First Storyboard

When we filmed our bands live performance the other week, I was unable to storyboard for it because it was a live event and we could not plan what would happen. However for our other scheduled filming date we are able to storyboard because we are directing the band in their actions and controlling the camera ourselves.

To begin with I decided to draw down the shots I wanted to put into the video, however as I am not the best artist a lot of the shots look very different to how I envisioned them to look. I decided to carry on drawing a few ideas down anyway, and once I'm back at school I will ask a few people if they wouldn't mind acting as the band whilst I take some photos for a picture storyboard. This way the shots will look a lot better and more realisic to what I want to create.

Camera 1 - Warehouse Location

 
This camera would be mainly situated on the left and the shot types all vary.
Shot 1: Would be an establishing long shot. The instruments would all be set out properly and the band would then walk in and get into position
Shot 2: This would be a side mid shot of members of the band getting ready with their instruments, establishing the faces and connecting them with an instrument for the audience
Shot 3: Close up of the lead's guitar - the camera will then tilt upward to show the audience who is playing that instrument. This will be at a slight low angle
Shot 4: Extreme close up of the hands of the guitarist to match that of the chosen track. This would show authenticity of the music.
This shot will then go into shot 5 which is a zoom out into a mid/long shot of the band member so he is also revealed. Ideally this will be quite a fast zoom out like many of the music videos i have watched, however its very difficult to make a quick zoom out look good, so we might have to slow it down slightly.
Shot 6: Long shot from the left hand side, the camera will then rolly around the front of the band and to the right. Im not 100% sure this shot will work because we don't have a track for the camera to run on and also it might not fit in with the tempo of the song.

Camera 2 - Warehouse Location

 Camera 2 will mainly focus on the central area, getting mainly front shots of the band

Shot 1: Low long shot. The camera would be placed on the floor and as the band members walk in you will just be able to see their feet and legs which will add mystery to the shot and the band.
Shot 2: Extreme close up of one of the guitarist/bass player playing their instrument
Shot 3: Also is progression from shot 2. The camera will move up the neck of the guitar to focus on the fingers to play in sync with the track music.
Shot 4: Front long shot of the band to establish them as a group which will then transition into the individual members. Here I have shown a zoom in to the main member of the band who both sings and plays the guitar. This shows the audience that he is the main focus showing him as a leader.
Shot 5: Low angle mid shot. This is where the camera will be right low on the ground and look up to the members making them appear superior and it is an effect seen in most music videos with performances as well.
Shot 6: Extreme close up of the microphone and mouth of the singers. In the band Starfish, we have the main singer and guitarist, and also the bass player who sing. However it is primarily the guitarist who does the lead vocals.


Camera 3 - Warehouse Location

This is a third camera I added, and this was an idea that I had from going to live performances of bands where the camera shoots from behind the acts and the drummer also gets more focus too. I thought the idea of doing this was quite good because we want to show that the band are isolated in this building to coincide with the lyrics, and the best way to do this was to show that there was no one around the band or infront of them either.

Shot 1: Extreme long shot from behind the drummer to show the vast and empty location and also still have mystery to the identity of the band
Shot 2: Close up of the drummers foot on the main drum. This should be synced with the track and create the tempo of the song. It also still keeps the members a mystery.
Shot 3: Side mid shot of the drum kit and drummer to make sure that all members of the band are features. This shot then quickly zooms in to the symbols/drums (whichever works out to seem the best) so that the audience feel part of the action and as if they're watching the band live.
Shot 4: Also goes from the drummer in a mid-long shot and quickly moves to another member of the band in a fast transition into shot 5. I've seen a few music videos which have featured moves similar to this and I think they are effective in keeping the audience engaged in the action and also have more of a performance feel about them.
Shot 5: Transition from shot 4
Shot 6: Low angle long shot of the 3 other members of the band. The camera will be placed infront of the drummer as if from a point of view shot. This is also to show the lead man in the centre as the main importance which is also signified by the low angle used.

Shots From Music Videos #2

Having looked at the original Kelly Clarkson music video for 'Since U Been Gone' I found quite a few effective shots that were used that I'd like to adjust slightly and possibly recreate.

This is a long shot that I would quite like to recreate in my music video. Because my band want a performance based one, showing crowd shots will be effective in classifying the target audience and also making the audience feel part of the video. I would quite like to move around the audience so that the viewers feel part of the audience.

During a number of performance music videos I’ve watched the camera tracks around the back of the crowd and I was to include some of these during our video to make the viewers feel involved.

 

This camera shot from the original Kelly Clarkson video for 'Since U Been Gone'. The shot is shown during the performance side of the video and shows the crowd who are vital in determining the target audience. I'd like to capture some of the crowd to show this audience as well as showing that the performance is live so we can see the contrast between the isolated band and the lively fun band that reflect in the lyrics.

This is a shot also used in the ‘Since U Been Gone’ music video and shows a high angle shot of the drummer that adds authenticity to the band. I would like to create a similar shot, but possibly include the face of the drummer more because Starfish are more of a band, not a solo artist like Kelly Clarkson so it’s important to identify all the members.

This is a shot i’d also like to use, or very similar with our band. It would probably be used in the live performance part of our video because it features the crowd of the ideal target audience. The shot really shows a connection between the artist or band, and the fans which I think is very effective.

This is a video shot from Kelly Clarksons music video ‘My Life Would Suck Without You’. This also shows the performance side of the video and I think the lighting in this shot is an effective to use. The camera zooms in from a long wide shot to focus on a mid shot of Kelly who is seen as the main artist. The silhouette that is created by the lighting however doesn’t identify the other band members such as the guitarist and drummer, which we will have to change in some way so that all our members get fairly equal screen time and also viewers will be able to see them easily.

I then looked at some other rock bands video to get some influence and came across Billy Talent's music videos. Here are some shots that I found really stood out for me throughout all of them.

This is a shot from Billy Talent’s music video ‘Surrender’ and shows an introductory shot of the front man and guitar players behind all blurred out. I think as a first shot this could be quite an effective one to use for our music video as it shows the mystery of the band before you reveal their faces.

After the mid wide three shot, the camera zooms in to the front man’s face which then becomes focused. However the two guitarists behind him are still blurred which could suggest their less important but also keep the mystery of the band as well. I think using a method like this for either in the warehouse or the field would be a good way to introduce each of the band .members.

Unlike most music video shots from the rock genre, this shot of the guitarist features his face rather than his instrument.  I would like to incorporate both methods, but I really like the way this shot identifies part of the instrument as well as the band member.

A lot of the shots I’ve looked at from bands within the rock genre have been edited into a slow motion technique.

Shots from Music Videos

I've looked at some music videos that are both similar in the genre of music we are working with as well as the locations we're looking to film in.

The first few shots that I want to recreate in my music video are from the Foo Fighters music video 'The Pretender' which is one of Starfish's main influence which shows relevance into looking at the video. It is located in a vast aerodrome hanger, one similar to what we would like to film in, and shows the band isolated with the focus on just them and their performance.

This low angle shot just shows the vastness of the location similar to one we want as well as mystery. This mystery is established by the camera set behind the artist so that we cannot see his face. I think that for a new band like ours, this could be an intriguing opening shot because the viewers could learn the setting and the instruments that the members play before revealing their faces. This idea gives the viewers a chance to use their imagination to put a face to the members.

This shot follows on from the previous one and shows a front view of the band but continues with the idea of showing the band mysterious and presenting them through their instruments.

This extreme long shot also used in the Foo Fighters video is very effective and i'd like to recreate a similar one because it shows the vastness of the location. This vastness will reflect on the isolationism of our band which is relevent to the lyrics 'Since U Been Gone' showing the band alone on their own.

Most of the shots I want to create are similar to this because of the upbeat tempo to the song. The low angle shots show the members of the band as significant and focusing on the instruments will also add authenticity to the video too. The shot gives the band members power and I would like to include lots of these shots with quick editing to match with the pace of the music.



I want to make sure that I feature all the members of the band, including the instruments they play, to add an identity to all members. The camera should get involved with the action and the music to emphasise the rock genre.

As well as the close up shots of the instruments, I would also like to incorporate some long/mid shots of the individual members as well. Because this is the bands first music video, its important to introduce each of the members of the band and so we will be able to through these shot choices.

Target Audience Research - Youtube

Recently, Youtube have enabled people to see statistics on video's that include where a video is most popular and the sex and age of most the people that have watched the video. I decided to have a look at a few video's by bands which influence Starfish and those in the pop and rock genre to see what sort of audience they have.

This shows the audience range for the song Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone which is the song that our band is covering. Here we can see that the video is very popular with females and that the age range is very wide, starting with teens and going up to those in their 40s. This shows the video appeals to people of all these ages

These statistics are from the Foo Fighters video 'The Pretender' and shows a real contrast from the previous Kelly Clarkson one. The Foo Fighters are classed under the rock genre, and the audience table here shows that the audience is mainly males and the age range is once again very wide. It shows that the band are popular with those teens all the way to those in their late 30s and early 40s.

When looking at the Stereophonics song 'Just Looking' I noticed a significant difference in the rock genre. The audience was most popular with the much older men, even going up to those in their 50s. This shows that our band might have to produce a music video that will accommodate for an older target audience as well.

This shows the music video by Mcfly called 'The Heart Never Lies'. McFly are a band that are probably the band that is most like Starfish in terms of sound, showing a rock pop genre. Here we can see that the band attracts mainly females, however men are also the target audience for the band as well, and shows the teens and those in their early 20s are the main aim for the video. To get more of an idea of how to attract this audience, we'll research into the music videos a bit more.

These statistics are from the Manic Street Preachers song '(It's Not War) Just The End Of Love'. This is very similar, in terms of audience, to the Stereophonics. They once again are classed under the rock genre and show a male dominated audience from the early 30's up until the early 50s.

These are some of the statistics from All Time Low's music video 'Dear Maria, Count Me In'. This is a band that could be seen as a rock band with a pop genre twist to them. The target audience here can be seen as mainly females in their teens and early 20s, with some younger males also classed under there too.



With all this information on target audience, we have to take it all into account, as well as the age of our band as well, and understand who our target audience will be and try to produce ways in which to attract them all.

Target Audience

When meeting with our band Starfish, one of the most important questions that we asked was 'who are your target audience?' as this was cruicial in determining ideas for our music video. There response was for people around our age and those interested in the rock genre, to which we decided was both genders aged around 14-21 primarily. However after researching the bands website, we saw that they were influenced by Mcfly, who have a very predominant female target audience, the Foo Fighters, who have a very mixed audience of both old from those who have followed the band, and the young who have become interested in their music. Their influences come from both new and old bands, showing the wide audience that we should aim to cover, but with the main focus on teenagers our own age.

We also asked the band where they usually perform to which they told us that pubs were probably their main one. This gave us a different idea of target audience as it suggests that their location would be aimed for men who are usually related to pubs, and also a much more mature audience. With this in mind we had to think of ideas that could cover all the target audience, and with the influence of just a performance video from the band, we decided that this would be the best option because it would suit all.

Once looking into the bands target audience, we also thought it was a good idea to look into the target audience of some of the bands influence. As previously looked at, Mcfly started with a young teenage audience appealing to them by showing their down to earth characteristics. The Foo Fighters have a much older audience as they formed much longer ago, however with the release of their newer albums they have reached a younger audience too by showing their energetic side in their music videos. Greenday are very similar to this, having been around for many years they have released albums that have reached a wide variety of audience. The bands do this in a number of ways, keeping their attire very casual and their performance lively for all ages.

After establishing our target audience and what sort of music video we wanted, it was cruicial to add in all the small detail as well such as the costumes the band will wear and the shot types we will use. Two of the members of Starfish told us that they wanted to keep it quite simple and would bring a variety of outfits for the shooting day to save us from having to go out and buy 5 different outfits with no budget.

Photos From Filming

Dilemma

Today (Sunday 19th December), Jamie text me to inform me that the footage filmed yesterday didnt save to the SD card in the camera, but instead to the tape that was also in the camera. This meant that we couldnt instantly upload the footage onto the computer at Jamie's house, however we could still be able to transfer the footage to the schools computer when we return using the USB lead.

In the meantime, I do have a DVD recorder so that we can record the footage from the tape onto a DVD and then use the DVD to transfer the footage to a computer. This way we can see what footage we have and possibly edit together something before the end of the Christmas holidays. Hopefully we will figure something out and meet up again before the end of the holidays to try out these ideas.

Saturday 18th December

Today is the day of filming, and to make sure Jamie and Paige knew what was happening I text them both to talk through the plans. Paige then sent an email over facebook saying that she had work until 5pm when the band wanted us to meet at 6pm and the location was about 45minutes away.
Originally I was going to drive the group to Coton, however due to the icy conditions and feeling slightly under the weather, I thought it was best to try and find an alternative way there. I asked my parents if they could drive us down, which they agreed to so I text the group again to ask Jamie if he could get to Sawtry where Paige would be so that we could pick them both up at about 5.30.

Once we hit the edge of Cambridge we began to get worried that we wouldnt make it to the village because of the amount of snow there was and the dangerous driving conditions, so Jamie text Steve to let him know that we would be a little bit late. When we finally arrived at 6.30 we met the band and allowed them to set up for a bit. While they were setting up we made sure Jamie understood the camera however it was slightly different to the ones we were used to. The party officially started at 8pm and Paige, Jamie and I did feel like we were slightly interfering with the birthday celebrations and even though there were meant to be 130 guests, due to the snow there were only about 30 people there.

We started filming at 9pm, which was a lot later than we had thought, meaning that we had been hanging around for a couple of hours being unable to film anything which was quite fustrating. But during these hours, I talked Jamie through some of the shots that I wanted to create and the angles as well. I decided to start off with a steady camera on the tripod at the side of the venue so that the crowd could get into the music a bit and it wouldnt get in the way of them dancing. From there I asked jamie to get some close up low shots of the band and their instrument, mainly focusing on their instruments during other songs as we could easily incorporate these into our video. Whilst they were playing I gave Jamie some direction and tips of how to get the best out of the footage, and told him to try and focus on the main singer in particular during the song 'Since U Been Gone' as we could match the lipsyncing to the music. We finished filming at about 9.45 because of committements the next day with work and other plans, and with the roads being icy we had to leave plenty of time to get home.

Overall the shoot went quite well as we got a variety of shots and each contributed to the shoot and hopefully there will be enough footage to include in our video.

Friday 17th December

After getting a couple of emails from Steve in our band, he confirmed that it was alright for our group to film at their live performance on Saturday 18th December. They confirmed this decision through email and asked that we get in touch if we were coming along. On Friday, we confirmed that Paige and myself would be free to film, however Kerrin had prearranged plans. Jamie hadn't been in school since Monday, so I text him to see if he was available to film which he replied saying he was.

So on Friday I went to get a sign out form because of Jamie's absence and signed out 3 camera and tripods. However there were not enough camera's for us to sign out, even though there should have been 8 available there were only 2, and one had been signed out which meant that we could only take one camera out. This was a problem immediately because we had planned to each control one camera from different angles which would mean we would get a variety of different shots so that when editing we would have more of a choice. With one camera we will have to keep changing up the shots and move around the setting as smoothly as possible and try and film as much footage as possible.

At the end of the school day I then met with Kerrin to talk about the plans we had and the dilema of only having one camera. She said she'd let the band know that it was Jamie, Paige and I that were coming and to see how filming goes with just one camera and if it doesnt work out, look to see if the band have any more upcoming performances.

Email to the Group

After yesterday's meeting, Jamie and I were left to talk through some last bits with the band whilst Paige and Kerrin had to go to lessons. We talked through some outfit choices for the shoot and in the end exchanged contact details. Steve and Mark gave us their mobile numbers and emails as well as Alan Westwood's who we could also contact in this tast. In response, as I had all the members details, I passed them on each of our mobile numbers and email addresses too so that if they needed to contact us they could.

Last night I sent this email to the group so that Paige and Kerrin knew what we did when they left and also included the contact details of the band so that Kerrin, who was our group member in charge of contacting the band, could save them.

Monday 13th December

Today we met with two of our band members from Starfish. This was our first meeting so it was important to make sure all the information that Kerrin had been emailed by Alan was right. So we went through our list of questions again and confirmed that the song chosen by the band was 'Since U Been Gone' by Kelly Clarkson.

I bought in a mindmap of our ideas that we had come up with over the past few weeks and we explained each one to the band and suggested our favourite one which was the isolated field one. The band really liked this and then helped suggest some more ideas such as live performances and also coinciding another one of our ideas in, which was the empty warehouse. We then went on to discuss the colour effects of each part of the music video we'd be shooting and decided on a colour shooting in the live performance in colour, and the rest in black and white to hightlight the isolationism of the band.

After this we discussed filming dates and the band said they'd prefer to film later than the date we had down, so we're not filming on the weekend of the 15th January. However this is to film the main part of our music video, but with the bands idea to film live footage they invited us down to record them on Saturday 18th December but are going to get permission for us to do so beforehand.

In the meantime, the band gave us a few videos to look at to see how their bands are portrayed and also we had to look into some locations and ask for farmers permission to film, look for hangars to hire and also a cherry picker to film off.

Analysis of: Walk Away - Kelly Clarkson

I decided to look at various music videos by Kelly Clarkson as this is the artist who originally released the song that our band have recorded.

The music video for ‘Walk Away’ by Kelly Clarkson is one very different to most videos. The video begins as a regular performance by Kelly as she’s seen in an outfit that’s quite military and assertive and the eyeliner makeup shows a darker side to the artist and portrays a rock genre. The close ups used are from different angles and focus on Kelly and presents her in quite a voyeuristic way through the camera shot from behind focusing the attention on her lower body.

The camera then cuts to a few different locations from a woman in an office, showing a working class environment and a male in a car showing the variety of target audience Kelly aims at. The video shows amplification as it switches from performance and some narrative. The camera then cuts to a male in a shirt and underwear hovering the floor, showing a role reversal of men and unconventional stereotypes of rock music. The video then consists of various locations and various regular ‘everyday’ characters that can be associated to by the audience and reflect their actions to. It shows the song as an anthem that everyone knows the words to and likes to sing and dance along to in everyday places such as infront of the mirror with a hairbrush, in a car and in a public place.

The lighting begins quite dark to show a rock convention, however throughout the video in the different settings the lighting changes but the colours used are quite neutral ones that suggest that the video is targeted at a very wide audience, however in some cases the bright red and orange colours are used in outfits which signify part of a pop genre.

Overall I think this video is very effective, and by involving the target audience, it immediately shows others who the music is targeted at. With the performance by the artist and band coincided with the lip syncing and dancing from others it shows a pop genre to the video and a unique narrative.

Song lyrics with timings

 (0.07) Here's the thing we started off friends (0.10)
(0.11) It was cool but it was all pretend (0.14)
(0.14) Yeah yeah (0.16)
(0.16) Since you've been gone (0.18)

(0.21) You dedicated you took the time (0.23)
(0.24) Wasn't long till I called you mine (0.27)
(0.28) Yeah yeah (0.29)
(0.30) Since you've been gone (0.31)

(0.33) And all you'd ever hear me say (0.36)
(0.36) Is how I pictured me with you (0.39)
(0.40) That's all you'd ever hear me say (0.43)

(0.43) But since you've been gone (0.46)
(0.47) I can breathe for the first time (0.49)
(0.50) I'm so movin' on, yeah yeah (0.53)
(0.53) Thanks to you now I get what I want (0.59)
(1.00) Since you've been gone (1.01)

(1.04) How can I put it? You put me on (1.07)
(1.07) I even fell for that stupid love song (1.11)
(1.11) Yeah yeah (1.12)
(1.13) Since you've been gone (1.15)

(1.16) How come I'd never hear you say? (1.19)
(1.20) I just wanna be with you? (1.22)
(1.23) I guess you never felt that way (1.26)

(1.26) But since you've been gone (1.30)
(1.30) I can breathe for the first time (1.33)
(1.33) I'm so movin' on, yeah yeah (1.36)
(1.37) Thanks to you now I get, I get what I want (1.42)
(1.42) Since you've been gone (1.44)

(1.44) You had your chance you blew it (1.47)
(1.47/48) Out of sight, out of mind (1.50)
(1.51) Shut your mouth I just can't take it (1.54)
(1.54) Again and again and again and again (1.58)

(2.09) Since you've been gone (2.12)
(2.13) I can breathe for the first time (2.15)
(2.16) I'm so movin' on, yeah yeah (2.19)
(2.19) Thanks to you (2.21)
(2.21) Now I get, I get what I want (2.26)

(2.26) I can breathe for the first time (2.29)
(2.29) I'm so movin' on, yeah yeah (2.32)
(2.33) Thanks to you (2.34)
(2.34) Now I get (2.35)
(2.36) You should know (2.37)
(2.37) That I get, I get what I want (2.42)
(2.44) Since you've been gone (2.45)
(2.47) Since you've been gone (2.49)
(2.50) Since you've been gone (2.52)
(2.54) Since you've been gone (2.56)

3.08 minutes in total

Video Analysis: Punk Rock 101 - Bowling For Soup

Punk Rock 101 was released by ‘Bowling For Soup’ during their second release of the album ‘Drunk Enough To Dance’ in 2003 and reached number 43 on the UK chart.

The video begins in a narrative style, showing a location with the name of it as ‘Punk Rock Boot Camp’ appearing in the style of a spy movie. A school bus then pulls into a aerodrome, which is similar to that in the Foo Fighters ‘The Pretender’ music video. This is then followed by the performance side of the music video, showing the band in very casual attire as all three have culottes on with band t-shirts and basketball shirts. This adds youth to the band which is also reflected in the use of vehicle at the start of the video and the characteristics of the individual band members which come through during the performance side such as the guitarist dancing in a non conventional rock way.

The narrative of this video also shows the characteristics of the band and presents them in a more down-to-earth manner as they themselves are featured in the narrative. The narrative shows a group of ordinary people line up and get taught about ‘punk rock’, showing them all in a vest and underwear (similar to the outfits worn by young children) and are presented with a new uniform like in the army. This new uniform is seen to be represented by the choice of footwear which is converse. Converse are stereotypically linked to rock bands, but usually these are predominantly younger bands in their late teens. The whole narrative really reflects on the lyrics and shows the journey of these ordinary people showing their transformation into a ‘rock’ style. The journey shows their outfit transformation, lowering of their trousers and new hairstyles that are all conventions of the punk rock style. The leading man in the narrative is seen to be tough, strong and has a conventional rock look. He is then followed by another man teaching the students about rock who is seen to reflect the character ‘Mr T’ as he’s also presented in an army fashion.

The video itself doesn’t contain many close up camera shots, but instead lots of mid and long shots of the band as a group from various angles around the location. The aerodrome reflects the genre of rock as it appears quite old and run down. The few close ups that there are show the instruments played by the artists and usually slowly dolly across which doesn’t really add to the tempo of music. One part of the song shows the band performance from an extreme long shot and on each beat moves in closer to the band, but at alternative angles which really create an effective technique that shows the song tempo. Like other videos I have looked at, there are also plenty of zoom outs to show those that relate to the object. Overall comedy plays the biggest part in this video, and the narrative is more significant than the performance of the band itself, which could be because the band is featured in both. The technique of using the band in the narrative is and effective one as it really shows the audience the personality that shines through each character.

Locations

As director, I have been researching various locations that we could shoot at that would be suitable for the song that our band chose. I looked on a website http://www.locationworks.com/ that shows a variety of locations for some inspiration and found a few ones that gave me some ideas. Out of curiosity, I decided to email them to ask about prices and if there was any chance that if we advertised their company they would be able to give us a discount or allow us to use these settings for free.

Here is the email I sent;

And here is the email I got back;

Even though he couldnt do much, he was very helpful and gave us some good ideas to go on if we wanted a proper location.

Group Meeting

On Tuesday 7th December our group held a small discussion to talk through where we currently were and to ensure everyone was getting started with their research they had to do. It was also in this discussion that we arranged who would be the producer of the DVD extras and as Kerrin was the producer and I was director we felt that we both had too much to do and it would be more sensible for the technical person, Jamie, or the designer, Paige, to do it. In the end we decided Paige would become the producer for the DVD.

In the time between our next meeting I will prepare to meet our band and also research some more music videos to look up different performance types.

McFly - Falling In Love

The song ‘Falling in Love’ was the final song released from McFly’s studio album ‘Radio:Active’ on May 10th 2009. The video features the band in a live performance on one of their tour dates and background footage of the band to show more of their characteristics and personality.

The video begins with a low angle shot of the band and individuals as the stage is lit by fireworks and stage lighting. This creates a dramatic stage presence of the band and emphasises their performance, justifying the pop genre with the bright colours and fun in the performance. Throughout the video there are varied shot types, but during the performance lots of close ups of instruments are used and the quick zoom out to show the individual members playing the instruments. The duration of the clips are very short as the editing really adds to the tempo of the music video to show a rock side to the pop genre and make the video livelier. This lively tempo appeals to the teenage target audience and the mixture of narrative and performance also does this as it gives them an insight to what occurs backstage. The close up and long shots of the crowd also signify the target audience of the band and shows very young teenage girls.

The lighting throughout the video is very different; depending on the location of the camera shots however for the main performance part there are bright lights used, with a lot of back lights that create a silhouette. The silhouette creates a mystery to the artists however there are front lights used as well which gives the band an identity. The front lights used flash on and off which give the rock genre feel as well. Towards the end of the video, the lighting uses a blue tint to it which creates a midnight, dark atmosphere and shows mystery to the artists again. Quick pictures are then used in black and white to show the past and emotion as the pace of the music slows down.

The main highlights of this video that make it stand out from many others is the use of performance and backstage footage which shows a different, non serious side to the band. The swooping cameras and the low angle shots effectively show the live performance side of the video, and the idea of showing the target audience’s faces is also effective as shows a majority of teenage audience. The lighting used was very effective also, including the silhouette use and the fast on off lighting to increase the pace of the music.

Manic Street Preachers - Your Love Alone

Your love alone was a track from the Manic Street Preachers album ‘Send Away the Tigers’ and the single was released on the 30^th April 2007. The music video for this song is an illustration one, showing a very basic performance from the band as well as a duet with female members of a different band.

The video introduces us to a warehouse type location which adds to the simplicity of the band and also suggests a rock genre which is further justified by the use of the lighting which is minimalistic and dark with just white lighting being used. One of the first shots shown is a zoom out of a band member’s face and as the camera zooms out, the backlights brighten and the figure becomes silhouetted. This is a very effective technique as it creates a mystery to the song and band which draws the audience in. Another shot used also zooms out to show the male artist facing the female one in a symmetrical style. The quiz zoom in’s and outs add to the beat of the video and keep it interesting as well as the other varied shot types which are required as the video has no narrative. There are plenty of over the shoulder shots as well which are shown to show the similarity between the two bands ‘battling’ off and the lighting also adds and old fashioned retro look, suggesting the genre is more 80s or 90s rock.

The attire of the male band members is presented in a way in which truly represents the genre of the Manic Street Preachers. All members are seen wearing black clothing with the main band member seen in black eyeliner too. The female members are very similar, however the female lead singer is seen in black and white to contrast and also show signs of innocence. The audience are kept drawn into the music video by the fast change of direction by the camera and also she slight shake to shots which suggests a rock genre.

If we were to take some ideas from this music video for our own I would suggest using similar camera shots such as the zooms and quick direction change ones but also show more of the instruments in these. I think the video could be made more interesting with maybe some narrative, so we may have to take a similar idea on board.

Our current ideas

Group Meeting

Today, Friday 3rd December, we held another group meeting. Here we discussed what stage we were at and agreed that Kerrin would get in contact with the band to agree a meeting and confirm some possible filming days and make sure they're available.

During this meeting we also drew up some more ideas, and built on existing ones that we had. After we'd discussed everything we wrote up a 'to-do' list with our individual deadlines and tasks to do.

1) Set a date to film
2) Set a date to meet up with the band
3) Tell the band our deadline
4) Get some more idea's down
5) Get some logo idea's down
6) Look for performance music video's
7) Ask the band to meet in the next two weeks
8) Research target audience
                  - Wedding & pub
9) Get some more idea's together
10) Look for some locations to film

My individual tasks to perform are

• Draw some idea's together
• Watch some music videos to help influence some of these idea's
• Search for some performance music video's
• Research target audience
• Look for some locations to film.