Storyboard Animatic & Connotations/Denotations

This is the animatic that has been formulated with use of the storyboards that me and Kate had made for the narrative of our music video, synchronised with the exact song that we will be using in our actual music video. This gives us an idea of timings that we had set ourselves for each shot and the visuals in congruence with the chosen song. I believe that this animatic gives us a good representation of the potential success of rhythmic editing as well as the positive partnership that will hopefully result in a successful construct of a music video.
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This animatic may not give a great understanding of the constructed narrative, however here I will supply denotations of the narrative in attempt to gain some clarity:

0.00-0.06 The first three shots of the video have considered cinematography and framing, using the rule of thirds to establish relationships; the protagonist (Sam) of a close up shot of his shins and feet where he is centre frame stood on a yet-to-be-defined object, thus higher in terms of the other two establishing that he is the protagonist in the video. On the following two shots, we see a medium close-up of the other two characters in the far right and far left third of the frames in two juxtaposed shots. This construct considered the 'triangle' formation that is seen throughout.

0.07-0.12 The following three shots again follow the triangular formation of the three characters in the narrative. Here we see again the use of thirds yet horizontal extreme close-ups of one facial feature of each character; the eyes of Sam, the nose of Fran and mouth of Sami. This formulation is also a sly intertextual reference to the cinematography technique seen in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, which, as already discussed, has relevance to the lyrics of the chosen song.

0.13-0.20 The shot of the clouds with arrows is meant to show a time lapse which we wish to use in our video. This represents a change in time or location and as the video is montage/abstract narrative this will emphasise the abstract nature of the narrative by directing the audience to exploring an alternate location, were it was decided that these locations are meant to be representing the protagonist's emotions.

0.21-0.30 We must discuss the next part in terms of mise-en-scene and positioning of the characters: Sam being number one and Sami number 2. The original shot shows how the protagonist is stood next to his love interest (Fran) and the pan shows how Sami is positioned out of this relationship between them, however after the strobing effect of tessellation (which again was there to show a change in events) we see Sami (number 2) in the front stood next to Fran with Sam where Sami originally was stood. Notice also how the characters are stood in a triangle formation.

0.31-0.32 This shot is a two shot of Sam the protagonist and Fran. The two shot again considers framing, where each character compromises the two wide thirds with a tree out of focus in the centre third of the frame. The tree replicates a solid object that is effectively 'blocking' the pair. The tree is a visual metaphor for Sami's presence - an example of objectification. The choice to have this tree still in the frame to metaphorically take Sami's place is that the tree is long living and a large, solid structure, potentially seen as intimidating and as the narrative is based upon the protagonists emotions, we thought this abstract visual metaphor would be suitable.

0.33-0.49 The first shot is an over the shoulder shot of Sam facing Fran and slowly raising his arm. We will position the pair in this shot so that Sam's outstretched arm cannot fully reach Fran - unable to reach and touch her in the narrative. The next shot we have considered the context of the lyrics: 'You're a shark and I'm swimming' attempting to replicate the motion of a shark by the tracking forward/zig-zagged motion of Fran's POV shot towards Sam. This motion, coupled with the lyrics will give the audience an understanding of the viciousness and ferocity of Fran's persona due to the fact the video is based on the protagonist's emotions, thus seeing the narrative wholly from his perspective. The next shot is a one second flash of tessellation. As already discussed, this indicates a shift in the narrative, where Sam has been impacted by Fran's attack - shown in his fall backwards. Again, the visuals take a literal lyrical visual analogy, showing Sami slowly turning and 'sniffing', as heard in the lyrics. This action represents Sami becoming competition and is now aware of Fran and Sam's turn of events in terms of their 'relationship'. In terms of cinematography, this shot will be a low angle shot to show Sami's superiority as a competitor for Fran. The final shot is again another one second shot of Fran looking directly at the camera. The relationship between the tessellation shot being one second and this was an attempt to show how the two are related in terms of their relevance to the protagonist, as in the chorus of the song we hear the lyrics 'toe to toe, back to back' the formation of tessellation. This means that the formation of tessellation and Fran are related from Sam's perspective, which the 'physical intimacy shared with that particular individual' that Joe Newman spoke of (see Lyrical Analysis post) and the contact made between the characters. Additionally, the juxtaposition of Sami's 'sniffing' showing the initiation of competition between the two and then syntactically following this shot with Fran shows who the prize of the competition is for between Sam and Sami.

0.50-0.57 This first shot is the progression made from the original falling we see initiated by Sam at 0.42 of the video. The slow progression that is made shows again how Sam has impacted very slowly from Fran's 'attack' on him. The following shot is a graphic match from the original woodland environment that we first see the characters at, to a shot against a white wall with a strobe light on. The significance of the white wall is meant to be the blankness and emptiness left in Sam. The strobe light shows disorientation and confusion.

0.58-1.11 We then go back to the original shot that the video opened: the close-up of Sam's feet; however this shot has the strobe light seen in the previous shot with again, the denotation to resemble disorientation and confusion. This shot has motion of Sam's feet moving slightly, showing dancing. The mobility of Sam now is to show instability unlike the original shot we saw. the choice of this shot was put down to literal lyrical meaning of 'toe to toe' and the next shot follows with Fran’s back; 'back to back'. This shot also uses the strobe lighting and will also be dancing, however the shot of her back is meant to show the idiom of 'turning your back on someone' - refusing to give attention, which is relative to the current narrative. The interesting following shot is a kaleidoscope. We see Sami holding a kaleidoscope in the first shot we see of him. This creates the illusion of Sami now becoming part of the battle for Fran through connecting the actual object and the effect of the kaleidoscope in the video. We are then directed back to the medium close-up of Sam's face in the strobe light. The use of this same shot in succession shows the 'start' and 'end' of a little sequence that is in place to explain the narrative. Next is a blank white screen. This is to show the ultimate emptiness of the protagonist’s emotions, completely white which corresponds nicely to the lack of vocals in the song at this present moment, just a 'humm' sound. Following this is a close-up of Sam's face, lip syncing the term 'let's tessellate' followed by blowing out smoke. Sam speaking this term is due to the analogy given earlier about tessellation and its meaning of physical intimacy. Following this with blowing out smoke is meant to show the paranormal release of ectoplasm. This paranormal phenomenon takes place during seance, and is the escape of a ghostly being's presence in another person’s body, as if that individual is possessed. The smoke in this shot shows the escape of a belief or state that the protagonist was experiencing. That experience was the love felt between Sam and Fran.

1.12-1.21 The activity in this long-durated shot is a slow-motion shot of Sam throwing a bottle with paint in at a wall to leave a blue paint print on the wall. This shot will not be a lone shot but will have close-ups of certain details such as the bottle coming towards the wall and a close up of him initially throwing the bottle. This shot is meant to represent Sam's frustration and anger and the blue paint inside the bottle that will splatter against the wall is his old melancholy emotion has been transferred into anger and force shown through this action. We will also see a change in location for this shot, now either in a derelict building. The derelict building will show the corruption of the relationship between himself and Fran at this time, progressing through the narrative and the loss of their relationship.

1.22-1.26 This shot is a split-screen shot of Sam jumping in slow motion on one half of the shot and swinging a stick at himself in real time on the other half of the shot. This is to show the emotional distress that he is feeling and how he is metaphorically 'beating himself up'. The contrast between slow motion and normal paced in the same shot adds surrealism and implies the mixed emotions that he is currently feeling.

1.28 - 1.42 This sequence is made up of three shots involving Fran's current feeling. The visuals have been considered again with the lyrics, where we hear 'Go alone my flower', with the use of the prop; a bouquet of flowers. The term flower tends to be a name called between two individuals who have intimate relations with one another, therefore we see the individual Fran as if Sam is addressing her in this one verse. We see her throwing a bouquet of flowers of the first of the three shots. This action tends to be one traditionally seen at weddings when the bride throws the flowers and the person to catch them is the next to marry. The flowers, therefore, are a symbol of the romance that Fran has contained within herself, yet is willing to throw them away - willing to throw away the shared romance she had with Sam, which is the process that we see here in the three shots. The next shot is a close-up of the flowers collapsing from their original neat structure to just simply individual flowers. This replicates what I mentioned previously about ridding her and Sam's romances. The third and final shot of this three-part sequence of Fran is medium close-up shot of the flower petals falling onto her like rainfall in slow motion. Some of the petals will be painted black in colour to represent staleness or rotting. The falling of the petals without the stems of the flowers will represent how the symbol that did represent their relationship has no more existence, only blackened petals that show the decay between the pair.

1.43- 2.01 The first shot of this small section will be an extreme close-up of half of Sam's face in half of the frame. The emptiness of the rest of the frame represents how something is missing from Sam - obviously Fran. There will be numerous jump cuts to accommodate the still shot, showing other details of Sam that will be relevant to the narrative, such as the green flint ('wild green stones' in lyrics) in his hand and the floral scarf tied against his belt. The significance of the floral scarf attached to his belt will simply look like an accessory, yet will act as a contrasting parallel to what we saw in the previous scene: Fran throwing away the flowers, which are now in a bundle on the floor in front of Sam. The close-up of the floral scarf will show it being release by Sam as it flies away int he wind, with the reason of it representing a romance that he once has yet no longer does. The next shot is a medium-long two-shot of Sam bending down to light the flowers on fire while Fran in also in the frame. In this shot Fran will fade with use of the split screen technique. Fran's fade in the scene will act as an emotional signifier from Sam's perspective, as if burning this symbol of the flowers as their last existence of their lasting relationship will make her fade away and help him forget her. The next shot is a high-angle long-shot of Sam is bent down to set fire to the flowers on the floor. The high angle nature of this shot is meant to be the potential reconsideration for Fran, as if questioning his decision to forget her. This shows weakness of him. We then cut to a close-up of a lit fire of the flowers, showing that Sam has set them on fire. We will then see a jump cut to a close-up of the embers of the fire in the pile of ash that has been left from burning the flowers. The jump cut is simply elliptical editing for the convenience of saving time showing the full of the fire burning then diminishing, which would be boring for the audience to watch. The embers are the visual representation of what Joe Newman stated about the song being about the 'lingering of an old flame', shown visually in this shot.

2.02 - 2.25 This short sequence of shots is the beginning of the intertextual reference to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. we initially see the trio stood in a close confinement in a triangular formation, which resembles that of the final scene of the movie, where the three characters who have a gun-fight to see who takes the money are stood in a circular mud pit awaiting the first shot so they can react. The camera tracks around this triangular structure of bodies to show their entrapment and intertwined, closely relating stories in terms of the narrative: all revolving around romance. This tracking around the group gives also a sense of audience involvement in the current diegesis and this specific point of the narrative. The next shot considers framing to form a reversed triangle shape as we see Sam in the deep depth of field in this shot and Fran and Sami's hands in the shallow depth of field. This shot also sees a focus pull to show Sam's worthlessness as he is stood in the centre of the frame and the other two compromises the right and left thirds of the frame. The upside down triangle shows a reversal in the situation between the original conflicting males, Sami and Sam, for Fran. Again, lyrical consideration has affected the visual consideration where we hear 'One's empty, one's not quick enough' following the previous line of 'One goes off'. These lyrics relate to one of each character: Sami is the one who has 'gone off' as he has taken the opportunity to start romance with Fran (in the film this character is the victor of the shootout); Sam is 'not quick enough' as he was unable to get Fran before Sami (in the film this is the character who is shot and dies); Fran is 'empty' as she has no emotional connection to Sam - we must remember that Sam is the protagonist and we see the video from his perspective and his current emotional state. The following three shots also have character relevance with consideration to the lyrics: 'one burn' is the shot of the embers again, representing Sam's attempt to forget, 'one red' is the original shot of Fran we see with 'blood on her hands' as this whole situation is her responsibility and 'one grin' is Sami's joy now that he has Fran. Notice again how these shots follow the same framing pattern to form a triangle, using the right and left of frame in juxtaposed shots. The flash of tessellation shows how Sami will now be sharing 'physical intimacies with Fran rather than Sam. Another reason for flashing tessellation was relating to our lyrical analysis where we stated that tessellation looks similar to teeth - a graphic match. The next cut, we see Sam watching the exact scene that was discussed in the film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. This represents how Sam is simply a spectator now, rather than having an involvement with Fran like Sami now does. The camera will also whip pan at the end of the shot, as heard in the lyrics 'Search the graves as the camera spins'. This whip pan is meant to replicate the change of narrative perspective from Sam as it has been throughout to Fran for this final shot of the sequence only. In this final shot from Fran's perspective we see another split screen technique using slow motion. In this shot we see Sam the higher in the frame, stood on the original object we see him stood on and Sami lower than him on the ground, yet as the shot progresses we see Sami and Sam switch places as one half of the split screen frame is in reverse and the other in proper motion, thus swapping places. This will be the new emotional preference from Fran as she sees Sami literally swapping places with Sam as her new partner. This shot will end with a whip pan the opposite way to the original whip pan. This will represent how the narrative perspective is back to Sam.

2.26 - 2.34 This first shot shows multiple different shots, such as close ups, medium close ups and medium long shots done in a montage of dissolve transitions with Sam lip syncing the lyrics ('They'll nosh you up...') This shot will add an additional element of surrealism into the visuals. The next shot is back to the medium close up of Sam, again, lip syncing the lyrics 'You will still haunt me'. The haunting and ghostly effect was established in the shot before and juxtaposing these two shots gives that idea of haunting already active in the narrative.

2.35 - 2.41 A montage of shots showing various triangles, synchronising with the lyrics 'Triangles are my favourite shapes'. Triangles have throughout this video had some sort of relevance to the majority of the shots. Following this is the medium close-up of Sam's face lip syncing the lyrics; however this shot does not use the strobe light. Not using the strobe light expresses the new-found clarity on the idea of Fran as the person he wishes to romanticise with - stopping the interest for her.

2.42 - 2.55 This short sequence begins with a similar shot to the one we already have; the close-up of Sam's ankles and feet, however this specific shot does not have the object we saw in previous shots. Removing this object got rid of the triangular formation that we have seen between the three characters throughout. The significance of this implies that Sam no longer regards Fran. This shot progresses to pan right and tilt up to show another shot we have already seen of Fran with her back turned, still rejecting Sam attention. The camera then cuts to the three in a row - Sami with the kaleidoscope, Sam dancing and Fran with her back turned, dancing. The camera zooms in to a medium close-up of Sami using his kaleidoscope. This is the first time we have seen Sami using his kaleidoscope. The kaleidoscope is a motif of Sami, which is why the next shot is the kaleidoscope effect spinning on the screen. This juxtaposition of these two shots represents how Sami has dominated the competition for Fran. The black screen shown when we hear the lack of vocals, when before we heard this, the screen was blank white representing Sam's emptiness, whereas now it is plain black. The blackness contrasts with the white, where it now represents the void of our protagonist and his emotions for Fran - no longer existent.

2.56- 3.26 (end) The shot following the black screen is a hand-held camera tracking the protagonist, Sam. There is no sound, yet the diegetic sound of heavy breathing. This adds an anticipation to the audience and audience expectations for Sam to lip syncing 'Lets tessellate' seen previously in the video. The hand-held camera will result in shaking of the camera, showing the disorientation of the audience because the setting for this shot will be an unfamiliar one. This is a shared feeling with the protagonist, who looks around in uncertainty in this shot, yet does eventually turn and lip sync the lyrics 'Let's tessellate'. The next shot is a long shot of Sam preparing to jump in the air and the other two characters standing in the bottom corner of each third in terms of the frame. This contrasts to earlier in the cinematography where they would dominate each a third of the frame, but now the insignificant positioning in the frame shows how Sam is losing emotional connectivity with these two. The next two shots are a close up of Sam's feet, then a mid-shot of  Sam side on as he begins to jump. These two shots will be in slow motion. These shots are simply part of the continuity to show progression in Sam's jumping in this final sequence of the video. The next shot is Sam nearing the top of his jump in slow motion again. Sam will have his arms downwards. This will compose a triangular structure in the frame with Sam at the top of the triangle again, where at the end of the shot, he will fade out. This triangle formation shows how Sam now regards himself above these two, as a show of hierarchical pyramid in the frame. The fading of Sam from the shot connotes how he has disappeared from the triangle between the three, leaving only Fran and Sami to be to themselves. The final shot of the video is a reverse of the time lapse of clouds seen earlier in the video. This connotes how the story has come to an end, as if both time lapses represent the beginning and end of the narrative.