Target Audience

This is basically the target audience for our video. The kind of faceless mainstream indie kid who buys everything from Top Shop and stays well within mainstream styles. Totally not the kind of people i generally hang out with, but that's who the band think their target audience is, that's basically who the band are and that's who i'm aiming the video at.

Risk Assessment / Health and Safety

There are a number of risks to be considered while filming a music video.

For a start, we are filming the majority of it in a small room with not much light, lots of cables of assorted expensive instruments. For a start, while filming, i am planning to move around a lot to get more interesting footage, which means i will have to pay attention to what i'm filming and pay attention to the assorted cables that will be draped around the room.

There also isn't much light in the rehearsal room we are filming in, so that adds to the potential danger of tripping and hurting myself.

If we are filming at the Junction, again, we have to be careful of any wires, but if we are in the crowd we have more problems.

People may spill drinks on the floor so it could get quite slippery and we could fall.

Crowds in gigs can get very exitable and it has potential to get pretty damn hot, so i need to ensure i have water and don't get de-hydrated.

Also we obviously need to ensure we don't break any of the equipment because i sure as hell can't afford to replace any of it.h

Animatic

This is our animatic storyboard.

Shot List

These are the different camera angles we are hoping to get whilst filming the band's performances.

1) A mid-shot of the band playing together
2) A mid shot of the band playing from behind
3) A mid shot of the vocalist
4) a close up of the vocalist's face
5) A side on shot of the vocalist
6) A pan around shot of the vocalist
7) A pan around shot of the guitarist
8) A pan around shot of the drummer
9) A mid-shot of the guitarist
10) A close up of the guitar itself
11) A high angle shot of the guitarist
12) A close up of the guitar (only the solo)
13) A mid-shot of the drummer
14) A close-up of the drummer
15) A high angle shot of the drummer

Any crowd shots of their gig at the Junction on the 16th October may also be used.

After showingthis shotlist to the band, they seemed to like the idea of a fast paced video with lots of motion and close ups, but were quite insistant we did a lot of footage of them, not their instruments.

Budget

Ultimately, we were lucky in a sense that we didn't have to pay anything to create this video. We were allowed to borrow all the equipment we needed from college so it was free. Had we been a proper production company, however, the costs would have been great for the camera we used and the equipment and software we were using to create our final product.

Potential Problems

The main problem I see is not really being able to get the band together at the same time to film the video. This is because they are all from different parts of Cambridge and go to different colleges, so their timetables will be very different. We could possibly film on a Saturday when all of the band are free.

Filming at the band's gig may also be a problem as we may not be allowed in to film them on the stage. A way to get around this is by asking the Junction if we were allowed to film. If that doesn't work, we could do some undercover filming from the crowd.

Final Idea

After going back to the band with another idea for what we could do, they have agreed. We are going to go down to their rehearsal space and film them playing through the song several times. The shots will be mostly moving as it is a small space and quite a fast paced song, so having static or slow camera shots will really slow down the pace of the song. The band also liked the idea of having some footage of them playing live at the Junction, but said it wasn't vital if we could keep the video going for long enough. We suggested the narrative, the guy running to the show, but they weren't too sure about that, as they said any narrative in the video should link in with the songs content and someone running to a show isn't even close to the point they want to make with the song. Because of this, we have decided to keep the video performance based, similar to the Paramore video for Ignorance.

Ideas

Despite the band commissioning us to make them a video, they gave us quite a lot of freedom with it. They want a music video, but don't seem entirely sure what they want it to do, so Mike and I came up with some suggestions for what it could be, and pitched them to them.

First, we came up with the band going on the top of a Cambridge City Sightseeing bus. They would be playing invisible instruments as they toured the sights of Cambridge. The band weren't too impressed with the idea. They said that it ruined the theme of the song, so we decided to scrap that idea. I'm glad we did, it's not a great idea and i think would look far too much like a student video.

I think our best idea would be to feature the band playing at a gig, preferably playing at the Junction but we could put up with the hall at College. We may also have a narrative featuring someone running to get to the gig on time, whilst intercutting between the two. As he reaches the Junction, the video would fade out or possibly have him running into the Junction and showing the band packing up after the gig.

We also know that the band are due to play a live gig at the Junction on the 16th October, so we were hoping to go there and film possible crowd shots and a few of the band playing. This would be brief as trying to sync the performance up with the track, would be too time consuming for the time we have got to do this.

The band came up with a suggestion that was something along the lines of them all playing naked. I'm not sure what it is with bands and doing things naked, but we decided it would be inappropriate and there was no way in hell i was going to film it. Thankfully i don't think they were entirely serious about the idea as it was a commission and if they had told us that's what they wanted and nothing else would work we would have had to find a new commission to do.

More Video Research

I have done some more research into more videos that are a similar genre to the one we are using. These videos are all very different and use completely different styles. They all have pros and cons, and i thought it would be good to look at the different kinds of video we could create given ones that have been made and worked really well.

Linkin Park, Given Up. Filmed entirely with live footage from concerts, works well, quick cuts, fast paced song. Use of shots from crowd, not clean shots from HQ cameras etc. Use this idea?

Tenacious D, Wonderboy. Mainly story based, predominantly story based, little if any show or band singing as they are portraying characters other than the band.

FatBoy Slim, Weapon of Choice. Has absolutely nothing to do with the song, simply a guy dancing around somewhere.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNAr5tzZxdk Cartoons, Witch Doctor. My passing suggestion of taking some acid and coming up with an idea seems to be somewhat taken already with many videos fromt he 90's such as this one.

Bowling for Soup, My Wena 2 versions, original ridiculous video, video compliments listeners initial idea of what song is about by showing you a giant dick walking around. The song is actually about a dog, as is revealed at the end.

Bowling for Soup. Clean Version. Changed from dick to mainly clips of dog with band playing in middle of road. Changed so suitable for TV and a younger audience.

Nickelback, Rockstar. This video is comprised completely of guests and 'normies' singing the song, and throughout the entire video only gives each person a few seconds at a time. It then ends with the band playing live onstage, so throws in a different style of video.

Second meeting with the band

After doing some research into music videos, i had another meeting with the band in a hope of sorting out exactly what they want in their video and how they want it to look. As it is a commission, it's really their decision as to what goes in the video and what doesn't so we need to clear everything with them before.

They are still unsure about what they want, apart from them being in it. They definately have to be in it, so i'm thinking probably a performance video. We asked them about using a narrative in the video, and they seemed unsure. One of them said "I don't know about a story.. It's gotta be relevant, can you keep it relevant to the song?"

We wanted to create a narrative that fitted in with the theme of the song, but as the theme was about the war in Iraq and people dying, we decided to scrap that idea as we couldn't really kill anyone and get away with it, and faking it can look pretty stupid sometimes, especially with students who don't really take it seriously.

If we tried to re-create a war theme, we would basically be trying to recreate the My Chemical Romance video for Ghost of You. This video was clearly a big budget thing, and looks effective because of that. If we tried to create something like this with a low budget it would look ridiculous, so we decided to go with a performance based video, unless we could think of something much better.

We decided it would be hard to create a narrative that worked with the song and stayed true to the message it was giving, so i think the idea of a performance based video, is how we're going to play this one.

Music Video Research

I have been looking at many different music videos to get an idea about how they work. We need to create a video that is different to anything else, but at the same time similar in style to the genre of the music. This was relatively easy as i watch loads of music videos on TV, but very few of them are particularly interesting. This, however is not the case for all videos as a few of them are fantastic.


I like this video because it is utterly bizarre. The coloured in eyes make the people look incredibly weird, while the coloured in, slightly jumpy effect as the stopmotion makes it look really cool.


I really like this video, and most of Michael Jacksons other videos, but i really like this one because i think it is incredibly cleverly done. The way they swap between scenes by using things that are in the scene already, such as when they go from dancing in the street in the snow, to the cossacks, the scene is changed as a white car drives past the screen obscuring the view, so you don't notice the scene is different until it is completely gone from view. I also really like the ending, where they have the different people singing the song and it changes between them. I'm not sure how this was done, as a similar thing could be done by simply fading in and out different footage, providing the eyes are kept in the same position during the transition. However i think something different has been done with this video as it doesn't just fade out it looks like it's been sort of rubbed out bit by bit.


I love the bit right at the start of this video where he rips his face off and then smashes his skull, to reveal himself again. I have no idea how it was done but i think it looks amazing. I also like it when the dancers are jumping around on the walls and the ceilings, as it gives the video a totally different feel to it.

I like this video because it shows that a music video can be entirely story based without needing to show the band physically playing their instruments. Many music videos rely quite heavily on featuring the band either playing their instruments or doing things as the band. This one doesn't and i think it sticks out because of it.

Lyrics to the Song

These are the lyrics to the song 'Oil' that i have been commissioned to make a video for:

Slipping and sliding
And pulling you under.
Convincing you your going
In the right direction.
Releasing, reloading, aiming and firing
Convincing you it's for your own protection.

How do you sleep at night?

Ain't it a nightmare to see your sons out there?
Fightin' in a war that nobody wanted
To think of the loss, yeah?
Think of the time.
Hundreds a day for one mans crimes.
Was it really worth it?
Was it really worth it?
Was it really worth it?
Was it really worth it?

Soldiers are fighting and killing and dying.
Fighting in a war that nobody wanted
Waring and dying and killing to live.
Fighting in a war that leaves them haunted.

How do you sleep at night?

Ain't it a nightmare to see your sons out there?
Fightin' in a war that nobody wanted
To think of the loss, yeah?
Think of the time.
Hundreds a day for one mans crimes.
Was it really worth it?
Was it really worth it?
Was it really worth it?
Was it really worth it?

Ain't it a nightmare to see your sons out there?
Fightin' in a war that nobody wanted
To think of the loss, yeah?
Think of the time.
Hundreds a day for one mans crimes.
Was it really worth it?
Was it really worth it?
Was it really worth it?
Was it really worth it?

How to Kill a Conversation First Meeting

Mike and I have been approached by a local band in Cambridge called How to Kill a Conversation, and they have commission us to make a music video for them. We have been given an MP3 of their song 'Oil' which they would like a video for. HtKaC are quite big in Cambridge and play shows quite regularly in assorted pubs and clubs, and have played at the Junction on several occasions. They are an indie band, and their music is aimed at teenagers. They lyrical content in some of their songs may be slightly adult, not offensive, but quite serious. Oil, for example is about the war, as opposed to many 'teenage' bands who just sing about their latest girlfriend or their new shoes.

The music, while appropriate for basically any age, is most popular amongst people aged 14-18. This is probably due to the quite poppy nature of the music. It's the sort of mainstream faceless pop music that records companies adore. I think we can make quite a good video for this. We had a brief discussion about the kind of video they want, wether they want it narrative or performance based and if they want it to be them doing the narrative if we use any, or other people.

They seemed somewhat unsure about what they wanted, to be honest, and the most helpful thing that was said was "It's got to be us. I want people to see us."

What is a commission?

A commission is when a person or company hire you to create something for them. For a commission to work, you need two things. You need equipment to do the work, and someone to want some work done.

Usually, the first thing that happens, is that someone sees some work you have done and likes it.
If they want something made, but don't have the skills or equipment necessary, they may request you make something for them.
You would then have meetings with the client to discuss what they want and what you can actually make until you come to a good compromise.
You then go and produce whatever it is the client wants.
You show it to the client, and they say what they like, what they don't like and what they want you to do about it.
You then re-edit your product to meet their expectations.
They pay you.

Previous Commissions

I have been involved in several previous commissions, we worked with Sawston Cinema trying to create a logo for them, but they didn't really like our ideas, and decided to use one of their own.

I was also commissioned by the Health and Social Care department at college, to create some educational videos at one of their H&SC days at Bottisham Village College. They asked me because they knew i had access to the equipment and it would be good experience for me. Me and Alex were asked to go to Bottisham VC with the H&SC students, and film as much as the day as we could. We were then asked to produce 3 videos of varying length that could be used in lessons and would be at least slightly beneficial to the students. The longest video was about 20 minutes long, and was quite easy as we kept in a lot of the interesting footage. This included the crash re-enactment, the activities that were going on throughout the day. We also included some interviews with students and teachers and gave a good feel about what the day was like. The next one was half as long, we cut some of the crash, some of the interviews and a bit of the activities. The short one was harder, as it was going to be shown more, and had to be interesting, but informative at the same time. I spent a long time trying to edit this so it worked, but every time it was either informative and dull, or exiting and useless. After a while, i decided the best interview i had shoudl go in, as it gave a good idea of what was going on, and i would show brief clips of the activities and the crash. I only kept in the most interesting bits of the crash, the emergency service vehicles turning up, them cutting the roof off and dragging the casualties out etc.

When i gave my videos to the H&SC staff, they loved them. They have also been used by the people who organised the whole event as a way of showing what they do. This commission was successful, even though after i gave them the videos they didn't even bother saying thanks, just took them. I don't really mind, i know people who have seen them being used so my work is being shown even if i'm not being credited for it.

I have also been commission by the English and Media Center to write an article for Media Magazine, which i did. I wrote an article about censorship in the media and it got published in the magazine.