Treatment Sheet:

Proposed Title/Song: Ellie Goulding, My Blood.

Synopsis of song lyrics: The song can be interpreted in different ways, but it seems to have some form of a romantic element in it, but is also quite sad. It could also be interpreted as uplifting which works well for my video because it goes from being very sad with Beth crying in distress, to being hopeful at the end with the comfort of her best friend who helps her get over it.

Proposed storyline and characters: The storyline is detailed and strong, with a plot for the audience to unravel as they go along. The plan is to use flashbacks and aspects such as empty seats and Beth looking at pictures to hint to viewers that she is missing somebody. This is substantiated as she becomes hysterical and runs off crying, in an obvious grieving process. She has some time to reflect and then the story will be finally explained when she arrives at a graveyard and puts a poppy on a grave, indicating that it is somebody she loves who has died in war, most probably a boyfriend. However there will be no definite indication of who it is or what exactly happened, because the video will not be long enough to explain this, and it seems to be more effective using ellipsis's to skip time and follow Beth to see how she moves on, with the help of her best friend, the other character played by Natalie Jenkins.

Setting: My music video is set in modern times in the small town of Broxbourne, North London. The locations are common, including a house, a car, streets, a forest, a park and a garden, showing that Beth is a normal girl in a normal everyday situation, but has been deeply effected by the death of a loved one.

Length: There will be no introductory or ending narrative, as anything acted or said without music will ruin the plot and unravel it too quickly. Therefore the song will last approximatley 3:44 minutes.

Format: Digital and edited on Final Cut ProX.

Style-
Genre, mood etc: The genre is indie folk but boardering into mainstream catergory as Ellie Goulding appeals to mostly female teenagers who are also interested in pop music. The mood, unlike most other videos in a mainstream genre, will be relativley hard hitting and emotional. However, introducting Natalie at the end as a comforting friend gives a type of message to the audience of how important friendship is, so in effect, the mood lightens up as we see Beth and Natalie laughing and having fun, which is a direct contrast to Beth's emotions in the first part of the song.

Camerawork/type shots: There is a huge range of shots to be included in my music video, including long shots of Beth to show her appearence, and closeups of her when she is crying or laughing to really emphasise her feelings and the contrast between the two. This will make the audience feel part of the scene as they see her emotions up close. On my storyboard, there is one very high angled shot which I will film from sitting on a tree branch. This is when Beth has just been running through the forest and falls into a tree and viewers see that she is crying hysterically. She will slump to the ground and the high angled shot puts extra emphasis on how defeated she feels. The majority of shots will be steadycam, filmed on a tripod, but to stress how much distress Beth is in, I plan some shots to be filmed using handicam, as she is running through the forest, with again makes viewers feel included in the experience, giving it a sense of interactivity.

Length of shots/editing: There will hopefully be a mix of straight cuts and cross dissolves, and a lot of these dissolves will give the element of time passing, so the story can move on effectively. The takes will be very quick when Beth is running, and as she begins to run I will time it so that the chorus kicks in which will give a good effect and make the music match up with the visuals. In some of the slower parts of the song when Beth has time to reflect there will be longer takes as she walks, instead of runs.

Movement and action: As mentioned before Beth will be seen running in the video, but walking slowly and reflecting a lot afterwards, until she finally acts normally while sharing some laughs with her friend, to show the degrees of her grieving process.

Visual qualities: The video will be shot in colour and I plan to edit the first and middle sections where Beth is obviously in distress to make the colour duller, in order to depict her emotions. Any flashbacks or scenes from the past will be edited to be either black and white or sepia to make it obvious that it was in the past. The end section of the video will be in normal colour to symbolise Beth getting over it and becoming happier. Beth will have a variety of outfits, as the video is set to take place over a week or so, so time is passing. Her clothing will be slightly indie but still normal enough so it isn't too out there. Natalie will be in everyday casual clothing. Props are vital to my video, especially the poppy that Beth will place on the grave, as viewers will immediatley think of war imagery. Beth may open a letter and look at a photograph of her boyfriend in his military uniform which adds to the effect of the war imagery and the indication that Beth is missing somebody, before the audience come to find out that they have passed away.

Handling of narrative: The narrative is fairly linear but will include some montage editing towards the end to show all of the fun things that Beth and Natalie are doing. The audience will be are unsure as to what has happened to the person Beth is missing until the grave is shown, which will keep them interested. A repeatability factor is involved through a potential positive ending, which will appeal to the target audience.

Target Audience: The target audience are female teenagers and young adults, aged about 15-25. Ellie Goulding has the style to appeal to young girls but some of her songs are a bit less mainstream and more sombre than what this audience are used to, with My Blood being a prime example. My music video idea seems to be more complex and much more narrative based than other videos in the pop genre, so the target audience are those who like to follow along to a story line that is more hard hitting than others.  

Technical aspects/Equipment: The equipment in shooting my music video will involve a panasonic camera, a tripod and some artifical lights. I will attempt to use this type of lighting for the first scene with Beth where she wakes up, but the lights may create too much of a shadow and made it look like night time, so I may have to stick with natural lighting. I will however use the lights for the closeup of Beth crying to add a more serious effect.

Production methods: I will act as a director, to ensure that the finished product is what I imagined. Lighting is main focus, as most of the shots take place outside so I have to work with whatever the weather is like.The main aspect that I will focus on in producing the music video is the body language and facial expressions of the characters, as they are key to portraying the correct emotions to fit the storyline.

Locations/Studio: As said before, the majority of locations are outside in the local area and in recognisable places. I will simply use a plain white wall for closeups of Beth crying, as it gives a nice shadow effect from the artificial lighting.

People: Beth Miller as main character and Natalie Jenkins as best friend. There are no other actors in the music video but potentially a photograph of a boy in militarty uniform to act as Beth's late boyfriend.

Time: Over a couple of weekends due to it being dark outside on school nights, where I am unable to shoot. It may be the case that I shoot the video then decide to go back and film more to add in, depending on the audience feedback that I will recieve from my drafts.

Budget: There is no cost involved in shooting my music video.

Rationale: The video will show a different side to Ellie Goulding as Beth is playing her in it, meaning that she is acting out a hard hitting story line in her own music video. It has the repeatability factor to her teenage/young adult audience as the positive aspect at the end will leave it on a good note and stresses the importance of friendship, which is applicable to the lives of every viewer. It shows that even though such a terrible thing can happen to somebody, which effects them deeply, they are never alone and will somehow get over it with the help and comfort of their friends. The underlying message is positive, even if it is portrayed in a negative way at first.