Narrative

Ideas For Narratives:

When brainstorming with my group over possible narratives we could use in our video, we were able to come up with one specific idea. As the song fits the dance/electro-pop genre, we knew we had to create something that would involve a lot of energy and quick editing in order for the goings on to compliment the beat and lyrics of the song. With this said, once having eliminated some of our weaker ideas, we managed to come up with something that would perfectly fit both the genre and narrative of the actual song. Below is a step by step guide to what we hope our video will look like.

Idea:

The beginning shot will be an establishing shot showing a row of terraced houses down a main street. One idea we have, is that this particular shot will start before the song begins, in order to give the audience the sense that they are actually there (however we are not sure if we will actually do this). The first seven seconds of the song will show a bedroom light turn on in one of the houses, and the camera will slowly zoom into the bedroom, after having a quick glimpse inside and seeing a group of girls getting ready to go out, the camera will zoom out and the bedroom light will be turned off. This will be followed by the same process as before, but this time a bedroom light will be turned on in a neighbouring house and instead it will show a group of boys getting ready. As the beat of the song starts to pick up and the introduction of the song is sung, a display of quick shots between the two bedrooms will be shown, showing the process of the groups getting ready for a night out on the town. These shots will last for roughly the first twenty seconds of the song.

As the song progresses, the main focus of the shots will predominately be focused on two particular individuals, one being the main girl and the other being the leading male character. These establishing shots will allow the audience to see who the main characters of the story are and will last for about thirteen seconds, taking us up to thirty-three seconds in the song.

The following twenty-five seconds of the song, will show the two main characters interacting in someway, whether it be by text message or MSN. These shots will show the boy taking an interest in the girl and them discussing their plans for the evening. An idea we have for these shots is as the boy asks the girl what she is doing tonight, the girl quickly has to go and says bye before answering his question.

Next, will show the boys and girls on their journeys to their destinations. These shots will last for approximately forty-one seconds. One idea we have for the girls journey is for them to travel on a bus. It would be really good if we could get these shots as it would break our video up and give the audience a different perspective to look at. However, we are not 100% sure whether we will include these shots, as it may become difficult for us to actually be allowed to film on a bus, if this is the case, we will instead show the girls making their journey by foot. As for the boys, we will show shots of them setting off in a car. We are hoping to film the two groups travelling through Brighton, as this is where we want the main sections of our video to be shot. This will be a great opportunity to not only shoot footage of the two groups, but also the culture of Brighton, which will ultimately add to the realness and visionary of the video.

The following twenty-four seconds will see the girls having a laugh on the bus and although it might be hard to film, we are hoping that we can film the girls in a way that looks like it is footahe from the CCTV camera on the bus. This way it changes the dynamics of the video and allows us to be creative with our shots. As the girls get off the bus, they see the boys drive pass. By now we are two minutes - four seconds into the song, and this is where the bridge of the song begins. The tempo and beat of the song changes and almost gives a slow motion effect, so here, we would like to slow the footage of our video down and show, as the boys drive pass, the leading characters eyes connect and have them share an intimate few seconds. This will dramatize our video and hopefully give our audience an exciting moment. The shots end with the boys parking their car and making their way up to either a club or Brighton pier (again we are not sure where the ending of video will take place). Here the boys will meet up with the girls This takes us roughly upto three minutes into the song.

The final scenes will show the group of boys mingle with the girls. Then for our final shot we have come up with two possible outcomes; one being the main girl ignores the leading boy completely, or two, the girls turns around and flirts with the main guy and they walk off hand in hand.

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene includes everything that features in the frame of the shot. This involves items such as props, costume/make-up, settings and colour. The Mise-en-scene is one of the most important things to consider when creating a video, as it is what the audience will see.
Below are the ideas we have for the Mise-en-scene for our music video:

Setting:
Possibly one the more important aspects when considering the Mise-en-scene for our video, is the setting. The setting allows the audience to become aware of the atmosphere and environment the video is based around; the setting is basically the foundations for our music video. The music video will be set during the early hours of the evening, just as the streetlights turn on. These shots will begin outside a row of houses, paying particular interest in two of the houses. Having then panned into our next setting, our audience will be shown a number of shots focusing around a group of boys getting ready, in a typical teenage boys bedroom, for a night out in the town. We will then cut to shots showing a similar situation in a neighbouring house, but this time it will include a group a girls getting ready in a teenage girls bedroom. The idea of these two shots will ultimately allow the audience to see and follow the process in both sexes getting ready for a night out. This is something that the audience can relate to and clear comparisons can be made between both the audience and the narrative of the storyline.

The following shots will then show the boys (having got ready far quicker than the girls), leaving their house and getting into a car. These shots will be based within a housing estate, to show every step of the boys journey, from leaving the house, to driving off done the road. As the boys drive off, the shot changes to the girls coming out of their house and making their way down towards a bus station.

The setting will then change and focus on showing both the boys and girls journeys to their destinations. This will involve driving through the main high streets of Brighton and filming their drive. As the filming will be set in the evening, we will be able to capture the nightlife of Brighton, which will add to the realness and visualisation of our video. Below are some photos that will demonstrate the types of settings stated above:

Image from Google images. Image of high street at night.

Image from Google images. Image of potential spot the two groups will drive past.

Image from Google. Image of teenage boy's bedroom.

Image from Google images. Image of teenage girl's bedroom.

Props:
As the first few shots of our video will be filmed inside a boys and girls bedroom, the props that we will need to include, in order for the audience to be able to tell what sort of room they are in, will need to be easily related and recognised to the everyday items you would find in a typical teenagers bedroom. This may include items such as hair straighteners

and make-up in the girls room and game consoles and guitars in the boys. This way a clear divided can be made between the two rooms. One item that will be essential for the first couple of shots will be a laptop/desktop computer, this item will fit in with the narrative of our story and will help the audience understand what's happening.

As a lot of our filming will be shot amongst the busy city of Brighton, here we wont need to use specific props. However, two props we will need to use, will be a car (that the boys will be driving) and possibly a bus (if we are able to film the girls on one). For the boys car, we will be using a red mini cooper.

As our characters are meant to be going out for a night on the town, we will be able to film real footage of Brighton's nightlife, this will ultimately add a sense of realness to our video, but will also enable us to not have to use a large amount of extra props.

Costume and Make-Up

When deciding on the clothing our characters would be wearing, we new we would have to make precise and clear decisions in order for the audience to be able to relate our characters with the narrative of the video. Therefore we opted to go with fun, charismatic clothing that would clearly show our characters getting ready for a night out. Clothing such as skirts, leggings, dresses, jewellery, big hair and high heels for the girls and jeans, shirts, t-shirts and nice shoes for the boys. From this, we believe it will be evident for our audience to relate not only the characters with the narrative, but also themselves.

As for make-up, we intend to obviously use this more on our female characters than our male and this will either include natural tones or bright, colourful make-up which will add energy and fun to the overall image of the video. Bright colours such as blues and reds, I feel, will suit the narrative of our video, as they send out connotations of being vivid and vibrant.

When thinking about make-up being used on our male characters, we probably will not have to use a significant amount. However, in order to enhance the quality of our video, we may have to use make-up on these characters in order for the picture of the video to become clearer and for definitions of the characters faces to become more apparent, as due to us filming in the evening, lighting issues may become a problem.

It is very important that we plan our mise-en-scene. As we weill be filming on different days it is crucial that all characters wear the same clothes as previous days, otherwise this will effect the continuity of the video. Mise-en-scene provides the audience with an understanding of the environment and this is crucial in getting them to understand the narrative of the video.