IDEAS

IDEAS SO FAR

Using the sound and lyrics of this song as a focal point we set about creating a music video to match the mood and theme of the song. We hope to explore the situations where this track would be played such as raves and parties, whilst also focusing on the lyrics themselves. Yet the target audience must also be taken into consideration when planning for ideas as they are ultimately the people who we are relating it to. Yet before we started brainstorming for ideas for our own music video we decided to observe and analysis two of Bloc Party's previous music videos to see if any of the themes used from those videos could be introduced into ours in order to create cohesion between ourselves and the band.


BLOC PARTY-FLUX
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttcboE1GrNg

For the first analysis i chose to observe one of Bloc Party's older songs flux. The song itself was the start of Bloc Party's electronic beat in which up to this song the instrumentals mainly focused around guitars, so it provides relevance in terms of the electronic feel that Ares has to it.

The song itself starts with multiple shots of surrounding buildings sped up and put in sequence to create a distorted establishing shot. Once the tempo of the song increases with the volume the characters/monsters are introduced they appear with yet more sped up camera work that makes them appear otherworldly. The music video continues to match the pace of the song with direct links to the lyrics also established with "We were hoping for some romance" and "we need to talk" both appearing on the robot's mouths as well as gestures relating to these lines being used. None of the characters that appear have distinct human features. This is interesting as many of Bloc Party's other music videos such as Hunting For Witches and Helicopter use the band members themselves, yet they may have been excluded to suggest the change in music style that would soon follow this track. The video despite touching on themes of love and arguments displays a very childlike theme, perhaps to take into account the age of their target audience or even the gender (the fight scenes may have been made in an uneventful manner for these reasons). Bright colours are also used throughout this video. Whilst these colours are used as weapons by the creatures they also represent the target audiences hobbies of parties and raves, something that if we used in our video would not only strike up cohesion with the band but also relate to the target audience significantly. The video itself appears easy to create with most of the work done in editing (perhaps something we may need to take into consideration when creating ideas). When the tempo does eventually die down momentarily the camera shots do so to follow suit. Two shots appear fading over each other with close ups of the two enemies transgressing across each other. With our song also consisting of a high tempo, but with a momentary slow tempo it would prove wise to make sure the speed of shots of the camera also match the tempo. The remainder of the song basically consists of more carnage and destruction of the toy setting where the video is set. This destruction again matches the loud sounding noise that the song gives off something that we can apply in our music video.

BLOC PARTY- TALONS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTwFE_8v8Bc

The reason that i have decided on analysing Talons is that it is very similar to Ares in terms of sound and themes in the lyrics so by analysing this video we can broaden the information and our ideas that could be placed into our music video.

The video starts out with vocalist Kele Okereke running down a dark corridor with bright blue lights flashing on and off in relation to the guitar. Straight away the video matches the song in terms of lyrics with "In the dark" used by portraying a shadow in an otherwise light less room. The song Talons literally applies to running and hiding from something that is out to get them, this idea is matched in the video through the running and turning back in fear. Bloc Party also bring out their uniqueness here. In common horror films when being pursued by something otherworldly the lights around a character tend to go off or shut down, however in this case it more lights come on to light up the darkness, this may also relate to where you are most likely to hear this song played, parties and raves in which bright lights are common. The video gives off the impression that they are being chased by the light with a blue siren light used to briefly light up the darkness as well as keeping in time with the guitar used in the song. This oxymoronic theme of light and danger add to the abstract ideas that earlier appeared in flux and may be something that our group should use when creating our music video. The video continues along this theme of being pursued by the light and see see glimpses into what is chasing them though the face is never revealed, much like in flux. The video itself ends with shots of the city continually getting lighter whilst the main character locked in some sort of corridor with the final shot of him pressed up against a locked door with the light shining on his chest.

BRAINSTORMING

After looking at these videos a large variety of ideas have been thought up to be used in our own video for a Bloc Party song. However whilst using elements of these videos to use in our own will help with the continuity of our video in relation to the bands image, it is important that we bring in our own ideas to show that we have creativity instead of just copying already established ideas. The first idea that we thought of was in relation to the sound of the song. We decided on dancers dressed entirely in black against a black backdrop, with flashing neon lights attached to them in order to create a blurred abstract look that matches the sound of the song. The desired effect would hopefully like like the photo to the left yet we would settle for a less extravagant final production. We also wanted to include some sort of violence or at least the connotation that something or someone is after you. By achieving this we thought we would base our idea on the Talons video and have scenes in which someone is attempting to flee through dark abandoned corridors with a flashing light illuminating not only the corridor but also his fear. As our first idea we thought this one would work well as most of it could be done within the studio at the college, with occasional trips to Hellingly Mental Asylum (an abandoned and easily accessible area in which to film the chase scenes) in order to complete the video. A major recurring image in the song is that of sirens and whilst it may be an idea to include police sirens in this video (a way in which violence is stopped) we also thought it might be worthwhile to use the sirens of sea as an idea for this. The sirens of the sea used to sing to boats passing by and luring them into the rocky shore where the boats would sink and the men would perish (pretty violent if you ask me). This in turn lead to the idea of including crashing waves into the backdrop and abstracting them by turning them a neon green or pink. Not only does this carry on both themes of abstract and violence but also adds to an otherwise repetitive dance scene. Another idea to include on the backdrop is that of a thunder storm. As the song starts with a calm almost eerie mood which reminded us of the calm before the storm, so we could have dark clouds swirling around in the backdrop before the lightening kicks in when the tempo rises. However we have found access and time into Hellingly quite hard to find, with patrolling officers trying to keep people out of Hellingly and despite our expectations for the glow sticks and neon paint we didn't feel it would create the desired look that we feel was required for the video. With black jumpsuits and neon paint and glow sticks all costing money we decided that despite how quickly we may be able to film this idea it may be too pricey for a piece of A2 media coursework.

With the idea of spending money on a music hindering our plans video we turned to an alternative idea in which it would be the setting that matched the song and the storyline of our video. The outline of the idea would involve a chase scene throughout an abandoned warehouse (either Hellingly if accessible or an abandoned Lewes warehouse) in which we would have to people chasing each other and when the lyrics of the song reached "Listening, to dead singers, in your room In 98" they would eventually meet and fight, this matches the themes of the song in terms of violence and the idea of two opposites meeting is apparent in both Flux and Talons. We believed that by placing it in an abandoned warehouse it would not only match the abstract tune of the song but adds to the eerie start to the song. It would also allow multiple fast shots of the setting with different hallways and angles used to match the fast tempo of the guitar and drum beat. This chase scene also allows for many different types of camera shots such as close ups showing fear as well as long shots showing how far away each of the characters are from each other. POV shots can also be used to show the audience the views of the characters, and with the use of editing we can distort these shots to make it more fearful. This type of music video allows for more interesting camera shots and techniques such as depth of field that makes it more interesting for the audience instead of a repetitive few shot selection music video. This combined with the chase scene clearly connotes violence that matches the tune and themes of the song. We've also looked into the ideas of putting projections onto the wall to create an otherworldly theme that appears in other Bloc Party music videos. We have been told that this can be done in the studio onto a backdrop however it maybe a little difficult to transfer it onto the walls of the warehouse unless we brought the projector to the warehouse which i doubt we will be able to do as there will be no real place to plug it in or a means of transport. Another option was to film at Shoreham Cement Works as it provided more roaming space whilst still providing the same abandoned effect that Hellingly had. The reason this abandoned effect works well with the song is that the places look like they have become struck by war and violence, a recurring theme in the songs lyrics so they would be ideal locations to film in. However with only a few openings a week in which the group as a whole can get together to film and as it takes 52 minutes there and back it doesn't leave us with much filming time so we will have to look at alternatives.

The location we have set on is to film in a woods just inside of Lewes. As this is local to us it provides easy access and under the right effect it will provide just as good a place to film as the others. If it is a dull day and preferably gloomy then the idea of loneliness and abandonment can occur just like they would in the buildings. Ironically in comparison with the themes of the song the location of a woods appears pretty tranquil, yet we feel that with the characters and the actions that they do in the video will embed the idea that war can occur anywhere, even in the most peaceful areas. The woods also appears a quite solemn area which provides an eerie atmoshpere. This works well with the beginning of the song and combined with the actions of the characters creates a juxtaposition between the setting and the themes of the video which adds to the abstract elements of the song.

MISE-EN-SCENE

With the location now firmly set we could move onto using props, colour, make-up and costume to create ideas that would relate to previous Bloc Party music videos and therefore relate to their target audience. In relation to target audience, with the main majority being men, we are going to include more stereotypically masculine themes such as conflict and fear. However in relation to other Rock bands Bloc Party has a large female following so whilst these themes will be evident they will not be shown in directly graphic ways. The first example of this will be to have a female mask and make that as the pursuer's identity. With the natural setting of the woods now decided we may decide to include some props to add to the abstract form of the song, and in relation to violence, these may be weapons. One possible idea is to use a baseball bat yet paint it in neon colours, or just edit the colour in afterwards in order to relate to the party style sound of the song as well as connote the themes of violence. Yet other than that i doubt many props will be added, and we will probably just use whats on offer such as trees and hills in order to make the chase scenes more interesting.

As far as the colour of the video goes we will combine the natural dreariness of the woods with neon colours either used in editing or there and then. These bright colours not only stand out against the dreary backdrop but also relate to the sound of the song. Yet if the contrast is to obvious then we may choose to get rid of the bright neon colours and just place actions and camera shots in relation to the tempo and movement of the music. So the colours of the video will mostly consist of brown green and grey, which provides the main emphasis onto the characters as they will stand out more. As for the characters we will probably use one male and one female character to show the growing balance between the genders in the target audience. In both Talons and Flux most of the characters faces remain hidden by either shadow or a mask. With this in mind we have decided to mask both characters to show the coherence between our video and Bloc Parties video. The mask will be in the image of a female but worn by a man to show how they are extremely similar, with religious allusions being the story of Adam and Eve and how ultimatley Eve got them both expelled from the garden of Eden posing women as a threat.The use of this mask not only creates an abstract theme to the video but also creates a contrast between the grey/brown dreary backdrop and the pale white mask, thus drawing attention to the character. We had origionally decided to use two masks with the other being a gas mask which obviously connotes the war, yet we couldn't get hold of one so it is now an abstract war of gender . This adds connotations with the themes of war as well as creating a direct contrast in characters, man vs. women. The song itself does talk about slavery "The Africans and the Bengalis, He knows all the rude boys, Reebok Nike Adidas Puma" and this could provide one of the main reasons behind the hunt and pursue theme that we have chosen and may well be aided to our idea.

With both the mise-en-scene and the ideas now covered we have a brief outline of what will happen in our video. We are going to have the female mask like figure chase the one in the gas mask, with an eventually meeting in which they both run at each other before seeing the one in the gas mask carried off unconscious. This will allow for a variety of shots such as POV, close ups, long shots, over the shoulder shots and two shots, whilst both run and pursue each other around the woods. Yet in relation to the band themselves we have decided on a few modifications, in relation to their target audience we will include a stereotypical "indie" kid as it will appeal to the audience watching. He will consist of the typical jeans and hoody attire. In relation to other Bloc Party videos the idea of otherness is also something we wish to use and in relation to Bloc Party's Flux the idea of concealed identity creating fear appealed to us in particularly. We have decided to use a gas mark to conceal the other characters identity. This mask also allows us to relate the theme of the song back to war and violence.

COSTUME AND PROPS

As mentioned earlier we hope to use a stereotypical indie kid in our video to strike up a direct link between the target audience and our music video. He will consist of black plimsoll trainers

Dark blue jeans

And a white Hoody

Even the pursuer will be dressed in typically indie clothes with the same jeans, and similar shoes as well as a black v-neck top which connotes danger.







The mask is the only prop that we will be using in the music video. Originally we had hoped for a gas mark, as they have obvious connotations with war, however we were unable to obtain one and had to settle for the mask above. Whilst this was merely spontaneous we all felt that it worked mainly due to how creepy the mask was when i put it on, but because it also created a new view on war, the war between man and woman. The mask itself is feminine and creates a clash between man and women, yet it relgious aspects woman was created from man, hence why in the video i play both roles. This creates the idea that man and woman shouldn't fight or "war" as they are the same person, however i feel that this idea would have worked better with a wig aswell, as i could have had long hair which could easily be made to look scary, much like in The Ring.

With this in mind we now have a basic idea that consist of the indie kid played by me, running around an old abandoned woods being chased by a scary female indie kid also played by me, eventually the indie kid is captured but his destiny isn't revealed, much like in the video Talons this creates an ambigouos ending that fits in well with the abstract sound of the song as well as some of the confusing war based lyrics that go with it. We hope to use a lot of point of view shots as it creates a real personal sense of fear, yet whose point of view shot it is will remain a mystery to add to the abstract and the ambiguity of the song. We also feel that when the songs tempo dies down would be an ideal time for the two characters to meet as there is a real sense of tension and fear at this point, yet we don't quite know how we are ment to do this yet.


With a brief outline of the video now set we now need to draw up a storyboard.