Media – Pre production piece, storyboard for music video

In order to make my storyboard I had to research many different music videos. I looked at music videos from many different music channels and from many different musical genres, such as rock, pop and hip-hop.

After analysing these videos I came to the conclusion that there were a number of important points I had to consider when making my storyboard. I decided to use Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ in the wind’ for my music video storyboard as there was never a video created for it. Also I think the issues of war in the song are very topical to the current affairs in the world today.

Firstly, something I had to consider carefully was my audience. The song I chose was released in the 1960s. So, obviously it would not significantly appeal to the younger age groups. The majority of my audience will be of the older age group, probably between 40 and 60. This song would appeal to both men and women, so there was no particular gender to target. I do not think that this song would attract any particular class of people, as the song discusses issues that affect all social classes.

Furthermore, I had to consider the length of each frame, as it must coincide with the rhythm of the music playing. For example, if I were to make a storyboard for a slow song then I would most probably have long frames of about 4 seconds. Whereby on the other hand if I were to make a storyboard for a fast song then I would most probably have short frames of about two seconds. So, in my case I chose to use long frames to capture the slow, mellow rhythm of the song.

Another point to deliberate was whether to follow the words of the song in my storyboard or to use a number of interesting images linked together which don’t have much relevance to the song. I decided to use the words of the song in my storyboard to convey what the song was about. Some of the words in the song were ambiguous, but I conveyed what I felt the words meant. All of the images are outside and most are linked with nature. I chose to do this to give the video a relaxing and peaceful theme, to fit in with what the song is about. This is also linked in with my target audience, as I tried to achieve a calm video, something that someone of the older generation would enjoy watching and would help relieve them of stress.

I decided to repeat the same images in each chorus to reinforce the meaning and importance of the words. Furthermore, I also chose to repeat the same images in each instrumental section of the song. I chose the image of the sun going down, from morning, to afternoon, to evening, to dusk; I did this to create the affect that one verse was over and the next was beginning. I also used it at the end to indicate the song was ending, as the day was ending.