To gain an understanding and mood about the song i created a mood board. I collected several relevant pictures from the internet and key words from the song lyrics. Using gomoodboard.com i created an online interactive mood board. It was very simple to use, all i had to do was drop my selected images on to the page then add comments on why i chose to use that exact photo or word.
Here is a screenshot of my mood board whilst i was creating it. The mood board helped me identify important parts of the song and also think about how i could address them in the music video i am planning to make. As the song was about love and long distance relationships i included photos of what the relationship would be like and photos that relate to the lyrics. For example the airport picture is about the lyric line'Now I'm sitting at this lonely gate, airport speakers say the flight is delayed'. I also included pictures of the key words from the lyrics for example 'endless' this is a word repeated throughout the song and also the songs title.
Here is my online mood board- This link will take you to the completed mood board i made and if you hover over the pictures you can also see the comments on why i chose certain pictures and how they have inspired me.
As I am using the song 'endless' by Zara Larsson. To gain an understanding of what the song was about I decided to read the lyrics whilst listening to the song. I copy and pasted the lyrics on to a word document and using the comment tool analysed individual words and lines of the lyrics.
Overall the song reflects on her long distance relationship with someone and how she wishes they could see each other more than they do and how they will prove people wrong by working things out between them. An example of this is the lyrics that refers to her plane being delayed and she could've spent more time with the one she loves. Above is a screenshot of the work I did including more comments I made towards the lyrics.
This is a word out that we created using the lyrics from Zara Larsson's song 'Endless'. The two main word used are 'Love' and 'Endless'. This may be because the title of the song is Endless so this is what she wanted the audience ti focus on. Love is what the song is about so they used this word to try and tell the story of her love and her struggles.
Some of the other words used a lot are felt, cause, great, right, never and distance. All of these words are words that have been used to tell the story of her relationship and what has and hasn't gone right for them.
The word 'Felt' has been used a lot because the song is all about feelings; sadness and love, and how the story has made her feel. 'Great' and 'Right' have also been used which show that her feelings and instinct about their relationship must have been right and their relationship is still strong. 'Distance' also shows what their relationship had been through and still going through. This could have been one of their struggles but it has made them stronger together.
Bella is 17 years old from northamptonshire. She is currently studying her A-levels at school and when studying always listens to chart music on her phone as she feels that it is appropriate for every situation and broadens her music taste. Her favourite artists include Rita Ora, Taylor Swift and Zara Larsson. Bella also listens to music when she is socialising with friends on youtube watching new music videos by her favourite singers and radio 1 live lounges finding new and different artists. She keeps up with new artists by watching TV shows such as X Factor, The voice and MTV.
Other than listening to music whilst she is at school, Bella enjoys keeping up with trends within her age range. She does this as she takes pride in her appearance and loves to find inspiration by using social media sites. One of her main sources of social media is twitter where she follows certain celebrities she likes finding out what they are doing and new releases of tracks by her favourite artists. Bella also uses Facebook posting pictures and talking to friends and family so they can see how she has changed by following the latest trends.
Bella enjoys reading magazines such as Hello, Elle and Seventeen. By reading these types of magazines she finds out the latest fashion and beauty trends as well as celebrity gossip. Bella does this as she feels more connected with celebrities that she adores and more accepted by society around her, it also takes the stress of school and exams away from her. She also likes to go shopping with her friends at the weekends in branded shops like Hollister and Jack Wills as well as forever 21, topshop and river island.
Bella likes to go to parties with her friends and singing along to songs in the car or house but doesn't take it too seriously. She enjoys having fun and listening to music and finds it easy to pick up catchy lyrics.
I looked at Cheryl and her song 'I Don't Care' as an artist that i feel is similar to Zara Larsson.
The make up that Cheryl is wearing in this music video differs at different parts of the music video. At one part of the music video her make up is very natural and minimal. The colours used are browns and different skin tones, her lips are also a pale pink/peach. her eyes and cheek bones have been bronzed and only has a very light layer of mascara on.
In another part of the music video her make up is meant to look like she has slept in it and it is messy. Her mascara is down her face and her bright lipstick has be smudged across her face.
Cheryl's hair has been curled/waved but it still looks very natural. The colour of her hair is a blonde/brown which also looks natural.
Cheryl wears 3 main outfits. They are:
One in a white shirt, scruffy hair and smudged make up.
Another which is a top, shorts and baggy jumper.
This outfit looks like it is not over thought and that maybe she didn't care what she was wearing overly. This refers back to the title of the song, 'I don't care'
There are a lot camera shots used in this music video which range from crane shots to extreme close ups.
The music video starts if with an establishing shot which shows where Cheryl is and lets the audience understand where the music video is being shot. Establishing shots are then used to introduce the audience to the other scenes in the music video, at 0:09 and 0:11. There is also a close up of Cheryl's face at 0:02. This links Cheryl with the scene and the song. An over-the-shoulder/long shot shows Cheryl and her two friends lying on a boat. An over-the-shoulder shot is also used when Cheryl is on the beach and shows her turning her head around to face the camera. At 0:19 there is a mid shot of Cheryl on the bed. This shot helps tell the story of the music video. A extreme close up of Cheryl's hand is used to help the audience see how she is feeling at 0:30. There are some general long shots of Cheryl on the beach walking around, for example, at 0:38.
There are also long shots of Cheryl and some friends dancing to the song. This is because even through the song isn't always happy, it is upbeat so the dancing fits in with the song.
There are also crane shots of Cheryl standing on a mountain edge.
To finish the song, there is an over-the-shoulder shot of Cheryl turning away from the camera to illustrate the song has ended.
The editing used in this music video are mainly putting actions to the beat of the song. For example, Cheryl's head turns and this is edited to be in time with the beat of the music at 1:45. Another two examples of this are at 2:33 which is when Cheryl claps an has been edited to the beat and at 2:42 when Cheryl tilts her head and it has been edited to fit to the beat of the song. There is slow motion used when Cheryl shakes her hair to make it more prominent. They also faded the last shot of the music video so that the audience knew it was the end of the music video.
I looked at Zara Larsson's music video for Rooftop.
One part of the Mise-En-Scene used in this music video was the makeup. Zara is wearing a very natural layer of makeup. The colours stick to her skin tones and other colours include browns and peaches. Although her makeup is very natural, her eyes are the stand out point. There are brown eyeshadows used and a line of eyeliner to make her eyes the focus point and stand out. Her lips are a peach colour and very glossy. This look may have been chosen so that she still looks around her age and not over done as the setting of the music video is mainly on a roof top. Her hair is pulled back tightly in a ponytail which has then been platted. This may be to show her youth as this hairstyle is usually on young children but they have made it current.
All of her friend group are wearing different style clothes to show different personalities. Zara is wearing a bright floral, above knee length, skirt and a pale yellow high neck top. They may have used this top to keep her looking her actual age, it still covers her up a bit. Zara also wears a retro denim jacket that has lots of small badges on the back. This may be to show individuality and make her the focus point.
The setting of this music video is in two places. One is in the back of a car where she is sitting and lying down. This shows her age as she is only 17 and probably not passed her driving test so showing her in the back of a car relays this to audience that her parents may have picked her up. The other setting of the music video is on a rooftop, which is the name of the song.
The music video starts during the day but finishes at night. This shows how much time has passed in the music video.
The camera shots used in this music video vary. At 0:05 there is a hand held close up of Zara in the car. There is also a hand held close up of the group of friends walking at 0:07.
There is a close up of some feet on a skateboard to show one of her friends personalities. AT 0:10 there is a mid-shot of her and friends walking to the party.
There is also shot of the location of the part so the audience can imagine themselves going into the building and onto the rooftop. It also shows the weather at 3:35.
There are lots of shots of Zara laying in the back of the car.
There is a behind-the-shoulder shot of Zara walking with her friends which sweeps around them as they are walking.
There are also shots of people dancing at the party on the rooftop, these shots area a mixture of longshots and close ups.
At the start of the song the shots cut to the beat of the music. However after the introduction and first verse of the song has finished, the shots stop cutting to the beat.
The music video starts and finishes with a close up of Zara in the car.
There is no editing done to this music video apart from the text at the start that says Zara's name and the title of the song.
I looked at Zara Larsson's music video to uncover. From the start of the music video we can tell that it is a love song from the over the shoulder shot of Zara looking at a boy walking away from her. We also know this by the scene at 1:10 of the couple kissing.
The first close-up we see is of Zara enabling the viewers to recognise that she is the artist. Mise-en-scene lets us notice that the location is outside in New York in winter as they are wearing big coats and in one scene it is snowing there are also high angle camera shots of the location with a panning camera movement. We also know the location area as there is an extreme close-up shot of an address in the subway station at 2:58.
The establishing shot at 0:35 also lets us recognise that it is outside by showing us the buildings and trees. Her make-up is very natural and blushed representing her age. Their is also a two shot of her and her boyfriend in the music video which is shown as a flashback and what they once had. This also goes with the lyrics 'close to each other'.
I watched Zara Larsson's music video for the 'lush life' and made accurate notes on Mise-en-scene, camera shots and editing. Their isn't a big variety of camera movements as the camera is static throughout the music video and only the singer moves, but there are a range of camera shots
At the beginning of the video there is an extreme close up of her upper body as she pulls a rose gold locket from her neck which has been filmed/edited to slow motion. The locket may represent love and as it is being thrown away also suggests that she has had a bad experience of it. The first time we see the subject (Zara Larsson) is with a mid close-up, the lighting is dark around her but light in the background this may be because the setting is filmed in a studio with a white backdrop.
The next noticeable camera shot was at 1:34 with a long shot, here we can see her whole outfit which is very basic and dark with trainers. This accurately represents her age and shows how she is only a teenager as she isn't wearing anything too revealing or mature for her age of 17.
Within the editing her age is also shown by adding in animation to match the lyrics. For example at 1:56 the lyrics are "all night all summer" the animations then accompany her in the background by changing from night to summer. The music video has a sense of playfulness to it by the use of editing from the colour filters added and mirroring. An example of this is when she is dancing the shot has been mirrored so in total their are 3 of her and on the extra two a colour filter has been added to make it stand out to the audience.
In parts of the videos Zara is wearing a gold sequined jacket this may link back to the song title 'lush life' as gold is seen as expensive and glamorous. Editing has made the jacket recognisable as the shot has been edited to be black and white but a colour filter has been applied over the jacket to bring out the gold. Their are a range of quick cuts to the beat with a variety length of shots between 1-3 seconds. Another one of her outfits is a white dress which may also represent her age and purity, her make-up compared to the other looks are more mature and is more of a night look.
To improve my AS result of an overall B i could of organised myself with the coursework. Especially with the filming process as we had to re-film 3 times which we weren't expecting. We also had to make changes in the opening and planning with the location and lighting. The result of this then meant we had rot rush our editing and i feel as if we had planned more the coursework mark could've been an A grade.
Regarding the exam i think i should have started my essay practices earlier as the night before the exam i was panicking. This was because i didn't understand how to structure my answers especially in section B.
