Ed Sheeran - The A Team

This video influenced my ideas for my music video. The video is set in black and white, and represents the girl and how 'bad' her life is. I thought this was a good idea, and tried to capture something similar by using black and white effects in my video. The 'A' team is also quite a slow song, and the depressing nature of this video fits in well with this. In my video, the song is also quite slow but a more happy one, so in my video although we used ideas from this video, I tried to make my video capture the idea that her life would get better, whereas in this video her life ends. In this video, shots are taken from above, which gives a birdseye view and looks effective in various scenes.

Cheryl Cole Advertisement:

Although, this advertisement is pretty simple, I think that the image works and is different. The lighting used  on Cheryl makes her look glowing, and the red tones in her hair contrasts well with her eyes and the writing. She is also wearing a plain colour top, so that the focus is more on her face. I think this advertisment looks good.

Ellie Goulding Album Cover:

This is Ellie Goulding's original album cover. I prefer this to pink's album cover, as the colours used are more neutral. The way her hair is done in the air, is very effective and instead of her looking directly at the camera, her eyes are closed looking in the other direction. It gives a more hidden meaning, which would make people want to buy the album. The effect of the 'lights' just make it that more vibrant and prettier!

Notes for actor:

Stand in kitchen against cupboards, looking sad and seem to be in a depressed state.
Wearing a coat, rummage through pockets and pull out an empty cigarette packet. Tip the cigarette packet upside down with a panic look on face. Next, pull out a few coins from pocket and drop them on kitchen floor, focus eyes on the coins to make a dramatic start. After that, put head in hands, look like about to cry and slide down to the floor against cupboard, but knock head whilst sliding down. Drop your head as if unconscious. In living room, sit on the sofa with baby cuddling him with a smiley face, and do it a little blink for an effect.

Then go into the 'dream' state. Stand outside at night, looking at the house.

 Actor then sit on her sofa, holding the baby smiling.

Round friends house, main actor and friends sit on sofa, watching main actor opening presents, while balloons being thrown in air. All look happy and laughing and looking at main actor.

Then for the main actor to be sitting on her bed, looking at her baby scan. Body language to be calm and happy.

Main actor to have her back to the camera, while watching her friends putting up a picture in her new house.

Actor then outside at night, looking at house but the turn to look at the camera.

In the kitchen again, actor wake up from the dream, take the baby scan out of pocket and smile looking at it.

Katy Perry Advertisement:

I think that this advertisement is really striking as although the background is dark, the colours from Katy and the firework are so vibrant and attractive. The fact that Katy is all in blue makes her really stand out against the firework, and would definately catch someones eye.

Pink-albumcover:

This albumcover is very striking, and has a good colour pallet (red, pink and yellow). Pink is also positoned well, in order to attract attention. The cover is definately not boring, however, the flowers and the birds may be a bit too much and look too photoshopped.

Research Katy Perry Firework music video

I like Katy Perry's video firework, as it tries to represent the 'hopeful' moments in life. I think this creates a very moving video, and something I would like to capture in mine. In this video it shows someone who has cancer and someone who is not happy with thei size, but thinks positive, due to looking at fireworks. This is similar to mine, where she thinks positive because of her dream and her being pregnant. Alot of scenes in this video is shot at night time, I think this looks good as the lighting, e.g. the fireworks really stand out. I also like the fact, that in the video it cuts to various different scenes which makes it much more interesting!

Shooting list for my video:

The 1st and 2nd verse:   (All shot in black and white) Pregnant girl, in her kitchen wearing bland clothes and make-up is a mess from crying. She is searching through her pockets and only finds an empty ciggarette packet, she then searches through her purse, and there is little money there. She empties the money onto the floor and throws her purse. In a 'depressed' state she holds her head in her hands and slides to the floor down the cabinet, she then hits her head and falls unconscious.

The 3rd and 4th verse:  (Shot in colour)A close up is then shot of her eyes closed and a dream like image appears of a sunny sky and then a big house to follow. The girl is then in the baby to be new room. She is putting the hand knitted clothes on the baby to be teddys bear and places it in his ready made cot. Possible close up of teddys eyes to go with the lyrics.

The 5th verse:  (Shot in colour) Girl round her friend's house having a baby shower which has been planned as a suprise for her. Everyone is happy and the girl opens presents for the baby while the friends are sitting around with balloons and happy faces. The next shot is the girl sitting on her bed looking at the baby scan and smiling, just a simple natural shot.

The 6th verse: (Shot in colour) Girl putting up picture in her house, possibly with a friend. The next shot is then of her walking along the wall, and looking back at the camera and smiling. The next shot then focuses on the girl sitting on the grass singing and she then falls back onto the ground and shoot a birdseye view of her lating down, with the camera making a spinning effect.

The 7th verse:  (Shot in colour at the start) Girl then standing on bridge looking at all the cars going by. Then edit it to make the cars go by in a fast motion. The girl then turns round slowly and the camera focuses on her face (perhaps lighting getter darker). The next shot is of her face when she is lying down in the kitchen. She then wakes up and gains consciousness, finishing with a little smile on her face. (Final bit shot in black and white, then perhaps when she smiles shot in colour).

Narrative/storyline of my music video:

The storyline is based around a girl who is pregnant and is having money troubles and feelings of depression. Her life seems to not be going anywhere and doesn't know how she will carry on looking after herself, let alone when the baby comes. The video shows her in her kitchen at the start, searching in her pockets for ciggarettes, but only finds an empty packet. She then empties her purse, which doesn't have much inside. She holds her head in her hands, while sliding to the ground she hits her head on the cupboard, and falls unconscious. She then experiences a dream of what her life would be like if she had more money and was happier. At the end of the story, it goes back to her lying on the kitchen floor, where she has gained consciousness.

Timed question:

“Media texts rely on cultural experiences in order for audiences to easily make sense of narratives”. Explain how you used conventional and / or experimental narrative approaches in one of your production pieces.

In my A2 production work, I have tried to incorporate both conventional and experimental narrative. Todorov suggested that there was five clear stages in narrative structure which helps to construct a story. The first he suggested was a state of equilibrium, where any opposing forces are in balance. I tried this in my film, where the girl is shown to be unhappy with her life. Todorov then suggested that in the middle stages there is some kind of disruption, this is clearly presented in my music video as the girl's 'bad life' is in a sense disrupted when she goes into a dream of what a good life would be like. The last stage by Todorov is where a conclusion is drawn and the equilibrium is again presented. This applies to my video when the girl wakes up from the dream, and smiles as she is happy and realises she has the baby to look forward to. I have also tried to use experimental narrative into my A2 production work. The goal of experimental narrative is to create a more thoughtful relationship to the film. In my video I have used various effects in order to help create a more active narrative. At the start of the film and at the end, I have used black and white effects in order to present her life as being unhappy. I then use more colour when she she goes into her 'dream' state, which gives a more clear view to the audience what is happening. Another effect I have used in my video is slow motion I have done this as I believe it looks more like fantasy. I also added in some blurring effects which makes the video look more like a dream. In some parts of my production work, I have tried to link the lyrics in well with what is happening in the video, to make a more clear view of the narrative being expressed. The expression on the girls face in my video is also important as it defines her emotional state. In the beginning she is shown to look depressed, whereas in the video she is smiling.

Ideas:

Before:
* In kitchen looking for cigarettes.
* Looks like been crying.
* Has no money.
* Falls to ground.

Dream:
 *Image of big house.
* Girl looking at her bump, focus in on bump.
* Sitting in a field/grass smiling and happy.
* Girl with friends at baby shower.
* Looking at cars on bridge.
* Walking along brick wall happy.
* In the baby to be new room.
* Girl looking at baby scan.

Ellie Goulding- Your Song Original Video:

I really like this video, it is so simple but very effective. The lighting used is also natural and very warm which fits in well with the song. There isn't really any high-tec effects used, just her and showing clips from everyday life. This is something we want to incorprate in our video as I think it would be something different to the typical 'party' videos.

Change of song choice:

After a long decision, we have come to the conclusion that we should change our song for the music video. The song originally was Bohemian Like You by The Dandy Warhols. Originally, we thought that this would be a good idea as we could put a 'vintage' type style to the video and incorporate pop art images. However, we have now decided that our song is going to be Your Song by Ellie Goulding. The reason for changing the song is because Bohmian Like You was going to be far too complicated and it would have been difficult for the actors to do 'driving' scenes and to get an actual band to play. Using Your Song is far more better as it is much more realted to real life issues such as the lyrics 'how wonderful life is'. We can play on the lyrics of how many people want a 'wonderful life'. I also have much more motivation for creating our music video with this song as I think the song is really warm and unique. The video is also going to be alot more easier to create as we want the video to be natural and therefore, the actors wont have to do that much to make the video look effective.

Setting at Elm Hill video:

We went out to film at Elm Hill, this was a good experience as it allowed us to get an insight into the kind of environment we would like to film in. The area has a very 'natural' feel to it. The cobbles and bricks are quite unique and different, something which would bring creativity to the music video. At Elm Hill there is also a river, which could be another possible place to do some filming as it has a bridge in which an actor/actors could look over and this could look really effective especially if the sun is shining. In the settings video of Elm Hill there is a shot of an rachway covered in leaves, this could look quite magical if effects were used as well. Unfortunately, when we were filming it was bad weather and it was raining, but I think that Elm Hill would be a really good setting especially if the sun was shining, or even if it was snowing. The area is fairly old as well and it was where they filmed some of the movie 'Stardust'. Different camera angles would also define some of the great aspects of that street.

Digital technology.

 How has digital technology helped you to capture your ideas for media production?

Digital technology has helped me to capture my ideas for media production as I was able to create voxpops with the camera, and therefore able to capture more ideas from the audience.

 What benefits do digital technologies offer? Are there any disadvantages?

There are many advantages of digital technology such as the effects you can use to final pieces, digital technology can also make the production of your work more quicker and easier. I suppose one disadvantage could be that if you have all your work saved on one piece of technology and it broke, that would be a disaster.

 How did digital technology influence your work in post-production – for example in the creation of video effects, or the manipulation of images.

Digital technology has influenced my post-production work alot. The programme photoshop helped me to edit all my photos to make them look professional.

 How have your skills with digital technology developed, and how has this influenced your productions?

My skills have developed in the past year with digital technology. For example, the skills to work a video camera and the skills to edit the piece of work. This has influenced my production because I was able to edit my work successfully.