Sunday 28 September 2014

Shot Lists

Since the storyboard was a first draft and we are still incorporating more ideas for various shots, the images and descriptions below will not be entirely accurate until the final draft is drawn.

#1-3:
The first shot will be a close-up of an Irish flag.
Up until the second shot where the protagonist is walking down a street, no music is heard until now.
A close-up/mid shot of the protagonist is shown playing music.

#4: 
A long/establishing shot of a boat sailing down a river to link with the boat horn at the beginning and also the lyrics which talk about how people went looking for jobs abroad. 

#5: 
A wide shot portraying a decrepit kitchen/living room in which a mother and her child are left "all alone" in low key lighting. 

#6-8: 
Medium side profile shots of 3 men which are cross-cut together to show that they are on the same path trying to achieve the same thing. In filming this shot we hope to accomplish something similar to what the 'Beatles' did for one of their album covers with a zebra crossing at Abbey Road - contextual reference.
#9-12: 
A close up of a drain in the decrepit household fades into a graphic match shot of a vent on the street. Money is being thrown next to the busker whom we can see when the camera pans upwards to the guitar.

#13-?: 
The previous shot of the busker playing a guitar transitions into a guitar being played by the band. This then cuts to a wide shot of the band playing instruments around a table with beer on it. There will be more shots including close ups of the individuals, other instruments and props on the table. 

#14: 
A wide shot of a man rushing for the train. 

#15: 
Another wide shot of a departing train with a man who has just gotten off. 

 
#16: 
One long continuous shot of the 3 people earlier at the docks disappearing "One by One".

#17: 
Music video fades to black and the production company name will appear.

Thursday 25 September 2014

'One By One' Storyboard Animatic


Above is an animatic based on our first draft of the storyboard we came up for our music video 'One By One' written by Creeds Cross.
It portrays a rough idea of the narrative and covers some of the types of shots that we want to shoot when it comes to production. The audio in the background is the actual song, but it is not exact or precise in terms of shot timings as we are still discussing ideas and shot lengths - specifically: there will be a larger variety of shots, quicker cuts and have some more shots of the band in the next storyboard/animatic i.e. more than just a wide shot.

Sunday 14 September 2014

Music Genre Research: Choosing the Right Type of Rock Sub-genre

At the beginning of the course, my group and I had to secure the copyrights to a song in a genre for which we would want to make a music video. To accomplish this, we had to research  the genre of music that we wanted to portray in a music video and a musician/singer who could do this.
The type of music we looked into producing was rock/alternative rock:

History, Origins & Influences:

Rock music is a genre that originated in the 40s/50s and that later became known as 'Rock and Roll'. It was influenced by other music genres such as blues, folk, jazz, rhythm and soul. The lyrics of these songs, much like pop, focuses on love but also has many variations to it to appeal to the bands' different audiences.
Alternative rock is one of the many sub-genres that have stemmed from rock. However, it was a result of independent music in the 80s and 90s where underground (not legally commercialised) music became popular through: its diversity, word of mouth and college radio broadcasting. 'Alternative' is a broad term used to describe something that differs greatly in its sound and roots. Hence, sub-genres such as gothic rock, jangle pop and industrial rock came into being.

Representation:

Musically, rock has always been centred on the electric guitar with electric bass guitar and drums accompanying it as part of the rock band. Although, the inclusion of other instruments such as the piano have become a part of and led to the reason why there are typically 3-5 members in a rock group. Rock, unlike pop, also places a higher focus on the music itself, live performance and the authenticity of the band.
In terms of aesthetics, the bands usually link to the ideology of 'rebellion' and being unique/different. Therefore, it makes sense that some bands wear different accessories, mix (dark) colours (which are mostly black), wear makeup, etc.


Well known bands include: (ROCK)

  • AC/DC
  • Metallica
  • Queen 
  • Nirvana 
  • Black Sabbath 
  • Rolling Stones 
  • Pink Floyd 
  • Aerosmith 
  • Van Halen 
  • Kiss 

ALTERNATIVE:
R.E.M
Linkin Park
Foo Fighters
Radiohead
The Cure
U2
Coldplay
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Oasis

Iconography & Music Videos: 

The typical kind of music videos for the rock genre would be centred mostly around performance with some narrative to mimic a live performance that focuses on the band and its brand of music. 
Usually for the rock genre, it is normal for the music video to focus on the band as if they were centre stage with high key lighting.
An example can be that the camera cuts between a wide shot of the band, close ups/zoom-ins of their individual faces and close ups of the instruments being played. Sometimes even lyrics are portrayed on screen to emphasise the connotations/importance of such. 
Alternative rock similarly has a focus on the band, but some more than others have a conceptual music video focussing on the meaning of the video and that it is like Andrew Goodwin's idea that it is a visual aid to the lyrics. Hence, low key lighting is utilised and they all wear dark clothes to keep attention away from themselves. Though, sometimes all of these aspects in alternative rock are ignored and there is no purpose to the music video other than conveying people playing loud music to ignore everything (just like their audience can tend to act as well).
 
 
Some exemplar shots of what typical rock music videos can look like


We also researched the elements of the sub-genre Irish rock and its music videos as this is what we were leaning towards doing after the majority of our research.

History & Backstory: 

It started in the 1960s/70s when the musical culture of Britain spread and gained popularity in different countries. Eventually it reached Ireland and with it came influences such as blues and psychedelic rock. Irish music started to become popular with the creation of Irish 'showbands' which had musicians playing British and American hits in dancehalls and clubs across the country. Being a professional musician in Ireland at the time was the best way of making a living so the musical culture kept on growing. 


Bands: 

Artists like Van Morrison, Henry McCullough and Rory Gallagher started in Irish showbands and went on to putting their country on the musical map. 
A friend of one of our group members knows an Irish band called 'Creeds Cross' and we are considering making a music video for one of their songs (most likely the one below).