I completely forgot to mention that yesterday Ruby, Amber, Max, Ryan and I drove to our location and took all the photos we needed for our storyboard.
This went really smooth and I actually think it was a fantastic idea as both Ruby and I, and also our main characters have a much better idea of whats going on and what they will be doing when it comes to actually filming.
We didn't ask many extras as we haven't had the chance to talk to them yet, so we only asked Ryan and Ruby and I filled in for the rest of the extras. Although this makes the storyboard confusing - Ruby is creating a table in which she explains whats actually needed in each shot.
Instead of putting this onto paper, I want to create a video with each of the photos in time with the music. I think this will really help with our filming and also editing as we will get a really clear idea of what will be going on and how much time we have for each shot!
I'll hopefully have finished that by the end of the weekend and it will be up here!
Friday, 19 October 2012
Planning; costume for extras
I'm not going to plan every single extra's costume, however there is a theme I want them to stick too, so the sooner I let them know the sort of thing I'd like them to wear, the more ready we can be!
We've yet to sit down with all the extras and ask them to be in our music video so I think a really useful thing we can do is to create a private facebook group where we can ask them all at once and let them know the dates they are needed and what they will be doing - we can also keep them updated to when they are needed. I think this is possibly the best way of keeping in direct contact with them all and being organised as a group - I think I'll OK this with Ruby then create it over the weekend.
So for the costume I think it would be a really good idea to stick with a certain theme or style.
After looking at our main characters costume and what I gained from costume research and audience research I would like the extras to wear fashionable quirky outfits - more so the girls than the boys. Also to fit with the season we are filming in I would like the outfits to revolve around white, orange, and red for the girls, and for the boys dark colours - perhaps more green and blues. I don't mind too much if they don't stick to the colours however I feel it's better to have a vague style then to tell them to wear whatever they want.
I'll create a facebook page and tell them all the information this weekend and post a few screen shots of the outcome!!
We've yet to sit down with all the extras and ask them to be in our music video so I think a really useful thing we can do is to create a private facebook group where we can ask them all at once and let them know the dates they are needed and what they will be doing - we can also keep them updated to when they are needed. I think this is possibly the best way of keeping in direct contact with them all and being organised as a group - I think I'll OK this with Ruby then create it over the weekend.
So for the costume I think it would be a really good idea to stick with a certain theme or style.
After looking at our main characters costume and what I gained from costume research and audience research I would like the extras to wear fashionable quirky outfits - more so the girls than the boys. Also to fit with the season we are filming in I would like the outfits to revolve around white, orange, and red for the girls, and for the boys dark colours - perhaps more green and blues. I don't mind too much if they don't stick to the colours however I feel it's better to have a vague style then to tell them to wear whatever they want.
I'll create a facebook page and tell them all the information this weekend and post a few screen shots of the outcome!!
Research; past student work analysis
I'll start with the video, this is a music video from past students of my school - it was a few years ago now so it's nice to compare this with the technology they had then and what we have now.
I'm going to look at the good and bad points of this music video instead of analysing in depth each aspect, I think will help me overcome any bad points we're anticipating in videoing and editing our music video, and also it can help us be aware of anything that may not run smoothly in filming and editing.
Good points:
I've actually found it really useful to analyse the music video in this way as I haven't really solely looked at what I think is good and bad in a music video yet, and so pointing out the bad points especially has helped me think of a few things we could improve in our music video and planning!
I'm going to look at the good and bad points of this music video instead of analysing in depth each aspect, I think will help me overcome any bad points we're anticipating in videoing and editing our music video, and also it can help us be aware of anything that may not run smoothly in filming and editing.
Good points:
- Fantastic location; It looks like they thought really hard about where they wanted to set their music video, and I think it's actually filmed at Ickworth house which is quite local to us. They would probably have had to ask permission to film their but obviously picked a time and day and enquired first. Also I think the forest is a really nice location that fits in with the prior location. Although the fireplace setting doesn't fit quite as well with the forest and Ickworth house, it still fits with the weather and the mood of the video as it seems quite cold and winter like, so the fireplace contrasts with this.
- Camerawork; There are a huge range of different types of shots and angles throughout this video which makes it really interesting to watch - on the girl there are a lot of mid shots, close ups, and long shots. But also on the wildlife and location shots there are a variety of high angles, low angles, close ups and tilts! Put together it makes a really interesting video making the viewer feel like they've walked around the location and we really get a feel for what it's like. Also I thought the shots of the piano were really varied which was fantastic, especially in the split screen as it gave four different views of her playing piano which was interesting to watch.
- Lighting; I really love the use of natural lighting in this video - which I have especially noted as we are using natural lighting throughout our video so I can take some ideas from this! Although it's a really foggy wet day in the video, I think they may have edited it to use the fog and natural look and made it look really bright and fresh which I think is a fantastic look for the video! As we are filming at the same time of year I think even though we want it to be a clear day when we film - if it's not a clear day it will still look really good if we take some tips from this and make it look bright and fresh!
- Editing; This links slightly with the lighting as one thing I really like in this video is the use of colour and black and white shots. I think it gives a varied look on the video as simply only using one of the two techniques would have made it slightly dull, however having the contrast in black and white and colour in the outdoor shots and indoor shots gave the indoor shots a completely different feel which is interesting for the viewer. I also love the jump cuts between all the shots - as there are noticeable different beats throughout the song, the jump cuts between shots are really interesting and cause the viewer to listen for these beats.
Points to improve;
- Lip syncing; This was one really noticeable thing throughout the entirety of the video which did put me off it slightly. It's really important that the actors can lip sync to create a more believable video for the audience. If the lip syncing is not believable or out of time it makes the viewer notice it and focus solely on the lips, therefore taking them away from the rest of the video which isn't good at all.
- Characterisation; I feel that the actress either didn't take on a certain character or the director perhaps didn't explain to her what her character was meant to be like, therefore leaving her seemingly slightly bland and unbelievable. This means she doesn't really look like she's enjoying the song or is performing the song or acting with emotion and feeling - this becomes apparent to the audience and so they may not become as enthralled with the video as much as they could.
- Costume; I think that even though her costume is really cute and quirky which will portray their target audience, they could have dressed her in a costume that fits more with the location. This is because the location is obviously vintage and grande, and the grounds where it's being filmed is extremely grande also, they could have made an effort to dress her in something vintage also as this would fit in with the location and so just tie the music video together slightly more.
I've actually found it really useful to analyse the music video in this way as I haven't really solely looked at what I think is good and bad in a music video yet, and so pointing out the bad points especially has helped me think of a few things we could improve in our music video and planning!
Research; narrative, concept, performance
As we've been looking at performance, narrative and concept video's I thought I should do a post solely on the three types of music video.
Narrative:
A narrative music video is a video that tells a certain story to the audience throughout the music video.
It has to be done in a way that makes the story easy to grasp for the audience and not too fast or too large a story to fit into the music video.
Although the story isn't always shown chronologically, it's often shown in a way which is clear for the audience to understand whats going on.
Narrative music video's don't always follow the narrative theories of some theorists;
Todorov; some music video's do follow Todorovs theory that a story should follow the lines of 'Equilibrium, disequilibrium, recognition, reparation, new equilibrium' however some music video's don't - this is because there isn't much time throughout the time of a music video to fit all these aspects of an entire story into it so sometimes certain aspects are left out.
Propp; There are often still stereotypical characters in music video's, which fits in with Propp's character theories which is interesting. In fact often in music video's the characters are over exaggerated as the audience need to be able to identify who they are and what their character is like in a period of a few seconds to understand the narrative throughout the music video.
Levi Strauss; Again some music videos strongly follow Levi's idea of binary oppositions creating a story, especially narrative music videos as there's often a story being told of romance with a protagonist and antagonist.
Here's a pretty good example, it's '18 and life' by 'skid row', although it's not only narrative as it has performance too - it's a clear narration and easy to follow.
Concept:
A concept video is a video that has no specific storyline that it's telling to it's audience, but more like an idea that it follows or picks up on in different ways throughout the video.
Concept video's can be mixed with performance and narrative but are often just simply concept.
As I've been watching concept videos there doesn't seem to be a particular genre uses concept in it's video, there are a wide range of music genres that use concept in a variety of different ways.
A lot of concept videos seem to be of an unusual an obscure concept, seemingly abstract for the audience to be drawn in and want to watch the video fully without taking their eyes off the screen as it's not predictable and they want to see what will come on the screen next.
Here's my example; 'genesis - land of confusion'... A really creepy video, but a concept video nonetheless!
Performance:
A performance music video is a video where, not necessarily the band, but anyone is performing the song.
It can be the band performing the song on a stage - or the characters lip syncing the song, or even a number of different people in the narrative performing it. There are a huge number of ways performance can be added into a music video.
Quite often performance is mixed with concept or narrative - but it can also be a solely performance music video.
Performance of the band in a music video is helpful for the band as their audience will relate to them due to knowing what they look like. If you never see a band or artist in their video's it may not be as easy to become a devoted fan.
So my example is 'one voice - Barbra Streisand' - i've never listened to Barbra Streisand purposely before, and I thought this was such an amazing music video/ short video. Not only a music video but a promotional video for a great cause!
Narrative:
A narrative music video is a video that tells a certain story to the audience throughout the music video.
It has to be done in a way that makes the story easy to grasp for the audience and not too fast or too large a story to fit into the music video.
Although the story isn't always shown chronologically, it's often shown in a way which is clear for the audience to understand whats going on.
Narrative music video's don't always follow the narrative theories of some theorists;
Todorov; some music video's do follow Todorovs theory that a story should follow the lines of 'Equilibrium, disequilibrium, recognition, reparation, new equilibrium' however some music video's don't - this is because there isn't much time throughout the time of a music video to fit all these aspects of an entire story into it so sometimes certain aspects are left out.
Propp; There are often still stereotypical characters in music video's, which fits in with Propp's character theories which is interesting. In fact often in music video's the characters are over exaggerated as the audience need to be able to identify who they are and what their character is like in a period of a few seconds to understand the narrative throughout the music video.
Levi Strauss; Again some music videos strongly follow Levi's idea of binary oppositions creating a story, especially narrative music videos as there's often a story being told of romance with a protagonist and antagonist.
Here's a pretty good example, it's '18 and life' by 'skid row', although it's not only narrative as it has performance too - it's a clear narration and easy to follow.
Concept:
A concept video is a video that has no specific storyline that it's telling to it's audience, but more like an idea that it follows or picks up on in different ways throughout the video.
Concept video's can be mixed with performance and narrative but are often just simply concept.
As I've been watching concept videos there doesn't seem to be a particular genre uses concept in it's video, there are a wide range of music genres that use concept in a variety of different ways.
A lot of concept videos seem to be of an unusual an obscure concept, seemingly abstract for the audience to be drawn in and want to watch the video fully without taking their eyes off the screen as it's not predictable and they want to see what will come on the screen next.
Here's my example; 'genesis - land of confusion'... A really creepy video, but a concept video nonetheless!
Performance:
A performance music video is a video where, not necessarily the band, but anyone is performing the song.
It can be the band performing the song on a stage - or the characters lip syncing the song, or even a number of different people in the narrative performing it. There are a huge number of ways performance can be added into a music video.
Quite often performance is mixed with concept or narrative - but it can also be a solely performance music video.
Performance of the band in a music video is helpful for the band as their audience will relate to them due to knowing what they look like. If you never see a band or artist in their video's it may not be as easy to become a devoted fan.
So my example is 'one voice - Barbra Streisand' - i've never listened to Barbra Streisand purposely before, and I thought this was such an amazing music video/ short video. Not only a music video but a promotional video for a great cause!
Thursday, 18 October 2012
Research into Job roles
So for my job roles, I've decided to research in depth what responsiblities I have now I'm fulfilling my job roles within the group. Also, it will give me more of an idea of what sort of things I need to begin planning etc. I will be doing a table at the end of this post with a load of deadlines in it for my job roles.
My first job is that of storyboard artist. A storyboard artist is the person that designs the shots and what they should look like. The storybard artist makes it as easy as possible for the camera crew to film because they know exactly what they want in every shot. We plan to have a photograph storyboard because it will make it a lot easier for us to film, but also because it will help our actors to get to grips with the locations etc. They'll be able to see what they're required to do in each shot. We will probably walk the shot through as well just so that our actors are extra prepared for when it comes to filming, so we can get as much filming done in one day as possible, hopefully all of it. Our initial storyboard is up, it's stick figures and basic words at the moment, but that's just a plan for when we come to do the photos. I'm actually in charge of words for the storyboard and carla is doing photos. I have a basic plan of what is going on in each shot, aided by the pictures of stick figures! I plan to be as in depth as I can, using the correct terminology and helping us as much as possible when we come to filming.*
Camera Operator: A camera operator is the person that takes care of the camera and sets up each shot perfectly. They also film the actual shot, following the storyboard and shot lists and making sure that every shot is filmed directly as it says on the storyboard. If the director decides to change the shot, then it is the camera operators job to adapt to using that shot and create the correct angle etc. Sometimes this job can be difficult because I will always be taking care of the camera, which can often be heavy and hard to maneuver. I plan to overcome this by always carrying the equipment in the carry case as it is more compact and easier for me to carry. My doesn't require any pre-planning, it is all involved in the filming on the day.
Director: For this role, I am actually co-directing with Carla. We plan to share the directing equally because it makes it easier for us when making decisions for filming. We like to discuss our filming together and so if one person had all the say in directing the music video it wouldn't be fair to the other person that has done an equal amount of work to make the film perfect. Directors instruct the actors where to place themselves in the shot, and work closely with the camera operators to make sure that they have got the correct shot for their film. Directors also instruct the camera operators and most other roles included in the film process. Seeing as we are sharing out all roles between the 2 of us, we will be directing each other! This role requires me to make sure that I am up to date with all planning on filming day, and that I know exactly what we want in each shot, so it makes filming easier and quicker. Also if we want to change a shot, we will have to discuss together before actually making the shot, so that we both know exactly what is going into our film.
Editor: This role requires e to edit the footage. When all filming is complete me and Carla will sit down together and begin to edit our footage on final cut express. An editors role consists of cutting the shots to the appropriate length (which is crucial for us as we have planned all of our shots to be in time with the music), makes sure that have the correct colouring on them, e.g. using colour correction to make the shots brighter, duller etc. Also editors include the use of special effects into the film. So our use of still shots will be included into the film by the editor using final cut to integrate the shots in time with the music. Me and Carla will be working together to edit, and will often take turns to edit every lesson, as we did for our thriller film last year. This way we can share out the workload by one person not doing all of it. This also helps because it usually gets the editing done quicker and makes it easier for both of us.
Continuity: For the role of continuity supervisor, I need to always make sure that what happened in one shot carries on into the next. For example, If one of our actors is wearing a coat in one shot and then not in the next, it doesn't give the implication that they are passing through time, it gives the idea that they are switching location. As our film is one continuous walking process, we need to always make sure that one shot follows on from another. Also the actions that our actors do, we need to carry them on into the next shot. For example, if our male actor, Max, is holding up his hand in one shot, we need to make sure that he is holding up his hand in the next shot when the angle switches, so that the entire motion is continuous and looks realistic. To plan for this, I need to make myself familiar with the actors costumes, props and locations, to make sure that I am fully prepared for when it comes to filming day.
Set locator: This role finds the locations that the film is being shot in. We have actually already planned to shoot our film in bury st Edmunds because it is more convenient for us and our actors. Because our video is one continuous walk, we don't actually have a set location to film the main body of the shots. However, for the scenes of the girl and boy at home, we plan to use two different houses, Carla's dads house and Carla's mums house. Both of these houses are in Bury, and about an equal distance apart. In between the two houses is a massive heath, where we plan to film our last shot of the couple getting together. The heath and the homes will be the only steady locations in the entire film. When we go to take the photos for our storyboard, we will also take photos of our locations so that we can post about them.
Props and special effects: For props, I need to locate the props used in our film. I have already posted about the props that we need and who needs them, and I am still in planning as to locating them.**
Special effects supervisor is the person that takes care of the special effects in the video. They work closely with the camera operator and the editor to integrate the special effects correctly into the film. However, we are not using many special effects, the only one we're using is the use of still shots to cause our actor to turn around. I still need to work out how to create the still shots in final cut, but I'm sure as we are filming, I will get to grips with it.
Here is my table detailing what I need to do for each job role and by what date:
The dates in red are the things that I need to sort out after I go to America next week and the ones in blue are the ones to be sorted asap. At the moment I need to sort props out urgently because I need to source the props or to make the ones that need making. This will make it easier for me when it comes to filming as I will have all props on location already.
More to follow :)
My first job is that of storyboard artist. A storyboard artist is the person that designs the shots and what they should look like. The storybard artist makes it as easy as possible for the camera crew to film because they know exactly what they want in every shot. We plan to have a photograph storyboard because it will make it a lot easier for us to film, but also because it will help our actors to get to grips with the locations etc. They'll be able to see what they're required to do in each shot. We will probably walk the shot through as well just so that our actors are extra prepared for when it comes to filming, so we can get as much filming done in one day as possible, hopefully all of it. Our initial storyboard is up, it's stick figures and basic words at the moment, but that's just a plan for when we come to do the photos. I'm actually in charge of words for the storyboard and carla is doing photos. I have a basic plan of what is going on in each shot, aided by the pictures of stick figures! I plan to be as in depth as I can, using the correct terminology and helping us as much as possible when we come to filming.*
Director: For this role, I am actually co-directing with Carla. We plan to share the directing equally because it makes it easier for us when making decisions for filming. We like to discuss our filming together and so if one person had all the say in directing the music video it wouldn't be fair to the other person that has done an equal amount of work to make the film perfect. Directors instruct the actors where to place themselves in the shot, and work closely with the camera operators to make sure that they have got the correct shot for their film. Directors also instruct the camera operators and most other roles included in the film process. Seeing as we are sharing out all roles between the 2 of us, we will be directing each other! This role requires me to make sure that I am up to date with all planning on filming day, and that I know exactly what we want in each shot, so it makes filming easier and quicker. Also if we want to change a shot, we will have to discuss together before actually making the shot, so that we both know exactly what is going into our film.
Editor: This role requires e to edit the footage. When all filming is complete me and Carla will sit down together and begin to edit our footage on final cut express. An editors role consists of cutting the shots to the appropriate length (which is crucial for us as we have planned all of our shots to be in time with the music), makes sure that have the correct colouring on them, e.g. using colour correction to make the shots brighter, duller etc. Also editors include the use of special effects into the film. So our use of still shots will be included into the film by the editor using final cut to integrate the shots in time with the music. Me and Carla will be working together to edit, and will often take turns to edit every lesson, as we did for our thriller film last year. This way we can share out the workload by one person not doing all of it. This also helps because it usually gets the editing done quicker and makes it easier for both of us.
Continuity: For the role of continuity supervisor, I need to always make sure that what happened in one shot carries on into the next. For example, If one of our actors is wearing a coat in one shot and then not in the next, it doesn't give the implication that they are passing through time, it gives the idea that they are switching location. As our film is one continuous walking process, we need to always make sure that one shot follows on from another. Also the actions that our actors do, we need to carry them on into the next shot. For example, if our male actor, Max, is holding up his hand in one shot, we need to make sure that he is holding up his hand in the next shot when the angle switches, so that the entire motion is continuous and looks realistic. To plan for this, I need to make myself familiar with the actors costumes, props and locations, to make sure that I am fully prepared for when it comes to filming day.
Set locator: This role finds the locations that the film is being shot in. We have actually already planned to shoot our film in bury st Edmunds because it is more convenient for us and our actors. Because our video is one continuous walk, we don't actually have a set location to film the main body of the shots. However, for the scenes of the girl and boy at home, we plan to use two different houses, Carla's dads house and Carla's mums house. Both of these houses are in Bury, and about an equal distance apart. In between the two houses is a massive heath, where we plan to film our last shot of the couple getting together. The heath and the homes will be the only steady locations in the entire film. When we go to take the photos for our storyboard, we will also take photos of our locations so that we can post about them.
Props and special effects: For props, I need to locate the props used in our film. I have already posted about the props that we need and who needs them, and I am still in planning as to locating them.**
Special effects supervisor is the person that takes care of the special effects in the video. They work closely with the camera operator and the editor to integrate the special effects correctly into the film. However, we are not using many special effects, the only one we're using is the use of still shots to cause our actor to turn around. I still need to work out how to create the still shots in final cut, but I'm sure as we are filming, I will get to grips with it.
Here is my table detailing what I need to do for each job role and by what date:
Job Role
|
Things to do
|
Deadline dates
|
Storyboard artist
|
-Finish the words for the storyboard
-Familiarise myself with our first storyboard so that I’m prepared for the photo storyboard.
|
23rd October
|
Camera Operator
|
-Film our music video, make sure each shot is perfect!
|
-Provisional date or filming: 15th November
|
Editor
|
-Familiarise myself with final cut, make sure I know everything to know about editing on final cut express.
-Watch other students editing technique videos, to help me practise editing techniques.
|
-21st October
|
Director
|
-Make sure I know each shot to perfection, so filming runs smoothly.
-Discuss any changes that me and carla wish to make on the storyboard with actors and each other.
|
-all done by 15th November
|
Continuity supervisor
|
-Make sure I am familiar with all locations so I know what to watch out for.
-Monitor each actors costumes and props, so I know exactly who has what, so it's easier for me to keep tabs on each shot.
|
-26th October
|
Set locator
|
-All sets are located!
|
-
|
Props and special effects
|
-Watch specialist videos about special effects on youtube to make myself familiar with the special effects that we wish to use in our editing.
-locate or make all props (refer to list in previous post)
|
-12th November all props located
-25th October still shots and editing videos watched
|
The dates in red are the things that I need to sort out after I go to America next week and the ones in blue are the ones to be sorted asap. At the moment I need to sort props out urgently because I need to source the props or to make the ones that need making. This will make it easier for me when it comes to filming as I will have all props on location already.
More to follow :)
Research; mini music video!
Right at the beginning of this unit we came together in groups and created a music video to the song 'why does love do this to me?' to begin researching into some skills we would need to create a music video and to practise some camera, editing and directing skills!
It was really helpful to see how creating a music video would plan out and what hills you have to overcome and how you can make the process as smooth as possible.
We also tried to incorporate as many editing proccesses as possible to enable us to practise these skills before coming to do it ourselves in our own music video.
Anyway heres the final outcome!
It was really helpful to see how creating a music video would plan out and what hills you have to overcome and how you can make the process as smooth as possible.
We also tried to incorporate as many editing proccesses as possible to enable us to practise these skills before coming to do it ourselves in our own music video.
Anyway heres the final outcome!
Textual Analysis: 'I believe in a thing called love' by The darkness
So this is another one of my research blogs, analysing the details and specifics of a music video. For this video I've chosen I believe in a thing called love by The Darkness, mainly because it is a rock video, but I already know that the video is a comedy so I wanted some experience in analysing comedic videos and to build up my knowledge of their conventions.
So first, the camerawork! The camerawork is very steady throughout the entire video. There are a lot of shots of the band and lots of close ups of the lead singer, which adheres to one of Goodwins six. One of the only shots that I noticed was noticably different from the others, meaning that they made it that way for the audience, was the shot in slow motion when the lead singer, Justin, is running and lp syncing and the shot ends with him in a close-up. This was evident to me as I noticed the slow motion and realised that they used this shot to have lots of hype and promotion for Justin throughout the video.
Next, the editing. The editing was very even paced for the majority of the video, and I only noticed the pick-up in speed when they are fighting the monster in the end sequence. This was to reflect the chaos and frantic atmosphere that we were being shown. The shots before the end sequence were actually fairly slow, allowing a lot of room for a lot of content and promotion for the band throughout the shots. The colour editing of the shots was very interesting because, as this music video is set in space, they have edited the colour of the shots to be slightly 'other-worldy' and each one is different to the next. One colour state that stuck out to me was te shot where the band are lip syncing behind some blue fire. I noticed this as the background is very dark whereas the front portion of the shot, where the blue fire is staged is incredibly bright, and then when the band members lean forward to lip sync towards the camera, they become lighter and we can see more of their actions. This is particularly evident when Justin leans out and then back in again because for a time we can't see what he is doing.
Mise-en-scene: Costume. The costumes in this video were very flamboyant and not very normal. I think that this was to reflect the alien setting and that you wouldn't wear normal clothes on a spaceship! The most outrageous costume is that of Justins. He is wearing an open neck jumpsuit that has tassles and leather! We immediately associate that with being a rock stars costume, so the costume could be to remind us that we are watching performers and not real astronauts. However, the costumes of all of the band members are predominantly white, which is the base colour for spacesuits, reminding the audience of the fact that they are in space. I think that the costumes are quite outlandish because they are showmen and they want to show themselves off to the audience, which is quite typical of rock bands.
Setting. The setting is on a spaceship and in space. On the spaceship, it is quite weird and not very recognisable. Allowing the audience to use their imaginations to think that this is a spaceship. It has lots of bright colours and strange objects within it, one of those being a naked statue and a hugging towel man! (I want one...) This also shows to the audience that the band are fun and they don't take things seriously, as they are mucking about on a spaceship, which is something we would associate children with. However, when Justin gets out onto the actual planet, we can recognise that it is a planet state because of the rocky background and the fact that there are giant crabs on the planet, but also because it is desolate there. This is something that we would normally associate with space.
Props. Throughout the video, the main props that are used by all of the band is that of the instruments. I only say that they are props because they shoot lightning at the end of the video and are used to fight the monster, doubling them up as weapons. Theya re not just in the end scene, but one also comes from the ceiling of the spaceship to Justin's hands. Also, at the point of the guitar solo, the soloist is seen performing it with a guitar and we see a zoom to the guitarist, showing that he is important and this is his moment to shine! I think that this is a normal convention of rock videos, to be shown with a guitar. This shows that you know how to play your instruments and that you regard them highly within your image.
I really love this video and have done for years! It's very funny and very light hearted. It's not got a serious message or a moral behind it, it's simply conveying that everyone is allowed to have fun once in a while, and I really like that. The fact that they're in space always makes me laugh as its completely random, but the fact is is that it makes audience members laugh and makes the video more memorable, which is what the band are ultimately aiming for.
Here's the video:
Thank you!
So first, the camerawork! The camerawork is very steady throughout the entire video. There are a lot of shots of the band and lots of close ups of the lead singer, which adheres to one of Goodwins six. One of the only shots that I noticed was noticably different from the others, meaning that they made it that way for the audience, was the shot in slow motion when the lead singer, Justin, is running and lp syncing and the shot ends with him in a close-up. This was evident to me as I noticed the slow motion and realised that they used this shot to have lots of hype and promotion for Justin throughout the video.
Next, the editing. The editing was very even paced for the majority of the video, and I only noticed the pick-up in speed when they are fighting the monster in the end sequence. This was to reflect the chaos and frantic atmosphere that we were being shown. The shots before the end sequence were actually fairly slow, allowing a lot of room for a lot of content and promotion for the band throughout the shots. The colour editing of the shots was very interesting because, as this music video is set in space, they have edited the colour of the shots to be slightly 'other-worldy' and each one is different to the next. One colour state that stuck out to me was te shot where the band are lip syncing behind some blue fire. I noticed this as the background is very dark whereas the front portion of the shot, where the blue fire is staged is incredibly bright, and then when the band members lean forward to lip sync towards the camera, they become lighter and we can see more of their actions. This is particularly evident when Justin leans out and then back in again because for a time we can't see what he is doing.
Mise-en-scene: Costume. The costumes in this video were very flamboyant and not very normal. I think that this was to reflect the alien setting and that you wouldn't wear normal clothes on a spaceship! The most outrageous costume is that of Justins. He is wearing an open neck jumpsuit that has tassles and leather! We immediately associate that with being a rock stars costume, so the costume could be to remind us that we are watching performers and not real astronauts. However, the costumes of all of the band members are predominantly white, which is the base colour for spacesuits, reminding the audience of the fact that they are in space. I think that the costumes are quite outlandish because they are showmen and they want to show themselves off to the audience, which is quite typical of rock bands.
Setting. The setting is on a spaceship and in space. On the spaceship, it is quite weird and not very recognisable. Allowing the audience to use their imaginations to think that this is a spaceship. It has lots of bright colours and strange objects within it, one of those being a naked statue and a hugging towel man! (I want one...) This also shows to the audience that the band are fun and they don't take things seriously, as they are mucking about on a spaceship, which is something we would associate children with. However, when Justin gets out onto the actual planet, we can recognise that it is a planet state because of the rocky background and the fact that there are giant crabs on the planet, but also because it is desolate there. This is something that we would normally associate with space.
Props. Throughout the video, the main props that are used by all of the band is that of the instruments. I only say that they are props because they shoot lightning at the end of the video and are used to fight the monster, doubling them up as weapons. Theya re not just in the end scene, but one also comes from the ceiling of the spaceship to Justin's hands. Also, at the point of the guitar solo, the soloist is seen performing it with a guitar and we see a zoom to the guitarist, showing that he is important and this is his moment to shine! I think that this is a normal convention of rock videos, to be shown with a guitar. This shows that you know how to play your instruments and that you regard them highly within your image.
I really love this video and have done for years! It's very funny and very light hearted. It's not got a serious message or a moral behind it, it's simply conveying that everyone is allowed to have fun once in a while, and I really like that. The fact that they're in space always makes me laugh as its completely random, but the fact is is that it makes audience members laugh and makes the video more memorable, which is what the band are ultimately aiming for.
Here's the video:
Thank you!
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