Storyboards

We started work on the storyboards after we worked out a rough version of the way the narrative would flow:

The last one shows three differnt ideas for the transition between the room and the dance, which we now decided would be taking place on a stage of sorts.

Millers Crossing

 Miller's Crossing is a gangster film by the Coen brothers, it is made to look like a gangster film that was made in the 30's. In the film there are a lot of old rooms that are flatteringly lit with what looks like only practical light. I think this is perfect for what we are doing, especially when the focus is turned to objects in the room as they say a lot about the time period and are very ornate and pleasing to look at when lit in a certain way.

You can see a nice example of that here.

Developing the Idea

 After the pitch, we spent a few days in a room talking about the way the video would look and the way we were going to tell the story. We decided it should be a single room that was occupied by a girls grandmother and the girl is a normal girl who is given the job of cleaning up the grandmothers flat after she has passed away. At first she doesn't like doing this and you get the idea that she didn't have too much contact with her grandmother. Whilst cleaning her room, she starts to find significant objects that she finds interesting such as burlesque costumes and photographs of her grandmother as a young woman. She then starts to realise that she has more in common with her grandmother than she initially thought and begins to try these clothes on and then breaks through the wall, doing a contempary burlesque dance wearing her grandmothers outfits.

 Narrative of video

• Girl walks into shot having struggled with the door. Theare are piles of letters on the floor and she picks them up

• She dumps the letters almost on the gramophone, but notices it just in time.

• Moves the needle of the gramophone down to the LP and the track begins

• The girl takes of her coat and dumps it on a nearby chair

• The camera follows the eye-line of the girl as she turns to survey the room

• Girl rummages through chest of drawers and pulls out items to throw in a nearby bin.

• The shot opens up to reveal some picture/photo frames on the wall above the chest of drawers. Dolly shot of frames, lingering on empty space at the end where a frame is obviously missing.

• Phone stand and address book, girl flicks through the book.

• Girl pulls clothes out of trunk

• Lamp on

• Sewing machine with pattern for dress next to it.

• Girl sits on sofa and accidentally sits on the missing frame.

• A photograph is revealed of an almost identical women to the girl-her grandma. Dressed in the clothes previously revealed in the trunk.

• Girl takes the clothes and moves towards the mirror to hold them up to herself.

• Lingering shot in mirror, girl in similar pose to her grandmother in the photo.

• Girl walks towards the camera (mirror)

• Shot of girl walking away from camera (mirror) dressed in the costume/clothes, into bright lights as if onto stage.

• Burlesque dance/movement

• She smiles

• Lights down as if the end of a show

The Pitch

 We pitched the ideas to the tutors and overall it went well. We created two powerpoints of images to accompany a small synopsis for each idea. After asking a few questions and putting us on the spot the tutors eventually went with the first idea, this being the girl 'breaking through.' By this point, that original concept was a lot more evolved than the Game idea and we had a rough idea of how it would progress:
 - it is set in an old tenament block in Scotland
 - a girl has inherited her Grandma's old flat and is living there
 - her Grandmother was very conservative and overbearinbg, and this has had an effect on the girl and she is very narcotic and suffering as a result of her oppression.
 - after showing the passing of time by means of food being devoured, her starting to rearrange her room and moving around the room a lot as well as shots of objects in the house that don't look like they belong to her
- as the song increases in pace she starts to become more frantic in her rearranging and it is obvious that reliving a loit of the memories is starting to get to her  - maybe this could be told through some kind of flashback
- when the song slows down she begins to descover her grandma's hidden belongings which include burlesque clothing
 - she starts to try these on
 - she forces her way through the wall into some kind of white room where she starts to tie herself up in provacative poses whilst wearing her grandmothers burlesque costume
 - at this point you realise that she is finally happy

 The idea is to recontextualise these items of clothing for a modern generation, trying to make them as shocking as they would have been in the grandmothers generation.

 The feedback we receieved was that maybe the girl shouldn't be oppressed and should be a normal girl coming to clean out her grandmothers room. We were also told to think about a suitable transition between the two spaces and to maybe make the subject matter less sinister to be more coherent with the upbeat song.

Video Games

 I think for this idea we should use a lot of imagery from old video-games like Street Fighter and other 2D platform games. The sets would be the key element and the camera angles would be flat on mimicking the style of these games, paying a close attention to detail and adding life bars and player names in post-production to help authenticate the video.

I think this idea leaves a lot to be desired creatively and is very route one. The narrative also lacks substance and I am overall not too enthusiastic at this stage.

New Idea

 After much discussion and deliberation as a group, we decided to replace the first idea (the club scene) with a new idea. The reasons for this were there was not enough emphasis on a physical set ,which would make for an unfair learning experience, as well as a lack of a strong concept. We came up with an idea of taking a normal break up after the first long term relationship of your life and turning the melodrama that comes with it into a kind of game-show/computer game. The idea was to build a few sets that could be different levels of the computer game and to drop two protagonists (male and female) into them and have them battle. Instead of going the Scott Pilgrim route, with choreographed camerawork and elaborate CGI fight scenes, the idea is to do the opposite and have a very naive, cheap looking set with clouds dangling from ropes and people holding parts of the set up in shot. I don't think this idea is very strong at all, it has been done countless times and reminds me of orange adverts and things like that. It's too twee and indie, with no real concept and although may end up looking quite fun would be very hard to mask as anything else but a student film.

Ideas for the Second Idea

 My initial thoughts towards the second idea are that it should look very filmic in the way that the apartment she is in should , in my mind, look like a New York flat as this is more familiar to viewers in that it is what they are used to seeing on the screen and may make it look less like a student film and give the illusion of professionalism. I also think that you can achieve this illusion in grading; a heavily desaturated grade with hints of green would work towards making the room look cold, lonely and melancholic.

 The Machinist a desaturated tone, with lots of blues and greens. In some places, the film is almost black and white and really provokes a sense of isolation and depression. Also, it draws in the viewer whilst at the same time creating a feeling of detachment. Obviously, this isn't down to the grading alone but it does play an important role in contributing to the overall tone of the film. This is a technique that is also used to great effect in other things where the filmaker is trying to create a similar feeling.

 A perfect example is Park Chan-wook's 'Oldboy'. Although it is probably not used to the same extent as in The Machinist it still makes for a successful sinister atmosphere. This is quite a common technique with endless examples and is definately something to consider.

Second Meeting

 I met with the group again to discuss ideas. We talked a lot about the night club idea and I got the impression that some of the group weren't happy with relying more on lighting and camera effects and less on a physical set, which is understandable. So, we decided to brainstorm some more ideas; Jen had brought in a mood board which became a great starting point for coming up with new ideas. In particular, there were a series of images which showed a young girl in quite provacative poses whilst chained to beds in a horrible looking room. This sparked the idea of having a girl breaking through into something else, maybe she lives in a run down appartment and she breaks through the wall into a clinical, desolate hospital which represents her unleashing her inner self as she is finally happy. Although this wouldn't be most peoples ideal place of happiness somehow it is hers; we thought about making it seem that she had been abused in some way by a relative and she was living in their old house.

Enter the Void

 Enter the Void is a film by Gaspar Noe which explores ideas of intoxication, sex, depression, death and reincarnation. Although in my eyes the narrative is quite thin and the film is full of cliches, I think some of his stylistic techniques would be transferable to our current idea. For example, his use of strobes and neon colours as well as POV camera angles and claustrophobic lighting set ups to create a sense of unease throughout the film. Though in my opinion a lot of Noe's visuals are lifted from Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, this would not suit what we are trying to do as well as Noe's contemporary take on the style would. The neon colours and modern look of the film (perhaps emphasised with a use of solely electric lighting and CGI) would be more suited to our target audience for the music video.

Initial Ideas

 I met up with the group and we discussed a few ideas; we came away from the first meeting with the idea of doing a kind of club scene similar to Prodigy's 'Smack my Bitch Up'. This is an almost psychedelic documentation of a night out through the eyes of a drug addled, misogynistic, aggressive man (or so you are led to believe.) It is later revealed that you are actually viewing the night through the eyes of a woman. It is shot entirely with POV shots and this only differs at the very end when it is revealed that the protagonist is female. The video uses various camera effects including what appears to be a fisheye lens to create the sense of being intoxicated. To further this, the club is lit in a claustrophobic and disconcerting way using a lot of reds and blues. As of now, we haven't got any real narrative as such other than a modern take on 'boy meets girl', which sounds kind of boring but the idea could be saved using a lot of creative set design and camera work.

You can view the video here.

Music Video For Stereo MC's 'Far out Feeling'

Far out feeling
Medication take me, We can cut the chase
In the glow of the street lights is how i saw your face
We stand in equal evil Nothing outta place
We got an understanding no no, Nothin' can replace
There's no substitute at all
There's no substitute at all
There's a far out feeling no substitute at all

Am I a midful reader, Or a hopeless case
Pullin' up on the wayside, Slingshot to waist
Cos we are
Equally evil, Hard to erase
We are people in fusion, no no , Barbed wire and lace
There's no substitute at all, There's no substutute at all
There's a far out feeling, A far out feeling
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh

A far out feeling
A far out feeling

Keepin' the version nice
Hurting to keep it right
Reading the skies at night
Eating the days and nights
Waiting to hear you calling
Falling to free the wailing
Now we co-operatin'
Huting to keep it right

There's no substitute at all
There's no substitute at all
There's a far out feeling
A far out feeling
One time push come to shove and I
  
A cold sweat running in my veins
I don't wanna be wanna be
Wanna be vain
ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Keepin' my head down
...Keepin' my head down
Keepin' my head down
Keepin' my head down
Keepin' my head down

No substitute at all


These are the lyrics for the song far out feeling, me and the group i'm working with decided it would be a good idea to read the lyrics and listen to the song to see if anything comes to mind. We decided to then meet back up with a few ideas each.

Hjaltalin - Sweet Impressions

 This video, directed by Arni Thor Josson, seems to represent the way people feel they need to change themselves to be more attractive in relationships when, in reality, it doesn't matter. It sees a man giving himself what seems to be home plastic surgery after assesing various images of male models from magazines, then going out with his bandages on, meeting a woman and going back to her house. Along the way, they are cheered on by other people with bandages around their heads. After sleeping with her, the man wakes up to see her by the window with bandages on herself - suggesting she has done the same thing for him.
 The video is interesting in that it communicates a strong message to audiences. There seems to be a blue filter on the footage, helping portray the underlying sadness in what is going on.

You can watch the video here

Gnarles Barkley - Who's Gonna Save My Soul Now

Chris Milk directs this video for Gnarles Barkley, in which a young girl is breaking up with her boyfriend. The video uses the concept of handing your heart to someone on a plate, and uses special effects to portray this literally when the man cuts out his heart and places it on the table to give to the woman. The 'heart' is in fact Cee-Lo himself, and begins singing the song, serenading the woman and walking moodily around the room until eventaully he stabs himself with a knife. At the end, we realise this is just what the man is imagining he is doing.

This video ties in well with the song it represents in that the lyrics refer to break up. Throughout, there is a melancholic tone to the video, we sympathize with the young man and though the imagery is shocking we feel more sad than disguisted. Again, the colours of this video are quite desaturated.

 You can watch the video here.

Rabbit In Your Headlights - Radiohead and UNKLE

This award winning video is directed by Johnathan Glazer. It follows a man walking amoungst traffic in an underground bypass. He keeps getting knocked over, though doesn't look phased and continues. People try to help him out and pick him up but he mumbles to himself and keeps looking straight ahead. As the song progresses, he gets ever more determined and removes his clothes as he seems to get stronger and stronger and more worked up. The video doesn't change location, and stays in this mystical, green-hued underpass. The atmosphere created by the video is gloomy yet spiritual, the events seem significant.

 You can watch the video (or part of it) here.

Mum - Sing Along

 Directed by Kevin Phillips, this video shows a man and woman on what seems an isolated yet beautiful landscape as they descover a dead deer which floats from the sky on an island. A surreal idea, the video follows the concept of the song which seems to be slightly sinister and cult-based, ('you are so beautiful to us, we want to lock you in our house'). The couple take the deer corpse and seem to 'worship' it.

 Everything about the video is dreamlike, colour plays an imporant role in this with a pinkish hue to everything (something I have noticed is that colour seems to add a lot to a video.) Light also plays an important role here, helping to give a dreamlike atmosphere and making some really attractive footage. The cinematography throughout is really what makes the video so endearing.

 You can watch the video here.

Jose Gonzalez - Down The Line

 This video, directed by Andreas Nilsson, follows a similar concept to the Daft Punk video. Again, the man is human looking but with an animal head - this time a pig. He is depicted as being lonely and outcast, however this time it is against an english countryside backdrop. It's fairly calm until the end, when he sets fire to a car in the nighttime. Again, I am fascinated by the idea of  a human with an animal head, however done in a fairly lighthearted manner. The video reflects the lyrics of the song, relating to lonliness and being faily melancholic.
 
Aswell as having the narrative, shots of Jose performing the song are editing amoungst the footage. This helps maintain a focus on music, the main purpose of music videos.

 You can watch the video here

Balmorhea - Remembrance

 This video, directed by Jared Hogan, is interesting in that it mimics the Western style of cinema. This must have been influenced by the music, which seems as though it would fit well in any Western film beacuse of its instrumentation and pace. It follows a man walking along a desolate landscape as it gets to nightfall when he lights a fire. We also see a man performing on the violin, again sitting alone in the desolate landscape, helping to tie in the music to the video.

Somehow, the video has a gentle atmosphere throughout. This may be beacuse of the desaturated colour, the elongated and wide-angled shots and soft focus. The focus of the video is landscape, leaving room for beautiful, well cinematographed shots. This helps to bring out the haunting, melancholic tone of the music.

 You can watch the video here.

Daft Punk - Da Funk

This is one of Spike Jonze's many succesful music videos. It follows a strong narrative, as a man with a dogs head is trying to get by in New York and runs into an old friend. Throughout, nobody ackknowledges the fact he is a dog. The contrast of him being gentle, naive looking and rather downtrodden with the dark, busy and threatening streets of New York works well and immediately audiences sympathise with the character. It seems he is being segregated from the rest of the city, and pitied by most people.

 I like how the fact he is a dog is suggested in a crude, naive manner as the mask is unrealistic looking. The video has little to do with the song, and merely seems to be a backdrop for the narrative on screen. I think this is an origional, simple yet effective idea for a music video, it keeps audiences captivated and helps them to remember the song.

Chris Cunningham

 One of the most widely recognised music video directors is perhaps Chris Cunningham. He has made videos for several artists including Aphex Twin, Bjork aand an award winning video for Madonna.
 His most captivating work is that for Aphex Twin, in which he creates surreal and sinister images to compliment the bands somewhat surreal and sinister music.

 In 'Come to Daddy', Cunnigham creates a dark atmosphere on a built up, rough housing estate. We follow an old woman walking a pitbull dog, as she comes across a TV with a harrowing face which sings the lyrics 'I Want Your Soul.' We then see a group of schoolchildren pick up the television set and start running around and playing with it in a manic manner. It seems the television set represents the 'devil', and at the end a creature comes out of it and screams in the old womans face.

 Various techniques add to the videos sinister tone, there seems to be a blue hue on the footage which gives a cold atmosphere, and loud noises such as screams and barks are silent; something about this is unsettling.
 The video fits perfectly with the music, as I said before it is sinister and makes people uneasy.

 Another video he did for Aphex Twin, Windowlicker, was award winning. This follows a more conventional narrative, with the full length version having a significant proportion of dialogue before the music even begins. We are shown two guys comically trying to chat up two women, in a parody to a hip-hop music video. Throughout, convetions of hip hop videos are parodiedied as scantily clad women dance around, though they have warped, ugly faces. Again, there is a sinister undertone to the video in the same way there is a sinister undertone to the music.

You can watch the video's here and here.

Sigur Ros - Glisoli

 The video to Sigur Ros' 'Glisoli' is one I feel worthy of comment. It was directed by Arni & Kinski, and the cinematography is done by Chris Soos. The video features a group of children dressed in traditional icelandic clothing as they climb a cliftop by a coastline; this is done so in such a way that it is clear soemthing significant is happening as the children form a sort of procession towards the top of the cliff. Upon reaching the top, the children jump and swim off into the skyline, though the last boy to jump is left ambigous in that we are unsure whether he flies or falls. The narrative is loosly based on 'The Catcher in the Rye', depicting the metaphor the protagonist describes himself as wanting to be (i.e someone that chatches children as they fall.)

 The images realte well to the music, the song builds up as the children reach the top of the cliff to a hightened climax when they jump. It is clear when watching the video that it has been directed around the music, and compliments it which is after all the primary function of a music video. The pace of the music is mimicked in the editing techniques of the video as well as the motions of the children themselves.

 The video is very stylized, with hues being used to signify a change from reality into a 'dreamlike' atmosphere (as the children fall asleep.)

 The music video follows a narrative, a common technique in music video production. As the song is instrumental, it gives a fairly large scope of room in letting the director imagine a narrative to fit alongside it. Perhaps this is why the video works so well.

 You can watch the video here.