Some Ideas for a Narrative

Here are some of my initial ideas for the narrative of the video. None of these are final.

Insomnia Music Video Ideas

First shot - car or lorry driving past on road

Second shot - lying in bed, see car’s headlights in room, crane down. Music starts after a few seconds of this shot

Tap dripping in time with music (Time remapping) (ECU)

Lift shot (shown in Lift Door VFX Test blog post)

As lyrics come in, cut to Ben in bed again, then REALLY quickly cut between loads of things that are keeping him awake – tap dripping, insect flying around the room, blinds blowing in the breeze, etc.

Sees *crime at “won’t you help me find my rest - aid my sleep at my behest. Insomnia has put me to the test.” – section

In the video, he’s lying in bed trying to sleep, intercut with him singing the song in a small, fairly dark, claustrophobic (he feels trapped) room, intercut with a narrative of him seeing something that troubles him *(witnessing a murder of some sort, seeing a mugging, etc.) – why he can’t sleep

Possibly at end of video subtly show that he is dreaming – he finally fell asleep

The small room where Ben sings – very dark blue

Possibilities

It seems that he stopped the mugging, murder, etc. at the start but later on it’s revealed that he’s lying to himself to try to eliminate the guilt so he can sleep

Films I May Take Inspiration From

One film we will take inspiration from is Inception. This is because it is about a similar topic - sleep.



The style of this film would also fit in very well with our music video, as it helps to connote the feeling that the characters are tired and irritable.

We will also take inspiration from The Dark Knight, when we colour grade the video.

Genre Research - Electronica

Electronica is an umbrella term that encompasses all kinds of electronic instrument-based music. The reason the artist has not chosen a single subdivision, such as House, Industrial Dance, Ambient, etc., is that the song draws genre characteristics from most, if not, all of the genres within.

Electronica music video styles vary greatly, depending on the specific genre. Therefore we have lots to chose from, with regards to genre characteristics and conventions.

Popular Electronica Artists:
Avicii


Deadmou5e


Calvin Harris


This research will be useful as we will be able to take influence from these artists and their music videos, when making our own.

Song Possibilities/Chosen Song and Artist Research

Within our chosen genre, Electronica, we have narrowed our choices down to three possibilities:

1. Insomnia - Ben Hesketh
2. Beautiful Now - True Colours
3. I Love It - Iconapop

We have chosen these songs because we feel that they would be easy to come up with a narrative for.

We have decided to use Insomnia by Ben Hesketh for our music video. This is because we can have direct information about the song from the artist himself.

Ben Hesketh is a 22 year-old graduate from De Montfort University in Leicester. He graduated with a first class degree in Music Technology and Innovation. He used the skills he learnt to record his own music in his flat in Leicester with one microphone.

Analysis of Chosen Artist's Previous Music Video

Our chosen artist does not have any previous music videos. Therefore, I have chosen to analyse a song in a similar genre, which also has the same name and topic, Insomnia.



Genre
The genre of both the video and the artist is electronica. The video does not have much of a narrative, which can be common in electronica music videos, however, it doesn't happen in all of them.

The use of colour to illustrate certain shots is expected from electronica music videos. However, it is unexpected that most of the video is in black and white, as most are very colourful.

Visual Codes
The video is set in an urban area - some alleys and streets - as well as a dark room. The dark room could connote that he feels trapped as he can't sleep. This is evidenced by the lyrics, "Insomnia please release me".

The video does not look like modern electronica music videos as it was made in 1995. However, there are aspects that are similar to modern videos. For instance, they have used colour to highlight certain parts of the video - most of the video is in black and white but they have used selective colour on red and orange colours of certain shots.
The artist's body language connotes that he is tired, due to his lack of sleep.

Technical Codes
There are some shots in this video that are close ups on the singer, and they pull focus before cutting to the next shot. This connotes how he struggles to find focus as he is so tired from not sleeping.

The editing is quite fast paced, which is common in electronica music.


Organisations
There are several close ups of the artist's face in this video, which could be due to the record company insisting that they be in the video. Record companies often require a certain number of close ups for the artist to make sure that they are well known and easily recognisable.

Audience
The audience for this video would be from 14-25, B,C,D, both male and female. This is because the song, and its video, encourage dancing, which is popular among this demographic.

Nowadays, the video targets its audience by being available on YouTube, which is very popular among its target audience. However, when the song was release, it would likely have reached its audience through music channels on TV, such as MTV.

The fans were not as instrumental in promoting this video as with modern electronica music videos. This is because it was only available on TV, radio, etc. Although people could watch it and recommend it to friends, it would not have been shared as quickly as the near-instant filesharing social media websites, such as Facebook and Twitter.


Narrative
This video does not have a particular narrative. It features the artist in several different locations, singing the lyrics.

There is no recognisable structure, such as Todorov's theory:

1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption of Equilibrium
3. Recognition of Disruption
4. Attempt to repair
5. New Equilibrium

The video reflects the lyrics as it is mostly in black and white, which is very dull, symbolising the dullness of insomnia. Also there are some shots that slowly go out of focus, symbolising the struggle to stay focused.


Analysing this video will help me when making my own, as it is in the same genre as the song we have chosen. This means that we will be able to use it as a reference to make sure that our video fits in with the genre's codes and conventions.

Genre Video Analysis

As the artist we have chosen has no previous music videos, I will be analysing one of a similar genre, EXODUS by Noisia &Mayhem ft. KRS One.



Genre
The genre of both the music video and the artist is electronica. The video does has a narrative which isn't typical of electronica music videos. However, electronica music videos vary greatly in terms of narrative.

The use of futuristic technology is expected as it is common in electronica music videos. This is because it is mostly produced using synthesisers and is known as being very digital and technological.



However, the number of explosions in the video is not expected as, although these videos often incorporate lights in a futuristic way, they do not usually feature many explosions.

The whole video could be an intertextual reference to the film, The Incredibles, as it has a similar narrative to the film - a huge robot attacks a city.




Visual Codes
The video is set in a large, futuristic city surrounded by water. This connotes that the inhabitants of the city are trapped. The colour blue is very dominant in this music video. Blue could connote the futuristic setting as popular films that are set in the future are often dominated by blue colours. The colour blue is also widely used in action films to make them seem more cinematic.














The name of the song, EXODUS, appears in a very plain and simple sans serif font, in all
capital letters. This could have been used to contrast the very complicated situation.



Shots of the robot generally show it dominating most, if not all, of the frame, connoting its immense power.




Technical Codes
Shots of the large robot are often from very low angles, emphasising its size. This helps to make the robot seem even more dangerous as it towers over everything.

The editing of this video is very fast paced at points but at other points it is actually quite slow considering the action that is happening.


Organisations
As the artist is completely independent/unsigned, no institution had a role to play in influencing the video.


Audience
I would say that the target audience for this video is males, aged 14-25 in the demographic groups B, C and D. This is because the video is largely based around explosions and violence, which is popular among this demographic.

The music also helps to target this audience as it is very electronic, which is popular among young adults.

The video's audience would most likely access the video on YouTube, as the creator has a popular YouTube channel, with over 100,000 subscribers.



The audience helps to promote the video as they can share it on social media such as Facebook and Twitter.


Representation
There are no people shown in this video so no one is represented.


Narrative
This music video shows all 5 stages of Todorov's Narrative Theory of Equilibrium. At the beginning there is an equilibrium, where everything is peaceful. Then, when the clouds turn blue, the robot falls from the sky. This is the disruption of the equilibrium. The people then realise that the robot is attacking the city (recognition of disruption) and they send the military to fight it (attempt to repair). At the end of the video there is a new equilibrium, in which the city has been completely destroyed and reduced to rubble.

A theme in this video is war. The people of the city are fighting back to defend against the foreign invader.



The only one of Propp's theorised characters in this video is the villain - the robot.

The visuals are linked with the music - when loud crashes are heard near the start of the video, the robot steps of the ground - when the laser-like sound can be heard, the robot can be seen firing the laser.

Additional Research - Music Video Censorship

From the 1st of October 2015, UK-based internet users will be subject to a three month pilot scheme that will mean that UK-produced music videos will be stamped with either 12, 15, 18 or R18 certificates. The trial is being led by the BBFC, Google, BPI, Vevo, YouTube, Sony, Warner and Universal. However, music videos made outside of the UK will avoid the classification.

The classification is needed because artists such as Rihanna have been pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable in music videos for the last 3-4 years. The release of "S&M" in 2012 sparked the discussion about censorship in music videos.



The music video for "Bitch Better Have My Money", released in 2015, could arguably be one of the main reasons for the change in legislation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3eAMGXFw1o