Main Task - 'Wasting Time' - Lyrics Analysis

Main Task - Artist Correspondence

We managed to find Littlewing through a friend, and due to the fact they have a Facebook page for the band, it was very easy to make initial contact with them. We made most of the correspondence with the lead singer Annie, who was then able to contact the other members of the band for us. 
They were very willing to help us with creating a music video. I think was particularly because they are an independent, so it would be very useful to them to have a music video created for free.
They had a lot of faith in us by letting us create a music video for their song, as they had to trust that we would make a music video that they could use themselves.
Obviously, we had hoped for the band to feature in the music video, and having asked them, they seemed more than happy to.

Following this initial contact, Annie forwarded the message onto the rest of the band to make sure they would be up for it, and thankfully they were. It was so useful to be able to work with the band directly, due to the fact they themselves had written the song, so if they had ideas for the music video they were able to tell us.

It seemed like it had been plain sailing organising what the music video would be like with the band. However we encountered one issue; trying to find a date to film. We realised that it was near impossible to find a date that 5 people from 2 different locations could do. Eventually, we found a date that the band and my partner could do, but I was unable to get time off work to help. Although I was disappointed that I would be there for production, it was the only day that all the band could do, so I entrusted my partner to complete the shoot for me.

Main Task - Chosen Song - 'Wasting Time' - Littlewing

We chose the song 'Wasting Time' by Littlewing to produce a music video for. They have three songs on their EP, however we chose this song because it was quite light hearted, and the song itself wasn;t over-produced, so if we chose to create a live performance element as part of our music video, it would be feasible.
Also, production would be taking place in summer/early autumn. Although British weather is unpredictable, we hoped that it would be quite pleasant weather, and this would therefore fit well with the tone of the song.

Main Task - Chosen Artist - Littlewing

Littlewing is a three piece alternative-rock band from Buckinghamshire.

Annie Needham (Guitar / Vocals)
Joe Humphrey (Drums)
Nick Morgan (Bass / BV's) 

Chloe got in contact with Littlewing after having found some of their music from their EP 'Barricades ' on Soundcloud. We had found that they were from Buckinghamshire, which was pretty local for us, so it seemed that finding a location for shooting would be easier, as we wouldn't have to travel far to accommodate for the band. 

Having got in contact with them, they were more than happy for us to create a music video for them, as they had wanted one made for ages, and they trusted that we would make one that they would be able to use in their own marketing.

Main Task - Initial Ideas

Before we chose the final song that we would create a music video for, we decided to brainstorm about the style and genre of music video that we wanted to create. Both myself and Chloe (the girl I worked alongside) are into indie music, particularly bands such as Bombay Bicycle Club, Two Door Cinema Club, and The Vaccines. Therefore we knew that when it came to picking a song, it should probably be within the indie genre, as it is something we both like and are interested in. At this point we didn't know what style of music video we wanted to create, so we just jotted down possible venues, bands and genres that we could use as our starting point.

Music Video Analysis: Indie Alternative: Hozier - Work Song



Performer and Record Label

Andrew Hozier-Byrne, known professionally by the mononym Hozier, is an Irish indie rock singer and songwriter from Bray, and he is signed to Island Records. Island Records is a major record label that operates as a division of Universal Music Group

Narrative

The music video for 'Work Song' is focused around the romantic relations between people, and these relationships have been demonstrated through dance and movement. The song itself is about how sometimes people can be pulled away from the one they love, but in the end they will always try to find a way back to them. This is particularly demonstrated through the line:

'No grave, can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her'

The use of dance as opposed to a usual narrative I feel makes the narrative more open to interpretation. It could be seen that the pairs of dancers are dancing to symbolise the love between them, but it could also be seen as the break up of a relationship, and the male in the relationship attempting to 'crawl home' to the female: he is trying to win the female back.

Mise en scene
The entirety of the music video takes place inside a building, which looks like a barn. It has been set up to look like a live performance of a Hozier song, and the rest of the cast have been made to appear like audience members of the gig. The location for the music video could have been created in a studio, due to the fact it is only one location to create. Also, by creating the setting in a studio, you are able to control the lighting more easily. At one point in the music video, majority of the cast leave, leaving only the dancers in the room. Although the same location is used, this change in cast members make it appear at first to the audience as if the room has changed.

Costume, Make Up and Props
The costume of the cast seems to fit well with the location on the music video. With it being set within what appears to be a barn, the actors are wearing quite rural clothing: the women wearing shirt dress, and the men wearing quite loose fitting shirts. The make up of all of the cast is also very minimalist, which reinforces the rural location of the music video. Throughout the music video there aren't many major props, so it could be considered that the dancers themselves are the main props of the music video. They are helping drive the narrative, due to the fact that they are telling the audience a story of love through their movements.

Lighting and Colour
The lighting in this music is quite natural, and almost appears to be daylight. However it is clear that synthetic lighting has been used to achieve this, due to the fact you are unable to control daylight, so the levels of light could change throughout the day. Also, throughout the video, it appears like there are several small spotlights that are moving around the entirety of the location.
The video itself has quite a warm tone to it, mainly due to the browns of the location, accompanied by the colouring of the dancer's clothing. This warm tone matches well with the rawness of the artist Hozier's voice, so the visuals accompanied by the sound work very well together.

Camera and Editing
The editing throughout the music video is quite basic, in that time hasn't been shrunk or expanded, and there hasn't been any unusual transitions between shots used. The camera is very mobile throughout the whole music video, which allows us to see all of the dancing, accompanied by Hozier singing. The close ups in the music video tend to mainly be of Hozier, due to the fact that the dancers are constantly moving, so the use of a wide shot or a medium close up allows the audience to see all of their movements.

Music Video Analysis: Indie Alternative: The Wombats - Give Me a Try

Performer and Record Label

The Wombats are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool. The band is signed to 14th Floor Records in the United Kingdom and Bright Antenna in the United States.

14th Floor Records is a British subsidiarity record label of Warner Music UK, founded in 2002 by part owner Christian Tattersfield.



Narrative

There isn't one set narrative throughout the music video, however it is based around the concept of dating apps, and the people that use them. Close up shots of people's phones show the app that appears to look similar to apps such as Tinder. Part of the music video shows the people on the app taking their profile pictures, showing that people can be quite different behind what you can see in the picture. Throughout the music video, several dates take place, connecting several of the narratives together, as they have an unsuccessful date and then go on a another date with a new person. I feel that this music video is very successful due to how current it is, due to the fact such a high number of people have used dating sites and dating apps at some point in their life. By using some a popular subject, it means that more people are able to directly relate to the music video, meaning they are more likely to enjoy the music video.

Mise en scene

The music video takes place over many different locations, mainly because the locations tend to be at the different settings of the dates, such as a restaurant. However lots of the different locations tend to occur when different people are shown in the setting of their profile pictures. This has been shown as a montage, as it is a series of different clips, without any diegetic sound. I would say that for this music video, there has been a mixture of filming in a  studio and filming on location. I think that some of the shots of the people that use the app were filmed in a studio, because they would have been easier to set up to look how they imagined, rather than filming on a location where you would probable have to move everything around anyway.

Costume, Make Up and Props

There are a variety of different costumes used throughout the music video that help communicate to the audience the personality of the character. This shows that costume is very important when creating a music video or film, as the dress of the person can help be a judge of character. One of the most important props throughout the music video is a mobile phone, as it could be considered that the mobile phone helps to drive the narrative. Close ups of the screen of the phone allow us as the audience to see the potential dates of each character, and then allows us to see who it is they end up matched with.

Lighting and Colour

I reckon that additional lighting has been used to help light some of the scenes, particularly those of them that take place inside. However, I also think that the final shot of a girl leaving her house to go on a date with a new guy has also had additional used within it to make sure that the shot was bright enough, due to the fact it was filmed during the night time. They have probably used more of a yellow toned light so that it doesn't appear as harsh in the shot as a white light would look.

Camera and Editing

The editing throughout the music video is quite basic, in that time hasn't been shrunk or expanded, and there hasn't been any unusual transitions between shots used. Throughout the music video, a mixture of wide shots and medium close ups have been used in order to show to the audience the different characters that are using the dating site. Wide shots are used to establish the location of the person, and then medium close ups and close ups have been used to show the characteristics of the person, by showing objects relating to them, or different body parts, such as the tattoos of the hand of one man in the music video.

Music Video Analysis: Indie Alternative: Broods - Bridges

Performer and Record Label
Broods is a music duo from Nelson, New Zealand, composed of Georgia Nott on lead vocals, with older brother and multi-instrumentalist Caleb Nott on production and backing vocals. They are signed to Polydor Records, a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group.

Narrative
'Bridges' is a completely narrative based music video. The narrative itself follows a teenage boy and a teenage girl who appear to be best friends. However, as the narrative progresses, it becomes clear to the audience that the boy has in fact developed feelings for the girl. The shots used make it seem that she is flirting with the boy, but unfortunately at the end of the music video, the boy attempts to kiss the girl, but she refuses and runs away. Throughout the music video, the audience tends to feel sympathy for the boy, because it is made crystal clear that he really likes the girl, but unfortunately for him, the feelings aren't reciprocated. I feel that the audience would be able to easily relate with this music video, because it is a situation that many people will have been in:

Mise en scene
The music video is shot in several locations, however most of the music video appears to be filmed in a block of flats. Due to the wide shot that takes place outside the block of flats, I would presume that the music video was shot on location, because it would quite difficult to create a realistic set that reflected of an urban block of flats.


Costume, Make Up and Props
The two characters in the music video are wearing clothes stereotypical of teenagers: jeans, hoodies and bomber jackets. However, although the attire is stereotypical of teenagers, it isn't clothing that is particularly worn in the present day. The clothing makes me think that the music video is set in the early 2000's, or because the band are from New Zealand, perhaps the clothing is stereotypical of teenagers in New Zealand.
There are several important props that form part of the narrative of the music video, one of these being a set of plastic vampire fangs. The young boy and girl are getting very close, pretending to 'bite' each other with their vampire fangs, and this is the point in the music video where the boy attempts to kiss the girl. He pins her to the ground, making us as the audience think that he is just going to pretend to bite her, but instead he tries to kiss her. Without the use of the vampire fangs, the boy wouldn't have been in a situation where he felt he could kiss the girl, therefore the vampire fangs have been very important in helping to drive the narrative.

Lighting and Colour
Very minimalist lighting has been used in this music video - lighting doesn't help with the narrative of the music video, therefore it doesn't need to be particularly noticeable. Although lighting isn't very noticeable throughout the music video, I would say that more white has been added to the video in colour grading, because the colours in the music video are quite muted: at times, the music video feels quite pale.

Camera and Editing
The music video consists of lots of medium close ups and close ups of the boy and girl, communicating their relationship to the audience. At the end of the music video, time has been expanded when the boy spots a room with smoke and lights coming out of it. It isn't completely clear from the narrative what is in this room, but I feel tat by slowing down this part of the sequence, it looks more effective.



Director Analysis - Ninian Doff

Ninian Doff is a director of music videos, short films, and commercials for companies such as O2 and Hula Hoops.

Doff has created music videos for a variety of different artists, and doesn't seem to have stuck to a particular genre, unlike directors such as Samuel Bayer. He has created music videos for the likes of Peace, Royal Blood and Kasabian, and looking through his music videos, it is clear that he very much enjoys creating music videos with a narrative, rather than focusing on performance.

An example of a strong narrative is in his music video for 'Figure It Out' by Royal Blood. The music video follows a female protagonist as she runs around a shopping mall. However the change of colour between blue and red shows to the audience different pieces of information, some of which can only be seen with certain colour lights. The music video has a clear beginning, middle, and end, which makes it very reminiscent of a film rather than a music video. This is a clear theme in Doff's music videos, as they seem more like films accompanied by music, rather than a music video, which demonstrates just how strong the narrative is in his music videos.

Another example of a strong narrative in Doff's music videos is for the song 'Sometimes I Feel So Deserted' by The Chemical Brothers. This music video follows a female protagonist who is walking aimlessly through the desert. At first, we as the audience think she is a good character, however it is soon revealed that she is a zombie, or a walking corpse, when we see her eat another person, and pull off her own broken leg to attach a metal one. There is a very cinematic feel about the music video, and it is clear that Doff has focused on making the music video look good, as well as synthesising with the song. 

Director Analysis - Samuel Bayer

Samuel David Bayer is an American visual artist, cinematographer, commercial, music video and film director.

Samuel Bayer has an extensive list of music videos that he has directed, ranging from artists such as Green Day and Good Charlotte, to Maroon 5 and Robbie Williams. It is clear that over the past 25 years of directing music videos, he has worked with a lot of alternative and rock bands, including names such as Metallica and Nirvana. Although he has worked with artists that fit more into the pop genre, he has definitely spent the majority of his time with these heavier artists, which could be a reflection of his style when directing.

A noticeable feature in a large majority of Bayer's music videos, particularly in his earlier videos in the 90's, is a focus on the depth of field. In his music videos for 'Hold On' by Good Charlotte, and 'American Idiot' by Green Day, he has shifted his focus in several shots to emphasize the depth of field he has used. This strong depth of field is something that makes Bayer's music videos appear quite cinematic, and beginning to cross the line between film and music video.

Following on from this, his most recent music videos including two for Maroon 5 are very cinematic. Both of the Maroon 5 videos are a mix of performance and narrative, allowing Bayer to turn these music videos into something that appears more like a film. This can be particularly seen in the music video for 'Payphone', as the narrative follows the lead singer (Adam Levine) as he is being chased by the police, as they have think he has robbed the bank, even though he was the person that managed to escape being held hostage at the bank. Depth of field is also very prominent in these music videos, however their isn't any shifting of focus like there was in Bayer's earlier music videos.

Director Analysis - Daniel Cloud Campos

Daniel "Cloud" Campos is an award-winning Los Angeles-based dancer, director, and occasional actor raised in San Diego, California and Orlando, Florida.

Daniel Campos has many directing credits, producing music videos for artists such as Hayley Williams, Zedd, and Panic! At the Disco. Most recently (2015), he has produced a music video for Panic! At the Disco. This was Daniel's second time collaborating with the band, having previously directed the music video for 'This is Gospel' back in 2013.

The band themselves were very excited to work with Daniel Campos again because the new music video he was directing would be a follow on from the narrative in 'This is Gospel'. Towards the end of the 'This is Gospel' music video, the lead singer Brendon Urie is running towards the light, and in the new music video for 'Emperor's New Clothes', Brendon has reached hell, and he is turning into the devil.

Daniel's music videos are very well constructed, and he uses some interesting techniques when creating his music videos.
For example, when shooting the 'Emperor's New Clothes' video, he chose to film at 12 frames per second, giving the effect of very glitch movements. This effect fits very well with the theme of the narrative: with the protagonist Brendon becoming possessed by the devil.

Music Video Analysis: Royal Blood - Figure It Out

Performer and Record Label
Royal Blood are an English rock duo formed in Brighton in 2013. The band's sound is reminiscent of and rooted in modern blues rock, hard rock and garage rock. The pair themselves have created Black Mammoth Records, as they 'like the idea of keeping everything home grown for now', however they are also signed to Warner Bros. Records UK.

Narrative
The music video follows a girl who is walking through a mall, and appears to be very dangerous due to the 'Caution' and 'Missing' posters she appears on, that feature all around the shopping centre. The idea that she is dangerous is reinforced when she manages to fight of all of the security guards, and she kills another man with what appears to be a piece of a glass bottle. Several people throughout the video attempt to capture her, but by the end of the music video she has managed to escape through the exit, leaving a trail of blood on the wall behind her.

Mise en scene
The main location of the music video is the interior of the mall, however there are five shots that take place outside of the mall in a small van in the car park of the shopping centre. The music video was probably shot in on location, as the number of different areas of the mall that are shown in the music video would be very difficult and expensive to create in a studio. The shots that take place outside of the mall must have been shot on location, as once again it is something that would be very difficult to create in a studio, and still make it look realistic.

Costume, Make Up and Props
Make up and props is a very important aspect of this music video, and it helps to drive the narrative. The use of specifically coloured make up has been used throughout to represent the blood and bruises that appear on the women when a certain coloured filter is used. Props are also very important in connection to the narrative as it helps reinforce what is happening in the story. The posters that are up around the mall incinerate that the woman is missing, which might not be very clear without the posters. For costume, the woman protagonist in the video is wearing a white vest which clearly shows the make up that is on it, as the choice of any other colour top wouldn't show the make up as clearly.

Lighting and Colour
Lighting and colour are one of the most important parts of the music video. Two different coloured filters - red and blue - have been used interchangeably throughout the video allowing the viewers to see different aspects that are only visible when the particular coloured filter is used. For example, when we first see the caution sign, the blue filter is used so we can only see the writing on the poster. However, when the filter changes to red, we then see that the protagonists face is the image on the poster: therefore she is the one who is dangerous, and you should be cautious around.

Camera and Editing
Straight cuts are used all the way throughout the music video. Long shots are used when the music video starts in order to clearly show the audience where it is set, as without these establishing shots, the audience would be unsure as to where they were. Towards the end of the music video, when the protagonist has been captured and then escapes, quick cuts have been used in order to fit with the pace of the narrative. At this point in the music video, two of the shots have had the speed increased in post production, which is quite unusual for a music video, as the action is often slowed down. However, due to what is happening in the narrative at the time, speeding it up is far more effective than slowing it down would be.

Music Video Analysis: Catfish And The Bottlemen - Fallout

Performer and Record Label
Catfish and the Bottlemen are a British indie rock band that formed in Llandudno, North Wales in 2007. In 2013, they were signed to Communion Records, however in 2014 they were resigned to Island Records. Island Records is a major American record label that operates as a division of Universal Music Group, but as of February 2014, three Island label brands exist in the world: Island UK, Island US, and Island Australia.

Narrative
'Fallout' is a completely narrative based music video. The music video focuses on the driver of a white van, who begins to see everyone around him dancing, and although being very confused, he soon decides to join in with the madness that is all around him. It is very surrealist, because you would not expect people to be dancing everywhere that you go, showing that perhaps the main protagonist of the video is escaping to a different world to make his job more interesting. There is no relation between the lyrics and the narrative which is quite unusual for a music video, however the music video is still very effective.

Mise en scene
The main basis of the music video revolves around both the interior and exterior of a white van, whilst it drives through quite a suburban area that appears to be somewhere in Britain. The music video was definitely shot on location as opposed to in a studio, as it would be far too difficult to re-create the setting in a studio.

Costume, Make Up and Props
The three men that are sat in the van are all wearing quite comfy clothes of jeans and a t-shirt, clothes you would typically associate with painting, decorating or building, jobs which the white van seems to connote. Apart from the van, there isn't any particularly important props, however in the final part of the music video, the protagonist dances with a shopping trolley. The use of this reinforces the idea that it is based in a suburban area, as you are unlikely to just find a shopping trolley.

Lighting and Colour
Natural lighting has mainly been used throughout the video, but I am unsure whether there has been lighting placed within the van to ensure the interior of the van was well lit, and that the level of light inside could therefore be maintained. There is a slight white tone to the video which has probably been done in post production, as I would expect that it would originally be quite yellow toned due to the sun. I feel like the colour grading of the music video fits well with the genre of the music, and it gives it that alternative indie quirk that is so commonly used in this genre of music videos.

Camera and Editing
Throughout the music video, there is lots of medium close ups of the three men in the white van so that we can see their reactions to what is happening around them. There is also some long shots of the people dancing around them, and some wide shots of the exterior of the van. During one of the final shots, slow motion has been used to focus on the facial expressions of the protagonist whilst he dances along the alleyway with the shopping trolley.