Planning

For my music video I have decided to go with the song ‘Paint a Face’ by Neil Halstead. The song falls into the acoustic genre and these are some of the things that are associated with that genre.

• Musician/band performing or singing in front of the camera. With a variety of different shots including close-ups and medium close-ups of the musician and the instrument.
• The videos tend to portray a message. Whether that be a message about relationships, life, a day out or perhaps something more significant.
• Contrary to other music genres it is important to keep transitions between shots slow to correlate with the tempo of the song. Genres such as electro and drum and bass which both have a far higher tempo in comparison will have quicker transitions.
• The location of the music video tends to be based around a natural environment. Many musicians such as Jack Johnson and Ben Howard shoot their videos by the sea. They tend to include surfing in them as the acoustic genre is strongly linked in with surf culture.
• Props are always relevant to the genre. There is no point using unrelated instruments, the acoustic genre is based around the acoustic guitar, not the electric.
• Setting is also important. Many music videos are shot on a sunny day with blue sky as this reflects the mood of the song to help the audience understand the message that is being portrayed.

With this in mind, I will be making sure that I follow these conventions as much as possible. I understand that it is unrealistic for me to make a professional looking music video, as I have no budget and limited access to equipment. However, I can at least make it look realistic by using similar shots and following these conventions.

I will be going to various places across Jersey, with St Ouen’s being one of the main places I will shoot. I will be able to take advantage of the views over the bay and the sand dunes. These look like realistic settings of an acoustic music video so it will enhance it.

I will be using a lot of medium close-up shots of the musician lip-syncing, and will try to make it look as realistic as possible. Other shots such as long shots and extreme close-ups will be used to add variety to the video.

A recurring pattern I want to include in my music video is a driving time lapse and a time-lapse of cloud movement. I intend to include these in various points of the video at specific points to create continuity in the video. 


Permission


In order to use the song by Neil Halstead, I first had to ask permission. By doing this I contacted him by writing this email.

Dear Mr Halstead

My name is Michael Medway, I am 18 years old and am in my final year at school at Victoria College in Jersey. I am writing to ask permission for the use of your song “Paint a Face” in my A2 Media coursework. We are required to use a song of our choice and make a music video for it.

Since seeing you live at the Grassroots festival in Jersey last summer I decided that I would want to use it for my music video. However, I need permission from you before I can do this.

I have no intention in using your song to make money, nor will I send it on to anyone else except my teacher and examiner who mark my work.

I understand entirely if you do not wish for me to use your song for my coursework and if that is the case then there will be no hard feelings whatsoever.

If you could get back to me soon, I would be very much appreciative.

Yours Gratefully,

Michael Medway

After gaining permission, I then went on to start filming,