Preliminary exercise: Music video

Complete the following tasks:

1) State the song you have chosen for your preliminary exercise.

I chose to do the song 'Ribs' by Lorde

2) Choose at least three music videos similar to your concept and watch a clip or more from each. Make bullet-point notes on everything you watch, commenting on camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene.

  

-'Home' by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros is very similar to my idea. It has multiple different locations being used in different places with different costumes. 

-It uses a variety of different camera shots such as: handheld cameras, wide shots, close ups, tracking shots, pans, extreme close ups and many more. 

-It uses lots of different editing techniques such as transitions, dissolves, speed ups, freeze frames, jump cuts etc. 

-The main reason this video is kind of similar to mine is because it includes different clips of the artists friends and shows all of them just living their own lives and having a good time rather than just performing for a camera. The lyrics also reference the word home a lot since it is the title of the song and this could be the artists calling his friends and family his 'home'. 

 

-'Good old days' by Kesha and Macklemore.  This video again shows the artist and their friends having a good time. 

-Includes clips added into the music video, works well with the song

-Has similar camera shots to the ones I may be using such as: wide shots, close ups, medium shots, hand held camera, pan etc.

-Post filming editing has been used. Tape like videos are added to make it feel nostalgic. It also includes slowmo's, jump cuts and montages.

-Again this is quite similar because it includes clips of the artist having fun by adding them as a montage which is a similar concept to what I am going to be trying to film.

    

-'What makes you beautiful' by One Direction. This video involves less montages and more lip-syncing however it still does have clips of all of them which I would say is quite similar.

-Includes camera shots such as: Tracking shots, medium shot, close ups, wide shots, low angle shots, POV shots and more.

-It has different editing skills used such as: fade, jump cuts, slowmo's, montages and dissolves when one clip dissolved into another.

-This song is quite a happy song and shows relationship between all their friends and what their life is like which is a fairly similar concept to mine. 

3) Write a short music video treatment for your extract (this is basically a script for your music video). You can find an example of a treatment here. If you are making your real coursework then feel free to use the treatment from your summer project.

2:03-2:33 - 30 seconds

First line: Artist in her bedroom on her bed, possibly with a friend

Second line: Friends walking down a street at night, matches with the lyrics

Third line: Artist back in her bedroom

Fourth line: Lyrics being written on paper, like a journal

4) Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing (in a music video you will find you need FAR more shots than you think, particularly close-ups). These additional shots can be close-ups, alternative angles or something more creative. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word/Google Docs to set out your shot list - you can find an example here (this is from narrative filmmaking but the same format can be used for any video project).

1) High angle shot of  artist laying in her bed

Moves to a closer angle/or a tracking shot of her phone

2) Another tracking shot of friends walking down an empty road at night

Swaps to a wide shot from a different angle

3) Tracking shot of artist now at her desk 

Shows her phone and her text message

4) Birds eye view shot of her book writing

Close up of words and pen being put down

Extra shots: Close up of artist, medium shots, wide shots

5) Plan your mise-en-scene: what iconography are you including to ensure your audience understands the genre and style of your artist? Plan your settings, costume, make-up, props and lighting.

Setting: City, field and a bedroom- all give different vibes

Costume: Casual clothing, used for any outdoor shots such as jeans and a hoodie, comfy clothing for the bedroom indoor shots

Make-up: Natural, everyday look

Props: Hats, phones, pens, paper, games etc.

Lighting: Preferably warm lighting for the inside, lowkey, and more natural lighting for outdoor, high key

6) Plan a shooting schedule that will ensure everything is filmed by the deadline. Include when, where, who is required, planned equipment and any other aspects you need to arrange.

-Planning over the weekend and try film some shots over the weekend for desired scene

-Filming on my phone & my digital camera
-Wear correct shoes used for footwear brand
-Need to film shots with friends