Studio Rehearsal

As part of our pre-production we decided to learn the track and have studio rehearsals so that the performance in our video can be as accurate as possible to follow conventions of the rock video. we experimented with the positioning of the band and decided that the position used in the rehearsals will not be used in the final product as it does nor allow much room for movement of the band or camera. This is some of the footage we captured of this time.

Velvet Revolver - Slither

In this video, we looked at the various aspects that were similar to and different to the video for 'Welcome To The Jungle'

In this video, it is situated in a dark underground room, with crowds of people and girls dancing round sporting a minimal a

mount of clothing. This all ties is with the mise en sce

ne of a classic rock 'n' roll band. The lighting is naturalistic and low key, which contrasts with the clear sound. The singer's face is animated, pulling strange faces that tie in with the rock and roll genre. We see wide shots that cover the whole band, as well as individual medium cloes ups. The lead guitarist, Slash, is an ex - member of the band Guns 'n' Roses, whose song 'Welcome To The Jungle' we used for our music video.

From the beginning of the 'Slither' video, the technique of using of low - key lighting is employed, with red and green colour filters also present, connoting rebellion and a change from the mainstream music scene. The location is a hugely important factor, as it is set in an underground club, which were hugely important in establishing rock and roll as something that severed the cord with 'accepted' music of the time. The scene is bare and uninviting, with stone walls and dim lighting. This is perfect, however, to emphasise rock's unique selling point of the time, the fact that it didn't aim to fall into line with 'normal' pop and folk, didn't appreciate mainstream media coverage and certainly was not overly bothered what the adult consensus thought of the rough venues, simplistic rhythms and full - on hedonism.

Another controversial and iconic selling point of Rock and Roll is the element of drug and alcohol misuse, that many of Velvet Revolver's target audience would find extremely appealing. This is shown almost from the beginning of the video, with a car driving in a sped - up shot, connoting being 'high', and then the lead singer shown topless, making long languid motions with his arms and hips, showing yet more imagery of being inebriated.

Close - up shots of the guitarists playing adds yet more to the mise en scene of rock, showing the musicians as comfortable with their instruments, that the instruments are more an extension of themselves than as external objects. There is an establishing shot of the drummer starting to play, to show that the song is started with a clear rhythm, and the roles of individual band members.

Initial ideas

The production treatment follows from our initial ideas. These were to create a energetic video that mixes the performance of a rock band with a narrative structure related to the lyrics of the piece, during our initial discussions we could not decide on a complete narrative, however we did decide we wanted to shoot in city-areas most likely to be Manchester with is local for all of the group. We also decided on the track which is 'Welcome To The Jungle' (Guns 'n' Roses) as we feel it is a song that will be fun to create the video for and belong to a genre (Rock) that we all enjoy and can relate our interests to.

Lyrical conveyance

These are the lyics to Guns 'n' Roses - Welcome to the jungle, this portion of the blog is to explain how the lead vocalist will mimic 'Axels' elaborate and charismatic performance in both his live concerts and music videos.

Welcome to the jungle

----------------------------

Welcome to the jungle
We got fun 'n' games
We got everything you want
Honey we know the names
We are the people that can find
Whatever you may need
If you got the money honey
We got your disease


Chorus:
In the jungle
Welcome to the jungle
Watch it bring you to your shun n,n,n,n,,n,n,,n,n,n,,n,n,,n knees, knees
I wanna watch you bleed


Welcome to the jungle
We take it day by day
If you want it you're gonna bleed
But it's the price you pay
And you're a very sexy girl
That's very hard to please
You can taste the bright lights
But you won't get them for free
In the jungle
Welcome to the jungle
Feel my, my, my serpentine
I, I wanna hear you scream


Welcome to the jungle
It gets worse here everyday
Ya learn ta live like an animal
In the jungle where we play
If you got a hunger for what you see
You'll take it eventually
You can have anything you want
But you better not take it from me


Chorus


And when you're high you never
Ever want to come down, so down, so down, so down YEAH!


You know where you are
You're in the jungle baby
You're gonna die
In the jungle
Welcome to the jungle
Watch it bring you to your shu n,n,n,,n,n,,n,n,n,,n,n,,n,n,,n knees, knees
In the jungle
Welcome to the jungle
Feel my, my, my serpentine
In the jungle
Welcome to the jungle
Watch it bring you to your shun n,n,n,n,,n,n,,n,n,,n,n,,n.n, knees, knees
In the jungle
Welcome to the jungle
Watch it bring you to your
It's gonna bring you down!
Ha!

The lead vocalist will perform in a provocative manner, embracing the atmosphere of the classic rock genre. groping his microphone and preforming sexually orientated gestures throughout the song.

The mise en scene of grunge/glam -classic rock clothing, a dark performance room with graffiti, spiked/backcombed hair and electric instruments (particularly the leads psychedelic/glam appearance and sleek bass) that will reflect the classic rock era and style of Guns 'n' Roses, particularly in the song Welcome to the jungle (with a narrative of violence and rebellion).

Shot list

Shot List Performance

- Tracking shot of guitar, moves down the neck as the intro is played
- Medium shot of Drummer as the drums kick in
- Close up on Bassists fingers plucking the string
- Close up on singers face
- Wide shot of band playing
- Fast cuts between close up on singer and close up on drums as there is a build up
- Whip Pan from Bassist to guitarist during the intro solo
- Close up on singer as he performs
- Close up on singer from a eft angle
- Medium shot of Guitar
- Close up on guitarist face
- Medium of Singer performing

Shot List Narrative
- Establishing shot of area.
- Low angle shot of Vocalist walking round corner.
- Medium shot of Vocalist walking.
- Close up on Vocalists face.
- Long-Shot of vocalist framed through razorwire.
- Tracking shot following the vocalist through the razorwire.

Analysis of music genre

To compare Guns 'n' Roses - Welcome to the jungle with Velvet Revolver's - Slither, we firstly looked at the camera angles and variety of shots used. The most common shots used are long establishing shots of the venue, crowds and band. Using a narrative to begin the music video and set the tone, 'Welcome to the jungle' beginning with the lead singer getting off the bus with a suitcase and immediately pushing a passer by immediately giving a negative yet typically classic rock vibe. Then progressing to him walking past a attractive woman, the camera using low angled shots to concentrate on her legs and hips, giving the connotation that classic rock attracts women.
The video then moves to a set of t.v's with what can only be described as as mental patient screaming, then using fast cuts as a transition to the lead singer who reflects the mental patient screaming with his mouth wide open. Continuing the fast cuts to wide panning shots of the band, which can be established as the master shot in which everything is added on top of (creating continuity). The shots consist of opening establishing shots of the band and close ups of the singer followed by the narrative of crime using fast panning shots and live footage. The led singer continuing his provocative body language in his tight leather pants his tattoos and backcombed hair (typical classic/glam rock) . The singer and lead guitarists communicate with each other pleasing the crowd with their passionate conveyance of solo's and slower riffs (in which would be relevant to invest in our video).
The video then continuously cuts to the narrative after around thirty seconds of wide/close up shot providing continuity, however on the professional Guns 'n' roses video

their are some aspects that lack continuity, such as at 1:37 slash has a vest on in contrast to him having a leather jacket on at the beginning of the performance, and axel at 2:50 the fast cut from viewing his front and then his back switches from him having a vest on, to topless.

Production Treatment

Music video:

Welcome To The Jungle

Duration:

4:34

Audience:

The main target audience will be a newer generation of classic rock fans (16-24) however the video should also appeal to older fans of the genre due to the songs popularity as it is a well known classic.

Resume:

The video will be largely performance based with a band adopting a classic rock image and performing the track in a studio setting. Edited between the performance will be a narrative following a the lead vocalist through a grity industiral estate. The concept for this video comes from the lyrics of the song with the city representing the 'concrete-jungle'.

Suggested Elements:

Performance:

The performance section of the video will consist of a Drummer, Bassist, Guitarist and Vocalist performing the track with high energy and the 'sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll attitude' associated with rock music.

Costumes:

The band will be wearing a style a clothing that echos the rockers of the time e.g leather jackets and skin-tight jeans, along with the hairstyles that accompany it to create a complete rockstar image.

Key locations:

The performance sections will be filmed in a studio creating an industrial, factory like image typical of a rock video's mise-en-scene.

The Narrative section will be filmed in a local industrial estate and the surounding areas's that open to ideas.

Mise-en-scene:

The mise-en-scene such as locations, lighting, camerawork and narrative tone will compromise of dark gritty images for the narrative, we plan to film on a day where the weather will natrually lend its self to low key lighting and atmosphere.

Imagery we plan to include such as graffiti and razor wire will be found on location and be taken advantage off.

The stuido performance parts of the video will be in a basic warehouse style setting keeping with rock and roll conventions, we also plan to use studio lights to create interesting shadow imagery and contrasts.