Assignment 2Vincent Davenport

Lighting

A music video which has given me a lot of inspirationwith regards to lighting is Man Don’t Care by JME. For this instance,

I like how they use a dark background and one strong key lightto create a silhouette effect. This connotes a sense of mysterious

feeling which is ideal for an intro as shown on the left.

Another example is then using light in front of the artist as oppose tobehind. Here a dark black background is used again, however

they are using the lighting from the fire as the main focus. Of course they are using other background/fill lighting but from the spectators

point of view it looks like its from the fire itself which is quite creative.

Overall though the black background is used to blend the charactersin the music video into the background. This is also used by

using mise-en-scene with a black coloured theme. For a music videowhich is in the grime or rap genre this is ideal as it connotes a fear

factor, which is the image the artist is trying to promote.

Editing

Here the 7/11 Beyonce music video is a conceptualmusic video consisting of static/jump cuts and fast forward shots.

What I do like is the constant use of jump cuts of Beyonce dancingdoing different things with a set camera shot throughout.

I also like how the editor increases the speed of the video whichemphasises the constant use of jump cuts but still manages to

keep the lip movement and singing in sync with the music. Every clapor chorus lip sync all manages to stay in time despite the

static movements.

Shots/Angles

The music video Barracuda by Big Narstie, has a wide range ofshots and angles. As I am looking to have a bit of performance for

my video I wanted to focus on a performance base video containingperformance shots. Here is a main shot type I will use a close up shot

of the artist showing/promoting his talents.

Here is a good dutch angle shot. I like this particularly because althoughits a close up of the artist, you can only really tell its a dutch angle

due to the crowd in the background, also emphasisingthe fact he is performing. The shot was also done in slow motion soit felt quite smooth watching, almost saying look at me performing

infront of this crowd.

There is then also the use of long shot. The shot follows therule of third, which is whats really making this shot appealing. But

also because the shot slowly zooms out, increasingthe width of the shot. Again as it zooms out of the artist, you then

get a clear view of the crowd he is performing infront of.

TransitionsHere I am using the We Are The People music video by

Empire Of The Sun to inspire transition ideas. The music video starts of with

a dark sound showing a long shot of a graveyard. At first the focus is

on the whole of the graveyard and slowly pull focuses tothe grave stump at the front.

Within seconds it then fades out intoa next shot as shown in the second image, with a parallel

sound to go with it. A sudden thud occurs as the shot changes from thedark sound which corresponds to the scary setting used of a

graveyard.

The second inspiring transition effect/ shot is the use of blurred focusas well as bright colours to slowly emerge out of a shot and into

a new one. The lighting from the sun is so bright it shines into thecamera from behind the artist where the camera then loses focuses

and slowly a faded transition occurs but with the present ofbright colour still used to show a different shot type of the artist.

MES/FXHere I will be discussing the effects and mies-en-scene used in the Electric feel music video by MGMT. I thought I’d

combined them because the two different technical codes enhance the indie / abstract theme the band are promoting. With effects they are

usinga filter and time lapse to connote they are in a different worldor dimension as you can see with the transition of different

colours.There was a filter transition from reality into this red colour

filter suggesting the odd / unnatural conceptual indie theme they are going for. These filters are consistent throughout and

changedepending on the setting.

With regards to mies-en-scene, as they are indie band they aregoing for an abstract art or something which is different and odd. Inthe video they are suggesting they are not from this planet, a small

community living under the moon. The mies-en-scene used revolves around colourful clothed clothing, a bit like a fairy land. The settings of the woods as well promotes this idea as well as

the use of a moon. They were very creative with this music video asthere was no green screen used, however the blurry effect made it

harder for viewers to spot the imperfections.

Conclusion

• Finally to conclude, all of the technical codes used throughout these videos are inspiration skills of which I will look into incorporating into my own music video. However I can’t specifically focus on what FX or camera shots i will pick out until I full determine what it is I want to do e.g Indie artist Image, Performance, narrative etc.

• However things like the transitions and editing FX I have researched will be used despite as skills and techniques like that aren’t as dependent on the type of music video but used in most music videos throughout.