Picking a genre to work in is tough. I love a wide variety of music and each genre provides different creative possibilities. However, as you may be able to tell from my post 'Getting An Early Start', I have a soft spot for the Soft Rock/Alternative genres. Music that falls into this category is usually packed full of emotion, strong instrumentals, impacting aesthetics and lyrics that inspire as well as hook. The record label 'Fueled by Ramen' has signed many popular artists who work within this genre, as you can see below (Awolnation however belongs to Red Bull Records).
Paramore is a particular favourite of mine. They have a very wide repertoire. From their start as very american punk sounding group with early tracks like 'Pressure', to their slightly more heartfelt album 'Brand New Eyes' and now their considerably reinvented self-titled album, Paramore, for me, have always hit it home when it comes to songs that really become a part of you.
In an upcoming post I will take a look in depth at some existing Paramore videos.
Monday, 30 September 2013
Friday, 27 September 2013
Heading in the Direction of Genre
Now that I know I want to have a very entropic feel to my video, I need to think about genre. A few months back I did send tweets to Hayley Williams considering using one of Paramore's songs just on the off chance that she would reply, and therefore I could come with a song I could potentially use.
However, the alternative genre which Paramore belongs to tends to be very entropic and could potentially be something I would really enjoy doing. For this then I will need to look further into the rock type alternative genre.
However, the alternative genre which Paramore belongs to tends to be very entropic and could potentially be something I would really enjoy doing. For this then I will need to look further into the rock type alternative genre.
Music Video Redundancy/Entropy
Redundant messages are those which convey predictable or conventional ideas. Usually we would associate the word with that which is boring but Redundancy is not a bad thing. It is vital in day to day situations for communication and understanding.
Entropy is that which is unpredictable; essentially, it's the opposite of redundancy.
Levels of entropy and redundancy differ when it comes to different genres.
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift tends to come across as fairly reduntant. Her image is very typical in a lot of her videos resulting in a mis-en-scene of one 'fresh-out-of-the-box, fashionable adolescent'. Although some of the things seen in these videos are a little unusual (eating birthday cake by yourself, people dressed as animals dancing around etc.) they are not given enough attention/camera time to become of any specific relevance or present themselves as motifs.
There is soft lighting admist fairly high exposure giving an 'Instagram-esque' feel that will be positively redundant to Taylor Swift's hipster/mainstream audiences. Theses familiarisations are made to create a level of redundancy for easy communication of relate-ability. The only real levels of entropy come through the cinematograpghy although this only seems to break from convention in the second video with the execution of one near completely continuous shot. However, this less conventional level of cinemaotgraphy is not seen in the rest of Taylor's videos.
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo are a completely different story altogether. They prefer to create entropy through completely or near completely disjunctive videos. 'Sugarcube', focuses largely on the narrative, seeming more like a clip from a poorly produced movie than a music video, due to the over layering of sound: speech, diegetic noises.
'I'll Be Around' seems to then stretch the boundaries of disjunction by layering another mis-en-scene of text which has no relation to the lyrics and only relates to the video in the second half, leaving it disjunctive until that point.
OK Go
In OK Go's case, the levels of entropy they choose to convey come across far easier than can be said for Yo La Tengo. Their videos are also disjunctive in majority but do at times contain hinted amplifying features.
All 3 examples here consist of one continuous shot, which is not cinematographic format we are used to.
I think that it would be far more engaging for myself and more importantly the audience if I go for a more entropic format.
Entropy is that which is unpredictable; essentially, it's the opposite of redundancy.
Levels of entropy and redundancy differ when it comes to different genres.
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift tends to come across as fairly reduntant. Her image is very typical in a lot of her videos resulting in a mis-en-scene of one 'fresh-out-of-the-box, fashionable adolescent'. Although some of the things seen in these videos are a little unusual (eating birthday cake by yourself, people dressed as animals dancing around etc.) they are not given enough attention/camera time to become of any specific relevance or present themselves as motifs.
There is soft lighting admist fairly high exposure giving an 'Instagram-esque' feel that will be positively redundant to Taylor Swift's hipster/mainstream audiences. Theses familiarisations are made to create a level of redundancy for easy communication of relate-ability. The only real levels of entropy come through the cinematograpghy although this only seems to break from convention in the second video with the execution of one near completely continuous shot. However, this less conventional level of cinemaotgraphy is not seen in the rest of Taylor's videos.
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo are a completely different story altogether. They prefer to create entropy through completely or near completely disjunctive videos. 'Sugarcube', focuses largely on the narrative, seeming more like a clip from a poorly produced movie than a music video, due to the over layering of sound: speech, diegetic noises.
'I'll Be Around' seems to then stretch the boundaries of disjunction by layering another mis-en-scene of text which has no relation to the lyrics and only relates to the video in the second half, leaving it disjunctive until that point.
OK Go
In OK Go's case, the levels of entropy they choose to convey come across far easier than can be said for Yo La Tengo. Their videos are also disjunctive in majority but do at times contain hinted amplifying features.
All 3 examples here consist of one continuous shot, which is not cinematographic format we are used to.
I think that it would be far more engaging for myself and more importantly the audience if I go for a more entropic format.
Wednesday, 25 September 2013
Making My Video Stand Out
The videos I've picked out seem to all have something very different in them. There's at least one element in the aesthetics or narrative that makes it stand out and be memorable.
If I want my music video to possess this memorable quality then I will need to take a look at their different levels of individuality or entropy...
If I want my music video to possess this memorable quality then I will need to take a look at their different levels of individuality or entropy...
Particularly Good Music Videos
The following are videos I find particularly successful. They span fairly contrasting genres.
Sum 41 - In Too Deep
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
P!NK - Stupid Girls
Tom Milsom - Pipes
Scissor Sisters - Any Which Way
Kimbra - Cameo Lover
Capital Cities - Kangaroo Court
David Guetta - Play Hard
Sum 41 - In Too Deep
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
P!NK - Stupid Girls
Tom Milsom - Pipes
Scissor Sisters - Any Which Way
Kimbra - Cameo Lover
Capital Cities - Kangaroo Court
Friday, 20 September 2013
SKILLS LESSON 3: Green Screen
This lesson we took a look at the use of green screens. There was not a lot I knew about green screens prior other than that they were green and that you stood in front of them and through computer magic, suddenly you're in Egypt. It turned out though that it was relatively straight forward. Using Adobe Premier Pro CS5 I learned that using a Chroma Key, I could pick out the colour of the screen and then gradually slide to remove it from the frame at the right level.
It was necessary then to be very careful with the lighting as shadows across the screen would make it harder to isolate all of the green. It was also worth considering how appropriate the lighting would be in relation to what you intended to replace the background with. As can be seen below, we went for a rather unrealistic underwater swimming theme but did place blue gels over the lamps to mimic the kinds of reflections.
At a more serious level these techniques could be very useful and I will most likely be trying green screen in relation to my actual video.
It was necessary then to be very careful with the lighting as shadows across the screen would make it harder to isolate all of the green. It was also worth considering how appropriate the lighting would be in relation to what you intended to replace the background with. As can be seen below, we went for a rather unrealistic underwater swimming theme but did place blue gels over the lamps to mimic the kinds of reflections.
At a more serious level these techniques could be very useful and I will most likely be trying green screen in relation to my actual video.
Monday, 16 September 2013
Demands of the Record Label
Now I have a bearing on lighting I can take a look and see how that is incorporated in existing music videos, so as I can have a better idea of how I will use it. One of Goodwin's...
When considering musical artists, Lady Gaga is someone who very clearly has her own unique brand image.
Her videos are always very commercial:
There are also many close ups that identify her in different forms. All however, make it clear of what the focus is; her:
When considering musical artists, Lady Gaga is someone who very clearly has her own unique brand image.
Her videos are always very commercial:
Straight away you know what you are watching.
What Lady Gaga IS is artistic, weird, loud, vogue, individual. These pictures convey this clearly:
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| Metal wings look like they've come straight out of an arts workshop. Their only purpose is artistic. |
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| Hand on heart admits that she loves who she is... that and the coming of a giant top hat. |
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| Wild expression, unconventional make-up |
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| 'Vogue' style pose and imagery through black and white filter. |
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| Weird for the sake of weird or art? Or both? |
There are also many close ups that identify her in different forms. All however, make it clear of what the focus is; her:
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