Friday 15 October 2010

Ideas for the video!

From the analysis of the 3 music videos I have gathered quite a lot of ideas about the filming aspects I would like to incorporate in my video.


CAMERA SHOTS & CAMERA MOVEMENT:

  • In two of the videos I analyzed (Jojo's - 'Get Out' & Beyonce's 'If i were a boy') I noticed the frequent presence of shots that connoted power and control in the female identity. Although i like this convention, I would like to challenge it and stay away from shots such as up tilt shots on the main character, mainly because the whole idea of the song is about 'waiting' and time - which you cannot control, therefore I want to convey the spontaneity of the narrative. In addition i think that I want to emphasise the innocent,vulnerable characteristics of being a teenage girl and not knowing when you'll find 'Mr right', hopefully this will appeal to the target audience of teenage girls more as it makes it more relatable. So I'm thinking using of lot of aerial/serial view shots where the main character looks up at the camera.
  • I intend to use many close-ups and/or extreme close-ups of the character, maybe desirable facial features such as the mouth and eyes on her like in the Mariah Carey - 'We Belong Together' video I analysed. Hopefully this will produce the same effect as it did in that video, attracting the 'male gaze' and at the same time encouraging the audience to pay close attention to the lyrics that are being sung.
  • I think Panning movements would look great at points in my video. For example when the female protagonist is sitting at the bus stop and turns to see her not-so-idyllic version of 'love', the camera should pan left to right or right to left to illustrate that she is looking at the person. It would probably be a good idea for me to use the tripod whilst doing this to ensure a smooth and less jerky movement.
  • Zoom shots - on significant objects such as the clock or love heart candy to emphasise the importance of what each object is symbolic of. The clock for example is symbolic of the theme of passing time so having a zoom shot of it embeds this recurring theme in the viewers mind. The love heart candy relates to the young teenage audience who will be more likely to consume candy on a daily basis, the fact that they are shaped as love hearts further highlights the one of the main themes of love in the song.

LIGHTING:
  • I am aiming to use natural lighting. I've decided the majority of the video will be set during the day time so that the lighting levels do not become a problem, from filming my AS thriller coursework I've learnt that filming at night is risky in terms of the amount of exposure that will be reflected in the lens, also video filters will be harder to see if the lighting is too dark.
EDITING:
  • Fade and fade dissolve transitions are great editing transitions I would like to use throughout my whole video. I think the fade transitions are a smooth way of carrying the narrative along as they are quite ambiguous and can portray the days,weeks or months that go by, this fits well with my narrative and song choice as the main theme is time. I would like to have a fade in transition at the beginning of the video and maybe a fade out transition (which fades to black) at the end of the video to signify the ending and beginning of 'waiting'.
  • I've found that the idea of a time-lapse effect would be very appropriate for my music video seeing as the prominent theme of the song is 'TIME', and waiting.
    Right now I'm thinking of using the weather as one source of time-lapse. I quite like the idea of gradually seeing the clouds in the sky part and the sun turning into the moonlight. The second time-lapse i might have is one of filmed raw traffic. I think it could be used as a very effective technical code, symbolizing the passing of time as the waiting occurs.
These are very good examples of what I am aiming for my time-lapse to look like!




  • A soft focus on the main character in the video would be ideal. I want to use this as a form of voyeurism as well as a way of illustrating the beginning of the narrative and the active point of view.

    COSTUME:
  • Uniform? - since the beginning of the story is intended to start in a school it would make sense for my character to be shown at the beginning in typical school wear, so a blouse, a tie, a checkered skirt or even just plain black trousers would be nice so that the target audience (teenagers aged 14-18) will make that instant connection to her position as they also attend school.
  • Outside of the school i would like the singer to be wearing trendy, fashionable 'in the now' clothes, in other ways nothing that looks too expensive or that is too revealing but ordinary, ever day clothing most girls my age would wear, for example, jeans/jeggings and a long tunic. I'll probably have her wearing some jewellery or props to glamorise her outfit, hopefully this will provoke an admiration in the target audience by allowing them to admire her sense of style.



    PROPS:

  • Modern day devices - I-pods, mobile phones, i-phones, camera's etc to reflect the modern, lively, young atmosphere at which teenagers tend to possess in pop/R'n'b videos.

    MISE-EN-SCENE:

  • Locations will be city based to present the modern western society. I have ideas about filming at a mall, or a cafe/restaurant or any other general public place where teenagers are likely to socialise (to make the target audience feel they can relate to the character) but these are public places so I may face issues in terms of getting permission.


So this is it, these are the main ideas for my music video. I'm quite keen of most of them apart from the locations
part because it may not go to plan, but if I can make the costumes look as intended and make use of editing skills
and improve the whole filming process in general I think I'll be on the right track.

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