Typography

Taking inspiration from Kayne West's All Of The Lights music video, we want to imitate the way he uses a variety of neon fonts that spell out the lyrics of the song. It adds a cool effect, especially having many different type of fonts. 

To start my influence, I will be looking on DaFont.com to get different types of fonts that i'll find suitable for my music video:

Technical fault - Problem with our camera.

We wanted to film with an old handheld camera that takes cassette for our music video, as we liked the natural effect the camera as on the quality. However, after having a test shoot we wasn't able to transfer the footage onto Final Cut Pro as we believe the camera itself is too old for today's technology.

Camera options

We're using an old handheld camera to shoot some segments of the music video as we want to achieve the old school VHS style. Similar to this:

However, we will still be using a DSLR to shoot as we still want to keep a high quality definition that we can easily manipulate in post-production.

Finally, using an iPhone camera to film as there's a VHS camera app available on the app store to easily imitate the vintage cameras:

Second day of shooting

On our first day of shooting, we decided to shoot a segment in school as we could easily manipulate the lighting / setting with equipment from school. We used the black screen to cover the windows to obstruct any light from seeping in and then used a stand-up light to create the lighting we wanted.

Using a close-up shot of Taylor's eyes immediately creates an intimate mood with the audience as you're extremely close.

We used glitter as a prop as it adds a fun feel to the music video. Specifically using red to portray the connotations of love.

these are some stills from clips we shot. 

Cinematography inspiration - Submarine

Cinematography Inspiration: Submarine

We really want to take inspiration from Richard Ayoade's work from the movie, Submarine, as it captivates the life of the young generation.

The uses of dark lighting contrasted with a bold, impactful light source is something we really want to replicate. As well as the kaleidoscope effect that could be achievable in the post-production stage. 

Planning the first week of filming:

Features of Iconography/intertextuality : M83 - Steve McQueen

M83 - Steve MCqueen 

M83 uses a lot children in their music video as they mostly portray the life of a child, as well their imagination in their music video. It's easily suited for the ideas of our music video as we want to represent youth also.

Lyrics -

"To run and yell all the way" 

"My sensations reach the limit"

"Living for, living for a thrill..."

Music Video - 

Extreme close up

We want to take influence from M83's music video for "Steve McQueen" as it includes things such as props that were iconic in the 1980's; such as the cassette tape, recording amplifer and volt machine. 

So in our music video, we will be planning to take extreme close-ups of our actor's eyes as well as other iconic 80's props. 

Features of Iconography/intertextuality : The Naked and Famous - Young Blood

The Naked and Famous - Young Blood

Young Blood is a song by indie-pop band The Naked And Famous, it's a song that certainly soundtracks the younger generation. Its music video does really well in representing youth / the younger generation and this is what we want to take influence from. 

Lyrics - 

Firstly analysing the lyrics - 

"We're only young and naive still"

"Fall back in love eventually"

"You keep my secrets hope to die"

This all represents youth, words like "young" and "naive" are easy collocations when thinking of the word youth. Falling in love, for the first time, is such a teenage dream. 

Music Video - 

Use of vivid colours.

Headshot of a girl having fun.

Long shot of boy skateboarding. 

Intimate headshot of girl lying on the floor.

Wideshot, including beautiful background.

The music video to "Young Blood" is a montage of clips that contain very nice cinematography, with beautiful lighting and vivid colours which is something we really want to replicate. 

Poster

Above is my poster for my artist, SPCTRM. The house style, along with my digipak, is all dominantly dark colours that are juxtaposed to very bright colours. I used an image that isn't on my digipak as I wanted to keep them separate. The image contains a girl, who's hiding her face but standing very timidly. The hidden face creates an ambiguity about who this artist is.

It features the most important factor of a poster: the release date which is very broad and takes up the poster. As well as my social media links featuring my handle underneath it. Lastly, it features a QR code for people to download the lead single of the album for free. This is a unique selling point as they'll get to listen to the artist and see wether they will want to actually purchase the album.

Social media's impact on target audience

Because my target audience is within a bracket that I am very much involved with (16+) I can take advantage of my first hand experiences with music that I love, in order to maximise my ability of targeting a specific audience.

As musicians within the 21st Century have become so reliant on social media to obtain such an immense fame, I will want to keep social media in forefront of all my ideas. With fan groups that live on sites like Twitter and Tumblr, I can see their loyalty is like no other. With consistent blogging about their favourite artist, dedicating an entire blog to them, reposting their recent music videos and songs and also recasting their videos into new formats such as .GIFS, collages and fanzines (fan magazines).

Costumes - 
Here is an example of how websites like Tumblr are inspired by fine details within a music video. This tumblr is a fanblog for The 1975, they post the things they wear in their recent music videos. This adds a second source of promotion as they constantly repost the same music video. 

So costume ideas will be really important for my music video as I will know my target audience will want to copy what the actors wear etc.

Location scouting

Soho - 

Having previous knowledge of the liveliness and creativity that surrounds Soho in Central London, I would like to look around this area to search for places to shoot.  Its nightlight is filled with neon colours and people having fun - exactly what I desire for my music video.

Arcade -

I like the idea of arcades and the amusement that surrounds the setting. It captures youthfulness and reminds me of childhood fun. It also includes a lot of lights which I want to keep as a recurring theme within my music video.

This is an arcade near Waterloo Station - Namco Arcade.

Streets of London -

 Because of how diverse and multi-cultured London really is, I believe you could film anywhere. Southbank skate park includes a lot of graffitti which would look really nice in a music video, as well as people on their skateboards. Representing youth.

Southbank Skate Park

First Day Filming: VHS

I used an app on my phone in order to obtain the VHS feel for my cinematography - Here are some stills from some of my footage.