In week 3’s class, we learned about three point lighting.  Which includes Key light, fill light, back/kick light and reflective light. Three-point lighting is a standard method used in visual media such as theatre, video, film, still photography and computer-generated imagery. By using three separate positions, the photographer can illuminate the shot’s subject (such as a person) however desired, while also controlling (or eliminating entirely) the shading and shadows produced by direct lighting. Rohan also showed us several example about how to set up a unique light in terms of creating different camera effect. Also in different location use for different needs. The key light, as the name suggests, shines directly upon the subject and serves as its principal illuminator; more than anything else, the strength, color and angle of the key determines the shot’s overall lighting design. The fill light also shines on the subject, but from a side angle relative to the key and is often placed at a lower position than the key (about at the level of the subject’s face). The back light (a.k.a. the rim, hair, or shoulder light) shines on the subject from behind, often (but not necessarily) to one side or the other. It gives the subject a rim of light, serving to separate the subject from the background and highlighting contours.

This interview was about Dawn Shadforth talking about the idea and the process of how they complete this incredible music video “Light”. In the beginning, Theo sent the song track to Dawn, tell her that he wanted to dance in this music video. They discussed this idea with Paul Roberts which is the choreographer. Dawn think this music is very cinematic and emotive. She feel the lyrics of the song, and the switch between melancholy and then choruses which are more euphoric and romantic. Dawn feels what she can feel from the song and the lyrics, and created the theme called “we have all been there”, it wasn’t really based on a specific personal experience but definitely informed by many experiences. Dawn has to come up with the story first, and then added another layer to the concept. After all this story set up and Dawn invited Alex Noble to be the costume designer. Also for this music video, since it has a lot of dance movement in it,

In Monday’s class, Rohan introduced one of the famous female music video director from British, Dawn Shadforth, as well as an editor and artist. We watched Shadforth directing breakthrough with the Kylie Minogue video,  “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”. This video is well known for its tight choreography as well as for featuring Minogue in a deceptively revealing white costume with a plunging neckline and wide open front. We also watched the “Lights” by Hurts. I kind of enjoyed this video. It combined some dance with a little bit of narrative form. And obviously the theme is on lights, so the post production was very focused on lights part. Also the point why Rohan showed this music video to us is because this video has a lot of camera movement, compare to the traditional shooting of music video. Also in today’s class, we learned a lot things about the camera settings and what mode we should have on our camera for shooting in slow motions. How to set up the white balance, etc. As well as some mistakes that we should avoid during the shooting process. For our final music video project, we finally locked our song down, and we ask three singers of this song to act in our music video. We choosed some location and we are going to list out what kind of the tools and costumes that we need for our shooting. We will going to prepare all the stuff that we need before 25th of November, then we could begin to shoot after next week.

In the first class of the Egg hunting studio, after we watched several music videos are directed by Anton Corbijn. We had some discussion on what do we need to made the video, also the budgetary. We also did a very fun exercise about drawing a picture of a scene, but use the  shadow drawing, to outline the main character’s feature or to show the scene of the story. After that, the professor selected some students’ work, and tried to photoshop a background into the picture. Kind of giving an idea for us to image how does some of the scenes made of from music video. We can definitely use this idea into our music video, if our concept is an non narrative, we could adapt this technique into our video and to create an interesting effect.

This week’s reading is about different form of music videos. Music video presents a range all the way from extremely abstract videos emphasizing color and movement to those that convey a story.  Most videos tend to be nonnarrative. Music video do not embody complete narrative or convery finely wrought stories for numerous reasons. Usually it contains a cyclical or episodic scene. The music video cannot be made like a movie, the story should not be too eye-catching, otherwise the audience will put the wrong emphasis on the story rather than music itself. If it has a story, it should only exists in the dynamic relation between the song and the image. For the first part, from narrative to nonnarrative, there are three main concepts should be contained in the music video, which are showcasing the star, reflecting the lyrics and underscoring the lyrics. As many music video, the narrative elements are established in the opening images. One of the example is “Crazy” by Aerosmith. It create the semblance of narrative through a clever technique- characters lack dialogue. Marty callner did not blunting the narrative drive by incorporate incidents involving the women and the band of using performance footage of the band. Compare to narrative music video, nonnative music video tend to create a sense of pleasure but also anxiety and trauma. There is no such thing as who, what, where, when, how or why. Michael Jackson’s “ Thriller” is an example where each shot possesses its own truth value. Music-video directors add richness and complexity to the simple structures of processes and lists in several ways. The technique of using several threads of material that intersect later works well for constructing music videos. A consideration of a video’s use of processes, threads, and contamination is helpful for analyzing videos that we judge as narrative.

After I had the first class on Monday, I have further understanding of what is this studio about. By understanding and learning the history of music video, thus to have a sense of been inspired by the previous experience and to create a music video with a group. As a media major student, I am really glad that I enrolled this course. Because I think that through the learning process of this studio, we will be able to gain a lot of knowledge and experience that are related to our major. To be able to make a music video we need to have many skills, such as shooting skills, organizing preliminary idea, post-production, etc., I feel this studio is very practical, it will laid a foundation for us to engage in relevant media industry and will help us accumulate experience. In addition to these practical experience, class discussion of different periods of MV, will help us to gain a deeper understanding of the history of the history of Music video, to recognized more the influence of different music videos on the media industry in different periods. My goals of this course is that though the discussion and study of this class, integrate with my team member, hope to have a satisfying work in the end of this studio. I will found out my strength and use it, also learn from others. Aim to create a sophisticated and inventive music video productions, also develop teamwork skills and a professional working relationship with outside client. To explore and reflect on the manner in which music video production intersects with other media practices.