Song Choice

After deciding that we wanted to make a music video with a genre of rock-pop, we looked on YouTube for appropriate songs. We had lots of songs that we liked the sound of and had some potential ideas for but we had to choose one song that we could definitely use and that we could find plenty of ideas for the music video.

- List Of Possible Songs-What We Started - Alex LloydNo More Running Away - Air TrafficI Don't Want To Be - Gavin DegrawPieces - Chase and Status ft. Plan BChocolate - Snow PatrolCrack The Shutters - Snow Patrol

After thinking of ideas of what we could do for each song, we decided that "Chocolate" by Snow Patrol would be the best song for our music video. It is a typical Pop-Rock song and after analysing the lyrics, we decided that the song is about a man who has lost the person that he really loves because he had an affair or has lied to his girlfriend and has lost her as a consequence. We came to the conclusion that the song is called "Chocolate" because his affair was a guilty pleasure like chocolate; he knew it was wrong at the time but did it anyway and now he regrets giving in to the guilty pleasure and now cannot get the person that he loves back because he has hurt her too much.

Snow Patrol

About Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are a Rock-Pop band from Northern Ireland. The band originally formed in 1994 under the name of 'Shrug', they then changed the band name to 'Polar Bear'. Shortly after one member of the band left and the band introduced a new drummer; then they finally settled with the name 'Snow Patrol'.
Snow Patrol were signed by a scottish music label called 'Jeepster' in 1997 but the band's first three records were commercially unsuccessful and were consequently dropped by the label in 2001. Fortunately, Snow Patrol were then signed by the major label Polydor Records in 2002. Since then the band have become more successful and have now had a total of 5 albums and have won many awards.

Genre

Before choosing our song for the music video, we decided that we wanted to produce a video for a pop-rock/alternative rock genre. Alternative Rock or Pop-Rock is a mix of pop and rock music which uses a catchy pop-style with light lyrics and typically involves guitar-based songs. This genre has been described as an "upbeat variety of rock music." Examples of Pop-Rock artists include: Kings Of Leon, The Killers, Coldplay, Pink and Maroon 5.

For this genre of music, it would be appropriate to produce either a narrative music video or a live performance; however we decided that we wanted to do a narrative music video as it would make the story and meaning of the song more obvious. Another reason why we chose to produce a narrative music video is because we do not really have the resources to make a live performance look good in our music video.

Artists of this genre tend to wear similar clothes which makes them quite recognisable. A typical male Pop-Rock artist would wear smart/casual clothes which also tend to be quite dark colours, however, not all the time.

Video Analysis

As part of the planning for the music video, I analysed the music video for "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol. I thought that this would be a useful video to analyse as it is a ballad; this allows me to see how music videos for these types of songs are filmed. This is probably a similar type of song to the one that I will choose for my music video; therefore it will be beneficial to me to see how it is filmed and what the music video is like overall. It could give me some ideas for my own music video and help me to make my music video to be realistic and look like it could be an actual music video for a band.

Music Video Analysis - “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol

This video is mainly a narrative and he is expressing his emotions to the audience about his feelings for his relationship. The lead singer of the band sings the lyrics throughout the video so we know that it is from his perspective. It is set in a busy town/city and the fact that he is alone throughout the video but singing about his feelings for another person could show that he is lonely and feels lost or insecure in this environment. However he does not really look upset and it is like he is in another world – like his relationship is like another world and more important than reality. Although the video is set in a busy city environment, there is no diegetic sound - the only sound we hear is the actual song. Throughout the entire video, we hardly see anyone else; this shows the audience that he is definitely the main focus of the song and video a and it is all about how he feels. He tends to be centre-frame throughout the video and many close-ups are used so that the audience can clearly see his facial expressions which tell us how he feels.

The first shot that we see is an over the shoulder shot of a man sitting alone at a table looking out of the window at the passing cars. He is clearly sitting alone and thinking or reminiscing about the person or situation that he is singing about. Straightaway a tracking shot is used which moves round the man sitting at the table until we can see a profile view of his face; the camera also zooms in slightly; this is where we see that he is singing the song, so the lyrics are clearly from his perspective and it is his story.

The next cut is a very quick, 3 second cut to his face as he looks down at his drink and kind of shakes his head, he looks lonely and as if he is thinking about what he is singing.

In the next cut we see that he is definitely sitting alone at the table and there is a couple sitting a few tables behind him in the background. He does not look sad and he smiles slightly as he sings “we don’t need anything or anyone” – it is like he is thinking about his relationship and he says that they need nobody else but them to be happy. This suggests that he believes that it is like his relationship os separate from reality.

The screen fades to black and then fades back in to the chorus of the song and we see him lying on the ground as he sings “if I lay here, if I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world” – the visuals relate to the lyrics. The chorus starts with a close up of his face and then the camera zooms out and also rotates slowly until we see a medium shot of him lying down. It is kind of like he is day dreaming and the rotation of the camera gives this effect. The video then cuts to a zooming in profile view as he continues to sing. I have noticed that throughout every chorus of the video, close ups seem to predominate making sure that the audience can see his facial expression which makes it clear to us how he is feeling about what he is singing.

At the beginning of the second verse it fades to black again and then fades in and we see the busy location of the city. When we first see this setting it is a natural light setting showing that it is during the day but then we see the streetlights turn on and it is very dark to show the audience that it is now night-time. This then cuts to him walking and shows how long that he has been walking. This could suggest the power of the love that he is singing about and that the thoughts in his head can keep him thinking for such a long period of time.

As he walks we see that he doesn’t look sad but he looks lost and here the lyrics relate to the visuals once again, “I don’t quite know how to say, how I feel”. Suggests that he is walking to try and figure out what to say to her but he cannot explain it - this makes it clear to the audience why he has been walking for so long.

The video then cuts to him standing still in the street and it is like he is trying to explain his thoughts and how he feels, “those 3 words are said too much, they’re not enough” – lyrics relate visuals again hint to the fact that he cannot explain how much he loves her.

Then once again the sequence fades out and back into the chorus where he is lying on the floor once again. The camera zooms out and we see that he is lying alone. Then video cuts and we see that he is lying in the middle of a busy road and the cars have had to stop for him. This shows that to him, he is in his own world. As he lies there, the rest of the world continues as usual. The camera moves to zoom into him and then moves above him but before it gets right above him to an aerial view, it cuts to a close up of his face as he sings. He smiles and once again it fades to black and then fades into the next location.

The next verse is divided into two cuts of him going up an escalator. The audience can tell that he is still thinking as throughout the first cut in the verse he stares still into one place as he sings.

At the end of the verse, we see him lying on the floor for the chorus again; this time he is lying at the top of the escalator. In contrast to the other choruses, this time we immediately see a profile view of him on the floor as before we saw an aerial view and we also immediately know where he is. Again then it cuts to an aerial view of him singing, “would you lie with me and just forget the world” – this happens in every chorus. It is as if he is not in the same world as everyone else as people just step over him as they reach the top of the escalator.

Next cut, we see train doors closing and then cuts to the train pulling away. Then we see a low angle shot of him lying on the train floor. Unlike the rest of the video, he is also lying on the floor throughout the last verse as well as the chorus.

The next cut shows a busy motorway and the lighting becomes brighter again, this shows the audience that it is the next day and that he has been out all night. This once again shows his confusion to the fact that words cannot explain how he feels.

The next cut zooms out of the motorway and onto a cliff side where he is lying. The camera zooms out until we can see almost his whole body. Then it cuts and zooms in again to a profile view, we do not see his whole face though, only his body and mouth - these shots are kind of like fragmented body shots; the shots are like this in each chorus throughout the song.

The video then cuts to a a frame of a front door; it looks like the front door to a hotel room or a flat and then for the next cut and the chorus again, he is lying on a bed alone. This could suggest that the relationship is in his surreal world and possibly does not exist or that this person is not around and he is reminiscing of when she is or was around. The empty side of the bed also appears much darker than the side that he is lying on; this again gives us a sense that she is no longer there. The camera zooms right out and then cuts to black showing the end of the video. He stays in the same clothing throughout the whole video showing that it is set over just one time - however, as seen earlier in the video, we know that he has been walking for a very long time.

Click here for Jess's Video Analysis

Brief

Out of the three briefs that I could choose from I have decided that I am going to create a music video:


Briefs:

1. 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 part of its release as part of the digipak (CD/DVD package)
• a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package)

2. A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following three options:

• a website homepage for the film;
• a film magazine front cover, featuring the film;
• a poster for the film.

3. The first level of a new computer game, together with two of the following three options:

• the cover for the game's package;
• a magazine advertisemnet for the game;
• a radio advertisement for the game.

We have chosen to create a music video as we think that this is the brief that we know most about and it will be interesting and exciting to create our own music video. Although, we know mosta about music videos because we listen to music and watch the videos almost on a daily basis, we know that it will be a challenge as we will have to make sure that our video looks like it could exist in the real media world.