Research
This is the research I have done to get a real understanding of what I want to achieve with my music video. I have used powerpoint presentations, Flickr, YouTube, Slideshare, several moodboards and pieces of work that have given me my inspiration.
Video Analysis of Nirvana's- Smells like Teen Spirit
Script:
Nirvana’s single Smells like Teen Spirit was released on the 10th September 1991, it shook the foundations of the music industry re-shaping it forever and taking the world by storm. The video is one of the most iconic videos in music history and the song propelled Nirvana’s Nevermind to the top on the charts in 1992. Smells like Teen Spirit still sounds as good todays as it did when first released 20 years ago.
The video to Smells like Teen Spirit was filmed by director Samuel Bayer. He believed that Nirvana hired him to film the video because he was so bad that it seemed a very punk rock grunge thing to do at the time.
During the video, the camera pans very slowly across all the band members in different shots and also cuts to the crowd where the camera again pans slowly. These panning shots create a sense of creeping through the dark in a very grunge, punk rock way, exactly the feeling the band wanted to give off while shooting the video. Mid shots are used frequently during the song to show the facial expressions of the band and crowd as well as some of their body movements. However close up shots; extreme zoom ins and zoom outs have been put together to give a very raw, ‘in your face’ feeling to the video creating a feeling of being restless which can be conveyed through the viewer. The lighting is also very poor and murky in the music video which again gives off that underground; dirty, grunge vibe. The lighting also gives the song itself a lot of power as the sound contrasts so much with the lighting.
The editing for being grunge rock video is quite unorthodox. For most of the video the cuts are evenly spaced cutting from Kurt to the crowd then back to Kurt and focussing on the rest of the band when the chorus kicks in. This diverts away from Goodwin’s theory that the music and visuals are illustrative to each other. The edits and the music contradict each other for majority of the song. However as Kurt comes out of the solo he lets his guitar feedback, creating a twisted morphed sound which is shown in the video as there are no cuts for the duration of this feedback just helping to amplify that eerie feeling during the video, one of Goodwin’s theories linking the music and editing. It is only towards the end of the video that the cuts become quicker as Kurt screams in the final lines of the song where complete anarchy has taken over and the set is trashed. As the drums guitar and Kurt’s vocals go all out at the end of the song the edits are amplified by the music which finally does link in with Goodwin’s theory. The video finally then fades to black in time with the feedback from the guitar getting quieter and quieter giving off a very eerie vibe.
The way Nirvana dress in the video was typical of the underground grunge movement at the time, a very rough battered look gave the band that raw edge needed to pull such a dark video off. Intertextuality is shown as the video was based on Jonathan Kaplan’s 1979 film Over the Edge, which was said to have been one of Kurt Cobain’s favourite films. The film is based around teenage rebellion and anarchy. Anarchy is one of the main features of the song and the anarchy sign can be seen on the cheerleader’s costumes. This message is also conveyed through the crowd as well when they tear the set apart.
Some of the elements of Smells like Teen Spirit have been reused again in videos today. For example, My Chemical Romances’ music video ‘Teenagers’ has several references to Smells like Teen Spirit, the cheerleaders on stage, the fact the set is inside a gym hall – even if it is a lot cleaner than Nirvanas set – and at the end of the song the teenage crowd helping to smash up the set. Tim Hope says television and film are often a point of reference. As well as Smells like Teen Spirit being based on the film over the edge, videos like ‘Sabotage’ by The Beastie Boys or ‘Big Me’ by the Foo Fighters also mock television and film. However, it needs to be remembered that Nirvana will have taken their inspiration from previous bands and their videos to create videos such as Smells like Teen Spirit.
Audience Profile
My audience Profile gives some insight into the target audience I plan to aim my music video at. Also below are some chart surveys I have done before creating this audience profile. This has made it a lot easier for me to decide what i'm going with my video; Digi pak and advertisement.
Video Pitch
My video Pitch shows the artists and other videos I have drawn my inspiration from. It also includes a mood board as well as the track I will be using to make my music video. This is following on from my audience profile where I carried out surveys to creat this information.
Mood Boards
These are a few of the mood boards I have created to get an idea of what I want my music video, digi pak and advertisement to be like. I have taken my inspiration from several bands, run down locations and what kind of things my target audience are into such as; clothing, drinks, hobbies and how they spend their money.
Research into Digi Packs
I have analysed a Digi Pack on flickr and looked into all of its conventions trying to explain the artists choices and why they have put what they have put on there album.
(Front and Back cover)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67678108@N07/6182310022/
(Inside cover and inside CD)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67678108@N07/6182309384/
(Booklet from the Digi Pack)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67678108@N07/6181785759/
Research into Existing Magazine Adverts
I have also analysed A magazine advert which will help me create my own magazine advert as I will adapt the existing elements from the magazine advert into my own. These will include the reviews from music magazines and a web address.
Magazine Advert:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67678108@N07/6216858156/
Audience Feedback to my First Draft of my Digi Pack
- Get rid of the letter which would sit behind the CD in my digi pack as it doesnt look right and spoils the rest of my album.
- The letter should then be replaced by a photo linking it into the idea of signposts and travel, this will also help show off my photographic skills.
- I should also add a photo to the front cover of my digi pack again showing a sense of journey and my photographic skills.
- The photos should possibly be in black and white to help with the continuity of the rest of my digi pack and also my magazine advert.
- They liked the idea of the signpost on the inside cover having the band members names on while the dirt track winds away into the distance. It again backs up the idea of being on a journey.
- The back cover was also very good as it has clear links to the inside cover and also the magazine advert. The idea that you have walked away from the signpost and it is now in the distance is a clever idea.
- The band name and album title on the spine are also good as the colour scheme has been flipped on its head so the background is black and the text is white. The change up is again a good idea.
Audience Feedback to my First Draft of my Magazine Advert
I showed this draft of my magazine advert to members of my target audience who then gave me feedback on how they believed it could be improved to appeal to my target audience even more. These members of my target audience involved some of the people in my class and so I asked for their opinions. These were some of the things they came back to me with to improve my magazine advert.
- I need to even the reviews up so they there are some on either side of the singpost so it does not look over-balanced on one side.
- I need to add another sign off the signpost as well to make the signpost look a bit more realistic.
- A black banner across the top was also suggested and the band name (The Notice) should be changed to white so that it isnt all just blank space behind the signpost.
- The idea of two paths coming off this signpost makes the reader think they have a choice of which way to go but will also encourage them to think a bit more about why there are two paths in the magazine advert.
- The patch of grass at the bottom of the signpost-which is the only colour used in the magazine advert-also draws a reader into it as it catches their eye.
- Finally the text below the signpost is all in the centre of the page rather than to the side and so combines with the signpost really well. You would either look down the signpost onto the writing or look from the writing up onto the signpost.
Existing Videos
I have looked into already existing music videos on Youtube which has given me further inspiration into how I want my music video to look by the end of my project. The band I am using for my music video (The Notice) are a 5 piece Indie rock band from Consett and so I will be looking at Indie rock bands which already exist to see if there are any elements of their videos I can use for my own.
The Arctic Monkeys
'Teddy Picker' captures the Arcitc Monkeys during their down-time before they start playing in the practice rooms in the video. This is the mood which I really want to capture during the begining of my music video and also at the end of it where the song is a bit slower and things feel a bit calmer. The whole idea of filming down-time to use in music video's is not a new one. The likes of Guns N' Roses 'Sweet Child of Mine' has had elements of it in before. however, the Indie rock scene has taken it for its own use and integrates it well into all of its music video's.
The idea of watching a band performance in the practice room is also an idea that has been adapted from previous decades for the Indie rock scene and is again another element I want to capture in the band performance element of my music video.
The cuts are very quick in this music video and because of the pace of the song I am doing (Reckoning), quick jump cuts are ideal to move from one place to another and is also very simple to perform on any movie making programme.
The range of different shots because of the amount of jump cuts is also very important as it adds variation to the music video. Again it is an idea I want to go along with, a large range of shots will keep my target audience entertained and involved in my music video.
The Raconteurs
'Salute Your Soloution' is another example of an Indie rock music video which is recorded in a practice session. However this is like a live recording of the song rather than skipping backwards and forwards around the session.
Its had been shot with a mixture of still shots from a camera combined with footage with frames taken out of it which is not really what I want to go for in my music video but the effect is still a great one and comes off really well.
The different shots in this video are what interest me. There are a range of wide shots establishing where the band are in the begining which gives the viewer a clear indication as to what is goin on. Mid shots and close ups are used very frequently, combine them with the pace of the song and it is a really good effect. It is one I would like to partially bing this into my video in bothe the narrative and the band performance.
The black and white effect in this video is also something I am interested in for the narrative element of my music video so it gives it a slight seperation from the band performance. Black and white would also be good because of my outdoor location shooting for my narrative and the fact that the winter sun isnt sitting quite right for it to be shot in colour. Black and white will help merge colours together and stop any one colour from ruining a shot.
Existing A-level Media Video
This is someones existing music video from their A-level media coursework which I found on Youtube. They have created a chase video to the song 'Fast Fuse' by Kasabian which is a very up-beat fast song and so the video fits the song perfectly.
This video gave me the main inspiration for my own chase scenes in the narrative performance of my music video.
The range of different shots really gives the video a very professional look and the shots have clearly been throught through and planned well in advance. The shots go from, handheld running shots, wide shots, long shots, high angle shots and low angle shots. Shots like the long range, wide and handheld shots are all ones I would like to use in my own music video to capture this real sense on an intense chase where my main actor is always on the verge of being caught.
The black and white effect in parts of this video really work and I would like to adopt them into the narrative of my own music video. It will help give a clear definition between the narrative and band performance within my video.
The black and white effect will also help blend all of the colours together in my narrative as there are so many different colours in the surroundings of an outdoor shoot.
