Song Choice
Randy Newman - When I'm Gone
Randy Newman - When I'm Gone
Song Title: When I'm Gone
Artist: Randy Newman
Writer: Randy Newman
Producer: NBC
Record Label: NBC Records
There are a number of reasons as to why I chose this particular video, but there are two key reasons which are most prominent:
- The song is not very well known - the track was written by Randy Newman for the final episode of the TV series Monk. This is a huge bonus, because it allows me to be very free with my video content and style. It also avoids the prospect of my work being similar to the official music video, because this song does not have one.
- The blues/jazz genre allows me to create a more artistic video, and following Goodwin's conventions will be much easier - for example, I can create more thematic as opposed to direct links between the lyrics/music and the visuals. The lyrics are shown below:
The time for us to say goodbye is near
The day I hoped would never come is here
And though many hearts are broken, we must somehow carry on
'Cause I think you're gonna miss me, when I'm gone
I thought my life was over when we met
So little to remember, so much to forget
Though it was you who saw me trough the darkness to the dawn
Still I think you're gonna miss me, when I'm gone
I'm a modest man and it hurts me
To say these things to you
But after all we've been through
It's the least that I can do
So instead of just goodbye I'll say so long
And as for the light by which you see me, leave it on
I'm a better man than I was before
Knowing you has made me strong
And I sure am gonna miss you, when I'm gone
Yes I sure am gonna miss you, when I'm gone
Genre Characteristics
Genre Characteristics
In order to begin planning my music video, I first had to identify the genre characteristics of my song choice in order to conform to the first point of Goodwin's Music Video Analysis. In order to do this, I looked at three other examples of music videos from the genre of my song choice - blues/jazz pop - and analysed them in order to identify some genre characteristics that emerged.
Jamie Cullum - High And Dry
John Legend - Ordinary People
Daniel Powter - Bad Day
From looking at these three examples, it became very easy to identify some characteristics which recurred throughout all the pieces. However, I felt that that strongest characteristics were the following four examples:
- There is an emphasis on artist as a skilled musician. All the artist above are shown throughout the music videos to be playing the piano, arguably the most common instrument of a solo blues/jazz musician. The skill is not only demonstrated by the playing that happens in the music video, but through the music as well.
- There is an emphasis on a artist stylisation, making the artist more individual and intellectual. All the artist have given there own personal touch to each video, with the most obvious example being in the John Legend music video, where the entire video is filmed in black and white. The Jamie Cullum video demonstrates a very mellow, serious mood, through both the narrative, the grey tint to the entire video and the use of the rooftop piano playing showing the New York skyline, and the Daniel Powter video uses the split-screen effect and the use of cartooning/doodling from both protagonists to suggest a more fun, upbeat style, whilst still retaining the maturity of the music.
- There is a heavy emphasis on narrative shown in all the pieces. The relationship between the narrative and the music and lyrics, however, is more thematic rather than directly linked to the lyrics themselves. High And Dry looks at the idea of how people become dependant upon others in order to satisfy attention seeking tendencies, and how it damages relationships as a result. This is epitomised through the use of the female character trying to save the male character, with their safety left uncertain at the end. Ordinary People is a song that clearly explores a troubled relationship, and so the use of the varying conflicts - the couple fighting, the parents fighting over the child and the family argument - all illustrate this idea. Finally, Bad Day looks at a very simple idea - how to cope with a bad day. This is illustrated by the two central characters living and working unfulfilled lives, but being brought together at last after a love spawns over a simple act of playful graffiti.
- There is recurring use of simple, but artistic special effects. In High And Dry, the use of slow-motion is the most prominent effect, which heightens the sense of uncertainty as to whether she will save him or not. In Ordinary People, it not only uses the black-and-white effect, but also uses focus pulls and frames the entire video in a smaller frame within the screen to give the effect of a living polaroid photo, which are simple, but very powerful effects. And in Bad Day, the use of the split-screen camera shots show the similarities and the coming together of the two central protagonists, whilst also giving an artistic feel to the piece.
Proposed Music Video Narrative
Narrative is of crucial importance to a music video, because the visuals are linked to both the music and visuals (a concept outlined by the second and third points of Goodwin's Music Video Analysis) and, as a result, a story is created from the video. In the song, the music creates a sad, almost melancholic feel, with the lyrics emphasising the feeling of loss that will be felt by both parties will feel "when I'm [the singer is] gone", but that cannot be fully expressed. I decided to extend the melancholic feel and the sense of loss with the narrative by making the singer appear to be leaving his partner, whilst reflecting in the problems of the relationship between them, and how he could never express his emotions fully. At the end, however, we discover that the singer is not actually present but just a ghost, which heightens the feeling of loss, because the singer will never have the chance to express his feelings.
Casting
The casting of this video was relatively simple, firstly because there are only two characters in the piece, and secondly because the characters are not described in the song, for example no hair colour or eye colour is stated, and can therefore do not have to have a certain look. So, in order to make the filming process as easy as possible, I chose to use myself and someone who would be easily available to be in the project.
Jason Kajdi - 18 years old
Role - Singer
Elizabeth Joyce - 18 years old
Role - Main Girl (Girlfriend)
Location Shoot
First Location Shoot
I initially wanted to use this location to create the environment of a young couple's apartment, whilst being able to use the balcony to create the opening shot that i wanted. However, I felt the apartment was too bright for the melancholic feel of the piece and the size of the flat prevented me from obtaining the shots that I wanted, so the location had to be changed.
Second Location Shoot
I chose this location over the previous one, because house itself not only was bigger and had an large patio and back garden, meaning the variety and size of shots could be increased, but the colours within the house where far more neutral i.e. white, black and pale tones, and therefore kept the homely aesthetic, but allowed the melancholic feel of the piece to be shown in the house through the more muted colours.
Equipment List
In terms of equipment, there are two essential types that I needed - the first being technical recording equipment and the second being props and scenery.
Technical Equipment:
- Video Camera (Panasonic HDC-SD80)
- Tripod (Miranda Titan 606)
Props
- Glass Tumbler
- Piano
The props for this video are very minimal, because most of the necessary items needed for the mise-en-scene of the video are already in the setting. Also, the amount of light in the location is good, and therefore only the camera and a tripod are needed.
Shot List
The shot list below outlines the stages at which shots and sections of the narrative will change:
Pre-Song
A medium full-length shot of a man looking out into an evening/night sky, interspersed with an long shot of the same man fading into a room and sitting down at the piano.
0:00 - 0:16 (Intro Part 1)
Cut to medium close-up of a man staring out at sky. He turns and enters the house from a low angle shot with a tumbler full of whiskey at the front of the shot, with the focus on the tumbler. Cut away to high-angle medium shot of man taking glass from the table.
0:17 - 0:29 (Intro Part 2)
Jump cut to close-up of each photo on the table which the glass was taken, showing photos of the man and his girlfriend together at various places.
0:30 - 0:56 (First Verse)
Medium high-angle and straight shots of the man climbing the stairs, interspersed with medium/long-range shots of the man at the piano, out-of-focus.
0:57 - 1:24 (Second Verse)
Low-angle and straight shots of the man sitting on bed just in front of where his girlfriend is sleeping, interspersed with close-up profile shots of the man playing piano. Close-up of the man kissing his girlfriend on forehead.
1:25 - 1:36 (Bridge)
Shots of man getting dressed into suit, with shots on various points - extreme close-ups on each cufflink; medium close-up of him putting on his tie; medium close-up from behind of him putting on his jacket; medium close-up of him putting on his overcoat; high-angle close-up on lacing up of his shoes.
1:37 - 2:03 (Third Verse)
High-angle medium shot of the man looking in the mirror, turning to reveal his girlfriend still sleeping on the bed, interspersed with close-up profile shots of the man playing piano. Low-angle medium shot of him turning to leave with tumbler in hand.
2:04 - 2:14 (Last Line, Second Time Round)
Extreme close-up of tumbler falling to the ground, low-angle medium shot of girl sitting upright then leaning down towards the tumbler. Cut to close-up profile shot of the tumbler, cut-away to high-angle shot of the girlfriend looking at glass. Interspersed with close-up profile shots of the man playing piano.
2:15 - 2:28 (Outro)
Medium shot of girl placing down tumbler on sideboard, in front of the camera. Cut to long shot, showing the the man has disappeared. Back to medium/long-range shot of the man out of focus at the piano.
Post-Song
Back to first long shot of man at piano. As he gets up to leave, he fades away. Fade to black.
