Music Video Research

Music Video Research

I wanted to know more about lighting, superimposition and colour - these videos really helped: -

The first video is a music video, the second is a piece on how the music video was made.

The stages for creating a music video are: -

• Once you have chosen a song, write down and sketch the images that first come into your head when listening to it.
• Then, make a story (or timeline) including your initial images.
• After this, decide what sort of vibe you want your music video to have; you should already have an idea about this as your images should reflect this, for example, me and Yasmin want our music video to be heart-warming and romantic. Think about and list ideas for camera work, mise-en-scene aspects, sound, and editing techniques that will help to enhance this vibe. For example, Yasmin and I plan on having some slow, flowing pan shots of the river and natural setting to evoke a sense of peace and to reflect the flow of the water; we want the natural setting to signify a happy place for the lovers and indicate that their love is natural, unstoppable and fated. We would like to add some darker more greyscale treatments when the couple are apart, and have them gradually get lighter as the couple get closer to reuniting so that when they reunite the shots will be natural or enhanced with colour to show that the couple are happy and meant to be together. For the sound, we plan on having the song run all the way through the music video, and we are thinking about overlaying the laughter of the younger versions of the couple for a shot where they are playing by the river. This will be not very loud and perhaps in slow motion, and will give a sense of nostalgia and happiness.
• The next step is to storyboard your video and then finalise this, and think about how long each take would be in relation to the song - this means roughly working out how long each section of the song is and fitting the shots in adequately.
• Then decide on your filming locations and make sure that your are allowed to use them; then ensure that when you film you frame your shots well and that they also reflect the vibe of the music video. For example, me and Yasmin use many wide shots to represent the couple's loneliness in separation but we also use close-ups to portray the deep feelings of the two characters involved.
• The next stage would be deciding on cast, costumes and props. For the cast we wanted a young boy and a young girl who would look similar to the older boy and the older girl in the film, as they would be the same characters just grown-up. This is why we chose Lottie and Jess, as Jess is Lottie's older sister and they look similar, and Fin and Teo because they have the same coloured hair, eyes and similar skin tones.
• When you set up to film check the weather; me and Yasmin only filmed the shots of the couple together on sunny days to emphasise their love. This meant that we only used natural lighting, we want the piece to be naturalistic through the setting and emotions displayed but also slightly stylistic through the choice of props - the sunflower that we use symbolises the couple's love and friendship. When they are together the flower is there - right up until the end when Jess' character realises that she doesn't need the flower to remind her of her love for Teo's character: she only needs Teo's character.
• Decide which shots would be better to film first, for example if you want to do wider shots perform them when there are no other people around (unless you want other people around).
• Once you have filmed, copy, save and back-up your footage before doing anything else! 
• When editing, put the shots (trimmed to the length you want them) in order on the timeline of the song, and then begin to trim them again and edit them together to build up the story - whether the video is narrative, performance or concept based. Think about the shot transitions as well as the lengths - for example in our music video Yasmin and I have included some cross fades; the two main ones show a shot of Fin (playing the young boy) looking at the camera (breaking the fourth wall) fading into an image of Teo doing the same, and then we have this again but with Lottie fading into Jess - this shows the passing of time without taking up to much of the timeline, and it introduces the audience to the older characters.
• One you have finished editing watch the whole video and adapt anything that could make the piece better; for example, we have to be sure that our video is continuous as we are telling a story. This means that our match-on-action shots, and lighting/treatments, have to be precise.
• Lastly, if there are any copyright issues that you have to address make sure that you address them at the beginning of the production process and keep to them in order to make your video professional and legal. For example, at the end of the music video have a black screen with some small white righting across the bottom stating the copyright details; this is okay to do as it is done in professional music videos.