Storyboards

Lyric Analysis

Lyric Timings

Analysis of Music Video - All I Need - Within Temptation

This video follows a sort of narrative, has a lot of performance in it and is very abstract.
I think this video suits the band's image, which is kind of gothic and dark and a little bit weird. The song is slow and soulful, which I think contrasts with the strangeness of the video and the fact that he video doesn't make much sense but the song does is an interesting interpretation.
There's a lot of performance in this video mixed in with the weird abstract clips thrown in there. I think there's a little bit of a story there when the woman falls down and lands in some kind of mystical place where odd things happen. The most interesting part is the end where the woman is in a hospital cot comatose and clips from the video are shown on the machine. I think the point of this is that this is what she is dreaming about whilst in her coma. I also think the ending is interesting as it ends where she's still in a coma and, therefore, the viewers of the video will never know whether she wakes up or not. This is a good thing as it makes it a little different than if she did wake up and the typical 'and it was just a bad dream' scenario ensues. I also like this ending because it has parallelism with the first scene, which is a closeup of the woman's eye and is where the narrative begins.
I like how the fact that the mysterious figure is hooded makes the viewer want to keep watching to see what the person looks like. I also like how there's a lot of abstract images in the video, like random horses and ballet dancers and stuffed animals because it adds to the effect of the video, which is supposed to be in the woman's imagination. The part at the end where all the scenes are played on the screen very fast is really interesting as it acts as a sort of recap of all that we have watched.

Analysis of Music Video - Brand New Day - Joshua Radin

This video is mainly narrative with performance too. It follows a young man who is playing his guitar and singing, but is told he isn't allowed to play on his apartment steps. The video follows all the unfortunate things that happen to him after that before he finally ends up back where he started.
The lyrics are all about starting a new day and knowing that things will be okay today. This contrasts with the video as this man's day does not go very well at all. Everytime he recovers from one thing something else bad happens to him and he suffers again. Despite this, the video is upbeat and humorous in a way. Even though the man is having loads of bad things happen to him, he smiles all the way through the video, which could be because of the song.
I think the song and the video's main messages are that lots of bad things might happen today, but there's always going to be a brand new day to make things better.
The artist's 'image' is reinforced by this video as his type of music is kind of acousticy, laid-back music and in this he is always holding his guitar, which is a kind of stereotype of that kind of music. Another thing that reinforces this 'image' is that he is always smiling and he never lets things get him down.
I like the parellism of this video as he ends up on the same steps he started on, which shows that things will happen all over again and supports the message of the song that there will always be a new day and things will always start all over again.

Locations

Now that I have a rough idea of what kind of video I want, I've come up with a few locations as to where to film. The first is this crumbling house near where I live that's been half-bulldozed and looks very weird. The second is a little mini forest that's very secluded and shady. My last location is a huge field that's very open and has lots of room. I might use all of them or I might just use one, I haven't decided yet. Or I might not use any if I find somewhere better I can use.

Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap Lyrics

Where are we?
What the hell is going on?
The dust has only just begun to form
Crop circles in the carpet
Sinking feeling

Spin me round again
And rub my eyes,
This can't be happening
When busy streets a mess with people
Would stop to hold their heads heavy

Hide and seek
Trains and sewing machines
All those years
They were here first

Oily marks appear on walls
Where pleasure moments hung before the takeover,
The sweeping insensitivity of this still life

Hide and seek
Trains and sewing machines (oh, you won't catch me around here)
Blood and tears (hearts)
They were here first

Mmmm whatcha say,
Mmm that you only meant well?
Well of course you did
Mmmm whatcha say,
Mmmm that it's all for the best?
Of course it is
Mmmm whatcha say?
Mmmm that it's just what we need
You decided this
Whatcha say?
Mmmm what did she say?

Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut outs
Speak no feeling no I don't believe you
You don't care a bit,
You don't care a bit

(Hide and seek)
Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut outs

(Hide and seek)
Speak no feeling no i don't believe you
You don't care a bit,
You don't care a (you don't care a) bit

(Hide and seek)
Oh no, you don't care a bit
Oh no, you don't care a bit

(Hide and seek)
Oh no, you don't care a bit
You don't care a bit
You don't care a bit

Initial Idea for Video

I've decided to choose the song Hide & Seek by Imogen Heap for my music video. I've chosen this song as I'd quite like to create an abstract video and I think this song is very abstract and strange and unique. All of this artist's songs are quite random, which is the kind of thing I was hoping to find. The lyrics are very vague and I think it's very interesting trying to unravel their meanings. I'm hoping to make my video kind of ethereal and vague to match the song. I'm going to film in a few different locations, but most of the music video will be situated in an crumbling, abandoned house near where I live. I think it's kind of weird and strange like the song. I'm hoping to add a few effects to the video once I've filmed it to make it even weirder and more abstract.

Analysis of Music Video - Baby Girl, I'm a Blur - Say Anything

Mainly performance-based with aspects of narrative and abstract interspersed between clips
The lyrics "the drugs can have my mind, you own the rest you'll find" suggest the man is having trouble choosing between the woman he loves and the drugs that he needs.
He mentions a "beast" twice in the song, which I think represents the drugs. "And only one can set me free, from the beast where I dwell" and "on the roof, we love the beast to death" suggest that he wants to be free of the drugs and she can help him, but he also loves them and doesn't want to give them up.
The camera switches a lot from regular colour to body heat detection/negative, which I think is a really good effect as it gives the impression that everything is very hectic, like when you're on drugs.
I think the small narrative clips thrown in there back up the idea that the song is about a man choosing between drugs and his woman because you see a couple kissing and then later on they're fighting, which could be because of the drugs.
I think the image the video is trying to give is very rocker-style and scary, which I think is achieved and goes well with the style of the song and the lyrics of it.
There are a wide variety of shots used in this video, all mixed together to make the video very fast-paced and exciting. There are a lot of close-ups of the lead singer, which is to be expected as he is the main part of the band. There are also a lot of clips of the man and the woman in the narrative clips and, scattered between clips of the band playing, there are a few very fast clips of their bodies. The video seems to be a montage of clips, of the band playing, of the couple and of random images that are thrown in there. There are close-ups of the band playing their instruments too. At the beginning and end of the video there are low-angle clips from
far away with the lights down so all that can be seen is the band's silhouette and the silhouettes of their instruments against the colourful heat-detection/negative image board at the back. The video starts off with closeups of the band playing their instruments, which I think is a good way to begin as it gives us a little introduction before the singing begins.
The mise-en-scene in the place where the band plays is really interesting as there is a big board behind them with heat detection/negative images on them. I think these images are from the fast clips of the couple's bodies that are scattered in between the videos of the band playing. I think the mise-en-scene is very typical of most music videos as they seem to be in a big, blank, black room where things of their own have been added in for the video. As for the room the couple are situated in, it's hard to tell anything about the mise-en-scene because all their clips are in heat-detection/negative, which means the mise-en-scene just comes out as white.

Possible Song Choices

Angel Taylor - Epiphany
Aimee Mann - Today's The Day
Bonnie Somerville - Winding Road
Ellen Foley - Let Me Be The One You Love
Sarah Solovay - You'll Never Know
Imogen Heap - Hide & Seek

Coursework Brief

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with the two following options: a cover for its release as a part of a digipak and a magazine advertisement for the digipak.