Initial Planning Ideas

Initial Planning Ideas

 

My group members consist of; Daisy Morecroft, Millie Cooper and Ella Sutherland. We chose to work together as a group as we all share the same interest in music and believe we would all be able to work well together. We all also have specific qualities that we would be able to combine to create the perfect music video. For example; Daisy is proficient with deciding upon the framing for each camera shot and has a passion for performing, Millie is good at directing the production, Ella is equipped with being able to create well planned camera shots and I have a high interest int he editing side of the music video. Also I previously worked with Daisy Morecroft on my AS Media Thriller and we managed to work well together to produce a thriller opening that we both were extremely pleased with.

 

First Meeting - 25/09/13

In our first group meeting we discussed  our song choice, the micro-elements that we wanted to include in our music video and we also annotated the lyrics of the song to further help us decide upon ideas and elements we wanted to include in our music video. The song we decided to use is; 'Noserings and Shoestrings' by Nina Nesbitt. We chose this song as it is an alternative song and Nina Nesbitt is an artist aimed at a niche market, therefore we would be able to make her more known within our friends and family. Noserings and Shoestrings has not yet been released as a single, and therefore Nina Nesbitt has not created a music video to it. Therefore it leaves us with the opportunity to create a high quality music video that people have nothing to compare it to. Below is an image of the A3 piece of paper which contains our original ideas regarding the content of our music video which I further discuss below.

We decided upon ideas for a number of the micro-elements which included; mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, style of the music video, target audience, music video theory and research carried out/music video implications. Elements of mise-en-scene we discussed that we wanted include was; a guitar, as the song is of an indie genre, therefore we wanted to follow various typical conventions, vintage clothing as people who are interested in Indie music tend to wear this style clothing, therefore it is conventional.  Locations that we discussed we could use were; Camden, as it is typical for indie alternative artists to busk on the streets of Camden, Westminster, Covent Garden, Brick Lane or a Shisha place as these are all popular locations that would provide our music video with a busy, lively surrounding. Also we had the idea of using Daisys' bedroom as the location for the artist to perform. We could therefore include a green screen so that we could employ effects behind Daisy whilst she is singing. As a group we also had an idea of using an open top bus that would travel through London as it is quirky and fun, and would therefore appeal to our target audience of teenagers/young adults.

As a group we decided upon an idea for the cinematography element of our music video. We was inspired by Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball music video and have decided to include a close up of Daisy as the artist in front of a white wall. She would be singing along to the lyrics and therefore the audiences attention will be kept on her. For the editing element of our music video we decided that we want to try and incorporate a time lapse, which we was inspired by in the Rhianna 'We Found Love' music video. We think that it will appeal to our target audience as it will enhance their interpretation of our narrative and also their experience whilst watching the music video. We also discussed as a group that we want to include a black and white effect to portray to the audience the scenes that occurred in the past. This would therefore allow the audience to understand the narrative in more detail.

Second Meeting - 30/09/13

- Individual feedback from the individual analysis of the chosen music genre and ideas gathered.

From conducting research into the chosen genre of our music video I have discovered various elements that have inspired me to interpret into our own music video. In the Ellie Goulding, Your Song music video Ellie is seen wearing a beanie hat and army style boots. These items of clothing are conventional for an Indie genre music video as they are typically what the artists are seen wearing. Therefore in our music video Daisy could wear clothing resembling this in our music video so that our artist visually follows conventions. Also Ellie is presented to the audience singing in a recording studio and also whilst a man is playing the piano. This conveys to the audience the fact that she is a performer and therefore includes a performance element into the music video. The fact the audience get to see the artist perform allows them to build a relationship with her and also see her doing what she does best. Further into the music video an effect is incorporated over a sequence of shots. The effect has a vintage, old fashioned appearance, therefore I believe it would enhance the entertainment factor of our music video and allow the audience to understand more of the narrative through the visuals. All of the elements that I have discovered from the Ellie Goulding music video are conventional to an Indie genre therefore if we included them in our music video it would make it overall more conventional to an indie genre. 

In our second meeting we decided on more specific details on elements we want to include in our music video and also the outline of the music video. We discussed as a group that our music video will be based around a couple in a relationship where the male partner is seen going mad. The narrative of our music video will be complimented by all the micro-elements we will incorporate as it will allow the audience to understand and connect with the narrative more easily. As a group we also decided that we want our music video to be 80% narrative based and 20% performance based. This is so the viewers are still able to form a relationship with the artist, but also are entertained by the narrative running throughout, that will hopefully enhance the viewers overall experience whilst watching it. 

During our discussion we produced a brief storyboard to outline our music video narrative. In the storyboard we planned how we would begin our music video shot by shot. Doing this helped us as a group create a vision in our minds of what we wanted our finished music video to look like. It also allowed us to come up with more ideas that we could include in our music video as we went along and pictured how the shots would flow together in our music video. We decided as a group that the opening shot would be of polaroid pictures that the couple in the music video would have taken in the record shop rough trade. This is to introduce the audience to the characters in the video and also to set off the narrative. We would then employ a medium/long shot of Daisy (the artist) performing in front of a plain white wall. This is so that the artist is the main focus at this point in the music video so the viewers focus on building a relationship with her and watching her perform. The next shot we would like to include would be a zooming in shot into one of the pictures to reveal the couple out in the location it was taken in. We also decided at some point during the music video we wanted to employ a long, panning shot where the couple are seen walking past Daisy (the artist) busking so that it shows a connection between them both. Below is an image of the storyboard we created.

In addition to creating a storyboard we began to annotate the lyrics of our song so that we could start to gain a deeper insight into the meaning and connotations of the song. This allowed us to begin to develop ideas surrounding our music video which further assisted the creation of our storyboard and meant that planning our music video was a lot easier. As a group we decided that we wanted to create a link between the lyrics and the visuals to enhance the audiences experience whilst watching our music video as they will be able to understand the narrative in more depth.

Third Meeting - 11/10/13

In our third group meeting we discussed any inspirations we had gained from other music videos that we had individually watched. Katy Perry's Thinking of You music video was particularly inspirational to our group in terms of how we would structure our music video. Katy Perry is seen performing in her music video as well as being involved in the narrative also. This is how my group anticipated to execute our music video and therefore we learnt how we could successfully achieve the structure we all wanted our music video to follow. This was by understanding how to combine components to create our anticipated structure of music video. Within the structure of our music video we hope to interpret the contrast between happy and sad moments of the artist with her boyfriend which is the main narrative of our whole music video. In addition to the narrative element of our music video we will also incorporate a performance element of our artist to illustrate to the audience the emotions she is experiencing at that particular time in the music video.

In addition to Katy Perry’s Thinking of You music video, my group took inspiration from Rihanna’s We Found Love music video. The narrative of this music video involves a relationship between the artist and her love interest which is the same as the narrative we are including in our music video. Also within the music video elements of light are incorporated which has therefore influenced our decision to have light as a main motif within our music video. We hope to achieve this motive through the incorporation of lighters and sparklers.

Fourth Meeting - 18/10/13

In our fourth group meeting we printed off the lyrics to our song and annotated them so that we could all express our own interpretations of the lyrics. This allowed us all to gain a deeper insight into the meaning of our song which therefore inspired us with making certain decisions regarding our music video. This included our decision to incorporate Goodwin’s Theory by having the lyrics relate to the visuals on a number of occasions. As a group we annotated our lyrics two times so that first we could annotate the hidden meanings behind the lyrics and secondly annotate how we anticipated to structure our music video at each point in the song. By doing this it allowed us all as a group to have a clear understanding of what we hoped to achieve with our music video. Our lyric annotations can be seen in my Lyric Analysis post.