Drafting and planning - track list

For the titles of the song on the album, I have decided to choose a mixture of songs that sound similar and ones that do not, so that the audience are interested as they don't know what to expect. I want 10 songs on my album, including the song I am doing. The track list I have decided on is:

1. Stay High

2. On My Mind

3. Time Out

4. Drunk On Drugs

5. This Time

6. Walk On

7. No Doubt

8. In Love

9. Believe

10. I Blame You

I have decided on this as I think certain songs such as 'believe' and 'this time' may be misleading as they sound different to 'stay high' 'drunk on drugs' 'time out' and the majority of the songs. I think most of the songs sound relating and most you would associate with a break up and a broken heart which is partly what 'stay high' is about. 

Research into similar products - tove-lo album cover and advertisements

Before I started work on my album cover, I decided to look at the artist who has been the main inspiration for my work so far - Tove Lo. I looked at the single cover for the original version of the song I am doing my music video for.

 

This was the first cover I came across. It has the artist with make up down her face as if she has been crying, which suits what happens in the video and the storyline to go with it. The writing is bold and noticeable with the artists name in a slightly different colour to the singles name to establish the difference. I think this cover is effective as its main aspect is the artist and it has a clear link to the video and what the song is about. 

This is the main single cover for this song. I like the way this one is presented as the artists emotions come through as again it looks like she has been crying. It is in black and white which represents the depressing story to the song but the single name is in bright pink writing with a fun font to make it stand out and appeal to the audience. The artist looks similar to how she looks in the music video and her make up is smudged which shows the link between the cover and the music video. 

 

This is Tove Lo's album cover. This is the album that includes the single 'habits' which is the original version of the song I am making my video for. I really like this cover as I think the colour scheme grabs the eye and the picture is edgy, dramatic and powerful. The diamond draws attention to the facial expression which is strong and bold. The artists name is written in the same font as it was on the single cover which shows it's the artists signature font. The font of the name of the album is written in the same font for continuity reasons and to make it look professional and appealing. 

This is another one of Tove-Lo's singles 'Not on drugs'. She uses the same fonts as the ones on the 'habits' single which shows continuity. She continues her edgy style and look and it is also in black and white to be emotive and is powerful at representing the stories behind the songs. 

This is a single cover for a remix version of the song I am doing for the music video. This could be a screenshot from the video as the picture is someone smoking to get high which is what the song is about. This represents part of the story of the song and the colours are fairly neutral and are not bold to keep the tone relaxed. The girl is an attractive young female which is what people said they would expect to see in a trap music video. The song title is written in big writing across the cover but still shows the image and I really like the way this looks. 

Drafting and Planning - write up of music video with timings

0.00-0.06
Camera quickly pans upwards to show the night sky
0.06-0.10
As soon as the song says 'high', smoke is quickly blown across the screen
0.10-0.12
Camera cuts to a group of people smoking outside. One of the men is hugging a girl from behind
0.12-0.19
Cuts to a close up of a girl laughing and looking like she is having fun
0.19-0.21
The scene cuts to a shot of a man walking down a street in the dark on his own
0.21-0.25
The camera turns to show a girl running her hands through her hair, looking distressed
0.25-0.31
The girl quickly pulls out a cigarette, lights it and walks away
0.31-0.34
Immediately cuts to the girl and her friends doing shots in a kitchen surrounded by  bottles of alcohol
0.34-0.37
Cuts to an extreme close up of a girl applying lipstick ready to go out
0.37-0.39
Shows the girl walking out the door
0.39-0.44
Girl walks into a party and meets her friends
0.44-0.47
A girl starts downing a cup of alcohol
0.47-0.50
Girls laughing together
0.50-0.57
A guy hugs one of the girls from behind and kisses the side of her head
0.57-1.23
Quick clips of loads of different party scenes (dancing, drinking, laughing, smoking, smoke tricks, flashing lights)
1.23-1.48
Slow motion party scenes (dancing, drinking, kissing, shots etc)
1.48-1.56
Girl stumbling up the stairs
1.56-2.00
Guy going into a bedroom and shutting the door behind him
2.00-2.05
Girl looking in the mirror and sorting out her make up (looking distressed)
2.05-2.08
Close up of a tear running down a cheek
2.08-2.14
Someone opening a bedroom door, girl sitting up in bed pulls covers over herself and theres a guy sleeping topless next to her with his back turned
2.14-2.17
Smoke trick
2.17-2.20
Different smoke trick. Someone in the shot mouthing the word 'high' in time with the music
2.20-2.27
Girl and boy flirting/kissing
2.27-2.31
Another couple kissing
2.31-2.34
A close up of a girl downing a drink
2.34-2.39
A shot of a girl looking stressed and leaving a room
2.39-2.42
A medium close up of a girl breaking down on the stairs
2.42-2.46
A shot of pills being dropped down a sink
2.46-2.52
A shot of a girl walking down the stairs with her make up smudged and wiping her eyes
2.52-2.55
Girl throws herself forward and messes up her hair
2.55-2.59
A close up of a girl blowing out smoke
2.59-3.06
Shot of a girl stumbling away
3.06-3.14
Girl throwing herself onto a bed and closing her eyes

Storyboard

organisation

Research into similar products - Types of magazine that will advertise my album

Mixmag

I think Mixmag would advertise my product as it 'the worlds biggest dance music and clubbing destination' and the song I have picked would be a good song to play in a club. The target audience for this magazine is young, party people which is my aim. The colours are bright and vibrant which is what I want to include in scenes of my music video. The beat of my song is fast and upbeat.

Link to mixmag website

   

DJ mag

Link to DJ mag website

Drafting and planning - Theme and style of my video

It is important that there is a scheme to the entire video, yet each scene maintains individuality. This needs to be in both the set and the filming techniques and they need to stay within the 'rules' of the music video and follow the conventions. 

The main theme of my video is the negativity of drugs and alcohol and the bad affect they have on people and their emotions and judgement. I feel that this is an important theme and I want to get across the message that people use these things to get over their problems and try to make them forget things they do not want to remember but it does not work in this way.
This will be expressed through the colour scheme, camera angles, mise-en-scene and the actions on screen. The theme will be, whenever drugs are alcohol are used, there will be sadness.
There will be bright lights and dim lights to express the happy and sad time. 

Organisation - Blog improvements

This blog tracker was created before the 28th of November so I have a few blog posts since then.

Organisation - Colour Scheme

The two videos I have came across so far use a colour scheme to express the emotion in the story being told. 

The first video I analysed was 'Tove-lo - Habits.'

Click this link to see the Tove-lo music video analysis

I also discussed the colour scheme of this video in a blog post about colours.

Click this link to see the original potential colour scheme post

I have decided to look into colour schemes in further detail after I analysed the negativity in the 'Ed Sheeran - A team' video and realised how effective the black and white colour scheme was. 

Click this link to see the Ed Sheeran - A Team analysis

The colour schemes in these two videos are very different but still both express the emotions of the main characters in the story. 

In Tove-Lo - Habits, there is a slight purple wash over the video, that becomes more obvious when the video is darker and therefore more emotional. This is effective as purple is linked to depression and is known to be a sign of instability.

Here are some negative connotations of the colour purple: 

I like that the colour wash wasn't so obvious, so it is like it is adding to the effect without the viewer even knowing. I think this is a good way of doing it and I will consider it in my own music video. 

In Ed Sheeran - A Team, the whole video is in black and white which gives a depressing, sad effect to the entire story and meaning, The video is sad and is showing a troubled girl, so the emotions are expressed through colour.

 Black is linked to death which gives a scary vibe and it is also connected to nighttime and threatening situations. This is effective as night time is viewed as dangerous and is thought to be negative, As well as this, black is associated with mourning, evil and destruction and the unknown, which gives an eery effect.

White is usually viewed in a positive light, linking to innocence and purity which is contradictory to the music video as it includes prostitutes and drugs. This could have been done on purpose to show the contrast and draw attention to the negativity.

When white and black are mixed together, it creates the colour grey. The colour grey is known to be a dull and boring colour and is never the centre of attention. It can have the same connotations as black if it is a darker shade. It can be thought of as mysterious. Grey is linked to depression as when a person is depressed, it is thought that they see the world 'greyer' than people that are not depressed. 

Both videos are mainly in dark settings, which emphasises the emotion on screen and also brings out more. I will look into what lighting means in these videos. 

Meanings of dark and light 

Darkness is perceived negatively. It brings ideas of depression, fear and destruction. It can be associated with hiding, which brings out fear and gives the idea of isolation. It can also link to evil or lack of righteousness in some religions.

Light is usually seen to be positive. It refers to goodness and righteousness. It is often associated with intellect and realisation. In a light setting a person is usually more at ease and in comfort as it is seen as safer and more relaxing. 

Research into similar products

I wanted to look into and get ideas from videos that don't use lip syncing in them. In all three of these videos, there is minimal lip syncing or no lip syncing which is how I want my video to be. Each video tells the story of the song and is filled with actors playing out the roles of the characters in the stories. I have gained ideas about shooting away from the characters and not focusing on them at all times.