'Bertolt Brecht'

One of my/the ideas of leaving the studio lighting in the background whilst the performance continued, gives connotations that the performance is not reality itself. Instead it is almost an insight into the artists mind and more like a visual representation of reality. Also this is helped by the constant performance to the audience in the performance shots.

• After looking at some of these shots, it arose that infact such performance shots are an example of BERTOLT BRECHT's 'Verfremdungseffekt' theory. -(translated as distancing effect, estrangement effect, or alienation effect).

'Brecht thought the audience required an emotional distance to reflect on what is being presented in critical and objective ways, rather than being taken out of themselves as conventional entertainment attempts to do'.

A summary of this theory:

• a play (mv in our case) should not cause the spectator to emotionally identify with the action before him or her, but should instead provoke rational self-reflection and a critical view of the actions on the stage. - i.e. in our MV we are trying to make the audience look at the issue which arises from the lyrics not just have an emotional attachment to the artist. to clarify we do not want to the audience to think the artist is homosexual or has kissed a boy literally, instead they should be listening to the lyrics and the issue within the song. -JUST AS KATY PERRY'S version does not imply that she is homosexual or has kissed a girl in real life.


• Brecht employed the use of techniques that remind the audience that the play is a representation of reality and not reality itself and hence provides a distance between the artist and the audience, including: the direct address by actors to the audience, transposition of text to third person or past tense, speaking the stage direction out loud, exaggerated, unnatural stage lighting, the use of song, and explanatory placards.
  

-in our MV we are using purposeful unnatural lighting and the fact the audience can see some of the lighting creates the impression that this is not narrative performance (i.e. not part of the narrative/'storyline'). Instead this intentionally draws the audience to become more active viewers and think of the process and issues more critically.
-past tense lyrics (execpt for initial lyrics) which are also like stage direction in the sense he is stating 'he kissed a boy'
-exaggerated action/ gesture codes - which adds to the artists personailty
-direct address

Bertolt Brecht:

Born: 10 February 1898(1898-02-10)Augsburg, Germany
Died: 14 August 1956 (aged 58) East Berlin, Germany

occupation: poet, playwright and theatre director

Notable theatre work: Life of Galileo, Mother Courage and Her Children, Caucasian Chalk Circle

key to my Music Video: The Verfremdungseffekt theory

developed ideas/initial shot list

since getting a great idea for our performance shots, i have now developed these ideas for the more abstract cutaway shots throughout:

1. close- closer- closerer shots of the actor/artist or an object of significance
2. XCU of hand gripping a bat
3. xcu of smashing a glass against the wall
4. xcu of smashing a car window with a bat- 2shots- 1 big close up outside against the window pane, 1 close up from inside the car at a low angle of the window smashing
5. xcu of a hand feeling the side of a males cheek
6. in the dark (poss a club atmosphere) - close low level handheld track through lots of people/males. -camera winds through people.
7. then close high level track HANDHELD through lots of males.- panning side to side (poss fades) of men all staring at the camera.
8. XXcu of male body climbing out of pool. low angle- cant really make out who it is
9. XCU of touching bare body or gripping arm
10. close ups of tattoos- strobing through shots in black and white
11. close up track up tattooed arm ?
12. the first few performance shots in night vision
13. studio lights in performance background turn on with the beat one at a time ( 2 different shots) as they come on the night vision changes. - similar affect on the audience to that given in Justin Timberlake's 'my love' whereby black and white colour contrasts alternate via lighting and costume.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeNzKWDZtfs
14. once the studio lighting illuminates the wall the artist walks back and shot changes to close up against the wall (side on) as he begins to spray paint
15. slow-mo: shots of artist not singing but brands his image. e.g. shots sitting on floor with arms in legs staring at camera, or offscreen. -basically POSING LIKE A MODEL
16. slow-mo side on: XCU of 'dusty' punch bag and as it is hit the dust (powder) surrounds the glove.
17. instead of water coming out of mouth ( as this looked quite poor on camera during the test shoot 13/9/08) i thought CU of the shower head turning on would have the same phallic connotations.
18. CU of gold chain dropping from a males neck- connotations of emasculating the males.
19. MCU of two men arguing facing each other and one grab the other by the scuff of the neck
20. then XCU of the scruff of the neck as this suggests a sexualised gesture code. - a shot with multiple interpretations
21. handprints on a steamy window/ shower screen.
22. close up of liam taking a male's belt off
23. MCU-CU of liam grabbing male pushing him against wall, with facial contact (KISS NOT NEEDED!)
24. possibly shots of male or liam's are being forced/pinned to the wall.

Inspirational ideas-On screen lyrics:

I really like the idea of words a..p..p..e..a..r..i..n..g on-screen.

• This looks effective when in time with the music giving it rhythm, energy and fluidity across. This may help as our shots are disjunctive.
• can give energy to more static shots
• Allows the audience to rememeber and sing the lyrics
• In the actual song there is some abusive language so once we edit this and change it to more appropriate language it might help the audience to be certain of the words by visually seeing them appear
• This may add colour or contrast to the background producing a virbrancy in the MV

Successful example which has inspired me...

Ne-Yo - Closer:

- I think this is really enhanced by the contrast in colour and colour scheme throughout.

less successful...
Basement Jaxx- Do your thing:

- I think this is less successful as it does not have such striking visual impact on the audience, however it does move the audience's eye within the frame producing a continual fluid movement.
-I think the impact of Ne-Yo's is greater as it appears in a singular style which is matches the beat and actual lyric in the song and so the audience are more actively involved at keeping pace with the lyrics.
-In this MV the audience is given a choice- and as we know the pace of the song means that audiences may not participate. (however is this tactile in the sense that the audience may only read some lyrics and are invited to focus their mind to listening to the music and lyrics in the song instead?)

Band Name:

I like the band name idea... (and logo)

H.R.H - His/Her Royal Highness....(with a crown tilted over the last H)

positives:

• catchy
• iconic
• extremely controversial!

Negatives:

• offensive?
• tacky
• the band would be seen too political

Last shot:

For the last shot i think the graffiti should be revealled.

This may be done by the 'kissed boy' returning to his bedroom and finding the huge graffiti across the wall.
therefore the last and fading to black shot would be the graffiti.

I think the graffiti could spell the band's name however i'm not sure if this will fit in with the narrative that has built up during the performance shots. - a work in progress

In this case the last fade to black would be of the band name and could have lights illuminating this on the wall and possibly a camera running alongside it.

This is also a good way to end the music video in terms of branding as the bands name will be the last image uptaken by the audience.

Inspiration:

The Human League: One man in my heart


In this video i like the symbolic shots which sexualise the video eg. the coffee machine. Also i like the fact that some shots subtely symbolise the main vocalist losing her femininity. i..e when she drops her handbag and all of her feminine accessories fall to the floor, and the following shots of the accessories hitting the ground and breaking.

I would like to emmasculate a male through shots which use this symbolic subtelty.
Possibilities:

• could be a dissolving shot of shaving a chin which then merges to a shot which turns out to be shaving his leg!?!
• a chain or watch falling off a male's neck/wrist
• vibrant or camp looking clothes. -skinny, multi-coloured boxers, ??
• ...

Shot Inspiration and Ideas:

I like the idea that rather than having a narrative or a few scenarios between the performance shots, i would rather have disjointed shots with relevance.

I think it would be really in keeping with the song 'i kissed a boy' to have shots of males acting masculine yet shot tightly and edited correctly in the edit suite to make the shots seem posey, voyeuristic and over-exaggerated. i.e to SEXUALISE really ordinary shots. It is important that the content can be interpretted in different ways i.e. normal actions which are symbolic.

Inspirations for these ideas are...

Benny Benassi - satisfaction:




Alex Gaudino- Destination unknown:




Shots that i would like to include: (shots open to interpretation but are sexualised. e.g. phallic symbolism)

• guy coming out of the swimming pool- squirting/spraying water from his mouth
• guy running hands through hair in the shower
• guy drinking from a water fountain
• guy with sweat running down his forehead
• guy rolling up his sleeves
• raining giving him a wet shirt

- the key thing here is clearly fluids/water (hahaha)

possibles:

• guy eating/peeling a banana
• egg and soldiers
• lollipop in side of mouth
  
  

Shot ideas:

Creative shots that i would like to encorporate in my music video:

1. I would like to break the 30 degree rule during the MV. This would give the effect of the camera jumping however i would use this almost to profile the singer and to brand the stars image. Also this impacts the audience in the sense that if it is cut to the beat a rhythm will be sustained.

possible note:

throughout these jump cuts i would have a white flash in between the shots to almost look like each individual shot is being given extra significant and the audience notice what is being highlighed. Almost like a camera flash giving an unusual branding style. This can happen either vertically or horizontally.

-almost like the effect of a slow strobe light which is seen in some dance music videos.

2. I had the idea of a two way motion shot of the singer when performing or just a semim circular track around the artist. This would surround him giving him a performance space in the room where he is graffiti-ing. Hence the focus for this performance shot is taken from what he is doing and moved purely to the branding of himself as an artist.- A shot necessary for a new artist and single.

-in this shot the significant graffiti he is writing would not come into shot

Inspirational videos:

These videos are inspirational as i think that the shots between our performance should not really tell a narrative. I would rather they were creative shots which are disjunctive yet a theme of voyuerism is felt. Also this puts the emphasis more on camera work, mise en scene within the shot and editing which are key components of the music video.



As 'Carol Vernallis' states in her article 'The kindest cut: functions and meanings of music video editing',

• music video editing is responsive to the music


• continuity techniques are not as strict as in films. They can be incomplete and lead to unusual paths- i.e. a disjunctive shot order.


• reative visual disjunctive shots put emphasis on the music, lyrics, and themes rather than the narrative in the visuals of the music video.


• MV's (music videos) are about the composition of the shot rather than the content.


• conventional film shot order and distancing is much more relaxed in MV's. It is more about the music forms and patterns.

These inspirational videos are examples of disjunctive shots which still provide connotations of the theme in the song and lyrics and are cut to the beat giving the editing an rhymic function :

Benny Benassi- Satisfaction:

Faithless- Insomnia:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rAZhxGIbRYY



These adverts below are examples of disjunctive shots which i think would work well with our song. They are CU's an give connotations of : intensity, emtional, passionate and voyeuristic. -Themes which will run throughout our music video.

Herbal essences advert:



Jean Paul Gaultier 'le male':

Inspirations and ideas:

I had the idea that it may be good if the performance takes place in the 'boy who was kissed's' bedroom. i..e before the boy returns home and into his bedroom.

As a group we thought that we would like the singer to be obsessing over this other male. I thought it would be good if we had 3 main perfromance/key shots which we kept coming back to throughout the video.

1. I like teh idea of the obsessing male to be wrriting obsessively possibly at a desk in the room and giving lots of emotion etc. The hook/ main perfromance area in Eminem's Stan video is very similar to what i had in mind....

Eminem feat Dido- Stan:

2. I thought another creative performance hook shot would be as if the camera was on/ part of the wall. In this shot the main singer would be graffiti-ing on the wall which the camera is on, yet we are hidden from what he is writing throughout (until the end) yet we get close beauty shots of the star which will help promote his image and will get meaning across in the video. i.e. the camera is placed behind the graffiti

• note: i think it would be very visually appealing if the perfromance ie the visual hooks of the star were in black and white whilst the narrative shots are in colour. This would also add layers to the piece and alow the audience to interpret the video in different dimensions- hence more widely appealing and therefore successful.

• Leading on from this .....i think it would look nice if at near the end of the video; in this shot where teh writing is hidden i think we could use an almost transitional shot where the star graffitis across the 'lens' of the camera before the cut and change of shot. Also this would create a bigger impact if this graffiti spray was actually in colour- preferably RED for its connotations of danger, passion, etc.

(can't find a video which uses a similar shot- therefore i will experiment with this on our test shoot to see if it will be successful)

New idea summary:

The NEW and FINAL idea is going to be the male version of the song 'i kissed a girl' by Katie Perry which is currently no.1 in the charts. The was a group decision which came about by listen to a friend's ipod during a group meeting. Instantly we were up for the challenge of producing a controversial music video.

Katie Perry- I kissed a girl :




we will be doing a take on this song by using...

Cobra Starship-I kissed a boy:



Negatives:

• we will have to remove or sing over the abusive lyrics yet this is also gives us/me an opportunity to voice my idea of putting lyrics on screen.
• some of the audience may be put off by the nature of the controversy that may arise from the song and video.
• there may be some shooting issues if the ideas develop a bit too far. i.e. there may be a fuss made if the group decide that it is crucial to have a kiss in the video at some stage.

Positives:

• i want to produce something which is hard hitting
• this allows us to be more edgey and controversial in our Music video
• acting wise- the media group have 2 actors and all of the group are male so there is less acting restrictions and reliabilities to worry about
• it will allow us to be very creative in ideas, camera work, mise en scene, characters, branding etc!!!!!!!
• i like it as it will allow us to produce a unique music video which is very enigmatic in the sense that audiences will want to watch it to see how far the video takes this issue.
• it is a perfect song in terms of our video mission- to produce a video for a debut single!- this is a bold song with hard hitting lyrics (excluding the abusive language which we are going to edit out). It will be a widely talked about song and video amongst the audience.
• In terms of narrative the issue of 'kissing a boy'- i.e. homosexuality, at the moment this is a very controversial topic with many debates evolving from its nature. i.e. The advert which was taken off air due to the homosexual connotations.....BELOW! - is it humourous? should be taken lightly with a pinch of salt? is it an advertising statement? is it a political statement? etc
• Therefore all of this press- whether it is 'good or bad press'- will still make our music video and artist extremely well publicised and in the audiences/ public eye. Surely this is only helping promote our artist and would increase sales and record plays on tv and radio.

Heinz Deli Mayo- TV Advert:

This is an example of the controvery that our video may cause and so publicity will be absolutely rocketing:

Flight of the Conchords- Inner city pressure (2008 album ‘Flight of the Conchords’)

-Further initial idea:



Breakdown of the song into a current music video:

-An old granny or an imposter old granny- similar to Basement Jaxx video…

• Walls closing in on the main character similar Train spotting?
• Idea that an old granny can’t cope with the expensive lifestyle that comes with living in the inner city. – For example she is in a terraced house and is rather small and dingy. She has spent all of her benefits and pension on buying a brand new motorised buggy which is completely pimped up- pink with tassels etc.
• ‘You pawned everything’…. Shots of handing over goods to a shop keeping: Granny brushes her tongue then hands over the toothbrush; jar with false teeth inside and splashes water over the counter; disposable camera sticky taped to a phone and she takes a picture of under her long old dress before handing it over. Hahahaha.
• ‘don’t know where your going’ – she crosses the road in a wheelchair/ motorised buggy and realises her false teeth are missing and does a U-turn
• ‘standing in the sitting room’ – knitting, ironing, trying to sit on ironing board which is too high,
• ‘Counting coins…’- she counts the coins in her purse and realises she is going to have to steal because she is skint. This is similar to an advert which I have seen …
  
• … the shopkeeper starts to chase her with a French stick.
• ‘underpants bit’- she can’t find any underpants in her drawer so she goes to the drawer below which is empty with only 1 pair!- a luminous thong or French knickers
• ‘Have you paid your rent yet’- starts to consider using those pants, implying prostitution.
• Chorus can be shots of her indoors looking out of the windows with the singers appearing as silhouettes through the window. –straight cuts
• ‘har-har-har-har-har’ – she is on her buggy down the street with passers by making eye contact and ‘har’ing’ and possibly pointing, then the last HARRR she stands up from her buggy like she is elevated from her chair-good angles needed etc.
• ‘So you think maybe you’ll be a prostitute…’- she is standing at the front door with an unattractive male at the door- she is trying to woo him.
• ‘Doesn’t measure up’- she is repulsive and they end up sitting on the floor or something.
• Synthesizers- shots of the artists playing their instruments and possibly the granny joining in with a kiddie’s keyboard on top of her ironing board.
  
• Last shots?
  

OneRepublic- Initial idea:

Possible song and narrative for music video:

OneRepublic- all fall down



breakdown into an initial narrative:
INSTRUMENTAL - 00:00- 00:21

entire Music Video is slow paced:

• start: home activity, male teenager running up the stairs for no reason.
• emotions of anger, dispair and sadness through gestures and expressions. Cut with a distraught and crying mother over the table with hand to her face.
• movement to bedroom: he crashes on bed then begins to pack a bag with clothes (implying he is going to leave- for good?)
• Flashbacks of broken furniture, eg. vase etc. ripped picture of father or something which resembles tragedy.

VOCALS:-

• 'Step out the door'- fade up to boy walking slowly out of front garden and down the street with a bag on his shoulder. EXtreme slow motion. hopefully raining.
• Continual flashbacks of a full on face to face arguement with his mother downstairs.- silent screaming, hand gestures, facial expressions, etc
• real time walking (could poss. be drinking)
• Flashback of mother smacking him across the face.
• 'thats the sound your waiting for'- busy traffic noise and cars going past him.
• people pushing past him in the street- they are normal but he is slowed down. (others walk doubletime on shoot)
• flashbacks of family life- e.g. home videos,
• 'thats when you find me' could be video stopping on father and son's faces?
• boy looking for places to eat e.g. shots of him sitting in a cafe- doesnt have enough money for some food,
• back to walking in the street
• boy looking for places to sleep- walks down to an underpass (A10 great cambridge road underpass). Sees tramps and drugs. put off and keeps walking.
• thugs start to take his belongings and he ends up with very little
• end: he has to sleep on a park bench or similar (humming at the end)
• last shot could be jsut his eyes beginning to open or even a passer by giving him something.

humour shots for comical videos

Interesting yet capable shots that have caught my eye:

· Silhouette shots of actions which match the beat of the song. For example silhouettes of hands opening on the beat with a colourful background.

· Spray on sideburns.

· To be continued...

potentials

List of potentials that I have been looking through:

-Pet shop boys’ songs

-West life songs

-B-52- NO!!!- Too much and female voices throughout

-Ricky Martin albums (Liam could be a good Ricky- Livin’ la Vida Loca)

-Sam Sparro albums

-The Script- a brand new band just releasing a song at the moment. They do have other songs which can be used. –WIKI

You’re unbelievable – EMF –good possibility.

Park life – Blur – good possibility.

Jason Mraz- Butterfly or The dynamo of volition

I like to move it, move it!-

Flight of the Concords- if you’re into it

nations fav. songs

INTERESTING RESEARCH:

Date: 26-7-08

Music channel: ‘the hits’

Programme: ‘The Nation’s Favourite Summer Songs Top 50.’

In keeping with the current group credentials…

-Light-hearted
-Easy listening
-Catchy/recognisable songs
-Appeals to the masses
-Known for the song and so this allows us to develop our creativity within the planning and production and our artist’s marketing strategies.

Audience feedback during the programme:

-Has to have dance moves, or something characteristic that can be copied
-Fast tempo
-Makes you want to dance
-Makes you feel happy, let your hair down
-Catchy lyrics


Top 10 on the countdown, not in order:

DJ Jazzy Jeff& Fresh Prince - Summer time

S club 7- Bring it all back
Grease- You’re the one that I want
Wham – Club Tropicana
Vengaboys- Going to Ibiza
The Foundations- Buttercup
Lass ketchup- The Ketchup song
Will Smith- Welcome to Miami
Peter Andre- Mysterious girl
Girls aloud - Long hot summer

I think these are important videos to look at the relationship between the feel of the song and how it is delivered visually. Also the audience feedback helps me to realise what the potential audience would want to see from this summer genre of music.

Ongoing music selection:

Music i have found an interest in, in terms of genre for this project are,

• Dance


• comedy pop


• 'Easy listening'

I really like the idea of a narrative accompanying the lyrics, taking the audience on a journey, rather than just having the singer/band performing in front of the camera lip-syncing. From looking at previous latymer music videos, in my opinion the ones with the most lip-syncing are in genenral te least successful. Also i want my video ot be more sophisticated and therefore am going to need to do location reccies, as shooting in schol areas can be rather tacky and look really amatuer. Finally i feel that there should be actors/actresses with some drama or acting experience in the music videos, as this elevates production standards. An example of a past music video that i find least successful for these reasions is...

Boy Crazy- High School rejects.








First thoughts for my music video i would like...

• Out of school location (more than one would be more challenging)
• performance and narrative based
• not too many actors/actresses due to past experiences with a lack of reliability
• possibly an abstract idea where there no continuity through narrative just a seemingly random compliation of shots which eventually have a meaning or are linked to the meaning portrayed in the song.
• to have unusual creative shots rather than just dull standard shots. e.g. when performing.
• a song which changes in mood at some stage during the song as this would enhance a key change in the video narrative.
• to be continued...