Storyboards PLANNING

Storyboard page 1

Storyboard page 2

Storyboard page 3

Mise en scene PLANNING

The mise en scene in our video will mainly include the set design, location, props and costume. Due our video consisting entirely of stop motion, which is purely still images, we will have to think about the mise en scene at the initial photography stage, and possibly change the framing at the editing stage.

Location

For our location we are going to use Fletcher’s bedroom, this is because it is very accessible, can be made to look the same as in a previous photography session (which could be very handy if we need to reshoot certain parts) and it provides us with many objects to place the photos on and around, such as;

· Two desks.· Wardrobe.

· Walls/radiators/doors.

· Shelves

· TV/Computer/Speakers

· Floor/Turntables/vinyls.

· His bedroom also contains loads of random objects, objects that our audience could associate Owl City with, objects such as; cameras, gameboy, headphones, little toys and random figures, turntables, glasses, etc.

Set design

Set design is another crucial aspect of mise en scene and of the music genre we are trying to use and develop. We will relate our set in some way to the video for Owl City’s ‘Fireflies’ as that is of the same artist and genre and has the intention of keeping the ‘happy’, ‘feel good’ mood.

As we will be working outside we will have to do our best to manipulate the set how we want it to look, but it will be almost impossible to change it in any real degree; however we can control the set design within Fletcher’s bedroom completely.

As mentioned within the section about location, we can include loads of objects from around the bedroom in the video:

·Random items of clothing such as; glasses, belts, bracelets, t-shirts, hats, gloves, scarves, etc.
·Items that can be associated with the genre of electro/pop; gameboy, headphones, retro Polaroid style cameras, retro video games characters, turntables, and other objects that represent music or electro as a genre.
·Other placed items may include; stationary, drawings, random toys, objects that reflect the scene in the printed photos.

Props

Most of the props (properties) within the video have been mentioned in the previous sections about location and set design, though some that haven’t include; breakfast bowl, spoon, cereal and objects outside that we intend on using such as swings, slides and climbing frames.
One of the props Adam uses in his video for ‘Fireflies’ (and probably the main one) is the piano he is playing on, however we intend on featuring no musical performance within our media product so we will have to stick to other items such as random toys and objects from the bedroom.

Colour and lighting. PLANNING

Colour within our music video

Planning the colour within a music video is hugely important as colour can have a big effect on the way a person perceives something and the emotions that are put across. Colour can be used to enhance a certain mood or tone within the music video; however it can also be used very effectively to develop and add to the mise en scene of the set.
Colour in our music video

· Due to the very happy feel of the song there should be a lot of colour used, especially bright colours as they reflect the mood of the song perfectly.

· As well as using bright colours in the piece initially, we can enhance or change the colours in the editing stage, perhaps in parallel with the music.

· The random objects that are needed for the photos to move in and out of can be colourful purely to add extra colour to the scene, we could use items such as headphones, gameboys, toys or vinyl.

· We can use different settings on the canon camera we are using in order to achieve a better overall effect than would be possible without it as we will get brighter and sharper colours.
Hopefully this combination of ideas will help use to use colour to its full potential and enhance our music video perfectly, reinforcing the idea of happiness.

Lighting within our music video

· We will do some test shoots to see what we get the best result with, however some bits; such as when our main character is walking around in the day have to be filmed in actual daylight so you get the impression of time going by.

· If we lose natural light, we have the option to stop filming and resume filming another day, or we could switch to an alternative artificial light source.

· Our final option in terms of lighting is to use the flash that is provided on the canon camera however this could prove problematic as we might get a reflection of the flash on the glossy photo paper, so we would have to be careful about this.

The Meat and Beat, PLANNING

The meat

We decided to use Fletcher in our video as the main character.
The ‘meat’ of most pop songs is a close up of the singers face, as it allows the audience to put a face or an image to the voice behind the song, which is very important as the voice is seen as the most important part of any song, even more so within the pop / electro genre that Owl City falls into.

But as neither Fletcher, me nor James have anything to do with Owl City it is not fair or conducive to represent them, so the best ways to keep ‘The meat’ are to……

· Keep central focus on the main character
· Try to frame the main character properly at all times
· Use Close up shots to enhance the focus on the main character
· Use Camera movement to follow the photos and keep the character in focus

The beat

A crucial part of representing the music and keeping the flow of the video is the idea of cutting the music to the beat or the key rhythm. Hot air balloon has quite a slow tempo in some parts but in others it actually more than doubles in tempo so we will have to cut the images at an appropriate speed. When you upload photos onto Sony Vegas (the editing software we are using) each photo is given a specific time length, so depending on the amount of images we have for that particular shot and what the tempo is like at that point in the song, we will have to shorten the time length by different amounts.
All genres use the same technique when it comes to editing, which is to cut the visuals at a change in tempo or structure, for example in the Foo Fighters video ‘The Pretender’ the visual shots change when the tempo dramatically decreases then increases again, emphasizing the music.

Camera shots, movement and editing, PLANNING

Camera shots

We feel that to make our video the best it could possibly be and look at professional as it can possibly look, we will be using a Canon 1000D which is from Canon’s DSLR professional range, this is opposed to our last project where we used a Sony Handycam. The reason we will be using the Canon over the Sony is because it offers up a range of settings for different shots and types of shot, it will also enable us to get high quality prints which therefore will allow us to create a stylish piece of stop motion media work.

We will be taking particular influence from the PEN story that first inspired us as it uses a wide variety of camera shots that are important in creating a believable and interesting piece of media work. In order to challenge the conventions within pop / electro we will need to use a wide range of camera shots which will allow us to highlight the main character within our narrative and the narrative itself effectively.

We will be using in our media production:

• Establishing shots (ES) – such as the start of the PENstory video – to establish the scene – where it’s set and to establish the surroundings.

• Mid Shots (MS) – These will aid the establishing shots – and give a closer view of the objects in the frame.

• Close ups (CU) – These shots will probably be the most important shots in the video – these shots will give the audience a close up view of the moving photos – allowing them to see the detail in the actual photos as they move. This is vital as the moving photos explain our narrative, even though the narrative has no link to the song, it is important in terms of repeatability, etc.

• Extreme Close Ups (ECU) - Extreme close ups will also aid the audience in understanding the narrative – it will also allow us to pick out fine detail through using one of the specialist settings on the Canon.

The camera movement will be much simpler however, using techniques such as:

• Panning & Zooming – to change setting and cover space.

• Camera Tilt – tilting to various angles using the tripod will allow us to follow the photos up or down, or round sides, etc.

Fast cutting / montage editing

The editing of a music video is another deciding factor as to whether it is likely to succeed or fail as a media product. The editing can determine the speed of the video, the mood and sometimes help to explain the narrative, so it must match the song and be done properly. Different genres will vary in editing styles, so example drum and bass will have extremely quick, close together edits, where as more ambient music often has slower edits and sometimes holds certain shots for a longer space of time, again to match the music.

Other editing includes post-production special effects which can be used to create thing which otherwise would not be possible or just create and enhance things to make them ‘look cool’ (MTV foregrounds the signifier over the signified). A good example of this would be ‘Wanna be in LA’ by the Eagles of Death Metal, as the majority of the video has aspects of post-production special effects.

Our stop motion idea will have to work closely with the tempo of the song, and due to the fact that the tempo within ‘Hot air balloon’ varies, such as at the chorus, we will have to edit the photos and how long they are shown for accordingly. Therefore removing all distraction to the viewer and increasing the believability of the piece and making it run smoother and more stylishly; increasing the repeatability.

Illustration, Amplification or Disjuncture? PLANNING

Illustration is the simplest and easiest concept to base a music video around as it is just a literal meaning to the song’s lyrics in visual form. Owl City have used illustrative ideas in their videos before, for example in ‘Fireflies’ when Adam (The artist behind Owl City, Adam Young) is singing and as he says ‘fireflies’ the word fireflies comes up on the screen to a little toy gadget.
But due to the expense of the printing out process we will be using, our video needs to be kept simple and effective, as if we were to illustrate everything in our video, we would need to involve an actual hot air balloon or at least an obvious reference to one. The one part of the song that offers us the opportunity to use illustration is the chorus; our idea for the chorus is similar to that part in fireflies mentioned above, as we intend to write out the lyrics to the chorus on a piece of card and have them appear as they are sung by Adam Young.

Amplification is closely related to disjuncture, but amplification is just the enhancement of a concept while still retaining a link to it, this technique works brilliantly in marketing and advertising the band in question. However, it will not work for us as our concept for the video bears no resemblance at all to the song, so it would not work as amplification does.

Disjuncture is the idea of basically completely ignoring the song’s meaning or concept completely and instead, create a whole new set of meanings or images that can be put to the song, a perfect example of this would be Can’t stop by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The idea of disjuncture works excellently with our video as the concept we have for the video has no relation to the song or its meaning in any way.

To keep up this idea of disjuncture we will have to:

· Maintain our loose narrative
· Ignore the songs original lyrics or theoretical meanings
· Create our own meanings or ideas, i.e. our narrative
· Use and create new conventions so as to challenge the normal conventions of electro / pop music such as Owl City.

Some shots in the Owl City song Fireflies use disjuncture so this shows us that is works brilliantly with this genre of music and that it can be really effective in creating an excellent visual experience.