Storyboarding

Having almost completed our storyboard, we have thought of a few techniques and ideas for certain shots that could connote the meaning of the song that we want to audience to see and feel. At one particular point, when the lyrics get to 'The days that just don't seem worthwhile' We have incorporated a close up of the protagonist's face. Having just shaved, one half will be clean, one will still be bearded/stubbly. This connoted the two way, almost split personality and lifestyle of the man. One side is clean and caring, the other is dark and careless.

Furthermore, we have developed our idea for the shot when he is at home and everyone is buzzing around him. Now we think it would connote the mans lifestyle if we were to edit to and from his workplace and back to his home, connoting that it is always on his mind and that he cannot relax.

In addition to this, we have planned our opening shots while the song is having the introduction with no lyrics. We will film a sunrise over a hill for a long period of time, and then using Final Cut Pro we will edit it so it plays extremely fast and shows the sun coming up. We will also use this technique with a shot of a street, showing people and cars going past very fast. This technique connotes the repetetiveness of everyday life, which is what we feel the entire song is about, even before the lyrics start. Foreshadowing to the audience what is to come.

Media lesson

Today in our media lesson all the different groups presented their ideas on different narrative-based music videos. The one i feel was the best, was the song 'Stylo' by 'Gorillaz' as seen below.



This is a really interesting music video, as the audience is never left with any answers, they are always left with posed questions. Who are they? where are they going? where have they come from?
This connotes the Roland Barthes theory of Enigma. Which means that at the start of any media text, the audience is left with a question that needs to be answered throughout the rest of the text. Nevertheless, in this particular music video, that/those questions are never answered.

This influenced our idea a little and helped us develop it. The audience for our music video will be posed with similar questions, who is this man? why is he so depressed? but the questions will not be answered by the video, they will be answered through the lyrics of the song, which carry the narrative.

Preparation for filming 2

Having now found everything we need for us to begin filming, we will need to book out a camera sometime over the next few weeks and begin our filming process. For our protagonist we have found Tom Swinburn (a former media student) who is available for filming almost whenever we need him. We have found the locations, ranging from the school corridors, to the streets of urban Cambridge. For the costume we have decided on a slightly casual laid-back look, the look of someone who doesn't really care what he wears to work as this is the narrative we are following. This will connote to the audience that the man doesn't care about how he looks anymore, or about his life in general. We also need access to a computer, a desk, paper, a clock etc. To recreate an office room in which the man works. This will connote the repetitive nature of the mans life and the audience will be able to relate to this.

Preparation for filming

For our music media text, we need to focus on finding everything in relation to Mise-en-Scene, such as locations, props, actors and costumes for the video. We have already found almost all of the locations we will need, now we just need to find the actor(s) and props/costumes.

Our own production

After looking at all different forms of music videos, we have decided that our video will follow a more narrative-based pathway, with some performance pieces to break it up and make it flow a lot better. With the lyrics connoting a person who is bored with everyday life, it only seems logical to follow this narrative connotation. In addition to this, the Punk-rock genre usually follow a set narrative, or are performance videos. This means that I can mix the two together and this would directly appeal to the target audience, with a mix of the two types of music video they are most used to. After finishing our storyboard, we are now looking towards filming our first shots to edit on Final Cut Pro.

We have found the locations needed for the initial sequence and all that is left to do now is book a camera after finalizing the storyboard and creating a shooting script for our filming.

More research - different forms of music videos

After looking into more music texts, we found that there are numerous different forms of music video. There are performance pieces, experimental pieces and those with a narrative. The performance pieces are usually focussed on the band or solo artist performing. Such as this song by 'The Killers'.



I thought that we could use a few shots like these, where the artist or band is seen drumming or playing the guitar or singing to the camera/into a microphone. This seems to be very common in the Indy/Punk-rock genre, and therefore the audience would be able to relate very easily and recognise what this video is about.


Experimental pieces are usually done as more of a form of art, as an experiment. Such as the 'Red Hot Chilli Peppers' song 'Can't Stop'


We could implement various similar shots, however with the genre of the Pistola Kicks being very different to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, it would not relate very well to the target audience, and would not fit overall with the punk-rock genre.


Narrative based music videos are much more rare and hard to film. These are texts that follow an obvious narrative path, such as 'The Killers' music video to their song 'A Dustland Fairytale'



Narrative music videos are very effective, they are also fairly common within the punk-rock genre, so the audience could relate to what kind of video it is very easily, and would be attracted to it. This type of music video is very difficult with most songs, as they don't usually follow a set narrative, however my song 'Friday Nights' is very narrative-based and it would be very effective to follow this narrative throughout the video.

Critical analysis task

Today in our A level Media Studies lesson, were asked to go and film a 2-3 minute video analysing our work so far. We analysed our work in relation to 7 points.

- Research into similar products

- Organisation of actors

- Shotlists, drafting, storyboarding etc

- Time management

- Presentation of research and planning

- Skill in the use of digital technology

- Communication skills

Having just created a short video on evaluating our progress, it really showed how we have little time left, and that we need to look into (research) a lot more videos with the same genre and/or narrative as what we are looking for in our own text. We also need to finish our storyboard and crack on with the actual filming.

In relation to these bullet points, we gave ourselves a score so far on each one, ranging from minimal to excellent. For most of the points we gave ourselves proficient level of work done.

Other texts for influence

This song (The Pigeon Detectives - I'm Not Sorry) also connotes the same meaning that we are looking to connote in our text. The black and white colours put across the feel of isolation and depression. Much like what we are attempting to employ into our music text. Therefore, after watching and analysing this video closely, I have decided to implement some of the techniques that they use. Such as the use of only one protagonist, being alone in the world. Furthermore, I have leaned towards the technique of black and white, rather than washed out colours to further connote the idea of isolation and depression. All of these ideas are very similar to other videos of the Punk-rock variety, and the target audience would be able to recognise this and relate to our music video  through these techniques.

Research

Having looked into various music videos of the same genre/narrative, we came across this. The 'Arctic Monkeys' video for their song 'When the Sun Goes Down'. We feel that not only the narrative structure fits our text, but also the techniques they use, such as the washed out colour.

Therefore our ideas changed slightly from this influence. We now want to use washed out colour or black and white, as this fits the narrative of the song. A man who is bored with life, the lack of colour would connote this. Furthermore some of the shots used in this video are similar to ones we would want to use, such as the high angle mid-shots and close-ups, looking down on the protagonist. This connotes how he is weak and has no control. This would also relate to the target audience very well. The indy/punk-rock audience would be able to relate directly to the lack of control in life.

Ideas developing

Having listened carefully to the lyrics, Our interpretations and ideas have developed a fair amount. With the opening lines 'I've been living with my eyes wide shut' and 'I'd give it my all if you'd let me give it up' we could have various shots of the individual walking down different corridors (Towards the camera), singing to the camera. We could then cut these shots together to create a collage of different shots that all link together smoothly. I like this idea because it connotes the sense that he has had multiple walks in life, but whatever path he chooses or goes down, he is never interested or enjoying what he is doing.

We have also thought about shots that isolate the key individual in certain scenes, for instance, with the lyrics 'Its Friday night tonight... Its another working week for you' we can fast-forward everyone running around him while he sits on a chair dreading the week to come. This furthers the narrative reading of the video and re-enforces the repetitive nature of working life that the individual has grown to hate.

Furthermore we have thought about merging two shots together, to connote the underlying status that working life and home life have become one thing to the man. With the fast-forward sequence, we could gradually fade it out and fade in the exact same shot but at the mans workplace. This connotes how his work life is intruding upon his home and family life, suggesting that he has no freedom. This idea could be implemented during the chorus, with the lyrics 'its another working week for you'.

In addition, we thought that the repetetiveness of the lyrics and the underlying meaning of the lyrics could be represented through multiple shots. For every line of 'Whatever happened to that smile of mine...What ever happened to...What ever happened to' we could implement multiple shots of a past time when the character was not bored with his life, and when he was enjoying the time he had off work.