Evaluation - James Blunt 'Bonfire Heart'

     I chose to use the song 'Bonfire Heart' by James Blunt because it has the right lyrics that easily matched my filming idea. I wanted to film short clips that take the audience through my life however as I progressed through the paperwork, I soon found that I wouldn't have enough footage. I decided to keep the same theme and show the audience the college life instead. For this I got my classmates to sing along to different parts of the song one by one. In between them singing I used found footage and bloopers from my filming. This gives the music a more personal touch and still links with the lyrics which is what I wanted.

     I think the music video went well even though I changed my idea. I am pleased with the outcome because the final version is exactly the representation I wanted to show my audience. I feel that using a green-screen background on everyone was a good idea because it made their part in the music video more personal to them. I am pleased that the theme stayed the same and coming up with the idea,s at the beginning, was easiest for me however choosing the final idea and sticking to it was what I found challenging.

     I found it hard to film and edit my music video. Although I had a vision of how it would look and I know how to use the equipment and software, I struggled to find the right place and time that everyone was free. I also found it challenging trying to edit the green screen background everyone had. However, once I had done a few people, it became easier. I also struggled to search for the right found-footage because I wanted to make it personal but I was also trying to link it to the lyrics too. I think I achieved the goal I set for myself because I created a personal music video that has an emotional connection to the audience.

     If I was to create another music video, I would make it simpler to film but use a lot more techniques by creating a performance music video with inserts of personal clips. This would be better as I could film the whole songs performance using a wider range of camera angles and techniques as well as editing found footage and the personal clips. This would have been better because I could show off my editing and camera techniques more.

      In a professional music video, you would expect the green screening to look sharper and the editing cutting would be sharper. Although this would look better, I like my music video looking a bit rough round the edges because it makes the whole music video more personal to me and the theme. I chose to have people behind bright colours as it makes them stand out and enphasises the lyrics they are singing.

MUSIC VIDEO PROPOSAL

Name: Yasmin Simmonds

What is the title of the song and artist you have chosen for the video? Bonfire Heart by James Blunt

What genre of music is the song from? Chart

What are the conventions of music videos from this genre of music? (clothing / performance style / setting / narrative / grading) Clothing – All the people in my music video will be wearing casual clothing. Like jeans, t-shirt, etc as that’s the codes and conventions of Chart music video’s. Performance style – This is a happy song, I want to give over the impression of time going by eg growing up. Settings – Everyday places like parks, Brighton, the street. Casual places with casual/ typical young adults. I will film many different places that show a journey/ moving on. This means that I will have to introduce the theme of a journey at the beginning. Narrative – I am creating a short story with the song as you will see the people moving on and growing up, you will see the journey happening. Grading – I am going to start off with black and white. I will then introduce colour mid way through the pictures at the beginning. This will link with the ‘time moving on’ theme.

Highlight the style you have chosen for your music video? (As live, Performance, Narrative, Concept, other or a Mixture)

Why have you chosen this style of video for your music video? I have chosen a narrative music video because I wanted the challenge of telling a story through the filming and lyrics. In my opinion, I think it would e easier to control the mood of the audience in a narrative music video because the audience can relate to realistic stories. I want the audience to feel happy and feel like they have been with the character growing up, I want to create a connection. For this I will need to use star iconography so the audience knows whom the main character is, I can do this by focusing close up shots on them.

Highlight the term which describes how your music video relate to the lyrics? (Disjuncture, Amplification or Illustration)

Describe with examples from the lyrics and your idea for the video of how your music video links with the lyrics.  If you have chosen disjuncture please explain where you got your idea from for your video? My music video links with the lyrics because the song is about looking for love and finding people that mean a lot to you. So in my music video I want to show the audience the people that mean something to me. “People like us, we don’t Need that much, just someone that starts, Starts the spark in our bonfire heart” Those lyrics tell me that the main character is looking for people that mean the most to him/ her and their search for “the one”. “And I’ve been looking at the stars, For a long, long time. I’ve been putting out fires, All my life. Everybody wants a flame; they don’t want to get burnt. And today is our turn” This tells me that he has been looking for the perfect person and doesn’t want to be hurt (burnt) again by the wrong people. The title ‘Bonfire Heart’ tells me the music video is about finding people that keep you happy, the people that “starts the spark in your bonfire heart” I am going to be the main character in this music video.

Who is the cast of your music video and what are their individual parts? I wont know who will be in my music video because each section will show my friends and family. This means that I will plan my shots however I wont be able to fully explain what will happen in each scene. I have a range of short clips as well as a range of pictures to emphasize time going by. In these clips and pictures I will have the main character for star iconography as well as close friends and family to show the love theme.

Where will you get your cast from and how will you source them? My cast will be close friends and family. They are all easy to get to and film which is great.

Describe the clothing and style and image of the performers in your music video? You can copy and paste images in here of the clothing, hair etc you wish for your cast to wear.                                                                                       My outfits are casual everyday outfits. I chose this style because my music video is short clips of the people who are close to me, so I want to film the clips as if it was replaying a memory. It would look unnatural if I replayed a memory of going to town when everyone is dressed in ball gowns.

Include some screengrabs of the types of shots you wish to include in your video?  Write underneath the type of shot and why you want to use it?  Which shot types are you including to promote star image? My First Setting is in the woods. I chose this because it is quiet and a nice peaceful, relaxed setting to start the journey off.  The next shot is a bedroom scene where I will be looking back at old pictures. The bedroom is a personal place which goes with the personal images. Another shot is me and my mates in Brighton. This shot shows me and my friends hanging out and gives the audience a chance to see who my friends and I are at a more personal level. Other shots are just casual everyday shots to tell the audience who my close friends are and showing us all together, having fun. The following pictures are examples of the sort of settings I’ll be aiming for.

What mise en scene will you need for the setting of your music video?  You can add images here of the setting and location you envisage for your music video. My shots will be in Brighton but mostly Crawley.   I have chosen these because they are easy to get to, I can easily picture how and where I will film the shots and it’s a change in scenery if I film in two different towns. Brighton will be a good casual meeting point to show all my mates just hanging out and chilling. However Crawley will be more of the pictures and family clips. Crawley being the past and Brighton being the present.

Paste an image below that best communicates the grading or colouring you wish for your music video.  You can use some adjectives to describe your scene too? Start of the music video will be a black and white recording which will show me growing up.      After that the next scene will be pictures entering in the form of a canvas, starting with oldest pictures (young me) in black and white to recent pictures (me now) in colour. The rest of the shots and images will be in standard colour.

Analysis Grid, Codes and Conventions

 Name: Yasmin Simmonds

Video Analysis

Fill in this Grid to help you build the information for your voice over.

You can fill one in for each of the music videos you are going to use in your voiceover.

Choice 1 - Linkin Park: Burn It Down

Choice 2 - Drake: Started From The Bottom

Choice 3 - Pentatonix: Daft Punk  

Music Video: Linkin Park - Burn it Down	Times (so you know which part of the music video to use in your edit)	Why have these conventions been used (use this column to explain other column)? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxytyRy-O1k
What style is the video? [narrative, as live, concept performance, other] and why has this been used?	This music video is “as Live” because the video is filmed in a studio then edited to give the supernatural effects.
What genre specific conventions are present in the music video? clothing performance mise en scene (props, setting) attitude theme of video colouring / grading	Clothing is black. Performance is a live effect, the band members stick to the shadows and dark parts. Props and setting looks like a dark room filled with black music equipment. The room has the odd spotlight to give a dark effect. Nearer the end a fire effect is introduced which again gives a dark effect. The theme is (as they song title suggests) burning down a building. There is a lot of fire and dark colours. The tone of their voices is also quite deep/ dark.	The dark clothing and props gives you a dark atmosphere. In this genre of music it is typical for the band/ artist to wear dark colours, have piercing and tattoos. It’s a stereotype given to this genre. The dark atmosphere, the dark clothing, the loud music, low bass and the constant changing camera angles give you the typical alternative music video. The atmosphere is supposed to be dark, the music loud and the colours deep as this gives you the “Bad Boy” image they have.
How does the video relate to the lyrics, is it illustration, amplification, disjuncture and why do you think this?	It illustrates the band gradually burning a building down but it is mainly	The song is about burning a building down. As the song goes on, the building they are supposedly in gradually burns down.
Are there any intertexual references?	nope
Are there any uses of voyeurism?	nope
What editing conventions are present? [jump cuts, cut to the beat, frequent cuts] and why have they been used?	Frequent cuts are used to show all the band members.	The added effect of the frequent cuts and the constant changing of shooting conventions all add to the dark effect they want to give cross.
What shooting conventions are present? [close-ups, low angle shots, different styles of camera angle] and why have they been used?	They use a lot of shooting conventions so you can see the whole picture.  Talk about what they are and where they have been used.	The cameras try to capture a 3D effect by panning around the band and quickly change camera angles from close up to a wide pan. This shows you the band, the background and shows you the whole pictures as opposed to one stationary camera showing you the band.
How has star iconography been achieved?	How are band / main singer made out to be stars? They are the main attention in almost every camera angle.	Every music video aim is to show off the band and the song. The main attention should be the band members or artist as well as the background as both will give the audience a feel for the personality of the band and the meaning of the lyrics.

Music Video: Drake – Started from the bottom	Times (so you know which part of the music video to use in your edit)	Why have these conventions been used (use this column to explain other column)? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RubBzkZzpUA
What style is the video? [narrative, as live, concept performance, other] and why has this been used?	This music video is “as Live” because the video is in typical public areas however it has been staged so none of the public is in it.
What genre specific conventions are present in the music video? clothing performance mise en scene (props, setting) attitude theme of video colouring / grading	The clothing is light colours, typical everyday clothes that are comfortable. The club area turn to dark branded clothes. The club area gives a different atmosphere to the other scenes. The performance is a live performance as it is a typical public area such as a supermarket, the street, a house party etc. The props used are daily used props such as a car, supermarket products, alcohol, etc The attitude is quite relaxed, it sort of takes you through a persons life, day and night. There is a big variation of the colours as the video progresses. For example the colours start out bright then turn to deeper colours nearer the end.	There are two different atmospheres in this music video. One is brightly lit, in the day time, at well known places such as a supermarket. The other is a dark nightclub/ underground hangout with dark clothes, alcohol, smoking and younger people. You can see the difference in atmosphere due to the bass, tune and colour schemes.
How does the video relate to the lyrics, is it illustration, amplification, disjuncture and why do you think this?	Its all about starting out as a child then moving up in the world. Hence the title “Started From The Bottom”
Are there any  intertextual references?	No
Are there any uses of voyeurism? (Sexual scenes)	Yes – R&B is typically known for having uses of voyeurism.
What editing conventions are present? [jump cuts, cut to the beat, frequent cuts] and why have they been used?	Its mainly cameras panning and close ups of the main artist. This is typical of a R&B/ Rap music video.	This shows off/ brings attention to the artist whilst allowing you, as the audience, get to see what’s happening. In this case you follow the main character through what I assume to be his weekend/ his life.
What shooting conventions are present? [close-ups, low angle shots, different styles of camera angle] and why have they been used?	Most were close-ups or wide pans however there were a few high shots above everyone to give the impression they are of a lower class.
How has star iconography been achieved?	The main character is wearing brighter colours to everyone else so they stand out more.

Music Video: Pentatonix – Daft Punk	Times (so you know which part of the music video to use in your edit)	Why have these conventions been used (use this column to explain other column)? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MteSlpxCpo
What style is the video? [narrative, as live, concept performance, other] and why has this been used?	It has aspects of a “Live Performance” in the sense that it was recorded live however it was edited to get the current outcome.
What genre specific conventions are present in the music video? clothing performance mise en scene (props, setting) attitude theme of video colouring / grading	The clothing is a supernatural theme. They filmed each group member singing their part of the song and edited it together so you had a five way split screen. The props were only the clothing and the editing software. The music video is upbeat and cheerful; this gives the audience a fun/ happy atmosphere. The colors’ was mainly blue.	The split screen effect works great with this group as it shows their unique and unusual personality. It gives the music video their own unique touch.
How does the video relate to the lyrics, is it illustration, amplification, disjuncture and why do you think this?	Disjuncture because the lyrics have no link with the music video.
Are there any  intertextual references?	No
Are there any uses of voyeurism? (Sexual scenes)	No
What editing conventions are present? [jump cuts, cut to the beat, frequent cuts] and why have they been used?	They use frequent cut and they use split screen up to five times. This shows the audience the whole group and gives a different approach to music videos. Split screening is very common.
What shooting conventions are present? [close-ups, low angle shots, different styles of camera angle] and why have they been used?	Split screen show the whole group, the attention is spread equally. Close ups (head and shoulder shot) shows the person singing so no attention is lost on background or the clothes they wear.
How has star iconography been achieved?	They are the main focus of the music video, there are plain background colours that bring attention to the group.