Pre-Production - Treatment Sheet

Below you will see the Treatment Sheet I have drawn up for my music video :)

Here's a little information on what Treatment Sheets are ;

In order to decide which video to make, music companies will ask for treatment sheets from several different directors. Once they are all submitted, the company along with the artist will decide which idea like the best.

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Proposed Song: "Dream Catch Me" - Newton Faulkner

Synopsis of Song Lyrics: The lyrics talk about a man obsessing about a girl aswell as a place that the man goes to when he's alone, where he can be dream and be anything he wants aswell as do anything he wants. The lyrics also talk about how the man idolises the women and has completely given himself to her, and finally it talks about how if his dreams don't "catch" him when he "falls" asleep, then he will never wake up again.

Propsed Storyline and Characters: The idea behind the story is a typical boy-girl relationship. The boy breaks up with the girl via text (making us side with the poor, hurt girl). The girl is hurt and in her absence her drawings come to life to console her over her recent, painful break-up. The animation will most likely be simple and sweet to give the music video the strongest heartwarming feel possible. There will be some link between the lyrics and the music video. The link will be that the place my actress goes to will be the room she draws in, within the video. The part which says "it is us I see" relates to the fact the actess has drawn what are supposed to be her and her (ex) boyfriend. And finally, the part which says the words "dream catch me when I fall, or else I won't come back at all" relates to how the drawings make her feel better when she's sad, as it seems otherwise she may remain heartbroken.

Setting: The music video I will produce will be set in modern daywithin a home for the entire video. The home is to be seen by the audience as the home of the character involved in my music video.

Length: There will be a short introductory narrative at the beginning of the song (by which I mean prior to the beginning of the song) but no narrative after the song has finished, as the music video will end as the music ends, therefore the video will last around four and a half minutes.

Format: The format will be Digital, and it will be edited on Final Cut Pro X.

STYLE

Genre, Mood, Etc: The genre is Acoustic music and the video will aim to make audiences feel sorry for the loving girl, as her boyfriend broke up with her in a very cold and distant way, but then intrigued by what it is her drawings are doing now they've come to life. It ends with a very heartwarming feeling, as the audience discovers that what the drawings were doing was working to make the girl feel better. The actress playing the girl in the video will really push the audience to feel sorry for her, as she will appear very distraught by the break up, using crying and props such as tissues, etc.

Camerawork/Type of Shots: I will use a variety of shots including medium shots, long shots, establishing shots, point-of-view shots, close-ups, and more.

Length of Shots/Editing: The video's majority of takes will be long as the mood of the music fits in well with long takes, also because it allows the narrative to flow well and allows the audience to grasp how the girl within the video is feeling. There will be a small section of short takes within the opening narrative of the video, as this is when the girl will recieve the new she has been broken up with, and as a result will storm off distraught.

Movement and Action: The movements and actions of the girl within the music video will be quicker at first (when she recieves the news about the break up - as she will be distraught), but after the introductory narrative the movements and actions will become slower and limited (as instead of distraught, she will give off more of a depressed mood, and also because it fits in well with the music). In terms of the animations, their movements will also be slow and limited for a good deal of the music video, as they will also be depressed by the news the girl recieved, but after the animations formulate the plan to cheer the girl up, their movements and actions will become more lively.

Visual Qualities: The video will be shot in colour the entire time although the drawings will be completely black pencil on paper - meaning there will be no colour in the drawings that appear in the music video and no colour in the animation segments. Natural lighting and the lack thereof, will be used to show the passage of time within the music video, as there will be scenes earlier in the day using natural lighting and scenes in the evening using artificial lighting.

Handling of Narrative: The narrative can be seen as quite simple, in terms of the typical boy breaks up with girl style stroy, but the theme of the drawings coming to life in order to make her feel better may seem more complex. It will still work out fine though, as the audience is meant to wonder what the drawings are doing right until the end of the video, where they realise what the drawings' intentions were. The ending is where the heartwarming feeling comes in.

Target Audience: The target audience for this music video will be both males and females who enjoy acoustic music between the ages of (but not limited to) 13 to 21. The music video may also appeal to those who enjoy uplifting, heartwarming stories, aswell as those who enjoy animation within music videos, and just animation in general.

TECHNICAL ASPECTS

Production Methods: I, James Carolan, will act as director, producer, editor and animator for the production of the music video, and as such my roles will include coming up with a storyboard, drawing and then animating my drawings, arranging lighting within the music video, editing the takes from filming and assembling the video, funding any costs needed for the music video, and more. My actress will play the part of the girl within the music video, who will just be tasked with following my directions when filming the music video.

Equipment: The equipment I will need will be a camera (for the filming), a tripod (to hold the camera steady during filming) and possibly a form of three-point-lighting (so that I can make sure the actress can be seen and get any desired lighting effects).

Locations: The locations will be most likely all be interior (and all interior will be around my home which is meant to play the part of my actress' home in the video) with the possibility of one or two exterior shots to show the time of the day it is within the video (showing the passage of time).

RESOURCES

People: The only person within my music video will be my actress, who plays the girl dumped by her boyfriend in the story.

Time: A small amount of rehearsal time will be required initially plus time for the shooting of both day and evening scenes (so most likely; two days will be required for filming).

Budget: The budget will be low as the outift of the actress will be her casual clothes and the props within the video will be very simple.

Rationale: This music video will give a completely new angle on Newton Faulkner's song "Dream Catch Me", possibly appealing the audiences outside of his usual fanbase, as even though the music will be the same, the video's heartwarming narrative and unique design will entice audiences in and hopefully keep them coming back for, not only this music video, but other Newton Faulkner music videos.

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I hope you all enjoyed my Treatment Sheet for my music video :)

See you all next time :D