National Film and Television Application Short-Film

The choice of location to film our short-film application came about when I was walking down Elms Hill (The location for my AS Thriller) and I stubble upon an Victorian antique shop which sold very old items such as oil lamps and specialises in making taxidermy. The thought to set this short in the Queen Victoria's reign was first constructed before seeing the shop, the period that this will be set in will be 1896. The construction for the narrative has begun and speaking intensively with the shop owner about filming permission and the idea of the film he said he agrees with, the shop will also add to the time period along with the costume, the genre of the short will be Horror.  Me and Josh Moore both felt that by applying with something that shows of what we're initially applying for will help to show NFTS that we talented and committed in that field, even if we don't get the opportunity to go to the residential we can still use this and place it our portfolio.   

I spent an hour firstly in the shop to try and visualise what the scene would look like and tried to think where I would position the camera if we were allowed to film there. I then asked the owner of the shop and talked about the age of the building, what period some of the items were and discussed about the potential idea of being allowed to use his shop, he said yes to the idea and seemed to be excited about the idea. I then spent time explaining my original idea to Josh Moore, who would be assisting me on making the Horror short-film, we then decided to travel down to Elm Hill where the shop is located, and discussed potential ideas while surrounded by the atmosphere of the shop, this added the possibility to visualise where the characters would be positioned and what props from around the shop would aid in creating a horror atmosphere.

We talked with James (The Shop Owner) and asked about if there was any stories about this shop that we could take into consideration, he said that there is a book about a taxidermist who was convinced he could make dead animals live, he thought that by doing this he had a purpose in life, he then talked to each other about the potential of adapting this novel to screen. After making good progress we then walked down Elm Hill and walked around some of the other antique shops, we found that one shop was selling old Victorian penny's, so we thought that as a prop this would be convenient to have, so we purchased 16 to be placed into a velvet coin satchel, this would link into the first suspense for the audience.

Synopsis:

 John cheats on his wife (Elizabeth) with a mistress called Helen, while discovering this, Dr Neil Cream spots her and takes advantage of her mental state offering a pill that will make her beautiful. This is poison and has killed her. John grieves over the death of his wife and decides his mistress is no longer a going concern, little does her know hie wife is now watching over him from the dark... 

  

                                

Character Profile Construction

The first thing I did when I thought up the idea to shoot a horror film set in a particular period was to think about character profiles. This then enable me to think about their characters more in depth and to then create their personal identity, this would then enable me to have an exact lifestyle and make them a real character so that they seem believable. By adding their wealth, Traits and backstory it allows the creation of a character that seems more real, the audience would then submerse themselves into the characters life story. As I didn't use the whole of the character profile, it was useful to plan ahead, because then you could reference what their lives are like in the film. I learnt this technique while at the BFI Film Academy, a lady called Bell introduced the technique to me while learning about script writing and creating character profiles from random images we chose. I adapted this technique to aid me in creating the concept for this film, it was easier to create a whole life story so you can understand their actions in the film.

I've incorporated a real life serial killer into this short, his name is Doctor Neil Cream. He is also known ass the Lambeth Poisoner, he was a Scottish-Canadian serial killer, who claimed his first proven victims in the United States by killing a Women and two Children. He then proceeded to kill women in the streets of England and was offering them a pill to make them beautiful but in fact it was poison.

                                             

                                            

   Script

                                      

                              

                               

                              

                              

The Lambeth Poisoner Trailer 

Applying Narrative Theory to Music Videos

Music Videos may be structured around match on action, in other words a strong sense of story telling could potentially; amplify, illustrate or challenge the lyrics and meaning of the song.

Artist: The Script
Track: Hall of Fame
Genre: Pop Rock/Hip Hop
Released Date: 19th August 2012









The Scripts music video for "Hall of Fame" incorporates the use of a circular narrative because the action ends where it starts off; the young boy living with his mother in a run down area is found dreaming of what life could be and his aspirations in life, alongside the deaf young girl whose dream it is to perform on stage as a ballerina and at the end of the video it shows the same dream of becoming their life time goal after the audience has been taken through the story and determination of how they see themselves there. I believed that this song would be a good idea to analyse for narrative structures and how they could interpreted in different ways. For example the main storyline could be implied as a linear narrative because it follows their story almost in chronological order.

The opening scene, connotes to the audience that there is someone getting ready for a fight in the boxing ring in the form of a medium shot, with his back turned towards the audience. The scene cuts away to his mother waking him up from his dream which implies to the audience that he wants his aspiration to become reality, this could be interrupted that the male character is inviting us to follow how he strives to reach his goal throughout the story. The third shot is of a young female who desires to perform and become a professional ballerina, and by that time the audience realise that the narrative is about following your dreams and creating an impact on the world. Her deformity of being death could hinder her aspirations but not feeling good enough and being put down by her own self belief, which targets her vulnerability. A similar circular narrative is used by the script in their music video "Breakeven".

To incorporate Goodwins theory, Hall of Fame a relationship in terms of lyrics to visuals to emphasis that any child can always achieve their goal, whatever the circumstances. From 1:52-1:54 there is a series of montage shots which show the female ballerina spinning and that links in with the the drummer when he starts to spin his drum sticks. Another one of Goodwins theoris used in the music video is the use of close ups. The continual visual style of motifs are used to help the audience in identifying who the singer and the band are, in this case the lead singer from The Script and Will.i.am and shown through various close ups, this is to get as much publicity and promotion for the artist as possible. The music video also demonstrates genre characteristics, this means that a stage performance of the band and the featured artist in a warehouse where full instruments are set up and are being played, this is a motif because it is a continual visual style that is seen from beginning to end of the music video. Other music videos that follow the same principles of using a stage performance/band playing is 'Ecosmiths Come Together' music video. The genre itself identifies the sort of narrative and performance that you as the audience is likely to see being Pop Rock/Hip Hop.

To use mise-en-scene is really effective in terms of setting the scene. The entire music video is set around the aspirations of the younger children, from the ballet dance room to the boxing ring. These scenes emphasis the teenagers dreams and ambitions to become what they think they can achieve, right at the start of the music video their is a contrast in how the boy and girl live when placed back into reality. The boy lives in a run-down area, surrounded by crime and less opportunity, whereas the girl, who is suffering from a hearing disability, is seen as cut off from the world and isolated in her dream world, this contrasts to the events of them dreaming, becoming and rewriting what their lives should be like. Then scene 1:02+ where the boy is out on a run and encounters adults who are older than he is, this triggers the dream of becoming a professional boxer and standing up for himself where it is shown that he can't when the group of adults punish him.

In terms of setting, I really appreciated the fact that the narrative began introducing the life difficulties of the two characters and as the audience we sympathise with them and get to understand from their i.e. backgrounds why they imagine themselves as better individuals than they are. The setting also creates awareness with the audience in terms of the use of using childhood aspirations as their life goals because then the audience can then think of there own personal experiences and can relate to the music video. Goodwin also stated that there is a relationship of lyrics to visuals, the 'Hall of Fame' lines are mimicked by using boxing ring fights, this relates to the idea of great boxing legends such as Mohammed Ali and that amplifies the idea of how the teenage boy became inspired by other boxing champions and wants to follow on in his footsteps.

 

Music Video Final Cut

Print Production Research

 Debut Album 

Never Fade EP

As you might be aware of I've used Gabrielle Aplin's music and music videos as case studies and intertextual references, but they have all linked with the idea of narrative and genre to my chosen song "Across the Sea". The print productions for her debut album and EP's they have all featured a similar theme, they are concentrated around bright colours, images that represent the ideology of the songs presented on the album, she also has a theme of appearing on the album front cover, this is seen by her holding items to imply her album name e.g. English rain is implied by her holding an umbrella. Close ups and long shots are varied with showing her on the front cover, this is to show the audience who the artist is and brings the sense of Goodwins theory of notion of looking. I think that these albums bring a feel of atheistic pleasure because they are colour graded with parts in black and white and some in colour, these are seen to be photographic and are implied to be making the cover seem more unique. The colour choices that she used for her English rain cover stand out because she is immersed around black and white and she is easily identified in colour with the umbrella being multi-coloured.

'I Forgot Where We Are' Album

'The White Album'

Ben Howard is another folk singer/song-writer that I have experience of listening to, his album cover concentrate around himself and have instantly recognizable by the consumer due to the massive success of his debut alum 'Every Kingdom'. His newest album 'I Forgot Where We Were' features a chiaroscuro lighting with him shoulder width visible, he's done this because of the successfulness of his career he doesn't need to promote his album with bold lighting or to create an eye catching close up of the artist.

Only artists such as the 'Beatles' used an album cover for their album 'The White Album', as their success grew over a number of years they didn't need to use bold covers to attract consumers, but instead used their reputation as a selling method, in this case I feel that Ben Howard did the same with his. The use of the Beatles album cover from 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts' album was used as a way to attract the mass consumer, when they weren't so popular, so they have to try and extensively try and use colours and bold images to try and sell, but a year later 'The White Album' was released and a less and more drastic cut down in colours and images showing the band wasn't used because audiences knew the band by name and where willing to pay the money for the songs instead of a over exaggerated album cover. I chose to do research this artist because it fit within our genre of music, Ben is seen to be proving that folk music is still a surprising music genre.

FREEWHEELIN'

Keeping within the folk genre, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez heavily inspired the music video to 'Across the Sea' due to the reference of love, his album 'The FREEWHEELIN' shows the aspect of love with him and a girl in the cover. It also implies that the album is concentrated around the ideology of love and contains aspects of love songs which are influenced by his love affair with Joan, this links in with our storyline of Steven and Lucy, the break-up of the two and watching the after effects unfold in the plot. Like any other artist album cover, it features the use of the artist itself, Bob, in every album that he has produced he features himself so that every audience member knows that its his album, which is useful when consumers go out and purchase it. Many people have tried to create this image and have wanted to replicate this, for example NASCARS Jimmie Johnson is seen to be trying to replicate this, it implies that people view this as special and want to be a part of the idea and reputation that comes along with it. 

To conclude, I feel that each one of these print productions will influence what I am creating for the print production of Chief of Seattle's 'Across the Sea', as they all offer a unique design and emulate the ideas that we portrayed in my music video. I feel that to have success in print production for the artist, there has to be some evidence and this may be shown with a close up of the singer/band, a headshot would work more effectively than an image that doesn't link with the songs or band. I feel that the importance to have an album cover that has a connection with the rest of the songs on the album, for example Gabrielle's English Rain use colour correction which added to the depth and exposed the colours of the umbrella to express the title of the album. The idea of an effective album cover is for it to be remembered and to be re-created for future artists, Michael Jackson was an iconic singer who audiences and music industry professionals aspire to be like and will look up to how he portrayed himself to the consumers.     

  

 

Genre Case Study

Background Information of the Artist

To me the artist is of some unique platform, when I first heard her sing 'For The First Time' by The Script I immediately thought that she would become a worldwide sensation, her voice and chosen music genre of folk/indie folk isn't seen to be a popular chosen music genre in todays modern society between teenagers and that is why I think that her voice and genre of music makes her differentiate herself from other female artists such as Rihanna.

The emotions and her ideologies that she portrays in her songs are feelings that many demographics of 15-30 experience and have an emotional connection to the lyrics, which is powerful in the sense of them wanting to attach themselves onto what they know and have felt, which again makes her music a lot different in terms of the music that we are exposed to now. Her genre was simple to discover because of her dress style and the instruments used in the songs that she creates, when I did my research which consisted of listening, reading and watching her music videos, it resulted me to come to the conclusion that her genre style was folk/indie folk and singer-songwriter. I like the fact that her music if different from other stereotypical music such as Drum and Bass that is associated with youth, but instead prefer the contrast in challenging what music genre is associated with what age. Her demographic range like I said would target 15-30 year olds, and they would be aimed at women more due to the association of the lead female singer.

Gabrielle Aplin is 22 years old and started her music passion on YouTube where she used to sing and perform covers such as Paramore and You Me at Six. In February 2012, she announced she had singed a record deal with Parlophone and was recoding her debut album 'English Rain'. She gained mainstream attention the following November when she was selected to soundtrack a John Lewis television commercial with the cover of 'Frankie Goes to Hollywood's' "The Power of Love".

Genre Theory in the Music Video

Watching through the music video you can connote that this is a story about someone or something entering your life just at the right time and pulling you through something you didn't know how you were going to get through, turning up at the at the most perfect time without being asked or searched for, being their salvation. Music videos such as Ecosmith are purposely made to promote the lead singer rather than promote any enforcing narrative, this implies that the media are intended on promoting the singer, whereas Gabrielle's music video as well as promoting the singer does reinforce a narrative and applies to Goodwin's theory of the relationship between music and visuals. This type of music video tends to be used on similar genre styles, when I researched Gabrielle, there was a sectioned based around what people also searched for and artists such as Birdy, Nina Nesbitt and Christina Perri all share the same genre of music style and have similar narratives and music videos that show a strong link of music to visuals. One music video in particular that I found interesting that Birdy's 'Skinny Love' and Gabrielle's 'Power of Love' share the same instrument and location, which suggests that these two artists are closely related and have a particular style this is different compared to other music videos with different genres.

These types of narratives, with the storyline being focused around the lyrics tend to be used in Folk and Indie Folk because the artists believe that by showing and powerful image, it will promote the lyrics and reinforce a powerful message if audiences can address what they're hearing to what they're seeing. Unlike band music video performances who use their instruments to show to the audience that they have a skill, Gabrielle also addresses that she can play guitar, piano and singing to let the audience know that she is the artist, but this also can be established through close ups of the artists and through giving her the largest screen time.

The main focus on this music video is portraying what the lyrics mean, this is identified through the contrast on the colours of the outfits that the actors are wearing, the male character is in white connoting that he is the saviour whereas she is dressed in black and is portrayed as lost and suggesting external stress and sadness which the song represents. The genre of the song is clear due to the heavy application of the piano and the singer dominating the song. Gabrielle brings the attention of the folk genre by choosing not to diverse into using strobe lighting and montages of band scenes but kept it clean with just acting and ambient lighting, most genres such as Drum and Bass and Rock bands use strobe lighting to mimic a concert or the character types of the audience watching, this can linked to 'Afrika Shox' by Leftfield and the way that the genre can be identified by using lighting to connote the sort of places that this song will be played at e.g. clubs, this reminds them of their demographic. Gabrielle Aplins identified genre are portrayed through the music video with its art-house approach of a narrative.