Treatment

Treatment for my music video

Key details

Artist name: Rhi

Song title: Roman Holiday

Record label: Orion Records

Genre: electropop

Target audience: teenagers/young adults (15 - 25)

Style of music video: narrative (with some performance)

Copyright approval: haven't gained it yet, but I will be writing an e-mail to the record company of the artist as well as tweeting her. This is a more direct line of communication as she has a strong social media presence and manages her account herself

Overview

The video will open with a shot of the sky that pans down to an establishing long shot of one of the main characters (Rhiannon- played by the artist) standing on a hillside silhouetted against the horizon. There is no music at this point, just the sounds of wind and nature. The title of the song ‘Roman Holiday’ will appear over the scene at this point and remain on screen as the shot cuts to a close up side profile of her. She looks down (over the shoulder shot) to a picture of her and another girl. Images flash over the screen quickly, almost like glitches- a window and other aesthetic shots, a girl laughing and other close-up details that don’t seem to have any meaning yet. Camera cuts to another close up of the girl’s face/eyes as she closes them and the screen cuts to black as she does. The screen remains black for a few seconds before the music starts just as the scene hard cuts from black to show a bright and cheerful sunny setting (the opposite of the bleak setting and colouring of the beginning- this is a different and happier time- a memory). On each beat it changes to another setting/image (rose, sky, moon, leaves, close up details of the other girl- Alycia- e.g. her eyes/hands/hair so we don’t fully see her yet but only small glimpses) to set the scene/time/establish mood. When the lyrics come in, it gives the audience their first clear look of Alycia- she is the other girl in the photo at the beginning. The first verse will contain footage of each girl as an individual and interacting with each other (mainly set in a park but with flashes to other settings such as the guitar shop and London). It is clear that they are happy together and that their relationship is strong.

The chorus will see the memories continue in these settings but with cuts to the present where Rhiannon remains on the hill occasionally lip-syncing to the lyrics. Her actions will mirror the actions of the girls in the past, for example if she turns around it will cut to one of them turning around in the memory to establish a visual link. This will also be seen in transition shots the blend footage and scenes together such as one girl blowing smoke into the air and it fading into a shot of the clouds. The second verse will mostly be set in an arcade and will have the same bright, candid quality of the flashbacks in the first verse, however occasional quick flashes to more negative emotional responses will be inter-cut with this in the same mirror action transition technique. An example of this will be if the girls are celebrating a win in the arcade and hug, when they draw back it will flash to one of them pushing the other away with the camera in the same position. The reason for doing this is to show how their relationship starts to break down and how the positive memories are beginning to be overcome with the negative as Rhiannon remembers how she ended up in the position she is in now.

When the second chorus begins, the flashes to the negative memories become more frequent as do the shots of the present, which shows how the timelines are drawing together. However, there will still be quick flashes of positive imagery (e.g. the sun or the natural setting seen earlier) to keep them the events in the timeline linked and to show how the experiences can’t be removed from one another. The lip-syncing in the present will continue as well, and this carries on into the bridge where we see quick flashbacks of the girls arguing and one of them walking out on the other. The flashes between memories continues as does the juxtaposition between happy and sad, bright colouring and dull. During the bridge, there is a strong sense of rhythm and a clear beat, so cutting will be obviously on-beat here. Halfway through the chorus there is a clicking sound and the image of a camera going off will be played with this before showing the present where Rhiannon is holding the photo again. By this point the timelines have converged and this shot is the key as it brings it almost full circle.

After the bridge, there is a breakdown where the music mostly stops apart from the singer and a simple synth line. Here, the visuals echo the build-up of the music to another chorus as we see Rhiannon letting the photo fall to the ground and the camera following it as it blows a few metres before hitting someone’s feet. The camera begins to pan up and cuts between this pan and Rhiannon’s face as her eyes follow the same upwards line. This is to build suspense until the audience can see that the feet belong to Alycia. They start running towards each other as the shot cuts to an extreme long shot of the figures running to meet, and as the chorus crashes back in they meet in an emotional hug/reunion. The camera stays on them for quite a while and tracks around them as this is an important moment. There are very quick flashes to the happy memories to show that those were what was important in bringing them back together. They pull back from each other and Rhiannon mimes the final words “but for now let’s get away on a Roman Holiday”. The final shot is a direct mirror of the first shot, but instead of having one girl standing alone on the hill, they stand side by side.

Characters 

The artist plays a character in this video and is therefore involved in the story within it. There are only two main ones: the artist’s character (Rhiannon, 18) and the girl who she wants to reconnect with (Alycia, 18). As the video tells the story of their relationship through memories and flashbacks, it will prominently feature both girls and how they evolve and change over time as individuals and in the context of their relationship.

Locations

A few of the locations that I will be filming at are in Brighton, in particular the pier/arcade and a nearby guitar shop. The lights and colours of the arcade add a dreamy, playful and futuristic quality to the scene and therefore to the depiction of the relationship, as the scenes in the flashbacks take place in a positive and hopeful memory. This type of busy setting not only shows how the two characters interact with each other in an environment where they are surrounded by other people (therefore solidifying their partnership and connection), but it also has a much simpler purpose of just allowing them to have fun together and for the audience to see that. They are both young and where better to show the innocence of their age and their relationship than at an arcade. This setting fits with my genre because of the bright and colourful neon aesthetic that can be used throughout the video to connect scenes and add an interesting visual element. The guitar shop has a similar idea in terms of the bright colours and showing the interaction between the two characters. It will also be an interesting diversion from the music as the song contains many electronic/synth sounds and having conflicting visuals gives the audience two different things to observe and immerses them in the theme of contrasting ideas that was more obviously introduced with the ‘positive past/negative present’ narrative.

Another setting where filming will take place is in a park/field. This location is very open and natural, which means that lots of sunlight and natural imagery such as trees, the sky and flowers can be used. The colours of these (yellows, greens, blues) fit with the soft and summery feeling of the video which is important because, as mentioned earlier, the flashbacks and memories take place in an idyllic setting and have positive connotations. The vibrant life shown here will also allow audiences to see a visual comparison between the past and the present; the past was happy and the present is in a darker version of the same setting (during winter and in worse weather). It is symbolic as well as an overt indication that time has passed- the setting mirrors the characters’ emotions which is why it is important to have the visually bright scenes contrast to the opening bleakness. It also fits with the genre as electropop music is often quite cheerful and full of bright synth sounds which will fit well with the colouring of the footage from this location.

The other key place is London, where the key landmarks that would be present due to filming here place the characters in a location of importance and gives the audience something recognisable to see. Many videos of the pop and sub-pop genres use famous/well known locations, so this shows that I can draw upon conventions as well as using the ideas in a unique way, for example by filming there at night when the look of the lit-up buildings plays into the neon theme previously introduced with the arcade setting.

Visual elements

The colouring will alternate between flashback scenes where it is bright, well-lit and sometimes saturated with a neon or pastel colour palette, and scenes in the present which will have a washed out look with low saturation. It will clearly and visually show the difference between the mood of the scenes and where the characters are emotionally. There will be both high-key and low-key lighting as scenes will be set all throughout the day and year, but most of it will be natural sunlight but enhanced in post-production to give the footage a more cinematic feel which will work with the play on depth of focus and slow motion editing.

Most of the costumes and props will be quite natural and day-to-day, as the story is something that is part of the characters’ lives and therefore these props and outfits don’t need any particular attention drawn to them. They will be relevant to the scenes and settings, for example the shots in the park will have them in shorts and t-shirts interacting with objects such as flowers and trees. However, there are some specific objects and motifs that recur throughout and have more significant connotations, such as a rainbow pin and flag. They are symbolic of the relationship being portrayed, but also, much more simply, look visually interesting in conjunction with the colours of the settings.

The shooting style of the video will mainly be filmed hand held and include a range of perspectives (including POV) to highlight the idea of these scenes taking place in the main character’s memory. However, there will also be steady camera shots when flashing forward to where they are in the present. These filming styles create a balance between casual (which would appeal more to the target audience) and professional.

Equipment

The equipment I will be using to shoot my video are a Canon DSLR camera and tripod, however a lot of it will be handheld and so the tripod will only be for the opening and closing shots. I am borrowing both of these from the school and so must ensure that good care is taken of them when I am out and about filming. I haven’t used this type of camera before so it may take some time to get used to filming on this piece of technology, however I have done a lot of filming before on different types of camera and have also frequently used a tripod, so I know how to set it up when I need it. I will not need any sound recording equipment as the original audio from the clips will be replaced by music. The editing software that I will use to construct my music video will predominantly be Adobe Premiere Pro CS6, with additional effects and art added in from Adobe After Effects CS6. I have used Premiere Pro before and so have a working knowledge how to do simple editing on this, but in order to achieve the final product that I want to I will have to use more advanced settings and techniques as well as incorporate After Effects.

Possible problems

It may be hard to film some scenes at the time of year that is in my official schedule (autumn/winter time) as the majority of the video will be set during summer where the sunny and warm weather plays a key role in representing the emotion of the scenes. This is why I filmed some footage very early in the process despite not having planned exact shots in great detail at the time, however this will not cause a huge problem as the video is supposed to have a very casual, point of view, candid quality. As I mentioned before, another problem that may occur is my limited experience using the editing software Premiere Pro and After Effects, and so a significant amount of time may be used discovering how to navigate these programmes. However, I will overcome this by watching tutorials online and going on help forums to broaden my knowledge before and during the editing process.

Summary

In summary, my electropop music video will incorporate many elements that both play into and expand on conventions within the genre, as well as being based on an original idea that will use creative means to tell a story. A cinematic look in both shooting and editing style will highlight the storytelling aspect of the video, as well as allowing the artistic aesthetics and transitions to add a deeper layer to the narrative.