Creating a Music Video

When I heard that the assignment was to create a music video, I was excited to go through the whole process. I have made many music videos before using stock footage, yet I had never actually filmed and edited one together, so this was a great opportunity to have a go.

I believe that music videos are a brilliant way to promote a song, as they can draw people into listening to the music. Obviously, everyone in my class would be doing the same assignment and creating their own music videos for their chosen songs, so I wanted to make something that was completely different and that would stand out from the rest of them.

Song Choice and Initial Ideas

I had originally planned to create a music video a few months ago for a personal project. The idea for that one came after I had watched Koyannisqatsi, an interesting film that shows the diverse nature of life and the world itself. I thought I could somehow interpret that idea and create a music video showing the reality of life within our own city streets and the interaction of strangers.

I started thinking of more ideas, so I could then have more to choose from. I then remembered that my friend owns a share in a run-down hotel that he works at. I thought it would be a good idea to use this great location for the music video, as this would increase the production value and make a visually interesting backdrop for the video.

I then began basing my ideas around the locations that were actually available to me. I had been to the abandoned hotel before, as me and my mates sometimes play poker there or get a takeaway to eat, while my friend is on his shift, so I knew what the location looked like and I had already gathered some ideas for the shots that we could use. It was a very harsh looking place, with lots of rubble and demolished buildings everywhere, so I thought it would be good if the song had a similar vibe to it. I started looking through Spotify for a good song to choose and I came across quite a few that I couldn't decide on:

The Prodigy - Rat Poison

The Prodigy - Run With The Wolves

The Prodigy - Their Law

Deceptikon - Tokyo Burning

Aphex Twin - Cornish Acid

Aphex Twin - Wax The Nip

I decided to choose Run With The Wolves by The Prodigy in the end, because the song was a nice length and I liked the dark tone to it. I also began to develop an idea when listening to it. The idea was to have someone in a plain mask running from someone/something, I wasn't sure. The video could then cut back to the masked man in various damaged locations staring strangely into the lens, which would add a weirdly unique edge to the video. I really liked the idea of the actor wearing a mask, as no one could then know who he was and why they were running. I obviously couldn't get hold of Daniel Craig or Leonardo DiCaprio to act in the video as my budget was literally nothing, so I knew I would have to compromise on the actors. The use of a mask would mean that the viewers wouldn't see their face and may stop them from believing it was an inexperienced actor.

Finalising Ideas and Preparation

As the assignment deadline was drawing closer, I asked my mates if anyone would like to be an actor in my music video, to which 2 of them said they would like to do it as they thought it would be fun. I got in touch with my friend who works at the hotel and asked if we could come down and shoot a music video there, which he was totally fine with. He even got himself a shift there especially so that we could film.

I created some storyboards, which would visually represent the ideas I have in my head to the cast and crew, giving them a better grasp on what they're getting involved in. I could have used paper, but  decided to use a simple program that I have on my computer, called Paint. This meant it would be easy to send over the internet and the sharing of my ideas would happen quicker. Here are a few of the stages on my storyboard:

I wanted the video to have a range of interesting locations in it and I already had a few in mind. A few of my mates and I often go exploring in different locations, where I can take cool photos for Instagram and my website. 

Photos taken by me.

I wanted to shoot in some of these locations for the music video. Some were easier to get to than others.

I knew a friend of mine had a collection of a few different masks that looked quite cool and were the type of thing I wanted in the video. I contacted when I initially had the idea to use a mask. He said it was totally cool, so I walked over to his house one night and picked up the mask so I was prepared for the shoot. I ended up taking 3 of his masks; two plain white masks and an 'anonymous mask', which featured in the film V For Vendetta. The mask is also used for large riots and protests. I couldn't decide which one to use.  

Filming (Monday 8th - Wednesday 10th June)

The filming happened over the course of 3 days. However, there were a few problems along the way. My actor, who had said he was available on Monday 8th, turned out to be playing football instead. This meant that my original plan had to be changed. I text another good friend of mine who knew I was making the video and asked if he wouldn't mind stepping in as an actor, to which he accepted. I let him know that we would be filming in Middlesbrough and gave him a small brief as to what the video would include and some of the locations we would be visiting. I also stressed that he would have to wear a black hoodie and black jeans if it was possible.

A few hours later, he drove me over to our first location in Middlesbrough, Zetland multi-story car park. We gathered the filming equipment and went towards the emergency fire exit. I chose this area, because this was the darkest stairwell in the building, no one ever used it so I knew we wouldn't be disturbed and also it had a large gap in the middle where I could get the shot I wanted looking down.

The first problem we encountered was that, when trying on the first mask, the ribbon snapped and the prop was un-usable. This meant that we would have to use the anonymous mask, which I didn't mind too much.

Once we had wrapped up filming on the roof and down the stairwell, we began leaving so we could get to our next location. However, when we went into the carpark area, we noticed that the shutters were down and the doors were all locked, so we were basically trapped inside. It was funny to begin with and we even took a few photos, as it looked quite cool with no cars. After a while, though, we found a door which could be opened manually from a large lever inside.

Our next section of the shoot was in an abandoned pub that I had been in before. Luckily it was walking distance from the car park and only took a couple of minutes to get to. We were in the alley behind the pub, when a man came around the corner wearing dark overalls and carrying a large bag. He began climbing through the rubble and overgrown plants into the back yard of the building, so we followed and a small conversation started. I asked who he was and why he was there and he said, in a funny way, that he was technically a thief. He was there to steal copper, he said. He was an old and harmless looking man who looked rather out of place in the overalls he wore as he climbed through the broken window into the pub. He seemed like a genuinely nice man, who may have just been trying to get some extra money so we continued on into the pub. While the man was in the cellar doing his thing, we spent quite a bit of time looking around the burnt out pub, taking photos and shooting for the music video. I had been there before, but it's always a unique feeling to stand in such places and wonder what it used to be like when the music was playing and the beer was flowing. Old records laid out across the floor and un-opened beer cans dating back to the 80's made it seem like time has stopped.

When the other man had left, we went down and explored the cellar, which was pitch black. We used the two rotor lights to brighten the areas we would be shooting in and to help us see where we were going. I had to wear a dust mask down there to reduce the amount of potentially dangerous substances getting into my system. We filmed down there until the battery on the Black Magic had died. We then spent a little more time taking a few portraits.

Day 2 of filming took place at Tall Trees Hotel, a really well known and bustling club for teenagers and up coming pop stars to perform at. Sadly, most of the club is now crumbling to the ground and it will soon be demolished to make way for a new housing plot. The large lobby area and building containing the bedrooms and offices is still upstanding, however, lots of the inside has been dismantled such as the doors to the bedrooms and the railings on the upstairs area in the lobby.

Me and my friends decided to make a night of it, so we could have some fun while shooting. We had the whole hotel to ourselves for a couple of hours, so naturally.. we ordered a takeaway in and ate it in the hotel lobby, which gave me time to discuss the idea for my music video and different shots I would like to get during the night.

Once we had all eaten, we went out into the rubble and began shooting some scenes. I asked my friend to throw rocks and bits of brick onto the glass panel on then ground, smashing it. This would look great with the aggressive part of the song. My friend took these photos of me, as we were recording for the video.

I wanted to have a variety of locations, as I mentioned earlier, so we walked around the hotel looking for different spots we could use. I thought these stairs looked good, as they would also give another interesting perspective.

After taking many different shots around the hotel's exterior, we went back inside the lobby to gather more footage. Here are some more shots of me filming the video.

I thought it was important to exploit these unique locations and use them to their full potential. It's not everyday you get to shoot in an abandoned hotel for free, so I thought it would be silly for me not to use this location and show it off. There's a clip from the music video, which I particularly like, which involves my actor running down the empty corridor. I used two rotor lights down the hall to light it all up a little more.

BEFORE

AFTER

I knew I would need loads of footage if I wanted to create a smooth, consistent edit so I shot a lot more scenes inside this building and made sure I recorded as much as I could.

When I eventually got home; I reviewed all of the footage on the camera to see if I had all the scenes that I wanted. While watching it back on the camera display screen, I decided that I wanted to get a shot of the masked man looking into the camera, which could fit into the opening sequence. I also wanted a few dark looking shots of the masked man waving a sharp blade at the camera, which I could use when the song says, "You're a mug! That's why I had to cut you down...".

I dragged my brother out of his bedroom, gave him a black hoodie, mask and a sharp knife from the kitchen cupboard and told him he had to act in a few clips I needed. He was fine with being involved with the filming, as he was also the main actor for a previous short film I made, called Blood Rush earlier in the year. We went outside into the garden and filmed behind my garage late at night. We then came inside and got a few shots of him staring into the camera with his back against the titled wall in my bathroom.

Day 3. I asked my good friends (John and Ash) if one of them would be willing to help me film for maybe an hour on the morning. John said that he would be okay to do it for me, as I have helped him with some of his own projects in the past. I knew the exact shots that I wanted, so I knew filming wouldn't be too long. However, John told me that he didn't have a black hoodie and wasn't wearing the correct shoes, so I brought in a bag with a pair of my own black trainers and I also brought a black hoodie of my own, which he could wear for the shoot.

We walked down the road from college for a few minutes to a small spot I know of near the docks. The area was overloaded with rubble and was perfect for my filthy looking video. We experimented with different types of running shots that I could get, including turning the glide-cam upside down so I could run behind John easier, while still getting the shot.

But..

While recording a running shot, which involved me running directly behind my actor at intense speeds; I somehow couldn't stop myself and my legs continued to run as I had picked up momentum. I then ran completely past John and I ended up standing on an old plank of wood, which happened to have a large rusty nail on it. The force of my body coming down on the nail was quite painful, as the nail went straight through my shoe, my sock and then penetrated the sole of my foot.

I took off my shoe and checked my foot, which was bleeding quite heavily. However, I decided to continue filming for roughly 5 minutes, until we decided it was a wrap.

We walked back through college and I ended up sitting in a medical room with an old man touching my foot..

In the end, it actually took 5 different actors to play the one roll for the masked man it took 3 days of shooting in 6 unique locations. I put a lot of effort into the filming of this music video and it turned out to be a really interesting, weird, painful, but enjoyable experience and I already have plans to go and shoot more music videos for my portfolio.

Editing (11th - 12th June)

I knew what I wanted the video to look like before I started filming. I watched many of The Prodigy's music videos and sometimes I would count how long each shot stayed on for. I realised that I would realistically have to be cutting each clip every 1-2 seconds, roughly. This is why I was so stressed to get so much footage, as I knew it would be the worst feeling if I sat down to edit and didn't have enough to even fill the timeline.

I spent the majority of the second day on the colour grade for this video. It was a good learning experience, as I had never properly done this before. I learned how to use lots of different tools within Premiere Pro and some of the many effects and techniques used to create the perfect looking video.

I made a bold decision to make the close-up running shots highly contrasted and blurry. I also sped them all up by at least 10%, which added slightly more pace to those parts of the video.

Another thing that I liked doing in my edit was adding overly-shaky clips in, which could then be used as good transitions between locations, or sometimes just fillers to break up the black areas of video. However, I don't think they seem cheap in anyway. I think it's a kind of unique way of filming/editing, as people are usually so focused on keeping their images still and perfect-looking. I didn't use a tripod for the whole video and I personally think it works well.

I have quite a lot of experience in editing, as I have been editing together stock footage music videos since the start of this course at college and also filming and editing together loads of videos and films, me and my friends made when we were younger. I made sure that I cut to the beat of the song or just cut whenever the video started to become boring to watch. I wanted to keep a constant flow of changing images throughout the video, which would keep the viewers interested.

All in all, the edit took roughly two days to complete.

Risk Assessment and Permissions

I am quite used to sneaking into places for a cool photograph, so it wasn't really any different when it came to creating this video. This is sometimes called urban exploration, or 'urbex'. I knew of these really cool locations where I wanted to shoot, but I knew for definite that I would never be able to get the permits to legally go to these places; I also didn't have the time to wait around for letters to come through the post and documents to sign, nor did I have a budget of any kind. The locations were always going to be a huge part of the music video for me and I was never going to compromise on them, so I decided to go for it anyway.

What I did could have been classed as 'Guerrilla Film making'. This is very common with independent film makers who simply have no budget to buy permits or rent out locations. This type of film making is risky for many reasons, but can sometimes be the only possible way to get the shot you desperately want or need. According to Yukon Film Commission Manager, Mark Hill, "Guerrilla film making is driven by passion with whatever means at hand."

However, not everything was filmed without permission. I did actually have the right to film on location at Tall Trees, as it is owned by a friend of mine, which I mentioned earlier on. I also had the right to be filming near college, as it was a public place.

While filming, we did try to keep the risks as low as possible. We did this by letting people know where we were at all times, in case anything was to happen to us. I took lights where ever we went to keep visibility clear and I always carried a face mask in my backpack, just in case I feel like I shouldn't be breathing the unclean air. I had to use the mask a few times when filming this.

Portrait of me taken during filming.

There were obviously many risks that we took when we entered these unstable and often dangerous locations. We went out with basic understanding of what to do if any of us got injured, as it turned out I did while filming. In that case, we went to the medial room, but we also had a supply of anti-septic wipes and plasters in the bag. We also made sure that we both had fully charged phones, that we could use to contact each other if we separated and got lost. It meant we could call the emergency services if anything severe happened as well.

Finished Music Video