Coursework: Preliminary exercise 2026

 1) State the song you have chosen for your preliminary exercise.

Walking on a dream-Empire of the sun

2) Choose at least three music videos similar to your concept and watch a clip or more from each. Make bullet-point notes on everything you watch, commenting on camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene.

Musicvideo 1:

Camera Work:Vertical 9:16 format with close-ups & medium shots.There is slow,smooth movements like gentle pans.It uses back lighting heavily.The sun behind the subject creates glow and a silhouette.The shots are held for 4–6 seconds which match the song’s pace.Editing:Slow cuts on beat/lyric changes with no fast jumps.There are soft fades and dissolves between clips.The use of warm orange/gold colour grade applied throughout. Mise-en-scène:Outdoor golden hour setting like fields,open sky,low sun. Soft, flowing clothing in cream/white/pastel tones.Natural warm lighting the sun itself is a key prop.

Musicvideo2:

Camera Work:Vertical phone-filmed,wide establishing shots of trees/grass,close-ups of face/hair catching light.Often shot through leaves/branches for framing and depth.Slow tracking shots.Editing:Clips 3–5 secs each which is fast enough to keep attention but slow enough to feel calm.Warm filter applied across all clips for consistency.Transitions are simple cuts or cross-fades.Mise-en-scène:Park setting of trees,grass,pathways and sunset sky.No props needed.

Musicvideo3:

Camera Work:Mix of wide landscape shots and medium close-ups.Slow dolly/push-in movement which makes it smooth and cinematic.Low angle shots make trees/sky feel grand.Editing:Longer held shots of 5–7 secs, builds a calm atmosphere.Warm orange/pink/purple colour palette.Lens flare effects added where sun appears.Fade to soft glow at the end.Mise-en-scène:Natural outdoor location.Flowing,loose clothing that moves in the breeze.Subject often turned away then looks back which creates connection with audiences.

3) Write a short music video treatment for your extract (this is basically a script for your TikTok music video). You can find an example of a treatment here. If you are making your real coursework then feel free to use the treatment from your summer project.

This Music video treatment will be a narrative based video which displays how some people feel when they are alone vs with their closest friend.Within the video it shows me expressing my feelings to a tree and trying to be happy while being alone.However I express happiness while hugging my friend and dancing with her.The lyrics tie together with my video creating a warm wholesome music video.

4) Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing (in a music video you will find you need FAR more shots than you think, particularly close-ups). These additional shots can be close-ups, alternative angles or something more creative. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word/Google Docs to set out your shot list - you can find an example here (this is from narrative filmmaking but the same format can be used for any video project). 

Golden Hour Shotlist

Shot No.	Shot	Filmed?
1	Tracking shot of me walking in a forest type area looking around	yes
2	Second tracking shot but this time im facing the other way and waving my hands in the air wile walking	yes
3	Close up of my shoe and then it zooms out and turns into a low angle shot of me walking on a beam	yes
4	Wide angle/long shot and then a zoom in of me laying down eyes closed on grass	yes
5	Medium shot as i sit down on the grass speaking to a tree	yes
6	Medium shot as i walk away from the camera into the forest	yes
7	Long shot of me running into the distance	yes
8	Medium shot to long shot of me and my friend running up a hill	yes
9	Medium shots of my friends sitting on a bench waving their hands	yes

Shot No.	Shot	Filmed?
10	Extreme close up of my shoe then a zoom out and an upside down shot of me walking up a hill	yes
11	Establishing shot of me and my friend looking in the distance	yes
12	Medium shot of me lying on a bench sad	yes
13	Medium shot of my sitting on the same bench in the corner with her head down	yes
14	Medium shot  of me and my friend hugging	yes
15	Long shot of me sitting down infront of the same tree with my head down	yes
16	Long shot of me running into the distance	yes
17	Tracking shot/Medium close up of me and my friend jumping in a circle	yes
18	Medium shot of me lying down on the same bench sad	yes

5) Plan your mise-en-scene: what iconography are you including to ensure your audience understands the genre and style of your artist? Plan your settings, costume, make-up, props and lighting. 

Costume:Casual clothes (no set type of outfit)

Lighting:Natural sunlight for authenticity and realism

Actor:Me

Make up/hair:No makeup and my hair is in braids

Props:No need

Setting:a hill,forest type area and a bench infront of a building

6) Plan a shooting schedule that will ensure everything is filmed by the deadline. Include when, where, who is required, planned equipment and any other aspects you need to arrange. 

Scedule:Wednesday in lesson and thursday 5 and 6

Where:school

Who:Me and two other friends

Equipment:nothing

Editing:thursday