Draft Storyboard
I created a rough outline of my music videos sequence and use of the camera with my crew during one of our meetings, despite its lack of detail it helped me and my team construct a shot list and a more polished version that we ended up following in the final production.
Final Storyboard/Shot List
Using 3D modelling using a combination of software (blender and after-effects) I constructed a more accurate storyboard that accounted for character/prop spacing and staging that we could follow better than my crude drawings. I tried to make look like the german expressionism style in order to give it a look resembling our wanted final product and had each image broken down in its use of camera so that it also doubled as a shot list for me and my crew to use to know what equipment we needed to best capture/recreate these shots in real life.
Shot 1
Title Text
The Title Card which was inspired by old silent films used a gothic style font to evoke that classic vampire feeling evoked by the original Bela Lugosi films.
Shot 2
Establishing Shot, Low Angle, Static Camera
The top of a forest tree line looking into the full moon in the sky, setting the scene as being set at night and hopefully matching the slow spooky tone of the beginning of the song.
Shot 3
Medium Shot, High Angle, Static Camera
Shot of the gravestone and possible others to match the scary tone at the begging of the song as well as the lyrics of "getting older" as it implies a link with age and death.
Shot 4
Closeup, Low Angle, Static Camera
Closeup of the moon to once again establish the time in which the sequence is taking place and to sink with the lyrics "In the light of the moon". Also an intertextual reference to old hammer film monster movies, which would have these shots of the moon to symbolise the film transition from day and then night.
Shot 5
Closeup, P.OV, Low Angle, Hand Held Camera
The shot of a window with branches partially blocking the view once again creates that gothic aesthetic I want to evoke from the video as well as establish the location as we then transition into the bedroom.
Shot 6
Long Shot, Low Angle, Static Camera
Introduces the protagonist of the narrative as we see them sleeping, I will also have the actor display distress as I want it to seem like they are having a bad dream.
Shot 6
Long Shot, Low Angle, Static Camera
The bed then rises up, much like the coffins in old vampire movies like nosferatu as it slowly rises.
Shot 7
Long Shot, Low Angle, Static Camera
Reveals the antagonists/the vampire who seems to be living under the bed of the man sleeping, I will have the same actor play both making this conflict feel like a battle between ego and super-ego as this vampire prevents the man from rest.
Dracula's (1931)
Shot 8
Closeup, Low Angle, Static Camera
To evoke the feel of these old silent films and most importantly the original Nosferatu (1922) I wanted to use harsh lighting to evoke these harsh shadows as this shot mimics an iconic shot from the original 1922 film.
Nosferatu (1922)
Shot 9
Closeup, High Angle/Birds Eye View, Static Camera
Wanted a top-down view on the protagonist as they try and get to sleep as the harsh lighting creates a Rembrandt effect.
Shot 10
Medium Shot, Low Angle, Static Camera
As the music begins to pick up into the chorus I have the vampire hold a guitar as he starts to perform with the music. Creating hopefully a humorous juxtaposition with this performance and the old silent film style of the music video.
Shot 11
Closeup, Eye-Level, Static Camera
As the main brass and sax instrumental kicks into the song, I wanted to match it with the instrumental of the Vampire. This use of match editing will hopefully continue my humorous juxtaposition from the previous scene and be the pivotal moment in the narrative as the man can not sleep due to the music the vampire is playing while he is trying to sleep.
Shot 12
Long Shot, Low Angle, Static Camera
The vampire has started dancing over the sleeping man and taunting him as they play their instruments, the use of the performance movement with the lack of camera movement will hopefully evoke more continuous juxtaposition humour in the audience. I was also heavily inspired by the dance sequences from the music video Fear and Delight (2014)
The Correspondents - Fear & Delight (Official Video)
Shot 13
Long Shot, Low Angle, Static Camera
Continuing to follow the brass/saxophone in the song, this use of match editing will hopefully create engagement as the matching imagery links to the music.
Shot 14
Long Shot, Low Angle, Static Camera
Once again I hope to evoke humour in the audience as the sax solo borders on the overtop style of 80's music videos like Daryl Hall & John Oates song Maneater (1982).
Daryl Hall & John Oates - Maneater (1982)
Shot 15
Long Shot, Low Angle, Static Camera
The man climbs under their bed to look for the vampire, but whether it's to join it or kill it is unknown.
Shot 16
Closeup, Eye-Level, Static Camera
We follow him as he goes through a dark tunnel looking into the darkness evoking a horror film aesthetic as his only source of light is a dim low key candle.
Shot 17
Closeup, Eye-Level, Static Camera
As the shot stays on a segment of the wall as the candlelight dims we see the vampire is giving chase, creates tension, with the increased pace of the song.
Shot 18
Closeup, High Angle/Birds Eye View, Static Camera
We see the vampire's coffin has been discovered.
Shot 19
Closeup/Over the Shoulder, High Angle/Birds Eye View, Static Camera
The shot transforms into an over the shoulder as the dept of the field tricked the audience into believing the coffin was bigger than it actually was as the protagonist begins to search through it looking for clues on how to defeat the vampire.
Shot 20
Medium Shot, Over the Shoulder, Static Camera
As he searches through the small coffin the vampire appears in the doorway behind him, as it slowly approaches him without his knowledge.
Shot 21
Medium Shot, Over the Shoulder, Static Camera
He turns around but it's too late, as the scene cuts to black as we wonder if he has become the vampire or has nearly become another one of its meals.
Evaluation of the Storyboard/Shot List
The storyboard that I created with 3D modelling software visually demonstrates what I wanted to achieve in the cinematography and the editing in my music video sequence. My use of similar effects to demonstrate the dark expressionist style that I wanted in the final product made it easier to visualise on set when setting up my lighting positioning as I had already showcased in the storyboard where the shadows would be created and how each scene will be spaced for my actor's performance.
However. I think it could have been improved with the use of drawing character momentum as I think it would have helped my actor to know where they should be moving during the course of the scenes and I think I could have included more camera movements in my plan for the cinematography. But these points are quite minor, it was not that necessary for specific movement instructions for my actor as I wanted the improvisation in their performance especially for the dance/instrumental sequence as I thought that would add to the kinetic energy of the music. The lack of camera movement also in my opinion added to the style I was trying to create of a silent film as they were also very limited in eh way their camera moved during a scene.
The breakdown of visual elements helped me and my crew in crafting the cinematography for the sequences of the music video as it became obvious very quickly we were going to be using an extensive amount of low angles, so we needed a tripod for our camera that could achieve these angles which a normal tripod couldn't cover as they are often set at a default height above ground. This lead to the purchase of Gorilla Goby Pod with our budget of £24.99. Without this storyboard, we might not have noticed our need to get 300mm for the shot we wanted of the moonscape, so we ended up taking and using a longshot of the moon with our 30mm lens camera instead of a closeup but with this knowledge in mind we made a note to our editor to create a denser cloud movement around the moon to still keep it visually engaging.
Overall, I think my storyboard created a great visual map for me and my crew to follow during the shoot that allowed us to achieve the exact feeling and tone we wanted from the video. In combination with the shot list, it made the planning process of the shoot day far easier as we had every equipment element sorted before even shooting.
Reference List:
Maneater (1982) by Daryl Hall & John Oates, Available (Online) at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRYFKcMa_Ek
Fear & Delight (2014) by The Correspondents, Available (Online) at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABS-mlep5rY
Nosferatu (1922) Directed by F. W. Murnau
Dracula's (1931) Directed by Tod Browning, Karl Freund
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