Wednesday, 25 September 2013

Analysing Student Videos From My Genre

 Madness - House of Fun
 

The first thing we see in this video is a close-up shot of the universal symbols for play, pause and stop on a retro CD player. These symbols instantly stand out to the audience and adds more focus to the band's musical and theatrical ethos. Considering that the song was released in the 80s, the mise-en-scene in this shot is particularly fitting. Madness is a band who belongs to their own unique genre; nutty-boy ska. The black/white colour scheme of this shot could be representing the integration of races which ska in particular promotes.




From here we have a close-up on a banner and a midshot of what is easily recognisable as a birthday party. The high-key natural lighting challenges the normal conventions of what you would expect from this environment and makes the audience question the plausability of the party.


These doubts are then confirmed when we become aware that the only attendee of the party is the birthday boy himself. His solidarity marks him out as a significant character in the video and promotes him as the artist. He is wearing a striking purple top, dark sunglasses, party hat and an especially large birthday badge. The choice of costume can be seen as drawing paralells with the genre and the band; the clothing is quirky and unique and so is nutty-boy ska and Madness - hence the name.

 
Next, we see a point-of-view shot of the main character in the shot through a pair of sunglasses. The lenses connote that not only is his eyesight being slightly misrepresesnted but his life is also being filtered - he is on an entirely different wavelength to others around him. As he opens his birthday present, the wrapping paper slowly reveals a 'Cat In The Hat' book; a children's book which is well known for its obscurity. The point-of-view shot creates the effect of putting the audience directly in the characters position.
 
 
As he opens his present, we see a mid-shot of him nonchalantly discarding it. This again reinforces the idea of rebellion and deviating from the norm.
 
 
Here we have a mid-shot of the protagonist in the video entering an urban environment. The dull, rainy weather works tremendously to contrast with the vibrancy of the artist's character and costume. The over-the-shoulder shot of the artist about to walk below a bridge and enter a town or city indicates that he's left his own unique realm of kookiness and is about to enter reality - perhaps for the first time.
 

 
The next scene we see is performance based. There is a jump-cut which focuses on a performer who is sat on the shoulders of another in a setting with a black backdrop. The lack of detail in the setting immediately creates enigma, along with the peculiarity of the situation of the performers and the framing of the shot.
 



Although there is focus on the brass players, the camera repeatedly returns to close-ups of the lead singer to promote him as the front man.
After this, the narrative of the video continues as we see the main character entering the street. From here, there is a sequence that shows him entering an off-license, purchasing some alcohol and bubblegum. While the alcohol signifies rebellion, the close-up shot of the bubblegum again adds emphasis to the idiosynchrasy ideal of the video, genre and artist.

 
As the main character is about to leave the off-license, we see close-up shots of the other two band members waiting outside the doors in costumes and standing in stances which particularly make hilight them amongst the crowd.
 
 
A midshot of the off-license shows the lead singer approaching the doors and eventually joining his band in dancing down the street in a nonconformist fashion with his purchases.
 
 
After this, the video ends with a brief performance scene where the 'birthday boy' is finally seen enjoying himself with his friends. Although there is a resolution to the video, the narrative is often left unclear. Some could argue that this is to promote the quirky side of the artist and genre but as a whole, it is my opinion that it's as a result of poor organisation and a lack of thorough planning.
 
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Arctic Monkeys - Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts 
 
 
To introduce the artist, we first see a panning shot of their instruments and some on-screen text stating the name of the song and band. The shot is edited with a red tint and high contrast, this is used to segregate the performance based scenes from the narrative while the red signifies that the 'bigger boys' in the title are seen as a threat to the narrator.
 
 
Generally, the idea of the video is dictated by the narrative of the song which addresses the narrator's struggle with living life as a young lad who has had sweetheart stolen from him by a 'bigger boy'.
 

 
 
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Blur - Parklife
 
 
Because of a lack of content and variety it seems silly to analyse this video shot by shot but as a general comment - It's certainly well casted in that the actors vaguely resemble a young Phil Daniels and Damon Albarn but the editing is sloppy and you get the impression that the filming was restricted and rushed.
 

Sunday, 8 September 2013

Filming

On the days I chose to film, the weather continuously alternated between sunny and cloudy which ultimately gave me the opportunity to have a variety of low key and high key lighting in different scenes. 


DAY 1.
FILMING LOCATION: Market Rasen.




All of the characters arrived at my house for 11.30am and I got to work on their costumes. Everyone madesure to wear button-up polos, braces and Doc Marten style boots which are all items of clothing which have ska/punk connotations.
By 1.30pm we were all heading to JJ's cafe in Market Rasen to start filming. We then continued the day by filming at Bell's Park and Padley's Pond also in Market Rasen.

Actors getting into character!

DAY 2.
FILMING LOCATION: Lincoln.

The next day, the cast and I made our way to Lincoln to film the final scenes. Unfortunately not everybody could make it and so there are two characters missing from these shots. Although this may cause problems with my continuity editing, there are no shots that reveal the cast from a distance in these scenes so the overall narrative should still make sense.

Morning snacks to start a day of filming!

Cast members helping out with carrying the equipment!






Friday, 6 September 2013

Shot List


Shot Number
Shot Type (e.g. Close Up)
Shot Description
1
 
Mid-shot
Over-the-shoulder of Billie applying mascara
 
2
Close-up
Billie’s eye
 
3
Mid-shot
Over-the-shoulder of Billie applying lip gloss
 
4
Close-up
Billie’s lips
 
5
Mid-shot
Billie putting boots on
 
6
Close-up
Billie tying laces
 
7
Long-shot
Group eating meal in café
 
8
Mid-shot
Group eating meal in café
 
9
 
Mid-shot
Over-the-shoulder of Billie eating meal
 
10
Long-shot
Group sat on bridge
 
11
Mid-shot
Group sat on bridge
 
12
Mid-shot
Over-the-shoulder of group sat on grass
 
13
Close-up
Character making a roll up
 
14
Close-up
Character smoking
 
15
Mid-shot
Group sat under bridge
 
16
Handheld
Group playing kicking cans under the bridge
 
17
 
Mid-shot
Characters kicking cans
18
Handheld
Close-up on boots (walking)
 
19
Mid-shot
Group in derelict building
 
20
Handheld
Group in derelict building
 
21
Close-up
 
Character in derelict building
22
Mid-shot
Characters running over hill
 
23
Close-up
Character falling over hill
 
24
Mid-shot
Tracks characters crossing roads to go over to the magistrates
 
25
Close up
‘Lincoln Magistrates’ sign
 
26
Long shot
Characters outside court
 
27
Extreme close up
On Cigarette
 
28
Close up
On character smoking
 

Filming Locations

The first scenes we filmed were shot at JJ's cafe in Market Rasen. I specifically chose this location because it's synonymous for it's outdated decor and 80s-like service. Its 'cheap and cheerful' menu also reinforces the working class culture I was trying to capture in my music video.
 
 
Next we filmed at Bell Park also in Market Rasen. Although we did film some scenes in the play area itself, the main reason why I chose this location was because of its easy access to the railway bridge beyond the river. I wanted to film here because throughout the 80s when the social and economic gap between the rich and the poor was greater than ever, working class youth were forced to find entertainment through other means, often by entering - and sometimes vandalising - areas out of bounds to the general public. These activities were generally perceived by the ruling classes as mindless thuggery as opposed to what they actually were; a vehicle to convey their frustrations at their lack of worth and power in greater society. Because of these connotations, I thought it would be fitting to film in locations which we would otherwise be restricted from.
 
 
 
 From there, we went on to film in a derelict outbuilding at Padley's Pond for the same reasons as to why we filmed at Bell Park.

 
 
On the second day of filming we shot some scenes outside of Lincoln Magistrates Court. I chose this location because I thought it would have more of an implicit connotation of rebellion than the previous places we had filmed in.
 
 
Lastly we finished the day by filming on Portland Street in Lincoln. With a nickname like 'Smack City' it seemed ridiculous to miss the opportunity to film in arguably the most infamous location associated with the working class in the surrounding area. After shooting some scenes in some of the grimiest places imaginable, we decided to call it a day before we got our camera nicked!
 
 

Shooting Schedule


Job Roles

Cameraman: Me
(A person whose profession is operating a video, television, or film camera)

Editing: Me
(A person who commissions or prepares written or recorded material for publication or broadcast.)

Lighting: Me
(Involved with rigging stage and location sets and controlling artificial, electric lights for art and entertainment venues or in video, television, or film production)

Make-Up Artist: Me
(An artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics for theatrical, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions including all aspects of the modelling industry)

Costume Design: ...Me!
(Someone who designs or supplies costumes - as for a play or masquerade)

Having worked in a group for the last media project, this time I chose to work on my own in order to give myself full artistic license on the finished piece. Although my friends volunteered to be actors in the video, I decided against asking them to help with any other specific tasks because otherwise it wouldn't have sincerely felt like my own but more than anything, because if anything went wrong then I would only have myself to blame!

Change of Cast

Due to issues surrounding transport and availability of the original actors, I had to almost entirely change my cast.
The new cast is as follows:

Billie Blake
Age: 17
















Gemma Green 
Age: 17















Amy Houtby
Age: 17















Jess Hordon
Age: 17















Lillie Cram
Age: 18















Ebony Daley
Age: 17















Lauren Knowles
Age: 17