The Importance of Cross Dissolves

A cross dissolve is - "the fading out of one picture, sound or light source while another picture, sound or light source fades in over top of the original." (web.commplus.net/jda/glossary/glossary_C.htm)

Why were they so important in our video?

In our research, we discovered that cross dissolves were vital in slow paced songs. They set a tone and mood for the video and made the pace gentle and slow.

As the first part of our song was extremely slow, cross dissolves had to be used to reflect the pace.

Digipak Research and Analysis

I have delved through my CD collection at home and have found three digipaks which I really like.

1. The Black Eyed Peas - Monkey Business
   
   

The best bit about this digipak was the theme of the 'monkey'. It is called 'monkey business' and I love how this monkey is present on the inside panel of the digipak. It also features a picture of the band on the front, however they are posed in an interesting and unconventional way which lures in the viewer. The colours are dark, it actually looks quite traditional and old fashioned. The black eyed peas could here be building a bridge between old music and new music, representing how their album contains it all.

2. The Killers - Day and Age

The purple theme of this digipak really appealed to me; it looks dark and mysterious, just like the music on the album. The abstract art worked well to create an image of mystery, not completley revealing to the viewer what the music would be about.

3. Fall Out Boy - Foile A Deux

The front cover of this album is completley random; however it is certainly interesting! I think that it just generally conveys the theme that appearances may be decieving- you would never normally expect a teddy bear to be carrying a grizzly- and it thus advises the viewer to 'expect the unexpected'. I really like the classic font used on the CD itself, to maintain a professional look font really is the key.

Further Digipack Research

I have been researching the digipacks of our chosen genre.

The first thing to look at is the covers of popular CDs for inspiration.

Thus, sticking to my chosen genre, I have produced a montage with a variety of CD covers, so we can gain a real grasp of what digipacks of this genre look like.

have seen through this that album covers of these genre are often abstract, with creative imagery used rather than a picture of the artist.

For example, more poppy / r&b tracks would use pictures of the artist:

Therefore, we would opt to create a more abstract digipak, like the previous examples.

How Filming has Gone

We have filmed a fair chunk of the video so far and are quite happy with how it has gone so far. Many potent scenes have been filmed; such as the dead scene, the scene where the girl has pills in her hand and the arguement between the boy and girl. We still have a couple more scenes to film, and a couple of bridging shots to do, but overall we are well on the way. In tomorrow's media lesson, we will upload all the footage and see how it looks- very exciting!!

Here are a few shots of us hard at work :

Organization of Actors

We have decided that the best way to work harmoniously would be to use members of our group as the actors for the video. Due being the only brunette of the group, which we had all previously decided should be the colour of the main actress' hair, I was elected for the role of the girl in the music video and Jack, being the only boy, was the obvious candidate for the ex- boyfriend. This has proved to be much more beneficial as we all work well together and we do actually fit the parts quite well.

Filming has proved to be more difficult than we thought, filming the scenes where we were meant to have an argument just ended up in laughing! But we perservered like troopers, and everyone is very happy with the footage we have so far.

We plan to do lots more filming this week and next, with some bits needing to be touched over, with hopes that it can all be done by Christmas so after that we can focus on editing the video and starting our ancillary tasks.

Time Management

Due to issues discussed in my previous post, we have had some setbacks due to bad weather.

However, we are taking this in our stride and have organized a filming schedule, to ensure that we fit all our filming in.

We feel that this will enable us to look at the big picture and see exactly how much time we have before the all important deadlines.

Filming Times and Dates

We plan to film ;

Wednesday during our media lesson, periods 3 and 4, and then during our frees, periods 5 and 6

Thursday during our frees, periods 3 and 4

Friday during our frees, periods 1 and 2

Saturday Alysha, Char and Jack are planning on meeting in the morning, as I have work until 3, and then I will meet Char and Jack at about 4 (Alysha starts work at 2)

Sunday we are planning to film all day.

In for a fun week!

Filming Problems

We have had a problem; heavy snow last week caused us to halt our filming temporarily. It meant that we couldn't even reach each other to do some inside filming, due to the lack of bus services and the treacherous conditions meaning nobody could drive.

Moreover, we also face the problem of filming in the snow; we either have to do all the outside filming quickly before the snow melts, or wait until it has all melted, as we cannot have half of our outside filming in the snow and half with bare grass. This poses an issue.

Location Decisions

Here are our final location decisions for our video!

Locations

View more presentations from cemartin15.

Outfits and Props

We are in the process of deciding which outfits and props to use for our actor and actress.

Outfits

for the girl-

Outfit 1 - All black (top, skirt, tights) for when she is depressed and arguing with the boyfriend. Also possibly for the dead scene.

Outfit 2 - A white dress, used for happier memories. Also for the running scene, the girl could be wearing this to symbolize how she is holding on to the relationship.

for the boy -

The boy needs to be wearing just a casual top and jeans, stereotypical clothes. if he was wearing anything significant, it would look a bit odd as the focus would be taken off the girl.

Fortunatley we all have the outfits avaliable prior to filming; ap

art from the cream dress which I had wanted for ages- and it's need for the music video gave me a perfect excuse to buy it!

Props

Our main prop is the roses which we got for 2.99 on our trip to sainsburys

We also need some pills for the overdose scene, therefore we bought a pound worth of paracetomol also from sainsburys.

Charlotte's House

We have decided to do most of the filming at Charlotte's house. It is spacious and not too far from the school, and as most of us can drive it is easily accessible. She also has a back yard which is massive and very useful for the outside scenes. Her kitchen, lounge and bedroom provide perfect rooms for creating our video in.

Here is the back view of her house

Our First Attempt at Filming

Location Shots

We have all been out and taken some shots of possible locations, both as a group and individually.

Here are the shots we took as a group. These are of a church and graveyard in Horton Kirby; which would be used for the scene after the girl's death and possibly before, as a prolepsis of what is to come.

Permission to use our track

I have still not received a response regarding the copyright of the video. Therefore, we are going to presume that it is ok to use the video, as if there was an issue, the company would probably have contacted us by now. Obviously, I will keep checking my email and if a response is received, we will have to act accordingly.

Animatic

Charlotte, being the only artistically gifted member of the group, has created a storyboard and animatic for our video. This is vital to our planning as we will get a sense of timing and better knowledge of lyrical analysis and what we actually need to film.

Here are the pictures which she drew for the animatic;

Here is the animatic itself;

Obviously, not every intricate detail will be able to be captured in the animatic. Therefore, the video itself may look a little bit different.

Music Channels

Being a controversial music video, i don't think that it will be broadcasted on mainstream music channels such as MTV and Kiss.

I think the most likely channels to show the video are more rocky, edgy channels such as Kerrang! and Q.

• owned by box television
• plays requested videos
• sometimes has segments of just one artist eg. Green Day or You Me at Six. However, artists such as Eminem have videos played often, which is a cause for controversy.
• Many videos have to be censored because they are so controversial
• A spin-off of the magazine

I think that our video would fit onto this channel because it is quite controversial, fitting in with the theme. Additionally, Band of Horses fit in with the category set by Green Day and You Me at Six. They are also the type of band that I can imagine being featured in Kerrang magazine, as they fit that image.

• operated by box television
• specific genres = media, rock and alternative

This channel always broadcasts songs with a similar genre to our song, thus I think that the song might fit here.

Preparing to Film

We are finally preparing to film some of our music video.

Our first filming will take place on 24th November.

We do not have any actors available for the time that we will film, so we will just film the events which will not need a face shot for.

These will be shots such as

• a rose falling out of a girls' hand
• petals being torn off the rose
• a nasty text being sent to the girls' phone
• cyber bullying

This will provide a useful foundation for our video, as we will manage to film a lot of bridging shots on this day.

Looking at Existing Products - Magazine Advertisements

The next step in our research is to look at existing products so we can gain a firm grasp of the conventions of digipak advertisements.

This is advertising santogold's single "lights out". It was obviously created a few years ago, as it dates 11-08-08.
I really like this advert, of all the ones I looked at it really stood out to me. It is abstract and has a plurity of meanings, however from the imagery of calm green leaves and the almost childlike font, I would guess that the song is a happy song. Background is important, and I think that ours will have to be dark to symbolize the negativity of the song.
The image of the two people facing each other is striking and potent on the page. We are definatley interested in having a strong image on the advert, as we believe that it can microcosm the song.

This advert is for ellie goulding "lights" and it is infact the same picture which is used on the digipak. The calm, almost sepia colours are consistent with the ballad style of her music. In addition, the fact that it is called "lights" and all the text is lit up conveys the literal meaning of the album. She also looks like she has a million little "lights" in her hair.

In the magazine advertisement, we must remember these things:

• the background must be genre-specific
• all photos must be genre-specific
• it must be eye catching and interesting, drawing in the target audience
• it must contain the band name, the album / song name, the release date, and where it is released
• it could contain some ratings or awards, such as if it was rated "album of the year"
• the font must be appropriate to the mood and tone

Research into Magazine Advertisements

One of our chosen ancillary tasks is to produce a magazine advertisement. Therefore we have to carry out research into this field.

While looking, I found this article, which gives an interesting summary of magazine advertisements and the purpose of them.

After reading this article and a few more websites, I have decided that the main purposes of a magazine advertisement, specifically for an album, are to:

• engage the audience
• identify the correct target audience through the advertisement
• give a brief overview of the tone of the product (ie. tone of the album and music)
• maintain a house style through the genre of music and other related products (in our case this is the digipak)

Therefore, we have identified that the advertisement must be eye catching, but also genre specific therefore it must be quite dark and gloomy, as this matches our music. It must be appealing to our target audience, which we have identified to be 15-25 year olds of both genders. Therefore, we must have a sophisticated style, as even though some members of our target audience are quite young, they will have mature tastes as the music deals with controversial issues.

Digipak Research

Digipak

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article's references may not meet Wikipedia's guidelines for reliable sources. Please help by checking whether the references meet the criteria for reliable sources. (July 2009)

Example of: 6 panel right-tray clear gloss UV digipak.

Digipak is a patented^[1] style of compact disc or DVD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI Media, a MeadWestvaco, Inc. resource, which acquired the original trademark holder, IMPAC Group, Inc., in 2000. MeadWestvaco licensed the name and designs to manufacturers around the world.

[edit]History

Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside. Since Digipaks were among the first alternatives to jewel cases to be used by major record companies, and because there is no other common name for Digipak-style packaging made by other companies, the term digipak or Digi-Pak^[2] is often used generically, even when the media holder is a hub or "Soft Spot"^[3] rather than a full plastic tray.

Digipak-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums and the tall DVD Digipak (DVDigipak)^[4] is used as a premium package for DVDs and DVD sets. Because such packaging is less resistant to abrasion than jewel cases, it tends to show signs of wear relatively quickly. Licensed digipak manufacturers such as domestic U.S. printer and disc replicator Oasis Disc Manufacturing^[5]recommend coating the raw printed paper with a protective UV coating, thus ensuring greater longevity.

Although less vulnerable to cracking than a jewel case, the disc tray inside the package (particularly the "teeth" of the hub which secure the disc in place) remains rather brittle and is prone to cracking if the package is crushed. Digipak-style cases grew in popularity among record labels and recording artists in the early 2000s.

Manufacturers have sought to reduce environmental impact and improve functionality by introducing recycled components into its trays; one has announced a 100% post-consumer PET tray made from recycled bottles,^[6] which also eliminates the need for the brittle "teeth". Many printers use recycled or sustainable material for the board stock.

Historically, Digipak was only available in large quantities. However, AGI has recently introduced a new product called digipak i-create for the consumer market. Digipak i-create is a web-supported concept that is aimed at the download, music, photo and creative markets.

One of the most recent albums having an digipak only release on US is Teenage Dream by Katy Perry.

Ancillary Task Options

We have decided to do these options alongside the video:

• A cover for its release as part of the digipak (CD/DVD package)
• A magazine advertisement for the digipak.

These seemed the best way to utilize our skills as we all have previous photoshop experience.

The Rose

A rose will be a strong icon to represent their love used throughout the creation of the music video. An idea we have thought of is for the boyfriend to give the girl a rose in a flashback, which will then be quickly cut to in the duration of the video; for example in a rage it could be in a vase which she could knock over and smash, however leaving the rose intact. This would represent her whole world falling to pieces but her love (which is clearly unrequited) still present- which is the cause of the problem. She will also be holding this rose when dead in the opening scene, and at the end when the funeral takes place it will be put onto her grave.

Shotlist

Ideas for Locations to use

A house will be a primary location, to use for shots such as looking through old pictures, possibly the opening shot where the girl is laying in a metaphorical coffin

A field/ wood for scenes containing memories, and also potentially scenes for the girl on her own, showing her loss and desperation

A graveyard where the actual funeral will take place

Possibly a road which will contain flashback scenes of happier times

Letter to Copyright Holder

I have written a letter to the company who owns the track "The Funeral".

This is subpop records.

Here is a draft of the letter which I have sent :

Dear Copyright Holder,

I am an A level student and I am writing to request your permission to use one track from the first album by Band of Horses entitled “Everything All The Time”

The track I wish to use is “The Funeral”, track 4 on the album.

With your permission, this track would be used in my current A-level Media Studies project which involves creating a music video for a popular music track, as well as producing an album and a magazine advert for the artist.

If I received your permission, this track would ONLY be used in an educational context and be viewed by my media class, my teacher and the OCR exam board moderator. It would NOT be released to a large audience or uploaded to any public video websites.

The artist and your company would of course be fully recognized throughout pre- production and the final video itself. A copyright notice, with wording supplied by you can be included in the records of the project. If this is required, please send full details.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Claire Martin

Here is a print screen of the actual email which I sent off :

Important Times

These are times worthy of noting down, so when story-boarding we will know how to time each shot and when to change scenes etc.

0:22 = end of instrumental, person starts singing

1:03 = person starts singing choral notes

1:22 = drum beat starts, pace speeds up

1:57 = drums stop, pace slows

2:00 = very fast and sudden drum beat

2:46 = cymbal, gradually dies out and there are 2 seconds of silence

2:49 = music starts again slowly

3:08 = music quickens, drum starts again

3:39 = starts to fade out

3:44 = song ends

Planning our Storyboard

girl is lying dead

she is writing note

zoom to suicide note "sorry, i love you"

gets up and goes out

sees ex boyfriend and new girlfriend sitting on a bench - standing behind them with jealousy

flashbacks to happier times - eg. a picnic with her boyfriend but then a cut to her sitting on her own

interrupted by quick shots of her angry and frustrated

walking through a forest in rain/ darkness - isolated and alone

texts or facebook being used - cyber bullying - a text from her boyfriend

anger and frustration

Alysha has written a detailed plan for the video, which will then be developed into a storyboard. You can see this here.

Reactions to our Pitch

After pitching to our teacher our initial ideas, she agreed that we were on the right tracks, but may need to edit and improve some aspects.
The main problem was that, while we had lots of ideas for scenes we could use, we had no real storyline to bond it together; always needed with a narrative! This was the main concern which we had to work out how to overcome.
After a chat amongst ourselves and with the teacher, we have decided to continue with the subject of death and a "funeral", but have a different slant on it.
One suggestion was that we use the story of a girl, possibly the same age as us (17-18 years), who has become a victim of bullying and has committed suicide due to it. The video would trace her friends' and families' reactions, and would deal with the guilt of the bullies. We would use lots of flashbacks of when she was being bullied and also when she was younger. At the end there would be a funeral, with several family members and friends, and possibly bullies standing out of the circle, still trying to come to terms with what they have caused. We think that with the right filming, we can create a very moving and meaningful video.
This idea will of course be developed, and it is only provisional for now. After half term, our group has decided to have a meeting in which the final idea will be decided upon and activities such as drawing up a storyboard and taking location shots will be allocated.

New Storyline

Our new idea is to use a girl, probably around the same age as us (17-18), who is extremely depressed. Bullying will be a potent theme of our video, as will heartbreak. She will have had an argument with her boyfriend and possibly have seen him out with another girl. There will be flashbacks to happier times and then cuts to her lying dead in a 'coffin'. The bullying will worsen as people post nasty things on her facebook and send horrible texts. At this point she will decide to take her own life. The video will end at a graveyard, showing a spatial difference between her grieving family and the people who previously bullied her.

This is the quote that inspired us :

This quote had as all thinking - depression, which can be derived from many things, a common being bullying, is a very personal topic among us. We had never thought of it as the "inability to constructa future" before, but it came clear to us that this was a very true statement. We want to raise a campaign, almost, surrounding this statement, showing the effects which bullying and thus, depression can have on ones life.

While researching cyber bullying, we found this article about a girl named Megan Meier who committed suicide after cyber bullying through myspace. We were sickened and chilled by this article, repulsed by the people who drew her to this and overwhelmed with sympathy for Megan and her family. Reading this article made us really want to create a campaign to raise awareness about cyber bullying.

Analyzation of the Lyrics

Char printed of the lyrics and did a lyrical analysis of them, then we all added different notes to the analyzation (hence the crazy range of different handwritings)



This gives us a clear idea of which imagery to use in the video, as linking with the lyrics, wether it be literally or metaphorically, is very important.

Basic Storyline

Our song is called "the funeral" and the basic idea is to have a half-dead person, or someone who is dead but does not realize it.

At the start of the video, the plan is to have somebody sparking up a cigarette and having a few puffs. There will then be an extreme close up to the cigarette starting to burn out, and we will continue to have extreme close ups to the cigarette gradually burning out throughout the video, representing how time is running out for the person.

We are going to use a church and possibly its graveyard, and a forest as the potential settings to our music video. We will need to make sure that the person is not just walking around, but each shot has a significance to the music video. The reasoning for the church as an establishing building is that it is where funerals are held, thus literally links to the video. Although, going against what I previously said, the person will be walking around for a portion of the video looking rather lost, this will not be the case for the whole music video; it will merely be used as an aid to emphasize the person's loneliness and isolation.

We are also planning to use tarot cards to intervene in the video; such as "the chariot" and "the fool". These will aid our portrayal of how the person's destiny is now to die.

The person will get more and more scared throughout the video, and a sense of frustration will mean that they will end up running, and possibly tripping around the woods. We want them to fall into a hole, which will represent a grave, and for dirt to be shoveled on top of them, possibly using a camera to show an upwards view of dirt being shoveled on top. This will show how they are finally buried, and their soul is dead as well as their body.

At the very end, possibly after the music ends, there will be a cut to the cigarette, which is now entirely burnt out. The person will drop it, and it will fall to the floor, which represents how said person has lost their grip of life.

Our Pitch

We have to do a dragon's den-style pitch of our ideas for the video and collect our teacher's and peers' views of it.



Here are the main points we plan to cover (I have attached my moodboard to also show to give a feel of the video, and will also show the other moodboards which my group members have created)

Identifying our Target Audience

We now must explore our target audience and read the needs which they'll need to create a good music video.
Using websites such as BBC switch and UK tribes we identified our TA. While Band of Horses is described as a "rock band", our music video is not particularly "rocky", more emotional.
I think that the three stereotypical groups who would listen to the music and watch our video would be; indies, scene kids and young alts


1) Indie

Indie is a stereotype of people who are set on listening to "different" music and wearing "different" and quirky outfits. As our music is quite "different", this will appeal to the stereotypical indies.

2) Scene Kids

Scene kids are people who are very set on image, and like indies, want to be different and stand out from the crowd. They can sometimes be seen as angry or emotional, and thus would like the music from Band of Horses.




3) Young Alts

Young Alts are set on something 'different' but are unsure what, nethertheless, I feel that they would suit Band of Horses music because they are different, and thought-provoking, which is what our video is all about.
It is also worth noting that radio, internet and tv are heavy media consumptions for Young Alts, therefore it is encouraging that they would listen to a lot of music throught these media platforms, and would probably have a broad interest in music.

Conventions of a Music Video

To produce a high-quality music video, we need to look at the conventions of one.

I have found a good slideshow which portrays the conventions of a music video here :

The conventions applicable to our video are :

Dress and Costume - must be appropriate to the genre and setting, as it reflects the mood/genre of the song. Must be dark for sad, slow songs and possibly more vibrant for fast-paced, upbeat songs.

Lyrics Establish the general happenings of the music video, can provide metaphors to use in a music video and sometimes the lyrics are used literally to show what is happening in the video. We will need to make sure that our ideas for the music video fit in with the lyrics, ie. a "funeral" is suggestive of a church/ graveyard.

Genre This is reflected in the dress, mise en scene and sound of the band, and is very important in a music video

Music (tempo) reflects the video's effects and editing, for example, slow tempo would utilize a sombre mood to the video, possibly dark or neutral clothing and gloomy settings. However, a fast tempo would make use of bright colours, and possibly instances of pathetic fallacy. A strong drum beat can represent several things, such as continuity or doom. Whereas instruments such as the violin represent classical music, which would in turn give the video a sophisticated feel.

Editing we would make use of slow transitions to create a calm and complecent mood, and quick cuts to convey rapid transitions. Editing can also be used (as seen in my video analysis of Your Love is My Drug) to create effects such as hallucinations or optical illusions

Intertextuality is the act of referring to another video or media product within the video. This can be used to emphasize points by relating it to another, possibly more well known product. This is depicted in my analyzation of Ke$ha's "Your Love is My Drug" where an allusion to "Yellow Submarine" by The Beatles is present.

Camera Angles In music videos, as with all film products, camera angles are used to convey different gestures. For example, an extreme close up would be used to convey a specific expression, or a full shot of a person would illustrate their complete self. High camera angles suggest inferiority, and low camera angles suggest dominance. Also, if we wanted to give a sense of our character's surroundings we would use a pan or tilt.

Lighting is always essential to the mood of the music video. It simply relates to: a light atmosphere would result in bright lighting, and a more depressing atmosphere would have dark and lighting. This closely links to pathetic fallacy; in a cheery video, bright lights would be used to represent good weather and hence a good mood, while we will use dark lighting to represent the end of hope and ominosity.

Genre Specific Video Analysis

As my first analysis had a more 'poppy' feel to the song, i decided to analyze a video more suitable to the genre which we are working with.

I am going to analyze My Chemical Romance's I don't love you. Although it is partially a performance song, it does have some good narrative that not only ties in with what we are doing genre-wise, but actually gives inspirations for connotations we could use in our video.

Here are some examples of good techniques used throughout the video to reflect the mood and style of the music video.

This is a scene depicting isolation; the woman is standing on her own and the scene appears unfriendly, with bare trees and leaves on the ground surrounding her. She is wearing a white dress and set against the black background, this conveys her separation from the world around her. She is looking over the horizon, seemingly searching for something.

Looking over her shoulder could convey not being able to look forwards, the person's head is still stuck in the past.

The quick cuts to the performance of the band playing give a real sense of personality to the video; as if the band are singing about something which has really happened to them.

The expression on Gerad Way's face is solemn and sombre. This is fitting to the song as he looks dismal, as his relationship has been lost. The circles under his eyes connote lack of sleep, suggestive of a turbulent time in his relationship. The close up of his face shows his anguish well, as do the contrasting colours.

The scenery here is strongly suggestive of a dead relationship; the tree is shed of its leaves and is nearly left bare. A tree in full bloom can be representative of a full and thriving relationship, thus the tree with dead leaves portrays a dedecent and lifeless relationship. Coincidently, this reminds me of a line we have used in our song choice "the dead leaves..... for they don't have trees to call their own"

This extreme close up shows a hand with what appears to be blood falling into it. Blood is a widely-used icon of guilt, therefore this represents how something horrible has gone wrong for which guilt is still felt. As the hand is an open body part, it conveys how all the wrongdoings are still blatently present and within touch.

Gerad is here looking away, as if he cannot face the relationship head on, and as if he has been dishonest in his relationship.

The mise-en-scene here looks very dismal, with the backdrop of the tree and clouds. The clouds represent how forlorn and overcast the relationship is. There are also suggestions that it will never get better, as we see no end to the clouds.

The spatial relationship appears hostile and the woman is standing away from her partner. It appears here that he is trying to give to the woman, but she is rejecting it.

This over-the-shoulder shot depicts the spatial relationship between the two. The look in her eyes conveys desperation and longing, but the fact that we cannot see the other person's face suggests the enigma of the relationship.

In this over the shoulder shot, we see the woman's headshot. She looks lost and desolate, almost as if she is looking at something in the distance. This gives the impression of an icy relationship, as do her apparently 'frosty' lips.

Here, we can see the blatant difference between the two; highlighted by the colour of the couple. One is dark and the other light, which could symbolize good and bad. Nonetheless, we see how different they are to each other through the rotating axis of the camera.

We are interested in using a number of these conventions for our video, such as

• the black and white theme will be present in some of our video to imply blandness and a loss of vitality
• the theme of a broken realtionship will be in it, so we may use similar metaphors and imagery as the director of I don't love you does
• There will be hints of spatial relationship as the relationship between the two main characters breaks up
  

Band of Horses Research

To get a really good idea of what we want to include in our music video, we need to look into the band.

I googled them to find out more information:

This is their official website :

Research I found :

• American Rock Band
• Members = Ben Bridwell, Ryan Monroe, Tyler Ramsey, Bill Reynolds and Creighton Barrett.
• Three albums ; everything all the time (2006) , (2007) cease to begin, (2010) infinate arms
• The Funeral was their first single in 2006
• Other singles = the great salt lake (2006), is there a ghost (2007), no one's gonna love you (2007), compliments (2010) and laredo (2010)

Interview from Youtube

Ideas

Moon

from :

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_a_moon_symbolize/

I'm trying to find ideas for the music video. The idea of using the full moon (must be remembered that this would limit the times we could film) seemed quite eerie and chilling, a perfect theme for our video. Researching it further, i realized this could be a definate possibility- as we are using the theme that someone is dead but does not know it; closely linking to the subconcious theme- that the person is living on a subconcious level. Of course this idea will need to be further developed but using this representation, the moon is definatley a possible motif that we could use in the video.

Tarot Cards

Tarot cards have deep spiritual meanings, which is the kind of thing we are looking for. All people like to get their tarot read to distinguish their fate, including celebrities such as David Bowie and Brad Pitt!
Use of tarot cards for physcoanalysis :

Psychoanalysis
"Carl Jung was the first psychoanalyst to attach importance to tarot symbolism. He may have regarded the tarot cards as representing archetypes: fundamental types of persons or situations embedded in the collective unconscious of all human beings. The theory of archetypes gives rise to several psychoanalytical uses. Since the cards represent these different archetypes within each individual, ideas of the subject's self-perception can be gained by asking them to select a card that they 'identify with'. Equally, the subject can try to clarify the situation by imagining it in terms of the archetypal ideas associated with each card. For instance, someone rushing in heedlessly like the Knight of Swords, or blindly keeping the world at bay like the Rider-Waite-Smith Two of Swords.
More recently Timothy Leary has suggested that the tarot trump cards are a pictorial representation of human development from infant to adult, with the Fool symbolizing the newborn infant, the Magician symbolizing the stage at which an infant begins to play with artifacts, etc. In Leary's view the tarot trumps may be viewed as a blueprint for the human race as it matures."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarot#Psychoanalysis

Tarot cards can thus be used to metaphorize the emotional state of the person who we are depicting. Using Leary's theory, we could use the card representing the last stage of life- or maybe the person could even be "the fool" again, representing how he/she is as hopeless and as vulnerable as a newborn child.

I remember reading somewhere that 'chariot' represented death. Looking into this further, i can see that it is actually a lot deeper than that, as this website shows.

After reading this page, I have summarized that the chariot basically represents

• a struggle, either external or inside oneself
  
  could be a war, possibly battling between two minds
  
  
• eventual victory or peace, over enemies, nature, or what is within you


• different forces pulling against each other - but there is only one way that the person/ object can go. This conveys the war and the eventual force to go in a particular direction.


• can convey a journey or trip


• always only one charioteer - battle being fought alone.


• can be seen as ruthless - prepared to go to all costs to win.

I think that we can definatley use this in our video. Our character is obviously going to be going through a struggle, and a battle within them. There is going to be a clear war of opposing minds, maybe leading to the relief of death. The different forces can be represented in - is the character dead or alive? on what level is he/she dead? however eventually, all forces have to subside to make way for death. Additionally, the fact that there is always only one charioteer conveys how the person feels isolated and alone. On another level, the chariot could represent death itself, fighting against the person - it will victor over the person, no matter what costs it must take.

Top Hat

The top hat gives a formal and realistic feel to the death - top hats are often stereotypical funeral attire which gives the funeral a very conventional feel - displaying the restraints battling against the person who refuses to admit that this is his funeral; the top hat assures the audience and the character that indeed, it is.

Cigarettes

Cigarettes are often used to convey deep thought, frequently used when a character is aimed to appear pensive. Thus we can use cigarettes to illustrate how our character is spiritual and deep thinking, and can show how due to this, they have some kind of special life that goes on living even after their physical death. Furthermore, a cigarette burning out can show the passage of time, it being lit at the start of the video and burnt out at the end. The loss of fire can show loss of passion and life, and quick cuts throughout the video to the cigarette in the process of burning out will show how the person's life is gradually getting smaller and dying out. At the end, we could have the dead person obviously losing their grip and dropping the cigarette. The drop can convey the finality of life; the dead cigarette will now lay on the floor, which successively metaphorizes the dead person who will now lay dead in the ground.