Mock exam question - How is representation addressed in my media product?

How is representation addressed in my media product?
The media product that I have created for use in this essay is my music video for singer/songwriter/rock act Abandoning Sunday's song "Real Talk". In the music video, I not only conform to and challenge conventional representations to do with gender, but also those ideas about representation proposed by various theorists, which I will go on to detail.

Firstly, due to the absence of the actual performer in the video, it should be stated that the band are still represented through the media product- the product is associated with them and hence aims to represent certain ideologies through the lyrics of the song, with the actors creating a "star motif" which I will highlight later. The topic of the lyrics, focusing mainly on themes of  "la douleur exquise" , hopelessness in relationships and depression contrasted with uplifting themes of hope, perseverance and friendship. My product takes a perhaps descriptive, pluralist approach regarding theories behind representation, in that most gender stereotypes proposed by the media through perhaps Marxist ideologies are challenged to give an ulterior viewpoint.

Regarding gender, my product is a narrative video that focuses on the lives of two young male characters and have put them "in the shoes", by some means, of the artist, in that the lyrics could becoming direct from their lives in the video. A media stereotype of young males is that they are reckless, dangerous and inconsiderate, one that has come about through media categorization of many years; the media are quick to blame certain things on young people in moral panics, which could perhaps be a relevant example of one of Barthes' Myths. In my product, I challenge this notion, by representing my characters as sensitive individuals, that most young people will be able to relate to. The first is one who experiences self-depreciation and is in a relationship where he thinks he is the problem, and begins to question his faith. The second is an isolated character that is often alone, and when he is with his friends he doesn't feel as though they want him there. However, the end of the video sees these issues resolved, pertinent to Todorov's Narrative theory of equilibrium - disruption - equilibrium. This representation challenges the prescribed views by presenting the male characters as vulnerable, challenging the stereotypical view. I also did this with my piece at AS level, where I portrayed the main protagonist in a manner that challenged conventional forms regarding gender.

Another way of looking at my product is in fact through voyeurism and the way in which my product utilises "looking" to construct representation. Freud's theory of scopophilia is applicable here as in my video we look at and follow the two main protagonists throughout the course of the video, and enjoy doing so. Dyer (1979), proposed the idea of a "star motif", and although the "star" (artist) is not in the video, the motif is still created - the characters lives are exaggerated through their role to create an image that is relevant to my audience as it symbolises the type of person they may be/share interests with (audience research). This has been done through intertextuality, i.e. the usage of band posters that my audience may be familiar with, CDs in the room, all down to what the characters are wearing, it aids to depict an aspect of the lifestyle of my audience. Close up shots of the main characters are relevant to the notion of looking as stated by Goodwin, and aid representation in my video in a subtle manner- the artist is not present and focuses on two characters that nobody actually knows, portraying them as the "star", meaning that everyday people's stories and lives are significant, and important, reinforcing the image of a sensitive youth- the "looking" creates a sense of identity.

One thing that is not in my video much is the gender representation of women that sexualises them, as stated in Mulvey's Male Gaze, as the video focuses on the lives of the males and portrays them using conventional forms to represent women. However there are some shots in my video that do focus directly on the female character,  Mulvey states that the Male Gaze is directed at physcially desirable, sexually sumbmissive characters. Although close up shots are indicative that she is desirable to the character, she is not portrayed as submissive, as in modern society gender equality is a prominent issue. I portrayed the girl as vulnerable in both my product last year and this, but not sexually submissive. Instead, I feel Winship's idea about how women see themselves in the way culture has defined them more relevant, as the video briefly touches on how she is also sad and conscious of herself, both as a person and in the relationship.

To conclude, I feel that my product challenges many conventional representations put forward by both the media and theories, but also conforms to some where I feel it is relevant to utilise a form that my audience can relate to and identify themselves with.

Quadrophenia and Moral Panic

What Happens in Quadrophenia?

Quadropenia follows the life of character Jimmy set in 1960s London. Jimmy hates his job in a company's mailing division and hates his parents, and only feels free and accepted when he's out with his friends on his scooter as part of a drug-induced Mod clique that lives for the night. On August Bank Holiday, the group of Mods head down to Brighton, where both Mods and Rockers converge, resulting in a large brawl as a result of the rivalry between the groups, and Jimmy hopes to make it with crush Steph. However, after he is hauled off by the police during the brawl and the weekend passes, reality sets in and Jimmy descends into a downward spiral of paranoia, isolation and disappointment. Steph is no longer interested in him, so he ditches the Mods, and when he returns to Brighton he finds out his idol Ace isn't what he thought he was, so he steals his scooter and launches it off of the cliffs.

What is a Moral Panic?
Simply, a Moral Panic is an intense feeling, emotion or notion expressed in a population about an issue that threatens social order. They often involve social tension and arguments and disagreement as often the crux of the argument is a taboo subject. The media often instigate a moral panic by reporting facts that generate concern, anxiety, or panic itself. Major moral panics of recent times include AIDS, drugs, knife and gun crime, paedophilia and Satanism.
The government sometimes intervenes to prevent moral panics through censorships- during the World Wars, letters were censored to prevent harsh realities of war from reaching the people, and nowadays in China many websites are blocked and things regulated to prevent the people from seeing things that are anti-governmental, for instance "Tienanmen Square" is strictly policed. Famously in the 1950s, Elvis Presley's live performances were censored from the waist down. But censorship itself creates the moral panic of freedom of speech, creating further debate,

How can the theory of Moral Panic be applied to Quadrophenia?
A study by Stan Cohen looked at moral panics related to the two youth subcultures in the 1960's, the Mods and Rockers, which is what the film is based around. In a moral panic, Cohen states that "a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests; it's nature is presented in a stylised and stereotypical fashion by the mass media" - essentially, the media report on the problem (The conflict, i.e. the Beach brawl at Brighton) making use of stereotypes, partiuclary those geared towards youths, creating a social reaction (negative opinions, i.e. Jimmy's parents attitudes towards the Mods are very negative) which creates new laws, tougher policing and so on. The media hyped up the situation by not reporting on the incident but construct a social reaction of deviance by exaggerating the level of violence and disruption, with dramatic headlines, and they also exaggerated the difference between the two groups which indirecult stirred up more conflict.

Production Update (1.12.14)

With the Christmas break approaching I have a few weeks to produce a rough cut of my video to "Real Talk". As a result from the last update, the storyboards have been changed in that the character that would represent the artist is now not going to appear and the video will focus on the narrative aspect of the two characters.

Character 1 is played by Elliott Doyle. Most of his sections are now filmed, all that is left is the Church sequence where I need to film Elliott on his own in Taverham Church as this is the local church, and film some shots of him to portray how he is questioning his faith, pertinent to the lyrics of hope and believing in the song. I also need to film him with the female who will be his partner in the video, and I know who can play this role. On the same shoot I will get some shots of them to integrate alongside the shots of Elliott looking distressed.

Character 2 is played by Tom Seago and again the majority of the shots I need for his section have been shot, uploaded and edited, which include the forest and beach sections. All that is left now is for him to be re-united with his friends and to be shown having a good time with them. I should be able to film parts of this whenever throughout the next couple of weeks before the break, notably this coming Sunday and the next few Sundays as well as at a few other times.

Once these sections are filmed, I should be able to just put these straight into Final Cut, as whilst I'm filming sections I am simultaneously editing my video. I have completed about 1/2 of the video with a few things to put in here and there to make it more coherent. I've done the intro and first verse, end of the second verse, and then the instrumental to the last chorus. I am happy with the current progress I am making and how it is coming towards the finished rough cut. 

Filming Update

Regarding production thus far, I have successfully filmed about 2/3 of the shots I require and transferred them onto the Macs where they have been sorted and assembled in Final Cut to begin editing. 

However, I have encountered some issues. As I work weekends, filming shots is now difficult. I have decided to scrap the original concept of having one character on the cliff as I felt that it portrayed an actor as the artist, which I did not think would work, and also because logistically, it was difficult to achieve. Instead, I'm going to focus more on the narrative aspect of the lives of the two characters. I hope to film a few more sections with each actor and their respective groups soon, whilst editing the existing clips at the same time.

I've settled on the ending for the Character who felt uncomfortable around his friends, in that he will leave the beach and his friends will be waiting for him, and they will then be shown to be having a good time. I'm not certain how the story for the Character in the relationship will end at the moment, bar the fact that the issues will be resolved. I hope that the more I film the more this will become apparent.

This Is England Analysis - Cesco & Joe

How are youth represented in British Cinema?

How is Spaced (1999) different to Human Traffic? How are Youth represented?
Spaced is contemporary to Human Traffic, and bares both similarities and differences to Human Traffic. Firstly, it is similar in the fact that the characters in both films have a low work ethic - both characters in Spaced are unemployed, like Moff, and use obscene language (Daisy in the bar) in public to convey what they are feeling. They are both very easy going characters like the group in Human Traffic also. However, it is different to Human Traffic as the woman, Daisy, is looking for a job, whereas Moff refuses to get a job in Human Traffic, and the characters discuss getting the most out of what they do in their job, referencing their friend Mike who is an enthusiastic "lollypop man". The characters in Human Traffic hate work and cannot wait to get out of it.
The youth are represented in a slightly different light. Both are shown as easy going, who don't really care for what they're doing - a close up of Daisy slouched on the chair in the flat highlights this. However. in Spaced they are shown as proactive and willing to get a job, and can enjoy the aspects of working life, whereas in Human Traffic youth are shown as reckless and lazy, only wanting to go out at the weekend. Although Spaced may go on to highlight some issues of drug usage, youth are shown more positively in the extract.

Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and If are Social Realist films. How are the youth and the Authority figures represented?
In "Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" (1962), there is a clear hierarchy of Authority. The Authority figures are shown to be commanding, through use of diegetic sound in speech ("Much higher than that Smith"), and the youth are following the orders of the one, older man. Close ups of Smith's face show that he is struggling to keep up with the orders of the trainer, showing the physical dominance of the instructor too, and the class all stop when he says to, showing respect. This is perhaps typical of the time, where youth have lots of respect for their elders and know that they will be punished if they step out of line, contrasting to Human Traffic. When Smith is addressed by his superior he responds with "Sir?" again showing respect. He is shown through a slight high angle shot here to show how he is below the superiors in the hierarchy. However, the Authority figures treat the youth with respect also, unlike in Human Traffic (Moff's Dad), saying that "If you play ball with us, we will play ball with you." Smith is shown to be humbled after the superior says he can do the usual run alone, and here the Social Realism can be taken into account- inside the gates, Smith follows orders, but when he is outside, he is free, and is shown to run around looking around him taking in his surroundings, accompanied with upbeat, non-digietic sounds in the form of the jazz soundtrack to connote his happiness and freedom.

Similarly, in "If", the youth follow the orders of the instructor, notably when Jute doesn't go for the jump straight away and has to be encouraged forcibly by the instructor. However, when the other adult is doing gymnastics, the low angle shot of Jute shows admiration for the gymnast, and that the children look up to the adults.

Authority Figures in Human Traffic

In Human Traffic, Authority figures, the characters parents, are portrayed through how they are viewed by their children- in this instance, Jip and Moff's Mum and Dad respectively.

Firstly, Jip's Mum is portrayed to have two sides. On the first part, she is stereotyped by gender and her role as a parent, she is shown to be loving and caring upon seeing Jip come home, and offers for him to stay for dinner. The audience reaction to this is that she fulfills a typical motherly role and hence are almost shocked when it is revealed her job is a prostitute. This contrasts the typical Mother role and says that the two characters have a strange relationship, that Jip hates the fact a "punter" could be home when he visits. In the shots, she is positioned at the same level as Jip, suggesting that there is no hierarchy there and perhaps that both characters are looking out for each other, Jip looking out for his Mum and his Mum fulfilling her role to Jip.

By contrast, Moff's Dad is perceived very negatively. He is shown to be assertive and a pest to Moff, yelling at him to get a job, quite a stereotypical dominant Father role that isn't as visibly caring as Jip's Mum. Moff argues back at him and swears at him, showing that their relationship is quite turbulent. As an Authoritative figure in the film, Moff's Dad tries to discipline his quite rebellious son, but Moff doesn't comply, quite representative of more modern youth, as the film illustrates throughout. Moff's Dad is stereotyped through his gender as Language Study says that Men use more assertive language and typically assume a dominant role. The audience reacts to this in a way that acknowledges how Moff's Dad is matching his stereotypical role as Father and that Moff is a young adult that wants to do what he wants and not live a monotonous life in job he does not enjoy like the rest of his friends.

Audience Research - Online Survey Analysis

Online Survey Analysis

For my Audience Research, I produced an online survey using the website "SurveyMonkey", with 9 questions that would help me get a better idea of what my audience expects from a music video and hence what they would want to see in my video.

My audience profile informed me as to how to go about my audience research. I found that my artist appealed to both younger generations and adults, but more so younger, teenage audiences. Knowing that I would be doing an online survey and a physical questionnaire, I sent out the link to the survey on my Personal Twitter and Facebook pages several times, where it would reach an audience roughly the same age as me, and hence fitting my audience profile. To account for the older audiences, my Dad's business "Wet Dog", a clothes shop in the coastal town of Cromer, also tweeted out the link to the survey. The business account has more followers and a greater reach than my account and helped to get more people to see the survey. The survey itself focuses on peoples music habits, what they listen to, how they listen to it, etc. and then moves on to expectations of a video and expectations of the Artist.

Question 1 and 2

 The first two questions help to form the basis of my questionnaire, age and gender. From my audience profile I found that my artist appealed to both males and females almost equally, probably more in favor of males due to lyrical content of him singing about relationship issues and love that would be about females. Also, as discussed above, the ages do differ, but predominantly my artist appeals to young adults/teenagers and then some adults also. By distributing the link on the two accounts I managed to gain some representation of different demographics. 78% of those who completed the survey were 17 or 18, around my age, and I myself fit the audience profile well as I like the artist. There was a 52:48 (nearest %) split between males and females so I managed to get an equal voice from both genders, which is makes responses more beneficial to me as I can make my video more appealing to both genders if opinions are shared.

Question 3

For the third question, I asked what my audiences favorite genres were. I included a wide range of genres, but was also careful to not include so many genres, or specific genres that were not relevant to my artist/audience profile. From my profile, I established Rock, Acoustic, Pop Punk and Post-Hardcore as the four genres that my audience were most engaged with, from their Twitter pages and bios. 3 genres tied as the most favoured, on 58%- Indie, Rock and Acoustic, closely followed by Singer/Songwriter. My artist, Abandoning Sunday, fits three of these four genres, showing the link between the demographics of the audience and their musical tastes, i.e. what the more favored genres are of today. For example, "Pop" ranks quite low, with about 25% saying they listen to modern pop music- what is more popular are sub-genres such as Pop Punk, which has recently regained popularity, and is one the other genres that my audience profile includes. Metal and Post Hardcore, arguably more niche genres, proved least popular, although I know from my audience profile that some people who listen to my artist do like this genre. However my audience is far from a metal act and this graph shows that the new album, which features more rock and acoustic based tracks, will appeal to my audience, as will the track I have been assigned for my music video.

Question 4

Next I asked how my audience consumed music. A sign of the times of the music industry at present is that Digital Downloads are most popular. This is actually quite interesting as all of my artists EPs and Albums have been exclusively digital downloads, and downloads are exceeding CD sales. Next is YouTube, where 68% of those surveyed say they use YouTube for music- this is where my video will be released, and Music Channels only achieved 32%, showing that my audience are used to viewing music videos on YouTube and that this is the more common platform, as everyone can access it or post things to it.

Question 5

This question was aimed to split my audience. Those who attended lots of live concerts could possibly be better for a focus group as they will probably be more passionate about music, whereas those who don't attend many account for the other side of this argument and what those who don't go to concerts think, and their interests. I found from my audience profile that my audience lead a variety of lifestyles and this question helps to account for this.

Question 6

For this question I inserted an image of my artist, Abandoning Sunday, and asked the respondents what they would expect this artist to be like, style-wise, and the impression they get of the artist.

Although this question did have some slightly jokey answers (see top and bottom answer above), but on the whole the respondents did acknowledge that this artist fit into the genre of rock, singer songwriter and acoustic, from his appearance in the image. Hence, I would use similar costumes and locations to convey the same things the respondents picked out, such as the "deep lyrics" and stylish clothing. Below is another selection of answers, all of whom said that they expected the artist to be acoustic or singer/songwriter, one drawing singer/songwriter Ben Howard as a likeness.

Question 7

For the next question I wanted my audience to actually listen to Abandoning Sunday, so I linked his newest single, "In Your Dreams". Falling under rock, the track is a guitar driven love song and has a homemade music video of Michael and the band playing. Including this question makes use of the fact that on my online survey the respondents are using the internet and can easily access YouTube, whereas the likelihood of me playing a song to people in public is very unlikely. 

From the question I found another split - 2 respondents straight up said they didn't like the track! The more popular answer was "Okay" (26%), although I must consider the fact that some respondents may have been too lazy to actually go and watch the video and click this answer as default. However 53% of respondents said they either liked it, really liked it or loved it, meaning that my audience profile matches up with the people that I have targeted through distributing my survey.

Question 8

For the penultimate question I asked which type of video my audience preferred, and hoped that by this stage the previous questions would've helped to establish this as a concrete answer I can develop my video from. However, I was hoping that performance wouldn't be the most popular, as the logistics of getting my artist in the video would be impossible, and upon hearing the song I would be using, titled "Real Talk", I was glad that Narrative came out as the top response, at 47%, shortly followed by a concept. Hence, I will make my video a narrative, and could perhaps include some conceptual motif, such as the effect that music has on people. 

Question 9

For the last question I wanted the respondents to help give me an insight into what I should include in my video, so I asked what people's favourite music video was and why, and what makes a good video. On the whole I received good feed back from this question.

Although it's more than likely the person saying their favorite video is to Basshunter is joking, the other responses here are still good. I know the video to Mallory Knox "Beggars" and the intertextual reference to Clockwork Orange and this is something this respondent highlighted so intertextual references, when they work well, are wanted. Ultimately it was said that the video should capture the mood of the song, both above for Dan Croll "Home" and below for Madness "House of Fun" (the demographic difference showing there), or a video that tells a story behind the lyrics that is perhaps not as prominent from just listening to the song - something I can incorporate in my video.

Treatment for Music Video - First Draft

Treatment Draft:
I was sent my track about a week ago by my Artist, Abandoning Sunday, and today he announced that the album it is taken from, "Struggle" will be released in two weeks time. At this point, no one else has heard this track and this is quite exciting from my point of view, making the video to accompany it. The track is called "Real Talk", and this is the initial draft of the treatment for this production.

Title: Abandoning Sunday - "Real Talk" Music Video.

Duration: Song length is 3:41, video length an estimated 4:00

Director/Producer: Joe Weston

Audience:
- Fans of different music genres, particularly Acoustic, Pop Punk, Post-Hardcore and Rock, as these are the genres that proved most popular amongst my target audience who are
- A mixture of teenagers, young adults and over 18s, of both genders, who can connect and relate to the artist's lyrics.
- These people are of different lifestyles, be it working or studying, with different interests, as everyone "can relate to the lyrics at some point in their lives", claim the artist.

[full Audience Research analysis to come following a full sample of surveys, click here for Audience Profile]
Outline:

My video to “Real Talk” follows the lives of 2 people, one of whom I will play, the other will be played by Tom. One is in a complicated relationship that is going through a difficult stage, and the man has to cope with his own personal issues and attempt to resolve the problems of the relationship, such as arguments over his drinking habits.  The other man feels as if he does not belong and is so used to being left out and being alone that he has become so reserved that he cannot see how much his friends care for him. The video explores how his friends come to his aid and how the relationship is solved, through the music of the artist, and how music brought everyone together. Hence, my third character, will be seen playing the acoustic guitar on top of a cliff to symbolise the meaning of the song.

Cast: 

Character 1 – Myself – Man in a difficult relationship facing issues about himself
 - later confirmed as Elliott Doyle
Character 2 – Tom Seago – Man facing issues with friendships and self-worth

Girl – yet to confirm

Guitarist – Ben Winter 

Group Members

- yet to confirm - later confirmed as Ben Winter

- yet to confirm - " Lee Johnson

- yet to confirm - " Myself

- yet to confirm

- yet to confirm

Potential cast: Elliott Doyle, Bradley Wilson, Sam Viganux, Cameron Dallas, Sarah Rodway, Jack Osborne, Grace Bridger, Megan Ballman, Ellie Weston, Beth Warne

Locations:

Sheringham Cliff

Cromer/Sheringham Beach

Bawdeswell Heath

Cromer / Overstrand Forest

Cromer

Taverham/Thorpe Marriott

Norwich

My House / Room

Rough Shot List and Reasoning
"-" indicates not applicable
"...." most likely indicating a lyric being sang here
Sections left blank, I know I need a shot here, but haven't developed an idea yet.

For the introduction and first verse, I want to establish the music video and get the audience questioning what might be going on in the music video. Before the introduction begins, I want to utilise establishing shots of the main locations the video will be set, and also make use of props to create depth to the characters stories, such as the bottles and scrunched up pieces of paper that were from writing songs etc. in the room. I also think using Time Lapse photography at the locations when the music kicks in will help show the passage of time, and hopefully establishing some themes. This also helps to create a state of equilibrium by showing the passage of time, adhering to Todorov's Narrative Theory, which I reference throughout my planning.
In the verse, I attempt to establish the story that the video tells, by utlising Goodwin's theories and connecting the visuals to the lyrics, such as "real bad habits" and then showing empty bottles. I want to create two distinct feels to this video, as literally, the meaning is about a relationship and how the male wants to change to keep them together, which I label "story part 1" which is what my character will take part in. However, I also feel the song could be interpreted to be about friendships, and how your friends will always help you through "we've come way too far..". Hence in the second part of the verse I introduce a second character, likely to be played by Tom for logistical reasons and the fact that he typically fits my audience profile due to his interests, as he struggles to find his way in the world. I place him in a forest, where naturally you have literal sense of direction and can easily seem lost, relating to the lyrics.
My third character is an equaliser. Meant to represent my artist, I will have him playing the guitar near a cliff, probably at Sheringham, as it was the first location I imagined after hearing the lyric "it's a long way down", the main lyric of the chorus and one of the main themes of the song so I thought it was quite important, and it can capture the emotion well.

Shot	Who/Where	Description
1 PRE	- / Room	Establishing shot of room
2	Room	Tape or CD with “AS” or “Real Talk” inserted
3	Forest/Track	Low angle of the autumnal forest/track floor
4	City/Town	Establishing shot of the city or town I will use
5	Room	Tape/CD press play
6 INTRO	Cliff	Time lapse looking out over the cliff
7	Forest	Time lapse or just a still shot of the forest
8	Room	Untidy room from start, with bottles/paper, etc. Text will be displayed in editing.
9	Field/Cliff	Close up of grass moving in the wind
10	Guitar / “	Same Shot but movement in the background
11	Forest/Track	Pan from skyàtrack or v.v., then track name
12 VERSE	Me / Room	Sending a text, close up of a phone
13	Guitar / Cliff	Close up of guitarist singing lyric “I’ve said before”
14	Room	Close ups of the empty bottles (ash tray?) for “bad habits”
15	Me, Girl / Field	Talking, not an argument (Todorov) “repeating myself”
16 V1.2	Tom / Forest	Shots of Tom exploring the forest area, don’t show face, climbing over trees etc. (Bawdeswell)
17	“ / “
18	“ / “
19	Me / Room	Close up of someone holding a photograph. Could either be of a girl for story part 1 or friends for story part 2.
20	“ / “	Photograph discarded
21 CHOR	Me, Girl / A Room	Argument, establish story part 1.
22	Guitar / Cliff	Singing lyric, side on “no one said..”
23	- / -	Cool shots as filler?
24	Guitar / Cliff	Tracking shot, move in towards feet of man on cliff for “long way down”
25 V2	City/Town	Shot of the city during the day, TL?
26	Group / Pavement	Group of friends together on the pavement having a good time.
27	“ / “	One character, Tom, is left behind “little I’ve got left”. Establish story part 2.
28	Me / Room	Shot of me becoming frustrated, bottles etc.
29	“ / “	As a result I grab my coat
30	“ / “	OTS of me going downstairs, cut as door shut
31 V2.2	Me / Tav. Church	“Lose my way” – sees church
32	“ / “	Switch perspective, walks away
33	- / Any location	Shot of a signpost, loss of direction etc.
34	Group / Town	Group laughing when out. I feature, away from girl.
35	Tom / Forest	Finds clearing / Cool shots
36 CHOR	Guitar / Cliff	High angle of guitarist on cliff singing lyric
37	Me (maybe Girl) / Room/Town	Phone call or conversation, saying lyrics “no one said…”
38	Tom / Forest	OTS of Tom running through the forest
39	“ / “	Tom skids to a halt at drop off
40	“ / “	“Long way Down”, low angle of Tom on drop off
41	----	“Lose hope” ? Church?
42	Guitar / Cliff	Singing lyric “you’ll keep me leaving”
43	Tom / Forest	Change forest. Cromer? Escaping
44	“ / “	Coming out of the forest and onto the beach

The second verse focuses on Character 2, and his issues. Little is revealed about him but I want to show him feeling excluded when he is out with his friends, hanging back and feeling anxious. He too could be undergoing relationship issues which is something I could explore later as I don't want to stray too far from the literal meaning of the song. Also, as the band are quite religious, when I heard "lose my way" I thought of both a Church, and how religion is often people's guidance and helps them find their way, and a signpost, for the more literal interpretation. I felt this was better suited to Character 1 and will probably show my character at the Church, and Tom's at the signpost. The music at the second part of verse 2 has an upbeat feel to it and so I want to make use of this by showing positive shots of Character 1 with his friends as he escapes his troubles, whilst Character 2 is still in the forest through the extended second chorus, and eventually finds his way out. All of this will be juxtaposed with images of the guitarist and other images to form the narrative.

45 INSTR	A series of good looking shots
46	Girl	Girl makes her decisions, show close ups of worry etc
47	Tom / Beach	Skimming stones, synced to beat
48	Guitar / Field	Shots of several people playing guitar
49	Group / Town	Having fun, realising one is missing
50	Stills	Pictures of the friends
51	Time lapses
52

The instrumental is the area that can probably include the most varied shots, relating to all sections of the narrative. It is the preceding section to the bridge where the disruption will occur (relating to Todorov's theory), and I think it can reveal a lot about the characters themselves and allow the audience to identify with them. This would be a good place to include intertextual references.

DISRUPTION

53 BRIDGE	Group / Forest	Group go into forest searching for friend
54	Member of group	“Over and Over” camera circles one while they are looking, spinning effect
55	Tom / Beach	Long shot of Tom sitting alone on the beach
56	Me / Room?	Shot of me screaming or releasing anger, “I’ve gotten so good”
57	Guitar / Cliff	Singing lyric
58	Me, Girl / Room, Town	Say lyric to girl, “I can change who I am” literal meaning
59 QUICK	Group / Forest	Quick shot of the group running
60	Me / Room	Punching  a wall? Show anger/despair
61	Girl / Room	Head in hands close up
62	-
63 PRE CH	Me, Girl / -	Talking to each other
64	“ “ / “	Switch over, SRS.
65	Guitar / Cliff	Repeat shot, “I’ve said before” (13)
66	Tom / Beach	Long shot à Mid shot of Tom on beach at sunset, head goes down.
67	“ / “	Fade to black

In this section, the lyrics reach their emotive climax, and I wish to encapture this. I thought I could have the group of friends go looking for Character 2 (Tom) as he was in the forest and a lot of people have a place they go to think so the forest could be his, and the friends know they'll find him there and want to make sure he's okay. Meanwhile, my character is releasing his anger at the fact he cannot convince the girl to make the decision to stay with him so they can "make it right", and they could gave a conversation at the end where the initial lyrics about repeating themselves are repeated. Tom's character will be alone on the beach, and the shot could fade to black to lure the audience into thinking it will not be a "happy ending" for his character, only to show hope, a key theme of the song and artist, when the chorus kicks back in again.

68 CHOR	Tom / Beach	Head turns round as music kicks in again, towards cliff
69	Tom / Me / Beach / Room	Both withdraw respective photos.
70	Guitar / Cliff	Singing “would be easy”
71 BUILD	Group / Tom / Cliff	Group goes up to the top of the cliff, tom comes up the other way
72	All / Cliff	Everyone meets at the top of the cliff for “long way down”.
73 CHOR	All / Park, Beach, Town.	Series of shots showing the group all together again (restoration, Todorov) having fun.  Girl and I appear also, in the background
74
75
76
77	Group / Beach	Friends hugging, Tom pulled in by someone and is shook. Fist bump, high five etc.
78
79	Me, Girl / Beach	“Give up and stop now” – says line to the girl.
80	All / Beach	Long shot of everyone re-united

For the first part of the chorus, I aim to show how music unites everybody (the goals of the artist being that everyone can relate to the lyrics, drawing people together), and so everyone could climb the cliff/hill area to meet at the summit where the guitarist is for the drop lyric "Long way down" as they overlook the sea. The last part of the chorus, when I first heard it, made me smile quite a lot, and I wish to re-create that emotion with positive scenes of everyone having a good time and the issues of the video being resolved, i.e. everyone showing the character who was worried his friends' didn't like him a lot of appreciation and love. For the outro, I could focus on the character with the troubled relationship, and how they managed to fix it, and the video will end with the tape or CD from the start being removed to show it was them listening to it all along, symbolising what music means to people.

81 OUTRO
82	Shots of the group together, naturally. Walking etc.
83
84
85
86
87	Group / Field	Playing football
88	Group / Town	Pushing joking around
89	Me, Girl	Hold hands / hug, restore
90 END	Me, Girl / Room	Tape/CD removed. Cut to show it was the two listening to it the whole time.

Shooting Schedule:

-          Forest scenes, Bawdeswell: Will require Tom plus 3 or 4 members of the Group. Half term.

-          Beach and Beach forest scenes: Will require all members of cast. Half term when Ben is back from holiday.

-          City scenes – Joe, Tom, few other members of group. Half term.

-          Cliff scenes – mainly require just Ben/Guitar. Last scenes require most of group members and Joe & Tom. Weekend, Sunday.

-          Room – Minimal cast, Joe & Girl. – Any day

-          Extra shots – just myself filming,  can be filmed any time.

See update posts for adjustments to the Treatment, Shot List, Shooting Schedule and Characters.