Instruments and Camera Shots

When we began to think about the types of shots we were going to use in the video, we first had to think about who would be most priviledged in the video. The video is a way of promoting the band, so longshots of the entire band must feature in the video. Close ups of the drums, lead singer and key instruments need to be shown to show the dexterity of the band and comply with traditional conventions of music videos.

Through research into music videos of our genre, we knew many ways in which singers and drummers could be presented in a music video, however we had not come across a cello before. Therefore we began to research into some ways that the cello is performed and depicted in music videos.

Here are a series of images from a band called 'Murder by Death'. They are a cello rock group, similar to the genre of our song choice. The images of the cello are often very close up with images of the strings. Longer shots are used as the pace of the music picks up, and the person who is playing the cello is seen moving quicker.

Close ups of the strings and a small part of the hand is one of my favourite shots, and something we will be looking to use in our video, particularly at the beginning of the song where the pace of the music is slow.

Longer shots and medium close ups can be used when the pace of the music increases, and the faster movements of the person playing the cello can be seen clearly.

 These are some images from music videos put together by the Piano Guys. The images above show longer shots and the types of angles that can be used when filming a cello. My favourite is the image on the left, shot from a slightly low angle, and I feel it gives a great emphasis on the importance of the cello.

These medium close up shots become more prevalent as the speed of the music picks up. I think that the image on the left we could incorporate into our own music video. The image in the center shows the person playing the cello rather than a medium close up of the cello strings or bow. There is a focus on the persons face and left hand in this shot.

The series of close ups of the cello are very interesting, and I particularly liked the one on the right that has a blurred hand and an in-focus cello. The image in the center is interesting because the close up is not of the bow, it is of the left hand nearer the top of the cello. This shot is not as common and I think it would be good to incorporate this into our video.

This shot is interesting because of the angle that the cello is shot from. I cannot see this working in our video because of the pace of the song but this does show the range of shots that can be used when filming a cello. 

Despite this shot not relating to the cello, I found this image of the drums in one of the Piano Guys' videos. when story boarding, we planned to include a shot just like this one in our own video.