Thursday, 13 October 2011

Song Lyrics for Another One Bites The Dust

Oh! Let's go!
Steve walks warily down the street
With his brim pulled way down low
Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet
Machine guns ready to go

Are you ready hey are you ready for this?
Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
To the sound of the beat yeah

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone and another one gone
Another one bites the dust hey
Hey I'm gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust

How do you think I'm going to get along
Without you when you're gone
You took me for everything that I had
And kicked me out on my own

Are you happy are you satisfied?
How long can you stand the heat
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
To the sound of the beat look out

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone and another one gone
Another one bites the dust hey
Hey I'm gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust

Hey
Oh take it - Bite the dust
Bite the dust hey
Hey Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust ow
Another one bites the dust he he
Another one bites the dust hay yay ya ya ya
Ooh shoota!

There are plenty of ways that you can hurt a man
And bring him to the ground
You can beat him
You can cheat him
You can treat him bad and leave him
When he's down yeah
But I'm ready yes I'm ready for you
I'm standing on my own two feet
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
Repeating to the sound of the beat

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone and another one gone
Another one bites the dust yeah
Hey I'm gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust
Shoota!

Yeah! Alright!

Possible Problems


After planning our music video, we have realised we may face a few problems along the way.

The first major problem we faced was finding a suitable drum kit we can use in the performance part of our video. We didn’t know anyone that had a drum kit that we could borrow, and it was difficult to find a store that would let us hire one. We contacted Dawsons to see if they would consider letting us borrow one for the day but this was unsuccessful.

We then found a drum kit in Argos for only £35 until we realised that it was a children’s kit, which would be far too small for a drummer and look silly. Eventually, after further research we found a store called STS touring productions who said they would let us hire a drum kit for £50! So there is our first problem solved.

Another problem we face is the weather. We are just over a week away from our desired filming date and by looking at the weather it seems that it is going to rain. This type of weather will look good for the actual video but it poses a problem in that we are hiring the drum kit and it will get ruined if it gets wet, and so will the other instruments.

We think our only option is to go ahead an film and take lots of umbrellas to cover the kit and instruments when they are not being used.

Also, we were going to use a smoke machine as we are entering the park because it would look very effective. However we also couldn’t find anywhere that we could hire one from at a reasonable price. We did find one place that could lend us one for a £100 deposit but it wasn’t suitable for outdoor use. We are still looking into finding a smoke machine.

We also have the problem in the number of volunteers we need to be zombies. To make our video look effective we need at least 30. However at the minute everybody who has said they are coming has dropped out. We are just going to keep asking everybody we know until the date that we are filming and hopefully we will have enough people.

The final problem we face is the public. We can’t have any members of the public in our video, however as we are filming in a park, this is going to be a problem. We have decided we are just going to politely ask them to leave or move out of the shots. But because it’s going to be a rainy day, this shouldn’t be too much of a big problem.

Analysis of other music videos (3)

We have also chosen to analyse the video ‘Somebodies Watching Me’ by Rockwell. This song and video was released in the 80s which was perfect for the theme and genre we wanted to do for our video. The lyrics also fit in perfectly as it’s quite mysterious and spooky and the song is about his fear and paranoia.

Throughout the video it is as though the camera is looking through the eyes of Rockwell walking around his house. This builds tension for the audience as you don’t know what is lurking in there or what’s going to be behind the corner. The video contains some creepy props which we could think about doing in our video. For example, when he turns the shower on and the blood comes out and he has dead creatures on his walls. We probably wouldn’t use these exact props but we could use something similar to represent the dead and zombies. We again liked the make up used in this video. Although it isn’t in the video all the time, it is very effective. Rockwell sees ‘people’ in his house although it is not clear whether they are actually there or whether he’s seeing people. They are wearing make up to give them a spooky, creepy effect.

Mise en scene:
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Make up:
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He uses a few locations in his video which link together perfectly. He uses what the audience perceive as his house, and then a window opens to where we can see a grave yard as if it’s in his garden. This gives his video the perfect atmosphere for the song, which is the effect that we want to create.

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Goodwin’s Analysis

This video has not many key characteristics from the genre. Rockwell is considered to be motown/pop, where the key features are performance, dancing, etc. However this video is purely narrative.

The lyrics in this video are mostly illustrative, as his vocals match what is happening. For example in the first chorus he sings ‘I always feel like somebodies watching me’ where the camera focus’ on some sort of dead animal on the wall looking at the camera. Also, when he sings ‘can the people on tv see me’ it is as though the people on tv are actually looking at him.

Props looking at him:
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People looking at him on the tv:
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They’re are a few close ups in this video of mainly props which show the importance of them and they’re effect in the video.

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Analysis of other music videos (2)

We also have also anaylsed Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'. We like this video due to the costumes, make up, choreography and performance, the lighting and the narrative of the video.

The make up gives the best effect that the actors are supernatural. They discoloured eyes, sharp teeth and dark eyes give the audience the impression that they are not human. We also like the idea that Michael Jackson is 'normal' at the beginning and towards the middle he becomes like the monsters in the video.

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We also like that the supernatural are emerging from the wilderness and surround Michael. We are planning on doing something like this in our video where our zombies surround us slowly. We also like the low-key lighting in the scene giving it a spooky atmosphere.

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The characteristics of this video relate to the genre. It is a pop genre but could also be classed as an old rock genre where a common characteristic is performance. Michael Jackson dances and lip syncs all the way through this song which relates to the genre of this song.

The lyrics in this video are illustrative. Michael Jackson's vocals match what is happening in the video. For example he sings "night creatures calling, the dead start to walk in their masquerade as the supernatural start to emerge out of coffins and towards him. The visuals are also illustrative. The vocals and bass line provide to deep foundation for what is happening in the video. This gives the viewer and insight into the video. It is also quite slow paced and has a slow cut ate and also it takes a while for the monsters to emerge.

There are a few close ups in this video, which advertise Michael Jackson and the record label. This allows the viewers to see exactly who the artist is, show him off and be able to recognise him. These close ups are particularly of Michael's face.

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In this video there is no obvious voyeurism which is unusual for a pop song of this kind. In a few scenes the camera is made to look like Michael is looking around at the monsters. This allows the viewer to imagine exactly what he is thinking and imagine they are there at the time. In this scene you can see the supernatural walking towards you as if you are Michael.

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We like the idea that the text in this music video is red and gives the effect it is written in blood. This fits in well with the theme of this video and would also fit in with ours as it is a death and zombie theme. We could photo shop in the name of the band and song at the beginning in this type of text.

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There is not any intertextuality in this video.

Analysis of other music videos (1)

We have chosen two more videos to analyse. The first one is You Me At Six’s 'Underdog'. We chose this because of the performance element in the video and the way they have used different lighting effectively. We liked the idea of the red lighting as the video starts and you can just see the bands silhouettes. The light then slowly reveals the lead singer and eventually the rest of the band. This mise en scene gives quite a mysterious feel which fits in well with the nature of the song and the concept of our video. We could use this effect to slowly reveal our band members at the beginning of the video as we enter into the park. It leaves the audience wanting to know more which creates tension which would be perfect for our theme. Also, you get the idea that the band are performing to an audience which is what we want in our video, however, our audience is the zombies.


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Image and video hosting by TinyPic


Shortly after this shot, you will be first introduced to the lead singer, as the light shines on his face, and also uses a close up, to illustrate that he is in the fact the most important member of the band. Soon after this, the lights turn on to introduce you to the band properly, as you can see all there faces and see the instruments they are playing.We also like the performance idea of this video as we want half our video to be narrative and half to be performance. This way, the viewers can easily tell who the band are.


Goodwins analysis -


This song would normally be classed as an 'indie rock' song. Characteristics of this genre are mainly performance of the band which defiantly works in this video as it is the main focus.


The lyrics of this song and video are mainly contradicting due to the majority of the video being performance. Also, when there is some acting, the lyrics still don't really match what is happening. The song is quite fast paced and this is related to the video by the fast cut rate.


There is a huge amount of close ups in this video of the whole band such as their instruments, but mainly the lead singer. This is to advertise the band, promote them and the record label.


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Image and video hosting by TinyPic


There is slight voyeurism in this video which is used to draw male attention to the video as You Me At Sixes main audience are female, but with this in the video it allows males to want to watch it also.


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Production Treatment

Duration


The song itself lasts 3:43 minutes, however our video is split up into two parts. The first is the band entering the park and zombies emerging one by one. And the second park is the band being attacked and turning into zombies themselves. After this the zombies turn into the bands fans, dancing and jumping to the band performing.



Audience


Our audience would include would mainly include 15-24 year old males and females as some scenes wouldn’t be suitable for younger people, however due to the main genre of the film (old-style rock), some older ‘rockers’ may also like this video. The secondary theme of our production is a zombie apocalypse, which would explain why some scenes might not be suitable for a younger audience. Due to this secondary theme, our target audience has widened to most male teenagers, especially those who play zombie video games such as Left For Dead and have a general interest in zombie-type things.


Resume


The main narrative of our film is based on a zombie apocalypse theme, however we’ve changed the idea a little, and now the attacking zombies become fans in the latter half of our production, that is, halfway through the video the main band turn into zombies and then the attacking zombies become the fans. The maid genre of the music is old-style rock, which goes along well with the idea of the visual production and mise en scene.


Suggested elements


Performance


The performance in our video is going to involve actors staging as the band. The band are going to carrying instruments and mime playing them. We have around 20 volunteers that are acting as zombies, as the video progresses they represent the band’s fans.


Costumes


Our costumes will reflect the 80’s style rocker, and includes skinny jeans, waistcoats, bandannas etc., and research will be done further to ensure we get an authentic look. Also, halfway through the film, as we become zombies, our clothes will be ripped and torn, with blood smeared over us.


Our colour theme is black and white for the zombies and the same but with an element of red in for the band, so that they stand out and it is clear who the band are.


SFX


One SFX we are going to use is zombie make up. This will consists of lots of face paint, eyeliner and pale colours. If we have time we could also edit in zombie eyes as we think it is not practical for all the cast to be wearing contacts on the day.


Key locations


St Johns park in Manchester near the Great Northern. We chose this because it is quite secluded so we won’t have the public in all of our shots. Also, it has steel gates which look quite effective for an entrance for the band. It has many bushes and trees which can easily hide the zombies and allow them to emerge and attack the band.


Recording Days


We have set our recording date; Saturday 22nd October 2011. We have chosen this day because we would like to get our recording done as early as possible, we were all free on this day and the weather will be suitable for our theme.


We are aiming to get our filming shot in one day as we have many volunteers and it would be more convenient for them to just film for one day, and also it would be difficult to get everybody’s make up the exact same.


We are going to be spending the rest of our time on the CD cover, magazine advert, editing as many effects are needed to make our video realistic and doing the blog as this is the vital part of our coursework.

Performance Plan of Another One Bites the Dust by Queen

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We have decided on the song “Another One Bites the Dust” by the legendary Queen. One of the main reasons we choose this song, was of it genre, with it being the 1980’s English rock band. They are very famous so this is going to be a popular song that everybody knows and recognises. There are four members in this band and video so we are going to use four members in our band, three being from our group (Beatrix, Liz and Matt) and then we are going to use one of our friends to help us out with being the fourth. The theme in this video is performance, which we want our video to mainly be, instead of acting.

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Another reason is, we plan to do a zombie apocalypse themed filming, and another one bites the dust, would literally be another zombie bites the dust. Our filming will consist of two concepts, the first being of 4 survivors (band members) escaping a herd of slow moving infected zombies, and the next concept will be more closely linked with the song another one bites the dust, as the four survivors will turn into a band performing for the zombies, just as queen does in there video does.

In this video, the band wear costumes from the 80s. This includes black and white clothing, studded belts, leather jackets, etc. We are planning on incorporating these into our video to give that 80s rock effect.

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Below are a few shots from the actual video that we feel will be useful in the making of our video. These include close ups showing off the instruments and band members face, and long shots of the band and zombies.

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Wednesday, 12 October 2011

Research into genre

The genre we chosen for our music video was classic rock. It is influence around popular songs that were produced in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Bands and artists associated with classic rock are the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, AC/DC and of course, Queen. Classic rock was played on many radio stations which very dedicated to playing these artists and some more between the 60s and 80s. Classic rock music is most popular among those people who were young when this type of music came out.

Typical musical qualities of classic rock music are driving bass lines, solid drum beats, catchy guitar rhythms and solos, and rememberable lyrics. In the song we chose, Another One Bites The Dust, it definitely has most of these qualities. The target audience are of this genre were mainly 30+ year old males whereas new music today is mainly targeted at teenagers.

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Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Monday, 10 October 2011

Third Meeting Notes

At the moment, a vital piece of equipment is missing, and needs to be found before we can start our production. This is, basically, a drum-kit. It doesn’t need to be a specific colour or make, we just need one for our production to take place, as there will be a lot of focus on the band and instruments. We have considered renting a kit, for the price of £50 per day (is the cheapest we have found so far) and we also have two friends that could possibly bring theirs into our production, however this seems unlikely as transport is an issue.

Another option would be to buy a drum kit, however this has proven to be VERY expensive. However, when all hope seemed lost, Argos came to the rescue, with a £35 drum set! This was cheaper than our renting idea, and we thought we had found a solid solution..... until we realised it was a child's drum set! This was far too small for our needs and so we had to go back to the drawing board :(

The renting solution is our most likely course of action, and the cheapest place we can find to rent one from is STS touring productions in Manchester. We will only be renting for a single day, as all our shooting will be done on this day, as it will be difficult to secure the same volunteers for more than one day.

We have also looked at even more make-up tutorials on Youtube, and have gotten more ideas for realistic-looking zombies.

Today has also given us time to upload all blog posts we have had saved on our college accounts for a while, however due to an error which prevents us from uploading images, we have only uploaded the text, and will add the pictures at a later date, when we can.

Also, in the latter half of the lesson, we have talked about our magazine cover, and CD pack ideas, and so far have several ideas for front covers. We will develop these ideas in later lessons before filming, and also after filming.

Locations

For our ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ zombie apocalypse video we have decided to film in a park because it gives the right kind of mysterious effect needed for this genre.


We are considering filming at St Johns Gardens, off Deansgate in Manchester. We like this one a lot because it has four entrances which would be suitable for zombies to come in from all around. It also has steel gates that can be used for a dramatic entrance and it has trees covering the park making it seem secluded. The trees and bushes would be perfect for the zombies to emerge from and hide in. There is also a perfect spot for the band to perform in and just enough space to fit a drum kit, the rest of the band and the zombies. In addiction it is also in the heart of Manchester’s city center making it easy for our volunteers to get to it.



You can also see the Hilton Hotel from the park which we like because some 'horror' fillms are filmed in places that many people recognise. For example 28 days later is filming in London and Manchester and you can easy spot torist attractions.



Main entrance:



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Inside the park:




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Trees where the zombies would come out of:



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However we also considered Alexander park in Whalley Range, Manchester. This is a big open park but the problem is that it’s quite a public place and would be very hard to not have the public in our shots.



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The final location we considered was Whitworth park near our college. This park would be very easy for us to get too, however there aren’t any main entrances for us to introduce the video and again, it is a pubic park which would be difficult to film.



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Costume ideas

As we are doing a zombie apocalypse to song “Another One Bites The Dust”, which is of the 80’s british rock genre, we are going to dress up punky, however because it’s a zombie apocalypse we are going to dress in dark colours, but with the band members also wearing red, as we want them to stand out. The colour red can ressemble blood and death which relates to our zombie theme..


The costumes will include:


· Leather jackets/black coat
· Studded belts
· Boots/converse etc
· Checkard shirts
· Something red
· Ripped clothing when turned into zombies


The other zombies will wear plain black, white and grey clothing which we will cut up and poor fake blood on.


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Image and video hosting by TinyPic


Image and video hosting by TinyPic


Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Make up ideas

With our music video being punk/rock and zombie genre, we are going to be using a large amount of costume and make up. The main make up artists for our production will be myself (Heather), and Beatrix. In my last production I was also the make up artist, as again the project was of similar genre, instead of zombie it was horror, so the make up was dark and death life just like our zombie one is.


We decided as a group that instead of buying lots of contacts for the actors to wear to make their eyes look more death like we may edit the eyes during the post production if we have time so that the eyes look like the eyes of zombies due to the cost of having to afford lots of lenses and that a few people may not be able to put them in.


For the zombie make up, I have done a few test trials on myself, and have managed to create an zombie look, however due to not wearing zombie like contacts, my eyes still look very alive, and therefore the image of a zombie is not a 100% obvious. However, the makeup itself was successful, and will now be used in our production for our zombie work.


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I have learned how to create the zombie look from a few online videos on youtube. From watching these, I found out that you can pour some PVA glue onto the skin and when it's dry, you can pull it away from the skin using tweasers creating a ripped skin effect, which you can see in the picture above.


This link below shows you how to create a deformed zombie look:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuMt-N0bnww


Another link is less as realistic but the afterall result is till impressive. This tutorial creates the hollow cheeks of a decaying body that has been decomposing for a while:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLIv0mypKDE



And finally here is another link which shows us how to create a deformed skin:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYeppToXcLA

Thursday, 6 October 2011

Second Planning Meeting

Ok so, so far this lesson we have organized our tasks between the group; Heather is writing up the make up and costume ideas, Matt is taking planning notes for this lesson and backing up the photos he took from a You Me At Six concert, which is relevant because our costumes are based on You Me At Six, and also looking up how to edit eyes in final Cut Pro (The software used for editing videos in college), and looking up other editing effects. Liz is uploading the initial planning ideas, and researching location possibilities if we don’t use our intended location. Beatrix is researching for our shopping list and comparing prices.

We have discussed the possibility of using contacts for different colored eyes for the band, however we think this would be rather expensive, and so we looked at editing possibilities. However, the editing process for changing eye color in Final Cut Pro requires a specialist add-on feature that the college may not have, and also hours an hours of free time editing each frame required. Due to time and expenses we will probably be scrapping the idea of using contact lenses and instead not focusing on shots of the eyes.

We have also found a drummer for our project, Jack Kennedy who is cancelling his entire plans or the day to take time for our filming, and has committed to it. We are also currently looking at options for obtaining a drum kit for the day, hiring is an option, though due to expenses this may be a last resort. We have also contacted Dawsons music store to see if they are willing to let us hire a drum set, or even let us use one and then credit it in our Acknowledgements.

Currently we are still waiting to hear from Zombiewalk Manchester, to see if any other volunteers are interested, and also we’re recruiting more and more friends and family to be extras in our production.

Shopping List!


Make up

- Makeup that we will need will include lots of black, red, white, grey and green eye shadow.

- Red lipstick, black eye pencil, black eye liner

- Foundation, white powder

- Fake blood

All that makeup that we need can be bought online or in fancy dress shops for a very cheap price, Especially since Halloween is just around the corner.

Costume

- Ripped clothes such as ripped t-shirts, pants and dresses.

- Old shoes

- Ripped tights

Which can be brought from shops such as Primark or even charity shops for a very low price. We can even bring old t- shirts from home, that we can rip ourselves, to create the ‘zombie’ look.

Accessories

- Strings

- Wigs

- Makeup brushes

- Tissues

- Hand wipes

- Makeup removal wipes

Food And Drink

- When we begin our filming, the people who volunteered to be zombies for our music video will be able to access food and drinks provided by us.

- Things such as sandwiches and cans will be on offer for our fellow participants.

Initial Planning Meeting

Location – St John's Park near The Great Northern, Manchester

Song – 'Another One Bites The Dust' by Queen

Performers - Band: Matt (vocals), Beatrix (guitar), Liz (bass guitar), drummer (undecided), and other zombies: friends, volunteers

Behind the scenes crew - Heather: camera women, hair and make-up,
Volunteers and friends: helping with hair and make-up, helping set up

Time – early morning, 10am until 6pm

Weather – any weather would look effective, preferably misty/cold/rainy etc

Costumes – Zombies: tattered, dirty clothing, ripped t-shirts, black and white
Band: 80s style clothing, dark colours, skinny jeans, studded belts, leather jackets, black, white and red

Make-up – Zombies: face paint, fake blood, fake scars, contact lenses or edit in coloured eyes
Band: dark eyes, pale skin

Hair - normal hair when walking into the park, crazy backcombed hair when
turning into zombies

Lighting - natural light when filming, edit in dark and dim lighting in post-
production to give atmosphere

Entry into video - walk into main entrance with instruments, one zombie walks
in to create tension and the rest follow and crowd around

Middle of video - when the vocals stop, the zombies get close around the band
in a circle, camera films from behind, when the vocals come in again, zombies
move slightly back allowing band to be filmed, band then turn into
zombies

End of video - smoke machine covers zombies, band and camera, then in post-
production use white out

Roles – Heather: make-up and costume design, camera
Matt: actor and post-production
Liz: actress and post-production
Beatrix: actress and post-production

Magazine advert – main band in a V shape in the foreground, zombies in
background

CD pack – front page: same as magazine advert, second page: information
about the band, and pictures of them, third page: track listings, fourth page:
acknowledgments.