Music video - chosen song and ideas

Bastille - Icarus

Idea:

The music video will be composed of three sections:

• Present
• Future
• The main characters imagination

• The video would open with a teenage girl getting out of bed dressed in a large jumper and jeans, her clothes are slightly dirty and her make up is smudged. 
• It would switch to a clip of her sitting outside in the same clothes (in the dark) surrounded by lots of papers. 
• It would cut back to her in front of her mirror and she would put on new make-up, then her in the kitchen pouring herself a coffee before then pouring some alcohol into it. 
• She is then outside and the camera is following her, she gets bumped into and avoided as she walks through town and down empty alleyways (the singer would be seen performing in the streets and in shops etc whilst she is walking, almost following her).
• As she walks through the town the camera would focus on newspaper clippings in shop windows and posters on trees and lampposts showing pictures of the singer labelled missing and then an article saying that he died from drink/drug abuse. 
• It would then cut back to the clip of her in the dark ripping up bits of the paper (which are now clearly the same articles) gradually getting faster and faster. 
• The video would then progress to her walking past a shop with a couple sitting outside it laughing and drinking coffee, she would then speed up to a run, the clips focusing on clips of the boy, faces of people as she pushes past them and her burning the papers in a fire. 
• Finally the video the video will stop with her coming face to face with the singer, the camera would slowly pan around so that it is an over the shoulder shot, then zooming in showing the girls face with tears and smudged make-up. 
• It would then zoom back out to show her standing in front of a grave, then finally cutting to her lying on the floor in the dark next to the fire.

Audience research

Representation in music videos
What do you think are the main music genres?
What are the main things you associate with a Pop music video?
What are the mains things you associate with a Rock music video?
What are the main things you associate with a R&B music video?
What do women usually wear in music videos?
What do men usually wear in music videos?
What props are normally used in music videos in general?

YOUR ideal music video
What do you like to see in music videos?
What image do you prefer an artist to have on in a music video?
Do you prefer music videos featuring predominantly male artists or female artists?
How long do you think a music video should be?

Representation - Gender

Males
*High status
*Players
*Dominant
*Surrounded by submissive woman
*Rich
*Lots of loose cash to throw around
*Lots of drugs
*Lots of drink
*Gang orientated
*Gangster
*Macho

*Violence
*Poet
*Cute
*Have to work out
*Genre trend

Robin Thicke - Blurred lines

Woman
*Sad
*Heartbroken
*Emotional

*dancing
*performance

*sex appeal
*sexuality

*set their own trends
*Individuality
*Make up
*Costumes

*Focused on relationships

Here are some videos that show the range of representation of woman in the media, these three videos are mainly focusing on the more sexual portrayal of the woman in the media, however some of them (e.g. lady gaga) are putting their own spin on it so that it is actually ironic or shows how woman want to be presented. The scouting for girls video openly uses the male gaze in their video.

The male gaze - "The majority of cameras are males admiring females so the camera lingers longer on females and sexual aspects of their bodies"

Scouting for girls - She's so lovely

Lady Gaga - You and I

Lily Allen - Hard out here

Technical codes for music videos

Camera shots
The video will often include a range of different camera shots, this can range from extreme close ups to extreme long shots. This helps to tell the story but also give different points of view (maybe the singer is being watched or followed) and also allows the viewer to watch other things on the screen besides the singer so that they don't get bored.

Sophie Ellis Bexter - love is a camera        Rihanna - Russian roulette        Panic! at the disco - this is gospel

Camera movement
Editing
Post production digital effects
Post production digital effects are things that are added to the music video after it is filmed to help add extra touches to the video or make it easier for audiences to view it. this can be done through a variety of techniques, some helping to make the video more visually interesting or different and others just to help the viewer understand what is going on in the video.

CGI - this includes the use of green screens and special effects within the video so that the musician can add a strange element to their music video to help give it more of a story or just make it look weird and more interesting. This is shown in Katy Perry's E.T.:

It is also used in Linkin park's Waiting for the end:

Lighting
Mise -en-scene
Mise-en-scene is the costumes, make up, hair and general setting of the music video. Most people generally associate it with the costumes, hair and make-up that the female artists where but it does also reference to the clothes worn by male artists as well as the set or location that they have chosen to film their music video in; whether it be to help tell a story or just because it looks good.

Costume:
Katy Perry - Roar








Lady Gaga - Telephone

Location:
Bastille - Pompeii