Tips For Music Video

- Key to pick the right location that fits with the song and would work well with the concept
- Be realistic - make sure that when we want to film that we aren't being too over zealous
- Make the video different - unique but distinctive - would catch viewers eye
- Check out locations before filming - make sure they are okay for the shots and would be available on the day
- Make the first 30 seconds grab the audiences attention
- Plan alternatives in case what we have planned is not able to happen
- Schedule the shooting days to make sure that its all organized and nothing is forgotten
- Plan enough - not enough planning will make the videos success limited
- Health and Safety while shooting - be safe and chose a location that isn't any danger to anyone

Auteur Study - Anthony Mandler

Anthony Mandler (born April 18, 1973 in Los Angeles, CA) is a commercial and music video director, who has written and directed music videos for several artists. His most notable and frequent collaborator is Rihanna. The two have worked on more than a dozen videos together throughout her career, starting with "Unfaithful" in 2006 and most recently "Only Girl (In the World)", "California King Bed" and "Man Down".
We chose him because of his tendency to work with the R&B genre, because although Gaga is mainstream pop, this song in particular conforms more than any other to Anthony Madler's style.










In both of these videos, you see a clear way that Meandler works with the songs to create a certain atmosphere in them. We would also like to create this type of atmosphere in the video as it gives them a certain feel and works well with the genre of the song.

Location Photos - On Campus

 

For the location for our video, we have chose to do some of the shooting on the college site as some of the areas in it are perfect for the shots we need. We will specifically be using the Media studio and the small road that runs by the side of the sports hall but we may also do some other shorter length clips around college. For example, walking across the quad or using the C-corridor for the walking shots.

Mise En Scene Research

Costuming

For costuming in our video, we have taken inspiration from Gaga but instead of having the outrageous, eccentric style, we were thinking of toning it down to have a style more suitable for the time that the song was recorded which was before her rise to fame. So initially we have thought about having an over sized bow or hairstyle and have make up that is subtle but can easily be seen, and not limited to just the women; we feel we could paint something like a blue strip or a star on the man's face to make him slightly Gaga-fied.

we totally just bought these. (5/10/11)

Location

The locations of our video are going to be mainly outside and out in the elements. We have specifically chosen places which are quite open yet have a lot of nature around because it adds to the atmosphere of the video. We chose Jesus Green/Christ Piece in Cambridge where the main person can walk through the pathways with the trees beside it. Also the back of the Sports Hall was where we planned to have both a scene where our character was walking through it, and where she could be lashing out in anger, throwing things like crockery and mens clothes; the corrugated walls of the sports hall are metallic and soulless; we hope to create an obvious contrast between the nature of soft Cambridge Natural Parks from the overbearing manmade building.

Props


For the scenes where the two characters are talking we'll need two chairs and a table, the more minimalist the better; we want to keep some of the video simplistic, because unlike most of the Gaga Video's we know today "Second Time Around"  was before she was really famous, and we would like to get back to that ordinariness as well as tributing her famed crazy looks and lifestyle.
We would also need things for the character singing to throw and destroy for dramatic effect, a physical act that embodies her anger and frustration to the audience and make it obvious how she feels. these could be any number of things; plates, old phones, photo-frames, watches or even clothes, things that make a house a home, giving the idea that their home is broken.

Music Videos That Have Influenced Us (1)

As we mentioned in our pitch for "Second Time Around", we have taken inspiration from the Rihanna "Take A Bow". To be specific, we like the way that the breakup is shown and, as in the Lady Gaga song, it has a similar sort of break up so we can use the conflict to represent it. The way Rihanna is singing/ shouting at her love rat, we were going to have our singer sing the lyrics as if they were in a conversation. Also we mimic the destruction of this video, and have our character throw things and lash out at the world in anger.

Track Choice Pitch 2 - A Dark Congregation

 We have chosen this song for our second choice video because we thought it gave us a lot of ideas and inspiration as we listened to it, these ideas were unusual as it is not mainstream, though the band was signed by Fueled By Ramen,  we were never short of ideas for this particular song.  





The lyrics are a metaphorical representation of burying feelings, through describing a funeral service.
following the idea of burying feelings, we had this idea of having the singer walking away, dragging a shovel and being covered in mud.






We thought we would have similar costuming to The Hush Sound's "Honey" and Paramore's "Brick By Boring Brick" (also signed by Ramen) where the lead singer would be in a white, not too voyeuristic dress, with her hair up, only as a twist half of the video would have her make up all askew and her clothes and skin covered in patches of mud., where the other half she would be perfctly fine.
Our loctation would be a muddy countryside field, where there would be nothng man made but the girl to be seen for most of the video, the other could be inside a barn where a party was going on. We had the idea that instead of burying feelings as the lyrics describe, the girl could murder an abusive boyfriend (at or behind the party) and we could should the aftermath of her burying the evidence.

This is similar to Rihanna's Video "Man Down" where she kills her abusive boyfriend. We felt that the dirt and autumny countryside of our locations would help add to the punk, indie genre, which is often associated with death and how it affects life as well as love and relationships, even though most, like Paramore and The Hush Sound, take a much more metaphorical approach, we felt our literal representation would stand out from the crowd.

Track Choice Pitch 1 - Second Time Around

As the song was pre- The Fame (Debut Album, 2008) the genre is more R'n'B than her nowadays Pop vibe. We do want to, however, include Lady Gaga's crazy eccentricity; representing this in the form of warped make up/ hair-styles and of course costume (maybe not meat clothes though).

We took this video as inspiration due to the fact that its an R'n'B song and the conflict that occurs during it is how we wanted to show our conflict. The song also links to breakups which is the main theme of the lyrics in "Second Time Around". Upon realising this, we felt we could mimic the use of slow motion action and argument. Also that we could have our singer sing to someone as if they were having a conversation and that video could be of a narrative, which although isn't commonly undergone by Gaga videos, is a common method used with in the R&B industry which we feel applies better to this particular song.
So in the narrative, we're going to present various aspects of a single break-up; arguments, cheating, getting caught, as well as cinematic/ dramatic walking away, walking and singing or even singing as they are arguing.




We also have taken a bit of inspiration from the Lady Gaga video for Telephone. During a lot of Gaga's videos, she uses unusual and eccentric costuming and make-up which has become a trademark for her so in our video for Second Time Around, we want to portray this by using facial make-up. Also we could add to the costuming with almost random accessories which would also give it a Gaga-esque feel.

Further to the costuming and make-up, the clothing we will use in the video will be quite plain and bland as we believe that that channels the meaning of the song and how its not focusing on being voyeuristic, as the song is about emotions involved. The location of the video would also channel the emotion which is slightly different to how Gaga usually works but as the song was demoed before the big rise she had, it has a different emotion to it. We want to use areas where the focus would be set on the people involved so the media studio where we could almost recreate a scene of a talk like the one in the Rihanna "Take A Bow" video.
 Also by using the small road which is just by the sports hall as a walkway for walking shots; we take advantage of its great atmosphere for emotional shots. Another location we could use is the town centre, especially the path way through Christs Piece/Jesus Green as its also good for the emotion and walking shots and as we wanted to include couple shots we can use it for that too.
Cambridge is, in itself, an untapped resource where many, if not all, R&B videos are based in the big city, Cambridge is a city where no music videos have ever really been noticeably based, so the sophistication of the grand buildings and british culture de-american-ises the setting, which in modern media disconcerts the audience similarly to the way Gaga "traditionally" sets her scenes.

Music Video Analysis Using Goodwin's Points - Wretch 32 ft Josh Kumra 'Don't Go'

1. An R&B, hip hop , mainstream track, "Don't Go"'s video conforms to most aspects or the genre; remaining almost completely focused on the artists and images associated with them, there were plenty of visual and lyrical metaphors, as well as the usual themes of love and women, and the plight of fame.

2. The relationship between lyrics and visuals has been amplified; this is evident through the main lyrics "don't go" where the artists are walking through a crowd in the wrong direction and the only images of women are that of them walking away.

3. The pace between the music and visuals in very much the same; everything seems to be moving very slowly, including the singing. also the backing track is very plain, this is appropriately reflected through the plain white backdrop of the video.

4. There were a lot of close ups, more on Wretch 32 than Kumra and 32's album is called "Black and White" and the video, places his dark skin in front of a bright white back ground links to this.

5. There is no particular voyeurism, any women shown were out of focus, and both the men remain fully dressed. This makes the video seem more innocent and about love or pain rather than sex and money.

6. The video links back to the album.

Analysing Music Videos Using Goodwin Analysis Points - Jessie J - Who's Laughing Now

1. The characteristics of the video match the genre which is R'n'B/Pop and it does this through the bad girl/ attitude way that they have shown Jessie in her younger years. Also it shows the lifestyle which can connote the genres.

2. The relationship between lyrics and visuals is very amplifying because in most of it the lyrics are shown in the visuals of the video but in some points where they are doing the acting out the story throughout the song, they venture off of the lyrics to make sure that the video makes sense.

3. The relationship between the music and visuals is quite illustrative because the pace of the music and the pace of the visuals cooperate and work well together.

4. During the "Who's Laughing Now" video the demands of the record label mean that there are many close ups of Jessie J but they have been clever in incorporating the videos concept with the many different faces that they have suggested she could be so that close ups are less obvious.

5. In the video there is no obvious voyeurism and it particularly renounces it with the younger children featured so in the concept they are connoting the artists way of making music; basing her career on talent and drive more than anything else.

6. You can link the video to films of a High School genre due to the setting being in a school and with the reference to cliques and underdogs.