planning

now that i have researched and analysed various music videos, i have a fair idea of what of i would like to achieve for my music video, the different types of camera angles i am planning to use, the location, props, and the actors.

Firstly, i have a few ideas of what I'd like my music video to involve, including a technique used frequently in music videos, (including snow patrol's 'open your eyes'), of mounting a camera onto the bonnet of a car, driving through the streets, in my case, st.Helier and then during editing, speed up the frames using imovie. I am hoping this will create a sense of restlessness and to create an impact on the audience. Another idea i am considering doing is getting some shots of a plane taxing and taking off on the airports runway, again toying with the theme of escapism. Using the beauty of Jersey to my advantage, possibly filming from the plane whist flying over jersey, perhaps at night, would be effective as the scenery and the lights would portray the sense of calmness and tranquility i am hoping to create throughout my music video. My only worry is that because of the lack of light and the fact i would be filming through a glass window, the shots may not come out as clear as i'd have hoped and i may have to film my flight shots entirely during the day which may diminish the romantic sense I am hoping to create.

I also thought that i could capture a majority of my desired shots at the harbour and the beach, because both locations seem appropriate for my chosen song, Boston by Augustana. I would like to film at the beach because like my desired shots of jersey from birds eye view, filming my band on the beach would again help create a sense of romaticisim and tranquality, through the use of natural imagery.

I believe that the music video being created must link in with and compliment the song and its lyrics, and therefore help portray the message and emotions that the artist(s) were trying to express when writing the song. Lighting is one of the more important factors concerning my music video, i am looking to film a significant amount of footage at dusk/dawn, when the sun is lowest in the sky, as i am hoping this will create colourful lighting effects naturally. The visuals will be in muted tones, blues and greys of the sea and the sky, with contrasting tones of orange of the sunset and the sunrise.
My music video will be directed at a younger audience, from around 15-25 age range and to the somewhat 'indie' niche audience. My video will be able to be recognised by this target audience through the use of props, costumes, and camera angles. For example, there will be little use of props throughout my music videos except the instruments being used obviously, to avoid attracting attention away from the band and the sceneary shots. The costumes will include dark clothes, sneakers, skinny jeans, band tee shirts etc to appeal to my target audience as this is what is most commonly worn in music videos, of this genre of music. Boys with hair covering their eyes is also a common niche in indie music videos, perhaps to the reflect the idea that they are unable to become completely connected with the audience and have something to hide. I am planning to use a significant amount of band footage similary to many of mtv music videos, usually on mtv 2, as mtv bass and mtv dance tend to be of more upbeat music videos leaning towards the genres of hip hop, RnB, and dance. I researched 'indie music videos' on wikipedia, and indie was described 'a genre of alternative rock that primarily exists in the independent underground musicscene. It primarily refers to rock musicians that are or were unsigned, or have signed toindependent record labels, rather than major record labels.' Posted on wikipedia was also a list of indie rock artists, some of which i researched on youtube to understand more clearly what the conventions of an indie music video are. For example, after researching the band 'bright eyes' i found that often in their music videos they would portray the lyrics through writing the words down which i found to be an interesting effect and a fairly common technique used in indie music videos.

Some of the camera angels i am planning to use include extreme close up's to express the actors emotions, medium shots and long shots of the band playing which i have noticed in typical music videos this helps to promote the band especially if they are new or unsigned, perhaps some etablishing shots to set the scene, and extreme long shots of the beach and the harbour to create tranquilitly. I am also planning to film the actors with the sun behind them, to create silhouettes of the band.