The normal attire for Brandon Flowers in music videos for the Killers involved a smart apparell, usually a suit. Because of this, we incorporated a suit into our narrative by cross cutting between a typical narrative and studio work, which was where the suit was used on the protagonist. We felt that this helped establish a clearer link between Liam and Brandon as frontmen.

Written By Sam

CD Digipak

A2 comparison to AS

The AS media filming project helped us with our A2 piece. We learnt that we needed to re-film certain parts of the video so we were sure to get every angle and camera shot that was required. We also learned to use the studio for part of our final piece. The mix of camera angles available in the studio was not available during our AS projects. Furthermore, the editing that we used on our piece was different to the ones we used in AS. In our A2 piece we have used many effects to make our piece better.
The focus of the video was different, the AS piece was a film introduction which did not necessarily need to focus on the protagonist at all times. However in the A2 music video the protagonist needs to be shown a lot as we needed to show the story in a shorter amount of time. Also the introduction of Goodwin’s theory meant that we also used shots of the protagonist singing the song in the studio which would mean that if it was a real music video then the singers face would have been seen a lot so he would have possibly got fame from the video.
After a year of already editing videos our group put our video together quite quickly. We also knew the basic idea of what we wanted our video to look like which helped in editing, which was not the case last year when we had ideas but decided on what we wanted to happen just as we were editing.
(Written by Liam)

Communication

The way our group kept in contact with each other to organize filming time/locations, costumes, props and free time to edit around our college timetable was mainly through messages, phone calls and also facebook inbox.

Written by Katie

Magazine Advert

Goodwin analysis of our music video

Using Goodwins theory for key characteristics to analyse our music video:

The killers are part of the indie/alternative music genre and there music and music video performances are always flamboyant extravagant performances with subtle narrative story lines. Our music video Mr. Brightside shows this flamboyant indie performance through our studio performance as our protagonist is dressed up in a smart modern suit which is typically the style worn by the main singer of the band Brandon Flowers. In our music video we show the relationship between the lyrics and visuals in our video by during the studio performance by the protagonist using hand gestures to act out lyrics such as ''touching his chest'' The lip syncing is a visual relationship between the lyrics and visuals also our narrative performance of the song which runs alongside the studio performance also demonstrate the lyrics and visual relationships. There is also a dominant relationship between the music and visuals as the pace of the music is high upbeat tempo and the visuals show this upbeat tempo by the fast strict editing between each scene.

In our music video we have various shots of the protagonist, these shots consisted off point of view shots medium shots, close up shots and extreme close ups also we used tracking shots. We used many close up shots of the protagonist in the studio due to demands of the record lable to boost the popularity of the band. We also have frequent reference to the notion of looking through close up shots and extreme close up shots to the eyes of the characters to show emotions, however there is no voyeuristic treatment of the female body in our music video and there is also no reference to intertextual reference such as other music videos and films.

Written by Katie

Our creative process

Originally we planned to open the music video in a dark room with various shots of the protagonist and then move on to the protagonist running down the road with many shots to show lip syncing and also shots of his ex girlfriend and her current boyfriend eventually climaxing to a shot of the protagonist on top of a high building preparing to jump off, however when we began filming the dark room opening scene in the studio even though it was achievable it did not give the effect of complete darkness we was looking for because of problems with spot lights depicting more of the room then we wanted so we eventfully decided to use the studio to create master shots of the protagonist performing the song Mr. Brightside.

As we planned to do a running scene with the protagonist running down the street we decide against this idea after watching Bitter Sweet Symphony by The Verve as the protagonist walks down the street with people passing by and barging into him also we wanted to have the passers by on the street to have the same face as the ex girlfriend we achiecved this by having many different costumes to change into. We was inspired to use the same faces on different people scene by the song come to daddy by aphex twin.

The ending of our music video was supposed to be of the protagonist on top of a high building preparing to jump, the building we planned to use was the Ashton Under Lyne Arcades car park roof however as we began filming on the car park we was moved by security and told we needed permission to film here so as we didn't have much time to wait for permission also Liam who was playing the protagonist did not feel 100% with the hight of the building so we decided to change the ending to a simple bench scene which we decided whilst out filming will be in a park and the shots would fade from the protagonist and his ex girlfriend to her and her knew boyfriend.

Written by Katie Maher

Coldplay Magazine Advert

This magazine advert shows the band in the top half of the advert which links in with Goodwin's theory that a band must be shown as often as they can so the fans can recognise the band, this will make them instantly interested in the advert as they will see the famous band. The bottom half of the advert has all the information about the album, there is the band's name first so people will recognise the famous name. This is followed by the album name and the release date which people will read after being drawn in by the famous band name. The album cover is put next to all the writing so the reader's can see the album they will want to buy. The colour scheme is a simple black and white, this linked in with the album cover connotes that the band may be looking for a digital/techno feel to their new album. This is not the genre Coldplay are famous for which could therefore attract people who like digital/techno music. (Written by Liam)

The Killers Magazine Advert

This magazine advert of The Killer's album 'Sam's Town' shows all four of the band members, this is done so the band can be seen and possibly get their faces more famous. The band are also in more formal clothes despite the genre their music is in. The black and white effect links in with the actual album cover as that is also in black and white. The name of the band 'The Killers' is put large across the top of the advert and looks like it is up in lights which shows the band are already famous. The name of the album they are trying to sell 'Sam's Town' is also put in large letters but is in a brighter colour so it will draw the reader's eyes. Two of the band's hits is put in bold under the picture in red over a black background so people will hopefully see that they like them songs so may like the rest of the album. The red bar at the bottom of the advert shows the release date in bold so the reader's eyes will all be drawn to it. Lastly, the picture of the album cover is on the advert so the fans can see what they will need to buy. (Written by Liam)

Change To Ending

The original ending the group agreed on was a suicidal jump scene from the roof of Ashton Under-Lyne Arcades. Although, when we were set to film we were aproached by security of the building explaining how we needed permission to film there. They explained that this could take upto three weeks and as time was a limiting factor for the production of the video, we decided to scrap the idea and move to a less dramatic ending of the protagonist sat under a tree or on a bench with his girlfriend fading to a shot of her with her new boyfriend. This will not need permission as it will be in a public area.

Written By Sam

Original Mr Brightside video

When we decided on using Mr. Brightside as our song of choice, we uploaded the produced version of the Killers video. After some research, we found an original version of the video which contains no narrative at all, and is purely a black and white performance of the band itself in a studio performing the song. The video seems more of a demo of the song, and incorporates basic close ups of the band. The lighting is basic in that it is only used to illuminate band members for short periods of time, although ambient lighting is used to keep lighing on set. The video occasionally switches from the black and white scheme to a negative colour scheme.



Posted by Sam

Current Filming progress

As we came to a decision to change the basic layout of our music video we have had to re shoot much of our footage. We have edited the first 30 seconds of the music video together and are ready to add our master footage of the protagonist performing the lyrics of the song smartly dressed with narrative cuts in the lip syncing performance.

Written by Katie

Use of technology

During our time filming we have used many different pieces of technology including the apple mac computers to create our blogs and also to edit together our music video, also we have used video cameras and still shot cameras to take still images of locations of filming for example also a video camera to record the footage for our music video.

Other technology that we have used has been Youtube. We used Youtube to watch many different music videos during our planning stage of our own music video to gain ideas or what a pop narrative music video contains. We also used Youtube to demonstrate our ideas such as our use of the video ''bitter sweet symphony'' by the verve to demonstrate our idea of the protagonist walking down a street with the public walking past him and barging into him which we used in our music video Mr. Brightisde.

One Main piece of technology which we used constantly is google search engine. we used google to do our planning for the music video and also to create a blog and keep it up to date. Google was also used to keep in contact with our teachers to receive homework and tasks that needed to be completed.

We also used the studio to create master shots of the protagonist performing, in the studio we used the complex professional cameras with the spot lights to create a professional effect

Written by Katie

Magazine Advert analysis

This Magazine advert is for Ne-Yo advertising his new single MAD which is from the album ''year of the gentleman''

The way Ne-Yo is dressed in this advertisement portrays the name of the album ''year of the gentleman'' as he is dressed in a smart suit which can relate to the stereotype of a rich, middle class, successful gentleman.

Ne-Yo is the main attraction in this advertisement as the background and things around him are blurred and out of focus this is known as shallow depth of field, which draws all of our attention to Ne-Yo and uses his celebrity status to gain attention.

The Target audience for this poster advertisement is teenage girls as the song ''MAD'' is a love song about a struggling relationship and the arguments the couple have but regret. Many young girls could relate to this song as its stereotypical.

Written by Katie

Poster Advertisement planning

Before we began filming we decided to go out to different locations where we was potentially going to be filming and take pictures. When we was looking back through the pictures there was once particular photo of a car park in Ashton town centre which was taken looking up to emphasise the height of the 5 story car park. We decided to use this photo as our poster advertisement and make some minor adjustments with photo shop to the colouring to make the photo eye catching and relevant to the song and to add writing to advertise the song, release date of the single and companies such as Play.com and the apple icon where the single can be purchased.

Written by Katie

Music Video Changes

As a group we came to the decision to change the Intro to our music video as we thought it did not flow properly with our chosen song Mr. Brightside. This is known as the creative process

Our new plan.

Intro - 10 seconds long.

Filming location - Inner city apartments (Manchester town centre)

Protagonist walks from apartments on to the street, he sees his ex girlfriend with her new boyfriend on the opposite side of the street.

Various shots such as close up shots, medium shots, long shots and extreme close ups.

The shot transitions in the intro will match the symbols from the drums in the song to create a flowing music video intro.

Performance of lip syncing of the whole song performed in studio, to create still performance shots as well as narrative performance shots.

Filming location - streets of Manchester town centre.

After the protagonist sees his ex girlfriend and her new boyfriend across the road, he begins to see the ex girlfriend and her new boyfriend in different situations as he walks around the streets of Manchester town centre, (whilst lip syncing) for example the protagonist sees his ex girlfriend and new boyfriend:

• getting into a car
• sat on a bench
• sleeping rough in an ally way
• dog walking
• smoking on the street corner

Chorus - studio work/performance

Last scene after singing has ended and only music is left protagonist will be on top of a car park looking down to the streets below.

Filming location - Ashton under lyne Market and car park.

written by Katie

Current filming progress

Up to now we have filmed all of our scenes from the block of flats in Manchester town centre and are ready to edit them together to create the opening to our music video.

Written by Katie

Filming locations Problems

At first we wanted to use the lift in a block of flats which was, originally, a very effective opening to the music video. However, we ran into many problems whilst filming as many people wanted to use the lift which restricted our filming time, as we could not stop the lift being used. To correct this we contemplated using the staircase in the flats but decided that the stairs were not as effective because we could not create as many varied shots of the protagonist. After realising that the opening we had in mind had too many obstacles to be successful, we agreed to use green screen for the opening of the video.

Written by Katie

Filming Locations

As a group we decided to use a lift and lobby in a private block of flats in Manchester town centre as we want to show the protagonist emerging from his home looking scruffy and upset like he has not been outside in a while. We thought the block of flats would be suitable as they are the home of many students as we are trying to portray a young student's heart being broken as this my be a cliché of what happens often in student life. We also decided to use Ashton Under Lyne Market as it is an area of Ashton which does not get to busy during the week, so this will enable us to film without many disturbances and also allow quick costumes changes to be able to create the scene of many people with the same faces as the ex girlfriend and current boyfriend whilst giving the effect of a busy town centre. We also used the arcades car park's roof in Ashton to gain a position of height whilst still remaining safe as the car park's roof is open planned

Written by Katie

Costumes

As we decided to use Mr Brightside by The Killers we cam to the decision that lazy clothing such as jogging bottoms full of mud will be worn by the protagonist because we want him to look down and upset about the break up with his girlfriend, the mud shows he has no care for what he looks like and the dark colours of the clothing will represent his feelings of sadness.

The other characters in our music video (ex girlfriend + Current Boyfriend) will be wearing very flash expensive suites and dresses as this will show a stark contrast between the protagonist and other characters, also we decided in one of our scenes will consist of the protagonist walking down the street surrounded by many people with the faces of his ex girlfriend and her current boyfriend so we decided to represent this by having many different costumes to change into to show the difference between people.

Written by Katie

Poster Advertisements - Rihanna

This poster advertisement for Rihanna's new single "only girl in the world"

Rihanna stood alone in a field represents Rihanna being alone in the world which relates to the song title "only girl in the world" and also with Rihanna being the main focus on the poster this will use her fame and celebrity title to attract attention to the poster and the single, also Rihanna being in the bright colour red causes her to stand out against the plain background causing her too stand out more on the poster. The apple store icon is also very dominant on the poster showing where this single can be bought and when as in bold writing as it states the release date

Written by Katie

Album Cover - Somebody Told Me

This Killers album cover is basic. The simple two colour scheme allows it to be basic but effective. The main colour is the pink background, which is also used in part of the title. The other colour is the black, which contrasts well against the pink. The title is shown to be like lights, representing how famous the Killers are as there ‘name is up in lights’. The silhouette behind the title is of female’s legs in high heels. This could be seen as sexual, although it is more likely seen as irony, as it links in with the song lyrics that somebody’s boyfriend 'looks like a girlfriend'. (Written by Liam)

Album Cover - Mr. Brightside

The cover itself is fairly basic, with only three block colour schemes. The dominant colour is the violet background, which compliments the more pinky ‘Killers’ logo. The logo itself is presented in a way, which signifies the typical American ‘name in lights’ style, connoting the fame that the Killers are already accustomed to. The silhouette behind the title is of a seemingly naked female. Although, as it is a silhouette, there are no real sexual implications to it, rather it is more artistic with links to the song itself.(Written by Sam)

Production Treatment

THE MUSIC VIDEO:

The Killers – Mr. Brightside

DURATION:

Duration of the video is three minutes, forty-eight seconds.

AUDIENCE:

The target audience of the video will be those who enjoy indie/alternative music, and enjoy music videos being basic narrative (no unexplained narrative or disjuncture). A scene early into the video consists of small amounts of intimacy between two characters; therefore this may be a little unsuitable to small children.

RESUME:

The narrative of the video consists of the protagonist post-breakup seeing his ex girlfriend with her new partner. After seeing this, he sees her and her new partner’s faces on every individual he passes. During this, he begins to run, as obviously this wouldn’t be something he wants to see, and through it he sees more and more people. The climactic moment of the video is where he ends up on the roof of a building, with a contemplation of jumping. This will also be the end of the video.

SUGGESTED ELEMENTS:

· Performance of the video will basically consist of the protagonist lip-syncing while running through the streets of Manchester, and ending up on the roof of Ashton Under-Lyne arcades.

· The two key locations are the Arcade roof, and the entrance to an apartment in Northern Quarter, Manchester. Which streets we use are not really relevant, and therefore will be decided at a later date.

· There wont be much in terms of SFX, except for a potential scene where six or seven people will use the faces of only two people.

· Costumes consist of five or six changes of clothes so that when the protagonist sees his ex and her partner in faces of other people, it looks much more convincing.

Video Ideas

Part of the initail idea for the music video is to incorporate the faces of the protagonists' ex and her new partner's faces onto the body of every passer by he sees. This was inspired from the Aphex Twin video - 'Come To Daddy', where there are several children witht the face of whoever is singing the actual song. Below is the video: (Written by Sam Alexander)

Arctic Monkeys - Brianstorm

This is a pretty straightforward amplification video (in accordance to the terms of the media theorist, Craig Davis), incorporating performance, but with no narrative at all, although many cuts to different shots (dancing girls, images related to the lyrics etc.). Lighting in the video is constantly quite dark, with flashing floodlights periodically, possibly evoking mystery for the band. Even though the majority of the video is performance, you do not see any of the band’s faces. There are a lot of close up shots of the band, although very few from the front. This is aided by the general dark lighting. This is purely the band’s discretion, as in 2007 they had reputations of being camera-shy. Agreeing with Goodwin’s theory, this developed a motif for the band at the time. Not seeing the band has no apparent link to the actual narrative or music. The entire video is produced in a studio although no special effects are particularly incorporated, adding to the ‘raw’ stereotype of the genre. This supported Goodwin’s theory that music videos represented genre typical characteristics. Though, unusual to indie/alternative music videos, ‘Brianstorm’ makes use of dancing girls periodically through the video, perhaps as a shout of the band’s individuality at the time, or a mock of the usual music video stereotype. As much of the video uses videos within its own video, there is little more mise en scene to comment on. (Written by Sam)

The Verve- Bitter Sweet Symphony

We decided to watch the video of The Verve’s song ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ because throughout the video you see the protagonist walking down a street. We want to use the same kind of idea, but we want our protagonist running. Also we will be using different camera shots. However, the ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ video gave us ideas of shots of the feet and P.O.V shots.

Written by Liam Amos

Storyboard Planning 1st scene

1^st Box – The protagonist, (Liam) is standing in a dark room. Extreme close up of his face looking down and upset.

2^nd Box - Liam is walking down a hallway of his house lip-syncing in a middle shot as he comes out of the front door looking frustrated, also in the middle shot.

3^rd Box – Liam looks across the road and sees his ex girlfriend (Katie) with her new boyfriend (Sam)

4^th Box – Liam turns away looking upset in, middle shot as he walks away down the street

5^th Box – Liam walking down a busy street. This will be a long shot. All the people have his ex’s face and her boyfriends face too. There are extreme close ups of the faces at this point. Liam barges into a man in passing by accident as he turns to apologize he sees Sam’s face on a random man’s body. Liam panics and runs down the street. Tracking shot.

By Katie Maher

Storyboard ideas

A potential climactic ending to the video has been suggested in the form of the protagonist ready to jump off the roof of a building. Inspiration for this idea come form the Arctic Monkeys song 'Leave Before The Lights Come On', where the video starts with the protagonist standing ready to jump, and repeats this at the end. Although, we want the roof to be the destination in our video rather than a big feature. (Written by Sam Alexander)

Below is the video for 'Leave Before The Lights Come On'

Mr Brightside first ideas

• Extreme close up of protagonists face, zooms out to a long shot of him in a dark room.
• Protagonist stands up and runs out the room by the 2nd verse.
• 3rd verse shows protagonist running, mix of close ups and medium shots.
• Runs past flashes of protagonists ex with her new man in 3rd verse and 5th.
• Constant cuts to close ups to show protagonists emotions.
• Cuts to pans to show him running.
• Last 4 lines show protagonist running up stairs and then get to the roof of a high building thinking about jumping.
  

Chosen Song

After long dleiberation, we restricted our choices to a short-list of four songs. Three of these songs
are the work of The Killers; 'Mr. Brightside', 'Bones', and 'Read My Mind'. The other being the Arctic Monkeys song 'Brianstorm'.
We weighed out the pros and cons of each song and came to the decision of using 'Mr. Brightside' as it has an easy-to-follow narrative, thus sparking several potential video ideas. As a group we felt this will help ensure a successful coursework piece. Written by Sam, Liam and Katie

The Killers - Read My Mind

This music video has no real significant narrative, only mini, sometimes comedic, scenarios in inner city Tokyo. For example, scenes of a large green costumed character with no connotations to the video whatsoever. The video begins with an establishing shot of the city, moving to a mid shot of Brandon Flowers himself, and a four shot of the Killers. The scene cuts in the video are short, and in time with the actual song, changing scenes frequently between the mini narratives, which total to around eight or nine. Music videos of this genre typically represent performances with narratives synchronized around them, and many close shots of the band members, with longer performance shots of the band. This video doesn’t really explore a lot of performance throughout, although it doesn’t lack performance enough to express itself as an exception to the general rule. The lighting is bright and technical, fairly in-keep with the connotations Tokyo and Japan. The protagonists of the video are the band members, and few other actors are shown. The mise en scene of the video consists of the band members wearing typical Western suits, and riding bicycles designed in America. This, possibly, is to represent the band as Americans in a foreign country. Written by Sam

Arctic Monkeys - Suck it and See

“Suck it and See” incorporates a simplistic illustrative narrative, of a couple that are evidently in love with each other but constantly fight, both verbally and physically. This is connoted by quite intense close up shots of intimate and aggressive moments. These shots help express the fiery relationship. The genre of the video is Alternative/indie rock and stereotypical elements of this genre are exhibited through mise en scene of the video. For example, ‘Rock and Roll’ can usually connote leather, bikers etc, which is the narrative in this video. The protagonist is a biker and his partner in the video is the typical ‘biker’s girlfriend’. Although, in general, videos of this typical genre usually portray an illustrative music video, being that they usually just show a performance with minimal narrative. Although, this video shows no performance of the band itself, and only shows one band member throughout the entire narrative, as the main actor in the video is Matt Helders, the drummer of the band. In terms of editing, the video is regularly switching from close up intimate scenes to wide shots of the biker gang, both on bikes and communal scenes. Although scene switches do not keep to every beat of the song, when they do switch, it is always in time with the song. The lighting is generally quite natural, as the majority of scenes are outside. For the few indoor scenes, the lighting is quite dim, insinuating intimacy. Written by Sam