Today is the 24/09/2013 and I have just finished writing up the timeline for our music video after about 3 hours! I have never been through a process quite that tedious before, I know it's in important but it is just so boring!
But it now means that we have a solid timeline, to the detail of every 2-3 seconds, which is great. It will make story-boarding so much easier now that we have an actual skeleton of the flow and order of things!
So pleased we are in this position after changing our ideas so many times, and not really having a confirmed idea until late last week! Well done us!
Tuesday 24 September 2013
Monday 23 September 2013
The Importance of Storyboarding
A storyboard is a 'blue print' to your film.
A storyboard allows you to translate your vision on to paper and to your crew. It should be clear enough that if you weren't available on the day of shooting, any cinematographer could take the storyboard and shoot it and edit it precisely.
Important: remember to number each scene and shot! You will get confused on the day of shooting otherwise.
When it comes to showing motion on a storyboard, there are multiple ways. You can either draw arrows and then simply follow them. You can draw motion lines, which more subtly show the direction in which the camera would move. The final way is drawing multiple frames, this way works just the same as the others but is more time consuming, it does however show detail more clearly.
When storyboarding you should treat it like it's animated, that way you will draw everything. The tendancy when storyboarding film is to skip out small details and just draw the main events. This won't be helpful on shooting day.
In the pre-production stage, it enables the director and DOP to see the flow of shots and the movement of the camera and actors. It is better to have too many shots in the initial storyboard, and then cut it down from there. This will enable you to see if you have any major gaps or shots that don't make sense.
The size you draw your storyboard can vary depending on what you are shooting. If you know that your film is going to be shot in wide screen, then draw the board accordingly.
Make sure you draw the actors in frame and have a constant background (although a free-hand drawing won't be exactly the same everytime - that's okay. As long as it is continuous.) If the frame is constricting your background, come out of the lines slightly. That way you can loosen and de-clutter your image.
In the post-production stage, it helps with the editing as it allows the editing team see the order of shots and the transition needed at the end or beginning or particular shots.
Finally, you don't have to be a top artist in order to storyboard. As long as it gets across the order and flow of the film, it's great. Even Steven Spielberg drew stick men!
A storyboard allows you to translate your vision on to paper and to your crew. It should be clear enough that if you weren't available on the day of shooting, any cinematographer could take the storyboard and shoot it and edit it precisely.
Important: remember to number each scene and shot! You will get confused on the day of shooting otherwise.
When it comes to showing motion on a storyboard, there are multiple ways. You can either draw arrows and then simply follow them. You can draw motion lines, which more subtly show the direction in which the camera would move. The final way is drawing multiple frames, this way works just the same as the others but is more time consuming, it does however show detail more clearly.
When storyboarding you should treat it like it's animated, that way you will draw everything. The tendancy when storyboarding film is to skip out small details and just draw the main events. This won't be helpful on shooting day.
In the pre-production stage, it enables the director and DOP to see the flow of shots and the movement of the camera and actors. It is better to have too many shots in the initial storyboard, and then cut it down from there. This will enable you to see if you have any major gaps or shots that don't make sense.
The size you draw your storyboard can vary depending on what you are shooting. If you know that your film is going to be shot in wide screen, then draw the board accordingly.
Make sure you draw the actors in frame and have a constant background (although a free-hand drawing won't be exactly the same everytime - that's okay. As long as it is continuous.) If the frame is constricting your background, come out of the lines slightly. That way you can loosen and de-clutter your image.
In the post-production stage, it helps with the editing as it allows the editing team see the order of shots and the transition needed at the end or beginning or particular shots.
Finally, you don't have to be a top artist in order to storyboard. As long as it gets across the order and flow of the film, it's great. Even Steven Spielberg drew stick men!
Target Audience
In order to narrow down our target audience we have to look at demographics and psycho graphics. Demographics cover things like age, gender and social class. You can look at the JICNAR scale, which divides it up into to categories based on occupation, wealth and education.
You then can divide the audience up into psycho-graphics, this is where the consumer is categorized in terms of their needs and desires. You can also look at what kind of TV they watch, their hobbies etc. and this will all help decide whether they are the right audience for your band.
Trying to define the band:
It is a young band in our music video so it attracts girls and also boys who want to look like them - they are almost like inspiration and role models for the boys.
The girl is going to be very attractive so this also grabs the attention of the boys.
You then can divide the audience up into psycho-graphics, this is where the consumer is categorized in terms of their needs and desires. You can also look at what kind of TV they watch, their hobbies etc. and this will all help decide whether they are the right audience for your band.
Trying to define the band:
It is a young band in our music video so it attracts girls and also boys who want to look like them - they are almost like inspiration and role models for the boys.
The girl is going to be very attractive so this also grabs the attention of the boys.
Uni is an important part of the video which attracts and involves young people.
The band that we are creating are going to be quite alternative and cool so this will attract other young and upcoming bands.
The kooks are organic
artists, so therefore we will make the band that we are creating
organic.
This attracts people who like organic and real artists compared
to synthetic artists.
Therefore, someone like this for example:
Name: Kitty O’Connor
Age:
18
Occupation:
Student
Where
do you live?
Right now, I live in Los Angeles with my
family but I am originally from Bath.
What
kind of music do you like?
Since living in America i’ve become more
open to American style artists like Jay- Z and Kanye. But I really enjoy that
British sound that comes from bands like The Arctic Monkeys and Two Door Cinema
Club.
What
about the band attracts you?
Other than the fact the boys are gorge? I
love the idea that when a band like this performs it looks like it’s so chilled
out and they do it more the music rather than the fame. That’s so much more
likable.
Describe
your perfect Friday night.
I’ve suddenly got really into going to
house parties, it seems to be the thing you do in LA. Because the legal
drinking age in America is higher you can’t get into clubs so everyone just has
parties at their house. So my perfect Friday night would be going some chilled
out concert, then going to a house party just when it starts to get really
good.
Friday 20 September 2013
Third Concept
This is what Luke changed our idea to, a much more interesting concept that links to the song.
*type on page one. Sophia not Sophoe.
*type on page one. Sophia not Sophoe.
Second Concept
After speaking to Luke we changed our concept and created this power point. However before completion, Luke changed our idea again to a slightly more narrative based idea, so it was never completed.
Our First Idea : Alice in Wonderland
This is our concept power point for our initial Alice in Wonderland idea.
Timeline : FIrst Draft
We have created a first draft of our timeline for a new idea, since creating this timeline the concept has actually changed. A new and updated timeline based upon the new concept will be uploaded soon. Watch this space!
 |
| Timeline written up by Mariella Bailey. |
Monday 16 September 2013
Meeting Emily from Polydor
Today Emily (lastname?) a commissioner for Polydor, came to speak about her job and some music videos that she has worked one in the past. Check out their twitter!
Her role in the company:
She basically overseas the whole music video process, from the initial brief to the final product at the end. She is the person that links together the artist and manager to the label. She is also there on the day of the shoot to look out for the artist and make sure they have everything they need. If an artist isn't happy they will relay this information to Emily who can take necessary action. Some directors are independent and some are signed, but it is up to Emily to research new talent for videos. The label gets bored uses the same directors over and over so she looks at show reels, online and goes to lots of MA shows.
How creating a music video works:
She spoke about and showed us a few music videos.
Artist: Ellie Goulding
Song: Burn
Budget: £60,000
Shoot: 1 day
For this video there was a very open brief, but Ellie has to be seen heavily. When writing the treatment all sorts of things have to be mentioned such as hair, makeup, what the artist is going to wear along with references and links to other videos, pictures and inspiration.
Artist: James Blake
Song: Overgrown
Budget: £30,000
Shoot: 2 day (on set and in a studio)
The brief for this video was that James needed to be featured primarily, as in a previous music video the director didn't involve him as much as the label and artist had hoped. Lots of stuff in the video was exaggerated in post-production (the house on the hill, the reapers disappearing, the days passing by), it simply meant that the team had more control over what they could do with it. The simplicity of this video is what makes this one of Emily's favourites that she has worked on.
Artist: White Lies
Song: First Time Caller
Budget: £15,000
Shoot: 2 days (in Paris)
This is a mixture of a narrative and performance video. Having the artist there physically playing the video gives it so much more energy and allows the audience to connect with the actual artist not actors in the narrative. The director was very keen to use the group of French street body builders (including an 8 year old girl).
Her role in the company:
She basically overseas the whole music video process, from the initial brief to the final product at the end. She is the person that links together the artist and manager to the label. She is also there on the day of the shoot to look out for the artist and make sure they have everything they need. If an artist isn't happy they will relay this information to Emily who can take necessary action. Some directors are independent and some are signed, but it is up to Emily to research new talent for videos. The label gets bored uses the same directors over and over so she looks at show reels, online and goes to lots of MA shows.
How creating a music video works:
- You begin by receiving the track that the video is to be made for.
- The label then get a budget, to which they must plan the video around.
- They then speak to the artist and come up with a brief (narrative video? performance only?)
- She will then find a list of directors based on the budget, the bigger the budget the more she will connect with. They then have about a week to submit a treatment to be decided upon with the artist, manager and commissioner.
- After the treatment comes in they must check that it is within reason on the budget, if it is over cuts may have to be made.
- Once the director and treatment have been confirmed, they shoot, edit and deliver. This process normally take about a month to be completed.
She spoke about and showed us a few music videos.
Artist: Ellie Goulding
Song: Burn
Budget: £60,000
Shoot: 1 day
For this video there was a very open brief, but Ellie has to be seen heavily. When writing the treatment all sorts of things have to be mentioned such as hair, makeup, what the artist is going to wear along with references and links to other videos, pictures and inspiration.
Artist: James Blake
Song: Overgrown
Budget: £30,000
Shoot: 2 day (on set and in a studio)
The brief for this video was that James needed to be featured primarily, as in a previous music video the director didn't involve him as much as the label and artist had hoped. Lots of stuff in the video was exaggerated in post-production (the house on the hill, the reapers disappearing, the days passing by), it simply meant that the team had more control over what they could do with it. The simplicity of this video is what makes this one of Emily's favourites that she has worked on.
Artist: White Lies
Song: First Time Caller
Budget: £15,000
Shoot: 2 days (in Paris)
This is a mixture of a narrative and performance video. Having the artist there physically playing the video gives it so much more energy and allows the audience to connect with the actual artist not actors in the narrative. The director was very keen to use the group of French street body builders (including an 8 year old girl).
Thursday 12 September 2013
Feedback from Luke
After pitching some initial ideas to Luke, we had a chat and the feedback that came from him was this: He wasn't entirely sure about the idea of the woods, lighting and setting up the woods in the dark in the middle of November will be hard as it will be very cold and most likely raining. Also getting playback set up there is harder, as you don't have as much control as you would in the studio.
Luke thinks that the idea of Alice in Wonderland/Mad Hatters Tea Party is overdone and that every 'indie' band in the world has used that idea. In order to keep this style, we would have to use the visuals of Alice in Wonderland but not keep the narrative. To create another world the extras really have to look different. They can't simply be wearing bright make up or fancy costumes, there has to be something genuinely weird about them.
Both of these images are really weird and definitely look like they are out of this world. If we could somehow source costumes like this (maybe not on stilts) but of this nature, our total fantasy idea would come alive. I really like the bottom ones because of the use of lights, I think having them dancing around would look incredible.
Luke thinks that the idea of Alice in Wonderland/Mad Hatters Tea Party is overdone and that every 'indie' band in the world has used that idea. In order to keep this style, we would have to use the visuals of Alice in Wonderland but not keep the narrative. To create another world the extras really have to look different. They can't simply be wearing bright make up or fancy costumes, there has to be something genuinely weird about them.
Both of these images are really weird and definitely look like they are out of this world. If we could somehow source costumes like this (maybe not on stilts) but of this nature, our total fantasy idea would come alive. I really like the bottom ones because of the use of lights, I think having them dancing around would look incredible.
The Kooks - Who are they?
 |
| Left to right - Hugh Harris, Pete Denton, Luck Pritchard, Paul Garred |
The Kooks are a British indie boy band, whose music seems to reach out to a wide audience. Their songs 'Naive' and 'She Moves In Her Own Way" are very well known, a great feat coming from a small young British boy band.
The Kooks' Facebook page has a lot more views than their twitter. They are well known but not exceptionally so, which is good for us.
Initial Ideas
First:
Song: Naive
Artist: The Kooks
Location: In the woods (behind Hurtwood) and possibly have some lip-synching shots in the studio.
Theme: Alice in Wonderland, Mat Hatter's Tea Party
Casting: 4 (indie) looking boys, plus extras dressed in Alice in Wonderland style costume.
Second:
Song: Too Close
Artist: Alex Clare
Location: In a bedroom (set up in the studio)
Casting: One woman and one man
Theme: Girl is looking back over old photos and smashing them. Moments of her crying. A much more naturalistic approach than the previous idea.
Song: Naive
Artist: The Kooks
Location: In the woods (behind Hurtwood) and possibly have some lip-synching shots in the studio.
Theme: Alice in Wonderland, Mat Hatter's Tea Party
Casting: 4 (indie) looking boys, plus extras dressed in Alice in Wonderland style costume.
Second:
Song: Too Close
Artist: Alex Clare
Location: In a bedroom (set up in the studio)
Casting: One woman and one man
Theme: Girl is looking back over old photos and smashing them. Moments of her crying. A much more naturalistic approach than the previous idea.
Introducing A2
This is our group, for the A2 music video. Mariella, myself, Sophia and Charlie. An all girl group, which we love!
In this part of the course we have to create a music video for a band or artist that we are going to create. We must also create a website and a CD digi pack for our new band.
As a group we have to become a production company, making executive decisions about the image and style of the band much like a real life production company would.
My aim is to get 100% in the coursework as I did last year, also to create a professional looking piece of work that if an artist saw they would want to use for their music.
We have started looking at some music videos that have a very specific image. An example of this is Die Antwoord's music video to their songs 'I Fink U Freaky' and 'Rich Bitch'
Both of these videos have a very unique style. In reality they are very simple and don't require numerous sets ('I Fink U Freaky' more so than 'Rich Bitch') but it is somehow incredibly intriguing but repulsive at the same time. This proves that a video doesn't have to be all singing and all dancing to be successful.
Monday 9 September 2013
Treatment Help
As a class we looked at the website www.radarmusicvideos.com and looked at some of their treatment and briefs.
One particular treatment that we read was for Alt J's Breezeblocks.
Notice how simple and short the treatment is! No focus on camera shots or silly details, but you can imagine how the video will end up.
The end product was great and very true to the treatment (other than a little bit at the end)
One particular treatment that we read was for Alt J's Breezeblocks.
Notice how simple and short the treatment is! No focus on camera shots or silly details, but you can imagine how the video will end up.
The end product was great and very true to the treatment (other than a little bit at the end)
Treatment: I Love It - Icona Pop ft. Charli XCX
- Opens with a wide of girls getting ready in a bedroom (as if for a party) Applying makeup, trying on different dresses. They grab their bags and leave.
- Wide of the girls walking in a supermarket. One girl climbs in a trolley and they begin to run up and down the isles. They grab eggs, toilet roll and whipped cream. They pay for their things and leave.
- We see a wide of the girls strutting up a street with their items in hand (in slow motion) they get to a nice house with a shiny car parked outside.
- They begin to TP the car and smash eggs and spray the shipped cream. Taking photos the whole time, posing at various moments.
- On girl gets on the bonnet of the car and pulls out her red lipstick. She begins to write on the wind screen.
- They run off as the car alarm sounds. A man walks over to the car to see the window has written on it, "I don't care xox"
Same kind of party vibe, with the rebellious acts of writing on the walls. I like the way it looks like they are filming it themselves at some points and think that could work for this treatment as well.
Treatment: Clarity - Zedd ft. Foxes
- Opens with a girl in her bedroom looking through a box of old photographs and memories. Close up of her hands flicking through pics. All images include a boy (them kissing, them at parties, on dates...)
- Close up of a photo of them holding hands (picture in a frame) picture transitions into a shot of them walking holding hands.
- Chorus: shot of them walking smashes and it cuts back to girl in her room smashing that photo. Glasses smashes in slow motion. Close up of her crying and lip-synching. Close up of broken glass on the floor.
- She picks another photo of them at a party and we zoom into the pic which transitions to a wide shot of a party. Various shots of the party scene. Shot goes up in flames. Cut back to girl in room, burning the photo.
- Interlude: pictures are being ripped, burned and thrown. Shots of her crying.
- End: close up of the boy from the pictures looking directly into the camera, as if looking at her. His face rips in two, cut back to girl and she has finalised her thoughts by ripping up a picture of the boy's face.
The original music video, a very different approach to what I have in mind. This one is more to focussed around cool effects and green screening, and lots of lip-synching. My aim is to create more of a narrative.
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