Scene structure

Shot list for Music video

So here is the final Scene structuring list of the narrative scenes in our music video, I believe this will be helpful for us to know which scene includes which shots and therefore be easier for us to film the music video. 

By Humble Awan

Moodboard

This is the moodboard for our music video: 

Made by Faisal Yazdani

Texture, feel and tone of the music video.

So, since we have decided and written down our synopsis, we have a clear idea of what our music video will look like therefore i did some research on the kind of mood and tone would go with our concept and also the texture and feel. for this i took three music videos as reference these 3 are:

            Ankahi- Overload                         No hope- Vaccines                Return to Innocence- Enigma

We will be working on using a gray scale filter to give a feel of hopelessness or sadness as is used in all of the reference samples i have looked into. Further more since we will be using deserted land so the grayscale will give a better feel of loneliness and lack of hope.

Further to create the mood of the music video we will be showing a dark cloudy sky also signifying hopelessness and a leafless tree to show that nature has also stopped blossoming, another visual connoting hopelessness.

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This reference is taken from Ankahi by Overload.

Similar Music Videos

My Immortal- Evanescence

My immortal is a song by American rock band Evanescence from their debut studio album, Fallen. It is a piano rock song written in slow and free tempo. It talks about a spirit staying with you after death and haunts you until you actually wish that the spirit was gone because it doesn't leave you alone easily.

The mood of the song is quite dramatic and at the same time it is very melancholic, the way the whole video has been played in black and white, this makes it very sentimental. My Immortal is a song of pain and despair caused by the loss of a family member or very close friend and how it drove Amy Lee to the edge of insanity.

Throughout the music video Lee is never seen touching the ground because she is a ghost, signifying that she is the spirit and is singing from the dead.

Smile- Avril Lavigne

Smile is a song by a Canadian recording artist, Avril Lavigne from her fourth studio album, Goodbye Lullaby. Smile pays tribute to a special someone who was able to win her heart and put a grin on her face. Some shots of the music video are in black and white,  throughout the black and white parts of the music video, we see Avril pick up pieces of red glass that stands out. At the end of the video, we then see her her with the glass put back together showing it was a heart and summing up the meaning behind the song. her taking away the pieces shows her taking away all the heartache these people are suffering from, and all the broken hearts, and by the end of it, she takes away all these people’s pain, and mends their hearts back together.

The way the music video has been made gives a strong impression, it is a pop- punk song described as being sassy and catchy. The editing and the use of natural light in almost all of the music video allowed audiences to relate to the song and enjoy it. It gave a sense of happiness and emotions of yearning at the same time, giving hope at the end that heartbreak doesn't last forever.

Broken- Seether Song ft. Amy Lee

Broken is a song by post grunge/ alternative metal South African band Seether featuring American singer Amy Lee. Broken is mellow yet confident, as the vocalist Shaun Morgan is able to find the courage to express himself openly without having to release a scream during the powerful song every few seconds. 

There is no particular story in the music video at first and only two main characters, Lee and Morgan who wander through a dilapidated landscape, the camera movements and editing of the video is what made it look and feel so powerful. The underlying theme of the song is later understood that Lee and Morgan are trying to find each other but wont be able to, Lee knows where Morgan is but he does not see or sense her around him. 

The song yet again follows a story of two lovers but it has been portrayed in a very symbolic way without completely letting out the meaning in the first few shots, The shades used throughout the music video along with the edits are what made the music video extremely unique giving it a stronger meaning. 

Introducing the band members:

The following artists will be a part of our music video: 

      

Synopsis

Synopsis for the Music Video Duaa

Final Concept

The final concept of our music video was decided after a lot of discussion with the group and our media studies teacher.

Our concept is on the topic of Hopelessness. The concept involves a barren location where a teenage girl comes in the hope of finding some sort of happiness in the society. As an obvious fact, there is no plantation in a barren land but the reason why she comes there is because her faith is very strong and she knows that eventually happiness will come and hopelessness will start to disappear. In the narrative, this eventually happens leaving us with the message that even in the darkest of times one should not lose hope because you will eventually get what you wish for.

Concept Development for the music video

In order for the music video to be made, we obviously needed an idea or a theme to get along with it, without the theme the music video would have made no sense.

This post will talk about the concepts that were discussed in class by the whole group, namely, Humble Awan, Faisal Yazdani and I, Fatima Ali.


Three concepts/ narratives were discussed in greater detail:
Concept 1:
One idea was a typical story about a soldier husband and wife.The wife waits for her husband to get back from his mission but whenever she turns on the news and finds out that the army is doing well in terms of accomplishing their mission, she feels a sense of contentment that the one she loves is doing so well. There is a sense of yearning but also, how patriotic they are and have a strong relationship which helps them get through tough times.

Concept 2: 
Another was about how money cant buy happiness. Many people think money is the only form of happiness and satisfaction but we see that even those who are rich aren't happy with their life, they have everything but even then they feel that they want more than what they have. This does not mean that poverty makes individuals happy but there is still a sense of contentment and on a general level poor people seem to be much happier with life.

Concept 3: 
The last concept was about one of the major issues of our country: Unity. The concept behind the video would involve the use of colours instead of directly showing what the story is so people can make their own meaning out of it for example, Green and white- being the colours of the Pakistani flag, white representing minorities and green being the dominant majority.

  Our main idea is that everyone is human and has equal rights, the attacks on specific communities is equal to an attack against humanity and hence, we want to promote the idea of unity, because the world would be a better place without discriminatory violence. 

Copyright permission letter

Since this song was already a cover song and not a copyrighted version, we would not be needing a permission letter or certificate to use this song in our music video, therefore making things easier and smooth for us as well. 

Meaning of the Song- Duaa

Duaa means prayer, the song gives off a very emotional feel. The meaning of the song is positive in the sense that it gives the listener a message of hope with the lyrics, "Jo bheji thi dua, woh jaake aasmaan, se yoon takra gayi ke aa gayi, laut ke sadaa". This means that whatever you ask for eventually comes to you, it's just a matter of time- nothing is going to happen suddenly.

Khushi ke pal, kahan dhoondhoon 

Benishan sa, waqt bhi yahan hai

The world is a completely different place and one has to make a way out of it, happiness and bliss is only found and achieved if you work hard enough for it. In a world like ours, everyone manages to complain about one thing or the other no matter what you do. People are generally away from the reality of life- in their life journey their dreams just remain unfulfilled and they tend to feel that everything is just getting out of their hands.

Saanson ne kahan rukh mod liya

Koi raah nazar mein na aaye

Dhadkan ne kahan dil chhor diya

Kahan chhore in jismon ne saaye

There is an evident sense of yearning in the song, this part of the song depicts how eventually everyone stops breathing, they stop living, heartbeat stops and there is nothing but shadows left. There is a sense of loneliness and gloominess as at the end, the individual is alone and its just a smoke of memories that follows which is why one should always be able to be dependent on himself and not the world.

At the end, the main message is- what you ask will come back to you, the world will give a tough time but the strength and search for happiness shouldn't be lost. 

Lyrics and Translation of the song

Here are the lyrics of the song, Duaa by Sanam Puri (cover version):

Kise poochun, hai aisa kyun

Bezubaan sa, ye jahaan hai

To whom to ask, why is it so,

this world is, as if mute..

Khushi ke pal, kahan dhoondhoon 

Benishan sa, waqt bhi yahan hai

Where to find moments of joy,

Even time is like without a sign..

Jaane kitne labon pe gile hain

Zindagi se kayi faasle hain

Paseejte hain sapne kyun aankhon mein

Lakeer jab chhoote in haathon se yoon bewajah

There are complaints on so many lips,

there are many distances from the life..

Why do the dreams dampen in eyes,

when the line leaves these hands, for no reason..

Jo bheji thi duaa, woh jaake aasmaan

se yoon takra gayi ke aa gayi

Hai laut ke sadaa

The wish I had sent,

that collided with the sky such that

a call has come back..

Saanson ne kahan rukh mod liya

Koi raah nazar mein na aaye

Dhadkan ne kahan dil chhor diya

Kahan chhore in jismon ne saaye

where have the breaths turned their face,

I don't see any path..

where has the heartbeat left the heart,

and where have these bodies left (their) shadows..

Yehi baar-baar sochta hoon tanha main yahan

Mere saath-saath chal raha hai yaadon ka dhuaan

I, here, think this again and again..

a smoke of memories is walking with me. 

Jo bheji thi duaa, woh jaake aasmaan

se yoon takra gayi ke aa gayi

Hai laut ke sadaa 

The wish I had sent,

that collided with the sky such that

a call has come back..

Selected Music track

The track that we have selected for our music video is "Duaa" which is  originally an official soundtrack of the movie Shanghai and originally sung by Arjit Singh and Nandini Srikar, where as the cover we have chosen is from the band Sanam sung by Sanam Puri and Sanah Moidutty.

The band record label is "Saregama", released in 2014- It is otherwise not a part of any album. While choosing a song for our video, we had strong options like Khamaj by Fuzon and Sar Kiye Ye Pahar by Strings. The reason why we chose thing song is because, it has a very emotional, mellow tone to it and is slightly peaceful compared to the others which is why the three of us unanimously chose this track.

Since the song is available on soundcloud, here is the link:

Moving on to Planning