Initially, I wanted to make a typical video with a friend miming the lyrics to imitate the original artist, but during the period that I chose to actually film I noticed that the weather would make my ideas very difficult to produce. I began to think about what I, myself really enjoy in a promo video, not just what I deemed to be stereotypical and I realised that typical was exactly the opposite to what I wanted to achieve. My idea of a successful video would be something artistic and creative, not just a three minute video of revealing my artists wardrobe or making them dance around with hardly any clothes on, which seems to be the norm these days... So I had a look through my Itunes at the songs and artists that seemed to follow a different musical route to the standard girl or Indie band, and came across Bon Iver - a folk/acoustic sound from America. I came across them about a year ago now through a friend. Their sound is definitely a change from the type of music I usually listen to, but there was something so melodic and soothing about them that I fell in love with them straight away. Listening to their latest album For Emma there's certainly a few songs that I'd love to work with and create something along the same lines as them.
This is the promo video for Bon Iver's- The Wolves (Act I & II) who's video I absolutely love. The video doesn't follow any of the typical traits of artists being shown miming to their lyrics. In fact, it isn't really about anything relevent in terms of the song or the lyrics at all which is what I think makes it so artistic and inspiring to watch. The beginning of the video starts with a blank black screen with no sound which then gradually fades into a wood fire sparking at night along with the crackling noise of the fire spreading as more logs are added to it. I think a beginning like this works really well as it almost throws the reader off their expectations of a typical promo video and leaves certain mysteries as to what is going to follow through from this.
This is the first image that is shown through a straight cut following the fade in. As a primary image the actual vision of it seems disorientating as it appears to be either tree branches or shrubbery filmed upside down with the ends of the branches ending towards the bottom of the screen and lasts on screen for about seven seconds. When I first watched the video I, myself automatically turned my head in reaction to try and work out what I was looking at and I think this is one of the main aspects of the video; that it's more of an artistic experience watching it, that you have to use your own logic and imagination to get the most out of it rather then just sitting and watching the artist perform. I also like the use of a black border around the images, it makes the video appear extremely professional and frames the visual that is seen just like a painting or photograph would be. Whilst this image is on screen it seems like a hand-held camera is used as it subtly moves as if the image was being looked at through the audiences own eyes instead of being completely still. I think this element of the video works wonders as it makes the viewer feel involved in the video; makes them feel a part of the experience and effectively makes the visual even more intriguing to watch.
After the still images the shot then cuts to a man sorting through logs which we assume is for the fire that was shown at the beginning. The opponents within the frame are cleverly placed as the sun intervenes with the man's actions with the sun creates glaring off his face. The lighting of the scene is quite dark as the sun is still rising, making the shadowing almost all blend in together. This however allows the man's breathe to be vividly seen and creates quite a peaceful atmosphere about the image. I love the fact that as the character moves the light is partially blocked and unblocked making the centre of the screen the main focus point and creates an extra sense of movement as we can't see all of the person. The movement made by the light and the glare that comes off it due to the snow makes the sun itself look like a fire flickering in the woods behind. The camera then zooms in slightly and the lens un-focuses to show a distorted image of the sun and its shadowing, almost as if the camera itself had frozen over.
Following this comes quite lengthy close up shots of the location including the fire being tended to and the man himself manoeuvring around and sorting out logs for the fire, each lasting about eight minutes. Perhaps this represents the progression of the song and the lyrics as the fire comes together too. I think the contrast of high and low angle shots works well as it simultaneously works with the making of the fire and the maintaining of it. Also there is slight contrast of location as the first image seems like a snowy clearing where he is sawing the wood and the next is quite a closed-in forest area where the fire is being built up. These could potentially represent the feelings of seclusion and warmth or the idea of man-made material such as the saw and nature of the fire.
One of the main features of the video that I also love is the feeling of movement throughout the duration of the video. At not one point throughout the series is the camera at a complete still and I think this creates a really artistic feel about it. On the first picture is a still from a clip where the camera is pointed at low angle looking at the sky through the trees. The angle makes the forest appear daunting, towering down on the camera however the frame moves in a circular motion, as if the person filming is spinning around looking at the sky which creates a sense of being lost; as if the viewer is looking for a way out. However re-watching it makes it feel more surreal, as its more of a bewildered and observant state of mind than a secluded emotion. Again this is contrasted with a close up of the fire with the focus on the smoke flowing out from the branches, again, changing the mood through what appears to be a safer environment. I definitely think that I want to use this type of imagery in my own video, especially the movement as its such a creative way of creating a sense of emotion through the visual.
Here the contrast in light is used as the second verse of the song is reached. Again the low angel shots seem to dominate the frames as to let the sky and the top of the trees come into view. I love the use of the light as it makes everything in the frame seem so bold and vivid. The energy from the fire comes through the smoke and the gush of flames from the bottom right corner of the shot again manage the sense of movement throughout the series. The fact that you can see the man's breathe adds an extra sense of life to the atmosphere of the video and I'd like to use details like this is my own. Perhaps I could adapt it to ideas such as a cigarette being lit in the dark to bring in more humane energy into the motions.
These shots are part of one of my favourite motions in the video. Here it seems the camera is being held out of a car window driving down a dark and forested road with just a small flash light to look into the woods. The image really sends out a mysterious yet relaxed feeling about the music as the acoustic-sounding rhythm to the track gets more audible. Subsequently it turns an image that could potentially be seen as something dark and tense into something much more memorising and beautiful to watch.
Towards the end of the song, as the instrumental and vocal elements reach its climax the shots become fast paced and further contrasting in both lighting, location and focus making the video really quite intriguing to watch. The shots appear to move through a series of time, the man's work progressing over nights and days with the fire burning in the darkness and the trees being cut in the light. Diegetic sound is also used as the trees are cut with an axe to the beat of the music switching to different angles every second and the chain saw can be heard distinctively as the climax progresses furthermore. The speed of the straightly cut shots gave me the reaction of wanting to rewind the video to catch more detail in each frame and I definitely want my audience to feel the need to do the same. The end of the video finishes with a slower fade out of a landscape view of the sun rising and then finally a solid black screen, something that appears frequently between shots in the video and which I think works well, leaving mystery and a sense of calmness successfully complimenting the music.
I actually came across Lightning Dust in the 'related videos' side bar whilst I was watching Bon Iver's video above. I love the steady pace of the music and the video together which make it calming to watch. Nothing really happens in the video at all but this is one of the clever features about it as it makes you listen to the music more carefully, enabling the audience to appreciate all that within the sound.
The video starts with a frame of wild flowers which imediately becomes distorted through a huge lens flare making the picture appear over exposed and old. The flare then moves and fades away to show a clear picture again, as with the Bon Iver video, creating energy and mood about the visual. I I love the use of the flare as it makes such a warm feeling about the image and gives is that worn out feeling you see in polaroid pictures and film. The fact that the flowers are just wild flowers presumably found in a field and not something extravagant like roses gives the video a feel of authenticity and originality due to its spontaneous touch to its choice of image.
The flare is then worked on to create washes of coloured lens over the primary images to create a subtle yet quite surreal touch to the visual. The dark translucent blue almost makes the image look like it's underwater which compliments the quirky rhythm of the guitar in the song. In fact the acoustic base in the song has something which to me seems a little spooky about it, so the mysterious touch to the video really creates an underlying odd feeling about the whole production. Like in the other video close ups of hands are used which could represent a lot of feelings or thoughts about artists lyrics or perhaps just about the emotion within the song.
Movement is used in a similar way again, panning up slowly from the base of the trees to the top to show the sky and the ends of the branches. Perhaps it connotates the idea of escapism or growth as the plant makes it way to its peak. The light is situated behind the trees creating an over exposure of the frame as the light glares off the lens. It also creates over shadowing, making the branches at the top look like silhouettes of their shapes. I think that the sense of using silhouettes could be very effective as to me they create a certain mystery in themselves through their lack of detail leaving the viewers imagination to piece the details together itself.
Fades and overlaps are used on top of each other quite frequently throughout the frames. The first still shows a man who we assume is a part of the band, dressed in a suit tweaked with a retro style again adding a visual age to the video and all the more making the overall product more rememberable through it surreality. The second still is just of two moving frames of the trees and bushes within the location which travel in opposite directions horizontally across the shot. When I first saw it I immediately thought of those really old movies when editing was scarce and of poor quality, but this seems to be the image that the producers are going for bringing in this whole theme of retro being stylish and appealing.
Shifts in focus are something noticeable throughout the shots as here we have on the first picture a still frame of a large tree fully in focus as it moves naturally with the wind. This then subsequently switches to what appears to be the same tree but in different lighting making it appear slightly more vivid but with the further part of the frame in focus instead of the front. Through the following shots, stills are given of close ups of trees, bushes and the light pouring through behind them continuing to glare flicker with the edited effects. I think that by giving less in the video the audience want more so I really believe that it benefits the track itself, rather than promoting the song and the band specifically.
Lastly, still but focused shots are used to reveal a little about the band members. The first shot shows just the back of the pair sat down within the surrounding shrubbery. Not showing their faces properly leaves the audience guessing as to whether, on first impression, if these are actually the members of the band and raises questions as to why they aren't revealed completely in detail. Even the shot of them walking into the shadowed forest towards the camera leaves their faces too darkened to study in detail what they look like. This was clearly intended making the video but such random qualities within the production leaves the representation of the images hard to analyse as they aren't clear specifically. To me the visuals are all about a sense of mystery and simplicity, the fact that even if something is lacking in detail there can still be much more to be found underneath the surface of it all and I think that is something that is being related to through the song lyrics as well.
