Ideas for music video

Camera Angles

When creating our horror music video my partner lucy and I will ensure that the video is effective by using fast camera angles. We will use a variety of close ups, tracking shots and extreme long shots. As the music in the video gets faster the shots will speed up to keep the audience interested. This will also emphasize the tension between characters in our story. In our chase scene we well combine various tracking shots. In parts of our video some over the shoulder shots will be used, this will include the audience in our video making them feel as if they are part of the story. During a chase scene point of view shots will be used to reveal the emotional state of our characters. This will enable the audience to relate to the characters in our video and sympathize with them.

Editing

When it comes to editing we will have to make sure than we have a fair bit of filming. It could be the make or break of our music video. We will need a lot of fast tracking shots to keep the video flowing. When editing we should consider what shots go in time with the music. We have planned on making our actors sing along to part of the song, it is crucial that they sing in time. When filming them singing along we will have to play the song whilst we are filming them so they know exactly what part they're at in the song. If this practice is unsuccessful then we will have to edit out these bits and find other shots to use. Towards the end of the song (in the middle of a chase scene) we planned on softening the music and reducing the volume so it is possible for the audience to hear the heavy breathing of the girl in our video. This enables the audience to realize that they are not focusing on the music anymore, instead they are completely focused on the story-line.

Mies-en-scene

Props.

The props that we will use were chosen carefully. They are relevant to the story but we haven't included too many to take the focus away from the story line. The props chosen are a photo frame, that will feature in the opening sequence. The photos in the frames will feature the two characters in our music video, this will help to introduce the characters to the audience. Another prop that we will use will be a car. The car will play decent a part in our video as one of the characters will be using the car to 'escape' the company of the other character.

Costume

The male character in our story line(Luke) will be dressed in black and dark clothes, this will create a mysteriousness about him. The colour black connotes depression, evil and maybe anger. The girl (Stephanie) will be wearing casual clothes so the attention of the audience isn't taken away from Luke.

Sound Effects

Because we are creating a music video we wont need to add sound effects over the video. The only effect we will be using in our video is at a section of the song nearer then end at around 2:44. We are planning on dimming down the volume of the song. As we quieten the music we are going to show the audience a point of view shot of the girl leaning on a tree, it is obvious by the camera angle that she is out of breathe. As the music quietens the breathing of the girl will get heavier and gradually fade out the song. This lets the audience know that its no longer the song that is important, but they now need to focus on the story line. After a set amount of time the song will start getting louder again - as the girl moves on from leaning on the tree.

Music

The song that Lucy and I chose to do for our music video is Muse's Time is running out. Muse are very well known for their surreal sound. The original video to Time is running out isn't very imaginative compared to the rest of their videos. The song has a good fast beat to it and we thought that it would be perfect for our 'Scary music video'. Lucy and I plan on making a more exciting video for Time is running out. As the song repeats its self, we didn't want to fall into the trap of repeating the same video clips over and over again like many previous rock videos in the past. To ensure we don't do this we are going to run with the story line the whole way through the video, there wont be any gaps.

Characters
The actors that we have planned on using are two people who are unfamiliar with eachother. There was a reason for chosing Stephanie (the girl in our video) and Luke (the boy in our video). We wanted to create as much tension as possible so we believe that this will increase the credibility of the video. The other reason for chosing our actors is because Lucy and I both know that they have some experience in acting, even if it was brief. We knew that they would take the project seriously, enabling enough time to film without wasting valuable footage.

Luke


Stephanie

Poll results

Looking through the results of all the polls I've previously posted the outcomes will be useful when deciding what song, location, characters and story line I will be creating in my video. 

''DOES THE LOCATION OF THE VIDEO MATTER TO YOU?''

the result of this poll showed that all the people who answered the poll think that the location of a video matters because the location has to be relevant to the song choice. WHEN CHOSING THE LOCATION OF MY VIDEO ME AND MY PARTNER LUCY WILL ENSURE THAT THE LOCATION RELATES TO THE SONG 

''WHEN YOU WATCH A MUSIC VIDEO WOULD YOU LIKE TO RELATE TO THE CHARACTERS IN THE STORY?''

Initial storyboard

Me and my partner decided to draw up separate ideas for our story board and then compare ideas after and see if we would be able to work together by combinding ideas.

Comparisons of existing music videos

The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
The video below is so effective because of its simplicity. The target audience is immediately recognisable in the first few seconds of the video. The video is all about the attitude. Richard Ashcroft is only walking down a road, yet the refusal to not move for anyone is something we would all possibly want to do, yet are scared to. The area the video is filmed in is the area where the band originated from and spent their childhood. The target audience of the Verve are likely to live in a similar area, and this helps their audience relate to the video. When the rest of the band join R.A it is clear to see that the only people in the video he cares about are his bandmates, or friends. This is also another similarity between the target audience and the video.

Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy



Unfinished Sympathy is well known mainly due to the video. The verve used ideas and conventions from this music video. As the Verve do, Massive Attack have tried to capture their audience by portraying their version of urban streets and life. In both of the two videos shown the most imortant aspect of them is the location and setting. This is crucial for the music videos, as the target audience can relate themselves to the video and even song, making it personal to them.

Fat Les - Vindaloo



This music video is blatantly obvious when it comes to using intertextual refrences from the Verve's video. A Richard Ashcroft look-a-like has been deliberatly used as the main focus and character for the majority of this video. The colour of the whole video is exactually the same to that used in the Verves video. However, although this is an obvious micky take of the Verve, this video includes more characters that fit the typical steriotypes of those who live in the area this video was shot. Again, another video using ideas and conventions to capture their target audience. This video has been more generous with the camera angles used, as it has clearly included many more shotts that aren't just of the main character. As the song its self is clearly used to boost the moral of football players and 'lads' the use of groups of characters works really well.

Theories of Narrative: Tzvetan Torordov

vetan Todorov simplified the idea of narrative theory while also allowing a more complex interpretation of film texts with his theory of Equilibrium and Disequilibrium.
The theory is simply this:
- The fictional environment begins with a state of equilibrium (everything is as it should be in a state of equal balance between powers of any kind, where equality of importance or effect exists among the various parts of any complex unity).
- It then suffers some disruption (disequilibrium).
- New equilibrium is produced at the end of the narrative.
The 5 stage pattern is:
1) A state of equilibrium at the outset.
2) A disruption of the equilibrium by some action.
3) A recognition that there had been a disruption.
4) An attempt to repair the disruption.
5) A reinstatement of equilibrium.

Theories of Narrative: Vladimier Prop

Vladimir Propp examined hundreds of fairy tales in the generic form of 'The Folk Wondertale.' He found that in most 'fairy tales' there was:
- 8 character roles
- 31 functions which move the story along.
Propp's theory is a form of structuralism, which is a view that all media is inevitable in the form of certain fixed structures - fairy tales always have a happy ending.
Propps theory can be applied to generic structures in Western culture, such as popular film genres. However, culture change can force structures to change. For example a hero can now be a woman.
The 8 characters that make up a generic film/video are:
- Hero
- Villain
- Donor
- Helper
- Princess
- Father
- Dispatcher
- False hero.
The 31 functions that move the story along are:
- Absentation
- Interdiction
- Violation of Interdiction
- Reconnaissance
- Delivery
- Trickery
- Complicity
- Villainy and Lack
- Mediation
- Beginning Counter Action
- Departure
- First Function of the Donor
- Hero's Reaction
- Receipt of a Magical Agent
- Guidance
- Struggle
- Branding
- Victory
- Liquidation
- Return
- Pursuit
- Rescue
- Unrecognised Arrival
- Unfounded Claims
- Difficult Task
- Solution
- Recognition
- Exposure
- Transfiguration
- Punishment
- Wedding

Analysis of existing album covers

The second album cover I have chosen to analyse is Muse's Absolution album cover. The design on the front was designed by surrealist artist and photographer Storm Thorgerson. Muse, who are well known for their loud songs gitaur sounds seem to have a surreal theme to their music, the album cover designed by Storm Thorgerson fits very well with their songs, especially the song titles on the album. To name a few ''Time is running out'' ''Dying thoughts of an atheist'' ''Hysteria'' and 'Butterflies and Hurricanes'

Analysis of existing album covers

The first album cover I have chosen to analyse is City and Colour's Bring Me Your Love album. The acoustic/alternative music produced by Dallas Green (the only band member) is very deep and artistic, yet simple as it is only one man and one gituar. Sometimes other instruments are played in the songs but its very rare. The album cover reflects the simple beautiful music produced by the artist. The painting on the front of the album is of the artist Dallas Green.

Moodboard

Few images of what inspired the music video I will be creating, and reasons as to why I chose the genre of music I did.

Exsisting videos: Poll