Polydor Records talk

Today we were given the opportunity to talk with two commissioners from Polydor records, who gave us a clearer understanding of the professional process of making a music video. Polydor is a subsidiary of Universal music group and is based in London. The company is responsible for an abundance of succesful music videos for both new and well-established artists. Working as commissioners they oversee the whole process, they manage everyones expectations, represent the artist and director, ensuring everyone is on the same page. They were able to discuss the process of getting an idea of the ground and allowing it to form, under their supervision. I collected a variety of information that will definitely benefit our project.

They explained how the video is the most important marketing tool for song. It is the label which brings the artist in, who often already have ideas about how they want to portray themselves and in what way. She showed us a video which she commissioned for the group years and years.
This was relevant to our project as it heavily featured choreographed movement with a contemporary edge. This was choreographed by Ryan Huffington. Who I plan to extensive research on, as his dance videos may give us inspiration, and innovative ways to make our use of dance more interesting. We were able to look at the music video treatment, which heavily featured representative images found from the internet, allowing others to visualise the music video before it is made. The music video which stars the artist, was shot in one day and all choreographed the day before.

Art direction

We originally wanted to make the performance element very simple with just black background and effective broken up lighting. However we realised this may look to similar to the original video therefore we came up with the idea of hanging lightbulbs, and than later decided to use a background of ripped wallpaper. Ksneia drew what this would look like:

Ideas for the Narrative section

Using our research we created a big list of things we could see the couple doing in this section of the video. We took into consideration the locations we could get on the day, and ksenia went to guildford where we plan to shoot and found a variety of nice locations. with this we shortlisted 6 ideas, that are both visually interesting and convey the relationship successfully without being too cheesy:

These will look good if filmed well, however we noticed that some of the scenes are slightly repetitive. As we learned from the test shoot, watching the couple hug and kiss will easily become dull and boring. We intend to do some more research in order to find more ideas, such as the trolley, to make this section much more interesting and engaging. 

Research into relationship narrative music videos

After filming the test shoot we realised we need to think of more things for the couple to be doing therefore I began some research on similar music videos and found a variety of different and entertaining activities to watch the couple doing.

We found love - Rihanna

This video depicts a relationship where drugs are heavily shown to be part of their entertainment. Despite this the video did give a lot of inspiration into things couples do together that can also be filmed in an aesthetic way.

During the video, Rihanna and her lover are depicted in both love and hate scenarios. Focussing on only the positive moments, we see them enjoying activities such as fairground rides and eating in fast food restaurants.

Here is a shot of them kissing, the fireworks in the background add to the romance of the scene, it is also a visually appealing look. I don't belive it will be possible to get fireworks in the background however it is likely that we can film them kissing with a cityscape in the background filled with twinkling lights.

They have a good time in a skate park, this is applicable to our video as skating is a very youth like activity. If we can find some sort of skate park it will be nice to film similar shots to these, of them having a good time, falling over, and laughing.

This shot shows the two in a burger bar or a kebab shop. Through this the lower class, party lifestyle is encompassed. As the song discusses themes of experimentation, having fun whilst your young and the depressing nature of it, this may be a interesting thing to add in.

This shot is something I would definitely like to include in my music video. It is a fun and defiant thing to do and quite simple to achieve. A moment like this would also break up the repetitiveness of them hugging and kissing in different locations.

It Will Rain - Bruno Mars

In this video Bruno Mars falls for a girl, it shows the pair going through different emotions such as love and anger. I took inspiration from the shots, as the video manages to sustain 4 minutes with little narrative simply shots of the relationship and a lip sync.

I noticed how rapid cuts, a non-continuous editing structure and soft focus we frequently used throughout to reflect the jumpy emotions in the relationship, and also to create visual appeal. I plan to use all three of these techniques to speed up the sequences, and quickly convey a range of emotions they hold for each other.

This shows a small sequence where they hold each other on a sofa. An abundance of different angles are displayed to show every aspect of their relationship and to also keep the viewers attention sustained. When i shoot i will ensure i captured a vast amount of different angles this way I can choose what I want the audience to notice about the couple and when.

Finished Test shoot

After completing the test shoot, it is much clearer what needs to be done in order to improve the video. 

The main thing that needs to be done is a lot of research into relationship narratives in music videos and find some more activities and things to do in the location shoot section. In the test shoot it is the occasional shot of the two together. When we film these shots properly they will obviously look much more cinematic with an aesthetic quality making them more engaging, however it still will become tedious to watch them hug and kiss over and over.

We also need to cast the drummer and ensure he is confident enough to perform, can play the instrument and looks right for the band. I have sent callum an email asking him to meet us for a casting on monday.

We have decided that romany is good for the part, her look suits the voice and our intended image for the band. We plan to organise a few rehearsals to ensure her performance is better on the day.

Finally, I need to get in touch with Josh and Gracie and find out what days they are available to shoot. I have also asked them to choreograph a dance to the song together where they reveal a sense of hatred for each other, this should be done within about a week. 

In conclusion, the test shoot was a succesful planning exercise, we now have a better idea of what our video will look like, and what we need to improve.

Test Shoot

Yesterday we shot our test shoot. By doing so we now have a clearer idea of what looks good what doesn't, what needs to be changed and what our video may look like. We began by shooting the performance element with our lead singer Romany. We used a red head light and used some poles to create moving shadows on her face. This gave us a better visual idea of what it will look like. We also used a microphone stand for Romany to sing into. I plan to edit in some bokeh effects to represent the light bulbs that will be there on the day.  Romany looked very good on camera. It was clear that she suited the image of the singer perfectly however. We realised when we began filming that she was slightly unsure about the lyrics. Although we organised the shoot time with her last week we forgot to ask her to learn the lyrics this meant she had to read them of a phone whilst performing. I have sent her an email advising her to learn the lyrics and become accustomed to the song ensuring that she gives a much more confident performance on the day.

 I filmed using my Iphone, using very simple camera work, with proper equipment it will be easier to capture the cinematic close up body shots and tracking shots we intend for the actual video.
After filming this we started on the drumming section. We couldn't access some drums in the studio so we improvised with a table and although the drummer said he was available something came up at the last minute and he wasn't able to make the shoot, therefore I stepped in, as I can play drums. The lack of a drum kit was poor planning on behalf of us, we expected one to be in the studio already. However if the footage looks too silly then we will go back and re-shoot this section.

We began filming the relationship section when the sun had gone down slightly. It was not possible to get Josh and Gracie to film the test shoot with as they are busy and it is too far for the to travel for a test shoot. Max and Ksenia stepped in and acted out some very basic relationship shots we created. They didn't play the roles too well, however we know it will be a lot more realistic with the real actors as there are both theatre school students and are in a relationship. We soon realised that the couple footage element to the video needed to be thought out a lot more. We noticed when filming that we didn't have enough ideas of things they could be doing that shows the progression of their relationship. I know that when i edit the footage together this section will appear tedious

A major factor of our music video would be the beauty of the visuals. This is something we couldn't achieve using an iphone, we took into consideration that the video will be much more entertaining and impressive to watch with beautiful cinematography.

casting

  Lead singer  

The singer we choose must match the voice of the track. When listening to the voice we all envisioned a different and individual looking girl. The performer needs to be confident and able to reflect and create the beautiful tone of the song. Our first consideration for the role was Romany Henry.

She possesses an individual look that could easily match the voice. We decided to audition her and see if she could perform the character of the singer.


(Video)


This audition tape shows that she is a confident performer and will be convincing in her role as the lead singer.

  Drummer  

The drummer needs to appear individual and different, in order to match the ideas we have for the image of the band. There is currently no actual drummer available that matches our perceptions of his appearance. We would like to use Tom Saville however he is not available. Another drummer available is Callum Henderson, his look is too clean cut, although we intend to use him for our test shoot as we need to consider him as the number of available drummers is very low.

Tom Saville

Callum Henderson

Music video treatment

I decided to create the treatment so we all understood what the visual look of our video would be and allow others to understand and visualise the idea clearly.

Timeline

With the three elements to our video pretty much formed I began creating a timeline so we could see specifically what will be shown on screen throughout the video. I also gathered a series of images of a similar nature to how I envision the video. I have structured the video by the three elements: The narrative, the dance, and the performance:

- (narrative) Boy and girl couple walking down the street, they laugh establishing their happy relationship. 

- (Dance) begin with silhouette of each of their bodies. soft focus close ups on specific body parts doing subtle moves.

- (Performance) lip syncs first line. Singer in a dark room with light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. Lots of bokeh, light leaks and a bit of smoke.

- (dance) they dance. Girl directs her moves towards the boy. Boy directs his moves away. They share a glance.

- (narrative) They are sat down on a wall, The girl smiles at him, he returns it.

- (Performance) “From the perfect start, to the finish line”

(dance) moves are quick and subtle, Shallow depth of field, lots of close up, moves in and out of focus.

(Narrative) They look at each other having fun, then the line “lover’s that went wrong”, they stop laughing a glance at each other.

(Dance) Big beats of the song they begin big dance moves, leaps jumps, lifts

- (performance) says the line “We are the reckless we are the wild youth”

- (Performace) close up on drums. lights flicker on these beats.

- (narrative) boy and girl holding each other

- (dance) lights flashing more.

- (performance) fast cuts on drums/singer and lightbulbs. 

- (Dance) they do small synced movements, towards each other.

- Finish on shot of lightbulb swinging (slow motion?)

The 3 elements of our video

After being told it wouldn't be possible for the boy to dance in the forrest we contemplated other locations for the dance element to occur. We considered a car park such a this:

Although we later determined that this doesn't suit the mood of the track. Instead it has more of an urban feel which we thought was not worth changing our song again so we continued to look for more locations which would be feasible.

We considered the studio with lighting similar to the official video for the song, although not in black and white:

Inspired by the song lyrics we added to the idea with the concept of filming his shadow and the use of flickering lights.

After this we realised we only had 2 elements to our music video. The lip sync performance and the dance performance. We needed to add another element in order to make our video interesting enough to last 2 and a half minutes. Inspired by a Tom Odell video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwpMEbgC7DA) we came up with a new idea. In the Tom Odell video the girl craves his attention and doesn't receive any back from him he simply sings to the camera without acknowledging she is there, as the video progresses she gets more angry and begins to shout at him and later, smash objects in the room.

I thought that this may be possible to do something similar however using dance. A girl would be present as he dances, subtly wanting his attention and as the video progresses she would grow more angry trying to touch him yet he continuous dancing perfectly avoiding her as if she is not even there. This concept displays a sense that the guy is no longer able to love the girl in his relationship.

Although we all liked this idea, it was clear that it would only work in a very suiting location. Furthermore the video still had only 2 elements. Therefore we thought about showing the actual relationship of the couple through shots such as this:

In this we would see them doing general youth activities, perhaps including some of the things the song describes. They may be getting ready for a party, or smoking, reflecting the lyrics of the song and the theme of Youth - displaying experimentation and danger. Their chemistry would convey what appears to be a happy relationship, however in our second element (the dance) they would reveal an underlying sense of hatred for each other which builds throughout the song, representing the "lost lover" which the song discusses. Our third element would be the performance, we plan to confirm our intended visual appearance of this in our next meeting.

Ollie Allgrove - Talk from 'Passion Pictures'

Today we were given the opportunity to talk with an executive producer from passion pictures, an independant company who focus mainly on Feature films, music videos and commercials. This talk allowed us to gain a vast amount of insight into the music video production world and who it is done proffesionally in the industry.

The process begins with a commissioner who requests a treatment from different companies and directors who listen to the song and offer their own interpretation, with a music video concept.

Each director will recieve a brief. This includes:

- background on the band

- who the intended audience are

- where will the video be seen

- what the song is/what its about

The treatment is a response to this information which displays how the director/production team respond. They often talk about how the song has effected them personally, and what ideas came from this. The treatment includes all aspects of the video such as art direction, production design, what will we see and why, He recommended that the best treatments contain more pictures and fewer words. This allows the artist and producer to visualise the music video and have a better understanding of the directors intentions. 

He told us that artists are looking for views, controversy and impact with their music videos. The record label will collaborate with a director who they believe can achieve this and create the most suiting video for their artist and song.

Once a company/director has been chosen the pre-production stage begins. Here everything is planned with as much detail as possible so nothing can be left to chance on the day, this allows the production stage to be fluid with no obstacles. In doing so the shoot is efficient and leads to a more effective video.

The next stage is the shoot, which often happens in one day, with long hours, this is the most efficient way in terms of budget, and work.

Editing follows the production stage. This is a crucial part where the editor gets the opportunity to collaborate with the director and artist to dictate the story in whatever way they choose. The way the story is put together defines how the audience feel emotion. Another tip he gave, was to not fix it in post, everything has to be planned so nothing is left to chance.

He informed us that record labels often want to create a video that supports the conventions of the type of music video for their genre. This gives the audience what they know and like. They also want a good piece of story telling where the audience will watch till the end. Therefore in my music video I will try to not stray too far from the work that is already out there for this genre of music, as it is proven that the audience like this.

Research into similar products - Analysing conventions of videos that heavily feature a dancer

Music videos featuring dance - inspiration

Poliça – “Wandering Star”

Description: The video unifies a strong grouping of contemporary dancers who one-by-one attempt to raise an elderly woman from her emotional slumber.

As they engage the woman, who seems like an artist past her prime, she slowly comes to life once again, shared sensuality leading her to eventually participate in movement herself.

The setting is raw — with dancers wearing bodysuits in a stripped room and projections shot onto white sheets

The video is a display of human intimacy through a diversity of dance styles.

Verbatim that inspired the video “In a modern, tragic twist on the Greek myth of Pygmalion, a brilliant, elderly artist, alone in her studio, is surrounded by memories of past paintings/loved ones who come to life to inspire her final masterpiece: her own death.”

Visual elements

Camera

• Lots of tracking shots, (in and out crabbing), build tension

• close ups on specific body parts.

• wide variety of angles

• contrast between static shots and fast yet smooth camera tracks

• soft focus

Editing

• fades between different moments of the dance.
• frequent cuts between all angles.

Lighting

• Soft lighting
• very tranquil and pure.
• Use of projections on white curtains.

Costume

• animal like costumes, fur legs, tattoos, and patterns all over body.
• Elegant old fashioned clothing and overly made up appearance.
• Use of paint on the woman
• pure white ballerina costumes, covered in paint.
• motif of paint. Dribbling over the woman, and all over the dancers.