Filming Locations

For the dance sequences, I am filming on the bank of the Tame River. This location fits my music video because the angle that I intend to film from shows Tamworth Castle in the background. The second picture represents a basic version of the framing I wish to use.

I will be filming the artist's performance at the castle and the area surrounding it, it is to highlight that she is royalty and the normality of her day to day life.

Audience Profiling

The target audience for my music video is 18-24 year old females, as that is the main demographic of Halsey's music, however my music video is mainly going to consist of dancing. Dance music videos draw major attraction to a younger audience (primarily female) who aspire to dance in their futures.

The original video for 'Castle' is a shortened version of the song that was featured in 'The Huntsman: Winter's War' (2016). It stars Halsey as the main performer and we see previews from scenes in the film, this video has 29,556,655 views, however the full audio track has 36,857,151 views. This shows that Halsey's audience prefer the full version of the song rather than the soundtrack version, which is why I chose to use the full version.

It appears that dance performance music videos attract a larger audience, Sia's 'Chandelier' music video currently has 1,695,497,919 views. The comments are filled with appreciation for the 11 year old dancer (Maddie Ziegler) and there are lots of theories for the narrative of the dance alongside the lyrics. This music video became an icon in the dance industry and piqued the interest of young dancers globally and influenced choreographers for quite some time.

My research colcudes that dance music videos attract a large amount of young people, so my music video would probably lie somewhere around 11-20 years old regardless on Halsey's 18-24 year old audience.

Music Video Pitch

Narrative Theory

Applying various narrative theories to my AS Production For my AS Media production, I made the opening of a horror film called ‘Play’. My production follows some patterns seen in Todorov’s stage narrative theory, Roland Barthes’ 5 Narrative code, Claude Levi Strauss’ binary opposition and Vladimir Propp’s character theory. Two sisters venture through to woods when one goes missing. Can Molly conquer her biggest fear to save her sister, or will sibling rivalry get the best of her? Todorov: The first stage in Todorov’s theory is a state of equilibrium, where everything is normal for the characters. In my production, the opening scene is a form of normality for my characters, they are simply walking through the woods whilst having a conversation, until they begin to feel uneasy and Emily goes missing, which is the second stage of Todorov’s theory. Rubi and Lily disrupt the equilibrium, leaving Molly to fend for herself. Due to the production being the opening, it leaves the next 3 stages unknown to the audience. The next stages entail the equilibrium being restored or renewed, which would happen towards the end of the film. My production follows a linear timeline, everything happens in order of the events occurring. Roland Barthes: Roland Barthes came up with codes that occur during films, my AS production follows some of these codes, but not all. Action code is essential for all films because without suspension, there is no way of interesting the audience. The suspense in my opening is Emily going missing because the action doesn’t tend to happen until midway through a film, it leaves the audience wondering what the main action of the film is going to be due to a main event happening early on. It is debateable that my film includes Barthes’ Referential code because it depends on whether the individual in the audience believes in ghosts or not, if they do then it requires their external knowledge about ghosts and what powers they have. My film also follows the Enigma code, it is made apparent during the opening that the woods are haunted, however it is unclear who it is haunted by. The ghosts that haunt the woods are an entire mystery in themselves; how did they die? When did they die? Who killed them? Why do they haunt the woods? Are they looking for someone? Claude Levi Strauss: Strauss’ theory is about binary oppositions. Binary opposition is a pair of related terms that are opposite in meaning and set off against one another. The binary opposites in my production are:  Alive vs Dead: Molly & Emily vs Rubi & Lilly  Old(er) vs Young: There is enough of an age gap to define old vs young, however Emily and Molly are not what people would class as ‘old’, they are just older than Rubi and Lilly.  Believer vs Non Believer: Molly believes in ghosts whereas Emily does not, this pins the sisters against each other slightly as they have contrasting views. Vladimir Propp: Vladimir Propp’s theory is to do with the types of characters in film. In the opening, there are a few clear matches to Propp’s theory. Molly is the Hero, she has to try and save Emily after she is taken. The Villain is Rubi and Lilly, although they are two characters, they come as a pair to pose as one villain. The Princess is Emily, she will be the reward for Molly because she is the main object of Rubi and Lilly’s plot.

Genre Theory

For my AS Media coursework I made the opening sequence of a horror called: PLAY. Horror is a genre I understand well and I felt that I could expand and explore the typical codes and conventions. Two sisters venture through to woods when one goes missing. Can Molly conquer her biggest fear to save her sister, or will sibling rivalry get the best of her? Born in 1931, Christian Metz was a film theorist who was made famous for his semiotic approach to cinema studies. He stated that every film genre has four types of film: The Classic, The Experimental, The Parody and The Deconstruction. My production followed the basic outlines of Christian Metz’s ‘Experimental’ model because it did not contain the right types of characters to fit The Classic model. I wanted to try and challenge some of the usual codes in the genre, I used characters and a plot that would be more believable and get to people’s nerves due to the more realistic chances of it happening to them. Daniel Chandler’s theory was that all films within a genre follow similar narratives, characterisation, setting, filmic techniques and iconography. My production challenged quite a few of the stereotypes within these sections whilst still fitting the horror genre. The narrative of PLAY followed the dead vs. alive plot, which is a common occurrence between horror films. However, it is usual for all films to follow this good vs. evil stance. For my characters, I really wanted to push the stereotypes for a horror. Instead of having a white, middle aged man as my antagonist, I decided to go with the opposite: two white, young girls. This sort of fits the theme that has really started coming about recently with films such as Anabelle (2014) and The Doll (2016) of young children posing as the antagonists. My two main characters were white, teenage girls, in any other horror film they would be the target victims because of them being young and naïve. In PLAY, one of the sisters (Molly) is scared of the woods, which was rumoured to be haunted, whereas the other (Emily) thinks that Molly is stupid to believe in ghosts, Emily is the one to be taken away, leaving Molly to try and save her. Typically, you would find that the most naïve girl is the one to go missing and for some young male to save her, I wanted to challenge that convention to twist my story further, as the sibling rivalry could potentially halt Molly from saving Emily. Horror films are usually very dark, which adds to the suspense by not being able to see very clearly. It would have been difficult to try and film in the dark with my camera, so I filmed when the weather was slightly grey and then toned the brightness down in Adobe Premiere afterwards, I tried to put a slight blue tint on the final product, however the screen was a bit dark so the blue really stood out in the final product. The music I used for my opening followed some of the common features of horror soundtracks, normally you would find that it is orchestral and the pace and tempo would change. The music I used was a wind up box version of “It’s A Small World” from Disney, I then changed the pitch and the speed in Premiere by using the Audio Mixer. I thought the song was fitting because the two ghosts were small girls, and people associate young girls with Disney.

APPLYING ‘CHRISTIAN METZ’ (LANGUAGE & CINEMA - 1974) MODEL OF GENRE DEVELOPMENT TO ‘MUSIC VIDEOS’

MUSIC VIDEOS:

(1) THE EXPERIMENTAL: Visser/Musicals/Beatles/Queen

(2) THE CLASSIC: Thriller/Beat it/Duran Duran (Early 80’s/MTV)

(3) THE PARODY: Weird Al Jankovic: Eat it/Amish Paradise

(4) THE DECONSTRUCTION: Robert Palmer: Addicted to love/Shania Twain: Man I feel like a woman

EXPLANATION OF 4 PHASES

(1)     By EXPERIMENTAL we mean the phase of filmmaking which explored and experimented with how to film a band or artist whilst they are performing

A.       First recording of a person singing to camera

World's First Music Video - Gus Visser and his Singing Duck (1925) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwQ6v_nYPMs

Q: Analyse how the clip has been framed? What is the context is of the clip? What is happening in the clip?

The video is one continuous shot and it is static, Gus and the duck are in the centre of the screen throughout the whole video. We see them at a medium shot on what appears to be a stage at a theatre, which gives us the impression that he is likely to be a comedian/comic performer who is used to being on the stage. This is possibly the first ever performance that was recorded and presented to the world.

B.       Musical Films: Gentlemen prefer Blondes/Diamonds are a girl’s best friend

Musical films were another important precursor to music video, "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). The performance is filmed mostly in a long shot with pans left and right and tracking towards the artist – mostly a long take, no or little cuts.

C.       A Hard Day’s Night (1964) Directed By Richard Lester

D.       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ets2eNJzhY

Q: What camera angles, shots, movement & position, are still used today from the ‘Hard Day’s Night’ Performance music videos?

This video is likely to be the first ever performance music video where we see visuals of the band singing, as nobody had done it before. The video consists of a large variety of shots like high angle, two shots, tilts, establishing shots and close ups.
The whole video is filmed handheld, this is more effective because it follows the documentary style and makes it more realistic for the audience, it makes us feel like we’re watching it unravel and that we are also there. A lot of shots go in and out of the band with people walking in front of the camera and it gives us the impression that there aren’t even cameras there.

During the filming of this video there might have been multiple cameras used rather than just one, because some of the shots switch back and forth from in front and behind them, there is even a high angle shot that is coming from the lighting rails is the studio and zooms outwards. This particular shot is interesting because it almost feels as if you’ve stumbled across the band and you aren’t supposed to be there because they are all engaged with each other rather than an audience.

Richard Lester helped formalise and establish the codes and conventions of how to film a band;

1.       Close ups of lead singer,

2.       Cutaways of instruments being played,

3.       Filming band together and separately,

4.       Cutting to the beat of the song, on the beat transitions/cuts

5.       Filming a live performance with multiple cameras.

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(2)     By CLASSIC we mean the phase of music videos which established the conventions in its most successful & defining period (The 1980’s)

A.       Michael Jackson: Beat It/Thriller

B.       The Buggles: Video killed the Radio Star (1^st August 1981 – First ever MTV broadcast)

Q: Discuss what the appeal was of MTV in the 1980’s? Analyse in relation to Thriller/Video killed the radio star

(Think in terms of pop culture at that time, TV as a medium, importance to record sale etc.)

In the 1980’s, technology had been developing and music developed alongside it. MTV was founded in 1981 and provided a platform of entertainment for audiences.
Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ was one of the most iconic videos at the time, it isn’t like an ordinary music video from the era. Most were upbeat and fun songs which you could typically dance to and the videos would be bright and colourful. Thriller was more like a short film and the effects involved in the video were quite realistic which made it slightly scary. The scariness would have attracted an audience and then created a buzz just like horror films do nowadays, and people talking about it would instantly intrigue others and get MTV more views. Dance also evolved a lot in the 80’s, so MTV screening upbeat and fun songs would attract those having dance parties, Michael Jackson was also a very talented dancer.
Any artists that want a breakthrough relied on MTV as a major promotional platform because songs broadcasted on the channel usually became hits.

(3) By PARODY we mean videos that have mimicked famous music videos in some comical way

A.       Weird Al Jankovic: Eat it (Parody of Beat it)/Amish Paradise (Coolio/Gangster Paradise)

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(4) By DECONSTRUCTION we mean videos which have taken the generic elements of another music video and amalgamated them into something else (homage)

One of the best-known examples of DECONSTRUTION is Madonna's 1985 video for "Material Girl" (directed by Mary Lambert) which was closely modelled on Jack Cole's staging of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g__ANxxwKIk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3wYIjI8WcI

Q: Discuss what elements of the Marilyn Monroe musical scene are borrowed by Madonna? Think in terms of the Similarities of Mise en scene: location, setting, costumes, props, body language etc.

It is clear that Madonna’s ‘Material Girl’ video took lots of inspiration from Marilyn Monroe’s ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’ video from the very start. Madonna is wearing a very similar style and coloured dress as Marilyn except it is slightly less vibrant. It is noticeable that she is wearing jewellery in the exact same positions and her hair is styled to look similar as well. The men surrounding her are holding the red hearts just like the ones in Marilyn’s, however Marilyn’s look a bit pop art-like. Another thing taken from Marilyn is the black straps with the diamonds on them, Madonna is seen with the men surrounding her with them at the beginning.

Also Robert Palmers: Addicted to Love was deconstructed by Shania Twain’s: Man I feel like a woman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcATvu5f9vE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJL4UGSbeF