Intial Mise-en-scene and Cinematography Ideas

Production Plan

The locations used will be free to use, including places around Beverley and the Green Room at Wyke Sixth Form College.

Animation 

To create the animation, I will film the whole music video first, then draw over the frames on a graphics tablet on Adobe Photoshop, this is the quickest way to create an animation that looks effective. The drawing process will be very costly in terms of time as it took me 2 hours to produce the 2 seconds of animation in my test video's. Therefore I am going to film that animated scenes/ shots first.

Casting / Acting

I have already got volunteers for extras to be in my music video, and the main protagonist is being played by Will Cross who is a drama student and has took parts in Hull Truck productions. 

At the moment I am still deciding who will play the role of the artists in the second diegisis that I want, if worst comes to worst I will cast myself to do the lip syncing in the green room.

The hardest job for me and the actors is choreographing the final conflict / fight between the animated villain and the protagonist. This will take time and will have to be planned thoroughly in order for it to be done well. This scene will be shot first as I would like to start animating it straight away because it will be 30 seconds of non-stop animation and effects which will roughly take 20-30 hours approximately, based on the time it took to create the tests. 

Props

The props I am using are a drum kit from the media department as well as a guitar from my house. Because I want to create verisimilitude in my music video, I will also collect beer bottles to symbolize and imply that the protagonist was drink the night before that he can't remember.

Camera

The camera I will be using is the Sony A5000 

Green Screen lighting

I want the diegisis with the artist to be dark with red lighting, this will involve me buying red filter paper to create the effect or using the colouring lighting and experimenting in the room. I want the lighting to reveal parts of the singers face, but want parts to be in the darkness, creating a creepy atmosphere. 

Editing 

The video will be edited on Premiere Pro as I have more free time there, it also gives me time in college to add to my planning and research posts. I have also chosen this software as I have over 2 years of experience using it and am very confident with it, this will result in the editing process taking a shorter time instead of learning a new software like Final Cut or Premiere Pro. 

Narrative Theory

An example of Tim O' Sullivan's theory is this clip from the film; That Thing You Do.

The film depicts a band who's track gains great popularity. There is then a montage of the band traveling through different locations, this establishes various fictional time and space as the locations change per cut, meaning the different crowds change along with the stage they are playing on. This implies that narrative that they are touring instead of deliberately telling the audience through dialogue.

An example of this theory is the music video Beyond Here Lies Nothing by Bob Dylan:




This follows Pam Cook's theory as the whole film is in chronological / linear order, this is shown by the use of continuity editing (Match on actions, eye line mates)

This video also follows the narrative theory as there is an enigma resolution at the end when you find out why the man and woman are fighting, they are an abusive couple.

The video also follows verisimilitude, for example the everyday objects in the apartment make it look real:

There is a sink spotted with dishes to show he lives like an ordinary person cleaning up and doing jobs around the house.

He also has decorations / pictures around his house like any other person would.

The music video is also set in the 90's based on the look of the TV and Car:



An example of this is included in the famous western movie The Good The Bad and The Ugly:

The film Avatar is about a man who infiltrates a race of aliens on a plant by becoming one, he is meant to give the US army information on the aliens but decides to swap sides. The scientists on the planet also debate about going to the other side but the aliens reject them. This complicated storyline can be reduced to the binary opposition of:

Human vs None-human

This theory applies to most mainstream Pop music video's  that have a big budget put towards them, low budget Indie video's tend to be more unique and creative instead of including components like male gaze, stolen plot lines and themes such as wealth.


Here are some videos that include this:




This Fifth Harmony video includes excessive amounts of male and female gaze as well as a cliché setting. This music video is very similar and has many stolen factors from the music video Satisfaction:






As you can see the building site mise-en-scene mixed with the sexy appeal of the artist/s is also shared in this video.






What Do You Mean by Justin Beiber also steals a stereotypical plot motif about a drug dealer / gang member who doesn't want his girlfriend to get hurt. They then follow a narrative which involves escaping the mafia in an attempt to still be together.

Another example of a conventional plot line is the music video Duquesne Whistle by Bob Dylan. A boy romantically stalks a girl for her love, buying her flowers and walking to the beat of the song, however the music video takes a turn when the boy gets tortured and beaten by a gang because of his stalking.

An example of this is a music video byWeezer, in their song Buddy Holly. The band are shown in a 1970's sitcom called "Happy Dyas", that whole music video is shot like a sit com, includes a conventional "to be continued" add break and also includes some original actors and clips from the 1970's series. This is a prime example of the use of intertextuality, others who didn't watch Happy Days, will not understand the references.

He said that music videos generally fall into 3 categories:

- Performance - Live music or dance performance - street, studio, concert

- Abstract - Pure art - creative and doesn't relate to the song 

- Narrative - A short film

An example of a Performance clip is Back in Black by AC/DC, in which the band is in a dark studio:

A contemporary example is Royal Blood's Little Monster where they are performing in a ran down location to a small crowd:




An example of an abstract music video is Radiohead's Street Spirit:





You can tell this is an art clip from the series of long exposure effects as well as the fade transitions. The fact the video is in black and white also promotes an artistic theme. Parts of the frame are slow motion where as other parts aren't, this also creates a "trippy", creative mood.

A contemporary example is Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know:


It is really obvious that this is an art clip as you can see the animation of the paint covering the artists bodies.

An example of a narrative music video is Royal Blood's Out of The Black, this is a very unrealistic narrative that fits the Indie Rock genre perfectly. It involves aliens and a protagonist in which engage in a violent battle.

Lyric Analysis

Analyzing the lyrics helps you think off narratives and scenario's within those narratives to use in your music video. This is the starting point to where you get your music video ideas from.

The overall song of Roxanne is very repetitive however, some of the verses have alot of meaning to them. For example, here are the lyrics with notes describing the meaning of them:

To summarize the lyrics, the song is about a man who is writing a song to "Roxanne" as he wants her to stop her job as a prostitute even though it's a valuable source of income to her. He is dedicating his love to her and is saying he will look after her and deal with her problems.

Even though this is quite an interesting narrative, a music video can be of your own creation and can have it's own narrative. Therefore I am going to stick the narrative I have planned but use the beat and tempo of the song to structure the editing and cinematography. I also feel like if I followed this song's narrative with a man singing to a woman, it would appear very cliche' and romantic which is not one of the themes included in indie rock, although the story is very gritty.

Textual Analysis

I am going to analyse the indie rock music video "Figure it out" by Royal Blood, I thought I should analyse this clip as it is by the same band I am using for the soundtrack in my video. This will help me understand the bands ideology as well as the overall genre's. I will understand the music video's language through the micro technical aspects; mise-en-scene (props, location, costume, lighting) cinematography, sound and editing.


The genre of "Figure it out" is indie rock, you can tell this by looking at the codes and conventions of the genre included in this video. For example; there is a constant narrative in the music video which is increasingly common in the indie rock genre, this is shown by the continuous editing, there are shot reverse shots, eye-line matches, graphic matches and match on actions in order to show the audience how the narrative is progressing (shot reverse shot - connection between two protagonists) There are also certain shots that are conventional in the Film form, for example there are over the shoulder shots to convey where the characters are looking. There is also a "Rule of Thirds" framing when the main protagonist gets surrounded by security guards and shes in the middle, this implies they are after her.

(Over shoulder shot)

(Rule of Thirds Framing)

Another convention is that the protagonist is wearing casual clothing, this is because the indie genre originated from the lower class, they can relate to her easier if she looks like / dresses like them. Another mise-en-scene convention is the protagonist has blood on her clothes, this follows the dark themes of the indie rock genre, the protagonist is also tied up in a van showing that she has been previously kidnapped. This is also supports the ideology. There is also fast, violent camera movement when the chorus is playing which is also very iconic.

(Casual clothing with blood stains)

(Kidnapped Mise-en-scene)

However, this music video also rebels against the indie rock genre stereotypes, for example this particular music video is quite high budget seen as it has a big cast with lots of extras. It is also set in a mall which isn't the conventional run down area indie rock videos are usually set in. Unlike most indie rock music videos, there isn't a live performance, this is unusual as the artists normally want to advertise their selves and their music rather than a short film.

The locations included in the music video is a mall and a car park. The mall has various contact sport posters scattered around that are focused on by the camera (Boxing, MMA). This implies the indie rock themes as it is a very violent sounding genre, the lyrics are also very aggressive in most indie rock songs.

(MMA / contact sport posters)

The props used in the music video are fairly everyday objects. There are drinks and magazines scattered around the mall to enhance the verisimilitude of the diegisis. However there are some sinister themes included, for example the protagonist is shown tied up in the back of a black van implying she has been kidnapped. The protagonist is also seen stabbing someone with a shard cup lid, which makes an average, everyday object quite evil and dark.

(Stabbing)

The body language of the protagonist is very frantic and stressful, this relates well with the genre as well as the scenario of the music video as she has been previously kidnapped and is trying to escape. There is also of fast, frantic running and fighting in the music video also which matches the tempo of the song as it is very fast paced. In some parts, the protagonist is shown in her blood stain clothing bobbing to the music, this also represents her as psychopathic, however later on we find out that this is not true.  

The overall narrative of the video is about a girl who for a mysterious reason (enigma code) is running away from security guards as she is on a "Caution"poster and has blood stained clothing. This implies that she is a murderer. However, as the red and blue filter changes throughout the video, so does the "Caution" posters which change after she has stabbed a man. The caution posters then change to "Missing" posters which cracks the enigma code as this is followed by flash backs which imply she has been previously kidnapped by the man she has just murdered. This presents her as a protagonist rather than an antagonist. 

This evil narrative is very fitting to the genre of music, as the indie rock genre is very dark and sinister as it includes themes like murder and violence as heard by the lyrics in the song: "Somthings killing me"

The lyrics also fit the narrative: "trying to figure it out", this represents the audiences thoughts whilst they are viewing this video as they are trying to figure out if she is good or bad and have no idea why she is being chased until the end of the video. 

Indie Rock Audience

Create your own user feedback survey

Survey Results 

Overall I gained 10 responses from the indie rock audience who answered my survey, here are the most and least popular answers:

Out of the ten answers, 80% of people stream music videos rather than download or buy analogue or physical copies. This comes to no surprise due to popular, online streaming services like Youtube and Dailymotion that connect the world, creating a global, interactive village. Due to these online services, audiences don't have to leave their home or take up storage on their devices to view music video's, making the experience alot more simple and easier. What came as a surprise is that the same amount of people buy physical copies of music videos also download them, I feel if there were more responses to my survey, the number of physical copy buyers would lower as obtaining physical music videos now is very rare. However, music videos are still available to download through Itunes for a very cheap price.

As expected, most of my audience stream through Youtube as it is free with the small cost of adverts which are skip-able. This is a popular option due to the fact that if your disappointed with the music video, at least you haven't bought it so you aren't loosing money. A small 20% of people don't tend to watch music videos which is also understandable as they are very common now and most songs have a promotional video to go alongside them, they are no loner anything special unless one is particularly shocking or intriguing.

60% of my audience own vinyl records as most indie bands like to publish their songs onto records to maintain the retro aesthetic they have created. However 40% of my audience do not, this is normally due to the fact they are very expensive costing £15 - £20 per album.

In terms of a diverse fashion sense. the average came out to 40 out of 100, meaning that the audience like to stylize themselves to how they see fit but however, they usually follow certain trends rather than take the opposite route.

Because the previous question was very vague and in-accurate, I asked where my audience shopped. To my surprise the most percentage of people shopped in high street shops rather than independent clothing shops, perhaps this is what caused my previous question to score an average of 40/100. However, on a close second, my audience also buy from independent clothing shops which show their interest for a retro, diverse image. Not many people from my audience shop from designer shops however, perhaps this is because they are considered very mainstream and common.

In these results the indie rock audience are depicted as people who like to go out and engage in social activities like drinking and smoking.  Due to health reasons, of course smoking isn't as popular as drinking however according to my results a very very small fraction of my audience like to stay inside.

The majority of my audience are teenagers with the odd acceptation of two adults, this explains why my results are very high when it comes to drinking and smoking as teenagers are commonly the social group to go out and engage in social activities like parties.

Most of my audience have a regular income, with the odd acceptation of 2 people, the 20% unemployed figure is justified by the fact most of the audience are young and are in their teens, which suggests they are students who don't have time for a job. However, due to indie bands wearing casual clothing and having little production money along with the indie rock fashion sense being cheap and affordable, it could be that a large majority of the indie rock audience are unemployed because they are low class citizens. This is a justified point as the rock genre in general is very appealing to the lower class rather than the higher class do to its rebellious nature and its relation with anarchy and violence. Whereas high class members of society prefer classical music or mainstream pop as it conforms to media expectations and doesn't challenge certain ideologies like their own beliefs.

The results are very even when it comes to playing an instrument, I added this question based on my own knowledge that my friends who are also Indie Rock fans at least play one instrument, The most common instrument being the guitar. Based on this question, I will know whether to include performance in my music video as it might not be appreciated if the audience did not play themselves.

The majority of my questioned audience live in towns which is also a surprise as the Indie Rock genre is an urban gritty, genre. However, due to the lack of results this survey will not be %100 accurate.

Summary 

Overall, by analyzing the NME audience profile as well as my own results, the indie rock genre are fairly young, but are mature 15 - 30 year olds who like to drink and smoke, like to show who they are through their fashion sense as well as have a part time job or regular income. 

The majority also enjoy buying retro items like clothing or vinyl as well as stream music videos on one of the most popular website destinations; Youtube.

Synopsis

Based on all of my influences and ideas, here is my final synopsis for my music video:

The music video will have two diegisis', one in the green room of the artist singing, one a narrative of a story.

The green room lighting will be pitch black, however it will be lit with a red light that will shine on the artists face (this will set the dark indie rock vibe)

The narrative will be about a teenager who wakes up in a ran down location, in front of him will be a dead / unconscious body. The boy will then run home and open the door to his house to find him self walking through a door way that leads to the events of the night before. The night will be summed up by 10+ scenario's he finds himself in , the first couple will appear pretty normal but eventually the events will get worse and worse. He transitions from event to event by walking through doors and walking into the darkness and coming out on the other side.

During these distressing events, there will be an animated figure in the background, who is the source for this overall illusion / hallucination. In the climax of the song, the teen and the figure will have a conflict in the starting location which will end in the figure winning, before he collapses and wakes up in the same place as the start of the video. The song will then end.

When certain lyrics are sung, the deigesis will cut to the green screen room of the artist/s singing and playing their instruments.

New Animation Tests

As you can see I have recreated the animation used in some of my influences; Take on Me - Aha, You Better Pray - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

I really like this style of animation as it is more creative than just showing a flat drawing. It also makes the animated figures appear more 3D.

In some parts, you can see the actors behind the illustrated figures, this is because my frame rendering wasn't totally accurate and I might have missed some out when it came to converting them into separate images.

Main Influence

As you know the song I am choosing for my music video is the song Roxanne which is a cover by the indie rock band Royal Blood. I have already gone over influences for my music video however I will do it in more detail here.

I feel the most influential music video for my project is Take on Me by A-Ha.

Animation 

The technical aspect that mostly influenced me was of course the animation. As you can see, the frames have been drawn in a rough style in order to show that it is a pencil sketch from a comic book. When i created my 6 second animation, I didn't intend to create mine like this, however the shading style is very similar. Like in my short test, the shading changes in every frame making it appear more like a drawing.

In this music video, the drawings of frames also appear in the real world, this I would also like to re-create in my music video.

Narrative 

My music video narrative is going to be alot darker and different to this music video. Primarily because this is a Pop soundtrack and mine is an indie rock soundtrack. These two genres have very different ideologies. 

However, the theme of mystery and confusion that is displayed in this music video, I also want to include in mine. For example, I like the fact she mysteriously transports into a fictional, fantasy world full of confusion.

Diegisis 

In this music video there are two diegisis, one where the band are shown playing their instruments, and one in which the narrative takes place. I would like to include this in my music video as it is conventional to show the artist / band in an indie rock music video. However, I would like the lip syncing to take place in the diegisis with the band, not in the narrative which is different to this video.

What I would not like to include in my music video

Due to the fact I am doing a different genre to this music video, there are differences my video will have to this one. For example, the lighting will be alot darker as well as the themes. The costume of the artist and characters will also be very different. 

The romantic narrative of this video I will also not like to include as it is very cliche and doesn't fit indie rock's dark ideology.

Genre

Audience

Identity for band / artist

Costume

Seen as the song I am using is from the Indie Rock genre, the actors who are playing the artists will follow the conventional costume of the genre.

Most indie rock artists are shown wearing quite unique clothing that is either very out-dated or just weird and random. Some bands like to wear casual clothing to show that they don't care about their appearance, just their music. Here are some examples:

 Following these conventions, I have decided that my artists will be wearing all black and will have scruffy hair. However, because my artist is going to be in dark red lighting all the way through the music video, the protagonist of the narrative in my video will wear the conventional teen costume.

I think my protagonist should wear a black denim jacket with a retro / geeky top in order to fit into the unique fashion sense indie rock bands have. I also want him to wear black skinny jeans, casual footwear and have scruffy hair in order to reflect the genre. The protagonist in the narrative is also going to be a teenager and it is iconic for teenagers to dress casually and have scruffy hair. 

Logo / Album Covers

By looking at my research, I have decided that my band logo will have quite a dark ideology along with an artistic album cover for its digi-pack.

Here are some photo's I have took that show the conventional indie rock costume.

Band Name

Looking at other indie rock band names like Arctic Monkey's, Bring Me The Horizon, Muse, Maddness, Royal Blood, Weezer, Red Hot Chilli Peppers. They all seems unique and very quirky, this is to represent the genre of being "independent", therefore they are "indie" bands who are different from the rest. 

Using this information I have decided to call Infamous, this name I feel expresses the dark, heavy sound that is heard in my soundtrack in my music video. It is also very dark and gritty much like the indie rock genre. 

Official Artist Mise-en-scene

As you can see, both my artists are wearing a lot of black in order to reflect the genre's dark ideology. My artist on the left is also wearing a denim jacket which is considered a retro clothing style that has been brought back into mainstream fashion. Both artists have messy hair in order to reflect the genre and are also wearing casual clothing as most indie artists focus on their music, not their appearance.