Shooting So Far...

As our music video is not yet completed and has not been converted into a quick-time movie format, I decided to print screen various shots of film sequence from our original music video that is currently being edited in Final Cut Express.

I have chosen to use these images as I feel they embody the quintessential message that our base track, aesthetic and styling of the artist and location are trying to portray.

The above image is from the opening sequence of our music video. Here we have made use of fast paced editing and sharp cuts to create a sense of hyper-realism and distortion that is so prominent within th music video industry today, take for example Rihanna. Her music video for S&M comments on the sado-masochist movement, fetishism objectification through vanity and materialistic obsession in a paradoxic/post-modernistic fashion. Where bright colours and luxury items mirror the principal social constructs of todays modernised society.

Here the artist is surrounded by magazines in a mid shot, which coveys how the media spectrum, especially magazines have become increasingly important within the lives of the modern day woman; some may argue that fashion magazines today govern our lives, exemplifying what is perfect and right and shaming what is not perceived as perfect in todays consumer culture.

Here the artist wears clothing that connotes glamor and sophistication. The fur-coat and Christian Loboutin high-heels resemble the glamorous, fashion forward persona emulated by Cheryl Cole on her Messy Little Raindrops album cover. We have used traditional techniques such as red-lipstick, provocative clothing and dramatic eye-makeup to allude to the ideology of objectification through vanity and sexual empowerment. However, through the fast paced dancing and sarcastic approach we have consciously parodied the stereotypical elements of music videos today, linking back to our studies on post-modernism and parody.

Here three separate shots are used to create a montage of materialistic imagery for an audience of anti-authority rebels and admiration seekers. The range from closeup, to medium shot, to long shot creates substantial dramatic impact.

We have also ensured that we made use of many closeups to create interest in the artist's aesthetic but to also further the dramatic impact created. Here, by placing my hands around the sides of the camera and moving it in conjunction with the base track, have created the illusion that the audience is being immersed within the narrative - where the artist speaks directly to the audience and therefore engages them. This shot could also be a comment on the postmodernist technique of voyeurism - prominent in many music videos especially in artists such as George Michael.

Throughout the video we have created contrasting imagery to create a juxtaposition of two parallel words - one where fame, fortune, materialistic desire and obsession co-exist and become increasingly destructive.