My Music Video Pitch Plan

Section 1

The title of my music video will be Tighten Up by Zak Christie, this isn’t originally Zak Christies song as it’s a cover so I’ll make sure to credit the original artist (The Black Keys) in the videos description. The general synopsis is set in a dystopian version of planet Earth where there’s no emotion or individualism which is enforced through the law, it follows the short story of a girl who gets intertwined in a call for change where dreaming is an act of crime.

Scene Breakdown

Scene 1: The first thing we’ll see is the main character browsing the internet which is full of propaganda supporting the governments laws against individualism and how allowing emotion only makes things harder etc. However after briefly seeing a couple of these propaganda pieces she comes across an anti establishment piece which promotes individualism and showing emotion.

Scene 2: The main character is walking through a hall way where she sees a law enforcement officer taking down flyers promoting change, the officer turns to see her and indicates to her to keep walking. Nervously she hurries away.

Scene 3: Here we see the main character re-reading the web page that promoted change and we see it make her smile and dream about living a life with happiness and a chance to be who she wants to be.

Scene 4: For this scene we see the main character walking outside of her college where she sees a guy approaching people and them shooing him away. When she gets closer she realizes he’s protesting for change and she looks on in awe as he approaches but before he can speak the officer appears behind her. The girl grabs the protesters hand and they run away.

Scene 5: In the final scene after a brief chase scene, we see the two run aways run into a dead end and as they turn around the officer is there with a badge in hand and the camera cuts to black.

Character Bios

The Girl – Just an average citizen who follows the laws she’s given however her passion can get her into sticky situations which more often than not have unfortunate consequences. Actor: Soleil Farnell

The Protester – A freedom fighter who believes in expressing yourself and what you believe in. Brave and despises those who force their beliefs on other people.                   Actor: Jordan Bradshaw

The Officer – Hardworking, loyal and persistent at keeping the citizens in line, feared by the citizens due to him being so strict and efficient at his job.                                                      Actor: Possibly Me

Locations

Bradford College: The majority of my music video will be shot in and around Bradford College because I’m familiar with the surroundings and I feel it could give my main character more depth. Also it’ll make the main character more relate able for my target audience as I’m targeting college students.

Streets in Bradford: A small portion of my music video will be filmed in the streets of Bradford for a chase scene and the ending because I feel that it has better locations for capturing good shots during the chase scene and at the end when they get cornered.

Budget

For this production I may have to spend a little on props to make my character of the officer more believable and authentic. What I was thinking of doing was purchasing a fancy dress police badge online and a cheap trench coat from a charity as I feel this could give the character a recognizable appearance.

Equipment Requirements

The only equipment I will need for the filming of this video is that of a camera and I’ll use the nikon camera that I used for my first micro film as I feel I’m comfortable with it so I could get the best footage with it.

Crew Requirements

Looking at it now, I feel that I’ll only need additional crew members if I decide to take part in the video. If I decide to do this I’ll ask either Jordan or Soleil to help with the filming and we could structure the shots we take between us.

Section 2

Pre-Production

For my pre-production  will need several documents that will allow me to plan for my music video and to help make the process run smoothly and safely. These documents will be completed in the following order:

• Story board
• Location Recce
• Risk Assessment
• Location Release
• Cast and Crew
• Actors Agreement
• Call Sheet
• Equipment List

Camera

I’m planning on shooting the majority of my video in black and white with only things associated to the protest for change in colour to give this a bigger effect. Specifically, I am planning on giving colour to the characters of the protester and the main character once she joins up with the protester. I am also planning on giving colour to the webpage that catches the girls eye as it’ll also catch the viewers eye. In addition to this, I want to shoot the video mainly with panning shots as nowadays you’re more likely to see the camera cutting to and from the characters whereas I want to have some unusual shots to signify how unusual the dystopian world is. I also feel this will make the video more refreshing and engaging for the viewer.  Another reason I am looking to shoot like this is because I feel it will add more drama to the scenes as the transition between shots will be smooth.

Sound

For this production, the only sound in the video will be of the actual song. This song will be a non-diegetic sound and will represent the pace of my video.

Lighting

The lighting of my video will reflect how bland the world is, to do this considering my video will be in black and white I will keep the light at around a mild level to represent the evenness of how people have to follow the same things and opinions.

Editing

The pace of my video will be quite slow as I feel the acoustic version of the song I have chosen can give the video more effect this way. Also when I do the chase scenes in my video I will film it at a high setting then edit the speed of it playing in editing to give it a slow motion effect. I have learnt how to do this from online tutorials and I feel it will give the video the required effect. I also plan on giving two characters and some props colour in the editing to emphasize the meaning of them to the main character and to the storyline as well.

Section 3

Reflection

I did have a problem with deciding which idea to go with in the beginning because I couldn’t decide which would be a more viable option to film with the restrictions we had. However to improve this in future productions I will choose a song that I want to make video for first and create ideas based off the song. Another problem I encountered was that of getting a response for using someones song. I did get a response from one of the artists and thankfully he was happy for me to use his song. To counter this problem in future productions I will enquire to the artist about possibly using their songs for a production.

Past Experiences in Relation to my Product

My product for this task will be a music video with the song being Tighten Up by The Black Keys. I have already identified the cover artist and have emailed them about using their video for my production. However if I am not given permission or don’t get any contact from the artist i have other covers I could use. For the filming of the video I plan on keeping it in and around college so that it’s a familiar setting for my actors and myself therefore allowing me to choose the right areas to shoot my video.

The only relative past experiences to this product I have is when I produced a micro film for an inspirational speech back in October/November and a short film from January. This ties in my music video because it will be roughly the same length and I will be using the exact same editing software (Adobe Premiere) and camera (Nikon). I believe this will benefit me as I am familiar with using this camera and editing software now. Also during the editing of my short film, I had the problem of the visuals being blurred due to me using two different types of camera, to counter this I will stick to one type of camera that I’m familiar with (Nikon). I also had a problem with scheduling due to been unorganized and this didn’t allow me to create a good quality production and it didn’t allow me to get the story across. Therefore in this next production I will give myself more time to complete the necessary jobs, filming in particular. 

During the production of my short film, I also had a problem with lighting because I didn’t realize how little light actually goes into the camera. So to counter this I will be shooting from in the morning (around 10) untill early afternoon each day (Around 4). This should therefore allow me to complete all my filming in the space of 2/3 days due to it been a music video. Alternatively in my short film, I had several good shots which made the film more interesting, this will help me with the production of my music video because it gave me new ideas more a wide variety of shots that I could attempt to use to tell my story.

Crew List for A Forgotten Obsession

 

Location Release For A Forgotten Obsession

For the location release I had to write down the production title and address of where the filming will take place. Then I had to obtain a signature from the owner of the address and contact details so I could film there. Throughout the process of filming I had various locations that required this form.

 

Early Final Project Ideas

Music Video

For my final project I am going to work towards producing a music cover for either ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ or ‘Pumped Up Kicks’. To do this without copy writing I have found cover versions of the songs without licenses, therefore allowing me to create the video.

Bittersweet Symphony

If I decide to go with the song Bittersweet Symphony by the Verve, the plot of the video would be of a college student traveling to college however to tie in with the original video the student will not take notice of anything or anyone throughout the video. For example, when the student is walking through college they’ll bump into people without caring. I’m thinking I’d end the video with the student walking into their class and sitting down with the same expression they have had throughout then fade to black. For the casting of this video I was thinking of using a friend to be the main character then have a few people from the acting department in college for the extras roles in the video. To make this video even do able I found a cover song and will use this instead of the original to avoid copyright issues. To make sure I get the correct feel to my music video I will research the director of the official music video so that I can make my video as professional as possible. The music video that I’m looking to create will be around 4-5 minutes long and will include various events that happen to the main character that are yet to be decided upon.

Pumped Up Kicks

If I decide to go with the song Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People, the plot of the video would be of a student being stuck in the same old routine until someone new stirs things up so to speak. I was thinking of starting the video in black and white and when he meets this new person the screen comes into color. Throughout the video they get up to things the student would never usually do however at the end of the video when supposedly the student is walking into the distance with the new person, it’s only him to suggest that he imagined this person all along and to create a bit of intrigue into the video. For the casting of this video I will use some friends as it would provide more realistic chemistry between the characters. I am looking to use a cover song as to avoid copyright issues. To accurately plan the production of this video I will spend a day going round college and deciding where and when I’ll use specific rooms.

How I Would Advertise My Short Film

The marketing plan for my short film would be to create several teaser trailers, social media accounts and film posters.

The Teaser Trailers

I would release 2 teaser trailers for my short film, these would be released every 3 days and would be around 10 seconds long. The first would be based around my main characters obsession with her phone. I would also include a voice over to make the visuals been shown make sense and I would also use a fair bit of the fading to black technique to keep my audience on edge and interested in my short film. This would be the equilibrium of sorts for the teaser trailers that I would release.

The second and last of my teaser trailers would show the disruption proposed to my main character and this will show some of the narrative of my short film. This will also get the viewer putting themselves into my main characters mind frame therefore creating a bond between my short film and it’s target audience. For example, for James Bond Sceptre they released a teaser trailer which showed just enough details to get the target audience hooked. The only difference in mine would be that I released an additional one.

Social Media Accounts

The idea behind the social media accounts is that there would a social media account (So Twitter/Facebook) for each of my characters. This would allow me to bring them to life and so they could interact with my target audience. I would also be able to release my teaser trailers through these social media accounts. I also intend to portray the social media accounts through my characters perspectives because it allows the target audience to connect with the character and therefore enticing them into viewing the short film. Tony Stark from Iron Man is a good example. Film Posters

The film posters is a very common way off promoting films but in my experience of been a film enthusiast I believe just sticking up film posters anywhere is a pointless idea. So I plan to release my film posters in certain locations where I’m certain it will grab the attention of my target audience and include the phrase “Show me on Social Media” so that it gets widespread coverage, also when you do put it on social media you’ll be given the film poster as a free background cover. By the way my target audience is that of the teenage age range to that of around the parent age of 55 tops. The locations I would be looking to release my film posters would be at schools, youth groups, social media accounts of popular TV channels (MTV for example), village halls, parents evening etc etc. I would also promote my film posters at town centers by projecting an image of the film poster onto large buildings/walls. This would then catch the target audiences eye as it’s an unusual way of promoting film posters.

 

Short Film Mood Board

I like this screenshot because it shows the female character being separate from (What I presume is her family) the argument behind her and how she’s separate from her family which I intend to portray at the beginning of my short film for my main character.

 

 

 

 

 

I also like the screenshot of Dexter and his daughter as it shows the hostility and weak relationship between father and daughter. I am aiming to give off the impression that my main character has a weak relationship with her mum because she doesn’t think they understand each other. I also like how they signified the rebellious nature of the girl character through her costume and make up. The black stuff round her eye especially gives off this impression, also the way in which she is turned against him further shows the weak relationship between them. The use of body language is something I’m also going to use to show the relationships between characters.

Finally, I also really like the representation of rebellion and miss spent youth in the next screen shot because it uses really good cinematography. The part that stood out for me though was the use of costume that showed various aspects of the characters life. For example, he’s wearing a thick coat in doors which shows he’s against conventions and different and that he wants to be recognized. I intend to use the lighting technique also because it is a refreshing way of showing the relationship between characters and how that character is feeling. In this screenshot it shows the miserable and dislike from one character to the other due to the darkness.

 

If I had to choose a director of photography/cinematography I’d probably choose  David Higgs due to his work on the Rocknrolla (Last screenshot). This persuaded me because I really like how he manipulated the lighting to establish the characters relationship at that time and how it portrays their personalities. I also like his use of iconography as he perfectly sets up the costumes to the personality of the character. This also makes the characters more appealing and likeable to the audience which provides a major part of enjoying a film.

My Production Work for my Short Film So Far

Synopsis

I have already written out several potential synopsis’s and i decided to go for this one:

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram… Texting, Calling, Facetime… This is a tale of how a mobile phone obsessed teen copes with her phone been 420 miles away, in a separate country, stuck at home. Would you be able to handle it?

I feel that this synopsis provided the intended meaning and moral story of my short film and it also shows the base of the narrative without giving too much away. In addition i feel it’s short and snappy enough to catch the target audiences eye and to entice them into watching it.

Character Bios:

The character bios for my short film are coming across nicely and i’m certain that I’m going to have enough detail for my actors to give a genuine and believable performance. For the character bios I have written the characters personality out on how they behave normally and how they interact with certain events. Also for the characters personality i have made sure that they have realistic traits of someone who is genuinely like that in the real world so that they can relate. I have also written what each characters relationship is like with other characters. For example, the daughter in my short film is sarcastic and stroppy towards her mum yet her mum treats the daughter with respect and patience. Finally I have also written about each characters back story and their past so that it can back up their actions and personalities.

Story Boards:

I’m still creating my story boards but I’m about half way through and should finish within the next two to three days. However I’m enjoying fleshing my ideas out onto story boards as it allows me to clearly visualize my short film and i feel it will only help improve not only my short film but my film making skills as a whole. The only trouble I have had with the storyboards is that i can’t draw so i acquired the help of my mum to draw the shots that I was visualizing. I asked my mum because she used to be a graphic designer for Matalan so I knew i could trust her.

Script:

I haven’t properly started the script due to the story boards being incomplete but I have drawn out some ideas for the opening scenes which will come in handy. I intend to start my script over the next few days and because the majority of the dialogue is as a voice over, it allows me to do the script after I’ve done my filming. The script for my short film will mainly consist of dialogue for my main character Amber but there will also be occasional dialogue from her mum. Overall i predict that my script writing will take no more than 4 days to complete as I’m familiar with the script writing software that I’m using.

Casting Call

For my casting, I intend to use my sister as the main character and my mum as the other main character in my short film. I chose to do it like this because the basis of my film relies on a phone obsessed teenager forgetting her phone when she goes on holiday. Therefore realistically my mum and sister were the best option. However for other productions I cast actors from the drama studio at my college or if I am making a short film with a decent budget I would use websites such as casting call pro as they are extremely useful for finding the best actors for the role you need.

Treatment of my Short Film

I will be filming my short film on a DSLR camera and a Nikon camera because I believe this way I will be able to get a variety of shots and in a short amount of time. Also using a DSLR camera will allow me to implement more effects. This will therefore make each and every shot more interesting to the audience.

The target audience for my short film is that of the teenager age range as it focuses on a teenagers obsession with her phone and how she deals with it. Therefore the teenage age range can relate to this. I am also targeting the parent audience because they will definitely be able to relate with the parents in my short film, which in turn creates a stronger bond between my short film and the audience.

For the location of my short film, I have decided to set some scenes in Clayton, Bradford to give a sort of setting and back story for my characters. However most of my short film will take place in Amsterdam. This will allow me to catch some very good shots which will provide a greater impact on the audience. To make sure that I know where to shoot in Amsterdam I have viewed photos from people that have been on holiday there and the lighting and setting of Amsterdam is exactly what I’m looking for.

The Synopsis for my Short Film

The synopsis for my short film was constructed purely on the basis of the teenage age range obsession with mobile phones and i feel this gives the reader the desired intention.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram… Texting, Calling, Facetime… This is a tale of how a mobile phone obsessed teen copes with her phone been 420 miles away, in a separate country, stuck at home. Would you be able to handle it?

I feel this synopsis focuses on the story been told throughout my short film as the beginning of the synopsis is based on the most popular applications on mobile phones. Also i believe this can entice the teenage target audience and the parent audience too as they could relate to this and it would appeal to them. Therefore allowing me to entice my target audience.