Final - Music Promotional Video

Music genre mindmap - P1 (a-f)

Music video examples (Critique) - P1 (a-f)

1.  Beyonce and Jay-Z - Drunk in Love

Editing - the pace of the music video is just alright, shots were changing not too fast and not too slow. It was made in black-and-white colours, what is unusual for music videos and this attracts the attention of viewers. The shots are changing smoothly one by other, that perfectly suits the lyrics of the song and the idea of the video.

Narrative - the video doesn't have the particular story. The whole video we can just see Beyonce, who is really beautiful in this clip, dancing and walking on the beach along the sea. Then when Jay-Z appears in the video, he and Beyonce are moving together with the music and showing that they are in love.

Camera - in the video different shots are represented. There are a lot of close-ups and medium close-ups of Beyonce and Jay-Z, over-the-shoulder shots when they are hugging, long shots to show how beautiful is Beyonce, establishing shots to show the beautiful view of the sea. Camera is in different positions. It wasn't always in front of the singers, so, for example, when Jay-Z is reading rap, the camera often is on the left from him, to shoot him from the side.

Mis-en-scene - the shooting process took place on the beach, as we can see sand and sea in the background. Beyonce is wearing bikini that matches the location of the filming. Jay-Z is in wide T-shirt, cap and with a lot of chains. This is in order to make him look like a rapper.

I consider this video as a really good one. Beyonce is looking perfect and it can attract not only boys but also girls. The video is really beautiful and everything is showing it starting with the chosen location and ending with Beyonce who is dancing and Jay-Z with a glass of vine.

2. Ylvis - The Fox (What does the fox say?)

Editing - Shots are changing quite fast. Subtitles have been added to the video, so we can see the lyrics of the song during the whole video, what is quite unusual because always the official music videos are without subtitles.

Narrative - The video doesn't have the particular story. The idea of the video haven't impressed me. People are just dancing in the masks of animals and it's a little bit boring to watch such dances.

Camera - There are different shots in the video such as low-angle shot, pan shot, medium-close ups, establishing shot, following shots, etc. Camera is sometimes shooting from the ground, from the side, but mostly the camera is in the front.

Mis-en-scene - The main location of the video is in the forest where people are dancing in a strange way. The clothes of dancers is the costumes of animals and they are also wearing animal masks on their faces.

I have found this video very boring and I don't like its editing. In my opinion. subtitles are extra in music clips as if somebody wanted to know the lyrics, he would google it. A lot of text makes the video  look like karaoke's song. The idea is also not really good, as the dances are weird. When I've watched this video in the first time, I've lost a desire to watch it again.

Music Video Analysis 1, 2 - P1 (a-f)

Purpose of the music videos

The purpose of the music videos is to sell the music track. They help the owner to promote their songs, so in the future directors of the movies can be attracted and will pay to the owners of the track big sums of money to use it in their movies. More people are likely to listen to the song and to be interested in it, if the music video is introduced. As a result, more albums of the performer are likely to be sold.

Semiotics/ Media Codes - P1(a-f)

Definitions.

Semiotics  - The study of signs and symbols, especially as elements of language or other systems of communication.

Denotation - a translation of a sign to its meaning, more exactly, to its literal meaning. 

Connotation -  a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that some word or phrase carries, in addition to the words or phrases explicit or literal meaning, which is denotation. 

Denotation & Connotation

Denotation - What you can see within an image and the meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests.

Examples:

1. Snake - a cold-blooded scaly, legless reptile.
2. Red rose - flower.
3. Apple - an edible fruit.

Connotation - What the image or word implies.

Examples:

Symboling

- colours
- objects 
- body language 
- clothing
- settings.

When we interpret visual language, we decode meaning from these symbols which carry a number of connotations. For example,

In this picture we can identify the following symbols and some possible connotations.

Type of symbol	Symbol	Possible connotations
colours	blue shadows white clothes white eyes	mysterious, unreal clean, sterile creepy, inhuman, eyeless
objects	test tube glasses	science, experimentation learning, intelligence
body language	straight lips hand clasped firmly	humourless, serious determination, intensity
clothing	white, collarless shirt	scientist, doctor

Technical 

All to do with camera angles and movement, lighting, shot framing and composition, design and layout, editing, etc. What do each of the choices made tell you about what is going on - for example, is a character shot from a high or low angle and how does that make you, the audience, feel about them? How are sounds effects used to help you make sense of what is going on.

Treatment/concept (Presentation) - P2(a)

The running time of the video: 3:38 minutes (as the song duration is 3:38)

Medium: Canon 7D DLRS, editing in HDV PAL 1080p 24 fps ratio aspect 16:9

Script - P2 (b)

Storyboard - P2(c)

Well planned videos look the most professional. Storyboarding is the process of creating a visual script, or draft, of the shots and scene changes in a video or film. This tutorial explains the storyboarding process, outlines the most common items found on a storyboard, and aims to provide guidelines for you to create your own.

Storyboards are invaluable when several people are working on a project together. A well-defined storyboard helps to ensure that everyone understands the goals of the project and how the video and audio footage should work together.

I've created a storyboard in order to have an idea what should we film to achieve the best final result. Storyboard is a visual planning of my filming and it's also a guide to our shooting process and it will help me in future editing as I will be able to put everything in order and to apply initial idea to my project.

Shot 1: close-up, camera is in front of the face of the actress

Shot 2: close-up of actress opening her eyes, camera is in front of her face 

Shot3: establishing shot, camera is on the side from actress

Shot 4: over-the-shoulder shot, camera is behind the actress

Shot 5: framing shot, camera is opposite to the legs of actress

Shot 6: over-the-shoulder shot, camera is behind Nelly

Shot 7: establishing shot, camera is on the side from the stairs

Shot 8: following shot, camera is behind the actress

Shot 9: establishing shot, camera is in front of main entrance

Shot 10: following shot, camera is behind and on the side from Nelly

Shot 11: establishing shot, camera is on the side to bus

Shot 12: following shot, long shot, camera is opposite and behind Nelly

Shot 13: medium close-up of girls, camera is opposite to their faces

Shot 14: long shot, camera is behind and opposite to girls

Shot 15: pan shot of the park

Shot 16: following shot and long shot of girls, camera is on the side, behind them and opposite to them 

Shot 17: Establishing shot 

Shot 18: establishing shot, camera is in front of the actors

Production Schedule - P2(d)

Period	Group Name	Scene	Location	Cast	Equipment
Saturday	SLM	Scene 1,2	School House	Nelly as main actress	Camera
Saturday	SLM	Scene 3	Main Stairs	Nelly as main actress	Camera
Saturday	SLM	Scene 4	Main Entrance	Nelly as main actress	Camera
Saturday	SLM	Scene 5	Bus Stop near Kent College	Nelly as main actress	Camera
Sunday	SLM	Scene 6	Bus	Nelly	Camera
Sunday	SLM	Scene 8	High street Canterbury	Nelly, Dasha, Sofya, Kate, Anna	Camera, tripod
Sunday	SLM	Scene 7	Park	Nelly, Iliya, Dasha, Kate	Camera, tripod

We've decided to film everything during the weekend but we have to be very productive. We made this decision because the most of our scenes take place in town. We live in boarding school, so the only way to shoot in town is to do it on weekend. Our plan is to film all the scenes in school on Saturday and all the rest in town on Sunday. 

I've also created a timeline to help me with planning my music video. There I've introduced what time I'm going to film particular shots and where they are going to take place. This is my timeline:

Time	Shots	Location
Saturday 22.03.2014
10:30 am	Setting up the location, making sure everything is ready for the shooting process	Room of the actress, main building of school
11:00 am	Actress is getting ready for filming, make up, hair, appropriate clothes	Room of the actress and her bathroom
11:30 am	Shots of actress waking up, different shots of how she is getting ready for going out	Room, corridor (actress is in front of the mirror)
12:00 pm	Different shots of actress coming down from the stairs	School Main Building
12:15 pm	Shots in front of the main entrance, actress is turning on the song ‘Happy’ and going to town by bus	School Main Building, Bus Station, Bus
13:00 pm	Finish for the day	-
Sunday 23.03.2014
10:45 am	Making sure the actors are ready for filming in town, girls  are doing their make up, hair and putting on nice clothes	Bathroom
11:30 am	Going to town	-
12:00 pm	Shots of the main actress dancing in town alone and then with her friends	High Street Canterbury
13:00 pm	Shots of girls dancing in the park and enjoying the weather	Park
13:45 pm	Shots of girls in the ‘Boots’ store	Boots
14:30 pm	Finish	-

Contingency plan.

In order not to fail if something goes wrong, I have to be sure there is a Plan B which we are able to use. We had decided to film everything in 2 days. It might be not enough, especially if some actors won't be able to shoot in the particular day. In this case, we can add some more shooting days. We live in boarding to school and we are able to go to town also on Wednesdays. Therefore, we are able to film the scenes in town also on 19th March 2014 and 26th March 2014. 

for example, 

19th March 2014 (Wednesday) - Filming the scenes on High Street Canterbury and in Boots shop (16:30 pm - 18:00 pm)

Actors required: Nelly, Dasha, Kate, Anna, Sofya

26th March 2014 (Wednesday) - Filming the scenes in the park (16:30 pm - 17:30 pm)

Actors required: Nelly, Kate, Dasha, Ilya

We can also shoot Nelly in her room and near the mirror on any day as we live in the same boarding school.

for example, 

21st March 2014 (Friday) - Filming Nelly waking up and getting ready for town, scenes in main school building (16:30 pm - 5:45 pm)

This contingency plan will help me if there are unexpected circumstances that require the changes in production schedule. 

Shot list - P2(d)

Scene	Shot	Day/Night	Description of shot	Location
1	1	Day	Camera shoot girl while she is sleeping, high angle	School house, room
1	1a	Day	High angle	School house, room
2	2	Day	Girl starts to brush her teeth, following shot, medium close up	School house, room
3	3	Day	Girl dresses up, low angle	School house, room
4	4	Day	Girl goes downstairs in the main building, following shot, close up, low angle, establishing shot	Main Building
4	4a	Day	Girls goes out from main entrance, long shot, close up	Main Entrance
5	5	Day	Girl is coming to bus stop, following shot, long shot, pan shot	Bus Stop
6	6	Day	Girl is going by bus, reaction shot, extreme close up, close up	Bus
7	7	Day	Girl meets her friends in the city centre, following shot, reaction shot, close up, medium close up	High street Canterbury
7	7a	Day	Friends are going down the street and dancing, following shot	High street Canterbury
7	7b	Day	Friends attract more people, all of them are dancing and going down the street, following shot, close up	High street Canterbury
8	8	Day	All actors are going to park and dance there, long shot, close up	Park in Canterbury
8	8a	Day	Flashmob in the park, medium shot, low angle, high angle	Park in Canterbury