Risk Assessment Form

Production Treatment

Music Video Proposal

City College Norwich A2 Media Studies                                           Name Jordan Blyth

Music Video Proposal

Band & Track Name: A Day to Remember - All I Want

Running Time: 3:19

General  style of music video: (Relate here the ideas of Goodwin,  Gow, Lynch, Railton & Watson) Performance-based and narrative-based, such as described by Lynch. Music linking to the video in terms of cuts being on specific beats, lyrics linking with the video in the form of gestures and shots related to the lyrics. Iconography of all black costume for punk-rock genre. Close ups of lead vocalist, all described by Goodwin. Small sections of anti-performance, potential for pseudo-reflexive performance at the end, enhanced performance through narrative, all described by Gow.

Briefly describe what will happen in your music video, highlighting camera angles and effects used. What will we see? The band begins performing in a low-key setting such as a garage, then as the video progresses they become more popular and end up performing on a big stage.

What resources will you need? Props, styling, location, recording and lighting equipment, actors, etc.: Instruments - Guitars, microphone and stand, drum kit Green screen 4-5 Band members Crowd members

Who will you need to organise for your music video shoot? (Are they reliable?) Friends in college, reliable, easy to organise. Friends from old school, reliable, more difficult to organise. Crowd members could be any class of people if willing.

When do you plan to shoot your music video? ASAP, when the people, equipment and TV Studio are available.

City of Ocala - Music Video Analysis

City of Ocala

Timelapse

Film grain

Narrative - Showing the hometown of the band and the places they played together and progressed
Using visible writing to show express small details outside of the lyrics

Linking with the lyrics in the video showing where they came from

Deep focus

Slow cuts

The music video for City of Ocala, from A Day To Remember’s 2013 album Common Courtesy was released on March 9th 2015 and directed by Drew Russ. The entire video is edited into a timelapse, showing sped up videos of the band members holding up signs explaining the significance of the places to how they developed as a band, showing where they lived, practiced and recorded their music. I believe this takes the form of a narrative throughout the video, as part of Lynch’s theory, with no sign of performance or concept in the video. The video for City of Ocala is all linked to the lyrics ‘This is where I came from’ showing the town where the band met and grew to the heights they are at today, and multiple shots of the lead singer’s face, although not performing, all linking with Goodwin’s theory. The video is edited adding in film grain as well as being sped up into a timelapse for the duration of the video, although there are multiple timelapses, not a single shot. The pace of editing is fairly slow, allowing for more of the time lapse to be seen. Mainly long shots are used to show the places the band go to, allowing more of the backgrounds to be shown. Because of this, the main portion of the video is shot in deep focus, allowing the foreground of the performers holding up signs, and the backgrounds of the places all to be in focus within the shots.

[Add screen captures]

Definition of a music Video

Definition of a music Video -

From analysing a few music videos, I believe that a definition of a music video is a visual representation of an individual's interpretation of songs or lyrics, namely the director of the video. This is often suited around the genre of the song and follows the codes and conventions of the genre in order to appeal to its audience. An example of this could be having a performance-based video in rock or punk genres. A music video may have a conceptual idea behind it which is explored through the video. The other main theme in a video may be a narrative that goes on throughout the song, either in one piece or done with a performance edited between.

All I Want Music Video Analysis - In Full

Music Video Analysis of “All I Want” by A Day to Remember –

Released in 2010 from the album What Separates Me From You, the music video for All I Want conforms to many of the conventions for music videos of the same genre, such as having the lyrics added in post-production. This can be seen as conventional when compared to videos like All Time Low’s “Weightless” in which the same thing is used. Other conventions it follows are things like having a small scene acted out before the music begins to play (such like Mayday Parade’s “Miserable at Best”), signing gestures related to the lyrics, in this case signing the heart (which is identical to Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down”). It adds its own conventions to the mix however, such as featuring members from other bands of similar genres in the video to lip sync and having motion lines and small effects added in post-production.

This video has a formulaic but diverse range of shot types on show. For the most part, medium close-ups are used for a single person lip syncing, with medium shots used for shots of full bands (both A Day to Remember [ADTR] and others featured), close-ups and extreme close-ups are used for backgrounds in in-between shots when no action is occurring such as showing the band’s name in newspaper clippings and when no lyrics are being sung (in an instrumental section of the song) backgrounds and settings will be shown, generally with close-ups with no people within frame. The camera tends to keep moving throughout the video, with pans and tracking shots opted for when performances are being shown. Still shots are present, but are mainly used on backgrounds and none-moving objects.

The video is heavily edited with fast-paced cuts done to the beat of the song, showing a link between the music and the video. A lot of the cuts also appear at the end of a line in the lyrics, showing a link between video and lyrics. The video features an intertextual reference with a shot of Vic Fuentes of Pierce the Veil (PTV) holding a payphone, matching a similar shot of Jeremy McKinnon (the lead sing of ADTR) in PTV’s music video for Caraphernelia. The video features performance as the main content of the video, which is conventional of heavy rock music videos. All of this matches with Andrew Goodwin’s codes and conventions for music videos.

Post-production is very evident in this video. As mentioned, the pace of editing is based on the music and lyrics. This keeps the video at a consistent speed with the music, with no shots longer than a couple of seconds long. Lip syncing is used for almost all words, which is done in post-production to make it look like other bands are performing the song as well as ADTR. Filters, noise and other visual edits are added in to give a specific style to the video. An effect is added to make the video look like a film at the cinema with small crackles in the image. At the beginning of the video, a quieter, jumpy version of the song is played for around 7 seconds, made to sound like it is on an incorrectly tuned radio, this is then interrupted and replaced with the actual performance of the song.

The mise-en-scene of the video features many different settings, both in and outdoor, offering a contrast being the black, white and grey of indoor settings and the sky blues and yellows of outdoor. The band’s name is featured multiple times in close-ups, shown on newspaper clippings, which could be done in an attempt to help the audience remember their name and establish a fan-base, as this was released when they were gaining popularity and trying to capitalise on this and grow further. The costumes of ADTR (besides the lead singer) are all black t-shirts or vests, which are typical of band members and fans of heavier music, and dark jeans. This then allows them to stand out from the white background of the walls behind them. The lead singer is wearing a checkered red and black shirt, allowing him to stand out as the lead singer. Members from other bands are shown wearing something relevant to their own iconography, such as Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy wearing a beanie hat and purple hoodie, which at the time was his iconic look. Doing this allows the other bands to be easily recognised within the video and helps advertise them to viewers of ADTR’s videos who may have not seen them before, or potentially helping the fans of other bands to like ADTR’s videos.

All I Want Music Video Analysis - First Notes

Camera

-        

             MCU for most lip-synced shots of 1 person

-          MS for shots of other bands

-          MS for shots of actual band

-          CU and ECU for paper in background, showcasing the band’s name

-          Close-ups of people or backgrounds (other than face) when no lyrics are being sung

Editing

-         

       Lyrics appearing on screen

-          Cuts on beat, mainly when a line ends in the lyrics

-          Use of slow motion during performance

-          Lip sync used for almost all lyrics

-          Filters, noise etc. added in post-production

-          Effects added to simulate films

Mise-en-scene

-          

      Band name featured often in the form of newspaper clippings

-          Many different settings

-          Costume: all black for main band members, other than lead singer, helps him stand out and helps others stand out against the white background

Colours

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      Unsaturated look for the actual band, brighter tones and colour for others

Conventions

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      Section before song begins

-          Lyrics appearing on screen

-          Features members from other bands

-          Signing gestures of known items (i.e using hands to show a heart)

-          Effects showing movement, motion lines etc.

Director's Study

David Fincher: Music Video Director Study –

 Although primarily a film director, David Fincher has directed many music videos, mostly throughout the 1980s and '90s. His most recent video, 1 of 3 he has directed since 2000 is Suit and Tie by Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z. Fincher has won two Grammy Awards for Best Music Video, for his work in "Love Is Strong" by The Rolling Stones (1995) and "Suit & Tie" by Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z (2013), and three MTV Video Music Awards for Best Direction, being one of the most awarded directors in the category, alongside Spike Jonze. He also earned back-to-back MTV Video Music Awards for Best Direction in 1989 for "Express Yourself" and in 1990 for "Vogue". In 1990, he earned three of the four available nominations in the Best Direction category.

Music Video Analysis:

Suit and Tie

I decided to compare this video, being Fincher's latest, to some of his earlier work. The video for Suit and Tie is in constant monochrome, lacking colour, giving a older feel. This is then coupled with modern mise-en-scene of the performer's apartment before the video, and the older look of the jazz club that Justin Timblerlake performs at offers good contrast throughout the video. The video features mostly medium-long and long shots, allowing more focus on the background, but some close-ups of the lead performer break this trend. The majority of the performance throughout the video is choreographed with small dance segments scattered throughout. The camera tends to stay fixed, with no tracking or pans for the most part, with cuts offering a change of scenery and background, rather than panning or tracking the performer.

Vogue

Despite being 23 years apart, this video shares many similarities with Fincher's latest work, showing a consistent mindset towards videos. This video shares a monochrome overlay, and is choreographed, more so than Suit and Tie, and more recognizably so as the dance from Vogue is very well known. This video differs however, with very little shots having the camera stay still, with a lot of pans, zooms and tracking shots. The pacing of the edits changes depending on where they come in the song, with faster edits appearing around the chorus, with slower edits during the verses.

We Don't Have To...

This song preceded Vogue by a year, but offers a very different video, despite only being a year apart, showing the variety this director is capable of displaying. This video features constant fast paced cuts, with the shot types being mainly wide-angled long shots, with overlays of close-ups edited in front of the backgrounds at certain stages. The camera in this video, much like Vogue is constantly moving, helping to capture the speed and upbeat nature of the song.

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