Analysing Music Videos that heavily feature a dancer for influence

Planning the Next Step

After the feedback received from Luke, and considering all the factors such as the weather, we have had to change the location of our shoot from being shot in the woods. This is because when we shoot it will be October/November time so it will risk being cold, and therefore it is unsafe for our dancer Josh to dance in freezing cold conditions, especially with minimal clothing on. We have looked at other videos which are dominated by dance and have been influenced by their locations choices.

For example, Sia's 'Chandelier' which involves a young girl dancing around a bare apartment. In this video we see how she is alienated and by the viewer yet her dancing is intriguing partly due to the fact that there a very few cuts throughout the video.

I have been heavily inspired by this video due to the elegance and fluidness of not only the dance, but the smooth camera shots that create a perfect blend when moulded together. The fact the video rarely cuts allows the audience to become involved and engaged with the video due to the fact it can be seen through a viewers eyes so they feel like they are there watching this girl dance passionately. The lighting and costumes also add to the atmosphere created which I have been inspired by and will take many of these techniques along the process with me into creating a great and fluid video.

Pitching Our Ideas To Luke

On Thursday, we pitched our ideas to Luke who will help us with the music video process. He was very impressed with 'the boy in the woods' idea which was our groups favourite idea however he was worried about how strong the narrative was and how engaging the final product will be for an audience. From this, as a group, we have come up with the idea of the boy being a survivor in the woods in which the woods is his new home. The woodland boy is searching for his lost girlfriend who is also a dancer in the story. The band would be performing in the woodland as well but we are currently unsure how, maybe in a hut? The boy and girl would be covered in dirt wearing earthy colours as they look for one another. My idea of Alex Clare 'Too Close' for this video went down well so if we were to go with this idea that would most likely be the song.

Shortlisting 2 Concepts and Further Development

Our development group

It was challenging moving from 9 ideas and picking two to shortlist as everyone was interested in each others ideas as the majority had a great message. However, we discussed the most practical ideas and the ones that we believed would work the best. The shortlisted concepts was the boy in the woods which was a mixture of Ksenia and Ben's idea, Distant Past idea which was my idea, and also the golf range idea that Ben had.

The Boy in the Woods

This idea, to put it simply, is about a mysterious woodland boy who is dancing in the woods. Previously, we didn't know how to link the narrative to the song of 'Too Close' by Alex Clare. However, we came up with the idea of having the boy living in the woods and he has adapted to his surroundings. The reason he is dancing may be due to the fact he is so happy and free being in the woodland. From the development process we were also thinking of having a girl to play the lead as well so the boy and the girl are going on a hunt to find one another.



Here is a video of the boy, Josh, dancing and the kind of style that would be expected to be seen in the music video.

OK GO style (golf range and car wash)

 This is our second collaborated style video which is about 4-5 lads who get up to mischief, using props such as leaf blowers to create comedic effect, paint, BMX etc to make a really good looking video. The song for this has been undecided, but we wanted a jazzy and hip-hop feel to the video such as 'Uptown Funk' which would create a cool and interesting vibe.

As a group we were inspired by OK GO style videos as they are so simple yet so interesting to watch and you never find yourself getting bored watching one. Such as the one below.

Distant Past- Everything Everything

Our final shortlisted video is Distant Past by Everything Everything which was my idea. I pitched the idea to the group in which it came back with a positive outcome. However, the complexity of the video such as the drone features and the treadmill has created apprehension in the group in case something falls through such as locations and then the music video would be hard to do. Therefore we only have a few post-it notes for this one. 

Developing Our Ideas

As a group we have whittled our ideas down to 2 in which we have collaborated lots of different parts of each of our ideas and used them to create 2 ideas that we think would look great on camera. The first idea came from Ben's idea of having his friend, Josh, dancing in the woods. This has become developed by incorporating a band performance and giving the boy a narrative to why he is dancing in the woods. We first thought about covering him in paint to provide a visual contrast between the browns of the wood to the neon colours of the paint. However we soon realised this idea wasn't strong enough to keep a viewer interested. We then came up with the idea that the boy should live in the woods and dance like he is home and how he loves where he is. We are still working on this idea so the final narrative isn't clear yet. When Ben came up with the idea he suggested Youth by Daughter. However, although being a lovely and relaxing song we soon realised this wasn't interesting enough for an audience.

I then suggested Too Close by Alex Clare due to the excitement and beat of the song. It will also be a great song to watch performers do as they can let themselves go which is great to watch. We are planning on having a male singer and a female drummer to likely follower the wilderness theme.

Our second idea was developed when talking through each of our ideas in class. The idea currently is undeveloped but we have a ground idea that we would like to set it in a car wash with a cool dance routine. Lots of it will be filmed in slow motion and it should come across comedic at some points. 

 We are still unsure of the song but we know we want something upbeat similar to 'Uptown Funk' by Mark Ronson.

Audience Research for Music Videos for age 17-18 year olds

Taylor Swift- Style

The video uses lots of stylistic elements which are aesthetically pleasing. For example, trying to offer something a little edgy and cool such as her face dissolving into a rock at the beginning of the video. The narrative is romantic and follows the story of the song, as well as a romantic love story which is aimed at teenage girls.

Projection and artistic elements have been used to convey the message throughout the video. This is also trying to break away from Taylor Swift's usual cheesy videos to appeal to maybe a 'cooler' group of people.







Mark Ronson- Uptown Funk (feat. Bruno Mars)

The main aspect that is used in this music video is the idea of breaking the 4th wall, making the audience feel like you are with the artists and having fun with them. This works exceptionally well which cooperates nicely with the funky track which seems to appeal to most ages. The dancing enables fans to learn the routine and admire the moonwalk dance. The camera shots are often at a low angle with the camera sometimes twisting, disorientating the audience. The constant singing closely to the camera also makes the audience feel like they are part of the song and enables them to enjoy the humour that comes as part of the package.

The old school hip-hop style makes you feel part of the party as well as the camera movements making us feel closer to the action. The smiling faces makes you feel like you're on the dance floor and the humour of the hair salon and moonwalking all add to the 'coolness' of this video. This is a successful music video as it is aimed at people who like having fun, who don't take themselves too seriously and like hip-hop and dance music.


Gibberish- Max

The video is very clever how it cuts forward and backward motion into the same clip, which is attractive to film fanatics. The change in motion also relates to the song title of 'Gibberish' by having no idea whats going on. It is visually interesting and innovative, cool to look at. 

The neon lights and flips make it interesting for dancers and DJ's but as a whole it has a teenage vibe of a target audience. I believe it is very successful in what it does. 

Peer Feedback on Music Video Ideas

Here is the feedback I have received from my class on my three music video ideas. I can improve the Rizzle Kicks idea by trying to make it more simplistic and by maybe tracking someone around a house, this may become more interesting as well as unique. The Distant Past idea can be improved by making sure I am prepared if the idea was chosen by making sure we had a treadmill etc as this would be a vital part to the music video. The Lower than Atlantis idea will need to be improved by making sure that the story makes sense and that we have the homeless person persona correct if the idea was chosen. 'I wish I was a little bit taller' was mentioned as a influence to me as it shows how the story is being told by following the narrative which is interesting to me as this is similar to one of my ideas.

Idea number 2, Distant Past, seemed to be favoured by most as it seemed to be the most thought out and doable idea. I am happy with this decision as there are some great technical aspects that can be used throughout this video. However, this does not mean that other ideas cannot be chosen/blended.