Costume Ideas -3-

Male Lead Costume -2- by magicalplatypus

These are the clothing ideas for the 'Alter Ego' of our male lead, The alter ego is a character that is an office worker. The narrative is that he gets more and more frustrated with his office job as the song/video goes on, so with that in mind we wanted a costume that will look very ordinary and plain, and something that would be worn by a business men/accountant to work to fit with our idea of him working in an office.

Costume Ideas -2-

Male Lead Costume -1- by magicalplatypus

This is a collage I made that features clothing that I think would fit the male lead in our music video. He would wear this outfit while out in one of the locations we are using, probably the park or an urban looking location. As a group we decided that the artist should look urban/skater-ish, his image would be of a young rapper/singer who doesn't try to fit into any stereotypes or genre tropes, ho wont be prim and proper like most male pop artists who are marketed at young teenage girls but instead he will have his own simple style.

Costume Ideas -1-

Lady Sov. Costume by magicalplatypus


This is the costume for our new female lead. We wanted her to look cool and urban, but also fashionable. The costume will consist of skinny dark wash jeans, a light pink jacket/hoodie, plain black sneakers and a snapback hat.

Influential Music Video II

Gives You Hell - The All American Rejects

 The main music video for the single, was directed by Marc Webb. Lead vocalist Tyson Ritter plays the dual roles of a traditional family man and his rowdy next-door neighbor who fronts a noisy garage band, which includes the other members of The All-American Rejects. When the rocker's nocturnal racket keeps the family-man awake at night, it sets off a prank war. The conflict comes to a head one evening as the neighbors confront each other outdoors where people are yelling the chorus of "Gives You Hell". As the two neighbors bicker, their wives quietly propose swapping spouses. The family man seems oddly intrigued by the offer, and the two men have switched homes by the video's end, with the family man singing with his rival's garage band, and the rocker sleeps with his rival's wife.

 I really liked this video because its really funny and has an interesting narrative, it incorporated the band performance into the story really well and it was very fun.
The lyrics and the theme of the song match the narrative of the music music video - Theme is about a dysfunctional relationship and the video portrays that well with the idea of two very different neighbors that are constantly fighting and who despise each other. The good mix of narrative and performance meant that the video was more exciting and portrayed the band really well because it showed that they are fun and can make fun of themselves plus it showed all of the band members which is important when shooting a music video for a group.
It also had good locations/ props/ costumes - it made the video more believable and life like - some people can relate to it.

Over all this video is inspirational because it has an original idea for the story, while still maintain the image the band has, its different to their other videos and it shows a different side to them that the fans can experience. When I start coming up with ideas for my music video I will definitely consider doing a fun/comedic narrative like this one.

Influential Music Video I

  David Guetta - She Wolf (Falling To Pieces) Ft Sia

This is a music video for David Guetta and Sia's song - She Wolf,  its directed by Hiro Murai, who is a currently working as a music video and commercial director. The video doesnt feature any of the performers and is heavily influenced by the music and in some aspect the lyrics. The video focuses mainly on the narrative and it feels very cinematic and film like.

The first opening image is a wide shot of a naked lady, it is an establishing shot that tells us about the location, theme and narrative that we will see in the video. This particular shot was chosen to be used as the first thing the viewer sees because it is quite controversial, even in todays decade nudity in film and TV and on screen is used with caution as it can be upsetting or offensive to some viewers, the director chose to make it look artistic and because it relates to the narrative (we see how as the video progresses) it is done in a tasteful way, it also establishes the mood of the video, the viewer gets a very natural and earthy feeling from the scene and the colours and the slow and steady zoom creates a calm atmosphere. This is also a good opening shot because it is intriguing and makes the viewer wonder about the story behind it, it makes them ask questions like 'Why is she standing there?' and 'Why is she naked?' and 'How does this relate to the music and the story' thus making the viewer more likely to stay tuned to the whole song/video.

The sequence that follows is an introduction to the narrative. The story is set in an ice desert, it features wolfs, cutthroat hunters in fur, bows and arrows. The visuals match the lyrical content to an extent, the general theme and idea of the song can fit with the story because its about hunters and the hunted, while the lyrics may be metaphorical when saying: ''You hunted me down
Like a wolf, a predator'' we see a literal interpretation of that in the video and it adds more meaning to the song.
(below are the first two verses of the song, just as an example)

A shot in the dark
A past, lost in space
Where do I start
The past and the chase
You hunted me down
Like a wolf, a predator
I feel like deer in your lights

You love me, and I froze in time
Hungry for that flesh of mine
But I can't compete
With the she-wolf who has brought me to my knees
What do you see in those yellow eyes
As I'm falling to pieces

Plus the song is called 'She Wolf' and the story features a woman who transforms into a wolf so its fitting.




The video presents a battle that changes the natural into digital. The attacks take the form of digitalized seismic disturbances that dangerously radiate across the icy landscape. The gifs below show these digitally produced effects.I really like the use of digital software to create these illusions. They appear on every 'breakdown' in the song (when the music goes electronic) and it really matches the tone of the music making it seem more supernatural and mathematical.

An example of how slow motion was used

The video features an array of different things that set it apart from normal music videos. Things like panoramic sweeping shots and the use slow motion create and an epic atmosphere transforming the music video into a cinematic experience. I really like the use of this because its different and more like a film with cool music instead of an actual music video.



These are some of the other things that I thought made the video brilliant:
-Quite simplistic, minimal and it had a calming effect.
-Cleverly broken up by the special effects during the chorus, making it original and surprising.
-Beautiful  scenery and location.
-Great costumes and props made the narrative more believable.
-Matches the song , theme, lyrics, music.
-Like a movie - pulls you in - realistic
-Intriguing narrative - keeps you on edge the whole video - amplified by the music.
-Nice colouring and tones - very lomo -cyan colourig.
 -Very artsy.

Collage I made of images and camera shots I really liked form the video.

The video has received mixed reviews, many praise the directors ingenuity while others claim it to be promoting animal abuse, but for me the video is a great artistic piece that accompanies the music well and makes it very epic, its inspirational because its different than other music videos in the sense that it doesn't feature the main artist and is heavily set around the narrative and the cinematics and the look and feel of it.

'How can you not be blown away by the video's creativity and elegance?'                                    - Perez Hilton (Celebrity blogger)