Test Shots

Here are some test shots that me and Brad went out to take today. Generally they went okay, however there are some notable issues that we must address for our final video. Firstly, some of the shots were shaky, as I cannot use a tripod for the walking shots. This can be fixed slightly by holding the camera with the strap fully pulled on my neck, so it stays steadier during shooting. Another thing that should be addressed is how the starting shot is done- in our practice shot you couldn't see the crossroads clearly and it didn't seem to be obvious that our protagonist took one of two paths.

However, I did like some of our shots from behind trees, bushes etc as they provided a break from the lipsyncing and increased our shot variety. I also liked the reverse footage, as it seemed to work well with the part of the music we wanted it to go with, which is pleasing as it means our song choice was justified.

Overall there is a lot to improve on but hopefully we can learn from this and improve for our final video.

Focus Group

Focus Group 1- Ideas and Storyboard

Me and Brad have interviewed a small group of students in our year about our ideas for our music video and our storyboard. Below are some of the questions and responses from them.

Question 1 - Do you think our narrative is easy to understand?

Student 1 : Yes, but I hope it comes through in the music video

Student 2 : Yes, it's clear and is a good concept

Student 3 : No, but if done right it could work

Question 2 - Do you think the song suits our concept?

Student 1 : Yes, performance wouldn't really work with the song so I think it works well

Student 2 : Yes, the part where it rewinds fits with the end chorus

Student 3 : Yes, the lyrics suit your concept

Question 3 - Are there any improvements necessary to make the narrative clearer?

Student 1 : Make sure that the crossroads is very clear in the opening shot

Student 2 : The mugging should be very clear and action packed
Student 3 : You should try to make sure the location and the crossroads are defined and fit the song

Question 4 - Do you think our location fits our concept?

Student 1 : Yes, the crossroads is clear and the path is very long.
Student 2 : No, I think a more urban area should be used
Student 3 : Yes, I think an urban area would be too difficult to film in.

Question 5 - Overall, do you think there are any other changes we need to make?

Student 1 : I wouldn't say so, after we see the first draft there may be changes to be made
Student 2 : Make sure the protagonist suits the music style you have chosen
Student 3 : No, everything seems good to go.

Overall, this focus group gave good insight into our current concept for our music video. I think our pre-production and concept is nearly ready to be created, and these 3 students seem to agree with me. We will definitely take their suggestions into account, especially making sure that the crossroads and opening shot is clear and visible and making sure our protagonist suits the music style. I think we will begin shooting very soon and hopefully come back with more feedback after our first draft is complete

Treatment

Love Lost- Temper Trap Music Video Treatment

Song: "Love Lost"
Artist: The Temper Trap

Concept

We will be producing a music video for this song, along with a digipack and other pieces of promotional material for our artist.

Narrative

Our music video will center around the key theme of choice. Our protagonist will, in the beginning of the video, be stood at a crossroads, where he will take the right path. This path will prove to be a bad decision, as shown when he trips over, and then further down gets mugged. We are then shown the protagonist rewinding time, until he returns back to his original position, where he picks the other path.

Location(s)

The music video will be shot in one primary location, which is a nearby nature reserve which has the exact crossroads we were looking for. The crossroads will be used to show the characters choice. The location is also rural enough to provide area's for the protagonist to trip, whilst being urban enough to make the mugging viable.

Pace
The song is quite slow paced during verse's, so we have chosen to make the bad occurrences happen during the much faster chorus's, as it will fit the song better. The end chorus will be used for the rewind, as it is the fastest part of the song

Colour/Tone

The video will be shot in standard colour, however if I feel it needs a more cinematic look or doesn't look vibrant enough I will colour correct the footage to make the video look as visually appealing as possible.

Mise-on-scene

The mise-on-scene in our video will not be too extensive, as a key part of the music video is making the protagonist seem ordinary. The muggers will be wearing tracksuit bottoms and a hoody, to hopefully show the danger they pose. A knife will also be used to show the threat the protagonist is under.

Filming

Our video will be shot with a DSLR, the Canon 600D. This is my own personal camera, which I am using because I know how to use it effectively and can use custom settings to tailor the video to how we want it. The image quality will be 1080p 24 fps, which is extremely cinematic and is the fps used by professional films.

Editing

Our editing will be done on Sony Vegas Pro. This is a solid editing program which will allow us to easily add in the effects, such as slow-motion and reverse, which we will be using in our video to create an interesting visual experience

Target Audience

Our music video's target audience will be male and female's from the ages 16-20, as this is the general indie artist's target audience, which we hope our music video will appeal to with the strict all narrative theme we are going with. We also think because the video represents something and has an underlying meaning
, fans of the genre will enjoy this as it isn't like all the mainstream mainly dancing videos.

Pack

Location Recce

Today after looking at various possible locations around both of our local areas, Brad and I went to have a look around the area where Brad found his locations.  We eventually decided that the place we found, which was right next to some of our previous possible locations,  is perfect for our concept as the crossroads are very clear and quite secluded like we wanted in order to fit with our video, also the area is a short walk from school, meaning we can easily get our actors and props to the location with little hassle, and reshoots if necessary will be easy to organize.

Risk Assessment

Possible locations

Both me and Brad have been looking around our local area for a crossroads which is suitable to shoot our music video at. Below are some of the places we found.
We are going to make a choice after looking through all the photos and working out which is most practical.

Here are some locations Brad found:

Costume and mise-on-scene

Costume and mise-on-scene

    

The costume and mise-on-scene in our music video will be extremely useful in portraying some of the ideas we want to show in the video.

The key mise-on-scene is the crossroads, which will show the key theme of our video, which is choice.

Example Crossroads

The two paths splitting from each other is key, as it shows the protagonists choice between two paths in his life, and is a good use of symbolism in our video

Another piece of mise-on-scene we will need to use is a knife- as the protagonist is going to be mugged. This is to show the danger that he is in, as he has chosen the wrong path in his life and has been made to pay the unfortunate consequences. The knife will have to look threatening, and show the attacker as a great danger.

Protagonists Costume

Our protagonist will look as normal as possible- he will be a teenager, and look just like a normal member of society. This is to show our protagonist as somebody who is like the target audience- a normal person who these bad things are happening to simply because he made the wrong choice. He will be wearing jeans and a hoody, and be very plain and average.

Mugger(s) Costume

The mugger(s) will have to look rough and dangerous, and look like they pose an immediate threat to our protagonist through their costume. They will be wearing joggers and a hoody, with the hood up, as this is the stereotypical representation in society of somebody who would mug someone, so we are sticking to what the viewer would expect.

Time of Filming/ Lighting

In our film we will be filming in the daytime, with as much light as possible. This is because it makes our film look a lot better visually, we can use a lot of different camera shots and angles which wouldn't be possible in the dark. Whilst the mugging would probably be better in the dark we feel it will still be effective as it is more symbolic, therefore the light will be a lot more useful for showing the mugging.