Initial Idea Generation: Moodboards

Moodboards

Here I am considering the themes and aesthetics of the 2 songs: "I told you things" by Gracie Abrams and "Say yes to heaven" by Lana Del Rey, both under the same music category of Indie Folklore. The way I perceive the first option is that it is more relatable for the audience that I would most easily appeal to (teenagers and young adults). On the other hand, Lana's song involves a dreamy, lover girl vibe that people may also be attracted to. P/s: going into this, I am aiming to produce a sequence that is a mixture of narrative and concept-based music video because I feel that this is most effective in gaining a certain reaction from the viewers. 

"I  told you things "- Gracie Abrams

Through this moodboard that I created, it can be seen that in order to make this idea come to life, props can be determined as one of the main priorities since many of them are needed to connote the scrapbook detail as well as encode the "inorganized" personality of the subject. Additionally, the train station section could argueably be the most complicated one to execute since the setting I am planning to utilize is the HCM metro. Consequently, I would have to expect myself to fill out official requests to use certain areas for educational purposes, which can be difficult to gain permission to. 

"Say Yes to Heaven "- Lana Del Rey

Conversely to the other choice, "Say yes to Heaven" evokes a much deeper, more gut-wrenching feeling, which lead me to include very sentimental, melancholic shades in the palette. The main concern that I have for this song is the level of achievability. The melody of this track ties beautifully with the blend between femininity and nature - which explains why I added some photos of trees and streams. However, such settings are not at all accessible to where I am. In fact, to travel from the city to those provincial areas would take a lot of time, which not only would affect scheduling but also timing of sunlight during production. Regarding the specific type of architecture I want to capture, if I were to follow along with this idea, I am thinking of using the HCM City Fine Arts Museum (I knew of this place from taking art classes here when I was younger:) which for those who don't know, is surprisingly quite easy-going with their protocols of filming, especially of students with no commercial motivations. 

After giving it some thought, I've decided on using the track "I told you things" by Gracie Abrams. Though setting up props and getting the allowance to film at certain spaces can be tricky, I believe that the idea is still more worthy of accomplishing. One of the reasons is due to the song itself: the track has more of an upbeat momentum which can be better exaggerated through the use of visuals and editing, while as "Say yes to Heaven" can be a little too repetitive in terms of verse, and possibly too laid-back. Furthermore, the meaning of "I told you things" - when a girl regrets telling too much of herself to another person who eventually betrayed her trust and therefore their bond - has more foundation to build upon; in other words, I believe I have a better chance of combining narrative and concept in my music video if I use this song, where as Lana's track seems a little too slow-paced to diversify the sequence into a somewhat full narrative, limiting it to a concept-based video, which isn't what I want to.