All Planning For 'Sail Away' Music Video

The song and the artist
'Sail Away' by Ruth Bewesy
Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/ruthbewsey



Lyrics:
I got sunshine on my face,
Rain aint fallin’ around here,
Birds are singing the same song,
Feelin’ chilled, aint nothing wrong.

And it’s a great, great place I’m in,
Why don’t you come on over here and…

Sail away with me baby,
Sail away.

I got sand between my toes,
How I love how this feelin grows,
Kids are playing, they’re real near,
Nowhere else I’d rather be than here.

And it’s a great, great place I’m in,
Why don’t you come on over here and…

Sail away with me baby,
Sail away,
Sail away with me baby,
Sail away.

Sayin buh bye,
Sayin buh bye,
Sayin buh buh buh buh buh buh buh bye,
Buh buh buh buh buh buh buh bye,
Coz your sailing coz your sailing away

Sayin buh bye,
Sayin buh bye,
Sayin buh buh buh buh buh buh buh bye,
Buh buh buh buh buh buh buh bye,
Coz your sailing coz your sailing away

Original ideas

Cast:
The video will focus on a single young, innocent looking girl who will be captured enjoying the carefree, romantic innocense of her teenage summer. This girl will be filled by a school friend, Rebecca Wood, as she is a close friend we feel we can trust her to be reliable, this is also backed up by the fact that i have worked with her in the past for my photography, this is a bonus as it gives us the knowledge of knowing how she works and acts in front of the camera. Another advantage is that Rebecca has been cast from outside the media group meaning she will have no discomfort or prejudice during editing and less prejudice during shooting as there would be if the character was cast from within the group as found in AS during the production of the thriller opening. As the video will be shot over the summer holidays all involved know each others schedules and can work around them to have plenty of time to shoot the video. The main reason why Rebecca was chosen for the role was because of the way she looks. She fits in with the 'natural' look that is promoted in the music. Rebecca is a very pretty girl with natural dusty blonde hair and blue eyes, she is slim and has a warm skintone. She regularly wears simple, unprovocative clothing which means she would suit the look chosen for her in the video.

Costume:
The costume chosen for the shoot is very simple, it is a plain white flowing summer dress, bare feet, a head band and little make up and red lipstick to connote a very innocent look but in comparison the red lips will add a sense of beauty, femininity and glamour, it could also be argued that they emphasise the girls innocense as they could be a reference to the stereotypical virtuous 'English Rose' style, also as the song is a country/folk style song the innocent fresh look will complement the genre as it is also related to an innocent and uncomplicated lifestyle. The head band will be a 'bando' which is in fashion with young girls at the moment as it has been seen on the likes of Mischa Barton. The bando is a hippy style headband, this adds to the laid back feel as the hippy era was renound for the carefree teenage generation. It also shows that even though the girl is not represented as a mainstream teenager that fits in with a particular clique or social group but that she is still fashionable which gives the impression that the song is fashionable also and will prevent isolating the fashion orientated audience. The simplistic look creates a laid back summer feel which is the look required as the song is very light hearted and summery. The simplicity of the outfit also makes sure that the audience isn't focused on the materialistic aspects of the video and are more captured by the story narrative.

Location:
As the video is going to be a linear narrative based around the lyrics of the song it is immediately obvious that the location of the video should be based around the beach, as the song is called 'sail away'. Also, the song is a very summery light hearted song, and the beach is also a very light hearted place to escape to during the summer months so the two go hand in hand.
The two shooting locations used are Lowestoft and Southworld as these have been recommended as picturesque beach locations, they also both contain beach huts and a pier which are two locations required for the video. The beach huts will be used in a montage where the girl is out the front of a range of beach huts pulling a range of different poses, the same idea will be used in front of the pillars beneath the pier, she will randomly appear at different pillars in time with the music.

Props: One prop used will be a paper boat. The boat is a strong link to the song title 'sail away', a paper boat was chosen as opposed to a toy plastic boat as it adds to the simplicity of both the song and the video, also the use of a toy boat could be seen as tacky whereas the paper boat is created out of a more natural substance - paper, this keeps in conjunction with the very natural, innocent portrayal of the folk genre. The paper boat is to be used in two separate scenes, firstly in a stop motion sequence where the boat 'sails' over mounds of sand which are used to represent waves, the boat will also be used in the final sequence where the girl sets the boat onto the water and it sails away into the open sea.
Another prop that will be used is pebbles, pebbles will be used in a sequence similar to the 'boat on sand' sequence. The pebbles will be used in another stop motion sequence where they come together and dance around on the floor randomly, they then form together in the shape of a sailing boat where they sail out of view. The pepples are another simplistic prop that further add to the natural feel of the genre, they also help with continuity as they are naturally found on the beach.

Ice cream will also be used as a prop in a sequence where the girl is balancing along a wall childishly with the ice cream in one hand, she will suddenly drop the ice cream on to the floor 'accidently', this shows her childlike side, this is also a classic scene that people see whenever they go to the beach so it is a scene that the audience can relate to. The scene will be kept lighthearted and humorous as when the camera pans up from the smashed ice cream to capture the girls reaction she is found laughing at her own clumsiness.

Storyboards:

The establishing shot will be of the sun in the sky, it will then pan and rotate down to reveal the character aknowledging the sun then looking down and drawing a picture of the sun in the sand, the camera will then pan back up to its original view of the sun, it will then rotate quickly so that the sky becomes a blur, it will then pan back down to reveal a different action. It shows a long shot of the girl running out of the sea, she runs towards the camera until she goes out of shot on the right of the screen, she then reappears up close to the camera, she puts her hand over the camera making the screen turn black.

She pulls her hand away from the lens to reveal once again a different action, she playfully beckons the camera to follow her, she bends down and picks up a handful of pebbles, bringing them into shot, she then backs away and puts one pebble down on the ground. The camera cuts to a close up birds eye view of the pebble. At this point a stop motion sequence takes place where more pebbles move into shot and they dance around in a circular formation, they then form into a boat and it 'sails' off to the right of the screen. The camera then cuts back to a medium, long shot of her walking away from her pebble arrangement. The camera crossfades to her still walking away from the camera in a medium. long shot, but this time she is walking to a row of beach huts.

At this point the camera cuts to a head on medium shot of the girl in front of a beach hut pulling a pose, this continues in a montage like fashion for the next few seconds where she is seen pulling different poses in front of different coloured beach huts. This then crossfades to a shot of waves crashing up against a wall, and cross fades once again to show the girl stumbling along the wall with an ice cream in hand, she drops the ice cream and the camera pans down to the smashed ice cream, it then zooms into a close up and pans back up her body to reveal her laughing at her own clumsiness.

At this point another stop motion sequence begins, this time it is of a paper boat traveling up and down two mounds of sand which are used to represent waves, the boat moves over the 'waves' then comes towards the camera seemingly getting bigger then exits to the left. After this another montage begins but this time it consists of the girl posing beside a group of pillars under the pier.

Finally as the song draws to its end the action becomes more tranquil where there is a shot of the girl sitting on the rocks releasing her paper boat into the sea, she then walks away down the beach leaving nothing but her footprints, which are washed away by the sea - it's as like she was never there as there is no trace of her left.

Cross fade to the final shot which is of the little paper boat sailing by itself on the sea. Fade to white.

This is a shooting map of the video, it is set in the same order as the storyboards.

Shooting Schedule

Southwold - Monday August 17th

12-2.30 - Crashing waves scene

12.30-1.30 - Paper boat released into sea scens, walking down shore/ disappearing footprint scene

1.30-2 - Opening scene, Sky -> pan down to drawing sun in sand -> pan up to sky

Lowestoft - Tues September 1st

11-11.15 - Pebble Scene

11.15-12 - Pebble boat stop motion scene

12.45-1.30 - Under the pier scene

1.30-2 - Beach hut scene

2-2.30 - pan down from sky -> reveal girl running out of water -> covering cam with hand scene

2.30-3.15 paper boat on sand stop motion scene