Production Schedule
Proposal
Rationale: Right at the start of this course, I knew nothing about editing and only knew a little bit about camerawork, since then I have learnt so much more, especially editing now I understand different effects that can be used but also that camerawork is just as important as it really helps you out once you get to editing. I think I have more confidence when filming, which really helps me for this unit, as I want to involve myself more and show off the new skills I have learned.
Project Concept: We are thinking about doing a music video, for this it needs to be planned before hand, it's extremely important that we decide what music we want to use as then it can help us with the genre. I also need to do my share of research, which is both primary and secondary, this would include making surveys and vox pops, but also looking at target audiences, analysing other music videos. The end goal is to make a music that is worth watching, it needs to grab the audience's attention. We need to find actors, locations, get research finished, and decide the music.
Evaluation: Throughout I will document everything I do (and my team) by completely weekly blogs, making sure everything on my website is updated to show my progress. I want to be able to produce either a short film or music video where it makes sense to the audience and connects emotionally, I would like something that I could be proud of when showing it to a bigger audience. This unit not only do I want to focus on camera work but also editing, as in the past it's something I'm the least confident with. In a group, we will make sure to work in a productive pace, making sure that everything is completed and that no one is left behind but it also maybe difficult because everyone works at a different pace and could affect others within the group but if we stick to our production schedule we can keep on top. We will also look at other productions, so we can get ideas and see how we can improve.
Project Concept: We are thinking about doing a music video, for this it needs to be planned before hand, it's extremely important that we decide what music we want to use as then it can help us with the genre. I also need to do my share of research, which is both primary and secondary, this would include making surveys and vox pops, but also looking at target audiences, analysing other music videos. The end goal is to make a music that is worth watching, it needs to grab the audience's attention. We need to find actors, locations, get research finished, and decide the music.
Evaluation: Throughout I will document everything I do (and my team) by completely weekly blogs, making sure everything on my website is updated to show my progress. I want to be able to produce either a short film or music video where it makes sense to the audience and connects emotionally, I would like something that I could be proud of when showing it to a bigger audience. This unit not only do I want to focus on camera work but also editing, as in the past it's something I'm the least confident with. In a group, we will make sure to work in a productive pace, making sure that everything is completed and that no one is left behind but it also maybe difficult because everyone works at a different pace and could affect others within the group but if we stick to our production schedule we can keep on top. We will also look at other productions, so we can get ideas and see how we can improve.
Codes and Conventions of Music Videos
There is a lot more codes and conventions that you should follow when making a music video, a lot more than I thought.
Performance: This isn't very common, it's where the artist (or an actor) perform throughout the video without cutting to any other scenes. It doesn't have any narrative. Just like 'Love on top', this has just a performance done with just the artist (and back-up dancers) and doesn't cut to another location (or narrative). I doubt we'll have a performance in our production, only because we won't have the original artist and we would need professional dancers which will be hard to find in the limited time we have. Narrative: Follows a story-line, which could link to the lyrics sung in the song. There are two different types of narrative, linear and fragmented, linear has a beginning, middle and end but fragmented doesn't (left on a cliff-hanger). In 'Diamonds' Rihanna is within the story line of her character but it also relates to the lyrics that she is singing. In our production it's important that we will have a strong narrative, as we've been thinking about doing a romance having a narrative about a couple and their love seems fitting. Mixture: Is both performance and narrative, the artist/actor will be performing as well as being part of the story-line, sometimes the artist will be a character within the narrative. 'The Sound' by The 1975 has a mixture, as they perform throughout and in the same location but there is also a storyline, where other characters are introduced as their 'haters'. Cameo: Is where an artist won't perform but will only be part of the narrative, a sort of 'guest' to a music video. Though sometimes the artist won't even be in video and the 'guest' will be in throughout instead. Just like the music video for 'Waste it on me', none of the actual singers are in the video but lots of famous actors and singers are. |
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Camera angles:
Wide-shot: Where a subject is shown in a further distance, it's used to show the surrounding area to set the location. We will use this in our production so when we decide on our exciting locations, we'll show the whole location and all the actors.
Mid-shot: This is a closer shot of the subject but still used to show the surrounding area. A mid shot would be good to use as it keeps your focus on the actors but also keeps in mind that our locations are important too.
Close-up: This is used to focus on one thing only, so the viewers attention is only on this one subject, there is also extreme close-up which is very similar, it's just focused in a lot more.
Over-the-shoulder: It makes it feel more realistic, it's used to show the perspective of the actor's view.
Cut-in: This can be a quick clip that can relate to the lyrics, it's just a quick scene that its part of the narrative.
High-angle: When a subject/artist is filmed from higher up, this could show powerless. Or could also be a 'birds eye view'.
Low-angle: The subject/artist is filmed from below, this could show power, gives off a different effect than High-angle does.
Wide-shot: Where a subject is shown in a further distance, it's used to show the surrounding area to set the location. We will use this in our production so when we decide on our exciting locations, we'll show the whole location and all the actors.
Mid-shot: This is a closer shot of the subject but still used to show the surrounding area. A mid shot would be good to use as it keeps your focus on the actors but also keeps in mind that our locations are important too.
Close-up: This is used to focus on one thing only, so the viewers attention is only on this one subject, there is also extreme close-up which is very similar, it's just focused in a lot more.
Over-the-shoulder: It makes it feel more realistic, it's used to show the perspective of the actor's view.
Cut-in: This can be a quick clip that can relate to the lyrics, it's just a quick scene that its part of the narrative.
High-angle: When a subject/artist is filmed from higher up, this could show powerless. Or could also be a 'birds eye view'.
Low-angle: The subject/artist is filmed from below, this could show power, gives off a different effect than High-angle does.
Sound: Sound parallel is when the video matches the music played, this creates the mood of the music and helps the audience understand the genre. Diegetic sound is when a realistic sound effect (example would be police sirens) it's used (either at the beginning or the end) to add to the narrative of the video.
Right at the beginning of 'Club Tropicana' there is the sound of birds, which then travels to a car, then high heels walking up to a party (where lots of people are heard) then the music increases, this gives the listeners an idea of the genre as people are heard having fun (at a party). |
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Lighting: It's one of the most important parts of a music video as it creates the mood, it also shows the genre, so having a black and white video could indicate that it's a sad song and the music video must also be sad. Bright colours are very good at catching viewers attention. Once again having a black, white or grey scheme could give a sad vibe but having lots of colour could give a happy vibe.
Props: Most props used are meaningful to the music video, they represent something that relates to the lyrics in the song. But it also adds entertainment and is most likely part of the narrative.
Even though the dog in 'Happier' isn't a prop, it is still something that is really important to the narrative and is shown throughout, it's also used for entertainment as it lets people remember the video better, as it's a story between a girl and a dog. Depending on our song, we will use props that will relate to the lyrics, as we are thinking about doing 'Strawberries and Cigarettes' it seems likely that we'll add strawberries and cigarettes to the video. |
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Costumes: Can tell a lot about someone in a music video, it helps the audience understand the characters it portrays who they’re.
In 'Paradise' by Coldplay, all the band members are dressed as Elephants which even though it doesn't have much to do with the lyrics, it shows the story line, which also makes the video more memorable as people will always remember it for the Elephant costumes used. The actors will be wearing normal everyday clothes, this is to make them look more natural and represent a realistic relationship but even there normal clothes can represent their characteristics, one person can wear bright clothes, while the other wears dark, one being energetic and the other quite chill. |
Locations: The location shows where the artist is but also lets the audience understand the genre, a place where it can give a happy or sad vibe.
In 'Rather be' you know the location is in a foreign country (most likely Japan), as the lyrics make you think that the genre is happy, 'no place i'd rather be', and follows the life of a young girl. If we have locations that are perfect for dates, where it's colourful (red and pinks) then this will make the mood of our production happy and romantic, exactly the mood we want. |
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Codes and Conventions of Pop Genre
Mise En Scene:
Editing:
Camera angles:
- Bright colours/lights (finding a location that is bright and colourful, also attracts the audience is really important and that is something we will do)
- A mixture of exciting locations
- A lot of make up and fashion that keeps up with the trends
- If a video is too dark, it will change the vibe of the video and Pop music videos are usually happy and energetic
Editing:
- Different types of filters which will enhance the colours used
- Sometimes artist are photoshopped, to be classed as 'perfect' (When editing I will not Photoshop the actors, keeping them natural makes it more realistic)
Camera angles:
- Lots of close ups of artist, to get their emotional expressions in video.
- Long shots, to show a variety of different things happening in one scene (used a lot for partying scenes)
Harvard References:
Trampezium. (2013). Conventions of a pop music video. Available: https://www.slideshare.net/Trampezium/conventions-of-a-pop-music-video-26096998. Last accessed 5th Mar 2019.
'Unknown'. (2011). Codes and Conventions of music videos. Available: https://www.slideshare.net/abishaw/codes-and-conventions-of-music-videos-finished. Last accessed 5th Mar 2019.
Trampezium. (2013). Conventions of a pop music video. Available: https://www.slideshare.net/Trampezium/conventions-of-a-pop-music-video-26096998. Last accessed 5th Mar 2019.
'Unknown'. (2011). Codes and Conventions of music videos. Available: https://www.slideshare.net/abishaw/codes-and-conventions-of-music-videos-finished. Last accessed 5th Mar 2019.
Feedback
Focus Group
In our focus group, we asked three students around the ages of 16-17, the first question asked is 'How can we portray self-love in our music video?', we can portray self-love by having a character that is really confident and is 'out-there', which shows that they accept themselves, and they're not ashamed about what they do. In our survey we did ask about locations but we felt we'd get a more detailed answer if we asked it in our focus group, we also made sure to describe the sort of genre and theme we are going for, which is an 80s aesthetic which also involves having lots of bright colours, one answer we got for this was 'a disco setting', which could be a way to show confidence maybe in a public place in front of people (like a party), this could be a good way to let the character express themselves (maybe dancing and having a good time) but we also discussed of having the location in a 80s roller disco. The third question asked (at 0:48) was 'What editing techniques could we use?' cutting to the beat was mentioned but also having match cut, cutting to the beat is when you have different scenes or angles in time with the musics beat. the fourth question was 'What do you think of the 80s aesthetic?' they answered by saying that the colours we want to use (bright colours) will match perfectly with the theme we are going for. The fifth question was 'Do you think it will suit our target audience which is 16-25 (year olds)?' all three agree, though Tom (middle) did say that people outside of that age range may be interested too but it will still suit the age range we have chosen. With the sixth question we wanted to explain that the colours we want to use are bright reds, neons, purples, we asked 'Would that give you the right impression?' Angelo (left) said it would and that it suits that self-love aspect we want as it more dynamic. At 1:42, we asked 'Any improvements or ideas you could give us?' Angelo said that because it's a pop song, they tend to have a lot of performance based music videos, we could try and incorporate that into our video. Tom also said to add a lot of jumps cuts, so it's not too smooth the whole way, which i guess is to make it more entertaining and gets people watching for longer.
Survey
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This was the first question asked in our survey, which was sent out to figure out what people liked and preferred when we explained about our music video idea.
'What camera angles would you expect to see in a drama-romance music video?' A lot of people said Close-ups and Wide-shots, which I also expect to see because then you can really get the emotions of the character by going up close and a wide shot is useful to show the whole scene, it gets the location and emotions in one. |
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Second question asked, 'What Locations would you expect to see?' a lot of people said a park, a few also mentioned a bedroom, others also said about having it in a flower garden (which could add a beauty vibe to the video). Overall people think it should be in a common and normal area, as it's a more realistic romance. Someone even mentioned having it in a school, which makes me think of a teen romance, which I guess is the sort of romance we were planning to do but I feel that they might be a little too old to still go to school, they're more like college or university students.
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The third question, 'What costumes would you expect to see?' a few people said 'normal/ordinary clothing', I guess to add to the realistic romance, three people said about having dresses and suits (smart clothes), which could be interesting to have a normal environment, like a park, and then having the characters very dressed up so they would stand out more to the viewers.
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Question Four, 'What kind of colours should be used to represent the mood?' lots of people said red, which i guess is typical romance colour, as red would represent love and hearts. Though I personally like the idea of having bright colours (which was mentioned) as then you can have a real mixture and can make the video more uplifting, as red could also be a main colour used as it's a romance and we still want people to think of it as a romance. I also think having bright colours fits that 80s aesthetic.
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Question five, 'What kind of props should we use?', as props can be a really important part of a music video, as it helps the audience understand more about the narrative of the video, as its a romance people suggested having flowers but someone even said 'roses and or knife' which could then make the music video changing its genre from sweet romance to something much darker.
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And the last question, ' What would you expect the ending to be like?' most people said having a happy ending but one comment that really stuck out to me was 'I prefer bitter sweet endings, where it is technically a happy ending but something bad needed to happen', which makes me think of different possible ways we could interpret this comment, as not all romances are happy all the way, couples argue and fight, people also have their own personal issues that could get in the way of being happy, but of course you want everything to turn out good and happy.
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Practising Techniques
Right at the start was Birds-eye view, we used Lexi as our model to then move the camera up and down her body, this is used to show only a certain part of a scene at a time but to also get a higher angle. At 0:06 was the close-up, I feel this angle will be one of the most important angles we'll use as it's popular in pop music videos. At 0:13 was Extreme close-up, another close-up that is good to use, you can either focus it on a prop or we decided to film Lexi's eyes, this can also get the emotion of the artist/character. 0:16 was high angle, this can be used just like the birds-eye angle but can also show 'weakness' as the camera looks down on them. 0:19-0:25 was the low angle, this is the opposite of high angle, as instead it can show 'power', I'm not sure if we'll use this in our video as we don't want to show someone feeling power or powerless when it's about being in love. 0:26 is mid close-up, another useful close-up we could use as it only shows the top half of the body, but also gets the importance of the facial expressions. 0:30, Over the shoulder is nice to use as you can get to see only one person's face, I think it would be good to use in our production as we can see the love interest perspective of the main character. 0:34, this technique is slant, I think it would be good to use in an energetic music video rather than a slow romantic one, the reason is it could be good for when people are dancing (like at a party) it makes the video look more interesting. And lastly at 0:38 is Wide shot, which is also used quite a lot in pop music videos and I think it would be good to use in our production as it shows the whole location and all of the artist/character.
Video Analysis
"Promises" By Sam Smith andCalvin Harris, has both narrative and performance. Having a narrative doesn't always mean the artist has to be part of the storyline, they could simply perform along side the narrative. The whole music video is about 'expressing yourself', where the characters within the narrative really get to be who they are. By having a narrative it keeps the audience interested as long as possible, as there is a reason to watch the video. Nowadays, people are all about becoming their true selves, so the video does keep up with the 'trends'.
At the beginning of the video, the actors that will continue being part of the narrative, start talking about letting go and doing what they love. It's a very personally shot, as the camera angle is beings far to then very close-up, it makes it more personal. They've also created boarders around the screen to make it look like it's filmed on a quite an old fashioned camera. But the actors are also telling their real life stories, of not being able to dress how they pleased and people being so against them. I personally think pop music videos can be quite 'sexual' as others may refer it as 'embracing', many pop music videos do have this sort of 'sexual' take, as a viewer sometimes i find it uncomfortable as you don't really know how to react but I think it's been part of the pop genre for many years and will probably continue.
Not sure if we'll use that in our production, the effect to make it look like an old fashion camera filming, or the give a very 80s aesthetic but maybe for a future production I could aspire to have this personal camera style effect. |
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I think it's typical to have 'party scenes' in a pop music video, it shows enjoyment and expresses the emotions in the actual song. In 'Promises' they are being celebrated and many parties take place where the actors and the artist are dancing. It connects the actors who are talking in the beginning and the artist of the song. Everything is also filmed like someone is filming on their phone, rather than a professional camera, to make it look more realistic and to make everyone seem ordinary and overall just having a good time. I like the idea of filming people naturally laughing and having a good time, it doesn't make it look like the artist/actor is over acting, it shows that they're actually having a good time.
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This shot is a mid close-up, it's not too close that all you can see is there face but it does show the top half their bodies. Both are the artist of the song but are set in different locations and back to back, I also like how they transition from one location to another which also has a different 'vibe', Sam Smith (bottom picture) is sat on the floor singing, the location he is in has natural lighting and is obviously filmed in the day, with Calvin Harris (top picture) is filmed in a darker location with a harsh red filter, this could indicate he is in a party but is separate. I like the idea of having a parallel effect, where the same thing is happening but in another location. At the end of Sam's mid close up, it then zooms in closer to his face, another way to transition to Calvin, this is done with a shaky camera making it look more natural.
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Having close-up in a music video doesn't always have to be someone's face, in the first image though it's of the artist Sam Smith, by having a close-up, you can see his emotion while singing the song. Sam Smith lip syncs quite a bit, though he is not the protagonist in the video, as that has already been shown at the beginning who the main focus of the narrative are.
The video moves very quickly between scenes, a few seconds is spent on the close up of either Sam Smith himself or for example someone brushing someone's wig, which it then pans out to show the whole of the scene. Going from a close-up to a wide shot, is two conventions added from Pop music videos added into one quick scene. Using closes up in our production is one of the most important camera angles we need to use, it shows something in better detail, it can represent something important as the focus is all on the one thing. |
As partying is a popular scenario within pop music videos, these scenes are all wide shot which is to show the whole location, they're all shot on the same stage to represent models and walking on a catwalk embracing themselves. The bottom photo is shot at a low angle, I think to show power, making them look stronger and independent as that is the main theme throughout the video. By making the location darker, you can add lights and glitters to create a colourful/bright effect to the scenes, there are lots of red and blues in these scenes, though the red looks as if it has been edited to make it look sharper and more obvious, which I also think is a clever way of brightening up the room.
Having the spotlight grabs your attention straight on the person it's directed to, which adds the fashion walk but also helps the viewer see their costumes in a better light, they're all wear completely unique costumes, they dress in dresses, they wear make-up and love glitter, this shows what kind of people they're, they don't care about other people's opinion (as they're grown men dressing in dresses) and they're celebrating by being together and that makes sense why they're always partying. i'm not sure how we'd interpret the idea of having costumes to show the character's personality but I think the lighting and the use of the red, would be perfect as it's attractive and really makes the whole scene (with the glitter) look aesthetic. |
At 3:23, the camera zooms in on Sam Smith who's lip syncing the words. He is standing in between, the lights are very bright and I think signifies Sam Smith as the centre of attention and makes it look as if he is a picture in a frame. Even though in the second photo, its a wide shot, you can't help but look a the bright blue light instead, the colour is the first thing you tend to notice even though the surrounding colours are all the same, having a dull colour scheme with a bright colour will always attract your eye, which also gets you to look at the artist too, which is why they've decided to do this, to make the artist look the most important in the scene but also give a aesthetic mood towards it. I do like the idea of having neon lights, like the blue light in this scene, they're very eye-catching and you can get a range of bright colours which could also help create the atmosphere.
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The first picture is 2:52, it's clever how they make a purposeful glitch before focusing on the actual scene, where both artist have a serious looking faces they stand still for a couple seconds staring, the fact they're look right at the camera and wearing normal clothes, makes it seem more natural once again going back to the old fashion filming, like someone they know is recording them rather than a professional camera crew.
in the second scene (3:57) which is right at the end, the camera slowly pans closer to the artists, they once again have similar expressions and are staring at the camera, while the people behind them are continuing to dance, they've used the same stage as the actors beforehand were dancing on, it's clever how they're all in the same location but are rarely in the same scenes, I think this is done to show the main focus of that scene, as the video is mostly about the actors, and the artist are only partly part of the story line, to show they're still there but its not about them. |
'Love it if we made it' by The 1975, this video is mostly performance, there is only a few times when actors are introduced but they do not play a big role and aren't part of a narrative. Though a narrative is a story, the video talks about issues around the world, that people tend to try and ignore. The point of the video is to show people the things we hide from, the issues that we try to ignore because we are scared of the real and shocking stuff.
The song is a pop song, it also uses a few codes and conventions of pop music videos, such as using bright colours to grab the audience and to give off a happy vibe but when you actually watch the rest of the video, it's completely different and uses that 'Pop song stereotype' where everything is 'exciting' and it's all colourful but in reality they're showing very serious issues around the world.
The artist doesn't really appear in the video (until the very end) instead they reflect their shadows on a plain wall and use brightly coloured lights, so the band are technically still there but you are unable to see them as they want to people to understand the message. You also don't know what they're wearing, as the costumes for them are not as important, neither is their appearance in the video, like I've said before, the music video isn't about them but it's a way of showing people things they usually hide from. I would like to use this effect in our music, maybe making our second character (the love interest) the unknown one, so the attention is on the main character. |
The bright colours used (the blue, orange and purple) are extremely eye-catching, throughout the videos the vibrated colours are quickly shown, personally it does hurt the eye to fully concentrate on the screen, as pop songs usually have this 'explosion' of colour to make the mood happy and The 1975 have used that code and convention, to make people want to watch the video to then actually grab the viewers with the message they're trying to spread. I don't think all pop music videos need to be just be about something happy or sad, by combining the two you can really add more effect, show the bad stuff in a happy way. We will make sure to have lots of colours in our production, I especially like the idea of having pink, I would rather have lots of bright colours but as our idea is a romance, I think having reds, purples and pinks would suit it.
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To keep the bright colours of the pop genre, they have placed real footage of real events or people, then placing the lyrics over the top in brightly coloured font.
The first imagine Of course the clips used in the video were not recorded by the band themselves but were taken throughout the year from news reports and social media, they're information that we already know of but still choose to ignore or let the media give us one sided opinion on. By using shocking videos and playing colourful filters over the top, to add to the pop culture but still getting away with the use of the videos, it's grabbing the audience's attention as people tend to notice colourful videos than watching something that's black and white. I also think it's clever that when editing they've made these clips look like they were recorded on an old camera or camera with really bad quality, also making it look like an old fashioned TV, making it blurry and grainy to show that it's not the same as the shots done in the studio with the band. I wouldn't say this unusual editing was popular in pop music videos but it does make the colours appear brighter. Though I do think editing to make it look like it is recorded on an old fashioned camera is quite common in music videos, for example in 'Broken Clocks' by SZA, throughout her video it looks like it is recorded on a camera with bad quality, it gives make it feel more personal as if a friend is recording her, this same effect is used in the news clips used in this music video, as they're real clips filmed by either a proper camera operator or a normal person. |
The song is about showing people the real issues, and the ones who should really be looking is the new generation, the kids who's futures will change because of current events. In the video variety of people are stood close to the camera, everyone is different but have the same facial expression. The difference between when the band are shown and when ordinary people are shown is big, The 1975 are telling the viewers that the music video isn't about them, so they only show their outlines but use vibrate colours, while the montage of people has no filter, to give off the natural look, by using a plain background it pulls your focus on the people more than getting distracted. Usually pop songs are there to make you feel good, but this music video wants people to look into depth more and see the shocking stuff we tend to look away from.
They've also included normal individuals, of people who the viewers have never seen before, instead of using a cameo where they have famous people, which could help publicise, though I think using normal people can make the video feel more personal, as they're just like you and I, normal people who have to go through the same struggles that we (as viewers) have to go through. The shots are close-ups, which makes the viewer only focus on one thing, as nothing else is going on in the background to distract away. I want to have a lot of close up on faces, but also hands, this way you can see the romance in their facial expression but also see it through skin touch. |
There aren't chosen costumes used in the video, usually costumes are used to help viewers understand someones personality, it can be use to be obvious, for example in 'Sweet but Psycho by Ava Max' her unusual hair cut indicates that her personality is a bit crazy and adds to her psycho role (which is one side short and the other side long), but in 'Love it if we made it' everyone is dressed different, you can tell that nobody is the same and they all have their a vary of personalities. This clip is played at 2:34, where all the individuals face the camera with the serious facial expressions but it is also placed again near the end at 3:58, where the viewer is once again reminded of their faces, as a way to remind us all that it's this generation that's future will change.
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The whole song is serious, but once the chorus comes back it turns back into it's original pop song, the song has sound parallel (where the music fits with the video) even though the music sounds upbeat but when actually listening to the lyrics it's completely different mood, and then back to the chorus which is more about being hopeful and could be classed as 'celebratory'. The lead singer used the idea of having a softer chorus to maybe tone down from the rest of the video, as he says 'to part the clouds' as it's still technically a pop song. I think we would rather have a music video that is happy throughout because it's about love.
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There are three different locations within the music video, though they're all filmed in a studio, each location has it's individual take on a pop music video. In the picture (right) is a big studio room that has a large board on a wall, which is only use a few times throughout but has some of the 'key' lyrics written across. They use a filter of bright colours (such as red, pinks and purples) and bring in a wide range of people to face the opposite way to the camera, the shot is a wide shot as it gets in multiple things happening in the one scene. I think the use of having such a large room and making it very plain is to let the viewers notice the more important message that is across the wall. It is also the same plain wall used when the montage of people are shown, once again to let the viewers look at them in more depth than the surrounding area.
Another location used is another plain white studio wall but this time the use of brightly coloured lights are used, bright filters are used most of the time in pop music videos, most of the time used to give off the mood of the video, obviously in this video it's used 'sarcastically'. And the third location used is the dancing scene, where five dancers are presented even though you cannot see their faces, just looking at the surrounding area you can see the happiness of the dancing but the destructive background behind, with a broken down car, smoke and rubbish, also the colour is very different from the rest of the video, having a darker tone. |
The prop of the megaphone is used only in this scene at 1:43, as it's used to make someones voice louder, there is also a whole room of people behind which makes me think of a riot, as the video is all about events happening in the world, I think the use of the megaphone is a way of trying to be heard, and lead a 'riot' of people. We will be using props, hopefully we are able to get props that relate to the lyrics of the actual song.
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This part of the song is very different from the rest, this is a take on many other pop songs (most likely Micheal Jackson) as four dancers and the main singer begin to dance in a darker setting, this brings up the mood as it seems much more happier and makes people want to dance as the music is also upbeat (despite the lyrics) even though there isn't much colour as the rest of the video. They've taken a lot of different pop videos and placed them into one, as before the use of colours is very pop but then adding this darkened location with dancing and up-beat music is also another side of pop, pop doesn't always have to be colourful (even though it sets the mood) what you watch can get the mood of the video, especially this enthusiastic dance scene, it moves away from all the colours that appear on the screen and sort of calms down before adding all the colours again.
They've also added a close up of his feet, even his shoes are quite 'pop' which adds to the costume (as it's also the only part of him we can actually see) it's used pop codes and conventions, the use of a close up but it doesn't get his emotions, it gets the movement of his feet but they also use wide shot so you can see everything in the scene, like the dancers and the broken down car, this also gives a 'thriller' vibe (as there is destruction behind and the scene is much darker) but still keeping within the pop genre. |
Right at the end the many different people are shown again, until the lead singer is shown, this is the only time you really get to see the lead singer up close, just like everyone else his face is serious, this close-up shows his emotions by looking at his facial expressions, he doesn't look happy which could relate to the main focus of the music video. In this ending scene, with the editing they blur his face and he starts to walk backwards, once again to show the video isn't about him, then a huge 'slide to power off' appears, this is the same tab you have on an iPhone to close down the phone, this is used to represent the fact that the whole video is about modern society and phones are also a huge part of society now, I think it's used as a transition for the ending to show that us as a society turn our heads away from the issues and on our phones we can easily keep away by closing them.
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