The video, shows parts of behind the scenes of all the different places
we filmed. First it shows us in the museum which was day three of
filming, so we were halfway through construction of the video. The scene
shows us setting up the camera to do a track of Bronte walking, before
cutting to her lip-syncing with the candles around her. The clip of
Thomas shows they were waiting while me and Serena discussed what to do
next, afterwards it shows a clip of Bronte walking through the hallway
of a house whilst lip-syncing. The next clip shows Bronte singing
towards the camera, before Thomas came into the shot earlier than
expected which left Bronte slightly shocked. The next shot shows Georgia
zooming in on Thomas face before cutting to myself and Serena when we
noticed we had made a mistake in which we re-shot. In the next shot, it
shows Thomas in a stock since he was not needed for the scene, he took a
break from filming. In the next shot, it shows Serena
giving instructions to me so we had a similar idea to what shot we we're
going to do next, before it cuts back to Bronte staying warm in
the museum while we set up. It then cuts to filming in the studio, we
did not use this footage but this was from day two when we first filmed
Bronte dance sequence. Afterward it's the final clip of Bronte and
Thomas which was supposedly meant to be used as the ending clip of the
video but we were unable to use it because of the shadows unfortunately.
Overall it shows our progress through out the construction of our
video.
Step One:
For the record label, we wanted to try a few fonts before sticking to one for the record label. We wanted to follow the Florence route and so we choose three texts before narrowing it down to one. The group decided to use text one, which is the font Edwardian script for out record company called TAGS.
Step Two:
Next I began to set up the scanner so that I could scan Serena's design of the mask that will be used for our record company as it is suitable for the theme of our band choice, which is Florence and the Machine. It fits around Florence's iconography, which could be making a reference to the genre we're working with, which is indie rock.
Step three:
Next I scanned the document in using colour, I used resolution 75dpi and the format jpeg because it would keep the size down as well as keep the high quality of the drawing so it remained similar to the rough drawing on paper. I set the orientation to
portrait as I think it will be easier when painting the mask in Photoshop.
Step four:
Next I viewed the mask and the text
that had been hand drawn by Serena. The mask is supposed to represent two sides of a personality, the good and the evil. Serena got this inspiration by researching masquerade masks on a website which is specifically made for selling these kind of masks.
Step five:
Next I zoomed in using the navigation tool on iPhoto, to get a better picture of mask which I will enlarge in Photoshop before making a colour scheme that the group agrees on and painting in the colours onto the mask. I think the colour scheme will be bright colours seeing as we're trying to portrait a good vs. evil theme in our record label.
Step six:
This is a close up of our record label TAGS font, we wanted it to be similar to Edwardian script so Serena tried to recreate that in her own design, it's a good drawing and the fact that the title and picture of the record label is hand drawn makes the record label task a lot more creative which is what we want to pursue through out the planning process.
This is the colour scheme we want to go
for to paint in our mask, we want the black to make the mask stand out, and the red and gold will be used for the 'good girl, bad girl' effect.
We asked a series of questions on how to work the equipment, what would we need to achieve the effect we wanted etc.
We found a series of problems that we need to avoid:
When planning outfits, we need to cross out green clothing as it would affect the green screen.
We need out image to the big so that it isn't pixelated and unrealistic.
We need to plan our cinematography carefully due to the amount of space we have on the screen.
Lighting need to focus on the backdrop and face of the faces.
We were advised to film outside the studio and grab our still shot using a real background so that if we need to go back we can without a problem, we also need to find out what cinematography we want to use so that it's easier to film in the studio.
We're also advised to film in colour and when we want to record in the studio and want to change shots we record the whole song and cut it in post production due to the camera being live.
Planning our first few shots:
Long shot photo of Hayley and Thomas by the church.
Close up of Hayley before zooming out into a medium shot.
Like
most Indie Rock music videos, this one shows both the band and an on-going
narrative (which run as one, rather than cross-cutting between them). There are
three specific locations used throughout, the original bedroom (with the two
men asleep), the ‘dream’ bedroom (with the two men awake), and the ‘dream world’.
Most
of the pans used in the music videos, are done by moving the camera, rather
than rotating it as in a typical pan. In the dream bedroom, the camera
movements are more erratic and are most likely hand held (most likely to convey
the strength of the wind in the shots), while in the original bedroom they are
smoother, although they still seem to be handheld. In the dream world, the camera
movements are very still and smooth, sometimes not moving at all, or moving on
a dolly.
Green
screens and special effects are used throughout the video, with the train and
the guitar being most likely modelled in 3D and then placed on the scene. The
parts with the bed seem to be green screened, with the bed perhaps on a ‘rodeo’
machine.
The
scene beings with a tracking shot ‘zooming’ into the peephole. The lead singer
is seen waking up and lip-syncing the song. The camera cuts to the man sleeping
on the floor at the lyrics “fast asleep”. He then puts on a red jumper. At this
point the other clothes on the floor start moving and coming to life. The TV
turns on the camera approaches in a very handheld motion, the same happens with
the light shining through the door, except the speed of the camera moving
towards it is much faster. The camera motions and lights become more erratic to
match the beat of the song.
At
this point the other two band members wake up and the three band members are
seen on the TV (two on guitar and one on keyboard) the same jerky handheld
camera motion is used to zoom in towards it. The bedsheet comes to life and
attacks the band, causing the scene to return to the original with the two men
asleep on the floor and the lighting to return to normal. It then goes back to
the television to zoom out to the blue-lit room again. A static filter is placed
over the scene to give the impression that these are the band in the TV rather
than the band asleep in the room. Most of the camera motions are handheld in
this segment, showing various items doing strange things throughout the room.
The lead singer is once again lip-syncing whilst playing the guitar.
The
door then bursts open and bits of paper and feather from the pillow are sent
flying around the room, as the band plays. The camera motions become even more
erratic, and the lead singer jumps onto the bed to then be swallowed by
himself. The bed and the lead singer are then seen falling past a skyscraper
(the camera motions at this point are smoother than before) there are more
shots of him lip-syncing as he falls into a giant tunnel. Smoke appears behind
him and a train starts chasing him on the train tracks (fitting the electric
guitar riffs that start playing behind him). They enter a forest and the lead
singer pulls away from the train to fly off through it.
A
giant guitar then emerges from the forests and starts chasing the flying bed,
knocking him off so that he has to run through the forest, the two other band
members join him from either side and the all run towards the red door seen at
the beginning. The door pulls away and then the band burst through into the
ruined (blue) room. They start playing instruments once again until eventually
the lead falls into bed. When he falls out he’s back in the original room with
the other two band members asleep on the floor still. Revealing that is was all
just a strange dream.
Typical features of the album
advertisements include: the album cover (either in full or adapted to fit the
entire page), dates of the album release, and usually the name of one or more
of their hit singles that appear on the album. They all fall under the Indie
Rock genre.
The advert for ‘Free the
Bees’ has a simple white background, featuring the album artwork taking up most
of the page space. It’s made up of primarily warm colours. Looking closely,
there is an image of a city superimposed underneath the band in the tree. Underneath
the album artwork are the words:
The new album by the
Bees featuring ‘Wash in the Rain’ & ‘Horsemen’
‘Free the Bees’ – out
28th June 2004 – Double vinyl & CD
www.thebees.info
The font used is a simple
sans serif (including the album title itself, which is displayed on a banner
underneath the artwork). The whole band is seen to be represented in the image,
a trait which is commonly associated with Indie bands. Apart from the band
name, there are no signifiers that are used in all of the band’s adverts. The
record label which supports this particular album is ‘Virgin Records’, a very well-known
and mainstream record label. This is odd considering most Indie bands tend to
go with less well-known labels. On the other hand, this is The Bees second studio
album, and only their first with Virgin. Their first studio album was released
under ‘We Love You’ in the UK (which does not seem to have a website or any
information about it anywhere, which could mean it was a short-lived record
label, or a record label that the band themselves created for their debut.
Ironically, the bands US record label for their first three albums is ‘Astralwerks’
who are a subsidiary of Virgin Records.
From this information we can
deduce that The Bees music is aimed towards the Indie target group, although
with Indie music becoming more and more popular, it can be seen that it is also
aimed towards a more mainstream audience.
