Showing posts with label G324 Planning Music Video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label G324 Planning Music Video. Show all posts

Friday, 24 February 2017

Music Video Second Draft



Things we need to add and improve on:

  • Shorten the girl's bedroom scene, which goes on too long with too many unnecessary shots.
  • Arrange the cuts so the film is more in time to the music.
  • Recreate the opening with a shot of the corkboard to clarify the use of the photographs
  • Use a shot of the bridge photograph on the corkboard instead of just cutting to the photo
  • Fade out the music at the end
  • Shorten some of the beach shots to make the ending more concise


Wednesday, 22 February 2017

Characters

Our music video centres around two main protagonists.

The male character, Samuel, played by Louis Coles, is a typical teenage boy created to portray millennial youth, therefore appealing to our target audience. The character's name was based on the artist Samuel Ford himself, with the intention of further establishing his 'brand'.

Samuel wears a beige jacket, jeans and trainers; a typical appearance for a modern teenager. We first see him in his bedroom which, again, is styled as a traditionally 'boy-ish' room.





The second protagonist is Lucy, played by Saffron Casbourne. The name 'Lucy' is inspired by Lucy Rose, a prominent artist in the genre 'Kings' belongs to.

Lucy is seen throughout the video wearing a pink jumper, which highlights her innocence and femininity, with pink being stereotypically associated with girls. The camera rarely centres on Lucy's face, leaving her as an enigma to the audience.




Our intention with these two characters was to allow the audience to be able to relate with their story. Because they are young people going through relationship issues, we felt many members of our primary target audience (18-25) would identify with the video, having gone through similar struggles themselves.

The video focuses completely on these two characters, allowing our audience to connect with them through spending more on-screen time with them.

Tuesday, 21 February 2017

Premise and shot locations

The concept for our music video follows a classic three act structure, with an inciting incident and resolution.


ACT 1


The video opens with the male character, Samuel, in his bedroom looking at an unseen photograph. As the music progresses, Samuel gets up and leaves his house and begins walking to an unknown destination.



We wanted to choose a bedroom which represented the character of Samuel. To do this, we chose Isaac's room which has a blue colour scheme and has football shirts hung up on the wall, which is typically masculine.

The second scene is similar to the first, reflecting that the two characters are fated to be together. The girl, Lucy, is alone in her bedroom when she finds an old anniversary card, implying it was given to her by the male character. This upsets her and she, too, leaves the house to go to an unknown destination.



Similarly, we wanted a typically feminine bedroom for the character of Lucy so we have decided to use Saffron's own bedroom, which contains objects such as a hairbrush and mirror to use as props.

ACT 2


As the next verse plays, leading into the first chorus, the boy walks through the street (the camera is always following him as he walks to the left).

The girl also walks down a street (the camera following her walking to the right, to give the implication that the characters are walking towards each other) and sees a statue near a park. There is some sort of transition into a picture showing the couple together here - a flashback to their former love.





The street is quite an industrial, cold area and so we chose to use this as a location to convey the state of the protagonists' relationship. As the video progresses, the imagery will become more natural and warm. 

We have decided to use the large red statue on Mariot's way because it is a notable landmark that will be easy to come back to during filming.

There is a transition to the boy travelling through a forest or woods, and the girl also walking through a similar location. The girl stops at some sort of landmark and there is another flashback to the couple together at that landmark.





Forest locations were chosen because often in music videos of the same genre, natural imagery is featured. This is because the original form of music it descends from - folk music - originated from people singing and composing songs about nature. We decided to use these particular locations because, importantly, they were places which all of our cast and crew could easily travel to and also because we were already familiar with the layout of the parks, so knew specific locations which would be good for filming.

ACT 3


As the instrumental and outro play, the couple reunite at a beach and hug. The photo the boy was looking at is revealed to be a photograph of the couple at that very same spot on the beach. They walk away together and the video fades out.




This particular beach, Wells, was chosen mainly due to the beach huts. Beach huts allowed us to have a landmark which the two characters could meet at, meaning that the audience will not have to suspend their disbelief that the two just happened to walk to the same indiscernible spot on a huge beach. The boy walked to the exact beach hut that he and the girl are seen together near in the photograph, and we can assume that the girl has done the same, remembering their spot.


Thursday, 13 October 2016

Dialogue in music videos

Some music videos feature dialogue in some form to advance the story and set out a premise. However, to avoid the problem of speaking over the music, many music videos use subtitles to convey dialogue.

Some examples include:









Because our music video is about a couple reuniting, we felt that it would be appropriate to include dialogue between the two in some way. This may perhaps be included towards the end of the video, when the two main characters finally meet.

Another way of depicting dialogue would be through the use of on-screen text messages sent from the protagonists to each other.

Image result for texting in films

Image result for texting in films

Image result for texting in films


Image result for texting in films

This is an interpretation of dialogue which we will use more often than just subtitles. This is because the two characters are a distance away from each other throughout the video, so face-to-face dialogue is only possible in the last moments.

Narrative planning

Whilst planning our music video, we drew out a narrative timeline which documents the events of our music video from start to finish; including the times at which each event happens in relation to the song. We created this to ensure that we can accurately film our video (as well as more easily plan locations and events in accordance with the music).

Friday, 9 September 2016

Music Video Inspirations

These are a range of music videos from other artists within the same genre as our chosen song. Looking at conventions of a music genre through pre-existing videos should help us to better plan and direct our own music video.











A noticeable convention in the music videos I have found is that there is a focus on one 'character', who is portrayed by the singer.

The artist in each of the videos has frequent shots in which they lip sync to the camera; thereby forming a more personal connection between the audience and the music.

There is also a small focus on instruments in two of the videos ('Shine' and 'Only Love'); usually including a brief shot of the artist holding or playing a guitar, or an instrument in the background of the video.

Another convention within these music videos is the frequent movement of characters to transition between shots. For example, in the video for 'Stolen Car', the singer is shown to be continuously and fluidly moving between shots. This is the same for 'This Is The Life', 'Only Love' and 'Shine' where the camera mostly follows a single person as they move between scenes.

Thursday, 25 August 2016

Annotated Song Lyrics

These are the lyrics to 'Kings' by Samuel Ford; our choice of music video song. Knowing the lyrics is important because it will allow us to more accurately draw links between the visuals in our video and the music and lyrics of the song.

Kings

Hold your tongue,
don’t let your fear become
a call for your pardon,
a call for your sins.

From this first verse, the lyrics tell us that the subject of the song has done something to hurt the narrator, and so we can convey from the song is about a broken relationship.

Take your time,
there’s no need to hide your crimes
from all that surrounds you.

So live like we ought to,
live like we’re born to,
live like we're all of us kings,
together we'll learn,
to grow when we're broken,
grow as we’re open,
grow with the age of defeat,
together we’ll learn.
Together we’ll learn to lose,
and we’ll love.

The chorus mentions learning and breaking, which implies that the relationship can be repaired. The chorus' music is also more upbeat, a contrast to the slow and quite melancholy verses.

Break your glass,
it's too soon to cloud the path,
of hope it is waiting.

So live like we ought to,
live like we’re born to,
live like we're all of us kings,
together we'll learn,
to grow when we’re broken,
grow as we’re open,
grow with the age of defeat,
together we’ll learn.
Together we’ll learn to lose
and we’ll love.

(Instrumental)

Hold your tongue,
don’t let your fear become
a call for your pardon,
a call for your pardon.

The first verse repeats, this time more monophonic, representing a resolution to the song. The change in tone also represents the change in the meaning of the lyrics. Whereas previously they portrayed mistakes and regret in a relationship, now they represent forgiveness.



After analysing the lyrics, we decided to opt for a plot about a broken relationship, and the lengths the affected parties go to to rebuild it.

Music Video Song Confirmation

When our group decided on the song we wanted to use, we contacted the artist.




Music Video Song Choice

Monday, 11 July 2016

Music Video Song Possibilities

"Torn" - Alan Lewis


http://richerunsigned.com/album/alanofficial/#tracks

Strengths:

  • Catchy chorus
  • Clear lyrics (makes lip-syncing more possible)
  • Dynamic and textured; lots of possibilities for elements in a music video

Weaknesses:

  • Slow verses may limit possibilities
  • Music video may become slightly generic due to the "sad" sound of the song (will need to be about love/breakups/relationships etc.)
  • Very long


"Lifeline" - Alannah Moar


http://richerunsigned.com/album/alannah-moar/#tracks

Strengths:

  • Fast tempo; music video can utilise jump cuts and other fast-paced editing techniques
  • Clear lyrics

Weaknesses:

  • Recording is slightly poor


"Make my Day" - Mealla




Strengths:

  • Clear lyrics
  • Good buildup with verses
  • Catchy chorus
  • Dynamic and textured; video possibilities
  • Not too repetitive or bland

Weaknesses:

  • Quite long
  • Abrupt ending


"Looking at You" - The Tartan Rascals




Strengths:

  • Clear, catchy and interesting chorus
  • Verses aren't dull or too long-lasting
  • Genre (alternative rock) would make for an original music video
  • Clear lyrics

Weaknesses:

  • Slightly repetitive 
  • Blunt ending

Our Choices: