Location Photo's

Here are some photos to show the location where I will be filming scenes to my music video. I have taken pictures of the overall shopping center (last picture). This is roughly where I plan to film.. I have also taken images of the shop 'River Island' where I am filming a high majority of the video. I thought that these locations were appropriate because they fit my song choice. For example when I was choosing my locations I had the lyrics and pace of the song in mind. Therefore thought a shopping center would be a great idea as it has a very hectic, fast pace atmosphere about it which I also wanted to show through my video (and the setting would help this a lot). I chose to film in this specific shop because to me it best reflected glam, due to the colours, lighting and clothing that the shop has.

Location Permission

This is a short letter that I wrote up which will be shown to the manager of the clothes shop I am using. This letter explains exactly what I will be filming, including examples of shots that may be filmed and roughly how long it will take... I am aware of copyright in the UK so therefore wrote this letter asking for permission. I have also explained in the letter that it would interfere with any of the goings on in the shop as I do not need a lot of space and would go at a less busy time.. ie; weekday.

Settings and Props

Location List

Bedroom - First scene of the artist in her bedroom, pampering herself (dressing gown, hair in towel), reading 'Confessions of a shopaholic' the book by Sophie Kinsella. Also scenes in her room where clothes and shopping bags are everywhere.

Canary Wharf - For a majority of the scenes I will be filming in Canary Wharf, as I wanted the setting to be a busy shopping centre. For example for the walking scene (which I wanted to reference to 'The devil wears Prada') I would film it along the shopping centre foyer to show her walking past all the shops.

A Clothes Shop - Where I could get a variety of shots including her shopping, looking around, and admiring clothes and shoes.

White Backdrop - I will use the white backdrop for the 'Vogue' scenes that I wish to make, as having a white backdrop would make it more as if she is in a studio which is the effect I want and it would also be easier to edit/ overlay the magazine on top of these shots.

Changing Room scene - I hope to use a clothes shop changing room so I could include shots (montage edit) of different chamge of outfits for the chorus.

Cashpoint - Where the artist goes to withdraw cash but realises she has a low bank balance.

Prop List

Most of the props needed for my music video are very simple to gather. In the image above there are overall props that I will use in my music video. Here are a range of colourful items like..

Nail Varnishes - For the changing nail colour shot

Shopping bags - For the shopping centre scene

Shoes - Linking lyrics with the visuals 'I can hear my name calling from stillettos on display'

The Confessions Of A Shoppaholic Book - For the beggining when she is reading the book in a A Dressing Gown in her room..

Artist Profile

 Ellie McQuade

Ellie is a 17 year old student who has studied Drama in the past making her able to create and impersonate a variety of characters. Her bubbly, cheerful and bouncy personality would fit perfectly for the female music artist I wish to create. Her personalitly will shine through the music video creating a beleivable Pop artist.

Music Video Idea's

Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me

From Taylor Swifts - You Belong With Me music video I got the idea of the same character changing clothes within a short space of time in the song. I thought this was a very quirky idea and would really go with the rythm/ pace of the song. I also think it's a good idea because it reflects on the character/ artist aswell... making them seem quirky and quite comical.

Vogue Magazine - Cover Girl  

 

One of my ideas for my music video was to include a reference to Vogue magazine. The idea was to film the artist as if she was posing for Vogue, with the overlayed image of the Vogue Title Block and Puffs at the sides. I think the outcome would look really good and fit with the theme of the song and video that I'm going for. It will represent Vogue cover girls in the past like celebrities such as Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and even Music Artists such as Gaga, Katy Perry and Rihanna. By doing this it would immitate other celebrities slightly - but this is part of the 'artists' characteristics that I'm using. 

Brightly Coloured Nails

I have noticed in latest music videos that the female artists all have funky coloured nail designs. For example Pixie Lott in the image above... Beyonce, Katy Perry, Kesha and even the group 'Little Mix' On the X Factor. I thought that this research was relevant and appropriate and would be a good little thing to include in my video as it's very 'pop' and would fit with the style.

Money Idea

As well as using cash going up and down I will use coins aswell. Similar to this picture I will film coins getting higher and lower. This is because I wanted to show her 'loosing' money through the video.. therefore the cash that she has will turn into coins.



Animatic Storyboard

This is my animatic storyboard that I made to get a rough idea of the shots that I would use to make the music video. I cut the images to the time of the music and to the time where I would like the specific shots to last. Once I had finished my animatic on iMovie I watched it back and realised that I would need more shots to make the video more snappy with more shots. I also noticed that I need to film the shots at different angles to make the music video more interesting. There are many advantages to making an animatic. Doing an animatic storyboard would help me get familiar with the basic editing software. It would also help me see the timing and the pace that my shots should be when I film the actual scenes. The animatic storyboard also gives me a very good idea on if I need to include other scenes (if one scene seems to be too long). From the storyboard I think I have a good variety of shots to actually make the music video based on the animatic. 

Moodboard for music video

 

I made a moodboard so I could get some ideas for my music video, including settings, costumes and concepts. These images helped me think of some shots that I would include in my music video. For example the 2nd picture down on the right gave me the idea to montage edit a load of shopping scenes of the artist surrounded by clothes in shops. The moodboard also gave me ideas on costume for my artist.. So they will be wearing a lot of bright, bold coloured clothes with a lot of layers.

Synopsis of my Music Video

I want to reference some of my music video to the film Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) and also the book written by Sophie Kinsella, which the film was based on.
From listening to the song I felt that the artist (signing in first person) could be a ditzy/ passion for fashion character who has a love for clothes, shoes and money. I thought of this whilst listening to the lyrics. For example ‘Call me a perfectionist, addicted to immaculate. The hair right shoes tight’ and ‘got a catwalk for a closet’. I pictured scenes where the character would be getting pampered in a studio type room almost getting smothered by makeup artists ect... to create the effect that she’s a ‘Vogue’ cover girl.
Throughout the song the ‘shopaholic’ character experiences losing money with the video referencing to money, and what we associate with money, in this case - glossy magazines such as Vogue, clothes shops and glamorous makeup and clothing.
I will use a lot of montage editing as it will appropriately go with the rhythm and time of the song and make some parts of the song chaotic – which will be suitable for the theme I am going for. My video will follow Todorov's Theory (classic narrative) and will be told in chronological order with an Equilibrium-Disequilibrium-Recognition-Reparation and New Equilibrium.
The themes of my narrative will typically appeal to the female audience because of consumer culture. I think that this narrative will also link to politics and the government because of the way the country is dealing with the 'resession' - the narrative of this video will show the opposite of people are doing (saving money) and will give more of a positive vibe about the situation.