PowerPoint Presentation

Question 1In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media productsToby Matthews

The song five to one by the doors, much like other psychedelic rock songs of the same ilk, have a very dark feel to them. This is apparent through the audio; the heavy drums, overdriven guitar and screaming vocals. My task was to capture this sense of menace in the video.

One of the common conventions of rock n roll songs is reference to drugs and alcohol, so I created a surreal scene that demonstrates the effects of a hangover on our protagonist. I superimposed a video of an angry monkey onto his head to symbolise a headache, and a washing machine on his stomach to show how hes feeling sick with all the alcohol sloshing round in him

To achieve this, I used Adobe After Effects. For the example of the monkey, I first tracked the motion of Faegans face (1a, 1b) so that whatever I put on top would appear to be stuck onto his head. I then masked out a rough shape around the monkey (2) so we could only see its face, and attached that to the track I just created. When all these layers are composited, it creates the illusion that his head is being peeled back to reveal the workings inside (3).

(1a)(1b)(2)(3)

During research, I discovered that rock videos of the 1960s and 70s were filmed ubiquitously on 16 or 32mm film, in a 4:3 aspect ratio. Modern music videos often opt for a more filmic 16:9 ratio, but 4:3 was the universal video format of the 20th century. So I decided to film my video in this ratio too. When shooting, I taped off the sides of my LCD monitor so that I could compose my footage with this new ratio in mind. Then in post-production I overlaid some real 16mm film stock to create a genuine grainy feel.

Some examples of the use of 4:3 in Doors music videos

16:9 aspect ratio4:3 aspect ratio

The lead singer and lyricist of the Doors, Jim Morrison, references other art forms such as poetry in his lyrics. For example, he changed the words Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over The candlestick to Words dissemble, Words be quick, Words resemble Walking sticks in his poem An American Prayer. In Five to One, he is possibly referring to the Dylan Thomas poem Warp: Five into one, the one made of five into one, early Suns distorted to late. So, I decided to develop this convention and make my own visual reference to another art form in my music video. I chose to create a character based off the artist Peter Blakes painting Self Portrait with Badges. Blake was a prominent Pop artist in the 60s, who tried to capture the zeitgeist of the time in his work, much in the same way that Jim Morrison did, so he seemed a fitting cultural reference. On the next slide is a comparison of the painting and the character in my music video:

To further relate my video to the psychedelic rock era, I researched big cultural events from the year that Five to One was released; 1968. So for the picket mob I found photographs of signs in riots, protests and other music videos from the same time.

Subterranean Homesick Blues Bob Dylan, 1965Supermarket Pickets, New Jersey, 1968Campaign rally for Richard Nixon, 1968Striking farmworkers and supporters begin a national boycott of California table grapes, 1968

spud matthews (sm) -

"Yellow Peril Supports Black Power," in which Asian men hold protest signs in support of black activist Huey Newton, 1968

Lastly I challenged the typical conventions of psychedelic rock music videos by creating something experimental and original that I hadnt seen done before. I decided to create an interesting transition between two shots; a physical alternative to a cross-fade. I initially did a cross-fade between the two shots in Adobe Premiere Pro, then printed out all 29 frames of it individually (1). I then began painting into each frame with increasing detail and movement (2,3). Once I had painted them all (4) I scanned in each one and put them into Premiere Pro to create an animation. The result was a morphing transition between the shots, with every 29 frames a painting (5).

(1)(2)(3)(4)

(5)

Key editing moments in my music videoThe following are a selection of examples of effective and considered editing I used in my film. I learned the techniques and conventions of these edits from research however they dont just apply to music videos

Cutting to the eyeIn this first example I cut between two shots that share similar compositional features; the horizontal strip depicted by the red line. Because they both share this feature in the exact same position, our eyes dont have to move across the frame to find the new focal point, making the cut less obvious and jarring.

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This second example uses colour to ease the change of location through the cut. The light on the water (1) turns red as the camera loses focus (2). I then cut to the next shot where it was also red and blurry (3) and pulled back into focus, to complete the transition (4).1234

Cutting to the beatFrom my research, I discovered that music videos often employ the technique of cutting to the beat. This is when you perform cuts to match the rhythm of the song. This is an effective technique of linking the visual and aural elements of the music video to create a more impactful piece. It also is used to maintain momentum in a film, and can be used to play with and emphasise the pace of a video. Here is a screenshot of the video track in my timeline, showing the length of each video clip. The regular duration of each clip demonstrates how I have cut to the beat of the song, in order to drive the impetus of the film. As pictured, the clips get shorter the further along the timeline they get, showing how I have increased the pace while maintaining the rhythm.

Match cuts

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A match cut is a cut in film editing between either two different objects, two different spaces, or two different compositions in which objects in the two shots graphically match, often helping to establish a strong continuity of action and linking the two shots metaphorically.

From research I discovered about the technique of match cutting. I used it in my music video as a conceptual, quite surreal way of changing location rapidly. Because the two shots in a match cut are visually similar, it reduces the abruptness of the cut and as in the above quote, moves forward the action. The match cut allows the audience to fill in the gaps themselves, and quickly progress the narrative. Pictured left is a famous example of a match cut in Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey. I have followed the same convention that he used in this film, which was released in 1968 the same year as Five to One.2001: A Space Odyssey

Narrative and Star ImageOne of the most consistent features of Psychedelic Rock music videos that I noticed through research was their conceptual nature, as pictured on the left from the video for Strawberry Fields Forever. I tried to capture this surreal vibe in my music video; making it very conceptual and non-linear, while still maintaining a clear narrative. To do so, I made the hair cutting scene a focal point, referencing it throughout. This works as a tool to demonstrate a time frame; before and after the crazy night, and lets the audience know when certain events are taking place. Without this I feel the narrative would have been lost and the non-linear aspect decontextualised.

In the music videos I watched of the Doors, the star image of Jim Morrison is constructed as a stone-faced frontman. This could suggest that hes troubled, pensive or moody for example, and allows the audience to project their own interpretation onto him.

I followed this convention when directing Faegan to create the same effect. This was particularly effective when put in contrast with the scene where the insanity and torment inside his head is exposed and we see extreme manifestations of fear and angst.

Strawberry Fields Forever, 1967Jim Morrison