Long Road Applied Media Diploma

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.

TASK 1
NINE KEY FRAMES

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.

Adele - Rolling in the Deep

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

Super Junior(슈퍼주니어) _ SORRY, SORRY

Alexis Jordan - Good Girl

TASK ONE

Read this article written by Corin Hardy. 

Then download the .jpg and up load it to your blog on a post called 'Music Video - Ideas development (Secondary Research)'

Then write up THREE things that you learned from the article on how to develop ideas for music videos.

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?

How do you think the pitch could be improved?

Find an music video as an example for each of Goodwin's point and explain just why it relates to the point.

For example
There is a relationship between the music and visuals.

In Chemical Brothers' Star Guitar the video is seemingly a view from the window of a speeding train. As video continues and the music becomes more layered it then becomes apparent that the scenery (pasting posts, buildings and trains) is a visual representation of the music - so posts become beats, colour tones change with volume and the pace of the train changes with the pace of the song.

The points you might have a problem with are:

3) Genres are complex and diverse in terms of music video style and iconography.
Choose a genre you like and are comfortable with and find a typical/conventional video for that genre. Explain why you believe it is a good example of the genre chosen in terms of performance type, iconography, narrative etc.

4) Record companies demand close-ups of performer and appropriate representation.
Choose a well known performer and find a video that which helps build their star persona (Marilyn Manson - weird, Olly Murs - cheeky chappy, One Direction - cheeky funsters etc) and explain why.

For more about Goodwin click here

Primary Research

Play your track to at least 5 different people – ideally they should be into the genre of the music you’ve chosen, but at least intelligent and media literate.  Ask them the following questions:

Did you like the track?
What type of person would like this track?
Which age range would you typically associate with this song?
How would you picture the band/lead?
What sort of music video would expect to accompany this track?
If performance, where and what type?
If narrative, what sort?

Either record the answers on your phone camera – or write their responses down.
Upload the responses on the blog and – IMPORTANT – write a summary paragraph explaining 1) what you’ve learned 2) how this has effect your creative process. 

Here is an exert from an interview with Chris Cunningham talking about the pre-visualisation of his music videos. He talked about the pre-storyboarding stage of making a 'graph chart' of the music track.

QUESTION: Do you have the edit pre-constructed in your head before filming?

Chris Cunningham:
"Pretty much. I'd say it ends up that 60% are shots that are designed to go in one specific place and won't go anywhere else. But the other 40% are accidents or tangents you go off on. That ratio is determined by the limited amount of time you have. I'm not sure I'd change that because you have to be surprised by stuff, else it's no fun."

"So much you are going to have to do (in the edit) is already laid down for you (in the music track)"

MUSIC VIDEO TIMELINE TASK

Using the TIMELINE SHEETS, breakdown your MUSIC TRACK into verses, chorus, instrumental parts, key phrases and sounds - (USE COLOURS to help differentiate the parts).

Once you have deconstructed the track - start to annotate the timeline explaining which part of the song is accompanied by what type of visuals.

Try to be as detailed as you can - HOWEVER - this a visualisation to help you understanding the structure of your track and video so use the template appropriately to HELP you.

Here's an example of the wonderful work of Chris Cunningham.

Work in groups of 3.

Taking it in turns play the other two group member at least a verse and chorus of your chosen tracks (using the splitters and headphones). Then using your treatment for reference talk through your ideas for your music video - the key is to communicate your plans as best as you can referring to performance type, mise-en-scene, camerawork and editing.

Ask for feedback on what your group members believe is effective about your ideas and what could be improved or potentially added.

Repeat this process until each member of the group has received feedback on the their 3 treatments.

FOR THIS PROCESS TO BE BENEFICIAL THOSE ASKING FOR FEEDBACK MUST PROMPT THEIR PEERS WITH BOTH OPEN AND CLOSED QUESTIONING. AND THOSE GIVING THE FEEDBACK WILL BE CREATIVE, HONEST AND ENCOURAGING.

MAKE SURE YOU GET CLEAR NOTES AND WRITE A RESPONSE TO THE FEEDBACK GAINED EXPLAINING WHAT YOU LEARNED AND WHAT WAS HELPFUL.