Music Video
Introduction
For my Film and Video coursework I am creating a Music Video, on this page I have my research and preparation work. I explain what and why I have decided to create, backed up with research, planning and other work.
All Videos
My Three Favorite music videos
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Contextual information
The task was:
Contextual information: Research at least three inspirational films or sequences with images.
(At least 200 words each)
Mood board
I am interested in looking at indie music; however, want to bring in some of my favorite aesthetics, so would like to work with horror and vintage aesthetics. I made a Pinterest page and collected various images that caught my attention and I believed could work for a video idea. I decided to be able to find a result that could work with these ideas, to work images into the center of the page by using corner to explore different themes. I started with the left side, where I took pictures from some of my favorite artists (looking from my three favorite music video work), which allowed me to notice a correlation in colours and images. then I worked from the bottom right finding images that fell into the vintage aesthetic category I wanted to explore, that allowed me to explore the use of flowers and colour palettes. in the top right, I explored the horror element, finding
I liked the use of forests and face coverings like masks. I then worked into the middle where I found a series of images relating to sheet ghosts, which related to the horror element, but also to the lighter colour palette and aesthetic I liked.
Mood board - location
I want the main location of the music video set within the forest (preferably Heywood Forest; however, I have visited different areas for my initial images research), but also towards the end of the song, I want a section in an open field. The forest scenes will be easier to film, because it is the main body and location of the music video. The field scenes will be slightly harder to find and film, I want the character running out of the trees, over a wooden fence and into an open field. The end of the song is instrumental and I want it to be freeing, so I would like to use a location alike Codden Hill for the character to run across. This means I will have to shoot different scenes on different days in different locations and sew them together in editing to create the look I want.
Mind map
For my mind map, I wanted to include sketches to present my artistic aesthetic I wanted to work towards in my video, which was helpful for furthering my understanding of costume and my storyboard. I drew designs of the bedsheet ghosts (which I explained more in my Costume section) and annotated them in my nodes and sub-nodes. I also printed off images that were important to my design and used them in the display of the mind map. Everything is organized to corelate, to make my ideas as clear as possible and help generate other ideas for my video. I have used the mind map to throughout my planning of the music video, it has been effective and helpful when creating the storyboard and my designs. I further my points on the music I chose in my Song & Lyric section; however, the mind map allowed me to display why the song works so well with my idea. Overall, the mind map has definitely been most helpful with story planning and costume design, it works well with my plans in the mood board and is helpful to look back on.
Song & lyrics
For my song, I chose to do 'Adulting' by Beach Bunny, I wanted to use Indie Music in my video and enjoyed writing about the 'Promises' music video. I used my mind map to go through some of their songs and find 'Adulting' to be the best song as I believed it had great opportunity to work with my ideas and mood board. The pace, instrumentals, vocals and elements of the song worked in favour of my ideas and themes. As well as the meaning behind the song, which contributed and developed my plan further. Looking through the lyrics I was able to tie ideas and themes together and further my story.
Story Board
Because I wanted my final video to have the effect of found footage montage, I initially didn't have any strict guidelines for what I was going to film. However, I had a storyline that I wanted to use that would correlate with the lyrics of my chosen song. Therefore, I decided to make a rough plan of how I wanted my video to turn out. I used photos I had of my filming locations and drew onto sticky notes how I wanted to shot to look like and what I wanted my performer to do. I chose to use sticky notes, so I could move shots around, in order to understand the flow of the video better.
Initial images
For my initial images I took a series of photographs (landscape and portrait) to show the locations of where I wanted to set my video and film the main section, which I used in my location report and helped my plans for my story board. Heywood forest was my main idea for a forest setting (having visited there often and knowing the route of the walk), so when I got there I was able to get a range of different images of the setting, which helped me visualize shooting in the location video plan and actor/ camera movements. It also helped me consider the editing tools I am going to use for my video, and how I won't be able to fully rely on the the natural lighting. Codden Hill is other location I am using for my video, so I visited the location (and have done before) to see where I wanted to film. This helped me figure out how I would link the two locations together into the final video. I also took pictures (mainly at the two locations, so I could get a visual image of what I wanted to create) of the costume.
Location Report
Heywood forest, North Devon (positioned between Barnstaple and Exeter), is a forest walk with the remains of a castle mound. There is a flat path which walkers can follow, but also opportunities to go off course and through the trees. I will use both these walking opportunities for filming, to embrace the natural elements of the wood and create moments that feel a lot more enclosed, which will add to my theme of 'trapped' and 'lost' in the forest. I am also going to take advantage of the Castle Mound and river/ stream, which I have worked into my storyboard. Because the weather, time and day will effect how the video is filmed, I will have to rely on some filters and editing techniques to make the forest look the way I want in the final project.
Costume, cast and Crew
I put a lot of consideration into costume, props and who I would want in my music video. Costume is a key theme in my music video plan, so I created initial plans and sketches using my mood board and mind map to create the look I want to use in my final video. I also explored the costumes further by looking at materials, practice photos and other elements of the costume, before filming. I wanted to work with natural life, but also considered various props and items. I required a cast who could dance and use movement in the video; however, it isn't essential because I am interested in creating a collage of film shots for the video. I cover all this individually in my 'costume/props/cast' page, which can find by clicking the button.
Shooting Schedule and Equipment List
To prepare for shooting, I prepared a spreadsheet so I could organize the days and could stick to my plan. This helped in setting a date to record by, but also (looking back) helped with comparing and ordering future deadlines. I have been able to return to the schedule and check off what I've completed, which helped in organizing future work.
Creating an equipment list aided on the days as I had a checklist, so I didn't forget anything, as well as when returning booked items.
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Filming and editing notes
I decided to combine my filming and editing notes onto one word document, due to having a lack of Special FX notes and I wasn't able to access my Premiere Pro video timeline without access to a college computer. This document contain ideas and notes I had during the filming and editing process of my video, as well as a plan for how I organised my time stamps for my video.
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Interim Evaluation
To show my progression in my coursework, I have done a Interim Evaluation of the 26th of November 2020, answering questions about how I think my development and creative process are going. I looked at what I have completed, what I'm yet to do and perhaps what I need to catch up on at the current time. I also looked at how Covid-19 has effected my coursework progression and how I've compromised and found a solution for my Music Video tasks.
Evaluation
At the end of this project, I had to write an evaluation of my work over the course of this project and my video. An evaluation is the process of examining and analyzing a piece of work, applying criticisms and praise where appropriate. Through doing an evaluation I will be able to look back at the best parts of my project and be able to identify and improve from the areas I believe didn't work as well.
To access my evaluation of the music video project, click the button below:
The Music Video
