When it came down to what myself and the band wanted to create was something aesthetically pleasing that goes with their selected song and genre of music they produce, so the first steps i took was to look at the codes and conventions of ‘Rock’ based music videos and see what are the most common elements you would find in them. I went through a list of music related content that the band sent to me for inspiration and what they would like to achieve from it and the elements i found constantly being repeated in multiple videos were.

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• Artists wearing dark clothing

• Dark coloured instruments

• Atmospheric dark rooms and or forests

• Extreme close ups of artists and instruments

•  High & low key lighting

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Baring all of that in mind i then started writing down first ideas and thoughts about the stylistic elements of what the actual video will posse, my first couple of thoughts would be to tone down the colours as much as possible to make it slightly grey scaled so the colours will still be visible but not sticking out like a sore thumb. Especially if the locations used for the shoots will be either a white/black backdrop and or a forest area which will have minimal light coming through the trees.

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(Deaf Havana, 2012)

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This music video for ‘Leeches’ above was one of the first primary example’s of how i would like my visuals to turn out when the shoot begins with the band, if you look closely at the music video the lack of colour throughout are primarily black, grey and hints out white.

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With the focus of the video being set around a female character with elements of cuts of the vocalist singing accompanied by a variety of different shots of the other band members either playing their instruments or positioned in exact locations playing as background characters for the story being told throughout the music video.

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(Bring Me The Horizon, 2015)

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When it came to creating more idea’s of possible music videos with the band we also decided to look into a more ‘modern’ depiction of how music videos have evolved over the years by introducing more colours and imagery on the screen but also incorporating just the band members and no one else.

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This second example showcases another stylistic approach i would like to achieve when it comes to creating a music video, in the music video there are multiple shots of the band members face’s and bodies where they have been altered in post production where different imagery and backgrounds have been cast over their outlines to resemble certain objects and or imagery relating to the lyrics and meaning of that particular song.

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Another element i want to incorporate within the music video is a ongoing story being subtly cut too throughout the music video which will have no conclusion towards the end of the video leaving the audience watching in suspense with whats happened or going to happen to the character on screen alongside not giving the audience watching any hints or information about the character on screen to allow individuals watching the video to interpret it in their own way.

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Stylistically when it comes to the production of the music video i’m very excited to get pen to paper and put my head down and get underway with the production side of the project, as i’ve already planned and clearly outlined exactly what myself and the band want and to it will to the best of mine and their capabilities.

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When it came to deciding the visuals aspect of the music video myself and the band decided to sit down together when we meet up last month and look at some examples of music videos that they like the aesthetic of and see if we could come up with our own ideas for the final major project music video.

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Below are a handful of screenshots that i have put together of what the band and myself have agreed on going forward in pre production to make the storyboards and shooting script finalisation based of these screenshot inspirations.

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Referring to the screenshots the lack of colours is a predominant factor in most of them and that’s something that will be a occurring theme throughout the entire music video, with bursts of colour in certain segments to add to the context of the video and flustering colours on the instruments they posse.

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Also when we looked at the screenshot’s we also decided to talk about what type of camera angles will be the most effective and how to engage the audience watching into entire video without switching off at any point, with the majority of us agreeing that we should do extreme/close ups of the band members and the instruments to give an intense and hands on experience for the audience watching.

 

I also threw out to the band members what they were looking for lighting wise and they agreed with a a choice of high key and low key lighting with momentary lens flare and blurriness.

Now that myself and the band have agreed on the visual aspects of the production in pre production i’m thoroughly looking forward to getting out onto locations and start filming my final major project, but i’ve also said to myself that i will continue researching more music videos for any other inspirations just in case other shoots get abandoned or cancelled as a back up.

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References​

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Bring Me The Horizon, (2015). Bring Me The Horizon – Throne. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow_qI_F2ZJI [Accessed 17 Jan. 2017].

Deaf Havana, (2012). Deaf Havana – Leeches. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1ff5OG3y0Y [Accessed 17 Jan. 2017].