Music video planning

Short Synopsis:

For my music video, I want it to be narrative-driven. The narrative will be about a heist but with a twist. The main characters will be 18-year-olds but they will have a very childish deminer. (Drinking caparisons, eating chocolate) And for the heist, they are stealing a massive jar of sweets. During the first section of the video, I will have the heist set up/plan with everyone along a table discussing the plan. There will also be a character reading a newspaper with a picture of a detective and the caption "Best detective since Sherlock!" This sets some sort of tension between the group but doesn't get mentioned until the end. The middle section of the video will be executing the heist and with nerf guns. Once they find the sweets they will take them and run back to the car and drive back to their home. Once they get home they eat all of the sweets and go crazy. Once we get to the end of the song the detective is one of the people doing the heist and shoots them all when they are not looking with their nerf guns and then takes his mask off to reveal the detective at the beginning on the newspaper.    

The song I have chosen for my music video is BROCKHAMPTON: ST. PERCY - 

This song has a very gritty tone with a minimal beat to it until the end where it drops and the song goes more intense. The beginning of the song is just bass so I might have cuts to the bass tones and make it in tune to the song.  

Audio:

I will be making my music video to a song called ST. PERCY. I also want to have an intro to the song and that song will be HEAVEN BELONGS TO YOU, in the album this song comes before ST. PERCY so it transitions perfectly into it. This song has a music video but it is very short and doesn't have any aspects that I am going to be using. ST. PERCY will be the centre point of the video. Its also only 1 minute 30 seconds long so it's not too long of an intro.

The song has a very dark and grungy tone that I will be contrasting with the video in some way. Maybe for some of the scenes, I will mix them into the song so that there is a mixture of diegetic and not diegetic sound in the video.  

The ending of the video will be mixed into another BROCKHAMPTON song called IF YOU PRAY RIGHT. This also has a very smooth transition. This song has a music video but I am only using around 20 seconds from it. The reason that I will be having around 20 seconds of this song at the end of the video is that it will make the ending of the video more smooth. If I didn't use this song for the ending would be very abrupt. 

Visual inspiration: 

I want the beginning of the video to be black and white with harsh contrasting shades.  I have seen some clips from the film "pi" I want my music video to resemble this artistic style of harsh shades but only using the colours black and white. The black and white style makes it look very gritty and serious which will be a good contrast between the subject matter. The characters will be using childish mannerisms and using nerf guns to defend themselves, so the song and the visuals will contrast with the actual visuals.  


I want the video to be black and white throughout and then towards the end of ST. PERCY has the video change the colour and has it very vibrant.  

Shot list:

Scene one: The Setup

-Throughout this scene, the shots are predominantly in slow motion so that shots linger 
- Close up to long shot pulling back from character reading magazine
- "It smells like ginger" have a character come next to the main character reading a magazine with ginger and press it against their nose
- "Dead leaves in the breeze we've got chimneys" Shots of leaves and the chimney (closeups) 
- Filler shots of the people setting up the heist with a layout of the house and entry and exit points. More shots of empty sweet wrappers and caparison cartons to emphasise their demeanour.  
- "There's a war in my head just like the middle east" Main character will point at the nerf gun and another character will slap their hand and then say "no guns" 
- "When you wanna get money get them riches" Close up of the sweet jar drawing on the whiteboard with a slight dutch tilt, then a reaction shot of all of the characters looking at the sweet jar with the same dutch tilt
- Rest of the song will be a montage sequence of them getting in their car and getting ready to go 

Scene two: The Heist

- As instrumental builds to the vocals have shots of them getting closer to the house with shots of them driving past people on the street. 
- Shots of inside the car (pov)
- Security camera shot from outside the house as they approach 
- "Young Nolan, PlayStation controller" Close up of the owner of the house playing the PlayStation with headphones on so he can't hear anything.
- Tracking shot behind the 3 robbers as they get closer to the house 
- Close up of their feet as they walk closer towards the door.
- Close up of the robber kneeling down to get a key from under the matt and then looking at the rest of them high-five each other. 
- A reaction shot of the person in the house as they take their headphones off to look outside and see nothing.
- Shot from outside of the robbers ducking down to avoid being seen. Once they have stood up one of them hits them on the head. 
- Robber with the key counts down from 3 and then they put the key in the door to open it. 
- Close up of the key going in the door.
- Inside the house close up of the door handle turning to open. 
- Once inside close up of their feet walking towards the kitchen
- Mid shot of the door that the person was in looking at them walking past the door into the kitchen
- Tracking over the shoulder shot of the robbers walking into the kitchen and then beginning opening draws and cupboards
- 3 separate shots of each of the robbers (tracking shot) of the opening and closing cupboards and draws looking for the loot.
- Mid shot of one of them pointing to something off-camera
- Static shot of the robber pointing at the camera and them running towards the camera and picking it up (camera as the loot)
- Over the shoulder shot of robber placing it down on the table to then open it
- Pulling back and forward while rotating at different angles
- A reaction shot of the robbers from the perspective of the loot 
- One continuous shot outside the house down the road and into the getaway car

Chapter 3: The reward 

- Slow-mo shots of them getting out of the jar with sweets
- Them placing down sweets (close up of hand placing down the jar)
- Slow-motion of the sweets falling out of the jar into the table (close up)
- Robber A eating sweets Slo-motion close up 
- Robber B eating sweets slow motion close up
- Close up of the nerf gun shooting X2
- A reaction shot of Robber B as Robber A falls to the ground 
- Close up of nerf gun shooing 
- Slow-motion shot of Robber C walking to check on their bodies tapping them as she goes by
- Slowly sits back down (slow-motion) takes off the mask 
- big reveal that she is the blue face killer and fade to black on her face

The timeline doesn't look that complicated of an edit but getting the timing right with the song was challenging. 
  

I also made a thumbnail for the video inspired by the other singles BROCKHAMPTON have released:

Final Film:

Evaluation:

Overall I feel like this was the best shoot and edit of a project. The overall plan of the video came together with the shot list. The shot list I made sure to have on set while shooting and it overall made the shooting a lot easier and it did save time. I made sure to not take any unessisery shots so that I didn't waste any time. While shooting we did discover some things didn't work out as with the "dead leaves in the breeze" shot we tried to make some leaves flow in the wind, there wasn't any wind and the shot didn't end up looking good so I decided not to do it. This was one of many of the decisions I and Chris had to make when shooting the video was what shots are necessary.

The editing process was very simple as I made sure to have the shot plan next to me and I used it as a timeline so that it made it easier for me to track. The video came out how I imagined it to with the edit but I did use more slow-motion than intended because some shots didn't last long enough so I had to use slow motion to make the shots work. But overall I think the use of the slow-motion made the video look better. The entire ST PERCY section was going to be all black and white. When editing it didn't have the same effect that I wanted. It just made the footage look bland and not as effective. I did have the black and white in on a small part of the song where it breaks down but that fit the tone of the song and video.  

Some shots in particular that went differently in post:  

While planning this music video I wanted to have some subtitles to accompany the visuals so that the song connects well with the visuals. When I added the subtitles it actually drew you away from the video and made you read when you didn't need to. I wanted to caption this "Guns?" When I put the caption in it wasn't needed. The hand gesture implied this and didn't need the extra exposition. 

Throughout the music video, I had lots of slow-motion shots. Originally I didn't want many slow-motion shots but when I put them in it made the video more impactful and enjoyable. When filming I wanted to make sure that I could slow the footage down whenever I wanted. So I shot in 100 frames per second. This allowed me to have as much creative freedom as I needed when in the edit. 

During the beginning of the second scene, there are lots of b roll footage of the 3 protagonists walking towards the location of the sweets and I felt like I needed to make these slow-motion. I wanted the viewer to really focus on these three people as they are the main focus of the video. I wanted the shots to linger on the characters, the 100 frame rate also helped me to slow down the footage to make the frame stay on the characters. 

I also feel like the CCTV shot was something that worked well even though it wasn't something that I had planned for the shoot. It adds another layer to the video as a whole and that the world is more connected. While we were on set I decided to get a high angle shot of them coming through the gate and this evolved into the CCTV shot even though it wasn't originally planned. It definitely adds to the video overall.

   
When planning the video I wanted to have it all in black and white to make the overall theme of the video to be serious but have that lighthearted tone to it. This plan didn't end up fully coming true. I decided to not have the entire video in black and white as it took away any bright colours coming from the sweet jar. The brought the overall look of the video down in quality so I decided not to follow this idea. I did want some black and white in the video and during the song it breaks down and slows down, I took this opportunity to add the black and white effect as well as some noise/grain. This makes the footage match the tone of the breakdown of the song. It also makes this part stand out the most as the colours and tone of the song have toned down.  

For this shot, It was something that we decided to do on set as I didn't know how to approach the reveal of the loot. The shot that we ended up using fits really well with the childish tone. The only thing that I wished the shot was different is that it isn't long enough. I wanted it to be a continuous shot of Jaz picking up the camera and putting it down on the other side of the room. It still is very effective but I only wish it were longer.  

Questionnaire / evaluation

Questionnaire 

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/RZ8KSJS 

Here are the results of the survey overall. 

 Please explain further to question 1:

I quite like these responses as they did influence me to do more of a narrative music video.

The reason why I specified to Tyler, the Creator and Brockhampton is that the song I am going to choose is either NEW MAGIC WAND or ST PERCY, which are both songs from these two artists/bands. I felt like to get the best research for me personally had to be about these two artists as they would help me the most over any other artist. 

These responses helped me more to choose the narrative style of the music video as I feel like it would be more impactful. I feel like I can be more creative with a narrative music video as I can make a story as crazy as possible to match the songs I have chosen. "no matter what genre, narrative music videos grab mu attention more" this is one of the responses that I had to this question and I strongly agree. A performance video can be very generic sometimes and I don't want the video to be generic and boring to watch. With a narrative video, you can be as creative as you want and these songs match a narrative.  


While the research from the survey says that an urban environment has the most votes I didn't want that to influence me too much as I believe that there any genre can work in any type of environment. This is why I added a doesn't matter option because I wanted to see if there were any people that thought the same way as me.   

I wanted to get some inspiration from the look of some music videos that stand out from people and some of the videos I got really stood out and I really enjoyed. While I have seen Post Malones 'Goodbyes' music video I had forgotten how good the video looked and the narrative behind it. The atheistic of the video really stood out from all of the other responses. The old western vibe to the video made it a more interesting watch. Along with the somewhat generic song themes, the video makes the song a lot more enjoyable for me as it reminds me of the video. This is the same effect that I want with my music video.

 

 This question doesn't affect my final video too much as the video doesn't have to have an intro or outro. 

 With this question I wanted to know what style to go for with the video. Although I will have a standard amount of editing in the video I want to keep it gritty and look rough. So I won't be doing any colour grading or any heavy editing to make it cinematic. 

This question over summarises the survey overall as it makes the video I will make more important to me. Noone put that they disagree or strongly disagree. This shows me that the target audience for music videoes likes to watch them and are interested to watch them. It adds another layer of interest for the song and the artist which is what the fans really want. 

Strengths:

• Good for quick research that precise 
• Gets a range of responses and answers 
• Easily shared over social media 
• Very quick and easy to complete
• Has influenced the my decision on doing either a performance video or narrative
• Easy to analyse with the range of responses
• I am able to take parts of peoples responses into my video
• Videos sent in by other people that are of interest can influence

Weaknesses: 

• Although I have a range of answers it's only towards one demographic
• I could have been more specific on some questions as some answers are a generic
• Had more questions to get a better feel of what the people think of music videos
• Stretch out to other video genres so that I get a bigger coverage in my research
• Wording on some of the questions 

Overall the survey has helped me fully decided to go for a gritty, realistic narrative music video. I feel like the research shows that that's the best for the mass to enjoy it. Some of the videos that I got sent to watch did also influence me especially Goodbyes by Post Malone. The videos aesthetic and overall tone to the video really inspires me to create an interesting and fluid story that makes sense. I want the narrative to be the point of the video and the story to stand out. I want to use a range of locations and shots to create the story. I feel like using things like a gimble and other equipment will be very useful and interesting to use as I want the gritty and real-world the video will be based on needs to be shown in the best way possible.    

Using the medium of a survey like this really made it easy for others to do which means I get more responses and overall more insight from other people. Along with the fact that I sent out the survey to my social media so that it could get a lot of coverage it also means that the demographic of the results will be for the target audience. As well as the target audience that the video is for it also stretched out to family members and I got a wider spread of responses and not just the correct age demographic. To get a wide age demographic for my research did help me as I got some insight on what other peoples responses were to my questions.

Music Video analysis

Eminem - Darkness

Eminem has released his new album called Music To Be Murdered By. Eminem has used Alfred Hitchcock album with the same name and imitated the original with the cover art. One of the songs on the record is called Darkness and the video gives it a new meaning and adds more context to the lyrics. The song is about the Las Vegas festival shooting and it creates a narrative that makes you believe that Eminem is the shooter and he is giving reasons as to why the shooter did what he did. Em uses his platform to express his opinions on the gun law in America, he gives a very valid and believable side to the argument and does it well.

In this music video, Eminem looks to be the person in the video as he is wearing the same hoodie as the figure in the video. Later on, in the video, we find out that is isn't him but he is talking about the Los Vagus festival shooting. The hook of the song is "I don't wanna be alone in the darkness" as Eminem is talking about what we think to be him he is sympathising almost with the shooter. The shooter had some mental health problems and Eminem exploits them as the shooter was allowed to hire weapons. The entire song is about exposing how broken America's gun laws are and how Eminem wants it to be fixed. 

"Fuck the colt 45 I'm a need somethin' stronger" This line along with another one, later on, is a double entendre and he uses this to portray a double meaning with the visuals. A colt 45 is both a pistol and a drink at around 5.6% in alcohol. Another line, later on, has a similar meaning.

"If I pop any caps it better be off of vodka" popping caps can be referred to ass taking a lid off of a drink. Vodka is also stronger between the two drinks. The other meaning is also to shoot a gun. As this line is said both a bottle of vodka and an empty bullet casing is shown. This reinforces the double meaning off of these lines. 



The majority of the song has lots of double entendre's that are used to create a double meaning. This is something that Eminem is notorious for, he uses this to create a very visceral image of the theme of the song. While using double entendre he uses it to lighten the mood with opposite meanings. 


People start to show up, time to start the show upIt's 10:05 PM and the curtain starts to go upAnd I'm already sweatin', but I'm locked and loadedFor rapid fire spittin' for all the concert-goersScopes for sniper vision, the surprise from out of nowhereAs I slide the clip in from inside the hotelLeanin' out the window, going Keyser SözeFinger on the trigger, but I'm a licensed ownerWith no prior convictions, so the law says the sky's the limitSo my supply's infinite, strapped like I'm a soldierGot 'em hopping over walls and climbing fencesSome of them John Travolta, staying alive by inches(Hello, darkness, my old friend)Cops are knockin', oh fuck, thought I blocked the entranceGuess show time is overNo suicide note, just a note for target distanceBut if you'd like to know the reason why I did thisYou'll never find a motive, truth is I have no ideaI am just as stumped, no signs of mental illnessJust tryin' to show ya the reason why we're so fucked'Cause by the time it's over, won't make the slightest difference

This entire verse towards the end of the song accompanied by the visuals from the music video has a massive impact. The beginning of the song may sound like any other Eminem song but towards the end, it all comes together and makes sense as he is rapping from the perspective of the gunman at the LasVegas shooting. The meaning of the song becomes more clear as the video shows a deeper side to the song relaying visuals for the viewer to read deeper into the lyrics.   

A review that I have watched really matched my opinions on the track itself. The song really matches the video perfectly and matched gun control. The reason why Eminem would use his platform to express his feelings about gun violence is that he wants a change. The video portrays that the gun law is deeper than just banning guns but banning them fro certain people. In the video, it is shown that the person doing the shooting has mental health issues and a drinking habit. These wouldn't have been accounted for when he was to get the guns. Eminem makes a big point of this and dedicates an entire verse to it along with footage in the music video to back his point. 

"Finger on the trigger, but I'm a licensed owner
With no prior convictions, so the law says the sky's the limit
So my supply's infinite, strapped like I'm a soldier
Got 'em hopping over walls and climbing fences
Some of them John Travolta, staying alive by inches"

Especially the first line of the bar he is directly addressing the issue at hand along with footage to back it up. 

Little Simz - 101 FM

     

101 FM is a song about Little Simz growing up and her story of making songs when she was younger. The video is shot mostly with a 4:3 aspect ratio with lots of grain and noise to make it seem like the footage is old and vintage. This style fits the themes of the song because Simz is reminiscing on her past and how she became who she is now. The video cuts between diegetic sound and non-diegetic sound. This makes the video more grounded in reality. Simz describes the upbringing of her life and how it has affected her music and the video helps portray this message. 

Little Simz's music video for 101 FM has a very distinct tone, very nostalgic and rustic. This tone fits very well with the song as its all about reminiscing and looking back at what made you. The opening shot is of a film reel of some of her past, the lyrics match this same tone as she repeats what happened in her early life.  

In the video, lots of non-diegetic sounds are used. In the video, cars will drive past the camera and they will be included in the video. Along with the onset sound that was caught of her rapping her lyrics. This makes the overall song feel more personal and low budget. If it had had a very big budget and a cinematic feel to it then it wouldn't of fit the tone, this links in well with the Andre Goodwin theory as the themes of the song fit very well with how the video was shot. 


 Along with having a very nostalgic and reminiscing feel to it, there are also some moments where SImz is directly telling us about her life and even her mum adding more to the context of the song.

(Spinning em, spinning em, ay)
Times I would get home late to my mumzie's crib
"Simbi, who are you with?
What have you done?

Where have you been?"

Shit (Damn)  

Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.

The first single to release off of their critically acclaimed Demon Days was Feel Good Inc. Gorillaz is the creation of Blur frontman Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett. They both have created a combination of genres and themes to create the Gorillaz. For Demon Days the main theme was a post-apocalyptic setting with some political influence, mainly focusing on the politics of war as this is something that Damon and Jamie wanted to explore with this album. The entire album itself is very low and has a mature tone to compliment the themes that it talks about. Damon and Jaime have evolved what was seen as a side project to be its own thing that needed to be respected and it did. Feel Good Inc's video has a very dark and dreary tone and the song compliments it. Although the song can be seen from an outsider as a happy song with all of the laughs and sound of the song the video contradicts someones first listen.    

The opening shot is of a broken down and abandoned city, the location of the music video definitely fits the tone of both the song and the album. It's very gritty tone really makes the video stand out. The setting of the video is very important as the entire album is about war and the destruction of it upon society. This video is showing what it could be like without any clear motivation

.

As the video goes on it consistently keeps this very dark tone as we make our way into the feel-good inc tower. The video style being Gorillaz is very unique as the entire video is animated and the fictional band members are performing the song live. While it has elements of live performance it definitely has some narrative as there is an ongoing story throughout the Gorillaz universe that is told through the videos. This is for a more active viewer that will watch the videos in-depth and listen to the song lots. You will find a story underlying and get more out of the video than a passive watcher.

At the same time as the video is very dark and frightening, the song breaks down into a calmer guitar riff that is played. This shows the progression of the song as well as the video. The visual look has changed to match the sound of the song. The colour pallet changes with the song tone. This makes the viewer a lot more emersed into the video and makes the song make more sense contextually. While the entire song has lots of contrast the video definitely keeps up with this contrasting formula. With this screenshot, you can clearly see the two different sections of the song portrayed with the colour pallet. One is very bright, calm and relaxed and the other being very dark and foreboding. 

Towards the end of the track the