Cast List

Fortunately I have found someone to act in my music video after having various people drop out due to other commitments.


Name: Maia Rose Blake
Age:19
Subjects:Performing Arts, Media, Film Studies.

I think Maia would be a great actress for my music video since she already has a lot of acting experience which will make the footage believable. She also has the right look because she is slim and with the right clothing will look 'Indie' or 'grunge' which is the image I wanted.

New lyrics analysis

Spoken word

Research

INDIE MUSIC

It is very common for Indie artists to use performance in their music video and the main focus is to show the artist being passionate for their music. They also like to show off their talent because they aren't as interested in the money and fame side, they just like to make good music. Indie artist normally have a low budget when it comes to producing the music video because they aren't as well known as celebrities and artists from major labels. They usually come from independent record labels where the music is made purely from talent and instruments using standard equipment.

RESEARCH

To help with the development of my music video I did some reserach on abstract film in which I could adapt to fit a music video. I found that abstract film is a subgenre of experimental film. Some of the earliest abstract motion pictures known to survive are those produced by a group of german artists working in the early 1920's. These artists present different approaches to abstraction-in-motion as an anologue to music or as the creation of absolute language of form.
        I also researched absoluet music and found that it is not explicitly about anything and is non representational. The idea of absolute music developed at the end of the 18th century in the writings of German Romanticism such as Willhelm Heinrich Wakenroder. The definition is "Instrumental music, as a concerto or string quartet that draws no inspiration from or makes no reference to a text, programme, visual image or title and that exists solely in terms of its musical form, structure and elements".
       I think this definition is helpful because I can take ideas from it when I create my music video. For example, even though my music has text/lyrics, the video itself will not be very representitive as my actor is going on a jouney however we never know where she is going and there is no reference in the text, therefore eahc individual can decide for themesleves where she is going or what her intentions are etc.

Abstract videos and Influences

I looked at some abstract music videos for inspiration. I like how they don't have a narrative and with the song 'Digital kids' you can interpret it how you like from listening to the lyrics. I also like the fact that in the original digital kids video the girl is going on a journey but you don't know where which leaves it up to the audience to figure out.

 I also found this abstract video which didn't really have a distinctive narrative however I like the way they blurred some of the shots and how they made it episodic and had slow motion because I think it makes it interesting to watch. I also like the way that it looks like an old movie because it gives it an authentic feel.

I really like the video for 'Chandelier' by Sia since the narrative is told through an extremely abstract dance about alcohol and substance abuse which I thought was really visually appealing. I like the way in which the camera follows the dancer which is something I would possible like to use in my music video and is really reflective of the lyrics.

I really like this video by Mumford and Sons for 'Lover of the Light' because it establishes the location straight away just from diegetic sounds such as seagulls and waves crashing. I really like this idea and think that I will have something similar at the beginning of my video to show that she is in a busy city.  

CHANGE OF PLAN

Due to being let down by various people to be my actor I have decided to change my idea's slightly. I will keep many of the shots the same however I would like to change the song and the style. I will keep the costume and amount of actors the same however I want to make my video more abstract, therefore I am going to change the song to a spoken word song called 'Digital Kids' by Viktor Taiwo. I feel like this will give me much more opportunity to use better cinematography and have a much more interesting video.
       I am going to keep the same genre of 'Indie Pop' because the real artist 'Vicktor Taiwo' is mostly a rap artist however he is independent as he writes his own song and isn't under a major label. However my artist will be more 'well known' because I can then play around with more advertising methods.

Lighting

Today I wanted find a suitable lighting state to use for some shots. The lighting I had been using had a yellowy tone and made the skin look dull so I tried the ones out from college and noticed that they were very good and made the skin look bright and highlighted certain features better. I took a photo of each lighting state.

You can see that the photo on the left is slightly darker than the one on the right and gives a yellow tone. You can also tell that the one on the left has a lot of shadowing under the eyes and under the chin where as the other photo does not. The one on the right is much brighter and the colours are enhanced. I will definitely use this light if I need it for shots. I could also use it whilst creating the Digi-pak.