Style of Video

In terms of the aesthetics and look of my music video, there were two ideas I have been thinking about for a while. Filming it in the rain, to give a dramatic, dystopian look to the video. However I was aware the members of the band wouldn't like that idea, as it would damage their equipment. The other idea I had was to use Powder paint. It means that I could get the same shots I would achieve with water but shouldn't damage the instruments. I did feel it was important to look into whether it would damage the instruments at all, but it proved to be very difficult. However I found music videos that use paint, such as the Blue Man Group, as you can see in this video, the use paint on the drums. It isn't however powder paint.




I have also put a post on social networks to see if other people can think of a music video where powder paint it used.

There are places I can buy this powder paint(holi), it isn't too expensive, but I can also make it. I have found a series of very helpful videos on YouTube as to how to make these paints. 

It is very easy to get hold of though if I decide not to make it, I can buy it from places like Ebay and Amazon, in a vary of colours and sizes.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TEMPERA-POWDER-PAINT-X-4-500G-TUBS-BLUE-GREEN-BLACK-RED-/331209258490?pt=UK_Crafts_DrawingSupplies_EH&hash=item4d1d9c35fa

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fluorescent-Powder-Paint-Blue-2-5kg-/321476647137?pt=UK_Crafts_DrawingSupplies_EH&hash=item4ad98058e1

Black Syndicate

A friend I have is part of a band, they play at a local pub, and Norwich Waterfront, and also take part in competitions, all in aim to grow as a band. The band is called Black Syndicate.

Below is a link to the bands YouTube page;
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClGvCKZI8cPoKx2WCWepKCA

Their YouTube page includes live videos of their songs, a video reviewing the their EP release. In their about tab is a description as to the mix of music they play; 'Black Syndicate are a hard rock/metal band hailing from the delightful city of Norwich. Citing influences from all sorts of places (the guitarist being into blues and the drummer into heavy metal!) we like to make the most out of our experiences with music and come together to make some of our own!'

I started a chat with the band on Facebook to discuss the plans for the project with them all. Below is a screenshot of the start of the chat, explaining my plans.

I also asked the members of the band if they had an preferance on what song to use, or what style of video they would like to have.  At this point throughout the chat, only one person was replying consistently, so he has given the initial views on the plans, as you can see from the screenshots of the chat.

Below is the part of the chat, asking for opinions of the style of music video. The band did a metal cover of Ghostbusters, and it made me think it would maybe be quite fun to do a parody video. Many rock/metal bands to parody, or atleast silly music videos. Bands like Foo Fighters and Tenacious D.

The best know Tenacious D video is 'Tribute'.

As I said, Foo Fighters also do very non-serious music videos too; 

The two bands even work together to make videos, like this one; 

Although Tenacious D's part in the video is small, they do feature. 

This idea of parody, non serious music videos, some would say originated with Queen, who notoriously created most of their videos in this style. The most famous being 'I Want To Break Free';

 

There are clear challenges and benefits of working with a local band, and a band made up of some of my friends. I have the advantage that one of the band members is in my Media Studies band, so I can occasionally catch up with him briefly if needed. But I also trust the band to be helpful and turn up to shoots and meets etc. However on the other hand, as I know them, I'm aware that they aren't always the most sensible people all the time, which could be an issue if as I need them to focus so I can get my work done to the best of my ability, and not mess the other actors around that have offered their time to help. In addition I could be faced with the situation where they want something that I either cannot physically do or not allowed to do. So will ultimately might have to create something that they don't like or are interested in. 

iMovie- Split Screen Effect

Below is three images where 'split screen effect' has been used, and demonstrates how I could use it in my work.



When thinking of ideas for my music video, I knew I wanted to push myself and the skills I have, but also I wanted to create a very interesting music video that wasn't just standard shots. One idea for how I wanted to achieve this was to have a split screen at points, so you can see more than one of the band member's at any point.

Below is a video I found helping you to create that effect, and showing one way you can create it.



The pictures above don't all show what I really want my work to look like, but it gives you an idea of the way it can look.

Here is also a few music videos that use split screens;




In year 10 I created an animatic for an AC/DC music video, and I used the effects of split screens, and below I will embed the final animatic, which is very close to the thing I am going for.

Helpful videos

I have come across lots of videos helping you to create music videos, on any buget, I will list them below and explain how they were helpful.



It has a lot of simple but important and effect tips, such as considering continuity and camera angels. It also briefly goes into the basics of Adobe Premier.



This is a much more professional and helpful video. It has more detailed description of what they did, but also tips I wouldn't have considered, such as a countdown to the start of the music, to allow syncing footage and sound easier. Also, it went into detail about a very important and helpful part of the filming process. My current idea for my music video is to film the band, which is what they did in the youtube video. He said the way he achieved that was to focus on filming each band member through each run of the track, then move to the next band member. They also include a back story to the music video, another idea I want for my music video. It was helpful to see how they edited the footage together, from the back story to the band. He said all he did was create the full music video from just the band, then cut and add in the back story. And here is the final video, I think it is very good, and is pretty much what I want my music video to look like, but obviously I will have a much lower budget than the people who made this. 

This video make it look like it is very easy, however there could be a lot more barriers when I create my own video; more than the directors/producers of this video.

Such as;

• My production budget is very small
• I'm limited on location spaces
• The quality of my equipment isn't as good
• Finding actors/bit parts could prove to be difficult

Summer Work

Over the summer holidays, I need to ensure I get ahead in my work, to be on track when I return to year 13.

To assist in staying ahead, I have created a mind map showing 10 things I must or at least plan to get done this summer holidays. Attached below is a picture of my mind map.

As you can see I  have split the ten tasks into two sections, practical and research. Its likely that I will get all research tasks done, but some tasks will be harder, for example seeing the band playing will be hard to ensure I do this summer as they might not play this summer but I will try.

07/09/14:
Looking back at this post, I can see I didn't get some as much as I wanted to. I intended to get more done, however there were boundaries such as my part time job, other coursework, University open days etc. But also some I just couldn't achieve, such as seeing the band play; but they didn't do a gig during the holidays, so I couldn't complete that task. I did get a lot more of my Research based tasks as there were less barriers in place for those tasks.