This is along the lines of the costume that I will use in my music video, the above being the female character's outfit, and below being for the boy's. I chose to emulate the fashion choices of 'Young Alts', more specifically 'Indie Scenesters' as they are my target audience, I want the characters in the video to be as accessible and relatable as possible to ensure audience engagement.
Above are the two people I have chosen to cast in the music video, Cameron Burr and Imogen Mornement. I chose them as they both have experience in acting and so should be comfortable and expressive towards each other and also on camera, I also feel that they stylistically fit in the video, in regards to the image that I'm aiming for. The two are also good friends and so they trust each other, I believe they will be reliable in filming as they get on well.
Below is my shot list for my music video, I chose to do a shot list instead of a shooting script as I don't have a particularly complex storyline, and the story is linear so working from the timings on the sheet is my preferred option as it means I can focus on other aspects of filming during the production process.
Above is an animatic I made for my music video, I wanted to see all of the shots I had planned put in place to see if I needed any more or any less content. Overall I am pleased with the initial outcome and haven't needed to add much or take anything out.
I have chosen to format my music video in 5 sections (A-E), these sections follow the story line throughout the song, marking the different emotions that the video will portray. Section A establishes the relationship between the two main characters. Section B shows the boy asking the girl to be with him the first time but mainly focuses on emphasising the girl's indecision. Section C is about showing the ups and downs that the pair experience with each other, once it seems to be going well everything flips around and it's bad again. Section D portrays the boy's frustration towards the situation that has formed around them, he's confused and hurt by the girl's capriciousness. Section E shows the girl has realised her feelings for the boy as she sets to find him and tell him.
To figure out the story line for my music video I did a spider diagram:
My decided story line is this: The main character, who is going to be the "voice" of the song, is a mid-teen boy who is in an on-again/off-again relationship situation and is very into, but also confused by the girl who he's with. The girl, in essence, is a manic pixie dream girl for the boy, she makes very impulsive decisions and is a very capricious character. Even so, she's as into the boy as the boy is to the girl, although this isn't always clear. The story begins with the girl's feelings slightly unrealised towards the boy as he believes that he's the one for her. The story progresses with the girl seeming interesting in the boy for one moment but the next seems totally disaffected by him, leaving him confused and frustrated. The ultimatum to "take it or leave it" is presented and the girl has to make a decision.
After watching various music videos from the same genre as my chosen song, I have a list of key elements I will include in my video so that it conforms to its preset stereotypes:
Use of the colour blue, this is particularly emotive.
Use of the colour red, this is also very emotive.
Filtered colour in edit
Lip sync, this forms a connection between the video narrative and the audio narrative provided by the song
Strong narrative throughout video
The name of the artist, song & director at the beginning of the video, giving it more a feel of a short film as opposed to an ephemeral chart topper.
Sound bridges are also common within this genre as it makes the video appear within a specific context, whilst this is common I do not intend on including this in my video
In music videos of this genre, the visuals tend to reflect the lyrics, I intend on achieving this through the narrative story line.
YouTube would be my first choice to exhibit my music video, as it is a free sharing platform, and also one of the most popular websites on the internet.
A lot of music videos are judged by popularity on youtube, by the amount of views, and there is often competition amongst artists to try to get the new record of 'so many views in a certain amount of time'. Also a lot of teenagers spend a lot of time flicking through videos on youtube, to find the next big thing
Sony Music is a record label that owns multiple sub-labels, this is also the music label that the band (Cage The Elephant) are signed with. This would be a good label to use as it's so big that it owns labels within itself, which specialise in a certain type of music. The fact that this is a large conglomerate company means that it has the power to promote whichever band it wishes to, to a large audience.
MTV Music is a channel owned by MTV, it plays a mixture of popular hits and lesser known songs. This is ideal as teenagers and young people in my target audience will watch this channel to find new and less well known artists whilst still being entertained by familiar pop songs also, This would be perfect for exhibiting my music video as it will create more attention around it.
As my target age range is about 16-21, I am aware that this age range has a short attention span, in addition to my previous audience research findings, I know that I will need to make the video visually exciting with a strong story line that will grab the viewer's attention. I plan on doing this by using a variety of props and costumes relevant to my audience (iPhones etc.) so that they feel they can at least relate on a material level. I also will use actors who are within the age bracket of my target audience as I want the viewers to connect as much as possible with the video. As one of my main aims is for the video to be visually exciting I also plan on using different locations and also various different lighting.
After having done some research in regards to what genre of music is listened to by which type of young person in the UK, I have found that the type of person that would be my perfect audience member is an "Indie Scenester" uktribes.com gives a brief description:
Below is an image of what my perfect audience member might wear, where they might eat/drink and which brands they might favour.
I have created this mood board to show the direction in which I wish to develop my ideas for my music video later on. My main inspiration so far is coming from artists such as Years & Years, the film Submarine, my surrounding area (fairly rural & school grounds). As I already know that I wanted to show a couple in my music video I included images of couples in my mood board, the same with the fact I am planning on showing at least one person singing/lip syncing so I included the image of a live performance.
To better my understanding of music videos, more specifically speed & pace of shots and composition of shots within a music video, I created a storyboard of the first minute of the music video "Girls like Girls" by Hayley Kiyoko. My timing is slightly off of the shots as it adds up to 65 seconds instead of 59 but on the whole my understanding was definitely increased.
I have chosen "Robbers" by The 1975 to analyse through 9 key shots from the video. Shot 1
This mid-shot is also used as an establishing shot of sorts and is significant, not only to the storyline (the audience become aware of the couple) but also is important as it allows the audience to know who the song is by and the title. Shot 2
This shot shows the audience that the couple share everything, including addictions.
Shot 3
This shot is significant as it shows the audience a preview of what will happen later on, giving the video a non linear feel, as though the story were being told to you from memory.
Shot 4
This shot is significant as it reinforces to the audience how intertwined the couple's lives are with each other, they are almost addicted to each other, later on in this shot it is also repeated that they are addicted to drugs.
Shot 5
This is one of the most important shots as it is pivotal within both audio and visual storylines, this shot lets the audience know how serious the couple's situation could become.
Shot 6
This shot shows the audience that the couple's relationship is starting to crack under the pressure (supported by a series of other shots that are less significant than these) and makes them question what will happen next to the previously enamoured pair.
Shot 7
This shot depicts the couple, still together after fighting, this shows the audience that their relationship extends beyond being sensible as it holds a sense of foreshadowed heaviness and also lets them know that the journey of the main character (male) won't be travelled alone, giving the video a slight Romeo & Juliet feel.
Shot 8
This shot is significant as it shows the audience that despite possibly not succeeding in their goal, and one of them getting seriously injured, the couple are still together. This gives the audience a feeling of the end approaching.
Shot 9
The final shot is significant as it allows the audience to finally see the main male character alone, it leaves the audience full of questions as to what really happened.
Another concept within my music video that I hope to explore is the lyrical expression through the shot, a video I feel demonstrates this well is Riptide by Vance Joy, the lyrics are displayed by a number of seemingly recurring shots and occasional use of subtitle. The most effective use of this technique I found was in these particular motifs; The lyric: "I want to be your left hand man"
Lyric: "You've gone and sung the words wrong"
In these screenshots we see a visible deterioration within the character and objects as they both increase in lack of security/safety.
As I want to start forming ideas as to what I want my music video to look like, I've researched videos that I find inspiring. By researching and analysing these videos I will gain information on techniques and concepts I'd like to explore in my own video. The first video I have chosen to look at is Take Shelter by Years and Years. I chose this video mainly for the use of visual narrative that isn't directly linear to that of the lyrics, but still makes sense within the context of the whole music video. Another reason I have chosen to look at this video is that I like the use of techniques such as panning and lip sync within the video as I feel the director has been creative with his shots in order to tailor the video more specifically to the song, in comparison to a more mainstream and commercial song. The first shot in the music video is an extreme close up on a girl, this is an incredibly intimate shot, combined with the glimpse of matted hair and streak of paint smeared across her face and the fact that this shot is much shorter than most of the other shots in the video, gives the audience the feeling that there is something wild or mysterious about this character.
The next shot is of the band, walking through woodlands, establishing that the band will be present throughout the video, also that there will be some form of journey throughout the storyline of the video.
There is then an out of focus, fast paced pan of the girl (Emily) running out of shot. The audience are aware of the fact that Olly (pictured in centre of screenshot above) has seen her as he turns and then runs after her, this shows the audience that there is now a chase. Next we are shown a shot of a symbol painted onto a tree, as it is the same colour yellow as was on the girl's face, the audience know that it has relevance to her. The audio of the song begins and the video commences.
The next two shots work in conjunction with each other as they establish that the boy and the girl are from different worlds, as he is inside a office block type building and she is in the woods yet they still seem connected through the direction of their gaze.
The video is constantly punctuated with shots of sunlight through trees so as not to let the audience forget that these surroundings are unfamiliar to the boy but also to allow the audience a sense of location.
The shots of the boy inside the building continue to be shown, now with projection and occasionally other band members in shot, this begins to illustrate the sense of these shots being more like the boy's thoughts. There's also a slight feeling of power play between the two main characters as in the shots of him being inside, the boy seems entirely in control. Yet in the shots of the girl, now dancing, she seems to be mesmerising the gaze of the boy and the band.
The two main characters then make eye contact and the audience are shown progression in the storyline through connection through the previously separate characters.
The video ends on an almost identical shot as it began, giving the storyline a cyclical feel, letting the audience know that although there has been a journey within the video, and the characters have experienced it, they might not remember it or be affected by it. It also never answers who actually wins the power play, leaving the audience with a feeling of mystery.
