Influences and video ideas

I wanted my music video to have both live footage as well as a story line behind it, as I always find these types of videos keep me interested and I think they attract the audience the most.
I wanted to look at both worldwide known bands and small upcoming bands videos to see what is the look music video directors are going for at the moment as I want it to relate to the people of today.

Firstly I looked at an upcoming band which are starting to be talked about more, and they have performed at events like the Reading Festival, and they have also are performing in the o2 arena as a support act for Paramore.
They are called ‘You Me at Six’, and the reason I chose to look at some of their videos is because they around a similar age of ‘Kakuzi’ and therefore I thought their videos will be trying to have a similar effect. I chose the songs ‘Finders Keepers’ and ‘Jealous Minds Think alike’. They both have similarities but they are different, and they are definitely ideas I am thinking of incorporating in my music video.




Here is the video ‘Finders Keepers’.
What I liked about this video was the storyline throughout but also clips of the band performing but its made it look so he is singing to the girl he is talking about, but they are in a completely white open space. I like the idea of the blank space with nothing around, it’s very simple but I think quite powerful as they are in the spotlight completely, and it does not tear away the fact that its one of the videos to promote this band. I also think having clips of an actual storyline is a really good idea, and I think I am going to definitely use it in my work.
As the song I have chose (‘Can’t pretend’) is also about a boy talking to a girl, I think this video will definitely be useful to take ideas from.




Here is the video for ‘Jealous Minds Think Alike’.
I chose to look at this video as well because of the way it’s completely focused on the band. There isn’t an actual storyline but because it has clips of live performance as well as shots of the band members not performing I think this is what keeps the audiences attention. I think it is very important as this is Kakuzi’s first music video which is to promote the band it is extremely important to have them as the main feature.
I will definitely be including close-ups of each band member, close-ups of the instruments (e.g lead guitarists finger on the strings) and also possibly slow motion areas as this was included in ‘Jealous Minds Think Alike’ and I thought it was really effective, especially in a significant part of the song.

I also wanted to look at a rock band that have been around for a lot longer, and therefore I could see what kind of conventions they use in their videos. Also the fact that they have been around longer also means that they have more experience in the industry so the band know their audience and I am sure they have some input on the videos.
I chose Bon Jovi because although their music has a lot more of the rock sound than Kakuzi’s, I think their music is really powerful and so I wanted to see how directors had decided to display their songs as visually entertaining.





Firstly I chose the song ‘Always’, this has a definite storyline the whole way through but also has clips of Bon Jovi performing especially the lead singer. In this video however it is mostly a storyline, whereas I am hoping to have more live footage because I am promoting the band and trying to sell them and their music. Obviously didn’t have to do this for this particular video as they were already famous. It is quite a dramatic song, and this video is almost like a short film rather than a music video but I really like how they have footage of the band as well as a story line.




I also chose to look at a music video with animation included, I recently visited a conference where the music video director Corin Hardy was there. A lot of his work has animation in it, and this particular video for the band ‘The Horrors’, for the song ‘She is the New Thing’ I thought would be really effective in a rock video. I think that including animation can really work for attracting attention as its not the most popular form of creating a music video, but it could really work.
Although this video is quite jumpy and doesn’t run smoothly I think for a rock video this is perfect. It adds that rough metal feel, and could possibly make a video that is alright, into a piece of work that is really special and has a really bold look to it.




I think if I researched more on how to include animation in to my video it could be a route I would possibly go down as I study art and I think including this could be a really different idea.

The Main Idea

For my A2 media project i am going to be making a music video promoting a new band called 'kakuzi'.
As they are a new band this would be there first single launching them in to the music industry, firstly in the UK, and then hopefully worldwide.
They are a real band, and i decided to do this instead of recreating an exisiting video because i think this way it will be alot more interesting to make, and it will be all my ideas.
They are an alternative rock band, which is not usually a music genre that i tend to listen to, however i find there music quite interesting and also quite surprising as alot of the time im not sure what to expect.

Genre codes and conventions

As my music video is for a rock band, it is necessary to use the same codes and conventions other artists have used for their videos.
It is key that in my music video i use footage from a live performance of the band, as this is recognisably a characteristic of the rock genre.
As Kakuzi have done alot of gigs and performances it will be easy for me to get this footage for my work.
Another convention of a rock genre music video is plenty of close-ups of the lead singer, the instruments and the memebers of the band. This is especially important for my video as it is a new release promoting Kakuzi as a new band, and this is to present them to the music industry.