Editing! WOO!

 Yesterday marked our jump onto the editing process for this project, just our first day, but a good start nonetheless. The editing was done with ClipChamp and on Jordyn's computer for convenience. I don't think there is anything better than that, it kept us on track and enabled us to better work together. On Saturday we filmed just about half of our clips, so we wanted to clean those up to be prepared for the next filming day. The first thing done was cutting down the music to the original length of our clips. I helped with the timing, as we all did. The clips were played a few times at varying lengths by Jordyn, and we picked out which ones matched up the best for our music and were most appropriate. After cutting down clips, we worked on making smooth transitions between each video. The program was kind of hard to work because it didn't have as many features as we would have liked, but we worked out the occasional glitching and clips lagging.  In terms of the scenes themselves, we had a couple of problems we attempted to fix, but we will have to continue working on them tomorrow. During our first transition scene with the Brandon walking out of the door, the background seen in the doorway wasn't messy enough for us. Our original concept was to recreate the look of a depressed teen's bedroom, to convey how upset our actor Brandon is, so we wanted the room to look unkept. To try and do this, we decided to attempt to refilm it during our diner run today for the rest of our shots. We may not switch out any clips, but it's good to have options so everyone is happy with the finished product. Another problem was not being able to see the profile pictures and missed texts on our actor's screen. I gave the suggestion of lowering the exposure, and we're going to try to execute this in class. There were some issues with the clip with the front door of the house closing and then the car door closing, it took a fair amount of trial and error to get it lined up properly. Jordyn added sound effects after we achieved the perfect closing. The overall quality of our product so far makes me happy. During the filming of clips, we unintentionally incorporated purple coloring throughout the video, but once edited, it looks beautiful and perfectly complements the overall vibe.

Bringing Vlog Squad Energy to The Table

    Our filming began on Saturday, December 4. Everything was done at Nicole's house, they had the perfect set for the job and a good location relative to where we needed to be in our storyboard. I arrived to Nico's house as the clock approached 4:30pm, just in time. Jordyn, Nico, and our star actor Brandon were already there, hanging out and planning where to do things while we awaited Yaneli's arrival. While we got Yaneli dressed for the faux couple photos after she had turned up, I suggested different looks we could give to the pictures. After the pictures were sent to Jordyn, I helped her fix the lighting and editing using the app Adobe Lightroom and the general apple camera settings. I often suggested adjusting the exposure in our camera before shooting our clips or taking pictures of our actors, which really helped to fix the minor lighting problems in our shots. We adjusted our approach when things were too dark, or when things needed to be more vibrant; these key changes made us successful. After waiting until it got dark enough outside to shoot the scenes, the team was on a roll. I next helped my group envision our set in a professional sense. The goal was to have no light beams coming from any of the windows and no casts from the lamps on either side of the bed. I gave pointers on how to set up our lights in our bedroom scenes and confirmed when Nico made good adjustments, Jordyn furthered this task by checking our tripod consistently. Yaneli brought a lamp to use when the light in the room was too low. After we turned it up, we set it to purple, which seemed like a recurring hue in our video. As we filmed, I kept the outside environment quite and helped to move objects in the way of our shots. Eventually getting to the part of our storyboard where Brandon is first filmed walking out of the door after the bed transition, it was my job to help with the music. Essentially, I had to put the music to the correct time and play it for 3 seconds, maybe more, it varied on each shot.  I was happy to help the team time everything correctly by adding the background music of this part of the video. I also helped fix a problem with shadows being in the shot, when the shadow of our actor should only be visible. I suggested using our phones' flashlights behind us, and we adopted this plan and tried following Nico with the camera. In the end, it was just a matter of using a higher angle and putting the light in the middle of the room instead of the side. While I wasn't our main director or filmer, I did the little things that helped to push the bigger things. I made sure the actors were comfortable, helped position items in the frame, talked about transitions with the people filming, gave my unbiased advice, and always maintained a stellar level of professionalism. 

Storyboard Blog: How Everything is Going to "Play Out"

 Greetings and salutations! We've officially completed our entire storyboard and I'm thrilled to be able to share it with you! It did not take too long to create because, as mentioned in my earlier group blog, we had already pitched concepts for the music video. This time around, our only concern was ensuring that we could have each of the shots and angles properly visualized to simplify the actual filming process when we got to it. 

Scene 1: 

In Scene 1, the video will begin without a fade-in and be positioned as a medium shot showcasing the main prop, our subject's cell phone, from an angle to the side. This is done to ensure that there is easier mobility of said prop upon moving it out of the frame during the beat drop. However, prior to doing so, the phone will be turned off and display two pieces of text, the name of the song, "Saturday Nights," and the name of the artist, "Weston Estate," which will both appear at different times, one after another. This will then allow the audience to have enough time to read both the title and subtitle, providing them with the context regarding the song that our music video is centered around. As for the text itself, we intend to have it written in a glowing font to capture the audience's attention from the very beginning and resemble the "natural" glow that cell phones exude. During this time, the instrumental introduction of the song will fade in and play non-diegetically. The music will not be interrupted, but rather overlapped by the diegetic, generic pinging of a notification, specifically, the "Note" sound offered exclusively by iPhones, that turns the phone on and simultaneously causes the title and song artist to disappear. As the phone lights up, the lock screen, containing an image of the subject and their former girlfriend, who is wearing a dark blue hooded sweatshirt, appears with a hidden text message from the subject's friend. The image on the lock screen is meant to establish the relationship that the subject had with another character that will not be shown directly in the music video. The name that appears on the top lefthand corner of the hidden message will be the name of one of the members of the band, Weston Estate, Marco, the lead singer of this particular song, as an ode to the group. After remaining at the same angle and pausing on the lit-up phone screen for a bit, the subject's hand will enter the frame and pull their phone out of the frame and to the right as the beat drops. This will take a total of ten seconds. 

Scene 2:

In Scene 2, a cut will occur to another medium shot, which will now frame the main subject in the center as they sit on their bed and swipe up to unlock their phone. The subject will be wearing a dark blue hooded sweatshirt, the same as the one their former girlfriend was wearing in the photo that they use for their lock screen. The subject will then scroll up on their phone, leading into another cut where their phone becomes the main focus in a medium close-up shot to create a sense of detachment. In this scene, the subject will scroll from the top of their iPhone to reveal the contents of the message which will read as such: "Hey dude, been a while...you've been MIA lately, let's hang out!". The subject will then clear away the message, with a cut occurring to the subject's eye in an extreme close-up to make the transition smoother. The camera will then switch its angling to adopt a close-up overhead shot as the subject enters the iMessage app where they will open up the text thread between them and their former girlfriend. This, in turn, creates a more intimate and personal relationship between the subject and the audience. At the top of the text thread, her profile picture will be an image of her happily smiling wearing brightly colored attire with her name being the nickname Eve, which is short for Evelyn, followed by a green-colored heart. The nickname Eve means "life" in Hebrew and also acts as a biblical reference, being the creator of human life. Upon being opened, the most recent text message will have been sent from their girlfriend a couple of days prior and say, "I hate you." The period is used in an effort to underscore the anger felt by the subject's girlfriend at the time she sent them the message. The subject will then type the message "I miss you" followed by a red heart and send it to her. All of this, of course, will occur as the music continues to play non-diegetically. This will take a total of nine seconds to execute.

Scene 3:

In Scene 3, a cut will act as a segue between the previous scene and this one, when a medium shot will be used once more to frame the subject in the center as they grip a pillow in their arms, to recreate the feeling of holding their former girlfriend, and fall sideways and to the right. This sideways falling will then cut to black once they come into contact with the bed, using a match cut to transition to them walking through their bedroom doorway which is also sideways, but that gradually straightens itself upwards with a dutch tilt, whilst they walk through, showing them from the front. At that time, a full and tracking shot will both be employed. As for when the subject completely exits their bedroom and walks through their living room, a medium tracking shot will be used to follow them from behind through their home, falling in line with one of the many conventions I highlighted in my research blog. This will be able to achieve the effect of distancing the audience from the subject by leaving them unable to gauge how they truly feel at this given moment in time, being that they are not able to see their facial expressions. Throughout this time, the music will be playing non-diegetically with no interruptions by diegetic sounds. All of this will occur over a time span of eight seconds. 

Scene 4:

In Scene 4, a tracking shot will persist from behind as the subject opens their front door, giving the audience a glimpse at the dismal, dark sky as they begin to walk downstairs. At the time the camera will remain stationary in the door frame as the subject distances themselves from it, slowly progressing into a medium-long shot until the door shuts. An action match cut will then occur with the subject's car door shutting as the diegetic sound of an engine starting plays and overlaps the non-diegetic sound of the song which is still playing. A jump cut will then occur to when the subject is exiting their car, with a close-up shot being used to focus on their foot stepping out of their car and into the parking lot. Once their toes touch the ground, an action match will occur and they will be stepping through the doorway of a diner instead, which is signified by the change in the ground's texture, as well as by the dinging of a hanging bell. This will take eight seconds.

Scene 5:

In Scene 5, a cut will occur to when the subject is already seated at a booth in which the camera will pan from their feet to their upper body, framing them in a medium shot, exactly like the one used in Scene 2. This is meant to act as a parallel to when the subject was home alone, showing that despite being in public they still feel isolated. At this time, there will also be food on the table and the subject will be actively swirling a soggy french fry around in their ketchup, looking quite disinterested in their food as a waitress, who is only shown next to the subject with her hand that has long, red stereotypical nails extending into the frame, and a conventional retro outfit that is only partially shown as she sets a two-strawed milkshake on the table in front of him. The two straws in the milkshake are meant to create a sense of irony because they typically indicate that a drink is meant to be shared and enjoyed by a loving couple; however, here the audience is witnessing a lonely young man in the pits of sorrow, preparing to drink the milkshake with no company but his won. To further emphasize this melancholic feeling, both of the straws will have meaning, with the green straw being symbolic of the subject's former girlfriend Eve(lyn) and the blue straw representing him by being the same color as the hooded sweatshirt he is currently wearing. A jump cut will then transpire to where the food is left uneaten on the table and the subject is in the same positioning as the waitress, only showing half of their body in the frame, excluding their head, as they leave cash on the table. The subject then steps out of the frame and a second later, the diegetic sound of the hanging bells ringing occurs once more, indicating to the audience that the subject has left the premises. This entire scene will take eight seconds. 

Scene 6:

In Scene 6, a cut will occur to show the subject walking in front of stores outside that are nearby the diner as a couple approaches them from the blurred-out background. The scene will be framed as a medium-full shot and a tracking shot angling from the front of the subject that captures part of their side profile will be used to show the couple as they become more prominent in the frame holding hands and inaudible laughing as they walk by slowly and without a care in the world. This will take a total of nine seconds to complete. 

Scene 7:

In Scene 7, a tight medium shot will be used to emphasize the subject's feelings of envy and uncomfortableness towards the happy couple as they tighten their hooded sweatshirt strings around their head, breaking off from the path to lean against a wall. The same framing will be used as the subject pulls their phone out of their pocket and stares down at it. This will take five seconds to complete. 

Scene 8:

In Scene 8, an over-the-shoulder shot will be used to show the subject as they page through their gallery and look at old pictures of their former girlfriend. A cutaway will then occur to show the subject with a sad smile and then cut back to return to the phone screen once more. This will take nine seconds. 

Scene 9:

In Scene 9, the subject will open their text messages to see that they received the same text message back from their girlfriend, thereby indicating that the (phone number is no longer in service), raising intrigue within the audience as to why that might be the case. The subject's phone then pings with the same ring tone and the message "Hey, I heard that Evelyn, passed away I’m so sorry." appears from the same friend who texted them earlier, revealing that their girlfriend was dead all along. Of course, in this case, the period is used to exemplify the seriousness of the situation rather than non-verbally expressing anger. The music video then ends there with no fade out to allow the audience to take in the true gravity of the situation as the plot twist finally sinks in. This will take a total of nine seconds. 

Music Video:

In total our music video should be about one minute and fifteen seconds long, meeting the criteria of being between one minute and ten seconds to one minute and fifteen seconds.

Storyboard:

I have attached an image of our storyboard below to make the above text easier to visualize:

 

Clarifications:

• The arrows found within some of our scenes' frames are meant to show the movement of either the camera, as indicated by the color blue, or actors, as shown by the color purple, within the frame. 

Closing Remarks:

As with any filming project, I can't help but feel thrilled to begin, and I believe that the following snippet of Daughtry's song "Start of Something Good" really encapsulates my thoughts on this task: "Oh, I'm starting to believe that this could be the start of something good" (2011).

Planning Blog: On Our Way to Top the Charts

Hi again! Now that my team and I have established the foundation for our music video, that being the research we conducted regarding the conventions of indie music videos, we can now begin to create our game plan moving forwards. In order to do so, I've chosen to break up each of the necessary points we need to cover into the following sections:

Props:

    In music videos, very minimal dialogue is used, as mentioned in my previous blog. That then means that selecting the right props becomes of grave importance when attempting to convey a meaningful message in around a minute and a half. Choosing props did not prove to be all that difficult, however, being that our storyline is partially based on the lyrics of the song that we chose to use. Within the song itself, the term “phone” is mentioned multiple times, making it the obvious choice for being our central prop, which is essentially the prop that we will place the most focus on throughout the entire video. Since that was the only tangible prop mentioned in the song that fit with the vision we chose to follow, we needed to make some creative decisions of our own. With that being said, we also chose to include a pillow, a car and its keys, a milkshake with two straws, and finally, soggy fries to pair nicely with an equally as depressing burger. All of the items mentioned above are things my group mates and I have either access to on the daily, or are objects that we can purchase at a relatively low price, making it easy for us to reshoot flawed shots until we create our, mostly perfect, final product at a low cost, in terms of both time and money.

Costumes:

    As with props, costumes are a vital part of music videos, especially since they can provide valuable hints to the audience before the true intentions of an artist or cinematographer are revealed to them. We plan on having our primary subject wear a hoodie, whose color we are still unsure of being that we want to either find something that reflects their state of depression and detachment, as in a dark blue, or use something that allows them to blend into their drab surroundings, like a dark grey.  As for the rest of their outfit, because we are aiming to achieve the effect of our subject having an unkempt appearance, we can have them wear an unironed pair of black jeans with a dark pair of shoes to match. In our music video, we plan on having our subject walk by two blurred out figures, whom the audience will be able to make out as being a couple; therefore, in order to establish the contrast between their inherently cheerful state and the fallen spirits of our subject, we could have them wear bright colors, such as yellow, pink, light blue, and even red. We also want to include an image of them and their girlfriend on the subject's lock screen. In that image, their girlfriend will be wearing the same hoodie that the subject is throughout the entire music video and our subject will be wearing casual clothing with livelier colors, such as that of the aforementioned couple, to show his contentions and feelings of comfortability whilst with their girlfriend. In the backup plan that you will find below, we consider creating a diner set up of our own, in which case one of our group members could dress up in a short-sleeved, light pink or blue gingham,m dress, paired with a white collar and signature white apron. This same costume could be used even if we were to film in an actual diner as there is no guarantee that they will have the same uniform we are seeking to include. 

Filming Schedule:

The dates listed below provide a general idea of the schedule we intend to follow in order to have our music video completed correctly and in a punctual manner:

On Wednesday, November 17th, 2021, my group and I will begin storyboarding for our one-minute and fifteen-second music video; we will have it complete by Friday, November 19th, 2021.

By Monday, November 29th, 2021, we will have begun to shoot our music video, if we have not started to do so already, and have filming completed by Monday, December 6th, 2021.

From Tuesday, December 7th, 2021, until Friday, December 10th, 2021, we will make necessary edits and revisions to our music video to guarantee that everything is in order by its due date on Monday, December 13th, 2021.

Location List:

    Within our music video, we intend to transition between several different locations, which I will highlight below; however, I would like to note that none of the following places are finalized, but that they are our best options moving forwards. In the first scene, we would like for our main subject to be placed within an untidy bedroom riddled with garbage and dirty clothes, where they will be sitting on their bed in the midst of it all. Following that scene, we will then shift outside of the subject's home to show them entering their car. Depending on how pressed we are for time at that point, we may or may not choose to show some of the car ride, thus making the vehicle a location as well as a prop. If we do end up running short on time we will likely move directly to when our subject exits their car in front of a diner. With that being said, one can safely conclude that a diner, which most likely be either a Denny's or a local mom-and-pop restaurant, will be our next location, due to its close vicinity to the home of one of our group mates. We will of course ask for permission to film within whatever diner we choose to visit because it is a public place and, as such, must ensure that we respect the privacy of others. Upon exiting the diner, our subject will walk down the street until they reach a park. Our subject will then enter the park and seat themself on a bench, making that our final location. 

Backup Plan:

   Our music video and the message it intends to convey require very specific locations when it comes to filming, but if issues do arise, it's never a bad idea to be prepared. If we are unable to use the car of one of our group member's siblings, we can always just ask to borrow one of our friends' or parents' cars to film the scenes in which a vehicle must be present. As stated above, we will need to ask for approval when it comes to filming our music video in a public place, which is why if we are turned away from one diner, we can always find another one in the area that has more lenient filming policies, or if worse comes to worst, we can always create our own diner set-up within the home of one of our group mates, with parental consent of course. The weather is something we must also factor in as Florida has extremely variable weather conditions, but we need not fret, as the rain could potentially act as a pathetic fallacy, displaying the true inner feelings of our main subject. Having said that, we would likely need to update our props list to include objects like umbrellas, for instance. With this project, we are able to expand our overall reach and include individuals from outside of our class, meaning that if our subject were to fall ill, we could always use another person as a replacement. Regarding the filming itself, if one of us is asked to quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure or were simply unable to attend one of our filming sessions, we could always have a fellow teammate temporarily take over whatever job they were in charge of, especially since our main subject will not be one of the members of our group. 

Concluding Remarks:    

    Now that we’ve laid everything out, I feel like our music video is sure to be a real hit! As always, I can’t just leave you on a cleft hanger (you thought I forgot about my musical wordplay, didn’t you?), so just to show you how much anticipation I'm in, here are some lyrics by the ever-iconic Britney Spears to close things off: "I think I'm ready now" (Toxic 2003).

Let's Get This Show on The Road

   Hello!  Today, my group and I began to lay the foundation for our project by conducting thorough research on the common conventions related to our music video. To do so, we first needed to establish the genre of our song, which we determined to be alternative, or as many today call it, indie (the word indie meaning independent, or that an artist is not working in conjunction with a large, mainstream record company). Before beginning, one must first understand that there are three ways in which the indie genre approaches music videos, from either a performative stance, a narrative stance, or a mixture of both stances. Somewhat contrary to the way in which it is named, a performative indie music video concentrates mainly on the artist and their band engaging in a musical performance with the addition of instruments, as opposed to some form of a histrionic production. Said kinds of indie music videos are meant to simulate the feeling of the band is performing live, lipsyncing, and all. That is not to say, however, that storylines are never intermingled with said performances, bringing us to the narrative style of indie music videos. This kind of music video focuses heavily on the theatrical aspects of film, aiming to convey an intelligible story, with a beginning, middle, and end, by placing heavy emphasis on the portrayal of various emotions. By combining both styles together, artists can achieve a "happy medium," where they are equally able to entertain their audience visually through the use of a story, whilst also ensuring that the talents of the artist(s) are clearly exemplified. Knowing this, one can now understand how the conventions being defined below are related to the aforementioned styles.

Camera Angles, Movement, and Shots (CAMS):

    The indie genre has taken the world by storm over the past couple of years, growing to become immensely popular during the latter portion of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. This is likely a direct result of the fact that the indie genre gives complete creative liberty to music artists and allows them to adopt innovative perspectives with the help of various camera filming techniques. Hence why camera angles, movement, and shots play such a vital role in making an artist's vision come to life. 

    Regarding the camera angles that are used in indie music videos, one will find that they are often eye-level, low, or high angles. The purpose of positioning a camera at eye level is to make the subject more relatable and keep the filming undistorted, as to ensure a sense of realism is maintained. Hence why indie music video thumbnails are also often at eye level, to grab the attention of the video's prospective audience by establishing a human connection before they even press a button. As for low angles, they allow the audience to get a more personal sense of what a subject is experiencing as they typically appear during times when the subject is taking a moment for introspection. This is quite interesting, as unlike the filming used in movies and short films, indie music videos use low angles for an entirely different purpose than to make a subject appear imposing or intimidating. Furthermore, high angles are used to show how small and seemingly insignificant a subject is, or feels when compared to the world around them.

Shifting one's focus over to the camera movements that are often incorporated into indie music videos, one will find that tracking shots, pans, and tilts are quite common. Looking first at tracking shots, when placed in front of the subject, they are used for the purpose of allowing the audience to "feel" the same emotion that the subject is experiencing as they can read their facial expressions; however, when they are trailing the subject, they create a feeling of disconnectedness as the audience is no longer attuned to the emotions the subject is feeling. Panning is typically used along with establishing shots to illustrate the significant magnitude of a particular location when shifting upwards or horizontally, or to have the camera settle on the primary subject of the video when shifting downwards. Titling is usually applied when trying to show more of the scene to the audience within a limited frame. Additionally, the creation of shaky movements by using handheld shots adds to the verisimilitude of the video.

    Now, out of the hundreds of different shots an artist could have chosen to include, over-the-shoulder, close-up, both extreme and non-extreme, medium, establishing, two-, long, and wide are the main ones they choose to integrate into their indie music videos, and for good reason. Over-the-shoulder shots are quite common during story-driven dialogue or conversations that take place prior to the introduction of the song into the video and aim to show the relationship held between a subject and their on-screen counterpart. Close-up shots in their extreme and non-extreme forms are used to focus on a subject's face in order to emphasize their emotional state, whether it be one of contentment or melancholy, or when attempting to give the audience a clear view of the artist and their band as they lipsync to the concurrently playing song. Medium shots are used when an artist intends to introduce their audience to a new setting, as they are able to continue to keep the subject in the spotlight, whilst also keeping viewers aware of said subject's surroundings as they remain within the frame. Establishing shots are occasionally used at the start of the music video to create context and set the tone and mood of the rest of the video, or perhaps to even create a contrast between the music video's initial ambiance and the final way in which the main subject feels (that is if they aren't static, but rather a dynamic character) at the conclusion of the music video if a narrative route is taken. Two-shots are used when intimate moments are portrayed between the main subject and a fellow character on-screen to evoke a sense of romance within the audience. Finally, one can group long and wide shots together being that they both work to achieve the same effect, which is to display the sense of detachment and isolation that a subject feels from others, as well as the crushing weight of understanding about how alone they are in the large world around them. 

    Aside from everything I have mentioned above, I would also like to note that I noticed a severe lack of point-of-view shots, which I thought would be more common since indie music videos are all about immersing their audience in a story; however, I can understand why this creative choice was not made. Although pathos, a powerful emotional appeal, is often created by using point-of-view shots, one must also consider that because the audience is not actually affected by the events that transpire within the music video, they won't feel as moved. Hence why letting the audience view the video from the sidelines, so to speak, allows them to see the main subject live through their struggles or positive experiences, and gives them the chance to then consciously relate to and empathize with said subject, as opposed to being forced to do so with a point-of-view shot. 

Sound:

    Indie music videos, like any other genre, use a mixture of both diegetic and non-diegetic sound. When presented with a mainly story-driven indie music video, the song itself will be non-diegetic as the subjects in each scene will experience real-life events that directly affect their lives, meaning that they will hear what we as the audience do not. On the other hand, if the music video focuses mainly on the artist and their performance, it will use the song diegetically throughout, taking a few breaks to allow for a story, of sorts, to develop. Moreover, a variety of different noises are often used diegetically prior to the introduction of the song into the music video to establish context for the audience depending on the location in which the scene is set. Said sounds may include the ringing of an alarm clock, birds chirping, dogs barking, sirens, and even meaningful dialogue, all of which are able to effectively drive the plot along to a point at which the song will take over as the primary source of sound within the video.

Editing:

    Editing is a key part of bringing any piece of film together and in a music video that is roughly three and a half minutes long, it is vital to ensure that smooth transitions are used to create a clear storyline. Having said that, throughout the numerous examples of indie music videos online, there are three kinds of editing that I found to be the most commonly employed. The first of which is crosscutting. Crosscutting is often used to show the subject's feelings of being overwhelmed by a particular emotion throughout different scenes, usually leading up to the main climax, crescendo, or beat drop in the song. The next instance of recurrent editing that I found was the use of split screening. Split screening served one of two purposes when I saw it used, to either show how two subjects have become disconnected over time after being united at one point, perhaps playing on the "right person, wrong time" idea, or to show how two subjects with completely different lives met each other by chance and, like soulmates, are just meant to be. The last common example of editing I saw was the use of blurring, which allowed the camera to either focus on someone for who the subject harbored an interest, or on the subject themselves as to highlight their detachment from both life and reality.

Mis-Én-Scene (CLAMPS):

    The first component of the mis-èn-scene is costume design. In indie music videos, subjects will either wear colorful clothing to stick out from their dreary surroundings and bring life to a scene, or wear equally as bleary colors to limit the distinction the audience makes between them and the set, showing the parallels between them and the setting. Moreover, upon considering my earlier point that the indie genre refers to artists who are independent and not directly associated with a large record label, and therefore do not have immediate access to many expensive resources, it makes sense as to why comfortable, casual, and easily accessible clothing such as hoodies, graphic t-shirts, jeans, and sneakers, are regularly worn. Consequently, subjects are not usually adorned with expensive jewelry, normally not wearing any at all, or at most, simple, non-distracting pieces. In doing so, the music video is able to relate to the aforementioned core value of indie music.

    The second component of the mis-èn-scene is lighting and color design. Due to the lack of dialogue, other than that of the song's lyrics, careful selection is made when choosing colors and lighting. Most indie music videos are filmed in an outdoor location, which means that ambient, or natural, lighting is incorporated to contribute to a truly lifelike and relatable effect. Additionally, when a more dramatic note is struck, or a stirring lyric is sung, low-key lighting is often used to accent shadows, and create a mysterious tone, whereas high-key lighting is used to highlight more upbeat parts of the song. Thus, it makes sense that darker, harsher lighting is added when the lyrics begin to cover more serious subjects. As for the colors being used, there is typically a red or blue tint that reflects the inner feelings of a subject, whether they be a thirst for power or a profuse sense of sorrow. Occasionally, an indie music video will be entirely in black and white, which is done to achieve an effect of reminiscence, making the audience feel like, they too, are stuck in the past alongside the subject. Other times, the music video's colors will remain desaturated throughout and have muted color tones that seek to show the absence of interest that the subject has in life.

    The third component of the mis-èn-scene is acting. Considering that music videos only use their songs as the primary source for sound all the way through, there is very little opportunity for dialogue to present itself. That then means that non-verbal acting presents itself front and center, with body language becoming of huge importance. Of course, depending on the mood and tone that an artist aims to convey, the acting found within the music video will be sure to vary. If one examines an upbeat indie song, they will find that the subjects are often smiling and enjoying time with another individual, as opposed to if one were to examine a gloomier song, where they would find a single main subject who feels outcast from society or who has suffered an unimaginable loss. Regardless of any emotional connotation, however, indie music videos will often contain the artist (and their band) playing an instrument, a subject walking to either showcase their insatiable restlessness, or to emphasize their inability to escape something, and dance, whether it be some variation of the hip hop or interpretative dance styles.

The fourth component of the mis-èn-scene is makeup. Since the main focus of the video is not on the makeup being worn by the subject(s), it is either not applied, used to create a "natural" look, or used to put emphasis around the eyes of a subject. By doing the latter of the three things, the artist is able to capture the attention of their audience and keep them drawn into the story as they become unable to look away from the piercing eyes of the subject. Additionally, the use of makeup, and its trends over the years, can also be used to indicate the era in which the music video is situated, whether that be the 1950s, the 1970s, or the 2010s.

    The fifth component of the mis-èn-scene is the props. Unlike a commercial, a music video isn't trying to market the audience anything, which means that there isn't a main prop, or product, to focus on. This then allows artists to have creative liberty when carefully selecting props to match with the overall atmosphere of the song and video. That is not to say that they aren't recurring props found across a number of different indie music videos because there certainly are and they can include musical instruments being actively played by a subject, papers with certain phrases written on them to achieve either a romantic purpose or to give the audience an idea as to what a certain subject is thinking or feeling, items related to the personality type of the character, such as a stuffed animal to insinuate that they are childish, or even items directly related to the song's lyrics, such as a cellphone when it becomes mentioned in the song.

    The sixth component of the mis-èn-scene is the set. Indie music videos, when based around the concept of past memories and loss, for instance, do not tend to remain in one location, but rather alternate between at least two or three throughout the entire video. This, while others whose lyrics are either directly tied around a particular location, or whose storyline is only related to one particular area remain stationed in said places. With that being said, beaches, open fields, and forests are common outdoor filming locations for indie music videos because they allow the audience to feel connected to nature and show them the similarities that lie between the environment and the subject being presented. As for filming that occurs within houses, particularly within kitchens, living rooms, or bedrooms, it is meant to give a personal insight into the subject and their life, often providing subtle hints about their general disposition that will be further underscored as the video progresses. Indie music videos are also often shot on streets, whether they be in rural areas, large metropolitan cities, or suburban neighborhoods, creating the effect of loneliness that some feel despite being one of the billions of people inhabiting the planet. Upon holistically examining all of said locations, one will likely see that they are all open for public access, can be filmed on or in with a relatively low-budget, making for cost-effective choices, and are places that members of the audience are sure to have visited, allowing them to better relate to the contents of the music video and have the artist's message really resonate with them. As for the weather on set, more often than not, it is dark, gloomy, and stormy, acting like a pathetic fallacy to reflect upon the inner turmoil of the main subject.

Takeaways:

All in all, the main pieces of information that one should take away from this analysis are as follows:

• Eye-level, low, and high angle shots along with tracking shots, pans, and tilts are perfect ways to achieve variation within scenes and maintain the attention of viewers, whilst also preventing the distortion of visuals that would take away from the realism that must be created.

• Over-the-shoulder, close-up, medium, establishing, two-, long, and wide shots are effectively able to introduce new scenes and put extra emphasis on the emotions being portrayed by each of the subjects on-screen.

• Both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds are used in indie music videos, with dialogue being kept to a minimum and most sounds that are not emanating from the song occurring prior to its introduction in the video.

• Crosscutting, split screening, and blurring are all editing techniques that are commonly found within indie music videos.

• Regarding the mis-èn-scene, costume design is important in maintaining the identity of indie music, whilst lighting and color design are used to ensure emotion is clearly conveyed, and nonverbal acting is heavily relied upon to do the same. As for makeup, it isn’t as critical as the other aspects of the mis-èn-scene in indie music videos, only being used to accentuate the eyes of some subjects and add a dramatic flair to the video. With that being said, both the props and the set are able to give away subtle, but important clues as to who the subject is and the current mental state that they find themselves to be in.

Now that we're done with the research, we're officially one step closer to starting filming, so like the phenomenal Michael Stanley once sang, "Let's get the show on the road" (Let's Get the Show on the Road 1973).

Group: FINALLY, the Saturday Night Crew is Here!

 Rather than seeing this course as a requirement, I've viewed it as a hobby I can do on the side. This makes it so much more enjoyable to complete assignments, it's silly that I need to trick my mind in order to complete any work, but I think being resourceful is one of the most imporant qualities someone could have! Apace with this, I'm using the same group as my last project for this one. The members include Yaneli, Nicole, and Jordyn. At this point, it would feel unnatural to work with anyone else. They're all so creative, I admire this trait greatly and sometimes I feel like I hold them back when developing ideas. Everything I do is just on a whim, while they sit and approach the world with prosperous thoughts. It would be nice to be like that, and my family may argue that I am like that at times, but it would only really be true once I believe it myself. Either way, we now have a direction we'd like our story to flow in. In the film, the dude will mope around doing various tasks, going out to dinner, and just being generally depressed throughout. A twist at the end reveals that the girl he is depressed about has passed away. We give the feel that they have just broken up, but it goes way deeper then that story-wise. We were worried that our music video idea borders the short film project because of how complex we are trying to make this. Nico and Jordyn developed the majority of this idea, with Nico having been the one to find the song we'd end up using. I'm happy with who I'm working with and confident that we can produce a very original piece. One problem i'm a big concerned about is how our filming process may go. We want most of our video to be filmed by Nico's house, but i'm not allowed to sleepover at people's houses and just hang out all day like that. My parents can be strict and I hope it doesn't negatively impact this project is all. Additionally, I am excited to meet our actors, especially since I will be helping backstage and guiding them in accordance with our directors' visions. Nico's going to get a guy-friend to be the boy in this video and nico may be in the video too. For this production, I think we'll all be hanging around behind the camera. Doing things behind the camera is something i'm comfortable with, so I don't mind this one bit. I hope for my group and I to come out on top and make something we can proudly look at, i'm even blasting our song Saturday Night to get in the mood of a winner lately! TEAMWORK TIME!

New Project, New Me!

 I'm looking forward to fully embracing AICE Media and showing what I can do. Our past commercial project really let me dip into my creative side and cooperative side, it was a refreshing feeling. I've had experiences making music videos of sorts for little songs I make as a joke; imagining doing something like that as part of a class sounds fascinating. It's nerve wracking for me because sometimes I fear that I don't contribute enough. But it's all about believing in yourself, right? Making the thing I do for fun with my friends into something to be used to work towards a diploma to better my chances of great things in the future sounds right up my alley. I wasn't originally going to take this class, but my counselor recommended I do, I'll see where this course takes me! On to myself, my name's Julissa, and I'm a brand spanking new junior in the Sunshine State. It doesn't feel as new anymore because we're already a whole quarter into the school year, it's crazy how fast time really goes. Personality-wise, I consider myself to be an unbothered and laid-back individual, especially once you get to know me. My free time is unvaried, if I'm to be wholly honest with you! A day of my life after school consists of eating lunch, watching an episode of Batman Beyond or Cowboy Bepop, and pushing myself to do school work I'm not sure gets finished.  I do my best to at least keep myself afloat, even if it takes rewarding myself with far too many breaks. The highlight of my day is always hearing music, song after song. Having music in my life is a big part of who I am as a person, and I consider it to be even a hobby.  I never found myself to be a good singer, but you'll find me jamming anywhere from tiring passing periods in school to the cold milk section of my neighborhood Publix. It's the one thing that always keeps me going. I never fully understood people felt the exact way I do until I paid closer attention to some of the lyrics of my favorite artists. They're just like me, sometimes, lost in themselves and trying to find themselves afresh. As a student, I felt that way when navigating online school; it was scary and challenging, but I made it through. Doing online school last year proved myself to be a completely different person then I thought I was. That straight-A student turned into a measly D-student and it really hurt my self-image. I no longer believed in myself, all because I was afraid to ask for help. With a music artist called Arlo Parks and some tender support from my teachers, and I found myself all-of-a-sudden feeling vibrant again. Days no longer started blending into eachother and I got closer with the ones I love; this school year feels like a totally new start. Sincerely, I have been down again, but I won't let this stop me from pumping out a quality music video and staying on top of my deadlines. It wasn't as easy as I'm making it sound as we all have our own processes, but it doesn't hurt a fly to work toward a better you. I just purely, want to do better for myself, not just for others. This side tangent may not relate to this subject, but I see so many things I enjoy in this course. I feel it contributes to this new start. Projects like the music video and commercial have me excited to see how people from completely different backgrounds can combine their creativity to make something worthwhile. I want to try and see myself doing well, I just hope I can prove myself to be fruitful with the work I do turn in.

- visual respresentation of me listening to my dear Arlo Parks