Hey! Watch this... Music Video Final Cut

This is the final cut of our music video, with final sound mix & completed effects. It's available on Blogger, blip.tv and YouTube to ensure it can be seen regardless of technical issues.

Plans for Stylistic Effects

In order to better differentiate between the narrative and performance scenes in our video, we have decided to apply spcific and unique titling & effects to each. We took our inspiration for these from both research into videos aimed at our target demographic (Males, predominately teens & young men).

The first effect we are applying is to the performance sequence. This was filmed using "guerilla camerwork", which refers to a style of shooting designed to mimic the style of video produced by untrained videographers - eg. home movies and other no-professional videos. To accentuate the effect of this shooting style, we have chroma keyed in a custom-made video camera effect.

This effect features the kinds of graphics usually seen on a camcorder viewfinder or screen, such as a battery meter, date & frame indicator. This accentuates the impression that the band are an idnependent group of freinds who are just "jamming" in their attic for fun - which matches up with their character profile.

As for the narrative, we have decided to include titling & other text effects throughout in order to help the audience better follow the narrative. These captions & so on will be styled after a comic book, as these are a popular medium with our target demographic, and we feel the slightly comedic style created by doing this will strike a chord with our audience - to test this, we will be conducting a poll.

Both of these effects have been used in videos aimed at the same demographic as ours. This Eminem video, for example, whilst for a different genre of music, is also aimed at teenage boys and young adult males. Additionally, the Rap and Pop/Rock genres have, to some extent, shared origins in separate (Though related) youth rebellion movements.

Video Second Cut

This is the second cut of the video, which I'm making available so we can gain some audience feedback ahead of making the finishing touches. Transitions are near-final, as is the editing & timing. We have cut the opening scene for time. Captions and titling are still missing, as we're waiting until the final cut to add these.

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.

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

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

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