Analysing Music Videos

Universally Speaking by Red Hot Chili Peppers is a music video with comedy being a main theme. The skill in what has been created in this video is in how the creators have taken a song that is not necessarily comedic but have still created a very entertaining music video from it.
The entire video revolves around a sole character and his own personal story rather than focusing on the band, and I believe this is key to a comedic music video so one can create a more interesting sort of storyline, where they are introduced to a new character not knowing what this character may act like and his relationship with the song itself. The audience thusly become intrigued as they are not knowing of what may happen next.
The different stages of the song, I believe, are shown with different stages of the music video as the introduction of the song comes in the introduction of the character is shown and as the song advances different advancements of the protagonist's own story unfold.

The final culmination of the protagonist's own goals through the music video to get into the gig are granted but he also gets to be on stage with the band, the idea of including the band as the 'grand finale' in the music video is an important technique as it fuses with the climatic ending of the song espcially with the guitar solo at 3:38, it helps entertain the audience and give them almost a sense of release as the story has climaxed and the protagonist can now fully enjoy himself and the audience, at the sight of this, do it too. The requirement for analysing existing music videos is one that has a definite purpose, to create anything in life its natural to encounter some sort of influence in how things have been done before and learn from them.

Selecting a Song

The first thing James and I sought to decide upon was what song we were going to use:

Elephant Stone' by The Stone Roses is an example of the sound James and I are looking for and want to portray in a music video. The beat of the drums and major sounding music helps create a positive sounding piece of music and this definitely does coincide well with the video idea James and I have discussed. However the way this is played may be too 'jolly' and there maybe not enough action to facilitate some of the lighting, camera shots and certain concepts that James and I had in mind for our music video.

'Love Spreads' by The Stone Roses is an example of a song that shows the exact type of attitude and feel that James and I are trying to achieve in our music video. The solo guitar at the beginning of the video and its prominence through out the song gives James and I different ideas for possible shots of the guitarist, for in the song he is the main centre of interest as will he be in the video. From the idea of our film James and I still share a selection of the same ideas for lighting and camera angles, very much still based on the neo-noir film style we both hope to translate this to our music video, and the instrument tones and subject matter of the song I believe go well with the style of filming we are trying to incorporate into our music video.

Changing to a Music Video

Due to the ambiguous nature of a teaser trailer and the difficulty we encountered with creating a convincing teaser trailer. James and I have now decided on creating a music video.

Drafting Ideas for a Teaser Trailer

The teaser trailer requirements that have been brought to mine and James' attention mean that we need to shorten the length of the trailer, firstly by including less shots and attention being paid to the main story line will be lessened but some how still getting the main ideas and themes behind the film to the audience and give them a reason to come and see it.

The first idea James and I have come up with is as follows:

Teaser Trailer

A woman is heard talking. Soon a man is then heard shouting insulting the women for what she has said, gradually zooming out showing the elevator controls, shouting is heard over the top, 2 gunshots are heard, the camera stops zooming out, a short pause, a man can be heard slightly groaning and 2 bursts of blood splatter onto the controls. The screen turns black and a short piece of dialogue is then heard, saying ‘Revenge lives in all of us’. The title then comes in from the black.

Script:

Woman: You disgusting, vulgar, arrogant punk. You don’t realise how painful it is hearing your constant yammering, just because you have some TV show. Shame you-

Young Man: You bitch! How do you like being kicked by a disgusting, vulgar, arrogant punk? Your stinking perfume makes me sick. Don’t you realise who I am!

*2 gun shots*

*A short pause is heard and soon an explosion is heard of blood splattering*

*The screen turns to black*

Narrator: Revenge lives in all of us.

*The title sequence comes in*

This idea is, however, only in development. James did bring forth the idea that maybe there is too little going on which is surprising for a teaser trailer but i do understand what he's trying to say and I guess it shows the balance one has to achieve when you need to create something that bases its appeal on giving away very little.

When I'm constantly trying to base what I'm doing on what someone else has done before via youtube etc its time for me to step back and look at my true motivation for creating a trailer and what I'm trying to achieve rather than what someone has already tried to achieve and it does get a lot easier. You see to make things flow effectively I need to stop creating this for an exam board but create it for a film audience and think of the type of trailer that I would want to show to a potential audience and what I would want to see on screen because this is a film that I would love for people to come and enjoy and creating an intriguing and exciting teaser trailer will have that desired effect.

A Teaser Trailer and an Original Soundtrack

With the information being brought to mine and James' attention that the criteria for what kind of a trailer we're creating has been changed and the soundtrack must be original now instead of being copyrighted material it has made the project easier and harder.
It is no longer a theatrical trailer but a teaser trailer, meaning the length is between 40-60 seconds long, meaning less shots, less dialogue, less locations and reference to the main story line has been lessened so less casting, props etc, the list seems to be endless. However the skill behind making a teaser trailer still exists, when researching different teaser trailers one notices that they're all big budget, usually iconic films two things that we're lacking.
James and I began noting things that all theatrical trailers have and don't have:

• Minimal reference to the main story line.
• Little dialogue from the movie itself.
• Iconography is played upon.
• Minimal amount of shots.

With the news of us now having to create a teaser trailer and following a new set of guidelines, a lot of ideas have now been put to waste but they can also help the production of our teaser trailer now. The problem of creating an original soundtrack now is probably, at this moment in time, a lot less of a bother than selecting a copyrighted soundtrack, since now we can taylor music that we hear in our heads to suit our trailer rather than trying to find something that might suit our film.

Different Scenes from the Film

James and I have now finally decided upon a set amount of scenes that take place in the film itself. However we haven't decided on a title and character names which you may notice when you read this. The main problems with these ideas are that they contain a lot of violence which will be hard to create on a professional level and some quite difficult casting. But as a basis the ideas are as follows:

The Opening Scene:

• A credit comes in.
• The control panel of the lift is shown.
• Another credit comes in.
• A man is shot talking on the phone about certain immoral exploitations and is shot reaching for the control panel to select his floor.
• The controls are shot being pressed.
• The shot returns to focusing on him. Then the feet of another passenger are shot and the doors close.
• A shot is then taken from the corner of the lift over the shoulder of the boy in the background using a focus shift first from the boy then to the businessman; music is heard slightly in the background from the boy’s earphones.
• Next the lift doors are shot straight on and are shot opening. A cleaner in front of the doors is sweeping the floor. Soon the doors open, the business man on his phone steps out but collides with the cleaner and the cleaner thusly drops dirt on the businessman’s suit. The businessman pushes/kicks the cleaner to the floor.
• The cleaner is now on the floor trying to support himself as the businessman continues to insult him.
• The businessman leans over the cleaner and insults him. The businessman is then shot with half of him taking up the shot, soon in the background focus switches to a boy coming into the shot from behind the businessman.
• The businessman soon spins-turns around to find a gun being pointed at his chest. The gun is then fired in his chest and then in his head.
• The assassin turns around and leaves the room, and the businessman falls to his knees and soon to the ground.
• The final shot is then taken from top of the room, most likely aerial. Containing the businessman lying dead on the floor, the cleaner searching for his glasses, the lift door opening and closing on the arm of the businessman and a person on the businessman’s phone can be heard saying ‘Hello?, Hello?’
• Using high contrast lighting, the roof of a building is shot.
• The camera soon pans to the right and the assassin is shot leaning up against a chimney looking out into the night.
• The camera then shoots the right side of his face. He soon turns his head to camera and the title sequence comes in.

Lift Assassination Crime Scene:

• A flash of a camera is heard and seen on screen and the body of the businessman is seen lying dead on the floor. Different shots of different parts of the body follow.
• A small CSI unit are there around the body.
• Detective 1 is the investigator at the scene. He peels back the cloak that was hiding the body.
• He crouches down beside the body more interested in drinking his cup of coffee.
• He talks more about the profession and background of the victim with the CSI unit, instead of talking about the crime itself. With a slight smirk upon his face throughout.

The Restaurant Scene:

• YMA and Detective 2 are sitting in a fast food restaurant.
• Detective 2 sits on at the other end. Detective 2 sits with a meal in front if him.
• Detective 2 slides a picture across the table at the YMA. Stating that the next targets are 2 film directors who have been having relationships with their child stars.
• Detective 2 follows on to say that the YMA must only worry about one target; there will be another assassin to take care of the other.

The Assassination of the Film Stars:

• The scene will open with the YMA pondering the idea of their being another assassin on the job.
• The assassination will take place on a staircase.
• The two targets will walk down the stairwell towards the YMA and the YMA will walk up the stairs.
• The YMA will then walk up the stairs and, the camera will ECU on his eyes switching from facing forward to switching to the direction of the targets.
• He then draws his gun on the targets but it falters at the last second. He attempts to re-cock there and then.
• As this happens a gun is shot being fired and the two targets are killed in front of the YMA who stands there stunned.
• His hand is soon grasped and he is lead off by the second assassin. The second assassin turns out to be a young, attractive girl of a similar age to the YMA.

Meeting the Detectives:

• A dim, shadowy room is portrayed here. Over the dialogue the radio can be heard making a report on the film directors who were just shot.
• The YMA and the YFA sit down next to each other on a bed in the corner of the room, the YFA looks at the YMA but he just looks on in a deep thought. Detective 1 stands in the room making tea and explains where they can get their money from as usual. Detective 2 sits at a computer playing some sort of game but soon switches to organising the next targets.
• The YMA soon confronts Detective 1 about possibly leaving his service. The detective does not object to this but says that he must complete one more job before leaving.
• The YMA then leaves the building.
• As he walks down an alley away from the building, the YFA looks outside at him.
• Detective 1 soon appears and talks to the YFA about the YMA and their relationship by the window.
• He tries to make an advance on her but she runs away. He throws his cigarette at her but she stamps on it as she runs away.

First Date:

• The next shot has the YFA standing outside an apartment building in the rain, shot from behind, standing at a crossing looking up at the apartment building.
• The YMA hears the door ring and goes to it. He looks through the peep hole to see her standing there with a bag of shopping with a bandaged hand and plasters on her body. She persuades him to share green tea with her.
• The next shot has them sitting down up against the wall of the YMA’s apartment. They talk to each other for a while about their names and their past lives, especially their relationships with the detectives.
• The YMA soon suffers from a flashback about the death of his parents. The flashback contains an overturned room; everything is dark/twilight, 2 adults are seen lying in a room with blood sprawled around them, intermittently showing the screaming face of Detective 1, with his hair the same colour as the blood in the room. The room will be the same with a few differences as the detectives’ office shown earlier in the film.
• Soon a song comes on the radio in the background that they share a small discussion about.
• The YMA soon stands up and begins to water plants around his apartment with the song still playing in the background. The YFA stands up and points a gun at the YMA’s head. She asks him about how he would feel if she killed him right there.
• The YFA pulls the trigger, but no bullet is released. The YFA then releases the information that the detective killed his parents. The YMA responds by saying he’s known for years. The YFA says that she was instructed to kill the YMA by Detective 1. The YMA then says he knows that too. The YMA puts his bag and hat on/hood up and his music on. He asks her to wait for him and then leaves to complete his final job, leaving the YFA alone in the apartment with her gun still raised in the air which is lowered until the scene cuts out.

The Last Target:

• The YMA meets Detective 2. Surprised by the fact that he’s still alive he assigns the YMA his last target of a corrupt judge, he says the target will be unguarded. They share a small conversation about the YMA’s future. The detective remains unresponsive as usual, apart from when he turns his head to the YMA, when he is compelled by something he says.
• The next shot will have the Judge sitting on the toilet in a public bathroom. Reading a book and not reacting to its content.
• The YMA will enter and see two men guarding the toilet cubicles; he will look at them and exchange a glance.
• The YMA will have music playing in his headphones prominently when his character is focused on but only heard in the background when attention is not on the YMA.
• The YMA will use the facilities. The YMA will appear to be leaving the bathroom.
• The YMA will turn sharply and spray pepper spray in the eyes of one of the guards. The other guard grabs him from behind, the YMA then knocks his head back and head buts him. He pauses slightly before killing him noticing that he has wet himself despite just coming out of the toilet; the judge will have a distinctive feature about him a birthmark perhaps. The YMA then takes out the judge, when the judge comes out the cubicle.
• Soon a fight occurs between the YMA and the guards. One of the guards attempts to shove the YMA’s hand up a hand-dryer.
• The fight comes to an end soon, with the YMA escaping relatively unharmed, only sustaining a few minor injuries.

Set-Up:

• The next scene will take place in a bathroom, here a dark and sleazy one. The light will constantly flicker on and off because of faulty lighting. Switching between pitch black and light.
• Detective 1 is inside using the facilities; he walks over to the basin and washes his hands whistling a tune to himself.
• His gaze meets his reflection in the mirror. He stares at himself, admiring his looks the tune ends.
• The light flashes on and off, still admiring himself in the reflection he soon notices the YMA behind him. The YMA then kicks him in the back of the leg.
• The light flashes off and on and rustling sounds are heard. The YMA is then seen with the detective with his arm round him and a knife to his throat.
• The YMA begins questioning him about how he was promised that the judge would not have bodyguards. He begins pressing it further against his throat; blood begins to run down the detective’s neck.
• The light is still flashing on and off. Soon a rustling sound is heard again and the detective fights back against the YMA.

Hallway:

• They soon engage in a fight leading to the outside of the bathroom in to a dark hallway.

• The YMA comes running out the bathroom looking for the detective. He turns his head to the left looking for him, but the detective is behind the bathroom and kicks the door towards the YMA knocking him to the YMA to the floor.
• The detective 1 stands back for a while leaning up against a wall attending to his wounds somewhat. Detective 2 comes out a room, looking for Detective 1. Detective 2 exclaiming that he should be dead.
• Detective 2 brandishes a knife, but is shot at and the shards enter Detective 1’s hand.
• From the darkness of the hallway comes the YFA.
• She comes to the aid of the YMA.
• Detective 1 and Detective 2 exchange a glance like they’re planning something; they notice the YMA’s gun on the floor.
• The YFA exclaims they shouldn’t move. Focusing her attention on detective 1 who pretends to get the gun, as she gets distracted by this detective 2 hits her on the back of her neck knocking her unconscious.
• Detective 1 then blows the gun even though he hasn’t fired it and tosses it to the ground.
• Detective 2 drags the YMA off and Detective 1 is left with an unconscious YFA.
• The scene ends with a fade out.

Love and Hate:

• The colours/lighting now are pinks and purples. The next scene has the YFA lying on a bed with her eyes closed staring at the camera, the shot is an ECU and includes her hair sprawled upon the pillow she rests her head on; in the background the YMA’s voice is heard.
• She opens her eyes and she turns her head and sees him standing by the window with shards of light entering through.
• She sits up on the edge of the bed and looks in his direction.
• The YMA walks over and stands beside her, her eyes looking up at him.
• He talks to her some more and gently rubs his hand down her shoulder and down her back; she slowly drops her head and closes her eyes.
• The next scene opens with the YFA looking at the camera and has detective 2 in bed with her.
• The YFA stares aimlessly onwards lying in a foetal position, whilst detective 1 lies next to her and begins to speak.
• Detective 1 speaks empty words in comparison to the words she wants to hear from the YMA. The YFA doesn’t say much just remains rather spaced.
• The detective tells him where detective 2 is going to kill the YMA.
• She stands up to leave with the excuse of having a date.

Realisation:

• The setting now is a car park in the day time.
• Detective 1 has been sent to investigate the death of a Caucasian male.
• He pulls back the sheet, but to his disbelief it is his partner Detective 2.
• This knocks him back.
• One of the CSI members asks him what’s wrong. He then reminds the detective of a murder occurring here a few years ago of 2 adults.
• Detective 1 understands this and realises he means the YMA’s parents.
• The Detective soon leaves the scene.

Time:

• The Detective is now shot walking down an alley.
• He soon stops to the sound of footsteps and raises his gun.
• Out from the shadows comes the YFA.
• She has a gun aimed at him.
• He says her name; she shoots him in the knee cap.
• He falls to the floor on one knee. He questions whether she killed detective 2.
• She confirms this; she releases the plans of her and the YMA leaving together.
• He retorts. She raises another gun from her side, stating this is for the YMA and herself. In a fit of panic the detective exclaims her name. She shoots him all over his body and then finally in the head. The detective soon falls to the ground lying on his back.
• She tosses the guns to the ground near his body. She walks back out of the alley.

Retribution:

• A shot of the wind blowing through the trees with a bird is shown near the location of the YMA.
• The YMA is shot dropping his gun into a river/over a bridge.
• He is then shot leaving a grocery store with a bag of groceries. Walking down some stairs a young child shoots him.
• The child is revealed to have a similar birthmark/mole to the judge killed earlier in the film by the YMA. She/He stares at the camera and runs away.
• The YMA’s groceries are shot rolling out of the bag.
• Shots are taken the YMA's apartment and finally an aerial shot of the YFA in his apartment lying on the floor with her eyes closed.
• A small narrative is heard of her speaking. She opens her eyes and turns her head to the screen and her eyes on the camera. The credits then come in.

Selecting the Soundtrack

The trailer for 'Pulp Fiction' showed me and James that a film's soundtrack is one of the most important things a film can have. The moods and emotions music can create, influence greatly how your movie will be interpreted.

James and I began brainstorming a variety of different songs that would suit our film.

Possible Soundtrack:

• Clubbed to Death (Piano Solo) by Rob Dougan-The piano solo from this song helps creates a sense that something dramatic and irreversible has happened. The track may accomplish this, however I feel it may suit use actually in the film instead of in the trailer. When i confronted James with the track he brought to my attention its use in 'The Matrix', which to avoid repetition and losing an audience's interest we are now deterred from using.

• Gnossienne No.1 by Erik Satie-The second piano track I suggested definitely portrayed the right feel and neo-noir style that James and I are trying to reach in our film. The sparse style of playing in this track I think helps compliment the dark and motionlessness of some of the scenes in the film.

• Bulls on Parade by Rage Against the Machine-This song sounds like the perfect 'action' song, because of the anger and energy put into the creation of it by the original artists it translates to complimenting the action of a film very well. Many of the scenes of our film have action and this song compliments them effectively, especially the guitar part beginning at 0:26. This is the first song we agree on to use on the trailer, however we both agree that the additional use of something more mellow will compliment the use of this song instead of using it simply by itself.

• Show me How to Live by Audioslave- The question of using this song in the film trailer is difficult. The sound and feeling the song portrays is very similar to that of 'Bulls on Parade' which is what we need but having two songs that have a very similar effect seems almost detrimental to the trailer itself, as both songs will lose their effect if both are used.

• Riders on the Storm by The Doors- This was suggested to be used as a more mellow track, suggested by both of us to be used at the beginning of the trailer to contrast well with the intensity of 'Bulls on Parade'. Since the film is aimed to be portrayed in a neo-noir style, the numbing and smooth sound of this certain song helps compliment some of numbing and smooth scenes in the film. However there seems to be something still too sharp about it, especially in the sound of the guitar, that doesn't help compliment the scenes that are to be shown at the beginning of the trailer.

• People are Strange by The Doors- This song was considered to be played all the way through the trailer due to its major and jolly sound contrasted with the violent nature of some of the scenes and characters in the film , it would frighten the audience, make them more inquisitive and attract them to go and see it. However it seemed as though there are certain scenes in the trailer that require a much darker and slower sound.

Moving Forward with the Story Line

Having confronted James with the idea of the story line, he found no faults with it and now that we have something that we agree on, work on the trailer itself may begin.

From the idea of the story line, we both agreed on a neo noir film style. This style includes unusual camera angles, low key lighting and striking use of light and shadow.

The first thing we began doing was looking at film trailers of our favourite films, from the past and present.

'Taxi Driver' by Martin Scorsese portrays a good idea of what we're aiming for in the portrayal of our film. The lighting and dark atmosphere is definitely something that could influence our film greatly. The way the trailer is structured is important especially in how different parts of the story line are introduced but not given away.

The trailer for Quentin Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction' helps show what a trailer with a lot of action can be portrayed as. With lots of fast cuts and effective use of the films soundtrack, different moods are set and expressed. The dialogue is edited effectively, creating a sense of comedy but still contrasted with the action scenes heightens tension in the trailer.

First Meeting

For this project I am working with James Rowland.

James and I formed our group and began discussing ideas straight away. We have very similar tastes in movies, which straight away was a big help as we had some common ground to base our ideas on.

We both agreed on a thriller style film. At the time I had a slight idea of what I wanted the film to be in terms of the story line. The original idea for the story line is as follows:

The story revolves around a teenage boy who lost his parents at a young age and now lives with his guardians, two detectives. These two detectives work above the law, they run their own assassination network, assassinating paedophiles, corrupt officials and any other people who feel they're above the law . Their network has now engrossed the boy being taken into the care of these detectives and now works as an assassin for them. He is skilled at what he does, soon in the story he meets a girl, who is in a similar position to him, being in the care of the detectives she is an assassin also. As the story progresses they grow more and more attached to each other, finding in each other a sense of peace that in their past has been hard to find. The dangerous nature of the detectives becomes more evident as the story moves along, as the pair decide to leave the detectives’ care and find their own place in life, the detectives’ don’t like this and it becomes increasingly evident the true motivation and deception behind the detectives’ characters.