All Planning For Third Sail Away Video

The second version for the Sail Away video sadly had to be scrapped as during the editing and post production process it became apparent that the narrative wasn’t clear enough to be a strong video for the song, the bird idea was good in theory but in practice the idea just didn’t show through.

Sail away with me is clearly a light hearted song meant to reflect Summer but as this has now become the third set of planning for the new music video the Summer months have been and gone meaning this video will be based almost entirely inside to avoid the dreary winter weather. This is because the Winter weather is not appropriate for the song and there are likely to be a lot of problems with unreliable natural lighting and weather conditions for both the wellbeing of the cast and the connotation of the video.

Rough Ideas

Drama Studio
From the previous video we discovered that the shots we captured whilst in the drama studio were extremely strong in places due to the fantastic use of lighting, therefore we have decided to keep this location as one of our main locations for the performance aspect of the narrative as we know there is potential in creating a great performance with the right filming techniques and the technology available. In this location we will be shooting our main character (Fluffy) as the singer/performer and our guitarist (Cameron) sitting on a high stool, this set up is often used in live acoustic performances and is often very effective. A range of camera shots will be used, especially focussing on extreme close ups of the guitar and the singer.

Bedroom
A second narrative will be interwoven around the performance narrative to create a storyline and meaning to the video, and to also create variance and maintain the viewers’ attention.
The second narrative will be shot in a bedroom where the main character Freya will be packing her bag to leave, possibly for a fresh start/ new beginning but that is open to the audience to interpret. This visual narrative links to the narrative in the song as the main lyric in the song is ‘Sail away with me’ basically meaning let’s leave this place together.
Alongside her packing there will also be a montage of her trying on different outfits, playing around in them, being careless and showing that she is enjoying the moment and escaping from the strains and stresses of life for that moment. This reflects the overall feel of the summery song, as it is keeping the emotion light and simple, generally happy.

Outside Location – Tree Lined Path
This location will be the only outside location, it will be a single shot which will be the final shot in the video of her walking away – leaving. Hopefully on the day of shooting there will be a good amount of natural lighting as we are relying on this since in previous outdoor shoots the quality of lighting has been poor and caused the material to look bad quality and amateurish.


Costumes and Props
Performance Element
For the performance Freya will be wearing a flowing summery white dress, this will reflect the femininity of the song and the summer aspect, the femininity of the dress will also help Freya to act daintily in her outfit and put her in a positive mindset for the performance. The white dress will stand out well against the black background and will help illuminate Freyas face also as light will bounce off it making her appear a lot brighter on camera. The brightness of the dress will also reflect the uncomplicated, light and peaceful mood of the song. The femininity of the dress also makes her appear visually appealing to the male audience through the idea of the male gaze theory.
To further emphasise her femininity Freya will be wearing high heels, earrings and an anklet, an anklet is very delicate and this will reflect on the character making her appear much more delicate as a person – this is a trait expected to be found in a woman as she is the ‘weaker sex’. The earrings also emphasise the feminine element, but they are used to draw attention to her face and neck once again to promote her female beauty. The high heels will add an element of sex appeal, and also make her come across as mature and elegant; the heels will be beige to follow the ‘natural’ feel of the outfit, as there are no bright bold colours. The colour scheme is to be kept plain and simple to reflect the simplistic message of the song and the naturalistic element of the folk genre.
The minor character in the performance element will be played by Cameron who was in the previous video and we know we can count on as a reliable actor. As the main focus is on Freya he will be wearing dull coloured clothes so as not to draw attention, he will be wearing a grey t-shirt and jeans, this makes him come across as nothing out of the ordinary, and he will be placed in the background to further stress this. He will be sitting on a stool with his acoustic guitar covering most of his torso an will never make eye contact with the camera, this way he stays anonymous but the guitar – which is a vital instrument within both the song and the genre - will be clearly visible.

This scene is quite minimalist in a sense of props as we wanted the audience to focus on the personality of the singer and the music as opposed to the material aspect as this is what the folk genre is based upon. The only props used will be a microphone with stand, a tambourine, a guitar, a stool and an amp.
The microphone is used to give the viewer the idea that this is a live performance, but the fact that there is no audience within the scene makes the performance personal, a one on one session between her and them, this then draws the viewer into the song. A stand is used for the microphone so as to prevent too much movement or playing up to the camera as we wanted to keep it simplistic to reflect the genre, whereas if it was a rock song for instance there would be reason for having a lot more energy and a lot more movement in the performance. The amp will also be used for the purpose of creating the feel of a live performance.
The acoustic guitar as aforementioned is crucial as it is a key element both within the song and the folk genre, it also adds to the performance element.
The stool will be used for Cameron to sit on; this layout with the singer standing centre stage and the guitarist on a stool in the background and to the side is a regular set up in acoustic live performances. Therefore maintaining this layout within our video creates the most realistic performance as possible, and it is a layout the viewer will recognise therefore making it more approachable to them.
The tambourine is used to draw the singer into the musical aspect of the song, showing she is not just a ‘front man’, she can clearly establish the rhythm of the song, this makes the song appear much more personal to her which the audience will appreciate her as a ‘serious musician’.

Bedroom Scene
In the bedroom scene Freya will be dressed much more casually, and more colourful, this reflects her excitable mood as she is packing to leave for a ‘new beginning’. There is a montage in this narrative where she is singing parts of the song in a range of different outfits as if she is trying on her entire wardrobe, this once again gives her feminine traits where clothes and image are a very important part of a girls’ life and they can tell a lot about a person. The outfits chosen are a range of colours and styles, they are all dresses, one is completely red, showing passion and possible danger, another is black and white check with a red sash showing that she is more conservative but with still a slight aspect of fire within that, another is a retro style stripy black and white dress with hat and gloves showing she is fun loving, another is black and sparkly giving the impression she is a girl who likes to party and can go out and have a good time.
The main props in the bedroom scene will be clothes, shoes and the suitcase as within this narrative she will be seen packing to leave.

Cast
Freya – Freya is a fun loving, bubbly girl that really reflects the summer feel of the song in her own personality, when shown the song she was really excited about it and thoroughly enjoyed the song, she was prepared to learn the lyrics and within a day she wouldn’t stop singing it. This showed promise to her being dedicated to the project and one who can be relied on to both turn up to shoots and act well in character. She is petite, with a short quirky blonde haircut that compliments her petite facial features, her look definitely fitted in with the song, especially in the sense that she is pretty with blonde hair and blue eyes (much like Bex from the original first video) giving the impression that she is sweet and innocent.

Cameron – Cameron is clearly reliable as he was one of the few that always turned up to shoots when he was part of the cast for the second video. When I told him we were scrapping the video and had to start a third he offered to help out behind the scenes if we wanted, so when it became clear that we wanted a guitarist he was more than happy to help. Once again having an enthusiastic cast member shows reliability.

Storyboards

Shooting Maps

Shooting Schedule

Music Video Analysis - Florence and The Machine - Kiss with a Fist - Use of Minimalism and Surrealism

The entirety of Florence and the Machines video, Kiss with a Fist is filmed in an empty white room with few props. Of the props used there is a heart shaped wreath of summer flowers, a bed made to look like its on fire a white box and different coloured hanging decorations. Other than these, the video focuses almost entirely on Florence Welch in colourful child-like clothing as she plays up to the camera.
The use of shooting the video in this way is that it guides the audiences focus to the main character and to listen more carefully to the lyrics without being distracted by any background features or locations. This way the audience clearly understands that the video is a linear narrative reflecting the action in the song, this is made even cleared due to the emphasis created by the symbolized bed on fire alongside the lyric ‘I set fire to our bed’.
The video opens with an extreme close up of Welch’s eyes surrounded by a soft black border, this is the only extreme close up in the entire video which is unusual since a common convention in music videos is the general use of extreme close ups. Her ‘bedroom’ eyes are used to stun the audience and draw in especially the male audience; it’s a way of capturing the audience’s attention and hooking them. It quickly cuts to a medium close up of her head surrounded by the heart shaped wreath, this fills up the entire frame with appealing summer colours which also attracts the viewers eye. It suddenly cuts to a medium shot of her in the centre third of the frame with nothing else except the white background. She contrasts strongly against the background reflecting her as a colourful character. Over the next 6 shots she dances playfully and child-like, never taking her intense eyes off the camera. Through this technique the audience are pulled in to the narrative being treated as the person she is describing in the song, ultimately becoming personally involved in the story.
The following medium long shot introduces the bed with the wreath hanging above it alongside the lyric ‘I set fire to your bed’, here Welch is laying on the bed and at this point it is not ‘on fire’ but it cuts quickly to a medium shot of her holding the wreath again and quickly cuts back to her hopping off the bed as it begins to catch fire. This technique is used to create ellipsis so only the vital action is shown; the audience can fill in the gap without any form of violence being shown. This technique is used again straight after as it cuts away from and back to the bed where it is suddenly completely on fire. The fire is symbolised using clear coloured plastic sheets blown up by a wind machine. This represents the death of love that she is talking about in the song, especially as the heart shaped wreath is at the top of the bed which would eventually be destroyed, on the other hand this could also represent the passion in the relationship and the fire in the violent fight she is describing.
Another way in which the violence has been symbolised is through Welch aggressively attacking these hanging ornaments with a stick, the ornaments of which are also red further connoting fire and passion. Later on in the video she attacks the same ornaments but they are blue, this could represent the male character as blue is linked with a boy when a baby is born; also the male character in the video is wearing a blue t-shirt so it could link to him, futhermore the stick she is using has a baby pink bow tied around it which reflects the female element.
There are some strong references to Alice in Wonderland in this video through the use of costume (her striped knee length socks), the use of low angle shots (making Welch appear as though she is shrinking(1.40)), the use of quick zoom (to make it look as though she is shrinking(0:43)), canted angles to create confusion (much like a dream or nightmare(1:20)), and the surreal shot of her in a long shot on the left third of the shot a close up of her legs running away in the right third of the shot(1:45). The reference to Alice in Wonderland is most probably the inspiration for the surrealist video as the story itself is very surrealist.

Regina Spektor - Better - Video Analysis

Regina Spektor is an artist with similarities to Ruth Bewsey (the artist for my music video) therefore I thought it would be interesting to analyse the representation of a similar artist. This video for better is interesting in the way that it doesn’t objectify her, unlike so many of the conventional videos of today.

The video opens with a very well balanced long shot of Regina standing in the middle of a field. The shot is divided very clearly with they sky in the top half, the horizon line in the centre, the field in the bottom half, and Regina dividing the two in the centre. This clean layout reflects the clarity of the song, the purity of the girl and possibly her naivety in how she pictures the world to be so perfect. This establishing shot is quite a long shot as it lasts for 5 seconds. The following shot heavily contrasts with the previous as it is an extreme close up of Regina’s face; she frames the entire shot where no props or locations can be seen. With a very crisp layout once again her lips are in the dead centre of the shot, the bottom half of the screen is filled with black from her outfit and the top half is her face framed each side by her brown hair. The shot once again being very natural, her clear complexion contrasts beautifully with the black and this makes her red lips even more striking. Once again she is represented as very pure leading to the idea of naivety once again. This shot also lasts around 5 seconds.
The following shots are very surreal. It cuts back to the original layout but instead of being a long shot the camera is slightly closer so it is set as a medium long shot. She is in dead centre once again, standing back to the camera alone. Then a large group of girls appear as they run up the hill breaking the line of the horizon. These girls all seemingly being cloned versions of Regina. This contrasts with the original setting as it was all so natural but the idea of cloning is extremely unnatural, leading to that surreal effect. It cuts to a close up of her leg in the right third of the shot and the girls running up the hill in the distance, but the shot is in shallow focus so only the leg is in proper focus, this distorts the girls faces so the audience still believes these girls are all actual versions of Regina. Using match on action the camera cuts to the ‘original’ Regina’s reaction to these girls, a head and shoulder shot where she breaks into a childish smile. It then cuts to a sideways view of a pair of legs running in a medium close up and cuts back to the shallow focus shot. At this point the camera returns to the shot of her smiling as she is in the centre third of the screen. As the other girls enter the shot in the left and right thirds she breaks into an even bigger smile really revealing her excitement and happiness at her new friends, just like a child.
Through a range of about 10 different angles and shot types including an extreme close up of her lips, close up of her face, medium long shot of her singing in focus while the girls dance playfully in the background out of focus, and other angles of the girls dancing including shots of their legs prancing about. Regina is represented as a character that is experiencing nostalgia, looking back on her childhood days and remembering through these girls the simplicity of being a child once again.
This idea is carried out through the song in different times of the day and different locations including playing under a tree which could connote a family tree or tree of life and youth. Another time/location being mid afternoon as the colour tone is more golden where there are a handful of boxes in the field and all the girls have a red oriental umbrella reflecting the common childhood memory of playing dress up with mum’s clothes or pretending to be a princess with props from the toy box. Another element being a little later in the afternoon when the sun is low and there is a real golden glow reflecting off a piano, this adds a performance element to the original narrative but rather than running parallel it is interweaving so as to maintain a real time element adding to that natural simple feel carried out through the song. During these different scenarios the shots become a lot quicker lasting between 2 and 3 seconds, this maintains a pace to the video to prevent it from dragging on.
Towards the end of the video another character is introduced, the little ‘drummer boy’, he is once again very similar to her with the frizzy brown hair, and they are dressed in the same outfits, but he is used simply to further emphasise the nostalgic idea of childhood by introducing an actual child to the video as opposed to grown up girls with childlike qualities.

Jack Penate - Be The One video analysis

‘Be the One’ is a video with a performance based narrative that I have decided to focus on so as to better understand what filming techniques work successfully in shooting performance.
The video begins with an out of focus wide angle shot of the church-like location and pans down to reveal a bright light containing distorted black figures in the centre third of the shot, this draws the viewer in by plotting an enigma; for the unfocussed camera work creates a supernatural effect forcing the viewer to ask what or who these silhouettes are and their reason for being. Within no more than two seconds it cuts to an extreme close up of one half of Penate’s face looking down with his hair covering his eyes creating wonder as the viewer cannot place his expression or emotion. After a quick two shot of girls with trumpets, it cuts back to a close up of Penate’s eyes looking directly at the camera. With the light coming from behind him it is not a flattering shot, it reveals the dark circles under his eyes and bags, areas of his face are in darkness and he appears to be in anguish. It then cuts to a close up of his feet with one tapping conservatively but the tight black trousers and scuffed dull shoes seem to be repressing the movement they wish to make. Another quick cut back to the girls with trumpets and it becomes clear that there tears drawn in glitter on their faces, this further emphasises the idea of repression and sadness.The video cuts back to another shot of his eyes. At this point all shots but the establishing shot have been extreme close ups but as the music kicks in the video cuts to a low angle extreme long shot, in this shot the lighting is warmer and less harsh, and the revealed unconfined space gives Penate the freedom to move and to mirror this the camera now moves more freely, it pans up from his feet in a medium close up to capture the movement of his whole body.
Once this new idea of movement and freedom is introduced to the audience this message is further strengthened by the iconic extreme close up of the symbol reverberating with glitter flying off – this incorporates a sense of magic with the positive connotation of hope.
The camera cuts back to a long shot of the band, it then zooms in giving the effect that the audience is being pulled closer towards the band. The lighting is used here to make each member appear angelic as each individual head is framed in light which is ironic as it reflects the window art found in churches of biblical characters such as the Virgin Mary, and the location of the video is also set inside a church. The use of lighting in this way carries on throughout the video.
At this point the song is at the chorus, during which the camera never takes still shots of the action, the camera is always moving whether it be panning, tracking or zooming. This creates a sense of chaos reflecting Penates state of mind; it also adds creates variation throughout the video to help successfully maintain the audiences attention and reflect the speed of the song. But once the chorus ends and verse begins the camera alternates back to a combination of still shots and shots with little movement, the lighting also becomes a lot less bright and more controlled. During the verse a use of close ups are used on Penates face especially his eyes much like the shots at the beginning of the video, there are also long shots of the band but it mainly focuses on the lead singer.
As the chorus kicks in once again a parallel narrative is introduced which consists medium close ups of people dancing in slow motion, all dressed in black in front of big white flood lights, they have little relevance to the song, but they are there to represent freedom of expression and the idea of magic or religion giving you the opportunity to free yourself. These shots interweave between the performance narrative; cutting back and forth between the two narratives every few seconds.
At 2:42 in the song a chaotic mess of clips is used to reflect the chaotic music, this consists of very quick shots of close ups of the glittered symbol being smashed, a medium close up of Penate in the parallel narrative convulsing, very shaky close ups of Penate dancing in the performance narrative with the camera pulling left and right. This further entices the viewer as they try to understand what has just happened, why has this character suddenly just lost control like that?
It then cuts back to a medium shot of Penate and the band looking around and catching their breath, with this the video resumes to its previous state of cutting between the two narratives. Toward the end of the song the second narrative is focussed on more, as it focuses on different dancers but slowly more dancers appear to be in shot until it seems as though it is simply a night club. With that the final shot pans across all these dancers in front of the white lights with Penate left at the end alone beside the crowd out of the light looking like he doesn’t belong. It finishes with a fade to black.