Methods of moving around puppets/stuffed animals

Since my video is going to have puppets or stuffed animals moving as if they are living things, I am going to do some research into the best methods of making this happen naturally, and match them up against each other.

Morph suit method

The first method is through the use of a green/blue morphsuit in an area without that colour. This would consist of moving the puppets from behind, getting them to do lifelike things in my preferred way that fit the narrative or their character. 

I would then chroma key out the green in post production so it was a black figure moving the animals. 

After that, I'd add another layer behind the main layer with the same setting, but with nobody moving inside it, so it filled in the black areas where the morphsuit was originally. 

Risks

This is a quite simple method, but if the chroma key doesn't work perfectly, I can risk it looking amateur.  This can happen if if the green suit ends up being a different colour due to lighting or shadows.

Pros

It is quite an easy method and doesn't take much technical skill in an editing programme.

Masking method

This would consist of a similar process to the morph suit method. I would first get a blank shot of the setting, and then film someone moving the animals around in a desired way. I would then mask out the animals and paste them on top of the blank shot.

Risks

If I cannot mask out the animals professionally I can risk it looking quite low quality.

Pros

If I am good enough at masking to get a good result, I am not relying on the programmes automatic chroma key features and rather my own skill.

Music video idea

After getting inspiration from multiple places, I have had some idea for my music video. The work with stuffed animals in the "Imagine Dragons - Radioactive" video has inspired me to use hand puppets in my video. With the use of a green glove/bodysuit and a greenscreen, I will be able to give the puppet life-like mannerisms and movements, as well as advance a small narrative idea I have.

Also taking slight inspiration from a clockwork orange, I will have a gang similar in aesthetic to the one displayed in the film. Throughout the video, they will terrorize families, and groups of friends of puppets/stuffed animals, with lots of artsy slow motion shots of them destroying property and walking around.

This idea opens a lot of doors for research and planning, as I can look intro puppetry, and how to give puppets personality and uniqueness without them speaking. For this I expect to use props, clothing and camera angles. I feel the abstract qualities of this idea will allow me to be creative with the filming process, while also keeping me on track with a set narrative.

The song I currently have in mind for the idea is Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes, but this could change.

Magnetic Man - Getting Nowhere ft. John Legend

This music video is slightly different to others that I'll be analysing in terms of genre. It has quite a low tempo and slow beat, but the video itself works very well in my opinion, and could go with a more upbeat, intimidating track.

The video is based around 4 basic characters, who are pretty much the same. They are absolutely encased in enigma, as they all have different coloured hoodies on, with blackened out faces. This clearly takes a lot of inspiration from the four horsemen of the apocalypse biblical reference. In my opinion, this is a very interesting concept, bringing in a very old and somewhat mythical phenomina  into a modern setting. The saddening and quite slow vocals of the video fits well with this theme of mystery, and this is emphasised by the abundance of slow motion shots.

Due to Seven Nation Army being quite a low bass but up beat song, slow motion shots might fit in well at some points, so I can take inspiration from this video and use some similar shots.

The opening shot to the video is also quite interesting to me, and there are also a few of these similar shots throughout the video. These shots are probably in the video to put emphasis on the state of the setting. The dark grey colour grading as well as the stereotypical depressing, city shots makes for a very stylised and "boring" video. 

Imagine Dragons - Radioactive Analysis

The video starts with just a slight ambient background noise and a long shot of of an enigmatic character with their hood up. The colour grading is dark and slightly depressing, but it is set in quite a beautiful setting with leaves and trees. The shot quickly switches to a variation of an over-the-shoulder shot, and the song starts.

This is quite an artsy shot, and the dark colour grading is consistent throughout the introduction to the song.

This is setting up an enigma code for the audience, making them ask questions like "who is this person?" and "why is there underlying tones of sadness or fear?".

After showing the characters face, revealing her to be a female, the shot quickly changes to an insert on a clothed cage she is holding.

This is further setting up enigma throughout the video, intriguing the audience, making them want answers from the video. At this point, it is quite clear the video is going to be driven by narrative. I make note of this, as if I am going to create a narrative centric video, I need to make this clear from the get-go.

This continues until we get shots of some members of the band, flowers and close ups on the mysterious character's eyes. The shot then focuses in on a shed in the distance, as the song's beat drops. 

Inside the shed there is a lot of hectic diegetic background noise of shouting, cheering and grunting. This fulfils the enigma of the dark and mysterious colour grading, as it's clear our character has been on her way to this location.  

Inside the shed is a unique play on a chicken fighting concept. Without explaining thoroughly, the audience still understands the concept of people bringing in their trained "stuffed animals" to bet and win money. All of this happens within the first 30 seconds or so, showing how easily 

The video spends quite a lot of time on this character, who is clearly some form of crime boss or leader in the shed. The stuffed animal winning/killing all of the others is represented as a very 

intimidating and scary creature. And given the rich and powerful nature of the crime boss character, he is clearly the owner/trainer of this animal.

 

The way the band is incorporated within the video is also very unique and interesting. Whenever we get shots of them, the music usually cuts out into an ominous, mysterious ambience and they are represented as "fallen opponents" of the monster.

All of these elements will be helpful when I am crafting my music video. The abstract elements of the narrative along with the enigmatic colour grading and general plot points like the identity of a character are great aspects of the video, that fit well in the genre. 

My Chosen Genre

After searching around on Youtube for different song genres that I feel would best fit my preferred style of music video, I've found alternative rock/hip hop to be perfect. I'm going to further search the specific genre and deeply analyse multiple music videos to see what makes them successful, and what  is conventionally consistent in the genre. After doing this, I'll decide whether or not I want my video to be adhere to conventions, or go against them.

Ocean man - Ween

Ocean man - Ween

Ocean man is more of an alternative song. This would allow for a very artsy and unique approach to a music video. The song is also about a specific person called "ocean man". The meaning of this is very subtle and allows a lot of innovation and interpretation, so I would be able to use that to my advantage.

twenty one pilots: Ride (Video)

twenty one pilots: Ride 

This video is more so from the pop genre, with quite a slow rhythm but allows for longer more detailed shots than other videos I have looked at. If i were to use a song like this, I would probably make it less narrative driven, and more about a certain topic or person. I would probably also use some more artsy and abstract techniques within it. 

Drapht - Jimmy Recard Music Vid

Drapht - Jimmy Recard

This is a song from the rap genre, it is very upbeat and has a high tempo allowing for fast consecutive cuts which is a very good aspect of a song for me to use. The downside of this is the difficulty that comes with syncing up rap lyrics to someone singing in the video. 

The song is about if someone was born with a name like "Jimmy "Recard", and goes in depth on how much better his life would be. This opens up a lot of doors for narrative aspects in a video, if i wanted to go the route of telling a story in the video.

Action Plan