Synopsis for music video:
‘Swing Swing’ – All American Rejects.
The first few shots will be of a phone call between a couple.
The girl calls the boy, The shots are quick (transition between them)
After the phone call we see the boy throw his phone across the floor, and lay back on his bed, it becomes apparent that the girl has broken up with him.
The next shot will be of the boy going to the park, while he is there he has flash backs of when he was with the girl. (dream effect)
{daytime to night time shot?}
The next few shots are of the girl walking to meet her new boyfriend.
The girl and her new boyfriend are spotted going to the park by the boy which triggers another flash back (dream effect) of the old couple under the tree, happy.
The boy walks home, upset. Where he meets his ‘new love’ …
The boy and his new girlfriend are in a coffee shop where his ex girlfriend see’s them and is immediately jealous of him,
The ex girlfriend goes to his house later that night, however his new girlfriend opens the door to her.. the boy slams the door in her face.
The pictures of his new and old love flash up on the screen, to illustrate the change that happens through out the video..
Our brief was quite a wide range of things we were able to choose from however I chose to try and create a successful music video and surrounding work for example we have to produce a CD cover for our practical work.
After we were given our brief we were able to start planning and researching into our chosen area of media that we had chosen for our advanced portfolio. As part of our research into the music video topic we looked at various music videos from all different genres within music. We also took the opportunity to fully analyse two different music videos that took our interest as part of our research, For example I analysed the video for ‘I Gotta Feeling’ by the Black Eyed Peas and the video for ‘Mr Brightside’ by The Killers. I chose these videos as they came from two different genres of music and the videos were very different. They also gave me a good idea of what I wanted our final product to look like. I also took in account what the different people wanted from a music video by making a questionnaire that was able to identify what people wanted from our music video. Our target audience is young people that are interested in more the rock and indie genre rather than the RnB and pop genre.
When we made the questionnaire we were able to ask a range of people from different age groups to fill them out, as it would give us a bigger range of results as different age groups feel differently about music, for example I found out that the younger generation listened to more Drum & Bass and Dance music while the older generation that took our questionnaire preferred Rock and Indie as their favourite genres of music as this is what they had grown up with. After producing the results for the questionnaire we looked into the different music genres in detail and chose a suitable song from our chosen genre which is in fact alternative rock/indie. After this we looked at the different aspects of the music videos, for the example the different shots used, the cuts and the transitions. We noticed that each different genres video had a very different feel to it. This was because the way each video was put together.
We started planning our original video at the start of July after we had gone through the brief for our A2 portfolios and had chosen to make a music video, at first we were working in a group of four. As this group our first idea for a music video was using a song from ‘Hairspray’ and making the video into a comedy video by using three of our male friends to play the parts in our work. However we decided to split the group into two and work separately.
Charlotte and I finally decided on doing a music video for ‘Swing Swing’ originally by the All American Rejects. This song is a rock/indie song. We decided on this song more because of the lyric content than the actual music of the song. For example we chose this song because we could easily base the video around the lyrics, the song is mainly about heartbreak and moving on which was incredibly easy for us to show through out our work. After we finally agreed on a suitable song we started writing a full synopsis on what we hoped to achieve during our video. Once we had completed that we then had to complete the story boards for our work, these included all the shots we wanted to use, for example, high shots, close ups, low shots, tilt and crane shots. We also included the times we hoped the shot would last. We also had to identify the target audience. I believe our target audience is the younger generation so from teenagers to the late twenties/early thirties. But we also had to consider ways we could portray this target audience in our practical work.
As we started to produce our practical work, we were able to use the schools video camera and stills camera for this piece of work, to start our work we had to then decide where would be a suitable place to film, it had to be somewhere we could easily get to and would always be available to us. We then had to decide who we would have in the video; after we discussed each possibility we started filming. The filming took place in a few different places, We used places such as a park, a coffee shop and a friends house. All these places were easily accessible so it worked out quite well for our filming schedule. As we were filming our idea’s had changed slightly and our synopsis had to be changed along with it. During the production of our work, we had decided to use some photographs of the couples featured in our work, we had to use the stills camera and we had to import them using iPhoto and Photoshop. We also tried to use the different shots we had planned to use at the beginning of our work. Once we finished most of our filming we moved onto the editing process.
For the editing we used programmes such as iMovie, iTunes and iPhoto. Also during the editing we had a few difficulties as we wanted the clips perfectly timed which is quite difficult with the clips we had to work with, we had to cut the clips so they fitted in with the tempo and beat of the song perfectly. We also had to order the clips so they would relate to the lyrics at that moment. To help do this we used a range of transitions for example we used ‘Cross Blur’ to link the first few shots of our music video together. We also used just black shots to separate the first shots of our video, to build the story and suspense. The first clips in our music video show a phone call between a couple, it shows the girl breaking up with the boy and the rest of the video shows the aftermath of the break up. It also shows both the boy and girl moving on; it is mostly showing the boys struggle after the break up. As part of the editing we chose to use an effect called ‘Dream’ on some of the clips, to show the boy having flash backs of what used to be.
We also had to flip and reverse some of the clips for our video to gain the desired effect. We removed all sound from the original clips so the only sounds in the music video are the actual song. Also during the editing process we decided to include still frames instead of photographs, we used this because it was able to show the transition between the ex-girl friend and the boys’ new found love. We filmed both of the couples in the same places, so in our music video we were able to show the audience the change as well. However the stills pictures that we included in the video are very rough and when the video is played there is a slight pause, although we have used this mistake as an advantage, as the pictures are of the boy and his ex girlfriend, this mistake could be portrayed as his anger towards his ex girlfriend. However we were able to fix this problem when we added the pictures of the boy and his new girlfriend so the audience should be able to see this transaction between the ex girlfriend and the current girlfriend.
As part of my theory work i had to produce a CD cover to promote our practical work, When i started working on my CD cover Charlotte and I were going to make our video look like a comic so my CD is portraying that idea, however we later changed our idea as we had not allowed enough time to make the video successful as a comic based video. Due to the editing and filming of our work i hadn’t had enough time to start another CD cover for my project.
I have looked into the media theories and i don’t think many of them apply to this piece of media work however there is evidence of Propp’s Theory and Todorovs Theory in both my practical and theory work. As this music video we have produced is in fact a story and so Propp’s does in fact slightly apply. But i have also found evidence for Todorov’s Theory in this work as the video shows both the disruptive force which is the ex girlfriend breaking the boys heart, which causes the disequilibrium and the restorative force is that the boy is able to move on and love again at the end of the video.
In relation to our preferred target audience I feel that we have chosen the right target audience for the content of our video, I also feel that we addressed the audience rather well as it does show some of the ‘teenage problems’ each of us has faced or are currently facing. It’s these sorts of problems that our target audience is able to relate to and it is the sort of thing that will interest them. I feel that it is a good idea that our choice of age range we are trying to relate to is also the same age range as the All American Rejects, which is the band that sang our chosen song ‘Swing Swing’ I feel that this project was a success as it did fulfil the brief and specification. I also feel it addressed our chosen audience and I feel that it was successful in that way. Even though our plans changed greatly throughout the year, I feel that we were able to produce a very high standard piece of media work for the time frame we were given.
I do feel that we could have done things differently if we had decided on our final plans when we were first given the specification, however that said I do think that this plan would have worked better than our first idea as that did seem to difficult to successfully do with the time we had to complete this task.
Also looking back on the research I was able to do into this subject I feel that that it did put me in a better position to make the decisions needed for this project, I looked carefully at each aspect of a music video as I was analysing both the music videos during the research for this part of my portfolio.
I also feel that the practical work and the theory work we have produced this year has greatly improved from our previous work from our AS portfolio. We were able to grasp a better understanding of the media concepts needed in this piece of work, we were also able to use the experience we had from last year and work on the techniques we had used then, for example the 180 degree rule. We were also to put into practice shots such as a panning shot and a tracking shot which we had learnt about while we were studying the different parts of our written AS exam last summer. We have had the opportunity to increase our knowledge and understanding of the filming and editing process this year and i feel that if we had a better understanding of using the programmes such as Photoshop and iMovie our visual work could have been greatly improved. Also i do feel that the practical side of our work could have been improved if we had had more time to do the final editing on this project.
Carrie-Anne Wertheim 4183
As part of our primary research we made a questionnaire to assess the current interests of the viewers, we also used these questionnaires to determine which genre was most popular. And how we could use this information to influence our work.
After looking through all of the questionnaire’s I found out that the persons view does vary due to age, as I have collected information from ages ranging from 17 to 50, this showed me that age can defiantly be a contributing factor to a persons preference towards the type of films they like to watch. I feel this is shown by the amount of genre’s that came up during the research, the genre’s range from horror films to romantic comedy’s. I also asked ‘which part of the film did you enjoy most?’ and it became apparent that people also chose different aspects due to their prefered genre of film, for example some one that likes horror films would most likely choosen the camera angles as one of their favourite parts of my pice of work.
Using this questionnaire i have also been able to edit my work due to feedback i have gotten off of the people that took my questionnaire to assess my work. I looked very carefully at what my viewer where looking for as they were in fact me target audience.
Using information i have been able to look into what a thriller genre really consists of. Also i have been able yo see what people want out of a film. for example its not just the actually shot that counts, music a huge factor in this type of work.
I have also noticed that people have a great attention to detail when they watching pieces of work like mine.
our practical work was lost due to a system failure.
As part of our research we had the opportunity to watch films and trailers of successful thriller films for example:
No Country For Old Men.
Directed by: Ethan & Joel Coen.
Released: 2007
We watched both the trailer and the actual film, This film had a lot to do with the ideas my final media project looked like, such as the variety of different shots and techniques used throughtout the film . The trailer shows the quality of the film in just over two minutes, the attention to detail is shown. The trailer also makes you ask question, it creates a lot of intrigue. Which is one of the key conventions of a thriller film. :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YLfpDBzhFI
Memento.
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Released: 2000
This film used a technique that I thought was incredibly good, and it influenced my work a lot as I chose to use Film Noir in my work just like the director used in this film. In Memento the director used this technique to show flash backs that the main character was having in the duration on my film:
The trailer for this film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vS0E9bBSL0
The Maltese Falcon.
Directed by: John Huston
Released: 1941
I feel that this film may have had quite a big influence on my piece of work as it uses some of the techniques i wished to used on my film. such as film noir. This film is a great example of this technique.
however it does show how the thriller genre has adapted from that to modern day films such as Memento.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRSCV2qc2IY
The Haunting In Connecticut – Trailer Only.
Directed by: Peter Cornwell
Released: 2009
I Feel that this film looks like a good trailer as it does make me ask questions as I am watching it. However I feel that the film seems more like a horror film as it doesnt make you ask question while you watching, which is one of the biggest conventions of a thriller film. However i cannot judge the genre just by the trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBxwSeCNmOs&feature=fvst
Friday The 13th – Trailer only.
Directed by: Marcus Nespel
Released: 2009
This is classed as a thriller however like The haunting In Connecticut trailer i think that it is pushing the border to becoming a horror film,
However it shows a good use of techniques within a short amount of time, for example it uses a great amount of cuts and transtitions in this trailer and there is a good use of binary oppisition of light and dark within this piece of work. I’d love to see the whole film to get a better idea of the kind of quality the film is as the trailer cannot show me that much detail.
I feel that all these trailers and films show good aspects and techniques of the thriller genre and most of then have had some influence on my work. These pieces of work have gave me a good in sight on what makes a good thriller product, for example in all these trailers or films there has been a good soundtrack that has been to make you feel uneasy or full of suspense. I have also looked different shots, transitions and cuts due to this research and have used some these techniques in my work. I feel that after this research i now have a better understanding in the word ‘thriller’ and will use what i have learnt in my own work.
Full Synopsis
A man is seeking revenge for the death of his girlfriend, after she is caught up in a shop raid, and is murdered by six gun people. The man is seeking revenge, and is going to kill each ‘victim’, by shooting them.
The man has six photos of each of the people who killed his girlfriend, and he rolls a standard dice to determine which of them will die. He kills the first victim, by shooting them in a deserted car park. The man leaves the victim lying in a pool of blood and casually walks away.
The second killing happens when the man has rolled the dice and opted to kill the 6th person with his photo corresponding with the victim number. He kills this victim by shooting them in a deserted car park. The man flees the scene and is not seen again, until a fortnight after. The news of the murder is on the local television stations, but the man is lying low.
The third killing happens when the man is walking his dog, and sees one of the victims, he has already rolled the dice and has picked photo number 2. He kills this victim by again shooting them. The killings are beginning to become more regular, and the killer is becoming more daring. The media coverage has picked up and more details about the killer are being released.
The man shoots the fourth victim, by the usual method of attack.
The killer has started to burn the photos of the victims, he has killed, with a lighter. The man is sat at his kitchen table and rolls a dice to determine the next victim.
The photo number he picks turns out to be photo number 3. This is the mans fifth killing. The film, starts at this killing. The man follows a girl, and she soon realises that she is being followed. She starts to run, and the man chases after her. As she runs to her house, the man shoots her, just as she runs up her stairs. He has killed her by the same method of attack . After he has killed her the man says ‘One down five to go’. Again the man gets home, and burns the photo of the victim. He gets home, and as he has done with all the previous killings, he burns the victims photo.
The man now has to kill one more victim, before he has achieved his aim. This one proves to be the hardest. The last person to be murdered is the one who instigated his girlfriends killing. After weeks of stalking the final victim, he eventually kills him. When the man returns home, he burns the victims photo.
Now the man has sought revenge for the death of his girlfriend, he feels he has nothing left to live for. The man takes his own life, by shooting himself in his bathroom. The media coverage is dying down, as the killings have stopped.
Two weeks later, the mans elderly next door neighbour, is knocking on the mans door, to see whether he is okay, as she has not seen him, for a couple of weeks. She pushes the door, and discovers it is ajar. The dead man is in his house and she calls the police and they take him away. The police decide to launch an investigation, into his death, with the help of the old lady. They find out that the man has killed the six people from the shop, and then killed himself.
The film ends with the old woman standing by his graveside, next to his dead girlfriends grave. There are no family members at the mans funeral, as his only family was his girlfriend.
