Website Layout

 https://solbadruddin1.wixsite.com/the-others

Planning - MV Shots 2

 Further music video shots following feedback from peers:

Planning - MV Shots

 

Planning - Album Design

 Through my album design I intend on subverting conventions and making use of Barthes Semiotics theory with an underlying message of rebellion and not staying within the lines, directly contrasting the name of the album. The cover will consist of the band members participating in different activities however, after reviewing I feel it will be relevant in my final product for the band to be crossing over the lines. The CD will have a similar layout however just with the backgrounds to each members location to simplify yet build brand identity.

Music Video - First Draft Reviews

 Peer Reviews:

- Successful casting, fully engaged

- Lack of representations

- Thematic goals achieved

- Missing footage

- Band name at the beginning

- Lack of instruments and band performance

Personal Goals: 

- Finish full shooting with greater representation and new location*

- Edit out similar scenes*

- Shoot extra footage regardless of usage

- Begin inputting more footage into the final video*

Planning - Intertexuality

In the original music video, there is a clear reference to Queens infamous Bohemian Rapsody during the lyrics 'blow, blow me out said I'm so sad I don't know why' I will carry this over into my music video as I feel the intertextuality is synonymous with the zeitgeist, as those familiar with 90's music will have cultural competence of Queen.

A key part of Blurs style is the mocking nature in their music videos, typically humiliating the protagonist of their music videos. In Charmless Man, the band follow the protagonist around, mocking him. I will follow this convention in my music as further intertextuality throughout.

In the second verse, the protagonist is preparing himself for a day at work, with the extras following him around in a mime like nature. For one particular scene, he is looking in a mirror, the camera facing him will look sad, but when the camera turns to the mirror the extras will be holding his smile up, which is of course intertextuality to Joker. 

In the bridge, leading to the chorus, there will be repetition of the protagonist walking through the streets of London, looking busy and in a rush, going straight past people that get in his way. This links with Bittersweet Symphony as this is the primary part of that music video. 

At the end of the second chorus, a mirror is held up to the protagonist, and it zooms in to an extreme close up, ultimately just seeing his eyes, leading to the next verse. There will be direct instructions to the model to ensure he remains serious and stares into his eyes to evoke a sense of questioning himself. This is intertextuality to the American Psycho bathroom scene.

One of the locations for the chorus is outside of the 'country house' with the model and extras prancing around and singing the chorus merrily. This is intertextuality to another Blur song - Parklife.

Planning - Mise-en-scene for Location

All scenes that take place in a field or anywhere in the country side are symbolic of the protagonists mental state, so are bright and colourful. A set similar to this with the same angle would be ideal for the chorus as it embraces the lyrics of the song. The basis of the music video is 90's themed and so bright highly saturated sets are essential, particularly for the chorus.

A similar set to this will be used for the second verse, in which we follow through the protagonists daily routine. The dim lighting and emptiness capture the essence of the protagonists wellbeing, fully contrasting the brightness and saturation of the countryside.

Similarly to the bedroom scene, this takes place in the second verse when the protagonist is getting ready. A particularly effective technique which could be adapted is the dim lighting only in the mirror, submerging the protagonist in darkness except for his face, which is useful for the extreme close up to show his sadness.

A sofa in the middle of a field is a fairly common trope used within media such a music videos to represent solidarity, a particular emphasis I want to make known is the saturation and brightness of the scene as stated before to express the protagonists mental state. If this theme is recurrent throughout the whole music video, ideally the audience would subliminally pick up on this detail.

The primarily grey colour palette is of great significance to the walking scenes in a busy street, another essential feature is the duel paths, so that the cameraman can walk on the oppositional path at the same pace to film the protagonist with people and vehicles passing, this can also transition to a front facing shot as the protagonist is walking very similarly to 'Bittersweet Symphony'