How we differed from the storyboard

Originally our storyboard included the use of playing cards, (as well as other games) we have now however decided to focus purely on the rubix cube game and how it has to be changed constantly. We decided that our main actress would resemble the rubix cube as she feels she is also a game constantly having to change to suit others (perhaps her boyfriend). However the main premise of our album is to break the silence and be who you want to be, so we therefore decided the best way to end the music video would be by throwing the cube to the floor and smashing the game (putting all those changes to an end). 

To begin with we wanted to film mainly in the drama studio and only a little in the theatre, but after facing multiple issues with lighting in the drama studio we decided we should film more often in the theatre. This however was a change for the greater, with amazing coloured spotlights in the theatre allowing us to resemble the colours of the rubix cube.

Additionally we found an interesting set within the theatre we were not previously aware of, a DJ booth at the top of the stands overlooking the stage. We filmed a few short clips of our artist, as our song has a strong beat and we believe the DJ-ing allows the visuals of our video to match them (whilst remaining within our genre)! 

We've opted to use less of the band performing and to focus mainly on the artist (perhaps because it singles her out as the main performer, but because it seemed incredibly boring just to use the band constantly - instead we've overlapped them onto over clips which seems more appealing to the eye. 

Editing for our music video

One type of editing that looks effective on our music video is the use of still pictures. We took 12 different stills of our artist holding the guitar at different angles, all in the position of clock hands. We then lined them up along our timeline in the right order and made the speed faster for each individual one. This way when played the still shots would look like a moving image/timelapse of the guitar representing a clock going round. This additionally looks successful as it matches the lyrics of our song through "Don't wanna waste my time on you again", and still keeps the rock feel to the music video.

Editing photos for music video

These photos have been edited on Pixlr with an overlap. I have done this so they can possibly be used within our music video.

Within our song there is a repeated line saying "I am not your game", which is an ideal place to have one or both photos pop up. The top picture is overlapped with Pacman, the most famous arcade game for over 30 years. In addition to the second picture, which is an overlap of colourful circles, which looks like the connect-four game, but even further links to our frequent use of an Rubix Cube. These pictures, when matched to the lyrics of the song will be effective as the audience can easily decode the meaning of the song, as the visuals have a clear link to the lines the artist is singing. In addition it will also make our music video better visually, as throughout the first half of the storyboard the visuals will be in black and white until further on in to the song where these pictures will be places. The change in colour will signify the artist becoming more independent, in which the lyrics imply that she is standing up for herself, compared to the first half of the song, which will represent her in a depressed/angry mood, connoted through the dark lighting.

 

Audience feedback of our location

I have took to social media to ask our target audience about the location we are using for our rock genre music video. This is so I can know we are following what is stereotypical of a rock genre and so I know it is clear to the audience what genre our music video will be before hearing the lyrics. The replies showed that our location is effective for our genre, which is significant as we want our audience to view our music video more than once.

Our Animatic

This is our animatic for our music video, we have completed it so we have a visual copy of our storyboard at hand to view and is a excellent way to keep with the timings of the lyrics, in which the visuals need to match up with. It also enables us to ensure our storyboarding matches the lyrics and the shots we intend to use are decent.

Costume, hair and make up

Make up:

We have decided to use dark black eye shadow and eyeliner on our artist to give a edgy rocker look, as well as using red lipstick to show her confident, independent character.
As well as this we have used extensions to give her hair more volume and style, which will also make 'head banging' look more effective in the end product.

Lip Syncing

Photos from filming

 

Creative ideas for storyboarding

We want to use the Drama Studio as we feel the black curtain will be a good background as its simple (so the attention will still be drawn to the rubix cube) and will reflect lighting well.
We want to use the theme of puzzles, as it seems interesting and unique unlike themes such as love which are common for a music video!
To emphasis the theme of puzzles we have included a rubix cube as our prop. As this is a stereotypically hard puzzle to crack.
We have also opted for a simple black and white effect for the video, as we feel this will draw more attention to the rubix cube and its colours!
The main factors we wish to take from our mindmap is the idea of creating split screen in the shape of a rubix cube and the use of flashing lights to emphasis the difficulty in the puzzle. However we are unsure how we could technically do this, therefore we are going to have to research the use of split screening in this way and using black and white besides the rubix cube itself. Although we are unsure of these techniques we don't want to shy away as we feel they would be excellent for the video itself!


Progress:


Having thought thoroughly about our discussion we have opted to change our prop and concept, as we feel they are more suitable for the song choice (Area 52 - What Do You Want). We have therefore chosen the concept Love, as our song is about a girl wanting to know how she can better herself to her boyfriend's taste in women. And our chosen prop is a rose, as it is a stereotypical symbol of love. For example it is the chosen flower for Valentine's day! One idea we have for the rose is that our actor playing the boyfriend could pass a fully bloomed rose to the artist (his girlfriend) at which point it could die. This would show her anger and upset she is trying to portray in the lyrics!
However we still feel that the location and filter we had originally opted for still fit in with our chosen song. For instance we still feel the Drama Studio would be suitable as its simplistic background with a plain black curtain will not draw too much attention away from our artist's performance (as we want that to be the main focus) and we could add some fascinating graphics without too much attention being drawn away.

Planning ideas

These are a few ideas we have had before planning our storyboard, we have thought about our location in more detail and have decided some of our music video should be set in a urban area with graffiti on the walls. In deciding this we are planning to go to an area such as London and to start our music video in a skate park to give an establishing shot of the type of genre we are doing. Additionally we are planning to shoot some of our video on the Embankment, this is because it will be busy and when the artist appears on her own, it will make her appear more vulnerable and alone. 

Furthermore we have planned who will be in our band to enable us to have a clearer view in directing our music video, to make us more efficient. 

We have also planned what presentation sites we will use in showing our progress, this is so we can express ourselves using different medias.

Progress of planning towards filming

Progress of Planning:

At this moment in time some of our initial ideas have changed and have been modified to attract more audiences. Our plan to have a 'spectacle' genre music video has now changed to a performance and concept music video. We have done this as we would like to focus more on a performance, with our music video based around a band, i would like to include some aspects of spectacle still. This is because it can attract a wider audience, as they are more likely to view our music video numerous of times to decode the storyline better. 

We have planned to try and steer away from doing a narrative music video, this is because audiences are less likely to view the video more than once because they will follow the storyline first time and therefore will not need to view it again to gain understanding. 

Mis-en-Scene wise our main prop will be a electric guitar in which the main artist will be seen with throughout our music video, as well as additional music instruments such as drums and base guitars for the band to use. In using these we will give emphasis on the importance of the music and create a performance setting. Moreover our main artist will be dressed in rock-style clothing such as a black top, checkered shirt, black ripped jeans and converse trainers, to give her a edgy look. To compliment this we will have a big hair style and may also add a colourful highlight to the artists hair to show a out going character and as seen in rock artists music videos like Avril Lavigne.

For our locations our ideas are now centred around a rebel looking girl walking out of her house followed by a smart nerdy looking girl, showing Binary opposites within the first scene. As they walk out there will be a pan upwards, starting with the contrast of shoes slowly following with the contrast between characters clothing. We plan to as this shot pans up, have flash backs overlapping the split screen so that the rebel character is shown with flashbacks of her and a boy arguing and a adult which could be a parent or work boss. In addition the smart looking character will have nice scenes flashing back of her getting praised, showing lifestyle binary opposites also as they head out the house for another day. In which they both state "Here we go again". We initially thought that the characters could be entering the school gates and the rebel character would be kicked out of school, rebelling against it by creating a band. However we want to avoid using a school location as it limits our target audiences to a specific age range (teenage), so want to use a more universal location such as a work job at the moment. 

Levi Strauss's theory of Binary Opposites is the theory our music video will focus most on. This is goof because it has a meaning and more people will want to listen and watch the video because it's interesting. We have decided not to use Todorov's three stages of narrative theory, including the Equilibrium, Disruption and Resolution. We decided this method did not suit our lyrics of the music after practise storyboarding as they have angry connotations from the start and therefore we could not use the first stage as an equilibrium, especially when we would like our music video to be fasted paced from the offset. 

Binary Opposites

Binary opposites in costumes:

 Binary opposites in props:

Music video ideas

Todorov's Three Stage Theory - storyboard

We tried to storyboard what our music video may look like if we followed Todorov's theory where in the beginning of the video's narrative there is equilibrium, followed by a disruption but finishes with 'a happy ever after'! However after experimenting with this theorist, we have decided that the 3 stages will not suit our genre of music (which as rock, is very heavy and without equilibrium)!