Planning - Lyric analysis

 When I was considering which song to choose for my video, the lyrics were very important. By considering the lyrics, it creates more meaning to the video.  This will allow me to to consider the shots and general narrative, when relating to the lyrics. I will use representation in my video to do this. 

The actual narrative behind the lyrics is about a woman who is in love with two men.  I recently watched an interview with Lana Del Rey where she discusses this narrative. She discusses that its about one male that she is currently in a relationship and the other male one from an old relationship, who she is still in love with.  Although she loves her current boyfriend, she also wishes the relationship with the old one had turned out differently. She goes on to explain how the relationship was, which is explained in the verses, then how she wishes it was; explained in the chorus. 
This is not the narrative I wish to use for my video, however the lyrics tie in with my narrative and what I plan to represent through shots. 


The first verse begins to explain the old relationship.  It is described as though the woman is doing everything to impress him, however he doesn't pay her enough attention or acknowledgement; preferring to play video games. "I'm in his favourite sun dress, watching me get undressed" These lines show the idea of this.  She wears his favourite sundress, in order to impress him and get his attention. However, the next part of the lyrics shows the male isn't interested in her sundress and prefers her undressed, to have sex with her; "take that body downtown". The idea behind this links to my video in that, the woman in my video is obsessed with the male and will do anything for him. This is how she gets into drugs and a toxic lifestyle.  He isn't as interested in her and likes to control her as he knows how much she loves him.  These lyrics represent my narrative in that, when the first verse is playing, the shots I intend to use will show the woman dressed up to impress him and looking adoringly at him.  However, the shots of the male will never capture him looking or acting towards her in the same manner. 


The Chorus goes on to display Lana's loyalty to her lover and her commitment to his happiness.  However, she remains unappreciated as her lover is always more interested in 'video games'.  "it's you, it's you, it's all for you" is a line that links to my narrative in the the woman would do anything for the male; the drugs, the fallings out, how controlling her, her getting dressed up, etc. When the lyrics say "I heard that you like the bad girls, Honey, is that true?" its as though she is gathering information on what she can do to please him.  If the male likes bad girls, they don't do what they are told.  Therefore, the lyrics show the girl asking questions in order to change herself to gain his attention. This line is represented in my narrative as the woman changes herself by losing her innocence for the man; she begins doing drugs etc. This will be shown in many shots, including blurred POV shots from the woman's perspective, showing that she is on drugs.  It will also be shown through the happy innocent shots of her at the beginning and the drugged up ones of her at the end.  
    

The next verse refers to Lanas past, when she first began her career singing in old jazz bars and met her ex, who was very rich.  When she met this man, she stopped 'swinging in the backyard' and started 'swinging with the old stars'.  This line links with the fame side of my video. It then goes on to talk about how her life is peak at night, when they can be intimate.  Also, linking with my video as mine intends to be set heavily at night and shows some intimacy.  The lyrics then go on to explain how she gets into a state where she drinks too much and depends on the man to look after her; 'He holds me in his big arms, drunk and I am seeing stars'.  This is represented in my video through the female relying on the male, when she is drugged up.  This will be shown in shots from the paparazzi's point of view of the couple.  As the female becomes more involved in drugs and drink, she becomes more dependent on the male and what she is doing becomes more clear in the public eye.  The general meaning I have inferred from these lyrics is that the woman has changed herself to meet the males standards, in order to please him and get his attention.  She is now glamorous and not as innocent, like in the first verse.  She has also started to be a 'bad girl', like suggested in the first verse.  She has done this through drinking.  She has also done this by playing games with life and love; mind games.  This is referenced at the end of the verse 'This is my idea of fun, Playing video games'.  This narrative links to mine as the woman in my video is changing herself to please the male, by doing drugs and changing herself.  Not only will this be displayed in the shots I intend too use (POV, close ups, over the shoulder etc.), but also through location and costume.  The women is seen as glamorous and innocent at the start, but becomes less as it goes on; no longer having a face full of make up or in glamorous dresses.  The male maintains is attire throughout.  The locations being not at perfect at the end as at the beginning; seen in dirty places at the end e.g. drug dens.    

Overall the general meaning suggested through the lyrics of Lana's song, heavily relates to what is represented in my video.  I can use this by using shots which link to the lyrics, as well as working with my narrative. 

Planning: Choosing a location - Location conventions

Whilst researching into other videos from my genre, it was evident that there were many different types of location which I needed to take into consideration. These ranged vastly from video to video as well as throughout each video.  In most cases there were more than one location in a video.  I wanted to do some research into typical locations of this genre, in order to have a clear idea of the types of locations to approach when planning mine.

Typical locations for an indie music video:

• As mentioned before, it is very common that indie artists have a very low budget when it comes to their music video.  This is normally because they are yet to be discovered, however it is also common for more established to take this approach.  This could follow the idea that artists in this genre want the audience to focus on the music as opposed to the video.
• A lot of indie artists like to film their own performances and have it play in their music video.  They can either take the approach of filming at one of their own gigs, and recreate the atmosphere there in their video. Or they take the approach of playing in a more rural area. This is an example of the band representing a focus on the music.  If i wanted to take this approach in my video, it would be difficult as I would need to find an area which would work.  Perhaps the school drama studio or lecture theater.
• Some indie artists like to take an alternative approach to what I have previously spoken about and tell a story with their video  This often involves many locations; at home, travelling, in the streets, etc.  It also involves the use of actors instead of the artists themselves.  This can be more of a higher budget approach as there will be a lot of travelling around as well as the cost to pay actors.  I like the idea of having meaning to the video, however in order to take this approach I would need accessible transport. 
• A lot of the locations can be very mysterious/ unusual, however link to the lyrics of the song.

Examples of locations:

• Live performance: Arctic Monkey's music video to 'Arabella' shows an example of live performance being used in a music video.  The performance is in what seems to be a house.  There are many close up shots of the instruments being played and the lead singer, Alex Turner, singing.  Although there is also interruptions of the live performance with short clips from around the house, involving other people.  The generally idea of performance and artist focus is followed.  This follows the conventions of this genre because of its simplicity, resulting in focus of the music. 

• Quiet location (story telling):  Lana Del Ray's 'Blue Jeans' is an example of a music video which is more high budget than other indie music videos.  However, the conventions of the indie genre are met through the video telling a story which fits to the lyrics, as well as the location being very quite and simple.  This again shows a strong connection to the music and therefore shows the focus and importance of it. 

Research - Frame size

After analysis of different video for songs in my vintage indie genre, I realized that frame size is something that varies and something which I should consider when making my own video.  A cinematic frame size with the top and bottom of the frame reduced, is one which is most commonly used through many genres of music video.  In my own video, I would like to use a variety of frames.  This will firstly create different points of view and moments in the couples life, but also create a range of moods for different sections of the video. 

Planning: Choosing an Idea

After my pitch with the focus group, I have changed my opinion on which idea to go for.  Initially, I had thought through the first idea in more detail and had vague ideas of the other two.  This was because I always thought the first idea would work best. When talking to the focus group i decided to go with my third idea.  This was because although it seemed the group preferred idea one as the narrative was clear and they were able to have a vivid image of how the video would play out, they didn't think it was very unique, which I think is very important.  I also feel a lot more passionate abut the last idea.
Although I have chosen to go with idea three, as idea two is very similar the two ideas may combined slightly.  The third idea of a toxic celebrity relationship and the second of an abusive relationship, both have overlapping elements.
The video will be shot in a vintage filter and will be almost confusing.  I want there to be a lot of short scenes of all different aspects and elements of their life.  Throughout the whole video the female will be disintegrating and becoming more dependent on the male.
An idea put forward by my focus group was to put in clips of real life toxic famous relationships, e.g. Amy and Blake.  This something I will look into doing at the end of my video. Another example of an  Idea put forward by the group was:

• "An artistic approach towards drug use could be taken.  For example, using flowers to represent the drugs" - I think that this was a good idea to try out as it will defeat some of the challenges that I will face with having drug use as it is a very sensitive subject.  However I also like the idea of the video being very raw and using something to represent the drug use could prevent this. 

My idea's for idea 2 so that it fits my chosen genre are:

•  The indie pop genre I am angling towards with my video, will have a vintage twist on it.  A lot of other artists from this genre do this already and its something I would like to create. 
• The shots and narrative of the video will match the lyrics of the song.  This will ensure that the video follows the aspects of other videos in this genre.
• Examples of other videos that fit the same genre as me are: Lana Del Ray' s Blue Jeans and  Jorja Smith's 'Teenage Fantasy'.
• The actors in the video will be relatively young (18-25) and will be representative of a young generation.  Some of the aspects in the video will be able to be related to by the audience.  The lyrics and video will represent a twisted aspect of their lives.
• The video will represent a dying/toxic love, which is something many people of this age group can relate to.  There are also many famous couples who's love can relate strongly to this narrative;Amy and Blake.  This will also mean the audience can relate to it. 
• This is my favourite idea through research I think that the narrative fits well with the genre and when looking into conventions, the video itself will fit well. 

Chosen song for my music video:

• When pitching my ideas the only two song choices I used as possible contenders was 'Stolen Dance' by Milky Chance and 'Video Games' by Lana Del Ray.  
• When coming up with my initial ideas, I really wanted songs which would have lyrics relating to my narrative.  This is why I chose these two. 
• 'Video Games' is the song which related to the narrative of idea 2 as it describes a toxic relationship.  The music video to this song also angles at a fame side to the lyrics.
• Lana Del Ray released the song in 2012 and since it has had 185M views on Youtube, being extremely popular.
• This song is perfect for my narrative, genre and angle of my video, which is why I have shosen to use it.

Link to chosen song on Youtube:

Planning - Moodboard

Moodboard of the vintage indie pop genre I want to go for.  This moodboard is heavily based on the relationship theme of my narrative:

Everything on this mood board includes things I want to include in my music video.  For example, the shots used in a lot of the images are ones I would like to recreate. I also really like the costumes used in the images.  The look of vintage glamour along with the grungy style used in these images is something i would like to combined in my video. I would try to create almost a contrast between how they are in the public eye (glamorous) and how they are day to day (grunge, rock attire).  There will be a mixture of costume used throughout the video.  A lot of these images are genuinely vintage pictures, e.g. the polaroids, but some have a vintage filter over them which is something I would like to use in my video.  An example of this filter is Sepia.  

Planning - Introduction of main task

 

1. A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options

•  A website homepage for the band;

• A digipak for the for the album's release; 

• A magazine advertisement for the digipak.

This is the brief which I have chosen from the specifications and will be following for my my main task. It consists of creating a music promo video along with two other options.

Why have I chosen to do a music video?

• I chose this brief, as last year myself and Megan explored the elements of film when we did our film opening, whereas I haven't had any experience in exploring and working with music videos.  Therefore by doing a music video this year I will be expanding and furthering my knowledge on different areas of media.
• Creating and planning a music video will be very interesting as its something I haven't done before and I also really like music so it'll be something which I will enjoy doing.  

Which two options have I decided to do?

The first option I have decided to do is a digipak for the album's release.  This is as I have never worked with music advertisement so it'll be something new to explore.  It will also be quite challenging.  Last year when making a film opening, the skills learnt were mainly when editing on premiere pro.  By working on a digipak, the skills learnt will be based a lot more around photoshop, which is something I haven't worked with before.

The second option is a magazine advertisement for the digipak.  Again this would be new territory, where new skills will be learnt.  I think that this would be a very creative task, which would be something new to try.  Even more photoshop skills will be used in this task which will further my skills even more.

Digipak examples

  This is the type of digipak I plan to create for my album release.  I really like the simplicity of this digipak, I think that it's attractive.  This will be created in photo shop, which will further my skills.  The colours, pictures and theme of the digipak will be according to the general theme of the video, which I plan to be vintage.

Examples of magazine advertisement

• This are examples of magazine advertisements, where the artists are advertising their upcoming albums. 
• When looking at magazine advertisements it is clear that each one is visually pleasing, represents the theme and makes clear what is being sold. 
• They are very often dominated by a picture of the artist, along with their name, so that it is clear who is selling, because the artist is the product you are selling. 

Planning - Written initial ideas