Looking at Mise-en-scene

 

Mise en scene is a key concept in Media Studies that I was introduced to in AS level. It’s a French term meaning ‘putting into the scene’. In any genre of film consisting of the music video, refers to all the elements that are in front of the camera that compose a shot. These elements include:

• Lighting
• Objects and props
• Costume and make-up.
• Colours and shading
• Position of characters in the frame and their relevant movement
• Setting and location (can be external or studio)
• Shot types and camera work
• Composition of the shot as a whole—how it is framed and timing of shot

This motivational and enlightening online slideshow on the importance and essence that the mise-en-scene offers in a music video really reinforced my understanding and awareness of this key concept.

Mise En Scene – Music Video from amyamz12334

Dedicating time in the suite

Spending lunchtime hours, free periods, after school hours and even occasional media lessons working on our thriller title sequence either altogether or individually. All in all, the process is a lengthy one and we all have established a work ethic that motivates us to listen to one another's opinions and then to adapt each others creative ideas into the piece. The media studio at our school provides us with a Active Premiere double screened computer as well as speakers, desk space and normal Dell computers in order to fulfil the requirements of the task professionally.

Art of the Title

The art of the title is an inspirational, creative website listing the creme de la creme of the best and more individual title sequences in music videos and film. As a group this was an extremely beneficial source to creativity during the earlier process of our work.

Our fascination with sound

Experimenting with digital software

This transformed image is a perfect example of the gradual progress in learning the skills needed to create the very best possible Digipak album cover.
I really enjoyed adding and adjusting shapes and colours in a pop culture fashion. m

Filling in the gaps

As we have regular group meetings in the editing suite to evaluate and alter the footage that we have so far, we also contribute to discussions regarding inserting new shots and ideas.
We have come up with some ideas listed below:

Face paint of animals is really iconic for our music video. It cleverly links to the lyrics: 'in five years time we could be walking around a zoo'- this creates humour and charm to the video.

The image of couples feet in bed also would be an adoring shot type in the video. 

Our lack of special effects make it authentic and bona fide.

We are also considering including a shot of someone laughing whilst drinking out of a Ribena bottle to replicate wine as the lyrics say: 'drink stupid wine'- this mocks alcohol and creates a comedic effect for the viewer. It is known that the alcohol culture amoungst young people is very popular, yet we aim to promote a healthy and stable message within our video.

General feedback from teachers

As a group we have successfully created the core part of video, and have been given feedback on our stylistic choices from shot types to creativity.
Today, 16th October we were told by our teacher Ms Whitman that she admired the wide, group shot of people jumping in and out of trees. This echoes the Sound of Music when The Von Tramp children are playing in the park and amoung the trees.

This definitely is a classic film reference that we have adapted into our video. It shiows the fun and adventures that young people embark on and very much suits our genre of choice. This is known as pastiche technique.

On the side, we have also taken still photography shots that offer a collage effect to the video. For example, we have chosen girls to stand on tree stumps an pathways whilst holding up decorative signs with coloured hearts and messages that mirror the song's lyrics.
When editing them into the timing of the song by cutting and adjusting accordingly (in order to fit with the timing), this successfully worked out and provides another form of cinematography to the video.

Today we came up with another inventive idea to incorporate within the video. We took the Canon camera in the filming studio, and placed a red gell sheet over the redhead to create a vibrant and colour-symbolic shot. We held up fingers to spell out: L, O, V, E. This footage was then captured onto our Adobe folder where we played around with the sequencing of this shot. As a result, we were very much satisfied with the clever arrangement of this idea and decided to save and keep this for our final piece. The use of shadows and silhouettes against this pink/red background is authentic and traditionally artistic.
Our constructive criticism:

1. To focus on more quirky transition shots
2. To include more lip synching

Storyboarding page 1

Independent research into my Digipak

Coverhunt is a very useful website as it is a collection of any possible album CD covers that one can want to look for! I have browsed through and had a look at the hipster/indie folk genre covers which has given me more of a perspective when applying my own research and ideas into the video and of course into the digipak cover.

I have also explored different sites that are listed as Album Art Collections. They have listed a galore of CD covers that vary in such an artistic and detailed range.

Noah and the Whale's Five Years Time

Uploading footage

As the three of us all act as editors, producers and directors we have arranged to meet up at our school's media suite to go over footage and break it up into fractions in order to organise the order of shots in the sequence. As of yesterday, October 12th, we are satisfied with the introduction (45 seconds) of the song, which has most definitely been completed. The core of the song is still yet to film, yet we have plenty of transition shots to incorporate within, from our first day of filming. We had a group meeting yesterday to discuss the plan as we will be working on the footage as well as gathering even more footage at the same time. The target is December so we feel that October-early November is set for filming, and the rest of November is dedicated to editing.
Overall, we feel confident and satisfied with what we have at the moment, which has motivated us to explore more shots and ideas together.

Album Cover Analysis

 

As an assignment, my class and I were given the task to analyse two different artists' album covers. One relating to my chosen music genre for the music video and another completely separate.
Below is the Iron and Wine album cover:

This album cover exhibits Van Gogh's style with the delicate, vertical brush strokes and fine lines showing the variation in tone and colour. There is a man who appears to be lying in a field of grass sleeping. This creates a sense of serenity and tranquililty within the frame. He is wearing a white, open collared shirt that shows he is casual and not formal. There is an angelic and god-like feel to the picture as the grass is spread arond his head symbolizing a halo or that he is a holy figure. His beard also is connected to the stereotypical image of a god. The album cover is illustrated not photographed which appeals to Iron and Wine's target audience as it echoes his artistic taste and style. The album title: 'Our endless numbered days' as well as the artist's name: 'Iron and Wine' are both written in lower case showing a lack of effort and informality. The font is written in a serif, chalkboard form that is unmodern yet stylistic. Overall, the album cover is ornate and full of interpretations.

 

This album cover is by an alternative, soft rock band called Young Guns. This is a completely different genre and messgae. This photograph/animation is particularly gothic and sinister. There is a woman floating in mid-air fully nude with her head fully back. This might be an exorcism, spiritual healing or post-death. Her hair is faded white which signifies purity and after-life. The open, bright window is almost paralysing the figure with its natural, harmful light. There is also sexual undertones emitted from this image. This can also be interpreted as a portal to the afterlife. The edges of the frame are damaged showing that the photograph is maybe taken with a poloroid or an old fashioned camera. The band's name: 'Young Guns' is positioned in the centre of the frame in an enlarged and son-serif font. The translucent tone contributes to the eerie, ghostly feel of the image. The overall colour scheme is misty and faded with its dark purple, black, white and greys. The album name's font: 'Bones' is hand written like an artist's signature at the bottom right corner providing the viewer with a piece of art aside from an album cover.

 

My presentation on the crucial points!

Digipak from Tyler Alexander-Abt

Experimentation on the Digiak

For our second lesson in the ICT suite, my class and I were taught many more editing and technical points in order to use later on when creating the Digipak itself.
We were given the task to merge the PowderFinger album cover and a close up shot of actress Angelina Jolie into a two-toned image. During this exercise we tried out colour schemes, adding objects and combining objects together to create a transformed final image.
This really educated me on the editing technique needed for the final digipak itself. I also learnt the variety of tools and the selection of options to choose from on the Corel Photo-Paint software. This enabled me to learn how to mix tones and how to manipulate original images into a brand new one.

We also discussed how and why music artists choose their album covers personally and what messages are conveyed to their target audience.
Using both cross-media devices: a website homepage and Digipak, this promotes and represents the artist and their artistic style that is reflected on both of the separate mediums.

I independently researched further into what a digipak is and why it contributes to the image of the artist as well as their own sale promotion. This sildeshare presentation really informs me of the key points to what makes a digipak so important.

What is a digipak from Valvainolivi

Day 2-3 of filming

During our half term, we gathered a big group of our friends to agree to participate in a whole day's worth of filming. We experimented using boxes and a ukelele. This image of a cardboard box gives a child-like, frivolous and creative feel to the video that agrees with the genre's culture. In order to film the male lip-synching, our friend Alex agreed to mouth the lyrics whilst giving direct eye contact to the camera. This allowed us to progress in our stages of filming. 

Things to include?

Pastel colours and vibrant shades reflects classic 1970's sitcoms and the variety of patterns give a touch of authenticity and vintage style to the music video. Here are some examples:

Retro Movie Clips, is an example of intertextuality. this overlapping and sometimes irregular clips from films gives the audience a chance to interpret the video further as well as recognising the artist's tastes.

Filming in front and behind camera

As we attempted to use actors in our first official day of filming, it was hard to secure them 100 percent due to uneasy weather conditions and timing. Therefore, we went to plan B and used myself in merely 2 or 3 shots in bright, hipster outfits that would be great transitions for the final piece. We were warned prior to filming of the objectives of the project and how all three members should remain behind the camera however, in this case it was better to obtain some footage than none. Ultimately the three of us have given an equal amount of work and participation towards the production of the video.

More pictures from first day of filming

 

Just like on a professional film set, there is a hired photographer to capture and document footage from make up, actors, set, backstage work that all record the progress to look back on after. The last, striking image is of our friend Robyn, who we experimented some voodoo style make up on her. This creates a somewhat carnival and youngster effect that could pop up as a still shot in the video.

Research on narratives within music videos

Narrative In Music Videos from Leanne Gelder

I found this enlightening presentation on SlideShare that really gave me a deeper understanding into what a narrative does and how a music video is with or without.

Introduction to Website homepage and Digipak CD Cover

Part of my coursework is to produce two separate ancillary products. Apart from the fact that they need to be made and designed independently, the same software will be used to make both products. This is known as a Photo Editing Program. With the ICT department, we learnt how to access and utilize Corel Photo-Paint and Adobe Dreamweaver. Just like the music video, there is also the same amount of case study research as well as touching on the semiotics and connotations of images that are used to outline my designs.

We were showed how CD covers and dominantly image-based and how a website page should provide a range of information and advanced technology. The is a big focus on how the website page will be interactive with the user both dynamically and visually.

Designing each product will allow me to experiment with my taste in culture and permit my exposure and extra knowledge to reflect on my chosen artist/genre.

With our ICT teacher, we went through the image editing program to give us an insight of how to work with images and transform them into something completely different.

Inspirational! from animated to reality...

Film and other forms of cultural media have a big impact on our inspiration for shots and intertextual references throughout the video. This is known as pastiche and the opposite, parody.

Juno's title sequence is really edgy and extremely detailed. We are not aiming to put in animation but the gradual stop motion shots of objects creates a beautiful and artistic transition into reality.

Official first day of filming

Wednesday, 3rd October, my group and I met at my house in St John's Wood and got prepared with the required equipment. Having charged up batteries and got the cameras in spick and span condition, we set off to Regent's Park Road for our first outdoor day of filming.
We have researched colourful houses in London, and I had already been familiar with this street leading towards Primrose Hill park.

Felicity taking pictures with her Sony 8290 camera

We met at 10:30am at my house and together drove over to Regents Park Road near Primrose Hill to fulfil the aspired shots. We did some shooting there, as well as documenting the filming with the professional camera. We then invited some members of the public to participate which really excited them to do. For example, one of our signs saying: 'sun' was held up by a man in the road. This looked really abstract and good behind camera.

We then felt satisfied with this footage and drove to Camden Town to ask more people to do the same thing.

We tried out filming and photographing the name of the song with Scrabble pieces to create a child, fun effect.