This is our Risk assessment for filming.
Title: Trapped in my Mind
Writer: Rachel Taylor
Date: 28th October 2011
Date and time of filming:……
The possible hazards are as follows:
Getting unwanted students in the film causing problems with illegal policies.
Risk of disturbance from household members
Risk of not enough light causing a hazard for crew members
Risk of equipment being damage or stolen due to misuse
Risk of furniture interrupting or harming actors.
Risk of crew tripping over wires or equipment.
Risk of disturbance from teachers or students
Risk of fire hazards
Risk of actors and crew falling over on slippery surfaces due to the coke spill scene
Developing a dead battering when filming
We can’t get into location which we are filming
Members of the crew being unavailable due to sickness or work
The safety measures we will take to avoid these risks:
Tape and secure all cables and wires to the ground to minimise risk of tripping and falling. A mop and bucket to clean up any spillage from liquids used.
Film in a suitable room with sufficient lighting
We will make sure only people with experience with the camera film
We will rearrange furniture and make sure the set is clear
We will make sure that all cameras and equipment are tidy and this will eliminate hazard
Make sure to film in a secluded areas where we wont be disturbed.
Renting out batteries, bring a space camera and charger.
We will make sure that there will be enough of us to get enough footage and keep control of the situation if a member was ill.
Speak to member of staff or security guard, making sure they are aware of our presents and open location if necessary.
Site officer (of the school) contact number: 01733 252235 My contact numbers in case of emergency are: Mother: 07926763522 Myself: 07907684350
We also have a contact number of our media teacher in-case of problems: (Mr Zadi : 07590430385)
The most basic and common lighting setups for any film or music video are done with three main types of lights: Key, Fill and backlight. Each of these lights have its own function and have been usually found with the combination of each other to create the desired lighting effect. When lighting is used, the intent is to simulate the light that may occur under normal conditions in the filming area spaces.
Key Light
The key is the brightest light and casts the primary shadows, giving a sense of direction to the lighting.
Fill Light
The main function of the fill light is to fill in the shadows produced by the key light without casting a distinct shadow of its own.
Backlight
Backlights, sometimes called hair, rim or edge lights, are placed on the opposite side of the subject from the camera, high enough to be out of view.
Set Light
A fourth basic light, the set light, may be used to illuminate the background. Usually the background is partly lit by the key and fill lights, as well as by several set lights.
Lighting Styles
Lighting choices should be made before beginning to film, and should be based on the lighting style you hope to achieve
BACK LIGHTING
Back Lighting is used to illuminate the character from the back, therefore separating them from the background, this creates a ‘halo’ effect on the shoulders of the subject, and portrays the subject as more ‘pure’ & ‘heroic’. Less of a backlight makes the character seem secretive and hidden
This is a ‘YouTube’ video that I have found that clearly demonstrate the types of lighting that’s used in music videos and the visual impact it has on the overall appearance.
He will be wearing a suit in some of the shots when he is out in the real world and when he is trapped he shall be wearing some casual clothing, for example a pair of cool stylish jeans, branded top and possibly a hoodie.
The top he will be wearing will have a red coco-cola logo, to show that we considered branding in our music video and used different methods of advertising.
Branding Mens T-shirts:
These are some men’s t-shirts that we shall be considering to use in our music video as it counts towards costume and incorporating product placement too. We want to give the actor (Kid CuDi) a more casual trendy style in most of the scenes as the artist Isn’t known to be ‘formal’.
Jeans
Props:
Mobile phone
Apple Laptop
Earphones
Sofa
Broken down doors
From this list of props most of the objects will have logo’s and brand names therefore our music video will have different forms of advertising and branding. For example the apple laptop will most likely be instantly recognised and the mobile phone with headset will have some logo printed on, which would be hard to hide.
Sound:
The song lyrics (Kid CuDi- Trapped in my mind)
Lighting & Colour:
Colour in Kid CuDi- Pursuit Of Happiness
After researching KiD CuDi’s music video Pursuit of Happiness we were instantly inspired by the use of camera angles and how mise en scene is used when it comes to the use of lighting and colour. We wanted to use this inspiration and create our own visual representation of some shots that could be incorporated into the final media product. For the colour of the official video is very unusual in a positive way due the the colour being clean and clear showing exactly whats happening in detail but to the point where it still look surreal and dull making it more confusing.The use of colours is naturally dark and boring in my personal opinion. I think the brightness and contrast of these shots haven’t been used repeating throughout each scene, as the director wanted to keep this theme very original and show its creativity from the use of weird camera angles and movements. Than spending hours changing the colour of each shot for example grey scale.
Colour in our music video
The colour in our music video will also be quiet dark and dull, however some parts of the song will be more colourful from the use of artificial lighting to brighten up some locations. For this shot we did use the natural lighting within a home as we wanted to show the actors emotions and lip movement clearly. We also needed to make sure the use of product placement of the ‘Coco-Cola’ was represented effectively, with the liquid pooring at an angle, we needed to show that the gravity of the liquid was surreal. Therefore the colour and lighting needed to be bright and colourful whilst keeping the scene natural and authentic like the rest of the shots during the video.
Lighting in Kid CuDi- Pursuit Of Happiness
For the lighting of the official video its appears to be very verisimilitude creating emotions and emphasizing the complex narrative.The use of lighting in this music video is quite dull and bland, but this is quiet effective as the narrative links well with the overall mise en scene theme. Even though nearly every shot is naturally dark with hardly any artificial lighting it adds authenticity to the final appearance. So even though the narrative seems to be surreal, the lighting is mainly natural with little added lighting or LCD screens.
Lighting in our music video
For our music video we have tried to keep the same idea as Kid CuDi’s music videos with keeping things natural and authentic but in still add surrealism with in most of the shots. For this shot we have used the actor to emphasis the darkness of the scene, whilst using natural lighting to make him appear more out of place. In some of the shots in the scene will make Kid Cudi appear lost and confused from the use of the dark alley way, where he is either walking towards the light symbolising death and more meaningful moments or walking away from the light to represent him trying to escape.
Close ups of his face looking through the window and hands holding the bars
Another close up of Kid Cudi (actor) face when he is lip syncing
Extreme high angle shot of artist in the room, signifying that the walls are way to high to climb.
In order to make our music video as effective and professional as we possibly can, we wont be using the Sony Handycam as we previously used in our AS coursework. I personally think that we should use the Olympus are I think it will give a clear overall impression. Which is the best camera to use when using stop motion in some scenes.
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In terms of Camera shots, I will be referring back to one of my prime influences for the initial concept of moving imagery and surrealism, and that it the music video by Kid Cudi Pursuit Of Happiness (Megaforce Version). In order for our music video to challenge the conventions within the genre of alternative hip-hop rap, we will need to use a range of camera shots, both to highlight the main character in our narrative. Camera shots such as;
• Establishing shots (ES) – such as the start of the Kid Cudi’s video – to establish the scene – where it’s set and to establish the surroundings. • Mid Shots (MS) – These will aid the establishing shots – and give a closer view of the objects in the frame. • Close ups (CU) – These shots will probably be the most important shots in the video – these shots will give the audience a close up view of the moving photos and character – allowing them to see the detail in the actual photos and facial expressions.
• Extreme Close Ups (ECU) – Extreme close ups will also aid the audience in understanding the narrative – it will also allow us to pick out fine detail through using one of the specialist settings on the Canon.
Camera movement on the other hand, we will be using simple methods, that will allow us to follow the photos accordingly.
• Panning & Zooming – to change setting and cover space. • Camera Tilt – tilting to various angles using the tripod will allow us to follow the photos up or down, or round sides, etc.
In this section myself and my group will be experimenting with lip syncing and will do some practicing and exercising to test the complexity of lip syncing and making it fit well, when it comes to the editing stages. If we were to use lip syncing in the final music video, it’s important to know weather is possible, otherwise ifs its more difficult than expected we can easily adapt our story board, and use less lip syncing in the final piece.
Below is a video that we have made to show my lip syncing techniques? We got Luke to learn the lyrics word for word so it will make the editing stages much easier, to get the whole outcome to synchronize smoothly.
Below are the videos that we have made to show our lip syncing techniques. We managed to get Luke to learn the lyrics word for word so it will be easier in the editing stages, giving the whole outcome to synchronize smoothly.
First attempt:
This attempt of lip-syncing is shockingly bad, as Luke wasn’t signing along with the song, he was just signing the song from memory with some lyrics with him, but there was no beat or soundtrack to guide him. Therefore this first attempt wasn’t acceptable and we were now determined to find different solutions to make Luke more comfortable and to get the lips and sound matching together in harmony.
Second Attempt:
Whilst filming Luke, we were playing the song in the back ground so he can get the tune of the song in perfect harmony. As the first time we tried lip syncing Luke was too fast with the song, which made editing extremely hard. So we asked Luke to try again with the song playing along with him, this made him feel more comfortable as he was now able to keep in time with the tune.
Overall, I personally think that lip syncing is much harder that I thought, as its needs to be perfectly smooth with the song, otherwise it will look terrible, giving a poor quality appearance, which makes watching a video unbearable to the viewers. I think we can lip-sync in our final product but it will include a lot of practice to get it perfect. Unfortunately Joey is not in our media studies group, therefore in our spare time we need to work with him and make sure he knows the words of the song from memory, to improve the overall impact. This is going to be hard, as Joey will need to jump from one group to the other which will be stressful, as Joey is going to be a key part in our media video. Therefore communication will be an essential part in our media work.
After a few days wait we got a reply from the HRP prison regarding our queries. Unfortunately the letter was unsuccessful, as we are not allowed to use their prison for our music video. This was a really big dissapointment as the use of location in mise en scene would have looked really effective, allowing us to be more creative with the use of shadows and metal bars. Luckily we do have a back up plan, we will now find an empty room that we can transform. The letter currently states the following:” Dear Rachel, Modestas, Samuel & Joey,Visit to HRP PeterboroughThanks for your letter in which you request to use one of our prison cells to film a music video.Unfortunately I am unable to grant this request to come into the establishment.I wish you all the best of luck with your media studies.Yours sincerelyNick Leader (The Director)”
Just in case we can’t get the HRP Peterborough prison we have found out that the school has requested police officers to teach yr 9 students ‘How not to get into prison‘. They brought along props and an real life version of a prison cell to give the students a real insight of what it is like to be locked up inside. We managed to track down the police officers and asked for some permission to take some photos and possible to do filming within the cell.
These are a few photos of the portable prison cell that was shown to the year 9’s.
This was a good potential option for a location that we can film in, however the only problem we had was that the offers were extremely busy fitting in all students to see the prison in one day, so it was really difficult to every step foot in the cell to film. However seeing a real duplicate of a cell was inspiring and now we know exactly what is located in this small room as we can try to duplicate it ourselves
My favourite location is the prison cell idea, as it’s something that I feel no one else will think off or attempt to do. Asking to film in a public place is very hard and tricky as there are loads of complicated procedures that are needed to go through. As we are A2 media students we have tried our best to find somewhere we can film that will give us the most effective result. I am really passionate about using a prison cellar as its a plain boring room that we can use to do loads of creative things too. Therefore I have decided to call up the HRP prison in Peterborough and ask if we can have permission to film in this dangerous public place. When I called the HRP the woman from the operations department told me to send a letter through the post asking for permission as this is the most formal way of getting our message across to the correct people.
Here is the letter that I’ve sent to the HRP prison:
I’ve tried to make this letter as formal and persuading as possible to increase the chances of getting a positive reply response. If this letter isn’t successful we shall find other alternatives for location. This is the reason why im asking for permission first from the prison center as we can say we have tried and considered this area. If all fails we will still have plenty of time to think of other locations to use that will still link perfectly to our desired narrative. This shows our organisational skills during this project, showing we have good knowledge of the media industry and thinking like ‘real’ media students.
This is a photo that I’ve taken before I decided to post the letter. The letter has been printed and folded in a formal and presented way, to show we want this opportunity and willing to make an effort. Both addresses are on the letter so they can post us a reply with contact phone numbers if they need more personal details. The address on the envelop has been specially printed on, with a second class stamp.
For this section I will be searching and organizing areas that could be a useful place to film our music video.
The ‘Trapped room’
I will be trying to find some building with a simple room that would be a perfect place to give the impression the artist is trapped.
After being ambitious with the storyboard and narrative, Ive asked a local estate agent if they have an building that is being refurbished that we could use, as it would be helpful to have an old white room with no objects within it, the feedback we got from our Estate Agents ‘Brightmoves’ was successful as they mentioned they had an apartment located in stand-ground which the owner agreed we could use of media purposes. We are keeping in close contact with ‘Brightmoves’ to have up-dates in different locations which would be ideal to use, therefore keeping an open mind.
This is the flat in standground that has some potential, it’s an empty house with plain white walls that would be good when creating the blowing letters scene, editing will look more clear again a plain, simple background.
I’ve also phoned our nearest prison in Peterborough to ask if we could use one of the prison cells for the day to get some shots taken. Below is a screen shot from Google maps of the prison that we might consider using if we are allowed to get access in the building.
This is a new-ish building modern prison for both male and female and I think it would be perfect for the idea of being trapped. This area is easy enough to access for all members of my group and therefore is ideal if permission is successful. If we were to use this location we would need to ensure we don’t use an establishing shot of the build with any logos as this could instantly show where we are, which possibly could cause problems with the company. Therefore the best idea is to film in one room that is plain and simple that doesn’t show where we are in the shots.
Nottingham Rail Station NG80 This is a bird’s eye view of a map of Nottingham when Modey and I went to visit Nottingham Trent University. We came across a few buildings that became mysterious locations which we could possibly use in our music video. These locations that we found, we right next to the main railway station where old buildings had bullet smashed glass windows that had been shot, bricks cracking and solid white metal bars across the window to prevent the public from access inside this dangerous building.
From this photo that was taken right next to the train station, we immediately knew that we would need to get some sort of permission to get inside of this dangerous building as it wasn’t been looked after and would be harmful if we decided to hang around there for long. Even though we thought this building looks broken, rough and secure on the outside, we felt like if this would be one of our chosen location areas we could simply film from the outside, as the appearance as a whole would produce an effective piece of work, and will fit well within our theme. Only dilemma was, the location was at a good distance away from Peterborough and therefore hard to get access. If we were to use this location again, it would need to be held in the middle of October/November time; which might not give us enough time to finish and meet the deadline.
Outside the trapped room “The real world”
In some of the shots that we are carrying out is in an alleyway, which would preferably be in Peterbrough Town somewhere for example MilllField as the location can tend to be ‘rough’, which will add a cool effect, as the alleyway will look old and broken.
Alleyways
Pekirk Village
I’ve been recommended to view this alleyway in Pekirk, peterborough which belonged to an old building, which had been noticed as perfect for our music video. This Alleyway is currently in between two detached houses, which means we would need to check with the owners of these two houses if we are able to film for a few hours in this location.
From the image taken by myself, I think it will look really effective in our video, as its a very dark confined piece of space that look really old. I think this would be the perfect solution for our alleyway scene or when the actor is trapped in a tight space, as from the looks of this spaces its extremely narrow. Not only does this dark small alley way effective and syled to our specifications its also a very reachable located for the whole group to get to. Due to our school being located in Glinton, this alleyway is in Pekirk which is only a 15min walk. Therefore if we decided to use this location in our media product we can all work to the location in minutues. Overall its a very convienent, accessible, location which is suitable for what we need, however this chosen location does require permission from the owners of the house in which its built on, which could be an disadvantage.
Queensgate Alley Way…..
These are the main under bridges that are located in Peterborough’s town. They are a few alley ways that allow people who access one end of the main roads to another. I think these would be a good location to consider as its a public place and to some people being in a public place doesnt allow them to be themselves. Therefore in that respect they would begin to feel trapped, not only this but I beleive its an easy place to get access too as the whole group wont have any excuses about traveling arrangments.
Storyboards are a way of showing graphic organisation by the use of serious of illustrations or image which is displayed in a sequence. The purpose of a storyboard is mainly for pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence, including website interactivity. For my media course I shall get together with me group and create a storyboard by using a combination of ideas and including it into one illustration story line. By the use of combining all our ideas we have managed to come up with some story plan that will help enhance the narrative of our music video.
This is our story board of some rough ideas what the narrative could be and what time of camera shots will be used.
Shot 1: This song is going to be a really interesting way of representing the songs title. The letters will be blown by a powerful fan and the printed letters will blow away from the fan, entering the this room. The lettering will preferably be still movements used my a camera layering in the editing stages. Each individual letter will begin to create the title of the song and promote the artist. This will be done by using a long high angle shot of the room.
Shot 2: This high establishing shot introduces our character to the scene as he walks through a door from real life to his mind. We have metaphorically used a door as a prop to his mind, to represent different sections or chambers of his deepest darkest thoughts. Within this shot, costume and editing are major influences on creating the right ‘feel’ to our video, and hopefully the audience will see we have drawn influence from ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and given it an urban touch.
Shot 3: This will be an extremely high angle shot from the corner of this empty room, as we mainly wanted to give the illusion of the walls climbing higher, with the character/artist looking very vulnerable.
Shot 4: Will be a direct shot of joey (Kid Cudi) looking outside a window, whilst tightly gripping onto the metal bars which represents he is trapped in a prison cell. The lighting of this shot will be very dark, as we shouldn’t film the camera directly at the light otherwise the character will be completely black and hardly visible to the viewers, however this is the effect that we wanted to give.
Shot 5: This will be a very hard shot to create and therefore will be taking a risk. It’s going to be a midshot/close up on Joey’s face, and ith the use of the ‘cookie cutter’ we will split the screen in half, directly in the middle of his face. One half of his face shall be reality and the other side of his face will be animated, or if this is not possible to create with our skills, we will use our innitative and use an alternative idea of having the other half of the shot of him still trapped/or in the real world.
Shot 6: Shot 6 is an early idea at an ending where we reveal to the audience that the man has been living life all along and that all the events show in the video are an average day for him. By using this show we have turned the concepts of work and the stress that city life creates into metaphorical situations in which one person is stuck doing something they don’t particularly like (in this case being trapped). Although this idea may change, we intend to create an ending which interlinks with the beginning, In this example, the man may walk into his office which is in fact the white room at the start (scene 1). This will thicken the narrative and encourage repeatability of the song within the audience.
In this section I will be discussing with my group a range of different ideas that we could do in our music video that might relate to the song choice. This would help us to fully understand the lyrics of the song and with the use of our imagination think of a narrative that could easily link into the song, so everything makes sense. First of all we all sat down and had a hard copy of the lyrics which we read through whilst listening to the music. We kept pausing some parts of the song and then had a group discussion of what ideas we could come up with that chorus we just listened too. By doing this method we could come up with some really good imaginative narrative ideas that will match perfectly with the song we are going to do “Trapped in my Mind”.
Idea 1. The first idea is about a man who is lying in a hospital bed dreaming about something very surreal and usual like an unwanted dream. In this dream he appears to be trapped in a white box with walls too high to climb out of, and he is trying to find a way out of this box or room. When he is in this box he begins to hallucinate and then appear to be falling somewhere. Whilst he is falling weird things happen to him with the use of animations. He will also get flash backs for his life which will explain why he feels so trapped by his insecurities. Towards the end of the song he see’s a big bright white light, and he is torn towards this light which will then have a jump cut to the hospital bed with an extreme close up of the hospital heart rate monitor with the heart beeping then slowly begins to stop with a big beep, signifying that has walked to the bright light and ended his life.
Idea 2. This guy is having a normal day at work stuck in an office and from his appearance he looks a bit like a computer geek, then suddenly he gets sucked into some sort of trapped video game and he can’t escape unless he finishes the game. He need to complete all the challenges that get in his way correctly making the correct choice, otherwise he could be trapped forever in this surreal computer generated world. He is surrounded by so many different options and choices and he need to be clever and think ‘outside of the box’ for the game to be completed.
Idea 3.Instead of being trapped in a white box or room this guy is trapped in a prison cell surrounded by plain, dark walls and heavy metal bars. He forgets about what the real world is like as he has never been outside of this cell. He thinks he is getting crazy but his craziness is normal for him. He wants to get out of this prison but at the same time is scared, as he wouldn’t know how to react and act around normal people. For most of his life he has been surrounded by criminals so he has always learnt to be very defensive of himself. This will be shown my the use of his body language and motion of the song choice. Jump cuts and cut away shots will be shown of the prison cell to the outside world. Where the outside world will be surreal and within the bars will be reality, as this is the perspective of how he is in his life. Normal to him in locked up in a cell. He tries to find a way of escaping but is uncertain of the choice he is about to make.
The Idea that I really like is Idea 3 as I think it will look really effective if it was held in a real life prison as I can imagine a lot of experimentation with lines and shadows with the criminals looking really scary. And then the use of animation and illustrations can be mainly used in the real world. Showing this different of worlds for different peoples perspectives. I believe that this type of narrative can be a lot of fun to create with a very unique ideas and story line, even thought this idea is quite complicated, confusing and ambitious, therefore not exactly following Suzy Davis advice exactly, but i know this idea will give us the ability to use editing to the max. After some sensible considerations we as a group have decided that the whole concept of using this idea would be way to confusing, the decided to drop the idea. However we still wanted to use some elements of the idea to recreate a much better idea. Story3 is mainly based on the confusion of Kid Cudi and is shown by him not being used to the outside life away from jail. So we would have shown how he would of been trapped in society, but like I said this idea was way too complex for what we needed, and it would have been hard to show the confusion, due to jail usually being associated with being trapped and not the outside life.
Development of idea 3: The 4th story was that Kid Cudi wakes up from his sleep. But once he wakes up he realises that he is not fully awoken, therefore being trapped in his mind, this links to the song and creates a cool story to help the video flow. In this dream he is trapped in a white room, this is his dream which he is trapped upon. Kid Cudi looks for ways out and cannot find the exit, and all the video would show his struggling and being trapped in this one room then in the end maybe escaping from this dream that he was trapped in. This story is very simple and seems really cliché to me, maybe I have seen the idea been used and cannot remember, but I do feel that this idea is used and just do not think it has enough to run us through the whole video, whilst still keeping people interested in the music video. This is why we have not chosen to create this idea due to the lack of content available from this story arc.
Further Development/Final: This idea can be developed from our brainstorms (which was done vocally, not written) was the idea that Kid Cudi wakes up and enters a room from his living room that he has never seen before. From this he is trapped in this room, but constantly keeps reappearing in different confined places and once he tries to exit these rooms he re-enters the room he was initially trapped in. The idea is where ever Kid Cudi goes he always ends up in the room he randomly entered at the start. This idea gives us a lot of content due to the different locations that can be used to keep interest in the video. The room at the start initially is his mind, so he actually is going nowhere at the end. But inside his mind he is entering many different places and ending up in the same place (his mind). It is simple and gives us a lot of content due to the availability of many spaces in the music video. It is also relevant to the song and has content from all the ideas into one simple idea to help branch out into the final music video for Trapped In My Mind. This narrative is much more suitable due to its simplicity compared to the start of our ideas which were more ambitious that led to so much confusion, where working as a group became difficult as we all had different understandings. Therefore this one idea is perfect giving us plenty of locations and planning to do, plus adaptions for improvements.
In this section I will be exploring some music videos that I thoroughly enjoy but look more deeply into the technical aspects of it. Such as the use of camera angles, editing, mise en scene, and movement that could be beneficial to the music video I will be eventually making. From watching music videos on ‘Youtube’ and ‘MTV’ I have found music videos that have attracted me greatly that have also inspired me within my work. They are Owl city’s debut song fireflies, The Pen story which I thought was amazingly creative and imaginative. Therefore I shall be researching in depth some music videos of my appeal and find one that links perfectly with my song choice.
OWL CITY- FIRE FLIES
Owl city fireflies get really upbeat and catchy towards the end and main chorus. I really love the use of different types of toys that are hidden and shown with in bedroom. It reminds me of when kids have these dreams that their favourite toys come alive in the night when no one is looking. From this video it indicates what goes on in a child’s mind and the surreal of the video makes it appear more fascinating. I do find this video very dark with hardly no lighting as the main lighting if from the toys LCD lights or phosphorescent lighting, however this technique does look effective as does follow my theory of the story line. However this music video links mainly into the category ‘Disjuncture’ as the band prefers to show their originality and uniqueness as an individual group. Therefore Owl City don’t always make much sense due to the heavy use of abstract imagery.
THE PEN STORY
This video instantly attracted me due to its creativity and originality. I never seen a music video much like this as the use of photos makes it so much more amusing. This video is a perfect example of Amplification as it has a very clear narrative to follow. From the first shot it immediately tells me that the song has something to do with a very important anniversary as it says on the envelop “50th Anniversary” which from knowledge means the ‘Gold wedding anniversary’.
The camera angles within this video is not very obvious as the main attention is the use of layering photos to make it look like the character is moving etc. But you can notice some camera movement as the camera is sometimes on a tilt/angle to make it appear like a high angle shot or low angle shot.
KID CUDI – Pursuit Of Happiness (Megaforce Version)
Click on the image to enlarge so text is more visible..
Here I have annotated each shot that I liked and why I think its good. Kid Cudi’s video has been cleverly done from the use of interesting camera angles and movements used in each frame. He has used creativity in a complete different way, without the need to have much animations, he has used a lot of props to make this amazing piece of art which makes it inspiring when I need to make my video. If we decide not use animations or illustrating the use of clever technical props and unusual camera angles will be used to make it appear surreal. This video is an Amplification music video as it follows the story line in a way but uses surreal objects to add creativity and a positive sense of humour.
Videos I don’t particually want to take further!!!
These are some music videos that i’ve looked at that I think might not be exactly suited for our ideas and for other various reasons.
Katy Perry last friday night:
This music video has a great sense of humour with the use of mise en scene and narrative. Which is really inspiring however I felt that the lip syncing at the beginning is really bad, as she is wearing those really big braces its off-putting when she starts signing. Therefore I personally felt uncomfortable. However I like the idea of using bright colours and the sense of comedy humour in this video, I think I would get pretty bored of watching it more than twice. It isn’t my personal type of attraction.
Therefore I don’t think I will be getting much inspiration from this music video when I begin to design my media product.
Ed Sheeran – You need me, I don’t need you
This is a music video from Ed Sheeran. I’ve been observing his music videos and came to notice that all of his official videos are in black and white with a very depressing narrative. From his newest official video “you need me, I don’t need you” uses Disjuncture as the video doesn’t follow the narrative story line for the lyrics. Therefore it appears completely random. What I like about this music video however it the clever way of using a ‘cool, young teenage boy who appear to be doing some dance when it really is sign language used of people who cannot hear. I like this idea as it shows that anyone can watch and understand his lyrics in his music video! However towards the end of his video it began to get extremely boring, this is not a good thing if the audience gets bored and doesn’t want to watch it again. Ed Sheeran also never uses himself in his music video. He will always get someone who is acting then he would occasionally appear towards the last 10 seconds of the song.
From watching this music video, I believe I will not be using inspiration from it as it doesn’t attract me in any way, apart from trying to broaden the target audience.
Group Discussion
As a group we have been using the social networking site Facebook to communicate when out of school. We have been discussing what type of music videos have inspired us, that could give us some inspiration for our media product, also what songs we really like that has a personal meaning. We all have different opinions but this is a good thing as it allows us to have an open mind about what type of music video we can experiment with.
I’ve been posting videos that I think would be a really good idea to use, for example more of the illustration and animation side of the video world, trying to get the boys to realize how the artistic music videos look the most effective.
Whereas the boys had another ideas of music choice as they posted music videos that had a lot of fast movement and a wide range of camera angles continuously. Therefore we all agreed to combine all the ideas of what music videos we are greatly inspired by and use a mixture of animation, camera angles continuously and will be relying on the editing to produce the movement.
Im really glad that we used Facebook as another communication network as we were able to discuss anything, ideas, problems, inspiration and sharing all our ideas that can be put together. Modey and I were also finding videos that were all based on animations and posting tutorials, so we can independently learn a new software that will benefit us for our media product.
“To obtain permission to use a work protected by copyright, you must determine who is the copyright owner of the material you intend to use, contact the owner, and request the right to use the work in the territory and format you intend, and — in some cases — pay the owner a fee. Often the most difficult part of this process is finding the owner to ask permission to use the work.”
Kid Cudi’s personal permission:
In order for our media group to use the song within our music video, we would firstly need to email Kid Cudi for his permission, and any thoughts or issues that he might have on us using his song. From basic knowledge we knew that it would be a legal requirment to get permission from the artist or management for us to use their song for personal purposes. However as we are media students we wouldn’t be publishing it as a copy righted song, but we do feel it would be best to ask Kid Cudi if we are allowed to use his song that is not very well known for our media video
This is the email that we sent to him regarding what we would like to do with his song.
Unfortunately we did not get a reply from him or his management team. Therefore we will still proceed with the making of our media video, and maybe try to email him again something during the course of the project.
Copyright is a law that helps protect creators by giving them exclusive rights to their work. Once a work is under copyright, it is then illegal to use the work without the permission of the copyright owner.
How does copyright effect my decision to use music?
Music that has been recorded on a published CD is normally protected by 2 copyright laws. To have the ability to use the recording of the music within my work, I would need to get permission from both copyright holders. These are the record company and the artist publisher itself.
The second permission is for the recording itself. To get this, you would approach the record company that released the recording. The record company holds the copyright for the actual performance of the song captured and mastered on tape and released on CD. The symbol for this copyright is the letter (P) inside a circle. (look on the back of your own Cds, you will see these symbols in use)
From this information it suggests that having a sync license means you have permission from the publisher to use the music but it doesn’t give me the right to use a specific recording for the work. For that I would need the following:…
What licenses do I need?
Here are the licenses you need for the right to use music in your media project:
Synchronization License – This license is issued from the music publisher. The Synchronization License (often abbreviated as sync license) gives you the right to “synchronize” the copyrighted music with your images and dialogue
Master Use License – This license is issued directly from the record company. Fees can range from several hundred dollars to millions of dollars depending on the popularity of the music.
Overall from this little section of research, I have learnt that even though I’m only using the music for educational purposes. I really just ask for permission first before I can officially use my desired song in my media product. Therefore I will sent an email and write a formal letter regarding song permission use, which will be sent out to Kid Cudi and his personal recording company.
When it comes to planning and researching a song that would be well suited for my music video their were many ideas and suggestions that would be considered. We all decided to make a music video that would fit into the category Illustration or Amplification. The reason we wanted to make a music video under these categories is because it would feel more comfortable to make a music video that corresponds to the lyrics, so some sort of storyline/narrative would match with it. I also felt that using this style of music video would allow us to make a more original final piece, so full imagination and creativity was available. When doing some target audience research the most popular genre surprising turned out to be Alternative hip-hop/rap and Electro, therefore when deciding on what song to pick, we shall be looking at songs in the chosen genre.
OWL CITY
Owl City had two very In-dependable albums which gained mainstream popularity with the 2009 major lable debut album Ocean Eyes which successfully became a massive hut triple platinum single. “fireflies” and “Vanilla Twilight” are the names of the popular songs in this single.
Owl city has been described as a conbination of different genres, there include Electropop, synthpop,indietronica, ethereal wave,emo-pop, Dreampop.
Fireflies song lyrics:
You would not believe your eyes If ten million fireflies Lit up the world as I fell asleep
‘Cause they’d fill the open air And leave teardrops everywhere You’d think me rude But I would just stand and stare
I’d like to make myself believe That planet Earth turns slowly It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay Awake when I’m asleep ‘Cause everything is never as it seems
‘Cause I’d get a thousand hugs From ten thousand lightning bugs As they tried to teach me how to dance
A foxtrot above my head A sock hop beneath my bed A disco ball is just hanging by a thread
I’d like to make myself believe That planet Earth turns slowly It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay Awake when I’m asleep ‘Cause everything is never as it seems When I fall asleep
Leave my door open just a crack (Please take me away from here) ‘Cause I feel like such an insomniac (Please take me away from here) Why do I tire of counting sheep (Please take me away from here) When I’m far too tired to fall asleep
To ten million fireflies I’m weird ’cause I hate goodbyes I got misty eyes as they said farewell
But I’ll know where several are If my dreams get real bizarre ‘Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar
I’d like to make myself believe That planet Earth turns slowly It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay Awake when I’m asleep ‘Cause everything is never as it seems When I fall asleep
I’d like to make myself believe That planet Earth turns slowly It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay Awake when I’m asleep ‘Cause everything is never as it seems When I fall asleep
I’d like to make myself believe That planet earth turns slowly It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay Awake when I’m asleep Because my dreams are bursting at the seams
We considered using this song to help us create our music video as it has really interesting camera shot and movement in every shot. The lighting was also used in a clever way making it really interesting and enjoyable to watch. This song is really upbeat and jolly, making the target audience want to jump in and sing along to the words. Listening to this songs puts a smile on my face and instantly makes me happy, so If we were to consider this song, the narrative needs to be something that can signify the happiness of the song. When listening to the lyrics of the song I instantly get the vibe of creativity and fast shots repeated continuously, also if we were to do this song I would defiantly fit some childish animations using ‘flash’ or something to make the video just as exciting and fun as the actual song.
TINIE TEMPAH
Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a British rapper from South London, England. His debut album, Disc-Overy, debuted at number one on 10 October 2010 and was preceded by the number-one singles “Pass Out” and “Written in the Stars” and the top-five singles “Frisky” and “Miami 2 Ibiza”.
Genres: Hip Hop, Electro, Rap, Grime, Drum & Bass
Let go feat Emeli Sande
[Chorus] If you can see me, then you’re probably a little too close So you think you could love me, well you gotta be stronger than most Cause my ex didn’t like it, didn’t like it, no my friends they don’t like it, they don’t like it Somebody remind me When’s the right time, when’s the right time to let go
[verse 1] Uh, dear whoeva the fuck is listening, Tell me of the pleasures of being a normal citizen Cause all these fittins’ and Vivians keeping me from fittin’ in Why do I feel safer on stage than in my own living room My grandma say that if I leave my drink I shouldn’t sip again Ooh this tour has got me feeling tired like I’m itchin’ and uh even though it’s physical differences in my siblings that’s why I feel so down even at the top of the ____
[Chorus]
[verse 2] Uh, dear whoeva the fuck is witnessin’, Disturbing London independent black businessman Based on the work and the effort I’m gunna give this year Everybody’s getting the presents they want for Christmas, yeah Life is only ninety nine winters So I’m tryna bond with daddy even though I don’t like Guiness Don’t be confused by my image, I’m no fuckin’ public pin-up
But my heart won’t let me say no to a picture
[Chorus]
[verse 3] Uh, dear whoeva the fuck is, Fuck it, this is discovery hate it or love it I’m now officially the property of the public since licensing my album And signing a deal to be published But none of these songs are written for me, nor am I a puppet Journalists come for interviews but don’t stay on the subject Yeah, no, yea – are we done yet? Questions you’ve asked me hundreds, now can you grant me some rest Because I’m tired of it, I’m living out my dream, and I’m tired from it If music needed saving, I’d die for it Music’s where my heart is, I’m alive for it I promise
[break] If I’m never liked my heart might break Here in the dark, yeah, we’ll be safe I don’t care, no looking back I’ve never been, never been, this far from home
[Chorus]
This song kind of means something to me, its a song that I always listen too when im a bit down or stressed, as I personally believe it helps me relax. However the lyrics are catchy with a good beat that we could experiment a lot with. Tiny Tempah does have some fast rapping in some areas of the song but its broken down but the soft singing from Emeli Sande, which I personally believe makes the song more interesting. As the woman voice is a song makes it more amusing that having just non stop rapping, which somethings gets on peoples nerves. Also from the questionnaire research rapping wasn’t the most popular and therefore this song would be good as its broken down cleverly. When it comes to thinking of a narrative when listening to this song I instantly imagine a love story when a couple breaks up and they possibly have some flash backs to the memories they had together. or about Tinie Tempah not being able to fit in with his surroundings, feel alone and insecure.
KID CUDI
Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi(born January 30, 1984), better known by his stage name Kid Cudi sometimes stylized KiD CuDi, is an American rapper, singer and actor. He first gained major attention after the release of his debut mixtape A Kid Named Cudi. In 2009, his single “Day ‘n’ Nite” reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. “Day ‘n’ Nite” is part of Cudi’s debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day. Cudi has also worked with Kanye West, Common, David Guetta and other artists signed to the GOOD Music label.
Kid Cudi has various types of subgenres these include: Hip Hop, Alternative hip hop/rap, Alternative rock and Neo-Psychedelia
The Prayer My heart thump not from being nervous
Sometimes I’m thinking God made me special here on purpose
So all the while ’til I’m gone make my words important so
If I slip away, if I die today the last thing you remember won’t
Be about some apple bottom jeans with the boots with the fur
Baby how I dream of being free since my birth
Cursed but the demons I confronted would disperse
Have you ever heard of some shit so real
Beyond from the heart, from the soul you can feel
And if I die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to take But please don’t cry, just know that I have made these songs for you And if I die before I wake I pray the lord my soul to take ‘Cuz I’m ready for a funeral
My mind runs I can never catch it even if I got a head start God please tell me I am feeling so alone way I don’t need to worry ‘cuz I know the world’ll feel this nigga Blessing in disguise but I am not hiding who I am open your eyes bro If I ever met you, I appreciate the love yo Girls that I dated, it’s ok I am not mad yo Unless you stabbed me in the heart, no love ho, this shit is so I’ll Play it back from the top if you recognize real
And if I die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to take But please don’t cry, just know that I have made these songs for you And if I die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to take ‘Cuz I’m ready for a funeral And if I die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to take So please don’t cry, just know that I have made these songs for you And if I die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul take ‘Cuz I’m ready for a funeral (I’m ready for the funeral, I’m ready for the funeral)
When I first heard this song the theme of being trapped occured to me. I am determinded to find a song that has good lyrics that could include some form of realism and surrealism that could have different forms of media like illustrations for the scene to be surreal, and being trapped trying to escape from this nightmare. This song is quiet slow and therefore if we were going to create a music video, we would need to make the footage slow too, so its contrasts perfectly. I’m uncertain about this song as its not my ideal choice however with my imagination and ambition to succeed, I can see this song being good for an interesting unique narrative that will attract the audience from the use of the video.
OR
Trapped in my mind
You see, I’m trapped in my mind, oh, I’m going trippy
Oh, I don’t think I’ll ever go
You see the walls are so high that I couldn’t climb them
So I don’t know which way to roll
Well, I’m stuck in rewind though I’m looking forward Damn, I wish I knew what went wrong I’m sick and I’m ill, my mental got me Oh Lord, please help me pull through
You see the sun seems to shine when I am not looking Oh, it seems a trick every time Things do get out of hand once a while inside my mental Hey, I took a hell of a run
When I see what a soul I know I am not lucky Yeah, I like to pat my own back It’s a gift and a curse since my birth, I’m in a prison Oh, I’m happy right where I’m at
I’m trapped in my mind and I know it’s crazy Hey, it’s not that bad at all When you think of the world, I know it’s crazy Hey, I’m not that bad at all
You see I’m trapped in my mind and I know it’s crazy Hey, it’s not that bad at all When you think of the world, I know it’s crazy Hey, I’m not that bad at all
I’m trapped in my mind and I know it’s crazy Hey, it’s not that bad at all When you think of the world, I know it’s crazy Hey, I’m not that bad at all
Oh, I’m trapped in my mind, baby I don’t think I’ll ever get out Oh, I’m trapped in my mind, baby I don’t think I’ll ever get out, yeah
I am trapped in my mind, baby I don’t think I’ll ever get out
I don’t think I’ll ever get out
This song also links in really well with the theme of being trapped ” you see the walls are so high that I couldn’t climb them” signifies that he is trying to find a way to escape but there is no way out. So it occured to me of the idea of being trapped in a small white box with high walls travelling quickly higher and higher the longer he is in there for. Another idea that I came up with from these set of lyrics was the idea of Kid Cudi being trapped in a cell in jail, locked behind bars. As I believe that if you were trapped in a small room in jail there is no where to escape as your fully surrounded by metals bars and cement. “Im trapped in my mind and i know its crazy, its not that bad at all, when you think of the world, i know its crazy, hey its not that bad at all” when it says “when you think of the world” this is what gave me the idea that he is trapped in a cell, wanting to know what the real world is like, as he has forgotten what it is like to be free.
As you can tell from above these lyrics to this song has given me an overload of ideas that we could use, even though personally I dislike the song as its not my type of music, however the boys in the group love it and believe its the perfect song to do with my ideas of the narrative. For my next post I will be discussing all my ideas of what we can use, and looking at some existing music videos that can inspire us even more.
Therefore Kid Cudi – Trapped in my mind is the song that we as a group have decided to use for our media studies music video A2.
Rachel Louise Taylor 