Cast List

Mise-en-scene

Costumes

Alice Jordan


For all of Alice's scenes in the music video, she is going to wear a red, formal dress. I chose the colour red because it connotes danger and lust, and as the music video is about cheating, it is fitting because there is obviously lust involved but there's also the danger of anybody finding out about the affair, so I thought red would be an appropriate colour. I have also decided to use red lipstick for the same reason. She will be wearing a coat similar to the one pictured.

Bethany Peart-Hunter

Bethany will be wearing very casual clothes such as oversized jumpers and leggings, because her character has a very simple yet pretty style. Although I want it to look as though she has make little effort, I still want her to look beautiful and make it so that the audience can feel empathy for her, and make the audience like her better than Alice's character. Her costumes will contrast from Alice's to show the contrast in personalities.

Connor Foster

Connor's character will be wearing mostly black throughout the entire video, as the colour typically conotes grief and loss, which is fitting as he is losing someone he loves, and also is a colour typically worn by antagonists or 'baddies' in the media. Although I want the audience to pity him, I want to show that he has done wrong and is guilty therefore black is an appropriate colour. For the performance scenes, he will be wearing a black suit. For the rest of the video, he will wear skinny jeans, smart black shoes and a smart shirt.

Locations

One location I plan to film at is the Jiffy Bar at the Beach Hut Cafe in Hornsea. I chose this location as it fits the type of location I need for the bar scenes. I have spoken to the manager there and they have no problem with letting me use the establishment for filming. I will also be filming at Hornsea sea front at night, because it will give the video a very depressing and dark feel. The scenes in the house will be filmed at my Gran's house in Hornsea, and is it suitable for these parts of the video. I have booked the green room at college for the piano scenes, as I will be able to use a keyer to edit in a black background, which will be fitting for the mood of the video.

Refilming my Video

I had to refilm most of the footage of my music video due to actors being unavailable to film the rest of my video. This means that the footage in my mock won't be used in my final draft. I am using this as an opportunity to improve upon what I have already done, and tweak some things for my final draft that I was unhappy with in my mock. I felt that there wasn't a lot of variation in location for my draft, so refilming will allow me to shoot in different locations as to not make the video uninteresting to watch. Any mistakes I have made in my mock I can now correct when I film again.

A2 Media Music Video Mock

Video Diary - Day 1 of filming - MOCK

MKTO - Wasted Animatic

Storyboard

Cinematography Practice

3x initial ideas

Idea 1:

My first idea was to have a man playing a piano for the performance element of the video because the song features a piano. Then, I wanted to have the same man playing someone who was in a relationship and lived with his girlfriend, but he was cheating on her with other women, and she knew about it. This is because the song is about a man who is too scared to fall in love because he knows he will mess up. So the video would show him 'messing up' by cheating on his girlfriend. I also wanted to incorporate elements of Adele's Hello video, such as the flashbacks and the sepia effect, as I feel that this would give an old-timey feel to my video.

Ideas 2:

Another idea I had was similar to the first idea, only have the girl cheating instead, and this is how their love ends up, 'wasted.' I could show him drinking to cope with his pain of losing her and have the same idea with the flashbacks, that show a time when they were in love. I wanted to show how a man would deal with the emotions of someone cheating on him.

Idea 3:

My final idea was to use the same sepia effect as the first idea, but have a young man going away to war, whilst his wife stays at home and she is worrying about him. This links to the first verse of the song, in which he sings, "before she even falls asleep, I got one foot out the door." This could be interpreted as he is leaving her all the time to go away to war. I also felt I could use a similar performance element, where he is sat at a piano singing about her. I felt they could wear old-fashioned clothing and she could stand at a train station and wave him off with a handkerchief as he goes away.

Institution Research

Music video institutions are institutions that help produce music videos for their signed artists, so that we as an audience can consume them. They create music videos in order to promote their artists further and also to give their fans what they want to consume. 


Sony Music Entertainment Inc. was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in New York. The label offers hip hop, rap, gospel, pop, classical and rock recordings and labels. It is one of the worlds most well known companies, as it includes ownership and distribution over companies such as Columbia Records, RCA Records, Epic Records and others. This means they are responsible for recording, distributing and filming music videos for the music of their labels and the artists signed to them. 


Warner Music Group is another institution that owns many record labels in the music industry. They too not only record and create the music of the artists, but are responsible for creating music videos and creating a brand for their artists. 


My music video and artist could be signed to either of these labels, because they cater for the genre of music I have chosen. 

Vevo is a multinational video hosting service owned by Universal Music Group, Google, Sony Music Entertainment and Abu Dhabi Media. It hosts videos syndicated across the web, with Google and Vevo sharing the advertising revenue. It offers music videos from all of the 'Big Three' record labels, and is an ideal service for people watching music videos. My music video could be hosted by Vevo, because it would mean that it would be distributed to a wider audience.

Music Video Audience Research Questions

1. How old are you?

2. What is your gender?

3. On average, how often do you watch music videos?

4. What do you think to be the most significant element of a music video?

5. How important are these different elements in a music video, in your opinion?

6. What makes a music video interenting in your opinion?

7. How do you consume music videos?

8. What is your favourite music genre?

9. What is your current job status?

10. What was the last music video you watched? What did you like about it? What didn't you like about it?

Demographics

What are demographics?

Demographics are the quantifiable characteristics in a given population, for example age, gender and social class. A demographic profile can be used to determine when and where advertising should be placed so as to achieve maximum results. It can also be used to determine which channel or station a media text should be broadcast so that it reaches the right audience.

People in social grade A may typically listen to genres such as classical, jazz, opera or choral music.

Working class people in social grade D may listen to indie rock music.

People in social grade E may listen to easy-listening music, rap, hip-hop and dance music.

Textual analysis of contemporary pop music videos

I have picked two music videos of the same genre of the video I will be producing, to the song Wasted by MKTO, but also with similar themes. Both videos are about relationships and the loss of a loved one, which is the same as meaning of the song Wasted.

Both videos have a performance element to them, in Adele's video she is simply lip-syncing to the camera, in Sam Smiths video, he is performing on a stage. In Adeles video, she is the woman, and in Sam Smiths video he is simply performing whilst actors show the narrative. Each video can be recognised by the audience as an alternative love song, as they have the typical conventions of a woman looking out the window, point of view shots of a man smiling and rain. Both videos differ because one is showing a story from the present and the other uses flashbacks of past events and also present day narrative.

Adele – Hello

Mise-en-scene

Most of the video is shot inside an old house. Everything is very old looking and worn. There are dead flies around the window sill which suggests that the house hasn’t been lived in for a long time. We see Adele cleaning the house and removing dust sheets from furniture. This suggests, as the song does, that she is going back into the past to finish things not yet done. All of the furniture and crockery is very old fashioned; the type you would find in an old persons house. There is a lot of rain when it comes to the chorus, which gives a melancholy feel. At one point, Adele is seen using a flip phone, which haven't been around for a while. This gives the video less of a real life verisimilitude, as most people nowadays use modern Android phones. Instead, this also gives a very ghostly and dream-like feel. It also supports the idea that she is looking back on the past. In the performance shots, she is dressed beautifully in lots of makeup and a big fur coat, but she is stood in a corn field. There is a shot in which the young man walks away looking upset, and it is raining, which adds to the sadness of it. There is a telephone box in the middle of the forest that is covered in vines, which gives the impression that it is very old. This suggests, along with the lyrics of the song, that she is ringing somebody that she hasn't spoken to in a long time, hence the lyrics, "Hello, how are you?" and the telephone box that hasn't been used in a long while. There is a shot of Adele walking through a field in a beam of sunlight, juxtaposed with a shot of the young man walking in the rain. This suggests that she is in a better situation/a better place than him. 

Editing

There is a sepia-coloured filter over the entire music video. This gives a vintage feel, as though she is looking back on past memories. I would like to use this edit on my music video because I would like to give the audience the feeling that the narrative is set in the past. We see Adele outside from the inside of the house, then a point-of-view shot of her phone, then a close-up of her head turning around to face the house. This is continuity editing. There are a lot of pull focus shots that add to the ghostly feel of the video. There is a lot of small shots of Adele singing that are juxtaposed with small shots of the man, which further supports the idea she is singing about him.

Sound

There is a small acting sequence at the start of the video with speech over the top. We can hear the sound of wind whilst she is talking on the phone. The music starts on the first moment Adele makes eye contact with the camera. We hear some dialogue over the top of the music.

Cinematography

There is a pull focus from the inside of the house to the outside, so we can see a car coming up the driveway to the house. There is juxtaposition between shots that are set in the past and Adele smiling, suggesting she is rethinking about old memories. I would like to use this for my flashback sequences in my music video, as it gives a nice effect. There is a close up shot of her on the phone, her face is very dimly lit and the rest of the screen is dark. This gives a very melancholy feel to the video. There are lots of shots from behind furniture, looking at Adele, which gives the feeling of a presence inside the house. It is very ghostly. There are lots of shots of a young man talking, so we assume that he is who she is singing about. He is talking directly to the camera, as is he is talking to a person, so we assume this is Adele. As Adele is singing, there is a zoom shot of her that zooms into her face. It is a low angle shot that makes her look very powerful. There is a high angle shot of Adele stood next to a lake, with all leaves blowing around her. This gives a very magical and fantasy feel to the video, which adds to the ghostliness of the video, and also suggests that she is looking back on these memories (that she talks about in the song) as though like a dream. As the lyrics also say, she's,"dreaming about who we used to be."

Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One

Mise-en-scene

The first shot is an establishing shot of a beautiful white family house with lots of green and trees around it. The sun is high in the sky and makes everywhere look beautiful. This contrasts drastically with the old house and furniture and flies in the Adele video. It also gives an immediately tranquil and peaceful feel to the video, so suggests everything is going to be nice and cheery in it. We see the husband and wife in the next shot, kissing and smiling at each other. He is in a smart suit which suggests he is going somewhere nice. She is also dressed up, and looks really happy. This adds to the peacefulness and happiness to the video. Outside, she waves her husband off in the car and as soon as he leaves, her smile turns to a frown and the melancholy music starts. This suggests she is not happy where her husband is going. She looks in a lot of pain and distress. She is seen to be drinking and removing her wedding ring, suggesting she isn't happy in the relationship. Her makeup around her eyes looks a lot darker also. There is a shot of the wife in a grocery store swigging alcohol from the bottle with her dress all scruffy and her hair falling out of it's style. She is also seen smoking in the video. This shows her deteriorating from the 'perfect wife' she was at the start to someone who is falling apart. We see her purchasing alcohol as well as bleach and lighter fluid; both of which can have negative connotations. She looks very upset and almost like she is going crazy, as the lyrics suggest; "you say I'm crazy, cause you don't think I know what you've done," which links to the cheating concept of the video. There is a shot of the husband undressing the girl. Typically scenes like this in movies and music videos would include a lot of red to symbolise lust and love. Instead, there is a blue light covering the shot. The colour blue typically connotates sadness, which is fitting as this is obviously causing sadness for his wife, but also loyalty and honesty, which is ironic as he is not being either of those things. As the husband walks up to he house, the wife greets him at the door in new clothes with her hair and makeup redone. This shows she doesn't want him to know that she has been upset. He kisses her and she smiles, but she still looks disgusted. She stares at the floor and looks distant, which shows she is thinking about what has happened.

Sound

As with the Adele video, there is a small amount of dialogue at the beginning. It is played over the shot of the house, so we hear voices before we see any people. The wife in the video talks about making breakfast and the husband replies that he's in a rush. He sounds fed up and she sounds hurt, but gives him a kiss anyway. This suggests she is trying for the relationship to work but he is just fed up with it. There is sounds of birds tweeting, which gives the stereotype of a perfect, happy world in a little suburban street. When the wife looks very upset later on in the video, she looks almost like she is going crazy, as the lyrics suggest; "you say I'm crazy, cause you don't think I know what you've done," which links to the cheating concept of the video.

Editing

The shot of the wife looking upset is juxtaposed with the husband walking into a dark corridor. The shot of her crying, drinking and removing her wedding ring is juxtaposed with him walking into a dimly lit bar. There is a shot of her panicking and trying to catch her breath as she cries, that is juxtaposed with him flirting with another girl. This implies that the wife knows what is going on. The shot of her crying in the car is juxtaposed with a shot of the husband drinking in a bar with the girl. The shot of the wife swigging alcohol in a shop is juxtaposed with the husband kissing the girl. Shots of the husband and the girl having sex are juxtaposed with the wife smiling and burning his clothes.

Cinematography

In the shot in which her mood changes as she realises where her husband is going, she begins by standing in the sunlight smiling. When her smile fades away, the shot turns as she turns around, and she is not shown in the darkness facing away from the sunlight. This shows her setting getting darker as her mood does. The camera follows her back into the dark house from the sunny outside, and she gets even more upset the further into the darkness she goes, showing the setting to reflect her mood. There is an extreme close up shot of her hand on a steering wheel followed by an extreme close up shot of her eyes with her makeup smudged down her face. This shows the extreme emotion she is feeling. When the husband is walking home whilst dressing himself after sleeping with the girl, he is walking in the darkness. The wife is now always seen in bright white light and still in her white dress. This connotates she is the pure and innocent one.

Lyric Analysis

This song is about a man who has had trouble in his past relationship, and now feels he can’t fall in love again in case he gets hurt like before.

Before she even falls asleep,
I got one foot out the door, one foot out the door,
I think she said her name but I was wasted,
I don't care anymore, one foot out the door.

Night after night, day after day,
Jack and coke smokin' on the fire escape,
Is it too soon or is it too late

Am I crazy to think that I could be in love when it all ends up, it all ends up wasted,
I'd give you my heart, but I'd just fuck it up, and we'd end up, we'd end up wasted,
La la la la la la la [x3]

Trying to numb the pain away,
I know how to leave but not how to stay,
I wonder if I will ever find someone to fill me up inside,
Someone to kiss my fears away,
If I believed in God I'd pray, to God I'd pray

Am I crazy to think that I could be in love when it all ends up, it all ends up wasted,
I'd give you my heart, but I'd just fuck it up, and we'd end up, we'd end up wasted,
La la la la la la la [x3]

Night after night, day after day,
Jack and coke smokin' on the fire escape,
Is it too soon or is it too late

Am I crazy to think that I could be in love when it all ends up, it all ends up wasted,
I'd give you my heart, but I'd just fuck it up, and we'd end up, we'd end up wasted,
I say we'd end up wasted, ooooh,

La la la la la la la [x3]

We'd end up wasted.

Verse 1 suggests he has just had a one night stand as he doesn’t want to find a serious relationship. The first two lines show he has let her house ‘before she even falls asleep’, suggesting he is leaving her before he gets any feeling for her. The word ‘wasted’ in this verse is used to show he is drunk and can’t even remember what the girls name is. He says he doesn’t care anymore, suggesting he doesn’t care about love or care about the girl he has just been with.

The bridge suggests he has been behaving in this way for a while, as the first line says ‘night after night, day after day’. This reinforces that he is struggling to cope with his heartache. The second line suggests he has been drinking and smoking in order to cope with this problem. The final line in the bridge, ‘is it too soon, or is it too late?’ suggests he may be thinking if it’s too soon to have moved on from his past troubled relationship or is it too late to get his ex girl back.

The chorus reinforces the idea that he believes he couldn’t fall in love because it all ends up ‘wasted’. ‘Wasted’ in this sense is used to show how his love has been wasted, and he has put all his love into one person for it all to be ruined in the end. ‘I’d give you my heart but I’d just fuck it up’ shows he doesn’t trust himself to fall in love again in case it all goes wrong.

This verse adds to the point that he is using alcohol to cope, as he says ‘trying to numb the pain away’. The second line suggests that he finds it easier not being in a relationship, as he knows ‘how to leave’ but not ‘how to stay’, suggesting he finds it difficult to stay in a relationship. The third line suggests he wants to find ‘the one’ but doubts he will. He says he wants to find someone who will ‘kiss his fears away’, meaning someone who he won’t be scared of losing, and he won’t have a fear of their love becoming ‘wasted’. The final line shows he is so desperate to find this dream person to make him feel better that he’d pray to God if he believed in him.

The final ‘We’d end up wasted’ shows he still has too many doubts even though he has thought it through, so this line shows he still doesn’t see a point in getting into a relationship because they’d ‘end up wasted’.