Video Rough Cut

This is the rough cut of the video, which I'm making available so we can gain some audience feedback ahead of making the finishing touches. Most transitions are missing, some of the edits are work in progress and some of the audio cuts need some modifications. Additionally, at least 1 instance of onscreen text is missing.

Backstage Stuff

Here is a snapshot photo of the band playing in the attic location. Our 4 actors are playing and Paul is filming in the corner.
There is also a short video of us performing as the band.

Mise-en-scene:
The location is lit by spotlights, and christmas fairy lights behind the band. This give a dark and emo like effect to the room.
We added a balck cloth behind the band to darken the room, adding some colour to the cream walls.
My brother's posters of footballers were taken down and replaced with a dart board and a mini basket ball hoop- suggesting that it is a lads area, they would no doubt mess around up there.
to add to the idea of teenagers having a good time we added empty booze bottles and shot the band drinking cans of beer.

Costume:
We had the band dressed in jeans, dark clothes and if possible, skinny jeans. their hair was either straightened or gelled up. Hair spray was coated on their hair and eyeliner was added to give the true look of an emo.
One of our actors arrived in a football strip, this was to show that they do more than just play in a band and this particular guy has more than one interest.

Lab records moodboard

This moodboard features some of the bands from Lab Records. It show there is a cohesive style across the label, especially in the clothing. The clothing the artists wear is derived from both emo and indie styles and we will dress our charactors in similar clothing when we record the video. This helps create a style which is relateable and understandable to the audience, as they can see what types of clothing the bands wear which generally has connotations about the music they make.

Production schedule changes

Due to unforeseen circumstances which we could not avoid our filming has had to be delayed by a week till the 5th of December. This will affect our editing dates, but we are going to try and finish it as soon as possible.

To this end, we are eliminating the Adobe Premiere Pro rough cut, and will instead go straight to Final Cut to edit the video. Thanks to the non-linear nature of the software, this won't affect our quality as we can simply have a live rough cut in Final Cut and make any additional modifications from there.

Lab Records

Lab records began as a Blackpool based promotions company in 2006, after working with some of the bands from the Blackpool scene they formed a record company. After the first release in 2007 it quickly began to sign rising bands from the North of the UK.

The Blackpool scene can be identified with other seaside towns scenes (such as Brighton-home town of The Auteur) with feelings of isolation and desolation. The themes often include 'Getting out of this town', or the melancholy of the cities. Where the city becomes like a prison to the artists or the youth from the area. Lab is an independent label and represents some rising bands, in the rock or pop genres.


In May 2009, Lab Records moved to Salford, the city responsible for bands such as Joy Division or the influential Factory Records. Manchester is famous for the 'Madchester' scene of the late 80's and early 90's, and is also famous for musical successes such as Oasis, Stone Roses, and The Smiths who have had a huge influence on the 'emo' scene, which derives the emotional, intelligent lyrics from Morrisey, who wrote about desolation and isolation. Videos by The Smiths are known for featuring close and personal live performances, with the camera close to the musicians, and the fans are always featured. In our video we will use similar themes of the close shots and movement to create a feel of seeing the band live.


This will link to our video as we will use other videos to influence the composition etc. The idea of a narrative based video with clips of performance is often used in rock and pop genres. The narrative will feature a mostly implied story, without much speech, and with the performance scenes becoming part of the narrative, as well as being intertwined with narrative elsewhere. The narrative is based mainly on the lyrics, we have used a vignette effect to make it seem darker and moodier. This is influenced by bands such as The Smiths who used similar effects in most of their promotional photos, as shown in the above photo of Morrissey.


Bands they have signed:

• The Auteur
• The Morning Of
• Mimi Soya
  
• Lost On Campus
• He Is Legend
• Adelaide
• Eat Sleep Attack
• Pegasus Bridge
• Lost On Landing

• Blitz Kids

History of The Auteur

The Auteur are a pop-punk/alternative band who formed in 2007 members of Brighton based screamo band 'Go&Comeback' (who were previously known as 'Angels Cry' and were active from 2005 till 2007), who had previously released an EP and toured Europe. The Auteur have toured the UK and have released their own EP ('Nightcap' in 2009) The first single is 'Hey! Watch This'. In 2008 they signed to Lab Records, an Indie label.

The Auteur are made up of:

• Alex Rumble-Guitar and Vocals




• Julian Bowen-Drums




• Kerry Williams-Bass




• Kev Deverick-Guitar

The effect of the internet on the music industry and music video

Over the past ten years the internet has revolutionised many aspects of modern life. The music industry and music video specifically have grown due to the internet. Bands often run a website as well as many profiles on sites such as MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and PureVolume among others. Since the start of MySpace in 2003 small bands have been able to reach fans from across the globe. Websites often contain tour dates, merchandise, and things such as forums where fans can communicate with each other. Fans can also joling mailing lists where they will receive a blanket email fom the band each month which often gives them access to tickets/merch before general release. The average bands MySpace contains links to buy their music and merchandise, sample clips from songs, links to videos and other sites they run. Since 2006 Sites such as Twitter have hosted band pages, where the band can tell their fans what they are doing and give them updates.

Youtube has had the biggest effect on music videos. Bands often set up accounts so they can share music videos, live videos as well as video blogs or behind the scenes footage. Due to copyright laws private users can not upload bands music videos, but bands who wish to keep in touch with their audience often run their own account.

The main effect the internet has had on the music industry is the level of communication between bands and the fans. Fans can add the band as 'friends', or 'follow' them, and this is a great promotional tool for the band, as well as a great way to connect with the fans and make new fans. Before the internet small bands had to tour the whole country just to get a name for themselves. With the internet bands can send their music around the world with the click of a button. Before the internet the only way fans could stay in touch was to join fan clubs, which were often indirect and created by the record label rather than the band.

The Auteur's MySpace- www.myspace.com/theauteuruk

Production dates

• Filming: Sunday the 22nd November at 10AM in Yaxley
• Rough cut: week beginning 23rd November (in both lessons, Tuesday and Thursday)
• Final cut: week beginning the 30th November (in both lessons, Wednesday and Thursday, and outside lessons)
• Final cut may spill over into the final week of term

Location photos

Here are some shots of the location we are using for the narrative scene. The candles in the second picture will be used to create a romantic mood during the first scene when the singer and the girl are shown to be a couple. The window is used to show the girl and her new boyfriend and how the singer is watching them from inside his house. The sofas will also be used during the first scenes, again when the singer and the girl are a couple.

Shooting Date

We have decided to begin shooting on Sunday 22nd November from 10AM, because this is a day when all actors/etc are free. From this we can now complete the shooting script.

Equipment & Resources

We will be shooting the video masters in QuickTime h.264 720p on a Sanyo Xacti 700HD camcorder, which records directly to SD card. This will allow us to easily transfer the files to computers for editing and keep file sizes down, enabling easy portability of the videos on Flash Drives etc. whilst still maintaining a high quality of video.

Our rough cut will be done in Adobe Premier on a Dell PC in order to give us a general idea of how the video looks & how the timings match up between the song and the footage. This rough cut will be used as a basis for the final cut, which will include more advanced transitions, effects & so on as well as more fine tuned cuts etc.

The final cut will be made in Final Cut Express 4 on a 15" Unibody MacBook Pro running Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. This will give us industry-standard editing quality and truly professional effects as well as export options. The MacBook's hardware will enable speedy render times, which will make the creation & export procedure faster & simpler.

Character Info

Lead Singer

Has been in a relationship with his girlfriend for some time, and thinks things are going pretty well. Spends a lot of time with his bandmates, wasting time. In fact, he even has them over when he is supposed to be spending time alone with his girlfriend. The band members have known each other for years and feel like the band is their family, which means they are extremely fond of each other. They are so close that the Lead Singer does not consider it unusual for them to be around all the time, even when there is no need.

When she breaks up with him over this issue, he is shocked and devastated. His feelings of depression and betrayal are only magnified when he sees her kissing her new boyfriend through the window. He throws himself back into band stuff to try and take his mind off her, but he still winds up angry and frustrated.

The Girl

Despite having stuck with her boyfriend for quite a while, she is incredibly frustrated with the way he constantly has his bandmates around. Their presence is so constant and invasive that she begins to feel like they are more important to him than her - certainly she knows he would never tell them to leave if she asked. Unknown to him, she has just about had enough of the relationship and has met another guy, who she feels appreciates her more than he does.

Finally, she breaks off the relationship with the singer and begins a new one with the other guy. Just as she thought, he has more time for her and is utterly devoted. She is much happier with him, and quickly begins to forget about her ex.

The Other Guy

A new face in town, the other guy takes an instant liking to the girl and begins courting her straight away, regardless of the fact she is in a relationship. She responds immediately and he knows she likes him. He becomes aware, through talking to her, of her frustrations with her present boyfriend and knows it is only a matter of time before she leaves him.

He is not a mean-spirited guy, but he likes the girl so much that all he cares about is being there for her and that she is happy. He does not realise how distraught the break up has made the singer, and never finds out.

New Mood Board

Shooting Script

You can see our shooting script (Based on our original shooting plans) here. The printed copy was updated to reflect changes we had to make due to cast availability, time constraints, etc.

Animatic

This is the Animatic to our video. I have taken Amy's illustrations from the storyboard and, with discussions between all three of us, edited them together with the song to show how we plan on timing the shots.

Script

This is the final (Last revision 2/12/2009) Story Script we are using for our video. It guides us in terms of the narrative and will feed into the shooting script and the second (More detailed) Storyboard and Animatic.

Download here

Storyboard

This is our new storyboard, as drawn by Amy Neumann.

Mise-en-scene

Props:

• Instruments - Guitar, Mic, Bass, Drums
• Clothes
• Telephone
• Photo frame
• Chair
• Candles

Locations:

• House
• Street (seen through a window)
• Field - Yaxley Ground

Cast:

• Lead Singer - Lewis
• Drummer - Max
• Bass - Andrew
• Guitar - Sophie
• Girl - Amy
• New BF - Sam

Costumes:

• Lewis - EMO! Skinny jeans, cardi x2, coat
• Max- Jeans and dark t-shirt
• Andrew - Jeans and dark t-shirt
• Sophie - Leggins / Skinny Jeans and dark t-shirt
• Amy- Nice dress, casual x2
• Sam- Casual

The cast is made up of family members and friends. The 'costume' is stereotypically 'emo' style as worn by the band/fans of this music genre.

New Mood Board

This mood board shows the emotions and feelings told in the song. Jealousy, Love, Break-Up and Upset are the images on this board.
The song is about a break- up and the lead singer's jealously for his ex's new bf.

Hey Watch This lyrics

I saw a broken reflection
A mirror with your face in
I saw a broken reflection
A mirror with your face in
Something's wrong
We've built this up
We built this up
Now we've seen this fall down faster before now
Your lips on mine won't stay
We'll never get this close now
In his arms you'll be
So place your hands to where I cannot see them
Don't breathe your words to me
I'm sick of worthless excuses
I'm sick of the way you speak
Lets pick this up
And remind ourselves that it's over
I guess this is my farewell
Your lips on mine won't stay
We'll never get this close now
In his arms you'll be
So place your hands to where I cannot see them
Don't breathe your words to me
I saw a broken reflection
A mirror with your face in
Let's pick this up
And remind ourselves that its over
I guess this is my farewell
I saw a broken reflection
A mirror with your face in
Let's pick this up
And remind ourselves that its over
I guess this is my farewell
Your lips on mine won't stay
We'll never get this close now
In his arms you'll be
So place your hands to where I cannot see them

Song Change

Due to the amount of work and the budget required to pull off a music video to the correct standard, it simply isn't possible for us to achieve.

The Michael Jackson/Fall Out Boy song idea, seemed good at the time, but now we are on our way into the planning process, we can see how many complications and issues there are.

We have therefore chosen a new song: 'Hey watch this' by The Auteur. They are of a similar genre to Fall Out Boy as so we do not need to change much when it comes to genre, mise-en-scene or mood boards.

This video will be narrative based with the band acting as characters. We will try to add in a few scenes of performance, because that is what the type of genre expects.

Music Video Pitch Presentation

This is our Music Video Pitch Presentation. It was designed by me, based on a rough version created by Amy and its content is the result of a collaboration between all three of us, as was the presentation itself.

Music Video Pitch

View more presentations from Jensonb.

Download it Here

My moodboard

The moodboard has dark images and some have an almost gothic feel. This is in reference to the darker "emo" side to Fall Out Boy, as opposed to the tounge in cheek pop punk styling. This is due to the way they dress and the way they are seen as people in the media. The reason I have used the darker images instead of the poppier style is to reference the way they will be dressed in the video. The bat-heart is a logo for both a clothing label owned by FOB bassist Pete Wentz and the record company to which FOB are signed. At the center of the moodboard I put an image of Michael Jackson's trademark glove, as our video will also reference Michael Jackson. I included images from Tim Burtons 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'. There are also reference to the "emo" fashion with the eyeliner, tattoos, fringes and the photos of the band, I included this as it is the sort of thing we will be wearing during the video.

The style of Michael Jackson which we use will be be created to make an obvious juxtaposition with Fall Out Boy's style, as this will add to the clash/confrontational theme of the lyrics/video as more than a clash of the artists, as it will be a clash of style and genre as well. Therefore we will dress MJ in exaggerated outfits with bright colours such as in his early 80's era, which will clash with Fall Out Boy's emo image. The video will create a bigger clash in terms of rock and pop, as both the style of each genre and the video conventions of the genres will clash, as the band are interrupted from their live performance (typical of a rock video) and the video will then become more narrative based (like in a pop video).

Music Video Narrative Summary

This is a rough narrative outline of our video. Details are subject to change as the narrative is developed into a full script and storyboard.

As the video opens, "Fall Out Boy" are getting ready onstage to perform, even though the room is empty. They start up and their fans begin to file in as word of the apparently impromptu performance spreads. The crowd really starts to get into the performance and word eventually reaches the bar "MJ" is in.

Cut to "MJ" in the bar, dancing along in his signature style. He is interrupted by a member of his crew informing him of the "FOB" performance. He becomes angry and storms out of the bar, gesturing for his crew to follow him.

Back with "FOB", the band and crowd are really getting into the song and are jumping around quite a bit. The bassist, "Pete Wentz" suddenly stops and pulls out his phone. He has received a text signed "MJ". He looks at it confused, then tries to get back into the groove of the performance. Not long after though, the doors burst open and the music stops as the band turns its attention to the newcomers.

"MJ" and his crew walk in and stare the band down. There is a standoff reminiscent of the one at the start of the Smooth Criminal video, which ends in the same way - with "MJ" tossing a coin. In this case however, it doesn't land in a jukebox starting the music, it hits "Pete Wentz" in the head. The music starts back up and the band and their fans charge at "MJ" and the dancers.

A fight breaks out (Involving dancing and rocking out more than actual fighting) and eventually the fans and dancers spill out of the building. The band and MJ angrily sing at eachother to "Beat it", getting increasingly rowdy. As the song ends, "Pete Wentz" whacks MJ upside the head with his bass, drops it and the band walks out, leaving MJ on the floor struggling to get back up.

Mise-en-Scène Etc.

Locations

• Stage "FOB" are performing on, with back drop featuring the words "Beat It"
• Dingy Bar with a Pool Table in which "Michael" is dancing

Props

• Instruments (Dark colours, modern stylings) - Drum Kit, 2 Electric Guitars, 1 Bass Guitar, 3 Microphones + stands
• Stunt-Instrument: soft and light bass guitar engineered to break at the join between body and neck
• Cell phone (LG KS360 Landscape Slider)
• American Coin eg. a Quarter

Costumes & Makeup

• Tatto Transfers
• Trilbies (2 Black, 1 white)
• Black Eyeliner
• Mascara
• Dark Eye Shadow, possibly black
• Skinny Jeans, dark colours
• Dark-coloured belts with metal detailing
• Dark T-Shirts
• Dark Shirts
• One white glove, covered in rhinestones
• Reddy-orange 80s faux-leather Jacket
• White trousers
• Black loafers (Shiny leather)
• White socks
• Black hair dye

Shots

• Closeups
• Wideshots of band
• Tracking shots (Particularly of "MJ")
• Low angle shots
• Over the shoulder shots
• POV Shot

Movements

• Track coin across room
• Pans with "MJ's" dancing
• Tracking band movements

Transitions

• Predominately Simple cuts
• Cross disolves
• Flash cut
• Fade to black at end

Colours & Lighting

• Blacks ("FOB's" Emo stylings)
• Whites ("MJ's" styles)
• Dark purples (Again, "FOB's" styles)
• Reds ("MJ's" Jacket)
• Dull diffused light in bar
• Stage lighting in stage scene
• (Strobe effect)
• Twilight outdoors

Smooth Criminal Videos: Comparison

Beat it is not the only Michael Jackson song which has been covered by a more modern rock group. In 2001, Riverside-based Alternative Rock Band Alien Ant Farm released a cover of Jackson's 1988 hit "Smooth Criminal". The original video was the centrepiece of Jackson's 1988 motion picture "Moonwalker" and, like the videos to "Beat it" & "Thriller", is generally recognised as one of the best music videos of all time (And is the originator of one of Jackson's most famous dance moves - the Anti-Gravity Lean) and won the 1989 Best Music Video Award at the Brit Awards.

The original video is fairly typical of Micael Jackson's distinctive style, a largely performance-based video but shown through the lens of a strong narrative. This style, also seen in the videos for "Beat It", "Bad" and "Thriller" has been highly influential on music video in general, particularly in pop music.

The video is essentially a largely inconsequential scene in Moonwalker, other than a sequence in which Jackson's pursuers in the movie appear with guns, forcing a standoff late in the video. Within itself, it has a meta-narrative (Which is how it is able to stand alone as a music video) involving Jackson trying to impress and placate the people in the bar through his dancing, in an effort to avoid an all-out fight.

The dancing itself is very similar to the kind of group, synchronised dancing seen in other Jackson videos like "Thriller" - lines of people performing dance moves as led by Jackson. Amongst the moves shown is, as noted above, the Anti-Gravity Lean, one of the most famous Michael Jackson dance moves ever seen (Along with, for example, the Moonwalk). This move would become so iconic, Jackson and his people would eventually patent a way to perform the move live onstage so as to better replicate the feel of the video when the song was performed live.

As can be expected, there is a lot of focus on Michael and his image. He is shown frequently in closeup, and is almost always the focus of the camera's attention. His costume is very distinctively Michael Jackson too, showing that the video's (And the movie's) producers were very aware of the strength and importance of MJ's image.

This video is a direct evolution of the style originated in the Beat It video (Read more about that here), so we feel it is significant to our research even in its own right. However, the existence of the Alien Ant Farm cover doubles the significance.

The Alien Ant Farm cover's video is significantly different to the original. Although it too is largely performance based, the majority of this performance is the band playing rather than the dancing seen in the original, this is indicative of the difference between rock music videos and pop music videos. Pop audiences, particularly Michael Jackson's target audience, are most interested in seeing the artist and seeing the dancing. Rock audiences care more about the music, so it is almost always wise to show the band playing in rock videos.

Aside from that, the Alien Ant Farm video has a significantly different tone from the Michael Jackson original, taking a much more irreverent and lighthearted approach than the moody and arthouse feel of the original. This reflects the Alien Ant Farm image, which is of a rebellious and fun-loving band. Like Fall Out Boy, they do not take themselves too seriously.

There are some elements of the original in the Alien Ant Farm video however. Just like in our video concept, these are generally there in the form of parody - whether it is the band performing Anti-Gravity Leans and appearing totally unimpressed with themselves, or a young boy dancing in Jackson's distinctive style, the Alien Ant Farm video borrows almost entirely in order to provoke amusement in the audience.

See the original here
See the Alien Ant Farm version here

My Mood Boards

Song Lyrics

They told him don't you ever come around here
Don't wanna see your face, you better disappear
The fire's in their eyes and their words are really clear
So beat it, just beat it

You better run, you better do what you can
Don't wanna see no blood, don't be a macho man
You wanna be tough, better do what you can
So beat it, but you wanna be bad

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it

They're out to get you, better leave while you can
Don't wanna be a boy, you wanna be a man
You wanna stay alive, better do what you can
So beat it, just beat it

You have to show them that you're really not scared
You're playin' with your life, this ain't no truth or dare
They'll kick you, then they beat you,
Then they'll tell you it's fair
So beat it, but you wanna be bad

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it

Beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or who's right

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it
Beat it, beat it, beat it

Mood Board

This is my mood board for our music video of the 'Beat It' cover by Fall Out Boy. I have included magazine covers, clothing labels, relative clipart, cd covers, genre images and pictures of the band.

Billie Jean-Michael Jackson

Billie Jean was a single from Michael Jackson's 1982 Thriller, the greatest selling album of all time. Typical of 80's pop and especially Michael Jackson (whose videos were revolutionary at the time) it is a narrative based video with Jackson playing the lead.

It opens with a shot like an old movie, it is black and white and has a border round it as well as a grainy image. However Jackson emerges in colour and leaves light on whatever he touches/wherever he steps, and even transforms, the tramp who gets a suit and the tiger (which is seen on the cover of the Thriller album). This references the line "she says that I am the one" as he lights things up or transforms things for 'Billie Jean'.

Throughout the video there is a large reference to voyeurism or looking as a man is skulking around with a camera trying to photograph Michael. During the narrative Michael is singing and dancing, which is a huge part of his performances especially in his videos which often feature hugely choreographed dances. The verse also features split screens and freeze frames, as well as brief moments of slow motion another theme occurant in old movies.

At the end of the video Michael disapears and his steps are retraced by the lights going backwards. The villain who had been trying to photograph him is caught by the police, after a neighbour of the house Jackson enters (suggested to be the house of 'Billie Jean') reports him. She is looking out of her window and sees Jackson, another reference to the notion of looking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En-cHBv7UpA

Saturday-Fall Out Boy

Saturday is the 3rd single from Chicago pop-punk band Fall Out Boy's 2003 album 'Take This To Your Grave'. the charecteristics of this genre are videos which focus on live performance, however Fall Out Boy are known for making their videos more narrative based, often with tongue-in-cheek humour or parodies of films.

The video opens with the shot of the Queen of Hearts playing card and cuts to show singer Patrick Stump staring at the card in a suit, he is playing a detective. The video then cuts on the beat to a live performance section, while in the performance part the camera is unsteady and makes rapid zooms and pans across band and audience. The venue the band are playing is a gritty underground club with graffiti all over the walls, the crowd are right up close to the band like in the Hardcore clubs famous in New York for their chaotic live shows, this is shown when guitarist Joe Trohman makes a hole in the roof with his guitar. The narrative is a crime story, shot in the streets of an American city, where Patrick Stump plays a detective while bassist Pete Wentz is a murder who kills people using the Queen of Hearts. The playing card is used as a symbol of mystery like in poker.

Murder victims (including the other members of the band) are found with the Queen of Hearts on their body, and Patrick Stump is clearlygetting stressed by the mystery surrounding their deaths. During the bridge of the song both Pete and Patrick are shown sitting in the same position surrounded by polaroids of the victims, it is hinted that they are the same person, a reference to the movie Fight Club.

The breakdown after the bridge is shown in the live performance and both the band and the crowd are going mental, another reference to the hardcore shows of the late 80's. At the end of it Patrick uncovers loads of playing cards in his car, another suggestion that they are the same person. Patrick discovers Petes phone and goes to look at it but Pete runs at himand kills him with another playingcard, however when he looks in his jacket pocket and finds a card he drops dead on the last beat. This shows they were the same person throughout the video which is influenced by Fight Club.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7MeQPNxlrM

Help! The Beatles

The genre characteristics for this promo’ video is Pop/ Rock. There is the sense of the Rock ‘n’ Roll era, with slowly becomes Pop as the decade moves on.
This characteristic is shown through their use of instruments. We can clearly see them playing them and the camera focuses in on the main instrument in time with the song.
There is also a clear understanding of the lyrics, placing The Beatles in the Rock ‘n’ Roll era.

The dress code for the band at the time they did Help is smart/ casual. They are dressed in black trousers and long sleeved black t-shirts. The ideal image for a new band wanted to please the audience. The group of 4 lads show off their skills and use the close up camera angles to give the video a feminine attraction.

The music video for Help was one of the first ever rock videos and so there are no special effects or unrelated images. The video is very performance based due to the fact that is all they knew what to do. The time it was shot also means that the video is in black and white. Due to the time period and the inexperience of music videos there are no intertextual references

The cuts and edits are in time with the bars and the beat. The camera does close ups on the members that are singing at that time, like wise with the instrument being used. I thought that the layout of the band was slightly odd. The two backing singers were on the right of the drummer, leaving the lead vocalist on the left. Perhaps their idea was to separate the voices, so they didn’t drown each other out or maybe just to include the drummer more.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXh4EuJa2TU&feature=related

Michael Jackson - 'Black or White'

The video starts in space, the camera falls through the stars, clouds, sky till we see city lights, and we follow the road up to a house where we enter a boy’s bedroom. Inside he is rocking out to loud music. The father gets angry and tells the child to stop listening to it. The boy finds huge amps and blasts the house to bits, causing his father’s chair to fly out of the house landing in the African desert.

A pride of lions is the next thing we see, with aborigines or native Africans creeping up to hunt it. Michael Jackson is of course amongst them. Once the music starts the group begin a choreographed dance. They run off into a different set where M.J is now with some women doing some form of Hindi/Eastern European dance. Again it changes, this time to Native Americans, jumping and dancing on a box/stage, the backdrop falls to reveal those on horseback.

The scene changes to the middle of a busy road with a Hindi/ Indian woman dancing with M.J. Their moves are linked though each with their own style. The weather begins to snow linking it in with the next scene which is in Russia. Once the men have danced around M.J the scene becomes a snow globe which is picked up by two babies; one of which is ‘white the other ‘black’.
The ending of this video is a series of people transforming into each other. It shows that there is a difference of race, culture and style of dancing though we are all the same inside. It doesn’t matter what we look like or as the song says ‘It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI9OYMRwN1Q

Fall Out Boy - 'I don't care'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxrZlFEykCo

F.O.B walk into a room, back stage, a dressing room perhaps. There are other men in there. An older band..?
There are many cuts to a live performance. In between the band is seen messing about on the street doing things not many people would attempt to do. Their actions are funny, yet rude or wrong.

The drummer; I think it is, walking down the street showing his naked body to girls as they walked past him.
There is a play fight that commences in a different street, martial arts and other flowing moves are used to create the humour and unlikeliest of the situation.
The guitarist decides to annoy a mime; he copies him, gropes him and follows him around.
Two band members dress as Nun’s and steal from a shop, run down a street chucking the stolen items at the shop keeper who is chasing them.

Other band members drop water balloons of a building and onto a long queue of people.
The lyrics and name of this song tie in well “I don’t care”...clearly being shown that they don’t care, they are having fun, they aren’t going to take any notice of what anyone else thinks and it is shown in this video. Are they saying that they don’t care what this other band thinks of them?
The video ends by everyone removing their faces (masks) and revealing that they are in fact other famous people such as:

• Pete Wentz
• Pharrell
• Mark Hoppus
• Gabe Saporta
• Spencer Pratt
• Sarah Palin
  

t.A.T.u – ''All the things she said''

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1agzp_PM-Z4

This video gives the sense of being trapped. The two girls seem to be in an enclosed area, surrounded by people watching them. The emotions on their audience are blank and perhaps disapproving. Is this a way of saying that the couple feel trapped due to their sexuality?
The edits and cuts become faster as the song speeds up. All the way through there are mixed cuts between the couple kissing and the audience. It is raining, the audience have black umbrellas but the two girls are soaked. This added to the romance and typical image of lesbians, when we see them kiss.

The kiss is cut up by flashing back to the people watching and clips of the girls running up and down rails as if searching for each other or a way out.
As the song comes to an end, after they kiss and hold hands they simply walk off, showing an image of what appears to be the audience enclosed in the wired fence, not the girls, as we assumed. Is this perhaps saying that now the girls have found each other, they are free...or did we simply have the wrong idea all along?

The Killers - 'Human'

The video starts off with a close up of cables on the sand. We are then shown the ‘K’ lights (the band’s symbol). Once the lights are on, the song begins.
The video is set in the desert or sand dunes. The cables are on the floor leading to the bad set up: speakers, lights, instruments etc... It is very performance based.
There are Medium Close ups of the singer and the drummer when it is his solo. Arial shots show the audience the odd location and the camera often pans around the band as they play.
Edits are a simple fade/ overlay, they don’t seem to be in time with the beat but go back to the lead singer for the chorus.
We are shown clips of wild animals, some of which do not seem to link in with the surrounding; the white tiger. Perhaps this is connected to the fact the band doesn’t link in either or that the video doesn’t really seem to have much to do with the lyrics. The singer is wearing a jacket with a feather collar, is this done purposely to tie in with the Eagle which is flying over head?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6r4KT8-VX0

Music Video Analysis: "Beat It" - Michael Jackson

Beat It is a 1982 song by legendary American Pop singer Michael Jackson. The video, which launched Jackson's stardom to international audiences, was directed by Bob Giraldi and set the tone for what would become Jackson's trademark style.

The video's visuals and narrative are tied directly to the lyrics of the song. Jackson sings advice about a confrontation - a person or group of people have angered another group (These groups are likely gangs, as depicted in the video). The angered group tells the other(s) not to show their face(s) around any more, and the song continues advising them not to antagonise the situation and to just "beat it".

The vide reflects this by showing two street gangs, apparently rival ones, marching through the city to have a fight. Acting upon the lyrical advice to avoid confrontation, Jackson himself eventually stands between the two gangs as thy are about to fight and convinces them to stand down.

The visuals are also tied directly to the music, in a style that would become known as the definitive Michael Jackson music video manner. Significant portions of the video involve highly choreographed dancing (Notably the gang's fight is really more of a dance number with weapons) to the rhythm and melody of the song. Even in shots where there is little call for dancing, we still frequently see actions in time with the music - such as Jackson shaking his arm for emphasis to the rhythm.

Furthermore, the video is edited in such a way that the majority of the cuts, particularly in the early scene in which word of the impending fight spreads through a pool hall, are at the change between bars.

Jackson himself is general shown either dancing, or in pose designed to suggest he will be dancing soon. This reflects his image as a heavily performance-oriented singer. As a result of videos like this and Thriller, Jackson would eventually become as well known for his over-the-top dance numbers as for his songs. Notably, this video create the Jackson-Trademark "mass dance number" which would be a frequent motif in subsequent iconic Jackson videos, such as the video to Smooth Criminal.

Overall then, this is a hugely influential music video - both for Michael Jackson himself and for the medium generally. One of the most significant and well-implemented efforts to marry stage musical class performance with a narrative in a music video of its day, it still stands up today as incredibly well produced.

Watch it here.

Music Video Analysis: "Thnks fr th Mmrs" - Fallout Boy

Thnks fr th Mmrs (Pronounced Thanks for the Memories) is a 2007 song by American Rock Band Fall Out Boy. The video is directed by Alan Ferguson and features the band's typically irreverent style. Fall Out By are not known for taking themselves too seriously, and the video of Thnks fr th Mmrs make this very clear.

The lyrics of the song tell the story of a couple who have lost romantic interest in eachother and split up but who occasionally still get together for casual sex - and how this is only superficially fulfilling. The video does not follow this scenario.

Instead, the video simply takes its cue from the idea of two people (Or groups of people) splitting up and going their own ways. In the video, these groups are the band themselves and the "production team" of the video itself - who in the video are portrayed as a group of chimpanzees - this is a manifestation of Fall Out Boy's tongue-in-cheek stylings.

Throughout the video, the chimpanzee director is frequently complaining about the band's quality, and criticising their way of doing things (For example, he shoves the bassist out of the way to show him how to kiss a girl by doing it himself), which prompts the band (Particularly bassist Pete Wentz) to become extremely frustrated with their director, eventually trashing the set and storming off.

Notably, just before storming off-stage at the end of the video, Pete Wentz knocks the "B" out of the band's backdrop - changing the writing from saying "FOB" to simply "FO", a widely used "clean" version of a vulgar colloquialism for "go away". This again represents the band's humorous take on life and also sums up the final state of the relationship between the band and the chimps.

Ironically, despite being the one who seems most put out by the chimpanzees' actions, it is Pete Wentz who initially reassures vocalist/rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump that "this guy is a...visionary" - referring to the chimpanzee director (Though at the time, the audience is yet to find out about the "visionary's" true nature. This sequence only serves to heighten the humour that is central to the video.

In terms of direction, the video frequently links edits with the rhythm and melody, making cuts on the beat and at changes in the melody - particularly during the chorus, which are the most performance-oriented sections of the video.

Also during these sequences, the movements of the band and, particularly, the chimpanzees and other ancillary characters, tend to be in time to the beat. This both helps the dynamism of the band and song come across during narrative-led sequences and gives the audience the idea of dancing, encouraging the idea that this is a song listeners can dance to.

The band are mostly dressed in a style which is fairly typical of them - low key suits worn without ties and with trilby hats for example. There are frequent closeups of Pete Wentz, including several in which he is shown intimately with American Celebutante Kim Kardashian. These are to sell (Particularly female members of) the audience on the idea that Pete is an attractive guy and win sales through sex appeal.

The video is a hybrid of performance and narrative, in that the narrative is the performance. The story of the video revolves around the band performing the song in the video itself - a kind of meta-storyline and inside joke.

And so we come back to the core of the Fall Out Boy style - jokes and humour. The video takes a song which is ostensibly about something that could be said to be quite upsetting, or at least provoke apathy (A failed relationship and unfulfilling casual sex) and instead turns it around into a comedy caper complete with semi-personfied monkeys. Classic Fall Out Boy.

Watch it here