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.

The Third Man

amazing shots, aesthetics etc.



some good ideas for location?



loooooaaads of dutch tilts going on here

Film Noir Film Research

I've been researching film noir, specifically trying to find those films of the genre that are seen to be typical or iconic of the genre. This should help us when it comes to shooting the narrative sections of the video, with the iconography, visuals, acting, shot types, after effects etc.

I have been looking at websites, including http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir, http://www.imdb.com/chart/filmnoir. I have also been browsing http://www.amazon.co.uk/ for available film noir titles.

Titles I am probably going to try to view are:

• Double Indemnity- because it appears it has amazing visuals as oppose to just a good story. A quote from a review on it's imdb page; 'This is one of the best films of all time, not necessarily because of its story but because of the acting, direction, cinematography, lighting, and just the way that the story itself was told'. Sounds pretty good. Also has a classic femme fatale (Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis Dietrichson) and development of relationship between her and her male 'victim'.
• The Third Man - being sent for rental by http://www.lovefilm.com/, how exciting.
• Deadly is the female (possibly)- because it features 'a nice guy who is led astray by the bad woman' (from the imdb review).
• The Big Combo- I really wanted to get hold of because it apparently produced some of the most iconic images of the genre (wikipedia) and some of the stills I have seen from the film support this. The male protagonist is also a detective in this title, who romantically desires the mistress of a big-shot criminal. Quite similar our initial idea for character types, I think. Unfortunately it doesn't appear that it is available in the region 2 format, but I might be able to rent/buy it used and play it on the dvd player of a computer of an owner who doesn't mind me changing their player to region 1 (apparently you can change these settings only 5 times before the drive locks).

Film Noir Films

To watch

Film Noir

Taken from website: www.filmsite.org/film.

Primary Characteristics and Conventions of Film Noir: Themes and Styles
The primary moods of classic film noir were melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, evil, guilt, desperation and paranoia.
Heroes (or anti-heroes), corrupt characters and villains included down-and-out, conflicted hard-boiled detectives or private eyes, cops, gangsters, government agents, a lone wolf, socio-paths or killers, crooks, war veterans, politicians, petty criminals, murderers, or just plain Joes. These protagonists were often morally-ambiguous low-lifes from the dark and gloomy underworld of violent crime and corruption. Distinctively, they were cynical, tarnished, obsessive (sexual or otherwise), brooding, menacing, sinister, sardonic, disillusioned, frightened and insecure loners (usually men), struggling to survive - and in the end, ultimately losing.

Storylines were often elliptical, non-linear and twisting. Narratives were frequently complex, maze-like and convoluted, and typically told with foreboding background music, flashbacks (or a series of flashbacks), witty, razor-sharp and acerbic dialogue, and/or reflective and confessional, first-person voice-over narration. Amnesia suffered by the protagonist was a common plot device, as was the downfall of an innocent Everyman who fell victim to temptation or was framed. Revelations regarding the hero were made to explain/justify the hero's own cynical perspective on life.

Film noir films (mostly shot in gloomy grays, blacks and whites) thematically showed the dark and inhumane side of human nature with cynicism and doomed love, and they emphasized the brutal, unhealthy, seamy, shadowy, dark and sadistic sides of the human experience. An oppressive atmosphere of menace, pessimism, anxiety, suspicion that anything can go wrong, dingy realism, futility, fatalism, defeat and entrapment were stylized characteristics of film noir. The protagonists in film noir were normally driven by their past or by human weakness to repeat former mistakes.

Film noir films were marked visually by expressionistic lighting, deep-focus or depth of field camera work, disorienting visual schemes, jarring editing or juxtaposition of elements, ominous shadows, skewed camera angles (usually vertical or diagonal rather than horizontal), circling cigarette smoke, existential sensibilities, and unbalanced or moody compositions. Settings were often interiors with low-key (or single-source) lighting, venetian-blinded windows and rooms, and dark, claustrophobic, gloomy appearances. Exteriors were often urban night scenes with deep shadows, wet asphalt, dark alleyways, rain-slicked or mean streets, flashing neon lights, and low key lighting. Story locations were often in murky and dark streets, dimly-lit and low-rent apartments and hotel rooms of big cities, or abandoned warehouses. [Often-times, war-time scarcities were the reason for the reduced budgets and shadowy, stark sets of B-pictures and film noirs.]

Some of the most prominent directors of film noir included Orson Welles, John Huston, Billy Wilder, Edgar Ulmer, Douglas Sirk, Robert Siodmak, Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger, Henry Hathaway and Howard Hawks.

Femmes Fatales in Film Noir:
The females in film noir were either of two types (or archetypes) - dutiful, reliable, trustworthy and loving women; or femmes fatales - mysterious, duplicitous, double-crossing, gorgeous, unloving, predatory, tough-sweet, unreliable, irresponsible, manipulative and desperate women. Usually, the male protagonist in film noir wished to elude his mysterious past, and had to choose what path to take (or have the fateful choice made for him).

Invariably, the choice would be an overly ambitious one, to follow the dangerous but desirable wishes of these dames. It would be to pursue the goadings of a traitorous, self-destructive femme fatale who would lead the struggling, disillusioned, and doomed hero into committing murder or some other crime of passion coupled with twisted love. When the major character was a detective or private eye, he would become embroiled and trapped in an increasingly-complex, convoluted case that would lead to fatalistic, suffocating evidences of corruption, irresistible love and death. The femme fatale, who had also transgressed societal norms with her independent and smart, menacing actions, would bring both of them to a downfall.

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This image is taken from the film 'The Big Combo' (1955)

80s Videos

They're usually really low-budget (or at least would be to do now) and they're fun and usually really creative.


Duran Duran- Planet Earth


There is only one location for performance, but it is shot from many different angles and distances and therefore sustains interest. The frontman is very charismatic and the aesthetics of the band mean that the performance is visually engaging.

It is cut with some very surreal footage, in an almost-montagey format and includes shots of the band themself.

It is appropriate to the genre and time period as it is very ecclectic and surreal. It also fits with the 'planet earth' theme as it implies a sense of alien-ness.

I really like this video, and it would be so fun to do a song or style like it. Its very montagey and edited well to go with the music. I like the way the visuals totally reflect the tone of the song.

I would really have liked to do a video like this.

Album Cover Research- Blondie's 'Denis'

Blondie: Denis




























FRONT


Image:

• Picture of Debbie Harry


• Close up/beauty shot


• Takes up muh of total area; shoulders stretch entire width of cover


• Direct address, with face turned very slightly to (her) right


• hand on neck


• lips falling apart a little bit


• bleached blonde hair (can tell by darker roots, barely visible)


• very enigmatic expression


• make-up is classic, 80s-style with red lipstick, purple eyeshadow and eyeshadow even on brow bone and strong, solid eyebrows.


• She is wearing a black t-shirt


• it is shot in soft, slightly orange-toned lighting


• set against a similarly orange background

Text:

'BLONDIE' (name of band/group)

• in thick block capitals


• across entire top width


• takes up approx. a fifth of vertical space


• no background/transparent


• solid white

'DENIS' (title of album)

• smaller font


• solid black


• same font as band name


• set approx. a quarter of way across width of cover, to the left.

In botton of right corner names of 5 singles/tracks included on the album:

• same font as other text


• alternating white & black in colour


• all set in slightly different horizontal positions on cover

BACK

Image:

• background is same image as cover shot but blown up (approx. 200%), framed to include (her) right hand side of face up to just over centre of face, and to middle of forehead and imbetween lips and chin.

band shot:

• in bottom left/centre, reaching up to half way up cover


• men dressed in suits


• direct address


• posed, almost al members are smiling

Text:

Track list:

• on left


• takes up approx. half width


• black


• same font as title and band name


• black


• number of track, then song title (first letter capitalised only)

Inspirational Videos

to go here.

Music Track Ideasies

A very brief 'group' discussion of first reactions to the brief got me thinking...

I was thinking that perhaps a really psychedelic track might detract from elements of the visuals, should these be of a surreal, montagey-style variety or could even be too much, if combined together.

I was also thinking that a track with a few changes in pace in it could allow flexibility in the pace of the narrative, which could help create a more engaging/interesting video; versus a track thats 'full-on' all the way through or mellow all the way through.

I thought that a genre like metal, or the like, might be more likely to make many narrative things and visuals seem cliche. Many of the videos for this genre are also (i think) very heavily reliant on pricey-looking mise-en-scene and visuals that could look really amateur if attempted and a bit failed. However, this genre of music would be very generically identifiable, which is appropriate to the brief.

I was thinking that perhaps a genre like folk rock might be a bit interesting to do?
-maybe 'My manic and I'- by Laura Marling.



BUT OH NO! AS YOU CAN SEE THERE IS IN FACT ALREADY A VIDEO.
I didn't know this till like two days ago. I do like the sound/atmosphere of this song alot. Although the lyrics may have been too explicit/followed too strict and specific a narrative which may have been quite retrictive creatively.
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Monday 23rd June

'Paint it black' by the Rolling Stones- has alot of varying pace, tone and mood etc. which could inspire/drive the narrative. The lyrics are also quite vague/enigmatic and so shouldn't retrict the narrative much. The repeted lyrics 'paint it black' could also allow us to use some very abstract images relating to colour; should we want to.

Link to youtube.com version of song, as currently unable to link any other way: