Creating Our Video.

Right so, the other night me and Ed attempted to take the pictures for our video, however, the lighting and exposure just didn't work. We've decided to try again in a much light environment, possibly earlier in the day. It just so happens that we'll be going to Norwich this friday with some friends, and then going to my house afterwards. Having a group of people creates a great new opportunity for some more photos, with a little more content and more going on. Fingers crossed!

Do we copy things we see in the Media?

The first point I would like to make is, yes, I believe society does indeed copy the media. The form of media has taken many-a-turns and transformations in it's time, stemming from traditional media such as newspapers and magazines, developing into even more engrossing forms such as radio, video games, film/television and the internet. Due to these multiple forms of media, we can be influenced in multiple ways. 


Firstly, there is no denying that we can't help but take in advertisement - it's everywhere, on our televisions, on our computers, playing in the background on the radio, even in the streets. One main piece of evidence that we are influenced by the media, is the fact that we obsess over advertisement. We can't help but watch it, and although nine times out of ten we don't take any notice of what is on offer, we do become interested in various products simply due to how they're advertised. Take perfume for example, perfume adverts often feature A-list celebrities in the hope that we will see ourselves within this person if we purchase and use this certain brand. Take a look at Beyonce, she's rich, powerful, beautiful and is greatly admired by men and women across the globe, I have to admit that when I saw her advert for 'Heat' (her own branded perfume) I did give it a go when I was perfume shopping last christmas - unfortunately it smelt awful but you can't win at everything - and needless to say I will probably try out her newest perfume this year.   

Another form of solid evidence can be found when we look back at World War Two. During the war huge amounts of propaganda was being produced in order to sway the public, the Nazis created discriminating propaganda about the Jewish population in order for 'the master race' to push them out. Also England and America produced propaganda aimed at women to take up work on the land or in factories to keep the men supplied at war - all of this propaganda actually worked, and inspired people to co-operate with the media. 

Autumn Term - Layers

Meet our band! Autumn Term consists of me, Rebekah Bigwood, and Edward Brown. We were planning on forming this little duo...and then this perfect opportunity arose, and after a stupidly long amount of time umming and aahring we finally managed to get the ball rolling. 


Le Band:
Edward Brown on guitar...
Rebekah Bigwood on vocals...
GarageBand on drums and other effects...


We both have always shared similar music tastes, comparing bands and exchanging songs. Our main influences lie with Foster The People, Beck, Cage the Elephant and others, layering tones of southern rock and modern electric sounds. 


Although each of us have dabbled with other instruments in the past (Ed playing trombone, me playing the drums and having the odd play around with a bass guitar) we decided to keep it simple and play to our strengths. 


Le Song:
While sitting in Ed's living room listening to copious amounts of Beck we set about writing this bad boy. Upon coming up with a nice guitar riff the lyrics flowed, and after separating and reflecting the form of the song took many different turns. 


Eventually we reached GarageBand and began, this is the end result:



Genre and Influences:

The genre is a mixture of Indie/Southern Blues, mainly influenced by artists such as Beck, Foster the People and Cage the Elephant. As the sound of the song is quite rough and unpolished, I've decided to create a video that imitates this. I hope to add image effects that will create a vintage/grainy look, and make use of frequent cuts and shot changes to mirror the quick pace of the song - both rhythm and lyrics. 

Foster the People's video for Pumped Up Kids is a great influence and example of a video that visually pulls away from the song at first glance, but under greater scrutinisation you can start to make little connections. The video has influenced my decision to include imagery that doesn't have any immediate connection to the song lyrics, thus making the audience attempt to read a little closer between the lines in order to understand a little more. However, I will include shots and mise en scene that does closely refer to key lines within the song, to keep the audience alert and able to recognise these moments.

Another influence is Beck's video for Loser. The genre of the music is more similar to 'Layers', and therefore the style of the video is more appropriate regarding pace and imagery. The video includes a lot of abstract imagery that, again, doesn't directly reflect on the lyricicm of the song. The shots don't tend to last very long, making it easier for the audience to remain intrigued and entertained. The song is describing a bit of a self confessed meltdown, similar to the character of Justin in our song. As this song was more similar to ours, it makes sense to look at how they've approached the video and take on board how they've suited the visuals to the genre. All through the video use is made of a grainy effect, mirroring the rough finish on the song - I would like to imitate this in my own video.