editing, changes made to initial ideas

We had to make changes to the opening sequence as there wasnt enought time for the camera to pan the whole way around the main characters head and get a shot of the whole room. Instead, the shot finishes just as the camera is about to get a shot of the room. We also had problems with the miming in this sequence. After uploading our video we saw that the miming wasnt in time with the words, and it wasnt as simple as fastening it up or slowing it down, because she didnt mime at the same speed throughout. So we had to workout a perfect speed for each seperate word. We then stumbled upon two perfect shots of her looking side to side and edited them so they fit together and perfectly with the word "ni-i-ght".

The next scene was supposed to be the main character miming to the song, shouting at her boyfriend, but the shots we took for the line "i lost my fake i.d, but you lost the..." didnt work atall, as the miming was completely out of sync. We looked through our footage and found some shots of the characters arguing, which was appropriate and so used them.






We also had to change the scene where the character gets out of bed and trips over someone dressed as elvis, for wo main reasons. One was the fact that we couldnt get hold of an Elvis costume in time for filming, and the other is that there wasnt enought time in the scene for the character to get out of bed and walk. We had to make it shorter so we could get to he next scene in time. So instead, we used a long shot of the characters in the bed.

re shooting

The idea of the storyline is that the characters are going through a lucky patch, they win money, are getting on well and having a great time. Then it all goes wrong at the flick of a coin. After looking through our footage we realised that we hadnt encorperated the money idea into anything, nd so there were a number of gaps in the stiryline, and also there wasnt enought locations. So, we had to shoot a whole new scene of the character with money and a number of shows throwing it abou, and we also had to shoot coins dropping form a slot machine, and the slot machine itself. This worked out really well, and filled all the gaps perfectly.

Other than that we didnt have to re-shoot anything, as we had enough footage to replace any scenes that didnt come out as we'd hoped.

storyboard

This is our opening shot, of a fruit machine. The camera tilts down.















A close up of the main character, looking into the camera.


















The camera pans around the main characters face.














A shot from over the characters head enables the audience to see the location.















A medium shot shows the character looking down at the two boys lying next to her.













The video has now gone into a flashback and it is the night before. This medium shot shows them trying to get a taxi, and arguiing over their situation.












This is a shot from behind the main character who walks inbetween a couple and the couple then walk either side of the camera, and we get a close up of the womens face.















A close up shows coins dropping from the slot machine seen earlier.












A long shot shows the main character walking into a club, and the audience are aware of her surroundings.














As the chorus comes in, a medium shot shows the main character in a club dancing with strangers.














A close up of the main characters face back in the present.















A point of view shot shows the main character blocking out the light with her hand to the lyric "why are these lights so bright?"

ideas for Location, Mis En Scene, Characters, and costumes

Location
As our video is based on Vegas, we thought that the location would have to be bright, busy and have the right kind of happy, exciting atmosphere, and the first place that sprung to mind was central london, and oxford street. It is always busy, and as its christmas the lights would be up and create the perfect bright, lighting that we need. For the fountain scene, we cant film it in a different location for example a park as it wouldnt go with the rest of the video. It needs to be bright and busy also, and i think that Trafalgar square is the perfect location for this. For the morning after, one of our friends bedrooms would be perfect, as we can mess it up as much as we like, and it creates a contrast from the other busy locations in the video. There is a scene we hope to incorperate into the video where the main character has stormed off into a club. We are going to find a bar/club suitable enought for us to film in, where theres not too many people, but its busy enough. The lighting also needs to be good enough for us to film, as the bulb will be inappropriate because it could be broken, and too bright for a club.

Mis En Scene
After watching clips from the Vegas based movie "The Hangover", i was inspired by the props they had for when the characters awake teh mornig after. It immediately gave the audience an idea of what had happened and the extent of the madness of Vegas. The scene of different shots of props lasted for around a minute and conveyed the situation perfectly. I would like to use these kjind of props for teh scene when the characters wake up in our video. I hope to put as many random objects scattered about the room as possible, and for the line "dressed up like Elvis", i hope to dress someone up in an Elvis costume and have them lying on the floor by the bed, so that when the camera pans around he comes into view. Make up is also important in the bedroom scene, so im going to put thick make up on the girls and smudge it down their face as tell tale signs of a crazy night, and put lipstick marks on the boys faces. Im also going to open the video with a shot of a fruit machine, which is a big feature in the video as the characters win the money, its colourful, eye catching, and immediately sets off the Vegas theme. Were also going to use alot of money for the scene where the character wins on the slot machine, this scene is one of the most important in the movie, so the money is an important prop. Were also going to use playing cards, which is one of the most obvious features of Vegas casinos, and is another way of them winning the money.
For the line "dont call your mother", the characters will be in a phone box, to match the storyline and have a change of scene and location.
A coin will be used in the scene where the character flicks it into the fountain, lighting is also an important feature here as the focus needs to be solely on the coin, and it needs to be bright enough for the audience to see it clearly. I also hope to find the perfect street for the last scene where the characters walk off happily into the distance, im hoping to find one where there are lights lit up and colourful above them, and theyre walking underneath, to signify a happy ending.

Characters
The main character we chose to use, was chosen because she fits the image of a young, fashionable teeneger well. Shes the right age, and has perfect skin which we thought would look great on camera. Her hair is long and quite light which again would look good on camera and fit the fashionable image.
The second main character, will be playing her boyfriend and we have chose him as he has a similar look to the main character and i thought this would go well. Hes a well turned out teeneger which will appeal to the target audience, and pop fans who like quite generic videos.
The other two characters were chosen because they both have slightly darker hair than the main characters, and look alot different. We wanted them to look different as their relationship in the video is completely different, and we tried to contrast as much as possible between the couples. They also have the right look for up to date teenagers.

Costumes
The characters are going to wear bright colours, which are eye catching on camera and set off the right party image. Th emain character is going to wear a union jack dress we bought, as it brioght and contrasting. Her boyfriend in the video is going to wear a black and white checked shirt, which again is eye catching and stands out.
The other couple are going to wear slightly more demure clothes so that the main couple stand out more. They will still have bright colours so they look colourful on camera, and we will co-ordinate their colours a bit more to symbolise the fact that their relationship is more stable and theyre more in sync with eachother.

audience feedback

I decided that our target audiences opinion was integral in creating a music video that would attract their interest. I had to make sure that the questions were being answered by the type of people that our video would be aimed at and thought about distribution carefully. I decided that the best place to target a big number of teenagers were social networking sites. So i posted these question on my facebook where 300 people could have answered them, and also on Twitter where a high number of people in that type of "fashionable" group could have answered the questions. I think this distribution reached our target audience perfectly, and the answers they gave are below.

















Which of these do you think is the most important in a music video?
a) location
b) character
c) costume
d) props
e) dance routines

The highest voted for in this question was characters. It seems that the audience think its highly important that the characters fit their role well, and portrayed what the audience imagined certain characters to be like. The second most important to them was costume. When i asked them for a little more detail, most of them commented that it was because it was the most eye catching aspect. A plain outfit in a music video takes all the glamour away, and this is especially important in ours as Vegas is very glamorous.














Do you prefer a video to follow a storyline?
a) yes
b) no


Quite clearly, the target audience prefer the video to follow a storyline rather than the video being abstract from the song, and just focusing on the artist and dance routines etc. This result supports our ideas of incorperating a storyline.
















Which of these do you think is most effective for the artist in their video?
a) miming
b) no miming
c) both

This was an important question for me as i noticed that there was a big variety in music videos as to whether the artist was aware of the camera and looked into it and mimed. Or didnt mime to make the storyline more realistic, as if it was a mini movie. And some videos, for example the original waking up in vegas video, mixed the two together. Around half of the votes were for both. I agree with this choice as looking into the camera and miming connects the audience with artists alot better than if they pretend theyre not there. Bsed on the feedback, this is the technique i am going to use.















Which of these album covers most attracts your attention?

a) Rihanna
b) Christina Aguilera
c) 30 seconds to mars
d) Katy Perry























The album cover with the most votes is the rolling stones which is a surprise as it doesnt feature the artist on the front. The lips symbol has become iconic and is instantly recognizable to anyone who sees it. This is great marketing and quite obviously, the fact that the cover doesn't feature The Stones catches the audiences attention as they're curious and intrigued. We will certainly take this in mind when we are designing our advert and CD cover.

Target audience

The genre we have chosen is "pop". Pop music is based on popular culture, it is music of which its main aim is to be mainstream and appeal to the majority of the population. It is not made to break boundaries or conventions, but to be easy going and un-controversial. Its target audience is "fashionable" teenagers or young adults who enjoy the clubbing scene and it tries not to be gender specific but the majority of its fans are female.
With this information we realise that our video has to fit this image. It has to be fun, fashionable, simple and up to date. The main concept of the song "waking up in vegas" is about having fun, getting into a little trouble on the way, but enjoying the ride. It appeals to the target audience described above perfectly. Its innocent and fresh and this attitude must be portrayed in the video.

A | Top management, bankers, lawyers, doctors and other professionals.
B | Middle management, teachers, many 'creatives' eg: graphic designers.
C1 | Office supervisors, junior managers, nurses, specialists, clerical staff etc.
C2 | Skilled people workers, tradespersons, (white collar).
D | semi skilled and unskilled manual workers (blue collar).
E | Unemployed, students, pensioners, casual workers.

So, the catagory we are aiming for is E. Students who are sociable and regulars on the clubbing scene and will appreciate a video about a crazy night out in Vegas. The video is not supposed to have a big underlying meaning, but is just about having fun and going along with the bad times along the way.

Initial ideas for my video

0:0 to o:6 - coins falling from slot machine in conjunction with the coin sound at the start of the song.
As beat drops, shot of one single coin fades into face of main character in shock.
camera pans around her head to an over the shoulder shot of her room completely messed up - props involve, bottles, clothes, random objects.
Flash/fade out - indicates flash back
"we need a taxi" - main character trying to get a taxi.
"you're hungover and im broke" - girl gives up and drops bag on the floor in time with the beat.
she sits down rustling through her bag to see that she cant find her keys or i.d. - she stands up panicking.
"spare me your freaking dirty looks" - someone bashes into her and gives her a dirty look- close up shot of the dirty look to get across emotion.
She rushes back to the club to find her stuff and as the song goes into the chorus shes now on the dance floor dancing with loads of strangers.
Back to verse. "why are these lights so bright?" point of view shot, audience is looking through her hands trying to block the light, at this point she notices the ring on her finger.
She gets out of bed dazed and trips over someone lying on her floor dressed as Elvis to coincide with the line "dressed up like Elvis".
She turns and says the lines "why am i wearing your class ring?" to her boyfriend.
A closeup shot of her hand the morning after runs into a close up shot of her hand the night before, taking us back to another flash back. This time she is happy with being married, it portrays the effect of Vegas, and how shes drunk and having a good time.
The characters are in a phone box for "dont call your mother" and they engage in a kiss as the beat drops.
The location changes to picadilly cirus where there are big, bright lights in the background. A stranger takes a picture of the group, they're happy, drunk, dancing around. "dont be a baby", the main character is trying to convince her boyfriend to get in the fountain, he doesnt, they throw the coin in the fountain instead. (make a wish).
Coin lands in the water when the beat drops for "you got me into this". music stops, coin drops into water with the original sound, music continues. This stop in the music indicates a change has occured. Audience havnt yet realised the significance of this. The characters luck then goes bad.
A number of different shots show bad things happening to them. A character walks into a lamp post, someone trips over and gets heel stuck in drain etc.
"get some cash out", they try but an over the shoulder shot shows theres no cash in the account.
"remember what you told me, told me, told me" main character looks into boyfriends eyes, close up of his face. shes singing the words to him. As the chorus comes in he throws her hand of his face and they both walk away seperately.
Camera is focused on wall, and boyfriend walks into shot, similar shots of them show theyre both feeling down. Theyre acting in sync, both slide down wall, punch air. This shows their connection to the audience. The video finishes with the picture they took near the fountain, or them bumping into eachother by accident.

filming schedule

Friday 20th November

We are going to film the main story-line of the video in the west end. Carnaby street is the perfect place to film one particular scene as the characters are walking a long walk towards each-other and the idea is that they don't see each-other until the last minute. Carnaby street is busy enough to do this on friday night and create the same kind of atmosphere as Vegas. We will also film at picaddily circus as the huge lights are perfect for a representation of Vegas. There is a scene in the video where the main character flicks a coin into a fountain, we will also film this scene on friday, at the fountain in leicester square, this location is perfect as surrounding the fountain are lots of different tall buildings, that are lit up at night.


Sunday 22nd November

We are going to film the bedroom scene, which features mainly at the beginning of the video this day. It has to be early morning, as the scene is them waking up after the night before. We only need a bedroom for this scene, so will use one of our friends.

Propps Theories of narrative: Functions

Propps theory is a form of structuralism which is a view that all media is inevitably in the form of certain fixed structures. These structures are often culturally derived and form expectations in the mind of an audience. Propps theory can be applied to generic structures in western culture, such as popular film genres. I decided to apply Propps functions theory to the very popular and modern film Twilight. Here are the functions and how they apply to the movie:

1. Absentation: A member of the family leaves the security of the home for some reason. This may be the hero of another family member that the hero may need to rescue.
Bella’s mum has left the home environment to live elsewhere to avoid conflicts with Bella’s father. Bella leaves the home and her father to attend school.

2. Interdiction: An interdiction is addressed to the hero (don’t go there, don’t do this) The hero is warned against some action. A warning to the hero is also a warning to the reader about the dangers of life. Will the hero heed the warning? Would the reader?
Edward (the vampire) is warned to stay away from Bella by his family as she is human and could cause problems for Edward and his family.

3. Violation of interdiction: the interdiction is violated; the hero ignores the interdiction and goes ahead. At some point the villain enters the story as a consequence of this decision.
Edward ignores his family and goes ahead with his relationship with Bella. James (villain (bad vampire) enters the story and craves Bella just because she is Edwards.


4. Reconnaissance: the villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance. The villain makes an attempt at seeking information, for example seeking searching for something valuable or trying to actively capture someone. The introduction of the villain adds tension to the story especially when they’re found close to the family home.
James goes to Bella’s home and seeks information about Bella, something that will make her want to go to him.

5. Delivery: the villain gains information about the victim. The villains seeking now pays off and he or she now acquires some form of information about the hero or victim. The is a down point in the story as the pendulum of luck now swings towards the villain, creating fear and anticipation that the villain will overcome the hero and the story will end in tragedy.
James had acquired information about Bella’s mother and a video of her, which he knows will have an effect on Bella.

6. Trickery: the villain attempts to deceive the victim to take possession of victim or victims belongings (trickery). The villain presses further, often using the information gained in seeking to deceive the hero or victim in some way, perhaps appearing in disguise.
James calls Bella and uses the video he obtained of her mother to deceive Bella into thinking he has her mother as a hostage.

7. Complicity: the victim taken in by deception, unwittingly helping the enemy. The trickery of the villain works and the hero or victim naively acts in a way that helps the villain in some way.
Bella is fooled by this, and rushes to where the villain is in the hope of saving her mother.

8. Villainy and lack: there are two parts to this stage, either or both of which may appear in the story. In the first stage the villain causes some kind of harm. In the second stage a sense of lack is identified, for example in the hero’s family, whereby something is identified as lost or becomes desirable.
James harms Bella by biting her hand.

9. Mediation: misfortune or lack is made known (hero is dispatched/hears call for help). The hero discovers the act of villainy perhaps finding their family or lover devastated or caught up in a state of anguish and woe. This creates a defining moment in the story as we wonder what will happen now.
Edward learns of James having Bella and goes to seek her out.

10. Beginning counter action: seeker agrees to or decides upon counter action. The hero decided to act in a way that will resolve the situation for example rescuing those that are captured.
Edward decides he has to fight, and win against James.
(At this point, twilight skips some of the stages and resumes again)


18. Villain is defeated.
Edward kills James.

19. Initial misfortune is resolved (spell broken, slain person revived, captive freed)
Edward sucks out the poison in Bella after the bite.

This is my very first draft of my storyboard. It is a very general storyboard to just kick start the process of planning the video and give us rough guidelines on what were aiming for. Alot more detail on shots, costumes, characters and location will be added once we start to design our video further and progress more with our ideas.

Video analysis: Christina Aguilera Candyman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4kR8OQCrlQ














The video begins with several men dressed in 1940's soldiers and sailors uniforms. This lets the audience know what time the video is set in as soon as the video starts. The next shot is a close up of Christina also dressed in a 1940' s women's sailor hat and her hair is pinned back in the style that women wore their hair in them days. It then goes back to a shot of the men dancing and looking towards the stage and then the shot changes to behind the men, and the camera slowly moves forward through the crowd which is when the audience get to see the whole stage and a long shot of Christina's three characters. At this point the audience see that Christina has brunette, blonde and red hair and that she is playing three characters. This is a reference to 1940's band The Andrews Sisters and really captures that time period well. The camera pans across the characters in a medium shot so that the viewers can see the live band and outfits of all the characters. Christina's dancing is carefully choreographed so that all three Christina's dancing is exactly the same and in time with each-other and the takes could be spliced together. There continues to be a number of shots of Christina and the soldiers alternately to give the feel of a real show, and to give the audience a feel of what its like to be there. The scene changes to a 1940’s type dance off and the first shot of the dancers is between a females legs, creating a frame for the dancers and giving the video a tongue in cheek feel. Christina is watching people dance in a pink dress and with her hair down, this separates her from the characters she was playing earlier and with this and the shots alternating between “the Andrews Sisters” and this new character, it creates the image that Christina is dancing to the band playing and they are not the same character. There is a medium shot of a waitress holding a tray of drink and who is slightly slowed down so the audience can see her happy expression and get the joyful feel of the video even though they are based in World War 2. All the dancer are dressed in 1940’s clothing and with their hair done up neatly, and all jitterbugging to go with the times. Mis en scene involves a jukebox by the dance floor, and the drink Campari, created in the 60’s on the waitress’s tray. Christina eventually begins to dance and there is a long shot of her dancing, and a close-up shot of her feet to show off her moves to the audience. There’s also a long shot of the pair dancing but with their heads cut off so that the viewer is focused only on the dancing. At 1.11 there is a series of alternate shots all lasting under one second each that are all put together so the shot changes in sync with the beat of the song. In each shot there are different bright colours in the background so they clash and catch the viewer’s attention, the colour scheme is based on Technicolor films, with lots of bright and contrasting colours. This also goes with the happy, joyful mood that the video is portraying to viewers.
















A shot of Christina dancing is then cut into a different shot and scene, and as this picture shows is cleverly cut into two so that Christinas pink dress in the top half of the shot goes down into the bottom half of the pink strawberry milkshake she is drinking, so the dress and milkshake fit perfectly together as if they are one. This makes the shot look alot more tidy and it flows alot better. The camera then quickly zooms out form a close-up and fits perfectly with the trumpet noise in the song. Christina’s outfit of jeans and a red shirt with a headscarf is a reference to ww2 Rosie the Riveter inspired posters that were to encourage females to take on mainly male jobs and work in factories and such during the war. This all keeps with the ww2 theme. There is a long shot of Christina surrounded by females in a 19’s American style burger bar, and the shot is carefully places so that the booth style seats create a frame for Christina and the dancers. The colour scheme is very bright and contrasting and is in a pattern type form, with the checked floor, black, then turquoise, then black, checked wall, and turquoise ceiling, which creates a theme. The camera then quickly zooms out form a close-up and fits perfectly with the trumpet noise in the song. Christina’s outfit of jeans and a red shirt with a headscarf is a reference to ww2 Rosie the Riveter inspired posters that were to encourage females to take on mainly male jobs and work in factories and such during the war. This all keeps with the ww2 theme. There is a long shot of Christina surrounded by females in a 19’s American style burger bar, and the shot is carefully places so that the booth style seats create a frame for Christina and the dancers. The colour scheme is very bright and contrasting is in a pattern type form, with the checked floor, black, then turquoise, then black, checked wall, and turquoise ceiling. The camera slowly zooms in to a low angled shot of the dancers in reference to a female empowerment type stance, which is very relevant as Rosie the Riveter was a female icon in ww2. As the music begins to slow down slightly there is a close-up of the soldiers going down the steps of a plane, shouting the lyrics. They move down the steps in time with the beat of the song which flows along nicely. For the “candy man” whisper Christina is back in the shot but as the Andrew Sisters characters who all individually feature in the shot. The scene then changes to an airport which is obvious because of the planes in the background. There is another low angled shot of Christina walking towards the camera with her dancers either side. This is again a reference to female empowerment as she is the main focus and the men surrounding her are all lined up as if they are supporting her. The shots begin to change to each scene and there are numerous different angles that all change with the beat of the song. During the big note towards the end of the song, Christina is hoisted into the air as if reaching the crescendo and the video finished with a photo of Christina and the writing “xoxo candy” across is, as if referencing her screen siren alter ego, which was a big theme in 19’s music.

Focused Analysis: Location

This video is set in a street with a typical 1980's layout, with the flats close together, and the street being dirty and full of graffiti. This straight away sets the scene in a New York, lower east side type location. The whole video is set in the street, which tells the audience that these people spend their lives on the streets of Manhatton and gives them a "street" type image.

Focused Analysis - mis en scene

Mis En Scene efers to everything that appears before the camera and its arrangement; sets, lighting, props, actors and costumes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlrqaAjBwS4

This clip is taken from the film "The Hangover". As soon as the set changes to the bedroom the morning after, the main focus is the mis en scene. The camera pans around the room focusing on all the different props which show the reader the extent of what happened the night before. The audience immediately know that the scene has changed from the night on the roof to the morning after in the hotel room. It starts with the jacuzzi and the blow up doll, with the champagne bottle and glasses everywhere, and props range from chickens, to chairs hung up by bed sheets. These particular props get across to the viewer that it wasnt just a typical night out clubbing, these things are extra strange and crazy and are put there for this reason. There are shots of a burning sofa, a self made bowling alley with champagne bottles as pins, these shots lats for just under a minute, when the camera finally focuses on the first person which is a girl leaving the room. The shot of the girl immediately starts the mystery and starts the viewer thinking and wondering about what went on the night before. The camera finally pans along to one of the main characters lying on the floor with his glasses smashed. From the start of the movie this particular character had been portrayed as the most sensible one and he is purposely the first one the audience set eyes on. As he walks around the apartment, all the props in the background are disturbed in some way, nothing is untouched, this gives the audience a good interpretation of how crazy the night was.

Sound/Music: focused analysis

I chose this video for my focused analysis for sound/music as the way the video is edited fits perfectly with the music and the beat of the song. As soon as the song starts, it is edited to the music. There are a number of different shots and angles put together so that it cuts to a different shot at every beat. At 0:05 the beat drops and the character punches the wall with the beat. This creates the image that the character is connected with the music, as the video flows better and is more emotional than if the character is detached from the song. At 0:11 seconds there is a profile shot of the main character and, then as the pace of the song changes, the shot changes to one of him standing infront of a window with the sun streaming in behind him. These are all methods of connecting the character and therefore the audience to the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdYQX8J-FFo

Focused Analysis : Characters

This is the music video for Beautiful by Christina Aguilera. I chose this video for my focused analysis on characters, as throughout the video, there are a number of characters that all represent something, and have their own storyline going on. They all begin the video feeling glum over personal issues involving society's way of judging them. Theres the anorexic girl, weightlifting young boy, model who feels worthless, goth punk guy, transvestite and gay couple who all go through the motions in the video, but towards the end, end up smiling. The large number of different characters are used to get the songs message out to the audience, to show a variety of people who all are rejected by society in one way or another, and through believing the songs message, know that they are beautiful, no matter what. It is supposed to be able to relate to the audience in some way, and with lots of characters, will be more effective.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwI9-Xh9SWc


This video is in complete contrast to Waking Up In Vegas. It is stripped down to its bare bones, theres nothing glamorous, colourful, or opulent about the video, and thats the whole idea. The whole video was done in one complete take, which is difficult to do but also portrays to the viewer that the song is about emotions and feelings, rather than being glamorous and having a storyline. It puts the viewers complete attention on Christina, the main, and only character in the video. Its as if theyre saying "Weve got christina, we dont need anything, or anyone else in this video". It begins with a close up of christina, which puts the viewers entire attention on her, and her expressive eyes, filled with emotion. Her hair is jet black which creates a contrast against her pail skin. The whole video is in black and white, which again emphasizes the simplicity of the video, and portrays how she is feeling. This opening shot, captivates the audience, they're staring into her emotional eyes and wanting the story to unfold. (0.37) The camera begins to zoom out slowly, with the background blurred, thus the attention still fully on Christina, and fills the viewer with a sense of anticipation as they want to know her story and where she is etc. The audience is now able to see her surroundings, it works as a type of establishing shot. Shes in a empty, abandoned prop room, sitting on a box with old props used for the lighting, emphasizing the simplicty once again, and that shes alone. Shes wearing no jewellery, just a nighty type dress, which puts her in an almost vulnerable looking state. (1:40) She then stands up, and the hand held camera follows her, its slightly jerky, and is another emphasis on her vulnerable, unsure state of mind. The camera continues to follow her and starts to lift up, so its a medium shot, cutting off her waist and below. This gives an imperfect effect, the video is not supposed to be perfect and this shot emphasises it, it gets a lot of the background in, but still manages to keep your attention on her throughout. The camera continues to circle her slowly, while she's singing the song and using her arms and facial expressions to express her feelings, and then as soon as the music darkens and gets more fast paced, her emotions become more aggressive, and she begins to run towards the camera, shouting the song. This again, captures the viewer and quickens the pace rapidly. The camera remains infront of her the whole time and she sings into it, pointing into the camera as if she is singing to the viewer and involving them in the video. This puts the viewers attention on the lyrics and emotion and passion of the song. She runs through several rooms demonstrating to the audience her journey thorugh life not just the video, and continues to sing into the camera the line "You know that im talking to you" where she points into the camera and stops running when the song slows to a stop. The music fastens again and she starts wlaking, all her actions are tied in with the music and make the video flow. After her journey thorugh all the rooms she eventually crosses the road and comes to a light box. As the song starts to slow down and come to an end, she lies on the box as though shes reached her destination. The light is shining brightly and represents the bright and happy point shes finally reached. With that, the camera zooms out to a high angle shot as if the story is coming to a close and the camera tilts up and into the dark sky.

These are both stills from the Abba video for Mamma Mia. It shows the camera going in and out of focus, thus switching the focus and attention from one person to the other. This has a great effect on the audience as the camera is almost manipulating where it wants their attention to be. I want to use this shot in our video in a scene with the main character and her boyfriend, so as to switch the viewers attention from one to the other to almost confuse the viewer and therefore portray the image that the characters are confused. They dont know what to do with themselves and are relying on eachother.

This is a screen grab of a shot from the Waking Up In Vegas video. The focus is on the coin and the two characters are completely out of focus. This is to put the emphasis on the coin and how important it is. I want a shot like this in our video as it gets across to the reader the storyline of how they have nothing left after being in Vegas. This shot is the perfect opening shot as it sums up the storyline really well in just one frame.

This is the official video for Waking Up In Vegas. Everything about the video represents the audiences image of Vegas. The costumes are colourful and glamorous and eye catching; the location is again glamorous, lit up, and full of people, and the Mis -En scene involves things like a deck of cards, cocktail glasses and generally things you'd associate with Vegas. This is the type of thing we will try to incorporate into our video. Here is a more detailed analysis.

Camera shots

The video begins with a cloesup of the two main characters faces. This gives the reader the abilility to read their facial expressions and get an understanding of how theyre feeling, which is quite clearly glum and down in the dumps. The camera is focused on Katy Perry (main character) and how her eyes are focused on something specific. The camera then pans to the left and focuses on the coin infront of her, with her face out of focus. This puts a huge emphasis on the coin and shows the audience how much they're relying on it and just how important it is. This gives the audience an immediate understanding on what the video is based on. Immediately after this shot, there is a medium- long shot of the characters, which if the first so far, and is a type of establishing shot. It shows the audience where the characters are and the storyline begins to unfold, with them standing in front of the slot machine. At this point Katy begins to mime along to the song, as if she is telling the story. This leads on to a close-up of the characters holding hands, and gives the viewer a sense of the characters relationship: they are close and united in the situation they face. The reader now feels as though they are a part of the plot and as though they know the characters. As soon as this feeling is developed, the viewer is likely to want to continue to watch to find out how the story unfolds, as they feel attached to the characters. Another close-up shows the audience the coin going into the slot and gives them a sense of anticipation. All these close-ups, one after the other make the reader feel more part of the plot and like they are living it themselves. After a shot of the slot machine shows they won the money, the next shot is a medium- close-up from in front of Katy but showing the profile of the other character. Her face is fully in focus whereas his is blurred out; this puts the entire focus on her face and her expression which is one of complete and utter surprise. The camera then jerkily zooms out to show the audience where they are, which creates a sense of excitement, as the characters are smiling and seem excited also.

The location then changes and there’s a medium shot of the both of them so you can see the background and that they are in a lit up street in Vegas. Its close enough for the viewer to see the excitement on their faces but also get a picture of where they are and the money they have in their hands. The location then changes again to a medium close up of them and a group of people sitting down; this shot enables the audience to see the characters clothes in detail. The camera then slowly zooms out to show that they are again, sitting at a table in a casino, and has started to repeat itself to give the audience an idea of how many times the characters are at the casino. This immediately leads on to a shot of a tall building as the pace of the song begins to fasten, and tilts down to a limousine pulling in, and as soon as the beat drops to go into the chorus, the characters get out of the limo in their glamorous outfits. This all fits in with the pace of the song nicely. There is a point of view shot, as though the audience are the main characters, and they're walking up the red carpet to be welcomed into Palms Hotel by the owners themselves. This makes the viewer feel a part of it, and as thought they're enjoying the success with them.

Once they are in the hotel and in the room, there is a shot over the shoulder of the main character who has his back to the camera, and Katy is facing towards it looking excited, and with the viewers attention fully on her. This shot also enables a view of the room. The camera is then in the corridor outside the room, giving the viewer a shot of Penn and Teller being thrown out by the main characters and all their bags being thrown at them. This brings an element of comedy to the video and makes the viewer feel involved, as they know the story so far and the journey they've been on.

The location then changes again, and the camera zooms in to a medium shot of the characters getting married. The zoom enables the audience to get a closer look at the costumes, and expressions of embarrassment on the characters face. The camera then slowly zooms in further and the characters look straight into the lens to coincide with the line “why am I wearing your class ring?”, this gives the impression that the characters are looking to the audience for support and an answer to the question, and makes the viewer feel involved with the story. It then cuts to poker legend Daniel Negreanu looking glum as he lost to them and pans quickly to the main characters who by contrast look happy and smug which coincides with the line "dont call your mother", and katy is wearing a red dress which is a reference to wealth and superiority. This shot continues the element of humour in the video as the audience see the upset looking man and with the quick pan they then realise the cause of his sadness, and see the big wide smile of Katy. The scene then changes again, to the doors of the casino being opened and the characters bounding through the doors, they walk past the camera which creates a feel as though they've left everyone behind and gives the viewer the impression that they are there with the characters and have been left behind also. Again, there are quick movements as the camera follows the keys that have been thrown at Katy. All these quick movements represent the fast paced life they're living, and give the impression that its hard to keep up with them. The song then continues into the chorus and the pace fastens, and so does the video and characters. They are racing down the street in their ferraris and to continue with the fast paced theme, they zoom past the camera and leave it behind, thus emphasising the speed and also leaving the audience behind. Then suddenly they are back at the casino again, and the repetition of being at the casino continues and gets across to the viewer the extent of the money theyre making as they're celebrating again.

Then a new location is brought into it, as they are at a bowling alley. The camera is on the floor and theyre standing up, and it then pans across following them as they slide down the alley. The camera is close to make the audience feel as though theyre in the video and theyre also able to see how happy Katy looks. The closeness of the camera makes them feel her emotions too. This scene is very short and the video then cuts to a long shot of the street, as the main characters are on carriages with a number of different people surrounding them, this is at the hight of their streak. The costumes are bright, opulent and eye catching. and the viewer knows the location as the shot is long enough to get in the "hotel and casino" sign. The hand held shot is used which creates a ragged, fast and jerky effect. This creates a "fly on the wall" effect and makes the reader feel as though they are in on the action and again portrays the fast pace of their lives. There is a medium-close up shot of a girl in a bright brue glittery costume, the camera is focused on the elephent in the background thus blurring out her face and draws the audiences attention to it, it also makes sure the girl is seen as just another person following these characters around. In contrast the camera then goes to a medium shot of Katy fully focusing on her, her costume is twice as big and when she out stretches her arm the camera follows it as though obeying her, emphasizing her importance and status.

The scene changes again, and theres a long shot of the main characters and several other people sitting at a long table, decorated with lots of different colours and with elvis impersonaters. The audience is able to see all this because of the long shot. It then cuts straight to a medium- close up of Katy, highlighting her importance and the lack of need to see anyone else in the shot. The closeness enables the viewer to see her expensive necklace and gold coloured dress, which is again a symbol of importance and wealth. Then follows a number of differenbt shots of the other main character, Elvis, Elvis and then back to a medium - close up of Katy, with a smug, happy look on her face. With the line "remember what you told me" the camera goes into a closeup of her face, as her expression softens and she looks emotional.

Ad the pace of the song slows down, the scene changes into a more demure one, of the main characters in the telephone box. It starts off a long shot, to establish the location, and the empty streets around them so that the viwers sole focus is on them, and the box creates a frame for this shot. They are cut off from everyone else and the empty streets highlight their own importance. The camera then zooms into a low angled closeup of the pair, which is a seperator between them and the audience. The viewer is looking up at the moment and thus not in it, this moment is shared by these two people only. The shot then cuts to a close up of them, at eye level, so now the viewer is the third person in this moment, they're sharing it with the couple. As they kiss the pace fastens up again, to create the kind of "fireworks" metaphor as they kiss. Straight after the kiss is when it all goes downhill, the scene changes to the hotel where they're arguing, and then back to the casino. The camera is looking down at the table and then tilts up to the characters to get a look at their facial expression. Except this time they dont look happy and Katy looks into the camera as if asking for help. The scene then changes between the casino and the hotel room, to again show the viewer how much they're in the casino, excpet this time, they're losing. Katy is in the hotel room, sitting down on a table and men surround her, all standing up, thus on a higher level and instating their superiority over her. They are taking everything away and the camera is slowly zooming out as if detaching the audience also from Katy. The scene then changes back to the casino and a close up of the chips with the characters in the background and blurred out, the chips are then taken away from them as they lose again, and the characters come into focus so the audience can see their facial expressions. The scene then changes back to the corridor they were in at the begionning, except this time theyre being thrown out of their rooms, and with special effects the men reverse what happened before and pick up their cards. There is a close up of the mens face, and this time they are the smug ones. At this point, with all the close ups and techniques used in the video, the audience feel attached to the main characters, and are feeling low with them. Then, to continue with the repetition theres a short shot at the casino and then its back to the hotel corridor where the camera is on the floor along with Katy to make the viewer feel in the situation with her. Its then back to the casino where the boyfriend is fighting for his chips as theyre getting taken away, and then back to the corridor again, where theres an eye level hand held shot from the viewers point of view as though theyre chasing Katy up the corridor out of the hotel. At this point is where the drama seems to come to an end as they have lost everything, which is when it cuts back to the characters at the beginning in the laundry shot, and a close up of Katys face. The camera pans to the right to focus on the coin and to keep with the fast pace, the scene then cuts back to Katy running through the corridor, and then eventually back to the laundry room, where the scene is the same as it was at the start of the video. This leaves the audience feeling slightly confused..."was it a day dream?" "Did that all really happen?" or "Are they back there having lost everything the first time?"

Brainstorm

Sound/Music

Pace – The pace of the music during the chorus is faster than for each verse. This represents the fast pace of Vegas and the idea of the characters being in a bad situation for the verse. We will represent this in the video by fastening the pace for the chorus. I.e. The character is walking slowly but as soon as the beat drops and the chorus kicks in, the character starts running. This will create a good visual representation of the song for the audience and match the pace well.

The theme of the song is that the characters are in Vegas and have got themselves into a bad situation. The video will represent this idea, and represent Vegas as much as possible with bright colours, and the eccentricities of Vegas.


Mise – en Scene

With a theme like Vegas, Mise en Scene is hugely important. Vegas has a world renowned image and it’s important that we incorporate this into our video. For the opening scene we could get footage of a room covered in drinks bottles, clothes, money and lots of different things that represent the image of Vegas and set the scene. The movie “The Hangover” is a good example of the type of Mise -en Scene I want to incorporate and I will upload a clip that shows this.

Another hugely important feature of Vegas is costumes. The costumes in the music videos will be as bright and glamorous as possible. The video will have an opulence about it which is a huge factor of Vegas. One of the lyrics in the song goes “dressed up like Elvis”, for this lyric I’m hoping to have someone dressed up in an Elvis costume to give a really good visual to the audience.

Locations

Again, with a theme like Vegas, location is hugely important. Vegas is known for being very lively and full of lights, clubs and casinos, and we need to portray this image as well as possible. The west end in London, would be the perfect place for filming as its always busy and lit up. I want to get one particular piece of footage where there are thousands of people walking around and fasten it up. This will give the audience a good image in their mind of the buzz of the place and give them a real feel of the atmosphere.

Introduction

This media blog will document each stage leading to my final music video. Ill post all my ideas and inspirations and anything I think is relevent. Im am working on the video with Lauren Cansick. We both decided on using the song Waking up in Vegas - Katy Perry because the songs theme is Vegas, and the idea of getting into trouble in Vegas. We chose this song because visually you can be very creative with it. Vegas is re-known for being over the top and opulent and this can be portrayed really well in the music video, by using bright costumes, choosing the right location, and incorporating really good Mis -En Scene. We chose a music video over a film trailor as its alot easier and more appropriate to be creative with music videos, whereas film trailors tend to follow a specific guideline relating to the genre. With a music video you can play around with things and the video doesnt have to relate to the lyrics and it can still make sense. Wheras a film trailor is alot more rigid. Im very excited to see the developement of the video and hope you enjoy the process and final version.

This is a mood board representing "pop" as this is the genre we chose for our video. We chose it as pop music has an aim of appealing to a general audience rather than a particular sub culture, and has a very youthful appeal to it. It is enjoyed by many dofferent types of people and all over the world. My mood board contains two images of Andy Warhols pop art. I chose these images as Warhol wanted to paint the most popular things in his generation for example coca cola. Things that represent that time, hence "pop" art. This is what pop music is like, its mainstream and very commercial and appeals to the current generation its in. One of the things that is popular in our generation is "the simpsons", it is aimed at the same type of audience that pop music is aimed at. Its very commercial and involves subjects that are relevent in this particular generation. I have a picture of Elvis Presley in there as again, he was the most popular artist of his time, and kind of kicked off the pop genre as his music was a much lighter version of rock and so couldnt justify being called rock. It much more suited pop. In the bottom right hand corner is a oicture of graffiti by popular graffiti artist Banksy. He sprays things that are very relevent in todays culture and are aimed at the so called "ipod generation", it has the same type of audience as pop music. The bottom left hand corner is a picture of a fashionable teenager on her phone, i think this picture represents the same type of audience that listen to pop music. Young fashionable people who have grown up with ipods and phones, and are into "popular culture". It is also a very colourful tyoe of genre. Its light and bubbly so i wanted my mood board to reflect this. The same will be with the video, it will be very colourful and involve that type of "popular culture" idea with fashionable teenagers etc.