Preliminary exercise: TikTok Music video

 1) State the song you have chosen for your preliminary exercise.

Lemonade by aespa

2) Choose at least three music videos similar to your concept and watch a clip or more from each. Make bullet-point notes on everything you watch, commenting on camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene.

1) XG - HYPNOTIZE

- Lighting changed from high key to lowkey lighting throughout the music video to create binary oppositions 

-  Costume fits a future cyber aesthetic with its metallic, chrome colours

- The jewellery also follows this aesthetic with its chrome like colours

- The makeup is bright and glamourous with gems and highlight. Furthermore, they wear unnatural coloured contacts which fit in the cyber and space aesthetic

- The video consists of both long shots when the group is dancing (performance based music video) and close ups

- The editing is follows a montage format which builds hype and excitement to what comes next

- Notions of looking - pictures within pictures, eye contact with the camera/audience

- Subverts objectification of women as the actors are presented as dominant and powerful through the low angle shots which connote power

2) KiiiKiii - 404 (New Era)

- High key lighting towards the beginning of the music video but at the end it changes to lowkey lighting which creates binary oppositions and reveals how behind a celebrities persona there is hard work

- The beginning of the video features the actors using a hand held camera to create a sense of authenticity and involve the audience within the music video (voyeurism) 

-  After the first scenes, we see footage of the group members when they were younger doing hobbies such as singing or karate which connotes nostalgia

- Sans serif font to connote modernity and a new era (links to the song name)  

- Jump cuts used which connotes modernity as this editing reminds audiences they are watching something that is constructed to be hyper real

- Intertextuality to broadcasters that used to present music videos on television (post modern feature)

- Quick cut to a black and white scene with traditional outfits (pastiche) 

3) PinkPantheress - Girl Like Me

- Blue, red and white connote a British national identity 

- The music video references many aspects of the British culture (intertextuality) e.g. police man, British broadcasters/award shows and the Buckingham palace soldiers

- Dominance of woman subverts sex roles and objectification of women - lady slapping a man, the music video's world is revolving around the main actor/artist 

- High key lighting fits in with the upbeat music 

- Ending reminds audiences that they are watching a constructed reality

- Despite being a person of colour, PinkPantheress celebrates British culture which subverts negative stereotypes about the UK being racist or unwelcoming to other individuals 

- Reinforces double consciousness

3) Write a short music video treatment for your extract (this is basically a script for your TikTok music video). You can find an example of a treatment here. If you are making your real coursework then feel free to use the treatment from your summer project.

Bright colours with high key lighting. This is a concept based music video without any narrative. The setting shifts between two places, the street and station. 

The music video/teaser begins with the actress walking down the stair case from a train station. This is where majority of the music video will be shot. The shot then cuts to her and the bottom of the stair case making a shocked face.

The next shot is set out side the station where the actress lip syncs to the audio. There are multiple shots to create engagement and hype which fits with the beat and pace of the music video. 

The visuals and actions are the main focus of the music video rather than a linear narrative as it is performance based. This means many camera angles will be used such as: low angle, long shot, medium long shot, high angles and hand held camera work. 

The setting shifts between two places, the street and station.

4) Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing (in a music video you will find you need FAR more shots than you think, particularly close-ups). These additional shots can be close-ups, alternative angles or something more creative. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word/Google Docs to set out your shot list - you can find an example here (this is from narrative filmmaking but the same format can be used for any video project). 

1) Long shot at setting

2) Pan to actress - medium long shot

3) Cut to medium long shot

4) High angle paparazzi like shot when lip syncing lyrics

5) Worm's eye view of actress

6) High angle of actress on bike 

7) Hand held camera of actress and pan to the side

8) Long shot of actress against a sign

9) Cut to worm's eye view

10) Cut to medium shot

11) Setting within a seating area of the station - medium shot

12) High angle shot of actress sat down

13) High angle long shot of actress at ground

14) Medium shot of actress sat down

15) Cut to medium full shot of actress

16) Fade to black transition to long shot

17) Final shot to actress holding a phone that plays the scenes which she then puts down to reveal her lip sync - medium shot

5) Plan your mise-en-scene: what iconography are you including to ensure your audience understands the genre and style of your artist? Plan your settings, costume, make-up, props and lighting. 

Setting - Neighbour hood and a train station 

Costume - Bright yellow top, black pants, gold jewellery (earing, bangles and a belt)

Make up - Basic makeup with shiny highlighter and pink lipstick   

Props - A phone, glasses

Lighting - high key lighting but some scenes do have lowkey lighting

6) Plan a shooting schedule that will ensure everything is filmed by the deadline. Include when, where, who is required, planned equipment and any other aspects you need to arrange. 

- A phone

- Props - glasses and a phone

- A bike

Recorded on 24/09/26