Shot List and Shooting Script

Planned Shot Types: 

- General and neutral shots, i.e. long shots (to establish setting), medium shots, medium-close shots and eye-level angle shots.

- Extreme close-ups – to focus on the details of the characters (e.g. fearful facial expressions) – for dramatic effect and evoke discomfort.

- Over-the-shoulder shots – to highlight the interaction between the two types of people represented, while focusing on one perspective and emotion.

- High Angle – to make the other character feel less powerful than the subject = ‘victim shot’.

- Canted Frame – to highlight the disorientation of the situation in both a physical and symbolic sense.

- Point-of-View shots – to create a sense of voyeurism and focus the viewer on the feelings and situation of the other characters.

Equipment: Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX350 Digital Camera, Tri-Pod.

Costume: Because of the fact that within indie-pop music videos, costume is vastly not a predominant part of the visuals, resulting in a more naturalistic fashion approach, I intend to place my characters in more casual clothing to heighten the sense of verisimilitude in opposition with the supernaturalism of the narrative. Moreover, to promote the ‘effortless’ image we commonly see within indie and indie-pop media products, in regards to makeup and hair, I aim to create less intense looks for the characters.

Lighting: Although the music video will be shot in mid-late evening, I aim to counter-balance the darkness with spots of bright and colourful artificial lighting in order to create an upbeat atmosphere, typical of the pop genre, to nullify the potentially gloomy visuals.

Location: In order to meet the requirements within the brief, sections of the music video are planned to be filmed in a benign town-alley setting in combination with a more suburban field-like area. Though contrasting filming locations, a constant is that they are generally recognisable settings to heighten the verisimilitude in order for the audience to relate to and thereby engage with.

Colouring: Though presented in a jovial tongue-in-cheek way, given the thriller-like narrative and dark background, I am going to amp the saturation of the shots to retain the fun-nature of the music video to interest the young, fun-loving target viewers.

Editing: Given the high-energy sound of the song, fairly fast-paced editing will be used, a technique in order to keep the audience engaged and suitably match the feel of the music video. I am also thinking of adding brief sections of diegetic sound to bridge certain visuals and the song. From a structural plan, given that I will not have access to a camera gimbal, I choose to stabilise my footage post-production by using editing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects to edit the shots for a higher sense of professionalism and a cinematic feel.

Intertextuality: As a reference to another media product, I have chosen to emulate the iconic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ under-lit chin shot. I have chosen this as it is an image easily recognised and accessible, not only to a 16-24 year old demographic. Furthermore, the chiaroscuro lighting will deepen a sense of eeriness I hope to evoke as well as integrating well with the darkness of the rest of the shots.

Performative Elements: Consistent through a large amount of other music videos, lip-syncing is an element I will include within my own to engage the audience and cement the key messages within the lyrics and visuals in which I hope to promote successfully.