Influences for our Music Video Idea

Since viewing the Beyoncé 'Why Don't You Love Me?' video where she is seen to be a 50s house wife carrying out everyday chores of watering the plants, washing the windows, hoovering etc. we have discovered the Pop Art artists of Eduardo Paolozzi and Richard Hamilton.

Eduardo Paolozzi's piece called 'It's a psychological fact pleasure helps your disposition' of 1948 presents a familiar European attitude toward the shallow contentment and fixation on hygiene disdainfully ascribed to Americans; but Paolozzi's title also contains a protest against coerced deprivation, which withheld from Britain's working classes the freedom from drudgery and the sensual excitement that seemed to be nearly universal across the Atlantic. As well as this original underlying connotation of the Pop Art piece, the images clearly also show the woman to be the one to do all of the housework and duties, which is also represented in a retro way, being dated to today's viewers. Similarly, Richard Hamilton's Pop Art piece titled 'Just what is it that makes todays homes so different, so appealing?' of 1956 displays a similar style to the art direction incorporated within  Beyoncé's music video of 'Why Don't You Love Me?'. This Pop Art piece also shows the woman to be exploited in her topless state, which could be seen as typical for the female gender in the past. These are all influences for 'Morning Blues' due to the fact that they are around the time of the 60s, possessing a retro style, which Rosie May desires in her video, as well as the fact that it provides a narrative which fits the idea of depression in an everyday, mundane life, depicted through the act of houseduties, communicated through the song of 'Morning Blues'.

Eduardo Paolozzi 'It's a psychological fact pleasure helps your disposition' 1948

 

Richard Hamilton's 'Just what is it that makes todays homes so different, so
 appealing?' 1956

 

 

Chatting With Our Teacher

For some extra feedback from our teacher I went for an extra chat with him. He expanded on the notes that Rosie gave our group and his own opinions on past our ideas.

• London as a setting for the video is not ideal but not unrealistic. The problems include the facts that we would only be able to shoot in London for the day which would limit us dramatically in own narrative strand ideas as well as amount shot by our group on the day as the travelling takes up a fair amount of time. Therefore the studio would be more beneficial to film in. 
• Our idea of filming different eras in the studio would also be quite hard to achieve due to the fact that the studio is simply not big enough to house 4 separate sets with the camera revolving around in the centre of the studio. Also the four different stages displaying different eras of music with bands playing in the background of the sets would not work as the only song that would be playing is 'Morning Blues' from the present era.
•  The video also needs to be low budget because it is her first therefore it can't be too extravagant, allowing her to enhance detail and budget of her music videos in her career. 
• A suggestion with the car idea would be to position Rosie inside the car instead of outside, in order to avoid the problem of the unattainable amount of cars in a traffic jam, a green screen can be assembled behind the one car Rosie is in, recalling the Michael Douglas film 'Falling Down'. 

• Instead of a traffic jam, being a boring concept of daily life, I attempted to mind map other ideas which are equally boring and happen often. The idea of waiting for the phone seemed suitable but no one really waits for their home phone to call anymore due to the constant instant messaging on new technology of today therefore the dated image of 50s or 60s could be introduced to the video again and could either depict a house wife waiting for the phone to call at home or perhaps a woman at her local switchboard job answering phones repeatedly. Therefore this recalled the music video of Beyonce's called 'Why Don't You Love Me?' conforming to a 50s house wife style but slightly more sexy than the true, being the image we would try to create. 

Rosie May's 'Morning Blues' Urban 60s Star Image

Rosie May's 'Morning Blues' would really suit a 60s star image. Since the SBTV videos are extremely urban in their setting, the 60s star image may not entirely suit the setting. However, Rosie May wants to create her own unique star image, being partially influenced by the 60s era with a twist of urban style within her image in order to begin her career in the present day, with aspects of the retro past fashions, which also allows her to be her own artist. Therefore, her main influences and references of style will be Amy Winehouse and Lana Del Rey with a hint of Lily Allen. 

Luke's Feedback on Leith Hill Picnic Idea

• Despite the music video idea sounding rather like Alice In Wonderland, which Luke did not entirely like, the fact is that Leith Hill Place is unattainable for any music videos this year due to past years use and subsequent lack of permission now. 
• Luke did not see the point in the animal masks, other than adding a bizarre element to the music video, on top of the psychedelic 60s costumes, therefore creating a dreamy or triply effect. The hazard about the masks, similar to our first original idea about the robot, is that the masks may look cheap, if they are bought off the internet. 
• He also did not understand the significance of the tea party scene as a pop video narrative is not the same as a film narrative, being similar to the tea party scene in Alice In Wonderland. Therefore Luke told us what he first thought of when hearing the song for the first time. His idea includes Rosie and the orchestra in the track being positioned on top of cars in a traffic jam. He has taken the viewpoint of 'Morning Blues' being a reference to the mundane routines of daily life such as the drive to work and being stuck in traffic. There would also be ball dancing couples on other car roofs around Rosie and the orchestra/band. Rosie would effectively be freeing the public of their boredom on their separate islands, incorporating a universal concept within the video, with the jolly song, however, with a sad underlying meaning shown by the lyrics. The idea of a monotonous day to day journey links to the Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin. 
• This idea fits perfectly with the song's tempo, however, the idea is far to elaborate and consequently expensive which we do not have the budget for and further restricts Rosie in her music video ideas in the future. 
• We will also have a problem with recruiting extras for the video due Rosie being 18 years old and also the AS and A2 students being the same age, therefore the video will look like a school playground, filming a congregation of teenagers. 
• The blue trails created by Rosie's movement will be hard and time consuming to create in After Effects. Plus we need to lock this effect into the concept of the video more as it may seem slightly random, although the video is called 'Morning Blues'. 

Prospective Idea for 'Morning Blues'

Since Rosie displayed an interest in the near by Leith Hill Place this idea, developed by a member of our group for an initial music video idea, would fit perfectly providing the music video with a bizarre sense yet plenty of room for inclusion and demonstration of fashion.

• Forest

• Animal masks (fox / rabbit / squirrel / etc.)

• Assortment of chairs around long dining table in Leith Hill for tea party scene

• Picnic mat / tea pot / teacups / cake and other food

• 1960s costumes providing a psychodelic feel 

• Powder paint

• Streamers / ribbon

• antlers and animal skulls

• shots of people wearing the animal masks peering around trees

• 2 girls wearing rabbit masks, pretty dresses are sat at the picnic mat drinking tea ... can cut back to them when they are having a food fight

• fox, sat on the old arm chair, smoking a pipe, in a brown suit

• The animals who peer around the tress go wild and throw the powder paint at each other, and the streamers and ribbons etc.

• Slow zoom towards a girl stood in the middle of the forest, in an animal mask, holding a deer skull by the horns

My Group's Music Video Ideas for 'Morning Blues'

'Morning Blues' Setting Ideas

Since reading Rosie's notes on her thoughts for her music video I have researched London and urban settings. A perfect site for these types of videos is SBTV due to the focus on upcoming grime artists where the videos are filmed in suitable settings, considering the genre of music and artist's roots, of rooftops, views of skyscrapers, graffitied brick walls and alley ways.

An example of the videos of the SBTV YouTube channel is the clip below:




The urban sense of these videos could easily be incorporated into Rosie's video, due to her East end of London roots, but in a slightly different way and more subtly due to the different type of genre her music conforms to. This can be done by filming her performance strands against brick walls or of her walking down vacant streets such as in Massive Attack's Unfinished Sympathy which is something Rosie suggested herself.