Date: Saturday 31st August Last Friday myself and Becky met up to discuss ideas of the Enigma music video. Together we wrote an email to Enigma to meet with them, so they know who they are working with and what their ideas are. They wish to star in the video and gave us a couple of things that they would like in the video.
This is a quote from the email sent by James to Becky: "...something along the lines of either filming the band play with all the equipment either outside somewhere or filming just us on the beach..." Jame Vivia - bass guitarist/backing vocals Engima has already said previously in another email they would like it to be filmed at the beach. We came up with a an idea for a video where there will just be shots of them having fun, timed and transitioned well with the music. One issue we had was that the idea was too One Direction so we have put in a plot line relevant to the song. This in turn will give the video a darker rocky edge then previously thought. On Saturday the 17th I went to the Waterfront, Norwich. I was then able to see what audience they were aimed at, what their music style was and their on stage presence. I used this as extra research of the band. Here are some early ideas for the first 30 seconds. The beginning of the video is silent with just ambiance but the music is triggered with the characters movements. The idea of the missed call builds up the story line within the first couple of shots. The phone then becomes a primary concept of the girl who plagues the characters mind. The montage is then showing all of the characters getting ready and are generally more upbeat. The entrance of one of the band members at the beginning is very useful to go into the montage, otherwise you can't identify the first character with the rest, therefore being confusing.
Sitting by the telephone, waiting for your call, only girl on show, And we got you on the floor, Right up in the morning, Let down after four, Get the bus to paradise, And that is that! Chorus X2 Singing on my own, Singing on my own, Oh baby, Singing on my own, Walking all the way to you, Just to walk right back, Get the bus to paradise, Now that is that, Traffic lights are flashing, Telling us to stop, Want her in the journey, Forget everything that's right, Chorus X4
Band Members: Ryan - Lead Vocals/Guitar James - Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals Jack - Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals Jordan - Drums/Backing Vocals Links: Twitter Facebook Youtube
Here's to Never Growing Up This is the first shot of the Artist shown in the video. The main focus of the shot is Avril's silhouette, which makes the shot very effective and memorable. The simplistic background of the red lockers contrast with the darkness of Avril's profile. The editing is also genius when the bass beat starts to kick in the video moves with the beat and cuts to the shot using that effect.
In between the artist there are establishing shots, setting the scene of the theme of the music video and vague narrative. Linking to the meaning of the song about not growing up is very effective as the narrative is at the point of change young people undergo. End of American high school and are now going to get on with their young adult lives.
We then clearly see Avril singing the song and is fitted in with the theme, by being their entertainment. We get several close up of Avril singing. Her eye makeup is dark which is one of her signature looks. It shows that she is still punky/alternative despite being dolled up. The colours are very bright and follow the party feel theme of the video. Following the theme, they film students having their prom pictures taken. The picture then becomes smaller emphasising its to go in a year book, which is traditionally done.
Events happen during the video which signify rebellion. One in particular is the spray paint of "Here's to Never Growing Up" which is the songs title. Spray paint and graffiti are a common instrument which is linked to vandalism and rebellion. The title is also a statement, being very direct.
The artist is then in a school classroom, this is identified through the traditional classroom items such as the black board, globe and desks. She is centered putting the focus on her, when she throws the paper in her hand away it is another example of rebellion.
The following shots show some teens mucking around. When they jump into the swimming pool it is put into slow motion. Slow motion in this shot demonstrates skill and style of their athletic actions. Slow motion is primarily used to put emphasis on athletic movements and playback. The underwater camera mixes up the shot types and the movement of the camera represents the movement of the teens it the water. It also shows an aspect of excitement with the sudden change in shot types, creating a bigger variation.
The slow motion continues throughout the rest of the video and is very significant in the tracking shot of Avril on the skateboard and the teenagers behind her running. Mise en scene is constant throughout. Avril has continued with the punk-skaterboy theme making her representation her own.
As the song reaches the climatic end and the beat drops, confetti is released as the music fades out and ends. This creates a powerful ending which then slowly transitions to Avril in the shot I first saw her in. The end scene matches the beginning scene as a symbol of change from all the action in between. It is very effective as a ending.
Miss Jackson The opening shot sets us straight away with the location and time the music video is setting place. The image is brought by silence until the ambiance begin to start.
A tyre on fire rolls across the wet car park. The tire is the brightness object in the establishing shot as the rest of the area is dimly lit. There is a close up on the tyre stressing it's importance and relevance to the videos narrative. The fire in this context symbolises destruction as the tyre must have come from a car. Car crash?
The following shots all consist of the reference to the notion of looking. The camera peeps through the peep hole showing Brendan Urie and then within the same 20 seconds there are other references used which are obvious. The TV and mirror are two of the biggest references in the whole music video. The static TV set also implies Urie's character state. Any normal person would turn it off as there is no picture and we don't particularly like the noise. This ties in well with the style the song, because the lyrics repeat in a mono voice "...Miss Jackson, ...Miss Jackson", giving the impression of obsession and craziness. The way Urie is dressed is very smart but his shiny jacket fits in with the golden-brown colour theme.
The light from behind is very bright, blocking us from seeing his face in detail. He is facing his back from the window suggesting he has turned his back on the light and wants to face the darkness. This could relate to his mental state as he keeps confined and wants to stay a lone. The light being normality and the darkness being the opposite. The colour consist mainly of blue, black and white, showing a coldness to the surroundings and to the character. The close up pan of the women in provocative clothing suggests activity of a sexual nature, but it is never clear in the video. There is a high angle close up of Urie washing the blood off his hands. The red symbolises danger and usually death, which we could assume from the lifeless body. These couple of shots also work well with the lyrics, "found another victim, bu no ones ever gonna find Miss Jackson".The lyrics and visual play well together giving the audience the impression the women is dead and Urie killed her.
A painting is brought to our attention with a distinctive explanation mark and a chopped off head with smoke coming out of it. There is a quick cut to Urie studying the picture, the source of light is on one side. The blue effect of the light mimics the idea moonlight shining through the window. This creates the eerie atmosphere and builds up tension and suspense as it reaches the chorus.
At the chorus the music reaches it's climax and the characters mental state explodes. This is shown through Urie's character shouting at the television screen, dancing ecstatically in the car park and shouting at the camera "But I love her anyway". This attitude links back to Urie being obsessed and his mental state. The camera becomes handheld and is shaky and the transitions between shots is very fast paced. This fast pace is consistent with the speed of the bass beat and helps emphasis on the video narrative. The narrative possibly being Urie's persistent obsession of Miss Jackson.
There is more emphasis on the bright light (neonish) theme throughout the video. The headlight are head on blinding us and hiding Urie behind the wheel. The headlights almost on purpose dazzle us, which portrays Urie to be out of control and reckless. There are mid shots of Urie driving while having similar manic spasms like before in the hotel room, putting emphasis on him and his well-being. Brendan Urie drives to a abandoned field with a distinctive explanation mark, which was seen in the painting in the hotel room. The narrative begins to fall together and we are able to link certain clues together, such as the painting and his obsessional madness. The woman is identified with a close up and as she stands in front of the explanation mark makes the audience assume she is the reason why people are gathered and she is the important figure out of them all. The smoke contrasts well against the dark background and gives a magical mystic aspect to the video.
The narrative of the video reaches its conclusion where we learn what is really happening and why there was blood on Urie's hands. Like in theatre, the music stops and there is a dramatic pause. Urie is handed the sword in silence and once he swings the music begins from the climax it was cut off at. This was very effective, because it built tension even more before the final climax occurred.
The spell is then broken from the others were and more smoke appears and we see the woman head on the floor. We can acknowledge that Urie did cut off her head and we now understand the previous scenes (well more than we originally did). After various two-shots and close ups we are taken to a environmental shot which puts all the action under one frame. This shot shows the circle of people around Urie and the woman, which is almost identical to the painting previously.
We are then taken back to the hotel and the video ends with a steady slow zoom onto the head on the drawer, before cutting to black and the end of the song.
Digipak is a style of packaging which is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums. They usually consist of a book fold style of either paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside. Digipaks are nowadays very common and very popular, but originally first created by MeadWestvaco. Digipak's benefit the artist through representation on the front cover and defines their genre of music. The digipak is styled to represent the artist and is very likely to show a theme or message as well as giving the artist another way to reach their audience through another creative outlet. All aspects of the digipak, brand image and music video are all combined together to create one solid representation of the artist and what they stand for.
Here are some early ideas for the first 30 seconds. The beginning of the video is silent with just ambiance but the music is triggered with the characters movements. The idea of the missed call builds up the story line within the first couple of shots. The phone then becomes a primary concept of the girl who plagues the characters mind. 
