Final Edited Song Choice

Here is the edited version of Static (Get Out Of My House), the song that I am going to use. Jackal uploaded the new song to the file sharing website Zippyshare.com in order for me to download it. He has shortened it for me as I requested which was a huge help to me because producing a music video for a song which was 4 minutes, 55 seconds would have been a difficult task considering the short space of time that I have to film footage. The new length of 2 minutes, 59 seconds is much more realistic to film and edit a music video for.
  Jackal has added pig snorting and cow mooing sound effects over the swear words that were preventing me for using the song to make a music video for. This helps me get over my problem and adds a little humour to the song which is good for my music video planning because I didn't want my video to seem to be too serious. This also makes the song distinctive because not really conventional to have animal noises in songs. The funny sound effects suit the youth subculture who like humour and like to find ways of deviating from the status quo.

Conversation With the Artist

 

Here are some screen shots of a Facebook message conversation that I had with the artist, Jackal (Jack Wright), about shortening the song Static (Get Out Of My House) from 4 minutes 55 seconds to around 3 minutes and also censoring the swear words that the song contains. I was relieved that Jack was willing to edit the song for me because I have already put a lot of work into planning a music video for this song and of his songs it is the one I would like to produce a music video for the most, the only problem was the swear words and the length.

Music Video Analysis: Tiga

When researching existing music videos that are a similar genre of music to the song of the music video that I am going to produce it is important to look at common themes and styles. Also to try and examine why the directer chose to do what they did in their music video. Looking at music videos from different theoretical perspectives also helps to understand the cinematography and imagery. I have chosen to analyse the music video for Bugatti by Tiga, which is a song from a similar electronic dance music (EDM) genre to Jackal's Static.

Music Video Analysis: Boston Bun

The genre of music that my music video will be is UK jackin' house/garage so I need to do some market research to find out what sort of music video is made for this genre. Being an 'underground' type of genre, meaning niche or catering a small audience, there aren't many UK house/garage music videos. This is because most house/garage songs are not produced by large record labels and therefore don't have the extensive promotional package that comes with mainstream songs. Also this genre is a type of dance music so house/garage songs are designed to be played in nightclubs and not watched on MTV or YouTube. However with the right promotional package, house/garage songs do make it onto the mainstream. Which is why I am going to produce a promotional package for Jackal's song.

Boston Bun is an artist of a very similar genre to Jackal. He makes French nu disco/electro house music. Boston Bun is signed to the French electro house label, Ed banger Records, who are famous for 'post-cartoon' imaging in their music videos. Boston Bun's music video for We Got Soul ft. Bear Who? is particularly interesting because it is entirely computer generated and conceptual but also follows a weird and wonderful sort of narrative (which is a hot-dog walking through a mashed up landscape of famous landmarks and pop culture). Jon Gow (1992) would without doubt fit this music video into the special effects extravaganza category.

Music Video Production Treatment (first draft)

Music Video Proposal (first draft)

Developing Filming and Editing Skills

 Here are some films me and a few other classmates made to demonstrate and practice our continuity editing skills.  Continuity editing is when a shot change looks seamless and the action that is being filmed logically continues as the shot changes. This is quite an easy editing technique to get right, especially if the filming is good quality, and can be quite satisfying to achieve a good sequence of continuity editing.

We experimented with a few different types of shot such as shots using a mirror, low shots and close ups on different parts of the body. It is important for us to practice using different types of shot because they will come in useful in the production of our music videos because music videos often use unusual shots.

Another important part of our filming we learned was to use the 180 degree rule. This is where the camera must never film anything over an imaginary straight line to simulate an audience sitting and watching a stage performance. However in filming our music videos it is okay to break this rule because music videos often defy pretty much all conventions of filming.

During the editing of Toilet Trouble II: The Sickqual we thought about the codes and conventions of music video editing. A basic convention in music video editing is to time cuts and movement with the beat and pace of the music.   We managed to time a lot of the shot changes and titles in time with the beat of the music. One piece of editing we are particularly proud of is the close up of the toilet door locking which is in time with a single piano note at about 0:13.

Song Choice Process

When I needed to find a song to make a music video for i realized that the song needed to be unsigned to a record label or I needed the label's permission to use the song. This is so i can upload the completed music video to YouTube without worrying about it being taken down again by the record label for copyright infringement.  With this in mind I decided to ask my friend who produces music under the alias Jackal. He gave me permission to use his songs and to upload a copy of the song to YouTube.  Jackal usually produces music which fits into the genre of UK house/garage/bass, this is also a genre of music that I am interested in therefore I am happy to make a music video for Jackal.

Here are the song choices that I narrowed it down to: 

This song Space ft. XL-Love has repetitive lyrics, which I am looking for in a song because I think it is important, it is also a nice, short length.

I like Static (Get out Of My House) because, again, it has repetitive lyrics. I prefer it to Space ft. XL Love however it is quite a bit longer so it will be harder to film enough footage to make a music video in the time I have for a song this length. This song also has a few swear words in. This is unfortunate because it is the song that I want to produce a music video for the most. I may have to ask Jackal is he would be willing to edit the song to remove swear words and make it shorter. I Can't Feel ft. XL Love is one of Jackals most popular songs as it featured on the well known House music YouTube channel, Certified Jackin'. It would be a good song for me to use because of the repeated lyrics and interesting beat, which sounds like it would be good to edit in time to. if I choose to use this song I also may also have to ask Jackal if he could shorted it. This song would be my backup option if I am unable to use Static due to the complications.

Song Choice Process: "Repetition invites us into music"

During the thought processes that I have been going through when deciding which song to produce a music video for I came across this TED Ed Lesson, by Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis, about the reasons for humans finding repetitive music catchy. I have taken this into consideration when choosing a song because I believe that it will be easier to make a enjoyable music video for a song that is catchy and likable.

As it is backed by psychological research and evidence, I consider the message in this video to be important in helping me understand the cognitions of my audience. After all, I think the psychology of the target audience must be taken into consideration in the research. Also I am beginning to sway toward the House Music genre. Being an electronic dance music genre, House Music is typically repetitive which is probably one of the reasons that it is so popular.

  

The video mentions the psychologist's term 'The mere exposure effect'. This means that being exposed to a certain thing (even if we don't like it) over and over again many times will result in us beginning to like it.  This is relevant will food, shapes, and smells, as well as music.  I believe that this can be applied to the visuals in a music video.

"Repetition connects each bit of music irresistibly to the next bit of music that follows it"

I will base my music video structure around this new knowledge and Andrew Goodwin's (1992) theory that typical music videos have a relationship between the music and lyrics, and the visuals. I plan to produce a music video that has somewhat repetitive visuals (in shots, editing pace, flow of visuals and video effects) which have a relationship with the repetitive music. I am sure this will enhance the song and result in the audience liking it even more.

Music Video Definition

The purpose of a music video is to pride visual accompaniment to a song as part of a promotional package.  Therefore they play an important part in marketing and promotion in the music industry.

'A videotaped performance of a recorded popular song, usually accompanied by dancing and visual images interpreting the lyrics' (Oxford Dictionary).

The development of sound in cinema (talkies or soundies) in the 1930s gave was the beginning of the process which lead to the creation of the music video as we know it today. Especially with musical films such as St. Louis Blues (1929).

The Internet Accuracy Project credits J.P. 'The Big Bopper' Richardson, a disc-jockey and singer, as the first to coin the phrase 'music video', in 1958. Around the same time as promotional video accompaniments to songs started becoming common for the most successful artists such as Elvis Presley (Jail House Rock, 1957).

Music videos gradually came into production in the 1960s by more artists such as The Beatles, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. Then in the 1970s from artists such as David Bowie, Don Williams and Pink Floyd.

It was in the 1970s when BBC's Top of the Pops began showing music videos on televion as well as other programs. In the 1980s to 90s the US television channel, MTV, played a huge part in the increasing popularity of promotional music videos.

Now music videos can be viewed on many television channels but mainly online on websites such as vevo, YouTube and vimeo.  Music videos are a multi-billion dollar industry with production companies such as Seven Pictures and MRB Productions dedicated to making music videos.

Directer Study

Damon Albarn’s music videos for Heavy Seas of Love 2014 and Lonely Press Play 2014 interest me because they are entirely conceptual. He filmed and directed these music videos himself, with editing by Matt Cronin, using his iPad in the different places he visited. I particularly like the way he has superimposed two video clips over the top of each other:

Here Damon has superimposed film of a large red moon and a heptagram against film of waves breaking on a beach. There is no performance or any particular narrative in the two music videos; they are essentially a compilation of footage that appealed to Damon.  I like a lot of other editing techniques that are used in Lonely Press Play such as the mirror effect and the chromatic aberration or refracted light effect:

The genre of these songs is considered to be ‘folktronica’ or ‘trip-hop’ because of the use of electronic sounds and slow tempo. The style of the videos reflect the electronic vibe with the psychedelic visual effects and the slow paced music is complemented by the slow paced editing.

Damon Albarn has influences from a lot of world music. In 2002 Damon produced an album of African music, inspired by an Oxfam trip to Mali, called Mali music and later produced Maison des Jeunes on a returning trip to Mali in 2013. Albarns interest in different cultures from around the world is seen in footage he used in Heavy Seas of Love with a lot of filming seeming to take place in mexico.

The record label which released Heavy Seas of Love and Lonely Press Play on the album Everyday Robots was Parlophone. Who Damon has worked with before with Blur and Gorillaz, so he has had a long relationship with the label. Which means Paraphone were comfortable to let Damon work on the music videos himself. Also he was approached by the label and asked to make a solo album and asked for it to be autobiographical therefore it made sense for Damon to have control over the music videos.

Parlophone has worked with notable artists such as Coldplay and Lily Allen and has given them a lot of say in the production of music videos which shows that it is important for the label to let artists visualise their songs.

Damon’s use of electronic music comes from his work with his band virtual ‘trip-hop’ band, Gorillaz. He co-created the band with Jamie Hewlett who was the illustrator of the band’s characters and music videos. Gorillaz’s electronic music suits their slightly psychedelic cartoon music videos.  I like the use of cartoon images in Gorillaz’s videos, especially the use of cartoon against photographs of streets and buildings in the video for Tomorrow Comes Today.

Transition to A2 Music Video

Our A2 induction project was to film and edit a lip-sync music video. The objective of this task was to introduce us to how filming and editing works and also to get us thinking about the processes and conventions of music videos. Lip-syncing is a basic feature of a music video, with most videos having some aspect of performance it is important to make sure get it right so early practice is important. Another paramount skill we earned when making this demo is using a camera. We used a Cannon 600D and a JVC GY-HM100 ProHD these are quite sophisticated camcorders which you need a bit of practice to master, for example we learnt that it is vital to make sure you focus the camera before each shot otherwise the quality of the video will be poor.

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