Location reflecting the acoustic genre of my music video

Typical acoustic video location features

Acoustic music videos are usually set in a natural location such as woodland areas and the beach, anywhere that suggests the 'organic' and basic style of the music. It allows the artist to mold the mood of their video through their visuals. Often acoustic videos consist of the artist or actors travelling some where and exploring the world they live in, which gives off connotations of freedom and happiness.

Lighting

Most acoustic videos are set outside so the main lighting that is used is natural daylight, for example the use of sunlight leaking into the camera often creates small glares which gives a happy and content feel to the videos, which again relates back to the genre and style of the music. If set inside, the only lighting used tends to just be the natural lighting that surrounds them, for example windows and ceiling lights.

Acoustic Features of my music video

Location

At the beginning of my music video, during the instrumental I have filmed snippets of the location so the audience can easily infer that I'm filming near the beach. The symbols; the beach hut, boat, star fish and shells are a stereotypical schema of things that you would expect to see on a beach. The location of my video follows the conventions of an acoustic video because it is shot in and around the beach which is a natural setting which reflects the simplicity of the music.

Lighting- pastel undertones

Similar to many acoustic videos, I have used a colour corrector to give my video some pastel undertones so it will match the mood of the video. By giving my video a pastel pink undertone it reflects the overall romantic feel to it. I mixed pink and blue undertones together to create this vintage like colour, by doing this I have used the stereotypical colours a boy and girl would be matched with, which again reflects back to the narrative of my video. The undertones generally make the video feel warm and happy which is what I want it to look like, most acoustic videos have a 'happy go lucky' feel to them such as the ones that I have analysed below.

Analysed acoustic music videos

Jason Mraz - I'm Yours

Jason Mraz has followed the typical acoustic video conventions in his video 'I'm Yours'. The video is of Jason Mraz travelling and exploring some of the natural beauty's surrounding him. A lot of his video captures the natural world, for example 3 out of the 4 pictures above are of  some natural locations. This matches the style of the music and how it is naturally produced and not created by a computer. Mraz has increased the contrast of the video to make the vibrant colours of each location stand out to show off the beautiful world we live in. The bright colours also give off a positive vibe for the video. By exploring all of these natural locations, Mraz gives his audience a feel of wanderlust and new experiences like he did in his video.

Jason Mraz- 93 Million Miles

Showing the natural world surrounding him in his videos, is a house style for Jason Mraz. His video '93 Million Miles' is one of his most recent videos from his new album and it's amazing the similarities 'I'm yours' and this video share. Both have multiple shots throughout the video of natural locations such as woodland areas and mountains. Again we see the artist in these natural landscapes, but this time playing his guitar, which again reflects the simplicity of the music itself. The lighting used in this video is natural and warm, which gives the video a calming and mellow feel.

Colbie Caillat - Bubbly

Colbie Caillat's video bubbly again follows these convention. The natural location at the beach and at the house where she is surrounded by potted plants, sets the chilled mood of the song. A warming filter has been used in this video as every time we get a close up of the artist, her face has an orange glow, like the sunset is hitting it. Again, this creates a happy mood throughout the video. All of the colours and tones correspond well together. The natural lighting used gives a sense of the artist being laid back and caring more about the music than the quality of the video.

Taylor Swift - Back To December

'Back to December' by Taylor Swift is a song where she is apologising to a boy who she messed around and regrets doing it. Because the song is a sad song the video has a cold tone to it, making the shots look washed out and pale. This video follows the acoustic video conventions as 'Taylor's' ex is walking through the woodlands (top and bottom right pictures) which again reflects the simplicity of her music. At one point in the video it starts snowing inside the house, I think this is an effective way to use the elements to reflect the mood and meaning of the lyrics of the song.