By Charlotte Bell, Kate Harrold, Samantha Leason & Sophie Ordidge

MUSIC VIDEO PITCH

TAYLOR SWIFT ‘OUT OF THE WOODS’

It doesn’t have a music video which will allow the one that we make to be original.

We are familiar with the lyrics which allows us to form a narrative around them.

We prefer the pop genre and it is well suited to this genre.

It will be easy for us to find believable actors to play the singer/characters.

WHY WE CHOSE THIS SONG

Our overall vision for the video is to have it split between a narrative and performance. The performance wil l take place in the woods as this is well suited to the song. We will use both close ups and mid shots in order to showcase the artist (l ip syncing) and the video wil l have an anxious mood to demonstrate the message of the song. The narrative wil l follow the singer and a male character as we see their relationship as the song describes. The song is about “the fragil ity and breakable nature of some relationships” according to the artist, Taylor Swift. So, we wil l see their relationship develop from care free to anxious and tense. As the song builds, the singer in the woods wil l begin running and the video wil l end with her fi nding a clearing to match the l ine ‘Are we in the clear yet? Good.” As she reaches the clearing, she sees the male character to create a l ink between the performance and narrative. Dancers wil l also be featured briefl y during the video. They are never seen in full but close ups of them wil l be superimposed over the artist l ip syncing to add to the atmosphere of the video. These close ups wil l be of their dancing and not their faces as the focus is sti l l on the artist. The video wil l constantly cut between each of these 3 sections with the performance being the overall focus.

OVERALL VISION

BRAND IMAGE + INSPIRATION

We want our artist’s brand image to be dream-like and whimsical. The relationship in the video falls apart and we want the artist to still be seen as innocent. The artist will wear a white, floaty dress to demonstrate this innocence and purity. Her make-up will consist of light colours to also create the representation of her being an optimist and hopeless romantic. Light pinks will connote the love of the relationship and silver will show her hope. The artist’s hair will be curled to look natural to again demonstrate her as ethereal. We have taken the inspiration of this look from a collection of artists. Taylor Swift herself also uses a similar brand image – especially in her music video ‘Safe and Sound’ so we took inspiration to achieve this look. The album cover of ‘English Rain’ by Gabrielle Aplin also attempts to achieve a similar whimsical effect. Ellie Goulding’s music video ‘Beating Heart’ uses the setting of the woods and Ellie Goulding is dressed naturally. This representation and brand image seems to be popular amongst female pop artists.

The theme of being ‘Out of the Woods’ is the main aspect of the song so the sett ing of the woods for the performance has a strong correlat ion to the lyr ics (Fairy Lights, Jars, Candles). A dance studio is going to be used for the shots of the dancer(s). We chose a dance studio as we thought the mirrors could emulate the refl ect ive message of the song whi lst ‘ looking’ is also a music video convention. The dancers wi l l a lso use a quiet country road as this shows a connect ion between their dance and the s ingers performance. The shots of dancers wi l l be superimposed over the s inger again, reinforcing this idea. Neither of the sett ings used for the dancers wi l l be shown in ful l . The dancers wi l l only be shown in close ups to capture their movement which contr ibutes to the atmosphere of the video. They are not a main focus in either the performance or narrat ive. The main sett ing is outdoors and so the change of sett ing to a dance studio creates more var iety in the video. We wi l l a lso use the inter ior sett ing of a house dur ing the narrat ive in which we see the s inger and a male character. This represents their relat ionship as one that is normal which al lows the audience to relate.

LOCATION

The costumes used in the video are going to be genre appropriate as pop videos are known for their use of colour.

We have decided that the singer will wear a fl oaty, white dress and subtle, blush makeup. This relates to our brand image of making our artist seem ethereal. This also suits the pop genre as the white will starkly contrast the dark colours of the woods which makes our artist stand out.

The dancers will also wear white fl oaty dresses and this will be appropriate for the mood and atmosphere of the video as we are trying to achieve an innocent association with the artist.

In the narrative, the singer and male character will wear ordinary clothing as again, just like the setting, this makes them relatable and displays the relationship as one that anyone could experience.

COSTUMES

The theme of nature will be present throughout the video as it is a common feature in the lyrics. Taylor Swift uses this to emulate her feelings. For example, the crowding trees show her growing anxiety whilst the rising sun represents her hope. This is why we decided to set the performance of our video in outdoor locations.

The theme of love is also present throughout this song. Shown through the lyrics, the relationship develops from one that is carefree to one full of anxiety due to the pressure of other people’s judgement. This is another reason why the woods is a suitable location. It is a secluded location where there is no one to judge the relationship. The narrative of the singer and male character will incorporate this theme.

THEMES

THEMES

Woods: The location of the

video

Insert shots of the sun/sun

rise Will be

included

Trees will be a key theme as the artist

will run through the woods and we will see close ups

of trees

This demonstrates the growing anxiety of the

relationship. They metaphorically ‘hit the

brakes’ on the relationship.

This shows the care free attitude when

the relationship begins which grows with anxiety as the

song continues.

Genre conventions used in this video include: Dance routines Close ups of the artist to showcase them Insert shots of relevant concepts (Eg. Nature, paper

aeroplanes) Bright costumes Bold makeup- red lipstick Narrative and performance relate to lyrics of song Reference to looking (Mirrors) Special Eff ects (One aspect of a black and white image will

be shown in colour) Intertextual link to other forms of pop culture (Eg. Props in

house location such as an ‘Alice In Wonderland’ book as in both this and our music video, the woods acts as an escape from reality).

GENRE CONVENTIONS USED

Cinematography- Panning/tilting of the camera to: focus the audiences

attention on the artist, show the expanse of woods and guide the viewer’s eye line with the singer’s.

Close up shots of the artist, actors and dancers. Dolly camera to follow the singer through the woods during

the performance. Long shots to show setting and costume.

Sound- Lip-syncing with lyrics Synchronous sound such as leaves and trees rustling. This

will take place at the start and end of the video as an intro/outro to the song. The artist will shown to be walking through the woods.

TECHNICAL CONVENTIONS USED

Editing- Cutting to the beat of the song Long takes in slow verses to show original care free feeling of the

relationship. Short takes in chorus and bridge to show the growing anxiety. Black and white to highlight the singer and male character in

colour. Slow motion for the dancers and fast motion again to show growing

anxiety.

Mise-en-scene Costume and makeup relevant to the genre (pop)- Bold makeup

and bright clothing High key l ighting (Eg. Outdoor setting) Relevant props e.g. a notebook (artist writing lyrics) and polaroid

camera (used by artist and boyfriend in narrative, acts as a visual representation of the lyrics).

TECHNICAL CONVENTIONS USED

Our target audience is females aged 15-19 who are interested in the pop genre.

We plan on appealing to them by using the relevant mise-en-scene to create a video which they would enjoy viewing as the narrative is easy to follow and realistic, and fi nd entertaining due to the pop genre conventions. The dance routine will also entertain our audience, and the video should provide an escape from everyday reality.

We have discovered from our surveys that our target audience expect to see a partial narrative along with a performance.

The artist will wear modern make up and clothing, making the video aesthetically pleasing for the target audience.

WHO IS YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE AND HOW DO YOU PLAN ON ATTRACTING AND

APPEALING THEM?