Copyright

This image above is evidence of an email to Robert Reynolds in which Jake constructed and sent in order for us to have permission to re-create a music video for "When you were young." 

After not recieving a response, I then sent a more formal letter and attempted to contact Robert Reynolds via different networking sites and company websites. 

Dear Robert Reynolds,

I am an A level student and I am writing to request your permission to use one track

From their second album by "The Killers" entitled Sams Town.

The track I wish to use is "When you were young", track 3 on the album.

With your permission, this track would be used in my current A-level Media Studies

project which involves creating a music video for a popular music track, as well as

producing an album and a magazine advert for the artist.

If I received your permission, this track would ONLY be used in an educational

context and be viewed by my media class, my teacher and the OCR exam board

moderator. It would NOT be released to a large audience or uploaded to any public

video websites.

The artist and your company would of course be fully recognised throughout preproduction

and the final video itself. A copyright notice, with wording supplied by you

can be included in the records of the project. If this is required, please send full

details.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Sandhya Gulsin


The email below is evidence of the the approval.

Music Channels & Logos

Before researching suitable music Channels to promote and advocate our video, I watched them for myself in order to gain an insight to the channels and what they show. The video below represents my research, instant response and also my analysis of each channel. I watched each channel for approx 10 minutes from the time period between 7pm-8pm and then assesed them individually.

MTV Rocks- viacom international

Logo- The font used for this Channel stereotypically suits the "black" colour scheme for rock, this is then absorbed by the lime green element surrounding the logo. I feel this heavily emphasises the links to indie rather than links to more hardcore music such as screamo. Objects such as the "M" is almost presented as a figure with 3-d elements creating illusion. The soft edging calms this but also shows an element of controlled reservation. From abserving the logo alone the type of audience I feel it attracts would be a young collective of rockers but apart from this it is presented in a neutral manner. As a channel with its supporting logo , I feel there is a perfect balance of indie and rock music shown. The logo is presented as a sharp and clear advertisment but also its business like look copliments its creative design. All these factors entwined make this channel suitable for our music video


Kiss- Box Television

Logo- Instantly the colour scheme sucumbs to the stereptype that pink is assosiated with femininity. This is then calmed down by the fade in purple. The scene around the font is portrayed in a "quirky" manner suggesting dubstep, pop and also maybe indie. The shape surrounding the text suggests originality and energy. Due to the fun and bubbly colour scheme the audience in which I think the channel intends to attract would definately be of a younger age and most likely female due to the name "Kiss". Although this channel conveys mystery , musically there is no link whatsoever to our song choice and therefore this channel is not suitable for mine and jakes music video.


VIVA- Viacom international

Logo- The font presents a sense of enclosure and structure. The simplicity of the logo relys on the font to suggest what type of music the channel plays. By the structural curvations of the text this suggests a Dance channel. The slant of the text does suggest smooth music also. I feel the audience in which the channel is trying to attract would be a middle aged audience due to the smooth, slick and subtle layout. This channel clearly has a versitile audience in which the age is varied. But this is a worthy sacrifice as the logo and the music would not compliment our song choice. This channel is also not suitable.


Kerrang - Box Television

Logo-  The overall portrayal of the Logo heavily suggests rock, with influences of hardcore rock. The cracks within the font presents extremity of noise in which the music is so intense it affects its surroundings. The audience I feel this reaches out to would definately be a younger audience surrounding the theme of "rebellion." The logo supports the colour scheme black and also the music on the channel has strong links to our song choice. I personally feel this could have potential to stream our music video due to the sub genre suiting our song.



The best suited channel for our video is MTV Rocks. After assessing my research, me and Jake both came to the conclusion that MTV Rocks would perfectly promote our video visually as we felt the channel complimented our video idea and song.

The Director's work

 Understanding how to direct a video is something which is new to me, I felt the only way I could gain further knowledge into the mind of a Director after my previous work placement shadowing one would be to research into how successful directors comply themselves and work. I set myself the challenge of understanding how a director of my choice and our original song choice director applies themselves when in action.

Michel Gondry- On a personal level the work of Michel Gondry caught my attention due to the link and interest of his work and also the videos in which he creates. Gondry has worked with a wide range of artists;The White Stripes and the Chemical Brothers to indie acts like Cibo Matto, he has also worked with  Björkeight times over a course of a decade. His website revealed his initial ideas for "Star Guitar". When watching this video I felt it heavily linked to my previous experimentation in response to Andrew Goodwin. To me this is positive as it proves that subconsiously I am gaining the correct skills in becoming a successful director.

Carlos Reygadas- Carlos Reygadas is an award winning Mexican film director who made the acception of a music video for The Killers"When you were young." My interest in this director grew from my initial response to the original video of our song choice evoking an extremity of emotion. As his film work has progressed Reygadas is known to be notorious for the raw depiction of sex and the physically unflattering use of actors. Elements of this are clearly visible within The Killers video. When researching into recognised work of the Director his film "Silent Light" followed a similar storyline. The main concept of the film is based on a married man who falls in love with another woman. The theme of betrayal in relationships is cleary and area of interest for Carlos as it is expressed within his work. I feel it is essential for every Director to express their area of interest within their films and videos and from the planning me and Jake have been doing, we have the perfect balance of personal interest juxtaposed against the storyline.



Due to having the ability to contact an exsisting professional film maker I took advantage of contacting Amritpal Sembhi again in order to answer any remaining questions I had unanswered after my research into Directors, the text below is evidence of this interview. 

Can digital video be made to look like film?
 Yes by filming at 24 fps , because its the speed film roll is used for film 

What are successful and creativeways to distribute videos?

Online is best these days. Creative ones include crowdfunding methods such as ingiegogo and kickstarter because an audience who really want your films can donate directly to you in exchange for credits and DVD's 

 

Before shooting a successful music video, how do you pre-plan it and seek inspiration?

Pre planning is most important for any kind of shoots. It's good to keep a shotlist and storyboard by your side so you can literally tick them off as each shot has been filmed. It's also good to prepare for extreme worst case scenarios such as if you run out of battery juice or card space. Of if you are shooting exteriors - how to work with weather changes!! Inspiration can come from anything. Once you have an idea- become obsessed with it and let it take over you so that you can find inspiration daily from newspapers/music/people/food! etc etc

Do you use different shots when filming depending on location, storyline or rythm of the song? The best way to construct your shots are from the story. Location should be important to convey the story but in terms of what type of shots you want- think about the way the story needs to be told. Eg is it a relaxing calm story or frantic and crazy so will you need slow movements or shaky and wild etc etc . Rhythm will come into it when you are editing - thats when you need to think about beats.

To you what is a successful music video?
To me, if a music video can be looked at as a short film- then it is successful. It should be driven and engaging and if it can portray a story without the music then it is a successful video

Video Analysis 2

Kings of Leon- Use Somebody

Audience expectations for the exsisting video ( When you were young)

As me and Jake have come to a final decision of our song choice and video ideas, I was intrigued to know how people respond to the existing video. To me I felt heavily affected by the video and wanted to understand how it could be perceived through the eyes of other people. I feel this research is essential in understanding the concept of evoking emotion and a reaction through video.

I feel this research was successful as it provided me with an insight into what makes a effective music video. I am also pleased with the development on a personal level of filming and also the more advanced answers from my family. My overall reflection on what was said showed that the music video had such an impact that the lyrics were almost forgotten also lack of connection between the lyrics and the video. Although this can initially be perceived as negative , I saw this as a positive factor as the video was engaging.This challenges me and Jake to reach the same level of success as the existing music video.

Seeking attention

Miley cyrus- Wrecking Ball

In recent media, there has been a huge takeover in the news with a recent upcoming video by Miley Cyrus named- Wrecking ball. My interest in this links into my previous research into ylvis-The fox as I want to know how at present a successful media is constructed. The reason behind the video gaining an extreme amount of attention is due to Myley Cyrus contradicting her star image as a teenage icon, her video also exposes her body completely naked. To me this provided me with an insight into how it is important to present originality within a video but also how there is a thin line between original and innapropriate.The article below is a segment from the Gurdian website in which I feel supports the theory in how a music video can destroy an Artists reputation. My argument against this would be that although her video recieved so much negative feedback, its youtube success is outstanding. This then leaves me unsure to if the video served its purpose in promotion and attracting attention as it should do? After my previous research into the history of Music video I have come to the conclusion that sexual inuendos and nudity is too risky a concept to experiment with even in this day and age. Therefore our video will not include strong elements of nudity if any.

Linking Existing Music Videos

 

In the process of researching how to create a successful music video, I came across the video of "One that got away" by Katy Perry.  Although this isn't under the category "Indie/Rock" it came across very suprising that the storyline had strong links with our rough draft of a storyline.

Links

• Woman at the beginning in a current life lonely.
• Old aged woman reflecting on her life when young.
• Footage reminising the past.
• Black hair and make-up.
• Strong portrayal of "hope" throughout the video.
• The main subject confronted with her exsistance and her youth.

After the successful mistake of finding the video above I was curious into finding other songs in which had similar elements to our storyline so I could see the take other film makers had on reminising on the past and identity vs reality. I found it suprising how such a variety of genres could have slight links with huge implications.

Lily Allen- LDN 

Links 

• Negative portrayal of the world.
• The idea of a collision of two worlds e.g fantasy vs reality and past vs present.
• Dark dull lighting to represent a negative atmosphere 

 

Ed Sheeran- The A team

Links

•  Extreme portrayal of isolation, loneliness and isolation.
• Main character being manipulated and mistreated by men.
• Strong element of hope.
• use of drugs.
• sympathy evoked from the audience.

Pitch

As all mine and Jakes ideas keep formulating at a fast pace, we felt It was essential to accumulate out basic music video plan and pitch it to our Teacher, this would help give us a sense of direction and also highlight both the positives and the negatives of our initial ideas.




The feedback we received was very positive complimenting our narrative idea, locations and song choice. Factors to consider was a certainty on the actors as the voice of the song consists of a mature young man and our possible actors were of a younger age.

Woman in film

In order to progress the development in creating a successful music video, I personally felt a struggle in pre-planning the shots and editing for mine and jakes video. I went out to seek inspiration at the exhibition ; "woman in film" in which explores filming with a woman's perspective. This exhibition at the Icelandic national gallery provided me with an insight into the different effects and styles that could be created by editing and filming.

The short video below reveals the most exciting footage to me in which three settings are played alongside one another. The films were taken using a steadycam, with handheld shots and at some points even birds-eye and over the shoulder  shots. As a viewer this footage made me feel like I was intruding a private affair with a strong element of invasion.  This made my presence uncomfortable but enticed me to continue watching.






From this exhibition I have learned as a viewer the emotions in which film can brig and in my music video will research further into which shots work well in conveying the correct emotions to the audience. I will also consider using the same editing and shots used while he film to portray isolation as I feel it heavily links with mine and jakes song choice.

Potential song choices development

As me and Jake both had such a wide range of potential song choices, we decided to exchange ideas and evaluate each others, selecting the two most powerful choices from each list. We then debating and brainstormed ideas into which song would suit us both in creating a successful outcome. We had to consider a narrative frame, location, shots and editing. This video reveals the process.



After reflecting on which final two songs of jakes list alongside our matching choices, I felt had the most potential this resulted in;

The Killers- When you were young
I could see us including a storyline of childhood memories vs. reality and heavily including an element of youth.

You Me At Six- Reck-less
My initial concern was the consistency and a sense of maintained rhythm in the song, but as it progressed ideas began to spark.

After hours of conversing and elaborating ideas to one another our final choice was - "The Killers"- When you were young. The existing music video and sound are shown below.

Potential Locations

After briefly exploring locations in my " Conventions of a music video" post, I have now re-visited this topic as the formation of ideas is essential now.



Location 1

This outdoor location heavily focusses on abandonment, with a strong feel of " haunting." It Is titled "boys' Village" in which was once a very popular holiday destination.







location 2

This location choice is abroad within the peaks of Iceland, this choice may seem bizarre, but the calming location would be the perfect location to create a build of tension and collision with our song choice. Just like the 30 seconds to Mars song- kings and Queens the rock song is based in the artic and the calm location presenting white purity results into a powerful collision with the rock artists dressed in black invading the harmony of the location.




Location 3

Our third and final location of choice is ; Littlebourne Barn. The barn is located on the outskirts of Canterbury and would be ideal to shoot our video inside. For me and jake to identify if this is as suitable as the images portray, we are going to visit the location. Also when enquiring about the barns availability, the owner; Wendy Blanchet has allowed us to have the venue free of charge as we are students still in education.

Potential Song Ideas

In order to progress in my research, me and Jake felt it was important to lay the foundations of the music video. This started with researching into song choice.

Lost In Colour-Searching for the Sun in the Dark
This song in particular stood out to me due to the power of the lyrics and also the potential for imagination when creating a video. Due to this band being a local creation and not as mainstream as my other choices, there was no original video to provide guidelines.

Blink 182- I miss you
Within my selection of choices I wanted to have a variety of emotions presented. "I miss you" expresses the concept of love lost and loneliness, this would be a challenging song to create a video for as it contains an overtone of seriousness between the lyrics and the song.

Angels and Airwaves- Breathe
The artist voice is of a unique style and the lyrics are able to compliment the indie/rock genre but also portray a serious element of love and emotions. The existing video itself supports my research into ink experimentation.

You me at six- Stay With Me
As a band You Me At Six have been a strong consideration for potential music videos. I feel all their songs convey emotion in the tone used and the rhythm and beat build up to a climax, which is important in order to construct a successful music video. This song in particular I felt would be the most interesting to re-create due to the storyline.

Artic Monkeys- Florescent Adolescence
Out of all of my potential song choices this song had a strong domination of the indie genre over the rock. It attracted my attention due to the modern style lyrics and also the undertone of humour presented.

White Lies- Death
This song had a strong ghoulish style due to the artist voice supported by the video. This presented originality to me in which I feel some of my existing experimentation would support this song.

The Strokes-Hard to Explain
I felt this song was a true indication of what a rock song should be. The husky voice and the quirky tone would be the perfect ingredients to constructing a successful music video.

The All American Rejects- Dirty Little Secret
"Dirty little secret" is a well known song in which the intelligence behind its video contributed into attracting attention to the song. I would love to challenge the existing video with my own creation.