Broken Knees Lyrical Shot Ideas

Because we want to have a good understanding of what we need to film, we have broken up the lyrics into sections of the video, thus allowing us to see what should be in each part and what to film, the use of putting in the shot types makes it easier and more detailed when reading it and also gives us a better picture of what we are aiming for.

Broken Knees Lyrics Analysis

Now that we have decided on our track and we have looked into analysing other artists' lyrics, we have looked at our lyrics and the meanings behind them, this was made easier by the fact that I wrote the lyrics and I know exactly what I was writing them about.

 

Analysing the lyrics will help us as we are using amplification in our video, so knowing what is meant to be portrayed in the lyrics allows us to get a clear indication of what ideas we can use in the video.

Proposed Questionnaire

Picture Posted by Daniel Harris
http://danharrisadvancedproduction.blogspot.co.uk/

After brainstorming questions as a group, we have created a lot of questions we could use in our questionnaire, we will now create the questionnaire and use some of these questions to form it.

P!nk Video

Expectations in a P!nk Video:

General:

Most of the songs she sings are about her life and the way she deals with certain aspects of it such as relationships, family and personal feelings; this has led her to have many successful tracks as people can relate to her songs very easily, her target audience being teenagers to middle age women.

She constantly changes her hairstyle; this keeps people looking at her as they are waiting to see what comes next from her, this also keeps her being an interesting artist.

Videos:

As Pink touches on quite sensitive subjects, she uses real emotion in her videos, this leads them to be quite aggressive and fast paced, they usually show her to have a large sense of rebellion and isn’t one to listen to what other people tell her.

Props:

I would expect her to have quite flashy cars in her video as she is very wealthy and also have money and alcohol in her videos; this is because she has quite a rock style attitude.

Expectations of a rock video: Murky environment Dirty Sex Drugs Rage/aggression Performance – full band No storyline Live video Wear what they want More realistic Rebellious – smash stuff up Faster editing Harsher cuts

Expectations of a pop video:

Pretty people

Fast cards

Happy

Light colours

Nice environments

Performance - just vocals

Storyline following song

Expensive clothes

High budget video

Slow, smooth editing.

In this shot, you are given a mid-shot of Pink, this allows you to instantly see what she looks like, it tracks through a few pretty girls playing volleyball, this shows the contrast between those girls and Pink.

The costume here allows Pink to give off a very good impression of what she is like, she is seen as a 'Rebellious' character as she has wrote 'Me' on the top where your name is meant to be, it also shows her as a bit of a cocky character. The name of the school is 'Moore Highschool', this is a good representation of how she is depicted as powerful as Moore is her last name, giving off the sense that she owns the school.

 

This shot has used a mirror as a prop, you see her battling her own emotions as they have her doing different things in the mirror then her on the outside, this is effective at showing how girls are constantly checking how they look and are always having to battle their own insecurities.

 

In this shot you have a producer telling Pink they she has to change everything to be able to suceed, this touches on how music shouldnt be about what people look like, it should be about their talent to create music, it also shows how producers only really look at what you look like or they want to change you to create more sales. 

 This over shoulder shot is uses a magazine to show how girls constantly compare themselves to girls in magazines and are constantly shown how the media think girls 'should' look.

The use of the knife in this mid-shot allows you to see she is showing a strong relation to self harm, this is a touchy subject and also links with such things as depression, all things a young girl may go through in their lives.

Ed Sheeran Lyrics + Annotations

 

Throughout the video, Ed Sheeran has used a man doing sign language to express his lyrics, this is a very unconventional aspect and helps the video to stand out from others, it also creates a much more intense focus on what is being said as you are constantly watching his hands move.

This is more of a conventional shot in a music video as it shows the artist playing their instrument, indicating at the music talent they have, however, the shot is very dark and hides a lot of what you want to see, it also only appears for a second or two, this is unusual as most artists want to promote themselves as much as possible through the use of a music video.

This shot is on the lyrics 'I will blast and I didn't go to brit school', the use of a little dolls house shows how it is almost nothing to him, he is taking the mick out of it as he didn't go, yet he is still able to make great music and succeed in the music business.

In this shot and other shots similar, you see teenagers preforming their talents within his video, I think that this is effective as his whole song is about being young yet talented and starting from nothing, so the use of the teenagers help to mirror that point and show off just how much talent people that is passed upon.

But I haven't got a house plus I live on the couch', the simplicity of the visual communication makes it very bold and outstanding, he has chose to give certain lines very simple ideas and this helps them lines to stand out within the music video and keep you interested.

This is the only shot that you actually see Ed Sheeran, this is very unconventional  however extremely effective as its obvious that the last thing you see in a video is something you will definitely remember and the fact you only see him here makes it even more of a bold feel, it also shows his type of personality, how he doesn't feel he needs to be in the whole video for him to get recognized as an artist, this allows people to listen to the music more than rate the song on the look of the artist.

Hardcore Genre Music Videos

Now that we have our chosen genre, I have chosen 3 music videos of that genre that I feel are very effective and professional videos, I will look to take ideas and conventions of a hardcore music video and possibly use them in ours.

Camera Work – The camera shots used in this video are very stereotypical of a hardcore music video, most shots are either close ups or mid shots, this allows you to clearly see who the band members are and what they look like, they have also used some long shots from the roof looking down, this gives a great sense of atmosphere, the fact it’s from the roof also makes the place look very small and cramped, making it more of an intense environment, even to the viewer, furthermore it helps to how the band don’t see themselves as needing to be higher than the crowd, it’s almost as if they are part of the crowd, which helps to show they love the music and the energy it creates.

Close up shots of the crowd singing and joining in is a main aspect of this video, this shows how much the crows love the music and are willing to join is very easily.

Editing - The editing is very conventional of a music video, the cuts are done on beat which helps to create momentum and help the video flow with the song. They have used slow motion shots in this video, this really gives emphasis to sections in the video in which the slow motion is, it also gives off a larger burst of energy when it goes back to normal speed, this is something I would like to incorporate within our music video as I feel it is a very effective technique.

On some of the shots, they have used an effect to show two clips at once layered on top of each other, this is extremely effective at showing how time as passed and the memories they’ve had in that building.

Mise-en-scene -  The video is of a live performance, however, usually a band would be set up on a stage playing to a huge crowd, this video is very different in that they are playing in what seems like a private venue, this makes you feel more special to the band as it is them playing in their band barn, the location is however perfect for the feel and most hardcore bands use derelict/worn down houses or buildings to have as their location.

The lighting is fairly dark, for a hardcore music video, this is quite typical and makes the place feel more abandoned and almost lonely, this works really well with the genre and enhances the deepness of the song.

For this video there is no storyline as such, however, there is text at the start of the video which explain how the barn has been such a large part of their lives, so the performance almost is the story.


Camera Work – The camera work in this video also follows strong conventions, they have used mainly close up and mid shots in both the storyline and the performance, this helps link the two and also helps to focus on the artists and the characters in the story, they also have a couple of extreme long shots, this are used to help set the location, it also helps to show how the city is so large, yet the focus of the story is only on 3 people so they must be very important, keeping you hooked to the video.

There are a lot of point of view shots from the crowd, this helps to give a feel of what the band are like live and also helps to give you the feel that you are there watching them.

Editing – The editing in this video is all very upbeat and fast, this helps to create a very fast flowing video and keep all focus of the viewer as will definitely not get bored watching it, the constant flick from storyline to performance helps you to keep in mind that is not a film, this keeps you listening to the music and also following the narrative.

This video also uses slow motion effects; this is obviously an effective method as it seems to be very much used in a hardcore video.

Mise-en-scene – The location in which they are playing is very basic and there doesn’t seem to be an extremely large crowd, this could indicate to more of a small time, private gig, again making it more individual and making the viewer feel more special whilst watching it.

There is no costume set or specific design for this video, hardcore artists tend to be very simple with how they dress, keeping the main focus on the story, they sometimes wear other band shirts to promote their band, mainly a band that is of the same genre.

There is a much larger narrative within this video about the lead singer changing the fate of 3 people, he then brings them to his gig and you see them become happy and it almost changes their mood and gives them a second chance, they have use amplification effectively here and it enhances the aspect behind the song a lot.

When the 3 characters are at the venue, you are given a mid-shot of each of them separately, even though the crowd are moving about and are extremely energetic, they stay still, just bobbing, this helps to really keep the focus upon them and gives off a sense that the music has almost got them in a trance.

Camera Work – The camera work in this video is very much following conventions, it sticks to using mainly mid shots and close ups, this is a very effective technique by not only keeping the focus but also making things very close and intense to the viewer, you would get that sort of feel from a long shot, however, long shots have been used, though these have been kept within the narrative section of the video more, this difference in shots helps you to be able to pick out the narrative easier from the video.

One huge aspect about the camera work in hardcore genre music videos is that it never usually stays still, the camera tries to give off to the viewer as much energy from the performance as possible, the movement of both the performers and the camera allows for that to happen.

Editing – The editing sticks to very traditional conventions of being fast paced and just using straight cuts, however, they have used a strange effect on the video to give it a guttery feel when watching it, I believe it is to make the viewer feel a bit off balance and unusual, this little personal touches and unusual styles it what makes people want to come back to watch the video again, making it successful for being different and standing out.

Mise-en-scene – Location is a largely obvious aspect of this video, quite a lot of bands use multiple location shots in their videos, although this looks effective and adds a sense of ‘where are they going to be next’, I don’t feel it will suit our video.

The narrative is very simple within the video and doesn’t really link to the lyrics as such, I think they have left the narrative purposely open to thought as it allows people to take what they will from the video and create their own meaning for the things they see, this is an interesting concept.

One of the most interesting props for this video is the use of feathers, this is the first time I have ever seen feathers used in a video and gives off a very peculiarly atmosphere, however, when used on the drum symbol, it gave a very nice effect as they all shot into the air, this has been done before with things such as water and dust, however feathers makes it more original.

Magazine Research - Kerrang!

General Info:

Kerrang! Is a UK-based magazine that has made itself a name by devoting itself to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. Its first publishing was on 6^th June 1981, starting off as a one-off in the ‘Sounds’ newspaper. In the early 2000s it became the best-selling British music newspaper. The first artist to be published in the magazine was Angus Young from AC/DC, this first magazine was edited by Geoff Barton, he saw the magazine go from being produced fortnightly to moving up to it becoming a weekly magazine in 1987.

Reasons for choosing Kerrang!:

We have chosen that we would want to promote our CD in Kerrang! magazine, we feel this would be the best suited magazine for out genre and its clearly an extremely popular magazine, we know our music will fit in perfectly with this magazine as bands such as Bring Me The Horizon and Architects have been on the front cover, these bands of some of the bands we took inspiration from within their videos and music.

The magazines target audience is males around the age of 18-25, this is just the target audience we will be looking at aiming our video towards as we know that younger people tend to be more into pop music and start developing their own natural tastes as they grow older and experience more of what is out there.

The covers usually consist of a band photo, this really helps to promote the band and also makes it very visually appealing to catch peoples eye, it also helps give a bold image to show what the main article will be about, this main article is shown in large letters on the front, they usually either promote a new album that they have coming out or they have band interviews in the magazine.

Album Cover Research

While She Sleeps – This Is The Six

The album cover for This Is the Six is unusual in the way that it doesn’t promote the band as much as most album covers will, however, smaller hardcore bands don’t tend to have pictures of them on the front cover as they feel it’s better to have more of a visual link to the band rather than just them. On this album While She Sleeps have used their logo as the main focal point, this is a really effective method as it allows you to focus just on one section and not multiple like you would have from a band shot as the front cover, it also does create a visual link as you will know exactly what band it is if you were to see that logo on a t-shirt for example, they have also used the logo on their e.p, this shows a nice trend that they did that on their first and they have done it again on the second.

As well as the simple logo design on the front, they have gave the album a very rustic, almost vintage feel by created an old leather look to the album, this is a really effective background to have and the fact everything looks faded gives a really nice aesthetically pleasing cover.

A Picture of the band as the front cover is a good way of promoting how the band look and how they dress, but using a logo gives much more of a subtle but strong link to the band, this is something we could use on our front cover, we could edit it through the use of Photoshop.

Bring Me The Horizon – Sempiternal

This album cover for Bring Me The Horizon’s album is a really conventional album cover and gives a very strong promotion of the band, the use of the promo picture as the cover helps to show of the band, especially the way some of the band members are covered in tattoos; you soon realise that the band is not just known for their music, but for their tattoos as well, pictures like this help to show that off to their fans but people who enjoy looking at body art.

They have shot the picture on a very plain background of a wall, this is very simple, however has allowed them to add the band name above the artists, they have also used a graffiti effect on some of the writing, this looks very effective and also mirrors the roughness of the background, it also gives of a rebellious feel about the band, something that hardcore genre bands like to give off, that they are very stubborn and blunt and like to be their own.

The actual shot is also very well lit, this helps you to see everything very clearly, something we will need to think about if we choose to do a promo shot as the album cover.

Mallory Knox – Pilot

Mallory Knox’s album ‘Pilot’ is an album that has used both concepts in terms of a picture however the band is not shown on the album to help promote who they are as people, this also helps for bands to know they their fans won’t just enjoy their music because they like the look of them, they enjoy it because they love that type of music.

Although they have used an image, it looks like the image may have been drawn or they have used some sort of effect to alter the look of the picture, they have most definitely used an effect to give the album an old feel with the sepia colour, this old feel is used a lot within hardcore genre albums, it gives a feel of it being very precious and sacred.

On this album they haven’t used a picture of them or a logo, this is unusual, they have chosen to use an image that mirrors the title name; this has been effective on this album however I don’t feel it’s something we will do when we make our album cover, but maybe we will look into colour altering via Photoshop to give it an old feel.

 

Genre Research For Our Song

Hardcore punk (usually referred to as hardcore) is a punk rock music genre that started towards the end of the 1970s. Hardcore is generally faster, heavier, and more aggresive than regular punk rock.
One definition of the genre is "a form of exceptionally harsh punk rock."

Hardcore has created the straight edge movement, a member of straight edge refrain from drinkin alcohol, tobacco, and taking any recreational drugs, there is also two associated sub-movements, hardline and youth crew. Hardcore was mostly involved with the rise of the independent record labels in the 1980s, bands in this genre tend to have more of a 'DIY' ethic.

While traditional hardcore has never experienced mainstream commercial success, unlike pop artists/bands, some of its early pioneers have gained appreciation over time.

In the genre of punk rock, most bands followed the traditional singer/guitar/bass/drum format. The songwriting had more emphasis on rhythm rather than melody. Hardcore vocalists screamed, chanted and used occasional spoken word poetry. Drummers would play fast D beat one moment and then drop tempo into musical breakdowns in the next. Guitarists were not afraid to play solos, octave leads, and grooves as well as tapping into the various feedback and harmonic, generally being more experimental with their talents. The guitar sound was almost always distorted and amplified.

Black Flag were on of the bands that started the Hardcore punk genre, pushing punk rock into a totally different direction, this video shows how the atmosphere is a lot more energetic and even aggressive in the crowd as well as on stage.

Representations and sterotypes of this genre:

Gender & Age - In this genre, the gender is majority male, this is because the music is more rough and expressive, especially at gigs, bands from this genre get a lot of rough behaviour at gigs; however that is part of this genre and has made it what it is. The age is around 17-25, this is the time people tend to branch off from pop music and enjoy their own style. 

This genre is very much a British type of music, other ethnicities do listen to the music however they do not create a lot of it, Americans have tried, but their version is still very calm compared to the British hardcore music.

These stereotypes are created through the use of mise-en-scene on music videos, they have created a visual image of what live venues are like and the environment of the music being played live, although I think this is an effective aspect and has helped to show what it’s really like to see a hardcore band live.

Broken Knees Lyrics

Because the song we are using was composed by us, we know the exact lyrics and the meaning behind them, this will help for us to create a precise music video that can fully enhance the story.

Dig a hole and bury your feelings

So no one can hear you

Turn straight back, you’ve lost all you believe in

Look what we’ve walked into now

They can’t help you

Disguised with the scars you see 

When the city sleeps, we’re
Down on our broken knees
Pleading forgiveness from, the
People of which we speak

I, can’t grieve, for you, now that you’re gone 

Dig a hole and bury your feelings

So no one can hear you

Turn straight back, you’ve lost all you believe in

Look what we’ve walked into now

Now no one can hear you

Look what we’ve walked into 

Whilst these children cry, all

Hope has left from their eyes

We could help save them but, they

Enjoy the sights they see 

You said you wanted me but, now you’re on your own

Taken from your hole, and given a faulty thrown

Come to me and say, you need me now

You and your beliefs, I hope it makes you proud 

Dig a hole and bury your feelings

So no one can hear you

Turn straight back, you’ve lost all you believe in

Look what we’ve walked into

Dig a hole and bury your feelings

So no one can hear you

Turn straight back, you’ve lost all you believe in

Look what we’ve walked into now.

Choosing Our Track + Deconstruction

The first stage of planning for our main task was to choose the song that we would use to create our music promo for; this song would need to be a track from any unsigned band to ensure we do not infringe any copyright on signed tracks also cutting the need to request copyright permission on a track which could potentially waste a lot of time waiting for a reply.

For the genre we chose 'Hardcore Punk' because we all enjoy this style of music so we would not get aggravated with listening to it over and over again whilst editing and fine tweaking the video to the track. Due to the fact that all three members of our group are currently doing a course in music we have decided to use a track we composed and recorded called 'Broken Knees', we also chose to do this because when researching on 'Unsigned.com' we really didnt find anything that we wanted to use for our video that was of the Hardcore genre. We all that because we have written the song, this will give us a very strong advantage as we will be able to get lip and instrument syncing much more accurate when filming as the genuine performers will be playing the track.

About the band:
The band is called 'Two Hundred Kings', they formed in the summer of 2012 because of their love for the genre of music and they they wanted to bring head bopping, feet stomping melodic hardcore to the local community.

The band have wanted to do a video for their single for a long time as they feel it will go really well along side the release of the track and will help to give a professional feel about the band.

Here is a link to the recording we have created of our chosen track which we will make our music video for, I have also deconstructed the track and added comments as to what editing will go alongside it ect. (Click one of the comments on the track to open it up in Soundcloud, there you can hover over the comments to read them fully.)

Music Video Conventions

The music video for Lighthouse by Mallory Knox uses a lot of very typical, yet effective conventions to create a professional and easy to understand storyline.

A large range of shots are used within the video, such as close ups and mid shots of the whole band, however, in music videos which consist of a band, the main focus’ are the singer/s and the guitarists, this is the obvious in this music video as the singer gets single shots of him singing, however the rest of the band only have them in group shots.

 They have used fasted paced editing, this is conventional of a music video as it allows the video to flow well when watching it and also keeps the viewers entertained, they have also used slow motion effects, this has allowed them to create a boom-like effect by going from slow motion back to normal time, this works well going into the chorus as it gives it more emphasis.

The location is very typical of a music video by being shot in a very picturesque area, this instantly gives the music video more of an aesthetically pleasing sense, and it also links to the lyrics as the song is called ‘Lighthouse’.

 The clothing in this video is very basic and gives off a very real life essence to the video as there are no fancy costumes; this also helps the audience to just focus on the video itself and the song.

The use of the singer being in the actual story of the video makes the song seem a lot more personal to him, giving it more of a powerful meaning to the lyrics he is singing, a lot of music videos use this technique. 

In the music video of While She Sleeps’ song ‘Our Courage, Our Cancer’, they have chosen to stray from some conventions to make an interesting and more tailored video to their song.

The main stray from convention is within the editing, instead of the editing being very upbeat and thrilling which it would be for a music video like this, they have decided to edit it to mirror the tempo changes, so for instance the starting is a very slow piano, the editing is mirrored by being very slow and smooth, it then builds up and slows down just at the end, this is an effective way of editing as it allows the viewer to get more of a feel of how the music has been written.

The music video uses amplification effectively and taken the memory of a person and uses the life of him to act as the video, this makes the story very intense and real for the viewer.

In this video, there are an equal amount of shots for each member of the band, each member is in the band shots and they each have singles, this makes the band feel very equal and there is no say that anyone in the band is more important, this is unconventional yet an effective way to promote the band as a whole. 

The video for Spanish Sahara by Foals stays clear of more conventions of a typical music video, this makes is very quirky and almost impossible to not want to watch as it very different.

Even though Foals is a very well known band, they have chosen to just have the singer in the actual video; this is unconventional as usually they would want to show the band to give off a sense of musical talent and performance.

The location is very different to normal video locations, it clearly an unpleasantly cold environment, even though the title is ‘Spanish Sahara’, you would expect a hot location, contrasting it like this has added to the interesting sense of the video as it makes you wonder why they have chosen there to film as it’s so dead and lonely.

The video is very bright, this is conventional of a music video as it keeps you focused on the video and also draws you in, it of course also helps you to see all that is happening, stopping you from feeling as if you are missing on kay areas of the video.

Looking at 3 very different videos has allowed me to see how they have used and not used conventions to create an effective video; these are aspects I will use in my video to make it as professional as these I have chosen.

Group Choice

I feel our group is a very strong blend of people as we chose it carefully knowing that we all enjoy the same array of music and all know how to work a dslr, this will give us a really good advantage when it comes to filming, we also all know how to use Final Cut Pro, this is our chosen editing software and the fact we have a MacBook Pro within the group also gives us a very good start when we start to edit as it will be fast and Final Cut Pro allows for more of a freedom of options over iMovie.

We also all play instruments, this means if we are to star in the video we all know how to keep a beat in time with songs and can learn songs much easier, we have Matt Jones who plays drums, gutitar and bass, Dan Harris who plays piano and guitar and I play guitar, this gives us all a good asset we can bring to the production, it will mean we will stick to the timings better and it will be in sync which is a huge aspect of the video.

Preliminary Album Covers

Whilst filming on our preliminary task, we took some promo pictures to use for our front and back voer, we used an old vinyl to be one of the props, this helps to link our video and the covers, we edited these through photoshop, on the front cover we cut out the front picture and placed in a picture of us, representing the band and we chose the back cover and used the same technique, however, we chose to put it in a black and white style to give it an older feel.

Front Cover:

 

 

Back Cover:

Richard Dyer's Star Theory - Notes

Stars as Constructions:

• -        How nowadays, pop stars are not people who have worked their way up through the music business and have tried extremely hard to get their music out there, they are manipulated and changed by their managers to look a certain way and do things a certain way.
• -       Pop stars try to follow the natural trend that occurs in fashion ect so that people still think they are new and edgey.
• -       Shows such as XFactor and Pop Idol create pop stars that are given everything and are made to fit only certain expectations of the market and also believe in only singing perfect notes and having a professional showbiz personality instead of real passion for the music, such as you would see in Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Ideology and Culture:

• -      Stars tend to try and have their own opinions on certain subjects that interest them which they spread to their fans through the use of social media and interviews, they also encourage them to have their say on the topics the bring up as it makes them more interesting and seem more educated.
• -       Stars try to also create trends through fashion or hairstyles which their fans can copy, a good example is Justin Bieber with his haircut, it became a craze and people knew (especially guys) that girls loved the hair.
• -       People are constantly trying to scrutinise against stars through media such as radio, TV shows, magazines and websites.

Industry and Audience:

• -       Stars are created by music industries to make money out of people, they try to give them as much likeability as possible as the fans are the means of keeping the music industry together.
• -       Certain markets don’t buy into the hype about bands as they feel they are buying into a photocopied media.
• -       Such a vast range of genres to make music for
• -       One way to tailor to different genres is have multiple stars for the multiple genres to gain the money or have a long-lasting star, these are more bands that establish a brand and cater for audiences for many years, bands such as U2 and Oasis.
• -       Stars are churned out too quickly and not built up, meaning they have less time as stars.
• -       Such a large jump from the young stars aimed at teens and ‘Golden Oldies’ aimed at people who have been around a bit longer.

Preliminary Task Video - I Get Around

Lyric Ideas

For our preliminary video, we felt we wanted to have a go at using 'Illustration' in the video, the idea of the video following the lyrics, however, we felt as it was quite an upbeat and catchy song, we should parody the lyrics, this meant we followed the lyrics completely, however, gave them a different visual feel, I am very happy with how it turned out, however being that it wasn't our song, we had to look into the lyrics a lot to see what we could do alongside it to make them funny, these are our ideas we jotted down against the lyrics, this also helped us to plan out the video into sections (verse, chorus, ect.)

Preliminary Task Storyboard/Shot Lists

These are storyboards we created as a group to give ourselves something to aim towards, our overall product was very similar to these, however we felt when filming, some shots didn't work that well so we decided to alter them, this gave us a stronger outcome, we also used these plans to note down the type of shots we would have to use, doing the storyboard and the shot list together meant it was easier for us to follow, I feel this shows good planning, this will be taken through to out final music video.