Music Video Planning

When beginning to plan my music video, I already had an idea on what song I would have liked to choose for my video. I decided to incorporate a story/narrative into my video that linked with the lyrics of my chosen song - this is because the results from my questionnaire displayed the majority preferred narrative-style music videos.

Song:

Panama - Always

Brief Layout of video: 

The narrative of the video will focus on a single protagonist, a male in his late adolescence, as he looks back on photos and reminisces about the past. The theme of video loosely links to the lyrics of the song, as I took inspiration primarily from the first line of the chorus: "Always, I remember you". The video will have a non-linear narrative, jumping from instances in the present, to the past between verse and chorus. My idea is that when the protagonist looks back over memories, he and the audience will be taken back to those memories, and witness them through the point of view of the protagonist. The P.O.V aspect will put the audience in the protagonist's shoes, creating a sense of escapism. For the verses of the song, the protagonist will be the focus of the video, going about his daily life, before discovering some sort of memento - such as a polaroid photo, bringing back happy memories. When the protagonist looks at the photo, during choruses and possibly instrumentals, the video will transition to the time of that memory in the past, which will be displayed through the point of view of the protagonist.

I have taken inspiration from Duke Dumont's "I got U" music video, which uses P.O.V shots:

Locations:

I wanted to feature various locations in my music video, as the protagonist explores different memories at different times. The protagonist will be seen in his own home for the 'present' part of the video, but the narrative will take the audience to different locations as he reminisces about past times.

Lanzarote: During this unit, I took a holiday to Lanzarote with my girlfriend, and I saw this as the perfect opportunity to capture footage in a unique location. I did the majority of filming on the beach, which was ideal as it was only a 5 minute walk from our hotel.

Coombe Abbey: An peaceful, and beautiful country park - open to the public; with fields, woodland, and pathways to serve for different types of shots. The park is easily accessible by car, and cheap to park, therefore it was a logical choice for our second location.

House: This one was simple, to film a daily routine all we had to do was film around the bedroom and bathroom for the brief introduction of the song

Storyboard:

Shot List:

1. Cut-in shot of alarm
2. Montage of protagonist waking up/getting ready
3. Tracking shot of protagonist walking through park
4. Over the  shoulder shot of putting coat on and finding photo
5. Cut-in shot of photo he is holding
6. (Transition into memory)
7. Montage in P.O.V. perspective, of holiday with girlfriend (Shots include: Running into the sea, drinking cocktails, walking to the beach, lying on the beach)
8. (Transition to present)
9. Repeat of tracking shot following protagonist through park
10. Mid shot of protagonist with guitar
11. (Transition to memory)
12. Montage in P.O.V. perspective, exploring with girlfriend in forest (Shots include: Balancing on trees, eating ice cream, feeding ducks, taking pictures
13. As girlfriend is walking away, sepia and film grain effects disappear to transition back to the present.
14. Transition back to protagonist holding picture
15. Cut-in shot shows picture again - fades to black

Equipment List:

• DSLR Camera
• Spare Battery
• Tripod
• Fish Eye Lens (?)
• Dolly/Steadicam (If possible)

Editing Techniques

Shot / Reverse Shot: A filming technique used for continuity editing, where two cameras are usually set up either side of the 180 degree line, which each camera focused on each subject. Often used during conversations, it de-emphasizes transitions between shots so the audience perceives one continuous action.

180 Degree Rule: A basic guideline regarding a relationship between two subjects within a scene. The cameras must be kept on one side of an imaginary access, to enable the audience to visually connect with movement happening around the immediate subject. Moving the camera over the line is called 'jumping/crossing the line' and causes a reverse angle, which can be disorienting, and disrupts continuity.

30 Degree Rule: A basic film editing guideline that states the camera should move at least 30 degrees relative to the subject between successive shots of the same subject. If the camera moves less than 30 degrees, the transition between shots can look like a jump cut—which could jar the audience and take them out of the story. The audience might focus on the film technique rather than the narrative itself.

Cut-in Shot: Opposite to a cut-away shot, a cut-in is a close-up shot of something that has previously been shot through a wider frame, it is often used in scenes of conflict, as a way of portraying the action. Where a cut-away is used to display the bigger picture, a cut-in is used to highlight the primary action in the scene.

Cross Cutting / Parallel Editing: A technique of alternating between two scenes that are occurring simultaneously. Corresponding scenes often meet or connect in some form, allowing for continuity. Parallel editing is often used to build tension, or contribute to the narrative.

Establishing Shot: Usually the first shot of a new scene, an establishing shot gives the audience the visual information they need to understand what is happening and where the narrative or action is taking place.

Matching on Action: An editing technique for continuity editing, in which one shot cuts to another shot, portraying the action of the subject in the first shot. The editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action.

Temporal Overlap: An editing technique - used mostly in action scenes, where a shot is repeated to emphasise a particular movement, that is significant to the narrative, or create an emotional response throughout the audience.

Kuleshov Effect: An experiment carried out in the early 20th century, it involved a close-up of an actors face, which then cut to what he was looking at. The object which he was looking at was then changed three times, while the reaction was kept the same; by doing this, the audience's perception of the character changes, according to what subject he is looking at.

Eisenstein Montage: Also known as 'Soviet Montage', this is an approach to creating cinema that relies heavily upon editing, shots should not be seen as linked, but conflicting with eachother.

Research Evaluation

Secondary Research:

I began my research by studying music video theorists, focusing primarily on Carol Vernallis and Andrew Goodwin. I researched using  extracts from the theorists' published works, and also finding basic summaries of the theories which other people created in the form of presentations on SlideShare and Prezi. When researching Andrew Goodwin, I focused on his book "Dancing in the Distraction Factory", and his theories in this published work. Goodwin theorised how different genres of music video had their own genre characteristics. Following this, I looked into various music videos of the indie genre, as this was the genre of my chosen song, in order to understand the genre conventions. I noticed that a lot of the videos were either experimental or narrative-based, following a single protagonist, so I decided to create a video with a narrative in order to conform to genre characteristics. Goodwin also theorised about an established relationship between lyrics and visuals, stating that lyrics can either contradict or compliment the visuals; the base idea for my video was inspired by the title and lyrics "Always, I remember you", therefore I incorporated the visuals to connect with the lyrics. For this component I also took into account Vernallis' "The Kindest Cut", and how whatever is taking place within the frame reflects the lyrics and their meaning. This stage of research was beneficial for me as it helped me understand how to analyse music videos thoroughly. During this stage of research, I didn't use as much physical written resources as I would have liked, I relied mostly upon online resources. In the future, I will refer to more physical resources as they are less liable to be tampered with.

Analysis of Music Videos:

For the next stage of my research, I conducted an analysis of existing music videos for codes and conventions. This helped to inform my production as it gave me insight into the relationship between lyrics and visuals, I chose to analyse different types of videos, such as narrative and experimental, in order to gain an overall insight on what types of videos contain which codes and conventions. I also analysed a video which was the same genre of my chosen song, in order to understand the particular conventions of that type of music video.

Survey:

For my primary research, I initially created a survey/questionnaire on SurveyMonkey. This form of quantitative research allowed me to produce statistics from my results, informing and guiding my production. My survey was designed to give me an idea of what type of music videos people prefer, and the results would inform my planning and pre-production. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get as many responses as I'd have hoped for, and therefore I was only working with a small group providing me with information. However, the survey results still informed me on what decisions to make. For example, the question: "Do you believe that the music video should connect with the song lyrics?" - with an 80% response of 'Yes'; informed me on how I should link the narrative I was creating with the lyrics of the video. If I were to conduct this research again, I would perhaps avoid multiple choice questions and allow for more free answers, this is because I feel the multiple choice format on some questions limits people's ability to give their individual responses and opinions.

Focus Group:

After collecting the results from my questionnaire, as a class we formed a focus group. The purpose of this was to present our initial ideas for our music videos, and get feedback regarding our creative choices. This was done in the fashion of each student presenting their brief ideas to the group in an informal discussion. This was an effective method as it allowed other students to provide suggestions as the presenter was talking, making the focus group an open discussion. The focus group also allowed for clear communication between each of the students, and allowed us to play off of each-others strengths. One issue with the focus group is that some students may have not been too confident with presenting their ideas, and therefore might not have contributed to the group or even got much out of the discussion. From this focus group I incorporated some ideas that were suggested; originally I was going to have the video's protagonist viewing a photo album and reminiscing about different times, but someone suggested that this may be difficult to create multiple situations within my video, and that instead I should focus on one photo - I took this into account and made a decision to take on the idea. This was beneficial for me as it made for easier filming, and I was able to create a video I was happy with. Another suggestion was that I apply effects of the parts of the video that were in the past, to make it more noticeable; this I also incorporated as I feel it highlighted the direction of the narrative and helps the audience to understand what is happening. Overall, I am very pleased from the outcome of the focus group, as I feel like the suggestions I have taken on board have helped me create a stronger video of a higher quality.