Costume idea for Actor | Mise-en-scene

 Mise-en-scene is important in music videos as it gives it an added effect.

In my piece I wish to dress my actor in a casual indie kind of way, with similar clothing to the pictures.

I chose the glasses as you see these a lot at festivals and they are often associated with indie songs. They also look really good and can give any person the look/feel that there a band member/singer - something I'm attempting to do.

The black jeans simply because they take attention off of the lower part of the body (despite the whole of my character going to be on show), but it takes away attention so the audience focus on the more representative areas of my character, such as the brighter jacket and glasses. The more indie aspects.

The jacket because its not fully indie but with Rubens hair and the glasses I opt to give him will look really strong, I've seen him in the outfit before and he definitely fits the indie-like stereotype, something I'm aiming for to fit the tone of my given song.

The shoes simply because they're old school and very popular today, obviously doesn't have to be them exact, but similar, as they are associated with the indie stereotype and create a strong look for my archetype.

What this post helps me with, is how important costume planning is in any text. And that it impacts the text as being an star image its is important to make my character representable in a recognisable way that fits not only the song, but the on going frames. I can learn from this, as last year costume planning was last minute and we told our actor to where something skate-like, whereas with pre planning, my actor will be well informed and everything will be ready to be filmed earlier.

MOVE STA Travel | Music video idea

Here is a video I found after ages, It previews a guy walking towards a camera in multiple different places, to the beat, it just looks really cool and creative and will work fantastically well to my choice of music. It could be possible to fly to locations and take shots rather than green screen however it will cost lots and I will need to take my actor Ruben (with permission and fund him aswell).

This is the exact Idea I want, except i will have lip-syncing and different scenes, another thing is that the angles change and he walks towards the camera, I however will have the camera moving as well, and only have two angles from my character (in front and behind). this video helps as it allows me to refer to it and obtain motivation to plan how to do my shots. I will ensure my actor has the same outfit on at all times however to create a better effect. Thankfully as its not a music video I can take small ideas away from it to utilise on my text, watching it I am more motivated to try and film the shots for real (something Ill consider if possible). It also helps as if trying to describe my idea I can pitch this and it sums it up perfectly.

Learning Audio | Audio review in film

In our lesson we have been looking at an experimenting with audio.

A favourite audio of mine particularly is from Star Wars Episode I. It's not a small bit of audio, it is a full scene of audio which I enjoy. Mainly for 2 reasons;

1. There is a strong contrast of diegetic and non-diegtic audios
2. The visuals are backed well by the audio and the scene works really well.

The non-diegetic sound in the piece is the overplaying of the score: 'Duel Of Fates' - John Williams. This is good use of audio because the audio fits the scene well and is a crescendo as it signifies something is about to kick off as its cued with the introduction of a antagonist.

There is little dialogue used in the set scene, but this adds to the atmosphere of the fight. The variety of sound used contrasts all together well, and makes it one of the best fighting scenes in the Star Wars saga. It is also one of my favourite bits of audio simply because of the various sound techniques used;

• Sound Bridge
• Diegetic/Non-Diegetic sound
• Crescendo 
• Dialogue
• Ambient
• Synchronous sound
• Score
• Incidental/Sound Motif

This evaluation and audio knowledge helps me have a better understanding of audio in film, and with help of audacity I can create my own sounds even if I'm not doing a short film. Having tried to use narration last year and playing round with audacity, I have already developed skills that I don't need to consume time with to learn them, as I already have last year. This is useful however as it allows me to further improve my knowledge and evaluate audio in texts. (Pratical audio task to follow)

Conventions of an Electopop/indie song

Electropop definition-
-a style of popular music characterized by the use of electronically created sounds, with a synthesizer as the primary instrument.
Examples -
-Lady Gaga
-Passion Pit

Video conventions-

• Fast cut montages
• Unique and Bold/creative mise-en-scene
• Concept or Narrative
• Modern and Bright/colourful
• Lighthearted and Relaxed
• The use of bright colours
• Videos tend to be experimental
• The editing is to the beat
• Very little lyric reference (lip-syncing)
• Little lyric-image relation (disjuncture)

These fit my plan well, as I wish to use a disjuncture piece (Andrew Goodwin theory) unlike some electropop songs. It also requires the use of creativism and boldness. Of which I wish to do to my full potential. These conventions are all ones I wish to follow and will do witgh (I hope) success. I will furthermore blog about how I will follow some conventions of the genre in a pitch (soon to come).


How researching the music conventions helps me, is because it gives me an insight as to what is expected from different genres. And whether my video idea would suit the given genre.

Passion Pit - Take A Walk (Song choice)

The song I have chose is an Indie song. I first heard it playing a video game and from that I decided to speculate t as a choice of music for my project. I particularly wanted a video game song as I am always hearing them that way they're easier to plan with.

The lyrics to the song are;

All these kinds of places

Make it seem like it's been ages

Tomorrow's sun with buildings scrape the sky

I love this country dearly

I can feel the lighter clearly

But never thought I'd be alone to try

Once I was outside Penn Station

Selling red and white carnations

You were still alone

My wife and I

Before we marry, save my money

Brought my dear wife over

Now I want to bring my family state side

But off the boat they stayed a while

Then scatter cross the course

Once a year I'll see them for a week or so at most

I took a walk

Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk

Take a walk, oh-oh-oh

Take a walk, oh-oh-oh

I take a walk

Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk

Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk

Practice isn't perfect

With the market cuts and loss

I remind myself that times could be much worse

My wife won't ask me questions

And there's not so much to ask

And she'll never flaunt around an empty purse

Once my mother-in-law came

Just to stay a couple nights

Then decided she would stay the rest of her life

I watch my little children, play some board game in the kitchen

And I sit and pray they never feel my strife

But then my partner called to say the pension funds were gone

He made some bad investments

Now the counts are overdrawn

I took a walk

Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk

Take a walk, oh-oh-oh

Take a walk, oh-oh-oh

I took a walk

Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk

Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk

Honey it's your son I think I borrowed just to much

We had taxes we had bills

We had a lifestyle to front

And tonight I swear I'll come home

And we'll make love like we're young

And tomorrow you'll cook dinner

For the neighbors and the kids

We could rent the Wart of socialists

And all their ten taxes

You'll see I am no criminal

I'm down on both bad knees

I'm just too much a coward

To admit when I'm in need

I took a walk

Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk

Take a walk, oh-oh-oh

Take a walk, oh-oh-oh

I took a walk

Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk

Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk

I took a walk

Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk

Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk

I took a walk

Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk

Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk

The Highlighted Orange texts are how my video applies to the song. But for the verses, my video will be a disjuncture. I will have some lip syncing involved but not fully. I also like the song, because there are a lot of beats in which I can edit to. Not only, but it will allow me to be fully creative as its an indie song - to which you associate creativeness etc.

What I can learn from viewing the lyrics is planning of the song, obviously I will need to learn the timing of the lyrics to help me fully understand the song.

Briefing ideas for my music video

At this current time, I am unsure fully what frames I wish to include in my piece, I am tempted to make the video perhaps historic, and by the lyrics - take a walk - could suggest take a walk back through time, as its a positive song, and could reflect this. If I do, it is most likely to be chronological, from the early 1900's onwards. Obviously I don't have a time-machine so therefore the piece would be majority of green-screen, not an issue, just a new skill I would have to develop suiting.
The reasoning is because I took history as an A-level subject, which I am heavily interested in, this could help me as I will be more motivated for the piece and with the knowledge I can make it effective.

Here are a few examples of potential shots (will have to be green screened and maybe have archetypes mise-en-scene change with the frames). With obviously Ruben walking in front of the moving frames to ensemble 'take a walk'.

 The first car 1912
(Will be a short clip of perhaps the car driving or under production)

 Mahatma Gandhi 1869-1948
(Possibly a street march shot with Gandhi to make it seem as if character is really there)

 The Berlin (Nazi) olympics and Jesse Owens (Black Americans huge upset) 1936


(Maybe have the archetype on the field if possible)

 The Spanish Civil War Communism V Fascism 1936-39
(Have character walk through streets of 'destroyed' Spain

The Nazi uprising 1924-(1933-45)
(archetype walking in front of Nazi march)

 One of histories worst and most upsetting religious slaughters 1944
(Have character walk on the train tracks)

Little-boy and Fat-man (atomic bombs) dropped on Japan
1st and last ever use of Nuclear weapons 1945
(Have character walk on frame shown)

 The JFK assassination 1963


(Have character walking in front of car, wont use the actual assassination footage or will have to change age rating, could be an option however)

Black Civil Rights Movement and MLK 1950's-60's


(Have protagonist in front of the march or at MLK speech)

The Vietnam War 1961-71


(Use iconic clip, have character walking through shrubbery or famous photo of the young napalm victims)
















What this reviewing allows me to do is plan more than one idea for my pitch and have a back up plan if all else fails. It gives me chance to pitch to the audience, and experiment about. It would require a new set of skills (green screen) as I have never used it before so It would be a new experience for me.

Casting

For my piece I feel I won't follow the convention of having a band to represent its music video stature, but in fact I will have the actor lip-sync.

These are just some of the roles I will have to include in the text. The majority of it will be done by me being alone, giving me more work but full range of skills to learn and use.

• Director:
• Cinematography
• Editing:
• Audio: Passion Pit's Take A Walk
• Actors
• Main: Ruben Haywood 
• Side/background actors: Either random people or, people that are accessible on the day

MAIN ACTOR

I have chose to opt with Ruben (right) again simply for similar reasons like last years. He represents the indie visual well, he is a top actor (looks great in frame), easily accessible and is a very recognisable figure in my target audience/local area.

This is Jack, I didn't opt with Jack over Ruben, because people said they feel Ruben sits well in the indie genre as, should he look it he would come across as indie well. Jack would be a good fit however as he is tall, tanned and would look very sharp in frame. However, I don't feel he fits the 'indie' style and wouldn't suit the genre of the song. Whereas Ruben looks like more of an indie character, the star image I require to back Andrew Goodwins theory.




Archetype in last years A2 music video
By Felix Lamb

 Here are some image examples of Ruben in other pieces, as you can see he really stands out on frame if you use the right mise-en-scene. Fortunetl;y for me he wore similiar to what I want him to wear in my piece in a music video last year. What this helps me with is previeing hm in his proposed costume, and better experience as he has already had experience of being an Archetype in another project.

Ruben's Profile Pic

As you can see buy looking at images of him, he stands out rather well, the way he dresses 'indie/skate' works well on him and will help me promote the Goodwin theory of a star image, as even though the back image will be key in my text. Being the only figure on screen will mean I need to promote him as a likeable star image.



Finding genre for a short film

This moodboard helps me gather a range of  historical contexts I could possibly base my short film on (true events), having in depth knowledge of all events, I can use these to help me plan a storyline.
Events shown are;

• JFK - Assasination
• The Vietnam War
• Nazi Rise To Power
• Churchill WWII
• Black Rights Movement
• The Hiroshima Bomb

Ideas for actor

As I wish to be creative I may use many different forms to portray Ruben. I will make replica copies of him in Lego and video game forms (plastacene as well!). This is because I wish to use stop motion and make the video look cool and follow new conventions whilst challenging and following theories of media.

I will post pictures soon to show how these things will look (most likely not the clay figure though!)

Lighting Workshop

(Please note when doing this task I was at the decision I was doing a short-film, thats no longer the case)

Low Key lighting

 The first lighting I looked at was low key, the mood setter. Often used in horrors/thrillers etc. They can be in any scene to denote a darker mood to the audience. It is particularily effective as it allows audience to see whats occuring whilst the frame is relatively poorly lit.
I am unlikely to use this lighting as my music video conventions would be broke, as it isnt a bright lighting.

Back Lighting

Back lighting is a strong technique, similar to low key, however the object is harder to make out, and connotes a scent of mystery to the audience, to which an enigma could be created instantly. Again a lighting technique I wont be using for reasons stated, plus the fact I'm no longer doing a short-film/

Front Fill light

The final lighting technique we experimented with was the front fill, a light from perhaps a desk top light or torch. It is typical in horrors or thrillers, but not so in music videos. Its a good lighting technique to use however doesnt create similar effects as to the like of low-key and back lighting.

What this workshop allowed me to do was experiment with lighting, however I feel now I'mm doing a music video this workshop will not help, as I will need brighter lighting and I will use natural lighting instead as it follows the conventions of my music video genre.

Lighting in Films and Music videos

In our most recent lesson we were made to find lighting we liked (For me High/Low key combo) and lighting we perhaps felt we would use in our pieces.

For me i'm undecided between a music video and stop motion short film. I am hopping to have decided by when I pitch both ideas to my classmates, simply as they will be one of my TA's (Target Audience).

High/Low key combo is particularly a bit of lighting I enjoy. It looks really strong as there is a clash of the two sets of lighting, where objects-characters get outlined, it can also be a gap between two different worlds. Something unique and interesting to me.

Schindler's list is an inspiration for a short film, I propose to do my film in black and white (historic genre emphasised) and let the audience know I've gone for a historic narrative and that its a twist as you don't get black and white short films now a days. This sequence from Schindlers list is an example of discussion lighting were this is a soft tone throughout the scene, where a hot backlight overshadows the in frame character.

PRATICAL RESEARCH | CIII

In this section, I will be posting pratical updates to show my research so far. These will include, audio and lighting playarounds or simply just prelim shots to set the tone, give an insight to clear up my idea for better understanding, and help me practise the framing.

Short film inspiration

Here is a short film of anA2 student whom did a short film years ago. He also opted to do a Lego film and he pulled it off well, I decided to go visit his blog in which he linked through his final project. Having watched the film through multiple times i have become more inspired to do a Lego short film, of which ideas I don't know. 
Most likely I am to do something based on true events with maybe a twist (convention of a short film), and as I am studying history I feel something historic as it ties in well with both courses.

This inspires me more for my idea of the Lego short film and watching all the shots and how he deos the filming. However it can come across rather dull and makes me see that finding a serious target audience may be hard, as people don't take these videos seriously. And I have decided not to opt with a Lego short film any more.

Had I opted for a short film, from inspiration, these were the Ideas I had:

• World war(1 or 2)
• Vietnam War
• Cold War
• The JFK assassination
• Black rights movement 
• Different genre but zombie(horror short film) inspired by US history and a video game

What I will do is pitch this to fellow class members, research a TA, and find the most popular idea.

Music Video inspiration

For my final, I have drafted a view videos relevant to what I'd like my piece to be like. I wish to use my full creative potential to form a piece which will follow conventions of Theorist Andrew Goodwin, and others (Todorov etc).


The 3 videos I'm going to get my inspirations from are;

Passion Pit - Take A Walk

The Verve - Bitter Sweet Sympthony

Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer



These 3 are all videos I enjoy. Or will take snipits from. I will follow the whole Verve concept, and will use Passion Pit's song for my music. Sledgehammer is something I will choose to follow as it includes huge amounts of creativity and stop-motion, something I'd have done had I done a short-film. What this helps me do is have better planning for my piece and can revert to some of these videos to inspire and guide me when filming - editing my piece.



Reviewing Music videos - 'Take A Walk'

The first song I have looked at (and most probable one to use for my final music video - should I not do a short-film), is TAKE A WALK - Passion Pit. I like this song for many reasons, one being the visuals, throughout the song we follow a bouncy blue ball defying physics through the piece. Its a one shot and just looks good. The Cinematography is also rather strong, there are multiple uses of Establishing, long and aerial shots. However there is little editing to the beat which takes some music video aspect away from the text. As editing to the beat shows that the piece is a music video. However I only partially liked it as it was one of my favourite songs from a racing game (great marketing as use technological convergence for better access to a wider audience).

Overall the video has nothing to do with the sung lyrics, this therefore means the piece is a Dysjucture (the video has little narrative or link to the lyrics), there is nothing wrong with this, but it inspires my idea to also be dysjucturnal, BUT I will ensure its not all fully dysjucturnal and that perhaps the chorus relates to the choice of lyrics in the song.

The first shot is dark and simply describes the piece, the song is written larger and underlined over the writer. The frame looks good though because of the colour contrast. This also gives me inspiration for my titles in my video.

The first major shot, is a high angle shot, which gradually zooms into our character, the shot is weird, a dog sniffs him and he slowly gets up. The colour contrast and Cinematography are strong in this frame as his clothes mix well with the surrounding road background, and the shot just looks really clean and the use of techniques is shown well.

After this, he gets up and there is an over the shoulder establishing shot. This sets the tone and scene (genre) of the video, and to emphasis the imagery. Rule of thirds is applied to our archetype so he is in frame but not blocking the sequence. He then proceeds to throw a ball in which the camera quickly zooms into, and with great use of editing is shown to be really quick and looks like the hyperspace jump in Star Wars. I like this shot as it must have taken ages to perfect and the editing is done to a high quality.

As you can see there is a good range of shots, none however of which relate to the actual lyrics. There are frames where the beat is to the edit. I like this song as being an electropop I can follow the conventions of disjuncture and creativity.

This song can help me as it allows for me to take the conventions of the song (follow the same genre), I can use i to refer back to when copying electropop ideas in the sense of the playfullness of the script. Take A Walk is a good example however, because of the framing of set shots and the dysjuncture between visuals and the lyrics.

Reviewing Music Videos - 'Bitter Sweet Sympthany'

Another song I looked at was 'Bitter Sweet Sympthany' a song of which I do enjoy. I wish to take inspiration from it in the convention of the archetype walking and the camera following from a set length. What I like is how the guy ignores everything around him and Is careless as to whats going on. He is lip-syncing and the camera is always a set distance away with the odd shots. Its a good music video and helps me gain a lot of inspiration.

Here are some shots of the piece.

It's a good enjoyable music, but it can be unappealing in that the same thing happens and the lighting is poor, however the laid back relaxed nature and good tone, will give this music good emphasis in a chilled environment. It follows very little conventions of theorist Andrew Goodwin, the star image is there, but mise-en-scene isn't too present. There are small codes in as to why he is ignorant and pushing everyone out the way. The lyric to visual relation is a disjuncture, but the nature of the song, people are less likely to care, as being a good catchy tune it is advertised to TV shows and programmes. For example when England play international games this music is used to create a sense of pride. Another reason I have opted to choose it, but also I wish to picket the idea of a guy walking and apply it to my own text.

Researching Genre

There are several genres in todays Media, and with the evergrowing post modernism, Genres are becoming intertextual and changing. However, all have their own conventions (rules) which either must be adhered, subverted or challenged to make the text fit its chosen genre. An example of a genre is Sci-fi.

In a Sci-fi genre there are many conventions you'd expect the Director to follow, so for example in Sci-fi there is;

• Symbolism - Semiotics which can instantly signify the genre is futuristic - Lasers for example
• Setting - Space, Set in time, Past or future. New planets etc.
• Narrative - Scientific principles - Time travel. Political systems - Utopia/Dystopian etc. Technology - Space ships, laser guns etc.
• Good V Evil conflict -E,g Star Wars - Rebellion v Empire.

An example of a Sci-Fi text which follows these conventions is Star Wars. Where instantly you can identify by the mise-en-scene (props & characters) that the text is set far far away from planet earth. The use of aliens is another sign of the Sci-fi genre. It's these small signs which are able to allow the audience to connote that they're watching a Sci-Fi text.

However, these conventions don't just apply to films. They also apply to music videos aswell. Ariana Grande for example (Break Free). You can instantly notice in her piece there is Sci-fi aspects involved. The scrolling of the text with the narration - a playful use of reference (Star Wars) the framing of space and th meteors further emphasises the genre to signify to the audience her text is sci-fi. 

What this helps me learn is how valuable genre really is. Genre is the backbone of the video, like the constitution to USA. Its rules must be obided to in order for the audience to understand the text and what is going on, and therefore draw in a wider audience. Which I can refer back to with my research and planning to maximise my project potential.

My coursework decision

For the last couple of week I have been debating whether or not to do a Short-film or Music video, one mite I was sayer one way then the other. It was a hard decision on what to do, but looking at the pros and cons of both.

Music Video - Pros

•  Can be fully creative and experimental due to todays viewing audience
• Huge range of genres that are popular, less chance of choosing unlikes genre
• Can be easier working alone
• Easier to pin-point an idea
• Easy to refill/can almost nearly put anything in

Cons

• Animatics require precision planning
• Song could get boring to you by the end of the course

Short-films - Pros

• Can look really strong IF done well
• Gives a better understanding of film-making 

Cons

• Finding a genre can be hard that fits viewing audience
• Far less popular than music videos
• Huge amounts of planning (scripts, costumes and story lines etc).
• Harder to find a Target Audience

These are some of the pros and cons I could think of. There are more to Short-films. This didn't put me off, it was intact my idea. I wanted to do a Lego short film stop motion, which when thinking about it and communicating with class and teacher, is hard to pinpoint a stronger audience.

What I can learn from this is how useful it is to pre plan before jumping into an idea, in case that idea is unsuccessful.

COURSEWORK RESEARCH | CII

In this next phase I will post research and updates on my proposed choice in my course. This chapter is to prove my ability to research and plan my final piece, here you will find text deconstruction, task choices, audience research etc.