Animatic

This is the animatic for our music video; it helps to show how long each shot will be displayed for and allows us to see if there is anything we need to change. Our artist will be singing throughout.

Common Editing Techniques

• In a typical music video, more than 95% of all shots are moving. Tracking shot, crab, pan, tilt, zoom in or out, character movement.
• Static singers are never shown, opening her mouth only, in a still shot. At least pan or zoom is used. This can be achieved in editing even if the footage is still. Proper movement makes the video flow smoothly. In a music video, movement is more important than good framing.
• Colour is adjusted for every shot.The chance of getting exact colour without color correction is next to zero. White balance and filter can be used while shooting, but it’s in postproduction its made perfect.
• Close ups have more visual impact that wide shots. It’s an element used in typical music video style: visually impressive, sound intensive, image rich. It also helps to dilute the sense of place and time.
  
  

Taken from: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/tutorials/music-video.shtml

Representation

Our video is attempting to represent an innocent and demure young girl that the audience can empathise with. We will try and portray her in this way with the use of high camera angles that exaggerate her vulnerabilty and make her appear petite and childlike. The use of costume will consist of nude floral patterns, simple floaty dresses and demure plain pieces. Her make up will be minimal and simple so she appears naturally radiant and youthful. The locations we will use will be natural outdoor shots and homely indoor surroundings to reflect her natural beauty and friendly girl next door look. 

Our song is fairly up beat and high tempo and so our speed of cuts will reflect this, being relatively frequent. However some shots will linger on our star for longer, and with lots of close ups of her face there will be a definite focus and adoring idolisation of her innocence and beauty.  

Schedule List

Outdoor Shots
- Field
- Emma's Garden
- Bridge

Indoor Shots
- Emma's bedroom
- Lounge

Bad Weather - Bedroom scene in chorus ('It rains in your bedroom...')
- We need to film this section of the chorus if we have a day where it is raining since it will make more sense in the narrative.

- Prioritse outdoor scenes as the weather is unreliable and we will fall behind if we cannot film due to bad weather; on days where ourdoor shooting is not appropirate, we can film the indoor shots.

-Sam is only available ever other weekend so we need to bare this in mind when filming the shots where he is needed.

- Start filming week commencing Monday 8th October
Draft video must be finished by Friday 2nd Novemeber.

Narrative Theorist

Laura Mulvey - Male Gaze
We have created our character to fit with Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory. In our video, we will be using high camera angles with the girl looking up into the camera; her eye contact will make her appealing to look at and draw in the viewer. Her costume will consist of light, natural colours to present her as innocent; her overall look should be attractive to men and admiral by women.

Todorov Theory
 "Every narrative starts with an equilibrium (state of normality) Then there's a disruption (a disturbance to the normality) New equilibrium as a result of the disruption."
- In our video, it will begin with the girls 'normality' of her being in love and happy. Then the disruption will be her falling out with the boy and them not talking to each other; thereby resulting in their break-up. At the end, her new state or normality will be being single and happy.

Barthes Theory
"We understand narratives through understanding and decoding signals and codes."
- We will use an actions code to hint to the viewer about what is about to happen. For example, there will be a shot of the front door after the girl and boy have had an argument which would hint that the boy is about to storm out and leave. Also the scene where the boy and girl are sat on the sofa not talking foreshadows their break-up; the viewer registers their awkwardness and understands they are going to fall out.

This Week...

This week we have been drawing up our storyboards and uploading the shots to make an animatic. This gives a good visual image of how our video will fit together and allows us to see if there are any changes that need to be made. By the end of today, we will have completed the animatic and our section for research and planning will be complete.

Actors

This is Kayleigh and Sam. They will be playing the role of the couple in our music video. We have chosen them because we feel that they will be able to convey the narrative convincingly for the audience.

Draft Storyboard for Chorus

Storyboard sketches for verses

Risk Assessment

This PowerPoint looks at the potential risks that we may come across when filming.

Our Narrative

Once upon a time
I believe it was a Tuesday
- The main character begins laying on a bed, she's happy and talking about how they met.

When I caught your eye
We caught onto something
I hold onto the night
You looked me in the eye
And told me you loved me

- Looking back at how they fell in love. Shot of the boy catching sight of the girl for the 'first' time.

Were you just kidding?
Cause it seems to me
This thing is breaking down- Shot of them sitting on the sofa, not looking at each other. She's wondering if he really does love her. Things are starting to go wrong. High camera angle will be used and neutral coloured clothing to make her look vulnerable.

We almost never speak
I don't feel welcome anymore
Baby what happened
Please tell me cause one second it was perfect
Now you're halfway out the door

- They are becoming distant, he is moving away from her emotionally and she doesn't understand why. Shot through the window of the boy walking away from the house.

 

And I stare, at the phone
He still, hasn't called
And then you feel so low you can't feel, nothing at all- She is waiting for him to come back to her but he seems to have disappeared from her life. She is now upset and feels alone. High camera angle and neutral colours used to show vulnerability and innocence.

And you flashback to when he said
Forever and always
- She thinks back to when they fell in love. Outdoor shot of her walking through a field.

Oh, and it rains in your bedroom, everything is wrong
It rains when you're here and it rains when you're gone

- She feels sad with him and without him, she is confused and doesn't know what to do. Shot of her laying on her bed, no longer happy.

Cause I was there when you said
Forever and always

- Thinking back to when they fell in love. Outdoor shot.

Was I out of line? Did I say something way to honest?
Made you run and hide like a scared little boy?
- Camera moves to the window in her room. She is frustrated at him, thinks she might have done something wrong but he hasn't told her what.

I looked into your eyes, thought I knew you for a minute
Now I'm not so sure
-Doubting whether they are right for each other. He's not who she thought he was. Outside shot of the boy walking away with another girl.

So here's to everything
Coming down to nothing
Here's to silence
That cuts me to the core
- They no longer talk anymore and have lost the love that they had between them. Sitting on opposite ends of the sofa, not talking.

Where is this going?
Thought I knew for a minute but I don't anymore- She doesn't know what he wants her to do, she thought he loved her and would always love her.

And I stare, at the phone
He still, hasn't called
And then you feel so low you can't feel, nothing at all
- He still hasn't given her an explanation for what she's done. She is hurt and upset. High camera angle to show her feeling down. The girl checking her phone to show he hasn't called her (outdoor shot)

And you flashback to when he said
Forever and always- Thinking back to when they fell in love. Shot of them holding hands and smiling at each other. Outdoor shot.

Oh, and it rains in your bedroom, everything is wrong
It rains when you're here and it rains when you're gone- Their relationship is still broken, she still feels empty without him. Shot of her laying on her bed.

Cause I was there when you said
Forever and always

-Thinks back to when they were in love. Shot of him putting his arm around her and smiling. Outdoor shot.

Didn't mean it baby?
I don't think so
Back up, baby back up
Did you forget everything?
Back up, baby back up
Did you forget everything?- She has worked out he never loved her in the first place, she's trying to remind him about what he said to her; that they'd always be together. Outdoor shot.

(repeat chorus again) - by the end of the song she is outside alone and walking away. Final shot will fade out.

Letter to request song permission

Dear Copyright Holder

We are two A-Level students studying Media at Lutterworth College. We are writing to request your permission to use a track by Taylor Swift. The track we wish to use is 'Forever and Always'

With your Permission, this track would be used in our current A-Level Media Studies project, which involves creating a music video to a popular music track, as well as producing an album cover and a magazine advert for the artist we have created.

If we received your permission, this track would be used in an educational context and be viewed by our Media class, our teacher and the OCR exam board moderator.

The artist and your company would of course be fully recognised throughout pre-production and the final video itself. A copyright notice with wording supplied by you can be included in the records of the project. If this is requires, please send full details.

We look forward to hearing from you,

Kind Regards.

This Week...

The main focus for this week is to begin story boarding our ideas for the video and then moving on to animate them online. For each shot we sketch we will also decide details of its duration, camera movement and location. The purpose of our story board is to allow us to effectively organise our ideas and allow us to film in a time saving manner, grouping similar shots/scenes.
We are also preparing our letter requesting the permission for use of Taylor Swifts song.

Videos similar to ours

Here is a clip from Ellie Goulding's song 'Our song.' This video reflects a similar concept of simple natural surroudings and focus on star image, elements we want to replicate in our own video. Consistent techniques used throughout this video include the use of close ups on the star, frequent constume/scene changes and simple fluid narrative.

Photos for Outdoor Shots

Today, I went out and took some photos of possible places that we could use for filming the outdoor shots of our music video. We need to be conscious of the weather when we film our outdoor shots and prioritise these over the indoor ones.

Media Locations on Prezi

UK Tribes

The UK Tribes website allows you to look through the different groups people are classified in to. The audience for our music video fall into the 'Townies' and 'Rahs' category since these are more mainstream. Townies are said to be quite ordinary and the Rahs are more high-fashion and classy; our target audience is a mix of both.

Pitch feedback

The comments we received from the class on possible problems with our video were of a few main concerns;

• There may be difficulty with us finding an appropriate female and male actor, who are attractive and fit the image of our video.
• It may be difficult for us to portray the storyline element effectively. 
• Also filming outside can often be difficult with the weather and lighting.

To overcome these issues we have already found our female artist who fits our look and image well. And we have a lose plan of our narrative which will be a simple and clear story of a break up between our artist and her boyfriend. This will be alternated with the shots of our star image. To overcome filming outside we will prioritise these scenes for when the weather is appropriate and film indoors when its not as good. The outside scenes will also be minimal and of lesser importance.

Location Mood Board

This is an inspirational mood board for a location to film our video. We have already decided on a country house to (shown in previous post) however we need to find suitable outdoor areas that we can use for the other shots we will need to film.

Verity's Clothes Mood Board

Here is a selection of outfits that best represent the personality of our star, innocent and demure. We are aiming to find similar costumes for Verity to wear in our video.

Indoor Locations - Mood Board

Here is a selection of photos that have the ideal look we will attempt to find and create for our own set. Some aspects may be beyond our resources, but this is the general look that best presents our artist and song.

Location

We feel that this would be a suitable location to film our video.

This week...

This week, we will pitch our idea to the class using our animoto and 25 word pitch. This is useful to see the reaction and how people respond to the concept. Then we will collect feedback and see if there is anything to do that would improve our idea or anything we need to change in order to improve our overall piece.

Verity's Twitter Feed

https://twitter.com/OfficialVerity

Biography

Verity is an up and coming country/ pop artist. At only 18, she has already released her first album which was a huge success worldwide. Bought up in Leicester, Verity is now living the life of a superstar and climbing her way to the top of the music industry. At an early age, she learnt to play the Piano which is what initially what sparked an interest in music and following this, she took guitar lessons and began performing for small audiences at school or local events where she became very popular and found herself with huge turn outs.
A few years on, and Verity is here, writing and composing her own music and lyrics to produce new and catchy songs which have become highly popular with her audience. She is currently preparing for a UK tour to support her new album. In the future she hopes to produce more albums and have a sell-out European tour.

Progress

Today, we talked about how we are going to go about creating our music video and what we need to sort out. We need to find a second female role for our video in order to create a believable narrative and also find a suitable location to film different shots in. We also need to find suitable outfits for our artist to wear that reflect her genre of music.

Audience Profile

Ideal Age Group: 13-21

Preferred Genre: Country/Pop

Where they watch music videos: Muscic channels and youtube

Lucy is 15 years old and is a real fan of country/pop music. At school she is studying music and art and really enjoys creative expression. In her spare time she likes to play the guitar and make up her own songs. Her idol is Taylor Swift and she aspires to also be a successful artists like her one day. She really enjoys listening to country, pop and folk music and spends her money on buying new albumns and going to small gigs and festivals. She watches music videos herself as she enjoys the narrative stories within them and especially ones such as taylor swifts, that include both romance and quirky comedy. Her favourite videos are the ones that completely absorb her attention and make her imagine being that star, or where she's able to empathise with the characters.

Our Pitch

Our video is a country/pop genre, containing a solo female artist called Verity. She's an 18 year old singer/songwriter with an innocent, demure look.

Mood Board - Forever and Always

Artist Name

We have chosen to use 'Verity' as our artist name. the word 'verity' has connotations of truth and purity which is why we felt it would be suitable for the artist we are trying to portray to our audience. We also felt that just having one name was more effective and, since this challenges conventions in our genre, it will help her to stand out.

Our Song

We have decided to choose 'Forever and Always' as our song because it is more upbeat than the other songs we looked at and feel that the lyrics will be easier to present to the audience.

'Forever and Always' - Lyrics

Once upon a time, I believe it was a Tuesday
When I caught your eye
And we caught onto something, I hold on to the night
You looked me in the eye and told me you loved me
Were you just kidding? 'Cause it seems to me

This thing is breaking down, we almost never speak
I don't feel welcome anymore
Baby, what happened? Please tell me
'Cause one second it was perfect
Now you're halfway out the door

And I stare at the phone and he still hasn't called
And then you feel so low, you can't feel nothin' at all
And you flashback to when he said, forever and always
Oh, oh

Oh, and it rains in your bedroom, everything is wrong
It rains when you're here and it rains when you're gone
'Cause I was there when you said forever and always

Was I out of line? Did I say something way too honest
That made you run and hide like a scared little boy?
I looked into your eyes, thought I knew you for a minute
Now I'm not so sure

So here's to everything, coming down to nothing
Here's to silence that cuts me to the core
Where is this going? Thought I knew for a minute
But I don't anymore

And I stare at the phone and he still hasn't called
And then you feel so low, you can't feel nothin' at all
And you flashback to when he said forever and always
Oh, oh

Oh, and it rains in your bedroom, everything is wrong
It rains when you're here and it rains when you're gone
'Cause I was there when you said forever and always
You didn't mean it, baby, I don't think so
Oh, oh

Oh, back up, baby, back up, did you forget everything?
Back up, baby, back up, did you forget everything?

'Cause it rains in your bedroom, everything is wrong
It rains when you're here and it rains when you're gone
'Cause I was there when you said forever and always

Oh, I stare at the phone and he still hasn't called
And then you feel so low, you can't feel nothin' at all
And you flashback to when we said forever and always

And it rains in your bedroom, everything is wrong
It rains when you're here and it rains when you're gone
'Cause I was there when you said forever and always
You didn't mean it, baby, you said forever and always

Song Shortlist

• Mine
• Forever and Always
• Back to December
• Teardrops on my Guitar
• Sparks Fly

Who we've chosen and why

We have decided that a Taylor Swift song would be good to use for our music video. We have chosen her because her songs are not too fast (which will make lip syncing easier), her lyrics can be used effectively to create a narrative in our video and also because both of us have a genuine interest in her music and genre. After completing the preliminary task, it became apparent that matching the visuals to the lyrics is actually quite difficult, especially when the star is singing therefore, we need to chose a steady-paced song and, in our video, we need to spend a lot of time ensuring that the syncing looks believable.

Shannon's Video Analysis

This shows the disjuncture in Carly-Rae Jepson's 'Call Me Maybe'

This shows the Disjuncture in Fun's 'We Are Young'

The video has been slowed down to add emphasis on the action and show the irrationality of it.

This shows illustration in Taylor Swift's 'Love Story'

This section shows the notion of looking and the flashback she gets when she sees 'Romeo'

Charlotte's Video Analysis

This clips shows the use of illustration with a simple peformance video and minimal narrative.

 A clip of the video that shows the use of amplication with the elements of stop motion and simple illustration of lyrics with the narrative performance.

A clip of the video that shows the use of illustration with the narrative reflecting the lyrics.