Shot List

Here is a (possibly vague, yet sturdily simplistic) list of the camera shots that I want to take. I will be taking a handwritten copy of this lists with me to the filming location and whenever filming for my music video happens, as I want to achieve everything on this list.

I should state now that in this list, I've labelled several bullet points with "fully clothed" and "topless". Although this sounds rather promiscuous, this isn't what I want to achieve. My actor being topless in the video allows me to achieve the representation of the cross from The Divine Comedy. sounds cheeky, but it's not intended. I should also state that when I label "fully clothed", the costume I  am having my actor wear is a purple/dark burgundy suit.

All of these shots will be edited into slow-motion through the editing process. Even though some shots are just of the actor standing still, I believe that there is still a significant difference that is noticeable when watching a clip in standard and in slow-motion, even if the movement in the clip is stationary.

Key: // = the use of both shots (e.g. mid shot//long shot), / = or (e.g. mid shot/long shot)

I want to directly imitate this image

• Shot of fog - I'm going to have to get up nice and early before the chirping of the birds to catch this one.
• Shot of forest(s)
• Shot of field(s)
• Shot of sky (differentiation between early morning sky and late evening sky)
• Holding a purple balloon (fully clothed)
• Holding a purple balloon (topless with cross)
• Slow-motion running (side view - mid//long shot, up-front view - long shot)
• Standing still in front of camera (fully clothed - long shot//mid shot//close up)
• Standing still in front of camera (topless - long shot//mid shot//close up)
• God and Satan playing dice (influenced from God & Satan EP by Biffy Clyro) (mid shot - table and chairs must all be within the frame, but I don't want to camera too far away from the setting) 
• Extreme close up shot of the dice being rolled
• God stands up and throws a spear into Satan, with him proceeding to fall off his chair (same camera work used as the initial introduction of the setting of this scene - mid shot//long shot)
• POV shots from both perspectives at the table
• Extreme close up shot of the bottom of the chair leg tilting back as Satan falls off the chair
• High-angle shot (placed upon the table looking down) of Satan hitting the floor from the fall (these shots I have just described are a direct reference to Lucifer's descent out of heaven as God casts him out)
• Satan proposes to God (primarily I want a mid shot - this is a reference to 'Nara' by alt-J and also the theme of forgiveness throughout The Divine Comedy and Christianity)
• Satan and God hug (same elements as listed above)

Division Of Labour

Division of labour? What's that?

As this is a solo project, I will be taking control and manipulating all of the elects that comprise my music video. I'm even having a cheeky acting role in my video alongside my chosen actor, Jake Loft. It's only a little one (I'm literally just sitting down on a chair. What more do you want?) but other areas such as camerawork, editing and the production of the video are all under my wing.

• Who will film the music video?
• I will film everything that goes into my music video. Even though (as I've said) I'm playing a small part in the video, the camerawork that I've decided on for this particular seen involves no hand-operated movement of the camera. The camera will be completely still, so I am not needed to operate the camera at that time, giving me the opportunity to be in the music video alongside my actor.
• Who will edit the music video?
• I will edit the music video. I've previously stated that my desired editing effects are absolutely minuscule, with the only editing I wish to be one on my music video is just the clips being put together in a systematic, chronological and narrative manner. Oh, and the slow motion. Yeah the slow motion is pretty important.
• Who will gather props and take charge of mise en scene?
• I'm gathering all the needed mise en scene attribute for my music video. *brainwave* "Just get purple things. Purple things". *brainwave*. I've got roughly 80% of the props and specific objects that I want to use, but another trip to Bury is in order I think. "Just get purple stuff".
• Who chose the song?
• Obviously I did.
• Who decided on the location of the filming?
• I chose the location for my music video. I live in Barningham and I'm surrounded by fields upon fields upon fields. And fields. I chose this because it fitted with the way I wanted to capture my music video. It's a bonus that it's extremely close. How are we going to get there? With my astronomically powerful German whip Hyundai i20 i.2 petrol. Yeah.
• Who is going to direct the video?
• I will be directing the music video and making sure that everything is on schedule to achieving the representation that I want.

Final Music Video (Mise En Scene)

The Gospel Of John Hurt is represented by the colour purple

As previously explained, I want to make the colour purple a prominent and crucial aspect in the video, which I want to weave throughout. It won't be present in every scene, but (bottom line), people will know that the colour purple is important.

One of the most vital and crucial things in my music video (within the representations), is a cross on my actor's chest. (I should probably explain now that I do have a male actor in my music video, played by Jake Loft). An evident theme throughout The Divine Comedy is a red cross upon Dante's chest. I want to emulate this, but instead of the cross being red, I want to make it purple and make it fit in with the colour that represents The Gospel Of John Hurt and which conforms to that colour which is used throughout the entire video.

Dante's Inferno, from the animated-film adaptation

In addition, because the album cover for This Is All Yours is paint upon a white canvas (it's probably got a deeper meaning than that, it's alt-J after all...), I wanted to emulate some form of paint within the music video, as I (as previously explained) want to additionally adopt themes from the album along with The Divine Comedy. With this idea, I wish to literally take the the purple paint which is symbolic to The Gospel Of John Hurt and put it upon my actor's chest, just like the red cross which is upon the chest of Dante. Instead of making the cross very detailed and structured and extremely professional-looking, I want to simply paint on the purple cross upon my actor's chest, and simply leave it how it is from the first application of the paint. This is because this method of presenting the cross conforms to my ideology of the music video: simple, artistic and minimalistic as well as ultimately making it look like it's from the album cover itself.

Dante's Inferno, from the video game adaptation

Furthermore, I've drawn influence from Biffy Clyro's album cover for the God & Satan EP. In this, we can point out who is God and who is Satan. This theme (with the album cover) fits in perfectly with my chosen portrayal of The Divine Comedy as the poem is about the soul's joinery towards God with Dante ascending through Hell (where he is met by Satan, Purgatory and eventually Paradise. I want to also elaborate on this album cover. As well as using the chairs and table (minus the man and horse in the background though), I want to have a chess board in the middle of God and Satan. This is due to my inspiration from the Albert Einstein quote: "God doesn't play dice". He may not play dice, but he plays chess.

Album cover for the 'God & Satan' EP by Biffy Clyro

I also want to emulate the costumes, with their colour. This being the black and white shown in the album cover. Alongside my actor, I will be taking up the role of one of the portrayals of either God or Satan. At this time, I'm not sure which one yet. If possible, I wish the make the chess piece upon the chess board purple, which adds to the while purpley-Gospel Of John Hurt representation.

Final Music Video (Location)

I have chosen to film my music video in the fields and forest in the surrounding areas of Barningham, my village, and it's neighbouring village, Market Weston. I want the location and setting of my music video to be very open, natural and extensive, so I thought these locations would work great. With the theme of my music video being representational and metaphorical, I wanted an open area that I could use to execute these representations without any distractions from the initial representations and portrayals that I want to make. In addition, the environment I have chosen adds to the minimalistic aspect that I'm trying to achieve in the video. With simple, and long-stretching fields with nothing else along with them, it emphasises what's primarily on camera. Also, I'm going for a simple, realistic, natural and 'legit' feel for the video and it's contents, with the decision I've made not to tamper with the footage in the editing process and only put the clips together. The surroundings, I believe, add to the artistic, natural and minimalistic perspective that I want to achieve in my music video. Furthermore, I wish to acquire some shots of the surroundings (initially when I was deciding on a music video), and the best surrounding for camera that I wanted to use was natural. This being the location of fields, tall grass and forests that I've chosen.

And it looks really nice.



This is a satellite image of the areas I'm deciding to film my music video in.

As you can see, it's pretty much all fields. A lot of choice...

Principle photography wil;l begin this weekend, where I will take full pictures of the location I want to use. This will also include camera shot and angles.

Explanation Of My Music Video

"The simplest music videos are the most powerful" - Gus Unger-Hamilton, keyboardist for alt-J

I have chosen to make my music video (The Gospel Of John Hurt - alt-J) representational and metaphorical. I want to represent The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, specifically the first chapter: Dante's Inferno. The Divine Comedy is an epic poem describing Dante's travel through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio) and Heaven/Paradise (Paradiso). On a deeper level, however, it represents the soul's journey towards God.

I am going to use The Divine Comedy and it's idiosyncrasies that accompany it alongside the song The Gospel Of John Hurt in my music video. I wish to represent (metaphorically) specifically the first chapter of The Divine Comedy which is Inferno. In this, Dante travels through the nine circles of Hell: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud and Treachery. Within these circles, Dante witnesses people who have been condemned of these sins who are forever stuck in these circles.

I will post a further analysis and explanation of Dante's Inferno in another blog.

In addition, I wish to make my music video a montage of clips and short scenes which will be comprised together in a montage/collage of different representations and portrayals of the circles of Hell in Inferno. I've taken extreme influence from video's such as Can't Stop by Red Hot Chili Peppers and Every Other Freckle by alt-J. These videos all gather together different clips and images which conform to an ultimate representation of something. For example, Every Other Freckle represents the story of Adam & Eve and The Original Sin and Can't Stop is influenced by the 'One Minute Sculptures' of Erwin Wurm and the band members portray these sculptures using their bodies. Both these videos also use very simple and minimalistic camerawork and cinematography which gives them both an artistic and creative image.

I want to take elements within both of these music videos and incorporate them within my music video, and using my own representation.

Furthermore, I wish to incorporate elements of This Is All Yours (the album from which The Gospel Of John Hurt is from) and put them in the music video also. For example, the album cover is a white canvas with colours having been painted on it. Each of these colours represents a song, but doesn't represent their song's actual meaning. (The full meaning of the album cover is actually unknown to me at this point, sorry about that). For example, 'Bloodflood Pt. II' is represented by the colour green on the album cover, as seen below.

Bloodflood Pt. II is represented by the colour green

The Gospel Of John Hurt is represented by the colour purple

The Gospel Of John Hurt is associated with colour purple. I want to take this associated and weave it throughout my music video. In other words, I want to make the colour purple very prominent and a crucial element of the music video. Whether this is done through colour manipulation in the editing process or the mise en scene within my video is physically purple, I'm not sure yet. I'm most probably going to go with the mise en scene option, as I want to make my video extremely real, in the sense that I don't want to tamper or edit it that much (if not, at all) with the exception of comprising and putting the clips together. I don't want to eradicate the pure, legit, artistic and minimalistic feel of the music video which I'm aiming for.

My Finalised Music Video Idea

The song I have chosen to use for my music video is The Gospel Of John Hurt by alt-J from their second studio album This Is All Yours, released earlier this year. 

This Is All Yours

Reason?

alt-J are one of my all-time favourite bands. Even though they have only realised two studio albums (along with some side works) and have only been an active band for just a few years, they have personally impacted me very strongly and have remained ever since my first listen as one of the most unique, catchy and genius bands ever. (Ever may be a tad strong, but certainly for a very very long time. Personal opinion, of course).

The Gospel Of John Hurt is in my opinion one of the set tracks off of This Is All Yours followed closely by Nara and the album's introductory song ("Intro"). I waited for This Is All Yours with great anticipation and excitement and was immensely pleased with it, having a strange fixation with The Gospel Of John Hurt since my first thorough listen of the album. Although listening to the whole album, I always seems to divert back to The Gospel Of John Hurt as the source of a quick-junky-fix of This Is All Yours. The lyrics, the melodies and harmonies and Joe Newman's uniquely addictive vocals made The Gospel Of John Hurt nothing short of an absolute corker and 'banging tune'. It's incredibly melodic and lyrically genius. alt-J have always kept their lyrics very minimalistic, metaphorical, representative and not vague or straight to the point. The Gospel Of John Hurt is no exception. Lyrically strange, minimalist and an ever-growing crescendo towards the haunting chorus: "Coming out of the woodwork, chest bursts like John Hurt" which ring beautifully and get louder and louder make for a piece of music which is both mentally and physically brilliant.

The Meaning

Like 'Matilda' (from alt-J's debut album An Awesome Wave), The Gospel Of John Hurt is inspired by a film - in this case, 'Alien', which stars John Hurt. It's particular inspired by John Hurt's death scene in the film (the famous "chest burst scene") where an alien bursts out of his chest. Today, it stands as one of the most iconic scenes in sci-fi and horror films.

"That stayed has stayed with me. As a writer, you're meant to sift through all of the things you've remembered in your life and pinpoint the things you've been moved by. Why not write about those moments you're moved by the most?" - Joe Newman, guitarist and lead vocalist for alt-J.

Here is an analysis of the lyrics:

No space

L-shaped

Tetris

Tile seeking

Somewhere

Oh, somewhere

To fit in

Alien

Oh, coming out of the woodwork

Chest bursts like John Hurt

Coming out of the woods

AK

Twenty

47

Civilian

Oh, coming out of the woodwork

Chest bursts like John Hurt

Coming out of the woods

Jeremiah, looking down and you know where you're looking on down

Do you know

Where you go

You're headed on the strings for the E-X-T-I-N-C-T

Jeremiah, looking down and you know where you're looking but you go

Do you know

Where you go

You're headed on the strings for the EX-T-I-N-C-T

Oh, coming out of the woodwork

Chest bursts like John Hurt

Coming out of the woods