Initial Ideas brainstorm

As a group we created a brainstorm of all the possible ideas we could possibly use for our music video.

1) The first idea we discussed was the video being primarily studio based. We realised that off of the back of this, the video would then need to be  mostly performance based and discussed featuring contemporary dance. We took a lot of inspiration from other student's a2 music videos that we watched whilst researching. We noted that a lot of them chose to lip sync in front of a variety of different coloured backdrops- we felt that the simplicity of the plain coloured backgrounds was effective and most certainly something we could consider interpreting into our own video as it draws the audience's eye straight to the artist which is, of course, the main focal point. Despite liking the coloured backgrounds we disregarded the idea of using a studio. The main reasoning for this was that it would require a choreographed dance by our artist which may be difficult to make look of a professional standard. In addition, if we were to have a studio as our location the video would focus mainly on lip syncing which is not something we were aiming for- we would prefer a range of both studio and scenery shots, therefore using a studio only would limit us.

2) Our next idea was to make our video and its storyline revolve around a couple's fun summer. We wanted it to show their relationship at it's peak and also at its lowest point - including their breakup. Although we want the video to focus on the couple, we do not want to feature the 'boyfriends' face as we feel this may restrict our creativity a little. Instead, we would like the video to look as if it was filmed from his point of view of his girlfriend and the memories they shared. This theme of a relationship would allow us to experiment with lots of different locations (inside and outdoors) and camera shots as well as the varying emotions a relationship can produce. I feel that this idea would allow us to test our creativity and really show our potential.

The video for Shift Key's 'I Know' uses a point of view shot of the females boyfriend throughout the entirety of the video and so this a video that we could take particular inspiration from.

3) The next idea we considered was for the music video to themed around coping with death.  If we were to go ahead with this idea we would focus on the idea of our artist having experienced a loss and how she deals with it emotionally. Alongside the negative clips we would also incorporate a montage of the 'good times' in order to create a contrast which could be very effective. This would mean that we could feature a combination of both indoor and outdoor shots which would create a variety of different atmospheres, provoking a mixture of emotions within the viewers. Although we saw the potential in this idea, we decided not to go with it as it represents a deeper, darker side of life which we don't think would make for a great video, it could limit our creativity and only target a narrow audience.

4) Finally, our fourth idea was for it to be a comedic video. We had seen many videos with a comedic twist to them and a majority of them were successful. Carrying out this idea would mean interpreting the song in a completely different context - which is very risky. We discussed having funny characters involved to elicit more humour in the viewers. Humour can be a way to draw in an audience as laughter is often shared between others. Although this could be a good idea, it would have to be targeted at a very narrow audience which may deem our artist to be seen as unpopular when we are aiming for the opposite of this. Not only this, but comedy is very difficult to master as everyone has a different sense of humour which, again, means that our video could never really appeal to a mass audience. This type of video would also be hard to make look professional which is, ultimately, the appearance we are aiming for. This is yet another reason why we have ruled out this idea.

In conclusion, we have decided to go for idea number two. We felt this idea gives us the most room to experiment with the theme of 'love'- which is a theme that I feel this song best represents, therefore giving the lyrics that bit more of a meaning. We also all agreed that we enjoy the idea of using lots of point of view shots, showing more of a link between the artist we have been inspired by- Lana Del Rey. We noticed she often does this in her own videos. Similarly, with this idea we feel that a range of exciting locations could be used which we feel will (hopefully) make for a great video!

Initial Ideas

1) The first idea included the video being primarily studio based. It would be performance based with an element of contemporary dance involved. We were particularly inspired by a variety of other student's a2 music videos that we watched where they would lip sync in front of a range of different coloured plain backdrops- I feel that the simplicity is especially effective and something we could tie into our own as it draws the audience's eye straight to the artist which is the main focal point. We decided not to choose this idea as it would involve a choreographed dance by our artist which would be too difficult to have a professional appearance. Also, the video would mainly be lip syncing which is not something we would be going for- we would like a range of scenery shots too- therefore the studio would limit us.

2) The next idea we had was to make our video revolving around a couple's fun summer. It would show their relationship at their highest and lowest points- including their breakup. We do not plan to show our artist's boyfriend on the video as it would allow us to be more creative- for example using lots of point of view shots from the male's perspective of his girlfriend. These themes would allow us to experiment with lots of different locations (in and outdoors) and camera shots as well as emotions. I feel that this idea could give us the most potential in making a successful music video.

3) Our other idea we had was for our music video 'Without You' to be about coping with death. Our artist would have experienced a loss and would be shown dealing with it emotionally- also a montage of the 'good times' may also be effective- acting as flashbacks of great memories. This would mean that a combination of both indoor and outdoor scenes could be used which could create a variety of different atmospheres, provoking a mixture of emotions in the viewers. Saying this, I do not think we should choose to go with this idea as it represents a deeper, darker side of life which we don't think would be very effective to explore- it could limit our creativity and only target a narrow audience.

4) Finally, idea number four was for it to be a comedic video. This would mean interpreting the song in a completely different context. Our idea was to have funny characters involved to elicit more humour in the viewers. Humour can be a way to draw in an audience as laughter is often shared between others. Although this could be a good idea, it would have to be targeted at a very narrow audience which may deem our artist to be seen as unpopular when we are aiming for the opposite of this. Not only this, but comedy is very difficult to master as everyone has a different sense of humour which, again, means that our video could never really appeal to a mass audience. This type of video would also be hard to make look professional which is, ultimately, the appearance we are aiming for. This is yet another reason why we have ruled out this idea.

We have decided to choose idea number two. This idea would let us experiment with the theme of 'love'- which I feel that this song best represents, therefore giving the lyrics that bit more of a meaning. We also all agreed that we enjoy the idea of using lots of point of view shots, showing more of a link between the artist we have been inspired by- Lana Del Rey as we noticed she often does this in her own videos. We have already come up with a range of exciting locations that we could film this (I will write about these in a later blog post) which would create exciting aesthetics.