Link to original song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX42_3ZKv8c
Music Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuxEMxQP02w&feature=youtu.be
At the end of Year 12, my class and I were given a task to complete over the summer holiday which was to create our own music video using an already existing song.
The song that I chose was the version of the "Alabama Song" performed by the Doors (1966). I don't really know what made me choose this song. I think the reason for this is because the song could be seen as quite depressing which fit with the style I was comfortable with and also I found it easy to remember the lyrics after a couple listens.
Lyrics:
Well, show me the way
To the next whisky bar
Oh, don't ask why
Oh, don't ask why
Show me the way
To the next whisky bar
Oh, don't ask why
Oh, don't ask why
For if we don't find
The next whisky bar
I tell you we must die
I tell you we must die
I tell you, I tell you
I tell you we must die
Oh, moon of Alabama
We now must say goodbye
We've lost our good old mama
And must have whisky, oh, you know why
Oh, moon of Alabama
We now must say goodbye
We've lost our good old mama
And must have whisky, oh, you know why
Well, show me the way
To the next little girl
Oh, don't ask why
Oh, don't ask why
Show me the way
To the next little girl
Oh, don't ask why
Oh, don't ask why
For if we don't find
The next little girl
I tell you we must die
I tell you we must die
I tell you, I tell you
I tell you we must die
Oh, moon of Alabama
We now must say goodbye
We've lost our good old mama
And must have whisky, oh, you know why
The two following images are the storyboards that I created for my music video. While I didn't follow it completely, by the end I felt I had stuck to these as closely as I could since I realised while filming that some of these moments wouldn't have worked.
The pictures below are ones that were taken over the summer to help me plan my music video by letting me know how far I was relative to the camera.
Analysis:
The video opens with a shot of the sky before panning down to a close-up of the side of my face. A tracking shot begins as I walk and lip-sync. It cuts to a close-up of me walking towards the camera. It dissolves to a POV shot as I walk towards a pub and then zoom in on it.
The video dissolves into another shot of the sky before panning down again on me sitting down outside by a table with a whiskey bottle and shot glass. After a bit of lip-syncing I also begin to pour a glass of whiskey and drink it while continuing to lip-sync.
The video then begins to show stills of the whiskey bottle getting more and more empty as the next verse starts. It then cuts to an extreme close-up of my mouth lip-syncing the song. It cuts to an extreme close-up of my eyes, before cutting to a medium shot of me standing against a wall. Once the verse is finished, I look down as the camera pans up.
The video cuts to me opening the whiskey bottle and drinking the remnants of it before turning to a low-angle shot. I then turn back to a medium shot before throwing the bottle. The video ends with a close-up of the bottle smashing in slow-motion.
This video was intended to show that the alcoholic was fully dependent on the whiskey but because of my facial expression, was never happy with it.
The entire video is shot in black and white to give a depressing atmosphere to the video and song which I think works terrifically for something that I didn't originally intend.
Behind the Scenes:
I consider my music video to be quite simple in how its shot. Recording the video either took place in town or at my house. I think that the shots weren't the most visually interesting as I put more emphasis on the lip-syncing which I think went quite well.
The types of camera work that I used in this video include; panning, tracking shots, medium shots, low-angle shots, POV shots and close-ups.
I decided that I would be the only person in the video. Originally I considered having others in the video as well but I changed my mind as just having me in the video would make it easier as only I had to memorise the lyrics and I wouldn't have to worry about the others not being able to film.
While planning out the video with the storyboards above, I always planned to film the video at town and my house as there wasn't anywhere else that was needed for the video.
I ran into problems with the weather throughout the summer as well as the lighting never being right for the shots at my house. It was because of these issues that I wasn't able to get a good shot of the moon.
The final shot was the most frustrating to shoot as I had to go through 3 bottles until I had a version that looked right.
Another part of the video that was annoying was the shots that I took at town. The original ones were taken before I had the music playing so I had to lip-sync from the top of my head. Needless to say it didn't fit. So I had to re-shoot them which ended up working because I had the song playing while I was singing along.
I edited this video with an app on my IPhone called IMovie. It was pretty simple to use as it allowed me to cut the individual shots easily and sync them up with the music.
When editing the video together, I came to the decision that it would all be in black and white. While it made the fact that I was drinking cold tea irrelevant and I could of averted all the trouble that came along with that, I think it fit the mood for the song.
Conclusion:
As I mentioned above, I think that I stuck as closely as I could with my original idea for this video as I had to get rid of bits for time and practicality. I think that the video came together quite nicely and it was somewhat surprising that I had to cut out some scenes from it since the video became too long.
I think the part that I'm happiest with was the close-up of my mouth while lip-syncing, the reason for this was because the audio matched up with my lip movements very well.
The part that I think could have been improved was the moment near the end when I threw the bottle and then the cut to the bottle smashing. I think that the editing there didn't look quite right. The reason for this is because they were two different bottles, with the one I threw in the former bit didn't smash on camera as it bounced off the wall.
In conclusion, while there were many annoyances in filming and editing, I think my music video was better than what I thought it would be. The reason for this is because I wasn't very confident in my ability to edit the footage together however at certain points, it blended together almost seamlessly.
