Mise En Scene for

my Music Video.BY HARRY WEATHERALL

Types of Lighting

In general there is 3 types of lighting, high key, low key, and natural

lighting. My chosen genre is alternative rock music, following

generic conventions of this genre I will use both natural and low key lighting. Music videos from this genre usually are shot in darker,

overcast conditions with grey sky's in urban areas, this helps to fit the

gritty nature of the actual music and sometimes dark lyrics of the

song. Filming this video in winter will help me to achieve this effect

for the narrative part of my video, taking advantage of the darker

and greyish natural lighting. The low key lighting will be applied

during my indoor filmed performance piece. Through filming this

indoors I can control the lighting too the exact levels id like in my video, helping to create a realistic and professional look.

Creating something original

Alternative rock music videos usually all feature similar techniques,

whether that be a black and white filter being used, a fight scene or

some on screen dark comedy; however the videos still always seem to maintain a unique and original look and feel. By combing

techniques across the genre I hope to also create a unique music

video maintaining a professional feel.

Make Up

No make up will feature during my music video on any of either the

narrative actors or band members. Make up isn’t a common

convention of the genre and I do not feel the need for its use. Alternative rock music is generically about the average person,

particularly of a working class background, a type of person not

usually associated with make up. I shall follow convention and only

use natural looks.

Editing

Speed of edits- This at times of my chosen song can be slow, but in

general the edits will be very high tempo, especially as the music

intensifies.

Action points- on the songs various action points I will try and hit the

edits, through the use of jump cuts or various transitions e.g. when

the drums and bass guitar first come together with the electric

guitar.

Filter- I will use a black and white filter over my footage in order to

create the usual look of an alternative rock music video.

Characters

The characters In my video aren’t specifically refereed too by the

songs lyrics and so have no obvious identification, but the look they

will take will be that of the typical ‘hoodie’ or ‘youth’, people usually committing anti social behaviour. The band members will be un

related to the narrative characters and during the video their paths

will not cross. During the video the youths will most likely be up to

trouble, again typical of the alternative rock genre, by not

conforming.

Props

Alcohol- Cheap and stereotypical brands can be associated with

anti-social behaviour which will be seen in my video.

Cigarettes- A lot of younger people from lower socio economic backgrounds smoke, so that aspect of typicality will be portrayed in

my video.

Instruments- Most alternative rock videos feature the band actually

performing and so I will use that too, obviously the props for that will

include guitars and amps, drums and bass guitars.

Camera Shots

The type of shots I will use will include:

POV

High Angle

Low Angle

Panning

Medium and Close up shots.

The variety of shot is important to keep the viewer interested, and so

I will not use just one type of shot all the time, and further try new

things throughout the various scene of my music video.

Costume The kinds of clothing worn by narrative characters will be sort of

average clothing but be mainly based around things such as;

Hoodies

Tracksuit bottoms/joggers

Trainers like Adidas sambas/ Nike Blazers

Clothing worn in urban areas by the working class.

This kind of outfit will be typical and working within the genre and help identify what kind of person the character is to the audience.

The band members will be wearing;

Jeans

Hoodies

Dark Colours

Band T-shirts I found the idea of bands wearing other band t-shirts interesting in a music video by Sum-41, it is not completely generic yet fits within the alternative rock genre and I shall use it for something a bit different/original in my video.

Location

The video will require an indoor sort of hall placement with spotlights

for my performance piece, the school has halls and studios with this

equipment in order to create my desired look for my video. For my narrative I want to film in urban town locations, such as skate parks

or industrial areas in order to again match conventions of the

alternative rock genre. The industrial urban feel idea came to me

from music videos I had seen by Jamie T and the Arctic Monekys.

Conclusion

The ideas of my production keep on coming and developing

everyday, and with that I hope my video becomes the best it can

possibly be. The narrative is meant to give insight into the life of working class Britain and the struggles which govern many peoples

lives, e.g. alcoholism and other addiction, as well as violence. The

target audience is males and that is definitely who the video shall

be aimed at.