Pitch Preparation - Initial Ideas

We are going to look at the codes and conventions within a music video of the pop rock genre. As we are going to produce a music video for the song ‘Heartbreaker’ by the recording artist ‘Pink’ we are going to look into other music videos of the same genre to see what codes and conventions have been used.

The first video we are going to look at is ‘7 Things (I Hate About You)’ by Miley Cyrus.

She is represented as a teenager that has experienced a break up with someone she loved and trusted. The video is narrative and has a performance element throughout. The relationship between the music and the visuals is strong as when she is singing about the pain her ex boyfriend put her through and the things she dislikes about him, the other girls in the video can relate, and this is shown by the girls lip synching to the lyrics. As Miley Cyrus is singing, she lists the 7 things that she hates about her ex boyfriend, and she also lists them on her fingers. Miley Cyrus and the other girls in the video point and sing into the camera as if to place the blame on the audience, as if they’re the person who has hurt them.

'Now we're standing in the rain...'

There are also several matches between the lyrics and visuals, for example when Miley Cyrus sings the line ‘and now we’re standing in the rain…’ she looks up towards the ceiling as if the rain was falling. Also when she sings ‘it’s not possible for me not to care…’ she places her hand on her heart as if to say it’s her finding it hard not to care.

The second video we looked at was ‘Misery’ by Maroon 5.



This song is also under the pop rock genre. Maroon 5 have two official music videos for this song; the original one is quite violent whereas the UK version of the video has cartoon animations covering the violent parts. We are looking at the codes and conventions within the UK version of this video. In the video the main character played by the band’s lead singer Adam Levine, is represented as a guy who is so in love with his girlfriend, that he doesn’t fight her back when she is violent towards him.

'Why won't you answer me?'

The video includes clips of the band perfoming meaning that the video is partly performanced based. However, the rest of the video is made up of clips of the "girlfriend beating up the boyfriend". These clips are fragmented but they do link with the lyrics. For example, when the lyrics "why won't you answer me?" are sung, we see the female pushing the lead male into the wall.


There are a few similarites between these two videos as the are both from the Pop Rock genre. One being that instruments such as drums and guitars are being played. This allows the audience to see the Rock element of the video and genre. However, both videos feature bright colours such as what the girls are wearing and props in Miley Cyrus - 7 Things, and the animations in Maroon 5 - Misery. This is a common convention of the Pop genre.

Our Initial Ideas...

The song we have chosen to create a music video for is ‘Heartbreaker’ by Pink. The genre of the song is pop rock. Our overall view of the video is to have a lead female lip synching, as if she were the person singing the song. We also have the idea of showing snippets of other girls being ‘heartbroken’ by holding up objects that remind them of a previous relationship. This is similar to the aspect of the ‘7 Things’ video, however unlike that video, we like the idea of including flashbacks in black and white of the couples past memories together.

Location

·         Past memories – the river bank, ice skating rink, Windsor town centre

·         Girl lip synching in a deserted area such as the Great Park

Performance Style

·         Fragmented narrative

·         Matching lyrics and visuals – ‘Sparkle in your eye’ we could show that by showing an image of an eye or perhaps sparklers.

‘I’ve got a ring on my finger, but will you change your mind?’ We could film someone taking off their engagement rings.

Props

·         The burning and/or ripping of photos

·         Necklaces

·         Rose petals

·         Teddy bear

·         Flash boards with the song lyrics written on them, being held by female cast members

Effects (Final Cut? Photoshop)

·         Black and white

·         Slow motion – for some clips

·         Colour

·         Extreme close ups of certain objects such as eyes, tears, laughing and smiling

Audience Attraction

·         Because it has a fragmented narrative, you’d want to continue watching to find out the whole story

·         It’s a catchy song

·         The lyrics link with the visuals

·         The visuals will be interesting and always changing

 

Below is our chosen song...