Timeline

Timeline

Our time line is slightly different, as the song we are using, “We are from Venice” by The Bloody Beetroots, features no lyrics. So naturally this makes the timings of the video all the more important. Time line is all about the time and it is all about the time the shot spends on the music, and whether or not we aim to conform and cut on the beat.

We have linked various aspects of our time line to various aspects of the song, there is a part of our song that involves what sounds a little like a car starting up, and we have mirrored this and stuck with our theme of urban decay by depicting a car on fire. This will start out being a close up on the car and as we cut to a DJ handclap it will move closer as we cut back in to the car at perhaps a different angle.

We aim to use balletic editing in our sequence, because it reflects the disorientated angle that we are going for. Another example would be the final shot of our piece which will depict the two gangs of our video facing each other and ultimately realizing they are one in the same. This shot will be a long fade out, because it reflects the music, as the song ends on a long fade out. This is a building brick for will be our storyboards.

Composition Rules

Films and Pop Videos are like alanguage, we, the audience know this language, although we are not aware that we know. As filmmakers we need to know this language, which is made up of over 100 composition rules. This is a very small number of them.

Different Types of Shot Size

Extreme Close Up (ECU) - A picture that shows a close shot of a scene or parts of a face. It is use

d to focus attention on people

’s reactions or emotions. In a pop video it is used for the audience to relate to the artist.

Close Up (CU) - A picture that shows

a fairly small part of a scene, such as

all of a character’s face, so much so

that it fills up the screen.Again it is used to portray emotions and reactions, but in less detail than an ECU.

Mid Shot (MS) – If a character is standing the shot will pass through the waist, leaving the shoulders and visage in the shot. This is important because there is space for hand gestures, and also the audience will subconsciously pick up on body language and other non-verbal c

ommunication.

Wide Shot (WS) – A shot that allows all or the majority of a large

subject (such as a person) or surroundings to be seen. Many WS are used as establishing shots.

Extreme Wide Shot (EWS) – Here t

he camera is at its furthest point from the subject. This type of shot is used to emphasize the background. Many EWS are us

ed as ES.

Establishing Shot (ES) – It is usually used as a opening shot to a sequence to establish a setting and location or a change in setting or location.

Cam

era Position and Angle

Camera Position and angle are crucial in creating meaning.

The Bird’s Eye View – The angle shows a shot from directly from above. It is a very unnatural angle and it pro

motes an uneasy sense in the audience. But the shot does give the audience status, because it makes the characters on screen seem insignificant.

High Angle – Not as extreme as a Bird’s Eye View.

The camera is elevated above the on-screen action to give the audience a general overview, the angle still gives status as on-screen characters are made to look insignificant. The object of the shot is often swallowed by its surroundings, often used to suggest a wider object.

Eye Level – The camera is positioned as if the audience is viewing the scene first hand. So the actors will

be at eye-level with the audience, this brings them the actors do

wn to earth,

Low Angle – These increase height to smaller subjects, and they also give a sense of speeded motion. Low angles help convey a sense of powerlessness within a scene. The background to a low angle shot will tend to be sky or scenery, which contributes to the disorientation of the viewer.

Slanted Angle – Sometimes the camera is slanted to portray imbalance and instability, this technique is used a lot in point of view shots, and they are often shot with handheld cameras.

Camera Movements

This is especially important in pop videos, especially tracking and crane shots.

Pan – A movement that scans a scene horizontally.

The camera is placed on a tripod, which operates as a stationary axis point as the camera is turn

ed, often to follow a moving object that is kept in the middle of the frame

Track – The camera is placed on a moving vehicle and moves alongside the action, generally following a moving figure or object. Complicated dolly shots will involve a track being laid on set for the camera to follow, hence the name. The camera might be mounted on a car, a plane, or even a shopping trolley (good method for independent film-makers looking to save a few dollars).

A dolly shot may be a good way of portraying movement, the journey of a character for instance, or for moving from a long shot to a close-up, gradually focusing the audience on a particular object or character.

Tilt – A movement which scans a scene vertically, otherwise similar to a pan.

Handheld – This aesthetic took a while to catch on with mainstream Hollywood, as it gives a jerky, ragged effect, totally at odds with the organized smoothness of a dolly shot. The camera is stabilized so it moves independently) was debuted in Marathon Man (1976

), bringing a new smoothness to hand held camera movement and has been used to great effect in movies and TV shows ever since. No "walk and talk" sequence would be complete without one. Hand held cameras denote a certain kind of gritty realism, and they can make the audience feel as though they are part of a scene, rath

er than viewing it from a detached, frozen position.

Crane – Basically, dolly-shots-in-the-air. A crane, is a large, heavy piece of equipment, but is a useful way of moving a camera - it can move up, down, left, right, swooping in on action or moving diagonally out of it. The camera operator and camera are counter-balanced by a heavy weight, and trust their safety to a skilled crane/jib operator.

Zoom – A zoom lens contains a mechanism that changes the magnification of an image. On a still camera, this means that the photographer can get a 'close up' shot while still being some distance from the subject. A video zoom lens can change the position of the audience, either very quickly (a smash zoom) or slowly, without moving the camera an inch, thus saving a lot of time and trouble. The drawbacks to zoom use include the fact that while a dolly shot involves a steady movement similar to the focusing change in the human eye, the zoom lens tends to be jerky (unless used very slowly) and to distort an image, making objects appear closer tog

ether than they really are. Zoom lenses are also drastically over-used by many directors who try to

give the impression of movement and excitement in a scene where it does not exist. Use with caution - and a tripod!

Aerial – An exciting variation of a crane shot, usually taken from a helicopter. This is often used at the beginning of a film, in order to establish setting and movement. A helicopter is like a particularly flexible sort of crane - it can go anywhere, keep up with anything, move in and out of a scene, and convey real drama and exhilaration — so long as you don't need to get too close to your actors or use location sound with the shots.

Lighting

This is also clearly vital.

Redhead – A small light, usually between 100 and 200 watt studio lamp used to light from all angles, the beam can be focused and the fixture facilitates a set of barn doors for illuminating certain areas and narrowing down the beam. Gels can be applied to the lamp to change the color of the lighting.

Blonde – A blonde is more or less the same as a Redhead, except it is usually larger and can go up to around 500 watts. Gels can be applied to the lamp to change the color of the lighting, much like a Redhead.

Spot – A spot is focused beam of light on a specific area, it is used to

emphasize this area and the reader is meant to draw closer and feel more emotionally attached to the subject.

Background – Background lighting is just what it says it is. It is a way of illuminating a subject without drawing too much attention to the subjects flaws and trying to stay emotionally distant, it is used frequently in interviews.

Soft and harsh lighting - Soft and harsh lighting can manipulate a viewer's attitude towards a setting or a character. The way light is used can make objects; people and environments look beautiful or ugly, soft or harsh, artificial or real. Light may be used expressively or realistically.

Rule of Thirds

Film Makers use the rule to convey meanings.

The rule of thirds is a compositional rule in photography; the rule basically states that an image should be divided into nine equal squares. Where the lines collide are called powerpoints, because these are the places where the eyes tend to drift to.

Colors

Colors convey a lot, Khulestov says that 70% of meaning is in the visuals in movies. Color is important as it says a lot about personality, mood and action as the chart outlines. This is a basic chart used by most filmmakers in choosing or disguising their shots.

First Pitch

Richard Dyer says that Pop Promo Videos are "the explicit and unashamed promotion of the artist's "image" as a specific product with a brand identity, ready for mass consumption."

We pitched out idea to Luke Gilchrist who is our film teacher and also executive producer of our music video. I put forward my idea (listed below) which Luke i felt responded well to. He did talk over some of the practalities such as having a rave requires too many extras which we may not be able to handle. I subsequently ironed out the rave and i feel that my pitch is better off because of it.

As a group i think we subvert this as the artist is trying to promote his music, not his image, because throughout the video the artist's face is never seen. In modern contemporary music, it is not about promotion of the music, record companies are trying to sell artists as the product, and this shows through music videos. In terms of editing and shot selection my group is going to imitate mainstream media, because we are going to use an extensive number of shots, all different types and from different angles, and when it comes to editing, we will use many short shots in a high ratio. We intend to imitate recurring thematic elements and specific iconography because there are several narrative-like structures that centre around our performance aspect. However, our pop video does use continuity editing, because in my own opinion discontinuity editing would not work with our video because it would take away from the narrative. In terms of editing we are very conformist, because our shots will be cut tightly to the beat of the track. In terms of Special Effects, we will not be using blue screen or animation, but we will be using in camera effects and lighting. Our music video is intended to be high impact as is it meant to be remembered. And i think that it is memorable. Various Images of memorable artists of the same genre. All Faceless.
THE BLOODY BEETROOTS (myspace.com/thebloodybeetroots)

DAFT PUNK (daftpunk.com)

Research and Development

Currently we are in the R&D stage of our product, we have collectively met as a group a few times, where we have discussed ideas for the project and so far we have agreed that the remix of a song called Black Gloves by The Bloody Beetroots (Originally by Goose) set to the video featuring a DJ, Real Moments the world wants to forget, and the kids with spray-paint (detailed in The Five Stages of Production). The idea was combination of my original idea and another girls idea. The idea for the Real Life moments was when we were told our idea lacked substance and motivation. We also had the idea that maybe we could zoom out from someone's eye at the end, when there is a nuclear explosion, to reveal the world as a boy sees it, or as nothing but a dream.

When first thinking about my original idea i watched the video for Stress by Justice, the video for One More Time by Daft Punk and the video for Declaration of War by Hadouken!

My first idea for a music video was for a song called Therapy by Relient K. The music video opens with the intro to the song playing as their is a shot of the sun through the trees. The camera then pans to the band who are playing in an open field under a large tree. The band is a stereotypical five piece band that would all be wearing bland colours, to emphasise the beauty that is around them which is the subject of the song. The other part of the video depicts people making their way through the field in order to watch the band play. The video closes with the song playing to the audience in the dark under candlelight.

My second idea was a music video for a song called Painting Flowers by All Time Low. The music videos opens with a focus pull onto the band. The main aspect of the video is special effects, as the video is shot entirely in the same style as seen here:

Except instead of the car, the video would be shot with nothing just the band with leads visible playing their hearts out. The second aspect of the video is, in the same style, a shot of a man in a back to front cap and a bandana covering his face, spray painting an abstract flower onto a wall. The third aspect of the video is for the video closes. it closes with a close up of a beautiful girl with red lipstick on, when the camera finally reaches her face. It is revealed that she is crying.

My third idea was for a song called Killing In The Name which is a remix of a previous christmas number one single and it is instantly recognisable to anyone who keeps up with modern music. It basically depicted a 17 year old playing music in a mind tunnel on his decks. This part would change up with various different lighting. The second part depicted a gang running around spray painting the artist's name onto the walls of a popular area. The video would end with a shot moving to the beat of the song, finally showing a stencil of the artist's name.

All in all my pitch went well as it was chosen to be combined with another idea and then built on. I felt that my teacher reacted well to it other than the obvious lack of motivation for these anarchic events, which was subsequently sorted out. the group chose to combine my idea with a girl in my group who had thought up a rave with an "End of the World" motif. All in all, in think we have made a lot of progress and i think that we chosen an idea that is simple and effective.

Declaration of War by Hadouken!

The Five Stages of Production

Research

My pop video is aimed at 16-24 year old males, because it features violence, anti-conformity and vandalism. Also the video features people of that age group, which my cause more 16-24 year olds to relate to this. The video will appeal to fans of Justice, The Bloody Beetroots and Daft Punk, because they have all made videos in a similar style to the one i wish to make. Our video feature 16-24 year olds at a rave with an "End of the World" vibe to it. This mood will be created by intertwining existing archive footage of events that the world wishes to forget. Along with these two elements there will be people that are a part of a gang, they all wear white masks, spray painting the artist's name onto walls in densely populated areas. Again creating "the cool" for the artist.

Development

This video in its entirety is very doable. It features next to no special effects, and how everyone in the gang is wearing a mask means that people's faces wont matter, just their shape. Our video will take most of the day to shoot. The shots with the DJ can be done in the studio as it gives us the highest amount of control for the lighting and sounds etc. However, the gang/riot scenes need to be done in the dark in a busy area. (i.e. Guildford Town Car Park). Our treatment again is simple, the story depicts an uprising of sorts before the world kills itself. This story line is interlaced with shots the artist at his decks being light and shot dynamically from several different angles. The storyboard and animatic will have to be very detailed because the song does not feature lyrics, so we will have to be very detailed in the timing of the shots. As far as casting goes, we already have the DJ signed on, we have yet to camera test him, and the kids that run around tagging the streets with the artist's name can more or less be anyone.

Pre-Production

On the day we will have a full call sheet, this will detail everything that could possibly go wrong during the actual shoot day. We will list timings for every actor for they need to be around, we will list the props that each actor needs, if any, and for what scenes they will need them. We will list all the props that we have, and finally all the wardrobe that needs to be brought and worn at different times. This will also detail all the equipment we will need to have on set. This accounts in our case for the DJ decks and various lighting. Stereotypically, the call sheet would include lyrics to the song, but because our song has no lyrics, there will be no lyrics page. The call sheet will also include the completed storyboard, as previously mentioned, an entire cast list, locations with permission to shoot in these locations.

Production

This will literally be all our shooting, getting all the shots we need in order to be able to edit our project to be fast paced.

Post-Production

This is where we would use Final Cut Pro and After FX in order to achieve a good finished product. My group personally will probably not use After FX because it is largely unnecessary for us to use it.

Pop Video Brief 2010

THE BRIEF

You have to create

• THREE MULTIMEDIA PRODUCTS
• TO ESTABLISH THE IMAGE AND BRAND OF YOUR SINGER AND GROUP and
• HELP SELL THE SONG FROM THEIR FIRST ALBUM.

The group or singer must be a NEW GROUP (even if they are doing a copy of an existing song)

The song is a SINGLE from their FIRST ALBUM

The actual products to be produced are:

• THE POP VIDEO
• A DIGIPAK for the ALBUM
• A MAGAZINE ADVERT for the ALBUM.