Locations- Take 2

 For my second video I needed to come up with some new locations, the first locations that I had previously used were not suitable due to the lighting and being unrealistic, such as over used scene of the kitchen. 

Therefore I decided that I still wanted to film during the darker hours of the day for effect on this new track as it seemed most appropriate. I decided London would be the best option for me, I do not live far from London and catching a train would be easy, cheap and convenient due to frequent train times. Not only this but, London is a lively and busy area when you go to the right places, again, this is what I was looking for in my new idea and video. I decided the best places for me to film would be Leicester Square and Embankment- both all very close to one another and both full of street lighting for adequate filming and they are both very populated areas.


Embankment 


Embankment would seem to be a good location to film as there are many recognisable features in and around the area, such a the London Eye and Big Ben along with the Millennium Bridge also. I do not wish to film here for its architecture, but rather the people that it attracts. It will be greatly populated  and still rather busy after rush hour is over due to tourists and site-seers. The scenery surrounding the station and the roads adjacent to the Thames also have beautiful street lights that illuminate the pavements brilliantly, therefore this location for part of my video is excellent.

Taken from the Millennium Bridge

Leicester Square

Notorious for movie stars, opening or premier events along with being so close to China Town too. It is also filled with life and is highly illuminated, however, not by lamp posts but from highly decorated buildings, cinema, restaurants, shops and arcades. Again another ideal location for me to film in. I want to use this area for the main scenes such as when the two pass each other in the street but do not come into contact or notice and when James chases after Shannon once he had spotted her. 

Bag Raiders

A Duo from Sydney, Australia. Consisting of Chris Stracey and Jack Glass, they are mostly well known for their remixes and live shows however, this duo are not mainstream. The band are not very well known in the United Kingdom, and have only been active since 2006.

They are considered to be and create a House genre to their music however, this cannot be said about all out their music as I find it hard to believe that "Way Back Home" could be under the category of "House". Their music is lively, upbeat and bouncy, and possesses many more qualities than being primarily just one genre. I would argue that the music they create although being categorised under "House" I think many of their songs fall under genres such as, Indie Rock, Pop, and Electro as well as House.

To portray the band in my video, I will be using two people in my film, however, one will be male and the other female, not exactly like the band, however, the singer is male and so to the audience (unless they know the band) will be none the wiser. 

Bag Raiders - Digipak

Digipak Front Cover

Promotion Poster

These both show a same image however it is slightly altered on each. The album cover has the title in the middle of the surrounding pictures and the middle is displaying the complimentary background. However on the promo poster, the band name fall over the spherical pictures however, the conventions are kept the same.

The title is very clever as it has an optical illusion as the title is combined, this aids the back ground in the surrealist images and effects. It also gives the band a "unique" feel and is easily recognisable by the extremeness of the images.

In contrast, however, compared to the optical illusion and the whirling images, the background is fairly plain, with slight variations of the colours used in the images; blues, yellows, purples and greens. This is subtle but it is also very effective and compliments the middle feature well. The colours used in the front cover, are complimentary to each other and fit together well. The muddy and gold-y colours from the album title fit with the background and the surrounding colours from the images, it provides a nice contrast. This gold-y colour is also very effective due to the perception we have of the colour in real life. We imagine gold to be shimmering and illuminating which is the exact effect given off here on this title. 

The font of the title is also unique, due to its 3D effect and the shadowing that goes with it. In areas where the light appears to be hitting it is also distorted by the optical illusion which makes it so effective as a colour. The font also enhances this deceptive shadowing and although the font appear to be thin it is disproved by the shadowing used.

The Promo Poster possesses all the same qualities as the album cover, however, the title is made large and spread further across the page. This is to highlight to audiences who the band is and so the title is even more obvious to those viewing it.

Effects I Like For My Video

After completing my animatic, I now have a clearer understanding of what I want to include in my video in the way of effects


Slow Motion


After reviewing some other music videos based around a similar genre I have found that the use of Slow Motion is a very popular effect. My personal opinion on it is that I believe it would go well with my own video and that I would incorporate such an effect into my video, in places where it would be best suited. For example, I would use this effect where the main character got angry, upset and violent. The slow motion effect would accentuate the anger and highlight the moves to make it look more emphatic.

Angles

Angles often show power and emphasize emotion. A low angle shows power, superiority and importance(1). A high angle usually represents that the person is small, insignificant, unworthy, vulnerable or less superior to that of another. (2). 

The idea that these angles portray different things could work work in my video could show the audience these different sides to my main character- one side being vulnerable, the other, powerful and fearsome. 

(1)

(2)

Cross Dissolve
This is a transition where  one image overlaps the other with a lower opacity then the image beneath. This gives the effect shown below, yet this is using 3 different images. It is an effective effect to use as it catches the audiences attention and makes them focus on the situation more. I would consider putting this in my own video, to emphasize certain scenes.

Focus Pull /Push 
Another effect that catches the viewers eye and makes them more concentrated on the situation. When the camera is out of focus you try and figure out what the image is until the image becomes focused. A focus PUSH is when the images goes from  focused to unfocused. A focus PULL is when the image goes from unfocused to focused. I would like to include this into my video as I feel it could highlight different scenes and keep the audience/ viewer entertained.

Music Channels That Would Broadcast My Video

When looking at different music channels in which my song would fit in I had to consider what ones would play a basic Indie genre as a whole instead of focusing on the main sub genre of Indie rock. I decided that Sky would be a suitable source where our music channel would come from. This is because Sky is one of the biggest Television providers in the UK and has a vast amount music television channels with a wide variety of genres. By using Sky I have picked out six potential channels I felt could possibly broadcast my music video according to genre. The channels are:

1. MTV Rocks,
2. Viva,
3. VH1,
4. QTV,
5. Kerrang!
6. 4Music

All of these logos are easily recognised by the public ad even more so by those who listen to music channels. Even those who do not listen to music channels would be able to tell that it was in some form of music broadcasting due to the fact that most of them have the word music in them or are recognised to be a form of music broadcasting

I believe that these five music channels suit my targeted audience and potentially could show my video. For example, 4Music usually broadcasts festivals throughout the year which contain indie content, which is my genre. Viva on the other hand ranges from different genres as it broadcasts weekly hits. The genre ranges from Indie, Pop, Hip-Hop, Rock etc. Q has evolved through the years, as in years gone by they only used to broadcast Rap and RnB songs. Now they broadcasts Indie music, which shows that Indie music is on its way up and becoming more popular. Ironically this is was never intended as Indie was meant to be "individual" and out of mainstream.

Indie Rock

MGMT

The band was founded in 2005 by Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden. The duo were originally signed with Cantora Records however, later signed with Columbia Records in 2006- which boosted them on their way to success. Ben and Andrew formed the band while studying at Wesleyan University during there first year. They originally named their band "The Management" but since the name was already being used they changed their name to MGMT.

The duo are most well known for their song, "Time to Pretend".

The lyrics have passionate meanings behind them, that leave the listener in deep thought about the lyrics and sometimes there own personal life.

"The first verse of the songs talks about all the mistakes and stupid decisions we make as kids. It also talks about rebelling against your parents and living life the easy way. Its about being afraid to live a real life, finding real people who care about you. The song then goes on to reflect on all the things you begin to miss when you realise how important they were to you. Its also about regret and looking back on the bad decisions and seeing the reality of everything. "

Due to the bands indie rock and psychedelic vibe, they have also managed to catch this in their video (as seen above) by the use of some of the following conventions:

• The opening title of the video conveys a child-like picture and is very simple yet appealing and effective towards the viewer.
• There are numerous low angle shots through out the video displaying the thought of dominance over the world and everyone that loves them. This is ironic as the song continues, as the angle changes also.
• The repeated images of numerous figure it also gives off a very hypnotic trance which catches the viewers attention.
• There is a large range of colours that are used throughout the whole of the video. This relates to the indie rock in the essence that colour has a lot of relevance to the genre. This video oozes in colour
• Overall the video itself has the element of pretending.