500 Word Plot

In our music video that is titled ‘Retrospect’ our narrative will be focused on the breakup of the relationship between our protagonists William and Laura, however at various points throughout the music videos narrative we will be addressing  their relationship through the use of flashbacks, which we will show through our use of colour treatment to be black and white, as this will have the connotations of being set in the past (Barthe’s semantic code).

Our music video opens at nighttime in William’s bedroom. He is asleep. Suddenly he is awoken by a phone call. He answers the phone, it’s his friend Dave . He is calling to tell him that his past lover Laura has died. During the telephone conversation Dave elaborates and tells William that Laura passed away in her sleep, later on we find out that this is due to her alcoholism. The scene then cuts to a windy day in which William is shown standing in front of Laura's grave. The scene then cuts to William walking back from the graveyard down an empty high street. The scene then cuts to William is shown to be kicking the wall and then slumping his body against in frustration. The scene continues into a black and white flashback in which William is playing the song on an acoustic guitar for Laura and singing. Laura then pushes the guitar away from Will and climbs on top of him, the pair then kiss and the door swings open. 

The video is then in colour again and shows present day Will running has hands across the bed sheets and then walking over towards the cupboard which houses the guitar, he pulls the guitar out and attempts to play a chord but becomes overwhelmed with emotion and puts it back down. He then leaves the room and there is a shot of the guitar hanging on the wall as he leaves. 

There is then another flashback in which Laura and Will are looking out across the field from a bridge, Will then goes onto one knee and proposes to Laura to which she agrees, the scene then shifts into a candle lit hallway which has clothes scattered across the floor. The next scene is then filmed through a crack in the door. This then fades to the present day with Will blowing out a candle. The scene is then set in the present and Will is tossing and turning in his sleep until his eyes open and he walks over to the guitar and plucks one of the strings. The scene then alternates between the past and the present of Will walking alone and then with Laura in the past. Will is then sitting on the river bank and looking outwards. 

The scene cuts to Will showing Laura the letter which notifies them of their bank loan being declined which starts an argument between them. Laura then becomes angry and smashes the picture frame that contains a photograph of the two. Will then places the photograph in his jacket pocket and attempts to console Laura, however she pushes him away and Will leaves the room. In another flashback Laura is shown scratching Will's back  in a candlelit setting which then cuts to the couple embracing each other in bed . 

We then see a shot of Laura drinking alone on the bank of the river and Will is looking for her, he approaches the bridge and sees Laura with another man. Laura then throws the engagement ring into the river as Will watches it float away. This scene is followed by Laura looking over at Will and then going to hit him in a drunken state. The scene then cuts to the present day when Will is waken up by feeling the impact of the punch as if he has dreamt about this memory. 

In the final scenes of the music video Will wakes up and puts on his coat with the photograph still in the pocket and leaves to go back to Laura's grave, where he places the photograph on the grave and receives the closure he has been looking for and is able to let go of the fast. after this he leaves the graveyard and walks back until the narrative fades out. 

By Ryan Griffiths.

Test Shoot and Colour Treatment

Colour Treatment

Key: 

Left image (original colour); 

Right image (colour treatment).

For the test shoot, we used a variety of locations to show where we will be filming our main music video of 'Retrospect'. To edit the video and add the colour treatment, I used Premiere Pro with tools such as the three-way-colour corrector and the luma-curve to help give saturation to the shots, making the scenes look more professional and engaging to the audience. However, not all of the colour treatments used in this test will be used for the final products due to it not meeting our standard of what we expect within the video.

Clip 1:

Firstly, the first colour treatment used was for the scene of the elderly man walking in the street. I used a three-way-colour corrector to balance out the filtering within the shot. The colour I used was blue to connote sadness and emptiness, due to the character in this scene being heartbroken. Also, I used luma-curve, which helps make the image brighter or darker when changing the shape of the line within the grid. From the image above, it shows that I made the line curve more towards the bottom right-hand corner, resulting to a dark filter. However, I also used a mask within the luma-curve to brighten everything within the mask. For example, the characters face and the green bushes behind him. The green connotes growth and braveness, which links to the characteristics of the main character as he is strong as well as sad due to the current situation of being heartbroken. The reasoning for making the scenery dark was to result in giving a very dull image, making the character stand out more towards the audience rather than the surrounding scenery, such as the cars and houses. It was also to connote the main characters recent emotions to help make the audience sympathise with him. For example, he feels like his life is dull since the of of his life has passed away. 

In addition, the saturated red within the collar of his coat and his lips connote anger and rage, showing the audience that he's in pain and rage. This links to Barthes symbolic code due to having colours connoting an emotion. For example, the darkened scenery connoting a dull life and the feeling of emptiness. Also, the facial expressions given symbolise his emotions. For example, the character is looking down signifying insecurity and vulnerability, giving the audience power to look down on him.

Clip 2:

Secondly, the second scene which I gave colour treatment to was the first flashback of the happy couple looking over the bridge and talking to one another. The tint is black and white due to it being an old memory, therefore the tint links to the colour for old-fashioned films when black and white was used. Also, the black and white signifies the purity of the relationship between the main characters. Before applying the tint, I used the three-way-colour corrector and used the colours orange and red to make the image have a warm effect, giving a little saturation to the black and white tint. This gives the actress a silhouette effect due to her wearing a dark coat, resulting in her looking nearly invisible, connoting her current situation of not being around. However, the white makes her hair and face stand out, connoting purity and innocent, making the audience focus on her more rather than the actor. 

The overall colour treatment resulted in making the scene look old-fashioned with the camera focusing on the actress rather than the actor, connoting that she is the main character within this scene due to the narrative focusing on flashbacks of the couple, giving the retrospect. It is also a convention of the indie genre due to the indie subculture being old-fhasioned as well as many music videos such as Plain White T's video "Hey There Delilah". Therefore, this colour treatment will be the main one used for our flashbacks to signify the indie genre and give the flashback an old fashioned effect.

Clip 3:

Furthermore, the second flashback of the couple talking on the bridge with a long shot had a colour treatment which looks slightly purple, giving the sepia filter. To do this, I used luma-curve to give the image a little brightness by slightly curving the line upwards towards to the left-hand corner of the graph. This made the characters and sky stand out the most. Next, I used the three-way-colour corrector and used a variety of colours from each graph. For example, on the first colour graph, I used a slight tint of purple to make the darker colours look more old fashioned. For example, the darker parts of the costumes as well as the bridge. On the second colour graph, I used pale green to make the grass look a little natural and give the connotation of the couples relationship growing. On the third colour graph, I used the colour yellow to make the sky brighten up and look angelic as it's shining towards the couple, connoting purity.

In addition, I used this filter to give another old-fashioned effect of the flashback as well as using the colour purple which is made from the colours blue and pink, which are the traditional heterosexual stereotypical colours which associate with the genders male and female. Therefore, it gives a balance, connoting the equality of values within the relationship. This links to Barthes symbolic code due to the colours connoting emotions or values, such as the purple sepia filter.

Clip 4:

In contrast, clip 4 is another flashback of the couple talking on the bridge, however a over the shoulder camera shot is used, focusing on the actor rather than the actress. For the colour treatment, I only used the three-way-colour corrector and used the colour green on the first two colour graphs to make the scenery slightly stand out more by the saturation increasing slightly. The colour green connotes growth and nature, showing the natural growth of the couples relationship. On the third colour graph, I used the colour blue to give it a slightly cold tint effect, helping the actors face brighten up, therefore stand out more. However, this colour treatment doesn't really link to the indie genre due to the lack of saturation as well as the filter being too green. Therefore this filter will not be used within our final music video.

Clip 5:

Furthermore, in clip 5, this flashback is a medium shot of the male proposing to the female, showing the traditional process of a relationship. The colour treatment used was only the tree-way-colour corrector, using the colours orange and blue. The faint orange tint made very little difference on the darker colours within the shots by making them slightly darker. Whereas the blue gave the image a summery look by saturating the sky and the colourful circles from the lens. This links to the indie genre due to bold saturated colours being used, giving a happy and joyful image towards the audience, which is a convention, especially in music videos such as Coldplay 'A Sky Full Of Stars'. However, this colour treatment will not be used within the flashbacks in the music video due to it looking modern, whereas flashbacks tend to look old-fashioned by having a black and white or sepia filter to make it look outdated.

Clip 6:

 

Finally, the last scene used for our test shoot was a remake of the first scene of the old man walking down the street. We did this due to trying different ways of holding the camera without it shaking as well as testing different colour treatments to see which one is best. For the colour treatment, I used luma-curve to make the image look slightly darker (similar to clip 1) by curving the line in the graph towards the bottom right-hand corner. This helps give a dull scenery as well as showing the audience the characters emotions via the colour treatment. This resulted in giving the clouds a grey effect, looking like rain clouds, which gives the dull and eery feeling with the scenery. I also used the tree-way-colour corrector by saturating the scenery around the character. For example, in the first colour graph, I used a slight red filter to make the darker colours within the scene a red tint to connote the actors anger and roller coaster of emotions. The colour violet was used in the second colour grid to give the violet and grey tint to the clouds as well as saturating the pathway. Also, in the third colour grid, I used an orange filter to give a sinister red filter to the overall shot, connoting the characters anger. This may be used for the final video as it meets the conventions of the indie genre by using saturated colours as well as it conveying the characters emotions.

By Rebecca Harris

Shoot Plan

Site plans

This first image shows the site plan for Oliver's House. The main rooms which we will be filming in are the hallway and bedroom (bottom right corner). There is no need to film in the other rooms due to it not being part of our plot. The bedroom will be used for the scene of the man playing the guitar. The cinematography which we will be using are medium and close-up shots, mainly of the guitar. The area of the bedroom and hallway are limited, therefore the cast who aren't needed of the time being can wait in the living room.







Secondly, this is the site plan for the field in Much Hadham. This is where most shots for the video will take place. For example, the flashbacks and the scene of the proposal and the man throwing the ring into the river. The bridge interlinks with the footpath, therefore it will be safe to film on there due to no slipping hazards or gaps to fall into, therefore keeping the cast and production company safe. The river isn't deep, therefore if anyone within the cast were to fall, they can get out safety without drowning or badly injured. If it were for equipment, it will be easy to collect it back due to the river not running fast.

Audience Feedback for Digipak

Results from digipak:

Part of my primary research in designing a digipak was to create two different designs for a digipak front cover, and send out a questionnaire to a small sample of my audience for feedback. Before starting my questionnaire, I included a small introduction about what the research is for (my A-Level practical task) and a brief insight of the plot of the narrative of the music video to Jeff Buckley's 'Hallelujah'. This helps the audience understand the plot and therefore find the questions easier to answer, which gives me accurate, reliable and valid.

Firstly, within the results, I found that over 90% of my respondents were aged 15-20, which are my target audience that the music video is aimed at. Also, the results show that majority of the audience were females. Females are the majority of the audience when it comes to romantic narratives due to it having 'attractive' actors and actresses creating a fantasising narrative. This will be shown within the video, however, they will only be seen as flashbacks due to our narrative being about a woman who broke a mans heart and passes away, therefore the male looks back on the happy memories.

Furthermore, 7 out of 11 respondents preferred my first digipak design due to the large image standing out, as well as the colours used. For example, the pastel colours and the large portrait images of the male and female.However, form a rating of 1-5 (5 being great) 54.55% of the audience rated the front cover 3 out of 5 due to the text being difficult to see as well as the design being too simplistic with a small font, as well as wanting to see an image that will be easily recognised as part of the story and have some conventions of the indie genre. Therefore, I will do this by having pastel colours and have images of nature.

In addition, the respondents mentioned that they would like the digipak to include links to social media and images from the music video within it. Therefore, when designing the inside of the digipak, I will include these aspects to make the digipak look professional, modern and sell easier to the target market. Also, it will meet the needs of a modern digipak.

In conclusion, I will redesign my digipak and use more conventions of the indie genre such as bright colours and the use of nature, with characters wearing casual costume and natural hair and makeup. Also, I will have a bold title to let the audience know the name of the digipak and be aesthetically pleasing, which persuades the audience to purchase the product.