PLANNING - Influences For Our Music Video Narrative

Influence 1
Linkin Park - Numb

After watching the video to 'Numb' by Linkin Park, it gave us inspiration of some shots we could include in our music video. In particular, we found that the time lapse shot was really effective in emphasising how lonely the girl in the video is. Therefore, we felt that this shot would suit our narrative well and decided to replicate a similar shot in our video.

Here are some screen shots of the main girl standing and sitting still with everyone around her moving quickly.

This is a shot of the main girl being represented as an outcast. This is due to her sitting alone in the classroom with everyone moving around her quickly. This shot supports our concept of 'feeling alone in a crowded room'.

This shot of the girl being shoved onto the floor with everyone rushing around her, highlights the fact that the girl is alone and no one cares for her.

This is a shot of the girl sitting alone on a wall with the fact that time is passing by and everyone is doing something without including her.

The repetition of these shots is really effective as it emphasises how lonely the girl is and adds empathy and pathos into the video. It gives the video a clear structure and a meaning that is easy to follow.

Influence 2
Evanescence - Bring Me To Life

After watching the music video by Evanescence 'Bring Me To life', the repetitive shot of the girl falling reminded me of the time lapse shot in the previous. This is because the girl is the only person in the shot that is in focus whilst the rest of the background is blurry and moving fast behind her.

Here are some screen shots to demonstrate this:

This type of shot seems to be a popular sequence used in this genre of music which is why this shot would be a good choice to choose and adapt into our own music video.

Influence 3
The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony

This music video by The Verve depicts a man walking through a city, barging into people. We decided to use a similar idea to this in our music video, with the boy and girl bumping into each other. It is also set in a busy location with many people always around him. This is a good sequence that relates to our idea as throughout the video the girl will be walking and travelling from place to place in London.

PLANNING - Alternative Rock Genre Codes And Conventions

PLANNING - Identifying Music Video Codes And Conventions

To understand the codes and conventions that need to be followed in our alternative rock genre music video, I researched the styles that different genres use in order to portray that particular genre.

The general conventions of a music video are:

• Performance - Band/artist playing
• Narrative - Includes story
• Mixture - Both performance and narrative based
• Mise-en-scene reflects the mood of the song
• The lyrics of the song influence what is shown in the video
• The editing of the video suits the pace of the music.

To gain a greater understanding of how different genres represent themselves I undertook some research into specific genres.

 The genres of music I looked into are:

• Alternative Rock/Indie
• Heavy Metal
• Pop

Alternative Rock/Indie

• The artist/band is featured throughout the video
• Variety of shots used -extreme close ups are commonly used
• Dark locations used

Examples of this genre and these conventions are:

The Cribs - Martell

The Cribs music video includes the conventions of a mixture between the narrative and the band playing. The mise-en-scene of the band clearly indicates that this is of the alternative rock genre as the band members have long dark hair and are wearing indie style clothes such as tight fitting t-shirts and black skinny jeans. The room that the video is set in is a dark location with a black background and other dark colours featured such as red and gold.

Heavy Metal

• Dark colours used
• The band performing on stage
• Uneasy camera movements
• Hand held shots

Iron Maiden - The Trooper

Iron Maiden's music video includes the conventions of the band playing on stage, a variety of camera shots and angles (including hand held shots).

Pop

• Bright colours used
• Very upbeat
• Close ups of the band/artist
• Usually it is only the artist featured and no shots of the band and instruments

Katy Perry - California Gurls

Katy Perry's music video to California Girl conforms to the codes and conventions of the Pop genre. It is fun, bright and colourful. There are close ups of the singer and no shots of the musical instruments. The video is exciting which interests the target audience - usually a teen audience, and therefore includes scenarios they will enjoy.