Friday, 29 April 2016

Client Feedback


Above is a screenshot of the email that I sent to my client containing links to the video and to a survey for them to fill out based on the outcome of the video.

My client then answered the survey, screenshots of the results below








Friday, 22 April 2016

Music Video Analysis

Lost Penguin- Pleasurewood Kills



This music video for Pleasurewood Kills by Lost Penguin emanates a similar style as to what I am looking to achieve with my music video. The video consists of the three band members in a very low-key lit environment, with a very dark mise-en-scene, as they are all wearing black, but also each of them has various lights and LED's wrapped around them, creating high contrast between the band and their surroundings. The video is shot at a very slow shutter speed, creating the effect of painting with light, as when the band members spin around there is a trail of light following their movements. The footage is edited to the abnormal techno-esque beat, with very fast cuts due to the fast paced tone of the song. This slow shutter speed, combined with rhythmic editing gives an original, yet obscure effect to the video, as it makes the band members seem less human and more robotic, as their movements are jerkier in this style. This is especially prominent within shots of the bass player and when you see someone singing, as their fingers and mouths move much quicker than humanly possible. The obscure tone in this video visually represents the obscure tone of the band, as the genre they classify themselves as is 'Horror Space Punk', which is justified by this video, as the lighting gives an almost sci-fi effect, and the punk nature of the band members is represented by what they are wearing and the singer's hair colour.

Battles- Ice Cream



The music video for 'Ice Cream' by Battles has a very experimental style, which reflects the band's experimental image, as they are a Math Rock band. The first shot in the music video is of a naked woman eating ice cream in a bathtub, coupled with a romantic 'score' styled music. This seems to sexualise the ice cream, and we see a close up shot of the ice cream as it melts and drips into the water. The next shot is of a group of people in white karate outfits on a cliff near the ocean with the sun setting in the distance, and a shot of people in burgundy outfits with white belts in a gymnasium. A series of 'huh' and 'ah' style grunts can be heard, which is illustrated by the martial arts groups. There are fast cuts between these three initial shots, then other shots are introduced of picturesque landscapes, such as a snow covered mountain, a desert with golden sands, then a long shot of a woman on a beach, then an upside down shot of this same woman doing a handstand, and a close up shot of a balloon, and a cactus. All of these shots emanate a summery feel, which reflects the title of the song, as ice cream is usually eaten during summer time. There are then seemingly random shots of a close up of a man's hand on a woman's leg, and then the man's face as she slaps him, but this almost contradicts the sexualisation we had before in the first shot, as we barely see any of the woman except the fragmentation of her leg and hand. We see a fragmented shot of a man putting his T-shirt on, then a shot of a woman taking hers off, a shot of a guy drinking milk then spitting it out, all intercut with shots of the martial artists performing different moves such as punches and kicks. We then see a variety of shots of a real cat dry and then wet, and porcelain statues of cats and dogs against colourful, summery backgrounds, and a shot of a blue classic car then a shot of a blue toy car. We then see a fragmented shot of a woman putting on a pair of blue jeans, then putting the jeans on backwards. All of these aforementioned images are very quirky, which illustrates the band's quirky image. We then see two extreme close-up shots of two six-sided dice, firstly on double six, then on snake eyes, i.e. double one. We then see very short shots of women in odd filters, one being red with a yellow background, then another being green on a blue background. There are then contrasting shots of high heels, then a shot of women's pump shoes, and a shot of the top of a woman's head and a shot of her toes, then a shot of pizza and then cake, which has inspired me to follow a theme of food in my music video, as many math rock music videos contain some element of food within them. Later in the music video, we see superimposed imagery if girls fighting with ice cream, with silhouetted figures of the band members playing, a very experimental and impressive technique which illustrates the band image perfectly.

Tera Melos- Weird Circles


The final music video that has inspired me whilst producing a math rock music video is Tera Melos-Weird Circles. Tera Melos are well known as far as math rock banda go, and are known for wearing costumes in their music videos, as can be seen in this one. The video starts with a shot of a man in a suit with a paper bag on his head, in which he jump cuts backwards which is cut to the beat of the music. We then see a shit of someone playing the guitar, illustrating the music. There is then a shot of a stuffed mouse, but the opacity has been lowered to overlay the same image twice, and a fist comes in from either side to push the mouse out of frame from different sides . there is later a shot of a man eating cereal whilst watching television, with the cereal and milk pouring out of his mouth, which is something I want to replicate in my music video. Throughout the video we see various people (and a puppet) mime the lyrics, which illustrated the lyrics of the song, but subverts Goodwin's theory of star image, as it leaves the question as to who the lead singer actually is. One of these shots seems to homage Kenneth Anger's fireworks, in that we see a man being covered in milk, which could be a clever homage to experimental media and it's roots, as Anger is one of the founding fathers of experimental cinema, something which this video owes a lot of credit to, and experimental music and experimental cinema go hand in hand. The final shot I would like to mention in this music video is of the hot dog that has been edited to almost look as if it is dancing to the music, a shot that is incredibly odd in nature, however I think perfectly encapsulates the formula for creating a math rock music video, and has greatly inspired me in the production of my video.

Tuesday, 19 April 2016

Music Video Planning



The song I have chosen to use for my music video is Momentum Booooooootssss by The Bulletproof Tiger, a Math Rock band from Toronto, Canada. Most music videos for Math Rock songs contain seemingly random visuals edited to the beat of the song, a good example of this being the video for Weird Circles by Tera Melos, or Ice Cream by Battles, or Everything Popular is Wrong by The Bulletproof Tiger themselves, so I intend to take inspiration from these. I also intend on using codes and conventions often found in experimental cinema, as Math Rock is a very experimental music genre, so it makes sense for the music video to be inspired by experimental cinema. For some of the music video, I intend to use stop-motion animation, however instead of using plasticine or models, I will use real people, or perhaps a combination of live action and stop motion. Below is a mood board for my music video: