Locations

Me and Jess wanted to find a location that brought a creepy atmosphere to the music video, after searching we found that in Thorpe St Andrew there is a derelict mental asylum. It was used in the 18th century and shortly closed after. We thought that if we filmed in the early evening, the lighting would add too the effect, but also the fact that it is an abandoned mental asylum will also make the audience feel uneasy. This is going with our running theme that the lead singer is mentally unstable. With the windows boredered up it instantly hints that no one wants to go into this place. We are going to have a few shots of the girl standing against the wall with the camera zooming out slowly to show the audience the whole picture.

This location in Anglia square is perfect to film some of our lead singer. He will be isolated in this vast area, with the background being quite dim and dingy. This will emphasise too the audience that he is alone. In contrast to the shots of the band members all together in the warm cosy pub. The lighting will also be very different in the two shots. This one will be dark and uninviting; whereas the shot in the pub will have warm shades. (e.g. yellows)

The second shot will be the band performing together outside. Relatively in the same place, yet the area will be less isolated. The reason I wanted to shoot this here, was so that the band members are higher up, looking down at the housing. Showing that they are rising above everyone else.

The Rock Genre holds a more urban feel to it. It rose from the streets and was found in less popular places. The fact that they didnt want to be associated with the mainstream population highlighted that they would be performing in cheap pubs and rundown places which is why I have chosen to have the band performing in this location.

Reading Festival and the increase in popularity.

Reading Festival has been going since around 1985. When the Festival was first set up, it was highly influenced by the festival "Monsters of Rock" which was very popular and  known to attract over 80,000 people. The festival in 1988 had a massive downfall, with the audience throwing bottles at the artists on stage, and not many thought that Reading would come back fighting.

However nowadays Reading Festival is one of the biggest going, with around 100,000 people attending every year. In my opinion it is in the top 3 largest Festivals in the UK. The genre of music that plays at the festival each year however, has not changed that much. With this year's headliners being Kasabian, Foo Fighters and so on.

Reading Festival perceives its self to be  more of a metal/rock event. If you look at the layout of the line up, you can pick out a few things that hint at what kind of audience they want too attract. For instance, the oval shape around the writing Reading suggests to me it could symbolise the sun, and with the hard edged shapes around the oval could add fire. Not only the shapes they've used but the colours too also add to the effect that the Reading Sign is alight. Making the Festival seem more appealing and dangerous.

Its a simple layout, that strikes you as soon as you look at it. Its very structured and easy to understand which I think a lot of people would like as it gives off the impression that this is what you're getting and nothing more. Whereas compared to some festivals e.g Bestival, which gives off the impression that, that Festival is much more laid back than Reading.

I think the increase in popularity of Festivals is mostly due to how people want others too perceive them. A few years ago, only a collection of people would attend Latitude or Reading, but now it is shown as  a necessity of your teenage summer. Different festivals have different niches they appeal too. Latitude being the more hippy people, and Reading being the more hardcore rock.  I think that it is more likely that people will go too a Festival now just for the fact that they can tell others they've been there and attended. I think Festivals are starting to distance from just attracting people who love the performers. More people are going for the whole experience and not just the music.

Manichaeism

Manichaeism

Blake believed in this whole idea of Manichaeism, which is what I am basing my music video around. Manichaeism is a contemporary term for someone who views the world as a struggle between Good and Evil.  

Manichaeism is a syncretistic form of Christianity which quickly became successful and spread through the Aramaic-Syriac speaking regions. However this belief gradually faded away within religions after the 14^th century.  It is now an attitude of moral dualism (a conflict) which involves the choice between good and evil.

“Light is gradually removed from the world of matter and returned to the world of light from which it came.”

William Blake

Research into William Blake.

William Blake was a poet born on 28th November 1757, like many poets at this time, he was not very well known during his lifetime. However now he is considered to be an important historical feature within poetry and the visual arts of the Romantic Age.

My main focus of William Blake’s work is his book “The marriage of heaven and hell”. It’s given me a good insight into how I should structure my music video and also influenced me in my ideas for the plot. I want to work my music video around his idea of heaven and hell and its differences.

William Blake believed that everyone was born with a 3^rd eye. This eye was the eye of perception. He thought that every human being were in chains because they would not accept their 3^rd eye and confined themselves to their 5 senses. "…there are things inside doors, outside doors, and in between the doors…”  According to Blake the third eye acts as a "switch" which activates higher states of consciousness and expands spiritual visions. The chains that we are trapped in were man made in Blake’s eyes therefore we are declining ourselves of the higher powers, in other words, he is suggesting that it is our own fault we cant access this third eye unless we allow ourselves to let it open. If you can’t imagine liberty (the third eye) then it will always be impossible to achieve it.

A good example of Blake’s beliefs about the third eye and achieving freedom and liberty is “The chimney sweeper”. The last two lines of each poem represent the difference in man if he opens his third eye.

“Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm; so if all do their duty they need not fear harm”. This first poem tells us how Tom, although he may be alone, he didn’t fight the spiritual powers therefore allowing him to be more happier than anyone who didn’t accept the third eye, therefore still being in chains their whole life. The second poem illustrates this difference:

“And are gone to praise God and his priest and king, who make up a heaven of our misery."

-Unfinished-

Costume

" If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is... infinite. "

This is an important quote in the book  "Marriage of Heaven and Hell" by William Blake. Its suggesting to me that our perception of reality is clouded by everything evil, hinting that if "the doors of perception were cleansed" then we would see reality as it should be, in everything good. I am going too use this idea within my music video, switching between good and evil and the fine line between the two. This is going to be represented in the video when the man (the lead singer) sees the girl who has been haunting him in his nightmares in the street, suggesting to the audience whether he is actually living in reality or living in his dreams. The idea is quite in depth at first and hard to get your head around it but I believe once I have filmed it, it will have a deeper meaning than most music videos that are published nowadays, which normally focus on the meaning of love and so on.

I cannot use the drumming footage in this video as it was filmed by the band Dora Nadine, however I mixed it with my footage to see what the outcome was, to decide whether I should recreate a drummer and mix the two together in the same way as shown below in this video.

Africa Shox - Leftfield

The genre of this particular song is mainly electro, which is commonly found in underground clubs/bars. The genre rose from the streets, associating itself with dance which is later a feature in the music video. Firstly, this shot (shown above) sets the scene, letting the audience know that the video is mainly focused in a vast industrial city e.g. New York. The environment has already been established before the music sets in. The level of this shot indicates to me as the audience that the high risen buildings could be seen as intimidating and daunting. The main focus of this video is following a black African man around the streets of New York, therefore this shot may been seen as unwelcoming to him, suggesting that he doesn’t belong in this environment. 

The use of cars lights in the second shot reinforces the idea that this type of music rose from the underground and is now found in clubs, the lights symbolise the flashing strobe which is linked with this genre of music.  Although the headlights are used as a symbolic meaning, this shot also highlights who is in charge, the police car moving down the road without any disturbances, with the camera focusing on it.

The first 30 seconds of this music video is showing the audience the mise-en-scene, and bringing up certain problems that occur even within a vast city like New York, for example, the show of the man, clinging onto the fence is a sign of poverty. It suggests to me that he is trying to cling onto anything safe and secure. The background behind him includes dark and glim colours shedding a negative light onto the whole video, suggesting that the city is in a time of crisis, sinking into the dirt, linking back to the first shot as even the mist is rising above the skyscrapers, engulfing the city into poverty. 

The first time we see the black man, he is found in a backstreet alleyway full of old rubbish bags, suggesting to the audience that he is worthless. The music videos whole purpose is focusing on the difference between ethnicity, highlighting how white British people look down upon others. It is filmed from the both perspectives. The quick rough cameras shots of the city showing it slightly out of focus is seeing New York from the black man’s point of view, emphasizing his confusion in this unfamiliar environment, but the switch to high camera angles looking down upon the man also shows how society views on the African black race. 

 

His clothing also highlights what sort of character the director of the music video wants us to view him as.  If you look at both pictures you can see the resemblance of the clothing black slaves had to wear in America in the 1860’s. Both pictures show how they are dressed in little more than rags, this compared to the clothing of everyday people living in New York is quite different, it separates the two different kinds of people with class. 

 

The scene in which the black man reaches out for help towards the suited New Yorker also reinforces the difference between the two communities. It highlights society’s views upon someone’s skin colour, and how that even though in 2012 we are taught to be accepting of everyone, not judging them on their nationality, there will always be a hint of racism. This shot belittles the man, with the high class New Yorker covering most of the shot, suggesting to the audience that he is more important, and that the black man is of little significance. Everyone moves out of reach when he again tries to ask for help, supporting how they do not want to aid him, or even touch him, suggesting that he is dirty, that it will cause harm to them if they come into contact with him.

The lyrics “Let’s get electrified” combined with the mid angle shot of the black man clinging onto the fence, could symbolise that he is trapped in a cage, and the word “electrified” suggests that it is an electric fence, linking back to the running theme of slavery and how they were punished for the colour of their skin. The fact that throughout the video the city is destroying the man suggests that he is not wanted here, and does not belong. 

 

This scene links in with the genre of music, it is more commonly found that this type of dancing (breakdancing) is found when listened with electro music. The black man may feel more at home in this scene, however the fact that the white men are performing the breakdancing may take away his cultural signifier, suggesting to the audience that white British men are stripping him of his own identity, making him unknown. Again highlighting that the black man is of no importance in this environment.

The first two examples of music videos are mainly focused upon footage of the band, rather than telling a story behind the song. This is common within hardcore music, which is why it has influenced me to incorporate footage of the band within my music video, however, the song I am using is a mix of genres (hardcore and punk) therefore the example below shows a band which is less heavier than the first, more concentrating on a story rather than just filming themselves performing. Thus giving me the idea to combine the two together, to link it too the mix of genres.

Example of a shot for our music video, however it will be slightly sped up when we get to edit, and the lighting will be adjusted.