Storyboarding Mouthwash

In today's lesson, we started to make notes on the storyboard/plot line of our music video with animation and shot types in mind. 

Contacting Fiction Records

Yay!

Music Video Song Choice

Kate Nash - Mouthwash

Grenre: Indie rock

Label: Fiction

released 1st oct 2007, is the 3rd single off album 'Made of Bricks'

What we liked about this song was that we had a broad spectrum of opportunities to work with. With the lyrics not telling a particular story, we don't have to stick with portraying a narrative- this will also work well with the wacky vibe of the artist and song. Because of this, we are free to use new techniques such as animation. 

We also had a lip singer in mind: she matches the sound of the song very well. We also wanted to use a secondary person as a piano/keyboard player to add an extra dimension. The song was written by a British singer and produced by a British production company, perfect as we don't have the budget to film in Los Angeles to fit the feel of the song.

Lyrics:

                                                                    "Mouthwash"

This is my face
Covered in freckles
With the occasional spot
And some veins

This is my body
Covered in skin
And not all of it
You can see

And, this, is my mind
It goes over and over
The same old lines

And, this, is my brain
It's torturous analytical thoughts
Make me go insane

And I use mouthwash
Sometimes I floss
I got a family
And I drink cups of tea

I've got nostalgic pavements
I've got familiar faces
I've got a mixed-up memory
And I've got favourite places

And I'm singing "oh oh" on a Friday night
And I'm singing "oh oh" on a Friday night
And I'm singing "oh oh" on a Friday night
And I hope everything's gonna be alright
And I'm singing "oh oh" on a Friday night
And I hope everything's gonna be alright

This is my face
I've got a thousand opinions
And not the time to explain

And this is my body
And no matter how you try and disable it
Yes I'll still be here

And, this, is my mind
And although you try to infringe
You cannot confine

And, this, is my brain
And even if you try and hold me back
There's nothing that you can gain

'Cause I use mouthwash
Sometimes I floss
I've got a family
And I drink cups of tea

I've got nostalgic pavements
I've got familiar faces
I've got a mixed-up memory
And I've got favourite places

I'm singing "oh oh" on a Friday night
And I'm singing "oh oh" on a Friday night
And I'm singing "oh oh" on a Friday night
And I hope everything's gonna be alright
And I'm singing "oh oh" on a Friday night
And I hope everything's gonna be alright
Oh oh oh oh oh oh:

Good other A2 Music Videos

• quality
• professional like feel - mature 
• shots are framed perfectly
• edited with beat in mind
• follows conventions
• story line matches theme of song

• minimalistic - modern, very popular at the moment
• follows an emotionally stimulating story line, not linked to the lyrics however
• media integration (Tv)

Possible Artist Choices for our Music Video

Eliza Doolittle - Skinny Genes

Kate Nash - Foundations

Kate Nash - Mouthwash

What I Have Learnt from my Lip Syncing Task:

Digital Technology /Post - production

I learnt that several problems come with using a green screen. For example, if the natural lighting varies throughout the room, this can have a disastrous effect when applying the green screen effects later when editing due to the green either being lighter than the whole green sheet and being ignored by the computer or the sun making me look paler, therefore I sink into the background when edited. Therefore, people of darker skin would stand out against the background when edited.

Image 1

 Creating distance when filming with a green screen is difficult as you have to fit the whole green sheet into frame otherwise walls, lights etc, are not edited out easily. Because of this, we had to (poorly) film the shots with back up dancers and Snoop Dogg separately, then edit them together later. It would have been much easier to have some sort of green room to use.  

Creases in the sheet or clothing also create a dark shadow, ignored by the green screen. We had problems with this. (See image 1) 

Image 2

If clothes worn while filming were close to green (such as blue or yellow) they would not be picked up. (See image 2). To recreate the music video, we had to copy the key features of it. This music video was all in black and white. We did this by exporting out video in colour, and without the picture on picture, which we added on in a new project after exporting it. To download the original ‘Drop it like it’s hot’ music video, we had to use an online YouTube to video converter. We did the same for the music and then edited both so they would start 23 seconds in.

Creativity

Our props included ice cubes (made ourselves); a glass that was as similar to that in the music video as possible, several snapbacks, clothing changes such as t-shirts, hoodies and polo shirts; and a beard drawn on with black eyeliner.

Research and Planning

I made a detailed story board of every shot and its time in order to make editing much simpler. Whilst editing, I also referred back to the original music video very often to check that my music video flowed as well as the original.

Using Conventions

Image 3

I found the dance moves by Snoop Dogg and the backup dancers represented the lyrics in the song. For example, the lyric ‘park it like it’s hot’ the dancers and snoop dog can be seen ‘reversing a car’. There were several close up shots of Snoop Dogg and Pharrell William’s face with a harsh facial expression, common of the genre. We had to study these to recreate it ourselves. By recreating Snoop Dogg's signature facial hair with eyeliner, wearing snap backs, hoodies and baggy t-shirts, we represented the RnB/rap genre well.

Image 4

There were several shots over the 30 seconds: framing of these shots also varied greatly which added to the pace of the rap song due to the quick cross cutting, matching well with the songs tempo. When artists break the 4th wall (which is common with mean expressions such as (See image 3), it pushes the idea of a 'badman' rap image paired with the ostentatious bragging of large boats and 'bling'. (See image 4) 

Research into Unsigned Artists/Songs for Music Video

Today, I did some research into unknown/unsigned artists and bands in the hopes to find a song I could use for my music video. BBC's programme 'BBC Introducing' features an unsigned band's song every week, and filing through many playlists I came across some interesting artists who I will be contacting.

I also came across one website: bestofbritishunsigned.com, which is an online bank of independently created music uploaded by the artist viewable by location.

During said research, I also came across http://petesmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/music-video-for-level.html which at the bottom, had an amazing recreation of Jessie J's Price Tag. The shot recreation and lip syncing was basically identical and in time.