lighting research

The lighting for our video will vary as our models are a variety of race. Our research helps us determine how to use the lighting in order to create the right tone yet also capture the model correctly. There is a blue tone to this video which promotes his feelings as it appears dark and dismal, this emotion is enhanced by his gestures and the close up of his head in his hands. We will do something similar to this when we create his conscience in a scene, he will use his hands and facial expression to create the tone as he will shut his eyes and drop his head in his hands. We will also experiment with a blue gel over the lens of the camera to create a similar effect as our research. The blue tint will be minimal as the room will be dark as we will control the lighting to highlight certain areas, therefore the black and slightly blue areas will create a cold tone that reflects his depression and his reflective mood.

 These shots in the same video use a red tint this is a stark contrast to the blue tint that comes before these scenes. The colour red is brought in through the lighting, the colour alcohol and the red cups. This makes the scenes appear quite ominous as red is related to danger and sinister moods. We will use red cups in our video as a lot of our research uses them in parties, we will have some girls wearing red and we will use a red gel over one of the cameras to get footage with a red tint as well as normal footage from the other cameras. As it will be a party in a dark room the light source will be minimal with only fairy lights hanging up therefore the red tint wont be too overpowering it will be seen the most on skin which is similar to the footage in our research. 

This video brings the red in by using a red light in the corner when it is mostly blue, the red scene then appears as if the reason he is feeling down, emphasized by the blue light, is because of the scenes emphasized by the red light. We will create something similar as our message is blaming the party and his drinking for our models depressive state therefore we will practice using torches that have a red gel around them to determine whether we can create a slight red light to ease the red scenes into the video in a way that will relate

I used this video as research into how an enigma is shown. This relates to our video as we will use footage that is created by our models mind therefore we need to highlight this so that people are aware this is a fabrication of his mind. We are using a girl similar to this video and we are using a boy that cant stop thinking about her. Therefore our plan and this video has a lot of related footage that we can take ideas from. 

This woman is shown in white and it is blurred to show a fuzzy image to emphasize what he’s seeing isn’t real. The man that thinks he is seeing this woman turns quickly and uses his facial features to show disbelief as he is aware what he’s seeing isn’t real. This will be similar to our video as the girl will never be in it properly therefore people can question her existence and whether she is dead or not.

Using this research as inspiration we will blur the footage we use of the girl as it will show her existence is questionable as the picture isn’t as clear as the others. We will put her in clothing that doesn’t suit the rest of the footage such as a white dress when she is in the bath and school uniform in the images of her. She will only ever appear when he is seen to be thinking therefore showing how he produces her with his thoughts. His facial features when he thinks he sees her at the party will show disbelief as if he knows she couldn’t be there, this will ensure the audience is aware of what she is in the video.

This is another video which uses similar methods in the video to incorporate a certain colour that reflects the mood. This is using red in a different way as it is a vibrant red which grabs the audiences attention. The tone is lively in this video as the bright red is creating a fun atmosphere rather than dangerous. This shows how the brightness of the colours can determine the tone therefore the lighting is crucial in terms of the message we want to convey. This video uses red cups, red lights and red liquor which is all the same as the other video therefore these are common features in music videos that would fit into our own as it will show how our research influenced our video.

These clips highlight how the main person has entered the party, the camera remains still in order to watch him in the crowd to show his popularity and importance within the video. This video uses the camera to capture the back of him walking in, we will do something similar however the camera will be on the front of him as he enters and then the back of him to create an array of shots that capture his entrance from different angles in order to vary them in the editing.

 

Costume research

storyboard for new music video (drawings)

new story board

This is the story board for the chorus (the chorus comes up four times during the song) each time the chorus comes up, the main outline showed by this individual story board will be the same with some minor changes, for example the headshot will alternate from with the main boys eyes opened, to having the main boys eyes closed. As well as that, in the shots where he is sitting down, instead of with just his hands on his head, we may change his location to maybe having him standing up or sweeping his hands over his head. (the first shot is the running scene shot which occurs at the very beginning of the video)

The above two screenshots is the storyboard of the first verse.

This storyboard is for the bridge, the bridge comes up three times during the song and similar to the chorus, the images shown in the story board reflect an outline of how the bridge will go, however again there will be minor changes for example the same bath scene will re-occur however it will alternate from the main boy going down to the main girl coming up to the main girl going down and the main boy coming up.

The above is the storyboard for the second verse which (the conscience scene). 

The message of our video

Alcoholism

The message behind our video is about the ways in which alcohol dependency can affect people’s lives. In our video you will see a young boy who is struggling with alcoholism. There are scenes of him at a party, by himself alone in his conscience and lastly walking around on the streets again on his own. This will showing the audience the different phases of his dependency. The reasons behind the alcoholism will be left as a mystery; we have done this to confuse yet intrigue the audience. Throughout the video there will constantly be reference to an enigma he has formed of a mysterious girl, the audience are left questioning who she is, Is she the reason behind why he is in this state, this will be a re-occurring question throughout our video.

Clips showing alcoholism

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Leaving Las Vegas - Lonely Teardrops

This clip largely relates to the story of our music video as the story is based on alcoholism. This is shown in ‘leaving Las Vegas’ at the beginning of the clip when he happily puts alcohol in his shopping trolley and further along the clip he goes in a depressing drunk mode. This highlights how he is hiding from his pain through the use of alcohol. This is what we want to show in our music video. In this video being drunk is also shown with the main character lying on the floor looking at his hands.

Travie McCoy: We'll Be Alright [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

 

Alcohol is shown in this music video through the use of red cups which automatically gives the viewer an idea that they drinking alcohol. This is due to red cups being commonly used in music videos that involve drinking, therefore, they are stereotypical. The scene is at a party which gives an idea that because they are teenagers, they will be drinking alcohol. It is also shown by the way they are acting as it is different to the way people usually act if they’re not drinking.

The Black Eyed Peas - The Time (Dirty Bit)

Alcohol is shown in this video with people holding cups of drink at a club which the viewer presumes is alcohol. Alcohol is also shown being poured into a cup. This is a simple method that is common throughout many music videos. The difference between these videos is how the clips show the effect of alcohol; as some use parties and some use destructive drunks.

Eminem - Love The Way You Lie ft. Rihanna

The use of alcohol is used a lot in this video. One way this video shows alcoholism is through the behaviour of the characters as they become aggressive (which is shown in picture 5 above.) Another way to show that alcohol is a part of this video is to show alcohol bottles even though they may not be focused. In picture 1, the man is looking into the beer bottle which suggests that he is in deep thought. In picture 2, the man is holding a bottle of beer in front of the girl which suggests he is drunk; by using the girl in the shot it indicates how the alcohol is affecting his relationship. In picture 3, there is a bottle of alcohol in between the two characters which looks empty, therefore, suggests that the two have been drinking. In picture 4, there is a bottle out of focus behind the girl. Although it is out of focus, it automatically brings attention towards the bottle as it takes up a large part of the screen.

Showing Depression

 

Eminem - Not Afraid

 

Depression and frustration is shown in this video through the way the man is sitting. Having his head in his hand and elbows on his knees produces the idea that he is frustrated and unhappy. The desolated building he is in reflects his mood as everything is in disarray. The setting produces the idea that he is self-destructive as he is struggling with his thoughts via his actions as reflected by the destruction of the setting. The camera angle is low which makes the chairs a large focus which acts as a frame for the model. This makes the eye focus in on the important feature of the scene.

Kendrick Lamar - Swimming Pools (Drank)

 

Depression is shown in this video with the use of the scenery and lighting. The room is completely empty to represent the sense of something missing which is a common reason for depression. The lighting is dark yet not black and white which ensures the scene is dingy rather than bright. This produces a shadow on the man which puts him in darkness; this is successful as darkness is a connotation of depression.

Detailed: association of scenes to lyrics

Together as a group, we then went into more detail about how we were going to re-create what we believed the lyrics to mean. This helped us decide the point to our video.

association of scenes to lyrics

As a group, we printed the lyrics of our chosen song, we analysed the lyrics and gave our ideas of what we thought each verse was trying to get across, and began thinking how we could re-create this in our video.

copyright letter

Here is the email we sent to the record label that Kendrick Lamar is signed to prior to the planning and production of our music video. We did this in order to ask permission to use the song. This is important because it allows us to use the song in confidence knowing that we are protected from copyright infringement law as we have notified them that we will be using the song and we have documented proof of this. 

new music video

We decided on this music video because we felt the lyrics has a clear message with which we would be able to portray in our video.

why we changed our ideas:

As a group we decided that the original video we wanted to try and re-create was not going to be the right type of video for our group. We felt that we couldn't get enough research to back up our reasons for doing certain things and would not be able to access the facilities to be able to film such an extravagant video. When we pitched our ideas we found that the audience was getting confused, they couldn't form an understanding of the point of our video, we felt that our 'story' wasn’t being portrayed in the way in which we wanted it to. We also found the way we composed our video did not make sense to a lot of people. This led to us going back to the start, and re-thinking all our ideas.