Preliminary Exercise Research and Planning: Blog Tasks :)

 

• Mastering Composition + Cinematography
• Nine things to check before pressing the record button 
• Learn Premiere Pro 2018 in 11 Minutes

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

Decode- Paramore 

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.

1:00-1:15

• The editing is not too fast and not too slow to reflect the medium pace of the song 
• This music video is performance based in the same way that mine will be
• The artist and the other woman in the video are wearing colourful clothing which is the same thing that my artist will wear in order to reflect the colourful nature of her aesthetic 
• The camerawork looks like it is handheld due to the movement not looking entirely steady which is the same camerawork that will take place in my music video 
• The eye contact with the camera is not consistent but there are moments where he makes direct eye contact with the camera 
• Their clothing is the only thing that adds colour to the blank and dull room which is a shot I hope to recreate in my music video

0:35-1:00

• There is a close-up on the artist where she doesn't make eye contact with the camera 
• She is wearing colourful clothing and she has a full face of makeup 
• There was a colourful transition between the shots which matches the aesthetic of my artist 
• The location switches to the public streets where people are living out their day to day lives but there have been graphics added post-filming that adds smiley faces to the shop names and people's faces have been covered by graphic smiles 
• She does not make eye contact with the camera and it seems to be have elements of performance of narrative as well as performance 

0:00-0:35

• She is in a dark room and the only thing illuminating her face is a small ray of light which I will attempt to recreate in my music video 
• This music video is performance based because she is singing to the camera a large majority of the time 
• The clothing she is wearing is considered "indie" which is the aesthetic I will attempt to recreate with my artist 
• There is an emphasis on colour in her music video which is the same emphasis that my music video will have 

3) Write your music video treatment (this is basically a script for your music video). You can find an example of a treatment here.

- Scene 1: Introduction of the music video with a vinyl record spinning which fades into the next scene

- Scene 2: A candid shot of the artist which shows off her natural personality and the type of message the artist is trying to get across 

- Scene 3: A shot of an audience at a concert which is colourful in order to match the colourful aesthetic of the artist 

- Scene 4: Due to the fast pace of the music, the shots will also have a fast pace of editing and there will be multiple continuous shots of the artist in different environments 

- Scene 5: Time-lapse of the sky 

- Scene 6: Another clip of the artist with a boarder around her which makes the shot look like it was taken on a disposable camera which also reinforces the nature of her music 

- Scene 7: A shot of the London streets in the dark 

- Scene 8: A shot with the artist holding a cat in colourful lighting which makes the audience see her as a friend and establishes a personal relationship with her rather than just watching from a screen 

- Scene 9: A series of "disposable camera shots" after each other to make it look like a photoshoot 

- Scene 10: A shot of the artist running towards the camera slowed down (handheld camera) 

- Scene 11: The title of the song "Decode" switching between different fonts in a nature that matches the colourful aesthetic of the artist 

- Scene 12: The artist finally begins singing to the camera and she lip syncs to the song while there are phone torches in the background (which reflects the atmosphere of a concert) and the lights are flashing and then the music video fades to black 

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 film making but the same format can be used for any video project). 

SHOT NUMBER	SHOT DESCRIPTION	FILMED?
1	Close-up of vinyl record spinning	YES
2	A medium close-up candid shot of the artist	YES
3	A shot of an audience at a concert which is colourful	YES
4	Medium shot of the artist walking away in a dull hallway	YES
5	Medium shot of the artist in a dark room being illuminated by a small ray of light	YES
	A shot where the artist turns around to face the camera and covers the camera with her hand	YES
6	Time-lapse of the sky	YES
7	Clip of the artist back in the dark room being illuminated by the small light but she is looking down and away from the camera	YES
8	Shot of the streets of London in the dark	YES
9	Medium close-up of the artist holding a cat in a room that is illuminated in purple	YES
10	A collage of the same clip which has been taken at a concert	YES
11	Another candid shot of the artist where she looks like she is preparing herself for being filmed	YES
12	Another clip taken from a concert	YES
13	The artist running towards the camera in the same dull hallway with a handheld camera	YES
14	The artist lip syncing to the song while maintaining eye contact with the camera and there are phone flashlights being waved in the background	YES

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. 

Costume: She will be wearing a green crop top which appeals to her colourful aesthetic which will be covered by a black puffer jacket in some shots 

Lighting: Lighting is a very important aspect in this music video so there will be some shots in the dark where the only light is coming from a small ray of light shining onto her face and in other shots, it is a relatively dark room and there are phone flashlights waving around behind the artist. The shots in the hallway are illuminated by the lights that are already in there but the purple lights in the bedroom shots are done using purple LED lights around the room 

Actor: There is only one artist in this video and she is a young woman who looks like a university student and dresses relatively simple and matches the typical "indie" aesthetic which may present her as a role model for her target audience 

Make-up: She is wearing colourful makeup which again emphasises the importance of colour in her brand and aesthetic 

Props: I will be using a vinyl record for the beginning of the video and there will also be a cat appearing around halfway through as well as the phone flashlights that appear at the end 

Setting: The shots with the tapestry have been shot in my bedroom as well as the shots in the dark where only a small light illuminates her. The shots in the hallway have been shot in an apartment building hallway. The shots of the streets have been taken in Central London 

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. 

When: Wednesday 12th October 

Who: Deema Mehdi

Equipment: Vinyl record, phone flashlights, my cat 

Final Product