We Direct Music Videos

Treatment One:

https://www.wedirectmusicvideos.com/individual-treatments/2019/7/3/mahalia-i-wish-i-missed-my-ex-directed-by-andrew-litten

This treatment explains thoroughly what happens in the music video 'I wish I missed my ex' by Mahalia. Andrew Litten, who directed the music video and wrote the treatment, began writing the treatment by explaining how he wanted the video to come across to the audience. He uses words like 'powerful', 'simplistic' and 'authentic' to describe the video. This gives the reader an insight to how they will feel and think while watching the video. He then goes on to say the concept of the video that it will be in reverse while Mahalia will sing along to the lyrics. Litten uses a rhetorical question which is 'Remember this video?' which allows the reader to know it will be unique and unforgettable. Onto the next slide, Litten get's quite personal by stating 'is an honour to document'. He is talking about how privileged he feels to film in a neighbourhood, which has Mexican roots, in East Los Angeles in a 'real community'. He points out that most music videos revolve around fame and the beach so him being able to shoot where they did is a rare occurrence and was happy they were able to. Then on the next slide, Litten starts to set the scene with the actions taking place and how Mahalia enters. To make it more interesting to read, Litten included an adverb, which was 'magically', when describing a skater getting back on his skateboard after falling as the video is in reverse. This makes the reader feel more excited about the video because adverbs give a description but in a more fun way. Litten even goes on to describe the background noises of the cars beeping and dogs barking etc. To make the reader feel the music video come to life, Litten writes 'we transition into our new world'. This implies that the music video is not like normal life as it's in reverse and so it will be like nothing the reader has seen before. Litten takes a different approach with the next slide by simply just writing a list of actions that happens in the scene rather than writing it in full detail. For example, one of the actions in the list is 'a woman watering her plants'. It is very easy to understand what the actions are as it's easy to take in and process what's happening. Litten gets back to his usual writing of paragraphs filled with adjectives and intensely describing the scene. He does this by even saying the time of day 'a hot summers night' to make the reader picture in their mind the scenery of the sky and lighting. In the scene, Mahalia is talking to her friend but it is in reverse to fit with the music video. Litten refers this to the television show 'Twin Peaks' which tells us that he took inspiration from a scene in that show and used it in the music video. To end the video, Litten explains it by writing 'our calm, cool Saturday with Mahalia is over.' Litten wrote it like this too end it in a calmly matter. Throughout the treatment, there are images that are related to the music video as they show the reader what the scenes may loom like and the people in them.

Overall, I think the use of adjectives and adverbs makes this treatment interesting to read and gives a clear understanding what is happening in the scenes. 

Treatment Two:

https://www.wedirectmusicvideos.com/individual-treatments/2019/7/3/robin-schulz-sugar-directed-by-zak-stoltz

To begin with we are briefly told how the music video begins by using short sentences which is very easy to understand. The director Zak Stoltz wanted the song to be represented as a dance a long song that people hyper up too so he has a police officer, who is called Bob, sitting in his car bored with the radio on. Then the song comes on and when the lyrics start, the police officer starts to sing and 'lets loose and starts rocking out'. Stoltz compares the intro to this music video to Fatboy Slim's music video to the song 'Weapons of Choice' as they are similar. In between the slides, Stoltz places images that are from other music videos, films or the internet that relate to the scenes he's talking about. This lets the reader get a visual of what the scenes look like. Swiftly moving onto the next slide, Stoltz explains the next scene of the police officer driving like a maniac as he drives into bins and up the curbs, he even hits a pedestrian. This shows the audience how much the police officer is into the song and he's not caring about the world around him. On the next slide, the scene changes to him being in a self car wash and he's dancing with his top off. Stoltz explains this by saying 'No shame. The song is too good.' This is written bluntly but its gets straight to the point that the character is loving the song. In a very short paragraph, we get an idea of what the car now looks like after it leaves the car wash as the soap is still on it but the car gets dirty again as it goes off the road. This allows the audience to get a clear picture of what the car looks like in the video. Next, Stoltz describes the next scene of Bob stopping the car and going to the boot with clothes in it. The clothes are the same clothes Baby Bash wore in the music video 'Suga Suga'. Stoltz did this because it has the same song title as this one by Robin Schulz. However, Bob sees the clothes and looks up at a billboard with Robin Schulz on it and he moves by putting his thumbs up for approval. Stultz writes in the treatment 'he approves' which again, he makes it clear that the character can wear it. Stultz changes the subject of what happens in the music video to why they chose Nathan Barnatt as the character Bob. He says that the production company have worked with him before and he wanted someone that looks 'pretty average' so it's 'unexpected when he lets loose'. Stultz links some of Barnett's work in the treatment so the reader can check out his work which raises his profile. To end the treatment, Stultz is certain that the music video will 'look amazing' and 'people are going to love it'. He's sure of this because of how unexcepted it is and the fun and joy it bring of the character dancing and not caring about his driving. 

After reading this treatment, I think the most effective Stultz has done is writing short sentences. This is because it gets straight to the point and is very  easy to understand. I also think the use of images is effective because it gives the reader a visual representation of what the scenes look like. I like how he uses images not from the music video as it still keeps the reader curious of what the music video will look like. 

Treatment Three

https://www.wedirectmusicvideos.com/individual-treatments/2019/6/18/breezeblocks-by-alt-j-directed-by-ellis-bahl

The music video 'Breezeblocks' by Alt-J is directed by Ellis Bahl who also wrote the treatment. He wrote the treatment in very small sections which all have a time at the beginning which represents the time of place in the video. Then next to the time he writes where the location is and underneath he explains the actions happening in the scene. He writes it in very short sentences so its easy for the reader to understand still keeps them wondering what the scenery looks like as there's mot to much detail. In the first section, at the time '0:00' in the 'Bathroom' Bahl ends it by asking '(is this image violent?)'. Before this Bahl explains the scene that a women is in a bathtub with a breezeblock on her which drowned her. Bahl put that question in on the end to make the reader realise how serious the music video is and to get them thinking about the scene more as they will picture it more. Later on, Bahl begins the section at the time '0:25' by talking about the place of the camera. He does this by saying 'Camera pulls out/frames man and woman'. This allows the reader to have an image in their head of what the shot looks like even with the angles. Near the end of the treatment, Bahl uses a different technique of saying the emotions the character has 'His wife is terrified!'. Instead of describing her facial expressions and her actions, Bahl says how she feels which lets the reader get on a deeper level with the treatment as emotions are known as a powerful thing. The layout of the treatment is very simple as Bahl wanted it straight forward to read. He did this by having each section of the times in separate paragraphs and in the same size writing and font. The writing is on top of images which are not from the music video but they are all inspiration for it so the reader can get more of a visual what the music video will look like and the vibe it has.

Looking back on the treatment, I think the most effective thing Bahl did with it was including questions for the reader in it. This is because it allows the reader to think more about the music video (like the design or actions involved) where they wouldn't if the question wasn't in it.

Top Three Tips for a Successful Treatment

1. Use images to give a visual look what the music video will look like.

2. Use short sentences to get to the point quickly and is easy to undersand.

3. Use adjectives/adverbs to describe the location/people in the video so the reader can build an image in their head.