Hello and welcome to our A2 production blog! This blog will include all of our research in pre-production, planning, the production itself and an evaluation of our product.
These images are from popular coffee house The Bridge Cafe, located near our college. We wanted to use this as our location for the cabaret-esque performance at the end of our video. This decision was made due to the "art deco" decorations around the room, although we said it felt like a '17th Century French coffeehouse. However we liked the atmosphere and how the room would look in monochrome with a red filter. Unfortunately we are unable to use this location as for an hour of filming the manager wants to charge us £100 for "loss of business". In spite of this we feel using this space would really capture the essence of the performance we want to create.
These four bottom images were taken in the function room of The Red Lion pub, also by our college. Although it has some of the tables for the feel and an acceptable layout, it doesn't have the same decoration as The Bridge Cafe. Despite this we think this would be a better place to film as the lighting is better and there is more space for the camera tripod to be set up, as well as the characters moving around. The manager is willing to let us film for free although in this run to Christmas filming time is limited with the room being rented for Christmas parties. This space is slightly less thematic but is more convienient and with the layout of the tables, we feel that the ability to create a club scene with people playing poker is more easily attained.
There are many codes and conventions to music videos, goth general and specific to certain genres. Most of these were used and developed in our case, although several were challenged.
Tattoos did not play a main part in our visuals
We chose to challenge codes and conventions relating specifically to rock videos, in that we only used a solo singer instead of a full band playing instruments as is common. There were also no visible piercings or tattoos (with the exception of a helix piercing), which goes against one of the main codes of rock. We challenged those as although we created the persona of a rock star with a Gothic image, we did not want to fall into stereotyping because we used a pop punk song. We also did not include the piercings or tattoos as the ones our performer has are in inconspicuous places and for them to be seen we would not have been able to challenge our last convention: overt sexuality.
Overt Sexuality in the music video for Motley Crue's "Girls Girls Girls
We chose to tone down the sexuality due to the subject matter. Instead we chose to hint at it by using very vibrant red and neon pink lipsticks. They highlighted the mouth and lips of the female, which subconsciously insinuates sexuality and sexual acts, though the colours are pertinent to the rock star feel in regards to the red, and the pop aspect of the song with the neon pink. We had our performer in more modest clothing as instead of having a breakup song where the singer ended the relationship, she was the "dumpee" and is lamenting. This makes it harder to include sexuality as she is not trying to show her ex what s/he is now missing. This deliberately contradicts Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze as our performer is not cut into body parts or dressed in a provocative way in order to appeal to a male audience. We used many codes and conventions of both rock videos and of music videos in general. For example we used some of Goodwin's codes in that we featured editing that matches the beat of the song, screens within screens (though in the form of photographs), and we had a mixed narrative and performance video, the narrative of which document the 'Five Stages Of Grief', which will be discussed later. By using generic codes and conventions our piece is instantly recognisable as a music video.
Hayley Williams in one of her trademark Ramones shirts
The use of specific codes and conventions such as dark lighting, costume/make-up choices and other aspects of mis-en scene make the video identifiable as a rock video. To emphasise this we featured merchandise from other well known bands (something which Hayley Williams (lead singer of Paramore) is also known for doing, reminding the audience we have covered a song originally by Paramore), dark/black clothing with heavy make up to highlight the Gothic feel we were aiming for. We also included fire and candles, which increase the darkness of the video, although the most typically rock part of the video was the insertion of an earthquake effect in post production. As it was coupled with a shot of the performer with an instrument in front of fire projected onto green screen we feel this gave our most significant feature of a rock video.
Amy Lee, lead singer of Evanescence and makeup inspiration
The inclusion of fire as part of our Gothic feel develops this theme. Fire in music videos is mostly included in heavy metal, metalcore, industrial and deathcore videos, insinuating that there is a much darker side to our character than meets the eye. This can be linked to the costume choice of a winged shirt with a weeping angel on it and the titles of the tracks on our digipak. The weeping angel can also be connected to our main theme of the five stages of grief. The five stages of grief, also known as the Kübler-Ross model (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance) is our composite theme for our video. We show our character working her way through these stages, although we mixed the order they happen in up and focused primarily on anger and depression. The use of this allows a narrative to be set up without overpowering the performance of the video. Many teenage girls also feel as if they go through these stages during a break up so the video and song will connect with them more.
Although we have chosen a song on a different genre to our original, there are not many features of our target audience that have changed. We are still aiming at urban girls aged 15-19 (or in a similar age bracket) that are in or have recently left full time education. These females are most likely working to lower middle class. The main changes are in interests and hobbies. The girls we are aiming at usually socialise slightly less than our previous audience, often preferring their own company to do something artistic like draw/sketch and listen to music rather than watch television. They also choose to shun Facebook, preferring Twitter and the more less known micro blogging site Tumblr. Their music choices are generally more broad, spanning most of the subgenres of rock, including metalcore (bands like Suicide Silence) and post-hardcore (bands like Bring Me The Horizon). Many of the music choices coupled with interests and hobbies tend to have females I have just described as "scene kids", which they usually aren't.
A band similar in sound and formation to Paramore is New York rock band VersaEmerge. Both bands are signed to pop punk label Fueled By Ramen and fronted by females, in this case Sierra Kusterbeck. The video is fully performance based with illustration of lyrics and is set in a forest. As the lyrics are struggling with inner turmoil and personal identity as is also common in many subgenres of rock, the setting of a forest is projecting this idea as it is easy to get lost in a both a forest and in your own mind. The video is illustrative of the lyrics in that the dark lighting and theme of rebirth (seen in Kusterbeck laying in a birds nest) can both relate back to the idea of an inner struggle. At the start of the video there are many shots held on Kusterbeck as she performs to the audience, though as the song increases in pace these cuts increase also. This change can symbolise the human psyching beginning to deteriorate, enhanced by the earthquake effect added onto sections of footage where the song becomes "heavier". As is incredibly common with rock videos there is a large focus on the instruments of the rest of the band. This can remind the audience that a band is about many people working together to produce a piece of music, rather than one person taking all of the credit. Kusterbeck embodies the vision of a "rock chick", wearing skin tight jeans and chunky bracelets and necklaces. She also wears the symbolic and almost stereotypic heavy eyeliner. These differences from a pop artist serve to remind the audience that although she is different from what is considered the norm, she confines to a particular style.
Another band part of the Fueled by Ramen record label and ranking a very high similarity to Paramore on Last.fm is American pop punk band Panic! At The Disco. 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies' was the lead single from debut album 'A Fever you Can't Sweat Out' and is to date their most famous song.
The opening shots of the video set up some of the visual themes and motifs. The plot of the video is somewhat illustrative of the lyrics, taking place at a wedding where the bride is concealing her promiscuity from nobody except her groom. The lyrics tell us that everyone is aware of her adulterous habits as they state
"'What a beautiful wedding, what a beautiful wedding' says a bridesmaid to a waiter. 'Oh yes, but what a shame, what a shame the poor grooms bride is a whore.'",
interlinking the song title referring to sinning and sins being created rather than tragedies, although to discover the woman you were about to marry is known as a whore can be seen as a tragedy. This is also reflected in the costume choice of lead singer Brendan Urie: the circus ringmaster. Many people consider weddings to be like a circus as all members of the families involved are present, even those seen as "odd". When people haven't seen each other in years lies are told as to who is the more successful, especially among gatherings of relations. Consequently this could be hinting that weddings are comparable to the freak shows of old as people are acting not like their normal selves, as they have a mask on to the rest of the world. The idea of people wearing masks can be stretched further to imply that all of society wear masks in order to cover up their "inner freak".
Visually whilst this is being sung (and performed in cutaways) the scene taking place is an old fashioned wedding is taking, made evident by the quill pen in an ink pot behind a priest conducting the ceremony. The introduction of the priest is also the introduction of the religious motif observable throughout if the link was not made with the title. The wedding seems at first to be a traditional church wedding performed "in the eyes of the Lord", though the cameras focus on lips throughout detracts from the innocence of a white wedding (white being symbolic of innocence) and refers back to the adultery in question about the bride. The colours black and white feature prominently in the video as they symbolise both the light and the dark within someone.
A very similar song and track from the same album as our chosen piece is "The Only Exception". In this video lead singer Hayley Williams alternates between laying on a bed of love letters singing to the camera, performing solemnly with the other band members and, most predominant to the narrative, walking through many scenarios looking for "true love" and realising she left him behind.
In the video there are very few costume changes and the outfits that feature are more demure than those seen in R&B, hip hop and rap videos, as is more common in pop punk. The theme of the song is unsurprising as love songs span all genres, with searching for love and breakups most popular even within the subgenres of rock.
In the video Hayley walks through many doors into different locations. This could mean she is searching for love as she is not sure the man she was with at the start of the video is "The One". This reinforces the lyrics as she sings
"That was the day that I promised I'd never sing of love if it does not exist,
But darling you are the only exception"
Here she is admitting her feelings but perhaps out of fear, seen in the lyrics
"I got a tight grip on reality but I can't let go of what's in front of me here",
she isn't ready to confront them, which is why she is running and looking for someone else, possibly to see if what she thinks she feels is true.
The opening shot of the video is an image which can really only be described as domestic bliss; Hayley and the male the song in question is about are asleep on a sofa together. As it is daytime, evident by the soft golden light illuminating the room, they have probably fallen asleep together watching a film. Both are dressed casually, showing they have probably been together for a long enough time to feel they do not have to dress to impress each other, something Williams does later on in the video. In the foreground there are two coffee mugs positioned close together on a small coffee table, reflecting the closeness of the couple on the sofa. When she gets up, it's clear Williams is wearing a delicate chain with a heart on it, possibly connoting that her emotions when it comes to a relationship are as fragile as her jewellery.
Unfortunately we encountered many problems and obstacles when trying to complete the filming for our original video. These problems included unavailability of locations to film within. The Bridge Cafe was to be a main location as previous classes had gotten permission to film there but after many students agreed previously and did not use the location he wanted to charge us. We also had stars who had issues being able to film, including one getting hit by a car. Eventually it became so problematic we decided to just change the video idea. As we were starting to run out of time before the deadline we felt a rock song would be easiest to create in our time constraint. We felt this as there are few costume and location changes in rock videos. Because we chose a pop punk band in Paramore, there is less focus on instruments as is common in many videos of the genre.
The song we have chosen is "All I Wanted" by Paramore, and again we chose this song due to it not having a video already. However the song doesn't have a video as it was only unreleased, rather than specially written for a film as our last song was. The lack of official video still means that there is no expectation to create a similar piece. The idea we've come up with to create a new video is to use the codes and conventions of sorrowful love songs and show a female character mourning the end of her relationship. We plan on having her in a garden that may have been a frequent spot for her and her former love. As we live in London we felt that having a short sequence filmed in Liverpool street station would be perfect as it is recognisable as a London station. We also plan on using an iconic red phone box to make full use of our surroundings.
These four bottom images were taken in the function room of The Red Lion pub, also by our college. Although it has some of the tables for the feel and an acceptable layout, it doesn't have the same decoration as The Bridge Cafe. Despite this we think this would be a better place to film as the lighting is better and there is more space for the camera tripod to be set up, as well as the characters moving around. The manager is willing to let us film for free although in this run to Christmas filming time is limited with the room being rented for Christmas parties. This space is slightly less thematic but is more convienient and with the layout of the tables, we feel that the ability to create a club scene with people playing poker is more easily attained.
