After reflecting upon the focus group I spoke to regarding my three main ideas, I have decided to produce a music video.
The group consisted of two males and six females; mostly aged around 17. They all have at least a basic knowledge and understanding of media, meaning that their advice and suggestions seemed more reliable in comparison to a group of individuals without this knowledge. Although, I will test the product and samples with a more varied group of individuals in order to gather a generalised opinion of it. My ideology here was that the group that I used for the focus group would be capable of giving me their opinions based more upon the technical elements of production and marketing, as opposed to a naive and inexperienced opinion given from the perspective of someone who hasn't had experience producing their own products. For example, we discussed the technical elements of shooting the footage; from choosing a suitable and appropriate location, to how I could use mine en scene effectively with consideration into how I would source both of these elements. A group of individuals without this technical knowledge may have suggested an idea which is actually not very skilful, or otherwise, too unrealistic to produce.
After explaining my three ideas, the group seemed to collectively agree that the first idea was the most interesting and achievable. We discussed the unique selling point that the idea presents as opposed to the other two. In addition, all: locations, costumes, props and actors would be easily accessible. Also, the group mentioned that this seemed like the idea I was most passionate about, given that I had thought through a lot of the smaller details and seemed to have developed a very clear idea of what my aims and objectives would be for this project.
To begin with, I had explained the first idea as though it would be produced into a short film. However, the group pointed out that the footage would work well as a music video. Immediately, I began figuring out which songs would be appropriate for this purpose and there are at least three songs that I think would adhere to Andrew Goodwin's lyric theory, as well as work to create a more impactful project.
Aa meeting
webpage open as well as bank statements
Low level
lighting at the end
Casual
clothing from the formal school wear
Faster,
less coordinated shots
Better USP than the other ideas
Debt
collectors banging on the door
Making
obviously Value meals
Perhaps
tries to pay for something at a shop and has their card declined
Young
child? Emotional appeal
Takes place
over 1/2 days or otherwise a long period with repetitive scenes of the same
issues to highlight that this is a drawn out issue for the character
Focussed on
the one female teacher - females and vulnerability
Walk into
tom with one outfit, reverse & come in with other clothes
Abusive
relationship
Dull mise en scene
Council
house 'Limits lie'
Jamie t
Smoking,
drugs?
Artistic/stylised
shots of their journey to the job centre
Walks past
counselling building and lingers but carries on
Train
journey
Lip
syncing
Alternative clothing so stands out form other passengers
Public shooting
Gets gun
out at the end - shock factor
Music stops
suddenly at the end
Relevant to recent global activity - USP
These were the brief notes that I made when trying to think of a few narratives that I could use to base my A level coursework on. I made these notes to document my initial ideas, and show how these manifested in a short space of time (these notes were taken over a 1 hour period).
Beyoncé plays the part of the girlfriend in the relationship
between the two characters on screen. There is an obvious trust issue between
the couple as there are suspects of the male cheating on her. Beyoncé tries to
take the point of view of the male and steps in his shoes for a day. She is
expressing her views of the male species and how they miss signals from their
girlfriends when they are upset and their general attitudes towards life and
relationships.
The whole video is in black and white as opposed to colour
which gives the video an archaic feel. The video resembles that of something
from the past as though to connote a re-occurrence of events - maybe he has
cheated before and it is as plain as 'black and white'. The use of colour could
also represent a gender conflict or opposition between two sexes. Black and
white is used to show contrast and here we can see it is being used for a
contrast of views.
We see Beyoncé, a female, in a man’s role. She dresses in a
police uniform made up of a cap, ray ban aviators, a shirt, trousers and black
boots. This uniform displays a strong role in the relationship and as the
police are seen as dominant figures of society. The uniform makes Beyoncé
appear in control and of fair and honest standards, as though we should see her
view as one society agrees with, so the audience understand her views in the
video through this aspect. In the 50's and 60's a job as a police officer was
seen as a male dominating role and women weren't generally seen 'on the job'.
The black and white ties into this idea as though these archaic concepts are
related to this current event all make her male role more obvious to the
audience.
Beyoncé displays male qualities and things that we associate
with the male gender. For example, through the use of a medium two-shot we see Beyoncé
grab, what appears to be a criminal, by the arms and slam him onto a police
car. This gives a very violent aspect to her character and shows men as violent
species. This gives the audience negative attitudes towards the man in the
relationship and takes sides with her. It is also an unusual viewing experience
for the audience as they aren’t as used to seeing a woman as opposed to a man
act in a violent way.
Meanwhile, through the use of a low angle medium shot, we
can see Beyoncé’s male co-worker acting voyeuristic by staring at the lead's
bottom as she bends over. Her bottom is framed left at an extreme close-up
proximity for the audience, so we are forced to look at her bottom two, given
use almost the POV shot of another male onlooker. The man is also dressed in
the same police uniform as the lead which makes the act of voyeurism seem more
unnatural, almost corrupt of the officer to do so. This makes the audience feel
all the more negative towards the man in the relationship.
In the setting of the shooting range we see the artist
helping the co-worker to improve his shooting. What we are seeing a fantasy of Beyoncé’s
imagination depicting her taking the role of her lover. Again, this is
connoting violence among the male species and helps to build up a negative view
of her lover through a medium close up two-shot. The black and grey shooting
range clothing continues the theme of black and white reinforcing the contrast
between the two genders. It also gives Beyoncé a male appearance to help
establish her role as her male lover. In this violent action, we see a moment
of tenderness as Beyoncé seems to lovingly touch her co-workers Adam, again
through the two-shot. This subtly suggest an attempt to cheat on her partner
which resembles herself, making the audience all the more empathetic towards
the artist. As she is in his shoes the audience feel as though they are in
here's.
We also see, through the use of a low angle medium shot, the
man sitting vulnerably at the table eating breakfast. Beyoncé walks in, takes a
bite of food which he had prepared, looks at the man with hopelessness and
walks out of the door. We feel sorry for the man in scene but our feelings are
translated onto Beyoncé as we are seeing her in the alternate role of the male.
This scene expresses her efforts to make things right between them and the
hopelessness that is mutually felt in the relationship.
Another scene of voyeurism is show through the use of a long
shot jump cut to a medium close-up where Beyoncé is in, what feels like a male
changing room, as she undresses, (a tradition act related to the police force's
culture). She is in a black bra, again continuing the colour scheme, and she
looks over her left shoulder and smiles at someone outside of the camera. We,
the audience, believe it to be the police co-worker, further suggesting the
idea of cheating on the other partner. We the audience are watching her undress
as is the potential male in the changing room.
A master shot shows the lead with her police co-workers,
including the male friend, around a restaurant table. The warm lighting suggests
an environment she feels comfortable in, the mise-en-scene provides a 'diner'
environment with sugar, salt and pepper pots in the middle of the table and the
fact they are seated in the window, typical of a restaurant. The man in the
relationship texts her and she ignores him which directly corporates with the lyrics
of the song. For example, "Tell everyone it's broken, so they think that I
was sleeping alone." This seems to be a repeating convention of mainstream
music videos, to match the action to the lyrics. Again, this builds up a
negative view of the man. Use of medium close-ups are used to show the lead and
the man to reveal their emotions to the audience.
Finally, a clear image is presented to the audience where Beyoncé
is dancing sexually with her male co-worker, the audience see this through a
long POV shot of the male/Beyoncé. A medium close-up is used to reveal her
shock when she realises he is watching and she passes her drink to the
co-worker and walks to her boyfriend. A long two-shot shows her trying to
explain to him but he has none of it. The audience imagine the roles reversed
and emptier is felt towards Beyoncé as we see her upset net and frustration
with him. The colour black again is prominent in the scene as Beyoncé wears a
black dress, this connotes the evilness of her actions against her lover. Black
is also associated with funerals so the black dress could represent the death
of their relationship, and the end of an era.
A break down section is included in the video where the
music is faded revealing diegetic sound of the character's conversation. A long
two-shot is used while they converse again the colour black is evident in their
costuming, Beyoncé wearing the same outfit previously. A clever twist is used
in the dialogue when Beyoncé says, "it's not like I'm sleeping with the
guy." they both say in unison, "what?" there is a long pause,
and the male says, "I said, its not like I'm sleeping with the girl."
This changes him from being vulnerable in the situation to being the
antagonist. Realisation hits the audience and confirms the alternate twist of
views through the video. A medium close-up reveals a tear from the artist 's
eyes and the audience can't help but understand her sadness. We understand the
video is a depiction of her imagination of the frustration of her lover's ways.
In the introduction, there was a long shot of Beyoncé
leaving her home, entering her work vehicle with the male co-worker in the car
and dressed her police outfit. After the break down section the cinematography
is completely copied but with the male in his uniform. When he gets into the
car there is a female police officer in the driver’s seat. We now understand
and can see the bigger picture. Beyoncé is sad over suspicions her boyfriend is
cheating on her with a woman from work. The audience are left feeling touched
and emotional.
The video holds an abstract narrative, the shots are very
abstract with hidden meanings relating to the song. The video also has many
unconventional qualities.
Adele's focus is constantly away from the direct view of the
camera. She never looks directly at the audience almost ignoring them or not acknowledging them. The audience almost feel as though they are watching the
video through the eyes of the man she is singing about. This is because she
doesn't look at the camera as if she is upset with it, like she is upset with
the man in her past relationship. This is very unconventional of videos
including the soul genre that this song belongs to. The artist usually sing
directly to the camera to create an emotional attachment with them and create
empathy with the audience. This is breaking that convention giving a detached
feel to the video.
Another unconventional feature of the video is that Adele
remains seated throughout it. Usually the singer would be shown from a variety
of heights or standing. She also stays in the same location in the same spot.
The fact she is seated could represent that she feels weak from the
relationship break up and staying in the same place could show she is home
bound feeling upset and doesn't want to go outside, she feels trapped. It could
also represent the fact she is such a powerful singer she doesn't need to stand
to wow an audience.
There are repeat use of zooms, especially at the beginning
of the video to draw the audiences attention into the performer or the glasses
of water on the floor. The technique is being used to pull the audience in and
closer to the action. Slow motion is used in the shots of the dancer dressed in
black and is dancing in a room full of flour. The room is covered in black dust
sheets to contrast against the white flour and there is a bright light in the
centre of the ceiling, which joins the back wall. This exaggerates the movement
of the flour when it is flung around the room by the black stick she is dancing
with. It also trails the material that hangs off the dancers costume.
There are many artistic and abstract shots which create
audience interest. One of which is the bottom of the staircase there is a
wooden board stood on iron legs at the left of the frame. Pottery is thrown
moving from the right of the frame and smashing onto the board on the left of
the frame. This is in time with the beat of the music. The person throwing the
pottery remains unidentified creating mystery. The room is dimly light with a
slight spotlight on the area of action. This could be representing paranormal
activity or the violence of her relationship.It could also be seen to represent the artists broken heart or the
permanent damage the relationship has caused. This is also very conventional of
an abstract narrative as it leaves the audience asking questions.
There are two shots that create continuity between each
other when cut between. We are introduce to a room filled with hundreds of
glasses of water covering the floor. When the beat kicks the water vibrates. We
are then introduced to, again, an unidentified drummer under a stair case. The
room is dimly lit with a light bulb above the drummers head. There is a close
up of the drummer using the kick drum in time with the beat of the music. These
two scenes can be seen to relate as the drummer could be under the room filled
with glasses of water, creating sound vibrations to make the water move. Again
this is very abstract and dramatic and makes the audience think and work out
what is going on in this abandoned house.
The next abstract shot we are confronted with is an empty
room with a rounded rectangular dining table, made form dark wood. There is a
city made entirely from white paper which covers the whole surface area of the
table. Above it are 4 light bulbs suspended. An interesting lighting effect is
used her as they dim it creates shadowing over the paper city emphasising the
structures. The light bulbs eventually burst seeing a shower of sparks over the
paper setting it alight. There are shots of the sparks and fire which are very
artistic and mesmerising. This links with the lyric "there's a fire
starting in my heart..." This could be seen as a visual metaphor that they
put so much energy into their relationship that it overloaded and crashed like
if you run to many volts of electricity through a light bulb it explodes. The
fact the paper city burns and is destroyed could be symbolic of the destruction
he has caused in her life and city.
The shot described in the previous paragraph creates
continuity with the shots of the girl dancing in a room filled with flour.
Towards the end of the song at the peak of the climax the flour creates so much
fog you can only just see the dancer. Also the burning paper has created that
much smoke you can barely make out the city structures. So when these shots are
cut together they seam continuous and share similar colour matching.
All of the shots are filmed inside the one abandoned
building. The room where Adele remains has dust coverings attached to the walls
and a square piece of creased material taped to the wall. The chairs and
remaining decor together with her classic black dress and over large bun with
simplistic make up produce a very wealthy and sophisticatedimage. This ties in with the lyric "We
could have had it all..." which is repeated through the chorus of the
song, as the location remains constant this, like the lyric, is repeated
through the structure of the video. The black outfits of all three people are
related with death, funerals and sadness. The song holds a sad theme
throughout. The costume and small cast in very conventional of an abstract
narrative but is breaking the conventions of her genre and mainstream music
focus.
0:01 Mid shot of man's torso
0:04 Shot begins to pull out
0:06 Close up of eye to chin, subject to the right of the frame
0:09 Mid to long shot of a man
0:12 Camera pulls out
0:13 Close up of entire face central to the frame (slowly zooms in) until..
0:25 Close up pulls out
0:27 Close up of faces
0:33 Close to mid shot of male from the side, subject to right
0:37 Close up of faces
0:41 Close to mid shot of central male
0:44 Close up of faces
0:45 Close to mid shot of male central to shot (side profile)
0:51 Mid shot of male torso
0:55 Close up of faces
1:02 Mid to long shot of male central to frame
1:04 Fast zoom/track shot into a close up of the male subject
1:05 Left to right tracking shot (Mid to close positioning with a finishing long shot)
1:07 Mid shot of female subject with dolly zoom
1:09 Mid shot of another subject with dolly zoom
1:10 Mid shot of another subject with dolly zoom
1:12 Close to mid shot rapidly tracks to left of subject
1:13 Close up of male subject with jilted up and down movement
1:14 Mid to close up of the male subject. Large level movement with a slight tilt towards 1:15.
1:16 Tracking shot from left to right of male subjects side mid/close profile.
1:17 Dolly zoom of various subjects from a mid level distance. All subjects central to the shot.
1:21 Slow zoom in to male subject (central to the screen), from mid to close up shot. Fourth wall broken through eye contact.
1:23 Resume of the dolly zooms. Again, mid level shots, Although the camera appears to slowly move out as opposed to moving towards and away form the subjects.
1:26 Mid shot zoomed to close up
1:30 Long shot with low level lighting. Hand held camera used.
1:32 Mid level shot of shoulders and up. Subject central to the frame.
1:34 Long shot of subject and wall, male to the right of the frame and out of focus. By 1:35, subject is in focus.
1:36 Extreme close up of hair/lips
1:38 Mid shot of male using a hand held camera slowly tracks in.
1:41 Tilted upwards mid shot
1:44 Close up, subject to the right of the frame.
1:45
My name's Megan and i'm an A level Media student, also studying literature and health and social care. I enjoy creating various forms of media as it allows me to channel my creative ideas into something that a wider audience can understand and relate to.
