A2 Media | Crew

As the task I am to complete has to be directed by me, I need to be the star of the crew. I will make decisions that will shift the direction of the project. I may require help from others, with camera work, if I am to be starring in a shot or not. This has not been decided yet and will be updated through a blogpost here.

A2 Media | Casting

I must find an actor to star in my music video. I do not mind acting out myself, but ideally I would prefer to have a classmate help me, so I can focus more on directing. That being said, I am going to ask a number of friends over social media if they can help me out completing this task. Once an actor has been chosen, I will update in a blog post here.

A2 Media | Music Video Brief Idea

The brief idea for my music video, is to keep things simple and slow. Because of this I have chosen a song which has a music video I believe I can recreate easily. It frequently uses a plain white background with the actor lip syncing to the song in different shots. The video also explores different types of editing, in some shots, we see the camera's Y-axis being flipped.

Of-course, black and white shots are not the only ones seen, so I am going to look around my school and different areas around my town for good shots. Ideally, I want to keep things simple and to not over-complicate the task I am presenting.

The music video I am talking about "Bruce Lee' can be found here.

A2 Media | Planning Stage

I am now moving onto the planning stage of my main task. Where I will decide what exactly I am going to do for the music video I have to create. I'll be deciding from all of the research posts I made previously in the blog where I went over conventions of music videos. The key to the planning stage is trying to my best to be a director.

A2 Media | Lip Syncing Result

As practise, I had one of my classmates perform a song in front of the camera where he lip synced the words. I believe the lip-syncing turned out quite well and though I definitely intend to improve later into my project planning I think this turned out well. 

This will also serve well for practise, as when I do come to completing my main task; after the planning stage. I will have some experience in how to lip sync a music video. In the video I took I did not plan costume, specific shots, mise en scene or many of the other conventions of a music video. This little project was purely a practise for lip syncing alone and served well as I feel confident in the future with completing this side of the main task. 

A2 Media | Lip Syncing

I am going to ask my friend, Cameron to practise lip syncing for me so I can get practise for when I have to film my main task. I am going to use lesson time to record him syncing to a song.

A2 Media | Rhythm Cutting

Rhythm Cutting is used most commonly in electronic music videos, it is where the jump cuts of the video matches the beat or song in some sort of way. For example, for every beat/kick/snare heard the video will cut to another scene or cut ahead. This is done so that it keeps the music video in sync with the song, without the use of vocals.

A2 Media | Acting

Acting and body language is something that is explored a lot and is mostly evident during rock music videos, in which actors are extremely hyped and moving a lot which aids the hardcore vibe that is trying to be presented. It is worth keeping in mind for my music video project when I chose actor.

An example, Prisoners of War by Crown The Empire can be found here.

A2 Media | Lighting

Lighting is manipulated in the same way that mise-en-scene. Through editing, a music video can be made black and white which will provide a serious vibe that will be ideal for music aiming in that direction. On the other hand, lighting may be enhanced significantly to help portray a happier tone of video. An example of lighting manipulation can be found in the Kendrick Lamar music video Alright in which he addresses police brutality and black justice.

Kendrick Lamar - Alright can be found here.

A2 Media | Editing

Editing in music videos are generally simple. Mainly consisting of frequent jump cuts from shot to shot of the artist, it keeps music videos interesting my constantly changing scene. Sometime transitions are used to create a greater flow between jump cuts.

A2 Media | Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene is very important when representing anything in media. Music videos are no exception and we see in so many different examples of effective mise-en-scene in various music videos. For a example, in a music video where a happy vibe is being portrayed, we will see bright, vibrant colours. On the contrast, a music which is intending to address a serious matter, will not consist of fun and eye-appealing colours.

Tory Lanez' music video LUV is a video consisting of incredibly bright, happy shots, with sun flares shining down on the camera. It can be found here.

A2 Media | Lip Syncing & Movement

Lip syncing is a very common method used in the making of music videos. It is where the artist will move their mouth in tune with the music being played, which gives the illusion that the artist is actually singing, there and then. This is used because it draws more emphasis on the artist, it let's the viewer know that they are the star of the show. Lip syncing is also sometimes accompanied by dancing, though not all the time.

Dancing is performed so that the actor can help portray the music video in the intended vibe. For example, if a music video is intending to portray a depressing vibe, dancing may be slow and lesser energetic. A music video in which dancing is common is the Rihanna - Work Music video which can be found here.

A2 Media | Camera Shots / Movement.

The shots used in music videos are mostly medium close ups as it draws emphasis on the artist / key actor. This can also help portray the vibe the music is trying to give off as it can show the actor's facial expressions or clothing.

The artist is often the key actor of the music video and is presented through many different ways. Camera movement is generally used to primarily focus on the artist. 

A2 Media | Parody Music Videos

Some artists like to portray their music video through a comedic manner. This is commonly used to poke fun at something; whether it be a social groups or conformity. In many ways, these videos can be considered a long drawn out sketch accompanied by artists music. An example of this is by Weird Al Yankovich - Amish Paradise. Weird Al's music videos are widely known to be parody.

Weird Al Yankovich - Amish Paradise can be found here.

A2 Media | Animated Music Video

Another form of music video is by using animation to portray a story. This isn't quite as commonly used as the other methods however is seen by various artists. An example of this, Caravan Palace - Lone Digger shows a music video through animation. These types of music videos are considered original and artistic as it isn't very commonly seen.

Caravan Palace - Lone Digger can be found here.

A2 Media | Performance / Narration Mix

Frequently, music videos feature a mixture of both a performance and story telling in a music video. Jumping from shots in which the artist(s) perform and whatever narration is being shown. This is a very common type of music video used by both bands and singers. An example of this is the music video by the band "Annisokay" called "Monstercrazy" in which we see shots of the band performing and shots of storytelling.

Another example; Travis Scott - Antidote can be found here.

A2 Media | Performance Music Video

Some music videos (mostly ones by bands) decide to go for a performance based music video. This is where the band will perform the song on camera with a few jump cuts from different shots. Generally, this kind of music video is used for bands, where there is no "main star" for the music video so the band members gets equal screen time. An example of this is in the music video by the band "ANNISOKAY" for "SMILE" in where the band is performing live.

Annisokay - Smile can be found here.

A2 Media | Narrative Music Video

Typically, music videos are the length of the actual song. However, some music videos decide to play out some sort of story which can lead to an additional scene (often music-less) before or after the song actually begins. An extreme example of this may be "Thriller'" by Michael Jackson in which the actual music video reaches a total of over 13 minutes!

Michael Jackson - Thriller can be found here.