Research into Music Videos

After researching unsigned bands our group came across the song 'Boys in motion', a song by the band 'Blighters'.

We already had ideas in our head of producing a film using complex editing to make it unique and stand out. Stop motion is something I have done before and have found great fun in doing so. From looking at other stop motion music videos such as Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie it creates a good effect.




This is a great example of the animation of stop motion. The whole video is made of photos and is a very complex and professional piece. This video has influenced us to include stop motion within our music video. It has also us given ideas and motivation to achieve a great video. Realistically we know we cannot match the level of ability but it is something we can aim at.

The video is include just 3 shots which is actually very common to this sort of animation. Changing to different angles makes the whole process a lot more complicated. The video is very impressive which is roughly made up of 3225 still photos. These dreamy visuals amaze audiences and keeps them watching. The piece is a folk song so the relaxing and dream-like video matches the genre. Animation is often used in Folk music videos which shows animation is a generic signifier of the Folk genre.

I video includes a 'journey' that a woman takes without leaving her bed, which could symbolise a dream that the audience can see visually themselves. There is no real meaning to the journey that she takes but more surreal and unique. She skips through clouds which in this case are pillows and swims with fish which are socks. Using simple bedroom essentials to create an amazing piece with such variety has a clever contrasting affect

The title Boys in Motion gave us the idea of the video including skateboarding. Boys and skateboarding have always been a common stereotype and we wish to enhance this idea.



This is a video by Lostprophets which is majorly performances based. It has cuts to skateboarding shots throughout which fit to the genre and pace of the track. This is similar to what we want to achieve with our production. The skateboarding shots use a lot of slow motion which is effective to the music and has a great contrast with the fast pace shots shown when the band perform.

The video is on the rooftop of a skyscraper which seems to be a popular location for music videos. Its used to suggest popularity and being 'at the top'. It is also a great location because the shots show only the sky and tops of other buildings which gives the audiences main focus to the band. This generic location has been used by other bands of a similar genre such as Linkin Park



Here is Linkin Park in their video for 'In The End' on a rooftop for their performance based music video.

The shots used throughout the video show you that the music and the genre have that 'skater' scene as there is clips of skateboarding throughout. This is a cool image and is often idolised by many people. The performance is a to a live audience and the reaction of the crowd also tell you about the music. There are many crowd shots and there is a lot of 'moshing' and crowd surfing which gives the band a very 'rocky' outlook. These generic 'signifiers' confirm the generic blueprint over all. Mike Piscitelli, the director wanted got the bands fans to come along and be in the music video so it would give a real overlook on the band rather than a forced one. It therefore shows the real generic features through the audiences rather than being planned.

There is no narrative structure in the video. The skateboarding is simply performance stunts to look good rather than to have a storyline. They use shots where the band is in the background of the skateboarding to blend the two together nicely.

The visuals fit well with the music, especially when looking into the tempo changes. When the music it is at a fast pace the shots are quick and short when the piece mellows out and is a slower the shots are longer and panning is used. The skateboarding shots work in the same way, there are slow motion shots when the music is slow and fast pace shots when the music is at a high tempo.



The lighting is natural throughout the video, as it is filmed during day light no added light is needed. There is a shot where the sun is used very well in the background (below) which creates a good effect and adds variety. It shows a good use of using natural resources which are already there.



Both of these videos have influenced our production by giving us ideas for structure and shots as well as the motivation to produce a good quality video.