Music Video Changes

During our filming we have used our storyboard as a guideline although through some reconsideration, we discovered more professional ideas for some of the scenes. This occurred when editing as we found that the footage we filmed was not enough, therefore we had to rearrange scenes in order to fit the music successfully and follow a realistic story-line.

 - We have not included the scenes at the train station, instead we have added in some POV shots (http://aimeekmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/camera-techniques-pov.html ) and more scenes of the singer (Danny) singing with the guitar. I believe by doing this it will introduce the female to the audience well, and early enough in time for the chorus, and to understand the music video.
- The photo of the couple is also included in the video, although we have used a print out in which we can show it burning later on in the video, which is different to our first idea of it in a photo in the frame. Danny takes the print out from the bin instead from under the bed where the audience will see that the photo has been scrunched up out of anger and sorrow.
- Although we filmed Danny putting his coat on and tying his shoes up, we decided to not include these scenes as they took too long, wasted time and we didn't think they were necessarily needed.
- We were thinking of ending the video with Danny burning the photo of him and the girl, but we put this clip further back as we thought ending with sun shining through would be more appropriate.
-Another change that we made was the actress playing the girl. As we were running out of time and it was hard to get hold of our original actress, we all decided that it would be more ideal to use a member of the group, therefore I, myself am playing the role of the female.
- We also decided not to do the compilation of images at the end as we felt there was enough of the couple happy in the music video so give the audience the impression that their relationship was loving and strong.

Props List

In relation to our genre we need to make sure we have the appropriate props to fit in to the scenes and make it seem as if it is the artist environment, these will consist of props with a vintage or retro feel. Additionally we need to incorporate the main props that can link into the lyrics and narrative of our Music Video, therefore putting an image to the words to make it clearer to the audience.

The props that we will need relating to our narrative...
+ A lounger or bed in which the Artist can lay on.. "So I'll Lie Here"
+ A pillow.. "With your eyes closed, and me as your Pillow"
+ Bed Sheets and accessories.. "I know i've found contentment in these sheets"


Other props...

+ Acoustic Guitar... This is one of the main props that will appear more than once. This will feature as an important piece due to the guitar being a typical convention to indie acoustic genre, and will additionally help the narrator and artist be identified by the audience. This will act as the narrator's master shot which will include shots of him and the acoustic guitar in various different locations.

-Here is an image of Ben Howard with an acoustic guitar








+ Bench... We will need to use a bench near the end of the video to add a climax to the storyline; the artist will see his lover (the one he has been singing about) and see she has moved on. This bench and scene will symbolise the end of the relationship.

+ Bag... For the female scene's a handbag will be an obvious and reoccurring item in the music video, this is as it is an everyday item, and will show the age of the girl. This will represent her as an everyday female.

We also had an idea of the male carrying a male bag in some scenes as this will add to the male carrying his own 'weight' and troubles now he is no longer with her.


+ Sofa... In addition to the bed we needed a place in which the artist and his lover could be together, indoors to show the warmth and comfort of their old relationship. We will then contrast this to the male being alone.

+ Stereo Player for the opening scene...

+ Clock
+ Photo Table
+ Coffee
+ Leaves
+ Swings
+ Photo Booth/ Photos

Camera Techniques- POV

During filming we discovered that we were lacking in shots of the couple together. Therefore in order to build the narrative of the song, this was vital, as it would give a personal feel to the video. Our inspiration came from Calvin Harris' music video for 'I Need Your Love'. In that video , the point of view camera technique is used which we felt would be suitable for our video.

Whilst filming, we experimented with this technique in everyday situation with the love interest included. For example, the male (Danny) filmed the two of them sipping coffee at a cafe which looks as though they are having a laugh and so brightens up the video. We then uploaded the POV clip to the Mac and inserted it into our video which we thought looked really good. Therefore we have decided that we should film some more similar clips for the narrative to run more smoothly. Locations could include, in bed, walking in the outdoors, a park. The POV shot is a brilliant way for us to bring the video to life as it really builds up the characters in the video. Developing the characters also allows us to enhance the narrative and so we end up making a video that can relate to our audience.

Similar Music Video's and their Conventions

In this post I will talk about the Conventions we have decided to use in our Music Video, and similar Music Videos and Artists that have also used them. Most of the examples I will use are a good representation of the Indie Genre, although they all may have their individual sub-genre's.

Narrative within the Indie Genre
In many Indie Music Videos there are a combination of performance and narrative; the narrative is mostly filmed in a contrasting and dissimilar location the where the performance footage is based; an example of this is in One Night Only's 'Say you don't want it', where the narrative is in the city and is busy, and the performance is on the roof of the building, just outside the city, where it is free and empty.

To complete and apply this Convention of narrative theory to the music videos, I have found a narrative in the Indie Genre in which I can analyse and make sure we can attract the audience in the same way.

In Kate Nash's Music Video for 'Foundations' I found that the lyrics link to the action is the scene, such as when the lyrics ' and I know that I should let go, but I can't...' are sung the couple are holding hands until the words 'let go' are sung. This links to an aspect we were interested in applying as in our lyrics when the singer says 'go to sleep my love...' the female character of the relationship in the video will be laying on the bed and a close up of her eyes closing will be filmed. The narrative is represented as a casual, average day, in which our scene will be as firstly the average day of when they were together, and now when they are apart; the Artist 'Kate Nash' is singing to the camera, whilst getting on with her everyday life.

Editing Technique- Overlay
As we have decided to create an overlay of scene's in the middle of our Music Video to show the Artist
singing alone, and the overlay of a previous time when the characters spent their time together there happy.


Olly Murs song 'Dear Darlin' is a perfect example of when this is used, as he uses an identical location but overlays him and his ex-girlfriends past times and fun they have shared in that location whilst he is singing alone of the bed about losing her. From this video you can tell that this Music Video is effective as the similar narrative and love story can be represented by this technique and help the audience understand the emotions involved in the song, which links to the Artist himself. To complete this in the most professional way possible we would have to film twice in the same location, with the camera running throughout; after we would have to edit it on final cut pro, by cutting, overlaying and tweaking the opacity of the image to make it subtle and appear a memory.

Editing Technique- Filter/ Camera use
The effect we want to portray in our music video is that of a warm and comforting video, despise the narrative behind it. The hue we want to create it that alike the colours and hues in Ben Howard's video, 'Keep Your Head Up'.

The filter of this video creates a more exciting feel to the Music Video and draws the audience in to watch for the rest of the song.

Another convention of the music video we are using are the different Camera shots we will use, in which will make, what could be, a boring love story into something more eye-catching and emotional. This is used in the Music Video on the left when the character is sliding down the water slide, the worm view perspective, the handheld showing shots of the reaction shots whilst sliding down the hill, and the birds-eye view assist the video in having a more exciting aspect and captures the listeners attention.





Lip- Syncing
The use of lip-syncing was important for us as the narrative will be happening around the Artist through an overlay and the 'average day' happening around him; the song in which is being used diagetically.

The Artist Daughter uses this is their song 'Still' this was influential and a linking convention to our Music video as the use of the artists image being presented on the T.V and the narrative working around it reminded me of our Artist sitting and having the narrative around him. This is effective due to the creativity but the unhappy narrative explains and shows the audience the details.







Binary Opposition Urban and Nature
The use of the Binary Opposition will be used due to the contrast we will use of the Urban and natural setting. This convention is used in Ben Howard's 'Only Love' video.

We firstly see Howard riding his bike, at a low angle capturing the power and the sunlight through the tree's. A jump cut is then used to show an urban setting in which the cuts are in time to the beat of the song, this adds interest and the audience want to know where the character will end up, why and for what? This is a convention that we are going to use.

Music Video- Final Idea

The ideas that have been brought up throughout the process for our Music Video, would all have been very effective and create an interesting aspect to a typical 'love story'. The idea of the Omniscience we decided was not suitable for our Music Video, but instead we made the Artist the main character in which was involved in the break up himself, such as Olly Murs in the video ' Dear Darlin'. This will work well with our narrative as it will show the singer in the past and the present, and the audience will hopefully relate to the Artist.

Music Video Techniques...Split Screen

An idea that was brainstormed in our group was a split screen edit, in which throughout the video the audience will see a variety of perspectives on the scene. Through our research we found that this can be shots of the location that the narrative is based on, where the music video was filmed and a personal perspective of the characters in the scene; also if it is a band performance, the camera can identify the different instruments used by using the split screen to focus on the individual band members. The idea of a split screen can effect to the music video that provides the listener, or audience with a better insight of the narrative, band and music video.

This idea, I feel will be a good edition and aspect to our Music Video as the love narrative could be shown through the personal perspective of the male and female of relationship, which the narrative is based upon. The different emotions and feeling of the relationship, and the breakup will be expressed through this editing technique.

Here are some examples of other Artists, although not Indie, where the split screen has been used-

The Narrative of Daniel Powters' Bad Day, is similar to the music video in which we would like to create as it is based upon a break-up. The cross cutting shows the couple, now split, getting on with their lives after the break-up day in and day out; what effect it has had on them and how they feel emotionally. The questions asked by the audience, such as 'how' and 'why' are answered due to this technique also; initially you can see that the couple are not happy without each other. The singer is acting as the God Figure, as he is not the character involved in the relationship but is in some of the same locations of the character, although they cannot hear him, this is a convention of Omniscience.

Michael Jackson's song Billie Jean, again is not in the Indie Genre, and is not initially about a break-up but it is about lust and a girl. The screen split in this video is used by using props, in this case, a lamp post to separate the two different scenes in the narrative. This is a different way in which we can use the split screen idea, as we can shown the couple in the same location at different times, but have them on the same scene, and split them with an object, such as a tree, lamp post or a wall.

Development of Planning

Its clear through research and analysis of different Indie videos, that certain shots, editing and types of mise-en-scene would suit our video perfectly. 

One of the ideas that came through recently was split screening, by having the artist telling the story on one side and having the protagonist and the narrative on the other side. This has been used in a number of indie videos and in addition they use narrative as well. 

Another idea is to contrast Urban and Natural, by reflecting his feelings and the mood of the song. This is used in Jason Mraz's song 'I'm yours' which is a great example of the convention working well, by showing the bad and good things in his life (Binary Opposition). 

Another idea that we have come up with for our video is a 'God figure' (http://aimeekmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/omniscience-god-figure-idea.html) , this has also been used in a number of genres and a countless number of videos. Daniel Powters 'Bad Day' is an example where the artist plays a godly figure and narrates the story. 'Divine intervention' is also a possibility as it would mean the godly figure has a part to play in the story and not just a narrative role. The 'godly figure' also works well with the split-screen as seen in the 'Bad Day' video.

Narrative in Music Videos

In our lessons we have looked into the Theories of music videos, a lot of them relating to narratives.



Narrative in Music Videos on PREZI