(Post 18) Dragon's Den Pitch Planning

What brief are you taking?
For my coursework, I have decided to create a music video, to the song- 'Youth' by 'Daughter'. 


The style of this song is 'Indie/Neo-folk'.

My idea for the narrative so far?
I have a general idea for my idea. This will be based around two teenage women, but it'll focus
mainly on one of the girls. It will open on her, and there will be some introductory shots of her
sitting. After she begins to get up, her bag falls open and lots of photographs will fall out, onto
the floor. She is shocked to see that the photographs begin to move, and they start to show
their relationship (they start off happy, and in love), this develops, and we finally see them
arguing. I'm going to use the photos as a sort of 'split-screen', and they will steadily move
more and more. As this develops, the main character sticks all the pictures to a wall, and
stands back (this is the only shot I'm sure of). She realises there is one left over on the floor
(perhaps under her shoe). This shows them arguing, and her character storms out. However,
once she leaves, her girlfriend mouths 'I love you, I'm sorry'. This will act as a pinnacle
moment, and the main character will run to her girlfriends house, and it will end with her at her
door. I think I'm going to end it quite ambiguous, and it'll be unsure whether they are back
together- she'll open the door, and it'll end with her at her girlfriends door.

My idea for performance elements so far:
I would like to include a performance element in my video, but I am unsure about where
exactly it'll fit into the video as of yet. For this, I will have the main character lip syncing to the
song, and it will interlace with pieces of story. Also, I might film some lip syncing, and put it
into the photographs, and have it in the background of the story. This would be effective, as it
would subtly include performance, and would advertise the song and singer. I don't think I will
include a band, and will probably just use my main character for lip syncing.

Potential Cast:
For my video, I only need two actors. I am only certain of one of my actors, and she will play
the main character (Chloe):

This is Megan Lansdell, and she is 17. I only have 4 minutes to show Chloe's complexities,
and develop her character, but I hope to portray a complex, interesting character who is
deeply affected by the loss of her girlfriend. Megan is perfect for this role, as she is a great
actress who will be able to show this characterization, and portray a well rounded character.
Overall, I really want the audience to relate to her character. Even if they haven't been in the
same situation, I want them to feel a connection to her, and understand how she feels.

For my other character (Max), I don't really know who I will cast as her. This is important
however, as they have to have good chemistry with Megan, and have to be comfortable
portraying such an intimate relationship. Max is also a complex character, but is more straight-
forward than Chloe. Max is kind, calm and gentle, compared to Chloe's red-hot emotions.
If I don't find anyone else, I will resort to using myself as this character. It'll make filming a little
harder, but will make the photograph scenes more 'home-made', as I will have to film them as
if we were using the front camera of a phone. I would have used this kind of shot before, but
but if I was in it, I would have to use these shots more (but I would probably still use some shots
with a tripod).

Potential Locations:
I am planning to use lots of different locations. For the main place (where Chloe will live), I need
a big room, with plain white walls. I haven't decided where this will be, but probably in my
bedroom, as I have a plain, white room. This will be filmed last, in the colder, winter months.
This will juxtapose the bright, sunny feel of the photographs.
For the photographs, I am using multiple places. Because of the amount of photographs I
plan to use, I will have many locations. These will all be wide, open places, as this will portray
a sense of freedom and happiness (which will juxtapose the lonely, white room). This will
include- a garden, a forest, a beach.

This is the first location- Holkham Beach:

I would like to use this location, as it is a bright, happy place. Moreover, beaches have connotations of summer and happy memories. This will remind the audience of how their relationship used to be, and will subtly make them feel a sense of nostalgia, investing them into the story more.

Other potential locations include:
Thetford Forest:


The Secret Garden, Norwich:

These are all good locations, as they are wide, open spaces that portray happiness and freedom. They are aesthetically pleasing, and will help to further the feel of nostalgia, and loneliness (in the present), as it will be a stark comparison between the present and past. 


Research you have done into existing music videos:
I have watched lots of music videos in research. These include:

This video inspired me as the use of colour was incredible. In this video, they use lights to illuminate the smoke in the room. The purple accentuated the shadows and passion of the party. This inspired me, as I would like to use similar meaningful colours. Instead of the physical lighting, I am planning to use physical colour in costumes and location. Specifically, in the photographs, the characters will wear bright colours (red, blue, yellow). This is to represent happiness and how in love they were. In the present, the main character would wear neutral colours (greys or blacks) to portray how upset, and different she feels. 

This stunning video really inspired me. First, the quotes at the beginning and end were particularly beautiful, and reminded the audience of the true meaning behind the video. Because of this, I think i'm going to include a quote at the beginning of my video. This will probably be taken from the game 'Life is Strange', as my video idea is inspired from this game. This will add further depth and meaning to the video, and will allow the audience to relate to the situation more, and feel more attached to the story. 
Also, there is a particular shot in this video that I was really inspired by. In the video, the main character runs out of their house, and runs down the road. They are framed in a medium shot, showing them shoulders up, with their arms disturbing the frame whilst they are running. This is a really effective shot, as it shows the raw emotion behind the scene. Also, the shot is interlaced with short clips of the events leading up to this scene. This is effective as it shows the emotion, and pain of the character, and draws the audience in further. I was planning to do a running scene towards the end of my video, but this has changed my idea to interlace 'snapshots' from their relationships. This will include their happy moments, and their sad, to further invest the audience into where the character is running. 

This video inspired the use of photographs in my piece. During the video, there is a television in the background of many shots. In this, the band is seen performing the song (in black and white). The subtle use of layers and unique inclusion of performance aspects inspired me. I was previously confused about how I would include any lip-syncing, but after watching this video, I have decided to include lip-syncing in the background (in the photographs). 

Anything I desperately want to avoid:
There are a few things I want to avoid in this video:

• I don't want people to become bored during whilst watching:

This is my biggest thing I want to avoid. If someone doesn't understand my video, or ideas, I can explain it, or change the order of events, to make it more understandable. If it is boring, I will really struggle to make it interesting, as there are only a few changes I can make, and if there problem is with the story, I probably won't be able to change it enough.

• I don't want people to dislike the characters:

I only have roughly 5 minutes to introduce the characters, and attempt to make the audience relate to them. My video revolves around two characters, and if the audience disliked them, it would be really hard for them to relate to the story, and enjoy the video. To try and counteract this, I have chosen a good actress for the main character, and have carefully storyboarded the plot, and developed the characters backstories, and personalities. They are both complex characters, but in my video they only have a short time to show this, so it will be difficult to portray this, but I will be happy if they are shown as two. likable, relatable characters, that the audience root for. 

• I don't want it to look badly made:

I'm not an expert at editing and filming, and this is the first project I'm doing on my own, but I still hope it'll look reasonable well made. For obvious reasons, it won't look really professionally made, but I would like it to be smooth, and slick. To help this, I am planning to use a good quality camera, and will focus on lighting, camera shots and editing techniques.

How your work is going to be creative and original:
My piece is going to be original in the story. There are lots of music videos and short films that focus on relationships, but mine will differ with the photograph idea, and the time frame shifts. I was inspired by the game 'Life is Strange', but I have adapted the idea and made changes that makes my video different to the story of the game. This will, hopefully, make it stand out and make it interesting, and enjoyable.