Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Yet another change
Ollie our 'lead singer' decided he didn't want to take part in our video any more so today i have been searching for another person who would take on the role. I was specifically looking for boys in my school who do or have once done drama, this was because we want our lead singer to have a lot of close up shots and to portray a lot of emotion so we thought a drama student would show emotions much better. I quickly realised no boys in my year took drama, which wasn't very pleasing but then I moved on to the year below me. One of my friends Jolyon took drama, so I asked him if he would like the role or if not would any of his friends with drama experience like to step in. He excepted the part and now we can finally get the filming of our band performances underway =]
Casting our actors
Casting the actors in our music video is the most important part of beginning our video as these are the people that could make our video completely credible or not at all. We had already created our characters and decided we needed to try and find suitable actors to fit our specific roles.
The roles we have decided on are:
Band Members:
#1 - lead singer/piano: Ollie
#2 – Drums: Jake
#3 - Guitar: Connor
Family:
Granddad: Teri’s father
Granddad (young man): Matt Tate
Daughter: Teri
Daughter (younger): Hannah
The roles of the band members have only really just been decided on as the people we had originally cast as our band lived to far away and went to all different schools so trying to find a time where they could all fit in with each others schedules proved hard. We then changed our band members to two of our friends in our year and the other member is Ciara’s brother so we found it much easier to fit into everyone’s schedules.
The roles we have decided on are:
Band Members:
#1 - lead singer/piano: Ollie
#2 – Drums: Jake
#3 - Guitar: Connor
Family:
Granddad: Teri’s father
Granddad (young man): Matt Tate
Daughter: Teri
Daughter (younger): Hannah
The roles of the band members have only really just been decided on as the people we had originally cast as our band lived to far away and went to all different schools so trying to find a time where they could all fit in with each others schedules proved hard. We then changed our band members to two of our friends in our year and the other member is Ciara’s brother so we found it much easier to fit into everyone’s schedules.
Post Modernism: How we engaged our audience
Post Modernism in terms of music videos basically shows the rejection of reality and a basic narrative and in its place has a mixture of different elements and ideas from other sources.
There are 4 main elements to Postmodernism which we have tried to incorporate into our music video:
Rejection of a linear narrative:
Our music video gives an ‘anti-narrative’ approach as we are start by telling a story but then throughout the video we cut back in time to give a feeling of reflection. Our music video is based on the story of a man neglecting his daughter and after his death is being shown what he had done, and then showing his reaction to this. This is why we feel cutting back in time gives the most visual way to represent this. Near the end of our music video the story is then rewound so providing a different way of seeing a story, we did this to show our audience how the mans feelings have changed throughout the course of the video.
Visual spectacle:
We have tried to create a visual spectacle for our audience to engage them in our video and to grab their attention. We have created a different aspect of the usual convention of a song referring to love or lost loves, our video contains aspects of family relationships which aren’t as common, therefore providing something slightly new for the audience. Also the way we have created the story with someone over looking their own life gives a surreal aspect to our video. We have also used images of clocks going backwards which gives the connation of going back into time which looks quite interesting. The story, then rewinding provides an interesting view for the audience.
Ambiguity:
There is probably going to be a lot of ambiguity in our music video but without actually seeing all of our filming it’s difficult to pin point certain parts which could be viewed in a number of ways. Our lyrics however are very ambiguous there are many lines that when Ciara and I tried to analyse them we couldn’t come up with a set meaning for example, ‘sixty years of sorrow, he got five or six of bliss, left my mothers, mother without so much as a kiss’. These lines confused us as the way it is worded we were unsure if the father left ‘without so much as a kiss’ or if the mother left ‘ left my mothers, mother’.
Intertextuality:
When we started to think about Intertextuality in our music video we were kind of stumped, as we couldn’t think of anything that we made reference to, but when we sat down and went through our lyrics and what we had planned for each scene a few references came to mind. Our main thought before we started storyboarding was that we wanted to create a ‘Ghost of Christmas past’ effect, to portray reflection and the idea of watching over your past and how that can change you. After explaining this idea to our focus group, one person mentioned it reminded her of the film ‘Ghost’ with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, and I think our music video does have a subtle vibe of this film by someone watching over but not being able to change what is happening. Another form of Intertextuality in our music video is where the main character is watching a video of his wedding day. This idea of watching something from their past on a TV screen has happened in a few videos and gives the idea of reflection.
There are 4 main elements to Postmodernism which we have tried to incorporate into our music video:
Rejection of a linear narrative:
Our music video gives an ‘anti-narrative’ approach as we are start by telling a story but then throughout the video we cut back in time to give a feeling of reflection. Our music video is based on the story of a man neglecting his daughter and after his death is being shown what he had done, and then showing his reaction to this. This is why we feel cutting back in time gives the most visual way to represent this. Near the end of our music video the story is then rewound so providing a different way of seeing a story, we did this to show our audience how the mans feelings have changed throughout the course of the video.
Visual spectacle:
We have tried to create a visual spectacle for our audience to engage them in our video and to grab their attention. We have created a different aspect of the usual convention of a song referring to love or lost loves, our video contains aspects of family relationships which aren’t as common, therefore providing something slightly new for the audience. Also the way we have created the story with someone over looking their own life gives a surreal aspect to our video. We have also used images of clocks going backwards which gives the connation of going back into time which looks quite interesting. The story, then rewinding provides an interesting view for the audience.
Ambiguity:
There is probably going to be a lot of ambiguity in our music video but without actually seeing all of our filming it’s difficult to pin point certain parts which could be viewed in a number of ways. Our lyrics however are very ambiguous there are many lines that when Ciara and I tried to analyse them we couldn’t come up with a set meaning for example, ‘sixty years of sorrow, he got five or six of bliss, left my mothers, mother without so much as a kiss’. These lines confused us as the way it is worded we were unsure if the father left ‘without so much as a kiss’ or if the mother left ‘ left my mothers, mother’.
Intertextuality:
When we started to think about Intertextuality in our music video we were kind of stumped, as we couldn’t think of anything that we made reference to, but when we sat down and went through our lyrics and what we had planned for each scene a few references came to mind. Our main thought before we started storyboarding was that we wanted to create a ‘Ghost of Christmas past’ effect, to portray reflection and the idea of watching over your past and how that can change you. After explaining this idea to our focus group, one person mentioned it reminded her of the film ‘Ghost’ with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, and I think our music video does have a subtle vibe of this film by someone watching over but not being able to change what is happening. Another form of Intertextuality in our music video is where the main character is watching a video of his wedding day. This idea of watching something from their past on a TV screen has happened in a few videos and gives the idea of reflection.
Analysis of Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
Ciara and I analysed the song lyrics and music video Chasing Cars by the Scottish band Snow Patrol. We chose this song because Snow Patrol are a very similar style of band to the Fray in terms of genre, music videos and their conventions. We looked at meanings that the words may have, image linking with lyrics and if it was a narrative or performance video. We also looked at any intertextuality or voyeurism in their videos to compare with the Fray and to aid us in deciding what typical forms and conventions there are in terms of the soft/alternate rock genre and how most of these types of music videos are presented to its audience.
Research of The Frays storyboard
Before we started on our story boards, we figured we'd try our luck on "Google" and see if we could find any of "The Fray's" story boards. These storyboards were produced by a guy called Chris Kawagiwa for the making of their music video "Never Say Never."
They're pretty in depth and detailed storyboards. The way the characters and the action spills out of the scene boxes really adds movement to the storyboards, enabling the audience to really visualise the plans. Hopefully, ours will looks something similar.
They're pretty in depth and detailed storyboards. The way the characters and the action spills out of the scene boxes really adds movement to the storyboards, enabling the audience to really visualise the plans. Hopefully, ours will looks something similar.
Analysing the lyrics
"Creative minds are rarely tidy."
This is the paper representation of the erratic yet creative minds of Ciara and I. Despite the scruffy and incredibly sketchy notes, this is our first outline of how we visualise the song.
Taking it line by line, even half a line at a time, we've discussed and pictured how we want to portray the theme of the song, using either narratives or performances.
The century before you never could turn 21
Years and years he waited just watching for a son
For someone to go ahead, take the name he said
Years and years he waited and a daughter came instead
Verse 2, was particularly challenging in agreeing what to show. So, we held FOCUS GROUP.
Our focus group consisited of Team members Ciara and I, class peers; Bonnie & Jake, our media teachers Mrs Hamilton and Mr Bohazech. We played the particular part of the song to them, and asked them to voice their initial thoughts, what they visualised when they listened to the lyrics. We then explained the context of the song, and played it back to them, and then noted their interpretations.
- Bonnie and Jake: They explained that they pictured a guy, sitting at the end of a hospital corridor watching time go by. With the world around him moving a faster pace than him.
However..
- Mrs Hamilton and Mr Bohazech: Both agreed that this section would be particularly emotive were it purely based on the performance side of things. With the band members really singing and playing with great enthusiasm and emotion in their faces using close up shots etc.
We took these into account and began our discussion.. To be honest, its still going on, so until we decide this is the end of the post.
This is the paper representation of the erratic yet creative minds of Ciara and I. Despite the scruffy and incredibly sketchy notes, this is our first outline of how we visualise the song.
Taking it line by line, even half a line at a time, we've discussed and pictured how we want to portray the theme of the song, using either narratives or performances.
The century before you never could turn 21
Years and years he waited just watching for a son
For someone to go ahead, take the name he said
Years and years he waited and a daughter came instead
Verse 2, was particularly challenging in agreeing what to show. So, we held FOCUS GROUP.
Our focus group consisited of Team members Ciara and I, class peers; Bonnie & Jake, our media teachers Mrs Hamilton and Mr Bohazech. We played the particular part of the song to them, and asked them to voice their initial thoughts, what they visualised when they listened to the lyrics. We then explained the context of the song, and played it back to them, and then noted their interpretations.
- Bonnie and Jake: They explained that they pictured a guy, sitting at the end of a hospital corridor watching time go by. With the world around him moving a faster pace than him.
However..
- Mrs Hamilton and Mr Bohazech: Both agreed that this section would be particularly emotive were it purely based on the performance side of things. With the band members really singing and playing with great enthusiasm and emotion in their faces using close up shots etc.
We took these into account and began our discussion.. To be honest, its still going on, so until we decide this is the end of the post.
Monday, 22 February 2010
How we chose our song
Well, we had no idea what band to look into to begin with but we had a rough idea of what genre and sound of music we were after... an "indie/soft rock" sounding artist. So having googled a band we thought fell into that category [The Script], we came across a website that gave us a long list of similar artists [www.last.fm/music]. So, scouring through the list that was full of very american teen bands, we saw The Fray. =]Wikipedia provided us with a discography of the band so we were able to look at their new album tracklisting of what songs had and hadn't been released.We looked up each song on youtube and Enough for now we decided was the one. =]
Chosen song and lyrics
The Fray - Enough for now.
The daughter's father watches,
quietly we assume
He's no longer with us
but he left this dusty room
In your name and it's an honor,
it's a shame but it's your honour
Take it on your shoulder
til you can find another
That's enough for now,
he should've never left you broken
He should've held you,
things your father never could do
That's enough for now,
he would've never left you broken
He would've held you,
things your father never told you
The century before you
never could turn 21
Years and years he waited
just watching for a son
For someone to go ahead,
take the name he said
Years and years he waited
and a daughter came instead
But that's enough for now,
he should've never left you broken
He should've held you, things your father never could do
That's enough for now,
he would've never left you broken
He would've held you,
things your father never told you
Breathing comes in pairs
Except for twice
One begins and one's goodbye
Sixty years of sorrow
he got 5 or 6 of bliss
Left my mother's mother
without so much as a kiss
But thats enough for now,
he never wanted to leave you broken
He would've held you,
things your father never told you
That's enough for now,
I would've never left you broken
I would've held you,
things your father never could do
Words your father never told you
Sixty years of sorrow,
he got 5 or 6 of bliss
Left my mother's mother
without so much as a kiss.
The daughter's father watches,
quietly we assume
He's no longer with us
but he left this dusty room
In your name and it's an honor,
it's a shame but it's your honour
Take it on your shoulder
til you can find another
That's enough for now,
he should've never left you broken
He should've held you,
things your father never could do
That's enough for now,
he would've never left you broken
He would've held you,
things your father never told you
The century before you
never could turn 21
Years and years he waited
just watching for a son
For someone to go ahead,
take the name he said
Years and years he waited
and a daughter came instead
But that's enough for now,
he should've never left you broken
He should've held you, things your father never could do
That's enough for now,
he would've never left you broken
He would've held you,
things your father never told you
Breathing comes in pairs
Except for twice
One begins and one's goodbye
Sixty years of sorrow
he got 5 or 6 of bliss
Left my mother's mother
without so much as a kiss
But thats enough for now,
he never wanted to leave you broken
He would've held you,
things your father never told you
That's enough for now,
I would've never left you broken
I would've held you,
things your father never could do
Words your father never told you
Sixty years of sorrow,
he got 5 or 6 of bliss
Left my mother's mother
without so much as a kiss.
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