Use of mirrors

We strongly used reflections in our thriller production and found using reflections in production makes a strong visual images. Having looked at the music video, 'The Beat - Mirror in The Bathroom' I really liked the use of mirrors in the music video. When shooting the lead singers part in the music videos I decided to use a mirror and film behind Issy singer, filming her reflection. Although these shots are very static I think they are still make a strong visual impact. The use of Mirrors also appears in 'Madness - Our House', where there is a shot of one of the band members gelling over their hair and putting a hat on, influenced by this idea when constructed a similar shot of one of the band members looking in a mirror and doing his hair. This idea then developed further we began to think about showing someone getting ready, a ska fan putting on there braces etc, this would both establish the generic image of ska as well as appealing to the target audience. We used a shot of Issy get ready in a mirror, and put this at the beginning of the video.

Still from 'Madness - Our House'
















'The Beat - Mirror in The Bathroom'

Screen shot from our music video, lead singer singing into / looking at herself in a mirror.



Locations- Urban and British culture./ signifiers

To establish the urban location, which is generic to ska and signify British culture in our music video we went out and did some shooting around some estates in Norwich and general run down areas, we where particularly influenced by the beginning of 'This is England'.

Music videos such as 'Madness's - Our House'. We have used urban areas in Norwich such as Anglia Square, where we used an area of graffiti as a back drop to our mise-en-scene/ shooting, the graffiti again established the urban location.

'Still from Madness's - Our House' features show industrial urban images, and creates a strong sense of community.

Still taken from the beginning of 'This is England'.

Anglia Square - graffiti establishing urban location generic of ska

Filming over Half Term

Over the half term we went to Chapelfield Band stand and began to do some of our performance shooting, as well as seeing how the location would look. The shooting went well, we got lots of close ups of Andy playing the guitar, dancing feet and face, this was inspired from 'The Beat - Mirror In The Bathroom' video. 

Over the half term I went and did some filming at Gt. Yarmouth. The idea was to get some general shots of the cheap shops, 'Regent Street' and arcades, linking to the theme of money within our song. I also got some shots of the empty beach, I think they look particually miserable and could make a good contrast to the comdey element of the video. I got a shot of two eldely people eating icecrem, I really like this shot I think it is quite comical and could work well.  The bleak rather tacky aspects of a British seaside resort in October says a lot about the way the British are determined to enjoy themselves and consume junk despite the weather.


Blackpool

The TV Drama series "Blackpool"  is focused on similar British iconography, the drama is full of British cultural signifiers, fish and chips, bingo etc. The drama paints a quite comical picture of comtempory British culture, where the seafront is king.





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When we started the new term we did some filming at school, we got given access to the instruments at school which was a great opportunity, we did some performance shots with the drum kit, trombone, trumpet and saxophone. We are planning to take the camera out again and possibably get some filming done over Guy Fawkes of fireworks, fair etc.

This is Ska! Documentary 1964

This is Ska!

A brief history of ska, a documentary from 1964 featuring the best in Jamaican ska.
Part one


Part two


Part three


Part four

Another excellent video is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AesId12OKsY
'Abrief History ska' - sadly the video has been disabled from being enabled.

Legends Of Ska Trailer - http://www.legendsofska.com/
A clip from the upcoming documentary on ska and the birth of Jamaican music. This scene features the singers Stranger Cole & Patsy Todd.



Ska special...from Jamaica to the U.K.

Another interesting documentary/ move : Rock Rock Rock - 1956 with Alan Freed.

Planning notes

Planning notes from a recent media lesson:

Locations
Funfair
Norwich (Chaplefield park) (Sparks in the park)

Comedy
'Slapstick' - Norman Wisdom :

Norman Wisdom - Trouble in Store - New Chief's office

The simple very comical style of Norman Wisdoms comic act has informed us in the research and planning of our music video.



Bannana skin
Telephone box - disscussed in previous post.

Performance aspect - a-ha - The Sun Always Shines On TV

I realise this is an slightly appaling a-ha song, but I think the performance element of the video is shot really well. The camera is constantly moving, lots of close ups are used, this really strengtens the sense of performance.Large range of camera angles. I like the use of manikins too, and the location, the lighting and black and white editing makes the manikins looks quite sinister and creepy, as well the the band memebers hair styles.

Email to our chosen band - The Skanx

We emailed our band - The Skanx to ask permisson to use there track/ show are interests and what are coursework will envolve. We got their email address from there website. Wendy from the band replied to our email.

Yestadays media lesson - filming and further planning

Stop motion animation
When we first began to put ideas together for our music video at the start of term we knew we wanted to feature some kind of animation, the animation being a concept aspect of the video. Our soundtrack having the theme of money we thought about doing some kind of animation with money.
In yestadays media lesson we used to the monopoly money to spell out the title of the song, 'money grabber'. Having thought of using monopoly to do so in an previous idea brainstorming lesson. We placed one note at a time to for the lettters of the words, we spelt one letter out at a time, then moved it to start the next letter, creating a stop motion affects. We left 2seconds between each movement, when sped up we think this will look very affective. This is a picture of all the letters laid out to see how effective it would look. Having took this picture Andy said that the money looked like it had eyes on it, we thought this was interesting and could manipulate this idea to converse the idea of materialism etc. We first considered using monopoly - money for a number of reasons, firstly it is an iconic British cultural signifier, futhermore it ties in with the songs theme of money, materialsim, ownsership. Also having looked at other ska videos most of them seemed to have a fun, comic, not-too-serious tone/ element to them, so by using monopoly money it could be considered mocking, make fun of, cosumerism etc.

Brainstorming notes from today's media lesson

The main theme of the song being money this lead us to think about the topicially issue of the recession, bankers, etc. Third wave ska - Madness, The Beat was born under the age of Thatcher, and money, current politics was a large inspiration and part of the songs. Ska as a genre is generically fun and is about having fun, we thought about thinking these two ideas together, the topical recession etc with the fun, mocking element of the genre. This lead us to look at comedy stetches and silent movies, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy etc, situation comedy, simple but some of the funniest comedy stetches ever created. There was one sketch that we found on Youtube which was really good :

A Night At The Opera: Crowded Cabin Scene - The Marx Brothers.

Having watched this clip we imediately thought about how we could cross refrence / re-act this scene by using a red British phonebox.

At the end of the sketch all the people in the cabin topple out of the room as a lady opens the door. This lead us to think about how we could cram people in a phonebox and then have them falling out when someone opens the door to use the phone. The Red British phonebox is a Britsh cultural image, a generic object, adding image of the British culture in our music video. Images of the red telephone boxes are used in 'Madness' - One Step Beyond' video, having watched this video before are inspiration was drawn from this image from the video.

Another image used in this video we really like is at the begginning of the video where the band members sit on stairs and bob from side to side comically. These images are really comical, and fun, they establish and proytay the fun generic feel of ska. We had thought about ways in which we could re-act these images / section on the music video, maybe using stairs in Norwich for exmaple the stairs outside/ near city hall.

Norwich City Hall, and steps near by. Making a cross reference to the images in the Madness video, by using this step scene and re-acting it in are video, in Norwich, aswell as the images of the iconic red telephone box

.

Initial ideas for performance aspect of the narrative

Locations
Performance outside - urban locations
Chapelfield band stand

Inside

Issy's house
Issy has a large back room, we think this would make a good location for the preformance aspect of the video. The room has several lamps in it, these could aid us in lighting the prefomers. The room also has lots of music posters on the wall and instruments in.
The weather is begginning to get bad so this may be the best location for the preformance aspect of our music video.
Arrangement of band members

Camera angles

Close up's of singer/ band members
Playing instruments and instruments
Close ups of dancing, feet, hands illistrate and amplify feeling of preformance and energy.

Instruments

Guitar, keyboard, saxophone, trumpets / trumbone

Low angle shot
This angle is used in a way which is powerful, the cospostion of the shot is diagonal which makes it feel energetic. The angle makes the performer look powerful as a result but also energetic.

Mid shot, the depth of field focuses on the preformer (lead singer) drawing the audiences attention to the lead singer. This could be a good way to drawn the audiences attention to the lead singer in our own video.

Another low angle shot, the use a low angle shot compliments the brass playing band members well, and seems to be a popular angle used when filming brass players in a band.

Stills from 'Madness - Baggy Trousers' music video Compositon on the band in the mise en scene is important in this example the lead singer is at the front with the other band members around of behind him.

Stills from 'The English Beat - Mirror in the Bathroom. Close up of performer dancing. I think it will be important to include close ups of dancing in the performance aspect of the video as dancing is a big part and generic to the ska genre. Close ups of feet hands facial expression will create a feel of performance, and bring the audience into the enegetic action. Another generic aspect of ska is that it is meant be fun, enegetic and get you on your feet! Close up of instrument, bring audiences into mise en scene and again enhances the sense of performance.

The close up determines the generic signifier - the boots. Close ups can be effectively used in the preformance aspect of the music video to show dancing, emotion, and generic signifiers / elements of the genre like costume and location. Example of a low angle shot below, makes the perfomer look powerful, and energetic.

Storyboards

Stills from the shoot/ location ideas

Location hunting and shooting


Today we went out and looked for locations and tried out costumes with the actors. The costume works really well, and we found loads of good locations, one of which was the car park at Anglia Square, the graffitti provides an interesting and colour backdrop and fits the urban theme of ska. We did some filming today to see how the costume and location looked, overall a practical planning session, with costume finalised and some good location ideas. As a group we felt the session went well and we came up with ideas together as we where out, we had fun trying out different camera angles and taken 'photo shoot' as part of our reseach into costume, and identity.

Issy, Jack, Ben and Andy in costume, with the graffitti background. The compostion of the photo makes them seem as a group and a band. The urban location and costume and generic of the ska genre. Tribly hats, sunglasses, braces are all iconic images of the thrird wave ska.

Experimenting with camera angles and prospective.
Above : we had a go at doing a Madness style walk - cross referecing to Madness. The walk is used in several Madness videos, and has become a signature/ iconic part of Madness.

First rough narrative ideas

I have started looking at videos and images to do with The Recession (in the UK).




This is an American production, but the ideas images have a strong link to the topic of money, the films explores The economic meltdown in Amercia, I found this trailer quite interesting.


Montage of images / comedy song about the recession.


Another comedy song UK Recession - Brown and Bush



Some news videos talking about the recession


Anti banker alcohol ad

Moneygrabber - lyrics and themes

The song features a lead female vocal, with accomplied male vocals

Lyrics

Intro

1,2,3,4

Many huh’s

Oh yeah

Just a money grabber

Come on (x4)

Hey!

Yeah she’s a money grabber out for what she can get

Oh yeah

She’s a money grabber-er-er out for what she can get

Oh yeah

You betta’ watch out or she will get …..

Yeah – e – yeah!

Just a money grabber (x2)

Hey!

Just a money grabber (x2)

Hey!

Just a money grabber (x2)

Hey!

Just a money grabber (x2)

Hey!

Just a money grabber (x2)

Hey!

Just a money grabber (x2)

Hey!

Just a money grabber (x2)

Hey!

Just a money grabber (x2)

Yeah!

She will steal you money and your pride too yeah-e-yeah (x2)

O-yeah you betta’ watch out because she is bad news yeah-e-yeah

You betta’ watch o-o-out because she is bad news yeah!

Many huh’s

Come again, hey (x2)

More huh’s

Instrumental (2.07-2.34)

Huh just a money grabber (x8)

Hey she is poison no no no good for you yeah-e-yeah

She is poison no good no no good for you oh-yeah

She will catch you in her web then you’ll never get loose, yeah-e-yeah

She will catch you in her web and then you’ll never get loose

Huh just a money money grabber, huh huh

Just a money grabber (x2)

Hey hey yeah yarr

Just a money grabber

Yeah yeah yarr

She’s a money grabber

Hey hey

Just another money grabber

Just a money grabber

Hey hey yeah yurr

Hey just a money grabber

Just a money grabber

Hey she’s a money grabber

Just a money grabber ( x10) Together

Just a money grabber (x3)

Money grabber get out of my face, yeah!

Themes:
Money - Current money topics? - 'The recession' etc
'money grabbing' women 'gold diggers'
spending & buying - consumerism


Pink Floyd - Money
The visuals are sync to that of the lyrics, the video is made up of a montage of images to do with the topic of money, spending and consumerism. The images are also cut to the beat of the music. A montage of images cut to the beat could work well for the beginning of my chosen track, a similar montage of images of money would fit with the themes of my chosen track. I could also use generic ska images in a opening montage of images, although these could also be repeated thoughout.

The Skanx - Moneygrabber

My chosen song for my music video


The Skanx - Moneygrabber
Genre - ska/funk
11 piece band from London


'The Skanx are an 11-piece band from South-east London. Our music combines classic Ska with influences from funk, jazz and dub. We play a mix of well-known and obscure cover versions as well as our own unique material. The band features vocalists Lori and Wayne, plus the 5-piece Skanky Horns.'


Line-up


* Lori: Lead vocals, songwriting
* Wayne: Vocals, MC, songwriting
* Nick: Guitar
* Tom: Fretless bass
* Paul: Drums
* Simon: Wurlitzer piano, organ, Stylophone
* Liam: Tenor sax
* Joe: Tenor sax, flute
* Steve: Tenor sax, baritone sax
* Stuart: Trumpet, percussion, vocals
* Wendy: Trumpet
sourced from the bands website - http://theskanxband.co.uk/index.html

Further costume research - Madness

Madness are a British ska band from London, which formed in 1976. In 2009, the band have continued to perform with their most recognised lineup of seven members, although the lineup has varied slightly over the years. They were one of the most prominent bands of the late-1970s 2 Tone ska revival.



Madness where one of the most prominent bands of the 2 Tone revivial
in the 70's and therefore took some hand in leading the fashion. The video shows a prominent example of the fashion worn at the time / the generic ska  2 Tone costume; a suit, tribly hat and sunglasses it could be said that this Madness signature look.

Ska costume ideas / experimentation

This is my favourite photo from the shoot, during the shoot I tried out several different costume ideas, considering the generic ska costume/ fashion and taken inspiration from ska artists. This costume was inspired by No Doubt gwen stefani's style - a 90's ska band.

Gwen Stefani's style (in No Doubt) reflected ska fashion as well as 50's (rockabilly) as in this video with the quiffed bleached hair and red lips, almost like Marilyn Monroe, the classic Hollywood image, although constrasted with the almost punky appearence of costume (lepard print leggins) and genre it could be symbolic of something else. The bassist in the video has a trilby hat on, an iconic image on the ska genre.




Hair style
Females hairstyle in the ska era had a notiable influence from punk. At the time it was very shocking to have shaved hair, even for so if you where female, their hairstyle was making a statement, both political and fashionable. Female ska fans hair was very masucline, and these fans where often called 'skinhead girls'.

Lol - 'This is England'
Lol's hairstyle in 'This is England' is very reflective of the ska hairstyle, a fringe and shaved head.

Initial costume ideas

Initial costume ideas


Rude girl / skinhead girl
Photo's of intial costume ideas, working with and inspired from the reseach I have done into the generic image of the ska genre looking at third wave ska fashion and the image of ska. I tried out lots of ideas and different styles to create a variaty of possible costumes. The model used in the photo's is Isobel.

Images of costume aspects


Trilby hat, checkered glasses, sunglasses, jumper, braces, bandana, bad, trumpet badge - generic of the genre.

Close up of hat, bandana, and glasses

Checkerboard lips
Checkerboard is a iconic image of ska, the mixture of black and white, this links back to the roots of early ska and reggae, which originated from Jamica in the late 50's. 2 tone was a fusion of Jamaican ska rhythms and melodies with punk rock's more aggressive guitar chords and lyrics. The 2 Tone movement promoted racial unity at a time when racial tensions were high in the UK. There were many Specials songs that raised awareness of the issues of racism, fighting and friendship issues.

This costume was inspired by the costume used in the Jarmean? - Bad Penny music video (this can be found in a previous post on my blog)

Jarmean? Bad Penny
Still from the video, I like the costume used in the video, it's fun and threatrical. 

 Rude boy / skinhead


Photo's of intial costume ideas, working with and inspired from the reseach I have done into the generic image of the ska genre looking at ska fashion and the image of ska. I tried out lots of ideas and different styles to create a variaty of possible costumes. Model used Jack.


Costume aspects


Tribly, black suit, white shirt, black tie (Checkboard theme) 




 Tribly hat, Fred Perry polo, braces, boots and turned up jeans

Shirt, jacket and turned up jeans