Visual Progression and Image Systems

Visual progression is an important thought to consider when creating a music video as it helps the video to grow rather than staying static. This ensures that the video is visually interesting and will keep the audience entertained.

My music video will show visual progression through the use of the setting. At the beginning of the music video, the protagonist will be walking through a narrow maze and the camera will start with several close ups of her feet taking steps and her face as she sings the song. As the song progresses, the shot of her walking through the maze will progress into a mid-shot and then into a long-shot. The camera will predominantly stay in the same position in order to convey a sense of continuity.
This visual progression will evoke the audience to understand the journey that the protagonist goes on from an isolated to communal environment.

The girl will find small clues throughout the maze which will evoke flashbacks of her past with her lover. The clues will act as motifs so that the audience understands that any time there is a clue, it will be followed by a memory. The memories will be shown with a dream-like effect to show that they are thoughts of the past rather than present-day events. The effect will consist of a white glow around the frame with the background in shallow focus and only the characters will be clearly visible in deep focus.

Evidence of videos you admire

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f4wj_RcqYk

This video contains parts of different music videos that I admire. All of the videos are for various reasons including the metaphorical message, the association with another piece of media text (e.g. fairytale), or even the type of cinematography.
I hope to use the different aspects of these videos that I admire and include them in my own video where relevant in order to make it as realistic and entertaining as possible.

Research into the Pop music genre

Song Lyrics

A Thousand Years by Christina Perri
Heartbeats fastColors and promisesHow to be braveHow can I love when I'm afraid to fallBut watching you stand aloneAll of my doubt suddenly goes away somehowOne step closer

Chorus: 

I have died everyday waiting for youDarling don't be afraid I have loved youFor a thousand yearsI'll love you for a thousand more

Time stands stillBeauty in all she isI will be braveI will not let anything take awayWhat's standing in front of meEvery breathEvery hour has come to thisOne step closer

Chorus:I have died everyday waiting for youDarling don't be afraid I have loved youFor a thousand yearsI'll love you for a thousand more

And all along I believed I would find youTime has brought your heart to meI have loved you for a thousand yearsI'll love you for a thousand more

One step closerOne step closer

Chorus:

I have died everyday waiting for youDarling don't be afraid I have loved youFor a thousand yearsI'll love you for a thousand more

And all along I believed I would find youTime has brought your heart to meI have loved you for a thousand yearsI'll love you for a thousand more

Contact with the band/artist

This is an email that I sent to Christina Perri's record label, Atlantic Records, to request permission  to use her song 'A Thousand Years' for my music video.
I have explained the reason why I would be using the song and have assured them that no copyright infringement is intended.

Idea 1 Script - A Thousand Years

Production Log - Reviewing my initial idea

In today's lesson I tried to complete my second script for the song 'Disguise' by Tyrants, however I found it difficult to construct a script as coming up with an idea for the narrative was quite difficult. Therefore, I have decided to go with my first idea and use Christina Perri's song "A Thousand Years". I came to this conclusion after reflecting on how natural it felt when coming up with the idea for that script which depicted that I had a clear thought of how I wanted that video to look, therefore I hope it will turn out as realistic as possible.

I will now carry on creating the shot list for my first idea and once that is finished I will create the storyboard. For my storyboard, I will sketch out my ideas then commission one of the Art students to draw it out again for me in order to ensure that the storyboard is easy to follow when filming the video.
Once the pictures have been drawn, I will take my actors on location and take photographs of each stage too and add them onto the storyboard before annotating it and writing the description.

To create the storyboard I will use a program called  Celtx which I also used to create the script. This will ensure that the storyboard looks as professional and realistic as possible, which in turn will help me and give me more focus when shooting the video itself.

 

I am aiming to have both of these documents completed before we leave for the summer holidays, therefore during the summer I will be able to get footage of the location and inform the actors as well as hopefully record the video for the first time. This will allow me enough time to edit the video and give me the flexibility to re-shoot any scenes if need be. Recording over the summer will also ensure that I have enough time with the actors to shoot for as long as it takes.

Production Log - Independent research

Independent Research

This is a cover video that has been made by Emmanuelle Vera, a young Filipino-American singer and songwriter. She has recorded the video using resources easily available to her, which is what I will also have to do when creating my coursework. In addition, she has used the song "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri which is also the song for one of my ideas, therefore watching the video may give me inspiration on how my video should look.

Research into band/artist: Christina Perri

Music Video Theory

Production Log - Reviewing my script

Since starting my A2 media coursework at the beginning of June I have decided to create a music video for my coursework and have conducted research into music videos. I have also spent lots of my free time watching several music videos of different genres in order to get ideas for my own.

After thinking about all of the resources I have, I created a blog post. This helped me when creating my initial ideas and I now have two ideas. After discussing this with my media teacher, I have decided that I will create a script, shot list and storyboard for both ideas then decide which one I would feel most comfortable in going forward with.

In the last week I started creating the first script on Celtx which is based on my idea of using the song 'A Thousand Years' by Christina Perri that was written for Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II.

My idea consists of a girl walking through a forest and finding items on the trees and the ground which remind her of her lover. The music video would show progression as with each step and each item, she is getting closer to her lover who she eventually finds, waiting in an opening in the forest.

Next lesson I will use Celtx again to make the script for my second idea which is to use a song called 'Disguise' by my friend's band 'Tyrants'. I will create the video to portray the lyrics in a metaphorical way with a guy walking around a town and a girl chasing him, however his face is not seen until the end of the video. My ideas for this script are not completely set in stone and I am assuming that the idea will develop as I write the script, just as it did with my first idea.

Production Log

Independent Research

This image shows the winner of the 55th Annual Grammy award for Best Short Form Music Video. The winner was Rihanna's 'We found love' which was directed by Melina Matsoukas.

After watching this video several times, I have decided to adopt its idea of having the prologue to my music video as a voice-over with the instrumental start playing in the background, and the video showing short clips that will make the context of the video clear.

What is a digipak?

What is a Digipak?

Auditions