I think this week i have listened and watched more music videos than ever before, i have enjoyed the research side of this task, however i now hate a lot of songs i used to quite like. All of the songs i have listened to have the genre of indie/rock which i was looking for, i can imagine the mise en scene of the band members as i listen to the music.
The bands and songs i have listened to over the past few days:
As you can see by the list above, i have listened to a lot so far, i am sure i will be adding to it though very soon, they all share the same genre of indie/rock, its quite light music which relaxes you, the instruments are all individuals and get their own attention as well. So far MGMT and Fenech Soler have definitely caught my eye as possible song choices, Indie Rokkers by MGMT and Stop and stare by Fenech Soler, are possibilities.
We were given three possible brief choices, they were to produce a music video, a promotion package for a new film and the first level of a new computer game. I chose to produce a music video, i was interested in the game, but i would have to learn the new software on my own without help, and i think making the music video will be fun and exciting. For the music video we also have to put together a website homepage for the band, a cover for its release as part of the digipak and a magazine advertisement for the digipak, we have to pick two out of the three listed above.
Indie Rokkers by MGMT, is another possible song for the music video. Its very modern and electric, its got an edge to it that you find with all of MGMT's songs, the band is fairly well known with a small audience, so i think it terms of popularity it would be alright to use this song. Some of the lines really make you listen to them twice and add to that indie electric feel that song definitely has, for example "i found blood and i saw stars all in the backseat of your car" and also "the clean dreams, the sexy limousine".
This is the first possible song choice, by Fenech Soler. It certainly fits into the indie theme, with drummers and guitarists in the band, it is also like a dance song though, in the way its up tempo and quite lively. I think its a good song, and one the group could work with, a possible problem could be getting a piano/keyboard but we will be able to sort that out somehow. I love the individuality of the bands lines for example "the castle sleeps, the archers take aim". Also "we stop and stare because we don't where we going", during the video the band are walking around confused and lost, however the whole video is not shot like this, towards the end the last minute, the band breaks into performance, with flashing lights buzzing around them, i would love to have this in my video, with a slight narrative to start with, then a mind blowing performance. Of course its important for the individual instruments to be filmed and Fenech Soler do this on may occasions, whether it is the piano, drums or guitars, i also want to have this in my video a lot of close ups, i think would look very professional, and give our video that modern edge.
The song in question is Lies by Fenech Soler, the band first came to my attention whilst looking for video's to analyze. I found them on NME's website, they were promoting this single.
This music video by Fenech Soler has a narrative and performance in the video, narrative at the start, and performance towards the end. The video starts with a large spear pointed in the air, it then cuts to the lead singer of main band member lying on the floor, a close up is used. Close ups are used a lot to show the audience the main character, after they are trying to sell the band. A lot of cuts are used to establish the where they are, where he is positioned and where the women clutching the spear is, the cuts add confusion, tension and also a sense of anxiety to whether the man is safe or not. The first line of the song is "look up look up I'm bleeding", the visuals react and work with the lyrics as the woman pierces the spear through the mans chest, she does not react and stares down at the man. Cuts are used constantly in this video, from the dazed man struggling to get up, it cuts to four women standing around him, dressed the same as the woman who stabbed him with the spear, they are dressed like roman goddesses, long white dresses, with gold belts and jewellery, however he is dressed normally. The line "am i am i just dreaming" links very well linked with the visuals in the video at this point. The way he repeats his words also adds to the dazed and confused character we are faced with. For example "am i am i" and "look up look up". The bands mise en scene does works with the genre of indie rock, they where a lot of loose, light clothing. White and gold are defenitely two of the most commonly used colours in the video, not only with the women dancing, but also with the band members. Cardigans and gold chains are also worn by the band members, the lead singers tassels on his jacket almost make him look like an army official, i think that enforces his role of leader, he isn't actually captured untill very late on in the video and when he does there is a little fight from him, almost like he is the army general protecting his band members.
He tries to escape from their capture, and they try to block him off, he's there prisoner almost, "i want you to stop with me tonight" is the line whilst this image is shown, once again lyrics linking with visuals. As he escapes he sees more women dressed
the same, this time staring at golden skulls and a women strangling another women, the line at the time is "you're telling me white lies sleeping with another man" the visuals could represent the women killing off her lovers tot cover back. The fight is also in slow motion emphasizing the struggle between the two of them. Even the slow parts of the song cuts are still used, they are always building tension, keeping the audience on the edge of their seat, and keeping that confusion idea running through out. Up next comes a slow piece of dancing, quite seductive in a way. By the same women.
A long shot of a man lying down in the grass, is a fascinating image, and it gets the
audience thinking, you are wandering if he also will be stabbed by the spear. He is also dazed and confused. However this time the women pick him up, and it looks like they are caring for him and helping him. The man slowly walks away with the women by his side. The camera slowly spins around the lead singer who is on his own singing, the line at the time is "look out look out I'm moving". The next man is found by the women, there are roughly fifteen cuts used during this 7-8 second period of filming, the video's feel of confusion remains with these fast rapid cuts, extreme close ups and close ups are used on the mans face to really show his feelings and his innocence in the situation at the time. However once again the women are there to help him and guide him up whilst he walks away. This sequence is mainly dominated by close ups, (see below)
The reason for why so many close ups are used, is to to capture the true emotions on the mans face. His fear and his confusion play a hugely important role in this video, and keeping that confusion link running through out is integral to the videos success.
"You're telling me white lies sleeping with another man" this line is used through out the song, the frame on fire, could be like a family portrait burning, or even the relationship that has become destroyed, it could also be a mirror, in that case the clip could mean something about people not being what they look like on the outside.
After this intriguing clip, comes the next band member lying down, confused and out of place with everything. Close ups are used for this sequence of events again, (see below) the music video is always wanting to push home that feel of confusion to the audience. Once again the women dressed like roman goddesses surround him and pick him up, and lead him off. He also touches the back of his head where he brings out a mysterious gold glittery mix, (see below) which was coming out of the first band member who was stabbed. I think the middle picture below really emphasize the fear and confusion in the sequence of events happening at the moment, he's pale, scruffy, bloodshot eyed and there are even signs of tears coming from the man. The colour gold is used a lot throughout the video, the lady's clothing, the mans chain and also the mysterious gold like blood they find. It adds many things to the video, royalty, luxury but mainly a sense of class, which many of the male band members are lacking.
The men are then led to a field using a tracking shot, where the four women are dancing around a tree in a very formal, sexual way. This is filmed stationery, i think filming it stationery makes it look elegant and you can really appreciate the true beauty of the dancing. However the dancing is then filmed by using hand held camera with lots of cuts to speed up the dancing and build tension, you cant see the band members it makes you anxious as the audience. The lead singer creeps up for a closer look and sees his band members flung to the floor in a very aggressive way, by the seductively dressed women. He is then also taken, and escorted by the women, using a hand held camera, it makes it look like you are actually walking with him feeling his emotions and fear with him. It then switches to a medium shot of the
lead singer singing on his own in a passionate way with a grey and blue sky surrounding him. A huge fire roars in front if him, and the line "you say white lies i say so long" plays whilst he is flung to the ground using a medium close up, he lifts his head up slowly, it is captured by a close up on his face to truly see the emotion and fear on his face.
The band breaks into performance! With close ups of instruments and the lead singer. It starts with a close up of the drummer, drumming frantically. Up next are the guitarists with close ups and medium close ups used to film them, this way the audience
gets to see and truly experience the skill of these guys and there extraordinary talents. Its not only the instruments they film it is also their faces, the audience can see their passion and how much they are loving it. The clips of the band are all 1 - 2 seconds long with cuts used to end the sequence the cuts keep the anticipation growing and the liveliness of the video going, if they were to use a cross dissolve it would completely ruin the whole pace and look of the video. The performance side of this video is fantastic with wonderful angles of guitars and drums streaming all the way through, when the whole of the band are filmed together the camera is at a stationery point, and the lead singer actually leans towards it, instead of the camera doing all the work. The third clip is the stationery shot, when the camera is in a still position, the band can work with this camera angle and position to show off the personal take and skills on to the video. Please see pictures below.
The video ends with the fire blazing in the background, the fire is burning all the way through out the video, as you can see above. The fire is filmed with a stationery camera shot, and it is also filmed in slow motion, emphasizing how destructive it is.
It is hard to position where The XX - Islands music video fits into what category, in my opinion it is between a performance and a narrative, the dancing going on behind them acts like a slight narrative. The best word to sum up this music video is repetition, with the same piece of dancing going on behind and around the band all the time. The dance below go's on through out the whole video, however this part is the right at the start, through out the video dance members and band members, break out, and in my opinion i think it relates to the line "so now i'll never explore", they are breaking out of their usual routine, in a way it is strange how they end up all leaving, with lines like "i don't have to leave anymore" heavily used throughout.
The picture above is generally what you see throughout, with the addition of fire near the end, and people leaving gradually, so as you can see the video is mainly set in black and white, it adds a traditional and sophisticated style to the video, it also ties quite nicely with the bands own dark goth like style.
Through out the video the band look more and more bored as time goes on, they look extremely out of place, possibly this look is brought on by them not being able to relate to the dancers around them, their scruffy laid back look in comparison to the sophisticated upper class look, for example the hair and make up, one of the boys hair is scruffy and all over the place, in comparison to the dancers who have identical gelled comb - over type haircuts. He is the first to leave the sequence of dancers/band members. However the other male band member has similar hair to the dancers, it may just be a coincidence but he is the only band member to remain through out the whole song. Its like he's accepted.
In terms of camera shots and angles, The XX in this video only really use one camera shot, and repeat it many times, it starts with a close up of two people kissing, and gradually zooms out very slowly. Although the music is very slow and calm, a cut is used to end the the dance sequence, it lets the audience know that the sequence has ended. This is how the music video starts from this initial shot the camera does slowly zoom out, revealing everyone else.
Shot sequences in the video are below. In the video these are the main four shot sequences as these four shots are used again and again in the video, but are always slightly different, for example band members leaving, dancers leaving, band members moving around, looking around at their surroundings. However there surroundings do not change or differ from the strict regime apart from the last part of the video, (see picture 5 below) fire roars around their surroundings, they are trapped, yet the two remaining continue
with what they've been doing. In the last thirty seconds of the video, the video is shown in slow motion, emphasizing the emptiness of the room around the two remaining humans after everyone has disappeared, it also pushes the message across about how trapped they are, with the fire raging around them.
As you can see by the shot sequences above, the video is filmed all in one location, it would be stupid to have the video filmed in a different location to the one that they are filmed in every second of the video, it would confuse the audience. Having it set in the same place all the way through really pushes through the idea of repetition through out, and the fact that they are trapped.
First day back from the summer holidays, and straight to media! I am still deciding on my coursework possibilities, i am interested in the game and the music video i will explore them both in greater detail, in the next few days, and also check out the game software, which is FPS creator.
