video made for it and it also includes two different well known singers voices which means I can create a band rather then just a solo artist which is what the previous videos have been based around. 

I think that the artists should look different but have the same action happening to them in the music video. This music video should be about going out all night and every night under the influence of alcohol, as the 'dark times' which is referred through the lyrics of the song and in the title of the song is them not knowing when to stop drinking. I want the video to start with both of them walking into their bedrooms after a late night and it appearing clean and them appearing healthy and not injured and to then fast forward to the morning when they wake up in the light with bruises on their faces and I want their rooms to be messy with alcohol all over the place. This is an interesting idea for editing because it allows me to parallel cut from one artist to the next, both looking completely different as individuals and as artists for this song but to both be in the exact situation. Their situation is that they both spend everyday with different women and always come back to the same home every evening drunk. A good way of exaggerating this is by having the same scene of them coming home and waking up in the morning in their rooms but wearing different clothes to prove how often they do this.

Although this is the narrative of the music video I want to also include the two artists together in a performance scene in which they are dressed similarly in smart black clothing to make them look more like a band thats compliments each other. I think that the music video should all be in black and white for visual effects but to then have dark coloured tones such as a dark blue or dark red shining in and out of the performance part of the music video. I also want to project water effects or the idea of a liquid being poured over the top of the artists whilst they perform the song as this will almost show the deeper effects of actually drowning in alcohol. The use of props such as mirrors and glasses in the location of the bedroom could also be used to parallel cut into the other artist. For instance the first singer finishes their verse and then looks at themselves in the mirror and the other artist appears as the reflection.

The lighting effects was inspired by Justin bier's new video release of 'what do you mean' as the lighting used to create the effect that the two are sitting in the car creates this darker mood to song. I also want to use rain, clouds and snow as a projected image on top of the artists whilst they perform and all of these projections should go in time with the obvious beats that are created by the drums and bass. The narrative of this music video is very much inspired by Ed Sheeran's 'bloodstream' music video because that video was all about the negative effects of fame and alcohol, however the difference is that this is more non-naturalistic and visually interesting.

Task 1 - music video idea 2

'Revolver' - Madonna

This is a more upbeat song then 'waiting game' as tempo is faster and the backdrop of the beat in the music is harsher. I chose this song because I think that the lyrics in the song could create a strong story and narrative behind the video. The positive thing about choosing this song is that it is performed by a well known artist, Madonna, whilst at the same time a video was never created for it making it original.

  For this music video I imagine the whole video to be a narrative and to not have a performance but to still use direct address and to have the artist sing along to the lyrics of the song whilst acting in the story of the video. As for the story of the video wanted it to start of with the artist in a cell in prison, with dark and ominous lighting with one source of light to show of some details of her face whilst she sings along, with direct address towards the audience and camera. I think that this video should begin in black and white and then colour should be introduced when the flashing lights of the prison cell turn on. Everyone including the police rush towards a certain area whilst the woman and artist escapes the cell. The costumes in this scene will obviously be a prison uniform with maybe an exaggerated make up look to fulfil the image of the artist representing pop.

Throughout the rest of the video it should go from the artists escape to her committing more murders, almost like a serial killer but a less serious approach so that her younger audience members can still understand her usual fun side. To make it more upbeat and more pop I think that there should be choreographed dancing. The locations used for this video would have to be on set and then made due to the fact that its very unlikely that I could get permission on location as well as being able to change around things at a location that has already been made. Whilst there is choreographed dancing I think that there should also be choreographed fight scenes to show off the feminine power and stronger woman abilities of this artist. This will compliment the lyrics of the song because even the title of the song is 'revolver' meaning guns and aggression, which will definitely be shown in this video. This idea is influenced from other music videos such as 'superpower' by Beyonce and 'Sweet escape' by Gwen Stefani.

I think that the digi pack images should compliment this theme of the artist being a criminal but at the same time involve bright lipstick and red lights or pink lights to indicate the pop genre within this artists image. 

Task 1 - music video idea 1

'Waiting game' - Banks

For the basis of my first music video I am going to use the song 'waiting game' by Banks. Jillian Rose Banks who is an artist simply known as banks is an upcoming singer who toured with the weeknd. Banks' image as an artist is very indie and very similar to other artists such as Lana Delray, Aaliyah and the weekend as her music is often described as being dark R&B. The album cover for this single already uses the dark colours of black and white giving a more gothic approach to this haunting and subtle song, which is something that I would like to entail in the music video for this song.

For this music video I think that there should be a performance by the artist which then cross cuts every now and then to a narrative within the video. When listening to the song I noticed that there is a very dark and ominous tone to 'waiting game', which can be used to create a serious story behind the song.

For me the narrative of this song should be about a women in a relationship that has turned dark, I don't know whether its that the man cheats on her or abuses her but she seeks revenge from this misuse of trust. Therefore the story should be her doing things such as swapping his medical prescription to a different one, buying a gun for protection and swapping her money over to a different account. This is inspired by films such as 'gone girl', the 'other women', 'Mr and Mrs Smith' and also by the recent released music video 'Bitch better have my money' by Rihanna. During this narrative shown in the music video there is continuous flash backs to them fighting, her crying and other negative states of their relationship.

There should also be a performance aspect that the video cross cuts into. The setting of this is a dark small room with black walls and with reflective patterns, projections on to the singer and wall. The artist should be wearing dark lipstick and I think that from an artistic perspective these shots of the performance should be in black and white but the projections and patterns and maybe strobe lighting should be in an LED colour like later red e.t.c The artist should be wearing white or black, maybe a fancy long dress to give a more mysterious look. Most of the shots should be a close up of her lips, eyes and any other significant facial features that show harsh emotions. I think it should be a complete band performance to make it more atmospheric to the different sounds being produced from this song.

For the narrative aspect of the music video the artist should be wearing dark clothes that make her look private and secretive, such as hoodies. The narrative should take place in a pharmacy, a shop that could be made to look like a gun store, or an alley way in which she could purchase a gun and more importantly a house in which I could use the flashbacks for to show the couples relationship.

The stylistic elements used in the performance aspect of the music video would be the use of neon lighting, LED lights, Strobe lighting and projections. If I was to film the narrative aspect of the music video first then I could use bits of the narrative as the image to project onto the performance part of the music video.

This song is about a relationship between a couple which is then used and re-created in this music video so the link between both compliments each other which is important because the video needs to show off the best parts of the song, which I think this video will do. It will keep the audience member interested because they have a story to follow as well as being visually interested because of the projections and interesting use of lighting. Another interesting aspect to play on in the making of this video could be the weather. For instance in the video it could rain at certain points to foreshadow the emotions within the song and build up deeper emotions, also know as pathetic fallacy.

The video will also compliment the brand image of the artist because the artist will be dressed in the performance part of the video like she would be dressed in the digi pack cover of the artist, therefore linking them both together.

Lyrical music videos

In one of our lessons we looked further into one of Goodwin's theories, being illustration. This one part theory of illustration means the relationship between the lyrics of the song and the music video of the song. This connection can be changed and made into aspects that can reflect comedy, this is often used in lyrical videos. We watched the lyrical video of 'total eclipse of the heart', a song by Bonnie Tyler. This video has lyrics that literally describe what's going on within the music video, mocking the serious tone of the video and making it funny. These lyrics illustrate what's going on in the video but don't literally reflect the meaning of the song or video metaphorically. To look further into lyrical videos we made are own.