Thoughts about setting...

Having watched many music videos and analysed a variety of them in depth, I've begun to think about the setting and characters in my own music video.

Following on from my initial ideas, I've decided that I'm going to include a variety of interior and exterior shots. The camera will follow around the central character in their every day life, telling the story as it unfolds.

The setting will be in and around my local area which is suburban London. However, I think getting some shots around the rest of London will add to the regional identity of the characters, whilst at the same time having a variety of scenes to keep the audience interested. I don't want to make it seem like I have gone out and shoot footage all in one day in my local area. I'll have to travel around a bit in order to make the video look that bit more professional.

In terms of performance shots, I'd like to get footage of Joe performing in a local venue. If I can combine the acting and performance together in one (or a collection) of shots then I think that would add another dimension to my video, blurring the line between the actors and performer.

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The Streets - Everything Is Borrowed

This is another emotive, dramatic and brutal music video with a strong narrative. The music video circles around a young family living in London, struggling to pay the rent on their home. The lead male carries the burden upon his shoulders and that is evident throughout, through his facial expression, body language and the lyrics in the song spoken in first person. There are a group of bailiffs outside the house as well, whose manner and attitude is entirely different. They are made out to be robots who show little emotion in order to make the audience sympathise more with the financially stretched family.

I'd say that this music video would appeal to a wide variety of people, making the target audience rather broad. The family consists of a young boy and a young couple, however I think anybody who has a family or has even encountered financial difficulty at some point in their life could find themselves within the target audience.

The use of interior and exterior shots shows the audience how the family are afraid to leave their home and how eager the bailiffs are to get inside. This is in some ways a paradox, as the family are somewhat afraid to be out in the open and free from their secluding four walls. Whilst the bailiffs are desperate to get inside.

The over-the-shoulder shots used whilst the bailiffs are in the car are also point of view shots. The viewer is made to feel like they are in the back seat of the car with the bailiffs planning their 'attack' on the home. Whilst at the same time, the handheld camera technique used in the interior shots puts us in the family's shoes. The audience is put in a somewhat awkward position as they would now be 'defending' the family and wanting to stop the bailiffs they are so 'close' to. This interaction with the audience is something I would love to use in my music video as it can make the music video more memorable than the song itself.

The mise-en-scene is homely and it is plain to see how settled the family are in their home, particularly the boy's room. The mise-en-scene is deconstructed by the bailiffs and we see the family's world fall apart around them. The long shot used at the end of the video shows this deconstruction and ends the video on a negative, but somewhat optimistic note as the family remain togther.

In my music video, I would definitely like to create some form of relationship between the characters and the audience. However, this may prove difficult as the issues being tackled in this music video are more serious and therefore will have a greater effect on how the audience perceives the characters within the video.

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Bowling For Soup - When We Die

The narrative of this music video represents a young man who is struggling to form a relationship with his Father. This not only is a powerful narrative but is also relevant to the music and the lyrics. This is something I want to achieve with my music video. I feel as if a music video has a strong and emotive narrative, the audience can relate to it much more.

Flashbacks are also used to good effect to show the relationship between the Father and Son. This technique helps the audience to build a relationship with the characters in the video, thus making it a more personal viewing experience.

In the beginning of the video, props are used to describe what the video is going to be based around. The alarm clock and in particular the calendar with "Dad's Bday" written on it help the audience to distinguish who the characters are and what their role is.

I think this music video would be more appealing to a young male audience as they could relate to the storyline more. There are many young males who have bad relationships with their parent/s and if pulled off, a music video like this could become extremely popular, becoming a cult hit. I'd like to steer clear of alienating my audience though and I would like to make my music video relevant to both genders.

An interesting element of this music video is the 'crossover' between what is reality (at least in the music video) and performance footage. The band are performing in the parents' front room and they are oblivious to this. This also relates back to the narrative as it could be a visual metaphor for the Father and son's relationship. I would like to capture some footage of the artist of the song I'm using performing but fitting it in with the main narrative could prove to be rather difficult and unrealistic.

The secondary setting of this music video is a claustrophobic 'cell' where the lead singer of the band and in relevance to the music video, the son, is trapped. The size of this room is exaggerated by the use of a telephoto lens to make the angle of view narrow. This is effective in creating the feeling of imprisonment as all objects appear to be the same distance apart.

This is the first video I have researched but I can already see it having an influence on the way I am thinking and tackling my practical work.

"See Ya" Synopsis

I now know what I want to shoot, how I want to shoot it and what I want to convey. The lyrics in the song need to be put across in the video; therefore a strong storyline is needed.

The lyrics tell the story of a person being alienated from a friend's life. I think the best way to show ths friendship breaking down would be to film the pair drifting apart with the main character being the friend that has been/is being alienated.

I want to film the music video both indoors and outdoors. The messiness of the house will create the mise-en-scene associated with what I'm trying to achieve and the potentially bad weather outside could again put pathetic falacy into the mix.

A variety of camera shots and techniques need to be used in order to retain the viewers' attention and to prevent the music video from becoming a dull commentary on the song. Performance shots will contribute to my effort of trying to make this music video compelling, yet interesting to watch.

In terms of editing, I want to steer clear of any transition apart from a change of shot. I think transitional effects are tacky and look unprofessional; particularly in contemporary music videos. I would like to include some 'flashback' shots of the past and would ensure that these shots were turned black and white when it came to editing.

The audience I'm aiming the music video at is young people who potentially have experienced the same things that are being conveyed in the music video. In order to achieve that I will have to ensure that the mise-en-scene is appropriate.

Jeans, T Shirts and hooded sweatshirts are the items of clothing I would like the characters in my music video to wear as it can be directly linked to my potential target audience. Whilst I would like the setting to be suburban London as again, suburbia is seen as a place that can hold many memories for teenagers and young people, particularly in London.

I hope the shooting of the music video goes well. It'll be a lengthy process but an extremely rewarding one I'm sure.