Thursday, November 6, 2014

I have now finished the task. Throughout there were things I knew how to do well and others I did not, but with the help of google, youtube, and exchange student Georgia I was able to overcome these difficulties. I also learnt that too much footage is better than enough even if you think it is just the right amount.




Group

This unit I began in a group. However, the group situation was not working well. To fix this I left the group to produce my own music video. It was harder as I was doing it on my own but it only had to be 30 sec long and I did it on iStop Motion which really helped.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Week 4

This week my group and I have been planning what do in our music film. We have got many ideas, and have been able to put together a narrative.  This week I have also done the music cutting for the film as well.

Shot list



Treatment

MUSIC VIDEO CLIP TREATMENT
Names of group members
Elain Lin, Jane McCotter, Georgia-Leigh Vele
Song selected
Yellow - Cold Play
Type of clip (Highlight your choice/s)
performance / narrative / collage
Concept for clip
Explain what narrative/images the clip will contain
The concept is to tell a story about the relationship between a son and his sick mother. The video will show the sick mother lying in bed, then go to the boy going through life and milestones which he got to spend with his mother, and how these moments are so special to him.
Message
What message will your clip contain or what is its purpose?
Style
What look and feel will your clip have?
The colour yellow will both symbolise the sickness of his mother as well as all the happiness in their life. It will show the boy growing up and how in each aspect of his life there was always something yellow symbolisingg the love and happiness between him and his mother. But at the end it will have his mothers skin as a sickly yellow rather than the happy yellow and will symbolise that the yellow (happiness) in his life is fading. 
Technical codes
Explain the ideas you have about camera work, transition devices, lighting, special effects, framing and composition
We will be using a lot of fades throughout the film as it is a soft transition between the milestones in his life but then at the end it will also fade into the last scene of his mother about to die as the fade will show how just like everything else in his life things are just going to happen. When the camera is filming in the hospital the angle will be high show the vulnerability of the pair, in contrast to the low angle shots used throughout out the rest of the film showing how they never knew that such a sad thing could happen in their lives. Also in the hospital the lighting will be gloomy, and possibly have a blue, grey tinge to enhance the sadness felt by the audience. Where as in the other, happy, scenes the lighting will be bright and yellowish to show happiness and joy.
Audio codes
What is the song about and how do the lyrics relate to the visuals you have selected? Will you be adding an additional sound?
"Yellow" was written in a Rockfield studio in Wales called the Quadrangle, where Coldplay began working on their debut album, Parachutes. One night after finishing recording "Shiver", the lead single of the album, the band took a break and went out of the studio. Outside, there were few lights on and the stars in the sky were visible and "just amazing", according to the song's co-producer, Ken Nelson. He told the band to look at the stars, which they did. Vocalist Chris Martin was inspired by the sight and the song's main melody, consisting of a chord pattern, popped into his head. At first, Martin did not take it seriously "as he relayed the tune to the rest of the band in his worst Neil Young impersonation voice".

***Martin went on to further explain that the word "yellow" has absolutely no meaning whatsoever and while writing the rest of the song he tried his best to change yellow to something else since every lyric before yellow made no sense but in the end the word "yellow" just sounded right. Martin also told Stern that through the years depending on the attitude and manner of whoever interviews him, he would make up some story about a song or album titles just to move on to the next question. Martin applauded Stern saying "I like you, Howard, so that's the first time I've ever told anyone the truth behind 'Yellow'."***
Coldplay - Yeloow lyrics meaning
http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/36691/  (24/10/14)

The visuals will have both a literal meaning as well as a symbolic. For example the line “I’d drew a line for you” will have the boy doing his homework and ruling his book and his mum helping. While in the literal sense he is drawing a line, it is focussing on the idea that he and his mum are connected and do everything together and for each other. No, there will be no added sounds to the film. 
Pace
What sort of pace does your song have and how will this be reflected and created in your clip?
Written codes
If you are using any written codes, what text will you use? What is its significance?
Symbolic codes
Will there be any symbols in your clip and what will they be? Will you repeat any images or use a motif? How will the symbolism you have used contribute to the message of your clip?
For most of the film the pace will be slow, as it is him reflecting on his life with his mum and also showing that he is in a daze because of shock for the fact that he is going to lose his mum. But towards the end of the song the music goes into an instrumental which the pace becomes much faster. In this scene the boy is having a breakdown and crying and is angry and frustrated with life, which in turn suits the fast pace of this part of the song. 

The colour yellow will be in every scene, exempt the melt down scene, as a motif so symbolise both happiness and sadness. There will be yellow objects in each scene which refer to the ‘yellow’ in the song and the happiness. While the sickly yellow skin of the mother in hospital will show how both she and the happiness in his life is fading. 
Key elements of mise-en-scene to be used
Explain the settings needed and outline key props and costumes needed
Hospital room, with bed and guest seat, blue flowers in a vase.
Playground with high monkey bars, ad room for jane to stand under to catch Elaine.
Dining room table, with a chair for Elain to sit on, and work book, pencil and yellow ruler. 

- Yellow dress
Sun hat
Child looking clothes (blue, cotton shirt, and cotton shorts)
Graduation gown and hat
Boy school uniform (white school shirt and black pants)
Appeal
What things in your clip do you think will appeal to a youth audience?
I think that the fact that it is about the relationship of a boy and his mum will generally appeal to a youth audience. But also because story is about the mum being sick will pull on the audiences heart strings.

Part A

Props
  • Yellow stars (paper)
  • Yellow hat
  • Yellow flowers

Costumes
  • Janes daisy dress
  • Boyish kid t shirt and shorts
  • School white shirt and black pants
  • Sun hat
  • Graduation cloak
  • Jeans 
  • Older looking man tshirt

Sequence plan 
  • Start in the hospital
  • ‘Look at the stars’ he looks up to the ceiling (8 sec)
  • ‘all yellow’ something goes yellow (20 sec)
  • Monkey baring across to the mum, and jumps into her arms 
  • zoom into the yellow object
  • Helping him study ‘I drew a line for you’ drawing a rule in a book
  • Zooms into the yellow object
  • Begining of the instrumental he is graduating
  • finding out the bad news (word in-between the instrumental)
  • Walking out to get to the other room for the breakdown
  • Fade into next scene of him with his mum
  • Zoom into the heart monitor


Yellow

  • paint on animationish things yellow
  • MnM’s made into shapes 
  • song meaning: unconditional love, love between a parent and child
  • sick mother in sister, yucky yellow
  • flash back to happy times, happy yellow
  • flowers and toy represent the happy and sad scenes
  • the stars will be flashing yellow in animation
  • shot of boy holding mums hand in the hospital bed and slowly zooms into the mums face
  • boy having a meltdown, crying in his room
  • shot of mum helping boy over a river
  • the start of the video is his mum sick, but throughout the middle of the song it flashes back to all the good times they had together and at the end its back to sick mum
  • not literal but drawing a line on the beach
  • So then, i took my turn oh all the things I’ve done starts flashbacks