D1 - CREATING MEANING

When deciding how to cut the different scenes of my video, i had to look at keeping continuity. Continuity is very important to keep the narrative of the story, which is the style i am working in. I also wanted to cut my scenes to match the lyrics and the visual representation. I decided to use the chaotic and intense shots when the music reflected this, for example during the bridge and first chorus I used two scenes at once whereas in the beginning and end of the video i only used one. Because my video is a narrative style, my main goal was to make sure i was keeping my story somewhat clear. The bedroom and rooftop scenes acted as a sort of guide for me to use and then add on the moor and projection scenes throughout, but those were the main story line scenes i was following. For the duration of the clips and the scenes i wanted them to match the pace of the music, and not have them really past momentum or that wouldn't stick to the genre. Because my story is based around memories, there projection and moor scenes are dispersed throughout to show how the memories are haunting her. This allowed me to be be more flexible when editing and cutting my scenes together. Keeping a clear continuity of the narrative helps the audience not be as confused when watching the video, helping them to focus on the real meaning of the video. Especially because there is a younger bracket of my target audience, who may get confused more easily, it is important to keep the narrative clear whilst also creating interesting visuals.

I used a jump cut sequence in the beginning of my video (0.04-0.08). This sequence on the moors was to show memories the person had. I edited a frame around the shots to show how they are old photographs/videos being taken. Portraying to the audience the fact that these are memories in the
beginning of the video is essential in getting the message of my video across. We see these frames and shots similar to this being repeated all throughout the video in different scenarios, the fact that these are memories is an important thing to understand. It helps me to show the audience how these are almost a symbol for what's going on in her head. I used jump cuts for this sequence to show the passing of time, each frame is a different shot of them being happy. This send the audience the message that they were happy for a while, and hinting the audience at the deep relationship they have with each other. This helps the audience to create a relationship with the protagonist, understanding the characters experiences means they can create a deeper and more personal connection with them. Because the story is somewhat ambiguous, they may be able to relate to her in some way which means they can escape into the character and learn how to deal with heir own loss (in reference to the uses and gratifications theory by Blumer and Katz).

I also used a cut on action in the moor beginning scene of my video (1.21). I edited two clips together, just moving closer over the two clips. I wanted to make the clips seem seamless together and make it feel like were zooming in on her emotions at the time. It is only a small detail of her hands moving to her face that the audience wouldn't notice but it makes the two clips fit together well and seamlessly. It means the audience can see the deeper emotions of the protagonist at the time. Creating a deeper emotional value and personality for the character means the audience can connect and relate to her more. Especially as I am making an indie video, conventionally has deeper meaning and sadder

themes, creating this emotional value is really important in order to stick with this genre and relate to the audience I am trying to target.

Using a crosscut (1.27-1.31) helped me to show what was going on in the characters head. It not only helped me to create a transition between two locations, but by using these different locations simultaneously showed what she was thinking. By one of the shots being a picture of her old relationship she has lost, and one of them being that location from her walk earlier; we can see the chaos in her head and what is going through it. Following from the opening scene of memories and old times, the audience can make an inference that it is what is going on in her head.

We see the protagonist seeing the old photo of her memory and then thinking back to the place it happened that she had remembered on her walk earlier, like it is haunting her. This helps the audience to understand and create a relationship with the character but also sets a tone for the rest of the video, seeing how these old times and memories are haunting her continuously.  

At the time frame 1.33, I wanted to make sure the photo ripped on beat. It is one of the only things I was absolutely set on keeping from my pre-production planning. This is because I wanted to make sure i was sticking to my brief of a visual and lyrical connection. Having the photo ripping on the beat is

significant t this time in the video as its where we see the protagonist really becoming the most emotive. The music becomes more intense and with that we see more intense visuals. The ripping of the picture represents her beginning to get over this past relationship which is haunting her, the picture (memory) being ripped in two is like shes trying to forget about it and get over it. This element is important in keeping the viewer interested and also sticking with the narrative style i had planned for my video. 

We see a sequence of scenes where the protagonist has images projected onto her. I included these because when i was doing my research onto other indie/alternative music videos, i found that this is something a lot of the ones i was taken inspiration from included. This means i am sticking to the indie/alternative genre conventions (reffering to Music video conventions theory by Andrew Goodwin) which means i am sticking to my brief and gaining a sense of familiarity with my target audience. I also

wanted to include it to assist with the narrative i am creating. I am projecting images onto the protagonist that we see throughout the whole video, the ones she is burning and from the clips we see at the start of the video. Although this may not be immediately clear and obvious to the audience the fact i am projecting images on her at all still keeps with the theme of images throughout. It tells the audience that these memories are constantly around her and in her head and how much they are affecting her, it shows how she replays them in her head constantly. I added this in during the roof scene as this is where the music is the most intense and therefore so are her emotions. As she is burning the images - forgetting about them - the fact that we then see these projected over her show that shes reminded of everything again, it makes her then burning these and leaving them behind more meaningful if we see her emotion and a little bit more to the insight of her thoughts in these moments. This is key in helping me to represent how she feeling, it helps the audience to connect with her and make a personal relationship with her (reffering to the Uses and Gratifications theory by Blumer and Katz) and sticking to the conventions of the indie/alternative genre which often depicts protagonists as being more emotional. 

The image of the fire was a very important section of my video. I wanted to include it as it helps me to show the protagonist putting her memories behind her. As i was depicting how the character was getting over the breakup it was hard to visually represent this, i came to the conclusion of fire because it is visually interesting but also destroys things. She throws all the pictures she had been holding onto to

aimlessly in the fire to feel like the past is behind her. The fact that the fire then continues to slowly burn in the end of the video is to represent how even though the pictures are still burning - she will still remember the person and the time - she has walked away and is leaving them to be destroyed along with any of the anger or sadness she felt. This may help the audience to understand how to deal with their own personal loss to enhance their personal identity (uses and gratifications theory by Blumer and Katz).

I made a lyric and visual link in the bridge of my video. On the line 'and your eyes were filled with tears' I edited it so that we see a close up on the protagonists face and her emotion during the rooftop fire scene. This is only a small detail but helps me to stick to the guidelines of the brief. It also helps me the audience who supports Lord Huron and the song feel like the song is more personal to them. If they see these small links they may feel like they are part of a community which helps them to escape in the song. 

The font for the title at the very end which I used is the same one as on the lyric video/song cover. This means that fans of Lord Huron and the people who will be watching my video will feel familiarity with what they have seen. Similarly to the logo screen at the beginning of the video, it helps me to link the video to the artist especially because i a not using any performance elements that would normally do this. This again means that the audience can feel like they are part of a community.

I used colour effects on the whole of my video. I used sepia colour filter on the whole of my video lowered down to give a warm tint to the shots. When doing my research i found that lots of other indie videos do this to give an older/retro or vintage look, this helps me to stick with the conventions of the genre (conventions of music videos theory by Andrew Goodwin). The warm tint also makes the video feel less emotionless video, even though i am working on a sad theme, having the shots warmer toned feels more welcoming and meaningful and more film-like compared to how cool shots would be naturally. I

also edited the last bedroom scene slightly darker to fit with continuity of her going back to the bedroom when it was dark because it didn't look like time had passed between both bedroom scenes. I wanted this to look natural so i only edited it slightly but i helped the continuity of my narrative.