Group Prezi

Here is our group Prezi in which we all equally contributed our ideas and research based around More Than Conquerors and our ideas and plans for filming our music video:

Hearth And Home Prezi

Here is a Prezi showing the finalised ideas for our music video for Hearth And Home. This includes our detailed plot, Locations, different techniques/effects we plan to use and the equipment and props we will need:

The Lowly Knights

The Lowly Knights' have been suggested as being of a very high similarity in comparison with More Than Conquerors. From researching them online and coming across some of their songs and videos, I have taken great interest in their work. I really love their style of music and feel they are very original in what they do, and the way in which they do it. 

 I felt that this particular video for The Lowly Knights Song 'You Can Tell A Man By The Way He Moves His Hands' was quite similar to some of More Than Conquerors videos with their use of artwork throughout their videos:

 

Using Final Cut Pro X

Final Cut Pro X was a new video editing software in which I felt I needed to familiarise myself with before I began editing our main music video, and so I looked up a number of Final Cut Pro X tutorials on youtube in order to educate myself the basic editing techniques before I began looking at how I could use different effects and techniques. I found this video very useful in helping me to get started with the software:

 

 I then began looking at other tutorials such as advanced titling, tips and tricks and the multiple effects tutorials. I then came across a green screen/keying tutorial and this inspired me to try the green screen effect and use it on FCPX, our group placed a green screen behind a member of our group and we shot some clips of them doing different things. We also tried to place green paper over our mouths and we were then able to edit a video of another group member's head into the mouth. We also placed green paper over an iPod screen and were able to edit different things on to it, as if the iPod were actually playing the shots which we recorded. Here is the tutorial video:

 

 We then came across an Optical Flow tutorial and were intrigued to try it out also as it is quite an interesting effect. Our group shot a few clips and edited them using this effect:

 

Prezi URL

Here is my Prezi in which I have created in order to share my ideas and influences for our project. I have research a number of artists in which I feel are relevant to our particular genre of music video and are similar to More Than Conquerors. I have also viewed a number of youtube tutorials to help me progress my understanding of how to use Final Cut Pro X in order to enhance the editing process of our  music video:

Media Studies on Prezi

Small Town America

Small Town America is an independent record label based in Derry, Northern Ireland and London, England. They describe themselves as a 'boutique, independent publishing company' that sits alongside their sister record label business. Their aim is to cultivate a self-sustainable business model through which artists can release the best records they can possibly produce. Their artists and writers represent the best in contemporary, left-field, rock, indie pop and folk. 

Their main current bands are Feldberg, Jetplane Landing, LaFaro, More Than Conquerers, Negative Pegasus, Our Krypton Son and Sullivan And gold.

A certain band that caught my eye were 'More Than Conquerors' (www.morethanconquerors.co.uk), initially due to their album artwork, being unusual and quirky, with originality. The artwork forms a big aspect within the production of each band's music, as the album cover alone can represent just who and what they are.  I then became more and more engaged in their music and the band's background and inspirations linked to the music they have produced, and I now class the band as a band I would listen to frequently. The band describe themselves as:

'Dirty, rhythmic guitars under-laden with hard-hitting bass-lines and punchy drums in a catchy way that makes sure the audiences' feet stay nailed to the ground. Amidst all the chaos, the melodic     vocals grip the listeners emotions', with their music genre being hardcore/pop. The band have made themselves known to their audiences via multiple social networking sites, being MySpace, Twitter, Facebook etc. and also own a youtube channel under their name 'morethanconquerorsni, and have a band website morethanconquerors.co.uk. Audiences can listen to their music for free and familiarise themselves with it via the Small Town America website or via their own, and can absorb the band's process through their youtube videos of their ongoing journey and live performances. I have viewed a few if the band's music videos which impressed me first hand, two of my favourite videos are:

When The Well Runs Dry:


A Lion, A Man:



Comparing the two music videos together, it is noticeable that the band has a recurring theme involving the artwork and presentation of the videos. The main one would be the use of lyrical art in sync with the music. I liked this aspect of the music videos as it brought me to learn the lyrics of each song, becoming more familiar with them. I find these aspects within the music videos make them more interesting and original, something different from the typical music videos you would watch with just the band playing on screen the whole time. 
Within the video for 'A Lion, A Man', the video is shot in complete darkness as they use a torch to shine on certain objects or lyrical art. I especially liked how they used art and images to accompany certain lyrics, for example, with one of the lines being 'with his hands', they had the lyrics written in a cut-out shape of a hand. I was especially impressed when i found out this video was shot altogether in one single shot without any editing as the timing is immaculate. I feel that the video has been given a kind of grunge-like edge to it, which is appropriate for the style of the music. The video for 'When The Well Runs Dry', has similarities, although there are multiple contrasts between the two based on editing, lighting, mise en scene, shot types, angles and effects.