RM - Poll Closure: Is Metalcore a genre

In class throughout the school year there has been much discussion to whether or not metalcore is a genre. I therefore decided to do a poll on this, as the music video we are producing is for a metalcore song.


The poll received 11 votes, the results can be seen to the right. This confirms to us that the spilt opinion we have had in class also appears to be in the outside world.

If you are unsure what the metalcore genre is click here.

If you would like to vote but haven't had the chance please leave a message underneath and explain why you feel it is or isn't a genre.

All - Feedback on Latest Rough Cut

For our latest rough cut we got the following feedback:

• Remove all the shots that contain houses. We have managed to cut these shots out by rotating and panning into the shots,
• Remove all explicits although the "Bleeps" need to be added to add to the humour of the music video,
• A possibility to link the first shot into the second of the introduction is to fade the moon into Conor's face. Also extend the transition and zoom into the moon,
• The diegetic introduction is too long and needs to be reduced. At the time of receiving these notes it was around 36 seconds however now we have managed to reduce this element to by reducing clips that go on for too long,
• The need to use more transitions that fade ins/outs. An example of this is trying a four shot split screen of each band member picking up his own instrument. When we tried this we felt it didn't suit the genre of our music video,
• There is a need for more close-ups of Sam, especially in the intro of the song. There is also a need to reduce the amount of group shots incorporated,
• Earthquake transitions on close-ups of guitars,
• Bring the narration soon earlier,
• During the chorus focus more on Mitch instead of the rest of the band,
• Include artificial zooms,
• Include more multilayering at specific times (particularly in darker areas and skyline in lighter areas),
• The claw shots are too quick. There is a need to give the audience the chance to establish what is happening. Also need to cross-cut between the chase and performance aspects,
• A need to think about the song and certain aspects and reflect it in our editing,
• Slow down footage to produce a slow mo effect if there is not enough gore,
• Remove any awkward shots i.e. A shot of Sam where he stops moving to remove some of the fake intestines,
• The narrative aspect needs more sense of a creature lurking on the more. Also the possibility of creating a false scare,
• Shots of the moon incorporated into other shots in the narrative gives more sense of a creature,
• Re-dub Conor's lines "Guys Im going for a piss" to something similar to "I'm going to be one at nature" adds to the humour also have a diegect zip,
• Slashing noise followed by a shot of blood rushing down.
• There needs to be more shots of the creature to anchor what it is,
• Also a need for more close-ups and extreme close-ups of Sam,
• A possibility of red liquid being spat out. However in our first shoot we did try to create this with red blood capsules it didn't work but we could try and use a different substance in the form of a liquid,
• The narrative aspect needs to be more dynamic also needs to come in earlier,
• To add further humour to the music video we could include a portable barbecue which intestines are thrown onto. Later on in the music video a band member could eat these. The video also needs more gore and
• Another possibility to colour saturate the snow in where Mitch and James fall over to red, signifying the two slipping on blood rather than snow.

All - Full Rough Cut 1

Here is our first full rough cut of Sunburnt In December's "Like A Match To An Arsonist". This full rough cut contains both narrative and performance aspects. We already have some feedback on how to develop this edit and are planning to receive more in the very near future.

All - Vodcast 3: Making Fake Intestines

In this vodcast Sam shows you how to create fake intestines, which were used in the video "Like A Match To An Arsonist" by Sunburnt In December.

All - Storyboard

Here is our storyboard for Sunburnt In December's "Like A Match To An Arsonist".

Sunburnt In December "Like A Match To An Arsonist" Storyboard

All - Feedback from 3rd Sample Scene

On Friday we received feedback for our third sample scene. The feedback received included:

• No Swearing. This is apparent in the diegetic intro to solve this problem we "beeped" out the sound but we still need to either edit these explicates out or have to re-shoot this scene again.
• Also in the diegetic intro there are a couple of shaky shots which need to be resolved.
• As we filmed with two different cameras there are some widescreen shots and full screen shots that need to be changes. We will be trying to resolve these issues the next time we edit these clips.
• Mise-en-scene also has issues with the performance as some shots contain houses in the background. Thus means these shots won't be used or we will have to re-shoot the performance again.
• Also a couple of shots go on for too long so we will need to change the length of these. The most apparent one is the first shot.
• Also the need to gain of a few shots has been suggested, thus including shots of torch light panning along the floor.
• Reduce the amount of fade ins and outs used at the beginning. To solve this we could cut between the band members picking up their instruments to seeing them as part of the narrative aspect.
• Another suggestion is that we shouldn't launch straight into the performance as we have. Particularly into the vocals.
• It has also been recommended that we bring in the monster sooner and have more emphasis on it as well as having hints to what it could possibly be. As well as anchorage on the moors.
• As well as this the narrative aspect has to be more dominant. At the current stage the performance aspect is more dominant so this needs to be changed.

All - Sample Scene 3

This is our (Sublime Transcendence's) third editfor Sunburnt In December's single "Like a Match to an Arsonist". We will be receiving feedback in our next class.

SB - Editing All Of Our Footage

At the moment we are editing the footage that we filmed on sunday and monday. We have found some problems with lighting in the narrative shoot but we have found a way in which we can make the shots lighter, by playing around with the brightness and contrast of the shots.

We have cut up all of our performance and found a large contrast in quality between both cameras we used which could be a problem however we will try to include fleeting shots taken by the camera with the worst quality.

We have included a lot more shot variation from our first shoot such as close ups and a lot more framing

ALL - Performance footage update

Yesterday, Sublime Transcendence and the other members of Sunburnt In December met to film the performance of our Like A Match To An Arsonist video. Unfortunately Jem wasn't there as he had 'work' so we drafted in our friend James Newton to play bass. Before they arrived, we all started making the props; these includes making the fake blood (cunningly fashioned by mixing hot golden syrup, water and red food colouring) and intestines created from jelly, tissue paper, and the freshly-made fake blood.



The rest of SBID then arrived and we set up the drums and guitars in the same location as our last shoot; the snow covered much of the surrounding area (as it tends to do) which masked the road behind us and also some of the houses, giving our location a much nicer look and a more remote one. We recorded a whole lot of coverage, over an hour of performance, much more than we shot last time, which was about half of that, maybe even less, and we made sure we used a lot of more camera angles and techniques due to the use of two cameras rather than one. We had decided to film, effectivly, every shot with the two cameras therefore leaving us two different angles per one play through.


The band also played with playback this time. Therefore there is less chance of the band being out of time unlike before.

We are importing the footage today however it will take longer as we have more footage than previously as well as having to import the footage from two cameras. However we aim to start editing the footage as soon as possible.


One problem we have noticed while looking through the footage is the possible continuity error of the snow, we filmed in the snow and now the snow is melting away. This could cause a problem when we film our narrative as there is less snow. We could mention this in the video with some dialogue, but it's going to be very hard to slip into the conversation.

SB - Miss May I - Masses of a Dying Breed Deconstruction

Band: Miss May I
Song Title: Masses of a Dying Breed
Year: 2011
Genre: Metalcore
Directors: Bradley R. Golowin & Kevin Prose Cross
Target Audience: 15-24

Using Goodman's theory this video would fit into all categories as there is a narrative however it is un related to the lyrics, as well as some performance footage. The video has very fast takes this links in with the genre of the song, (metalcore). When we film our video we need to take this into account and film a large ammount of shots so we can edit between them easily.

The shot variation and the framing in the video is very good. In the video there are a large amount of clsoe ups on individual band members and their instruments, in these shots the camera is usually moving wether it being in a handheld fashion or tracking. The handheld movement makes the band member playing their instrument look more dynamic when they move and signifies that this genre of music is usually associated with action and movement. There is also good use of long shots and extreme long shots of the performance and the narrative. Most of these also include some form of movement such as tracking. In one shot the camera is low to the groiund tracking the band members across the forest, this shot would be very useful to replicate because it's also featured in other videos of the same genre and looked very effective at showing all the band members without it being a boring stationary shot, it also looks as if something is prowling along the floor this could link in with our idea of a monster chasing the band members.

The narrative in the video is set in the american civil war, and the video depicts a bloody battle between two groups of armed men. The video is very bloody and gritty, this is reflected in the shooting and editing of the video. The handheld movement in the performance footage simulates a documentary like approach to filming his makes the situation seem realistic. The handheld movement also adds to the action of the scene making the video very movement orientated which fits into the genre.

ALL - Class feedback on first performance rough cut

Today we handed our first performance cut in for feedback. While the general idea for the performance was favoured, some of the class brought up some valid points. Here is a quick list of feedback we received.

• Some of the surrounding scenery of our location was commented upon; for example people noticed the houses in the background and things, and we will make our next shoot location more out of the way and further from things like this.
• The red tint technique used in the first cut was favoured and we will use the same technique for the final thing; however we will spend more time on it because at the moment it has quite a rushed appearance as we were hurried to hand the cut in.
• The video needs more shot variation and more camera angles and techniques used; similarly, our final cut needs a lot more focus on Sam, our vocalist, as he is the center of attention for much of the video as he's the one singing rather than playing an instrument.
• We also need to obtain more close-up footage of each band member in particular Sam, the lead vocalist. To add to this each band member needs to be move around more, in other words the band members need to be more mobile
• Whilst editing the footage obtained this Sunday we need to produce much shorter and quicker takes. This allows for more shot variation. These quick shorter takes will also fit into the genre of our song.
• Finally it has been suggested we contain some black comedy in the performance aspect with for example a band member's arm falling off. We had already planned to have some black comedy in the video in the narrative but it is suggested it is included in both aspects.

All - Performance Sample Scene

Today we have finished our first rough cut for the performance aspect using footage recorded on 21st January.

We will be gaining feedback from this rough cut in our second lesson of media today. This feedback will be taken into account for our next shoot on Sunday, 3rd February.

SB - Target Audience Research

Fans at a Your Demise gig

Metalcore fans tend to be teenagers (15-24) of both genders, however the genre is very male orientated but it seems that females are more vocal about their opinions on metalcore bands as well as other topics associated with metalcore. The target audience tends to be 15- 24 this is evident through websites associated with the genre like Facebook groups, twitter, forums such as Kerrang!

Metalcore is more of a masculine genre than others possibly due to the heavy nature of the music. Live performances usually cater to a male audience because of things such as 'mosh pits' 'headbanging' and 'hardcore dancing' these are very active quite violent actions which appeal to more active male fans.

RM - What We Have Learned From The Last Film Shoot

During editing for a full sample video we have discovered a numerous amount of errors. 

Last time filming the decision was taken that, when close-ups are were being shot the only person in his position is the person being filmed. This means that shots which are good and are suitable for the videos can't be used because the shot reveals that he his playing by himself since there aren't any band members around him. Too add this this cars and houses are also in the background of some shots.

Another issue was that we didn't gain enough covered of the band as a whole. This has lead to use using two shots, one from behind some bushes and the other being in front of the band, for the majority of the time when the band is being shown as a whole. As well as this the band didn't play with playback therefore in stages they are out of time either by playing the song too quick or too slow.

To solve these issues when we next film, which is planned to be this Sunday, all band members will have playback. We will also try to use two cameras in two different positions to obtain more footage in the same time frame. We are also planning to film the diegetic intro and some narrative aspects depending on timing. The latter two will be filmed at night.