Shot Analysis.

To gain more awareness of the use of shots in a music video, I decided to analyse a music video belonging to the same genre and decipher factors such as:

• What sorts of shot are used (eg. close up, mid shot, etc)
• How long each take is
• Use of steadycam of handheld camera motion
• Angles
• Additional features such as post production effects, types of cut, etc

For this, I analysed the video 'Ooh La' by The Kooks, as not only does it belong to the same genre, but the general 'old' look of the video is quite similar to what we want to establish in our music video. I divided the video into each shot, and recorded the following notes:

Original video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVUD2pvytQ4

0.00 FILM REEL

0.01 MID SHOT OF LEAD SINGER (UPSIDE DOWN)

0.02 FILM REEL

0.03 BLACK AND WHITE MID SHOT OF PINBOARD

0.04 WIDE SHOT OF THE BAND AND INTERVIEWER

0.05 MID SHOT OF BAND MEMBER, PANS TO TWO SHOT

0.07 HEAD AND SHOULDERS SHOT OF INTERVIEWER

0.09 PANS TO MID SHOT OF BAND MEMBERS

0.11 CUTAWAY SHOT OF BAND MEMBER AND FEMALE (VIDEO BECOMES BLACK AND WHITE, MUSIC COMES IN)

0.12 MID SHOT OF BAND MEMBER, LOW ANGLE

0.14 EXTREME WIDE SHOT OF THE EIFFEL TOWER AND LEAD SINGER, CANTED ANGLE

0.15 CLOSE UP OF BAND MEMBER PLAYING GUITAR

0.17 LEAD SINGER WALKS TOWARDS THE CAMERA TO CREATE MID SHOT, MIMING TO LYRICS

0.20 LOW ANGLE SHOT OF BUILDINGS, HANDHELD CAMERA MOTION

0.21 HEAD AND SHOULDERS SHOT OF LEAD SINGER, HANDHELD CAMERA MOTION

0.22 HEAD AND SHOULDERS SHOT OF BAND MEMBER, HANDHELD CAMERA MOTION

0.23 HEAD AND SHOULDERS SHOT OF BAND MEMBER, HANDHELD CAMERA MOTION

0.24 WIDE SHOT OF BAND MEMBER AND FEMALE

0.25 CLOSE UP OF BAND MEMBER, HANDHELD CAMERA MOTION

0.26 CLOSE UP OF GUITAR

0.27 HIGH ANGLE SHOT OF BAND MEMBER, HANDHELD MOTION

0.29 MIXED FOCUS SHOT OF LIGHTS

0.30 WIDE SHOT OF LEAD SINGER, CANTED ANGLE

0.31 MID SHOT OF LEAD SINGER PLAYING GUITAR, STANDING ON ONE OF THE 'THIRDS' LINE

These notes helped me to create a 30 second animatic storyboard, so I could clearly decipher how long each shot lasted. This will also give me a better idea of what 'works' in a music video when I'm storyboarding our project.

After making this storyboard, I learned that in a music video there is almost one shot per second. This video contained 24 shots in the first 30 seconds, meaning that in the entirety of the video about 145 shots. We will have to replicate this number of shots in our music video to establish a professional outcome.

Particularly interesting factors I noticed in the music video was the use of the handheld motion on the camera. It gives the video a 'handmade' look, whilst still looking professional as steadycam shots are also incorporated. The use of colour at the beginning gave it an 'old' look, using either a blue tinted camera or post production effects to give a sense of old film. The transition into black and white indicated a change in mood, and also separated the introduction of the video from the main part. The use of black and white also helps it look old fashioned, and for us it would be a simple way to help us achieve this look. There is also a slight vignette applied to some of the clips, which also makes the video look older. There is a mix in clarity throughout the video, and in some parts the video is less focused than others, which continues to create an old impression. These are all factors that I will take into consideration when creating our music video.

Other inspiration

This clip is taken from the film 'Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulin' (directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet). I particularly like the way this sequence is shot, with the use of handheld camera motion and stop motion giving it an unpolished effect. There are occasional flashes of light which give it a sense of film grain, which often occurred in older filming. I like the use of the bike and camera travelling with it, it gives the sequence more depth. Although it would be tricky to incorporate this through filming, a similar effect could be applied in our music video by making use of stop motion animation.

This clip is the opening scene to the film 'Candy' (directed by Neil Armfield). I found this scene particularly inspiring, and it gave my partner and I the idea of featuring point-of-view 'spinning' shots in our music video. We would film these by spinning in time with the actor in focus, so the location behind them is spinning, whilst maintaining a clear view of the actor. This clip in 'Candy' is also a flashback, and inspired my parter and I to create flashbacks in our video, in order to give it a sense of reminiscence and keep the narrative moving forward.