mini reflection + budget/copyright/health 'n' safety

I'd say my product goes pretty far out of the realms of normal products. For starters, the name of the collective who made the track - Fukkk Offf. I dont understand the choice of name, it's probably for controversy and therefore recognition, just like a band called "Fuckbuttons" or "Tits n Clits" - neither are good... They're managed by Coco Machete (Sean Holland) and this track (more than friends) has incorporated various artists from the label, allowing them to publicise the DJ, the rapper and the singer via any promotions made (posters, magazine articles, web banners, pop ups, music vids, etc.)

It challenges the idea of using personally filmed footage by using footage taken from youtube and royalty free websites - this could be a good example of "bricolage", the concept within post-modernism were you utilize the things around you exactly in your product while keeping originality e.g. the modern Psycho shot by shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock's version, OR, Alien Versus Predator's mimicked shots/scenes from both films. My bricolage uses the fact that the things around me were Youtube videos.

This form of mash-up video was inspired by Daniel Swan, a video editor/artist who only uses footage from Youtube, trawling through for ages to find aesthetically suitable bits of footage:



You can see, he has taken highly generic footage of someone filming out the window of their car on a high exposure (making the sky white), keying the sky out and then finding footage of space which he has stuck rotation on for the background. It's created a simple illusion of a spinning planet - It was a very big inspiration for me.

I developed this mash-up technique by using far more footage, some of which I filmed myself and had rendered on 3D software for me (the spinning planet and me walking). It was mostly sourced from suitable clips though. A video post I posted before this one of The Proxy's "8000" video has a practically identical idea, but instead of internet sourced footage, they'd used archive sourced footage, from Russia.


The budget was absolute zero. This was purely because i'm an independent filmmaker. had I been in a production company following protocol, I'd have needed to use royalty free, creative commons footage instead of illegally ripped youtube footage. However, with the ripped footage, although it does technically belong to Youtube, was so heavily edited and modified it often hardly resembled what it used to be - I sometimes combined around 15 different pieces of footage on youtube to create something entirely different, hardly resembling something you could recognize as your own. It makes it interesting an amalgamation of that many clips was republished on youtube... 
I've had zero copyright issues in this project - although what I did was probably on some level illegal, it's arguable as something different was created - maybe it was just the editing stage that could have friction as the clips remained as the raw files downloaded of youtube...


Health and safety really wasn't an issue at all. Unless you count looking at a screen for 7 hours - it probably wasn't great for my vision. I didn't go on location at all really, apart from just a few shots we did at the junction but we had technicians and supervisors to make sure everything done was safe - they needed to as they were working with a college unassociated with them. 

9 Key Frames

(FROM RIGHT TO LEFT):

The Lyrics say: "In the club, shakin' shakin'. I decided to link the imagery with this by inserting footage of old-school 1990's acid house ravers as they suit the scene of the music and demographi. It also just fitted perfectly, creating an apocalyptic rave theme like the world is ending and everyone is celebrating their last seconds on earth - come to think of it, maybe this is how we'll end on 2012.

I thought this shot would identify the label as a geek-sheek, indy, electro, retro-mad collective (which they are) by showing this kid in glasses going crazy to the beat - a similar example would be:

The kids in this video (of the same genre and scene) are all just as speccy and nerdy.

The 3rd image work in a similar way to the first, using acid house dancers and artwork to demonstrate the genre. The reason is because nowadays, unlike older electro music inspired by 1980's synths is now going for 1990's instead (drum loops/samples/art work and more).

The Intertextual reference is from Romain Gavras' video for The Last Shadow Puppets' "Age of the Understatement" Video, demonstrating a dystopic soviet russia - I turned it slightly to a dystopic planet, because the walking has destroyed so much and the armies need to retaliate.

Not many shots (created by myself) have much camera work - for the scenes with me green screened, I just had a static, tripod mounted camera.

The Shots in in the clubs and the sparks n explosions were all used instead of strobes - the clubs had dancers which synced to the beat. The explosion flourishewd across the screen for transitions when solid cutting would'nt do.

My mise-en-scene is simply the world being destroyed, both by the giant and the people trying to retaliate with nukes against him. I wanted the youth of the planet to be celebrating their fates by raving in a club, being blown up in the process. Overall, the apocalyptic themes were inspired by the viral concept of judgment day on 2012.



I have inspirations from Godzilla and Beastie Boys when it comes to the stepping/giant business. Armageddon, 2012 and old disaster movies gave me the inspirations for the tidal waves n volcanoes - they all feature a lot of pyro to create nice transitions.

MUSIC VIDEO VOICE OVER

Audience Feedback

rough cut- class feedback and teacher feedback:
My class feedback was all positive, no ngatives were raised (by the students that is). Everyone loved the pace and editing - after I explained the subtle story and reference they seemed to like it more - I realised I should have put more emphasis on this throughout the film as I should'nt have had to explain it afterwards.

near finished version- Junction feedback:
The teachers and other adults at Junction all liked it a lot too but realised the hold up with stock footage, giving me trouble as found footage dosn't show of your camera shooting skills... This could be a problem with examination depending on how they look at it. I'd just like to argue that even though the footage WAS mostly found, I DID edit how it looked entirely, often layering many shots over each other to create cool effects like tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, marching armies - the stuff without many effects were ALL taken from royalty free websites without any illegalities. Explosion footage was from free explosion websites. If you think about it, the angles chosen from stock footage emulate my intentional but impossible camera angles I would've used in real life - It was ALL story boarded like that and when angles didnt fit nicely I'd look until I found ones that did.

final version of everything- facebook feedback:
My Facebook feedback was all good - everyone who saw it said how much they liked it - this is probably because they didnt know the criteria it is going to be marked for like the teachers. They didnt know that the source footage was a tough thing to mark. I suppose I should've given them the criterias, that way I'd have a broader response than "WOW THIS IS AMAZING" and "lol cool".

Facebook feedback:
The question was: "Hi guys. this is a new vid i created in the CMDiploma I'm taking - it's meant to be like an apocalyptic, early 1990's disaster/rave film... feel me? anyway, watch this and give me your feedback - just let me know what you like (or don't). Your replies are vital to make my evaluation. THANKS! x
BTW stick to awnswering these questions:
In what ways does my video remind you of other music videos?
What do you think are the strengths of my music video?
What do you think are the weaknesses?"



Their feedback wasn't at all enlightening (LAZY teens) - I mean at least they got the story but honestly, they didnt awnswer my questions at all which didnt help, all I can do is know they liked it. It was the Junction feedback next up that gives me the most intel...

Junction Feedback:
The guys at the Junction just wanted more explosions which was fine - I agreed, besides they hide poor walking loops well. When I did use more though, as I was rushed for time, they didnt look as neat as they could - hopefully I'll be able to rework them a little in my spare time...
I also applied a warming video filter to add an overall overtone of heat - making very different coloured source footage merge together more naturally. If I had more time I would've applied more colour corrections to give a more monotonous feel.
(BEFORE + AFTER):



Story-board Info:
My storyboard is very different to my actual film, you can see an animatic with shots from my storyboard posted earlier on the blog. I abandoned many of the shots used because when putting it together my moods changed for the theme - the animatic was positiv, jokey - I thought of it more as a comedy thing. When I actually began it was like that, but further in, a darker mood evolved, featuring the lightning and weaponry a lot more... The comedic values I suppose returned when the clubbing shots came in. But to be honest even that apocalyptic rave was pretty dark in itself, especially when the dancers are effectively blown into the next shot via explosions.

Kit that I've used

Annotation of the image:
-Sony HD Cam: Versatile HDV camera - adjustable exposures and framerates as well as long battery life and many add ons (wide lens, etc). This peice of kit proved very useful but considering the majority of my vid is stock footage, I probably could've made it look just as good without real film... That would cause loss of marks though.

-Advanced Studio Lighting: Absolutely neccasary for lighting a green screen and character for that matter - very handy for additional effects too (strobing, pulsing, etc) although I did'nt use those.

-Green Screen: Vital again for "keying" myself of the background to apply special effect in the back and foreground. Very easy to use too (if the lighting works well of course. Mine was'nt perfect - would've used additional lights).

-Sketching Pencils + Pad: Needed to make storyboard and therefor animatic. Also important for concept art and rough designs for digipack.

-Macbook: Main peice of editing hardware for me. I borrowed this for the whole holiday and literally didnt stop working with it - great help being able to borrow. Seemingly impressive edit speeds for such a tiny thing - sounds like it's gonna take off when rendering though s-:

-G5: Used this mainly for colour keying my final cut of the video. They're extremely powerful and I kinda wished I could've somehow used them instead of the Macbooks. Unfortunately the whole film in Final Cut was stored on the Macbook and transferring would've been disastrous as if footage was lost or destroyed, 2 whole weeks of my life would have gone with it.

-Final Cut: Only editing software I used - semi-pro kit with dynamic effects and transitions. Easily allows creation of excellent scenes, allowing your imaginations to literally happen before you.

-Detonation Films: Royalty free explosion stock footage.

-Facebook: My way of getting feedback and researching inspirational practicioner's uploaded video.

-Myspace: Used similarly to Facebook exept only for research, not feedback.

-Vimeo: Uploaded final video to vimeo because copyright music infringement dos'nt apply, allowing me to put my music vid up without sound being muted out. It also has superior HD and a more artistic, comment freindly crowd.

-Youtube: Used purely for ripping footage off and clumping it into others - allowed me to create scenes that were brand new and unrecognisable to the original - copyright no longer an issue..

-Keepvid: The site used to convert Youtube FLV video files to MPEG4. Very efficient and quick.

-Blogger: Researched classmates work and vital for these pages.

-Safari: Browser used at home for searching videos and downloading their source codes.

-Firefox: Browser used at college - only one on the systems.

-Creative Cow: Excellent video making tutorial guide website - shows tutorials for editing, filming and sound design as well as special effects in prod. or post-prod.

THE FINAL MUSIC VIDEO.

L3/13 - More Than Friends (Hayden) from cmdiploma on Vimeo.

Scratched Ideas for the Music Video

Here are some previous pieces of work I've done, experimenting with cutting to music.


A Cambridge Summer Montage from Hayden Martin on Vimeo.



Underage Drinking Documentary Montage from Hayden Martin on Vimeo.



The Creative Media Course Advert from Hayden Martin on Vimeo.

As you can see, I have a flair very similar to Chris Cunningham's, using contrast shifts, rapid cutting, fast and slow footage as well as colour correction - I feel that they translated over well to the finished product, although, this time, I tried to make sure it looked more up to date, taking away that dated 90's cunningham subject/theme matters of dark, macabre and gritty environments.





AND beneath is a brilliant combination of both Cunningham's style and Video mashing!



When coming up for music video ideas, I really was'nt sure exactly what to go with (story-wise that is. My technique was already planned).

After watching a promo video for the upcoming clothing sportswear company, New Power Studio, I had been thinking very much about Olympic and F1 themes for a video (in terms of aesthetics that is).



As well as this I also looked at Christopher Shannon's new clothing line, based heavily on a combination of early 90's and circa millenium sport/luxury clothing designs - his whole imagery is very synthetic and ironically chavvy, but in a very beautiful way.

The Animatrix episode "World Record" has played a huge inspiration too - I loved it's slow motion and cel-shaded appearance, bringing out every sinew, muscle and contortion of the athletes.

Fukkk Offf's Venues

They/he/her typically play in underground clubs and warehouse parties/raves where their target audience will definitely be "funnelled" into. 

Big fans from across the globe come to see them whether they're in Social Club, Paris, or Fabric, London. Those fans avid enough to travel to see them , usually with friends who are on the sam wavelength and equally big fans are almost always the people you'd expect to see there - see the post below for an insight into demographics.

The Paris Social Club is in the center of Paris. It's had all the big electro names in the business playing there. It's very popular with the music-conscious youth in their early twenties. 

Once inside you'll notice they have neon lights all over the place that, with the white grid on a black wall will make you think you walked into the movie Tron. This imagery is very popular in the electro music scene due to it's connections with the original 'electroclash' and 'post-punk' movements from the 80's. Although that is now beginning to change, as the zeitgeist revival of all things 1980's is transitioning into 1990's...

This club has arguably one of the best electronic music programs in Paris as you'll notice with all the kids going out of their mind. If you are looking for a place where people come to go wild, this is a pretty good bet.

Research into music video FX

When searching around for music video styles and graphics I wanted something that was original but also very stylish. At first I was thinking of a story based music video, following typical conventions but realised it was an overused format. Instead, I chose that an aesthetics driven video would be far cooler, and riveting for my target teen audience. The videos I found were on various forums documenting the 'best of 2009' in underground music videos. One of them stood out to me like none of the others:



The technique baffled me and bugged me throughout my music video production as I desperately wanted to use it throughout. Unfortunately I only worked it out too far down the line to add it to the video and while keeping it's visual consistency.

I slowly realised that every 'row' of pixels along the screen, was one frame behind the previous row. Meaning, that as the film plays with that effect applied, each row becomes more out-of-synch the further down the screen.

I experimented with this idea towards the end to see if i'd worked out how the effect worked. here's my result:



The effect I later found out was called "time-displacement" and can be done effectively to anything filmed in a still shot, making anything move (in time, throughout the frames) be warped - it's a great effect to demonstrate a time-warp moment. Here's another example:



The effect was initially pioneered by Steina and Woody Vasulka, two Icelandic video-artists.

Band Demographic/Target Market

Male + female

Clothes:

-Sportwear collabs/street wear, sport luxury mix with overall indy tone. Catwalk inspirations (synthetics, etc.)

Example: http://www.cmonwealth.com/shop2.php

Class:

-Middle > upper middle - bohemian upbringing, nice income, access to good computer hardware + software > Mac users.

-Enough money to splash out on clothing, alcohol and drugs.

Example: Typical Vice Magazine readers - http://www.viceland.com/uk/

Social choices:

-Prefers house parties

-Bored of Topman, H+M, Zara, etc. Looks for other sources.

-Drinks socially

-Drug of choice: ecstacy, MDMA, coke, Ketamine (sometimes)

-Internet shops or if clothing can't be found, charity shops are always good.

-If charity shops dont work, make own clothes.

Think "Nathan Barley" meets 1990's chav/indie mashup...

Music choice:

-Usually found on Myspace, highly exclusive blogs (invite only) and Spotify.

Brodinski, Kavinsky, Bobmo, Mixhell, Toxic Avenger, SPA, Djejotronic, etc. Very big on electro.

-Gigs usually in Paris or Berlin. Travel costs covered by going in large group with money earned from part time boutique clothes shop job.
Example: http://kidcityblog.com/, http://wizardsarebetter.wordpress.com/

Target Market Trends in Music Videos

Even music videos are turning green. Recently, vids using entirely recycled footage have been floating around online, usually ripping off youtube clips or utilizing old, old archive footage. They bring a whole new sense to film, literally saying "if it aint broke, don't fix it" by taking what already visually works and mashing it into other flawless clips - sometimes creating entirely new story lines and sequences.

Proxy - 8000 (directed by Thomas Von Party)


Ratatat - Mirando (directed by E*VAX)


This concept is so versatile - as long as you have the editing software all you need do is visit www.keepvid.com to rip the footage onto your computer. It reminds me personally of "swedeing", popularised by Be Kind Rewind, in which you take a film and recreate it shot for shot yourself - it gives the project a true sense of personality.

DJ and video artist, POGO has also caught onto these methods, in my personal favorite video, Alice.


Video Mashing has become a seriously popular method of making music videos for the trend savvy ones of us, and I believe that this is exactly the reason I chose to use it in mine.

This post was imported from another blog I write on, called Righteous. The post was relevant to what is popular in the new movement of music videos.

My Pitch references - (works I could emulate)

 


(Click for more detail)


OR




These videos are from M.I.A's video artist, Daniel Swan - he has a thing for hunting down 
beautiful videos of youtube and the combining them:

He also applies video effects, or homemade overlays:


 


My favourite film by him is this one, called, Travelling: 





He simply keys out luma or chroma (light + colour) then places it on top of another piece of footage. I liked the Travelling one as it has this whole 3D small world thing going on which I'm interested in emulating. In this video, he utilizes explosions instead of strobing for M.I.A's stage video feed: 





I Think using Daniel Swan's style would be a fantastic way of hitting my demographic dead-on. MIA is a popular artist among the crowd I need to interest, and a large part of her popularity is from her imagery. I could easily emulate that imagery for this.

A Bit about Sean Holland

Sourced from: http://dancemusic.about.com/cs/interviews/a/IntSeanHolland.htm:

Emmerald: How long have you been DJing?
Sean Holland: About twelve or thirteen years. I’ve been collecting records since I was a little kid, you know bugging my mom, when I was at Target for the 45’s.

Emm: What sort of music do you normally play?
SH: I play all kinds of music. I like to change the rhythm up, I don’t like it to be 4/4 all the time, I like a lot of hip-hop, I like a lot of reggae. As long as it’s going to work the crowd out and everybody has a good time I’ll play it. I usually say that I play dance music rather than house music or this or that, I don’t really try and classify it.

Emm: Sean, you're a DJ, you run the Coco Machete record label, and you handle distribution for several records labels. Can you give us a little more detail on what you do day to day?
SH: Well, I pay my rent by putting out records, definitely. I deal with a lot of the nuts and bolts for new upcoming labels at a music distribution company in New York called Syntax Music and Syntax Recordings. I handle all their manufacturing, all their promotion, just the nuts and bolts stuff. So the guys who own the labels can handle the artistic side of the music and identity, and the artwork and everything like that. They get to do the fun stuff; I get to do the hard stuff. It works though.

Emm: What is your web address?
SH: It's www.cocomachete.com And there you can check out everything, bios on all the artists, you can listen to everything, there’re mixes online, everything. We have a shop opening up soon online where you can buy MP3’s or records, whichever format you choose.

Analysis of Romain Gavras' Directing of Music Videos as well as their Effect

Romain Gavras is 27 year old French film director who began rising to fame in the early 2000’s. He started making Video8 films at age 14 using his family's two VCRs as an editing deck.

He is a co-founder of Kourtrajmé, an elite graphic and filmmaking group that utilize hip-hop culture and disciplines in often socially conscious documentaries, short films and music videos.

His music videos for artists like Simian Mobile Disco, and DJ Mehdi show a taste for aggression and loneliness, industrial landscapes and burdened personas.
The film that propelled him out most, was his most recent music video for Justice’s “Stress” – a very Clockwork Orange-esque piece of work, although personally it’s themes reminded me more of Mathieu Kassovitz’s La Haine (who himself is involved in Kourtrajmé), revolving mainly around the lifestyles of Morrocan-Parisian hoodlums living on the outskirts or “banlieues” of Paris. It was gritty, violent and very shocking which when mixed with it’s mindlessness created a large stir of controversy, similar to Prodigy’s “Smack my Bitch up” video.


Dj Mehdi
“Signatune”

Directed by Romain Gavras
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sbTmLvL7fQ

This video was directed by Gavras in 2007 fore the electronica/hip hop artist, DJ Mehdi. It has a shallow and naïve approach making it seem immature in it’s design but when analysed it seems far deeper. It takes on the seemingly typical Kourtrajmé motto of simplistic comedy blended into humourless sincerity – demonstrating the French, working class youth’s idea of fun and respect.
The story (if there is much of one) appears to be about a late teenage boy in France going to an unofficial street racer gathering, were everyone there shows of his/her tuned up cars in order to gain respect from their peers as well as outsiders. He turns up meeting his friends but is quickly threatened by a rival. They challenge each other to a duel, whereby they have to see who can pass 150db with their sound-system. The boy reigns triumphant, claiming his respect and putting his rival to shame, returning home happy knowing he’s the best. You could call this a feel-good music video, but it’s bleakness makes it a gaze into reality.


Simian Mobile Disco
“I Beleive”

Directed by Romain Gavras
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwnhICmxzcw

This intriguing video is shot in a manner reminiscent of Grant Wood’s famous American Gothic painting in the sense of the camera’s very “full on” approach to characters featured. It rarely pans or tilts to emote or even connote, instead it zooms – sometimes giving it an even more effective feel, making these characters seem even more two-dimensional, adding to it’s blunt and very realistic “Gavras” approach. Typical rapid cuts and motion common in music videos don’t exist as much in this – it is pretty much all filmed in slow-motion, although when the camera tracks across the place or zooms it happens in a more real time, adding an interesting time dynamic which makes you realize the camera in real life must have been moving fairly fast. This effect was interesting to ponder over during the video as the concept of speed put into slow motion was reminiscent of, The Matrix’s use of “bullet time” or overcranking/time stretching.


Justice
“Stress”

Directed by Romain Gavras
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9NvJfwF9bI

The projects or “banlieues” of Paris are mainly on it’s outskirts – their crime rates are sky-high and currently being kept there by the practically feral youths who reside there. In this video, Gavras has captured the chaotic craziness of these kids in a documentary-esque short film set throughout a day in their lives. It’s kinetic feel propelling it along is all bought across by Gavras’ ways with the camera – the handheld edge, the choppy zooms and the compact framing (reminiscent of Kourtrajmé’s signature fisheye usage). I feel his editing skills are pretty present here too – he has a great gift were he seems to be able visualise sounds, appropriately using the perfect imagery and cuts for the track, making and even more enjoyable (although terrifying) experience. I presume like many music video directors, he probably composed a timeline where spikes and plateaus in the song’s intensity were highlighted for a harmonically fitting piece of footage to go alongside them.
I feel Gavras chose a mindless and impromptu plot as it’s open ends could allow for many variables in the attempts of imagining a story – I personally feel as though it could be moralistic in some way, maybe to do with boredom creating inner-turmoil that is expelled by releasing it on the world. A common problem with unimaginative or run down estates/parts of town.


The Last Shadow Puppets
“The Age of the Understatement”

Directed by Romain Gavras
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGV8xCkpXjEThe video

“The Age of the Understatement” was shot in Moscow and features Alex Turner and Miles Kane walking through the Russian capital. This one stands out a lot for me – even though Gavras has taken a step away from electronica and hip-hop to work on this alternative rock song – the influences still remain, in camera work, editing and theme.
I noticed Gavras’ political input that he’s often known for as soon as the tanks appeared in what looks like some sort of Russian tundra. He captures the mood of some sort of Post-revolt dystopia as if it’s some kind of recollection of the soviet era. I realized similarities in the shot styling where Gavras’ “American Gothic” framed zooms on characters were used, similar to “I Believe” and “Signatune”. It is again similar with his pleasantly placed slow motion use.
Gavras’ hip-hop roots show through when the low angle footage of what appears to be a low riding limo passes by, illuminated by neon casino signs – it’s very bling, somehow like a gansta rap video or even the mock OTT style of Ali G: In da House’s introductory scene.

The sweeping shots of Moscow’s snow covered square, towering iconic onion-domed Russian architecture, ice-rinks, Orthodox priests and a rousing chorus of Russian soldiers all somehow gives yet another spontaneous music video without much of a foundation, seemingly revolving more around aesthetics just like most of Gavras’ other videos but yet again, one way or another a moralistic message can be interpreted.

Pitch/rough cut progress info

All seems to be going well over here. We're just about to started booking out a studio to start green screening and stuff. I now have a full rundown of what I'm going for with the video - It has ties with Godzilla and big-robot movies, involving giant scale beings crushing everything beneath them. So basically with that idea in mind i had this idea of a giant person (in a pseudo-futuristic suit) landing on earth but literally being so big that when it walks, the earth spins beneath their feet, to the beat of the music. From each step, quick cuts to natural disaster e.g. volcanic eruptions, twisters and lightning come up (also in time with the beat). Now and then I wanted to have shots of army artillery and soldiers firing to stop the giant but then just being stepped over completely - a lot of the footage used is royalty-free stock footage allowing access to high quality, professionally filmed clips to insert in for effect. When the army fires rounds, i wanted like strobing flashing effect full of explosions against black, literally happening in time with the music, then zooming out to see actually that the weapons have no effect and are being repelled by a glowing force-field. It all seems far fetched but I'll link you to some concept art I've been working on to give you a brief of the aesthetics i'm after:  


https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIfZtkWY2jSgwMTysODGUcWqcKYj_zRqpolE-t3vQzQYyJsJItPaBxouriqXeld5wu9vOXzE4ZF0nhJUtHVCpjOxfUkJpE205dMRXJ7lQN4pgbrlOtg5C4P1gUdiDFBNgYRlaURjJ0TWY1/s1600-h/volcano.jpg https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid0DSYnoMo5flLtRsUidBsoDiFjpR1trcTfVDzRNV1QO0TU5gK_w2O1QxUWKwLhb1gY9aEbIpsEHwxWJNTpevx3nZ6DYexpX62ILyR_lA6ZLrH09J6lzAMssUYRADzeZRADuoivbLVkrZs/s1600-h/montage+scene.jpg  


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PUz3zIONy8&feature=player_embedded  


^^^^The video above is an "animatic" and is just a brief look into motion and timing. It is essentially what I've been trying to describe (just remember that the one shot with a squiggly line and a circle above is meant to be a top down shot of london - as if to demonstrate the giants height. When it starts moving, it's as if to demonstrate a first person top-down view of the world spinning beneath his feet). Thanks!

The conversation between me and Sean Holland

OUR commission worked in a more unorthodox way, whereby it was US who went out looking for a client, rather than the client looking for us. The Steps went like this:

SEE THIS POST FOR REFERENCE TO STEPS:


1.
We research into record labels, finding out contact details and creating emails that link them to previous works and designs to give an insight of our capabilities and style. We await feedback to see if they do need a product publicising and if they don't we use something they have that still hasn't been.


The Email I sent is in the post below, but the reply is got is here:


Hi,
how about Fukkk Offf ?/ good artist for that ?
Sean Holland
www.cocomachete.com


Sean Holland manages a label called CoCoMachete and within that, an electro DJ collective called Fukkk offf - I dont understand the choice of name but their sound is good. It was great to get a response so quick so I jumped at them





Here is my reply:


Hiya

Yeah, bit confused by the email - "How about Fukkk Offf" hahaha!
But yes that sounds great, was really hoping Bastian would be up for that..
If you get him to email me as soon as possible I'll get started. Here's a list of the kinds of equipment at my disposal:

Semi-Pro Sony HDR-FX1 HD Cam - This is used a lot by many film makers, versatile and a great spec.

Tripods (with/w.out wheels)

Photography lighting equipment

Semi-Pro Nikon Cameras - Good for Photography (stills/backdrops etc.)

The Junction music venue's open space - it has plenty of room for blue-screen and lighting
http://www.junction.co.uk/
You can check out some of these links for an insight into my current thoughts for this projects aesthetics:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtlZT9UU3uf6qDD4iwP6yFNjI50v3xWWPIgwj4bBEgvwT8fum-xNsQm7gwDWgM8fU88UKb6cTr9Fmy4UWhMUq7qA3YJQ7r__VIV_QHtUc29nVWZMD6GUUOnG6zfrhMkR5kb6LqB5KMLbI9/s1600-h/Image0002.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk8qcGOtBFw 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3ODe9mqoDE 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwWWkgx2Stc

Thanks very much, I'll keep you updated on my thoughts for the video


And his:


Hi, I can manage most of everything here...let me know what you need I would use More Than Friends, the Markus Lange Mix here you go 
www.cocomachete.com/sean/trax/ccm047_320mp3.zip 
Sean Holland
www.cocomachete.com


And mine:

Excellent, the Dub Remix sounds the most suiting, beat-wise that is, allowing a nice rhythm and pace to cut to.. Earlier I was wondering if there is any trivia or corporate visual identity that you want featured in the video? I have a storyboard in the works right now and i'll email a pic as soon as possible ( : 


And his:


Hi, I like the Markus Lange mix best for a video if you can as it's the most commercial remix...very pop I am on facebook & twitter but e.mail is best for day to day...only use those for promotions really looking forard to whatcha got very cool 
Sean Holland
www.cocomachete.com


2.
The usual 'step 2' is skipped, as we've presented ourselves have have also been accepted. The Label knew we were only doing a video for them and weren't told about the digi-pack as it was a side task. It was up to them if they wanted to have the unofficial music video on their myspace/official page


3.
Permission was given with a very lenient brief - allowing us to present our ideas and sere what they want also - I had little to no input from my label so I just went ahead with what I thought was suitable. The only thing Sean Holland Specified was the track.








4.
I presented my rough cut and got little feedback. I've carried on from this point, nearly finishing and polishing the music video as much as possible. To do this I borrowed a laptop I was working on at college and have used it at home through the night, giving me an extra 7 hours a night extra time on it. Because I used Final Cut for many of the effects, the SFX procedures took a lot longer but looked even cooler.

My Previous Commission Work

I've never really worked on any other commission before asides this one. Except a year ago, me and a class mate were sourced out via a mutual acquaintance who needed a film made for an education board. His name was Craig Morrison, an English/media teacher at my secondary school (Parkside Community College). He was hired by a group called Future's Vision and they were touring around the UK to see how well schools with low funding have done since the government set out to make them far better - many of them had been given fantastic media resources and it was great to document them.

Here is a pic from our award ceremony for the film me and Sam created - (Sam is on the left in jeans, I'm holding the award, Craig is on the far right:

The Process in which me and Sam were selected for this commission was pretty much exactly how I described an orthodox way of doing it below. This time however, it was initially me who had to do the work - I thought this would be tricky so I invited Sam to come along and do it with me - he proved a great help, especially with sound equipment.

We had to travel around around the UK from south to north, visiting many schools along the way, picking up interviews and documentary footage. We were supplied with lunches and dinners along the journey (which was nice) as well as accommodation in some very nice hotels.

We'd have to give a little speech now and then to explain what we were doing for the Future's Vision Tour, just to enlighten the visitors as to what we were doing there with cameras, it went down well and we got some brilliant information from people coming forward wanting to talk to us about their roles and intel.

When it came to the edit, our deadline was extremely tight - at one point I had to stay in Parkside to edit until 10:00pm - unfortunately, the project's trailer was made, and one episode too, but the final two episodes were never completed as the schedule was far too demanding - it was as if they wanted a team to create it but in reality it was just me doing it. The lack of time was to blame partly on their lack of organisation, only realising the video needed to be completed at the last moment. Knowing this really jaded my optimism for the project.

Music Video Research

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics
(e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).

5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).

Early inspirations:









This was a technique I recently discovered which I'm very interested in:

The technology for atomic level invisibility might be closer than you’d think! Russian professor Oleg Gadomsky has patented a new method of optical camouflage. The professor, versed in both quantum and optical electronics, uses gold nanoparticles arranged in a stratum that cloaks the image of an object to the other side of the stratum.

Gadomsky’s technology is completely different than existing methods of optical camouflage that exist today. In 2003, the TACHI laboratory of the University of Tokyo demonstrated an “invisibility cloak” — which was actually no more than a projection of the image behind the cloak projected back onto the cloak. Gadomsky plans to actually disrupt the radiation in such a manner to “bend” light around the stealthed object behind the nanoparticle wall.


as well as this technique too:

Surprisingly very easy to do - especially the highlights around people...

What is the Process of a Commission?

A typical commission process works like this:


1.
Company/record label has a new product ready to be launched but no person to 'launch' it for them. They'd typically need a team of graphic designers, a film production company and web designers - the company wanting these teams would be the producers, funding the operations with their own budget.


2.
They seek out various practitioners/teams specialising in different disciplines, coming down to their final choices by process of elimination after they collate all of them. It would usually be a team that does film, graphic and web design/production all under one name to keep consistency in the work, but branching off isn't uncommon either.


3.
The company explains their product and their demographics for target markets to the creative departments like art direction so they can come up with initial rough ideas of aesthetics, which will then be checked by the company for approval and alterations that need to be made - i the idea they come up with isn't liked at all, it's back to the drawing board, where they come up with new plans and present them. When a final plan is selected, further development begins. If multiple plans are selected, they are blended until the rough plan is an amalgamation of all the bits the company like, where again, further development begins.


4.
The teams all make their rough cuts, web designs and graphics for double checking. If something isn't right it's put back to step 3. If it's ok, they sharpen and tighten up every unfinished aspect until it's problem free and ready to be published.


5.
The product is unveiled by all mediums (web, graphic, film, etc) and begins to rack in the money, primarily for the actual company and secondly for the production team. If the production team have made a successful advertisement commission project, it's likely they'll be reused or even made in-house to the company, making every campaign/promo from that point on.

What Does a Commissioner do?

A commissioner, in the oxford dictionary, is a person appointed by a commission to perform a specific task e.g. being a director approached by a record label or company to produce a promo, advert or music video for them by a brief that they set. 

Being commissioners is the task we've been set to in this project, acting as the directing film-makers, seeking out labels who are up for promotion. 

http://www.computerarts.co.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/648078/cap88_tut_video.pdf

Music promos are designed to grab your attention, capture the imagination and keep you entertained with each and every frame. Sequence Post-Production shows you how to create a dramatic and energetic piece of video work…

I shall be producing the promo side with a physical digi-pack featuring a CD and poster, and the music video side with a by producing both a film. It'll be an a campaign all of it's own.

I've been researching into artists that I like and trying to find email addresses for the managers on forums, blogs and official record label pages.

These are the ones I've come across:

Mad Decent - Major Lazer, Diplo, L-vis 1990Domino Records - Sinden, Tricky, Bonde de RoleTurbo Recordings - Tiga, Proxy, D.I.MEd Banger Records - Uffie, DJ Mehdi, Busy P

Institubes - Surkin, Bobmo, Das GlowDim Mak - Bloody Beetroots, Steve Aoki, Armand van HalenKitsune - Digitalism, Fischerspooner, A-TrackBNR Records - Boys Noize, Shadow Dancer, DjejotronicNew Judas - Mixhell, Houratron, Downtown

Cocomachete - Fukkk Offf, Azzido da Bass, Disco Doom

This is the email I sent to them all (note the universal format - all i need to do is change names and minute details):

"Hi, my name is Hayden Martin, I'm currently taking a new film-making course at Long Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge. Recently we've been assigned the task of each individually creating a music promo for an artist/label of our choice.

I'm sure you'll be glad to know that you (and a few others) came to my mind first, being a huge fan of the current electronic music scene and knowing how successful you've been!

I'm personally very developed in cinematography and editing with digital cameras and would love to apply these skills to produce a promo for any act you may have who are up for a music video.
I currently haven't got a fully completed and up-to-date show-reel but here is an example on Youtube (you'll have to excuse the picture, effects and cutting quality as it was early on in learning to use the software and there were many time constraints):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09QWsJ3FJZY

This project was my first experiment with SFX and shows quite a few shortfalls. Now though, I have far more experience, often experimenting and further advancing.

Examples of my music cutting skills can be found at Vimeo, which I'll constantly update:
http://www.vimeo.com/6484142
http://www.vimeo.com/6484091
http://www.vimeo.com/6484000

Ideally I'd love to make a music video for any on of your lesser known bands to popularize them - funding wouldn't be necessary, only a brief or a source of inspiration from the band.
If anybody you know is interested do please get back to me or send contact details as I need to have this video completed in November.


Thanks very much and hope to speak soon


Add me on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/hayden.martin1?ref=profile

Call me:
M. 07817281488
H. 07974901263"