Modern Times by Charlie Chaplin

Today Dom, Jess, Emma, Oyinda and I (see picture below) went to see Charlie Chaplin at the cinema.



Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin (see picture below), was an English comic actor and film director of silent films. He became one of the best-known film stars in the world and used mine, slapstick and other visual comedy routines. Chaplin was one of the most creative and influential personalities of the silent-film era.



When we first got to the cinema we didn't know what to expect, although we did get free popcorn and a drink :) We went to see Modern times made in 1936. Although silent films were no longer made in Hollywood after 1929 Chaplin still made Modern times as a silent movie. Silent movies enable you to make up our own story line and we entertain ourselves through the actions.

The film lasted approximately 96 minutes and was very exciting and funny! It represented working class people as treat bad and opposed upon by authority. Middle class people were seen as nice, big house and very happy. In modern times Charlie is trying to achieve the American dream in the department store and bring the message across that if you keep trying you get happiness.

Watching the silent movie really made me realise how much media and television has progressed through the year. From black and white silent movies to now HD, 3D full colour TV with blaring speakers! I would definitely recommend going to see one of his films!

Here is a short clip from some of his work:








Above is a picture of the cinema!

The corraliens

We decided our group needed a catchy, edgy and bold band name. After much consolation we thought of many different names such as Leopards, Tigers, the weather girls... however these just sounded cheesy and didn't fit the representation we wanted to give of. We finally came up with 'The Coralliens' We decided a colour which represented us as group. We thought of coral as it is a classy and sophisticated yet girly word! However being called the 'Corals' is a bit dull and unoriginal therefore we decided to translate this into a common language and French had the best sound!

Audience feedback

After presenting our treatment to the class based on our music video ideas we gained feedback from fellow peers. We received mostly positive and constructive feedback. Here I created a wordle based on the audience feedback received. Audience feedback is an important process which must be regularly collected, after all they will be the ones watching it, and if it was on the market they would be the ones buying the product, therefore we need to take every feedback account on board.

• Good use of tia maria advert
  
• Practical idea
  
• Like the changing costume idea
• Girly costumes and make up fit in well with the song
  
• Good
• Current
• Bright
• Fun
• Girl
• Quirky
• Exciting
• Like the bright colours
• Quirky
• Fun
• Bright
• Good idea
• Conforms to pop
• pop
• pink
• colourful

As you can see from this wordle Good, Quirky, fun and bright mostly represents our video which is exactly the image we want to create!

Tia maria advert

Our idea is to have the group featuring int he video in one point of view with the clothes changes and the person changing as she walks down the path lip syncing. We'll edit the outfit changes to the quick beats of the song. The Tia maria advert below is similar to the effect we want to create.

Treatment Presentation

After finishing our treatment we had to present it to the class and show them our ideas! We recieved audience feedback which is presented on the above post. We included ideas about our location, the make up, mise-en-sene, costume and other bits of information! Take a look!

Copy wright issues

So here is an email asking regal production who signs Lilly Allen to give us permission to produce a video. This is so we wont have any implications or offend the artist in anyway. I will be waiting for a reply.Post Options

Treatment

Here is a copy of my treatment my group and I presented to the class. Here we had to relate ideas to our chosen song 'Knock em out' by Lilly Allen. We thought of aspects such a mise-en-sene, relating ideas to lyrics, locations, background behind the song and whether it's conforming to similar pop videos, or not. Shortly I will be uploading a clip of out treatment which was presented to the class with audience feed back.

Chosen final song

After much discussion we've finally decided to choose Lilly Allen's song 'knock em out' I really do like this video mainly because it doesn't actually have any video associated with it, the lyrics are funny and humerus and therefore find I will be able to make a successful music video associated with the representation!


Alright so this is a song about anyone, it could be anyone.
You're just doing your own thing and some one comes out the blue,
They're like,
"Alright"
What ya saying,
"Yeah can I take your digits?"
And you're like, "no not in a million years, you're nasty
please leave me alone."

Cut to the pub on our last night out,
Man at the bar cos it was his shout,
Clocks this bird and she looks OK,
Caught him looking and she walks his way,
"Alright darling, you gonna buy us a drink then?"
"Err no, but I was thinking of buying one for your friend..."

She's got no taste hand on his waist, tries to pull away but her lips on his face,
"If you insist I'll have a white wine spritzer"
"Sorry love, but you ain't a pretty picture."

[Chorus]
Can't knock em out, can't walk away,
Try desperately to think of the politest way to say,
Just get out my face, just leave me alone,
And no you can't have my number,
"Why?"
Because I've lost my phone.

Oh yeah, actually yeah I'm pregnant, having a baby in like 6 months so no, yeah, yeah...

"I recognize this guy's way of thinking..."
As he comes over her face starts sinking,
She's like,
"Oh here we go.."
It's a routine check that she already knows, she's thinking: "They're all the same."

"Yeah you alright baby? You look alright still, yeah what's your name?"
She looks in her bag, takes out a fag, tries to get away from the guy on a blag, can't find a light,
"Here use mine"
"You see the thing is I just don't have the time."

[Chorus]

Go away now, let me go,
Are you stupid? Or just a little slow?
Go away now I've made myself clear,
Nah it's not gonna happen,
Not in a a million years,

[Chorus x2]

Nah I've gotta go cos my house is on fire,
I've got herpes, err no I've got syphilis...
AIDS, AIDS, I've got AIDS!

And here are some of our ideas!

For maybe the opening to the song we were thinking of having a shot of the sky then speeding it up
2. Alright so this is a song about anyone, it could be anyone.

You're just doing your own thing and some one comes out the blue, - we're going to edit this into a staggered shot, this will show all four characters and will reflect the lyrics.

3. Go to the pub on our last night out, - Quick shot where is says cut, then cut to a pub setting.
4. [Chorus]
Can't knock em out, can't walk away,
Try desperately to think of the politest way to say, ------ Walking down the path, costumes changing. pros changing, jumpy shots, character change, fast pace editing.

5.Oh yeah, actually yeah I'm pregnant, having a baby in like 6 months so no, yeah,- The character will pretend to be pregnant, pregnancy test - close up shot of the guy with a pregnancy test waving in his face, Girl holding pregnancy test and girl blurred.


6. "I recognize this guy's way of thinking..."
As he comes over her face starts sinking, - Long shot of girl standing at one end, and boy at other. Different angles looking at each other who emphasises how far apart they are. 

7. She's like,
"Oh here we go.." - She walks off shot, close up shot with red lipstick saying here we go.


Four Final Initial Ideas

After researching potential artists we like, my group and I are at the stage now where we are narrowing down songs for a final potential music video. Here are some of the ideas we think could work:

After researching Lilly Allen a lot, I really have come to like her music. As an artist she is very feminine, funky and quirky which represents me. Below are two of my favorite songs of hers:

Lilly Allen- Knock em out




I really like this song as a potential song for our video because it's fun and upbeat. The lyrics are really humorous in the song as well so we can have fun making it! Another good point to this song is that it doesn't already have a video to it, therefore we wont get our video compared to the real thing and we can come up with some real creative ideas! We've noticed a pattern in Lilly Allen songs which we would follow. The videos are never too serious but just the character having fun!
Here are a few ideas we are thinking about for this video:

• Walking down a pathway with boys coming to her pestering her.


• Pink lolly to signify femininity
  


• Challenging pop video conventions by having four main girl characters with only one boy. Usually the men are surrounded by explicit women.


• Autumn scene with trees like in the video 'The fear'


• Most of the song the main character will be lip syncing

A second song from Lilly Allen I personally thought would make a good video is 'The fear'





I really like this song as a potential choice as the lyrics are very quirky and semantic. However although it does have a video to it we could still make it original as the video isn't to well known. The song has a less upbeat tone to knock em out and it more acoustically calm.

I really like the lyrics in it as well. The line 'forget about guna and forget ammunition's coz i'm killing them all on my own little missions' For this we could have a girls playing a spy game running through the woods, or a paint balls fight!
This would be a very fun video to make as the lyrics are so realistic.

Whilst watching a film the other night the song 'Lenka The show' came on.





I really love this song as it's so cute and people would be able to relate to the lyrics. This is a very quirky and simple song to do. Here are some of the lyrics and ideas:

Slow it down, make it stop - We could have a sign with a lolly pop man

I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze, and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go
Can't do it alone
I've tried, but i don't know why
For the chorus above I was thinking we could have a girl in a maze with a high angle shot from above showing shes in the middle of the maze with two guys trying to get to her first, kind of like a romantic rivalry.

Kate Nash - Foundations




I've always loved this song and think it's very feminine, fun and quirky song to do! however as the video is to good I would think people would compare it! Kate Nash's videos are all very inspirational and have amazing lyrics to put a video together. Here are some of my favourite lines!

You said I must eat so many lemons
Your face is pasty 'cause you've gone and got so wasted, what a surprise.

My finger tips are holding onto the cracks in our foundation,
and I know that I should let go,
but I can't.
And every time we fight I know it's not right,
every time that you're upset and I smile.
I know I should forget, but I can't.

Analysing technical codes in pop music videos.

Camera Work:

The camera work in all music videos is very important to send across to the audience the right message. You pick up a lot of the meaning from the camera works with the use of high angled shots, low angled shows and closeups to determine the emotions. As in a pop music video there will be probably dancing, walking and generally allot of movement therefore camera movement will be needed to accompany the movement of the performers.




Close up predominates

Close ups are a must have in all music videos. Especially pop because of the desire to create emotion and intimacy and to connect with the audience to get them hooked.
In pop music videos close ups are often used to create a fun and hook emotion into the song. In our music video we'd be using lots of close-ups and various different shots.



Editing

The most common form of editing in music videos is fast pace montages which grasp the viewers attention. However slow pace editing is also used in music videos to create intensity and emotion. Here are two videos showing different paces to create a mood:

Coldplay - Violet hill




This video by Coldplay (violet hill) uses faster pace editing to created a montage of the characters moving in the band. This grasps the audiences attention to keep watching the video. This is an effect my group and I would be interested in using when the girl is walking down the path and the clothes would change. This would be done by filming the girl walking, then changing their clothes and cutting to the next shot in the same position.

Radiohead - No surprises





This song by radio head (no surprises) creates a more tranquil mood till the coldplay song. This used very slow pace editing with few transition and cuts. The camera movement is more framed and still therefore gives a more subtle and quite scene.


Digital effects

The use of digital effects in music videos really make the videos unique. Effects play on the original footage to enhance the viewing and make it more enjoyable to watch. Here are a few effects which really grab the attention of the audience:


Radio head - Street Spirit






I really like the fact that this video is in black and white for a start. However I absolutely love the very slow and cautious movement of the characters. For example when the character falls, but its in slow motion, and when he falls in his chair and its in slow motion. I really like the random quick flashes in between the shots aswel, however I must say one of my favorite shots of all if when the paint is thrown over the young boy but its in slow motion and passes past him. I would really like to re-create this shot applying it to our own pop song.


Black eyed peas - Boom Boom Pow




In this video I really like the computerized effects, however this video has a twist as the effects are actually filmed. I think this video has a really contemporary feel to it with its various digital effects and the upbeat rhythm.

Kate Nash Artist Research

Kate Nash Profile:

Full name: Kate Marie Nash
Date of birth; 6th July 1987
Gender: Female
Place of birth: Brent, London, England
Job: English recording artist (soloist)
Siblings: sisters Helen and Clare
Parents: English father, Irish Mother
Music instruments: Piano, Guitar,




Early Life:

Kate was interested in music as a child. She was taught guitar by her teacher then studied Theater at the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in South London. She auditioned at the Bristol Old Vic Theater School but was rejected after injuring herself and was housebound so she got a electric guitar where she focused on songwriting. She began performing at local bars and gigs.

Musical Career.

Kate began uploaded her music to MySpace. Her single, "Caroline's a Victim" / "Birdswas then released through Moshi Moshi Records in February 2007. The release was limited to 1000 copies however due to demand another 1000 copies were made and sold out. The song received airplay on MTV2. The B-side, "Birds", later featured on her début album, Made of Bricks.




Kate's first single - Caroline a victim

First Album - Made of Bricks

She was later signed to polydor where she released her second single 'Foundations' In 2007 which reached number 2 in the charts, furthermore the album 'made of bricks was later released.'
The Independent described the album as worst album of the year, however the album was successful and reached number 1 in the UK album charts.
she released three more singles from the album. "Mouthwash" and "Pumpkin Soup" both made the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart.


Kates first album (cover)- Made of bricks





Kates hit single pumpkin soup from her album - Made of bricks.


Second album - My best friend is you.


In 2009 Kate worked on her second album - my best friend is you.
She later announced her tour for the album. The sound was described as completely different from her debut album and having a "Girl Group" sound, taking influence from Motown stars such as Diana Ross and The Supremes.


Kates album cover - My best friend is you.




Here is the first single (doo wah doo) released from her album - my best friend is you.

Katy Perry Artist Research

Full name: Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson
Date of birth; born October 25, 1984
Gender: Female
Place of birth: Santa Barbara, california
Job: American singer, songwriter
Siblings: sister Angela, brother David
Parents: Kaith and Mary

Early Life:

As a child, she learned how to dance in Santa Barbara. Katy decided to leave school to pursue a career in music. She started singing using cassette tapes. She rehearsed the songs and performed them then took voice lessons and age 9 - 16 and later enrolled at music academy of santa barbara.

Musical Career:

She signed her first contract to music label Red Hill she released her first album of gospel rock, but the album was not a hit. At the age of 17 she worked with Glen Ballard on an album for record label Island however was unsuccesful. Some of Perry and Ballard's collaborations included "Simple", one of the songs she recorded with Ballard, was released on the soundtrack to the 2005 film The sister hood of the Traveling Pants.

Katy Perry music video for "Simple" from the soundtrack of "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"

Katy signed Columbia Records in 2004, she started her own album and then was dropped by her label. In 2006, She appeared in other music vidoes such as Learn to fly and gym class heroes video cupid's chokehold. Her songs eventually captured the attention of virgin records who signed her to Capitol Music in early 2007.





Katy featuring in Cupid love choke video above.

First album: One of the Boys was released on June 17, 2008

The single I kissed a girl was released in 2008. The song reached number 1 in the top of the charts and internationally. Perry released her second single, 'Hot n cold' which was also a huge success"I Kissed a Girl" earned a nomination for Best female pop vocal performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards.

Album cover of 'One of the boys'

Hit single 'I kissed a girl' from the album one of the boys.


Second album: Teenage Dream

The first single from the album is California girls. The single took only four weeks to reach the number one spot on the Billboard 100.

Cover of Katy's album: Teenage Dream.

Hit single: California Gurls.

Lilly Allen artist Research

Lily Allen Profile:

Full name: Lily Rose Beatrice Allen
Date of birth; 2nd May 1985
Gender: Female
Place of birth: Hammersmith, West London
Job: English recording artist (soloist)
Siblings: sister Sarah; brother Alfie and a younger sister Rebecca.
Parents: Keith Allen (actor, musician) & Alison Owen (film producer)
Music instruments: violin, guitar and trumpet and Piano.




Early Life:

At the age of 3 Allen appeared on ‘The Yob’ episode which her father had co-written. At the age of 4 Lilly’s dad had left the family home living in a council house. She attended 13 public schools however got expelled for bad behaviour.

Allen was first recognised at by Rachel Santesso overheard Allen singing Wonder wall by Oasis in the school's playground she was impressed and gave her singing lessons.

Allen’s first big role was in lady-in-waiting (1998) which was co-produced by her mother. She dropped out of school at age fifteen and earned money by working at a Plastic Fantastic record store and dealing ecstasy.

Lilly’s musical career:

After leaving school Allen she created demo songs and created a profile on My Space, where she made some of her recordings public. Allen was rejected by several labels. Lily used her father's connections to get signed to London Records a part of the Warner Music in 2002.
She began writing songs, and her manager introduced her to production duo Future Cut in 2004. They worked in a small studio in 2005, Allen was signed to Regal Recordings who also signed coldplay and Gorillaz.


First album - Alright, still

In 2006 she began to work on completing her first album and her single "Smile" which peaked in UK Singles Chart. On July 2006 Lilly’s record, Alright, Still, was top on the international market (2.6 million copies sold)
The CD includes 11 - 14 tracks most of which were previewed on her My Space page including the singles "Smile , "LDN", "Knock 'Em Out", and "Alfie". "Friday Night", co-written with Jonny Bull, was also included, alongside "Littlest Things" produced by Mark Ronson





Second album - It's not me it's you

Her second major album release, Lilly was nominated at the Grammy Awards, BRIT Awards and MTV Video Music Awards. It's Not Me, It's You is the second album by Lily Allen released on 9 February 2009 by Regal Recordings and on 10 February in North America by Parlophone Records. It sold over 900,000 copies in the UK.
The hit singles "The Fear" and "Fuck You’’ where most popular in the album.


Lilly was nominated at the Grammy Awards, BRIT Awards and MTV Video Music Awards. She then began hosting her own talk-show, Lily Allen and Friends, on BBC Three

Album cover of: It's not me it's you.

Lilly Allens hits single: The fear from the alum its not you it's me.


Lilly Allens Myspace.

Allen received a 2008 NME Award nomination for the category of "Best Band Blog."She was the fifth most popular musical act of 2008, according to the social networking site.




Lilly’s Target audience:

Lilly Allen has a target audience of teens who like pop music. She is well known for her style and fashion labels. Her fashion line directs a wider female audience than her music. Magazines that lily is often featured in grab an even wider audience so more people listen to her music. The media portrays Lilly Allen as a bold varies artists, she is shown to the audience as various this may be because her music is a mixture of different genres.

Performance, Narrative and Concept Music videos.

There are different types of music videos in the industry, here are the main 3 types:

Narrative Music video.

A narrative music video is basically a short movie with a song behind it. They often have stories behind them and little or no lip-syncing.

Paramore- The only exception

Bonnie Taylor - Total eclipse of the heart

Yolanda be cool - we no speak Americano

These are examples narrative music videos because there is no performance to it, but a story. There is no lip synchronising and there is no dancing or performing.

Performance music video

A performance music video has performance elements in it. This can include instruments or the main singer lip - syncing or dancing. It sows the artist in different settings such as gigs and studios.

An example of a performance music video is:

beyonce - single ladies

Biffy Clyro - Bubbles





Concept music videos.

Concept videos have become popular for music videos. These videos usually have theme to the song and can be series, humorous or both. The songs usually have humorous lyrics which are acted out and can contain lip - syncing. An Example of a concept music videos are:

boulevard of broken dreams - Green day

Steve archer (2004)

'' Often music videos will cut between a narrative and performance of the song by the band. in addition a carefully choreographed dance might be part of the artists performance or an extra aspect designed to aid visualisation and the 'repeatability' factor. Sometime the artists (especially the singer) will be a part of the story acting as a narrator and participant at the same time, but it is the lip-syncing close up and the miming of playing instruments that remains at the heart of music videos , as if to assure us that the band really can kick it.''