This is my moodboard. On it I have included images of people in love and key words such as 'fairytale' and 'relationships'. I also mentioned a few of the theories such as genre theory and narrative theory, and how they could be applied to my ideas. I decided to use a pin board because it looks like a collaboration of memories which is what I want to represent in my film. The sepia tones give it a nostalgic, vintage feel. Furthermore, I've included the lyrics to a few of the songs I'm thinking about using, which made me think about whether or not they would work. At the moment, I feel that 'Wouldn't it be nice' by the Beach Boys seems like the best one because of the change of tone in the song.
This particular song is one that I think would work well with the theme of my music video. The lyrics talk about growing up and being together and towards the end when it says "goodnight my baby, sleep tight my baby" it could be interpreted as saying goodbye. There's a point in the song where the mood changes and it becomes much calmer and softer. This may be a good time for the couple in the video to break up, as it would reflect the change in the song.
Here's another old song which I think would be a great choice! The lyrics are again relevant to my genre of romance, as is the feel of the song.
This one is beautiful. I love the simplicity of this song and I can definitely see it working with my narrative.
I'm sure that I will probably find some more songs that could be perfect for my video but I will need to narrow down my choices and make a decision about which one's best. At this stage, I'm pretty confident that I want to use an old song to fit in with the authentic feel of the video. It may be useful to deconstruct the lyrics of these songs further to see how they could reflect the narrative of my video.
This is the introduction to the indie film, [500] Days of Summer. It is a collaboration of childhood memories of a boy and girl growing up, who eventually become lovers. I like the split screen as it clearly demonstrates the idea of two people growing up separately and finding each other. I love the nostalgic feel of this video and the use of home video footage, as it creates a sense of realism and allows us to 'experience' their past and understand them better as characters. I'd like to use home video footage in a similar way to introduce two people and take the audience on a journey through the early years of the characters' lives.
This is a potential song that I could use for my music video, as it captures the emotion I want to get across. It could be interpreted as both happy and sad which would fit in with my idea of a relationship that fades. The video of this song is a montage of clips from the film 'Blue Valentine' which is about a couple who fall in love but it doesn't last. I plan to watch this film to gain more inspiration and ideas. I like the use of montage and think it's very effective, especially as I want to capture memories. The blue tones of the video connote sadness and are an example of resonance as they reflect the title of the film. This song is so simple, yet so beautiful which is why I'd love to use it!
This music video demonstrates my main idea of two people falling in love. Using this as inspiration, I like the idea of a couple meeting by chance in a location such as a cafe. It also fits in with the traditional, idealistic perception of love which is what I'm keen to explore. Montage has been used in the same way as the 'You & Me' video and I'm definitely interested in this editing technique, as there's no sense of continuity, just a collaboration of memories and this is something that I'd like to portray in my video.
I have been thinking about the pros and cons of choosing a music video over a short film. In conclusion I have decided to partner up with Rachel Petrovics, someone who shares similar creative qualities and visual ideas as me. A music video will communicate a narrative to the audience much clearer than a short film would, as the lyrics of the song already tell a story. I am still to decide on a song, but I'd like to explore lyrics as the foundations for my video's narrative.
To gain a deeper understanding about music videos I did some research about the history of music videos, and what makes them so successful. In today's modern world of music, videos are used as a marketing tool, to try sell more records. However in the past the music video was referred to as an "illustrated song". I really like this term as it describes the music video as bringing the song to life, and this is something I'd like to do!
I found this timeline on the internet, showing the history of music videos and how they have changed over the years: The Music Video
Why so successful?
Music videos are extremely successful because they allow the consumer to visualise the music, thus provoking emotion or thoughts. A music video is quite simply an interpretation of a song, so people often may disagree with how the song has been 'illustrated' in a music video, as the song could mean one thing to one person and something entirely different to another.
Michael Jacksons 14 minute long video for "Thriller", directed by John Landis, was perhaps the most influential music video of all time. Often referred to as the greatest music video ever and has also been voted the most influential pop music video of all time, Thriller proved to have a profound effect on popular culture, and was named "a watershed moment for the [music] industry" for its excellence in merging filmmaking and music. Guiness World Records in 2006 listed it as "most successful music video".
I think this video definitely highlights the importance of a strong narrative, clever conventions and editing technique, all of which I need to consider when making my music video.
I decided to choose this brief (instead of making a short film) because I'm very passionate about music and am excited at the prospect of making a music video. I'm keen to use an old song to fit in with the idea of memories, focusing on romance and young love. I feel that genre theory and narrative theory would both be relevant, so I will be exploring how I can apply them to my ideas in order to decide which theory would be best. I'm fascinated by the concept of love and how it has changed over time. I want to make comparisons between the idealistic and modern-day perceptions of love and relationships by portraying a couple who appear to be happily in love, however it's not the perfect fairytale ending and the love fades.
One of my main inspirations are the lyrics to this song, particularly these lines:
See we got together so young,
before our real lives had begun,
but flowers don't grow up as one,
each finds its own way to the sun,
and that's exactly what we've done.
We've grown up separately too.
I think this is written beautifully and conveys exactly the message that I would like to put across in my video.
