Editing Techniques - Part One

Music Video - Script

The video will begin with the steady 'bass - break - snare' minimal concept accompanied by minimal visuals. It will fade black for 1 beat every other beat.
This will then follow into the first scene as soon as the melody kicks in. It will follow the protagonist just after he's been kicked out from a night club. He is not sober so the footage jumps reminiscent of his head.
We will do 3 full length shots of the protagonist walking around the town miming the words. This is so we are able to cut between these while he walks around. It will have the effect he is all over the town.
The effects applied will be very subtle strobing and a gate effect. This scene will last around 30 seconds to start however will be revisited constantly throughout the whole production.

There will be a series of close up and extreme close ups of various objects the protagonist has on them. A lighter, some beat converse; the classic British starter pack.
There will then be a close up of a bottle of vodka which is placed down mid scene. The protagonist then walks past it stumbling.
The audience get the impression he is not sober.

(Throughout the whole piece we will have performance shots on a Midi keyboard with drum pad (Launchkey 49 MK2) These will be cut to throughout)

Halfway through he will pull pills out from his pocket and take them. This will consist of close ups to show importance or urgency. After this we will have a green screen where behind him effects are going on to show he's on drugs. 

To show this further we will cut toward his neck which is sweating and his eyes which will be darting around and bloodshot. 

Midpoint in the track it will cut too his girlfriend in their flat trying to ring him which he doesn't notice. She looks worried.

We will proceed to cut to the walking shots I mentioned earlier until he gets home. We will do a POV going toward the door and make it look like the door is heading further and further from him. 

As he gets home and the song narrows down he falls into bed with effects around him to show the drugs are in effect. 

The camera will pan down to a note the girlfriend left him explaining that she has left. We will then zoom in on the protagonist quickly to a crescendo where in goes black.

Music Video - Moodboard

Music Video - Location Rekey

We would film in 2 areas.

First being Tamworth's main town. We would take three evening takes of an actor walking through looking like a drunk miming the words to the song. We would have three so we could cut between the three shots making it look like he is in many different places without the same place becoming repetitive.

1. The first area around town would be around the market, church and graveyard.
2. Second would be the skatepark.
3. Third would be the old underpasses to achieve a sense of danger in this town.

We would want the audience to see the town for what it is; a character in the music video.

We would then use my house for the indoor areas of filming. Parts of which include his girlfriend waiting for him and him when he gets back and when she isn't there when he gets back and he knows he messed up. 

The house is my house so I know where the light is good in areas and the risks where apparent and how to limit them. 

There isn't a lot filmed here so I didn't worry to much about completing a full rekey.

Music Video - Budget

Costumes 

• Adidas tracksuit. Second hand. Made to look from the last decade. Around £20. Charity or Ebay
• Normal female clothes. Probable already own. Free - Already owned 

Fake blood for scene where the protagonist. £3. Ebay

Camera stand used from school library. Normally around - £50. Argos, Currys, Ebay

Camera used would be a 'Conan 100e'. Borrowed off family members work. Normal price - £400. Online 

Green screen. Provided by the school. Normal price - £5 for a green piece of cloth from WHSmiths. Professional - £50 for many kits on how to do it.

Alcohol. Bottle only. Cheap vodka. £15 from any retail outlet.

Software 

• Adobe Premire Pro 
• Adobe After Effects 

Would do a deal for the two at £8 a month. Would use for free however through the school.

Hardware. Macbook pro with extra CPU and RAM upgrades to increase exporting time and effect power. Would be used through the school however would normally cost £1250. With student discount £990

Actors would be paid a one time payment however due to the production being less professional they would be payed hourly at £7 an hour.

Music Video - Filming Schedule

We will be filming over half term as it gives us open ends regarding timing. We won't have to be in school at specific times. The only major issue with our music video and its filming requirements is that we have to be mainly film in the evening. This is an issue as therefore we only have a brief time for when its getting dark and pitch black. We need to be in that sweet spot where we can still film but it not be pitch black. This may require reshoots. We set up a table to figure out what we would do.

Red - Working

Grey - Set up/Set down
Black - Filming

It has been checked and all of actors are available for the scenes and filming times needed. 

Music Video - Lyric Analysis

That's the one, oy
How did he not find the baggy, with his hand in my shoe?

When he says baggy he means drugs. What this shows is the drug culture of Britain and how apparent it is; its casual. He says like its an action he does every weekend and he also says it in a way hes surprised that he wasn't caught.

Way too close for me, oh well at least they allowed me through

He says "way to close to me" even though he will try next week. He also says "at least they allowed me through" like its the only thing that matters. 

Should be a good night in here, Ramo in the main room

Knowing Ramo is in the main room could show his familiarity with the club or the area in general. It  could show that he hasn't ever moved away from where he grew up therefore relying on a place that is boring to him and his youth culture in general. He is relying on an area that he is bored of because he is to lazy to move away.

People keep pushing me though, no reception on the phone
And I'm thinking

Lights are blinding my eyes

He speaks almost like hes in third person. Instead of rapping hes just talking. This could show that maybe he has drunk before hand and he is confirming where he is in his head; what the plan is.

They said they'd be here they said, they said in the corner
And I'm thinking

Again he is repeating what he is saying. Almost scared that their not at the place they said they would be. This could show an insecurity he has deal with. 

People pushing by, and walking off into the night

These look well speckly, bit of green and blue
Threes is well cheap though, so I'll take three if I need to

"Threes is well cheap though" again clarify he is no stranger to youth drug cultue. It shows he has done this most of his life. It could be a metaphor for British club culture. That drugs are seen a necessity or a norm. 

Right I'm on the plan, I wish the bouncers would go away
Borrow water off this man, here goes nothing OK

He takes the pills and he sounds like he is even sceptical; almost worried. 

And I'm thinking

Lights are blinding my eyes

That's proper rank, that tastes like hairspray
And I'm thinking

He speaks to the audience in an informal manor. He speaks like he would a friend  While it is informal it does tie a relationship between protagonist and audience/listener. 

People pushing by, and walking off into the night

I hate coming to the entrance, just to get bars on my phone

"Hate coming to the entrance,  just to get bars on my phone" - again this shows his knowledge
of this lifestyle he has associated himself with.

You have no new messages, so why haven't they phoned?
Menu, write message, so where are you and Simone?
Send message, Dan's number, where've they gone?

Each of these lines ends with a question. As the listener we have to decide is it him asking us as his audience or is he asking himself. If he is asking himself does that come across as completely sane? or has this lifestyle he lives took him over the edge?

And I'm thinking

Lights are blinding my eyes

Why's the message pending? where the f*ck are ya?
And I'm thinking

People pushing by, and walking off into the night

Hmm, brandy or beer? Water's a good idea
Wish that bar lady'd appear and come serve over here
Where the f*ck could they be? still not over in the corner
This nights a tragedy, I keep thinking I saw her
And I'm thinking

He doesn't focus on one thing at a time. He will go from phone reception to bar lady to what to drink next in the span of one bar. It not that he isn't trying to focus on one thing at the time I think its the fact he mentally can't. It could be something to do with the drugs he has just taken having an impact on what he's thinking.

Lights are blinding my eyes

No that's not them, that's not them either
And I'm thinking

People pushing by, and walking off into the night

I'm still not feeling anything, this has got to be a dud
It's been ages since I necked it, and smoked six tabs to the nub
Belly's not even tingling, I just feel a bit p*ssed
No-one looks like mingling, I can't see her or him
And I'm thinking

He talks about the feeling like he has been in this situation. Normally it doesn't work, does another and its sorted. He sounds however like he doesn't even have a urge to do another for pleasure. He does another to escape the reality of being sober. 

Lights are blinding my eyes

I'm gonna do another I think, Yeah, one more, these are sh*t
And I'm thinking

People pushing by, and walking off into the night

These toilets are a p*ss take, queue's bigger than the door
Gotta get rid of this pill taste, what are they chattin' so much for?
Glad I'm not a girl in this place, they'll be here 'til dawn
Sure my belly's tingling a bit, somethings happening I'm sure
And I'm thinking

Again he can't focus on one thing. His mind darts, almost as he's exited but he can't help it. It could be a sign he is scared.

Lights are blinding my eyes

Maybe I shouldn't have done the second one, I feel all fidgety and warm

Fidgety and warm. Those familiar feels, or it seems coming from the way he says it. The way he sings it also sounds like he has been in this situation before knowing exactly what it feels like and just waiting for that feeling to go away.

People pushing by, and walking off into the night

Whoa, everything in the room is spinning, I think I'm going to fall down
My heart's beating to quick, I'm f*cking tripping out
I wonder whether they got in, turned away no doubt
Who cares, there is a tune coming in, that one noise is like
I'm thinking

As soon as the negative feelings leave he has a rush of pleasure. Not caring where his friends are, what has happened to them. Is all of this discomfort worth the high? Can he help taking the drugs? Does he even care?

Lights are blinding my eyes

My eyes are rolling back, I'm rubbing my thighs with my hand
And I'm thinking

People pushing by, and walking off into the night

Yeah yeah they cheer
Can they see my hand in the air?
Need to wave 'em over here
Swear Simone's kissing Dan
My head is twisted sever, body's rushing everywhere
They could have texted me when they were near, but I'm f*cked and I don't
Care

Where even he realises at this point that he doesn't care. He is having a good night. Pills work but again isn't it strange that this someones normality is so different to others. This man can't go a night without pills. 

Lights are blinding my eyes

What was I thinking about? Ah who cares, I'm mashed

People pushing by, and walking off into the night

Totally f*cked, can't hardly f*cking stand
This is f*cking amazing

Whats interesting about the end is that at no point does it tell you if he found his friends? If he

got home safe? If he got home alive? 

I don't think this story focuses on him. I believe it tries to steer toward a wider demographic of kids; reliant on the weekend and its drugged up antics to get through their life. 

Music Video - Role Allocation

Actor - Ben Charles

• Height - 6'2 
• Age - 17
• Brief Description - Tall with blonde fringe. Thick black rimmed glasses
• Previous Experience - Past media projects

Actress - Erin Kellymen

• Height - 5.7
• Age - 18
• Brief Description - Brown curly hair, freckles.
• Previous Experience - Channel 4 programme, BBC comedy minor parts 

Cameraman - Oliver Charles

Director - Jacob Campbell-John

Editor - Jacob Campbell-John

Sound Design - Ben Charles

Music - Ben Charles 

Producer - Oliver Charles 

Role allocation has been decided through the process of evaluation of peoples strengths and weaknesses. In this case I would prefer to direct and edit while Oliver can direct the camera and produce while Ben, as well as acting, enjoys working with the sound design and music areas of the product.

Music Video - Copyright Issues

Copyright is important due to artists receiving the correct amount of money and respect for the work they produce. An artist can spend years perfecting a piece of art of music, therefore it can be distressing when people steal or use without permission there work causing them not to receive the money or respect for that said product anymore. Most big companies use this to protect themselves and many independent companies also use copyright to protect themselves as it would have more of an impact to have their work stolen.
A licence can be bought in order to play the music. This licence going toward the artist so thy receive money for their work.
Copyrighting has received heavy controversy over the years. Biggest being the Facebook controversy in the mid 2000's. This taken into account it is evident copyright is an important process in the modern media.

Music Video - Risk Assesment

Risk assessment for Studio. 

• All equipment must be moved with 2 people using their legs rather than backs. If this is not done it can cause back problems which could delay filming.
• All equipment must be standing up lent on a wall or surface to decrease tripping hazard and decrease chance of equipment braking. If something falls it could break causing an economic setback or an injury which would be a physical setback to filming.
• Mains power supply must be activated and deactivated safely to decrease chance of electrical damage being dealt. If this is not followed it can cause painful shocks which could injure the crew or actors.
• Before playing back music all levels must be turnt down so they are not really loud when played back. If this isn't carried out and music is loud it can cause damage to ears.
• Wires must be taped to the ground to decrease tripping. 

Risk assessment for Home.

• Plug sockets music be activated and deactivated with caution to decrease chance of shocking ones self.

Risk assessment for Birmingham City Centre.

• Be cautious on the train. Platforms and correct trains. This could cause a misdirection losing time and money. 
• It is a city therefore being carful of keeping valuables like phones and cameras always on hold and close is a must. Anyone can do anything in the city it can be unpredictable.

Music Video - Production Schedule

My production schedule labels what processes need to be completed and when we will do them. Some of the things we have been told to put on here are not apparent as we didn’t think it linked to the task using own initiative thinking what we need for our specific production.

Comprehensively Explain The Purpose of Music Videos - Essay

Comprehensively Explain The Purpose of Music Videos

Purpose: The purpose of a music video is the short term struggle to remain relevant while long term to make money.

Kayne West recently released a music video showing waxworks of 12 celebrities naked in bed together. Why? Probably due to the fact it will help his recent album sales as nearly every pop culture news medium was talking about it. Due to everyone talking about it, everyone watched it. Due to everyone watching it, everyone heard the song. Due to everyone hearing the song, some then bought the album making Kanye money. Kanye has mastered this. While it isn't relevant to music videos he changed his new album title 3 times. It went from 'Swish' to 'Waves' to 'The Life Of Pablo'. Why? Because people spoke about it. Back on the subject of music videos Kanye released a video to 'Power' back in 2010 where he quite literally compares himself physically to God. He released a video to a song called 'Black Skinhead' with black males dressed in black KKK costumes. Why? People talk about it. He just dyed his hair blonde and the internet preceded to collectively lose its mind. I might just talk about Kanye for the rest of the essay. He can manipulate the media in order to increase buzz, increase views on videos and therefore increasing profits entering his bank account. He is a modern master of pop culture. He understands if a music video is done right it will make money.

Artists now employ film directors to direct their music videos. This then getting them more buzz meaning more profits. Spike Jonze for example before becoming one of the best and highly respected directors around with films such as 'Her' and 'Where The Wild Things Are' he directed music videos. 3 of his most known videos are the 'Beastie Boys - Sabotage' and the FatBoy Slim tracks 'Praise You', in which he stars in, and 'Weapon of Choice' featuring Hollywood heavyweight Christopher Walken. Putting the label which is Spike Jonze on your music video gives it more attention.

While music videos are mainly made to make money I believe some to be made because an artist wanted to make a piece of art to join the music video. A band called 'The XX recently released a music video for their new single 'On Hold'. It doesn't any controversy, Hollywood directors or imaginary parties. It just features them on tour enjoying each others company. If anything its a nice break from the usual system. As friends they made the music. As friends they made the video. It wasn't designed to make money and probably wasn't designed to increase the popularity of the band; its just quite nice. I like it when artists do this.

Some music videos are made to increase the value of the music. they can accompany the music almost like art creating a better experience all together. Videos like 'Radiohead - No Surprises'. An extremely sad song the video sees lead singer Thom Yorke nearly drown himself while filming. The camera sees his head in a tank slowly getting filmed with water until he's fully submerged. The water then releases toward the end of the video and he grasps for breath. You can see not only the pain but the relief he felt breathing in. This helps the music incredibly. It doesn't help it to tell a message just helps toward a particular feeling. For example in another Radiohead video sees lead Thom dancing to the music. Its nice, a happy feeling made through the audio and video together.

Some videos are made to prove something; black lives matter. This has been a constant source of controversy over the past few years. As it does follow Kanye and his skills of creating music videos that get people talking, Kayne only really does it because Kanye can. Any messages are dulled by the immaturity of the media.
Artists that have mastered this are Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar, to name a few. Both being superb artists individually without their video accompaniments, together with the power of moving image they have created music videos worth discussing regarding our social standpoints as a society (I understand there are issues including sexuality also however I will focus on race).
Beyonce is not only a powerful figure for women but now a voice for people under scrutiny because of the colour of their skin. Releasing 'Formation' saw a heavy backlash of people asking whether she was allowed to produce material like she has done and then waves of praise by people celebrating the fact she has made the material she has done. The video featured heavy imagery suggesting she had issues with the law, how the state control the recourses regarding aid and how black people are treated. Situated in Luisiana the video saw Beyonce basically revolt against all of these things through imagery. It worked. People started watching. People started talking. People started resolving.

Music videos are made for whatever reason the artists want them to be made for.

Comprehensively Explain The Nature Of Music Videos - Essay

Comprehensively Explain The Nature Of Music Videos

Nature: The date was August 1st 1981 and the words "ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll" were the first spoken on the new music channel MTV - Music Television.

The year was 1981, Princess Diana is now married, 'Cliff Richard' was top of the charts and 'The Specials' were running the indie scene with songs like 'Ghost Town'. Televisions are now essential in British homes. The medium of accompanying a song with a video was growing in popularity probably due to the increase in popularity the track would get because of this added medium so someone had the great idea of making a music channel that 24/7 played music videos: it worked for TV as the kids not interested in watching the Eastenders omnibus were now watching MTV while musical artists liked the idea as it was just another medium for them to be recognised; The 80's YouTube.

MTV succeeded up till 1989 and by 1994 it was clinging to what relenvency it had left due to the rise of the internet. Why sit through adverts to hear 'Oasis's' new sell-out single 'Wonderwall' when you could now just press play and hear the exact same thing. From the mid nineties to present day nothing has really changed with MTV. There hasn't been any revamp that actually worked as it never would, so the channel is now doing what it has done for 20 years - chugging out awful reality shows one after another on a 24/7 timeframe. I don't think however there is any point in talking about music channels on TV because their all the same, sitting at a standstill whatever channel or subscription surface their on. If its on TV - It isn't worth talking about. 

You Tube, Vevo, Dailymotion, Crackle, Hulu; these are a small amount of streaming websites available. One can upload and proceed to watch videos from anywhere there is an available internet connection, whenever they want. In other words this is what MTV didn't expect. I do my school work and embed videos from YouTube. My friend can tell me I should listen to a song to which I head to YouTube. Im at a party and need to put a song on. Guess which website I visit; If I'm completely honest I don't see the point in talking about any other streaming websites as who really uses them. 

YouTube is one of, if not the biggest, website/business on the internet. Its purpose is simple. Its a platform for people to upload their personal videos for people to view. As popularity grew companies also caught on with the resources to produce high budget videos on a daily basis, companies now practically run YouTube. While that fact is sad due to the individuals with a limited budget having to compete it is still fact. Some of these companies include BuzzFeed, Vevo and TV shows like The Late Late Show With James Corden. The Late Late Show is literally a TV show that also now produces content for YouTube - We are slowly observing the death of TV. 

I will be briefly talking about Vevo. The streaming website and business on YouTube focusing on the distribution of music videos. 

• Number of monthly video views - 1.87 Billion views
• Number of unique Vevo users - 50 Million
• Number of music videos in Vevos library - 230 Thousand
• Most watched video over a 24 hour period - 'Nicki Minaj - Anaconda' with 19.6 Million views

I could go on. This is why the music video industry is so big, sometimes even competing with the actual music in the video. Vevo has realised this now putting out videos on a daily basis. Its a distributing system. It distributes the videos and then takes a slice of the advertisement revenue. The system works as the figures prove. Music videos are quick, simple to find and YouTube is the perfect medium. Seriously analysing the bigger picture it is evident that websites like IPlayer, YouTube and Netflix are not only streaming sites and brands that are will to be known for years they will eventually, as Vevo did to MTV, take over TV as we know it today and if not; already has. 

Music Video - Artwork Ideas