It amazes me how many times I go into a project, and how many lessons I take away from it in the end. Because I have fallen in love with music videos, and want to pursue it as a career I am trying to collect the ones I love the most. This video by Ryan Playground catches everything I wish I did in Miami and more.
Here are some:
1. Take way way way more shots of random things (B Roll)
2. Slow the fram rate down (60 fps) for slomo
3. Utilize the artist whenever he/she is not singing. Just shoot them walking around. It will come out nice in the long run
With every video I watch, I learn that there is always a certain style that I can take away from it.
In less than 11 months, "American Reflexxx" has accrued 1.5 million views on YouTube. The video, a social experiment by artists (and couple) Signe Pierce and Alli Coates, follows Pierce the night she strolled Myrtle Beach wearing just sky-high neon green heels, a micro mini-dress, and a chrome face mask. Against a backdrop of blinking amusement rides and technicolor souvenir shops, Pierce is spat at, verbally assaulted, tripped, hit on, laughed at, run away from, called a man, and pushed to the ground by total strangers-- all in less than an hour.
I first saw Pierce's work--as a self-proclaimed "reality artist"--on Instagram. In an onslaught of colors pulled from the Lisa Frank ads of yesteryear, she aims to question traditional notions of gender and sexuality and disrupt patriarchy, capitalism, homophobia, and other societal tendencies. "American Reflexxx," specifically, brings attention to the terrifying reality of transphobia and mob mentalities in the US.
The production is markedly low-budget, Coates recording with a single handheld camera and only editing the clip's speed. Both the editing, the theme, and the aesthetic of this video remind me of Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, an homage to the gritty (but beautiful) reality of drug- and sex-dominated beach cultures.
"American Refluxxx" is uncomfortable to watch, and that's the point. By also being weirdly mesmerizing, Pierce manages to gets eyes on her works and--more importantly--minds on her various troublesome subject matters. And 1.5 millions minds realizing how tragic and warped the behavior in "American Refluxxx" is, is a start in the direction of positive change.
Since taking over Late Night and later the Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon has pretty much created the manual for how TV personalities should utilize social media. In today's world, it had become much more rare for viewers to sit down and watch television live. With Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and other subscription based streaming services, the appeal of live TV just isn't what it used to be. So for shows to get into public view, they need to take advantage of all the mediums now available. While all programs should utilize Youtube, Facebook and Twitter, I would argue that it is most valuable for talk show and late night programs. These type of programs often play more like variety shows then one long piece, making them perfect for Internet. With so many different blocks/segments on late night TV, internet videos services are the perfect way to share chunks of the show without having to push the entire hour of content.
Over the last few years, no late night personality has done this better then Jimmy Fallon. A staple of Fallon's Tonight Show has been his many different comedy bits. Fallon consistently rolls off hugely popular segments, with great celebrity cameos and his popular band The Roots. He does everything from funny games, to musical numbers, to surprise reunions. Each of these 2-10 minute segments, instantly goes on to Youtube, where they are viewed, and shared and a rapid rate. These blocks are perfect for Youtube and almost always build enough buzz to start trending on social media. The great thing about sharing these individual segments is that they show the greatest part of Fallon's show while allowing viewers to skip the rest of his program. On a show like the Tonight show that airs five times a week, not every bit hits, but with Youtube, Fallon fans can skip the mediocre parts, pretty much getting a best of highlight reel instead.
Last night, Fallon continued his streak of popular segments, when he reunited Kenan and Kel, popular Nickelodeon stars from the 90's for a "Good Burger" sketch. A big chunk of the Tonight Show's audience has been college students, a group the Fallon usually plays to in his segments. During his run he has staged a series of 90 reunions from "Full House", to "Save By The Bell." These videos have millions of views on Youtube and I'm sure his latest bit will reach high numbers. The "Good Burger" sketch is just the latest example of how Fallon uses perfectly utilizes YouTube, something I'm sure we'll see more of during his reign.
Jimmy Fallon used to host Late Night With Jimmy Fallon before he took over for Jay Leno and became the host of The Tonight Show. Since he has taken over he has completely raised the show to new heights and increased the ratings immensely. Steve Allen started as host and was succeeded by Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and now Jimmy Fallon.
Starting on Saturday Night Live Jimmy Fallon has been a well known name for a while, and he's stolen the hearts of many people that watch him. Since he has been host, he has brought a youthful vibe back to the show and many entertainment and comedy based sketches. He's done various fun skits including, classroom instrument versions of songs with famous music artists and lip-sync battles with celebrities such as Emma Stone and Joseph-Gordon Levitt. He's "mom-danced" with Michelle Obama, done 90's dance sketches with Will Smith, created the famous "EW!" video with Will.I.Am, and so many other famous skits that people quote on the daily.
Fallon was named Entertainment Weekly's 2014 Entertainer of the Year and the viewership of the show has gone up 31% since Jay Leno hosted the show last. He's had guests range from Taylor Swift, to the late Joan Rivers, to Nicole Kidman and Bill Cosby. With all of the excitement of this show, not only viewership has sky rocketed, but also social media. The Tonight Show twitter raised from 514,000 to 1.8 million followers and went from 1.5 to 5.2 million subscribers on Youtube. The Tonight Show is one of my favorite shows to watch on weekday nights, and it's a show that a lot of people look forward to every day as well. It has a laid back vibe filled with plenty of jokes, musical numbers, and famous guests and it's never boring to watch. Jimmy Fallon has brought late night television back to life and made it 10 times better.
On March 16th, singer Meghan Trainor released yet another romanticized 50's-era music video titled "Dear Future Husband". Trainor has a number of other well-known songs such as "All About That Bass" and "Lips are Movin". While many of her songs are very catchy to most listeners, I believe that the video representations of her songs are wildly ineffective and go against all progress that women have made in the past 60 years. It was not only her choice of lyrics, but the artistic choices in the video made that were a bit off.
I can see why some people might like the video; there are a lot of fast cuts and a billion costume changes, but I think all those elements were just a distraction from the fact that the song is really really terrible. There are a lot of pop-y colors that don't look good together at all, and overall the video is just one big clusterf*ck of old-school romantic gestures and Trainor bopping around from side to side. I just want to ask the director why they think Trainor going out with all these guys who do something the teensiest bit wrong calls for her to dump them? The storyline of the music video just doesn't make sense at all.
The lyrics are also very confusing. Just an example of some of the lines from the song are, "take me on a date, I deserve it babe, and don't forget the flowers every anniversary / Cause if you treat me right I'll be the perfect wife, buying groceries, buy-buying what you need". These lyrics are just bringing back themes women were forced to follow mid-century, because that was the "norm".
According to an October Rolling Stone interview that her newest album is all about how she wants to be treated with respect by her future partners. While this is a very relevant theme for women all over, her latest video regresses to 50's-era ideals of everything being about the man first.
Throughout the video, Trainor is shown doing various "housewife" activities, such as washing the floor, cooking, and waiting in the bedroom; all for her "future husband". A number of things are wrong with this picture. First off, this girl is only 21 years old and singing about her future husband. You're young, successful, and well-known! Go and write some songs about women deserving equal pay and not needing a husband, instead of this bullcrap about everything your future husband needs to do. You are a popular celebrity in the 21st century and you have the power to make a difference through your creations.
If you so desire, watch the music video yourself and see what I mean.
The Pentatonix are an amazing a cappella group that became famous by winning the third season of The Sing-Off. They combined in 2013 with Todrick Hall, a semi-finalist on American Idol and a YouTube star to create a music video based off the classic movie, The Wizard of Oz. In a sensational way they managed to use modern songs to tell a six minute version of this movie. They of course included the films most renowned song, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, at the end of the video. The lighting was a mixture of flat and natural elements that brought out different feelings throughout the length of the video. For example, it was very bright during the Munchkin City sequence since it was supposed to be happier, and used a lot of darker and green lighting when they met the Wizard of Oz since it was supposed to appear more sinister. One thing that definitely stood out was the coloring. In the beginning, the colors were very desaturated and a sepia tone to go along with the theme of being on a farm during that specific time period. It very closely followed the coloring of the original movie. When it transforms from the drab farm to the land of Oz, the colors become very bright and saturated and make it seem more mystical and dreamlike. The editing of this video consisted of a lot of dissolves into the dreamlike state and cuts when the actions were supposed to be portrayed as more chaotic. They used a lot of closeups of the different characters which really enhanced their presence. Obviously, the main part of this video is sound, and a lot of it is diegetic. It is seen on screen because everything that you hear is coming out of the mouths of the singers and beat boxer. The sound that is created is the motivator for all of the actions on screen and the music describes what they are doing in a creative and different way.
Tony, the man behind the youtube channel Every Frame a Painting released a new video this week specializing in Jackie Chan. If you haven't seen any one of his other videos I can't recommend them enough, they are very well edited and Tony knows a lot about all kinds of films. But what I found interesting in his new video is how action and comedy are quite similar. In terms of how they should be filmed to get the best reaction and how showing everything is always better. Just like a joke showing the action and in the same frame showing the reaction is the best way to pull everything out of the picture. If someone is hit on screen showing the hand and then the reaction from the hit draws more effect from the audience. The video goes on to explain more about the differences in action between American and Asian films. The editing in Hollywood for action has become more about cutting from one shot right as they get hit to the next. Tony goes on to explain that in many asian action films editing has been used to alter the continuity of each hit. So as someone throws a hit the hit is quickly shown and then cut to close up and quickly see the hit again. With only a couple frames it's barely noticeable but adds an extra force behind each hit. I find it extremely interesting how editing can be used in this way and can not wait for Every Frame a Painting's next video.
Today, October 24th, 2014, White Bird in a Blizzard premieres in theaters everywhere. The new film directed and adapted by Greg Araki, takes place in 1988, focusing on a 17 year old girl whose life turns upside down within one day. The film stars Shailene Woodley playing Kat Connor, the main character.
I first saw this advertised this summer after following a Shailene Woodley blog. The new starlet has been in multiple blockbusters within the last year. One movie that has brought her a lot of attention was Divergent. And shortly after this The Fault in Our Stars, which audiences fell in love with and the performance of her character, Hazel Grace. Shailene being one of my favorite new Hollywood actresses has really come a long way since the days of The Secret Life of an American Teenager. And after seeing the trailer for this new film she is starring in, I see a different person completely.
In White Bird in a Blizzard there are some risky scenes that Shailene stars in. The movie seems to open up with Kat and her first big relationship. She's exploring love for the first time and all the fun that comes with it. However after her mother disappears, and a series of many events unfold, Kat is seen with a much older man in the trailer. Another man that she is trying to somewhat be sexually involved in. There are also scenes where Shailene is completely topless in front of the camera. This is something that I would have never expected Shailene to play. The character is much more exposed than previous characters that she has played. However I think this film, although it has not been promoted nearly as much as The Fault in Our Stars, or Divergent, it will help build her career in a great way.
Although I have not seen it yet, I definitely plan to, I was curious what critics have rated it as. IMDB gave it a rating of a 6.6/10. Not nearly amazing, but not completely horrible. Rotten Tomatoes did give it a 57%. After seeing that rating, I am starting to question what about this movie could have gone wrong. Seeing the trailer I was immediately intrigued. It starts off with a teen finding love for the first time, however her world is turned into completely disaster once her already weird mother disappears. It goes from a romance to a suspenseful film almost immediatly. And the story was adapted from the novel by Laura Kasischke, which scored a 3.6/5 from googlereads, which again isn't completely horrible. I'm wondering if maybe they did not structure the narrative as well as they could. Did they not have a great setup that followed into a convincing catalyst? Were there not enough obstacles that Kat had to face in order to find her mother? And also, how close was the screenplay to the novel?
All of these questions I'm dying to find out. When I saw the trailer, I expected a great movie, and I still do. Hopefully the critics are wrong and it is a great movie.
If you have not watched the trailer yet, I suggest you do.
If you have never heard of Todrick
Hall, let me explain to you just how cool he is. Todrick is a YouTube sensation
and an amazing choreographer, dancer, and musician. One of my favorite videos
he has done is Cinderfella; a parody on the classic Cinderella love story. The
video that I am referring to though, has a different impact than some of
Todrick’s other videos. This video is a creative publicity and advertising tool
created by him in partnership with Virgin America Airlines. We all know how
monotonous and boring the safety instructions at the beginning of a flight can
be, but Virgin America and Todrick Hall decided to turn that around and make it
a fun and entertaining experience. This video is just another example of
Todrick’s brilliance, considering he choreographed and created the entire idea.
Not only did this video go viral, but
Virgin America is now able to use this videos on all of their flights. This
might encourage travelers to choose Virgin next time they are planning a trip.
Not only is this a great move for
Virgin America, but it is also positive for Todrick. Him doing this video was
just another tool for him to get his name out there. Being associated with this
large company was a smart move to further propel his career.
I think
this safety video is a very clever idea. The song is catchy and the dance is
creative. I think it is a great promotional tool and something that other
airlines might consider doing when evaluating their informational process. Not
only would I recommend this video purely for entertainment, but I would also
suggest that you take a look at some of Todrick’s other work. Below is the
Virgin America video, as well as Cinderfella, which I mentioned earlier.
My most recent artist obsession has become Timeflies Tuesday. They are unique and I love listening to their music. Recently they came out with a youtube video called "Let it Go," it is a cover of the song from Frozen, however has it's own spin on it. Cal, the lead singer pulls a Disney movie out of a hat and has to incorporate it into the song. It is smart, creative and super catchy. Not only was the song very well done, but so were some of the camera shots. There were extreme close ups of guitars and drums that were sick! They were perfectly in focus and you could see the string vibrate while some powder fell off of the strings. The editing was awesome and flowed. The combination of the amazing song and the camera shots made this music video very much worth watching. I recommend taking a look(especially my fellow Frozen fans out there)
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is probably one of my
favorite videos on YouTube. Although there are many reasons why this short is
so great, the main one in my opinion is that it makes me smile. For those of
you who have not seen it before, I’ll give you a little idea on what it’s
about. Both videos are about a tiny little conch shell with shoes on named
Marcel. It is basically as if someone is interviewing this little shell and
asking him all about his life. The voice of Marcel is also one of the reasons
this video is so cute. He has a high-pitched little voice that really adds a
punch to all of his one-liners. The second video is basically the same thing,
just with some different jokes. All in all, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
might not be for everyone. But if you enjoy cute little videos to help you pass
the time, these are definitely for you.
One of my, and sure many other people’s, favorite things to
do is waste time on the Internet watching silly videos. One of my top searches
lately, is the React videos from TheFineBros. These guys are two brothers that
create various videos showing different age groups reacting to different forms
of viral media. My favorite specifically is Elder’s React. These videos feature
different senior citizens, and their reactions to these videos and games. After
they watch or play whatever it is that the episode is about, they are asked a
series of questions, and the result is usually really funny. Here are a couple
examples of Elders React:
I think the reason that these videos are so effective is
because they reach many different demographics of humor. Because there are
different categories from young children, to older adults,all of the videos are very different and can
reach people with different tastes in YouTube videos. I also have a soft spot
for older adults, and watching them interact with technology is very
interesting and funny to me. It reminds me of my grandmother, and having to
teach her how to use Skype every time I call her. I would highly recommend
these videos to anyone who enjoys humor and silly videos that can help get you
through the day.
