Tuesday 5 January 2010
One Day Lip-sync Project
This Lip Sync project took a duration of one day to produce. Our song by Abba was called "Money, Money, Money" The song was very energising and filled us with many ideas. During our production we came across a few hiccups due to recording over some footage, which later discovered when logging and capturing our footage.
As seen in the video we shot most of our footage around and in the college. Due to weather conditions and the loss of previous footage. We used the stairs to help stage our dance to create more movement and depth allowing a variety of different shots. The disadvantage to the music video is our lip sync being out of time.
Purpose of Music Videos
A music video is designed to promote the artists and their music due to the appeal upon their target audience, allowing the audience to coincide their opinions and views and to remember the artist or band. A music video has to include certian codes and conventions; for example: if making a hip hop video the codes and conventions would include: expensive jewellery "bling", flashy cars, big houses, expensive clothing, aggressive dogs, flat caps, tattoos, attractive girls. These characteristics usually have underlying meanings relating to the song which is why the audience watch and listen because they can aspire to be, in this case; rich, famous and popular.
Music videos are about how a band/artist portrays themselves towards their audience for example: an upbeat dance song sang by Eric Prydz - call on me, is mainly focused on woman, in tight petite clothing who are exercising. The idea of this is to create an image to the audience to remind them of what the music entails, whereas if one is more interested in heavy rock such as: Slipknot, the appeal of genre is completely different. The audience will expect to see painted faces, long hair, band wearing black, playing a musical instrument and having no coordination of dancing.
Music videos have a wide history, the first music video is claimed to be Tony Bennett’s ‘stranger in paradise’, where it is a film of him walking along Hyde Park in London. The 1950's, in order for bands to promote their music they had to travel across countries and cities playing their songs repeatedly this however became tiresome, so people began to experiment with 'music promos'. The videos would consist of the band/artist playing on stage and then it was recorded, copied and distributed around the world. This was ideal for the bands because it meant saving themselves time to concentrate on promoting more of their music without losing time travelling across countries. The 'music promos' became more well known during the 1960s but keeping the videos low budget giving the target audience what they want to hear.
Televisions became more and more popular in UK households as the 1960s passed meaning bands were able to take advantage and produce more 'music promos'.
In 1961 Ozzie Nelson filmed a video of his son, Ricky, singing and showing various parts of the world, this was believed to be the first ever rock video. From here music videos moved on to what we now know, the first evidence of this was in 1962 where the Beatles major motion picture ‘A hard days night’ contained many musical segments. These segments are what most videos now are taken from. 1966 is when Bob Dylan made the first real music video, ‘homesick blues’ which has been imitated in other music videos, films, and parodies.
The Beatles released their famous video 'Strawberry Fields' which ranged in full colour and concentrated on using techniques such as: slow motion, reversed film and obscure camera angles. These elements were uses of techniques from films taking music promos to a whole new level.
However in 1970s music promos were still very basic. The artists concentrated mainly on their singing using a plain background, keeping the image simple. The industry preferred to keep the music promos basic without any distractions because they believed it was what the audience wanted. David Bowie with his hit single 'Life on Mars' consisted of him singing in front of a white background. 1975 Queen released their music video for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ which is considered a landmark in music video history.
Australia was a key element in the development of music video broadcasting as it began making shows to host these videos. The British show 'Top of the Pops' began showing music videos since the early 70s. By the 1980s music videos were known world wide. 1981 as technology had developed and a vast majority of people owned a television a great interest was shown in America as the Music Television Programme was launched more commonly known as 'MTV'. The first song to broadcast was 'Video killed the Radio star' the title of the song dominated the change during that time which was clever. People were listening less and less to their radios and were focused more on Television.
From this revolution, music videos then began a new era, where the Directors themselves start to become famous for their work, the Internet becomes video friendly and another new medium for people to watch them is opened.
Promotion
An artist or a band create music videos to promote themselves. To be able to successfully promote their music video they have to identify their goals by targeting as many of their audience as possible creating a fan base. Unlike larger artist who have a record label they needn't worry about promotion. Whereas smaller artist begin their journey by releasing a single upon radio. As listeners hear the track the fan base increases and gradually "spreads the word" therefore the artist or the band create their music promo which is then released onto Television Music Channels such as; MTV, Kerrang or KISS. Depending on the genre of music, dictates which channel the promo will be played on targeting the desired audience. The video will get air time, and from that people will start posting the video up on websites such as YouTube, and Myspace.
The world is focusing on live streaming and downloading videos, the best place to find them and distribute a video is the internet. Millions of people surf the net to identify new music and experiment with their different tastes in genre. YouTube is a great example for new talent and small video promotions, it is free to use, open to everybody worldwide and is a faster way to become known than broadcasting on radio or television. Esmee Denters is an 18 year old, female artist who became known for singing "What goes around" (original by Justin Timbelake) uploaded to YouTube. Esmee started off imitating famous artists, when she performed her own music she was an instant hit on YouTube and has since appeared on dutch tv shows like Life & Cooking and Jenssen. More recently she has actually had the chance to perform with Justin Timberlake and has been signed by Tennman records. Without having a record label to back you up it is impossible to broadcast ones videos upon MTV or Kerrang which is why big artists such as; Lily Allen and The Wombats started off through the internet because that is where companies are most likely to search.
Another way to promote a Music Video, is through interviews and live performances. Even though the percentage of people watching TV around the ages of 16-25 is very low, they tend to watch music channels more often. Or a particular show which is based around those ages will contain music acts, for example the show called T4, usually runs on the weekends, and hosts a mix of 'teenage soaps' as well as exclusive music interviews and performances. If an artist was to get on that show and talk about their music, then play the song which was made into a video, people will hit the internet yet again to find the video.
Extension of Income
The extension of income is how one will fund their music video by either relying on your record label to do it or yourself fund it. It is not necessary for one to spend extortionate amounts of money on producing their music video because if you have reliable contacts you may be able to get some work for a small price or if you know of a friend who maybe a student working on promoting their portfolio it would be ideal to take the opportunity for free. The cost to pay is for extra items due to the set and props etc.
In the year 2000, prices for a low budget Video were around about £150,000 these videos were produced by big artists behind the biggest labels. However if you are able to control your money there is no reason why you should spend above £10,000. However, if you are a small artist the easiest and most successful way to fund your video is through interviews on television, in magazines and during live performances around the country. Through all this publicity it is likely that an artist would be able to fund themselves. To gain success and a larger fan base once the artist has made their video, it is ready to upload to the internet on sites such as; YouTube The fans are relied on to 'spread the word' gradually the video will become recognised and requested upon radio shows. Each time the video is played upon the radio the artist/band gains royalties hopefully leading them to be noticed by a record label. Resulting in this the artist/band can mass market their video and other songs they have created meaning their income will increase, pointing them to produce larger videos.
Extension of Outlets
Music videos are much easier to access in this day and age due to the improvement within technology, downloadable and streamed content. This is very powerful in helping to raise sales as the publicity and views of the video is greatly increased by the internet and this generation’s usage of it. Record labels do have jurisdiction there and can remove any of the videos made by its artists at any time, if they feel their rights are being abused.
Music videos are about how a band/artist portrays themselves towards their audience for example: an upbeat dance song sang by Eric Prydz - call on me, is mainly focused on woman, in tight petite clothing who are exercising. The idea of this is to create an image to the audience to remind them of what the music entails, whereas if one is more interested in heavy rock such as: Slipknot, the appeal of genre is completely different. The audience will expect to see painted faces, long hair, band wearing black, playing a musical instrument and having no coordination of dancing.
Music videos have a wide history, the first music video is claimed to be Tony Bennett’s ‘stranger in paradise’, where it is a film of him walking along Hyde Park in London. The 1950's, in order for bands to promote their music they had to travel across countries and cities playing their songs repeatedly this however became tiresome, so people began to experiment with 'music promos'. The videos would consist of the band/artist playing on stage and then it was recorded, copied and distributed around the world. This was ideal for the bands because it meant saving themselves time to concentrate on promoting more of their music without losing time travelling across countries. The 'music promos' became more well known during the 1960s but keeping the videos low budget giving the target audience what they want to hear.
Televisions became more and more popular in UK households as the 1960s passed meaning bands were able to take advantage and produce more 'music promos'.
In 1961 Ozzie Nelson filmed a video of his son, Ricky, singing and showing various parts of the world, this was believed to be the first ever rock video. From here music videos moved on to what we now know, the first evidence of this was in 1962 where the Beatles major motion picture ‘A hard days night’ contained many musical segments. These segments are what most videos now are taken from. 1966 is when Bob Dylan made the first real music video, ‘homesick blues’ which has been imitated in other music videos, films, and parodies.
The Beatles released their famous video 'Strawberry Fields' which ranged in full colour and concentrated on using techniques such as: slow motion, reversed film and obscure camera angles. These elements were uses of techniques from films taking music promos to a whole new level.
However in 1970s music promos were still very basic. The artists concentrated mainly on their singing using a plain background, keeping the image simple. The industry preferred to keep the music promos basic without any distractions because they believed it was what the audience wanted. David Bowie with his hit single 'Life on Mars' consisted of him singing in front of a white background. 1975 Queen released their music video for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ which is considered a landmark in music video history.
Australia was a key element in the development of music video broadcasting as it began making shows to host these videos. The British show 'Top of the Pops' began showing music videos since the early 70s. By the 1980s music videos were known world wide. 1981 as technology had developed and a vast majority of people owned a television a great interest was shown in America as the Music Television Programme was launched more commonly known as 'MTV'. The first song to broadcast was 'Video killed the Radio star' the title of the song dominated the change during that time which was clever. People were listening less and less to their radios and were focused more on Television.
From this revolution, music videos then began a new era, where the Directors themselves start to become famous for their work, the Internet becomes video friendly and another new medium for people to watch them is opened.
Promotion
An artist or a band create music videos to promote themselves. To be able to successfully promote their music video they have to identify their goals by targeting as many of their audience as possible creating a fan base. Unlike larger artist who have a record label they needn't worry about promotion. Whereas smaller artist begin their journey by releasing a single upon radio. As listeners hear the track the fan base increases and gradually "spreads the word" therefore the artist or the band create their music promo which is then released onto Television Music Channels such as; MTV, Kerrang or KISS. Depending on the genre of music, dictates which channel the promo will be played on targeting the desired audience. The video will get air time, and from that people will start posting the video up on websites such as YouTube, and Myspace.
The world is focusing on live streaming and downloading videos, the best place to find them and distribute a video is the internet. Millions of people surf the net to identify new music and experiment with their different tastes in genre. YouTube is a great example for new talent and small video promotions, it is free to use, open to everybody worldwide and is a faster way to become known than broadcasting on radio or television. Esmee Denters is an 18 year old, female artist who became known for singing "What goes around" (original by Justin Timbelake) uploaded to YouTube. Esmee started off imitating famous artists, when she performed her own music she was an instant hit on YouTube and has since appeared on dutch tv shows like Life & Cooking and Jenssen. More recently she has actually had the chance to perform with Justin Timberlake and has been signed by Tennman records. Without having a record label to back you up it is impossible to broadcast ones videos upon MTV or Kerrang which is why big artists such as; Lily Allen and The Wombats started off through the internet because that is where companies are most likely to search.
Another way to promote a Music Video, is through interviews and live performances. Even though the percentage of people watching TV around the ages of 16-25 is very low, they tend to watch music channels more often. Or a particular show which is based around those ages will contain music acts, for example the show called T4, usually runs on the weekends, and hosts a mix of 'teenage soaps' as well as exclusive music interviews and performances. If an artist was to get on that show and talk about their music, then play the song which was made into a video, people will hit the internet yet again to find the video.
Extension of Income
The extension of income is how one will fund their music video by either relying on your record label to do it or yourself fund it. It is not necessary for one to spend extortionate amounts of money on producing their music video because if you have reliable contacts you may be able to get some work for a small price or if you know of a friend who maybe a student working on promoting their portfolio it would be ideal to take the opportunity for free. The cost to pay is for extra items due to the set and props etc.
In the year 2000, prices for a low budget Video were around about £150,000 these videos were produced by big artists behind the biggest labels. However if you are able to control your money there is no reason why you should spend above £10,000. However, if you are a small artist the easiest and most successful way to fund your video is through interviews on television, in magazines and during live performances around the country. Through all this publicity it is likely that an artist would be able to fund themselves. To gain success and a larger fan base once the artist has made their video, it is ready to upload to the internet on sites such as; YouTube The fans are relied on to 'spread the word' gradually the video will become recognised and requested upon radio shows. Each time the video is played upon the radio the artist/band gains royalties hopefully leading them to be noticed by a record label. Resulting in this the artist/band can mass market their video and other songs they have created meaning their income will increase, pointing them to produce larger videos.
Extension of Outlets
Music videos are much easier to access in this day and age due to the improvement within technology, downloadable and streamed content. This is very powerful in helping to raise sales as the publicity and views of the video is greatly increased by the internet and this generation’s usage of it. Record labels do have jurisdiction there and can remove any of the videos made by its artists at any time, if they feel their rights are being abused.
Contemporary Music Video Research
Fatboy Slim - Weapon of choice
Weapon of choice by Fatboy slim was shot in 2000 in a Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles. The video took 2 days to shoot, and was finally released for the first time; March 12th 2001. The music video was directed by Spike Jonze, and choreographed by Michael Rooney, Christopher Walken and Spike Jonze.
The video stars Christopher Walken dancing through the Marriott Hotel. As the video begins Walken is positioned sitting in a chair waiting in the lobby, creating a sense of curiosity because the hotel is quiet and empty. As the music begins Walken starts to move to it. It creates a sense of surrealism because Walken holds a reputation to be seen more as a villain.
(1:18) Walken steps on a luggage carrier, spinning through the lobby and ending up on the escalators. This pace of choreographing works well because he is in sync with the beat. (1:33) As he reaches half way, Walken begins to step down the escalator keeping in sync with the song, The beat becomes more persistent (1:40) as Walken runs out of shot. (1:55) Walken jumps upon a table where magazines are laid and he kicks them off, this act portrays more of his rebellious side which is later shown in the video when he swoops over the bannister's and flies through the lobby. (2:25) Walken is dancing through a corridor filled with mirrors. The mirrors create the effect of him dancing a lot in one place, this visual works very effectively. (3:01) As the song comes to an end, Walken dives over the banister, without hesitation; he is flying freely and ventures from wall to wall. This carries on his rebellious manner through the laws of defying gravity. (3:17) Walker flies towards a painting in a superman movement. He then turns around (3:27) floating in front of this painting, emphasising his importance. He almost seems like this rebellious hero who is flying in the sky looking down on earth. The camera is positioned from underneath Walker making him look superior. (3:31) Walker brings his arms out to the side of him and flies back down to the ground, he is standing in front of the painting; creating a visual that he was dreaming and that he is no longer flying in the sky, he is back on two feet waiting in the lobby.
The music and visuals are successful to each other because the music is upbeat and light hearted. Helping with the choreographing of movement being able to stay in sync with the beat. The audience can engage with this promo because the visuals are easy to remember, enabling the audience to relate back to this video when seeing or listening it which makes the video successful. The lyrics work well with the visuals because Walker can portray the meaning through his dance for example; (
Queens of the Stone Age - Go With the Flow
“Go With The Flow” was released in 2003 by Queens of the Stone Age from their album “Songs for the Deaf”. At the 46th Grammy Awards, the song was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance. The music video was made in England by Shynola (a group of visual artists based in London who have worked together on a number of acclaimed music videos) . The video was nominated for the Best Art Direction, and won Best Special Effects at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.
The video is shot completely in red, black and white, and features the band travelling through the desert at high speed in a 1960’s pickup truck along with other imagery, most of it of a sexual nature. The video is highly stylised with a very simple narrative of 2 cars racing towards each other.
The main Mise-en-scene feature is the two trucks which are hurtling towards each other down a deserted highway. Other Mise-en-scene such as telegraph poles, cactus plants, phone box with a raven on top and wooden fencing are mainly used for the purpose of highlighting the speed of the vehicles (as they race past) and indicating that they are in a desert. Throughout the video everyday objects are used in a sexually suggestive way. For example at 1.04 after a bikini wearing young woman is first seen draped across a car bonnet raising her leg, a guitar neck is shown rising at the same angle. At 1.20 the woman (enlarged) lies in the road with her legs open and a small car enters between them. At 1.53 the woman holds an oil can up and ‘oil’ squirts on her face. At 2.18 the woman is again shown on the car bonnet with her legs open as a man approaches her and begins to climb on the bonnet, straight after this the two cars meet and ‘merge’ causing a logo of a fork prong to enter a hole made by a coiled snake (the logos are on the 2 car bonnets.) This is followed at 2.35 by a swarm of ‘sperm’ that swim through the desert and cactus.
The video mainly uses sweeping shots which go over and around the truck and constantly highlight the speed of it. The only time that slower sweeps are used is when the woman is featured, although the camera is still moving.
As stated above the video won an award for visual effects. According to Chris Harding (of Shynola) the concept for the video was based on the artwork for the band’s album cover (mostly red and black) and the film Sin City which was released shortly before. The band also spend a lot of time working at a studio in the desert plus the ‘driving’ pace of the track fitted well with the high speed driving of the trucks.
The film took 8 weeks to make from inception. A live action shoot was done near Los Angeles featuring the band performing in the back of the truck as it speeds down a highway. Green screen was then used to add everything else around the truck. According to Harding the final video features a mix of “nurbs cacti, the dancing girls are animated texture sequences on hand placed planes, and the swimming sperm are instanced geometry flowing along curves. The trails of fire and smoke coming from the truck are sprites with animated texture sequences.”
Harding also says that as the video is so stylised because “We designed everything, right down to the logo's on the truck's gear stick. If we hadn't done this, when we came to do the actual work, we wouldn't have known what to do, and there would have been no continuity.” Stylised visual effects feature throughout the video, but especially at the end where there are lots of sweeping images all merging together, such as flowers, wheels, lines, speedometers and lips.
There aren’t many links between the visuals and the lyrics apart from the ‘flow’ of the swimming sperm and at 0.28 the line “she said I throw myself away” matches lead singer (Josh Homme) throwing away a beer can.
The music links to the video through the ‘driving’ speed of the track and the drummer drumming on the truck’s dashboard. Throughout most of the video the cuts are in time with strong drum beats.
The video fits well into the stereotype of the genre of rock as it features speed, fast cars, darkness and half naked women. Most of the comments about the video on sites such as Youtube are quite simplistic but generally positive. Comments such as "Awesome song and video","I can't get enough of this video", although some people give more detailed comments and have clearly thought about the quality of the video - e.g. "I think this is one of the most visually appealling and creative vids of the century so far","The artisitic direction of this video is amazing." There is also a comment that "If you like this stuff you should check my band out" which shows how a good video can inspire others to make music/videos.
Directors Shynola (Chris Harding, Richard "Kenny" Kenworthy, Jason Groves and Gideon Baws). met at art college. They did not originally intend to make music videos (they intended to make animated films) but found music video a good way to”Try out new ideas and get paid for it.” They preferred music videos to doing commercials as they would still have almost total control of their work. They are now very successful and have produced videos for top artists such as Radiohead, Coldplay and Blur. They have also done animation work for adverts (Nike,2002), television (The IT crowd, title sequences, 2006) and film (Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy, 2004).
Queens of the Stone Age - Go With the Flow
“Go With The Flow” was released in 2003 by Queens of the Stone Age from their album “Songs for the Deaf”. At the 46th Grammy Awards, the song was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance. The music video was made in England by Shynola (a group of visual artists based in London who have worked together on a number of acclaimed music videos) . The video was nominated for the Best Art Direction, and won Best Special Effects at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.
The video is shot completely in red, black and white, and features the band travelling through the desert at high speed in a 1960’s pickup truck along with other imagery, most of it of a sexual nature. The video is highly stylised with a very simple narrative of 2 cars racing towards each other.
The main Mise-en-scene feature is the two trucks which are hurtling towards each other down a deserted highway. Other Mise-en-scene such as telegraph poles, cactus plants, phone box with a raven on top and wooden fencing are mainly used for the purpose of highlighting the speed of the vehicles (as they race past) and indicating that they are in a desert. Throughout the video everyday objects are used in a sexually suggestive way. For example at 1.04 after a bikini wearing young woman is first seen draped across a car bonnet raising her leg, a guitar neck is shown rising at the same angle. At 1.20 the woman (enlarged) lies in the road with her legs open and a small car enters between them. At 1.53 the woman holds an oil can up and ‘oil’ squirts on her face. At 2.18 the woman is again shown on the car bonnet with her legs open as a man approaches her and begins to climb on the bonnet, straight after this the two cars meet and ‘merge’ causing a logo of a fork prong to enter a hole made by a coiled snake (the logos are on the 2 car bonnets.) This is followed at 2.35 by a swarm of ‘sperm’ that swim through the desert and cactus.
The video mainly uses sweeping shots which go over and around the truck and constantly highlight the speed of it. The only time that slower sweeps are used is when the woman is featured, although the camera is still moving.
As stated above the video won an award for visual effects. According to Chris Harding (of Shynola) the concept for the video was based on the artwork for the band’s album cover (mostly red and black) and the film Sin City which was released shortly before. The band also spend a lot of time working at a studio in the desert plus the ‘driving’ pace of the track fitted well with the high speed driving of the trucks.
The film took 8 weeks to make from inception. A live action shoot was done near Los Angeles featuring the band performing in the back of the truck as it speeds down a highway. Green screen was then used to add everything else around the truck. According to Harding the final video features a mix of “nurbs cacti, the dancing girls are animated texture sequences on hand placed planes, and the swimming sperm are instanced geometry flowing along curves. The trails of fire and smoke coming from the truck are sprites with animated texture sequences.”
Harding also says that as the video is so stylised because “We designed everything, right down to the logo's on the truck's gear stick. If we hadn't done this, when we came to do the actual work, we wouldn't have known what to do, and there would have been no continuity.” Stylised visual effects feature throughout the video, but especially at the end where there are lots of sweeping images all merging together, such as flowers, wheels, lines, speedometers and lips.
There aren’t many links between the visuals and the lyrics apart from the ‘flow’ of the swimming sperm and at 0.28 the line “she said I throw myself away” matches lead singer (Josh Homme) throwing away a beer can.
The music links to the video through the ‘driving’ speed of the track and the drummer drumming on the truck’s dashboard. Throughout most of the video the cuts are in time with strong drum beats.
The video fits well into the stereotype of the genre of rock as it features speed, fast cars, darkness and half naked women. Most of the comments about the video on sites such as Youtube are quite simplistic but generally positive. Comments such as "Awesome song and video","I can't get enough of this video", although some people give more detailed comments and have clearly thought about the quality of the video - e.g. "I think this is one of the most visually appealling and creative vids of the century so far","The artisitic direction of this video is amazing." There is also a comment that "If you like this stuff you should check my band out" which shows how a good video can inspire others to make music/videos.
Directors Shynola (Chris Harding, Richard "Kenny" Kenworthy, Jason Groves and Gideon Baws). met at art college. They did not originally intend to make music videos (they intended to make animated films) but found music video a good way to”Try out new ideas and get paid for it.” They preferred music videos to doing commercials as they would still have almost total control of their work. They are now very successful and have produced videos for top artists such as Radiohead, Coldplay and Blur. They have also done animation work for adverts (Nike,2002), television (The IT crowd, title sequences, 2006) and film (Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy, 2004).
Weapon of choice by Fatboy slim was shot in 2000 in a Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles. The video took 2 days to shoot, and was finally released for the first time; March 12th 2001. The music video was directed by Spike Jonze, and choreographed by Michael Rooney, Christopher Walken and Spike Jonze.
The video stars Christopher Walken dancing through the Marriott Hotel. As the video begins Walken is positioned sitting in a chair waiting in the lobby, creating a sense of curiosity because the hotel is quiet and empty. As the music begins Walken starts to move to it. It creates a sense of surrealism because Walken holds a reputation to be seen more as a villain.
(1:18) Walken steps on a luggage carrier, spinning through the lobby and ending up on the escalators. This pace of choreographing works well because he is in sync with the beat. (1:33) As he reaches half way, Walken begins to step down the escalator keeping in sync with the song, The beat becomes more persistent (1:40) as Walken runs out of shot. (1:55) Walken jumps upon a table where magazines are laid and he kicks them off, this act portrays more of his rebellious side which is later shown in the video when he swoops over the bannister's and flies through the lobby. (2:25) Walken is dancing through a corridor filled with mirrors. The mirrors create the effect of him dancing a lot in one place, this visual works very effectively. (3:01) As the song comes to an end, Walken dives over the banister, without hesitation; he is flying freely and ventures from wall to wall. This carries on his rebellious manner through the laws of defying gravity. (3:17) Walker flies towards a painting in a superman movement. He then turns around (3:27) floating in front of this painting, emphasising his importance. He almost seems like this rebellious hero who is flying in the sky looking down on earth. The camera is positioned from underneath Walker making him look superior. (3:31) Walker brings his arms out to the side of him and flies back down to the ground, he is standing in front of the painting; creating a visual that he was dreaming and that he is no longer flying in the sky, he is back on two feet waiting in the lobby.
The music and visuals are successful to each other because the music is upbeat and light hearted. Helping with the choreographing of movement being able to stay in sync with the beat. The audience can engage with this promo because the visuals are easy to remember, enabling the audience to relate back to this video when seeing or listening it which makes the video successful. The lyrics work well with the visuals because Walker can portray the meaning through his dance for example; (
Queens of the Stone Age - Go With the Flow
“Go With The Flow” was released in 2003 by Queens of the Stone Age from their album “Songs for the Deaf”. At the 46th Grammy Awards, the song was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance. The music video was made in England by Shynola (a group of visual artists based in London who have worked together on a number of acclaimed music videos) . The video was nominated for the Best Art Direction, and won Best Special Effects at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.
The video is shot completely in red, black and white, and features the band travelling through the desert at high speed in a 1960’s pickup truck along with other imagery, most of it of a sexual nature. The video is highly stylised with a very simple narrative of 2 cars racing towards each other.
The main Mise-en-scene feature is the two trucks which are hurtling towards each other down a deserted highway. Other Mise-en-scene such as telegraph poles, cactus plants, phone box with a raven on top and wooden fencing are mainly used for the purpose of highlighting the speed of the vehicles (as they race past) and indicating that they are in a desert. Throughout the video everyday objects are used in a sexually suggestive way. For example at 1.04 after a bikini wearing young woman is first seen draped across a car bonnet raising her leg, a guitar neck is shown rising at the same angle. At 1.20 the woman (enlarged) lies in the road with her legs open and a small car enters between them. At 1.53 the woman holds an oil can up and ‘oil’ squirts on her face. At 2.18 the woman is again shown on the car bonnet with her legs open as a man approaches her and begins to climb on the bonnet, straight after this the two cars meet and ‘merge’ causing a logo of a fork prong to enter a hole made by a coiled snake (the logos are on the 2 car bonnets.) This is followed at 2.35 by a swarm of ‘sperm’ that swim through the desert and cactus.
The video mainly uses sweeping shots which go over and around the truck and constantly highlight the speed of it. The only time that slower sweeps are used is when the woman is featured, although the camera is still moving.
As stated above the video won an award for visual effects. According to Chris Harding (of Shynola) the concept for the video was based on the artwork for the band’s album cover (mostly red and black) and the film Sin City which was released shortly before. The band also spend a lot of time working at a studio in the desert plus the ‘driving’ pace of the track fitted well with the high speed driving of the trucks.
The film took 8 weeks to make from inception. A live action shoot was done near Los Angeles featuring the band performing in the back of the truck as it speeds down a highway. Green screen was then used to add everything else around the truck. According to Harding the final video features a mix of “nurbs cacti, the dancing girls are animated texture sequences on hand placed planes, and the swimming sperm are instanced geometry flowing along curves. The trails of fire and smoke coming from the truck are sprites with animated texture sequences.”
Harding also says that as the video is so stylised because “We designed everything, right down to the logo's on the truck's gear stick. If we hadn't done this, when we came to do the actual work, we wouldn't have known what to do, and there would have been no continuity.” Stylised visual effects feature throughout the video, but especially at the end where there are lots of sweeping images all merging together, such as flowers, wheels, lines, speedometers and lips.
There aren’t many links between the visuals and the lyrics apart from the ‘flow’ of the swimming sperm and at 0.28 the line “she said I throw myself away” matches lead singer (Josh Homme) throwing away a beer can.
The music links to the video through the ‘driving’ speed of the track and the drummer drumming on the truck’s dashboard. Throughout most of the video the cuts are in time with strong drum beats.
The video fits well into the stereotype of the genre of rock as it features speed, fast cars, darkness and half naked women. Most of the comments about the video on sites such as Youtube are quite simplistic but generally positive. Comments such as "Awesome song and video","I can't get enough of this video", although some people give more detailed comments and have clearly thought about the quality of the video - e.g. "I think this is one of the most visually appealling and creative vids of the century so far","The artisitic direction of this video is amazing." There is also a comment that "If you like this stuff you should check my band out" which shows how a good video can inspire others to make music/videos.
Directors Shynola (Chris Harding, Richard "Kenny" Kenworthy, Jason Groves and Gideon Baws). met at art college. They did not originally intend to make music videos (they intended to make animated films) but found music video a good way to”Try out new ideas and get paid for it.” They preferred music videos to doing commercials as they would still have almost total control of their work. They are now very successful and have produced videos for top artists such as Radiohead, Coldplay and Blur. They have also done animation work for adverts (Nike,2002), television (The IT crowd, title sequences, 2006) and film (Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy, 2004).
Queens of the Stone Age - Go With the Flow
“Go With The Flow” was released in 2003 by Queens of the Stone Age from their album “Songs for the Deaf”. At the 46th Grammy Awards, the song was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance. The music video was made in England by Shynola (a group of visual artists based in London who have worked together on a number of acclaimed music videos) . The video was nominated for the Best Art Direction, and won Best Special Effects at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.
The video is shot completely in red, black and white, and features the band travelling through the desert at high speed in a 1960’s pickup truck along with other imagery, most of it of a sexual nature. The video is highly stylised with a very simple narrative of 2 cars racing towards each other.
The main Mise-en-scene feature is the two trucks which are hurtling towards each other down a deserted highway. Other Mise-en-scene such as telegraph poles, cactus plants, phone box with a raven on top and wooden fencing are mainly used for the purpose of highlighting the speed of the vehicles (as they race past) and indicating that they are in a desert. Throughout the video everyday objects are used in a sexually suggestive way. For example at 1.04 after a bikini wearing young woman is first seen draped across a car bonnet raising her leg, a guitar neck is shown rising at the same angle. At 1.20 the woman (enlarged) lies in the road with her legs open and a small car enters between them. At 1.53 the woman holds an oil can up and ‘oil’ squirts on her face. At 2.18 the woman is again shown on the car bonnet with her legs open as a man approaches her and begins to climb on the bonnet, straight after this the two cars meet and ‘merge’ causing a logo of a fork prong to enter a hole made by a coiled snake (the logos are on the 2 car bonnets.) This is followed at 2.35 by a swarm of ‘sperm’ that swim through the desert and cactus.
The video mainly uses sweeping shots which go over and around the truck and constantly highlight the speed of it. The only time that slower sweeps are used is when the woman is featured, although the camera is still moving.
As stated above the video won an award for visual effects. According to Chris Harding (of Shynola) the concept for the video was based on the artwork for the band’s album cover (mostly red and black) and the film Sin City which was released shortly before. The band also spend a lot of time working at a studio in the desert plus the ‘driving’ pace of the track fitted well with the high speed driving of the trucks.
The film took 8 weeks to make from inception. A live action shoot was done near Los Angeles featuring the band performing in the back of the truck as it speeds down a highway. Green screen was then used to add everything else around the truck. According to Harding the final video features a mix of “nurbs cacti, the dancing girls are animated texture sequences on hand placed planes, and the swimming sperm are instanced geometry flowing along curves. The trails of fire and smoke coming from the truck are sprites with animated texture sequences.”
Harding also says that as the video is so stylised because “We designed everything, right down to the logo's on the truck's gear stick. If we hadn't done this, when we came to do the actual work, we wouldn't have known what to do, and there would have been no continuity.” Stylised visual effects feature throughout the video, but especially at the end where there are lots of sweeping images all merging together, such as flowers, wheels, lines, speedometers and lips.
There aren’t many links between the visuals and the lyrics apart from the ‘flow’ of the swimming sperm and at 0.28 the line “she said I throw myself away” matches lead singer (Josh Homme) throwing away a beer can.
The music links to the video through the ‘driving’ speed of the track and the drummer drumming on the truck’s dashboard. Throughout most of the video the cuts are in time with strong drum beats.
The video fits well into the stereotype of the genre of rock as it features speed, fast cars, darkness and half naked women. Most of the comments about the video on sites such as Youtube are quite simplistic but generally positive. Comments such as "Awesome song and video","I can't get enough of this video", although some people give more detailed comments and have clearly thought about the quality of the video - e.g. "I think this is one of the most visually appealling and creative vids of the century so far","The artisitic direction of this video is amazing." There is also a comment that "If you like this stuff you should check my band out" which shows how a good video can inspire others to make music/videos.
Directors Shynola (Chris Harding, Richard "Kenny" Kenworthy, Jason Groves and Gideon Baws). met at art college. They did not originally intend to make music videos (they intended to make animated films) but found music video a good way to”Try out new ideas and get paid for it.” They preferred music videos to doing commercials as they would still have almost total control of their work. They are now very successful and have produced videos for top artists such as Radiohead, Coldplay and Blur. They have also done animation work for adverts (Nike,2002), television (The IT crowd, title sequences, 2006) and film (Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy, 2004).
Music Video Director Research
Chris Cunningham was born in England, Reading 1970. He has become a well known director within the industry through his unique work. Cunningham was fascinated by the confluence of human anatomy and robotic machinery as a young teen. By the age of 19 his obsession immersed in special effects and filmmaking, building animatronic robot arms and sculpting caricatures for the TV series Spitting Image. Following on from Cunningham's work in the early 90s he eventually lead himself to work alongside Stanley Kubrick on the film A.I.
Cunningham's creative imagination lead him to pursue his career as a director. In the late 90s he directed music promos for the infamous Aphex Twin featuring tracks such as; Come to Daddy and Window Licker. Both these promos highlighted Cunningham's intelligence to create slick, cinematic and imaginative pieces within the music video industry. Following on from his success Cunningham directed six more promos and seven advertisements.
In 2000, Cunningham directed two short films for the Anthony D'Offay Gallery titled flex and Monkey Drummer Those works showed a very modern and hyper-realistic take on the world. In 2005 Cunningham released Rubber Johnny, a six minute short that showed just how disturbing a vision Chris has. It released with a book whose photos are definitely unsafe for work.
Aphex Twin - Come To Daddy
Directed by Chris Cunningham
In 1997 Come to daddy (one of Aphex Twin's best known song), was filmed in Thamesmead, South London. The promo took place in a council state, where the audience seek an old lady walking alone with her dog. Automatically you sense a feeling of insecurity due to the woman being by herself; the colours used throughout this video suggest insecurity, cold, and grit. Blue and grey are used to portray a paranormal effect. This maybe a suggestion of a target audience or this just maybe what the director wanted to create a narrative.
One of the most important issues about music videos is the response from the audience. The audience determine whether the promo is a success. Cunningham's work creates a lot of mixed views, I have recently been introduced to Chris's work and I admit the first time I watched Come to daddy, I felt uncomfortable however the video is incredibly clever.
The artist Richard D James, commonly known as Aphex Twin uses his face on the actors, creating a visual twist due to the children being so young (no older than 10 or 11 years of age) the image is very abstract.
It is important for every music video to have feedback to allow the director to see if his ideas met with his chosen target audience however everybody is entitled to their own opinion but not all criticism can be positive.
Quotes I found from YouTube:
"chris cunningham said this video was intended to be funny That's what you call "silly"? I call it maniacal."
"Not to mention he's also screaming "I WANT YOUR SOUL" with a bunch of demonic little children that all have his face."
"This video puts mental scars on the brain. I feel sorry for you if you can't imagine thinking creatively without using drugs."
I feel these comments maybe from viewers who may not understand Cunningham's intentions. Reviewing his work and researching upon him, I maybe suggest that these particular viewers don't understand the video. I feel that the video is full of creativity however Cunningham has expressed and used his creativeness in obscure and unpredictable ways.
More positive and constructive comments I quoted from YouTube:
"thats so cool"
"hes very talented and the production quality is great, but i think hes trying WAAY to hard to be dark. the i want your soul thing is redundant and cliche. but chris cunninghams a beastthis song is epic, it has it all, good music, good sound, good bass and i haven't talk about the video itself yet, just awesome"
"this represents everything real, true, industrial should be"
"This is one of the best videos ever made!"
Bjork - All Is For Love
Directed by Chris Cunningham
This video is incredible, so cinematic. Stunning picture. The audience are able to really engage the relationship between the lyrics and the video. Compared to come to daddy, this video is very light hearted and easy viewing.
Bjork’s video, “All is Full of Love” was the first DVD single ever released. Looking at it, its not difficult to see why. This thing is beautiful, innovative, wonderfully shot. All is Full of Love raked in the awards back in 2000, including the MTV Best Special Effects award, the ITS Monitor award, and the Best Music Video at the 1999 London Effects and Animation (LEAF) awards.
All is Full of Love opens with a female looking robot is being put together, while she is musing (singing). Eventually another twin robot enters the picture, and the two robots begin to embrace to the chorus, “All is full of love.” Throughout the entire video, the builder machines continue to make adjustments to the pair. The pacing is slow and deliberate, which mirrors the song.
"Such a well made video clip, whether you like the song or not"
"She's dealing directly with her own bisexuality and trying to open the worlds eyes to the fact that regardless of what a person chooses is their desicion. As a christian I don't agree with homosexuality but I will never hate someone for it. That would mean I hate a few of my friends for being gay. I love the song falling in love with the artist everytime I hear Bjorks music. I'm a new fan hahahaha"
"WOW this video is so cool!"
"Chris Cunningham is a fucking genius"
"BEAUTIFUL! BEAUTIFUL! Bjork is one of THE best music artists EVER!! this video is majestic. it's a masterpiece! i love it!"
"This movie really went there... although I find the message very enlightening."
"one of the best videos and songs EVER>>. just let your self feel it"
Negative Feedback from YouTube:
"ehh,the video isn't that cool,but the song sure is!"
"like the song, not so much the video"
After looking through 4500 comments not only from youtube I believe that this video was a great success. Cunningham gave his audience wanted they wanted.
I have found researching Chris Cunningham very interesting. His work is unique and distinctive to his audience. His perspective upon the world is twisted, he expresses that throughout his work.
Cunningham's creative imagination lead him to pursue his career as a director. In the late 90s he directed music promos for the infamous Aphex Twin featuring tracks such as; Come to Daddy and Window Licker. Both these promos highlighted Cunningham's intelligence to create slick, cinematic and imaginative pieces within the music video industry. Following on from his success Cunningham directed six more promos and seven advertisements.
In 2000, Cunningham directed two short films for the Anthony D'Offay Gallery titled flex and Monkey Drummer Those works showed a very modern and hyper-realistic take on the world. In 2005 Cunningham released Rubber Johnny, a six minute short that showed just how disturbing a vision Chris has. It released with a book whose photos are definitely unsafe for work.
Aphex Twin - Come To Daddy
Directed by Chris Cunningham
In 1997 Come to daddy (one of Aphex Twin's best known song), was filmed in Thamesmead, South London. The promo took place in a council state, where the audience seek an old lady walking alone with her dog. Automatically you sense a feeling of insecurity due to the woman being by herself; the colours used throughout this video suggest insecurity, cold, and grit. Blue and grey are used to portray a paranormal effect. This maybe a suggestion of a target audience or this just maybe what the director wanted to create a narrative.
One of the most important issues about music videos is the response from the audience. The audience determine whether the promo is a success. Cunningham's work creates a lot of mixed views, I have recently been introduced to Chris's work and I admit the first time I watched Come to daddy, I felt uncomfortable however the video is incredibly clever.
The artist Richard D James, commonly known as Aphex Twin uses his face on the actors, creating a visual twist due to the children being so young (no older than 10 or 11 years of age) the image is very abstract.
It is important for every music video to have feedback to allow the director to see if his ideas met with his chosen target audience however everybody is entitled to their own opinion but not all criticism can be positive.
Quotes I found from YouTube:
"chris cunningham said this video was intended to be funny That's what you call "silly"? I call it maniacal."
"Not to mention he's also screaming "I WANT YOUR SOUL" with a bunch of demonic little children that all have his face."
"This video puts mental scars on the brain. I feel sorry for you if you can't imagine thinking creatively without using drugs."
I feel these comments maybe from viewers who may not understand Cunningham's intentions. Reviewing his work and researching upon him, I maybe suggest that these particular viewers don't understand the video. I feel that the video is full of creativity however Cunningham has expressed and used his creativeness in obscure and unpredictable ways.
More positive and constructive comments I quoted from YouTube:
"thats so cool"
"hes very talented and the production quality is great, but i think hes trying WAAY to hard to be dark. the i want your soul thing is redundant and cliche. but chris cunninghams a beastthis song is epic, it has it all, good music, good sound, good bass and i haven't talk about the video itself yet, just awesome"
"this represents everything real, true, industrial should be"
"This is one of the best videos ever made!"
Bjork - All Is For Love
Directed by Chris Cunningham
This video is incredible, so cinematic. Stunning picture. The audience are able to really engage the relationship between the lyrics and the video. Compared to come to daddy, this video is very light hearted and easy viewing.
Bjork’s video, “All is Full of Love” was the first DVD single ever released. Looking at it, its not difficult to see why. This thing is beautiful, innovative, wonderfully shot. All is Full of Love raked in the awards back in 2000, including the MTV Best Special Effects award, the ITS Monitor award, and the Best Music Video at the 1999 London Effects and Animation (LEAF) awards.
All is Full of Love opens with a female looking robot is being put together, while she is musing (singing). Eventually another twin robot enters the picture, and the two robots begin to embrace to the chorus, “All is full of love.” Throughout the entire video, the builder machines continue to make adjustments to the pair. The pacing is slow and deliberate, which mirrors the song.
All is Full of Love provides incredibly realistic and high production values. The result is an incredibly immersive posthuman experience. Almost immediately the viewer is drawn into the setting and does not leave until the video ends. The colours are almost all whites and blacks, with minor hues of purple interacting. Chris Cunningham used glassworks for all the FX in this video. Glassworks does a wonderful job of blending the actual robot with Bjork’s face. But really, it appears the process was even more complex than that, as Chris Cunningham in an interview with American Cinematographer.
Positve feedback I quoted from YouTube:"Such a well made video clip, whether you like the song or not"
"She's dealing directly with her own bisexuality and trying to open the worlds eyes to the fact that regardless of what a person chooses is their desicion. As a christian I don't agree with homosexuality but I will never hate someone for it. That would mean I hate a few of my friends for being gay. I love the song falling in love with the artist everytime I hear Bjorks music. I'm a new fan hahahaha"
"WOW this video is so cool!"
"Chris Cunningham is a fucking genius"
"BEAUTIFUL! BEAUTIFUL! Bjork is one of THE best music artists EVER!! this video is majestic. it's a masterpiece! i love it!"
"This movie really went there... although I find the message very enlightening."
"one of the best videos and songs EVER>>. just let your self feel it"
Negative Feedback from YouTube:
"ehh,the video isn't that cool,but the song sure is!"
"like the song, not so much the video"
After looking through 4500 comments not only from youtube I believe that this video was a great success. Cunningham gave his audience wanted they wanted.
I have found researching Chris Cunningham very interesting. His work is unique and distinctive to his audience. His perspective upon the world is twisted, he expresses that throughout his work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)