We finally opted to shoot at this location, as it fitted to the lyrics of the song 'Earth Is the Loneliest Planet Of All'. As you can see, the location appears rather desolate, which further shows his loneliness. We took two HD cameras and two tripods along with us, therefore we would have even more footage to use when editing the video. The second video was a bit of a gamble, as we didn't want any hand held shots as they're rare in music videos, however we thought it turned out okay, and hopefully a part of it can be included into the final video.
We have faced so many problems so far in our attempt to create a music video. The biggest yet being the Frankfurt Christmas market in Birmingham city centre. When we opted to film in this location, we were oblivious to the idea of the Christmas market and in hindsight we should have thought of it and chose a new location. When we went to film at the city centre location, we moved to a location in which was similar and with no Christmas decorations, as it could cause continuity errors if we have to film again. We filmed near the new library as it was the only place that has grand buildings similar to where we were originally going to film, however when looking at the shots we took, i don't believe they were suitable for the message of depression that we are trying to portray. http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/frankfurtmarket
This is the entrance we took to get an idea of where we could be filming our video. The location is quite a distance from where we are situated, therefore filming could be an issue, therefore we may have to consider other locations.
These are a range of photos we opted to take to film our music video, but more specifically to fit to the lyrics of the song. The lyrics include 'Earth is the Loneliest Planet' which we attempt to convey through this location as there's no sign of civilization.
This is my completed mood board. All the photos on here resemble the indie rock genre whether it be the type of costume, the interests or just bands that are well known in the genre. I have also taken into consideration my questionnaire and included photos of some desolate areas. a city and a stage. This mood board gave me inspiration for our video and the idea of the stage as well as the desolate location.
This is the completed questionnaire analysis regarding our music video. As a group we will take into consideration the answers and try and incorporate them into our video.
Genre Characteristics - This song is part of the indie rock
genre and the video does conform to this genre, through the use of costume with
the lead singers pea coat he wears as it's a common indie item of clothing. From the research we did, it's a conventional costume to wear within the indie genre. His appearance conforms to this
genre because of his haircut which stereotypically a lot of indie rock fans
seem to have.
Star image - The star image is the lead singer.
There are only a couple of shots in which he is not in frame and when he is
not, it’s of the people he is singing about. The main artist is the only singer in the video, therefore he is always in the foreground, showing his dominance over the other band members, giving his a clear impression that he is the star image of the video.
Narrative and performance - The video is one narrative
throughout and the title is relevant to the narrative as the whole song is
about a kiss. The performance and narrative go hand in hand because the
performance of the lead singer shows his sorrow and disappointment which is
relevant to the narrative. The piece of paper he holds at the start is the most
important part of the narrative and determines the outcome of the video as she
kisses the paper and gives it back to him to show she loves him.
Thought Beats - The first 30 seconds are slow paced
and the cuts are not very often, however as it moves into the chorus the cuts
become a lot faster. The song isn’t that fast paced, therefore the cuts aren’t
too fast because it wouldn’t be suitable. Despite this, they do become a lot faster after the first 30 seconds. By making the thought beats be in sync, it makes the music video much easier to watch for an audience as a fast paced tempo with a slow cut rate wouldn't work.
Voyeurism/Looking/Gaze - This particular video has a lot of close ups of
the lead singers face to show his facial expressions of feeling guilt and his
sadness. As an audience we feel a lot more engaged in the video when we see the
artist up close and especially when he gazes into the camera. This is the opposite of Laura Mulvey's theory as he engages the audience through gaze, as opposed to a male gazing at a woman.
Lyrics and Visuals - The lyrics and visuals are very important in
this video. They work very well to ensure what is happening in the video is
relevant to the lyrics that are being sung. For example, towards the end of the
song we see the lipstick on the piece of paper and once it’s visible to us we
hear the lyrics ‘that kiss’, which the lipstick resembles.
Visuals and Music – The first 30 seconds have a slow pace of music
which reflects the cut rate which is also slow. This is purposely done to
engage the audience and leave them pondering over what’s going it happen. As
the song progresses the music carries on being relevant to the visuals, for
example at 2:47 the cuts become a lot faster as we hit the chorus.
Florence and the machine – Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up) music video
analysis.
Genre
Characteristics - This specific song is of the rock/indie genre and
the music video is suitable for the genre due to costume, setting and lighting.
The costume of the lead singer is white and almost seems like a wedding dress.
The colour white shows innocence and the purity of the main artist. She’s also wearing a crown to show her power and alternative side which is
related to the genre of indie.
Lyrics and
Visuals – The lyrics and visuals match very well, especially when
she refers to ‘gold in the sunlight’ and the lighting appears to have a golden
tint added to match with this lyric. As well as this, ‘Midas is king’ is a
biblical reference which relates to when they’re sitting around which relates to the table with
a feast which is like the last supper. Again, this connotes the idea of her
crown because the word king connotes this idea of a crown and Jesus wore the crown of thorns, again linking to the visuals of the last supper. Visuals and
music – In the music video, the cuts are very fast which does link
in with the tempo of the music. When she sings ‘I must become a lion hearted
girl’ it becomes to begin a faster paced song, potentially due to lions being very quick animals, then the cuts become faster
which are relevant to the song. Close ups
of the artists and star image motifs – The beginning of the video has a
close up of the image but her eyes are covered. This is relevant because it’s
almost as though she’s become ashamed of signing a record label and doesn’t
want to look anybody in the eye. From the beginning, we see the costume of the
main singer who is the star image and the costume acts as a motif for what the
video is trying to portray with the idea of white being purity ad innocence.
Star Image – The star
image is the lead singer and she/he is the main focus of the narrative in the
video. There are references to God and to Alice and wonderland, especially with
the visuals as there’s a man wearing a top hat and at one point he is the star
image of the video.
Thought
Beats – Thought beats are used throughout the music video. They are used to fit the tempo and visuals of the video to make it flow with a lot more ease.When the
chorus is present, the shots become a lot faster paced and it even seems as
though there is a handheld camera being used which relates to the tempo of the
music which is also fast paced.There’s
also thought beats when the tempo of music is of a slow pace, especially the
beginning when it opens with one shot being 20 seconds long. This is a long
time for just one shot but because the tempo of the music is slow, the shots
can also be slow paced. Narrative
and Performance – Narrative and performance is exactly what it says
it is. The narrative of the song must be matched by the performance of the lead
singer and backing dancers etc. In this video, this is done relatively well
especially as she starts to become more resilient to even being touched or
being near people and she describes her change which we see from the lyrics,
‘And in the Spring I shed my skin’ and in the video she does gradually change
from the beginning. Voyeurism/Looking/Gaze – The
music video consists of many close ups which is purposely done. The lead singer
is always directly addressing the audience which makes us feel more a part of
what is happening in the narrative. Intertextuality – In terms
of intertextuality, there are different narratives that seem to come into it.
One being Alice in Wonderland. The visuals of the video show a clear Alice in Wonderland narrative, with there being a rabbit present and the main artist being dressed in the same manner as Alice did. The lyrics ‘Was that the wrong pill to take’? is
the reference to Alice in Wonderland and this is matched by the costumes of
certain people in the music video as one man wears a top hat and another is
dressed as a rabbit which also relates to the song title. Another is the
biblical reference with Jesus. This is seen at the start as she seems to wear a
crown which almost seems like the crown thorns. Also,the table they sit around is just like the
table from the last supper which is another reference to Jesus.
After recently completing AS Media, i have decided to take upon the challenge of A2 Media Studies because AS was so enjoyable. I'm expecting a difficult year of Media, especially creating a music video which will prove tough, but a good challenge. Along the way, i will use and learn new terminology to help me understand how to shoot a great music video and to help prepare for my A2 exam. I already have a brief understanding of how to use Adobe Premiere Elements and i will use this software to edit my music video and to hopefully produce a quality finished piece.
