Filming

Rehearsal

This is the rehearsal we had some of our cast take part in. We did this so that everyone had a brief idea of what was going to happen on the actual filming date. As of result of this it meant that we saved time because we weren't lost and had to think about what to film next because of our rehearsal. In addition to this it also meant that the artist had the opportunity to familiarise herself with the lyrics of the song. This  would prevent things such as forgetting lyrics in the middle of a shot or being unable to keep up with the pace of the song. Furthermore this also meant that actors knew what the had to do in terms of acting as apposed to singing.

Secondary Research

The other form of research that I conducted was secondary research. Secondary research refers to information that has already been found and is available for use at any time. These can be found through other reports like newspapers or annual reports of other companies. If the researcher is doing secondary research, there is no need to search for fresh information because you are using information that has already be found by other people. Secondary research is reliable as it has been discovered before and been used time and time again. This shows that it is 99.9% fact. Secondary research can range from textbooks, the internet and advertisements. However this isn’t always true because some websites can be changed by anyone such as Wikipedia. Therefore it is important for me to list my sources so that people will be able to justify the creditability of the website on their own. One of the ways in which I conducted secondary research was by analysing existing music videos. Below I have given examples of some of the music videos that I watched and the results from my analysation.

One of the existing music video artists I researched was P!nk. The reason why I researched her music videos is because the genre of her music video is similar to the track we have chosen. Therefore I felt it was to appropriate to watch her music videos because it would give us an idea of the kind of image we want to give our artists. The image P!nk gives off from this video is of a strong and independent woman who talks about the idea of being perfect. I found this to be very useful as sounds like the exact kind of character of our music video choice. P!nk seems to wear dark clothing and it would be safe to assume that it is representing the feelings that she feels about being perfect. There is a shot in the video where she wounds herself embedding the word "perfect" on her arm and it all reinforces the fact that she dislikes the idea of people being perfect. There is a similar concept with our music video and I would therefore need to ensure that our cast are dressed in dark clothing.

Another music video that I used as my source of research was from the artist Avril Lavigne. The reaosn why I chose to watch this video is because just like P!nk her genre of music has the same feel as the track that we have chosen. In this video she is portraying herself as a woman who isn't afraid to do anything and just does it without hesitation. I found this to be useful because the character she is portraying is similar to the character of our music video. One of the lyrics in our track is "Oh I don't hold my breath and I don't hold my tongue", implying that the artist doesn't hesitate to tell someone something. This is reinforces the idea of having a strong and independent woman as the artist for our music video.

There are several other music videos that I watched and I have linked the ones that stood out in my opinion. As you may have noticed the similarities between these videos is that the character has her own sense of strong will and independence. In addition to this the genre has this rocky/punk feel to it which is similar to the track of our choice. Furthermore they are all wearing dark clothing such as black and have their own distinctive hair colour. For example we can see P!nk with a bright blonde hair colour with her own touch of pink on the side. Avril Lavigne has blonde hair in most of her videos and the female artist in Paramore has red hair.

Here again we can see the dark colours in the music video and the same dark clothing. The artist in Evanescence doesn't particularly have  her own distinctive hair colour but distinguishes herself through her makeup as you can see the strong dark purple lipstick and eye shadow etc. In the same way all the members of the band are wearing dark clothing.

Another good example of the dark rocky theme that I have researched is from Within Temptation. As you can see from this video there is a dark story being portrayed in the video and the members of the band are yet again in dark clothing. There are also dark colours used in the scenes that make the cast stand out. The female artist also seems to be wearing mostly black. 

All of this information has given me an overview of what we need to include in our music video. In summary I need to ensure that the cast are wearing dark coloured clothing but with something that makes them distinctive. Fortunately we have planned ahead and already decided that we were going to have the members of the band with different hair colours using hair spray. Additionally our music video has a dark comical feel to it, which will have meant that we have successfully implemented the ideas we gathered from existing music videos.

Storyboard

When it came to producing a storyboard we first have to find out the most efficient ways for a production. Taking into consideration that our production is a music video we thought that it was best to do a sample storyboard to see how it would turn out in the end. The one we used as a sample was a 2-collumn storyboard. The 2-collumn refers to a storyboard where you initially have two columns, one of which displays the video whilst the other shows the audio. In addition to this there is a brief summary that acts as the overview for the music video so that when it comes to handing down the storyboard to someone like the actors or the camera man, they have a clear idea of what  the video is about before they actually film it. Its important that the summary is made clear because a camera operator would probably have lots of other footage for other movies to be filming. In the same case other cast members could be in a situation where the have to be working on different sites at different times. The reason why we use 2-column storyboards is because of the type of production we are doing. Since we are only producing a music video it not necessary to do an in-depth storyboard with sketches and annotations of every shot like you would normally do for a feature film. In addition to this since it is only a music video it will not require a long filming duration. As a result of this the directors will not need to leave the set during the film period and will be able to delegate instructions as he sees it. The way in which we benefit from this is that we only have to use detailed bullet points of what we want to see going on because we are going to be on set and will be able to inform the cast and the camera operators of what they need to be doing. Furthermore it is much less time consuming because of the amount of detailed required is considerably less as apposed to a storyboard for a feature film. In the case of a feature film the director may not always be available as they would be busy managing other priorities. Therefore the storyboard for that particular production would need to be extremely clear, precise with sketches and detailed annotation on the side so that the rest of the cast will be able to continue working to meet the producers vision.

During lesson time we had the opportunity to produce a sample 2-collumn storyboard in order to assess the likelihood of whether or not we would find it easier than the last storyboard we had to do. Our previous existing media footage was the opening 10 minutes of a TV Drama and as a result meant that the storyboard had to be clear and precise with sketches and detailed annotation as apposed to bullet points. However this time we are only producing a music video therefore we can afford to use a 2-collumn storyboard.  Below I have included an image of my sample 2-collumn storyboard. As you can see I have included a summary at the top of the page explaining what the video is actually about, although the feedback I received from fellow classmates indicates that it was short but in detail. Therefore when it comes down to the real planning stage of the storyboard I will need to ensure that the summary is in detail and explains everything that happens in the video. It will not be in the same depth as the pitch but detailed enough for the other cast members to know what they are dealing with. Moving on with the storyboard I was told that I had clear indication of the kind of shot angles I wanted and the lighting was clear. For example I said 'several close ups and extreme closeups of characters expressions whilst fighting in dark lighting". I also happened to say that I required facial expression however I never fully explained the types of expression I wanted the actors to have. This could have negative implications on the actually filming day because the actors would not know what kind of expression to make. Although I did note down on one of the shots that I wanted the protagonist to look frustrated and angry, it wasn't consistent for my other shots as I just noted down "closeup of eye contact and facial expression".

This is our 2 column storyboard that we devised as a group. Meg and Alex typed it up as we all pitched in ideas. The way in which we approached this task was to look at our pitch for what was going to happen. We then listened to the lyrics to find out the most appropriate point for where that particular shot should be included. For example on the opening sequence we are going to have multiple shots cutting between the boy and the girls that he is flirting with during different times. The opening sequence will be during the introduction of the song which lasts 4 seconds, therefore we would have multiple shots cutting for 4 seconds before the song starts.

Purpose of music videos powerpoint

Purposes of music videos powerpoint

Pitch

27/11/2012 - When it came to the point of creating the pitch we had a number of initial ideas before coming to a final decision. One of which is that we decided to have an Alice in the wonderland theme where the protagonist would host a party and invite guest from numerous other movies. The way in which we were going to approach this is via a basket. The protagonist would be filmed approaching a bench whilst holding a basket and placing it down on the floor as if she was preparing for a picnic. Afterwards the camera would zoom into the basket showing the area in which the party will be held. On her journey to the party she encounters multiple fictional characters from existing movies and films.  They would be throwing food to each other and the way in which the tension will rise is that the size of the food that is being thrown will gradually increase before the explosive climax.

Another idea we developed in case one didn't work was of a day dream that would occur in school. There would be a stage where the protagonist would be performing and she would be receiving her applause and praise at the end. She would then run to class at the same speed as the applause in order to get in time with the intro of the song. Whilst in class she would see the teaching focused on teaching and her other class members will not notice her singing. She would open her book and see that on each individual page there are shots of her singing or the band playing and previous flashbacks of her life. Time would warp and she would see herself on stage performing just like she did previously however at the end a bell would ring and she would wake up again in class and the lesson will be over.

29/11/2012 - Today we altered our previous idea for our pitch due to the reason that we discovered the idea was very similar to Britney Spears' song 'Baby, One More Time'. Instead we came up with the idea of contrasting the loud attitude of the protagonist with a quiet/sad setting. Our Finalized idea is this; The protagonist will be on a date with her boyfriend and catch him flirting with an older woman on a different table. Then it will cut to a different date where he repeats the flirtatious behavior with a different woman and doesn't pay any attention to her. This is when she begins to sing the lyrics. She storms off and he follows. The protagonist will take her boyfriend home and begin to 'play fight' with him, which escalates into her killing him by hitting him around the head with a giant lollipop. She then goes upstairs to get ready for an occasion that is not yet revealed. Cut scene to snap shots of the funeral. The protagonist is walking (whilst singing) in a field with the band and ends up at some kind of gathering. Close ups of the girls mourning to reveal they are the girls he had been flirting with. Cut scene of the protagonist replacing his ashes with the sherbet. She acts sweetly-evil to the girls by giving them sherbet. The camera moves back to reveal the occasion is her boyfriend's funeral. It then ends with the protagonist licking her lips.

Here is an example of our music video pitch used in conjunction with Freytag’s theory. As you can see we have taken into consideration the 5 steps that will be used in the pitch with Freytag’s theory. If we look at the exposition there is a clear indication of what is currently going on in the plot and introduces the characters as well as the situation that sets the story in motion. In this case the characters would be the protagonist and her boyfriend and they are currently on a date and talking about their life. Next we have the problem or in other words the rising action.  This is where the complications arouse amongst the characters where they are struggling with their issues. In this case the protagonist catches her boyfriend flirting with the other women across the table in the café. The reason why we can consider it being a rising action is due to the fact that the audience’s suspense about the characters tends to rise during this moment in time. Next we have the mini climax this is usually the moment in time where the tension has risen to the point where there is conflict between the characters and the outcome of the struggle between the characters becomes somewhat clear but yet to be fully understood. In this case it would refer to the moment where the protagonist assaults the boyfriend and he seems to be brutally wounded however the audience are unaware as to whether or not he is actually dead. Next we have the climax of the story which is often referred to as the moment in which the tension is at its peak. This tension comes from the constant struggle of the characters being increased and developed throughout the plot. At this point the outcome of the struggle between the characters is clear and the initial conflict between characters decreases. This also applies to the suspense for the audience as they have a clear indication of what has happened. In this case it would be the protagonist replacing the urn ashes with sherbet. Lastly the final part of the story is the conclusion which is often referred to as the denouement. It is the unraveling of the plot and the point where the revelation is concluded. In our case it would be where the protagonist witnesses the other characters at the funeral eating the ashes inside the sherbet packets and there is a close up of her licking her lips.

Permission

This is a screenshot of me asking permission to use a track from a music record label. The reason why I must do this is to ensure that we are not breaking any copyright laws by using this track in our music video. By doing this it proves that we have asked for permission to use the track and realize that the track does not belong to us to use for commercial purposes.