Storyboard

This is the storyboard which me and Kaylee made in order to plan out the details of each shot. It includes details of shot type, shot length, setting, weather, the type of edit, the lyric the shot goes with, and details about positions / emotions of actors. This will help us use our filming time efficiently and will allow us to film shots which will be useful for our video and will help us avoid having random shots which eventually don't fit with the video.

Inspirational Images

Below are a range of images which have inspired my ideas for this project so far, these images focus on relationships which will be a key feature of the music video which we are going to create.

Music Video Synopsis

This is a brief synopsis of what our music video will be about:

Our storyline consists of 3 characters - one girl and two boys. These will all be teenagers of ages 17/18; we have chosen to represent these people because the heterosexual relationship will meet audiences expectations and our target audience may aspire to have a relationship similar to the new couple, in addition these characters fit well with the story line. The opening sequence will show the girl splitting up with her boyfriend (who will also play lead singer within the video), then we will focus on him as he sings about missing her, this will be very natural and iconic - just him and his guitar in a field. Then the video will move on to showing the girl with another man, we will show them spending time together and enjoying themselves; this will take place in many different settings as we want to show that the couple spend a lot of time together and include a range of shots to make the video more interesting and eye catching. In contrast to the shots of the ex-boyfriend which I plan on filming during dull weather, the scenes with the new couple plan to be filmed when the weather is sunny, at the beach and the park, this use of pathetic fallacy will emphasize the contrast between to atmospheres and emotions. Towards the end of the song the lead singer will be shown asking her if she is happy with her new relationship and if she would consider getting back together; during this part we plan on asking the actor to mouth the lyrics to he girl as if he is asking her to take him back. Finally the camera will focus on him singing again and as he finishes we will edit it to fade out.

Genre Theory

The genre of a music video sets the audiences expectations and allows them to predict what will happen within the video. This can be useful because audience members can decide if they would be interested in watching a video based on the genre it fits into, therefore it is important to make the genre of a video as clear as possible within the first 20 seconds.
The genre of music which we are going to use will be alternative/indie rock; we will make this clear at the beginning of the video by immediatley showing a guitar being played. In addition we aim to use an opening title for our video and the colours and font will have connotations of indie/rock music.
The genre of the story within our music video is 'romance' as it focuses on a couple and the hearbreak of the boyfriend. This will be clear within the first few scenes of our video (as shown in the photo of our storyboard to the right) because we will show the girl and her first boyfriend in bed, and the new boyfriend will then take his place; this will show the transition from the ex to the new boyfriend and introduce that the video will focus on relationships and love. We will also show the genre of romance through the fonts and colours within the title sequence. In addition the genre will be made clear by the music and lyrics of the song.
On the other hand, as using the conventions of a genre can make the content predictable, many music video creators decide to subvert the genre in order to surprise and interest people and encourage them to question the genre and what is happening in the video. Using subversion can be a successful way to draw in an audience because the video will be something new and is less likely to be seen as boring or unoriginal. Despite this, sometimes sticking to the conventions of a genre can also draw in an audience because people will know what they are going to watch and may be drawn in by the genre itself, for example some people prefer romance to other genres. 
We have decided to use the conventions of a romance video because the storyline will link well with the storyline; Andrew Goodwin suggested a visual representation of lyrics may make my video more appealing to our target audience. A romantic storyline will also allow viewers to aspire to be like the characters or have a relationship like theirs; the ex-boyfriend character will encourage viewers to feel sympathy and could be used as advice or support for people who are going through similar situations to the ex boyfriend. In addition the genre of romance is liked by many; particularly females who make up a large proportion of our target audience, therefore I believe that by using the conventions of romantic videos our video will appeal well to our audience.

Email to record label

Below is the email which we sent to A Rocket To The Moon's record label asking for permission to use the song. This is important when creating a music video in order to avoid breeching copyright.

Dear Fueled by Ramen,

We are currently studying A Level Media Studies at The King's School, Devon. For our media coursework we are creating a music video for any song of our choice. We are writing to seek your permission to use the song 'Like We Used To' by A Rocket To The Moon.

Please note, this video will be used only for our coursework and will not be distributed or marketed in any form.  We would greatly appreciate your permission to use this song.

Many thanks

Kaylee Hawkins and Laura Dickinson

Initial ideas images

Below are a selection of photos which I have taken to show my initial ideas about shots of the couple that we could include in our video. Many of the show the girl and boy looking into one another's eyes; I have taken images from different angles, because within our video we plan to shoot each scene from some different angles and choose the most successful one. Some of the images focus on different body parts, for example the couple holding hands; this emphasises their close and loving relationship and we plan on including this shot within our video. The photos I have taken will help us decide the types of shots to include when creating our storyboard and could also inspire us when we need to think of varied and interesting shots.

Moodboard Presentation

This is a picture of me and Kaylee presenting the moodboard which we created. After the presentation the class and our teacher gave us feedback on our ideas. They felt that it was good because it had many pictures which clearly showed which genre of music and style of video we have chosen, most of the pictures also showed the natural colours of the settings  we will be using. They also felt that the range of shots would be helpful in the future when we go and film because the moodboard includes all of the shots we want to include in our music video so if we need to compose a shot we can look to our moodboard to achieve the best shot. In addition they said that the lyrics and other words that relate to the song / video added extra detail and showed what our film will be about. However we felt that we could have included a wider range of words so we added some more words in the small gaps of the board. Overall we were very happy with our moodboard; it has helped us picture what the end product will be like and it will be very helpful for storyboarding and filming.

Moodboard

Below is an image of the moodboard which Kaylee and I created to show the main ideas, colours, themes and storyline of our music video. It contains images not only of loving/cute relationships but also images which represent the heartbroken ex-boyfriend such as a man alone in the rain and a man crying. We also included words such as 'Love', 'Memories' and 'Nature' as these will be key themes within our video and are quite commonly used within alternative rock videos.

Song Lyrics

Below are the lyrics of the song we are going to making a music video for - 'Like We Used To' by A Rocket To The Moon. 

I can feel her breath as she's sleeping next to me
Sharing pillows and cold feet
She can feel my heart, fell asleep to its beat
Under blankets and warm sheets

If only I could be in that bed again
If only it were me instead of him

Does he watch your favourite movies?
Does he hold you when you cry?
Does he let you tell him all your favourite parts
When you've seen it a million times?
Does he sing to all your music
While you dance to "Purple Rain"?
Does he do all these things
Like I used to?

14 months and 7 days ago
Oh, I know you know how we felt about that night
Just your skin against the window
But we took it slow and we both know

It shoulda been me inside that car
It should have been me instead of him in the dark

Does he watch your favourite movies?
Does he hold you when you cry?
Does he let you tell him all your favourite parts
When you've seen it a million times?
Does he sing to all your music
While you dance to 'Purple Rain'?
Does he do all these things
Like I used to?

I know, love(Well, I'm a sucker for that feeling)
Happens all the time, love(I always end up feeling cheated)
You're on my mind, love(Oh sorta let her when I need it)
That happens all the time, love, yeah

Will he love you like I loved you?
Will he tell you every day?
Will he make you feel like you're invincible
With every word he'll say?
Can you promise me if this was right
Don't throw it all away
Can you do all these things?
Will you do all these things
Like we used to?
Oh, like we used to.

Audience feedback - song choice

Below is a video which I put together in movie maker. Within it I have asked a selection of people what they think about the song we have chosen -  Like We Used To by A Rocket To The Moon. I chose to interview people who I believe are members of our target audience as they will provide us with suitable feedback about our chosen song which will be helpful in confirming that it is a good song choice.

This feedback has been very useful as it has given us an insight into how the song comes across to people who are listening to it for the first time. Their opinions about the song can assist us in making decisions about the connotations and style of our video, for example the majority of people we spoke to said it's a relatable and emotive song and therefore we have decided that our story line will fit with the lyrics and will therefore make the final product even more emotive and relatable as the characters within it will be a similar age to us and will dress in clothes which teenagers may like, therefore making the video more appealing. We have also decided to show many shots of a loving relationship and then contrasting shots of heartbreak so that the majority of teenagers can relate to the entire storyline.

Research about our target audience

Within the following video which I have put together, Kaylee and I have interviewed some teenagers, as they will be our target audience, in order to find out how often they watch music videos and what type of genre and music videos they enjoy. We also asked them about the genre of indie/alternative rock as I believe this will give us an insight into what type of bands they believe fit into this genre and this will help to ensure that our chosen song fits with the genre.



From this we learned that our target audience tend to watch music videos on a daily basis. The people we spoke to had varied favourite genres of music, however we have established that it is very common for people who like a certain genre may also enjoy similar genres, for example the first person in the video, Vicky Carter, said her favourite genre is "electro pop rock" which is a mix of many genres, however she enjoys most alternative rock bands and particularly likes alternative rock bands. The majority of our audience felt that romance storylines were most appealing, nevertheless some people also felt that an action video would be very appealing. There was a mix of feedback about what attracts our audience to watch a video - some felt that the song/band itself would draw their eye, however others decided that a video with attractive people in it would be most appealing. From this it is clear that Kaylee and I will need to include many shots of the artist singing/playing in our video, and it will also be important to chose attractive actors and make them look as appealing as possible; even though many people would argue looks are not important, the majority of teenagers (our target audience) place a lot of importance on looks and would therefore be more likely to watch a video which includes attractive people. All of the people we spoke to felt that human actors were more appealing than animation; therefore we know that using real people rather than drawings or animated figures would be more suitable for our video and would be more likely to appeal to teenagers. During our feedback about the genre of indie/alternative rock our audience listed bands which they believe fit with the genre; earlier on in the year I created a Wordle listing bands which I believed belonged to the genre and our feedback has confirmed that teenagers class artists such as Fossil Collective, Mayday Parade, The Vaccines, Bombay Bicycle Club, The Maine and Jake Bugg as indie/alternative rock. Therefore I feel that I have a good understanding of the genre and I believed we have made the right decision in choosing the genre and A Rocket To The Moon's song - Like We Used To.

Genre - Results of Poll

After putting a poll on my blog asking 'What genre do you believe our chosen song fits into?' I have found that  100% of votes were for 'Alternative/Indie Rock'. Earlier on in the year me and Kaylee decided that we wanted to focus on alt/indie rock, therefore this poll has helped us to ensure that the song we have chosen does fit into the chosen genre. This is essential as we need to ensure that we either use or subvert the conventions of the genre, for this reason it is essential to be sure of the genre of the song.

Shot Research - Magnum Photography

I have decided to research some shots by Magnum photographers, as this will assist me in composing shots when planning and filming my music video.

Stuart Franklin - Malaysia, Kepong Forest Reserve. Crown sheness in the 'kapur' tree (Dryobalanops aromatica), one of the dipterocarps that, as they mature in the forest, develop mutual avoidance. 1997.

I chose this image because it is very eye catching and beautiful. Franklin has clearly considered the angle and composition of this shot; the tree trunk in the foreground puts the whole picture into perspective. It is very interesting that something so natural can form their own shape based on their surroundings, in this way the forest could be seen as a piece of artwork in itself. The use of black and white allows the viewer to interpret the image in many different ways before they may realise that it is trees. 

Elliott Erwitt - USA. California. 1955

As soon as I saw at this picture I couldn't help but smile, it beautifully captures the love which the two people clearly share. The perspective creates the sense that we are seeing something private and special which encourages the audience to be inquisitive, as her facial expression makes us question what is going on between the couple. The background is out of focus but is actually a large proportion of the photo, this is eye catching because the image subverts the conventions of traditional photography in which the main feature is usually central. The textures in the background are interesting because even though it is black and white and out of focus, there is a clear difference between the land, sea and sky. This is probably my favourite image because it is so inspiring and beautiful.

Martine Franck - France. Hauts de Seine. Meudon. 1991.

The use of perspective means that the eye is guided across this picture as the stream of natural light through the middle of the photo leads us from the trees in the foreground, all the way back to the person and then even further to the distant grey patch. This patch at the very back of the image encourages the reader to question what it is, therefore creating opposing opinions and discussion. Although a lot of the image is quite dark because the trees in some ways overpower the rest of the image, the small person stands out because they contrast against the snow covered path, this draws the eye to the centre of the photo. One of the main things I love about this image is the beautiful, yet creepy branches of the trees which are defined in the foreground and fade to a blur in the background; this makes the audience feel as though they are there.

Bruce Davidson  - USA. Raleigh, North Carolina. 1965. Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus at J.S. Dorton Coliseums.

The use of light and shadows in this image is very eye catching. The background is black and quite empty so our gaze is immediately drawn to the woman and her shadow. I find the use of shadowing interesting because the shadow is never the exact same shape as the thing causing it, as this image shows the shadow is distorted, this is in some ways very beautiful because the mind can make many images out of the shadow. The spotlight highlights the sassy frivolity of the woman; we focus on her and only her, this is exactly what Davidson intended.