Ideas to consider whilst filming

There are a few ideas that I wish to convey in my production. This will be done through careful shot selection   and use of techniques. These ideas are the notion of insignificance, I want my star to seem the center of the video but still convey the sense that he is tiny in comparison to the greater forces in the world i.e God. To do this I aim to have the star walk through the open spaces and use long shots as well as having him next to the large river and tall trees. Another notion I wish to convey is the notion of growing light consequently I aim to start my piece in the darker and harsher lights of the park before moving to the more spacious well lit church. This lighting change may occur naturally or it could come about through the use of post production techniques and artificial lighting.

Genre Conventions

There are three genres that I can realistically see my product being tagged as. These are Christian Rock, Folk rock and Indie. All of these have particular generic conventions as listed below.

Christian music has the fewest conventions as being selective often counteracts the message of the song. However, in videos such as Chris Tomlins 'I lift my hands' and Matt Redman's '10,000 Reasons' we see recurring features that could be called conventions. These are:

• Destitution: Characters in the narrative often move from being depressed or destitute to a state of peace
• Close ups of instruments
• Close ups of the artist
• Long shots and the theme of insignificance
• A lack of effects/ simple effects
• Light
• No set appearance

Folk rocks conventions are very defined as the genre is what some may call niche. Characteristics include:

• Unusual instrumentation
• Raggedy style
• Sense of live unedited performance that could occur anywhere
• Strong narrative
• Affinity to nature
• Scruffy appearance

Indie Rock is also a fairly niche new genre in terms of music. However, it is easy to determine its characteristics as more indie bands move towards the mainstream.

• Darkness
• Casual/scruffy appearance
• Guitars/drums
• Emotions/ closeups of faces
• Stillness/ no movement or dance

As is obvious by this list of conventions, there are clear overlaps between the genres and this is where I aim my piece to lie

Animatic

This is my animatic for what I intend my video to look like, It is worth bearing in mind that these images are subject to change dependent on what equipment and lighting can be accessed

The Star(s)

For my video there are two routes that I could follow, creating a band as the star or creating a persona as the star. As I am unsure I have explored both routes to try and help me decide.

STAR

SINGLE PERSON

NAME: Erik Betel 

              - a hint to the location where the piece was filmed as well as having biblical connotations

Amos 7:13

21st Century King James Version 

'But prophesy not again any more at Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the king’s court.'

BAND

POSSIBLE NAMES:

Survivors
Fidelis
name with biblical connections

Another alternative route would be to name the group as an entity e.g. Cliff Richard and the Shadows. This gives a more retro feel to the band but it allows me to create a separate persona for the front man. 

What is certain is that I wish to evoke a certain style in my piece of work. In Christian Rock music there are no set stereotypes when styling as it would compromise the music and culture of acceptance, but that doesn't mean I cannot work to a particular look.

Top Row

David Crowder Band and Casting Crowns

Middle Row

Matt Redman

Bottom Row

Disciple and Building 429

Here are some chart topping christian billboard artists and from them we can see that there are no rules on styling, but that there are some recurring themes.  One theme that recurs seems to be some form of jacket be it leather or wool. You can read this two ways the jacket being used to give a modern feel such as in Building 429's case  or to convey formality as in Disciple's and Casting Crowns case. Matt Redman wears a jacket too but he appears to wear it casually almost giving him the look of an outsider whilst maintaining formality. 

There is wide variance in clothing , accessories and hairstyles with the David Crowder Band proving that looks do not matter as the whole band look like a group of misfits not a million selling band. David the frontman, leader and pastor in the band has what can only be called a 'wafro' coupled with a beard the size of Noah's ark. I don't want to be that extreme but this band is a great case for showing that there are really no limits to the look of Christian Artists.

I am more likely to go down the route of looking like normal guys taken of the street with the band leader the only character who really stands out given the fact that he will probably be the lead character in the narrative. My influence for the look of the artist will be the soulful rapper come singer Chris Rene, who became famous on the first series of the US X Factor having come second after auditioning 70 days after coming out of rehab for a life crushing drug habit. His style blends the jacket of formality and obscurity with street style like hoodies and tattoos. Obviously tattoos will be hard to replicate and don't really add to the meaning of the story so it is not necessary for the star to have them.

Endings

One of my main concerns in producing this video is creating an effective ending , which ties together the messages in the song whilst tidying up the narrative. The narrative will be the gradual realisation and growth in belief of the lead character and therefore I think that the video requires a 'Punchy' ending. However, this might prove a problem as the ending of the song is a rather indecisive sliding chord, almost a moment of relief. This feeling is something I could play on with having the band breathe a sigh of relief and be shown packing up. Or I could create an intertextual reference to Chris Tomlin's song 'Indescribable' and have the lead singer speak after the track finishes saying something similar to ' thats terrific we should sing together more often'

What?

'I know the world can turn in different ways 

Most of the time we're simply hangin' on

But under the signs of how we all behave

We might find the place where we belong...'



The second, third and fourth lines of this verse have caused me some problems whilst storyboarding, as I cannot find a way to visualise the themes in the verse. It is also impossible to have this verse as just a series of band shots as it is followed by a 23 second long instrumental. Consequently, I shall try to tease a narrative out of the lines. I though that setting this scene in a library or study might be appropriate given the fact that if the location is public there are signs telling you how to behave and it is a suitable location for there to be a globe which the lead character can spin to represent the world turning in different ways. I have researched whether there was a giant globe located in the UK which was similar to the Unisphere in New York City and there isn't so therefore I chose a library location. I did find out that the Natural History Museum in london had a large globe but I have chosen not to film in this location as the Globe does not spin and also has an escalator running through it.

My First shot will be a shot of the lead character hand spinning the globe before it leads to a shot like this where he (the older man in this photo) watches the spin and lip syncs the lyrics.

The shot following on from the globe spinning shot will be the lead character walking through the library being trailed by the camera, before he reaches a point where the camera can pan upwards and find a sign that tells him how to behave/ or he picks up a bible and shows the ten commandments. Directly following this he will be shown outside the library trying  to find a place that he belongs. Resulting in a shot like the one on the left. This theme will continue on into the instrumental before it cuts to band shots.

What?

The  line  'to control the waves that empty out your life'  presented a problem when deciding what to have in the video while the line played out. My primary idea was to have a shot of the waves crashing agianst a shore however i thought that this might be too cliched and difficult to film being in an inland location. Therefore I came up with a secondary idea that may allow me to use editing techniques to make the unnatural happening. This idea was to film an Oscilloscope and have it show waves and then perhaps using editing technigues to change the wave  into an image or a wave and link it to the next scene.

If I do not use the oscilloscope for the effect I could use an ECG monitor or similar to create this effect as the readout of these machines also appears as a wave.

What?

A further key image is contained in the line 'there is a river that washes you clean'. In this line of the video i wish to introduce narrative theory, by having the bands frontman or one of the other characters who mark the tree , washing their face or being plunged into the river. I think that this will create a powerful image and lift the song, whilst also evoking other christian videos which show those in need receiving care etc.This matching of the lyrics and visuals conforms to Goodwins theory and the mild intertextuality is also a feature of his 6 common features.

What?

The line 'blood that was spilt though not your own'  is another line that is repeated several times. On this line I want to focus in on a particular image of a chalice falling over, in slow motion resulting in a shot like the picture above

What?

One line in the first verse, that is repeated in hte chorus is 'there is a tree that marks the places you've been'  it is this line that I wish to emphasise and perhaps add a narrative feel to it. To do this i plan to have a generational timelapse. Whereby in every chorus a different person draws with chalk on the tree before a final shot of the tree with all the marks is revealed, in a shot similar to the photo below.

In christian music and literature the word tree can be read in two different ways being a synonym for the cross or the motif of a tree of life / family tree. I chose to use the semiotic of a tree branch and chalk because then the music may appeal to a wider audience as the video is not overtly christian. Another benefit is the fact that the image of a cross/crucifix can be used elsewhere in the video.

Who?

Utilising prior contacts I have decided to ask Betel Of Britain whether I can utilise their church facility and their band to form the band members and possible audience members in my music video. Betel have previously supported artists such as Godfrey Birtill  on several albums (one being shown below) and they have even released their own album in 2011 entitled  Betel Christmas. It is this experience and skill that I hope to utilise in creating a newband and utilising star theory to promote them

Betel have all of the equipment I will need including instruments etc and more importantly a facility that has the ambience needed, maintaining a church feeling but having a stage and modern feel in which I can film the band performance shots in.

 Betel of Britain is a christian rehab centre dedicated to restoring 'broken' lives and getting members clean from drugs and drink and thus the song I have chosen reflects this feeling, that 'there is a river that washes you clean.' In this way i can evoke narrative theory and have use some of Betel's signage in my work if I decide to

Album Covers

I  stumbled upon this set of christian album covers, someone has carefully collated some very clever album covers on pintrest

http://pinterest.com/newreleasetue/cool-christian-music-album-covers/

Lyrics

There is a river that washes you clean

There is a tree that marks the places you've been

Blood that was spilled, although not your own...

For all of your tears

Are the wages for things you have done

On all of those nights, spent alone in the darkness of your mind

Give it up, let go.

These are things you were never meant to shoulder

There is a river that washes you clean

There is a tree that marks the places you've been

Blood that was spilled, although not your own

For all of your tears, love will atone

[5 secs instrumental]

So, give up the right, to control the waves that empty out your life

Above wild skies, are the rays that break the shadows we design

Give it up, let go. These are things you were never meant to shoulder

Give it up, let go...

There is a river that washes you clean

There is a tree that marks the places you've been

Blood that was spilled, although not your own

For all of these things, love will atone

I know the world can turn in different ways

Most of the time we're simply hangin' on

But under the signs of how we all behave

We might find the place where we belong...

[23 secs instrumental]

There is a river that washes you clean

There is a tree that marks the places you've been

Blood that was spilled, although not your own

For all of these things, love will atone

For all of those nights, you cried all alone

For all of your tears...love will atone

Permissions

Before I get to carried away with the idea of one particular song I have decide to email the managers of the bands in order to gain permission to create videos. These can be found using wikipedia or if not available using the artists website. Below is the email of the management company for Jars of Clay found on the contacts page of the website

Having found this I was able to email the company and ask their permission to film. I did this by giving as many details as possible including how the finished product would be displayed. Located below is the transcript of my email.

And located below is the reply I received giving me the all clear for the project as long as I stick to the criteria laid out in my previous email.

Building 429 -similar band - video analysis

Building 429 are the same sort of christian rock music as the band Jars of Clay writers of the  song i wish to produce a video for.

The general themes running through these videos are connections between the lyrics and visuals with both shots of the artist singing as well as shots of faces in anguish or people running to match the visuals. Sounds are frequently used to mtach the visuals for example the majority of both pieces showing rock performances. There are aspects of a narrative as we watch 'normal' looking people as they progress on journeys.

Photoshop Experiment - Album Cover

This was an experiment to create an album cover using tools I had recently used. I started with the first blank image above taken from google images and ended up with the second image. This involved using tools such as the replace colour function to change hair, lip clothing and background colours as well as helping with skin complexion changes. I also had to use the smudge tool to give a realistic smooth feel to the hair and the skin changes. I found that the selection tools made the process a lot easier as it meant i could focus on specific areas such as the neck or eyes when changing colours. The only tool that i did not like using was the text tool as i found that it is not as smooth as other tools and editing was not as easy as it could have been.

Examining my final product i can see that i may need greater definition on the hair as at present it does not look incredibly realistic

Preliminary Song Ideas

These are five songs that i think it would be possible to acheive good music videos for, they are ranked in order of likeliness that i will do them

There is a river (Jars of Clay)

When the children cry ( Seventh Day Slumber/White Lion)

Official White Lion Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHZ79InLGRY

Scalliwag  (Gaelic Storm)

Young Homie ( Chris Rene)

Official Video :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyBXi9S1CJc

Ain't it Fun (Guns n Roses)

Star Theory

This is an idea proposed by Dyer stating that 'stars' are built up, false images. These images could circulate around particular clothes i.e Will.i.am  and Lady Gaga or an accessory i.e Bono's sunglasses.

'A star is an image not a real person that is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (eg advertising, magazines etc as well as films [music]). '


Information paraphrased from :

www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/Music/music.php?pageID=popstar

Applying Goodwins's theory

Goodwins conventions can be applied to numerous music videos in the traditional pop/rock/RnB and Hip-hop genres and to a lesser extent they can be applied to my chosen genre of christian music. One clear instance in a rock video where these conventions can be applied is Bon Jovi's 'It's my Life'

1) That there is voyeurism in the frequent shots to of female audience members

2) There are intertextual references when there is a homage to Elvis and also with the filmic shooting of the video. The narrative could have been taken straight from an action film.

3) There are frequent closeups of the artist, both Jon Bon Jovi the lead singer and the rest of the band are shown frequently

4) All of the above features also help to build the genre characteristics. The genre is rock and there are frequent shots of guitars and screaming fans to tell you that this is not a RnB or Hip-hop video.

5) There are matches between the music and visuals straight from the offset with the opening piano and guitar riffs being shown is extreme closeup.

6) There is relationships between the lyrics and the visuals when we see closeups of the band singing as the music plays. This gives the feel of live performance which is a genre characteristic of rock.

Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin writing in ‘Dancing in the

Distraction Factory’ (Routledge 1992) 

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics

(e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals

(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals

(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

4. The demands of the record label will include the need

for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may

develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual

style).

5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking

(screens within screens, telescopes, etc)

and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female

body.

6. There is often intertextual reference

(to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).