Influences from the American Media Industry

In our music video we decided on having the classroom set out as an exam, as this linked perfectly with the title of the song "The Exam". The layout of the classroom is similar to the layout used in american classrooms; the inspiration was taken from american style classroom that I had seen in american films and television programmes such as Hairspray and My So-Called Life and from how British exam halls are set out. The use of individuals desk would be relatable to audiences because of the exposure they have had to american films, tv dramas and artists and their music videos.

The separate desks could symbolise two things: individualism and separation. The separation between the students could foreshadow the separation between the male and female character and their relationship breakdown. Whereas the individualism reflects the idea of individulism in teenage culture especially in the indie genre, where individualism and being alternative is important.

Shooting Schedule

Storyboards

(more storyboards to come)

Actors - Casting

The characters and cast for our video are:

Guy - Josh Waterman

Josh was reliable which was one main reason we chose him; he was keen to be involved, however more nervous than Gillian or Yasmine in front of the camera; this was advantageous however when filming the exam scene.

We found that Josh had an average indie vibe which fit with the idea that the audience would relate better to a character that wasn't strongly tied to a specific trend, however we did need someone that could represent the genre well; although someone with slightly stronger ties to the genre would have been preferred, the jeans and cardigan combination suggests the indie genre.

Girl - Gillian Mee

Gillian has a different style completely to Josh and this created a nice contrast between the characters, unlike Josh her style didn't represent the genre, however it did create an opening for other non-indie audiences to engage with the video. Gillian has more a chic polished style which fits in well with the "girl next door" style and, again creates contrast between Josh and Gillian. She was reliable and pleased to be part of the video, compared with Josh and Yasmine she felt far more comfortable in front of the camera, which helped the others relax; as a person she is quite bubbly and confident which was another reason we cast her because she was able to bring that to video.

Second Girl - Yasmine Galt

Yasmine was reliable and responsive and keen to be involved. She is also Josh's real-life girlfriend; this created chemistry between them when filming their date scene. Yasmine also has a mysterious look about her, which is why we decided to cast her as this work to our advantage when filming the coffee shop/date scene with Gillian and Josh.

Teacher - Mr Bloomfield

Performance - Ian Currie, Tristan Dunbar, Tom Hartley-Booth, Jon Brasted.

Andy Morris,Tom Stewart, Emily Mullender (hands only).

6 extra exam students - Emma Wilson, Sarah Pooley, Sally Bailey, Ben Pant, Justin Pryce, Theo Elliot.

We decided on these actors because they're friends and we feel they have the right look for our video, considering the type of song used. The most difficult aspect of the shoot was finding the extra students and the teacher, as we needed all the cast to be available at the same time; also we needed to cast someone who was older and realistically looked like a teacher.

We wanted the cast to look as realistic as possible and create a scenario that was accessible to the audience; we thought this would work better if we could have an actual teacher to perform as the teacher in the video because they would have the mannerisms and would know how a teacher would behave in an exam situation. Using students that were also students created a sense of realism as, similarly to the teacher, they automatically behaved as they would have done in an exam - we also found that when the students were filmed it made the nervous, which again added to the naturalism.

When filming the individual date scenes, a different tone was created in each scene - the first scene with Josh and Gillian felt tense and nervous, like a first date which was added to because they felt awkward around each other as Josh has a real-life girlfriend. In order to create a difference in tone between the date scenes, we cast Josh's real-life girlfriend as his secret girlfriend and this worked because Josh and Yasmine were natural together in their scene which suggested to the audience that they had been dating for a while.

Music Video - Costume

(improved - more detail. what we want the costumes show)

With many of the clothes that are shown below, they are just to give an idea of the type of feel of clothing we want our characters to have, not necessarily the actual item of clothing we want them to wear.










These particular items of clothing portray a casual feel, and as the girl is attending college she wouldn't wear anything too dressy or inappropriate. Also, these are clothes that an ordinary girl would wear and therefore keep the narrative realistic.








As there are two locations, the female character must have to different styles, to show the difference between her casual school dress to her going out clothes. These items show smartcasual, not too overlyformal as she is going to gig, but the audience can tell she is dressed to go out - again staying realistic as many people dress up to go out, especially on a date.










For the male character, we wanted to have casual clothing similar to the female, because of the school environment they're in. These items also keep the narrative realistic because they are items of clothes that an ordinary modern boy would wear. When the boy is at the gig, in order to show he's in a different environment, he'll wear a different shirt and smart jeans, to suggest a smartcasual style.

By choosing ordinary everyday styles - casual and smartcasual, this makes the characters more relatable to the audience, and therefore people can sympathise with them more when they're having issues because they can put themselves in that position. Taylor Swift "teardrops on my guitar" uses everday casual outfits, and uses the school environment, by using this familiar environment people are attracted to the characters and are able to become the character because they look ordinary just like the consumer. We wanted our characters to be similar to this, we wanted them to be relatable to the audience and for the audience to see themselves as that character or at least sympathise with the situation; this can be created through the costume that the characters are wearing.

Music Video - Props

(Improved: more detail - connotations. images).

This is a list of the props that we need:

• Chalk
• Blackboard
• Chairs
• Desks
• Pens/Pencils
• Paper
• Other exam equipment (rulers, rubbers etc)

We planned to have an old style exam classroom, even though the narrative is modern - we thought this would be relatable to the audience as this is how many people imagine a sterotypical exams room. Also, we wanted to make it obvious to the audience that it was an exam and not an ordinary lesson. Due to us having this idea, we need chalk and a blackboard to tie in with this stereotypical view; using the chalkboard would give the classroom an older feel as well.

This is similar to the blackboard that we want, because we realised that many classrooms nowadays have either whiteboards or interactive boards - so we decided on having a smaller board to keep with the traditional feel. As the blackboard isn't attached to the wall, it is able to be moved around which makes filming more flexible because we're able to have the board in any position; this will help us when trying to create a smaller classroom feel.

We're using the chalk to write lyrics on the blackboard; we're planning on using stop motion for this section. We're going to write the name of the band and the name of the song on the board.We're going to do two takes for this section, because we have two ideas - one includes the teacher standing next to the board giving the impression that the teacher has written "Blighters. The Exam" on the board. Our second idea was we would have the teacher writing "Blighters. The Exam" on the board, this would suggest that the teacher is showing the students what they've got to do, therefore creating a realistic setting.

These are similar to the table and chairs that are going to be in the classroom. We couldn't find a classroom that had traditional single exam-style desk, however we managed to find a classroom that had individual desks which will create the exam atmosphere. The table and chairs will look older than this, this will contribute to traditional feel.

We're going to be panning over the classroom location, and in order to keep the exam room realistic, we're going to have smaller props; such as pens, pencils, paper, eraser, rulers. Although they're only small props, and without them we could still portray the room as being a classroom, because of the blackboard and the layout of the room, however there wouldn't be a sense of realism; when you're in a classroom the students have their pads of paper and pens out.

Music Video - Locations.

(improved - more detail about the chosen locations; what the locations connote; the effect and tone that they could have on the audience)

Originally we had only focused on one location because of the metaphor that the lyrics created, however we decided in order to keep the narrative more realistic we would include other parts of the characters lives. Using different locations also makes the video more interesting and leaves us able to tie in both the performance and narrative aspects of our video.

Our locations include:

• an old style classroom, we're planning on using one of the classrooms at school, which has separate desks - this will provide the examination feel to the room.

The classroom we're planning to use doesn't look exactly like the image below, because many classrooms have been refitted to look modern, however there are classroom within our school that have an older more traditional feel to them. Although, many of the classrooms within the school have white boards, and this is a modern instalment - we're planning on using a blackboard on an easel and we're hoping to create a display that we can cover the white board with, so it doesn't contradict the older/traditional tone.

The use of an older classroom will create the feel of nostalgia - some audience members will have good memories about school and some will have bad memories of school; both of these memories are shown through this single location, because a relationship is forming however the situation in which it happens isn't appropriate because they're in an exam. The whole video shows these good and bad memories, because although not directly linked to school, the older classroom takes people back - perhaps to times that weren't so good, this makes the characters and the narrative relatable to the audience in their own personal way.

• a gig venue

As it's difficult to film in a gig venue, mainly because of the lighting, we're planning on filming in a smaller gig venue where there are local bands playing - somewhere with a more relaxed atmosphere. This will not only be easier to film and we'll be able to film in better quality, but the smaller venue will give a sense of intimacy which, at first will reflect the relationship between the boy and the girl; later within the video, the sense of intimacy that the smaller venue will create - will almost feel like oppression because the only way the boy can avoid the girl is to the leave the venue entirely.

The smaller venue could have different connations to different audience members, as on one side the audience could sense intimacy and love, but on the other hand the closeness could create the tone of oppression and claustrophia; this difference of opinion could be decided on the consumers personal experiences on relationships. Not only could the room/location itself, potentionally, create either the sense of intimacy or oppression, but the crowd of people within the venue could as well - because if there are many people in a small venue, it is harder to move and for people to leave; there is also a greater sense of escape when you finally get out the door.

Music Video Idea

When deciding on the narrative of our music video, we wanted to have a twist so it was less predictable.

Eventually we decided in the main narrative of the play would be set in an old-style exam classroom, and it would be a story about a boy and girl's relationship, which begins in the classroom. The narrative continues and the audience see them at a gig, where they appear to be having an argument, the girl walks off and the boy attempts to follow but when he next see's her she seems to be kissing/flirting with some other boy; however they are just good friends and she's talking to him because she's upset, but her boyfriend interprets it differently and the audience watch the girl try and make amends with her boyfriend as she has noticed that he has seen her and her friend; he doesn't seem to want to and walks off down the street with her watching after her.

We also decided in order to keep the audience engaged, we would include a performance aspect to the video. The beginning of the music video is being shot in a rehearsal room and there will be close-up shots of an amp being plugged in, drum sticks being picked up, a guitar being plugged in and a microphone being placed in the holder, this is to give the impression that the band are setting up.
We're planning to film a crowd at a gig, again to give the impression that the band are playing, however these shots will depend on the lighting and the whole tone of the video - we may decide to have a smaller crowd at a local gig because the lighting is better as the whole tone of the gig will be different.

Shooting Maps

The final shot will be an amp/speaker being unplugged on the last beat of the song. The shot will be similar to the shots in this shooting map.

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Music Video Planning - ideas

Our initial idea involved narrative and performance aspects, perhaps interconnecting them at some point.

• The narrative would be shot in a black and white/sepia tone in an old style classroom; this would contrast with the performance shots as these would be shot in vivid colour to link with the 80's indiepop genre.
• The narrative would basically be following the lyrics, a guy trying to get a girl's attention. However towards the end there would be twist to do with the girl cheating on him but in an unpredictable way so it's not too cliché .
• The performance shots would include views of the crowd, at a gig and close-up's of instruments being played. We thought of starting the song with speakers/amps being plugged in, guitars being plugged in, drumsticks being picked up etc, and on the last beat of the song, a shot of a lead being pulled out, before fading/cutting to black.
• We decided to have the titles and some lyrics, on a blackboard, in the classroom, perhaps using stop motion or using a teacher to write them on the blackboard.
• In order to link the performance with the narrative, we thought the guy and the girl could attend a gig when a band are playing, so that we're using other locations outside the classroom.

Thriller Music Video Notes.

Artist: Michael Jackson
Director: John Landis

Media Forms and Conventions:

-strong promotion of artist, close up on his face.
-rule of thirds.

Genre:

-Chiascuro lighting, genre of movie.
-Contrast; upbeat music and spooky mise~en~scene.
-Lyrics linked with genre.
-Haunted House, weak girl.
-Zombies can move to the dancing.

Narrative Structure:

-Dialogue.
-Have they left the movie? reality and fantasy mixed.
-Diegetic sound from zombies.
-Performance and narrative.

Intertextuality:

-Opening shot, reference to cinema, Vincent Price.
-Background music, spooky sounds.
-Cliche horror.
-Third Man, Harry Lime climbing from man hole.
-The Shining, "here's Jonny"

Representation:

-Equal, not stereotyped race.
-Woman was weak.
-Traditional ending.
-Very 80's, big shoulder pads, big hair.

Audience:

-For mass audiences, every can relate.

Technology:

-Special effects, not CGI

Heeeeello =D

My new A2 media blog for the fabulous year ahead :)