Resolution 1, Artist Inspiration and Research for Style

So far I have developed my idea in terms of the concept and the technical aspects mainly however I need to look into style now. I have images in my head of how I want it to look but I need to start demonstrating and developing that so I will start by looking into art which has similar styles that inspire me:

Bonobo - Cirrus (Directed by Cyriak, 2013)



This is just one of Bonobs music videos which I really love for stylistic and technical reasons. All his videos push the boundaries focusing purely on experimental techniques and narrative. This video appealed to me an inspiration for this project because of the collaging and kaleidoscope effect which is used to manipulate the otherwise normal archive footage. This is the way I imagined myself using real footage (not of children) and manipulating it in post to create this effect of lots of combined imagery. This is to portray the build up and organised chaos I felt within the situation I'm portraying.

Bonobo - Kerala (Directed by Bison, 2016)



This is again another one of Bonobos Music videos which I really like. This one inspires me for this project purely from a technical editing aspect. I really appreciate how again this video is trying to tell a story but in an experimental way that I have never seen before. It is how repetition has been used as a wonderful way to enhance but effect and manipulate the sort we are seeing. I like the idea of using repetition maybe not in this exact same way but similarly to draw more attention to particular clips and symbols I will use that I feel are more important and need to be viewed more than once to understand. Its all about the emphasis given by this effect and they way it revels more to you giving you more chances to see and interpret things.

Nanook of the North - Panda Eyes (Directed by Storm + Shelter, 2014)



This is another music video which demonstrates a lot of visuals that I love. I also like how all this simplistic but stunning visuals are actually telling a story to us as well which goes with the music. The visuals are captured in an elegant style using macro and slow motion effects like what I have been considering. I also like this video because again it demonstrates the possibilities of projection as a way of showing my video to people because this video actually using projection as a large element of it through ice. This video is very elegantly put together and I feel like the visuals could fit into the type of symbolism Im trying to capture for my own.

Ink in Motion (Created by Macro Room, 2017)



Even though this video/technique could be considered quite cliche now in short films as it is used quite heavily this video has inspired me to think of new ways I can use colours in water especially through macro with the possibility of setting up little scenes within it. These are the kind of strong visuals I want which really make you observe them and go wow and beauty which you would have never realised. Obviously if I can capture and create strong visuals which work like these and then put them within my story it will emphasis my concept and make it even more experiential.

Everyday Objects in Macro (Created by Macro Room, 2016)



This video stood out again for the technical aspect of it. I just love how these objects in macro can suddenly be transformed from an everyday object to something visually striking. This would be a really great way of filming objects and even people for my video without giving away any identities or any major hints at divorce. I want my video to be subtle but visually impacting travelling on a  journey and by examining the palms of the hand for example it can help show a person in a new aspect which is exactly what the divorce did.

These videos are my stylistic inspiration amongst the other research carried out so far as to how I am planning to shoot the video. I know that there are a lot technical challenges with some of the things I want to film like slow motion and macro but I feel like as long as I carry out experiments and plan this thoroughly with my crew it will all be achievable.

Resolution 1, Technological Research and Installation/Presentation Ideas

As Ive said prior to this I wanted to keep this piece functional as a music video however my real interest in presenting it is to find a way to install the video to kale an audio visual experience and atmosphere when the viewers see and listens to it. However I need to research into ways that this might be possible through the technology and space available and also if so what skills do I need to learn and adapt. I began finding examples of others artist who had done interesting installation and presentation like this and how they had done this (re-visiting some previous artists as well):

Ben Stokes

I came across the artist, filmmaker and man of many talents Ben Stokes when I was looking into the live visuals for musician DJ Shadow. He is the man responsible for the amazing visuals which I witnessed live and loved. Here some images and video of the live shows he created for DJ Shadows performances:

Shadowsphere, Border Crossing from Ben Stokes on Vimeo.

The visuals created in this type of perforce he does are all projected onto the backdrops and the stage which is how he manages to make the images so seamlessly flow across screens and objects combine everything together. Also regarding the bottom image it shows a mesh screen up which then has images on it infant if the DJ. This was again done with a projector that was based on the stage pointing upwards towards the audience to create this image on the mesh. However what is more inserting is that the projectors he uses are so strong that not only does it project in front of the stage but this same image is projected above the audience when it hits the roof. This makes it even more exciting because the performer and the audience is surrounded. I know that he uses projectors, backdrops and mesh screens to create this effect but I don't know how specifically you could make it all match up so well but then I found work of his based on buildings like this:

I have come across this technique before in research and know that the way films are projected so carefully onto buildings is due to process of light mapping or projection mapping. This is a process I have never tried before but have found inspiration from before because projections on such a scale like this I find to be very effective. Ben Stokes skills in light mapping are extraordinary and would explain how he is able so effectively to create immersive and experimental visuals for indoor shows as well.

Light/Projection Mapping

This has led me to now look into light mapping as a process but also at some more art pieces created using light mapping. Here are some other pieces I find inspirational and exciting:

Projection on the Bridge - Immersive Surfaces - As Above, So Below from Light Harvest Studio - Ryan Uzi on Vimeo.


Projections on the New Museum from Light Harvest Studio - Ryan Uzi on Vimeo.

Both these peices were created by the Light Harvest Studio which is a studio I had heard of before who have done a lot of work worldwide. Above are two of my favourites. I love the first one because of how dramatic it was but then I liked how fun the second one was. The first one mainly relies on visual effects creating the imagery in post however I want like action shots which are manipulated which is much more like the content ninth second video. I feel like they are both extremely successful though because they use the space in such a playful experimental way and that is what makes it immersive. Also whats really cool is that they also do live music performance visuals which is where this whole idea started from for me. One of my favourite music performance pieces is this one below because it again surrounds the whole space but uses it to its advantage in an exciting way. I also like the collaging between Animation and Live Action which works well:

Live Video Sculpture: Sierpinski from Light Harvest Studio - Ryan Uzi on Vimeo.

The actual process of Light/Projection Mapping is a tricky one which Ive never given much thought to before but heres what I have found out about this technical process:

• Projection mapping can also be called video mapping and spatial augmented reality and it refers to the idea of using projection technology to turn any objects or environments into projection surfaces for their content.
• Firstly you need to choose what your projecting on and once you have you would use the appropriate software to map the corners of your video piece to the corners of the surface.
• You can take different approaches to this such as mapping the entire scene in 3D then attempt to mask the video onto the original framework/surface. Or you could use opacity templates to mask out the elements and shapes of the building where the projections will be moving to help the effect.
• Another important factor is working out where best to put the projector in relation to the surface you are projecting on for the best result. Co-ordinates will be defined for 3D mapping using the XYZ orientation to set projectors up accordingly for the required results.
• Once your projector and video surface have been set up it usually then requires twerking once actually in the space either by tweaking the video slightly or the position of the projector to the surface.
• For massive projections onto building like some Ive looked at it would require very large projectors with 20,000 lumens or more. However for smaller projections like the indoor shows Ive seen a 2200 lumen projector would work effectively.
• Software that can be used for video mapping includes: MadMapper, Qlab, Troixatronix's Isadora, FacadeSignage and VPT 6.0. These programmes are all downloadable for use in projectors.
• There are other programmes however that can still be used to basically Map such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, Blender and Blam.
• There are four categories in projection mapping which I found out. These come from wikipedia and they are:

1. VJ'ing or VeeJay-ing (video Jockeying) used where live events are augmented by (often interactive to music) projections which are fully dynamic, controlled live, and consist of pre-programmed videos and combinations of effects and effect overlays.
2. Theatrical: where projections are preset and scenes are "cued" on demand, usually in a set order, in conjunction with dance or onstage performance, often interactive.
3. Static/Interactive: where a display is set up and loops or interacts with the environment and viewers via programming.
4. Video: where a generally long segmented show is present as a single fluid video that is not interactive and plays from beginning to end.

This type of technology sounds very hard to master and all requires a lot of specialist equipment and software so my next task is to find out if the university has this available to me and if not will I be able to fund it myself. If I can my piece will probably fit into category 4 of projection mapping being a video which plays from start to end however it will loop because there is an order I want for the visual journey and it needs to play alone without me controlling it. If it is not possible to Projection map either due to lack of resources or skills then I want to still use projection onto surfaces to create effects but this effects can be created physically by either using mesh hung in a space like Ben Stokes has or weather it be distorting the video deliberately by having it projected onto non flat exciting surfaces. I feel like this is something which will need to be tested and experimented with within a crew once initial planning has taken place.

I have found this tutorial which I have watched which actually gives a much more simplistic breakdown of how to projection map so this method and style is always a possibility:

This research has really help me fall in love with the craft of projection and Mapping which I had never though much into before and I feel like it will become a large part of how this video work will be presented and therefore experienced by the viewers.

Resolution 1, Planning the Storyline

As I've said so far I now know that I want to focus on the idea of Divorce especially since it relates to me and my brother. I want to create an audio visual journey (me being the visuals and my older brother being the audio) to show the journey we faced together within our family when our parents went through their divorce but this will be shown through symbolism and no real identities meaning it will also be relatable to the public as an audience but also as an insight if they themselves haven't suffered. To begin planning out how the visuals will work I mapped the rough journey I felt like we took during the divorce:

This then helped me think more rationally about the kind of visuals I wanted to symbols this journey. I then made a brainstorm based on visual ideas as a starting point:

This is my initial generation of visuals to film to help symbolise the journey and whats also important is the way I want this to be edited. Each visual idea will be filmed in its own little journey through my previously timeline and then all the iconography and stories will be intercut with each other through each stage and to fit with the music. Then as it becomes more intense the images will begin to be layers and collaged together especially in Kaleidoscope fashion to show the confusion and enormity of the situation expanding but then it will all drop back down and decrease towards a peaceful ending.

Resolution 1, Childhood Trauma and Concept Research

Like I mentioned when Brainstorming I need to research into the theory of childhood trauma and see if it works and links in within my specific family experiences.

Childhood Trauma

For this research I went to the The National Child Traumatic Stress Network website where I discovered that Childhood Trauma has many different categories to it which effect the child for different reasons in different ways. The categories are:

• Community Violence: This would include acts of violence that aren't from family members but instead members of the community the child is growing up in. It could be acts such as shootings, rapes, stabbings, and beatings. Children can experience trauma from these acts as victims, witnesses, or perpetrators. This could also mean an event which has happened in the school community that the child is part of.

• Complex Trauma: This is when a child has suffered multiple or prolonged traumatic events which then impacts on there development. This would usually be used to described a child who has suffered psychological maltreatment, neglect, physical and sexual abuse, and domestic violence. This then impacts how they perceive, react and deal with issues in their life. This is what then effects their development which could cause issues later in life for them.


• Domestic Violence: This is when the child is effected by having to witness physical and emotional abuse between their parents or caregivers. This has a lasting impact on the child and what is scarier is that it is usual children under the age of 8 who get exposed mostly to this.

• Medical Trauma: This is referring to the reactions that a child has to pain such as injury, serious illness, "invasive" medical procedures (such as surgery) or treatments (such as burn care) which can be very frightening for the child. This trauma suffered then effects them mentally but also can effect them physically making them reluctant to want to ever go to the doctors again or even partake in usual activities which they enjoyed before.

• Neglect: Child Neglect is when the parent or care giver for that child does not provide them with the care they need such as food, mediation, shelter etc even though they have the means to be able to do so if they wanted. It can also involve putting the child somewhere unsafe or leaving them in the care of someone unsafe and even abandoning them. This is the most common form of abuse which is reported to authorities.

• Physical Abuse: This is when the child suffers because they have been harmed in a physical way either deliberately being beaten or being physically punished unfairly. This can be one major trauma or can even be a series of traumas that the child os made to suffer.

• Traumatic Grief: This is the trauma a child suffers when someone they know dies. It can effect them regardless of the circumstances of the death (expected/unexpected) because in their mind it is still traumatic to suffer that loss. It stops the child from grieving in a way most people normally would and instead usually results in any memory of the person stirring up negative emotions, feelings and images linking to their sad death.

I feel like looking into the severity of childhood trauma through this research has made me realise how negative my work will be made by attaching this theme to it.

It has made me realise that I want to show a more realistic representation of my family with balance in it between maybe some good memories and some bad memories. I have thought about things that happened to me and my brother and the biggest part of my childhood which I have never really addressed is my parents divorce. Instead of thinking into this in terms of childhood trauma I should think of it more in terms of a massive childhood upheaval. I have decided I want to look into the studies of how divorce effects children:

I began by asking google the question 'How does Divorce affect the Children?' and I got a lot of results come up. There are mixed messages with in them, some saying it that these children will grow up normally still and some saying it will reflect in behavioural issues. However the most interesting points I agree with and have found are...

Divorce

Children will be upset and stressed when there parents divorce unless the marriage was a very consistently unhappy one. The divorce will make them vulnerable to developing some issues to do with behaviour, attitude and anger. One website reads:

'Troubled children are particularly likely to develop problems with anger, disobedience, and rule violations. School achievement also can suffer. Other children become sad for prolonged periods of time. They may become depressed, anxious, or become perhaps overly responsible kids who end up caring for their parents instead of getting cared for by them.'

(http://emeryondivorce.com/how_divorce_affects_children.php)

However these issues that can occur and develop aren't already pre-determined. Instead the affect the divorce will have is more based on how the child sees their parents handling it. Majority of children do bounce back and end up functioning like any other child who's parents are married. However there is still the risk that if it is a stressful divorce resulting in the child witnessing this then the child will react accordingly. Also by having a difficult divorce it will prolong the situation therefore increasing the time you children do have to spend feeling stressed and chaotic about what is going on.

Children with divorced parents however well they handled it will still express painful memories from the time and ongoing worries about divorce themselves and their parents. Here is a graph I found which comes from research done by Lisa Laumann-Billings in 2000. They studied 99 college students who's parents had divorced at least 3 years prior then made this graph from the percentage who reported painful feelings on some of the questions:

Now comparing what I have found out to my own situation I do feel that my feeling on the situation are like it says more from my parents reaction and less from it actually happening. I also do agree with the statistics because I know that me and my brother both have doubts about our parents and our own relationships due to experiencing it however I feel like we do function as normal people in society. I would like to maybe create a visual and auditive symbolic journey through the transitions from prior to the divorce and then all the way through the struggles relating to me and my brother and then to now because my family have all over come that.

Resolution 1, Meeting & Discussion with Musician/Brother

I was able to contact my Brother via the telephone to run him over all the developments in my idea/plan for this project as last I spoke to him he believed it was music video I was making.

I proposed to him the new theme idea of having us work together to base it upon an aspect of our childhood or family. He agreed that this would actually be a really interesting approach to take as like I had realised we can together create something strong in concept and therefore atmosphere because we have both had a very similar upbringing.

We then began discussing the music and I said that once I had done some research and narrowed the topic down to a specific subject I would let him know so he can begin thinking about ways to represent this in music. His musical style is experimental, electronic and instrumental only and we decided he should stick to this usual style and not be literal in any sense when it comes to the theme. Its all about him interpreting the theme through his music and me interpreting it through the visuals so that when they come together we can express together what we both feel and share that experience with the viewers.

We lastly made a little plan between us of how this works and I feel like if I set myself on a theme after some research as soon as possible I can then tell him about this allowing him time to think about it. Then hopefully by the end of this term (christmas) he will be able to show me a mock up or rough cut of his music track so that by the time I start shooting in the following term I will know what the visuals need to fit too and how I can achieve this.

I am very happy that my brother is on board with this new plan and I am excited to begin working on it.

Resolution 1, Brainstorming Theme and Concept

I began thinking more into themes and as discussed I want to stick to themes linking towards my family and childhood. This is because the music provided will be from my older brother who has had similar upbringing and childhood experiences to myself and therefore if we worked together on this we would be able to make a very strong artistic and reflective piece based on shared experiences and feelings we have from our childhood and family. This is a theme which has always interested me but I've never felt brave enough to explore however it seems different now that I am able to get my brother involved as well. It feels like together we may be able to build a strong enough picture and create an experience/atmosphere thats evocative through the music and visuals working together and interestingly it will still work as a music video for him as well but on a much deeper level that a commercial music video. I knew that in order to achieve this I needed to settle on a specific theme within such a broad concept. Here is a brainstorm I created to try and help me do this:

Childhood trauma was suggested to me and I do really like this as a theory but I feel like this might end up creating quite a negative piece if I based it on this idea relating to my childhood. However I feel like a big topic within my childhood that could link into this is my parents divorce because I feel this has warped the way I view relationships and marriage. I need to research into the theory of childhood trauma first so I can see if this is workable as a theme linked in with my own experiences. I will also need to speak to my musician/brother to check he is on board with this idea as well. These are the next steps in my plan.

Resolution 1, Group Discussion and Tutorial 1 (helping me think bigger and better!)

Here are some things I have come to realise after this discussion, some ideas it helped me create and some resources I will look into:

From a lot of my inspirations so far like Ben Stokes and the Samsung Hyper Cube I realise this kind of experience art is based heavily on the technology. Especially in the experience sense that Im thinking of creating, it may involve elements of 360 filming or projection and lots of manipulation through editing so I need to actually begin thinking realistically into these technologies and see what skills and tech I have available to me. (Refer to Arts and Humanities Research Council, they invest and research new technology.)

Once I begin to work out the possible ways I can make my space/experience happen I need to begin experimenting with it as I need to confirm if I have the skills, tech and space available to create this. This will involve a lot of research followed by mini experiments and then hopefully a pilot/trial before christmas. I need to think about the use of the space as well, for instance is it really an experience just because I have filled the space with videos? Is there anyways I could cut it back to make it more simplistic but still experiential? Is there more effective ways other than projectors to manipulate a space therefore creating an experience? Isn't viewing a video/artwork an experience in its own right?... These are all question I still need to ask and answer myself to help me more successfully realise the potential in this piece.

I then thought more into my role within my own piece and also roles I can take within other peoples pieces if they require help or a crew. I am mainly a Director and Editor but Directing is where I focus more of my energy. This means I need to think in terms of a Director so I need to make sure I am aware of my audience that the ideas aimed towards and keep in mind this as well as everything else which also feeds into the bigger picture. Then I need to start offering my skills towards projects as a Director an AD or an Editor. When it comes to Editing I maybe need to accept more challenging pieces than before so that I can keep learning and refining this skill. I need to also consider during this year getting my Avid or Adobe editing certificate as this is very helpful in the industry. As for editing I need to start making contacts i.e Kode Media and finding out from them how music video directing really takes place and what skills I need to develop and refine.

Up till now while developing this idea it had all been based on a process and the technical outcome however I haven't actually considered many themes or concepts that my piece can be about. I always like to tackle subjects which have some kind of link to myself usually through a psychological aspect. Previously I noted down my interests for themes which were: emotions, mentality, symbolism, the human mind & body, fears & phobias, life hurdles and adolescence. This led me into the discussion of childhood being a potential theme and even something about childhood trauma. From here I then had a mini epiphany about this project. The musician I was hoping to work with/for on this project is my older brother and we have obviously had very similar upbringing and shared a lot of childhood memories together as there is only three years between our ages. This means this potential theme could be a really strong way to link me and my brother both strongly in and give us both the same starting place to work from. He would make the music based on a specific childhood theme and I would make the visuals to match and overall this should create a really strong experience which shows people the upbringing we had and what it felt like.

In summary I have clarified/realised today that I am aiming less corporal music video and more of an artistic evocative video which matches the music in themes linked to childhood and family but also in style. The type of music I will be working with is instrumental, contemporary and experimental which will be matched with a experimental video made into an installation to create an atmosphere/experience based on myself and my brothers shared memories.

Resolution 1, DJ Shadow Live Music Performance & Ben Stokes Inspiration

Again whilst at a festival and still very keen on creating a music video I saw many live music performances which used onstage visuals while they were performing. I was really inspired by these especially by the Artist DJ Shadow who had a whole production team involved in his atmospheric visuals and even rolled credits to thanks all of them at the end of his music set. This is what led me to stop thinking of my idea as just a music video idea to be watched and instead to also think of other ways visuals can be used like for a live performance like this. This feeds back into my whole idea of creating an atmospheric space for people to experience with the music instead of watching.

DJ Shadow Experience

DJ Shadow played on a stage inside a massive tent. It was already dark and atmospheric in here. Then when he played he had three screens surrounding him with visuals which were timed to his music and also the visuals adapted through out each song to match the feelings and sounds creating a uniqueand intense atmosphere for each song. It also meant that through out his set you felt like you were moving through a story and his music was only guiding you while the visuals were making you feel and experience the story. I also loved his use of projections because half way through his set a mesh sheet hung down infant of him and a projector was used facing the audience to make images project in front of him as well so that he was especially surrounded by all theses symbolic images. This projector also lit the top of the tent up with the images as well meaning not only was a bird flying in front of hi face but if you looked up it was also flying above the audience. This was y favourite part of his visuals because it made the audience surrounded by them therefore moving it from simply watching to again feeling involved in an experience of it. I did take some very bad quality videos of the performance for my own reference but to demonstrate my point and take a look back myself at the visuals I have gone online and researched fining videos of other performances he has done. Here is the first video I found:


This is very similar to the performance I watched with the lights and visuals surrounding him. The only thing this video doesn't show you is how the images were projected above the audience too but it demonstrates him being surround in the visuals in a 360 style which links back into the Hypercube and my idea to make a 360 video you stand inside of and experience. I want a combination of the atmospheric Hypercube and the intense visuals of DJ shadow Live performances and the way its so carefully arranged. Here is another video I found of the live performance which is much better quality:

DJ Shadow 2016 tour from Ben Stokes on Vimeo.

I wanted to find out more about the visual artists behind this live performance. I found out that this work was led by Ben Stokes who was the Designer and Director of these visuals pieces. On his own website he advertises himself as a Director, Designer, Animator, Cinematographer, Multi-Media Artist, Sound Designer & Composer. He has such a massive variety of skills which does also make me thankful that I am on Digital Film and Screen Arts as this has given me a chance to pick up as many random various and artistic skills I want to learn. Stokes has also got a massive portfolio of work he has been a part over many years. Here is his recent works he has been part of as a Director and Designer:

I am amazed by the variety of pieces he has worked on but I have also sensed a theme to his work to which is very intense and atmospheric like the DJ Shadow work he has done. What is is also very interesting is he has been involved in other Cube projects (like the hypercube I mentioned) meaning that he also picked up on this link between immersion and experience being heavily based on visuals and this is where he has homed his skills into. You can also see that he has partaken in a number of music pieces and visuals not only DJ Shadow in a tour sense:

I am so glad I have discovered him as an artist because just looking through his website is so inspiring. His is basically working as a practitioner in the areas that I would love to work in also making music videos:

I have found a showreel of his directing work which shows his distinct style:
AV-Reel - Ben Stokes from Ben Stokes on Vimeo.

I really love the start of this showreel because it actually scientifically explains the idea of Audio Visual Pieces and Performances and the idea that it is a more lasting impression which is what I am trying to aim for without realising that that would be how to refer to it or describe it.

As much as I really love his work and the way his plays with the idea of 360, immersion, projections and animation I feel like my style isn't suited to an animation driven piece because up till now I have only ever learnt my skills using real life subjects. I want to take his approach but in my own style by using real life images I capture to tell a story and creating a feeling but then manipulate the images afterwards in post to make them more visuals impacting and therefore more atmospheric. More like this other work he created:

Century Plaza Hotel Bldg. projection from Ben Stokes on Vimeo.

Resolution 1, Samsung Infinity HyperCube Inspiration

One of the physical inspirations towards my music video and installation project was one I encountered over the summer at a festival. This was the Samsung Infinity HyperCube which I was able to go in and experience for myself. This experience is what led me to move from thinking about my music video ideas as not just films but possibilities to create a whole atmospheric space based on the music and the film.

My experience of the Hypercube

It was a rainy day at Bestival and myself and my friend decided to que up for a building we had seen called the samsung hypercube. We weren't sure what this meant but all we thought at the time is its inside out the rain! We got told while waiting that it is an infinity space which began to make us realise that it was going to have mirrors etc to make the space seem bigger than it is. We got a talk given to us before we went in about how to let yourself become fully immersed. When we as a large group all moved into the space it was a square large room with mirrors covering every part of it. Even the floor and the ceiling were covered in mirrors. Then as a group we voted on phones set up in the middle what kind of atmosphere we wanted, heavy or ambient. Also what kind of lighting and music and then after everyone had voted a unique experience was created for our group based on how we voted. The lights then dipped and for at least 2 minutes we were surrounded by music and flashing atmospheric lights all bouncing off the mirrors creating a unique experience like none I've ever had before. It was intense and felt surreal and that feeling is what I held onto for my idea of creating a space that will impact people like this one has. I want music to become less about listening or a music video to become less about just watching and instead for the two arts to combine to make it all about the feeling, the atmosphere, the experience!



This is the 360 video which was captured while we were in the hypercube. As you can see it is very dramatic and the lights fit perfectly to the sound. This idea of 360 is one that interests me as I spent part of last year learning this specialism so I knew how this worked and its also got me thinking of ways that I could maybe capture the nature of my installation music video experience in a 360 video format or possibly even create it in this format.

To help me understand what the intentions of this space were I then went onto the Samsung website to see how they described it and spoke about it. This is what I found:

They also describe the cube as an experience which makes me feel like I defiantly took away from it what I was meant to. I would love a chance to create a space as intense as this but as I know from previous installation projects mirrors are very expensive and a safety issue, space is limited and I don't have a good way to install that many. So my space would be based more on create a 360 video which surround every wall and element of the space while your in it and works with the music to create a 360 intense atmospheric space which is like a music video but to be experienced rather than just viewed.

Resolution 1 - Artistic Music Representation Company... is it a possibitly?

Having had this idea of a creating a company who work to solely represent bands and musicians through art work, so we would work for them on photography and posters through to music videos and on stage visuals, I realised I needed to actually research the potential of this as not only would this give me more realistic aims for the future but it will help me home in on where I need to begin during third year on my potential projects.

I began by simply typing a few key phrases into google to see what kind of websites and companies exist already. Here are some screen shots of the kind of results I got:

This proved to me straight away that clearly there are other companies working in this field. I clicked on the top result which is a company called Metropolis Music Publishing and from their website I found out not only do they visually represent musicians but they also promote and manage them so basically like a record label. The only worry I have about this is that I obviously don't have the skills to manage a record label as this is not my field of expertise. Another useful I clicked on here was for the The Famous Company who do exclusively represent musicians but from every element such as visual but also with media press, artist development and management, promotion etc which again as Ive said I don't have skills to cover every area of this.

One more un-usual thing I found on the Metropolis Music Publishing companies website though was a portfolio of some of their work and it showed me that not only have they created a recent music video, they have also made trailers for films such a 'Churchill' and adverts for companies such 'House of Fraser'. This indicates to me that maybe only representing musicians and bands is rather limiting to myself and maybe I need to begin in a more general company but with a specialism of musicians. This would give more opportunity for business as content creators but also working partially in the field I want to be. That or I find people who have the skills necessary to promote and manage musicians and work with them within a company together to cover all bases like The Famous Company are doing. This has helped me think much more realistically towards my future goals however this also helps me realise that I need to make sure I get involved with other projects this year that aren't strictly just music videos as working as a content creator I would need to have experience in many different genres and styles not only just their preferred area.

Most the results I clicked on that appeared from this search led me to websites which represented artists and musicians etc but only in the form of booking them for performances in places. This isn't the type of representation I am interested in but is obviously an important element of these musicians trying to break through. I feel like my company could be involved in the graphic side of gig booking by creating posters and art to advertise the gig on social media and various other places however I feel like if I got someone with the skills to seek talent and book them in this way it would open up a lot more doors for us in terms of getting more chances to create their posters and graphics then leading them into hopefully coming back to seek more visuals representation when they become bigger and want more music videos and photography etc. This seems like a good opening approach and in terms of my work this year I need to think about it as practice for this so not only work on my film skills as a director and editor but also continue to practice my photography and design skills asI have only ever made one band poster before but more experience would be good.

I then went very basic with my search as you can see above and simply wanted to know what would come up if you wanted to google someone to make a music video for you. My results were full of advert links all to companies who create content however after clicking on links for companies such as Drum and JPProductions I realised they are all content creators who will made promotional videos for bands and musicians however none of them are exclusive to this. A lot actually promote themselves more towards commercial work for businesses and advertising. I do understand why because like I said before approaching it this way means you have a lot more opportunity for business  simply being content creators for a number of people, companies and reasons. However you could then still work on music videos within this. My only concern now from looking through these websites is how unartistic some of them feel. 

I am always one to prefer artistic, free spirited and passionate work and design in life over corporate, rigid work so maybe I need to find a good between of the two. This also makes me realise something else I need to think about is website design and how key this is. I am hoping to learn more about this and create one over this year.

I then decided to narrow my search slightly to see if I could get less corporate companies appearing as a result. I wanted to see if there were specific Indie Music Video Companies as this is the type of music I am personally interested in. This actually led me to get adverts up for some companies who did sole create music videos. I looked into Epik Music Videos Company Website to see what it was about and already I could see from the home page how much more artistic and stylised it was compared to the general content creators websites.

This shows me that there very different styles and approaches to the corporate world of content creators and the artistic music video side. I already knew this but I never knew how much so till I looked for myself. Its making me realise that maybe one company for both isn't a good idea as it will give out mixed messages. Maybe I will have to split my corporate money making side from my artistic music video adventure. This only emphasises to me more the importance of not only making music videos this year but getting involved in a variety of film projects. It also had inspired me to be as stylised as I feel I can or want to be in the music video and representation work I will be doing this year and in the future. Because from the evidence and research so far stylistic approaches work better at captivating the intended audience than a general approach does.


These google searches and the following results have given me a lot of inspiration and helped me begin my research into the market I want to work in and am aiming towards and has also now helped me realise how to direct myself much better this year. I need to broaden my horizons by working on a number of projects not only music videos so that I have content creator potential too, I need to work on my music video style approach and keep everything stylistic the entire way through to create a vision which will lead onto my future career. I must also think about learning and finding people who have the promotional skills necessary for this kind of business and think about company and website ideas. Overall this has been a good way to begin Resolution 1 and to also start me thinking seriously about my future goal.

Year 3 Begins - Resolution 1

After reading the brief for resolution 1 and in preparation for third year I sat down and thought about all my work I had completed up to now, the skills I have and the areas which interest me. I knew I had always wanted to be involved in the music industry through music videos and band artwork etc and I always loved trying to create very atmospheric pieces which examined mind and body concepts so here is how I tried to organise my thoughts into a possible piece to complete through year 3:

After then proposing this idea in a casual discussion with the class I have gone away and thought about all the questions which were asked and have managed to organise my thoughts into a much more plan like approach now:

To summarise I want to create an atmospheric video utilising my skills as a Director and Editor. The video will be created for a musician who I will work closely with. I will then move on to create visuals to accompany their music in a live setting as this is all aiming towards my future goal. I will then move onwards even more to create a one off atmospheric space/installation using the music and the visuals and the musician themselves to make a musical but atmospheric artistic experience and space with this collaboration of people and art. This will all be aimed at pushing me further towards my future goal of having a musician and band artistic representative company. (Not a record label). This is then further helped by my dissertation which is all focused on Indie/Experimental Music videos and there history and importance through art. Overall this is all trying to promote my skills and prepare myself for the future I hope to have.