Animatic

This is the animatic that we have created, to produce a more visual idea of what we want our video to look like. We have included all the shots from our storyboard, and have also played the music in the background, so that we know specifically when shooting our video, exactly how we want the shots to link in with the lyrics and the beat of the song. I believe that this animatic gives us a good idea of what our video will end up like, and I think we have constructed it well to give the desired result.

However, if we were to re-do this animatic: there are a few clips in the sequence that come on just slightly before the music in the song crescendos and so these would need to be slightly changed. To show a more dramatic change to the music and to highlight this change, it would be more pleasing on the audience if the shot changes as soon as the music does, and so an element of surprise is also present.

Contacting Record Company

In order to complete our music video, we have had to abide by all copyright laws and had to write an email to the music company of our artist. Therefore, we have sent an email to 'Island Records UK' to ask for their permission to use the song "You've Got the Love" by Florence and The Machine.

The email below shows this:
















Copyright is a form of intellectual property law. It protects an author or creator from his or her stuff being pirated and used without permission. Abiding by Copyright Laws, is something that many bands and artists take extremely seriously and music licensing is very important for almost any musician. "The mechanical copyright protection society (MCPS) exists to ensure that when a music CD is pressed, the writers of the works featured on the CD are paid a royalty from the pressing of it". Without Copyrighting their song, is means that it is open for any one or any artist to use, which could potentially lead to the re-recording of the song, without the artists approval. As well as having a copyright law on songs, there are also laws protecting written material, photographs and any other artist footage.

Lighting

Lighting the set is very important when creating a music video, as this is how you are going to be able to see what is going on and how you want the shots to look. There are two different types of lighting you can use, natural light - which can make the shots appear realistic and artificial light - which can be used to reinforce a specific element of the filming and can also be made to look realistic.

In college, there are basic artificial lighting equipment that are available for us to use. These are all portable and can be taken around with us when filming our music video. These include:

- 3 'red heads' of 800watts per lamp.
1. A key light: a main source of illumination: monitors the intensity/brightness of the light.
2. Fill light: crosses the key light, controls the contrast between the key light and any darker unlit areas. Can create or diffuse shadows.
3. Back light: set facing the key light and positioned high: this light separates the subject from the background and gives the shot more depth.

- 3 stands
- Spare bulbs
- Gaffer Tape
- Gloves
- Crocodile Clips
- Gels (different colours)

It is also possible for us to take out reflectors which can be used to reflect the natural light from the sun onto the subject. It can also be used to bleach out cast shadows. Before filming, it is important that all lighting is checked through the camera before recording, as it may appear different on screen to how it does in real life.

In our music video, where possible we are going to use all the available natural light sources. If this is not possible, we are going to use simple and cheaper ways of lighting our set. This may include using everyday light bulbs and lamps, Halogen garden lamps and battery powered lights when there is no electricity available. In scenes such as the flat scene, we will be using a combination of these, as there will be natural light coming in from the windows, but the main light bulb in the socket will be used to add more light to the room and to focus more on the subject.

In the nighttime scene however, we are going to have to rely on the lights around Brighton Pier and the surrounding street lamps to light our set. However, this may work for us, as we are trying to create the theme of nightlife, and having the scene slightly darker than everything else will represent this well. If we do find when shooting that the scene is too dark, then battery powered lights can be accessed to brighten it up and to focus more on the characters.

IMPORTANT

It is very important when handling any lighting equipment that you follow all safety instructions, to make sure that everything and everybody is safe and free from danger when working. This is the job of the directors of the video (us) to make sure that any actors we are using for the shoot are in safe hands, and cannot be effected by a fault in the safety of the lighting.

1. Always make sure that any loose wires are properly taped down to the floor with strong gaffer tape, this makes sure that they are not an obstacle to either the actors or the people filming.

2. Take care when handling all lights, as they may be expensive and easily breakable.

3. When lit, lights and barn doors become very hot, so it is vital that you always wear gloves to protect yourself from burning your hands.

4. Make sure that you use proper diffuser gels, as baking or tracing paper can easily catch fire due to the heat of the lights.

Health & Safety

Location: College

There are a number of health and safety procedures that we can follow whilst being in the college location, and it is important that we keep ourselves and the actors in our video safe.

Cables: it may be possible that cables and wiring coming from the lighting equipment may be trailing on the floor or placed in an area that interrupts with our filming. Therefore, it is crucial that all lighting cables are taped down securely to the floor, so that it is impossible for any accidents to occur. This will also make it much easier for us to film, as we will not to climbing over loose cables.

Confined Spaces: one of the areas we plan to film in around the college is a small office space. Therefore, because of this it is important that we clear away all un-used clutter so that there is enough room to be able to film sensibly, and not get in each others way. This is also important to create the best shot we can, and to have the right amount of space to set the camera up and to film properly.

Location: Eastbourne

After discussing in our group about practicalities, we have decided to change the location of our filming to Eastbourne instead of Brighton. We found that Eastbourne still offered us everything we needed and we plan to use the Beaches, Pier and Botanical Gardens to create the shots for our video. By changing our location it will make it much easier for us to access, and will mean that we can get much more filming done in a day after cutting out travel.

Mise-en-scene

Setting/Location:

Start: The start of our music video will be of a young, good looking girl, dressed smartly for work, coming out of her flat. We want to use this our first establishing shot, to set the scene of the video. This will show her independence and how she is a motivated focused person, despite her own personal problems and the stress that she deals with in her life. The building will be a working class block of flats, and this will be either our own personal house/flat or a friends. We have decided to use a normal working class flat, as this will appeal to all types of audience and people can easily relate to the character.




This is an ideal picture for what we have in mind for the flats to look like. We have this in mind because it is a typical everyday flat, which could be the home of anyone, and doesn't necessarily show a particular class or wealth, therefore it will make the setting easily ratable to the audience.

(this image was found on google-images)






Second Scene: The character will then get into her car and travels along the road to work. For this we will use a point of view shot, to show exactly where she is going and so we can track her journey throughout the day. After her journey, she then parks her car, and walks along the streets to work. The street we will use will be a back alley, leading to a main road in the town, and there will also be building work happening on the site that she walks past. The building site, will be a typical site, with builders either working on the road, developing a building or drain work for example. But this will depend on what building work is happening at the time and whether it fits our criteria.


This is what we have in mind for when the character passes building work on her way to work and hears the songs playing out of the radio. However, we are willing to change this idea and be flexible with this, depending on what building work is going on when we go out and film.
(this image is from google-image)



Middle: After this, the character then walks into work and gets comfortable at her desk, as she does everyday, only to see a pile of paper work left for her to do, which is then added to by her manager. The office itself will be created by ourselves, and will be within our college. This will be so that we can use desks, chairs and computers that already exist to stage an office situation. We have chosen to use a typical office layout, so that when staging it, it begins to look realistic, and the audience will notice straight away what we are trying to achieve, and can relate it to their own work experiences.

Fourth Scene: After leaving work, this section will be of the character going back to her flat after a tough day at the office. She then puts on the radio and the song is played quietly through it, as she is getting ready to go our with her friends. During this time, the buzzer for the door goes off at let times, to show more and more people arriving for the night out and to keep her company after a tiring day. The building will be the same on the outside as the first establishing shot so that the video is kept consistent and the audience can see that she home, but this time the interior of the flat will be shown in view, and this will be of one room in the flat (lounge) the colour of this room will all be white, which will highlight the colours of the costumes and make-up of the characters. The lounge will include two white leather sofas, a table in the centre of the room, a big window and a CD player situated on the left hand side of the room, as she walks into it. There will also be a TV on the opposite side of the room to give it a homely feel. Opposite the window, there will also be a canvas of a sunset on the walls (blue, orange and yellow in colour). In the room, there will also be a big mirror which the characters will use when getting ready for their night out on the town. We have decided to use all of these objects in the room, as they create an image of a typical home, and will make the filming more realistic and once again the audience can see straight away that we are creating a lounge in the flat. To film, we will be using a friends flat, and will keep most of the interior as it is.

End: The end of our video, will be of all the girls out on the streets of Brighton heading towards the pier for a wild night out after a busy day. We will be using a group of friends, plus our main girl actress. To film, we will simply be following them, as they start their night. Most of this filming will be un-staged, and we will track girls on a actual night out in Brighton. In our shots we will be using Brighton pier at night, the beaches and the promenade and Brighton surrounding as you find them.



This is what we have in mind for the interior of the lounge in the flat. We have chosen a white, plain simple looking lounge to create realism, and hopefully something that will show she is a working class girl who has her independence by living by herself, as well as having a full time stressful job.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3012/2505247838_3f0ee7503f.jpg



Costume/Make-up:

The first time we see the main character in our video, is when she first steps outside her front door and heads towards her car. At this stage, she is all ready for work and the day ahead of her. For the work scene in the video, we want to keep the frames consistent, and have the main character wearing the same thing throughout. To show this we need to use clothes which are typical for a day at the office, and to make the storyline realistic, and something that the audience can relate to. For this, we have decided to have the girl wearing a black pencil skirt, a white shirt and a pair of black work heels. We have decided to keep it simple and have her wearing black and white, so that when she is at the office, she can easily blend into the background and to have everyone else in the frame busy around her and wearing colours. This will reinforce our idea, of the character living in her own bubble at work, but then when being with her friends she comes out of her shell and can forget about her boring and stressful working life. This same costume will be warn throughout the first few scenes in the day time setting, to show that she has been at work all day, and to make each shot consistent.

The make up used at this moment in the video, also needs to reflect the character and the idea we are trying to create. To link in with the simple costume, the make up also needs to be minimal and to not stand out among other people in the frame.

However, later on in the video when the character is getting ready to go out with her friends, we have decided to create a complete contrast in the costumes. Instead of being in simple black and white, we want the character to be wearing much brighter colours that stand out, and to be wearing a style of dress that can be worn out in the evening, with a pair of heels. This will straight away let the audience know where they are heading, as this is stereotypically the type of clothing you wear when you go out on the town.

The make up at this point will also contrast the make up from earlier, to show the time of day change, and the fact that she is going out on the town. In the evening scenes, we want the make-up to be much bolder and to stand out in the frame. The reasons we want her to stand out is to link in with our initial ideas, and the fact that when the character is out and having fun with her friends, she is a different person and can forget about the other troubles in her life she may have.

The friends in this scene, also need to be wearing party style clothing and make up, so that you can distinguish between each character, but also that it shows they are a group of friends and are going out on the town together.

Props

There are a number of different props that we are going to need when shooting our music video. These include:
* car - for when she drives to work, and this will be supplied by someone in our group.
* stereo - for when she walks past the building work and hears the song playing from the radio.
* paperwork - for the office scene, and to show her hectic life.
* brief-case - as part of her working everyday clothes.
* tables and chair - to create an office style setting.
* accessories - this will include things like jewelery, belts, hand-bags to be taken out when they girls in the video are getting ready and when going out on the town in Brighton.















Use of Colour

The colour being used in our video is going to be mostly natural. This will give a sense of realism, and will help the audience to be able to connect with the video. The use of natural lighting, will help the natural colours to show, and if needed some aspects of the video will be highlighted with editing, such as the colours of the dresses and evening wear compared to the dull black and white coloured costumes used for the work scene. This will establish not only a change in the scenery, but also a change in the character of the girl in the video, to show that when she is with her friends, she opens up and is like a new person.

Images - Inspiration

There are a few images and videos that have inspired us when thinking of an initial idea for creating our music video. Theses are shown below:

This image from one of Lily Allen's video, shows a young girl sitting by herself and away from everything else that is going on around her. This is the effect that we want to create in our music video, and to show that the main character is in her own little world. I also like that way in which the image is in black and white, and this may also be an effect we use in our video, to show the contrast between a stressful day at the office, to the colours of a night on the town with your friends.

http://www.buzzinpopmusic.co.uk/files/2008/12/lily-allen.jpgsic.co.uk/files/2008/12/lily-allen.jpg

This is another image from one of Lily Allen's videos, but this time is shows a different atmosphere, and instead of showing the character by herself, it contrasts this and show her getting ready for a night on the town with her friends, and this is something we want to create in our video, and to link in with song lyrics that friends are all you need to get through a tough day.


http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00844/Lily_Allen_844754a.jpg

Another inspiration for our video, has been Brighton Pier, as we thought about the ending of the video being based here, and having an establishing shot to show the location. As I have said previously, we want to create a shot of the girls walking into the distance, having a good time, and laughing and talking to one another to show the friendship they have between them.

http://www.avalancherock.co.uk/images/gallery_images/night_pier.jpg

The two pictures below are taken from the Florence and the Machine official website. http://florenceandthemachine.net/ Both these pictures have helped reinforce the ideas behind our video, and gave us inspiration to what we want to achieve.

This image reinforces the theme of our initial ideas as the character in this image (Florence) is very withdrawn from everything that is happening around her, and whereas the two sitting either side of her seem to be busy and getting on with things, the character in the middle seems to be in her own world. This is something that we want to create for the office scene in our video, and to have other characters rushing around and getting on with their jobs, whereas our main character will appear distant, and will show in her body movements and actions that she is stressed and has a lot to do at once.

This image is also of Florence herself, and has influenced us when storyboarding our idea, to create a mirror shot of the reflections of the main character and her friends. We will place the camera slightly to the right to get a really good shot of the characters getting ready and looking at themselves in the mirror as they do so.

Video Analysis

Dog Days are Over is one of Florence and the Machines newer releases, and adopts some of the common conventions used by "indie" bands, and artists, and through the video brings out the quirky personality of Florence Welsh. From looking at the video, it is clear that Florence has used very abstract ideas when creating it, and the video does not necessarily link in with the theme of the song, (similarly to her other videos.)

Dog Days are Over is a very unusual video, and contains random prop, costume and set ideas, to link in with her original style, and you never quite know what to expect next.Colour is a major convention of this video, and certain aspects of colour stand out throughout the video. The video begins in a woods, where the colours are very dull and grey, but there are hints of colour through the bunting of flags that are wrapped around the tree. The main focus of the video is on Florence, and as she journey's through the woods, we as an audience can see some of the strange things she comes across on her journey. The use of colour is also apparent through the costumes, and when she suddenly meets tribal warriors that begin to chase her, the colours of their dramatic make-up and clown-like clothing stand out from the clip. To me, not only are the colours used for a visual affect, but they also may be used to separate the characters. For example, Florence in the video, may not be allowed where she is, and so the colours of the warriors reinforce the fact that she doesn't belong , and is different from them, as she is simply wearing black and white clothing.

A bit further on in the video, she falls, and suddenly we see her thoughts. She dreams of being one of the warriors, and the video shows them dancing, and having fun. For this her make up and clothing drastically changes and becomes much more outgoing and extravagant. She also adopts the clothing warn by the 'warriors' and this is a clown-like bright coloured suit,

From what I have previously said, it is obvious to see that the Florence and the Machine videos are very abstract, and from clowns, warriors and flags, it shows that her style and quirkiness is very individual, and whenever you hear her voice, or see her videos, it is immediately obvious to the viewer who you are listening to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGrx6etMl0w

Bat for Lashes‟, is another "indie-rock" style artist, that incorporates the quirky and unusual costumes, props and sets that some indie artists choose to adopt. Like Florence and the Machine, she does not use a narrative behind her lyrics, and in some cases the video seems to have no actual reference to the song. 'Pearls Dream' is the song I have chosen to analyse, as not only does it show the originality of the artist, but it contrast with 'Dog Days are Over'.

The video is staged on an actual stage, as if the performance was being shown to an audience. The artist is wearing a unitard style clothing, underneath a huge fur coat, to represent wings. There is a clear themes of the universe and space running through this video, but I am still unsure how this theme links in with the song. This shows one of the common conventions used for "indie" style music videos, where the song and the video are not related.

Unlike Florence and the Machine, the use of colour is minimal, but a few aspects of colour are highlighted later on in the video, when the artist fly's across the screen reaching for the planets. Before this, the colours are grey and dull coloured, which represents the mood of the fog surrounding her, which to me may represents the feeling of isolation and wanting to be somewhere your not.

The props used in this video, are Planets which have been hung on the ceiling, and a wolf. The theme of the wolf is recurring, as near the end of the video, special visual effects have been used to create the idea of the shape of a wolf being made out of stars in the sky.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek3coSedm7o

Initial Ideas

After discussing in our group, we have decided to base our music video around a specific character, and this is going to be a young girl going through her daily routine. We have decided to use actors in our video, and have decided on specific qualities that we want the girl to have. These are: a good group of friends, high profile demanding job and for her to be pretty and attractive. We also want her to be a plain everyday girl who tries hard at work and lives a normal life, just like most people in society. By making her an everyday girl, this also makes her easy to relate to and her story could easily link in with the audience and to make the video realistic.

Our initial ideas, is to track the girl throughout her day. Starting with her getting up in the morning, getting ready, and driving to work. From there, we want to show her having a stress filled day, and having to cope with a lot of things at once, such as her boss giving her a huge pile of paper work for example, and dumping it on her desk for her to do. We have also thought about keeping the characters in the office silent, and having a more gestural scene, instead of people talking in the video. Instead of this, we want the silence of the characters to show how the girl is in her own world, and in her own little bubble, away from everything else that is happening around her and all the stress that is happening in her life. During this time, we want the lyrics of the song to be playing quietly in the background. After filming the office scene, we then want to track her travelling home, and getting ready for a night on the town with her closest girlfriends, and using this time to forget about the stresses in her life, and to relax and enjoy her time with her friends. This scene will link in with the song lyrics, and would bring across our theme of having your friends by your side, and using them as a release to get you through your day.

Another idea that we have thought of to use in the video, is to have the song featured constantly throughout her day. For example, when she is driving to work, it could begin by her humming the tune of the song out loud and then she could start singing the lyrics quietly to herself, as if the song has been stuck in her head. From then, we also had to idea of her turning on the radio and for the song to be quietly playing in the background.



This is the shot we want to create when featuring the song constantly throughout the characterst day, and this will be at the beginning of the video, when the character is heading for a day at the office.




Another time where the music could be played is when she had parked up her car and is heading towards her work, and as she passes a building site for example, the builders have the radio tuned in, and as soon as she walks past the song begins to play and we start to hear it gradually build up in the background. By featuring the song throughout the day, it starts to set the scene and shows that this song is setting her up for her day until she can get home and chill out with her friends and forget about her stressful day. Finally, the last time the music will be featured is when she is out on the town with her friends and the song is played in the clubs and bars that they go to together, and this time we hear the song in full as it now becomes the central part of the video.

We have decided to choose Brighton as our central location. This is because there is always a lot going on in Brighton, and therefore we can try and create the idea of everything going on around our character but for her to be in the day, isolated from the world, and in her own bubble. We can also use the main view points in Brighton town such as the beaches and the pier to get some really nice camera shots throughout the video and to try and set the scene. We also had the idea of ending the video with a view of the pier at night, and to have the group of girls silhouetted in the dark walking into the distance, with the lights on the pier framing the scene and for the camera to slowly pan out from the girls to show the surroundings.

In our planning we have also thought about some of the effects we want to create from the camera, to make the video visually interesting for the audience. We would like to create a time lapping sequence, of either, the clouds passing by above the character and to show the time of day change, the tide travelling in and out along the beach or cars whizzing fast past her as she is standing in her own bubble and oblivious from everything else around her. We believe that this will make the video look really effective and interesting as well as it linking into our initial key ideas. To do this we would have to leave the camera to run for 24hours on a specific spot and to then edit in the time changing afterwards by quickening it up.

Planning

After discussing in my group what song we were going to choose for our video, we decided to use the cover version of 'You've Got the Love' performed by Florence and the Machine, originally created by Candi Staton. The reason why we chose this particular song was because Florence is an up to date new performer, but by using a well recognised older song, she has made it her own style and used her quirky style to make the song different from any other recording done previously. This song also gives us the opportunity to create a narrative behind the lyrics, and to produce more of a story, instead of having someone mouthing the lyrics to the camera, as many videos do. Song Lyrics: 'You've Got the Love'

Below are the song lyrics for the Florence and the Machine cover of 'You've Got the Love'. The The theme behind the song is of upliftment and empowerment. Lyrically being about an unfailing love for us all, even though we regularly fail ourselves: "Lord I just don't care but you've got the love to see me through". However, we have chosen to base the idea of the lyrics around a different theme, and are planning on using the lyrics to represent friendship and how after a tough day, friends are the people we choose and who can help us get through the bad times and forget about the day and to just have fun and relax. We rely on our friends to lift our spirits.


Lyrics

Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air,
I know I can count on you,
Sometimes I feel like saying "Lord I just don't care"
But you've got the love I need To see me through,

Sometimes it seems that the going is just too rough
And things go wrong no matter what I do
Now and then it seems that life is just too much,
But you've got the love I need to see me through

When food is gone you are my daily meal
When friends are gone I know my savior's love is real
Your love is real,

You got the love
You got the love
You got the love
You got the love
You got the love
You got the love

Time after time I think "Oh Lord what's the use?"
Time after time I think it's just no good
Sooner or later in life, the things you love you loose
But you got the love I need to see me through

You got the love
You got the love
You got the love
You got the love
You got the love
You got the love

Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air
I know I can count on you
Sometimes I feel like saying "Lord I just don't care"
But you've got the love I need to see me through

You got the love
You got the love
You got the love
You got the love
You got the love
You got the love



This is the Florence and the machine album cover, and

after planning and story boarding our music video, the song we have chosen 'You've Got the Love' has recently been released. However, before this was released we had already decided exactly what we wanted to do and the themes and ideas behind our video had been established. Therefore, we have not been influenced by the actual video in any way.

Introduction

The aim of this year is to create a 'promo pack', which will include a music video based on a chosen song, a DVD cover and an advertisement in the style of a poster. All of these aspects have to link in with a certain theme, so that they join together and can be easily recognised.We will be working in groups to make the video, and we will have to decide on a song that we want it to be based on. In our groups we will be asked to plan exactly what we want to achieve and how we are going to achieve this, as well as drafting out our initial ideas and choosing actors and locations for our music video to be filmed in.