Pitch for Video

This is the pitch for our music video which we had decided to change after we had gotten the feedback from our initial screening. Even though we had stuck with a similar relationship (Sister/friendship) between the two characters with our second choice of branding, we had also decided that we wanted to change the storyline slightly as main character was suffering from loss.

Initial Screening

This is our initial screening video, after this we had looked at our work and decided that this was not the song for us. This had lead us onto believe that we should have stuck with something within the indie-pop genre rather than the electronic-pop genre.

Pitch of Ideas

Music video- With the music video, we wanted to have some similarities between the original music video and the one we will create. In the original music video there are a few scenes with star like projections so in our music video we wanted a galaxy theme to the performance shots like it's a place where the character can escape to.

 We also decided to take the lyrics literally. For this we decided to have a bond between two sisters as the narrative idea. We will also include some similar shots like the ones below.

Editing Plan

The main effects we will be using within our video are:

1. Double exposure - We will be using this when Abbie is in the streets, drunk. This will create an effect of point of view and to show how her character is feeling. 

2. The projector - even though this is a physical effect, we will also use this when doing the double exposure and to allow it to relate back to the chosen genre. 

3. Text - this will be shown towards the beginning of the video. What will be written is the artist name along with the song title as this is similar to their original music video. 

To edit the video we will be using Premier Pro as this is a standard program that we are familiar with from using this previously.

Timeline of Music Video

Megan and Beth 'The Mother We Share' timeline-

Locations we will use:

• Bedroom
• Street/outside the house
• Hallway
• Kitchen
• Performance
• Bus

1. 00:00-00:07- Abbie leaves the house
2. 00:08-00:13- Sit down at table (with drink?)
3. 00:14-00:16- A performance shot of Megan w/ projector
4. 00:17-00:23- Changing shots between Abbie & Megan
5. 00:23-00:35- Performance of Megan w/ hot chocolate (2 different shots?)
6. 00:36-00:46- Arguing and Abbie walks out
7. 00:46-00:56- Performance w/ projector
8. 00:57-01:06- Abbie drinking or dancing
9. 01:07-01:18- laying on the bed lip syncing
10. 01:19-01:24- lip sync projector
11. 01:25-01:30- Abbie gets intoxicated
12. 01:31-01:40- Abbie point of view
13. 01:41-01:53- her drunk calling Megan
14. 01:54-01:59- close up of phone lighting up and Megan answers
15. 02:00-02:04- Megan leaves the house
16. 02:05-02:12- running down road to collect Abbie
17. 02:13-02:25- bus scene
18. 02:26-02:36- Performance scene w/ projector
19. 02:36-02:51- Megan helps Abbie in to house and helps her into bed
20. 02:52-03:05- Long shot after helping Abbie get into bed 
21. 02:57-03:04- then sleeps on sofa to keep eye on her
22. 03:05-03:10- Close up, Aerial shot of Megan falling asleep. 

Shot List

Basic Narrative Shots

- low mid shot of character two coming down the stairs

- mid shot of singer

- two shot of both of them arguing

- close up of keys being taken from table beside the front door

- long shot of her and the door closing

- close up of singer making hot chocolate and sitting down

- zoom in mid shot of performance sat at the table

- close up of character with glass bottle

- long shot of artist standing and leaving kitchen

- aerial shot of artist laying in bed 

- close up shot of character two sat out side calling artist

- close up of phone on table in bedroom

- extreme close up of artist answering phone

- mid shot of her sitting up and leaving room (Camera follows character)

- close up of her putting on coat/jumper

- long shot of her leaving home

- long shot & jump cuts of her running in different locations

- A mid shot of character two crying

- close up of same character, make-up smudged

- long shot of artist picking up other character from outside a party

- a mid shot of the two characters on the bus (Night)

- a long shot of them getting off the bus

- a long shot of them getting into the house

- a mid shot of both of them both sitting at the dining table

- close up of both them with mugs of hot drinks

Performance Shots

- close up of singer's mouth

- mid shot of singer with mug in the kitchen

- aerial shot of her laying in bed and lip syncing

- mid shot of singer with projector

Costume

Costume Plan

Editing and Filming Time Schedule

Filming and Editing Schedule.

Digipak Plan (Sketches)

For this we had decided to choose between two different digipak covers as we wanted to create a different style. We either wanted to go for a skeletal inspired digipak cover (idea 2) or a more modern-galaxy inspired digipak cover (idea 1). As we had developed the ideas of the second album more, it is most likely that we will end up doing something similar to this with the final digipak.

Magazine Advert (sketch)

For this we had decided to use The Vaccines poster as inspiration along with Lorde's album cover. This had allowed us to have a deeper look into what ideas we may have for the over all final piece for the magazine advert.

Locations

The main locations we have chosen are a bedroom, the hallway and a kitchen. Seeing as all of these are within a home, this will allow the overall sibling connection happen between the two main characters.

KITCHEN - My house. 

The kitchen scenes will happen towards the beginning/middle of the music video with making cups of hot chocolate and the sister leaving the other. As there is plenty of room in the kitchen, we will be trying to get a range of shots such as close ups and long shots of the main characters.

 HALLWAY - My house.

For the hallway scenes we thought that this could be used within the beginning of the video. We will also revisit this location towards the end of the video as we want to show the sister coming in from her night out. 

STREET- a quiet road.

The street will be used breifly as this will be used to show the main character/performer running down the road in a sense of panic for the other main character. For this, we will try to film on a dry day as we don't want to damage the equipment. 

BEDROOM - My House

The location will be used quite a bit throughout the the music video as this will be used to show relaxation and the introvert who is the main character.

Props List

We have decided on these main props to definitely be in the video. As we go along, we may add more in or take things away

Storyboard

This is a rough storyboard for our music video, we had decided that we wanted to stick with two main characters with a sibling bond which will relate back to the lyrics. One of the characters will be rebellious and the other will be more mature than the other character. We are planning to have the rebellious character get into some sort of trouble and then the main character save her, as sisters and siblings should. We will be trying to link this back to the song's lyrics as much as possible. 

Letter To Artist's Label

Dear Virgin Records,

I am a Sixth Form student currently studying Media and for a part of our course work, we have to create a music video, a digipak and a magazine advert. I am writing to ask if I am allowed to use CHVRCHES song "Mother We Share" and your company logo as a part of my coursework as I would like my overall coursework to look realistic and professional. This will only be used to make a music video to show how capable I am at making a music video. The music will be used for educational purposes. I will not be making profit from the music video. 

Thank you for taking time to read this letter,

Yours Sincerely, 
   Bethany Eastman

Moodboards

With this moodboard, it shows the different camera angles we were hoping to use along a variety of props, costumes and amount of people used within one shot. We have chosen styles of American Horror Story Coven, CHVRCHES (our main influence) and soft grunge. We will also want to use affects like using a projector within the performance structure. We will also want to use conventional props within the music video such as a microphone and instruments which are to do with Synthpop. We also want to include a sisterly bond between the two characters. We will also want to think about composition within the music video.

Health and Safety evidence.

With this, we have carefully selected the hazards to where we are planning to film our video. So the majority of the hazards we have chosen are outside in public where there is a chance that props or equipment might be stolen, lost or forgotten. We have also gone with typical and simple hazards such as tripping over the tripod which could lead to damaging the camera and other equipment. One of the main precautions we shall take when filming will be checking the weather before filming on particular days. By doing a risk assessment like this, it will make it clearer to to know what control measures we shall take when we do our filming of our music video. This will also allow us to understand how much we should take as we don't want to damage any of the equipment.

Analysis of Lyrics.

Mother We Share - CHVRCHES (Lyric meaning)

for this task, i had to listen and analyse the lyrics of the song "Mother We Share" by CHVRCHES. We have learnt that the song lyrics give off a sibling relationship vibe after analysing the lyrics compared to an ex-partner. After analysing the song lyrics, this has given me a clearer thought to what the music video could be about and what type of characters and the narrative structure could be about.

Initial Planning Ideas

Initial Planning Ideas.

"Come Together" - Echosmith

"Mother We Share" - CHVRCHES

With this task, we had started off to think  about the songs we could do along with the different and then done mind maps of the two main songs we could choose from. Doing the mind maps, we had also thought about what type of characters would be good within the video (e.g. a girl or a boy). Whilst doing the planning ideas, we had thought about the conventions of the genre we had chosen to do. We wanted to do a song with tempo changes and a good storyline which we could follow whilst filming.

Research into existing Companies that produce and distribute music videos

For this task I wanted to have a look at companies who work with the Indie genre and have chosen 4 artists to do this with.

Arctic Monkeys

In 2005, they had signed to Domino Records which was founded in 1992. The record label was founded by Laurence Bell and Jacqui Rice. The company was originated in Britain and it's British chain is located in London, England. There is also an American chain based in America which is located in Brooklyn, New York and they also have a German division called Geographic Music. The record
label has a variety of other artists who are signed to them such as Blood Orange and Wild Beasts.

Bastille

In December 2010, Bastille had signed a record deal with Virgin Records and their first album was called Bad Blood which was released in 2013. Then their second album which was called "All This Bad Blood" was released in 2014. The record company was originally a British company but in 2007, due to the merge with Capitol Records. The company was founded in 1972 by Richard Branson (Who also owns the rest of Virgin), Simon Draper, Nik Powell and Tom Newman. Due to the name Virgin being recognised in every part of the media industry, this has lead to it being one of the most successful record companies.

Echosmith

In 2012 during May, they had signed to Warner Bros. Records who was founded by Jack warner during 1958. Their first album (Talking Dreams) was released in 2013 and their first single was released in 2012 which was called "Tonight We're Making History" The Warner Bros. Records are a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group.  Their main headquarters are based in New York, New York.


Ed Sheeran

Sheeran had joined Asylum records during 2012 and later that year his album "+" was released and had reached the number place in the UK album Charts. Him being with this record label had allowed him to gain international success whilst touring with Taylor Swift as her supporting act. Asylum Records was established in 1971 by David Geffen and Elliot Roberts. This is another subsidiary by the Warner Music Group. He is also signed to Atlantic records which was established in 1947 and was founded by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Ibramson. This is also another subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Both of the record labels were both originated in the United States of America.

What have i learnt from doing this?
From doing this task i have learnt that many of the indie styled bands are not so "Indie" as i thought they would be. But i will have to consider when making my music video. I have also learnt that all record labels distribute their music videos online on websites such as Vevo or Youtube as well as on TV on music channels.

Analysing Other Students Work

Analysing Previous Students Work

Inspirations

Audience Research

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

The Voki below is to show my target audience who is female and in the age group 13-19.

Transcript: I am a 17 year old who likes indie music, like bands such as Echosmith or The 1975. But i like to watching modern viral music videos on websites such as Youtube or vevo. This is because they include strange images or weird dance moves such as Miley Cyrus's We Can't Stop but i also like music videos which are less well known such as Cool Kids by Echosmith. When watching music videos i enjoy watching the ones which have a balance of narrative and performance as this is common within the indie genre.

 My Voki
 

Research into the Relevant Genre

Indie Pop Research

From doing this i have learnt that there are a lot more different things I have to consider when planning my music video, such as the variety of camera angles and the editing (is it going to match the pace of the rest of the music and am i going to include text?) One of the main things i have learnt from doing this is that many different music videos can include sounds such as speech in the beginning or moving around sounds. These are all the different elements i will have to consider when doing my own music video.

Tracking a Band Through Time

Research into Magazine Adverts

Magazine Adverts

From doing this task i have learnt that bands prefer to show off their image in different ways and not just through their music or physical style. I have also learnt that within the indie genre, many of the bands prefer not to use people within their adverts. I have also found out that they like to show a little bit of information about the group in the adverts such as their labels and the date of the album being released.

Timelines of Music Videos.

Timelines

From doing this i have learnt that the paces of different songs also affect the editing and the timing if the final music video. I have also learnt that music videos can be narrative or performance heavy and i would like to make mine more of an equal of both narrative and performance.

Conventions

By looking into four music videos within the genre i would like to work within, i have learnt that i will have to focus on the clothing of each character. I have also learnt that i will need to focus on the lighting as this is important within the music videos in the indie genre. Within the indie genre, i have also learnt that the music video needs to have a deeper meaning, for example with The 1975's song "Girls" the music video is them making fun of pop music videos by them replacing the fully clothed men with women in just lingerie and over sexualising women.

Digipak Research.

From doing this i have learnt that i need to focus the colours and clothing whilst branding the artist and album. I will mainly use patterns or different effects within the overall advert and Digipak. i have also learnt that many different artists have a certain 'brand' to them such as Haim with their Casual-Grunge and relaxed vibe and Echosmith with their bright and contrasting colours with a more of a indie-pop vibe.

Style of Influences

Research into an Artist

In conclusion i believe that i will mainly be using Echosmith as one of my main influences for their traditional style. I will also be using their balance between narrative structure and lip sync as an influence as I would like to aim for an equal amount of both. The style of clothing and destinations used within their music videos may also be used as an influence as i feel as if this could help show the overall traditional representation of the indie-pop genre.

Theory

Carol Vernallis

With narrative, the main ideas she has are to do with how the narrative structure of the video is meant to match the lyrics within the song. A good example of this would be "Riptide" by Vance Joy where all of the lyrics match a different. With the performance aspect of the video, the performance and the narrative don't usually balance out within the overall video. When watching a music video, you will usually think of many different questions which the video will not answer such as "Flaws" by Bastille with many different people with face-painted skulls are roaming around. There will also be a variety of different shots so this could be more like a pop song such as "This is How We Do" by Katy Perry such as a montage of her and others in different scenarios.

With Editing it will mainly match the music's beat along with many other aspects such as it breaking some rules of the editing such as a break of the 180 degree rule. With editing there will not be smooth editing, match on match action or an even pace of time throughout. It will usually be quicker shots compared to film editing as it relates back to the beat of the song.

When it comes camera movement and framing, extreme shots are very common. A good example of this would be . The main style of framing and movement are usually related back to the style and genre of the music video. For example, the movement would be steadier in a slow paced song compared to a dance track such as "Stay The Night" by Zedd which is fast paced. 

Andrew Goodwin

Goodwin's theory is mainly that the conventions within the video are similar to what is being said through the lyrics and the genre that the band/artist is from. Like how a pop girl group such as the Spice Girls with their single "Wannabe" included more of a dance routine within their video compared to Sum 41 with their song "Fat Lip" who included a performance and a comedic aspect within their video. 

With the lyrics within a song represents the music video but only in three ways : Amplifying (creating an imagery that relate to the songs narrative), contradicting (going against the ideas of the song's lyrics) and illustrative (showing the lyrics in a visual way). 

There is also a common link between the sound and the editing such as a fast paced piece of music may include a fast paced editing sequence. 

With some music videos they usually reference films or use films, game or television shows as their inspiration. For example, with Iggy Azalea's latest single "Black Widow" it references Kill Bill and even has Michael Madsen starring in the video. This is because on occasion, the lyrics are able to relate back to a film which has inspired the music video.

Music Channels

History of Music Videos

Lip Sync Workshop

With the lip syncing task, we had to film a part of a music video for Taylor Swift's We Are Never Getting Back Together. As no one in my group knew all of the lyrics, it proved to be difficult and we had to learnt he lyrics quickly. During the editing of our lip sync task, we had to use markers on Premiere Pro which were hard to find at first but after using them a couple of times, easy to find. We had used the to take a note when all of us started singing.

After editing and filming to get our practice video in place, we then had to evaluate another groups work which then allowed to extend and understand why other people had done what they had done throughout their video.

 

Narrative Workshop (Andrew Goodwin)

"Music Videos are simply an extension of the lyrics." - Andrew Goodwin. 

How could you prove/disprove this? 
To prove and disprove the theory would be to look at many different music videos from different genres to see what their typical representations are and how they have used them within the final video. The music video could maybe represent the band/artist rather than the song and how they would like to be viewed by the public.

What does it mean in your own words? 
It simply means that music videos are a way to expand and help create a deeper meaning to the song itself. Music videos are often a visual representation of what t

What is the main idea behind this? 
The main idea behind this statement is that

What evidence can you already present this for?
With many different songs, they have different

Do you agree with this? Explain your answer. 
I believe that the statement is true with most songs, they music videos are easily represented throughout the video such as with Friday by Rebecca Black.

Narrative Review and Mini Music Video

​

Composition and Framing Task/Challenge

Composition Challenge

I had taken part in a composition and framing task and challenge. We were all organised into groups of two for the cameras but had our own themes to show through the images. My theme was empty and full. We had looked at different techniques to help us develop our knowledge of composition and framing which will later help us in our coursework for the music videos. 

Certain techniques with composition i feel i still need to develop on such as the framing and the negative space as it makes the final images look less interesting. With the framing part of composition, i need to step away from the creative photography side and not use portrait to frame a picture. 

The photographs which are next to this text are the images i had taken before we had learnt the basics of composition and framing. With this task, i feel as if i had mainly focused on the theme rather than the composition side of the task. The colours of the images are a little too bright which make the images look less crisp. The images of the cups are mainly using the technique of depth of field but i have missed out on the framing, negative space and perspective. I think that the colours for the cups went well as it allows them to stand out from the background due to the concrete being grey, a dull colour, whilst the cups are orange, a positive and bright colour. 

A way that i could improve this is by doing some research into director's work and using this knowledge when filming to make the final product look more interesting. I think when i film my music video, i will mainly focus on the composition and getting a range of different shots for the final outcome of the music video. 

6 Things to think about when composing and framing a picture/film.

1. Negative Space (This was one of the main things i need to focus on when capturing an image or clip)
2. Colours 
3. Perspective  
4. Depth of Field (Which i feel went quite well during this task)
5. Framing 
6. Symmetry

Skills Review

Research and Planning.

I have found many ways to make my blog look more interesting by using different layouts for the planning and research for my first portfolio. We had done a variety of techniques and went only slightly in depth for the research within our group for the planning of the Gangster Film Opening. With the film opening, we had researched the different conventions of the genre and we will be doing the same for this project.

Another part of our research was that we had used questionnaires to research what audience we were meant to be looking for the gangster genre. Within our questionnaire we had asked about what the audience expects from the film opening. I had learnt a lot from the research and planning element of the portfolio as there was a lot more than just typing it all up, there are other ways of showing your work. 

Using Conventions From Real Media Texts.

From watching a variety of Gangster film openings, i was able to learn the wide range of representations and conventions of a gangster film. There were many different shot types and angles within the openings of the film openings which i will use to my advantage when filming our music video. 

Digital Technology

With the equipment, we had used a camera which i had never used before so this meant that we had to learn a new skill to make sure that we were filming the correct scenes. We had a different camera compared to the rest of the class. We had also learnt how to use the basic equipment such as a tripod and how to set up the camera settings properly. When filming, we had taken multiple shots of the same scenes to then pic out which one was suitable and had a better outcome (better focus, better angle, etc.) Working the Tripod and Camera was the easiest part with the technology but the editing process and effects proved to be a lot more difficult. For my A2 project, i would like to improve my skills all together to create a better final video compared to my gangster film opening. 


Post Production

After the filming stage within our Gangster opening, we had then uploaded it onto the computers which has editing software (Adobe Premiere Pro) on. Learning the basics of the editing software i found was quite simple but gathering the correct footage and making the actual final opening  for our gangster film proved to be a little difficult. Whilst editing the final footage, i felt that i had learnt a lot of basic tools on the editing software. I was able to use many different effects on Premiere Pro such as black and white with a little bit of colour to make it stand out more. I will hopefully develop my skills of effects and editing within this project to make my final piece successful. 

Creativity

Seeing as i was not very inspired by the theme of gangster films too much, i feel as if my creativity lacked in my last project. I am able to notice conventions and basic story lines when it comes to that specific genre and was able to use that as influence for my opening. With this portfolio, i think i might be more inspired and have more creative ideas as this is a project i am interested in. I will use the techniques i had learnt from the film opening to use in this music video and make something unique and creative.