Thursday 19/2/20 - Inspiration continued

In my influence board video I included footage from a music video by the band Muse, the song being Dig Down. Since then I have watched a number of music videos by various artists as inspiration and research.

The most notable were:

• This is America - Childish Gambino https://youtu.be/VYOjWnS4cMY

• Next to me - Imagine Dragons https://youtu.be/Txlk7PiHaGk

• Sweatpants - Childish Gambino https://youtu.be/ExVtrghW5Y4

• Pressure - Muse https://youtu.be/h2eKImKZviw

This is America took my attention both because of the controversial and very iconic music video, when it initially released back in 2018 it was widely talked about. The themes Donald Glover explored are some that are still very relevant today. He looked at gun violence in America and the discrimination, especially to those who are Black. There are multipe hidden messages in the music video which can be well explained here: https://youtu.be/9_LIP7qguYw

What I want to take from this video is the controversial nature, one of my personal aims is to be controversial and this is an excellent example. The actual cinematography and setting is another, I am a fan of the subject placement, cuts and the scenery they chose.

Next to me is a song that has always been a personal favourite, though until I did this research I had never seen the music video. It was created by Mark Pellington who has done a wide array of other work. The music video is just under 12 minutes long and it actually takes 4 minutes for the music to kick in. However, all of the decisions made into the video only add to the song. There is a strong and emotional narrative throughout and it enhances the context and meaning of the song. The song is about the singer expressing their thanks and love to their partner who has remained next to them throughout all the problems, despite the singer's strong belief that they are a mess whilst their partner is perfect. I enjoy all aspects of the video and song, I hope to incorporate some elements into my work in a few new ways.

Sweatpants, another by Donald Glover / Childish Gambino, is one that caught my attention for the ending of the video. It takes place in a diner full of people but by the end of the video they all are Donald Glover. I really liked the last shot that had Glover surrounded by copies of himself all staring at him, it is a really surreal shot. It reminds me of the feeling of being alone with your thoughts however in a more literal form. This is one I really want to use however it would definitely test my editing skills. It is one thing to do this with image manipulation but with a video it'll prove to be even harder.

Pressure is a song with lyrics that really fit some of the ideas I am trying to look at in my project. It talks about the idea of pressure building up from others, whilst the actual context was the pressure of song writing it also fits many other themes. The music video is one that, whilst not fitting the themes, really catches my attention. This is due to the strong vibrant colours and retro nature of it. It even makes reference to the film Back to the Future. Whilst I want my work to be controversial and dark (in a metaphorical way), I also want to keep my own stylistic flair hence why I want to use some of the elements from this music video.