Eureka!

I have taken a particular interest in the quirky use of stop-motion animation which seems to work specifically well in the area of music videos; it seems to sync rather well in the development of rhythm and beat of a song.  It can be controlled through the development of how fast the scenes are moved in response to a specific song, in order to depict the certain flow. A smooth song like Fleet Foxes' Mykonos is effectively presented with the delicate use of animation in order to create a rather flawless movement of images.  The video is artistic, suggesting a 2D world made entirely out of paper yet it breathes life.  

In order for me to adapt this wonderful idea; heavy research will need to be done in order for me to create a video that combines stop-motion use with normal video - the variation will work well to suggest the interchanging sections of the song.

EXAMPLES OF STOP-MOTION ANIMATION USE

HER MORNING ELEGANCE - OREN LAVIE

Oren Lavie's Her Morning Elegance is indeed elegant in it's production; the video seems to depict a woman as she perhaps dreams; walking in her sleep, encountering a flying cello and clouds of pillows.  The Israeli singers video for his song, released in 2009 won a Grammy Award nomination for 'Best short form music video' - impressive!  

COLDPLAY - STRAWBERRY SWING

Released in 2009, Coldplay's Strawberry Swing music video was directed by Shynola; features Chris Martin lying on ground against animated chalk drawings.  It starts with him waking up in his house, then sees a woman held hostage by a squirrel - then attempts to save her being the superhero he is.  Wow, he is then attacked by a massive fish and that squirrel. Awesome.  And then, they fly away, smooching as they live happily ever after.

WE HAVE A BAND - YOU CAME OUT

Believe it or not; this video for You Came Out by We have a band took 4816 still images to create!  The action shows the faces of the band members evolve with artistic use of face paint as it changes around the features; which I think works very well in terms of being punchy, cooperating with the style of the song.  

Beirut, Beirut, Beirut!

Lets all take a moment to appreciate this fantastic cover of Postcards from Italy by Beirut; covered by two extremely talented girls which I came across on Youtube.  One plays the Ukulele, the other a guitar and combine their talents and vocal harmonies in order to create a great collaboration. 5 stars!

Crystal Fighters - Follow

One word to describe Crystal Fighter's video for single 'Follow' - Stop-motion chaos.  The stutter in the rhythmical nature of the song syncs very well with the creation of the effect - which almost seems to be erratic was believed to work very well by director Ian Pons Jewell.  The British alternative band seemed to do very well in inspiring me in replicating the effects of stop-motion and the way it almost flows with the beat and rhythm - the single taken from their debut album Stars of Love (2010).  A tale of fondles and fights seem to occur in alleyways, the almost celebrity-like body builder with interchanging coloured boxer shorts and soup eating old-man seem to make this music video extremely unique.  It is a move away from generic mainstream 'shawty in the club' DREADFUL music videos. You know what I mean.

Watch the video for Follow below!

Music Video Types

NARRATIVE BASED MUSIC VIDEO

A music video that mainly consists of story telling that relates to the lyrics is a narrative-based music video; often depicts a certain genre in order to interact and engage an audience.  This type of music video may present certain songs that feature in films, in which footage from the feature is shown in the video.  Locations, mise-en-scene and props are used in order to tell the story; sometimes footage of the artist themselves can be portrayed.  Narrative based music videos are more likely to entertain, actors can be used in order to present a story effectively.

Eliza Doolittle's video for 'Pack Up' depicts a narrative style as the artist climbs out of a suitcase which is flung out of a bus at the beginning of the sequence.  The narrative enhances the cheerful nature of the song and suggests that people should adopt a free lifestyle, being carefree.  We see many people at a dance in a hall, showing Eliza's journey.

PERFORMANCE BASED VIDEO

Alternatively, a performance based music video will depict the artist or band performing their release - either directly to a camera or shown as a live performance to an audience.  This technique is popular for rock genres etc.  in order to engage the viewer as they can view the concert - alternative to showing just the artist.  

'The Look' by Metronomy is a quirky, performance based music video which shows the band playing a set; stop-motion seagulls are seen walking along to the rhythm of the song at the beginning, and at various other times in the video.

CONCEPT BASED VIDEO

A concept based video will emphasise a certain idea; depicting a certain style or editing technique - although a video doesn't necessarily have to be based around one concept - it is usually several ideas.  These types of music videos tend to be unique - and do not have to necessarily appeal to a mainstream audience as such.  

One of my favourite music videos is 'Settle Down' by Kimbra - it seems to reflect the lyrics and theme of the song as a mixture of performance/ narrative based stylised video.  A young actress seems to portray a house-wife character as we see the effects of her marriage - in juxtaposition to the 'settle down' lyrics; which perhaps seem to show  that the relationship isn't as pleasant as hoped.  The artist is shown uniquely dancing/ singing - enhancing a performance aspect, it is a unique video.

Research - Music Videos

A music video is a short film that interregates a song and it's artistic meaning usually representing musical artists, used for promotion.  Modern music videos are used as a marketing device - yet trace back to early 1980s when MTV were presenting the medium.  A wide range of techniques can be used to create music videos such as animation, live action, documentaries or abstract film - perhaps even a live version of the song being shown.  Some music videos attempt to mirror themes and concepts of the song, portraying lyrics being depicted. 

The first video to be shown on MTV - 'Video Killed the Radio Star' - The Buggles

 EARLY HISTORY

1902-1917 - The phonoscène era

• The forerunner of sound film; combining chronophone sound recording and chronograph film in order to shoot lip syncing actors - first synchronised by Leon Gaumont.

1926-1959 -Talkies, soundies, and shorts

• Many short films were created under the Talkies, Vitaphone shorts produced by Warner Bros featured many bands, vocalists and dancers - using distinct art deco style animations/ backgrounds.
• 'Screen Songs' created by Max Fleischer introduced a series of singalong cartoons.
• Early animated Walt Disney films showed interpretations of classical music such as 'Silly Symphonies' and 'Fantasia'.
• Forms of one song clips called promotional clips were made for the Panoram visual juke box; they showed shorts of musical selections that presented bands on sets - thousands of 'soundies' were then made.  Soundies were famously created by jazz singers.
• Many musical films were also created - Madonna's 'Material girl' 1985 video was based around  Jack Cole's staging of 'Diamonds are a girls best friend' - from Gentlemen prefer Blonds.

1960–1967 - Visual innovation

• Scopitone was invented in France - a visual jukebox which allowed many French artists to produce short films eg. Serge Gainsbourg, Françoise Hardy, Jacques Brel, and Jacques Dutronc to accompany their songs.
• Jan and Dean's 'Surf City' was produced in 1963; the single release reaching number one nationally.  It was filmed on Pacific coast highway in Malibu; capturing an early atmosphere and vibe of Southern California.  

The Beatles

• 'A Hard days night' was the Beatles first feature film back in 1964, it was shot in black and white and represented as a mockumentary - with loosely structured musical fantasia that intersected dialogue for musical sequences.  
• Filmed in colour in London, 'Help!' (1965) was a more developed feature, also being filmed in international locations.  It is suggested that it is one of the prime archetypes of the modern style music video. It employs rhythmic cross-cutting, contrasting long shots and close-ups, and unusual shots and camera angles.

WELCOME!

Le me. Introduction.