The cover is stylised as to have the members of the Beatles as orange silhouettes coming from the title
love- which is surrounded by an orange outline. This gives it a comic book art style.
The background, made up of orange swirls and the generally textured look to the cover give it a very 'retro' feel which is appropriate for The Beatles. The warm colours are also indicative of the genre, the light colours would seem to signify psychedelic-rock.
Rear
The rear of the digipak is essentially the same kind of image only with more orange textures. Also all the copyright notices and credits appear here. Something to note is the lack of song titles on the rear. This would indicate that the band are fairly big and that the audience would know what to expect from the digipak
Here we have the track listing on the inlay
we have the track listing here too, which appears to be fairly extensive, we also have a continuation of the art style, only with the band members being much a much lighter shade- which contrasts with the second CD which features darker band members, but essentially the same image.
The second inlay appears to be essentially the same but only with slightly different textures and the CD cover, a
Tonight (14th December) we are going to be screening our sample footage at the yearly, in school, creative arts evening. This is so that we can receive feedback from a different age range and general audience, which will be useful when deciding what to shoot for our further filming over the holidays. Yesterday we received feedback on our sample footage from the rest of our media class, which included; some suggestions not to include the current slightly comedic aspects, such as the shot of the protagonist stepping in a puddle, and the shot being reversed. Also not showing the protagonist's face so early in the video, to create more narrative enigma.
Nine Inch Nails have recently gained some more publicity through the fact that previous X-factor winner Leona Lewis is covering the NIN song 'Hurt'. This resulted in several Nine Inch Nails related trending topics on twitter about the news which will help bring a new audience to the band. The song has already been famously covered by country singer Johnny Cash in 2002.
The first shot, the removal of a lens cap from a Victorian camera, into a mirror to give the effect of fish eye immediately sets the tone, the lighting is dark and tinted blue to show this idea of moodiness and a dark environment, you can see clearly that the walls are grimy and dirty. This is elaborated on in the next shot, a long shot of Reznor at 0:04 seconds, the floorboards are dirty and covered in litter, various instruments hang up behind him and he's staring at music sheets and yet he isn't actually doing anything other than staring which lends itself to the idea that the character is depressed, he's hunched forward over the piano, he'. The next shot at 0:05 is a very brief close up of the three band members playing string instruments, once again the black clothing is revealed to be a fit with the general visual style of the video. The next shot at 0:06 is Reznor by himself playing the same instruments as his band, sitting, long shot facing the camera. At 0:09, we have a medium close up of Reznor staring at the music sheets featured previously, the shot is more side on profile, we takes a deep breath and sighs, once again the indication that he's not a healthy individual. The next shot is framed interestingly. it's of a urn but only the bottom out of shot and the sky, lending the idea of a highly stylised music video.
At 0:14 it makes a return only this time the bottom is seen with a pair of legs and the rest of the body hidden, the idea being hinted at appears to be death of someone, the sky is very grey/blue. At 0:22, it's revisited again for a close up, but once again the shots are very brief, the pace of editing here is rapid.
At 0:29 the framing of the shot is very interesting because we can see half of Reznors head hidden behind a curtain as he lip sync's.
2:33 the video goes green tinted, to match with the drum solo, the pace of editing here picks up rapidly- the green tint to signify the alcohol taking control of the character. At 2:58 the video appears to take much more melancholy video with a longshot showing the full body of the character, leaning towards the camera following the melancholy.
An example of the abstract imagery
The video is very dark throughout in terms of actual lighting, with the opened shot of the singer and a small boy looking in a mirror removing the cap of an old fashion style camera. Instantly showing that this isn't set in the modern day, reinforced by the attire of the two characters. The video prominently features abstract Victorian imagery and is overall a very 'concept' driven video- however if you watch closely you can see certain aspects of narrative- the reoccurring image of the young boy for instance throughout the video hints at some form of meaning. Listening to the lyrics in the last minute of the song it's implied that the boy has died (as indicated by the two women dressed in black) and that the father (the singer/ Trent Reznor) is in mourning and has turned to alcohol, also indicated through the green liquid shown in several extreme close up shots.
The location is VERY gothic and dark, the old Victorian esq walls, something seen in previous industrial videos, where the focus here is not on the decay of society but on the decay of the mind, as indicated though Reznors decline into alcohol abuse in the video.
Abisinth close-up.
hinting at the 'meaning'
As indicated by the abisinth seen in select shots. There are several long shots of the father, often alone or staring into the distance at something out of shots, as the video goes on these shots are often revisited for close-ups to put emphases on the isolation of the character, in several shots however he appears to be hidden or hiding (i.e the water shots and curtain ones.)
A med-close up showing the father
looking out of shot.
At the time the video was fairly expensive with the refrigerated set used and the renting of certain artworks featured throughout the video, these led to a reported $1million music video.
Artist: KMFDM Song Title: Megalomaniac Genre: Industrial Metal Year: 1997 Primary Audience: Male 15-24
Fish eye lens
- The video starts off with film like titles and opening credits, displaying the actors featured in the video. These are shown while the track is already being played in the background.
- From 0:53 to 1:08 there is a continuous close up shot of the vocalist lip-syncing, as the shot goes on it is edited in a number of ways, such as the focus being adjusted, the lighting being altered, and binary code being displayed on a separate video layer over the top.
- At 1:11 a stop-motion video effect is used of a policeman beating a man with a baton, (before they end up kissing) and cutting from words like "fake", "malicious", and "marijuana". These words, along with the homosexual aspect signify the rebellious and controversial motif of the song.
- A 'fish eye lens' is used at 1:17, which is something we have already incorporated into the sample footage for our music video, for when our protagonist is walking over a bridge.
- Laura Mulvey's 'male gaze' theory is relevant in this video at 1:21, where a woman wearing heavy make up and a revealing nurses uniform is the centre of the shot, before cutting to a shot of her dancing in a capsule labelled "EXTRA STRENGTH KMFDM 300MG". This shot links in with the lyrics as the words "better than the best" appear on screen as the words are sung.
- At 1:47 the video then gives the effect of a flight simulator/ vintage video game. This relates to the electronic sound of the music that is played at this time in the track, as it sounds like it could be the soundtrack to an old video game.
- An interesting shot used at 2:24 shows the album that the track is featured on, we have a similar idea which we are thinking of using in our video of bringing the digipak that we are going to creat into the diegetic world of the music video.
- Another shot of note occurs at 2:35 where an image of an eye appears on a TV screen in shot, I have noticed similar shots of eyes in other videos of the Industrial metal genre, such as "Stigmata" by Ministry, on which I have previously blogged. This is also very similar to our own idea of displaying the illuminati "all seeing eye" on a number iMac screens.
- The controversial theme of this video is again displayed at 2:38 where there is an on screen animation of a man choking someone with a wire, this is continued at 2:52 with a scene where there is an implied killing of a man with an electric drill, and at 4:00 with the nurse smothering a patient.
- There is no full band performance, but there are aspects of individual performance, such as the vocalist lip syncing throughout, and close ups of instruments being played, such as the guitar fretboard at 3:34.
Artist: Ministry Song Title: Stigmata Genre: Industrial Metal Year: 2005 Primary Audience: Male 15-24
- Black and white footage is used throughout the video, which is something we are going to implement in our music video and this effect is often used in videos of the industrial metal genre.
Machinery
- Multiple video layers are used, for example at 0:13, we are thinking about using this idea in our music video and are going to experiment with it and our newly filmed sample footage.
- There are religious references in the video such as the cross at 0:14. This common convention that I have noticed in several industrial metal videos, such as 'Nine Inch Nails - Closer'.
- Footage is slowed down at 0:22 for a long take, to signify a flashback.
- Live band performance footage is used frequently (0:50).
- An interesting POV shot is used at 0:44, we experimented with a similar POV shot today (6th December) during our sample filming in Ilkley.
- There are a lot of shaky, fast moving camera shots used, for example at 0:54, this helps signify the live performance setting. Blurry footage is also used for the same effect, for example at 1:06.
- There is a change at 1:12 in the video, as the camera erratically zooms in and out and shakes, this is to fit in with the double bass drum beat which kicks in at the same time.
- Sped up footage is used at 1:26, to signify the atmosphere of the live setting, this features again on many occasions such as at 1:34.
- Footage of machinery is shown at 1:45, linking in to the 'Industrial' genre, as songs from this genre often feature the sound of machinery.
- A very unusual section of this music video is from 2:08 to 2:21, where very fast pace editing is used to cycle through many different eye shots, which links in to the lyrics: "The look in your eyes..." This is a similar idea to a scene that we are planning to use for our music video, which is where our protagonist is in a room full of iMac computers, all with the illuminati "all seing eye" on screen.
...have conducted an interview with Mr. Reznor today (5/12/11) with the chit-chat mainly focusing on his upcoming The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo film score although there where other small bits of information released, he is releasing a full length How To Destroy Angels album early next year (hopefully) and he let slip that he's been offered some live show's although he didn't go into much detail on the matter he did indicate he was still working it out. But the real killer here is the news that in 2012 he'll be writing with a much more NiN orientated stuff...
Yesterday (5th December) we started the outdoor sample filming in Ilkley, this included some performance (lip syncing) shots mixed in with the narrative of the protagonist being followed/ surveyed. This footage was to get an idea of what the shots would look like, and to spark new ideas for our later filming in Bradford. Today we are going to carry on filming at the bottom of Ilkley before adding this footage to our sample footage back at school, we are hopefully going to have some finished sample footage by the end of the week, that we are going to screen for the rest of the class for feedback and suggestions.
Artist: Nine Inch Nails Song Title: Head Like A Hole Genre: Industrial Metal Year: 1989 Director: Eric Zimmerman Primary Audience: Male 15-24
Band performance
- This is a performance/ concept based music video that features the band performing live, at a gig scenario but also in a cage.
- An out of focus shot is used to start the video (0:01), this is something that I have noticed in other Nine Inch Nails videos, such as 'The Hand That Feeds', on which I have previously posted.
- Abstract, conceptual imagery is another aspect that is utilised in this video, as well as others from the same band, such as the man with silver face paint on, who's rotating head keeps being cut to from 1:50 - 1:53.
- The video features a guest drummer, Martin Atkins, who is performing with the band, as shown at 0:19.
- All the band members are wearing dirty, gritty clothing throughout the video.
-There are images that are shown for a few frames like "HEAD," "16 SOUND START," "S M P T E UNIVERSAL LEADER" and "PICTURE." Other images included a white dot set againist a black background, a mirrored presentation showing the words "REEL № PROD № PLAYDATE" colored in yellow, one with the words "PICTURE START," and a frame consisting of "C C F F" placed near a outlined ring. Source - Wikipedia
- At 2:33 a silver tint and distortion effect is used to add a psychedelic effect to the video. Different colour tints I have noticed seems to be a common convention of Nine Inch Nails videos.
- From 2:40 the shot repeatedly cuts back and forth from one drummer to the other in time with the beat, an interesting point is the fact that the shot breaks the 180 degree rule, so it appears as if it could be the same drummer, adding some narrative enigma to the video.
- At 2:58 the shot of the man on his knees in shot directly links to the lyrics of the track, as this occurs while Trent Reznor is singing the line "bow down before the one you serve". Relating what is shown on screen with the lyrics is a common convention of not just Industrial Metal as a genre, but of music video as a format.
- From 3:45 there is a repeated shot sequence used: a slow pan, followed by a very quick pan, followed by a slow pan etc. This is fitted in time with the beat, as the fast pan comes on every snare drum hit.
Artist: Ministry Song Title: No W Genre: Industrial Metal Year: 2004 Audience: Male 15-24
- The video is performance/ concept based, and features the full band performing in a desert.
- The video features an actor in a plastic George Bush mask dancing (0:28), as well as frequent edited pictures of Bush (0:08), often with a voice-over saying things like "evil". This kind of 'anti-capitalist' message is a common convention of the industrial metal genre.
- Some of the shot have had the borders edited so there is a black outline, this gives the effect of a TV screen, for example when the actor in the George Bush mask is standing in front of the American flag at 1:45
- Multiple video layers are also a feature that is used in this video, such as at 0:05, this is something that we are going to incorporate into our Nine Inch Nails music video.
- At the start of the video most of the shots have a blurred effect up until about 0:12, these kinds of blurry shots are something that I have noticed in several Industrial metal videos, such as "Stigmata" by Ministry.
- The clothing that the band members wear are typical for not just the Industrial genre, but for metal as a whole, for example the sleeveless tops, big boots and dark sunglasses.
- The band performance scene challenges the conventions of Industrial metal videos is a way, as the common performance location for a video of this genre would be a simulated, indoor gig environment, in a generally quite small space, such as the small rehearsal space used in "The Hand That Feeds" by Nine Inch Nails.
- An interesting sequence of shots occurs at 3:02, where the same long shot of the band performance is used, but the band members suddenly switch places.
- Something that I have observed as a common convention of music video as a format is when the focus of a certain part of a track is on one instrument, the video usually reflects this, and this occurs here, for example at 0:49 where the main focus of the music is the guitar riff, and a close up of the guitar is shown on screen.
- There are certain actions performed by the band members that reinforce the rebellious and aggressive nature of the band/song, such as the vocalist spitting on the ground at 1:14.
Artist: Marilyn Manson Song Title: Antichrist Superstar Genre: Industrial Metal Year: 1998 Primary Audience: Male 15-24
- This video consists of solely live, performance footage of the band on stage, band often decide to do this, as it saves the costs of creating a traditional music video.
- The video contains many Nazism references, such as the banners coming down behind Manson as he stands at the podium
- All the band members are wearing dark, Gothic clothing throughout the video, which is a common convention of the Industrial metal genre, as it is closely related to the Gothic rock genre.
- The editing at the start of the video links the shot cutting to the beat of the song, this is commonly done in rock/metal music videos.
- The main focus of the performance footage is Marilyn Manson himself, as focusing on the vocalist with many close ups/medium close ups is a common convention of music video as a format
- Multiple video layer are used in this video on many occasions, such as at 0:58and 1:06 where is shows a shot of Manson over the top of shots of the crowd. This effect is something that we can also achieve in editing by using the Final Cut software.
- There are a number of shots filmed from the crowd, theses shots are shaky and slightly out of focus to give the effect of being in the audience, such as at 1:27
- Manson very controversially rips pages out of a bible, before throwing it into the crowd at 1:59, relating to the name of the track 'Antichrist Superstar' rebellious acts like this are something that I have noticed in most of the Industrial metal videos I have deconstructed.
- All the instruments used are generally associated with the genre of Industrial Metal; electric guitar, bass, drums, keyboard etc.
- An interesting shot is shown on screen at 3:14, where there is a narrowed shot of Manson shown in the centre of the screen over the top of one of the standard wide screen crowd shots.
Artist: Nine Inch Nails Song Title: Closer Year: 1994 Genre: Industrial Metal Director: Mark Romanek
- At the very start of the music video, a film-like title is used, showing the band and song name.
- At 0:20 there is a close up of the vocalist, Trent Reznor's silhouetted face, close ups of the vocalist is a common convention of not just Industrial Metal, but of the format of music video as a whole.
- Religious references are featured, such as in form of the monkey on the crucifix, with lit candles in front which shown on many occasions throughout the video (0:57)
- Animals are a main theme of the video, for example the pig's rotating head (1:59), the monkey (1:08), the cockroaches (0:24), and the big pieces of meat hanging on hooks behind Reznor as he's performing (1:35).
- Interestingly, the vocalist (Trent Reznor) is the only band member who appears in the video, as there is no standard band performance footage.
- An interesting effect that features is that it is edited to look like it was filmed using very old cameras, as the video contains 'cigarette burns'.
Artist: Godflesh Song Title: Slavestate Year: 1991 Genre: Industrial Metal Director: Howard Garfield
- This is a concept video which contains no standard narrative, but has some band performance (usually just showing individual band members separately) footage thrown in, for example at 2:22.
- This video has a very psychedelic (and quite strange) theme, which is presented through the distorted video effect which is used throughout the video.
- Religious references are used occasionally in the video , such as the man near the start holding his hands out in a crucifix pose (0:05), and less indirectly at 1:01, where the words 'JESUS' appears repeatedly on screen.
- Close ups of individual body parts are used to add to the abstract feel of the video, such as the eye at 3:14, and the fist at 1:18.
- An interesting effect that is used is the changing of the width of the video on screen, for example at 1:43 when the close up of the eye comes on screen .
- Bright colours are used throughout, to add to the psychedelic theme of the video, such as the bright orange filling up the screen at 3:30.
This godflesh video is a concept video which contains no straightforward narrative, and limited performance. The whole video is psychedelic abstract imagery, with only a few shots of the actual band members, as well as individual body parts, like an eye and a hand.
Nine Inch Nails - Closer
This Nine Inch Nails song kicks off with a shot off a heart, connected to wires, on a chair, this disturbing image is typical of videos of this genre, an interesting effect that features is that it is edited to look like it was filmed using very old cameras, as the video contains 'cigarette burns'. Lots of conceptual images are shown in frequently throughout the video, such as the woman posing wearing black boots with a black mask at 2:03.
Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar
This video mainly consists of live, concert performance footage of Manson, with Nazism references clear from the start, this very daring and controversial idea signifies the industrial metal genre, as disturbing themes like this are often used, all the band members are wearing very dark clothing, which is also typical of the genre.
Ministry - No W
This video features outdoor live performance footage, and repeated negative references to George Bush, this anti government, punkish attitude is something that features often in Industrial metal videos, such as Rammestein's Amerika. The video also makes full use of multiple video layers, and black bordered shots of the vocalist appear frequently.
Nine Inch Nails - Head Like A Hole
The video starts with an out of focus shot, which is something that I have noticed to be a common type shot in NIN videos, such as The Hans That Feeds, on which I have previously blogged, another feature that appears often in NIN videos is the use of abstract, conceptual imagery, such as the man with silver face paint on, who's rotating head keeps being cut to from 1:50 - 1:53.
A big influence on our music video is the film The Machinist (Brad Anderson, 2004), the film itself is heavily influenced by Nine Inch Nails, as the protagonist's name (Trevor Reznik) is derived from NIN vocalist Trent Reznor, and press articles describing the ordeal of Reznik in the film as a "downward spiral" relating to a previous NIN single. Although it is a different format, the idea of the film closely relates to what we are hoping to create for the narrative of our music video, as in the film, Reznik becomes extremely paranoid, (due to lack of sleep) and starts to lose his mind, just like our protagonist slowly losing his mind to technology as he becomes brainwashed and tries to fight back. The dark colour tints used throughout the film are something that we are also going to use in our music video, as well as actual black and white footage. The film mainly focuses on just Reznik, with only a couple of other characters having major roles, and in our video we are also just focusing on our protagonist's struggle against the media and technology in general.
For the sample footage we've filmed the opening sequences of the song, with notes from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by David Fincher as key inspiration when editing. One pretty big challenge was filming enough footage to fill out the 30 seconds and keep the angles fresh and unique from one another and create something that's worth re-watching. So far that's the only real big issue to arise from filming the sample footage.
Artist: Ministry Song Title: Jesus Built My Hotrod Genre: Industrial Metal Year: 2006
"Jesus Built My Hotrod" is a 1991 single by Ministry and was the band's most popular song up to that point.[citation needed] The track features a driving beat and speed metal guitar work backing Butthole Surfers' singer Gibby Haynesgonzo vocal stylings.
The song was released November 7, 1991, a little more than half a year before it appeared on Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs. MuchMusicand MTV championed the accompanying video (which featured, among others, various footage of vintage NASCAR and drag racing events) and it enjoyed repetitive plays on both stations. The photo that adorns the cover of the single depicts a 1970 Chrysler 440 Six Barrel V8 engine. At one point in the video, a 1970 Plymouth GTX or possibly Roadrunner, equipped with the 440 Six Barrel engine, is shown driving down the street, as the "Air Grabber" hood scoop opens.
The video starts off with a voice talking about Jesus being the devil, over the top of a pixelated out face with a black background, this quite disturbing start to the video is typical of the Industrial metal genre, for example the very abstract video for "The Perfect Drug" by Nine Inch Nails. Black and white footage is used in the video, which is another common convention of the genre, and is something which we are planning on using in our music video, another aspect that features in the video that we are planning to use is the use of multiple video layers, as this is something that can be done in the editing stage on Final Cut.
The genre "Industrial metal" originated in the 70's, after the record label "Industrial Records" was created by the group "Throbbing Gristle", with the slogan "Industrial music, for industrial people". In general, the style is harsh and challenging. Allmusic defines industrial as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music". Some of the most famous Industrial rock/metal artists include; White Zombie, Nine Inch Nails, and Ministry, all of which had platinum selling albums in the 1990's. Typical instruments used in Industrial Metal music are; Synthesizers, Drum machines, Electric guitar, Bass, Loops and samples, and keyboard. The genre often features disturbing lyrics and themes, which is something that is shown frequently in Nine Inch Nails's videos, often directed by the vocalist, Trent Reznor, such as "The Downward Spiral", this interesting article lists Nine Inch Nails's top 5 most disturbing videos.
Artist: Nine Inch Nails Song Title: The Hand That Feeds Genre: Industrial Metal Director(s): Trent Reznor and Rob Sheridan Year: 2005 Primary Audience: Male 15-24
"The Hand That Feeds" is a song by the American industrial rock group Nine Inch Nails, released as the lead single for the album With Teeth (2005). It is the highest charting song by Nine Inch Nails on all charts except for U.S. Modern Rock Tracks, where it stayed at number one for five weeks, because the single that followed, "Only", stayed at number one for two more weeks (non-consecutively), and the Billboard Hot 100, where "The Day The World Went Away" peaked at #17. It is, to date, Nine Inch Nails' only single to hit the top 10 of the UK Singles chart and the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, where it peaked at #2 for two weeks. Source - Wikipedia
The video kicks off with a very out of focus shot of a synthesizer, and this out of focus effect continues throughout the video, and the fact that the video starts off with a shot of a synthesizer signifies the genre (industrial metal) as this is a common feature of IM songs. The shot then pans to all the band members individually, most of the shots used are medium/ medium close ups, and no full band shot are used, this gives narrative enigma as to where the band are actually performing. At 0:32 a shot is used that signifies CCTV footage, which is an idea that our group has also decided to implement.
One of the main features of the video is the use of the "pan and scan" technique,a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown within the proportions of a standard definition 4:3 aspect ratiotelevision screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focus on the composition's most important aspects.
I have just finished setting up a facebook page for our productions company "HBK Productions", as we felt having a twitter and facebook page, as well as the previously created separate blog, would help keep people up to date with what is happening with the music video creation, see the facebook page here.
After receiving feedback from our re-pitch on our idea for the music video, we have re-thought a few aspects of what we're going to include, and as a quick outline: Our video is centered around one protagonist, who is living in a dystopian like world, and has been brainwashed by technology, the video goes through the character (who we decided would be a teenage male) trying to break free from the hold that is over him: this is going to be shown through various scenes, such as him smashing a laptop after being shown staring at the screen. We also have decided to use (as mentioned before) a slow zoom shot of a corridor, which we are going to cut to as the video progresses, eventually having the door at the end of the corridor open at the end of the video to signify the protagonist's freedom.
This is the trailer for the film Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, David Fincher. 2011 The hyper fast edited video trailer keeps you on the edge of your seats for the entire time and makes you not want to even blink at all otherwise you'll miss something. The music fits perfectly with the editing, the clips cut to the exact beat and the combination of the cuts and the beat gets the adrenaline pumping through your body as you watch it. 0:55 to 1:29 is very similar to what we intend to do with the corridor scene, zooming to the end of the corridor, but cutting to different shots to make sure that we have a good variation of shots to make sure that the video follows conventions of music video and also making sure that the video is exiting.
