Overview of music video shoot 29th October 2011

Overview:
Shooting took place at the Jenny Packham studio in Gospel Oak. The shoot began at 9am and finished at 3pm. When  the cast and crew  arrived, a total of twelve people , we got started with hair and makeup which took around an hour . All of the instruments were then set up in the basement downstairs.  Everyone went to the basement for a short rehearsal where we decided on blocking and lighting issues.After this we filmed two complete run throughs with the band , Basement Party, till we felt ready for the final shoot. The majority of the day was spent on filming according to my storyboard. Obviously I had to feed the talent and the crew, so after a short break we then moved upstairs to film in the studio.

Time for a break

We did some outside shooting on the streets of Gospel Oak and at the bus stop. The shoot finished successfully at 3pm.

The Band -  Basement Party

Video breakdown:

Styling:

One of the reasons I chose this location was to create a run down and neglected atmopshere. After looking at several venues the basement proved the perfect location. The basement's washed out walls, dim lighting and tight spacing matched the band's grungy and edgy look. Amps and guitar wires were spread out across the floor to create a messy and careless look that fitted the teenage angst feel which was part of the band's representation.

Potential CD cover

First rehearsal

Hair and makeup took around an hour. Girls wore dark eyeshadow and lipstick whilst boys had messy gelled hair.Three of the band members wore a checkered pattern which made them appear slightly punky whislt the bass guitarist wore a leather jacket and black hoodie. To create a club like atmosphere I had small groups of girls dancing on either side of the band. The dancers/groupies wore dark clothing , baggy tshirts and leather to match the image of the band.

Technical - Camera, Shots and Lighting:

The technical equiment I used to film the shoot was a Sanyo Xacti photo and film camrea , a tripod and a dolly. I used the tripod for the majority of my shoot to keep the camera positioned. I used the dolly when  filming a midshot of the band. I used close ups to highlight my lead singer. I experimented with different camera angles such as filming upside down to create a surreal image which suggested perhaps drunkeness or teenage confusion. To juxtapose this I shot up from the  floor to make the band appear intimidating and powerful. When filming in the studio I zoomed in on different band members , isolating them to show them interacting in pairs or threes. Shaky camera shots combined with quick zooms were intended to lend an air of unconventionality which is often seen in grunge music videos.
The lighting used was a tripod mounted directional light. I placed this  to light the whole band but when the lead guitarist tilted the guitar upwards the reflected glare created a visual flare of light back to the camera. Similarly, a mini lamp was used to highlight the band's faces when they were lined up against a dark wall , effectively isolating their faces. The contrast between the dark interior, lit only by directional light with the shots taken outside in natural daylight complemented the lyrics and interaction of the band members. When outside the action was more energectic with shots of them running , laughing and jumping.

Thoughts and Reflections:
Overall I am very happy with the way the shoot turned out. I still have another day of shooting to come. I loved the location and I'm very pleased with the mood and atmosphere created by the lighting and location in particular. I was very lucky to recruit a singer/songwriter to perform in his own music video as I think this lent an air of authenticity to the emotion of the song. If I were to do this again I would probably have spent more time on styling and costumes to consolidate the look of the band. It was difficult to get all members of the cast together before the shoot and I realise that on a professional project more time is needed in advance with the cast and crew to check on little details like shirt patterns etc.

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Questionnaire

Questionnaire for "Run" song
The questionnaire was designed to test the songs popularity and the effects it left on it's listener. I asked basic questions such as age and sexuality to help define my audience. Looking at my questionnaires the song was enjoyed by more males then females. Therefore my band mainly consisted  of  males. However I decided to have a female drummer because she could appear as a heart throb for the males and appeal to females who liked the music. I asked other  questions such as : What do you think the mood of the song is?. This question would be answered by circling a number on a Likert scale. A Likert scale is a scale of one to another number allowing varied degrees of different opinions. From the majority of answers to this question the mood was largely downbeat. This helped me to make assumptions about the type of atmoshpere I wanted to create for my music video. However the negative aspect of using a  Likert scale was that I was unable to know why my listeners thought the song was downbeat. I then asked a variation of questions such as : What images or pictures come to mind when you listen to the song? , What feelings come to mind when listening to the song?. The answers to these questions helped me to design the lighting, costumes  and setting with more knowledge of what my audience would be interested in seeing in the video. I then asked if the music was similar to other artists the listener enjoyed. These answers enabled me to look at other artists which helped to inspire my bands look.

Some of the responses people had for the song were :

"Atmospheric"

The listener described the song as being atmospheric,  and rated the song as downbeat. From this I decided to look at dark , atmospheric and grungy locations such as the streets of Camden, alley ways , old and historic parts of London and finally a basement in Gospel Oak which proved to be the perfect location.

"A black and white universe no colour"

This quote from a listener helped me to form the bands look. The listener described the song as having "no colour" therefore my band wore manily dark  and slightly punkish clothing .The girls and boys  wore white powder on their faces which was applied during the makeup process , this made them appear slightly ghostly and vamperic. To match the bands look , the basement had colourless walls and floors. The choice of location was heavily influenced by my listeners quote.


"Emo"


Emo is a style of music which is emotional and confessional. I decided to use teenagers to create my band because teenagers are associated with emotions and rebellion. Using teenagers as band members created a teenage angst vibe portraying the band members as teenagers who  drink to much, sleep until lunchtime and play their music throughout the night.

Auteur theory

Auteur Theory

Auteur theory is a personal creative vision ,style or feature that is on going throughout the directors work. This establishes the director and makes their film or video recognisable.
The BFI Teaching Auteur study guide defines auteur theory as "a filmaker who makes films with an individual style","a filmaker who makes films with similar themes" and "a filmaker who demonstrates technical excellence".The music video director I chose is Stephane Sednaoui who I believe best demonstrates all of the above quotations.

Stephane Sednaoui is a french amercian director, producer and photographer who first began directing music videos in 1989.Sednaoui has directed videos for artists such as Red Hot Chili Peppers,Massive Attack,Madonna,Milk and Garbage. Sednaoui's music videos are avant-garde the Dictionary of Media and Communication Studies defines avant-garde as "assaulting tradition and boundaries of acceptability".Sednaoui does this through  distortion,mirror effect ,blurred images ,over exposure and colour correction which is the oversaturating of colours.

"Mysterious ways" by U2 is a perfect example of Sednaoui's avant-garde techniques, at the start of the video Sednaoui uses the camrea lens to blur and distort figures that appear to be walking next to a sunset.Sednaoui uses a split screen,split screen layering effect and mirror edit to create a picture of two snakes facing each other. This artisc and distorted image is similar to the  ink blot tests  used in the psychiatric world. Some of  Sednaoui's editting in "Mysterious ways" elongates and streches out parts of the human figure for example Sednaoui elongates Bono's arms and legs whilst he stands in front of a large orange wall. This editing technique creates a unrealistic drug like world. The oversaturation of colours in the video makes the video appear brighter and more unusal pushing the boundaires of what is normally seen in music videos.

Sednaoui uses unusal angles in  "Queer" by Garbage, Sednaoui quick zooms into the lead singers face . The singer is aware that the camra is there which is not typicial in music videos ,therefore Sednaoui is breaking the boundaries of music videos. Sednaoui also films extreme low angles which can also be seen in "Queer" ,where Sednaoui films the band as if he is looking up at them from the floor performing.

In terms of Mise en scene Sednaoui films in gritty settings such as downtown parts of Amercia in "Queer" and spacious dessert areas in "Today" by the Smashing Pumpkins.  Sednaoui challenges the audience expectations of the over-glamourised music videos of today.We are used to seeing women in skimpy clothing ,big cars and expensive houses in todays music videos.The outifts worn in Sednaoui's videos are grungy,casual and edgy. Unlike most music videos of today Sednaoui does not objectify women  , as women in music videos wear tight skirts and revealing tops making them appear as sexual objects.

Overall Sednaoui's approach to music videos is avant garde pushing the boundaires of what is acceptable, his surreual style and approach is both enticing and eccentric.





Queer by Garbage directed by Sednaoui





Breaking The Girl by Red Hot Chili Peppers directed by Sednaoui





Myserious Ways by U2 directed by Sednaoui