Final song choice

Matt and I have concluded that we are going to use the song "Firestarter" by Torre Florim. We both have listened to the artists other songs and we enjoy their music. De Staat are an unconventional band and are not very well known so we thought it would be more original to do this rather then a use a very well known artist.

Firestarter Analysis
The initial close up shot is of a body of water with low lighting. This lighting creates an enigma immediately sparking interest in the audience as they want to decipher the meaning. As it is only a close up shot that we first see, we wonder what the video is about as typically scenes begin with an establishing shot. This reinforces the convention of of indie rock as the artists tend to produce an unusual music video.  We see the water moving matching the tempo of the violin, this creates an initial tranquil atmosphere for the audience to attempt to build a rapport. However, later on in the music video is to be disrupted by the fire. The video moves onto the establishing shot to present the audience with the location of the first shot. The camera pans down to show a lit pool surrounded by darkness. This suggests that the pool is the important location in the music video

We are later presented with a long shot of the lead singer of De Saat Torre Florim. The singer is sat alone by the side of the pool wearing a black suit. This suggests that he is the antagonist or the anti-hero as the colour black has associations with evil. That the character has a dark side to his personality hence the name of the song is called "Firestarter". This has reference to Goodwins Theory that the main focus of the music video is that the star is the centre of attention as they are the most significant as he represents more then just a figure in a suit. However, this contradicts Dyers Star Theory as he believes that the purpose of artists is to make money but the lead singer Torre Florim intends to represent that he is the "Firestarter".

A sharp cut to a close up of the main character is then presented to the audience. The image is blurry conveying that he himself is delusional and paranoid. This reinforces the idea that the main character is the "Firestarter" matching the lyrics of the song. One side of his face is lit to define his facial features, this could demonstrate to the audience that he has two sides to him. On the one hand he is presented as the "Firestarer" which is the darker side but on the the other hand he can be interpreted as the light. Matt and I could incorporate a blur into our music video to provide a deeper meaning in our course work. This links to Barthes theory of enigma code to create illusions in our music video.

The lead singer Torre Florim sings the lyrics "I'm the twisted Firestarter" as it jump cuts and present flames to the audience. The fact that the lyrics match what is on screen links to Goodwins theory. The images shown reinforce and amplify the meaning of the song in order for the audience to better understand the intensions of the artist. In this case the lead singer Torre Florim wants the audience to understand that he is the "Firestarter", that is creates friction in people resulting in explosion of conflict between individuals. As a "Firestarter" intentionally sets fire to something we could presume that the lead singer intentionally creates friction between people. Seeing the the fire on screen links to the first image of the music video, the fluid water, which again creates a tranquil atmosphere. This is incorporated throughout the music video with clear references to being undisturbed which is ironic as the lyrics convey the opposite. They imply chaos and disruption that he is the "Firestarter".

A scarf is presented to the audience as it floats in the water. This again demonstrates to the audience a peaceful setting juxtaposed with the lyrics. The scarf is owned by a female which is later presented in the music video. This implies that the reason that Torre Florim is the "Firestarter" is because of his relations with this woman. Initially, like the scarf in the water his relationship with the unnamed woman was restful. This is reinforced by the fact that the scarf is red indicating romantic intentions. As the audience we can decipher this information to better understand the link between what we can see on screen and the meaning of the lyrics.

We later see a woman swimming in the pool wearing the red scarf which implies that she is the unnamed woman that Torre Florim is singing about. We are not introduced to the woman however we are shown a over the top point of view of the woman. In this shot we can not actually see the identity of the woman which could convey that this is a very private matter for the lead singer. At no point in the music video do we see a clear image of the woman face keeping her secret hidden. This could be done as it may be a personal experaince to the lead singer. However, it also creates mystery and enigma surrounding the woman in which intrigues the audience.

In later shots we see the lead singer throw a match into the pool instantly alighting it with raging flames. The unknown female remains in the pool under water. this could imply that the relationship between Torre Florim and this woman was intentionally created by the "Firestarter". We can see the female drowning conveying the idea that the lead singer felt he was being suffocated in his relationship and needed an escape. The only way he knew was to destroy and become the "Firestarter".

The female can be seen to be exiting the pool in slow motion through a medium shot. However, the way in which she is exiting the pool is by her jumping in reversed. This is can be interpreted as everything that the lead singer and the female have worked for in the relationship has been reversed, as if there was nothing there to begin with. This could have been the intended outcome for Torre Florim, to liberate  himself from his constraints. However, an alternative meaning could be that he regrets his actions. The fact that the shot is in reverse could imply that he wants to reverse his actions.

A medium shot of Torre Florim is shown to the audience with natural lighting of the fire flickering on his face. The flames symbolically demonstrate the intensity of the situation and the serverity of the lyrics. Through the semiotics, such as the dark background behind Torre Florim and the bright foreground suggests that he as an individual is extremely focused. This can suggest that the lead singer is incredible attentive to his music and prioritises it. However, this is juxtaposed with the unknown female in the music video as it implies that he initially was focused on his work but as a result of being with this woman he has become distracted. This links to the idea that he needed to escape because he felt as though he was drowning, just like the woman was in the music video.




What can we use?
Matt and I will use the original music video by De Staat as inspiration for our own production. I particularly liked the slow motion aspect of the music video as it adds another, unusual dimension to the video which I want to reproduce but in my own unique way to differentiate from other bands. Having this unique selling point will benefit us as it will grab the attention of the audience which we intend to do. As the song is called "Firestarter" and has many connotations to fire we will include fire and imitate De Staats use of the fire.

Lighting and Filters

Indie rock bands focus heavily on the lighting conditions and techniques in their music video. The purpose of using particular techniques is to convey a certain meaning, this could be something personal to the artist or it could affect a generation. This links to the Barthes semantic theory that the audience must uncover the true meaning of the lyrics. In the music video seen above "Firestarter" by Torre Florim the lighting is constantly low in the background focusing our attention to the well lit foreground. This demonstrates to the audience the music video focus is what is set directly in front of them. The fact that the background is darker then the foreground creates suspicion as we wonder the purpose of having low lighting. The main character Torre Florim is sat alone in a spotlight conveying his importance and the harsh lighting suggests that he is the "Firestarter". The intense lighting on the lead singer is done to easily show the emotion of the character. We can seen a stern look implying a serious figure matching the lyrics of the song. However, half of the characters face is covered in shadow to represent an alternative view to him, that he has a darker side to his personality. We can infer that through Barthes semiotic codes that the reason for the lead singer to be the "Firestarter" is because of the unnamed female in the video.




Matt and I may attempt to include filters when editing our music video to give it an alternative look. We could make the video seem darker by adding a filter to giver a grungier appearance. This is relevant to our location as we are shooting our music video in an abandoned theatre and we want to create a isolated atmosphere. The Hulme Hippodrome has very harsh lighting so Matt and I may have to create this neglected look. I do have prior experiance with editing the appearance of the recording as for AS one of the scenes did not match the rest s the lighting was extremely harsh. Therefore, I changed the contrast to make the clip fit in seamlessly. I will use this experience this year at A2 but i want to explore alternative ways of editing the filter and in order to do this I need to research methods and tutorials on Final Cut Pro X. Final Cut Pro X is the editing software that Matt and I will be using to edit our raw footage. It has an option to edit and filter the raw footage which we may use to alter the appearance.

Storyboard

This is the storyboard that Matt and I will be following when filming our music video. It is neccersary to produce a storyboard as it provides us with a easy plan to create our music video rather then spontaneously making it up on the spot. This is needed as we can then bring the correct equipment with us and we know what is actually possible to do. Having a storyboard in general points me and Matt in the right direction in order to achieve a successful music video.

Camera Quality

As Matt and I are only amateur film makers we do not have access to the high end cameras they do in professional film making. A common camera used is the Arri Alexa which was used in the very successful film Avengers Assemble. The camera uses shots that Matt and I wish to include in our music video, these include long shots, close ups, medium shots, angled shots and establishing shot.




The Arri Alexa has a 16 bit in camera processing capable of recording at 2K, 4K, 4K UHD and 4K Cine deliverable. This means that the Arri Alexa camera is able to capture extremely high quality visuals which will benefit the overall experience of the audience. It is important to have High Definition in our music video as the audience can fully grasp the situation. If the camera quality was poor the audience may miss elements of the music video creating confusion. The camera has natural colour reproduction especially for skin complexion as it has excellent colour separation.  Matt and I are thinking of including slow motion into our music video. The Arri Alexa camera is able to record at 120 frames per second (fps). The slow motion feature would able to add a different aspect to our music but at 120 fps it is not the best slow motion as it is the lowest frames per second for slow motion.



























In an ideal world Matt and and I would use the Arri Alexa as it is proffesional equipment however we can not afford a 50 thousand pound camera so we will have to use our smart phones. Smart phones have recently had a huge increase in technology used in them in the last 10 years. The smart phone that Matt and I will be using to film our music video on will be an iPhone X. This phone is the best on the market when it comes to recording as the iPhone X can record a 4K at 24, 30 or 60 fps. Matt and I will be using 4K at 60 fps as the video quality will be extremely high. Having 60 fps will make the video run smoother so there will not be any noticable stutters or jumps. The iPhone X is also able to record in slow motion at 1080p HD at either 120 or 240 fps. Therefore, the iPhone X is actually better at recording slow motion as we will be able to capture slower clips making our music video more intense. As Matt and I are thinking of including slow motion the iPhone X would be the better option for us.