Research; One shot wonder!

In our lesson our teacher showed us some 'one shot wonder's' - a music video filmed in one continuous shot, I thought these were amazing videos and thought the amount of planning they must have taken would have taken such a long time. Ruby and I actually liked the idea so much that we thought about doing a one shot wonder for our own music video, however our teacher told us we wouldn't get marked well on this due to the fact we have to show our editing skills and this is very difficult with a one shot wonder...

I watched a number of one shot wonders, many of which were really cool but after about the 20th music video I found 'Goldfrapp - Happiness'. I've never heard of the song before but as soon as I started watching it I knew it was going to be insanely complicated and fantastic, and it was.. so I've decided to analyse this music video and research a bit more about it..




Before I actually start analysing this music video, I'd like to point out something that I only found out part way through researching it - that it's actually a video paying homage to a scene of a film which I think is a brilliant idea for a music video, and also interesting to find out about as I myself wasn't aware that it was perhaps a 'remake' until I researched into it!! It takes a lot of ideas from this orginal video but makes them new and modern, and it also adds a number of other modern ideas into Goldfrapps music video too!


Concept/narrative/performance:
So the song actually begins with Goldfrapp sitting on a step lip syncing, by using this as one of the first things you see, the audience will relate the song to her straight away and so linking the song with the artist. This may have been a demand of her record label as labels often ask for the artist to be shown a lot, or sometimes initally the first thing the audience see.

Although it's not actually specifically a performance video, Goldfrapp is seen a number of times posing as different characters throughout the video (policewoman, flower seller, lady at bus stop etc) - again making sure the audience see her and so know what she looks like and relates the song to her.
There is no narrative to the music video, but the concept is that this exceptionally cheery man is jumping along and around an estate, coming into contact with various people along his way, all who are obviously amazed that this man is jumping everywhere in such a happy manner and so often stop and think about what he's doing! the last part of the shot is of everyone the man has come across together clapping and also seeming happy!! The concpe fits in really well with the song, obviously the title 'Happiness' fits in with the concept and also the strong jump beat is a perfect beat for the man to jump along too! I think it's a lovely happy concept thats been transposed from 1953 to a modern setting!
Here is a screen grab from the old version and Goldfrapps music video, showing the ideas they copied but modernised!

Editing:
Of course as it's a one shot wonder there should be no editing. However half way through my research, after watching the video a number of times I started to realise that about 3 times during the video that there were shots when something would cover the entire screen and the shot afterwards wouldn't be exactly as it was before - it was then I decided that this video was actually shot in about 3 takes, of course an utter dissapointment and it takes a lot of the magic and amazement out of the video, however I didn't actually notice until about the eigth time watching so the editing is done very very well! I decided to keep analysing 'Happiness' as it still comes across as a one shot wonder, and although would have been a lot better if it was shot in one take - it's still a magnificent idea!
This is one point where two bikers go past the screen, and before you can see the camera is slightly less zoomed in than the second photo...

Camera:

When filming a one shot wonder, the camera shots, placement, angles etc all have to be planned so so carefully, one slip up and the entire video goes wrong!! Although I figured out that Golfrapps video isn't a one shot wonder, it's still only shot in a few takes and so the camera movements will have had to be planned vigorously.

Of course it starts with an establishing shot, which pans into a mid shot of Goldfrapp herself, the camera moves slowly and smoothly, allowing any changes to take place and also for the action in the shot to get ready and happen. The camera also stops at certain places allowing action to happen. Something else I noticed was that the main character of the concept - the jumping man - is always in the middle third of the screen, meaning the audience will always be focusing on him and what he is doing.

Mise-en-scene

It's not a lot different from a usual video - it fits with the song and the music video concept to portray a certain image and mood to the audience. The costumes are all bright, fitting in with the happy concept. Also the costumes are all stereotypical of the characters, especially the characters that Goldfrapp plays, like the policewoman in a conventional policewoman outfit.
The props are all very interesting and quirky, again fitting in the fun happy concept and mood of the music video, for example there are bouncy balls, skipping rope, bikes, and bin lids used as instruments!

So after watching the video numerous times and analysing it, although I'm thoroughly dissapointed that it's not a real one shot wonder, it's pretty close and it's still really interesting and thought provoking and has definitely helped towards my research into music videos!!