Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Monday, 11 January 2010
Media Treatment- By Jordan
Song - "When you were young" By The Killers
This music video is about the ups and downs of a flaky relationship (originally a married couple however we have changed it to a teenage relationship to market it at teenagers so they can relate to the video better), however love brings them back together. We begin with a tracking shot of Megan (the girlfriend) walking down a path on her phone texting . No music is being played at this moment (only a gust of wind can be heard - Non diegetic sound). Megan then trips over and drops her phone and we zoom in for a close up of her crying on the floor. George (her boyfriend) appears into the frame, (with just his hand) and as his hand touches hers the music starts - (we see Matt the lead singer/guitarist strum the first notes with a low angle shot looking almost direct up and the song kicks in.
The next few scenes we see are in the form of flashbacks of George and Megan spending time with each other like teenage couples do, first at home on the sofa hugging (a medium shot - no extra lighting only sunlight through the window), The next is them walking down the high street holding each others hand and we use a slow motion tracking shot but then also rotate (panning shot). The centre point of the video is the scene where George cheats on Megan with Martha (another girl who likes George). The difficulties with this shot is that we want to make it look like George has been caught in a weak moment appose to him just seeing another girl. So this scene is taken place in George's bedroom and we have Martha holding Geroge's hand and we then see Martha's head move slowly towards George and he cautiously moves forward (close up). Just before they kiss we see Megan enter the room (medium shot of her standing under the door frame) and this is a massive turning point in the music video.
We then cut to the band in the room scene where we have a close up of Matt singing and then cuts to a cross around his neck just as the song refers to Jesus and we have an extreme close up of the bass player but looking down his guitar as he is playing it, (idea from fall out boys). As we cut back to the narrative we change to a blue filter to make the next scenes feel cold because of the change in mood and to get the audience to feel the sadness at this stage of the video. This idea came from the music video "How you remind me" - by Nickelback where they change from blue to normal filter.
These next two narrative scenes continue the story but from two seperate view points, the first being Megan having a breakdown over what she just saw while walking in the street, (tracking shot). Then she stops in the middle of the street crying, holding her head and we circle around her with the camera as she gradually falls to the ground we use a panning shot. Then we quickly cut to a band in the room shot, (close up of Matt singing for a few seconds). The second point of view is from the boyfriend (George), who we see walking down a alley (mid shot) and we see him take his bag off his back and throw it against the wall in the realisation that he may have lost the only girl he truly loved. This is where we try and gain sympathy from the audience for George as it looks like one seductive moment of weakness may have lost him his girlfriend, unlike the original video you don't see the other girl again which could suggest to the audience that it was just a moment of weakness.
We again cut back to the band in a room scene, however unlike the original music video we decided to keep it seperate from the narrative so it doesn't interfere with the emotional changes through out the video. we get medium shot of the band for a few seconds.
Finally we finish the video scene as we left it from the start, Megan again walking on her own and tripping over, however all we see is a medium shot of Megan falling with only George's hand in sight then a close up of Megan looking up at him with tears running down her face, we then finish the video on that shot.
This music video is about the ups and downs of a flaky relationship (originally a married couple however we have changed it to a teenage relationship to market it at teenagers so they can relate to the video better), however love brings them back together. We begin with a tracking shot of Megan (the girlfriend) walking down a path on her phone texting . No music is being played at this moment (only a gust of wind can be heard - Non diegetic sound). Megan then trips over and drops her phone and we zoom in for a close up of her crying on the floor. George (her boyfriend) appears into the frame, (with just his hand) and as his hand touches hers the music starts - (we see Matt the lead singer/guitarist strum the first notes with a low angle shot looking almost direct up and the song kicks in.
The next few scenes we see are in the form of flashbacks of George and Megan spending time with each other like teenage couples do, first at home on the sofa hugging (a medium shot - no extra lighting only sunlight through the window), The next is them walking down the high street holding each others hand and we use a slow motion tracking shot but then also rotate (panning shot). The centre point of the video is the scene where George cheats on Megan with Martha (another girl who likes George). The difficulties with this shot is that we want to make it look like George has been caught in a weak moment appose to him just seeing another girl. So this scene is taken place in George's bedroom and we have Martha holding Geroge's hand and we then see Martha's head move slowly towards George and he cautiously moves forward (close up). Just before they kiss we see Megan enter the room (medium shot of her standing under the door frame) and this is a massive turning point in the music video.
We then cut to the band in the room scene where we have a close up of Matt singing and then cuts to a cross around his neck just as the song refers to Jesus and we have an extreme close up of the bass player but looking down his guitar as he is playing it, (idea from fall out boys). As we cut back to the narrative we change to a blue filter to make the next scenes feel cold because of the change in mood and to get the audience to feel the sadness at this stage of the video. This idea came from the music video "How you remind me" - by Nickelback where they change from blue to normal filter.
These next two narrative scenes continue the story but from two seperate view points, the first being Megan having a breakdown over what she just saw while walking in the street, (tracking shot). Then she stops in the middle of the street crying, holding her head and we circle around her with the camera as she gradually falls to the ground we use a panning shot. Then we quickly cut to a band in the room shot, (close up of Matt singing for a few seconds). The second point of view is from the boyfriend (George), who we see walking down a alley (mid shot) and we see him take his bag off his back and throw it against the wall in the realisation that he may have lost the only girl he truly loved. This is where we try and gain sympathy from the audience for George as it looks like one seductive moment of weakness may have lost him his girlfriend, unlike the original video you don't see the other girl again which could suggest to the audience that it was just a moment of weakness.
We again cut back to the band in a room scene, however unlike the original music video we decided to keep it seperate from the narrative so it doesn't interfere with the emotional changes through out the video. we get medium shot of the band for a few seconds.
Finally we finish the video scene as we left it from the start, Megan again walking on her own and tripping over, however all we see is a medium shot of Megan falling with only George's hand in sight then a close up of Megan looking up at him with tears running down her face, we then finish the video on that shot.
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Treatment
This music video plays on audience expectation, it focuses on stereotypes within youth culture until the very end where there is a quirky, unexpected finish.
The characters are central to the narrative, the three members of the band are the main characters, all introduced as soon as the music starts. The lead singer is shown as a typical ladies man, he's stylish, attractive and confident. As the video progresses the audience can tell he is popoular, charming and can be quite rebellious. The second male character is clearly a geek by his appearence and manner, obviously shy and awkward and always shown either reading or on a computer. When it comes to fashion and looks, it is clear he is clueless. The final male character is the joker, the one that no-one takes seriously and can be very irritating, however he has a very different view of himself. From the way he acts and dresses it is clear to the audience he thinks he is popular with the girls and amongst the boys and seems to be totally unaware of the fact that no-one else takes him seriously.
As soon as the audience are introduced to the characters, they have a strong idea of the boys personalities.
The narrative is very simple, runs closely to the theme of the song, based on romance and having a crush on someone. In the video the idea of young love and awkward first dates are captured in a lively, comical, up beat way to compliment the pace and tone of the song. The colours are bright and movements energetic, everything is fairly fast-paced with a humorous side to create a happy atmosphere.
At the start the boys realise they are late for something, they jump into action and start getting ready. After the first chorus, there are flashbacks to when the boys were at school in the week. Jay, the lead singer, is shown surrounded by girls in the sixth form common room, James, the geek, is working on a computer in the library and Jake is shown messing around with a friend. Then, in turn they each notice someone else, through the shot sequences it appears they are looking at a girl that stereotypically matches them, for example James looks up and then a shot of a geeky girl reading in the corner is shown, so the audience assume he fancies her. After all three girls are introduced, they also become key in the narrative development.
For the remainder of the song, the story goes back to the characters getting ready, it is now obvious they are preparing for dates. The girls are also getting ready, everyone is getting ready in a very typical and expected way, for example the cool couple have millions of clothes to choose from and are paying attention to detail, wheras the geeks are clearly inexperienced at trying to look good.
This is also combined with performance shots, which take place in the school music rooms to continue the idea that the characters are all friends at school and during the week this is where they spend most of their time. This helps break up the narrative andstop any confusion concerning time, it also helps bring more energy to the video and links the characters together.
As the song draws to a close, the characters leave their houses and walk along, going to their meeting place, as the boys come to a stop, the audience expect them to be with the girl that matches them stereotypically when really, Jay meets with the geeky girl, James goes with the jokey girl and Jake and the popular, cool girl go off together.
The final shots are of the shy and nervous couples walking off holding hands together and so as the song ends, there is a happy ending to accompany it.
The characters are central to the narrative, the three members of the band are the main characters, all introduced as soon as the music starts. The lead singer is shown as a typical ladies man, he's stylish, attractive and confident. As the video progresses the audience can tell he is popoular, charming and can be quite rebellious. The second male character is clearly a geek by his appearence and manner, obviously shy and awkward and always shown either reading or on a computer. When it comes to fashion and looks, it is clear he is clueless. The final male character is the joker, the one that no-one takes seriously and can be very irritating, however he has a very different view of himself. From the way he acts and dresses it is clear to the audience he thinks he is popular with the girls and amongst the boys and seems to be totally unaware of the fact that no-one else takes him seriously.
As soon as the audience are introduced to the characters, they have a strong idea of the boys personalities.
The narrative is very simple, runs closely to the theme of the song, based on romance and having a crush on someone. In the video the idea of young love and awkward first dates are captured in a lively, comical, up beat way to compliment the pace and tone of the song. The colours are bright and movements energetic, everything is fairly fast-paced with a humorous side to create a happy atmosphere.
At the start the boys realise they are late for something, they jump into action and start getting ready. After the first chorus, there are flashbacks to when the boys were at school in the week. Jay, the lead singer, is shown surrounded by girls in the sixth form common room, James, the geek, is working on a computer in the library and Jake is shown messing around with a friend. Then, in turn they each notice someone else, through the shot sequences it appears they are looking at a girl that stereotypically matches them, for example James looks up and then a shot of a geeky girl reading in the corner is shown, so the audience assume he fancies her. After all three girls are introduced, they also become key in the narrative development.
For the remainder of the song, the story goes back to the characters getting ready, it is now obvious they are preparing for dates. The girls are also getting ready, everyone is getting ready in a very typical and expected way, for example the cool couple have millions of clothes to choose from and are paying attention to detail, wheras the geeks are clearly inexperienced at trying to look good.
This is also combined with performance shots, which take place in the school music rooms to continue the idea that the characters are all friends at school and during the week this is where they spend most of their time. This helps break up the narrative andstop any confusion concerning time, it also helps bring more energy to the video and links the characters together.
As the song draws to a close, the characters leave their houses and walk along, going to their meeting place, as the boys come to a stop, the audience expect them to be with the girl that matches them stereotypically when really, Jay meets with the geeky girl, James goes with the jokey girl and Jake and the popular, cool girl go off together.
The final shots are of the shy and nervous couples walking off holding hands together and so as the song ends, there is a happy ending to accompany it.
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Filming Band
In my storyboard i planned to have band in a room shots in between the narrative, i booked a music room at school as i knew i could get the instruments i needed and it would support the ideo of the characters being teenagers still at school. One actor who had already been filmed throughtout the narrative section decided not to come to this shoot, so i had to find a replacement which i initially planned to replace my original actor in all the narrative scenes. However due to time pressures i realised this would not be a realistic goal, so i had to have one different person in the band then in the storyline, and two people the same. This compromises the professional feel of the project as it is a continuation problem, throughout all my filming, the thing i found most challenging was working with people who were unreliable and did not stick to the schedule. If i was to start this project again i would have started filming earlier as any issues such as this one happened again i would have more time to sort it out and i would not have to compromise my final piece. At first i thought that i had some resonable shots which i could use, even though the boys were not overly confident at playing the song on their instruments. However watching it back i realised alot of it was out of time or completely didnt match the music and so when i began editing i had to strongly consider whether or not to keep the band scenes and go completely narrative.
Filming Narrative
As soon as my storyboard was complete i started filming, and to begin with i managed to stick to my schedule well. I decided to film all of the characters individual parts first, so i started with Chloe. I planned for this to take an hour, however it only took 45minutes as i think i got all the shots i needed quickly. The only issue i think that could occur is that as i watched the film back they seem to be very dark, this i hope i can sort out on the editing software.
Next i filmed Rudi's parts, this took longer, about an hour and a half, this was mainly because what her character does throughout the video take longer to prepare for, for example there are more costume changes. From this, i think i got some good shots which are mainly how i planned them to turn out and so i think this part of my video will be successful.
I then moved onto filming the boys parts, i did all this in one night, it took about four hours as we had to change location three times, i think it turned out well as all three boys adapted to their characters well and i think their outfits successfully showed their stereotypical characteristics.
The shots i needed at school, i gathered over a couple of weeks as my actors/actresses often had other commitments and so getting them together turned out to be harder then i first expected. Because of this i decided to move the locations of the final shots of the video to school rather then else where in town as it would be easier for people to do it and be more efficient as well as still having the same effect.
The final big session of filming was with the final female character, the geek. This is the easiest stereotype to adapt to and as the actresses is a drama student, she managed to produce good shots very quickly and very well.
Due to issues with a certain person not turning up to filming, as time went on i became eager to start editing and so decided to do so without a couple of shots on the camera. Although inconvenient, as i planned to have all my filming done before editing and at a much earlier date, it was not too bad to sort out as collecting the final shots took half an hour in the end.
Overall i am happy with what i have filmed for the narrative, i think generally all the actors/ actresses managed to convey their charcter very well and i filmed some good moments. I do think that in my storyboard some of my timings and shot types were to complex and ambitious and so when i did get on location, i ended up having to simplify them and cut yet more small shots from my video, this at first seems bad but as i started editing i realised doing this improved it as it gave more time to focus on good moments and stopped any risk of confusion from the audiences point of view.
Next i filmed Rudi's parts, this took longer, about an hour and a half, this was mainly because what her character does throughout the video take longer to prepare for, for example there are more costume changes. From this, i think i got some good shots which are mainly how i planned them to turn out and so i think this part of my video will be successful.
I then moved onto filming the boys parts, i did all this in one night, it took about four hours as we had to change location three times, i think it turned out well as all three boys adapted to their characters well and i think their outfits successfully showed their stereotypical characteristics.
The shots i needed at school, i gathered over a couple of weeks as my actors/actresses often had other commitments and so getting them together turned out to be harder then i first expected. Because of this i decided to move the locations of the final shots of the video to school rather then else where in town as it would be easier for people to do it and be more efficient as well as still having the same effect.
The final big session of filming was with the final female character, the geek. This is the easiest stereotype to adapt to and as the actresses is a drama student, she managed to produce good shots very quickly and very well.
Due to issues with a certain person not turning up to filming, as time went on i became eager to start editing and so decided to do so without a couple of shots on the camera. Although inconvenient, as i planned to have all my filming done before editing and at a much earlier date, it was not too bad to sort out as collecting the final shots took half an hour in the end.
Overall i am happy with what i have filmed for the narrative, i think generally all the actors/ actresses managed to convey their charcter very well and i filmed some good moments. I do think that in my storyboard some of my timings and shot types were to complex and ambitious and so when i did get on location, i ended up having to simplify them and cut yet more small shots from my video, this at first seems bad but as i started editing i realised doing this improved it as it gave more time to focus on good moments and stopped any risk of confusion from the audiences point of view.
Monday, 28 December 2009
Permission & Risk Assessment
After making my song choice (She's So Lovely by Scouting for Girls) i needed to gain permission from the record company to use it. I went onto the Scouting for Girls website, to find their record company. I found out that they are signed to SonyUk and so i sent a letter which explained my situation and requested permission top use the track for my project. I sent the letter on the 9th of October and on the 20th of October Elizabeth Peers from the Legal and Business department wrote back giving permission under circumstances to use the song. It stated that i could only use it for educational purposes that i had already detailled in my letter, that i indemnify Sony Music against all liabilities which may arise and that i must credit: 'She's so Lovely performed by Scouting for Girls (p) 2007 Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited.
When i wrote my letter i didn't think i wouldm get a reply so i was very happy to get it. It added a profesional feel to my project and made it more complete.
After gaining permission i went on to do a risk assessment. I found a good layout on the internet and so drafted mine from there. The severity and liklihood of the risks were all low and no one was ever really at any risk. Filling out the risk assessment, although made it more professional and made the planning more complete, was very tedious as nothing that could be dangerous happens in my video and so all the answers were virtually the same.
When i wrote my letter i didn't think i wouldm get a reply so i was very happy to get it. It added a profesional feel to my project and made it more complete.
After gaining permission i went on to do a risk assessment. I found a good layout on the internet and so drafted mine from there. The severity and liklihood of the risks were all low and no one was ever really at any risk. Filling out the risk assessment, although made it more professional and made the planning more complete, was very tedious as nothing that could be dangerous happens in my video and so all the answers were virtually the same.
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