Treatment Sheet
Title/Song: Ben Howard - Diamonds
Synopsis: The lyrics of the song 'Diamonds' do not give a direct message to the audience. Audiences are left to make their own interpretation of the lyrcics. In my opinion the lyrics talk about finding yourself and Ben Howard appears to fight about himself about his feelings for someonelse or a specific topic.
Proposed storyline and characters: The storyline which I have created for my music video is a teenager who is escaping from her home where she is troubled and isn't particuarly happy. My character finds freedom and happiness being outdoors surrounded by fresh air and the forest. Throughout the music video the audience sees the process of my teenager moving from a place of trouble to a place of happiness as she leaves her home and explores the outdoors over a period of time. The audience see how my teenager reflects back to her troubles and time and almost battles with herself about moving forward and being free. At times we see the music emphasised by choreographed dancing and miming of the song lyrics. The aim of the storyline is to show that teenagers tend to have specific hobby or place which allows them to move away from the stresses of everyday life. The characters which I use are my main character the teenager Leonie, my younger brother and his friends as dancers, Darryl and Moyo and also a narrotor and singing in the music video, Josh.
Setting: The video is set in the twenty-first century which is shown by the houses, the street and the cars in my music video. It's also shown by the clothing of my actors who all wear clothes currently in fashion. A residential street and a forest are the two locations used to film for my music video.
Length: The music video last for the duration of the sound track 'Diamonds'. There is no introductory narrative or extra narrative at the end of the music video. The music video lasts around 4 minutes.
Format: My music video has been edited on final cut pro X and filmed on a digital camera.
Style: The genre of the music video is folk. The tempo and mood of the music video varies from slow and gloomy to upbeat and vibrant throughout the soundtrack which creates opportunities to include dull, slow and simple scenes aswell as lively and creative ones also. The music video ends on a light note which encourages ther audience to feel happy and want to return and watch the video again. The use of choreographed dances encourages the audience to get involved and copy the moves used in the video.
Camera work: I use lots of long shots in the music video to establish the setting and show off the beauty of the locations used. Long shots are also used because my character is moving forward with her life and this is emphasised by her constantly walking and moving away from the camera. Low angle shots are used to show that my character faces a huge challenge ahead of her to move on with her life, it also shows the size of the forest around her and offers an opportunity for the audience to see the beauty of the weather such as the sky and the sun at the time. Handheld shots are used to film my character moving, often I had to follow her using a steadicam strap whilst she was walking away from me or if for shots when I wanted her to stand still an take shots of the camera panning around her. Close-up shots are used to emphasise the emotion in the music video, I wanted to show the audience how my character was feeling at different points in time throughout the music video, so close-up shots of her face and facial impressions. Low-level shots are a key shot for my music video because the movement of feet represents the forward movement taking place in my character's life. Low level shots are also used to show the dancing of my my dancers in the music video as their faces are not included in the frame to ensure that focus remains on the music video. A point of view shot is used at one point in my music video to show the surroundings of my character and the fact that she is in deep thought.
Length of editing: The length of editing in my music video begins very slowly to reflect the dull mood which my character has and also to reflect the weather as there is a lack of sun and it is rather cold. The pace of editing increase as the mood of my character improves and the weather improves. Faster edits can also be seen at the chorus of my sound track and at an upbeat interval when dancing is used.
Movement and Action: Movement is present in a large part of my music video as it is a key theme. Movement can be seen as my characters is reguarly walking through the forest and also exploring it. Movement represents several things in my music video, movement is a sign of going forward approaching new things in life, movement also represents the curiosity of my character of the outdoors and movement is used for dancing to show the beat and tempo of the sound track.
Visual Qualities: My music video is shot in colour however when my character reflects back to a moment in the past sepia and black and white editing is visible in the scene to show that it is just a thought or a memory. The colours which appear in my music video are quite dull, the street where my character lives and the sky although in the forest life and colour is present as there are rivers, plants and pathways. My dancers also appear wearing similar yet strong colours in order to stand out from background and keep attention on them.
Handling of Narrative: In my video the narrative is simple however the storyline is not made perfectly clear to the audience so they may need to work out the storyline for themselves. Towards of the end of the music video the narrative is made clearer as there are constant flashbacks of my character's memory of an unhappier time at the house yet now she is satisfied and ultimately happier now that she has found a sense of freedom, this will encourage audiences to view the video again.
Target Audience: The target audience for my music video is female viewers aged 16-22, as my character is 18 years old I feel like viewers of this age group will be able to relate to her. The music video could potentially appeal to younger viewers as the storyline is not particuarly challenging and the use of dancing is an exciting visual element.
Technical Aspects: As the director of my music video there were a lot of things which I needed to remember in order to film my music video. Firstly equipment, because of the simplicity of the scenes needed for my storyline I didn't have to use a lot of equipment: digital camera, a tripod and a shoulder strap for handheld filming. As I was outdoors I relied solely on ambiant lighting. My characters were simply given instructions of the clothing which they needed to wear. My music video use a few locations, a residential street in London, Epping forest and Hainault forest, risk assessments were made in all locations.
Resources: The most obvious resource for my music video is characters, this involved going through a selection process of my friends and family. I then chose people best suited to the roles needed, for example Leonie (main character) was very photogenic on camera and her red hair is a memorable quality for the audience. I organised a shooting schedule which is available on my blog of all the dates of filming in order to ensure that deadlines for filming were met and my characters knew when they were needed for specific scenes.
Budget: As I am a student and therefore a low budget producer, the creation of my music video did not involve any costs.
Rationale: My music video will widen Ben Howard's fan base to late teens and young adults. It uses simple ideas however encourages the audience to think about the storyline, the element of dance provides an exciting factor for viewers and so creates a repeatability factor for the audience.
