Final Treatment:

Final Draft Treatment:

For my music video I have made the decision to use the song “Letters to Angels” written by myself. To start off I wanted to use one of my own original songs as it would different to the type of songs other people would choose and also I understand the song and the lyrics because I wrote it, allowing me to interpret them with a lot more ease. The song focuses around the message that the world is falling apart and can only be saved by angels because humans have become too comfortable with the way the world is. From the start of this project I wanted my overall music video to have meaning and a point to it, rather than it just being a glamorous show piece, Michael Jackson’s song “We are the world” inspired me as its message is one of the strongest portrayed in a written song, which is debatable but that is my opinion. Both the lyrics and the music video relate with one another, each making the other more of powerful. I want to re-create this relation in my music video between both the filmed footage and the recorded song. Through my questionnaire it was made apparent that a linear narrative is the way forward, which allow to me to create a flowing story from the beginning to end instead of being disjointed and inaccessible, for example the video “Telephone” by Lady Gaga has no relation to the song and makes absolutely no sense because she has gone for the humorous type video, although the narrative is still linear making the story easy to follow.  

The video will follow the story of a young man (male protagonist) who is disappointed with how the world has been left to rot while we as a race standby and let it happen, too angry to keep what he feels inside he decides to write it all down in a letter, whilst writing the letter, he then out of the corner of his eye sees a white figure in the distance. Intrigued by who or what it is he follows the white figure which, as he gets closer believes is an angel, mesmerised by this possibility he proceeds to follow her deeper and deeper into the woods. The “angel” then disappears in which he finds her laying on the ground which is covered in dead leaves, still and silent, without hesitation the young man stands beside her and lays down next to her. The “angel” then turns her head to the side, smiles, and nods, turns her head back and closes her eyes, the young man follows and the song ends.

Inspiration for final drafts treatment:

<!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->Rowhill Woods (image):

Where I live I am surrounded by woods which I walk past every day. Having this landscape at my disposal I thought it would be stupid not to use what I have on offer to me. Also as the song I chose was about the natural world “caving in on itself”, it occurred to me that a natural setting was the way forward and that this fitted the bill.

Elektra (Film):

<!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->

This film inspired my music video because of the use of setting. A part of the film is set in a wood where the characters are shown to have a lot of freedom of movement and where an abundance of natural sunlight is used to show the characters. This natural light I want to replicate in my video, seeing as I don’t have the facilities of artificial lighting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cidNV5-45-A&feature=related

James Morrison “I Won’t Let You Go” (Music Video):

When I watched this music video I really liked how the female character was not stereotyped like in many music videos. Instead she is shown to be very natural and innocent; the white dress also puts emphasis on her innocence as the colour white is seen by many people as a “pure” colour. As the song Is about writing letters to angels I knew that I wanted to show an angel in my video but not a typical angel with a halo and wings as I thought it would take the seriousness out of the video and look tacky. After seeing this I came up with the idea that I would have my angel character in a white dress showing her to be good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgRb_lfIZ6A&ob=av2e

Jason Reeves “No Lies” (Music Video):

<!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->This is music is about not telling lies to the person you love. The opening scene shows the artist sitting in a tree writing on a piece of paper to give to the female protagonist nearer the end of the video. The song I used was called letters to angels so after seeing this I thought It would work to have the male protagonist literally writing a letter to an angel, which he will give to the angel he sees. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fOFVZmpAoc

Mood Board!!

This is my mood board which reflects the thoughts and feelings represented in my music video and ancillary tasks. As you can see the main thoughts and feelings portrayed are that of a naturlistic atmosphere compiled of images showing woods, trees, sunsets and plants. I tried to include pictures that mix music and nature tgoether such as the CD on the moss. Pictures of guitars represent the style of music that the video is (acoustic) and the sketched guitar i feel shows how music is a craft. One of my favourite images is the one featuring the rose which is surrounded by ash. I think this is a very powerful image as it reflects the message in the song about how the world is dying around the natural world.

Initial Ideas:

Initial Music Video Idea  1:

Song used- Counting Daisies by Tom Johnston

This song whichever way you look at it is a love song; it talks about how two people used to be madly in love and eventually drifted apart and haven’t seen each other since. The lyrics are expressing how the male protagonist doesn’t understand what happened “where did it go, all those memories” this lyric is repeated through a lot of the song, so if I was to develop this idea I would probably base it around a series of flash backs to when the two people were together but always bringing you back down to reality by cutting between the happy, bright memories and the present where the male protagonist will be sitting in his dingy room playing guitar and singing the song, staring Longingly out the window. This song is both uplifting and upsetting so it deals with both the good and bad of love and loosing love. Natural lighting will be used to create the atmosphere I want, especially during the flash backs where filming on a sunny day will be necessary to make the scenes come across as happy and fulfilling for both the character and the audience.

Why didn’t I choose this?

This was the idea that I was originally thinking of using as my final design, until I looked into it more and realise that it wasn’t a suitable expression of my creative ability. Although I would probably find this fun to film and edit, I think in order to show a progression from my AS to A2 I would need to push myself more.

Initial Music Video Idea 2:

Song used- Holiday by Tom Johnston

This song is a lot more up tempo than the other two previous songs, it’s a real summer song and ideally I would want it to be filmed abroad or somewhere sunny, but that is slightly unrealistic. But fortunately if I was to develop this idea I know someone who has a swimming pool, which I feel would be perfect for this song. The song focuses around relaxing and not having any cares in the world. I would probably base most of the video around the pool and teenagers having fun in the pool etc.  I would try and use this video to alter the often negative stereotype of teenagers in England, having fun without having to get drunk or causing trouble. If I developed this idea I would film it as If it was being filmed on a hand held (making it shaky and having the different characters interacting with the camera man/woman) this will give the effect of a home movie. I feel it’s a creative idea but possibly not unique enough and probably something similar has been done before.

Why didn’t I choose this?

It is a good enough concept, but I don’t think it pushes my creativity to its full extent and does not show development from my previous media work so therefore I ruled it out, even though it would have been fun to shoot. The subject of the song is not necessarily what I was looking although it does challenge views and opinions.

Initial Music Video Idea 3:

Song Used- I will not run by Tom Johnston

This song is about two people ignoring their feelings for each other and whose parents don’t want them to be together. Each verse talks about how the more they see each other the more they can’t bare it, which leads to the chorus “my heart is a cage of love, spilling over cause I’ve had enough” showing that he loves this girl so much that all the love he has is overflowing. I would set out this idea with there being the male and female protagonists in the scene sitting next to each other in a classroom, both of them will try not to look at each other and when they do the other won’t see. Throughout the video whenever they try and interact with each other something stops them as if its not meant to be, eventually they both feel that it’s obviously not meant to be until they both have arguments with their parents and storm out and meet each other on a curb and result in them holding hands. I like the idea of putting some of this video in black and white or whenever we see the girl it’s in colour and when we see the boy it’s in black and white to show how they are not as one and when they eventually come together the black and white fades and its complete colour.

Why didn’t I choose this?

Aspects of this idea I really like such as the black and white, and colour being put on two different characters, but I feel that the theme isn’t unique enough as a lot of songs are focused on love or themes around love. The reason I chose this song  to be one of my four was because of the unusual lyrics which I thought I could interpret through different ways, but even by doing this I didn’t think it would be a good representation of my skills.

Initial Music Video Idea 4:

Song Used- Wake Up The Angels by Tom Johnston

This song is about how slowly the world is falling apart, leaving the human race to pick up the pieces which isn’t enough. The lyrics of the song talk about how we need to “wake up the angels”, calling for a higher power to help rebuild and protect us as we are not strong enough.  What I really like about is that the tone is really unusual and has an edgy sound to it; this dark side to the song would come across well if I was to make a music video for it. The music video would begin with a shot of the clear sky at night representing the stillness and peace that is possible, throughout the video I would have a female character completely in white to represent an angel, and she will pass by people without being noticed as if she is invisible to them. The only person that can see her is the main protagonist who will also be lip syncing the song, following the angel as she moves through the woods. The main protagonist will be seen moving through a town which I will contrast with the wood scenes, for example the lighting when the town is shot will be dimmer and a lot duller to represent harshness of the manmade world, but when the audience see shot of the wood with the angel character it will be a lot lighter to represent the beauty of nature and how it’s being destroyed. It will end where the angel and the man are lying on dead leaves next to each other (dead leaves could represent the dyeing world that they lay on top of) where they will close their eyes and the song will end. I think this idea could be developed to be a very creative and unique piece of work. This is the idea i will develop as my final product.

Representation:

Questionnaire-Results:

These are the results of my questionnaire, the results of this research will help me determine the sort of product i will plan and therefore create. Some of the questions featured in the original questionnaire i have not summarized the results of because i felt they were not important.

Questionnaire:

Do you feel a music video should have a message?

Yes                       No

Why?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

75% = Yes, the people i asked believed that in order for a music video to create an impact on the industry it would be a good idea to have a message. A lot of songs become famous because of the associations with a charity resulting in the target audience being attracted to the product. I want my video to have an message to challenge stereotypes and push the boundaries.

What do you think makes a memorable music video and why?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

60% = Thought that in order to create a memorable video you need to push the limits or do something unexpected. Many videos become hits because they do something unusual or feature something that is current or relevant to the specific time, for example music video have started using dialogue at the beginning and end of the video making it into a short film, also some films break up the video with brief dialogue between characters such as "Telephone" by Lady Gaga.

40% = The rest of the people i asked said that in order to make a memorable video you need to break the conventions set by other music videos. I feel my video does just that and therefore will be a breathe of fresh air in the industry.

Do you prefer a Linear or Non-Linear narrative?

Linear                                  Non-Linear 

Why?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

100% = All of the people i asked agreed that a Linear narrative is better than a non-linear. The reason being was that when they watch a video they want it to be quick to access/understand rather than working out whats going on. My video will be in time order (linear) and will have a clear story line so it is easily accessible for the viewer.

Should a music video relate to or represent the lyrics in the song?

Yes                                              No                                                 Does Not Affect Me

Why?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

100% = All of the people i asked agreed that the music video should represent the lyrics in the song because it wouldn't make sense and would put emphasis on the meaning/message. The lyrics of the song i will use will be represented in the music video by using Mis en Scene, Editing and Camera Shots to the best of my ability.

What do you expect to see when you watch a music video?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Those i asked expect to see things like a decent story line (mentioned above as well), the artist featured, narrative, people the song relates to, C.G.I (depending on genre) and set that matches the mood of the song etc. All of the above will be taken into account by myself and will feature in my product. I do not think i will have C.G.I as the specific genre i am focusing on does not require it and also i do not have the facilities.

Would a magazine advert interest you in watching a music video and why?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

60% = Agreed that a magazine advert would influence them to look into the product because being able to see reviews from other people would make them want to watch it. I will be designing a magazine advert for my music video released onto CD. I will compile another questionnaire to find out what my audience would want.

40% = The rest of the people either didn't read magazines so would not be interested in a magazine advert and also some said that once they saw the advert they would forget about as it would not leave a lasting impression.

Do you think it’s important that an audience can relate to a music video? (Explain)

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

90% = Most people thought that the audience should be able to relate to the video as it will then make the audience feel it includes them rather than just being a product released to make money and therefore making it more memorable. 

10% = Some people said that if the video contains a large amount of eye catching effects or dancing etc then people might not need to relate to it.

What things, if any do you dislike about music videos and would change? (Explain)

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Many people said they disliked how some videos have long intros as they just want the music to start so they can get into the song quicker. A lot of people said that they would get rid of the sexual stereotype of women making them more than just an object. With my video i will break the formed stereotypes that are recognized by audiences.

Questionnaire:

Questionnaire:

How old are you?

0-10              11-20              21-30               31-40                  41-50                    51+

Are you?

Male              Female

Do you feel a music video should have a message?

Yes                       No

Why?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

What do you think makes a memorable music video and why?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Do you prefer a Linear or Non-Linear narrative?

Linear                                  Non-Linear 

Why?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Should a music video relate to or represent the lyrics in the song?

Yes                                              No                                                 Does Not Affect Me

Why?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

What do you expect to see when you watch a music video?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Would a magazine advert interest you in watching a music video and why?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Do you think it’s important that an audience can relate to a music video? (Explain)

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

What things, if any do you dislike about music videos and would change? (Explain)

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Institutions in the Music Industry:

Universal Music Group:

Universal Music Group is the largest company in the music industry. The company is based in the USA and is wholly owned subsidiary of French media conglomerate Vivendi.

Labels & Artists:

Mercury Records (Pixie Lott, Lu Lu, The Eagles, Paul McCartney)

Def Jam (Rihanna, Ne-Yo)

Island Records (Charlie Simpson, Mumford & Sons, Bon Jovi, Justin Beiber)

Motown Records (Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, The Supremes)

Sony Music:

Sony Music is the second largest company in the Music industry and is controlled by the Sony Corporation of America, the United States   subsidiary of Japans Corporation.

Labels:

 

Columbia Records (AC/DC, Adele in America, Aerosmith, Beyoncé)

Epic Records (Alexandra Burke, Ciara, JLS, Glee Cast)

Warner Music Group:

Warnmer Music group is the third largest buisness company in the music industry, in control of a variety of record labels. For three decades teh conglomerate was known as WEA which stood for Warner Bros.-Elektra-Atlantic. These were the three major record labels that signed up and coming artists.

Labels:

Atlantic Records (Toni Braxton, Craig David, Ed Sheeran)

Elektra Records (AC/DC, Bruno Mars)

Warner Bros Records (Lilly Allen, Cher, Charice)

Independant Records:

An independant record label is a record label operating without funding of or outside the organisations of the major record record labels such as the ones i have spoke about above.

Summary:
Overall after looking into a range of different record companies and the type of artists/genres they support i have come to the conclusion that Universal Music Group would be the most suitable to promote the genre of music that my music video includes. The fact Universal is the largest record company means that they have got a broad range of genres and do not specialize in one particular area, this is a benefit because the people that work for them will have a diverse range of influences.
Universal seems to have signed some of the most world renowned artists and therefore i believe they will be able to understand the style of music that my music video consists of.

Industry Research 2:

Singer-songwriter:

The main genre I am focusing on is the singer-songwriter genre. I chose this genre as my main focus as I feel that it is very current and has grown evidently in the mass media. With artist such as James Morrison, Joss Stone, Ed Sheeran and Laura Marling (2011 Brit Award Winner for best female artist) bringing the genre to the forefront of music it is no wonder that its popularity has increased since the late 1990’s when some people didn’t even class it as a style of music. This particular genre can sometimes be hard to define as it can overlap with other genres such as alternative, rock and pop, I like this aspect as I feel the genre will give me a lot of creative freedom when comprising elements together for my music video.

Music videos for this genre can vary depending on what the song is about, most videos focus on a protagonist in a natural setting, not needing any gimmicks or futuristic effects mainly because they want to focus on the here and now.

For Example:

The video “The A Team” by Ed Sheeran focuses on a female protagonist following her story throughout the video. It starts with no music just the sound of birds; this is used to represent realism and sets the scene for the viewer. A close up of the woman’s face is used to show her crying portraying to the audience what is happening or has happened. The whole video is in black and white which is just one of the effects used in the video; blur is also used, mixed with fade to cut to another scene. Also in parts of the video people are sped up excluding the protagonist which is an effect often used to show the passing of time. The setting is basically the same all the way through. We are shown a low angle shot of the female’s legs/shoes; this shows the audience what she is wearing so we can make judgements on the character. The technique of blurring the background and focusing on the foreground is used to show the importance of the protagonist. This video does a particular something that I want to do when shooting my video, which is to make the lyrics relate to what is shown on screen, for example when in the video the lyrics go “it’s too cold outside for angels to fly” this coincides with the story in the video, showing how the world is a tough place “cold” and how innocence fades away “angel will die”. I feel this video influenced my ideas because of the use of black and white and the other various effects that are used. The only thing I would do in my video that is not featured it this video is lip syncing.

http://youtu.be/UAWcs5H-qgQ

                     

This is a close up used to show the female protagonists emotions at the particular stage in the music video and to put emphasis on the importance of the character.

This is a Mid-Shot and the only scene where we see the actually artist. The audience is given a contrast in this scene between the two classes of people, the female in large, baggy clothing which is a stereotype, allowing the audience to easily recognize the situation and the male in jeans and fitted clothes which illustrates him being better off.

Another Example is:

“No Lies” by Jason Reeves & Colbie Caillat sticks to the same conventions which I talked about above. The setting is on a beach and in the suburbs (nature) and only flicks between these locations. The video starts with an intro showing various shots of different places, the way it’s done is half the screen is a shot of one place and the other side is of a different place, contrasting with each other such as the beach and hills, one of the protagonists is shown on the beach and the other at the other location. Through the video the audience sees the protagonists moving to one another.  The setting matches the calm musical intro. The shots used are long shots to establish the scene and the characters. In the video there are two protagonists one male and one female, they are both shown to be writing on paper. Straight away the audience can start to understand what’s going on and how what the protagonists are doing in the video relates to what the song is about. The colour used is bright and clear and is all natural light. The use of two different shots shown next to each other is a clever idea, as when the video comes to the end the two separate shots merge together as if the two characters are now one. The song lyrics talk about a couple that want to know everything about each other so the use of the two shots next to each other shows that they are separate, until the end when the letters they had been writing are passed over and they finally open up to one another. The end shot is a close up of both characters feet, to which they have the same tattoo on the same foot, this gives the video a bit of humour but also to show there connection.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fOFVZmpAoc

Unfortunately this graphic is not the best quality but it shows a split screen  of both characters in different locations giving contrast. One of the characters is shown walking which leaves the audience to assume that he is making his way to the other character who is staying still. 

Example 3:
"Parachute" by Charlie Simpson is a recent song which is very creative. The video features the artist walking continually towards the audience in a mid shot. Tha artist is shown with a tv screen over him, playing a siumtaneous video of the character walking in the same manner, the screen seems to show a alternative reality to the main action in the video. In the main action the lighting is more or less pitch black, this is a contrast to the alternative reality as it is daytime, giving light and dark. As action unfolds in the both reality and the alternative reality we see that one is the opposite to the other, for example when he picks the flowers out of the vase the flowers are dead in the main reality but are alive in the alternative one, the song lyrics say "im sorry for the pain, sorry for the ache, sorry for the moods im swinging" these lyrics in comparson to the music video make me think that the fact he is sorry is because he has done things that he regrets and the alternative reality is representing what i would of done differently. At the end of the video he stops and the screen tunrs of possibly portraying he has given up. The video relys on teh audience understanding the connection between the two realities and seeing the contrasting situations as they unfold.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mgd288_lTg

 The contrasting situation in the video of a wedding and a furneral, possibly showing how he is dead inside but the wedding can represent the love and acceptance that he is soo longing for.

Another contrasting situation where the female chracter is happy and looking at the artist lovingly but in the other version she is looking away from him and disappointed.

Example 4:
"Old Pine" by Ben Howard is an alternative song, Ben Howard is not a very well known artist, but i decided to analyse this because of the natural beauty and magical atmosphere it portrays. The video starts with shots of various landscapes such as the sea, a field and woods, these serene shots reflect the crisp guitar featured in the song. The fact the male protagonist is shown alone with the scenery gives the viewer a sense of being one with nature and free. The use of sunlight is clever as it gives a warm feel to the video, for example the sunset and the slight red tint illustrate the tranquil environment in which the artist is set in. We see a lot of nature which reflects the title of the song and gives the video a lot of realism and sets the scene. The smooth panning movement which tracks the character reflects the calm, relaxed environment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzzCthKw_C0

As you can see the use of the sunlight create a calm, serene environment and sets the mood of the song.



The fact the artist is alone shows how the world can be beautiful and not over crowded like a lot of what we see. The mid-shot allows the audience to see the facial expression. 

Industry Research 1:

Conventions of Music Videos:

Camera Shots- Similar to any filming, a variety of camera shots are used throughout music videos some of these being close ups, mid shots, wide shots, high angle shot, low angle shot etc. Camera shots like these are used to put emphasis on the character, setting and emotions that are wanted to be portrayed in the video. Probably the most important shot when filming a music video would be the close up, this is because in a lot of music videos the main protagonist is shown singing the song, so therefore a close up shot of the face would both help the audience understand not just what is being sung but the meaning of the words being sung.

Camera Movement- Camera Movement varies on both the genre and tempo of the song. For example if the song was a slow song the camera movement would reflect that with slow movements, and the same for if the song was fast. The song “My Immortal” by Evanescence uses camera movement very well to match the genre and tempo, panning and zooming is used to set the scene and feeling of the particular scene. Other camera movement include crane shots,  tilts and tracking.

Mis en Scene:

Mis en Scene refers to the importance of how the props and characters are presented to the audience (what we see).  Judgements can be made from what we see so the planning and execution of the Mis en Scene is of vital importance to create the effect the director is aiming for. For example in the song “Do It Like A Dude”  by Jessie J the audience can tell from the costumes such as baseball caps and jackets that are usually stereotypically seen as things that a guy would wear, that they are “hard” and their mannerisms are that of men, hence the title “Do It Like A Dude”. There is also a scene where we see a woman hacking away at what looks like a pigs leg which adds to the image of women acting like men.  Other things such as lighting, sound and props come into consideration when planning a music video.

Editing:

The editing is the post production process once all the filming is complete. This is where things like the syncing of the mouth movement and the song lyrics are worked out, also things such as the cuts between the scenes, which are used to connect the various shots and give the video a sense of continuity and flow through the video. Effects are added in this part of the process such as black and white, fade and dissolve which are some of the most common effects used. The Black and White used in “Talk” by Coldplay suits the setting featured and makes it more intriguing, the bright lights also would not stand out if it was in colour, making them more prominent.