BLK feedback

Angela things are looking good on your blog, well done. You must get the following done however;

complete any unfinished postings
embed some of your video links properly - some just appear as code
some video analysis using the Goodwin theory framework
keep up with reflections on the group project and how things are going from your perspective
also you need a list with some links to good music video/music industry related sites that you have found useful

that would be good for now

Ms B

Key features of Music Video

These are some key features of music video that I have learnt:

• Music videos work around three codes- music lyrics and iconography. The relationship between these codes is key to understanding how music videos work.
• They are designed to provide pleasure in order to keep the viewer watching, and to encourage repeat viewings.
• The starting point for analysis is to explore whether the video is primarily performance-based, narrative-based or concept-based and how elements of each are used in it.

Inspirational Video- 'Under the Bridge'

I accidentally found this video while looking for the video for the non-acoustic version of the song.
It's therefore a video to the acoustic version of 'Under the Bridge' by 'The Red Hot Chili Peppers'.

The reason I thought it could be useful to look at and possibly reference is that there are several parallels with our idea for the performance, in that it is black and white for most of the song, is entirely performance, and shot in a simple location.
I think there are alot of very simple shots of the instruments, vocalist etc. that look professional and interesting, e.g. the low angle, off-centre shot of the guitarist playing.
Perhaps we can take staging notes from this video as well?

Performance Shot Idea

I think a close-up shot, probably with the face in profile, of one of the performers (probably a singer, and probably James B) laid over a shot from the narrative could be interesting and work.

Like in the video for 'Under the Bridge' by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, during the chorus.

Black & White Stills Practise: Ladsies

Image:

Actor/model thing: Lukey

Original image:

As you can see it was really very dark.

Here it is greyscaled without any further editing:

So I cheated and used Paint Shop Pro's 'One step photofix'.

After 'photofix':

I think I might have removed some more noise as well at this point.

If we greyscaled it now it would look like this:

I thought it might be able to cope with a bit more contrast:

More contrast: Also I thought it looked quite cool in high-ish contrast colour:

I shall relate this to the main idea in a minute or so.

Practicing Black & White Stills: Girlies

Today I took some shots of Saxon (who was nearby at the time) and some of Luke so I could fiddle around with contrast and effects on Photoshop, partially just to practise using Photoshop as thusfar I have only used Jasc's Paint Shop Pro 7 & 9. It was also intended to investigate how to create the black and white filmic effect crucial to create the film noir aesthetic.

Edited shot:

Original shot:

What I did: I cropped the image, airbrushed it a wee bit, used the 'despeckle' tool (in order to remove some of the noise that I found showed up more once the contrast had been upped), and then I increased the contrast and brightness and then greyscaled the image. I also added a gaussian blur effect but cannot remember when I did this.

What I think about the end result: While possibly a bit striking the image is far too... grainy? Basically its very blotchy and not at all like the smooth, flawless images of the films we are trying to imitate.

What I think went wrong: There is probably something technical that would help this or that I should have used, but I think the main problem lies in the poor lighting of the original image. I think it needs to be brighter, less diffuse light (this shot was only taken by a window on an overcast afternoon).

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Later today I took some shots of Cat, seeing as she's the actual femme fatale.

Here is one of the original shots:

First attempt at editing:

What I did: I removed some of the noise to try and make it look 'smoother', upped the contrast and greyscaled it.

What I think: I think it's better than the last attempt as Cat was standing closer to the window. I think it looks a little bit strange in the way that the shadow falling over half of her face is in almost an exact half and half line, but maybe that's just because the light was still quite diffuse?

Group Gold Blazer Idea

As posted on the group blog, Luke suggested that the lead singer wear a gold blazer, tying in/anchoring the 'Gold' theme of the song with the performance base.At first I was skeptical as it could look very Butlins entertainer/tacky or comical, but I now think it could work. James pointed out in the group meeting yesterday that we could be focusing too much on what Spandau Ballet & co. would do/wear with the song, rather than thinking of creating and marketing our own band over which we have complete freedom and control. I thought this was quite relevant to what I had been doing and how I had been approaching some aspects of the project. I am therefore going to be aware of this and avoid it if relevant in the future.

I think it that having it worn with tight black trousers/jeans and a black t-shirt could work well.