Write up a personal SKILLS AUDIT assessing your ability in the following criteria. (Write it on a Word document so it can be printed out and then either cut and paste the text onto the blog or upload the word doc.)
Creativity - Researching for new ideas, problem solving, being able to realise and fulfil ideas.
Organisation - meeting deadlines, punctuality, instructing others, creating the necessary paper trail.
Technical - What software skills do you have - what are you confident using? How skilled are you with camera, lighting etc. Also any music video specific skills (dancing, guitar playing etc).
Persistance - do you get things done?
WHEN WRITING THIS UP - GIVE A CLEAR EXAMPLE TO BACK UP YOUR ASSESSMENT. e.g. "I believe I am particularly skilled with editing using Final Cut, for instance the editing I did for the short film Trapped had sophisticate keyframing and use of transitions."
TO PASS AO1 YOU MUST ANALYSE TWO MUSIC VIDEOS. AS A CLASS WE WILL ANALYSE MILEY CYRUS - BUT YOU MUST CARRY OUT AN ANALYSIS OF A VIDEO OF YOUR OWN CHOICE USING THE SAME HEADINGS.
"I think the video is much more, if people get past the point that I'm naked and you actually look at me you can tell that I actually look more broken than even the song sounds. The song is a pop ballad. It's one of these songs that everyone is going to relate to, everyone has felt that feeling at one point. If people can take their minds out of the obvious and go into their imagination a little bit and see kind of what the video really means and the way it's so vulnerable and actually if you look in my eyes I look more sad than my voice sounds on the record it was a lot harder to do the video than it was to record the songs. It was much more of an emotional experience."
1) Intentions - explain what you believe are the intentions of the artist and director - why does this video exist. It could be as simple as 'to promote the single' but think about how the video may shape the idea of the artist for the viewer - does it build on their star persona?
2) Relationship between the lyrics and visuals
3) Relationship between the music and visuals
4) Voyeurism - We often see activities in music videos of an intimate nature - tender moments between lovers, people getting ready for a night out, episodes of reflection etc. - basically a private activity that people don't usually invite the audience of MTV to spectate. Is there any content of a voyeuristic nature? Describe it. What effect does it have on the video/representation of the artist?
5) Intertextuality - shaping of texts meaning by the other texts that may include an authors borrowing and transformation OR a reader's referencing. What references are there in the video? What does it remind you off? Have you seen similar treatments before - where? How does this all influence the effect and impact of the video?
6) Representations of the artist - how is the singer/band portrayed? How they lit, what are they doing, what is their performance like, what clothes are they wearing, are they happy/sad/moody/energetic/soulful/scary?
7) Typical of the Genre - identify the genre of the music - be as specific as you can. Is this video typical of that genre in terms of performance, imagery, mise-en-scene, narrative and representations. Back up each point with reference to the video and other videos from the genre.
8) Who is the target audience - obviously fans of this artist and genre, but can you expand on this? What does this audience expect? What else are they into (alternative culture, mainstream).
9) Why would this appeal to the target audience - which aspects of the video do you believe the target audience would enjoy - the performance, imagery, narrative etc
After selecting your strongest track and treatment the next stage is to develop your idea further and create evidence of each step of the process.
Use your blog like a creative diary so you can record every thought, idea and influence on your work. In terms of how much you upload in terms of your idea development is up to you so think creatively about how you can display your process. HOWEVER the following tasks must be done.
As music videos are often non-linear in terms of structure and narrative a good starting point for getting your ideas together is the Nine Key Frame sheet. The idea is to sketch out what you believe will be the NINE KEY FRAMES of your video - so that's NINE key ideas that could be locations, performance type, shot types, use of props, storyline effects etc. By sketching out you begin to think about shot composition, props needed, how many different set ups you need, how many performers etc.
a) Write up the NINE key ideas/frames on your blog or on paper (it can be scanned in to upload onto the blog).
b) Take a NINE KEY FRAMES template and place post-it notes over the frame boxes and start to sketch out the ideas. Underneath the boxes right short notes explaining the idea/frame.
c) Once you have completed nine post-it notes take a fresh template and then sketch (as neatly as you can) your nine ideas. TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR PRESENTATION SO ADD COLOUR AND DETAIL.
In the Adele video you get seven different set-ups established early in the video - Adele on the chair, Ninja in the dust room, drummer under the stairs, room full of glasses, paper cityscape, breaking crockery. The rhythm in the cuts, switching between the set-ups, is at first consistent and slow. However, as the song and the on screen action builds to a crescendo the editing becomes quicker. This is a compelling video despite the lead performance being done from a chair. The trick is to have a performance that has passion/integrity/authenticity and keep the editing moving to hold the viewers interest.
USING THE ABOVE STRUCTURE ANALYSE A VIDEO OF YOUR CHOICE AND DECONSTRUCT IN TERMS OF THE SHOT TYPES AS THOUGH YOU HAD BEEN ASKED TO RECREATE THE VIDEO
Here's a few examples of good performance based videos:
Conor Maynard - R U Crazy Little Mix - Move One Direction - Kiss You Green Day - American Idiot
The next stage of the process is to start thinking about what track you would like to make a music video for. What is important to realise is that you should pick a track that would lend itself well to task and NOT YOUR FAVOURITE TRACK.
Here is some criteria to help you think about your choice:
Try and find a track that doesn't have a video already, particularly a well known one. Your video should be original rather than a copy.
Find a track that has lyrics or music that make it easy to visualise potential content.
Lyrics are a big help as you can build your video around a performance, instrumental tracks need more abstract imaginary so can be a bigger challenge.
Don't choose a really long track - 3-4 minutes would be fine.
With this in mind: brainstorm a list of tracks and whittle down the list to THREE potential tracks.
For each one - embed the track onto your blog (soundcloud, youtube) and write a paragraph explaining why you chose it.
A key step of developing ideas is writing a TREATMENT. These treatments are then given to prospective clients (labels, bands) who are deciding which directors to hire for their work.
Treatments are about:
Summarizing, a music video treatment is the starting point of every project. It allows the production company to communicate its ideas to the artists and it allows artists to make decisions regarding the direction of their video. The treatment also helps production companies to write production budgets that are accurate and that give artists a complete view of what to expect when embarking on the production of their music video. (http://www.creando.ca/about_us/treatment.php)
They should
At the beginning of every music video project, there is a need to work with the artist to define a desired treatment. A video treatment, also known as video concept, outlines information with regards to what the music video will be about. Conceptually, a music video could show the artist performing the song in front of a live audience or by itself; alternatively, a music video can also present a story line where certain situations and storytelling takes place. Furthermore, it can also be an experimental exercise where random images are shown to complement the music in a more abstract way. All of these angles constitute the treatment, or concept, of a music video.
However, a video treatment goes beyond this exercise of defining the overall direction of the video. The treatment goes down to describe the kind of locations, situations, stories, images, look and feel, tone and color, pacing and so on of the music video. Even though most treatment writers don't follow specific guidelines or structures, a well written treatment is one that can successfully communicate complete ideas to artists. (http://www.creando.ca/about_us/treatment.php)
//TASK 1// LIST WHAT YOU BELIEVE ARE THE 5 MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF A TREATMENT.
//TASK 2// Follow the link to find some treatments and the final video that were created from them: http://outsidevoicemedia.webs.com/music-videos Choose ONE pitch - read it and watch the video.
EMBED THE VIDEO AND CUT AND PASTE THE TREATMENT (MAKE SURE YOU PUT A HEADER EXPLAINING MENTIONING THE DIRECTOR, THE NAME OF THE ARTIST AND TRACK)
Do you believe the pitch was good at communicating the ideas of the director and why?
Are there any differences between the pitch and the final video?
Embed the final version of your prelim music video (MAKE SURE YOU EMBED IT - GET THE EMBED CODE AND POST IT INTO THE HTML PART OF WORDPRESS - IT LOOKS SO MUCH BETTER).
Briefly explain what you had to do and what song choice you made.
Evaluate the following: The Shoot - a) describe what went well when you were out filming. b) describe what you would do differently if you went out to film again.
Post Production a) Which parts of the edit are you most proud of and what works best. b) Which part could improved on and how (better footage, affect etc.)
THIS IS YOUR TEST VIDEO - WHAT MISTAKES WERE MADE, WHAT SUCCESSES DID YOU HAVE AND WHAT CAN YOU LEARN FROM THE PROCESS