For the first week of planning my final major project, I’m going to spend it brainstorming. I’m not sure which route I want to go down, whether it be a music video or a short film etc. My mind keeps leaning towards the music video idea so I think that’s the route I’ll end up taking.
I’d like to make a music video because I personally really enjoy watching them. I don’t think I’d want my video to have a narrative though as I prefer unique styles of visual effects. In my music video, I’d like to incorporate neon lighting. The kind of lighting used in the film Mandy which was directed by Panos Cosmatos, who also directed Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010). I personally like his style of lighting techniques and how he uses them to change his scenes. If I could incorporate something like this in my music video, I think it’d give me a creative edge and allow my music video to have texture to it.
I picked this still from the film as it shows how much the lighting has an effect. The red neon lighting in this scene allows the scene to not be excessively gory by cancelling out the colour of blood. By using techniques such as this, it doesn’t restrict the film from being shown for being too gory. As the red light makes the blood black, it is no longer seen as blood and not classed as a gory scene. There’s other uses of lighting in the film where the same effect is created using blue light.
Another technique I wanted to use within my music video would be a layering technique. I spotted this type of editing while watching a Travis Scott music video. Within the ‘Butterfly Effect’ music video, different pieces of footage are all shown at the same time in different layers. This, once again, adds texture to the music video and allows it to have a creative edge. These effects are done in post editing using programmes such as Adobe After Effects.
In the picture above, in post editing the editor has made it so butterflies are coming out of the girls mouths. This has most likely been done in after effects and done by using a technique such as motion tracking. Motion tracking is a type of technique which allows you to add moving images to a piece of footage which is also moving. When done as well as it has been in the still above, it has a really realistic effect and adds a certain style to the music video. I’d like to add this into my music video as it will allow me to advance my skills in post editing, after effects and using different styles. The creators of this music video are BRTHR. They do most of Travis Scotts music videos as well as other big artists such as The Weeknd. The use of butterflies within this music video gives the editors a signature as the majority of their other projects also include butterflies.
By the end of this week, I’d like to have come up with my idea and written up my project proposal, I want to do my music video to the song 3 Nights by Dominic Fike. The song is very different to the style I want to use but like I stated before, I don’t want my music video to have a narrative and have it mainly based on visual effects. After writing up my project proposal, I want to put together an action plan that I can follow to keep me on top of things and have everything together by the deadline. In my opinion, having an action plan is really useful if you’re not very good with time keeping and don’t know when’s best to do certain things. Having a plan I can follow really keeps me on track and allows me to stay relaxed.
Project Proposal: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZWxGFeZdVjO9z1ywYHTxgX19bYmEyt5YXMEZtm4Nwcg/edit?usp=sharing
Project Action Plan:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xvSf8nB-jaPP_lWJV-mBx7yAquah4IfspAp0GeTc3jo/edit?usp=sharing
El's Final Major Project Blog 