Music Video Planning: Test Shots

We have created a series of test shots of the various locations that we wish to film our music video in.
These have been filmed with the Sony HDR - CX Handycam.

These are the first shots of the a location that we plan to film in. This is the car park in which we have decided to film the majority of our performance shots in.



These are the next collection of shots of the Gym that we are planning to film parts of our music video within. These shots show off the areas in which our protagonist will be filmed and give an idea of the lighting that will be given when filming these shots.



The next collection of shots shows the Studio in which we may be using to film various parts of our music video. These shots show off the areas of where the performance sections of the video could also be set. These shots show various lightings and angles we could use.



These are all the majority of the various locations that we are able to get test shots of. Other locations that will be potentially filmed within will include: an old factory/industrial area; a housing estate and a built-up, urban area.

Music Video Planning: Equipment and Lighting

In order to shoot the music video that we plan on creating; we require a collection of equipment that will allow us to film the video efficiently.

Camera(s)


The camera that we initially plan to use to film our video is the Canon 600D. This will give us a good quality resolution to our footage and will allow our music video to look as professional as possible.

However, if there becomes a problem with us using the 600D, we have planned that we will use the Sony HDR Handycam's. This camera is a smaller, more portable camera that will be easy to transport to any locations that we plan to film at, however, it will give a slightly worse picture quality in comparison to the 600D.


Lighting


In order to light the scenes that we will be shooting, we have a variety of options.

For the scenes in the car park, where we are hoping that lighting will be scarce, we are planning to use either the natural light from the street lights. However, if this becomes a problem, we have planned that we will use a car's headlights to light up the scene and a rotolight is also available.

In terms of the chase scenes and other various scenes that will be shot outdoors, we simply plan to use the natural lighting of the scene. However, if any enhancements to the lighting need to be made, we will use one of the afforementioned options (headlights/rotolight)

During the scenes in the gym, we plan to use the lights that are built into the room. These will give a good amount of light to our video, without over exposing the shot. The walls of the gym are also white and so the light will bounce from them, giving an even lighting to the scene.

If we use the studio for one of our scenes, we have various different lighting techniques available to us. We plan to use the "barn door" lights and face them towards the bottom half of our performers to give them a more threatening look.

I will be providing an extra blog post showing location test shots of these areas.

Music Video Research: Why do bands make music videos?

There are many reasons as to why bands and music artists in general make music videos and these vary within their reasoning.



By making a music video, artists are able reach a wider audience by creating a music video. Music videos can be viewed by audiences in the traditional way through TV programs such as MTV. However, due to the increase in popularity of the internet and websites such as Youtube, artists have begun to make music videos more often that will get uploaded to these sorts of sites. These videos will then gain views and the more views these videos get; the more money the artist will make from the revenue that the adverts on the videos earn. More artists are now able to upload their videos to youtube and reach a wider audience whilst also making the same money that they would if they were to only show their video on television etc.


Music videos also allow artists to create themselves an image. Audiences are able to view music videos which means the artists are able to make themselves appear however it is that they, or their record labels, wish for them to look. This image can then be progressed throughout their career and as their fans grow older, the image of the band often tends to grow more mature also. One prime example of this would be the band One Direction who began their careers as more "childish, teenage heart throb" type people, but have nowadays, progressed into being seen as a more mature and serious group.

Music Video Planning: Animatic

Below, I have shown the animatic that we created to show the general idea of the shots that we will be using in the final music video piece. We created a series of post it notes that relate to the timings in the song and took photos of these; I then edited them together in Sony Vegas to match up with the music.

Music Video Research: Product Placement & Synergy

Product Placement is the act of placing real life products into fictional media texts. Product placement is commonly used in the most famous media pieces across the planet, the most famous of these is the countless brands of lager that are shown in James Bond films.

However, product placement is also found quite often in music videos. Examples of this are in Lady Gaga's "Telephone" which showcases different brands such as "Wonder" bread, the "Beats by Dr Dre" and "Miracle Whip".  The products she has chosen to place within the video have been carefully selected to show a representation of the artist and the type of brands in which she would wish to be connected with i.e. Diet Coke; a drink that is seen as being stereotypically for younger women etc.

As well as these examples, this music video also shows examples of synergy as it references other media texts. The video for "Telephone" pays homage to pieces of film by using the "Pussy Wagon" from Kill Bill and by copying the final scene from the film "Thelma and Louise", the female protagonists in each of these films are represented as being strong and independent which would suggest that she wants to be associated with such characters and films.

Synergy is the act of placing references to other media texts into a specific media text. For example, a music video could use a scene within it that is a direct reference to a film etc.

Music Video Research: Focus Group

 

Below I have shown the focus group that we carried out to gain ideas for how we should carry out our music video.

We collected together  a group of our target audience and pitched the ideas that we had for our music video to them and asked them to give us their feedback on the ideas they found that they would like the best and why they thought that way. We used this as a platform on which to build the main idea of our music video.

 

Music Video Research: Digipak Analysis

 

Below, I have shown the video of myself and my group analysing the digipak for David Guetta: Nothing but the Beat 2.0.