Thursday, October 31, 2013

Individual Treatment


MUSIC VIDEO CLIP TREATMENT
Names of group members
Charli, Ilona and Georgina
Song selected
Radioactive – Imagine Dragons
Type of clip (Highlight your choice/s)
performance / narrative / collage
Concept for clip
Explain what narrative/images the clip will contain
Type of clip: Narrative
Concept: A puppeteer is keeping two puppets trapped in a box and is controlling them. One puppet is completely white whilst the other is completely black. These puppets then escape from the box and begin haunting/chasing the puppeteer to try to trap her as payback for keeping them under her control. As they are chasing her they turn slightly red. They corner her and knock her out before trapping her in the same box they were trapped in. The puppets are then seen to be normal people as they walk away, whilst the puppeteer now has her face half black and half white.
Message
What message will your clip contain or what is its purpose?
Style
What look and feel will your clip have?
Message: The purpose of this film is to show that it is wrong to control people and it is not your place to do so. It also shows that people are likely to seek revenge, even if it is not the best thing to do. It also shows that if you do control someone there will be consequences.

Style: The film will have a suspenseful mood throughout, as the audience will not be able to tell what is going to happen to the puppeteer as she is running from the puppets. It will have dark colours and lighting. The suspense will be seen through the puppets haunting the puppeteer.
Technical codes
Explain the ideas you have about camera work, transition devices, lighting, special effects, framing and composition
Camera Work: The rule of thirds will be incorporated into the video as well as possible. There will be a lot of low shots of the puppeteer at the beginning whilst she still has the puppets under her control, but once the puppets escape she will start having high shots on her instead. The puppets will be the opposite, starting with high shots and moving to low shots.
Transition Devices: There will be times in the clip when the puppets are running, starting with only one of them and then the shot will fade into the other puppet running in the same area with the camera in the same position. There will also be times when one puppet jumps over a log and fades into the other puppet in mid-air. Cross dissolves will be a big part of the clip.
Lighting: The lighting throughout the clip will be dark, as the story has a dark and suspenseful mood.
Special Effects: The puppets will be sped up and be seen to be a bit jerky. The running will be in slow motion in some parts and sped up in other parts. Once the puppets turn red, there will be a slight red tinge to the film. Another effect is also the transitions from one puppet into the other as seen in Transition Devices (above).
Framing: The framing will be used to show only what we want the audience to see, such as if the puppets are hiding, only part of them will be shown. We will also use the framing to make locations look more wild by showing only sections of rooms that need to be seen.
Audio codes
What is the song about and how do the lyrics relate to the visuals you have selected? Will you be adding an additional sound?
Meaning of the song: The song is about a New Age and an apocalypse. It speaks about ho the New Age isn’t very good or nice to be in, such as, “breathing in the chemicals” and “this is it, the apocalypse”.
Another take on what the song is about could be that is about how wrong the world is becoming.
Relation of lyrics to visuals: There are a few key relations to the lyrics and the rest of the music video relates to the song as a whole. The lyrics “I’m waking up” at the very beginning of the song match with the puppets waking up for the first time. Also, the lyrics “I’m painted red to fit right in” matches up with the puppets turning red. The rest of the video relates to the song as it is implying a “new age” as the puppets come out of the box and into the world, as a change is occurring.
Pace
What sort of pace does your song have and how will this be reflected and created in your clip?
Written codes
If you are using any written codes, what text will you use? What is its significance?
Symbolic codes
Will there be any symbols in your clip and what will they be? Will you repeat any images or use a motif? How will the symbolism you have used contribute to the message of your clip?
Pace: The song is quite up tempo and has quite a fast pace, but at the beginning of the song in the introduction and during the bridge the tempo slows down quite a bit. The editing at the beginning will be quite slow and during the bridge the shots will be put in slow motion to match the tempo of the music. The rest of the film will be sped up in some of the running shots or will be left at normal speed.
Written Codes: There will be no written codes during the music video.
Symbolic Codes: There will be symbolism in the “Painted red to fit right in”, as it signifies the puppets becoming angry and are out for revenge. There is also symbolism in the puppeteer part of the video, as she is controlling people who have been turned into puppets, but this shows that she is controlling them. The red will contribute to the part of the message relating to revenge, and the puppeteer part will relate to the control part of the message.
Key elements of mise-en-scene to be used
Explain the settings needed and outline key props and costumes needed
Settings: The main setting needed is a forest type area which will be filmed at Ilona’s house as she lives on property. This will allow us to make it much more suspenseful. The other settings needed are rooms to place the box in and a room for the puppets, which will be the inside of the box.
Props and Costumes:
The costumes needed for the puppets are:
·          White singlet, pants and white face paint – no shoes
·          Black singlet, pants and black face paint – no shoes
The puppeteer needs:
·          Normal clothes – including shoes
·          Black cloak
·          Black and white face paint – for the end of the clip
The costumes are a key element as they show the difference of the characters and the face pain signifies the difference between puppet and human.
The props needed are:
·          Sticks and string – puppeteers way of controlling the puppets
·          Box
·          Rope – this is very important as it shows how trapped the characters are and the power held over them
The acting is also quite important, because the puppets need to act creepy and stealthy to create the suspenseful atmosphere.

Appeal
What things in your clip do you think will appeal to a youth audience?
I think the genre of the clip will appeal to a youth audience as it is paranormal/fantasy and suspense. Many younger people enjoy suspenseful clips/films. Also the fact that it is still PG will attract more younger people. The younger audience will also benefit from the message of the clip.

Shot List - Charli - Scene 1 (Click to enlarge)


Monday, October 21, 2013

Music Video

Ilona, Georgina and I are working well together on our music video. I'm really glad with the group I'm in and the idea we came up with. I feel as though we have a good concept that works well with our chosen song (Radioactive - Imagine Dragons). We began filming in the holidays so we could get a head start which helped a lot because we don't have as much work to do on it this term. We still have some filming to do, as we didn't film any of my scenes in the holidays, so we are going to these scenes in class this week and on the weekend. If we get my scenes completed this week then we will have all of next week to edit the music video together as it is due on the Friday of next week. I am very excited to begin editing our music video together as I believe it will turn out very well and I'm excited to see our concept come to life. 
We didn't film any of my scenes on the holidays because we thought that it was more important we get Georgina and Ilona's scenes done as they needed to be painted black and white which took up some time and if we didn't get most of their scenes done in the same day then the make up could look very different and there could be inconsistencies in our film. Georgina and Ilona also met up again last week to film a couple of their scenes together, but I could not attend this filming session because I had work, but I am happy with what they got done. 
Our planning is helping a lot with the filming process, as we aren't aimlessly filming, we have what we planned on doing and are sticking to it, with a few changes here and there because location and/or props stopped us from doing certain things and/or shots. I am really happy with the very start of our music video and I think it is going to look very good. We have Ilona and Georgina (puppets) tied up to the roof of a shed, like they are in a box, and they are acting like they are being controlled by the ropes, which matches with the music. Before this, there will be a shot of me pulling up on the ropes so it is clear that I am the one controlling them. 
I believe that we have filmed over half of our music video and I am looking forward to completing the filming this week

Monday, October 7, 2013

Steven Spielberg

No. of Oscars: 4
5 Films:

  • Jaws
  • Saving Private Ryan
  • Twilight Zone
  • War Horse
  • Indiana Jones

Director: 50
Producer: 138
Writer: 21
Random Fact:

  • Steven Spielberg refused to accept any money for Schindler's List, saying it would be "blood money".
  • George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are responsible for 7 of the top 10 highest-grossing films of the 1980's.