78.

Godley and Creme's 'Cry' from 1985 made number 78. These where the two people who made 'Rockit' by Herbie Hancock. They were in a famous band called 10CC and are from Manchester. However they had no pop star image so decided to become directors and began to make music videos. They now work independently after having a falling out with one another.
This video uses extreme close up throughout and the merging into other peoples faces. They auditions members of the public who they sat on a chair with a saucepan on the back of it, so that they could measure the faces and heads correctly in the same position on the film. They also played around with the editing and they discovered that you could use morphing to mix facial features and create your own faces, with somebody's mouth and somebody else's eyes.

80 + 79

'Just' by Radiohead in 1995 was said to be the 80th greatest music video. This video is discussed in my Case Study 1 whos director is Jame Thraves.

Number 79 is New Order's 'True Faith' in 1987. This video is one of the best representatives of disjuncture, discussed by Andrew Goodwin. The meaning of the song is completely ignored. This band were signed to Factory Records. They were previously called 'Joy Division' until the lead singer killed himself. They then reformed as 'New Order'. This was filmed by a French Dance Choreographer who had no idea on how to make films or music videos, called Philippe DeCouffle.They gave him £10,000 to film this music video and he did. MTV said that they were not going to show the video unless the band is shown in it, so they added parts of when they performed at Glastonbury Live.

85.

'My way' by Sid Vicious, from the Sex Pistols, was number 85 on the 100 greatest music videos list. This was created in 1979 and originally sung by Frank Sinatra. Sid Vicious decided to subvert this song and it was filmed in one hour in a theater in Paris.This is a iconic image of Sid showing controversy. He committed suicide within one year of filming this video due to a drug overdose while he was on bail for murdering his girlfriend.
Julien Temple was the director who persuaded him to perform this song, even though he didn't want to. He changed some of words adding personal things such as 'I killed a cat', something which Sid once done.

87.

Number 87 was 'Once in a lifetime' by Talking Heads made in 1981. This was a very strange video discussed previously and was shown in a New York Museum as a piece of art. This video questions the reality of life and is very significant. They used abstract ideas for movements and went to a mental hospital for ideas for the movements to show that you are out of control of your life. This relates well to the lyrics and is shown in dance moves.

88.

Number 88 was Elton John's 'I want Love' made in 2001. He did not like appearing in music videos so they got Robert Downey Junior to perform. At this point he was in rehabilitation due to his drug addiction, so he was at a very low point in his life. He was allowed out of rehab to film this video and his personal experiences all contributed to an intense performance. There was no editing for this music video and it was all filmed in one take. Sam Taylor-Wood was the director of this video and since then stars as diverse as Justin Timberlake and Liz Taylor have appeared in Elton John's music videos instead of him.

92.

Herbie Hancock's 'Rock it' in 1983 made number 92. He was a jazz musician but experimented and broke the hip hop sounds. This was music with no lyrics. MTV had just begun in America at this time, where there was a huge amount of racism. As Hancock was a black musician, during the early 80's MTV wouldn't show black artists so they refused to have him. Records would be covered by white artists and they made them huge hits. This was unfair because it would be written and sung by black musicians.
Hancock finally got given a video for this song in which he appeared in a TV set very quickly. This music video included dummies all around a house and these dummies toured Britain's art galleries. There was a doll masturbating in the bedroom which is why is was banned in Britain.

95.

Number 95 of the 100 greatest music videos is 'My favourite game' by The Cardigans made in 1998. Jonas Akerland was the director for this video which is about a failing love affair. It consists of people driving wrecklessly. They shot three endings for the video; one where she is dead, one where she gets up and is perfectly fine and one where her 'head' is cut off and rolls away (this was actually the head of a dummy and looked extremely false). They decided to choose the comical one in the end, where she gets up, seems perfectly fine and then is hit on the head which kills her/knocks her out.

96.

Number 96 is '21 seconds' by So Solid Crew made in 2001. This was a bunch of black rappers; a collective video with over 20 people from South London. This was Britain's first take on American rap. Each person had 21 seconds to introduce themselves and had to try and make themselves stand out the most. This was a huge hit however there was a campaign against the band saying they were dangerous. Their UK tour was cancelled and some were sent to prison for drug use. The video represents kids escaping to the city and being themselves.

98.

Number 98 in the 100 greatest music videos is 'Small Town Boys' by Bronski Beat made in 1984. This was when music videos was becoming huge in the 1980's after they began in the 70's. Before music videos bands would appear on Top of the Pops, the biggest TV programme in the UK; there would be dancers in the background to the record. This was up until the 80's; when Queen refused to just appear on this programme and wanted to make something of their own. They achieved this by making a music video for 'Bohemian Rhapsedy' which was number 1 for 9 weeks as the first modern music video.

By 1984 the music video was well established. Bronski Beat was a band of all gay men, and this was their first record. The video was the story of the lead singer Jimmy Somerville who is from a smalltown and goes to the big city. In the big city there is prejudice against gay people and the man gets beaten up because of this. This is a video with an important message to Bronski Beat's audience and tells a story. Bernard Rose was the director of this music video.

100 greatest music videos.

There are 100 greatest music videos and these were on Channel 4. In this blog I am going to discuss a number of them.

Lily Allen.

Lily Allen recently had a child and has since been having trouble with her weight; the media have branded her as 'fat' and she claims in a newspaper article that 'nobody's immune to the pressure to look thin'. She felt pressured to have cosmetic surgery after giving birth to both children, and this is what inspired her new video for 'Hard out here'. This is a video which is about the music industry and the media and how girls are pressured to look a certain way. In the article it tells us how this new video takes direct aim at music videos such as Robin Thicke's 'Blurred lines' featuring balloons spelling out 'Robin Thicke has a big dick' and 'Lily Allen has a baggy pussy.'
The lyrics tell the story of how young girls are expected to conform to society's expectations to look good. 'You should probably lose some weight, because we can't see your bones...It's hard out here for a bitch' shows the demand of young girls wanting to be thin because of famous people showing that this is how you should look.
Many people are attacking Lily Allen for her new video, claiming that it is racist and very hypocritical against her lyrics, because she is dancing with black women in bikini's provocatively who are twerking. She also uses suggestive banana consumption mocking Rihanna's 'rude boy' video. 'What I see is the black female body, anonymous and sexualised, grinding away to make the rent' said Suzanne Moore in the Guardian. Lily Allen responded with a tweet saying that it had nothing to do with race.
I believe that the message through the lyrics is quite obvious. Lily Allen uses words such as 'if you can't detect the sarcasm you've misunderstood' and talks about weight and how women and girls are expected to be thin or good looking. People also believe that the music video is very hypocritical, however I disagree. Lily Allen herself is covered up even though she is surrounded by these girls and the difference is obvious.

Case Study 3.

Alex Southam.

Alex Southam also freelances for OB Management. He trained as a lawyer but decided to go in a new direction and work in the film industry. He began making music videos to learn 'the trade.' He has worked for Agile Films who describe him on their website:

'Alex Southam is an exciting new talent, working in a dizzying variety of styles across live action and animation. Entirely self-taught, his inventiveness and creativity have caught the eye with a series of diverse promos for the likes of the Walkman, Alt+J and Lianne La Havas. Alex joined Agile in August 2012'

To begin with Southam undertook all the tasks on his videos:

• Camera
• Lighting 
• Editing 
• Now uses a Director of Photography

Southam likes the format of music videos as, 'you can try new techniques and can have real artistic freedom.' He is less keen on commercials as they allow for 'much less freedom.' He uses Vimeo to showcase his video - this is becoming an increasingly important platform as it is considered to have 'higher status' than YouTube.

His breakthrough with the video Tesselate for Alt J. The budget was £10,000 and it was a 1 day shoot. There was a large cast and he used Special Effects with After Effects.

He also directed the video 'Lost and Not Found' for Chase and Status. This had a £50,000 budget and filmed in Los Angeles. He used a steadicam, filming at 36 frames per second and then slowed it down. This is a lot higher than the usual 24 frames per second. He also used only three shots in the whole video.



He went for an early 1990s VHS video look and was influenced by Massive Attack's 'Unfinished Sympathy'.

Jessie J.

Jessie J is one of the biggest female UK artists in music. Her first famous song and video was 'Do it Like a Dude' a video directed by Emil Nava, through Pulp. This blog relates back to Case Study 2 and the different videos Nava has directed for Jessie J.




This is Jessie's first video directed by Nava. It is very explicit and there are many sexual references such as the touching of the crotch, the provocative dancing and clothes. It is also quite unique with the spikes on her lips. This video grabbed her audience's attention and started off her career.




This is Jessie's video for 'Nobody's perfect' also directed by Emil Nava. This video is also very unique and independent, with intertextual references to Alice in Wonderland through the long table when they are dining. There is also a Blackberry tablet shown in this video.




'Whos laughing now' was another big hit with Jessie's fans. This video shows a story related very closely to the lyrics of the song; representing Jessie in school as a child being bullied then growing up to fame. And guess who directed this video too? Emil Nava!

Dir. Emil Nava 
PULSE FILMS 

'Jessie wrote this song whilst living in a horrible run down LA hotel, so it was very important to get the right feel to the design as it is an emotional number for her. 
We built two identical sets and then proceeded to destroy them. Everything was done in camera and Jessie deserved a medal for working in such intense conditions whilst always keeping a smile on her face.'


These images show the design of the rundown hotel room and Jessie and Emil working together on set. They produced the video for 'Who you Are' together and the video below is the result.



Jessie J's 'Domino' was again, directed by Nava.
 
This is a clip showing behind the scenes of this set and gets views from both Jessie and Emil Nava on working together and this music video. It tells us how they worked around her broken leg and still got the video to a high standard.

Emil Nava continues to direct Jessie's videos with her new promo video for her recent release 'Its my Party.'
This is where she goes into different parties and gets them all to dance and have a good time.

Case Study 2.

Emil Nava.

Emil Nava began as a runner for film production companies fetching tea and coffee for the big producers. He worked for Blink Productions and worked his way up to now freelancing for OB management. He is the middle man between record labels and directors. He matches the record label with the right directors. 

After working for Blink Productions he graduated to Assistant Director (A.D.) where he would manage the video shoots and signed to Academy, who are the biggest music video production company. Nava then worked for Between the Eyes and now works mainly for Pulse. He has now begun to make adverts which generally have a higher budget and high production values but do not allow him as much creative freedom. 

This is the advert for L'Oreal 'Dare to be different'. Emil Nava directed this advert.

At his busiest Emil has made 24 music videos in one year. When he began shooting videos for independent labels the budget was quite low and would be as low as £5,000 to £10,000. His most expensive video to date has been for Jessie J and the budget was £160,000. He directed all of this artist's videos.

Emil's first budget was for the band Kid British and their track 'Our House'. The budget was £20,000 and location was Manchester. There was a cast of local people who he asked if they would be in it and it took one day to film. Then he edited this for 2/3 days and there was 10 days pre-production. It took two weeks to produce this video demonstrating the tight timescale involved.



Some videos Emil Nava has directed include Paloma Faith '30 minute love affair', Ed Sheeran 'You Need Me' and Rita Ora's 'R.I.P'.






Nava said that Ed Sheeran's videos worked better when he wasn't in them. This is due to him not being a big performer, but an artist. This video demonstrates this as he only appears in the video at the end.

Emil's Top Tips!
Emil Nava said to use extreme close ups on faces wherever possible and do not shoot the whole video in medium/long shots. For example Sinead O'Connor's 'Nothing compares to you' and Godley & Creme's 'cry'

Risk Assessment.

Risk Assessment

Group Members: Lucie                                                                        Location: bedroom, the chase, Robert clack.

Hazard	Person(s) at Risk	Likelihood of Hazard 1 – Extremely Unlikely 5 – Extremely Likely	Severity of Hazard Outcomes 1 – Very Low Risk 5 – Very High Risk	Risk Level (Likelihood + Severity) 2	Measures to Take to Manage Risk	Risk Managed? Y/N
Falling off stage.	Ashleigh (actress)	2	2	2	Make sure she is standing well back from the edge.	Y
Falling over a branch.	All of us.	2	2	2	Make sure we watch where we are walking and the floor is clear before we film.	Y
Tripping over cables.	Children in the school or us filming.	2	2	2	Taping down the cables to make sure they are secure on the floor.	Y

Contacts

Emergency Service:            999
Robert Clack School:            upper and lower site
Other Contacts:            Parents of persons experiencing hazard

Contingency plan

Contingency Plan Name: CRAZY GOOD Production: LUCIE STEVENS

Potential problems and how to overcome these problems: There could be a few issues with the weather. While shooting outside I need the weather to be sunny. It does not matter if it is windy because the noise will not be affected. However, it is getting colder and darker earlier which means that it will not be possible to film this part. To overcome this I will need to film the outside parts earlier rather than later, and edit this into the final recording. Another problem could be timing the filming. Myself and Ashleigh, who has kindly agreed to help shoot my video, both go to college and work. This could be a potential problem because we may not have the same time free to film together. I can overcome this problem through arranging a particular time during the week and the weekend to meet up and organize filming. One last potential issue could be filming in the school. The assembly hall may be of use when I need to use it. However, I can also overcome this. I can ask permission from the school and tell them when I need to use it so that I will not be disturbed.

Shot list.

Shot List
Scene	Shot Number	Description
1 2 3 4 5	1 2 3 4 5	Shot of her in the bedroom sitting on the bed. Follows her to the window. Looks out side. Close ups. Point of view. Different shots of her outside. Close ups. Tracking. Extreme close ups to show eye line match. Back to the bedroom scene. Looking into the mirror. Stand at an angle to avoid showing the camera. Pan. Merging into a scene of the stage. Slow motion. Pause in the music. She’s on stage. There’s panning and close ups. Mid shot. Flashes back to her in the bedroom. Looking at her self. Gets back into bed.

Costumes and Props.

Costumes and Props

Person acting:	Ashleigh Westcott
Costume: Girly pyjamas. Slippers. Hair plaited.	Props: Pillow. Hairbrush.
Person acting:	Ashleigh Westcott
Costume: Jeans, chequered shirt. Hair plaited.	Props: None.
Person acting:	Ashleigh Westcott
Costume: Pretty dress. Wavy hair down.	Props: Microphone. Projector board.

Production Schedule.

Production Schedule Location Visit Sheet Programme Title: Crazy good Client: Ashleigh Westcott Writer: Mary Sarah Producer: Lucie Director: Lucie Date: XX

Rough Sketch/Explanation of location and key points to note: Bedroom; with a mirror and hair brush. Girly. Outside; with the trees. Walking. Boy. Stage. No audience so need to make it look as though there is one. Microphone. Robert clack school assembly hall? Ask permission. Access to location via: Permission from head of sixth form. Name and number of location contact: Robert clack school

Health and Safety Issues to note: ●      Stage – might fall ●      Filming around trees, may bump into one. ●      May trip up while outside on sticks ad branches.

Potential Filming Problems : ●      When I need to use the stage it may already be in use ●      People may not want us to use the school stage ●      Bedroom may become a problem due to timing issues ●      It may have started to become too cold by now ●      Rain?

Additional Notes:  (map of area/weather forecast etc) This is The Chase where i am going to film the outside scene. This is not the exact place however, I am aiming to find somewhere that looks nicer.  The weather is supposed to be bad; snowing and cold. However, I am hoping I can work around this. I might have to shoot the outside scenes prior to the inside scenes. I can then edit this to the way I want.

Treatment.

Treatment

Group Roles Cinematography: Lucie Mise-en-scene: Lucie Sound: Lucie Editing: Lucie

Title: Crazy Good

Synopsis: There is a girl who is looking out at the sky and see’s a shooting star. It then flashes to her walking down the street and she see’s this boy she likes with brown eyes. They have eye contact and she smiles. She then walks on and there are flash backs to her in her bedroom, where she gets up and dances around. Then there is an image of her looking in the mirror in her bedroom, with a hairbrush to her lips, dreaming of her being a singer. There is a pan, which then morphs into a point of view shot showing the stage. There is a pause in the music and we hear an audience and she is on stage, singing. Then she spots the boy and this is all we see, as she runs to him. Then it flashes back to her in her bedroom. This was all just a dream/wish.

Key Conventions: This tells a story. It also expresses an individual’s emotion and illustrates the song with the boy and his brown eyes. Relationship between the lyrics and visuals. Relationship between music and visuals. Plenty of close ups.