On Friday 24th June we met music video director Jake Wynne to discuss the video that we will be producing with him this summer. It was really interesting to meet a director and hear his story about working his way into the industry - especially as he came from our school! I'm really looking forward to working with him, I know it will be an amazing experience and I will learn so much!
As a director and editor, Jake has worked on many high-profile music videos, such as Geri Halliwell's 'It's Raining Men' and Najahoda's first video.
Key points I learnt from the meeting:
- The music video is all about creating a brand for the singer - it isn't just about complimenting the music, it must have a marketing purpose.
- It is important to plan the day thoroughly to make the best use of the time available
- Continuity is not neccessary in music videos, unlike film
- In girl bands, each member must have equal screen time!
- Beauty shots are a neccesity in music videos - they portray the artist well and attract fans
Premiered in August 2002, this music video was directed by Jamie Thraves.
This video is particularly striking for its reverse narrative – the singer Chris Martin moves in reverse through a city, and into the countryside to a crashed car, while still singing the song correctly (not in reverse).
INSTANT IMPACT
The video begins with a close-up aerial shot of Chris Martin. The unusual viewpoint and his extremely bright blue eyes are surprising and as the camera zooms out, the audience are drawn in, eager to see where the character is. At first, it is not obvious that the video is being filmed in reverse, however when the singer seems to jump up and we see him walking backwards, the audience realise that this music video is not filmed and edited in the traditional way.
NON-LINEAR EDITING
The element is the most interesting and the ‘wow-factor’ of this video, is the fact that it was filmed and edited in reverse. This is atypical and unique.
REPETITIONS
Although there aren’t that many repeated scenes in this music video, the fact that in the different scenes Martin is picking up pieces of a suit until he builds up a complete one, ties the video together.
STRONG SENSE OF ARTIST IDENTITY
Throughout the video, we only see Chris Martin walking and singing – we don’t see the band playing. This means that the story and the visuals are given more importance, although they still link to the song through the main character singing. In this way, the video is still a performance of the track, but also has an added narrative layer. This also suggests that Chris Martin is the lead performer in the band: the lead singer and the face of Coldplay.
A PERFORMANCE
The main character in the video narrative is singing the song as he walks, so performaing it to the audience while still portraying a believable story/situation.
VISUAL PLEASURES
The reverse action/forward singing is very striking and interesting, and definitely the WOW-FACTOR of this Coldplay video. It is memorable and very successfully created.
PROVOKE A REACTION
The unsual reverse editing and filming effect puzzles the audience and leaves them in awe at how the song can be sung forwards, while the action is backwards. This effect marks this video as unique from typical music videos that either just show a performance or a story.
WORKS ON DIFFERENT LEVELS
The narrative displayed through this visual addition to the song is touching and shocking. As the narrative is played in reverse, the audience are slowly given clues as to what is happening, drawing them in until the final shocking story. This ending is sad and touching, especially as it fades to black. This makes the song as well as the video more memorable. The themes of death and injury are gritty and emotional and provide the audience with an interpretation of the lyrics.
POP CULTURE
The video features Chris Martin, famous lead singer of the band Coldplay, and an award-winning Irish actress, Elaine Cassidy. Martin is known globally, while featuring an Irish actress would appeal to the British audience, especially an Irish one. The music video also includes some typically mise-en-scene elements that could be ‘pop-culture’ references – they help to establish a setting: graffiti, skate-park, a high-street and people playing basketball. These also give the video a gritty, tough feel.
