Treatment

4. Treatment:

Choose one of the two ideas put forward in your treatment and explain it in detail.

Try and use as much relevant language as possible:

I will begin with an establishing shot of a haunted house which will fade into a close up shot of the lead singer. The lead singer will be dressed will be dressed primarily in black clothes, the darkness of the character connotes evil and will attract the target audience.
The dark crosses positioned around the house are signifiers will help anchor the genre and help create the preferred reading of the text.
The white faces juxtaposed against the dark clothing will help create an eerie atmosphere in the video. Slow, deliberate editing will help capture the atmosphere of the song and create an interest in the audience………….

Student Example:

The location of my music video is to be set primarily on a local street, adding realism to the preferred verisimilitude. To emphasise the location an establishing shot of the area will be used, then a range of long shots and mid shots of the characters and locations to highlight the narrative and make the story line, stetting and people more easily understood. There will be two different sets of characters for the video as it has a multi-strand narrative. The first will be the band who conducts and produces the song. The band will be located indoors, in a studio, where a range of shots will be used to show them playing instruments and singing. The dress will be casual and modern linking with the genre, ‘trendy/indie’. The second set of characters will be Vladimire Propp’s hero, villain and damsel in distress. These actors/actress will be acting out the narrative corresponding with the lyrics of the song in the street location.

Visuals of both narratives will be alternating to form a ‘montage’ of footage. Events will be shown in a chronological order, reflecting off the song. As the visuals and lyrics are going to be represented by one another, this is the order in which the video will be sequenced.

As the song is a serious and heartfelt song the bands facial expressions will be anchored to show emotions, likewise, will a range of shots be used on the actors and actresses to add emphasis on the situation. At the beginning there will be diagetic sounds of cars going by and an argument the characters are having. Then ambience arrives as the bands song is being introduced to the plot (within the first 7 seconds). Then the arguments fade out and the song is the only, non-diagetic, sound to be heard. The characters will be shot silently with the song running over. The lighting is to be dark as the mode of address is opposite of being happy and jolly, it is in fact a serious issue that occurs on a regular basis in many homes. The representation is to be realistic. There will be no equilibrium, just straight to the disruption- aggression and anger, but then to the resolution villain is removed, damsel rescued.

In this video there will be no live footage of the band, as the prime intentions of the song are to raise awareness and not so much to entertain. The band will however be featured in the video and will be used as a ‘star vehicle’ role. As the genre is ‘indie’ it has its own conventions, such as the dress and tone in the artists voice signifying the overall temperament of the music. Referring to the uses of the gratification theory this video will be primarily to create a personal identify with the audience as well as surveillance.

The lighting will be dark, as the location is on the street at night, therefor the characters white faces will be juxtaposed against the nightlight. The dress and objects will all be casual and orthodox signifying the realism of the narrative further connoting the temperament of the piece.


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