A2 Media Studies Advanced portfolio

For my video I want to use very strong and dominant visuals that are going to be very representational of the protagonists personal/ emotional struggle. For example, the light shinning through the church window will represent the hope that the protagonist is trying to reach, the light shining in the darkness. Also I love the idea/ shot of the blood on the hands as it can represent a lot like being caught red handed, or how someones hands have been stained with blood and they can't get rid of what they have done as it has left such an impression on them. This is something I really want to create in my video. I love the close up shots of the faces as it makes the video more personal/ it really lets you see the true emotions on the protagonists face, and using a close up of the eyes makes the viewer seem as if they are looking into the protagonists soul.

For all of my ideas I will end up using one of the following two songs: Beggin' by Madcon Take me to church by Hozier For my first narrative idea for my music video I'm planning to have the storyline really dark to match with the dark themes in the lyrics of moth music videos. the narrative for my first idea is to have a murderer who regrets his decisions in life and wants to reclaim his life and his friends and family back. the music video will be based on his internal struggle and it will flask bak to his past an present and will hint at his journey. there will be religious elements to this as the protagonist will turn to church to help him linking to the take me to church music video and the beggin' music video (as he is begging to god). I will be using similar visuals to the plan b music video and the take me to church video, both i have already analysed. links: Take me to church https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVjiKRfKpPI praying by plan b https://www.you...

My first idea is about mental health and showing the struggles people with mental disorders have to go through. It was going to be an educational music video with a purpose. The only issue I have had with this idea is that I had no visuals of music videos that had followed similar themes as this. This was a shame as the idea was recommended highly from the group I did my pitch I did. My second idea which I had way more visuals for and the narrative was clearer in my head. The idea was to have a protagonist who had commit man slaughter and he wants to get his life back now in the future. The narrative will be about his personal struggle.

For this project I have chosen to do a music video. I have chosen this as I will be able to use a range of shots and still be able to use a narrative, also I can combine it with my love for music.  This for me is the best choice as I can combine things like a narrative (like I could with a short film) and I can do the same as I would with a trailer but I can include music. For my music video I want to break the general stereotypes of what you see in a music video, like dancing and singing. Instead I want to create a narrative to make the music video more meaningful and to break the normal conventions of a stereotypical music video. Last year I really enjoyed creating a dark narrative and I would love to do the same again but twist it slightly. From last year I learnt that you need to be ahead of yourself and organised so that you can sort out your location in time and get all the shots you need. Furthermore, I learnt that its better to have less cast as its difficult to find ...

Most blogs written by those with a mental disorder discuss the stigma around it and how others react to it based on your gender and their ignorance towards it. I feel like I could use the idea of people not accepting who someone is because of their metal health and the idea that they are going to church to help themselves. This idea would link to the song 'take me to church' so I could use it as a valid idea. I would also like to maybe add things like depression, anxiety, anorexia and learning disabilities as they all are popular topics on the website and they tent to pair together. https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/personal-stories?keys=&rate=959ceff67e3cefe1d88fda4aae3f3bd6&page=2

On reflection of presenting my Initial Ideas I have decided to research into mental health and traumatic stories about people in the news and their struggles. I will then use these stories to formulate my own plot line. This, like what the feedback in the video said, will help me make my video feel gritty and realistic. I got a lot of feedback on song choice for my music video, the overwhelming conclusion was to use the the song 'Take me to church' by Hozier instead of 'Beggin' by Madcon and that the Hozier song has more depth to the lyrics and therefore I can do more with the music video. So I think with my video will film it and then compare it with the two songs and see what works better. I also got told for the themes of my video using atmospheric shots and a variety of angles will be very useful to help enhance the dark themes in my video. also using intense colours and filter would help with this. 

Beggin' by Madcon This is the song I want to use but I going to follows a different style of video to the one shown here and make the video a lot darker and with a narrative. Another similar song by Madcon 'back on the road' The original song for beggin' re-created by Madcon is the song I want to use for my music video. This song is the first version by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, this is the closest thing to the music video I could find.

This song called Crazy by Gnarls Barkly is in a similar genre of music for the video I want to create. the dark narrative to the song lyrics of this song has made me consider it for one of my song choices, also the way the video is done is similar to what I want to achieve for my own final project. This song is again in the style both in terms of song and video similar to what I want with my own video.

Praying This video visually links to its song lyrics literally rather than representationally, it also uses stereotypical generic dancing in the background to make it feel more like a music video. This tells a dark story about murder, forgiveness and betrayal. In this shot we see a scary looking man looking at himself in the mirror in his prison cell. This could represent him looking at himself and reflecting on his actions as most people do in prisons. The low key lighting sets the atmosphere of the video to be a dark one. In this shot, we literally see him praying which goes with the current lyrics at that time as he sings about begging in the song. This video is one that features the singer as the protagonist in the narrative of the music video. This links the song closer together with the video and makes it fit into some stereotypical/ gender music video archetypes (to have the singer in the video). The white painting in the background of this shot connotes innocence an...

In this, we see a dodgy city and then the camera moves over the clouds to reveal a buildi ng above the clouds called the feel good inc. This represents how in this building at the top you don't have to see the horror that is going down below the city its almost as if ignoring it makes it better/ ignorance is bliss. The light against the building represents hoe rising against everthing and the building almost makes it seem as if anything in this 'Feel Good Inc' tower is possible. Then in this shot, we get to see inside the building sh owing how dodgy it is in there too. This illustrates what y ou see on the outside (the sign that says feel good inc) is not exactly whats on the inside. The red background connotes danger and lust, linking to the sex drugs and rock and roll vibes going on inside the building. In contrast with the characters blue hair, it makes him stand out characterising and illustrating that he is the singer. Now we see more mov...

Take Me To Church In this shot we see a man trying to lock a box up with something that is most likely precious to him and that he doesn't want someone to find. In relation to the theme of the video of homosexuality, I think it's based on him locking his feelings away as he feels like he can't show them to people out of fear. In addition in this part of the video, he is rushing which again shows fear. This combined with the close-up shot emphasizes how important the box is to this man.  The same man in this long shot is digging to further hide this box as he is desperate to hide it away. This makes the viewer curious at this point as they want to know why he is hiding it away and what reason is there for him to want to do this now. Also, the use of black and white for the entire video represents that it's a dark story and there is both a light side to it and a dark side. Also, at this point, it is clear that this video follows a clear narrative. In this s...

The Greatest  At the very beginning of this shot, we have a gong playing in the background which gives a very atmosphere that's serious and sincere, it makes it feel like time has stopped and it gives a resonating presence of death occurring both at the beginning and end of the video. The phrase ' we are your children' is extremely powerful as it shows how we need to look after each other and themes of children and death are particularly striking. this music video was based on the shootings in America in a gay bar in Orlando which makes this video hit hard on people emotions. Considering this video is about the shootings, the cage represents how people of the gay community feel trapped by societies standards and how they can't be themselves otherwise society pulls them down. Them feeling trapped and lifeless in relation to the people in who were trapped and killed, makes the video dark, just like the incident. The colours on her cheek in the firs...

Formation This is a highly iconic video about black culture and the independence of Beyonce, as a black independent solo artist and being the most famous and well paid female artist in the world, she is incredibly influential. Which is why this video is so important as she is spreading a message out saying it's okay to be who you are and embrace your colour and don't let anyone walk over you. This is shown in this shot as it represents how black people have been mistreated by the police and now they are superior and they can choose what they want to do.  Both the beginning shot and this shot show a town drowned in water, this is referring to the horrible natural disaster in New Orleans of Hurricane Katrina. This was a huge hit to the black community and a huge part of their culture as lots of people suffered unnecessarily. The colours are very monotone making the shoot look muddy representing how their culture downed with their houses. This shot is using light...