Music Video Pitch Script

Amy: Synopsis -
Our synopsis begins with a tracking shot of the main female character, Violet, walking towards the stage. There will then be a series of flashes alternating between the past and present of Violets footwear, showing the comparison from when she was younger to the present day.

We then see Violet walking up to the stage, building tension and creating her status and dominance through the use of camera shots and angles. As she is walking up to the stage, the crowd will split, also reinforcing her status. Then the two main characters, one male and the female character, will lock eyes with each other, which will then develop into a flashback.

Jennie: The flashback will take us back to a school setting, which will mean we will be using a non-linear narrative. This will show the main female character as vulnerable and weak compared to the male character. Then the flashback will end and the narrative will return to the nightclub setting.

When we return to the nightclub setting there will be multiple shots of the female character, Violet, preparing for her set by sorting out her decks and putting on her headphones etc. We will then cut back to the main male character watching her in the crowd, suggesting he has some importance to the narrative but at a lower status than the main female, therefore challenging dominant ideology. There will then be another flashback.

The flashback consists of the female character at school being bullied and targeted by the male character, which reinforces the ideology that males are more dominant than females.

The flashback ends and when returning to the nightclub setting the beat of the music will drop and the female character will start her set. There then will be multiple jump shots of the crowd and the female DJing alternating. We will then see close up of the males facial expressions and then the two main characters will catch each others eyes again, but the female character will carry on her set.

Ellie: The final flashback will be again in a school setting she is pushed and drops her folder containing multiple images of existing famous DJ’s, which are mainly of the male gender, therefore challenging the ideology of gender, as she will become a successful female DJ. There is then a shot of the male characters face mocking the female character moments before walking away from the dance floor, thinking she will never succeed with her dream. The end of flashback then occurs.

At the end of her set, as the crowd cheer, she catches eyes with the male character again and he walks off alone and isolated. Then, the female is shown as the dominant DJ and the crowd show this by cheering the female and being surrounded by friends.


Josh: Female character Profile:

We will encode this female character within the text as a character who challenges dominant ideology in terms of gender, in order to make our audience active, as it is not a text that is a pastiche of a typical dance genre, music video. We will represent this female character and the characterisation of the character through semiotics and technical codes. She will be framed using high angle shots at the beginning, whilst wearing ordinary, non-glamorous clothing, representing her as a vulnerable, innocent character, whom the audience will pity and empathise in.

Our protagonist character is of a female gender, which is a sudden challenging within the dance genre, as many dance music videos involve a male character who possesses the chief role within the narrative; Kid Cudi for example, in a variety of his dance music videos. However, if a dance music video decides to place a female in the protagonist role they are usually constructed stereotypically as provocative, due to their costume and they way they are technically framed from scene to scene. As a group we have decided to initially challenge this type of dominant ideology that is usually constructed within the dance genre. Our female protagonist will be originally constructed as a vulnerable teenager, who shouldn’t really fit within the ‘powerful’and provocative dance scene.

Amy: Also, our character is a white female; we believe this conforms to ethnic dominant ideology that is presentable in the dance genre, as almost all females seen in dance music videos are of a white ethnicity. In addition, our female protagonist will be represented as a late teenager, possibly eighteen or nineteen, which also conforms to the genre of dance, as the genre usually incorporates younger females dressed in provocative clothing in an attempt to sell itself to a wider male audience. We believe that integrating this ideology of youth, whilst challenging dominant ideology concerning gender, we will create a product that can attract a mass audience of a male and female gender. We expect that both genders of the audience receive the preferred meaning of the text, the hegemony of anti-bullying and how the female gender can overlook the male gender and break patriarchal society. On the other hand, we may expect some of our male audience to attain an oppositional reading of the text, as we assume they will not be used to the breaking of patriarchal society within the media; meaning they will decode the text in a different way in which the preferred reading is constructed. However, we have attempted to counter balance this in the way we have conformed to other technical codes found in the dance genre; setting, camera shots, editing and costume, for example.

Jennie: However, as the narrative progresses, and the protagonist is characterised due to her success in her DJ occupation, this original conformation of dominant gender ideology is broken. The dominance shifts towards the female as she is framed as the DJ and therefore her confidence grows as a character. This challenges dominant representation of gender as the chief DJ's in the world are in most cases male. We hope to break the norms of patriarchy in our product, and break the dominant ideology of the male gender, and this scene is the start of that attempt. At the End of our video the woman is shown as the dominant and powerful character therefore challenging dominant ideology of man being dominant over women. This also conforms to Levi Strauss' binary opposites of man versus woman. We also believe that we will challenge the dominant ideology of youth, as our protagonist is succeeding in a profession, and taking life seriously, unlike the stereotype of youth suggests. Challenging the stock characters involved in the dance genre will hopefully make the plot development and narrative more engaging, as the female audience may also be able to personally identify with the protagonist, which should expectantly make the audience active.

Ellie: A feminist view of this character after she experiences a change could include Laura Mulvey’s theory that the female body is displayed for the male gaze in order to create voyeurism for a male audience. However, as this female character becomes dominant, this will also engage a female audience, as it is not conventional and challenges what the female gender see as societies gender norms.

Male character profile:

This is the main male character in our narrative. He is classed as a stereotypical ‘action/hero’ male character who is portrayed as dominant from the beginning of the text, but in a negative manner. His attempts to bully and undermine the female protagonist reinforce gender dominance, but as his actions are unethical his relationship with the audience will be a negative one. However, this ‘powerful’ male character will experience a downfall in dominance, as he will see the female character succeed in her occupation of DJing, which makes him turn away and leave the setting, with a facial expression suggesting defeat.

Josh: We will encode this male character in an attempt to conform to dominant ideology when speaking of gender. His rash thinking and actions throughout the narrative reinforce the male stereotype. He will dominate the frame when he is shown as the ‘bully’ but as gender dominance roles reverse he will be captured in low angle point of view shots that express his sudden lack of dominance in comparison to the female character.

This male character will stand in the crowd and will show clear signs of envy towards the female character. Youth will be represented for this male character as stereotypical, as he is shown as having lack of intelligence due to his bullying of the female character. But his targeting of the female character and his confrontational behaviour stereotypically allow him to gain friends of the same type, who laugh at his‘achievements’ and destroy the confidence of the female character throughout the flashbacks.

Amy: Costume:

The female character’s original costume will challenge the dominant ideology of the costumes usually found within the dance genre. She will dress in average, dull clothing, and will be framed as an unimportant character at the beginning of the narrative to highlight her lack of dominance. This is a conformation towards gender’s dominant ideology as she will be constructed as weak in comparison to the male characters in the opening of the narrative, who possess dominance over her. However, as she succeeds in her occupation as a DJ as the narrative progresses, she will be dressed in more provocative, which closely reflects the type of clothing which would be worn to a nightclub, reinforcing realism. The camera shots also become more intense, as we will use close up shots of her provocative costume (including red high heels which are stereotypically seen in the dance genre due to their connotations of passion and danger, which link highly to the type of music contained by the genre). The male character involved will wear black clothing to reinforce his dominance as a male character, and will be a stereotypical ‘cocky’ character, as his costume suggests.

Jennie: Shooting Script:

The camera shots we will use will alter as the narrative progresses. At the start of the video, our female character will be framed behind extra characters, and in medium long shots, with little emphasis on her facial features and her attire; however, as she is characterized, these camera shots will become more intense, as a higher amount of close ups and medium close ups will be used to put emphasis on her new instated character. The same idea will occur when concerning camera angles. She will be framed via high angle shots at the foundation of the text so it seems as though the audience is looking down upon her lowly stature. However, as she is characterized, these high angle shots become low angle shots, where we look up towards her new instated dominance. We hope to use artificial lighting to a maximum in order to create a realistic setting that conforms to the dance genre, so that our artist character looks as though she ‘belongs’ there. Finally, when mastering our product, an excessive amount of jump cuts will be used to create a product with editing that is a pastiche of others within the genre of dance.

Storyboard: This is the storyboard for our music video. (Slideshow on Powerpoint)

Ellie: Generic conventions:

Stock Settings: Throughout the music videos analysed, the stock settings that appeared multiple times were nightclubs and bedrooms which link to the theme and mood of the music. For example, a bedroom may be included as it may be where you are getting ready for a night out whilst listening to dance music. However, our entire narrative takes place in a nightclub setting, which will be an amass of strobe lighting. This is a conformation of the typical stock settings found within the dance genre. We thought that there was no need to challenge the stock settings as a nightclub setting should work suitably.

Josh: Representation: The ages of the characters used within the videos we researched are teenagers or young adults. This represents this age to be the target audience and suggest they are out drinking and partying all the time, as seen in the videos, reinforcing this stereotype of youth. We will conform to this stereotype of age through both our male and female character.

Amy: The use of the typical seductive women used throughout the music videos we researched links to the fact that the dance genre of music tends to focus on the gender of women, but could appeal to males because the provocative women may be seen as objects. This links highly to a feministic view, especially that of Laura Mulvey’s.

Jennie: Technical Codes:

Lighting- The use of dimly lit lighting to portray a night-time atmosphere will be used in our product, which links together with nightclub setting which features in multiple music videos we researched. A Key light is also often used to highlight the artist and reinforce her importance; this is another code we will conform to. The videos also tend to use flashing lights or strobe lighting to create the nightclub feel. We will also incorporate this into our video, so that the setting is a conformation to the dance genre.

Ellie: Camera Shots- We will use close ups in our product that shadow the identity of the dancer or artist to create enigma, which tends to be at the start of the music video. Medium and close up shots along with tracking shots will be used to highlight the importance of the artist. A number of medium and long shots will also be involved, allowing the audience to clearly see the setting and the attire of the characters. The use of close ups of the artist throughout our product will allow the audience to relate to the protagonist, especially as she is characterised throughout the narrative.

Josh: Editing- The editing of our video will be very fast paced, which is conventional to the dance genre. A number of jump and straight cuts will be incorporated into our final product. These types of edits will be used to create a fast pace in order to match the beat of the song.

Body movement and gesture- There will be repetitive ‘dancing’ movements which fit to the pace and beat of the music in our music video, which also reinforce the atmosphere of the setting and portray realism. Flirtatious dancing and was commonly seen throughout our research, along with the touching of other people to suggest the ‘nightclub’ atmosphere. We will conform to the typical movement and gestures found in the dance genre.

Amy: Narrative Theory;

When listening to the lyrics within most of the music video’s we researched, it suggested that narrative theories such as Todorov’s theory could be easily applied. In our product we will use elements from Todorov’s narrative theory, including an equilibrium, disequilibrium, realisation of the equilibrium, an attempt to repair the equilibrium and the new equilibrium. However, as our product will follow a non linear narrative, it will not be a direct copy of Todorov’s theory.

Jennie: Institution:

Our chosen record label is ‘All Around The World Records’. It was founded in 1991 by directors Matt Cadman and Cris Nuttall, and is based in Blackburn, England. The main artist's include Cascada, Ultrabeat, Darren Styles and Scooter, which show us as a group that they are a very successful within the dance genre. Along with dance artists’, they are also very active in the compilation area, with there main compilations being the Floorfiller and Clubland Albums.

Ellie: We feel this label is most suitable to represent our dance artist as it focuses mainly on the dance genre and offers compilations as well as solo albums. By choosing this record label, it should enable us to get the most publicity for our artist as they are incredibly successful in the field of promoting dance artists.

Planning - Character Profiles;

Character Profiles (Representation)

Female protagonist character –
This is the main character in our narrative that experiences a change in persona as the narrative progresses. She will be shown as a stereotypical female character who is portrayed as vulnerable at the beginning of the narrative, but as the plot develops she will become more dominant and reverse the roles of dominant ideology.

We will encode this female character within the text as a character who challenges dominant ideology in terms of gender, in order to make our audience active, as it is not a text that is a pastiche of a typical dance genre, music video. We will represent this female character and the characterisation of the character through semiotics and technical codes. She will be framed using high angle shots at the beginning, whilst wearing ordinary, non-glamorous clothing, representing her as a vulnerable, innocent character, whom the audience will pity and empathise in.

However, as the narrative develops, this character’s change will be represented through costume, iconography and camera shots. Her occupation as a DJ will give her a new lease for life, which in turn changes her costume to a more stereotypically passionate and powerful type and changes her general demeanour to a more positive one.

Youth will be represented stereotypically throughout the start of the narrative, as this female character will reinforce the dominant ideology that teenagers are vulnerable and pity themselves. However, as the change occurs in the female character, it challenges representation of youth, as she now possesses self-confidence and strength.

A feminist view of this character after she experiences a change could include Laura Mulvey’s theory that the female body is displayed for the male gaze in order to create voyeurism for a male audience. However, as this female character becomes dominant, this will also engage a female audience, as it is not conventional and challenges what the female gender see as societies gender norms.


Male character –
This is the main male character in our narrative. He is classed as a stereotypical ‘action/hero’ male character who is portrayed as dominant from the beginning of the text, but in a negative manner. His attempts to bully and undermine the female protagonist reinforce gender dominance, but as his actions are unethical his relationship with the audience will be a negative one. However, this ‘powerful’ male character will experience a downfall in dominance, as he will see the female character succeed in her occupation of DJing, which makes him turn away and leave the setting, with a facial expression suggesting defeat.

We will encode this male character in an attempt to conform to dominant ideology when speaking of gender. His rash thinking and actions throughout the narrative reinforce the male stereotype. He will dominate the frame when he is shown as the ‘bully’ but as gender dominance roles reverse he will be captured in low angle point of view shots that express his sudden lack of dominance in comparison to the female character.

This male character will stand in the crowd and will show clear signs of envy towards the female character. This character will wear black clothing to reinforce his dominance as a male character, and will be a stereotypical ‘cocky’ character. Youth will be represented for this male character as stereotypical, as he is shown as having lack of intelligence due to his bullying of the female character. But his targeting of the female character and his confrontational behaviour stereotypically allow him to gain friends of the same type, who laugh at his ‘achievements’ and destroy the confidence of the female character.