On Friday the 25th of June we had a chance to meet Jake Wynne, a British director and editor of music videos, commericals and digital online content, who later on in the year will be helping direct our music video workshop of recreating the 5ive music video- everybody get up.
We had this unique opportunity to learn about making music videos, something which would come in very useful for our coursework next year and also watch some of the videos he had created and gain useful tips.
One video which i was vastly impressed with was the Nojahoda video, as it was very excentric and strange and showcased alot of media techniques and skills all in one (such as special fx and wrapping images around faces), but Jake highly stressed that we steer clear of this for our music video, as it was just far too complicated.
One piece of advice i found very useful was that it was far beneficial to get more footage than not enough, and that you had to be very strict and brutal with time, as it runs out very quickly and you need to make sure you have the right footage to put across the whole story.
Something i would very much like to use in my music video coursework which Jake talked about was a beauty shot, one which just shows the main artist singing alone in front of a plain background with lots of lighting to mask any blemishes. This is clearly seen in Jakes Geri Halliwel music video for 'Its Raining Men'
Overall i found talking to the director very beneficial, and it was nice to gain alot of imformation about him before having to work with him on the shoot.
1)Instant Impact
Here by giving the video a gritty feeling by creating it all in black and white instantly grips the audience, not only this, but my creating a mis en scene not typically assiciated with the band from the outset it instantly grips the audience into what will occur out of the ordinary. Also by using Alan Ford, this is using popular culture as people will recognise him, and he is also playing a character much like the one he played in one of his best movies 'Snatch' (2000) where he played a British gangster as well.
2) Non Linear Editing
Most of the editing follows the story of young boys on an estate with the lead singer acting as a conscious singing behind them, however towards the middle and end of the video, we start cutting in another set up of the band playing on a rooftop within the same mis en scene, completely away from the storyline. As well as this the band are also incorporated into the storyline on the estate as well, by being chased by police in a car, so not completely alienating them from the action.
3) Repetitions
We repeatedly throughout the video get closeup shots of the drummer head on within the playing setup and also closeups of the lead singers face from the right hand side in front of the estate on his own. As well as repetitions of the lead singer here, we also get the repeated shots of him following our main character acting as his conscience. Another shot which is frequently cut in is the shot of the men all squeezed in the car driving, and this shot is repeated and used in various places.
4) Strong sense of Artist Identity
This video completely goes against the artists usual rock identity, however a new artist identity is built up within this video by placing some (if not all) of the band within all of the setups available. I also feel this does not change their identity, as the concept of the video is that the band are the conscious of the characters, and so it does not hold them within the 'chav' identity, but allow them to share their views on it.
5) A Performance
The performance is very gritty and energetic set within a mis en scene that is very desolate, putting the main focus onto the band, and not only this but the performance follows through into the narrative by the main singer lip syncing behind the characters which keeps the video exciting and visually entertaining. By turning the song into a narrative the performance instantly becomes heightened as acting has to be involved to carry through the story which brings energy to the video i believe.
6) Visual Pleasures
The main singer is seen to be very attractive and has been seen having many famous girlfriends to support this, so having him on screen through 90% of the video instantly acts as a visual pleasure to the audience if they are indeed girls. Also the video is fun to watch as it brings out a new side to the band which is slightly more gritty and also has a good storyline, one which as stated before has similarities to that of old British gangster movies such as Snatch.
7) Wow Factor!
The main wow factor for the video is the fact that ( for a fan of the band) this is like nothing they have ever done before, almost (visually) straying completely away from their usual rock identity which is usually very prominent.
8) Provoke a Reaction
This video provokes a reaction as it is addressing the gang and estate culture within todays British society and also as it is unlike anything that band has done before it could create a good/bad reaction from avid fans.
9) Works on Different Levels
Not only is the video unusual and gritty to watch, but it also works as it creates a mis en scene that many of their British fans can relate to has some action elements, with the chasing in the cars and the chasing of the boy on foot, but also slower paced sections with just strolling around the estate, so the audience can take in the mis en scene fully and relate it to the lyrics.
10) This is seen to be mirroring popular British gangster films such as 'Snatch' and 'Lock stock' which focus on the underground less idealised areas of society. In this case the image created is an almost chavvy estate, which is portrayed also through many television shows around such as 'Shameless' etc.
