RESEARCH AND PLANNING: STORYBOARD

Please excuse how messy my storyboard is. I made it as a reference and I keep it in a file so it does not get lost and the sticky notes stay put. The sticky notes have the lyrics written on them. Although I will make my artist lip-sync along to the entire song just to be on the safe side but the pink sticky notes are the lip-sync parts and the orange ones are to let me know which lyrics go with which shot.

To me this is quite organised as I tend to forget things easily. This storyboard will help me stay focused at the shoot and I will not forget to take any shot.

Lyrics in sticky notes

I also created a list of basic creative shots, and here it is: 

And here's a basic animated idea of what the video might look like:

MUSIC VIDEO: PERMISSION

So, I decided to ask the artist for their permission to use their song for our video, basically to avoid any copyrights issue. The artist is only reachable through social media so I contacted her through facebook. The following is a screenshot of it:

MUSIC VIDEO: THE ARTIST

I chose my friend Maidah Shah as the artist and based the music video around her. I think she is perfect for the kind of role I'm casting her for. 

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: COSTUME INSPIRATION

I want to give my artist a moody, rebellious look, and also have her dressed according to the latest fashion trends. For that I researched on how to achieve that effect. I found Lana Del Rey's music video called West Coast and I think her outfit goes along with my idea perfectly.

Here's the link to the music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKxuiw3iMBE

The outfit she is wearing at the start of the music video (at the beach) is what I'm going for. Although her makeup is minimal, I have decided that my artist should have a smokey eye makeup and a dark lipstick.

Other than that I also got some more ideas about shots and composition from this music video and I'll make sure to incorporate some in mine.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: INSPIRATIONS

Since the song being used is pop music, I've researched various conventions of pop music, and the conclusion of my research that most of it is performance based, and/or lack a complex narrative or story line. The video in my mind is set in a monochrome setting, with the actress going on and about randomly.

Since I've decided to keep it in monochrome, centered around just one person, most of the music videos I researched on are set the same way. Theres only so much you can do with a single person as the main thing in a music video so research was vital for this. Here are some of the music videos I actually took inspiration from:

 Kill Em With Kindness- Selena Gomez

This music video really establishes the star persona with other characters being introduced just at the very end. Making a music video with just one main character (the artist) to focus on can be quite difficult and so what I found interesting in this is how the audience is kept interested. It's edited in a way that there isn't too much of everything at once. If there are a few lip syncing shots then the pattern is broken by shots of her doing something else or some other element (like a rose) is introduced. I like the part where there are flashes of a rose, and blurry flashes of her flipping her hair. I'll try to recreate that. This music video proved helpful and I have decided to use a similar technique in my music video.


Where Is Home- Elliphant
Since this is the song I decided on, I thought it'd be helpful to see what the original music video is about. This is quite similar to Kill Em With Kindness in terms of how it's based on just one character and the way the shots are linked together. Where Is Home has more camera movement in it which keeps it dynamic whereas kill em with kindness has more static shots. I'll use both techniques to make my music video more interesting. I think the shot composition is amazing in this music video. I will try recreating some of these.



Warrior- Demi Lovato
Again, this is set in monochrome and is solely based on one character. I'm just trying to find inspirations to improve the idea that I have in my mind. I'm looking for different shots that I can use in my music video to make it more appealing to the audience.
I like the use of flares and light leaks in this music video. There's this particular shot that I like where she is doing a hair flip.


I think I have a very good idea about how I'm going to execute my music video thanks to all of these.

MUSIC VIDEO: NEW IDEA

I had been thinking of an idea for the music video. I had to rule out ideas which involved complex storylines because I don't have much time to pull that off anymore due to all these setbacks and also because of the added burden of my Foundation Portfolio. Usually, music videos made on pop songs do not have a complex narrative so I thought it'd be best to select a pop song for the music video and follow the conventions by keeping it mostly performance based.

The song I've decided on is Where Is Home by Elliphant. The basic idea for the music video is to show a girl who seems to be searching for something, something to make her feel at home, to make her feel at peace, but she is unable to find it. This will be represented with symbolic elements such as flowers and trees and nature as a whole. I got this idea after I saw a friend going through a difficult patch in her life. I asked her if she'd be okay acting in my music video and she happily agreed. So, this song is based around her personality.

I'll start working on the storyboard soon. 

MUSIC VIDEO: SOME CHANGES

Unfortunately, my partner, Zamara, and I have to go separate ways due to some unavoidable circumstances. We're going to do separate projects, but I think this is beneficial to my learning since it is going to provide me a new and better learning curve, and teach me how to cope with all that goes into making a music video. I really look forward to working on this. I'll have to think of a new idea. Here's to hoping it all works out for the best this time around.