Month: November 2015

In the editing process I have created a few different promotional videos. These are different to the first video, these are more focused on the music and content of the music video whereas the intention of the first video was to get people interested in The Square Bears and what they have to offer in the future, it gave a preview into a guide track we had been working on. These new videos I have been working on feature the bands list of songs. So far I have created 2 short promo’s with their songs ‘Love is a Crime’ and ‘KO4’. The video features footage from the music video. (The quality is different to what it is on social media sites as I had to convert them to a different format in order to insert them into my blog post).

I have created these promotional videos because this is something someone with my job role would do, it is a way to drip feed the information to the public, to make them really anticipate the release of the video. An example of this are used across the music industry. Mine are just on a smaller scale. Beyoncé used the same technique when releasing “The Visual Album” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z8vP9JziQo).

 

Filming is now complete on the music video and editing has begun, I have three drafts of the video so far, one is without the black and white effect (which is needed) the second is with the black and white and the third is with the new story edit. The links to these are posted below.

https://www.dropbox.com/home?preview=First+Edit.mov

https://www.dropbox.com/home?preview=Second+Edit.mov

https://www.dropbox.com/home?preview=Third+Edit.mov

The premise of the music video is about one of the band members (Joe) who is carrying his guitar, he sits down on a park bench to read the paper. The band manager then comes along and see’s him there, telling him to hurry up the manager steals his paper, so Joe begins to chase the manager. We then cut to an shot of an old man (who is played by Max) walking up steep hill, the drummer Aaron walks past him and begins to help him up the hill. Cut back to the previous scene Joe comes back without paper he gets to the bench and see’s that his guitar is now missing! In a rush he runs around looking for it, up high and low. We cut again to see Aaron still helping the old man up the hill. The manager runs past him and tells him to hurry up. The next 2 shots are Joe looking round for his guitar then Aaron finally dropping the old man off at the nearest bench!

We then cut to see where the rest of the band are, they are enjoying a game of pool with three unknown people who turn out to be a nuisance! This scene consists of the gang playing pool, and having fun. One of the unknown people steals Mollie’s hat while they are talking at the bar, the manager then comes in and tells them to hurry up.. Cut back to Joe, he is talking to the old man from the start, crying because he hasn’t got his guitar and that he is late. He looks down and realises it is the old man who stole the guitar, he throws the old man down steep hill and runs off with his guitar.

They arrive to the concert just on time, but as the band are all set up and ready Mollie realises she hasn’t got her hat, the manager see’s and opens his briefcase, inside is a hat perfect for our character! He throws it and she catches it just in time for the music drop. The rest of the song is performance based.

 

From talks with some of the band members we came to the conclusion that when we hear the song it brings images of ‘Noir’ films to mind, where it is kind of mysterious and seductive, but what we want to do is put a comedic twist on this. Inspiration for this idea came from the Foo Fighters song “Walk” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PkcfQtibmU) it sets off the story of Dave Grohl who we are left to assume is late for band practice, stuck in traffic he decides to walk, a lot of unfortunate things happen to him and he loses his temper every time. The band all star in this video as different characters and then at the end he arrives to band practice.. Plays the last bit of the song, then the police bust in and taser him for the crimes he’s committed! It kind of puts a funny turn throughout each event and it is a very well made, funny video. So this is something we want to take inspiration from in that point of view, letting the audience make up their own mind on what is happening, not to give them the information, but to make them think more in detail about it.

The “Noir theme” comes from a gag genre known as “Noir Comedy”, we looked into this and found some of the videos we thought were the best! The video’s are “Sam’s Letter” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8F_r8I0_H4)  and “Dog Day” (https://vimeo.com/96405793). “Sam’s Letter” is more of the style we want to lean towards, the scene colour the outfitting, we want it all to be similar. However in both of the Noir Comedy shorts there is a voiceover. This is typical of the Noir and Noir Comedy genre, we don’t want this in the music video, instead we will relate things to the lyrics, make it quite comical and keep the viewer concentrated on both the music and what is going on in the video.

I have requested that in the performance part the band dress up. Suits, ties, bowler hats, really anything that fits into the film genre. The whole video will be in black and white as this is a convention for “Noir” films. This is something the band liked the idea of quite a lot. They said it was more their style to be like this.

For the gag aspect we looked into this clip, it is called “World’s WORST Movie Chase Scene” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNjbx_-BtP8). What we all found useful with this is the overall style, the bad acting, the terrible chase scene and the vibe of the video, it does make you laugh. This is the kind of ‘tongue in cheek’ style the band want and want to portray themselves as. I think that this does set them apart from other bands, they want to adapt the three styles, merge them together. Another thing we want to take into account is how much the band is in the video, like with the Foo Fighters they are all in the video throughout. This is something we want to use to our advantage, this is the bands advert as it was stated in the Lara M Schwartz book and using them as actors in the film is the best way to show all their different personalities.

The Square Bears have said before one of their biggest inspirations are Chic. So from this I have been watching a few music videos by Chic, some of their biggest hits, including their new song featuring Nile Rodgers. What I have found is that they are all performance based, held at some sort of disco, in each video! They started to change their style with “Good Times” most likely because of better VFX and more capable technologies, they had different scenes which symbolised ‘good times’ a couple of these being: the club where they are performing, a boat and a restaurant with a couple in. What I also noticed about this video is that there was more experimentation with the camera angles, it all seems very digital rater than their older material. With the new song “I’ll Be There” it interchanges between three different settings, and it also has three different styles of music video. It is a performance based video, as well as a concept/dance and a party/club video, which is quite interesting for my study.

Links to songs I listened to:

Chic ft Nile Rodgers “I’ll Be There” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OXoSLANXIY)

Chic “Le Freak” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KUL9-eNXzQ)

Chic “Everybody Dance” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyqKmUgkMOs)

Chic “Good Times” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyqKmUgkMOs)

I am in the process of writing the treatment for the narrative, but I thought this would be a good opportunity to post some of the research I’ve been doing in to how video managers go about writing their music videos.

This is an extract from “Making Music Videos” By Lara M Schwartz. I have taken the sections I think apply to my production the most.

“Recycling Ideas:

Some directors recycle ideas for video concepts. “I usually just go into a bag of ideas that I have and I figure out something from there,” Marc Klasfeld (Destiny Child’s “Lose My Breath” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqeIiF0DlTg) and Avenged Sevenfold’s “Bat Country” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHS3qJdxefY Short Version)) Says.

Beginning with the Lyrics: 

Some directors begin with the lyrics of the song. Sanaa Hamri describes this process: “First thing, I look at lyrical content to make sure that I want to even be involved. If the lyrical content is good enough and the artist is someone I want to work with I listen to their music in my car and at home. I start letting random images come into my head, kind of uncensored. Sometimes the label and artist have an image of what they want so I take this into consideration. I build it round what their requests are.”

Finding the Hook:

Since record companies regard videos as four-minute advertisements for the songs and the artist, some advertising theory goes into conceptualising them. As Marcos Siega (Blink 182’s “Whats My Age Again?” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7l5ZeVVoCA) and Weezer’s “Beverly Hills” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL_WvOly7mY)) points out a director can’t forget or underemphasise an artists unique selling point, something that makes both the artist and video memorable.

Finding the Feel of the Music:

The ‘feel’ is an important factor. “Led Zeppelin has a very Middle Eastern kind of influence to a lot of their music at times,” Nobel Jones points out. “and that’s naturally going to inspire your visuals to a certain degree, or at least play a part on that.”” (Schwartz, L, M. (2007). Making Music Videos. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications. 62-64.)

I found from looking into the first article that this relates more to people who have been working in the industry for years, they already have a conceived notion of what makes a good music video and what record companies want. I feel the most important factor in my study into this is going to finding the USP. I feel at the minute the bands USP is the fact that every song is different, some of the members play different instruments on different tracks. For example on “Love is a Crime” the structure is: Vocals: Molly & Amber. Drums: Aaron. Bass: Max. Keys: Joe. Guitar: Josh. Sax: Joe But then on another track, KO4 their structure is: Vocals: Molly & Amber. Drums: Joe. Bass: Aaron. Keys: Max. Guitar: Josh. This is a really handy skill for the band to have, the fact they have such dynamic capabilities is brilliant in the world of music. I need to find a way to show this off in the video.

After talks with the band, passing throwing ideas around I got some well needed information from them of what kind of style they want for their narrative part of the music video.

Originally from my own research I sent the video of Beastie Boys “Sabotage,” as stated in my previous research this is a concept music video quite a good music video, however they wanted something less serious so toning this down. The band then sent me a link to Foo Fighters – “Walk” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PkcfQtibmU) this has the same premise as Sabotage but it is the less serious vibe they are after which is great! It is a concept video mixed with a performance video, but the performance keeps the storyline which is in the concept video, quite an interesting technique which could be used in the bands music video.

A video like this may be possible for us (just not on such a wide scale). As it contains all band members in both the concept and the performance this could be something we incorporate. For instance following one of the band members but intercutting shots of everyone playing. Then back to the concept story.

The Square Bears – Love is a Crime

(Verse 1 – Amber)

I’ve been trying and hiding, and deciding
To stand down or back away
Keep my eyes on what turns my head
Perspective will get me shot one day

(Pre-chorus)
Hold a man at ransom, watch him
Pawn his soul, drop the
Gold casing and powder baby
They’re not gonna last, you’re shooting so

(Chorus)
Load, Reload (x4) (x6 for final chorus)

(Verse 2 – Molly)
Smoke over bare light, a sharp night, I set my sight
Are you gonna run or stay
I’m not guilty but I’ll take my aim,
Ballistic, I’ve missed it, locked away

*Back to pre-chorus, then into chorus*

(Verse 3 – Amber + Molly)
Love is a crime
A lightning flash, say when
Neon targets are, burning red
I’m coming under fire again

*Back to pre-chorus, the into chorus for final time*

These are the lyrics to “Love is a Crime” the song the band want to use for their music video. I am posting them to show what I am working with, if i go for a style such as a story these will be helpful in deciding how to structure the narrative. I will post once an idea has been agreed!

After talks with the band I have found what they want for their live setting style, they want to go for the same look as the band Brother Strut. They have the same kind of style to The Square Bears which is great and I’m thankful that the band have told me specifically what they are looking for their music video.I have done some research into Brother strut and their video’s are all performance based but it is done very well, I say this because sometimes it can be seen as a boring kind of copout on a music video, however With the use of seemless editing, appealing camera angles and gripping transitions they make their videos look very professional and draw the viewer in. One in particular is called “Metropolis” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyxHyy65HHg). Recorded at Metropolis studios in London this video has a great atmosphere, it makes the viewer feel like they are there with them, this is a type of band you can get your head lost in, this is how I want people to see The Square Bears when they listen to the track and watch the music video!

So taking this into account when it comes to the shoot day in ‘The Black Room’ at the College I want a placement of lights, to add a nice effect to the room, this will be great when filming. What I would like in terms of shooting is fast paced shots, going between the different aspects of the song, from singer to drummer. When it comes to solo’s or key parts for an instrument I think it is key to show this in the video, this makes it more interesting for the viewer, they see exactly what is happening and it grips them… Pulls them into the video.

Note at 1:20 in the music video the Sax goes up into a higher pitch, the camera focuses on the Sax player for this part, which is a good technique. The guitar solo at 3:00 is focused on… There are also a series of drum solo’s at the end of the song (3:43, 3:48 and 3:53) these have great focus in the camera. This is such a great technique and I can’t emphasise it enough.

This is an extract from the book “Making Music Videos” Lara M. Schwartz, it is a book as it says in the title based on making music videos. It goes through the whole process from commissioning the video, covering costs, to the writing process and even hiring the crew! It shows a very extensive look at the whole process – which is very helpful for me in this process.

The fourth chapter particularly interests me, it looks over the writing process, which is something I find I have struggled with. But from looking at this book it makes a lot more sense now. To be critical of my own work I feel I should have took this book into account earlier. I will embed video links into the blog post, these are not taken from the book itself.

“Before the writing process begins the director needs to know the guidelines set by the label. The label may say the artist wants to act in a storyline, shoot in a specific location, or shoot the video within a limited window of time”. (Schwartz, L, M. (2007). Making Music Videos. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications. 62-64.)

“The Eight Categories of Music Videos:

Performance:

As the name suggests, performance videos feature the artist or band performing, and often take place in various locations with the performers wearing different outfits in each shot. Some examples include Coldplay’s “Speed of Sound,” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k_1kvDh2UA)  directed by Mark Romanek; Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Soa3gO7tL-c)  directed by Samuel Bayer.

Concept: 

The artist or band neither perform nor, many times appear in concept videos. These videos portray only stories or images, never performances. Some examples include Beastie Boys “Sabotage” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5rRZdiu1UE) directed by Spike Jonze and The Prodigy’s “Smack My Bitch Up” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DPF_pWIy3w&oref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D2DPF_pWIy3w&has_verified=1 Quite poor quality) directed by Jonas Ackerlund.

Story: 

A story video features a narrative, with a beginning a middle and an end, which is intercut with images of the band performing. Some examples; Hoobastank’s “The Reason” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV4DiAyExN0) directed by Brett Simon and Ludacris ft Mary J. Blige “Runaway Love,” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISvMS6s41vY) directed by Jessy Terrero.

Gag:

A gag video relies on visual tricks. They can be shot live, also known as executing the visual effects ‘in camera’ such as using dolls that look like the band for the performance rather than the band itself, or using special prosthetics to visually alter the artist or lead actor into the videos. Some effects can be added in post, such as giving the artist a really long tongue. Some examples include Sum 41’s “Hell Song” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pE8ReA5cn4) directed by Marc Klasfeld and Ludacris “Get Back” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yt849wJyVk) directed by Spike Jonze and Missy Elliott.

Dance:

As the name suggests this is a video with a choreographed dance. Some examples include Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgjkth6BRRY) directed by Paul Hunter and Destiny Child’s “Lose My Breath” (destiny’s child lose my breath) directed by Marc Klasfeld.

Animation:

An animated video features animated images, in which the artist and band may or may not be depicted. Examples include The Gorillaz “Feel Good Inc.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8Qp38qT-xI) directed by Jamie Hewlett and Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd2B6SjMh_w) directed by Robert Hales.

Party or Club:

A party or club video features scenes that take place in a dance club or at a party. Some examples include Nelly’s “Hot in Herre” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeZZr_p6vB8) directed by Little X and 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qm8PH4xAss) directed by Philip G. Atwell.

Film Clip: 

A film-clip video is used when a song is featured in a movie soundtrack. The video will contain clips from the film which are intercut into the music video. Examples include Nickelback’s “Hero” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQzn4a5qHT4) featured in the first Spiderman movie directed by Nigel Dick and Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yhyp-_hX2s) directed by Eminem, Paul Rosenberg and Philip G. Atwell, featured in the film 8 Mile.

However the eight categories often get mixed up in music videos and become interlinked. Examples are Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG6oy46qKE4 Short version!) directed by John Landis and Ushers “Caught Up” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFkZDhwqoHg) directed by Little X. These videos are a mixture of dance and a performance from the artist. The Used’s “All That I’ve got” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgB_JwcuPg0) directed by Marc Webb, blends performance, live action and animation by depicting a young boy wandering around in a story book.” (Schwartz, L, M. (2007). Making Music Videos. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications. 62-64.)

 

 

Thinking more in terms of the music video. I have created a team of myself and a media student, this person will film the music video then I will take it away and edit the whole thing, bring in the music track and make sure it is perfect before sending it out to Niall to be marketed. In terms of pre-production I will be undertaking the role of booking the locations (what need to be booked), arranging meeting times and creating a storyboard for the production. The storyboard will involve the whole layout of the video (so all the different shots/elements). I will also be using the storyboard in post-production. Here it will prove most useful as this is where I will be putting every shot together.

There have been a couple of ideas which have been up in the air. What the band want is a kind of half and half, so a performance based and a narrative based video. For the performance side we have booked out the ‘black room’ at Lincoln College. We have a day in here to create this side of the production. In terms of narrative the band want something tongue in cheek, not too serious, just to show their attitude as a band. They are not serious people, so it would not be a true reflection of them if I were to create it like this. So at the minute I am in the process of looking at different bands music videos. A big band which I’m looking at for the moment is Bowling for Soup, particularly their songs ‘Girl all the bad guys want’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGRxmYXi4Io),  ‘High School Never Ends’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrxI_euTX4A) and Punk Rock 101 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajq4Ek-jChA). These are great examples for what I want to achieve because they are very tongue in cheek. However saying this most of their songs take on this form of performance and narrative.

The narrative in ‘Girl all the bad guys want’ is completely tongue in cheek, it mixes performance with a narrative. The narrative runs off other bands music videos, but they are done as a mash up of parodies. This is quite a good technique, something I could incorporate into the video! They mix up the song with the band Staind music video and a Limp Bizkit video, however they put comedic twists onto these. in the Staind music video they have the character act very comedic, making it a massive parody of the original, they have the character smoking.. dropping his cigarette and setting the apartment on fire! In the Limp Bizkit parody they but a comedic twist of the characters dress sense in the original video, and they also include a reference with another band that have a rivalry with Limp Bizkit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘High School Never Ends’ is based around un-popular high school kids who go back to high school 20 years later to play the same gig, when they get there they realise it is all the same, the social ladder still remains and their still un-cool! They begin to play pranks on the people who bullied them when they were younger. I like this style of video because it almost takes on the form of a film.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Punk Rock 101’ is based around a kind of army training camp.. but for punk music, kind of like a parody of a cop film. It takes the actors through the process of turning into a punk rocker! From the clothes, to the haircut, to the playing style. The traditional ‘tough army guy’ is present in the video acting as a goal for the people who have been taken into the process. But through this song as well they keep their style of plying half performance and half narrative. This is a very interesting set.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our main track “Love is a Crime” Joe (bassist, pianist and saxophonist!) brought a saxophone along with him! This was new experience for me as I have never recorded a sax before. So with some research (mostly from Sound On Sound) I found that the best technique is to use a dynamic microphone such as SM57 or the SM58 about 6 inches away from the bell of the sax (I decided to use the 57). This captures the protruding sound from the microphone, so could be a bit harsh in the mix. I then placed an AKG C414 as a room mic. To find the sweet spot of the sax I got Joe to play in a couple of different spots. When I found the best place I then stood in different corners of the room as he played, this helped me to gauge the best place to put the room mic. What I found was it wasn’t too far away from the SM57, and it picked up a great vibe from the room. In the recording this really stood out which was great for us. The sound came out full and bright, which an instrument of this caliber should be, we were all very happy with the recording.

 

Below is a link to the presentation, this is a downloadable file. This presentation contains my updated job role and my learning outcomes from this project.

Presentation-with-updated-job-role-and-LO (1)

For the past couple of weeks we have been in the studio, creating the EP. So far we have all the drum tracks laid down. To record the drums I placed 2 AKG C414’s above the drums as overheads, these were placed in a position that meant the whole kit was picked up. The reason I chose to use 414’s was because they are good microphones for this kind of pickup, they got the whole room sound. The kick was mic’d up using an AKG D112 rather than the Audix D6, purely because it has a better pick up of the lower end and it is more reliable. The snare and hats were mic’d using SM57’s. The toms were mic’d using the Audix drum mics.

The bass we chose to D.I in some songs and in others we are recording it through the bass amp using the AKG C414. We have chose to take this route for the more bass driven songs.

We have completed one of the songs on the EP, ‘Love is a Crime’. This is also the song which will be used in the music video. We have been in contact and met up with the two crew members who will be assisting me film the music video, we got them to come along and take a few professional photo shots of the band, individually, as a group and with us. These will all be published online.