Conventions of a Music Video

Here i have analyised the band which have been of biggest influence to my production, Mumford and Sons, and broken it down to pick out what i believe are thekey conventions into making a successful music video...

Mumford & Sons; Ancillary Research.

Casting.

Here is Leah. She is a high school friend of ours, and has liked Chris's material in the past, so when we asked her to be our model, she jumped at the chance. As a fan of his music, and a representation of the Idealistic target audience, we decided she was perfect for the role.

Here you can she has a vintage feel to her attire. She is dressed in a pair of high waisted jeans, a pair of converse, a yellow knitted jumper and a white blouse, with a big fur jack and scalf. Instead of casting a specific wardrobe, we let her decide, as we thought it would be more authentic if she chose herself.

We are going to use her in our ancillary products as well, as she is very photogenic and would be a perfect model for that too. I also think that if she appears in all the products it will create a more professional feel to it.

Location.

We decided that we wanted to film in the natural environment, as it would be more artistic and calming, which was the effect we were looking for. Also at this time of year, the leaves are golden and falling from the trees and the low golden sunshine would create the perfect atmosphere for the genre of music.

There is woodland just around the corner of my house, with a stream and a valley running down the middle. We decided it would be a perfect location to shoot. It is also the same location we shot our Preliminary task.

We went out into the woodland, to find a suitable area to film. After a while of scouting through the wood, we came across a small clearing just off the beaten track. We decided it was perfect as it was fairly central so it would give the impression that it is shot in the middle of nowhere, in a mysterious location.

 

Here are a few stills to show the location we decided to film.

Filming.

We went out filming the other day together footage. We managed to collect a decent amount of footage, which we would be able to start creating our first drafts with.

Everything went just as we planned on the day; it was a cold sunny morning, which meant the lighting was perfect. Our Model turned up and we started shooting straight away. We used the key shots guide that we created, and then linked them together with other shots, of her or the natural environment. Now we just need to start the editing process...

Storyboard.

Here we planned out several key shots which we are sure we are going to use, because these are the shots we had planned in our heads. We will add more shots in and around these shots, but they all depend on the weather and the surrounding as we're going to see what works and what doesn't.

We have run through what we want to happen and the way in which we will make it happen.

Key Shots

INTRO

Duration/  13 seconds

Description/ Camera pans around, various camera angles and shots. Just before end, Model enters. Rougghly 5 different shots.

Slugline/ Woods- Day

Camera Movement/Pan, Track, CU, LA , MS, LS

Figure Movement/ Shuffles feet through leaves.

Edits/ Cut edits.

Soundtrack/

-No Music at intro

-Diegetic sound of birds and running water.

-No Dialogue.

Shot 2

Duration/ 7 seconds

Description/ Leah moves feet through dried Autumn Leaves.

Slugline/ Woods - Day

Camera Movement/ HA Track along side feet.

Figure Movement/ Walking gently through leaves.

Edits/ Cut

Soundtrack/ "What better place than here - Chris Barratt"

Key shot

Duration/ 4 seconds

Description/  Bare feet in Water

Slugline/  River - Day

Camera Movement/  Fixed HA MCU on feet in water.

Figure Movement/ No movement.

Edits/  Cut

Soundtrack/  "What better place than here - Chris Barratt"

Key shot “You go your way and I'll go min”

Duration/ 4 seconds

Description/ Holding hands and then release with the lyrics.

Slugline/  Woods - Day

Camera Movement/  CU using selective focusing on hand.

Figure Movement/ Release grip after 2 seconds.

Edits/  Cut

Soundtrack/  "What better place than here - Chris Barratt"

Key shot “And what better time than now”

Duration/ 4 seconds

Description/  Pocket watch swinging around neck-

Slugline/  Woods - Day

Camera Movement/  MCU on chest

Figure Movement/ Walking

Edits/  Cut

Soundtrack/  "What better place than here - Chris Barratt"

Key shot

Duration/ 4 seconds

Description/ sat on chair on the other side of the river, facing the other way (enigma) Acoustice guitar propped up next to the chair.

Slugline/  Riverside - Day

Camera Movement/  LS fixed

Figure Movement/ Sat still, looking at pocket watch.

Edits/  Cut

Soundtrack/  "What better place than here - Chris Barratt"

Key shot

Duration/ 4 seconds

Description/ Umbrella dropped open upside down in the river and begins to drift down it.

Slugline/ Riverside - Day

Camera Movement/ Pan as the umbrella passes it then MS to LS as the umbrella gets further away

Figure Movement/ No figure

Edits/  Cut

Soundtrack/  "What better place than here - Chris Barratt"

Key shot

Duration/ 4 seconds

Description/ silhouette of Leah’s head

Slugline/ Woods - Day

Camera Movement/  No movement, MCU LA.

Figure Movement/ No movement

Edits/  CUt

Soundtrack/  "What better place than here - Chris Barratt"

Here we sketched out some ideas of the shots and how we wanted them to look;

The song.

Our Song is "What better place than here - Chris Barratt"

The lyrics are

"

It's not that easy being true to yourself

It's not that easy when you're getting older

It's not that easy being true to yourself

They grey hairs on your head in the mirror

You go your way and I'll go mine

What better place than here

And what better time than now

It's not that easy being true to yourself

You can't deny that you take advantage

It's not that easy being true to yourself

I gave you all I got, you wouldn't have it"

 

and here is the demo recording of the track

 

(insert track here)