Coursework preliminary exercise

 1) Write a 100 word statement of intent explaining what you are going to make for your preliminary exercise.

Statement of intent: 100 words explaining what you plan to make.

Example statement of intent [147 words]:  

I plan to make a 30-40 second video showing a girl trying to cheer up another girl in a gloomy environment due to how lonely society is now due to social media and the ongoing war today. the beginning of the video will have a girl randomly appear behind the sad girl to represent how a miracle can happen at any moment. the sad girl will have messy hair, sitting down and staring into the distance in an industrial place or a place with trash everywhere. I plan to use mise-en-scene to show how the sad girl feels lost and depressed visually rather than have her look like every other person.  

In the middle of the video will have the camera shifting towards nature, symbolising how the escape from industrialisation is in reach and not far away, but also juxtaposing the dull grey buildings with bright green nature. the happy girl, although looks slightly less messier will fix up the other girl and have a smile  on her face as she shows how life may be cruel and unfair, we can still be happy when we appreciate the things we still  have.

2) Write a script for your preliminary exercise on your blog. This needs to include stage directions AND dialogue. To see how a TV drama script is presented, and to look at professional examples, check out the BBC Writers' Room and click on Script Library. These will not be music video scripts but the layout will be the same.

the scene will start out with the camera panning down to the floor and zooming into an ultra close up shot into a pocket watch.

Until the vocals are sung, it cuts to a sad girl sitting down and looking down or ahead with a sad expression which shifts to her looking surprised as a happy girl just jumps out from behind her asking her why she's sad. 

The camera stays still with a medium shot, cutting with the happy girl being the only one moving while the sad girl tries to keep eye contact with the happy girl. What i mean by the happy girl moving is like as if she's teleporting around the sad girl as she says "Hey pall, hey friend, hey buddy"

The actors will do a match in action as the camera will cut to a medium close up shot so it'd look smooth and barely noticeable, the happy girl moving to sit with her as she asks why she's "so down right unhappy" and then snatches her cup of tea and throws it away as she says its not her cup of tea. the tea cup will be thrown out of shot as it'd be hard to time the cup shattering.

As the song starts to progress, the girl will grab the sad girls hands and as she pulls her up, the camera will move along with them. the scene will shift during the camera's motion blur to the park. 

The happy girl will drag the sad girl into the park.

3) Casting: Who will be in your preliminary exercise music video?

Myself and a friend of mine named Chloe and Hima. I will be the happy girl and Chloe will be the camera man and Hima will act out as the sad girl.

4) Plan your locations: Where you will film your preliminary exercise? (You can film off-site if you wish to do this for homework - this is what we would strongly recommend). Important note: You CANNOT take any students out of any other lessons OR disturb any other lessons in the school. If you wish to film in-school then you will need to film with Mr Ray supervising or after school with a Media teacher present. 

A bathroom that barely looks like a bathroom, its more like a demolition site as all the floor tiles are gone and everything is dirty OR in a room full of power tools for construction. it represents how industry took too much from life.

The hallway of a cancer hospitals basement in Lithuania.

The Park, freedom

The road, hell

5) Write your shot list: every shot you plan to film. This needs to be far MORE shots than you will actually use in the final edited version - plan extra angles, close-ups, long shots and more. You can find an example shot list here. This is for a narrative film but the layout will be the same. 

1. high angle and close up on object
2. low angle, looking up into the sun
3. close-up, of  objects that are important to the scene
4. long shots to display characters interacting with each other
5. medium shot of the girl sitting down
6. medium close up, the happy girl confronting the sad girl
7. extreme wide shot the characters walking in the park or showing the scene.
8. over the shoulder shots between characters
9. medium long shot to show characters walking over to the park away from the road.
10. close up shot to a happy girls smiling
11. close up shot of a rose bush or flowers in general
12. medium close up shot angled slighting low to show happy girl pushing away piles of work to symbolise taking power of ones emotions.
13. extreme close up on happy girls eyes 
14. extreme close up on sad girls eyes to show that she now sees in happy girls perspective.
15. medium wide shot of the camera falling over and angled pointing right into the sky.
16. medium close up to a shot of the pocket watch falling onto the grass to symbolise that time is over.