Showing posts with label G324 Planning Music Video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label G324 Planning Music Video. Show all posts
Saturday, 25 February 2017
Narrative Structure
The basic story line to music video starts with our main character entering a house party, at the party she encounters a different story within every room, but things go from bad to worse. However, part way through the video, a modulation occurs and at that point everything is reversed so all damage is undone.
Themes we counter in our narrative include drinking, drug taking, relationships, and being isolated/alienated. All of these are important in our 21st century society so for instance, it is common for people to go out on weekends (or even weekdays) and drink, some may even take some form of illegal substances, some may be drinking to forget whilst others maybe drinking for the social occasion. These issues are key for the audience we are aiming this at (18-24 year olds), and the idea is not to glamorise drink/drugs, but rather raise awareness the implications that both these things may cause. While a house party may look good on the outside, what's happening inside is another story and that is what we're trying to covey. Relationships are also prominent with 18-24 year olds, and so is the feeling of being isolated, often youths may feel forgotten about, like the weight of the world is on their shoulders, so it is an important topic to review. Essentially, the messages and values we are trying to put across are do not take drugs, drink only to your limit (not excessively) because unlike our music video, you cannot un-do what has been done.
Our music video contains equilibrium in accordance with theorist Todorov who suggested that there are five stages in a narratives progression;
1) Equilibrium
2) A Disruption
3) A Recognition of the disruption
4) An attempt at repairing the disruption
5) A new equilibrium
In apply Todorov's theory to our music video, it is clear the music video starts with an equilibrium, a female guest has arrived at a party alone and merely walks through different rooms to meet other acquaintances, so everything is neutral and peaceful, However, people start drinking, a relationship breaks down and it is hinted that somebody has died; This is our disruption. Suddenly, there is no more equilibrium, everything is unsettled and out of balance, it is disrupted. Our main character recognises a disruption and this is signaled to the audience at the point in which the bottle is dropped from the suspected dead character. The repairing of the disruption follows when the reversal starts, this then undoes everything that has happened, the deceased character comes back to life, the couple's relationship goes back to the way it was and most importantly all of the alcohol returns back into its original cups/bottles. Therefore, after this when everything has been undone, a new equilibrium is formed and all of the damage done has been reversed, but there is still a feeling of uncertainty lurking when the main character leaves the party, so the equilibrium differs slightly from the beginning. The five stages could only be possible by using a circular narrative; that is starting and ending in the same way, so it comes about in a full circle. Our production starts with our main character entering the house and it ends with the same character leaving the house through the same door in which she entered.
Moreover, the music video contains codes which were developed by Ronald Barthes and he stated there are five important codes;
1) Enigma code - Setting up puzzles
2) Action code - Making actions understandable through microscopic detail
3) Semic Code - Connotations
4) Symbolic code - things that represent a wider theme/idea
5) Cultural code - Historical Context
In our video, we have used the action code, symbolic code and cultural code. Firstly, the action code; We have used jump cuts in the edit to infer things to the audience such as travelling, so for instance if a character is walking up the stair case we have jump cut this as to infer that the character has walked up the stair case rather than showing it. For us, this saved a lot of time as there were many walking shots to transition between the rooms, and the audience interpret to understand that a character has done the transition without having to fully show it. The symbolic code mainly comes from the costumes, by way of example the main character is wearing a lightly coloured fur coat, suggesting she is innocent, whereas if this had been a red or black coat the connotation would have been the opposite. Lastly, the cultural code is very dominant in our video, as an audience member, you can tell by the costumes, the technology (phones), and the interior of the house that this is from a modern 21st century.
Binary opposition is a key feature of our video and were developed by a theorist named Claude Levi-Strauss. The biggest opposition is between our main character and everyone else she encounters. We always see the main character rather isolated whilst everyone else is socialising/interacting with one another, it is almost as though she is not wanted there, like she is a social outcast. This is made very apparent at the end of the video when she leaves via a hallway and everyone is in her way, she is made to feel intimidated by everyone starring at her. We only ever see things from this characters perspective and from what we see all the other characters are with somebody, but she isn't; she arrives by herself and similarly leaves by herself. The binary opposition is also reinforced through the camera work; We follow the main character through point of view or over the shoulder shots, so to immerse the audience to see everything from her perspective, so we as an audience member are made to feel as though the other characters are constantly looking at her. The fact that we never see her face also contributes to the opposition and enigma.
Moreover, the video is a linear structure meaning it is in chronological order. We would not have been able to have completed this project in a non-linear structure as the story has to be told in order for the reversal to work and make sense, if not the story would be confusing and much harder to follow. The narrative is multi-stranded as there are different stories that happen at the same time. We chose this because it keeps the audiences interests, and there is more to follow and these stories all come together for a conclusive ending. We have incorporated a filmic scene at the beginning of the video whereby our main character walks to the door before the music plays, we decided this so we could get shots of her walking to the door showing of her costume so the audience build up their judgement before the music has even begun.
Overall, we have used many narrative techniques in our production to help our characters develop and for the audience to have a better understanding of them. I also feel that this gave us a better understanding of how to use the different techniques and what they do.
Themes we counter in our narrative include drinking, drug taking, relationships, and being isolated/alienated. All of these are important in our 21st century society so for instance, it is common for people to go out on weekends (or even weekdays) and drink, some may even take some form of illegal substances, some may be drinking to forget whilst others maybe drinking for the social occasion. These issues are key for the audience we are aiming this at (18-24 year olds), and the idea is not to glamorise drink/drugs, but rather raise awareness the implications that both these things may cause. While a house party may look good on the outside, what's happening inside is another story and that is what we're trying to covey. Relationships are also prominent with 18-24 year olds, and so is the feeling of being isolated, often youths may feel forgotten about, like the weight of the world is on their shoulders, so it is an important topic to review. Essentially, the messages and values we are trying to put across are do not take drugs, drink only to your limit (not excessively) because unlike our music video, you cannot un-do what has been done.
Our music video contains equilibrium in accordance with theorist Todorov who suggested that there are five stages in a narratives progression;
1) Equilibrium
2) A Disruption
3) A Recognition of the disruption
4) An attempt at repairing the disruption
5) A new equilibrium
In apply Todorov's theory to our music video, it is clear the music video starts with an equilibrium, a female guest has arrived at a party alone and merely walks through different rooms to meet other acquaintances, so everything is neutral and peaceful, However, people start drinking, a relationship breaks down and it is hinted that somebody has died; This is our disruption. Suddenly, there is no more equilibrium, everything is unsettled and out of balance, it is disrupted. Our main character recognises a disruption and this is signaled to the audience at the point in which the bottle is dropped from the suspected dead character. The repairing of the disruption follows when the reversal starts, this then undoes everything that has happened, the deceased character comes back to life, the couple's relationship goes back to the way it was and most importantly all of the alcohol returns back into its original cups/bottles. Therefore, after this when everything has been undone, a new equilibrium is formed and all of the damage done has been reversed, but there is still a feeling of uncertainty lurking when the main character leaves the party, so the equilibrium differs slightly from the beginning. The five stages could only be possible by using a circular narrative; that is starting and ending in the same way, so it comes about in a full circle. Our production starts with our main character entering the house and it ends with the same character leaving the house through the same door in which she entered.
Moreover, the music video contains codes which were developed by Ronald Barthes and he stated there are five important codes;
1) Enigma code - Setting up puzzles
2) Action code - Making actions understandable through microscopic detail
3) Semic Code - Connotations
4) Symbolic code - things that represent a wider theme/idea
5) Cultural code - Historical Context
In our video, we have used the action code, symbolic code and cultural code. Firstly, the action code; We have used jump cuts in the edit to infer things to the audience such as travelling, so for instance if a character is walking up the stair case we have jump cut this as to infer that the character has walked up the stair case rather than showing it. For us, this saved a lot of time as there were many walking shots to transition between the rooms, and the audience interpret to understand that a character has done the transition without having to fully show it. The symbolic code mainly comes from the costumes, by way of example the main character is wearing a lightly coloured fur coat, suggesting she is innocent, whereas if this had been a red or black coat the connotation would have been the opposite. Lastly, the cultural code is very dominant in our video, as an audience member, you can tell by the costumes, the technology (phones), and the interior of the house that this is from a modern 21st century.
Binary opposition is a key feature of our video and were developed by a theorist named Claude Levi-Strauss. The biggest opposition is between our main character and everyone else she encounters. We always see the main character rather isolated whilst everyone else is socialising/interacting with one another, it is almost as though she is not wanted there, like she is a social outcast. This is made very apparent at the end of the video when she leaves via a hallway and everyone is in her way, she is made to feel intimidated by everyone starring at her. We only ever see things from this characters perspective and from what we see all the other characters are with somebody, but she isn't; she arrives by herself and similarly leaves by herself. The binary opposition is also reinforced through the camera work; We follow the main character through point of view or over the shoulder shots, so to immerse the audience to see everything from her perspective, so we as an audience member are made to feel as though the other characters are constantly looking at her. The fact that we never see her face also contributes to the opposition and enigma.
Moreover, the video is a linear structure meaning it is in chronological order. We would not have been able to have completed this project in a non-linear structure as the story has to be told in order for the reversal to work and make sense, if not the story would be confusing and much harder to follow. The narrative is multi-stranded as there are different stories that happen at the same time. We chose this because it keeps the audiences interests, and there is more to follow and these stories all come together for a conclusive ending. We have incorporated a filmic scene at the beginning of the video whereby our main character walks to the door before the music plays, we decided this so we could get shots of her walking to the door showing of her costume so the audience build up their judgement before the music has even begun.
Overall, we have used many narrative techniques in our production to help our characters develop and for the audience to have a better understanding of them. I also feel that this gave us a better understanding of how to use the different techniques and what they do.
Explanation of Planning
Explanation of Planning
Planning:
As a group, we each
contributed with ideas and thoughts, being able to build of each other’s
concepts. As an art/graphics student, Bella was delegated the role of drawing
up the ideas of the character’s appearances. In turn, this helped us to all
create a post on our different character choices and the reasons behind this.
Sam was given the role of drawing everything shot by shot, to ensure when it
came to filming we knew exactly what we were doing in each scene, what props
were needed, the equipment we were to use and of course which actors were to be
used. This helped organise our work effectively so on the day of the shoot, we
could refer to the sheets and decided on what we needed to film. As a musician,
I looked specifically at how long each shot was and how many beats we would
have to work with so we would be able to cut more precisely to the beat when
editing and thus conforming to the genre (Indie). Both Natasha and I conducted
much research and note taking to collectively put ideas together for the story
board, costumes etc. Everyone was given their own bit to help divvy up tasks
equally and therefore making it fair on the group.
Moreover, lots of tasks were individual work, so I done much of my own research to help better my understand of our genre and the conventions etc. However, the hardest part was trying to get actors and a location. Because of the amount of people we wanted to give an authentic party feel, it almost became unrealistic. We needed lots of people to fill out space and to play lots of different stereo types and trying to organise people outside of the group who were not part of the project was hard. However, we did overcome this by filming on several occasions using different people for different scenes. Location wise, we originally filmed at a house and intended to finish filming in a day, but this did not happen. Again because of a lack of people it became impossible to do. However, we became unable to refilm at this house and had the issue of continuity to deal with; did we use the footage from another house or did we refilm the entire project? In the end, we felt it appropriate to refilm because continuity was important, when you are at a house party you are at that house, so it became crucial to think about things like that, henceforth our decision to refilm. In the end, we managed to find another location to film at, and we filmed multiple times so we could use different actors.
Wednesday, 25 January 2017
Selection of Actors - Updated
Selection of Actors
• The main character; Emily
• Mean girl character; Bella
• Preppy Character; Sam
• Casual Character; Natasha
• The Couple; Played by Georgia and Jake
• Extras; Megan, Emily, Alec, Rubi + Cecilia
The reason behind the decisions were we decided every person within our production group should have the chance to access every part of the project, therefore we decided that the main characters should be played by people in the group, henceforth the top four characters are the played by the production group. This then meant everyone got a chance to work on filmography, lighting, composition, acting etc. We also needed extras to fill out the spaces as it is a house party after all, so by having extra people it gave us the authenticity we needed. However, we later discovered the difficulty of trying to get additional people to be in the video. Our intention was to have lots of different stereotypes of people and lots of people in general to fill the space as it is a house party, but trying to organise people outside of the production group who this did not affect became a challenge. We filmed multiple times using different people for different scenes rather than continuously using the same people.
Main Character
I volunteered to play the main character based on the clothing I already had for the costume we were looking for (fur coat and heels). But, I also volunteered because I believed I could best play and try to understand and become the character that we had created and this was how most of our characters were chosen; through who we best believed suited that role. My character was filmed using mainly gopro shots, so I also decided that it were best if I filmed the other characters with the DSLR given my previous experience with them.
Mean Girl:
Likewise, the mean girl was played by Bella because she also possessed the correct clothing for the costume we needed. We had also decided that Bella best suited the character and could portray her accurately to the audience; that is someone who wants to be at the center of the attention, drunk or sober. Bella's character is important and it really portrays the implications of drinking past your limits/the effects of drugs, so with such important issues to convey it became important to choose someone sensible and mature enough to interpret the ideas.
Casual People:
Most of the people in the production played casual people out for fun, and for this we did not need to think too hard about costume or who should play these people. Essentially, we needed people to be their normal selves, and to an extent act how they would at a real party, in normal everyday clothing.
Preppy:
Our preppy character was played by Sam, who once again possessed the correct clothing. We also felt Sam would be well suited to the part. This character also had to be tailored for important issues about relationships, so again, we needed somebody who can handle this in a sensible way and we felt Sam could do this adequately.
Despite our problems with getting additional actors, we managed to get the footage that we needed to complete the project.
Tuesday, 24 January 2017
The Pitch - Updated
Our Music video is set at a house party, whereby we follow an enigmatic character through the different rooms of a house. We never fully see who the main character is, but the shots we have immerse you to be that character. Each room in the house tells a different story, and at the modulation of the song, we reverse all the damage that has been done at the party. We will try to relate the lyrics to the visuals by taking the literal meaning of words, for instance where the lyrics say 'I tick tick tick tick..' we intend to use a watch showing different times for each tick. We do not intend to use any band shots, we are purely focusing on narrative so we will not be using any lip syncing.
Thursday, 19 January 2017
Anotated Lyrics -updated
Our intention with the song is to reverse everything at the modulation so therefore not gloryifying drink/drug taking. The idea is to un-do all of the damage that has been done, to show the negative affects of drug taking.
Tuesday, 27 September 2016
Monday, 12 September 2016
Permission from the Artist
Figure one shows that we have been given permission from the artist (Firehorse) entitling to use the song Bloodstream. Since having the permission, it permits any issues of copyrighting.
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| Figure 1 |
Story Board
This is our original story board of our music video, analyzing precisely shot by shot the detail of our production. Enhancing us to do this is the songs lyrics:
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| Figure 1 |
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| Figure 2 |
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| Figure 3 |
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