My Music Video - Masks and Iconography

Since the conceptualisation of my music video, I wanted to use a mask to obscure the identity of my singer, primarily as it means I can use audience address and looking without having to include performance, but also as I like the enigma that this creates in association with my artist.

Before my pitch I'd already done a quick google for potential mask options, and found myself favouring some curious, plain, geometric animal masks - their simplicity was soothing, and I liked the connotations that presenting my singer as semi-animal can create.
I returned to searching for those masks tonight, and quickly discovered their source. They're available for purchase from https://wintercroft.com/ and come in the form of a PDF file, allowing customers to download and assemble their chosen mask for themselves. With fantastic customer reviews and a website as smooth and sharp as the masks, i bought one straight away.
The only difficulty I had with the process was choosing which one of their many beautiful designs I wanted most.

Firstly, the fox. This half mask is delicate in design, and presenting my artist in connection with a fox has potential to link her to the associations of foxes as being quiet and mysterious animals. However, foxes are also associated with being sneakily clever and pests. My main reason for not choosing this mask (despite my love for it, irregardless of the negatives about foxes) was that it wouldn't cover my artists mouth, and I intend to totally obscure her face/identity, (with the exception of her eyes.)

I also considered the wolf mask. I liked the idea of the 'lone wolf' character type, which could metaphorically represent the isolation of my music video's subject. However, I was uncertain about the open mouth and eye slant of this mask - while I personally really like it, I'm aware that it looks slightly aggressive and predatory, and I don't want to present my artist in this way as it may turn potential fans away.

And so I chose the Jaguar. I felt this mask still has enough animal wildness to it, but that the backwards slanted ears and high brow made it seem softer and more timid somehow. Jaguars are also generally more mysterious animals, and are associated with a sense of simultaneous grace and power. 

My downloadable PDF template for the jaguar mask was sent to me immediately upon purchase (a mere £4.50 - (which i guess could be seen as steep considering it's only a template, but there you go, I have a poor concept of money)), so as soon as I get my hands on some cardboard and a printer I'll begin my attempts to assemble this.

Fingers crossed all goes well! 

My Music Video - Locations

Due to the subject of my music video being an abstract exploration of memories, its needless to say that the range of locations is going to be vast.

Already, I have filmed the scenes needed for the concert, which of course was done at the location of the actual concert, the O2 Academy in Leeds.

Another location that will be featured heavily within the music video is Ilkley river. I very much planned the opening and closing sections with the river in mind, although I did have to spend an hour or so walking up and down to find an appropriate spot of the river at which to film.

The left image was a point I had considered filming from, but when it came down to practicality I found it would not have been possible to obtain the shots that I required. The above image is at a point slightly further down the river, and on the opposite bank; this part of the river (at low tide) proved far more appropriate for filming.

For the scenes in which the subject gets ready for the concert, I chose to film in my own bedroom, as the mise-en-scene was already conveniently set up to connote a teenaged/young adult female's living space.

While the majority of my room was left alone, I did rearrange the set up of this corner (which usually has a bean bag chair in it) so as to be able to display the record player and the collage of personal affects on the wall.

To film the projections I intend to use one of the school photography rooms, as it has blackout blinds and a white background onto which I want to project the 'memories'.

In regards to the memories footage itself, it's going to have to be acquired throughout a range of locations within the Ilkley/Addingham area and from places in Grand Cayman (I've made the decision to include footage from Cayman so as to give the video a unique twist, in the way of mixing two significantly different landscapes). I have a few ideas on where/what I will shoot, such as in my own back garden, but I'm planning that the majority of the footage will end up being spontaneous. 

My back garden in Grand Cayman (home). 

My Music Video - Concept Inspiration & Influences

I knew from the very start of this project that I wanted my music video to be related to the 'teenage experience', so it was only natural that the inspiration for what footage to include in my music video would stem from my personal experience. 

For example, the concert footage was acquired from a rock show I attended, and while I have changed the specifics of that night, what I want to portray are the feelings - the excitement of concerts, the emotions of being a teenager, and the experience of having an intimate connection with someone. 

The 'River Scene' is meant to symbolise the subject's appreciation of these memories and her acceptance in moving forwards in life (which is represented by the river), with the stick figure in the paper boat being a simplistic and innocently childish representation of her doing so. 

In terms of the actual style of the video, part of my inspiration came from the music video for Wild Belle's song "Backslider"

I admired the way in which the lighting was used, making it more of an art piece than a music video; I became excited by the idea of being able to use projections to make a more abstract, artistically free video. 

I was also inspired by the music video for Wild Belle's other song "Our Love Will Survive". I was particularly fond of the effect that was placed over the footage to make it seem like old film with faded colours - it had a softness, making the overall feeling really intimate. This intimacy is exactly what I want to capture and portray in my music video, and I think that a similar filter over my own footage will be very effective in achieving this. 

(Above and to the left: screenshots from Wild Belle's music video "Our Love Will Survive". These screenshots demonstrate the filter effect.)






Another idea with which I had played since the beginning was creating obscurity over the artist's identity, which performers such as Deadmau5, Sia, and Daft Punk are known to do.

DeadMau5

Sia

Daft Punk

This lead me to consider ways in which I could obscure the identity of my performer. I knew I didn't want to present my performer as futuristic - the genre of the music is wrong for that - so initially, I considered plain, white plastic masks with humanoid features. I liked the idea of plain coloured masks because it left me open to the possibility of changing their colours within the video, (for example, with spray paint or glitter etc.)

However, one reservation that I hold towards a humanoid mask is that they show no emotion. While this can be beneficial for anonymity and generalising the subject to present her as 'anybody' (making it easier for the audience to connect with her, by allowing them to see themselves in her,) I feared the lack of emotion may send the wrong message to my audience. This lead me to consider the possibility of making her mask animalistic, as it is primal emotions that the music and my video explore, and an animal mask would create this raw, primal sense. 

I was encouraged with my idea of using an animal mask by the Orphan Black (the BBC America fiction-drama about clones) character known as M.K. 

In the show, M.K. is a social outcast living off the grid, who wears a sheep mask (which is a nod to Dolly the Sheep) to obscure her identity during her cryptic video posts and while she's on the run. As a character, she's isolated and scared of the world - I want to address these themes within my music video, as they're common things that all young people will feel at some point or other within their lives. I'm not certain yet as to what type of animal mask I'll use, but I would happily use a sheep mask in my music video, as an intertextual nod towards M.K. and her struggle.

M.K. as seen in her mask

In summary, my video has been influenced by various modern media products, both in terms of style and concept. There is also a significant influence by the genre of the song; after all, creating a music video that doesn't match the musical genre would be ineffective and most definitely disliked by audiences. 

My Music Video - A Change in Plans

While my initial plan was to use an original song written and composed in collaboration with a new artist, I've unfortunately had to scrap this idea.

The reason for this is that i've found it difficult to manage the production and recording of said song, as my artist happens to live approximately 5000 miles away, and in a different time zone (approximately 5/6 hours behind UK time.) 

Not exactly the most practical set up, but hey ho - I gave it a go.

However, I realised it was time to take a hard look at the situation and be honest about things, in that they simply weren't going to work out; meaning that now's the time I have to cut my losses and begin plan B.

Plan B

My new plan is to use the song "River" by Bishop Briggs, which was released in early in 2016 and is described on iTunes as "exhibiting shades of trip-hop with acoustic guitar, electronic beats, and a strong dose of soul". 

I chose this song after stumbling across it on Spotify one day; the slow, heavy introductory beat sets a somber mood, while the lyrics and title of the song are (coincidentally) conveniently linkable to the concept of my music video (which I am not changing - for that, the original plan is still in place.) 

This is the song's official music video, released onto the BishopBriggsVEVO YouTube channel. The video seems fairly typical of the indie genre, featuring performance from Briggs, editing that follows the pace of the song (with a mix of naturalistic and jolting movement), and a combination of colour effects to make the footage intermittently black and white, softly faded, or non-naturalistic and psychedelic. On initial viewing, the concept for this video very much seems to be that of creating soothing, dreamlike imagery, probably with some greater metaphorical meaning. I felt no particular emotion towards this video, personally being much more impressed by the alternate music video for the song, "River (Stripped) (Vevo LIFT)", which i enjoyed for its simplicity, live performance, and utilisation of colour and light. The live performance gave it a raw element, which I felt better brought out the emotion of the song than the other music video (that felt like just another one of many, edgy try-hard indie videos.) 

So, now that I've made my decision on which song to use I've drawn up a plan of action; my goal is to have all my work completed by the Christmas holidays, something that is definitely achievable, so long as I stay focused.

(I do love a good checklist!) 

I'm now feeling much more confident and motivated, and I'm looking forward to getting to bring my concept to life.

My Music Video - Test Footage 1

Last night I attended the Billy Talent concert, at which I decided to film parts of the concert so that I can use it within the memory montage.

The footage uploaded below is unedited, uncut sample footage of what I filmed last night. While in parts it appears shaky, this is not a problem as it was a deliberate decision on my part. The footage is meant to be the subject's point of view, so while filming I moved the camera in such a way as to create this effect.

I will be going through the rest of the footage carefully to see which parts will be best for my music video, but overall I am very pleased with the results. 

I had a particularly nice surprise when it came to how the concert was lit; I have a feeling that the flashing red and purpley-blue lights will fit very well within the video's aesthetic. 

My Music Video - Audience Research Questionnaires

To better understand the viewing habits and interests of my audience I designed two questionnaires (a hard copy and an online version) to gather primary information.
I asked for information about their viewing habits in other medias and their interests so as to ascertain information that I could use to possibly include intertextuality, giving me the potential to make my product more relevant to my audiences interests.

Audience Research Questionnaire from ngalvin99

Link to Survey P.1
Link to Survey P.2

I'll add another post later with a consolidation of my results, (once i've received them). I'm using social media and my classmates to answer my questionnaires as they're my target audience, but I've also sought answers from other, older people I know. 

Progress Update 2