For my storyboard, I took the shot ideas that I knew I definitely wanted to use and sketched them out roughly with colour, so that I had a basic idea of what they would look like, even though they were not detailed. Then I scanned these in and pasted them onto a blank storyboard (like the one I used for my reverse storyboard), adding a short description of the camera angle/movement and type of shot, along with the lyric or music playing at the time of shot. Although this doesn't cover every shot I am aiming to use, it gives me a basis of what types of shots I want to use and it made me think more about the visuals of the video.
This mood board represents the overall tone, look and style of my music video. For example, the colours are mainly red, black, white and grey, with a lot of dark eye make-up and red lipstick, which is the kind of make-up I want my models to wear. I tried to include images of the sort of costumes I would want them to wear too, although this is harder as we are somewhat restricted to what people own, so I found photos of short skirts, high heels, ripped jeans, etc., as these reflect the sort of 'look' I want the models to have.
Over the half term I have been working on my sketches for my storyboard and digipack cover and turning the sketches into an animatic. These should be up here soon, with a little description of the camera movements and why I chose these shots, etc.
As well as this I have begun working towards my audience profile by getting some feedback from peers. I began by putting up polls on my blog asking about people's attitudes to music videos, and then showing some friends (who are not in my media class, so as to give me a less biased view) my proposal and asking them what they thought of the idea. I will write up these results and post them soon.
I also began discussing costume ideas with some of the models I will be using, mostly the sort of colours I am looking for them to wear, as well as the style of make-up, jewellery and hair. Additionally I briefed them on some of the things they will be required to do in the music video and at what part of the song they would be shown. I am hoping to show all my models my proposal, storyboard, animatic, etc, so that when it comes to filming they are fully aware of what it is I am looking to achieve and I know that we are all on the same page.
This week we got into groups of four and filmed some test sequences. These are just little clips of footage that we can use to try out different effects and things and see how they work, hopefully giving us some ideas and inspiration for our music videos. Our teacher gave us a list of different basic ideas, which included dramatic angles, reverse shots, split screening, multiple exposure, slow motion, etc, and we tried to get as many clips for the ideas as possible (although many of them did not work very well in the end). This was something that I really enjoyed and I feel that I’ve already learnt a bit more about getting interesting and artistic shots. After we had filmed the footage, we edited them individually on Adobe Premiere; I put some things in reverse, changed the colours, and played with effects like ghosting. By seeing the sort of ways that I can manipulate footage using the software we have, I feel better prepared for making my music video as I know what is easily achievable and what is not. As well as this, it meant that I am more familiar with the cameras we’ll be using, so I feel more confident about that.
Also this week I have been sketching out some basic ideas, beginning with my digipack cover and then also the start of my storyboard. We had a discussion in class and tried to come up with some unusual concepts for these, based on either technical skills or an impressive image. When these are finished and coloured and everything then I’ll upload those too.
Since doing my last diary post, which was the holiday one, I have written my music video proposal, which just outlines my initial ideas for what I’m going to create. I wrote about my target audience, concept, possible equipment I might use, models, possible locations (or lack thereof, I’ll explain this in a bit), costumes, choice of song, similar videos, etc. A lot of the stuff that I talked about I had already mentioned in previous posts, especially my holiday diary post, because they’re ideas that I’ve been working on for a while now.
Also this week I went back over previous work that I’ve done and just made sure that everything was really detailed and clear, so I did some little explanations on stuff like my 10 iconic music video stills and the equipment checklist.
In my last diary entry I mentioned uploading my location recce, I haven’t uploaded yet, mostly because the concept for my video requires it being shot entirely in extreme close-up, so the location isn’t really important, or actually necessary at all, because if I do it right you shouldn’t see the background. Having said that, I know the location recce is an important part of planning my video so I post that soon, but my location will probably just be in one of the media rooms, with a plain white backdrop, possibly with some bits filmed outside for a different lighting effect.
My music video idea is for the song ‘Short Skirt/Long Jacket’ by the band Cake. I chose this song because I thought the lyrics would be interesting to present visually, as when I listen to the song I get clear mental images of what is being sung about. Because the lyrics are about a girl and the models I will be using are all female, my video will be aimed at men, probably aged 16-30.
Rather than have a single model in my film, I would like to use a large group of girls to represent different aspects of the girl being described by the lyrics in the song. All the models will be filmed in extreme close-up – like the video for ‘Animal Arithmetic’ by Jonsi – using studio lighting and either a Canon XM2 HD Camera, a Canon 55OD Camera or a Sony HVRA1E Camera. These all allow for high quality footage, meaning my video will look professional. Like videos such as ‘Get Over It’ by OK Go, I will visually represent the lyrics using these models and also some props, for example, when the lyrics say "eyes that burn like cigarettes", the video would show one of the model's eyes, followed by another's lips blowing out cigarette smoke, or something similar.
The costumes for my video will be based on the descriptions from the song, so one of the models will be wearing “a short skirt and a long jacket”, they will have lots of make-up and painted nails, so as to look very glamorous. My video might use a band, also filmed in extreme close-up, so that when the song begins with the bass line, I could show it being played on the bass. Due to the fact that I will be shooting entirely in extreme close-up, location is not a particularly important part of my video, as you will not be able to see the surroundings very clearly or at all. I will shoot inside one of the media rooms against a white backdrop, much like the way in which I carried out the photoshoot for last year’s coursework.
After having filmed my video, I will edit it together using Adobe Premiere and After Effects. I aim to use many cuts in the editing process, timing them with the music so that the two fit together well and my video looks professional. There are a few problems that I might encounter when it comes to making my music video, though as I do not require outside locations, there are less potential issues. One problem that may occur is not being able to find a suitable filming day, because I aim to use so many models, who may not all be available at the same time. Although I could shoot the models individually, I liked the idea of shooting as many as possible at once, as I found last year that they felt more comfortable and were more willing to pose if they were not alone. This means that my video will not have an awkward atmosphere, as the models should look more natural. To try and ensure that I can get them all at the same time I will ask them to sign an agreement form that says that they are willing to work at certain times. I will also need to be sure that I know how to work all the equipment properly, so that I use it to its full potential.
