Treatment

OUTLINE

This treatment will be informing you the basic elements of our music video, the music genre and our overall plan. I have teamed up with two other people in my class which I believe was an appropriate way to take the project further. As a group, we are well diligent in different areas of the project which is a benefit to us. This will show how creative, open minded and time managing we all are. 

The name that we have chosen, as a group for our artist is Treller Rose. It is a very unique name which defines to be dynamic and out going. As a whole, we reckon that the name suits our genre and the theme because it is uncommon but in a proficient way. The title of our chosen song is called Youth; this represents the characters in our music video. Youth is the time of life when one is young, but often means the time between childhood and adulthood. Its definitions of specific age range vary as youth is not defined chronologically as a stage that can be tied to specific age range. As a group, we also chose the name of our record label which is going to be Overground records. There is no specific meaning behind the name, but from our previous project that we produced, this name that has grown to us. 

Our chosen music genre that will be used throughout our project is Indie/Indie folk. But what is it? Indie folk is simply modern folk music, generally with country and rock influences. It usually refers to music which is acoustic in nature as well as being lyrical, melodic and story-oriented. Fortunately, my group we all listen to similar music genres therefore we were able to choose a song and a genre whereby we all agree on. To conclude, it is not a huge issue during the time when we had to choose one.

One of the foremost aspects of producing a music video is the target audience. A music video won’t even matter if there is no targeted audience especially the ones who are most likely to suit the music genre. An example would be pop groups like One Direction – they mostly target young teenagers ages 12-15 year olds. Nowadays, the group has been gaining younger fans due to the music that they produce as well as their marketing within the music industry. Our target audience for our chosen genre generally targets people ages 14+; although 14 is a common age where they start getting into Indie. We’d also like to target our audience who mostly enjoy listening towards the Indie alternative/folk whereby the audience could relate and appreciate the aesthetic of the lyrics. 

The reason that it’s becoming popular is due to the record labels releasing snippets of information about upcoming artists and new songs to entice the audience to watch their music. The use of social medias is also a benefit for Indie artists because a lot of our targeted audience uses social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr etc. and therefor it increases their popularity.

For the style of our music video, me and my classmates decided that the appropriate style that we will use that links well with the music genre is Interpretive and Narrative. This is because, most of the Indie music videos that you probably have watched used the styles we have chosen which could be popular in the Indie music genre. However, we are going to be adding some performance in our music video such as the subject lip syncing as well as having a narrative alongside. We believe that it is going to be very effective overall and it fits well with our storyline within the narrative pathway. 

An attempt of emailing the record labels for our chosen group and song, they both replied but we are still seeking of approval. 

OVERVIEW CONCEPT

The song that we have chosen to continue further with our project is Daughter's 'Youth' which is also going to be the song for our Music Video. Youth is an Indie folk song. The song communicates dark messages within Daughter’s songs, telling of losing someone close to you and the pain that comes along with it. The idea is we will have the artist Treller Rose, lip syncing throughout the performance scenes as well as the drummer appearing and performing. There will be a lot of straight cuts whenever it switches from the narrative scene to the performance scene. This will engage and catch the viewer’s attention, and we think that it will be very effective within the music video.  

The main artist will be representing the whole story-line of the music video, while the drummer is representing passion. Both of the performers will be appearing in the first verse of the song- most likely to be using a mid-shot and a wide shot. Location wise, it is going to be based in the drama studio. The music video will start off by showing a time lapse of the sky, where you will be seeing the clouds form in fast motion, this part will be shown during the instrumental bit of the song in the beginning. Then, it will cut straight to the artist who is in a dark room lip syncing the first line of the lyrics.

In the second line of the first verse, we introduce the main character within the narrative parts of the music video who will be wearing a mask and a hat. Most likely to be using a wide shot, in the forest. This gives a general idea to the audience on where the location will be based. During the third line of the first verse, it cuts through to the artist who will be standing in the middle of the drama studio, the studio lamp shining on top of her and it switches off after she lip-syncs a line.  In the first line of the second verse, the main character discovers a box in the middle of a forest and gets picked up due to curiosity. The drummer is then introduced along the lyrics of “…corrupted lungs.” We will most likely to use a long shot of the drummer with its drum kit. And then the part “Setting fire to our insides for fun…” this is where an intense drumming part will begin, the drummer begins to play the drums which creates tension towards the audience. As the tension of the song is building up right before the drum solo starts, along the lines “The lovers that went wrong” the main character opens the box, a straight cut is used to switch from the main character opening the box to the drummer performing its drum solo to the main character running.

On the third verse, first line “We are the wild youth” we will be using the photography room as it enables us to use the projector. In the same verse, more characters will be appearing. Planning it out, we shared our ideas on how we would present each of the masked characters in a metaphorical way. An example of how we will present one of the characters is: Mask one will jump out of nowhere and jumps on top of the main character in the narrative scene, which will be representing craziness. As the song continues, we introduce the rest of the masked characters; there will be a total of 5 masked characters that will be introduced.

An intense fight scene will occur along the lines of “Well I've lost it all, I'm just a silhouette,
a lifeless face that you'll soon forget…”  where a smoke bomb will also appear during production. This will create aesthetic especially when it is within the forest. It also represents how people will be trapped around a smoky environment. The fighting scene, however contrasts with the lyrics as it represents dissipation and violence over a property and the peak of addiction – which is the box. The box is one of the main aspects in our music video; it represents life. Life is trapped inside the box since addiction cannot be escaped therefore we are trying to show that to many people, it is very difficult to get out of addiction. Moving on to the next scene, we will be showing the artist lighting up a cigarette. Usually, the youth sees cigarettes as a way of distracting themselves from pain and tension emotionally.  A mid shot will be used when the artist lights up the cigarette and a close up of the mouth will be done when the smoke comes out. Towards the ending of the music video, we will be showing the main character taking its mask off and then there will be different shots of the masked characters taking off their masks to reveal their identity. The camera will zoom out into a long shot when they are all staring at each other, in relief. 

CHARACTERS

Treller Rose – main artist who will be lip-syncing during the performance scenes in the music video, she also leads and emphasises the music video’s purpose and emotions. In the set, she will have puffy hair and dark make up. Treller Rose represents the whole concept. 

 Drummer – the drummer will appear during the performance scenes along with Treller Rose. The drum parts in the song will be emphasised; a contribution to the song and music video. The drummer will be wearing a hat and a mask. The drummer represents power and passion.

Main character (of the music video) – the main character will be shown during the narrative scenes of the music video. She represents ‘Curiosity’ 

Mask 1 – the first mask character will appear during the narrative scenes. This character represents ‘Craziness’.

Mask 2 – will appear during the narrative scenes after Mask 1 appears. This character represents ‘Selfishness’ 

Mask 3 – this character appears after Mask 2 appears. This character represents ‘Lost in Control’.

Mask 4 – will appear during the narrative scenes alongside with the other masked characters. This character represents ‘Secrecy’. 

Mask 5 – will be the last masked character to appear in the narrative scenes. This character represents ‘Violence’.

LOCATION

The locations that we intend to use are the drama studio (located in the school grounds) and the photography studio (which is also located in the school grounds). This is because, first of all, the drama studio is suitable for our theme – the way it is presented reflects back to the music well. The photography studio, especially the use of a white wall is useful because it gives us full access to use the projector in order to show either a moving imagery or a still imagery during production and filming.

The next location we intend to use for our music video is Richmond Park. The reason for this is because it compliments well with our characters such as wild creatures where they appear in forests. This links back to being lost; a forest is where anything can happen. Most indie music videos tend to use natural locations rather than filming it in a studio or the use of green screen. An example of a group that uses forest as a location throughout their music video is ‘twenty-one pilots’ Ride’. In my opinion, I think that it is a really good example to present because it somehow compliments with what we want to do for our music video, location wise.

VISUAL ELEMENTS/ MISE-EN-SCENE/STYLE CHOICES

The key lighting, we will be using in the drama studio and the photography studio is low-key lighting with the use of studio lamps. This will be able to complete the concept of our theme which communicates the viewer and they will be able to feel a connection. Whereas, we will be using natural lighting when filming in the forest. During pre-production, we will be adding a filter/gradient as it will give the music the aesthetic and quality. Most Indie music videos uses gradient/filter which follows the convention well. Adding on to this, we will be saturating and toning down the clips because of the natural lighting. Indie music videos would want the viewers to focus on the lyrics of the song as well as the conceptual part of the music video.

The clothing that we will be using are masks and hats which will be worn by the characters in the narrative scenes of the music video. A significant meaning behind the costumes is the fact that our society still believes that our youth is wild. All of the characters that will be appearing will wear dark colours such as all black. This will draw the viewer’s attention towards the hats and the idea of hiding the character’s identity in the beginning using the mask. However, the artist will differentiate from the rest of the characters. She will be wearing a navy blue jumper with a black choker; this will show an aesthetic of the artist as well as her fashion. She may not be wearing designer clothes or expensive make up but she aimed to wearing simple make up and just wearing simple clothes. It shows how Indie artists do not focus much on looking glamorous and luxurious in music videos but instead, they want the viewers to focus on the emotions and feelings of their expressions.

The props that we will use during production in the drama studio is a drum kit; it is placed in the centre of the room. When filming the drum scene, it will be visually effective to place flour substances on top of the drum skins as the drummer plays. You will be able to see the substance flying in different shots especially when the lighting is quite low-key. We will also be using smoke bombs when filming in the forest during production. I got the inspiration and idea of using smoke bombs as a part of the production from my previous experience whereby I had to film outside of school when I helped out a friend. Also, I did a few research just by watching music videos. Blood, Sweat and Tears by BTS (a KPOP sensation) have used the idea of smoke bombs in their music video (screenshot below); this has given me full innovation that I had to include it as effects. We will be using the smoke bomb in the forest to give it more of an atmospheric feeling to the audience. A cigarette will be shown in one of the shots at the last verse of the song where the artist lights one up. Lastly, one of the most vital props that we are going to be using is a chest box. It is a great significance and it is relevant in the entire music video.

My group and I have chosen these props specifically because, they symbolise different meanings when they are shown in the music video. For instance, the chest box will represent the life of all the creatures, the smoke bomb will represent the desire that these creatures are fighting over and the cigarette links to addiction since people are addicted to it. In most of the Indie music videos, they tend to use props which could possibly symbolise something. For instance, in Seafret’s music video for ‘Ocean’ the main character used a homemade superhero mask and cape to symbolize that everyone can be a superhero whether you’re shy, depressed, or an outcast.

A mixture of both narrative and performance video would meet the needs of our target audience because we are able to follow the codes and conventions of an Indie music video. Therefore, people who are a fan of Indie music are more capable of enjoying the music video, especially those who like the aesthetic of it.

EQUIPMENTS AND RESOURCES

·       Two cameras DSLR (Nikon D3100 & D5000)

·         A tripod

·         Projector

·         Studio lamps / diffusions

·         Computer (for editing)

PROPS

·         Masks (x7)

·         Smoke bombs (for effects during Production)

·         Hats (x7)

·         Make up (for the main artist)

·         Drums (for the Drummer)

·         Box/Chest

HOW WILL YOU BE ABLE TO ACCESS THESE?

Me and one of my peers are able to access a DLSR camera. This will enable us to film good quality footages which leads to good results. Fortunately, our media department provides other equipment’s such as tripods and studio lamps. The use of tripod will able us to film steady footages and we would not struggle when multitasking. The use of a studio lamp will enable us to give great lighting effects especially when we use it inside the drama studio. The media department also has access to an editing software (Premier pro) and a computer.

For the props, we pretty much have access of the masks, hats and the box because one of the people in my group owns them. As a group, we would have to purchase smoke bombs within the shops or online- whichever is faster. The music department owns a drum set so we will ask for permission if we are able to use it for filming purposes. Make up will be done by someone within the group as well as the hairstyle and fashion.

POSSIBLE STRUGGLES AND HOW YOU’LL OVER COME IT

- In one of our scenes, we will be handling smoke bombs within the forest- there may be some difficulty with lighting smoke bombs due to the weather and it could potentially not work on the spot which is time consuming. In order to overcome this issue, we will practice lighting one beforehand so we know what the result is instead of doing a trial and error.

-Try and be careful with the surroundings especially in the forest, there could be tree branches and sticks everywhere which could injure someone.

-Studio lamps bring their own hazards when it comes to production and these hazards should be taken seriously as they could cause injury or death. We will ensure that we go through the health and safety procedure once again just to double check whether we understand and it is clear enough. The heat from the lamp studios can burn or melt objects which are close by so we will make sure to keep them away from other objects.

-Be careful when handling professional equipment’s inside the drama studio due to the lack of light since it is very dark, the crew might trip over the wires from the studio lamps. Make sure to wrap the wire around the studio lamps and if there is any excess wire, make sure to use take and stick them down to the floor to make sure that they will not be in the way.

-During post-production, we will be facing a lot of technical difficulties such as mishandling the software or errors when using the computers. If there is an issue overall, make sure to ask for help instead of trying to leave it behind. Or use Google and YouTube for tutorials and help if there is no one around.