Lyrics Timing

                                                                          "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards"

(0.04)It feels like I only go backwards baby(0.10)
(0.10)Every part of me says "go ahead".(0.16)
(0.16)I got my hopes up again, oh no... not again.(0.23)
(0.24)Feels like we only go backwards darling.(0.30)

(0.33)I know that you think, you sound(0.35)
(0.36)Silly when you call my name(0.39) (my name)(0.41)
(0.41)But I get it inside my head all day.(0.45)
(0.46)When I realize I'm just holding onto(0.48)
(0.50)The hope that maybe(0.52)
(0.52)Your feelings don't show...(0.55)

(0.56)It feels like I only go backwards baby.(1.02)
(1.03)Every part of me says go ahead.(1.07)
(1.08)I got my hopes up again, oh no... not again.(1.15)
(1.16)Feels like we only go backwards darling.(1.21)

(1.23)The seed of all this indecision isn't me, oh no,(1.32)
(1.33)'Cause I decided long ago.(1.35)
(1.36)But that's the way it seems to go when trying(1.39)
(1.40)So hard to get to something (1.42) real,(1.44)
(1.45)It feels...(1.46)

(1.47)It feels like I only go backwards darling,(1.53)
(1.54)Every part of me says "go ahead".(1.59)
(1.59)I got my hopes up again, oh no... not again.(2.06)
(2.07)Feels like we only go backwards darlin'.(2.12)

(2.13)Feels like I only go backwards baby,(2.19)
(2.20)Every part of me says "go ahead".(2.24)
(2.25)I got my hopes up again, oh no... not again.(2.31)
(2.32)Feels like we only go backwards darling.(2.39)

(2.39)Feels like I only go backwards baby,(2.44)
(2.45)Every part of me says "go ahead".(2.50)
(2.51)I got my hopes up again, oh no... not again.(2.57)
(2.58)Feels like we only go backwards darling.(3.03)

Song ends 3.12

Chosen Song and Genre

                                                                                                                                 
 The song I have chosen to make my video for is "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" by Australian psychedelic band Tame Impala. The song is from the bands 2012 album “Lonerism” and is probably their best known song. The song already has a video directed by Joe Pelling & Becky Sloan; however this video consists entirely of animation, therefore this is a feature I shall try to avoid in the production of my own video.

Psychedelic music originates from the hippie and psychedelic sub-culture that developed in the 60’s. It aimed to replicate the mind altering experiences of psychedelic drugs such as marijuana, LSD and psilocybin mushrooms. Psychedelic music tends to feature effected guitar sounds, studio recording effects, surreal, drug related or literary inspired lyrics, the use of synthesizers, more complex song structure than standard pop songs, focus on instrumental parts of songs and eastern musical influence; such as drones and the use of Indian instruments such as sitars. Some key artists of the original psychedelic movement included The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, early Pink Floyd and Captain Beefheart.  

Towards the end of the 60’s and into the 70’s the popularity of psychedelic music started to die out with the end of the mainstream hippy movement and the illegalisation of most drugs. However its influence could still be heard in other forms of music into the 70’s such as heavy rock, glam rock and progressive rock. Psychedelic music received a revival into the early 80’s post-punk era known as neo-psychedelia through key artists such as The Teardrop Explodes and albums such as Siouxie and The Banshee’s “A Kiss In the Dream House”. Since then psychedelic music has had some sort of influence on popular music cultures; such as its influence on the late 80’s/early 90’s dance influenced “Madcheshter” scene bands such as The Happy Mondays, the 60’s influenced bands such as The Stone Roses from the same era and also “Shoegaze” bands in the late 80’s such as My Bloody Valentine that mixed elements of psychedelic music with noise rock and post-punk. Neo-psych has gained particular attention again in recent years through the popularity of bands such as Temples, Melody’s Echo Chamber and Allah La’s and also the brimming psychedelic scene in Perth, Australia where Tame Impala and their fellow Australians Pond come from.  

What makes a Good Product?

To find out what makes a good music video product we were given the task of researching five different videos to get an understanding of the conventions of music videos and what makes them successful or unsuccessful.

Bruno Mars- The Lazy Song
The first video I watched was "The Lazy Song" by pop artist Bruno Mars.

The video for this song features a comedic choreography routine of people in monkey masks and features and unconventional single shot throughout the whole video. These were features that I liked about the video however I felt that there was no narrative or relevance to the song, which I disliked. This showed me how important a narrative can be to song and how it is part of what makes a good music video.
                                                                                                                                           Dev- Take Her From You
 The Next video I watched was "Take Her From You" by pop singer Dev.

 The video features a fairly clear; if strange, narrative filmed in a vintage style in high contrast black and white which suited the feel of the song. These were both features that I liked however I disliked the fact the song only really featured one character when the song theme would suggest otherwise. This showed me how it is important to try and theme your video around the lyrics and theme of the song and how the editing and effects can really add to the quality of your video.

                                                                                                                                          The Fray- Heartbeat
The third video I watched was "Heartbeat" by pop rock group The Fray.

The video features a clear narrative of everyone going to a beach party at first before fading off into more focus on the band performing the song. I liked the strong sense of setting and mise-en-scene in this video set on the beach however I felt that while the performance element of the video is important this particular video over emphasises it which I disliked. This video therefore helped me recognise the importance of a strong sense of setting in a video and the importance of the performance element. however it also showed me that you can concentrate your efforts too much on one area of the video.
                                                                                                                                            Fatboy Slim- Don't Let the Man Get You Down
The next video I watched was for "Don't Let the Man Get You down" by Dance Producer and DJ Fatboy Slim.

The video follows a comical narrative filmed in a vintage style about an apparently racist man who doesn't like young children who then gets run over at the end of the video. I liked how their was a very strong narrative that addressed a certain theme however I felt that the video did not seem to really take the music itself into account. This video therefore taught me that while a strontg narrative is good, it is important to make sure your music relates to the music.

                                                                                                                                             Die Antwoord- Rich Bitch 
The Final Video I watched was "Rich Bitch" by South African rap group Die Atwoord.

The video for "Rich Bitch" follows a comedic and strong narrative while also featuring elements of performance such as lip syncing. I like the strong sense of narrative and the comedic value of the video however I felt that the mise-en-scene was overly bright and distracted attention from other features of the video. I therefore learned from this video that a good mix of performance and narrative is one of the main keys to success while producing a music video and that overly bright elements in a video can be distracting to the audience.

                                                                                                                                     Ian Brown- F.E.A.R.
We were also asked to choose our favourite music video of all time so i chose "F.E.A.R." by Ian Brown

The video for "F.E.A.R." features an abstract narrative of Ian Brown riding a bike through a city but the the film is played in reverse and slowed down. It is this use of editing to create this abstract narrative that I particularly like about this video. The only feature of the video that I don't like so much is the featuring of lyrics on the screen; however I feel that it could be seen as necessary in this case as the song relies heavily on its poetic lyrics which are the main feature here.  

Coursework Brief

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

•a website homepage for the band;

•

•a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);

•

•a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package). 

Transition Task: Evaluation

What did you find the most challenging and why? 
The most challenging part of the task for my group was finding a setting that directly matched the office environment of the original video. In the end we had to use a corridor and a makeshift "office" sign to create the closest thing we could to the original. It also took some time for our performer to fully learn the choreography of the original piece however this was done successfully.

What will you do differently when you make your A2 product next year?
In my actual product I will definitely attempt to make a more conventional video than the single shot video that we tried to replicate in this task. I will also try to put more time into planning and preparation to allow myself to have a thorough and simple plan of what i want to do when filming.

How has this task helped you and why? What have you taken from this experience? 
One of the main ways in which this task has helped is in giving me experience of using a video camera and teaching me the importance of getting the right shot when filming and planning appropriately.

How successful was your product? Was it successful or unsuccessful? 
While we struggled in getting the exact mise-en-scene of the original video, I believe our product was mostly successful in replicating the original "Lonely Boy" video and its simplistic nature.

How do you feel about developing to A2 level now you have completed this task? 
Completing this task has made me more confident about advancing to the A2 task as I now have experience in filming and editing video and it has shown me that if you put the work in, good results are possible.


What do you like most/least about your final product? 
I am predominantly happy about my final product. I believe we have captured the simplistic nature of the original video and the single shot that makes up most the video is accurately framed. The only things I dislike about the product is the incorrect font used at the beginning of the video that we couldn't get hold of and as I mentioned; the setting wasn't a perfect replication of the original video. But apart from these two minor details i am predominantly happy with the state of our final product. .

Transition Task: Digi-pack Album Cover

Transition Task: Final Product

Transition Task: Story Board

Transition Task: Cast and Preparation

Cast

·         Dancer-Matt

·         Person in window

Props

·         Office sign

·         Bin

·         White shirt

·         Watch

·         White t-shirt

·         Dark grey/Black trousers

·         Black belt

Camera angles

·         Mid-shot

Transition Task Brief

Create a 30 second shot by shot story board for a music video, film or documentry that you will take inspiration from in your own product. We are recreating the video for "Lonely Boy" by The Black Keys