Research Into Genre - Rock

The first thing tackled was the frequent amount of videos containing rockers performing with a high amount of energy trying to exert their song through their movement. Many artists from AC/DC, Bon Jovi and even, most suited to us, the Kings of Leon. Their videos consists heavily of extreme rock playing which at times is over the top. However Kings of Leon are also mellow at times, as is the video for On Call. We wanted something in-between as they aren't so much as rockers when compared to AC/DC with their high energy and constant need for riffs containing power-chords as well as guitar solo's consisting for more then 1 minute in total.As you can see from the picture above the costumes for the video of rock are mainly casual. Theres no sense of extremity which is found in artists such as David Bowie which also means theres not much use of make-up as normally associated with rock due to artists like him and ones such as KISS. We therefor decided to scrap the idea of extremity but not completely as we still wanted the sense of our video having its own kind of style and look. So our compromise was for one to wear casual clothes and the other to look more vintage and 80's rock. So we get to the point where we begin looking like The Rolling Stones. Casual rockers on many occasions with a mix of what can be classified as extreme fashion which is at the same time casual and people dressed, as what can be classified, as normal.
The way the video is edited is a tricky one in the rock genre. Theres a lot of focus on many rock bands from AC/DC, Aerosmith and even The Stone Roses. However many of those artists and other huge bands like Metallica don't bother in the publicity of music videos at times and would rather focus on telling a narrative. So, torn between some of the biggest rock stars of all time and ones that make a good point within the rock genre we settled on both again. We have some extreme parts and many relaxed moments too. The editing is full of transitions, mainly inspired by Kings of Leon - Molly's Chamber. That video can be seen above.

Day 3 of Filming

Final day!

Finally, our final day arrived. So far we had been on schedule and everything was running smoothly. I managed to find a house we could use close to our college to avoid the events which occured on the 2nd day of filming and all the difficulties we encountered due to lack of money and access to public transport. Everything seemed to be going well before we got the news our producer, Joe, was too ill to attend the shoot. What appeared to be a day of smooth filming and a quick shot ultimately appeared to be changing. However, Joe had managed to get vital work across via message and provide us with things which he thought would work well and attempted to help out as much as he could during his time sick.

Developing a deeper story

However we still had a scene to film and the break up had to be done perfectly. The house owners kindly provided us with our intended proprs such as the knife. He also called over one of the extras from the first shoot to try and implement a deeper story into our video showing him chase after John. It was all going well and continued to go well. Our chosen female lead was also up for the challange of acting. The shot and filming went really well with great shots being filmed and the added addition to the story workng very well.

Neighborhood issues

Our few problems were with cars and neighbours who continued to drive through the road and walk into shot. This was even more difficult with it being a narrow road with minimal walking space before being in the road itself. Another was the dog that lived in the house, causing a few issues while trying to film the few seconds within the house itself where our lead girl goes after John. Ontop of this were complaints from the house owners about the door being left open, which was a major risk for the dog to escape. We couldnt close the door as our shots before had it opened therefor would break the continuity, but we managed to persuade them to leave it open. The final problem was, like on Day 1, the authenticity of the violent sections.

Innovative ways to overcome difficult shots

The wrist slit for many reasons couldnt be done so we tried to imply it with facial shots and close up/extreme close-ups. However the slap was an issue. Despite a first good slap that seemed to hurt the fact it was so unexpected cause our lead girl and John to laugh and be in shock. This acted as the catalyst to many more takes and many more times seeing our protagonist in pain and our lead girl sympathetic. We therefor, with time running out, called it a day and tried to pick off one of the many slaps caught on camera.

Day 2 of Filming

Johns Story

On this specific day we wanted to tell John's side to the story. Joe (the producer) organised the props, locations and overall strucutre of our filming time-table. However, the day of filming mainly produced a lot of set-backs and issues. The main one was the vodka bottle in which, during one of our shots, John had to get onto a bus but was kicked off when the driver didn't allow him to take the bottle on. Also we suffered in locations as pubs/bars (our inteded locations for the protagonist to get drunk) were off limits to us as we were underaged. Thefore we, with minimal resources (bus tickets and money), opted to keep the shot local and within easy access.

Diversions/Alternatives

We filmed in the Hulme area where we tried to be imaginative with what we could get from only a small section of Hulme. We also had to change it up a bit more and divert from the script as the pub / bar scene was scrapped once we couldn't get access. As a substitute we had John punch someone who tried to steal his vodka bottle to show his gradual increase in anger. The shots we wanted filmed in alley ways were difficult too as we couldn't get to a safe one within our allotted time-slot and the ones we could get too were infact dangerous. This meant we had to film onto some walls and a specific part of our college which we tried to pass as an alley way. It worked but not as well as we intended our actual day of filming to go.

Progressing

Overall it was a pretty hectic day which didn't go our way. We got all the shots possible and made as many subtle changes to the story we wanted to tell as possible. However our intened 5 day filming span we initially planned on doing was still within target as we had spent 2 days in the studio and 2 days out on location so far. The final day of filming had to run smoother if we wanted to finish on time.

Day 1 of Filming

Gathering extras

On the first day we opted to get straight into the ending of the music video, we therefor decided to gather up all the extras needed for the fight at the end. We headed off to Piccadilly Gardens and contacted all the people we wanted. 7 people showed up. We used 4 for the actual murder and 2 for checks and making sure things were organised accordingly between them to get there and back. The last one was on security duty and was gaurding all the bags, this was only because he changed his mind in acting in it so decided to do so.

Making the most of our time

With multiple takes needed from multiple angles the strain began to show on the extras who, due to delays, had to wait an hour before filming could begin. By this time is was well into 6pm and people had to leave. We had a maximum of half and hour to do all the shots as our cranky extras grew impatient with the organising of the camera and the instructions being thrown at them.

Convincing 'agressive' acting

Gradually we began filming with Joe making sure all was ready to go and Kociela making sure everyone knew what they were doing. Due to the graphic nature of the scene we wanted and the lack of understanding about this our extras turned out to have, we had to get working faster and harder. We wanted a more violent throw to the floor, it to be faster and more importantly a lot more kicks and punches to be done.

Spectators

This sparked issues as on lookers became concerned and others a bit to excited trying to disrupt the shooting and cause trouble. The worst of the cases were two police officers who only saw the extras attack John so headed in our direction before witnessing the camera's and me directing them as well as Joe organising the time management and costumes and making sure everyone was aware of what they were doing. The police then became friendly and watched on until we finished the shoot.

Succesful work!

Overall it was a good take and our cranky extras enjoyed themselves and were pleased to be a part of it, despite the rain and cold. We got our intended shots with some ambitious methods, laying on the floor as kicks and punches were thrown being one. The shoot could have been better and smoother but for what we got and the time we had we were pleased with the final result.

Re-Shooting The Performance

Due to criticism of lack of energy and movement for it being a 'Rock' video, we decided to re-film the entire performance sections. The re-imaginging and new costumes proved to be difficult as our intended chilled out, casual rockers approach did not go down well. This made us scrap the green screen and approach it with a hand-held cam for a niche feel. We also used a crane, John was in-charge, to shoot some parts that seemed to work better then hand-held.







A variety of shots were done with spot-lights (which will be edited to appear darker during the post-production). This did work and gave it a more energetic and star-like feel to the video. The lighting was essential to get right as a variety of parts ranging from the "Shadow Play" to the ending where we had to perform infront of one of the spotlights were made difficult due to the amount of accuracy required with the positioning of the lights.

Finally we decided to film the guitar solo seperate all together and add only a snippet of the actual riffs and bass-lines rather then saturate the video with a load of repetitive shots. The singing was then also done seperate, just as every other part was, and it worked very well with Joe on the camera and me rocking out. The costumes used would define what we wanted to appear as in the video. I went for a vest with a hat and scarf to appear as if I was an urban rocker who was too casual, which is what was intended. Joe went for casual too with the hoody connoting our urban back-ground and the branding on the hoody, which will be made black & white, to show that we are not an item of the commercial society.





















We also wanted an element of fun in the video so filmed some stop-frame animation sections too to make it feel more modern yet niche. The two bits intended were a 'Quick Change' one, where we wanted to get across how quickly relationships can change and a 'Movement One', where we wanted to show two people (in this case guitars) splitting up. These are both metaphorical for the video we created itself.

Changes to the script

Due to the complexity and difficulty behind understanding the script we decided it would be best if we updated it and made it better. The updated version of the script is as followed:

The girl is peeling an apple inside the house before the boy walks in, he then immediatly leaves. They both walk out the house with the girl leading from behind as she begins to argue.

Girl: Just walk away, is that what your going to do
Boy: I'm not
Girl: No, your just a cheat
Boy: I'm not a cheat
Girl: Yes you are
Boy: No, I'm not a cheat I'm a -
Girl: No, you are just a cheat (cutting off the boy)
Boy: And your just a stupid bitch

She then slaps him for this remark and he clenches a fist to punch her, before changing his mind and walking away.

Analysis Of CD Cover: (Electric Six - Fire)

This album is by the 'Electric Six' and is called 'Fire'. The lettering is simplistic and bold to allow it to stand out however the 'I's' have been substituted with lightning bolts to represent the 'Electric' part of their band name. The six comes from the number of members being '6'.

The man on fire is also simbolising the title name of the album 'Fire'. Due to the band being comic it isnt a suprise that they did this rather than simply put 'Fire'. This is also reference to the lyrics of whats probably their most iconic song 'Danger! High Voltage' where the opening lyric is 'Fire in the disco'. The obvious image of a man on fire in a disco makes the people who know the song understand the album cover and can pick out, in a selection, which album is by the 'Electric Six' if not for the name of the cover. This makes the band more niche yet due to the popularity and over-the-top antics and references within their songs and album cover slightly popular. Also the first track on the album is titled 'Dance Commander', hence why the dance floor is used.

The dance floor used is also an example of intertextual referencing as it is supposed to be a parody of the dance floor from the film 'Saturday Night Fever'. As you can see on the picture the colours and design used on the album cover were used within the film. This is not subtle on the album cover too as it is shown from a high-angle therefor the album cover artists are not trying to hide the fact the band is comical and therefor those who purhcase or see the album would know what to expect when the buy it.