Trying Stop-Frame Animation

Here is one attempt of stop-frame animation. It is of my brother taken on a beach up North. 

Vance Joy- "Riptide"

 



I really like the song ‘Riptide’ by Vance Joy, at the moment, so decided to look at his music video (above).

Vance Joy is an Australian singer-songwriter (real name: James Keogh). ‘Riptide’ is from his debut EP ‘God Loves You When You’re Dancing’, and was directed by Dimitri Basil.

The song is driven by an up-beat, ukulele sound which is juxtaposed to the darkening/ deteriorating music video which is somewhat frightening towards the end. The lyrics appear to be some coming of age love story, however, it is hard to tell, other interpretations of the song and video are rape and a breakup.

The lyrics and the video are very open for their own interpretation. When I first heard the song I presumed it was a love story, but after watching the music video and thinking more in depth, I think it depicts the break up between a woman who no longer loves him. Especially on the line "I love you when you're singing that song and I got a lump in my throat cos you’re going to sing the words wrong", it appears although he is telling her he loves her she cannot say it back.

The video takes a very literal approach to portray the lyrics. Lots of clips are combined in order to show each line, for example: on the line “Lady, running down to the riptide” in the chorus, a lady running is shown every time (e.g. 0.40). I have read people comments from the video; some said they hated how literal it was and is was “shallow”, without depth. However, I have to disagree, I think it’s really clever and love the way it so open for interpretation. I hope to create this in my music video.

Music Permission

Now I have decided I definately want to use Bonobo-'Recurring' for my music video, in order to aviod copyright complications, I have emailed the management of Bonobo, asking for permission on 'Recurring', using the email I found on the website: http://bonobomusic.com/

I recieved a response from the manangement and was given an email to contact.  

Please look at my emails below.

Cyriak

I briefly mentioned Bonobo's track 'Cirrus' in a previous post about Genres (See here: http://elliebuncea2.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/genres.html).

The music video was created by Cyriak Harris, a very clever British animator. Cyriak often makes very surreal, sometimes disturbing web animations! Check out his YouTube channel to see more of his work: http://www.youtube.com/user/cyriak 

Cyriak used interesting editing to get the disorderly sense in 'Cirrus' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF34N4gJAKE. The music video starts with normal, old fashioned shots and then gets gradually more and more crazy and edited as it continues. It shows clips of shot, in reverse, replayed and merged together. Looking at the comments on the video, many fans suggested it appeared you where on drugs and your brain got more dysfunctional as the music went on. I really loved the video and would love to incorporate his techniques in mine, however, I would like to have my video the opposite way around (starting very dysfunctional then becoming more in-depth) to depict the metamorphosis of a person.

I looked at lots of Cyriak's work, another music video that stood out to me was Eskimo- 'We Got More'. This also has a very psychedelic feel to it. It combines editing and animation to create the overall piece. I especially like the way in which the music fits with the imagery so well. For example at 0.47 the movement of the road when their is a change in movement. I want shots and editing of my video to fit with the music (like in this video).

Brainstorming Ideas

I have now decided that I definitely want to use a Bonobo track for my A2 coursework, however, I am still unset on exactly which song and a concept. 

In my previous media lesson my teacher and I began to brainstorm ideas. I showed Mr Buckmaster the Bonobo track 'Don't Wait' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQfQ8VF1WKM, one of my possibilities. 

We agreed the track had a very urban and disjointed feeling to it. I would like to film in an urban setting, perhaps an abandoned and derelict building. Bringing out the urban feel along with the inhuman/mismatched vibe. 

Mr Buckmaster suggested portraying a journey or metamorphosis of a person. Because I loved the idea of stock frame animation we discussed using this at the start of the video, having very pixelated mismatched imagery with basic shots and then as the video continues and the person finds themselves and evolves the imagery becomes more in depth and solid. This depicts the evolution and development of a person. I like the idea of using black and white for the majority of my filming- this could be used at the start. The video will be very open for interpretation. 

One of Bonobo's songs that I can imagine working with this idea is 'Recurring' from his 2006 album, Days To Come. The same beat reoccurs and plays over throughout the song, however, more instruments and sounds are added as it goes on. This can depict the person growing/ evolving but still remain the same person inside. I can see the imagery and music corresponding well. However, this track doesn't have the same urban feel to it.

Genres

In today’s lesson we looked at the genres of music videos in order to help us decide and think about the genre of mine. Deciding on a genre helps define what the music video is about, as I am still unset on an idea I found it really helpful to see the options.  

Performance

The first genre we looked at was performance. This kind of music video is when the artist/band ‘performs’ their song live. This is a very simple idea for a video and keeps the focus on the artist throughout.

U2- Beautiful Day is an example of a performance video.

Dance

Dance is another common genre, in this the artist and another’s dance to the beat of the music. This requires a lot of choreography in order to look effective and match the beat.

Micheal Jackson- Thriller

Storyline

This is when the imagery is parallel with the lyrics of the song; they often add a visual enhancement to the lyrics and create an added impact for the audience. For example: Colour The Atlas- Paper Wings. This combines both footage of the band and a storyline following the issues of love and racism.

Conceptual

OK GO also used a conceptual genre for their song ‘Needing/Getting’. In the video the band creates the sound of the song on a car journey. This illustrates the quirkiness of the band. 

Special Effects

These videos are often the ones to stand out. For example: Bonobo- Cirrus. This uses visual effects creating a disjointed mismatch of visuals which is correspondent to the music. Giving it a very surreal, unearthly feel as it continues.  

Animation

Where the music video is purely animated, creating a very unique take on the music. Using animation can also make a very surreal result as you can create things you otherwise would not be able to if shot in real life.

An example of this is: Gorillaz- Clint Eastwood, this shows cartoon of the band performing as well as a surreal storyline.

Browser

This genre uses new technology to stand out. OK GO and Arcade Fire have both used this genre in their music videos to make their videos interactive. OK GO- All is not lost, is an interactive video where dancers creates words (you can chose) with their feet, view here: http://www.allisnotlo.st/index_en.html