First Draft of Music Video

This is the first draft of my music video. I like how some sections have turned out but there are a lot of changes I need to make in my next draft. Firstly, I need to re-film some of the footage, such as the lip-sync sequences, due to them being out of time, and some of the scenes of Emily in the green room because there is a really noticeable reflection of the lighting in Emily's glasses. These things take away from the professional look I want my video to have so I will ensure they are amended. In addition, I have not filmed about half of the shots for the video so there are many blank spaces in this draft, which will be filled by the next draft.

Lip-sync Practice

This is video of Emily practicing some of the lip-sync sections that will be incorporated in my video. I wanted to make sure she knows all the lyrics she will have to lip-sync and be comfortable with the timings for each section.

Test Shots

These are a series of test/practice shots I put together before starting my proper filming. I did some pans, zooms, tilts, etc. to help me get to grips with the equipment and be confident I could get the correct framing for the different shot types.

Demographics

Demographics = ' Studies of a population based on factors such as age, race, sex, economic status, level of education, income level and employment, among others. Demographics are used by governments, corporations and non-government organizations to learn more about a population's characteristics for many purposes, including policy development and economic market research. Demographic trends are also important, as the size of different demographic groups will change over time as a result of economic, cultural and political circumstances.'

(Source: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/demographics.asp)

It is important to know the demographics of your target audience so you can market to that specific group of people and make your product more accessible to them. For example, depending on the chosen audience demographic, the price of the product will differ, as an upper middle class audience can afford to pay much more than a student in the casual/lowest grade workers.This will mean that the quality of the products will also differ slightly, so if an audience is paying a lot for a product, they will expect much better/higher quality than someone who is paying much less

The table below illustrates the different grades in relation to demographics:

My target audience will most likely be students, as I am aiming my products at 16-19 year olds. This means they will fall into the 'casual/lowest grade worker' category. Therefore, I will ensure my products are appealing to and accessible for them. As my earlier example outlined, to make the products accessible for this group, they would have to be quite cheap in price, but as my video will be published on YouTube, it will be free anyway. This platform is the best to use for my target audience because it is free and easy to access, and stereotypically, this age group are the most avid user of social media so this platform is appealing to them. Additionally, I created a target audience profile (see separate blog post) which gives a generalised idea of what my target audience are interested in, so I will be incorporating these things into my products, so it is attractive/appealing to them.

Behind The Scenes Pictures (Green Room Shoot)

Filming Diary (9/12/14)

The filming in the green room today went relatively well. I got all the shots I wanted to film done in time so that was really good and most of the shots turned out well. One of the issues I had was with the song on my phone. For some reason the song wouldn't play no matter how many times I tried, despite it usually working, which meant I had to improvise a bit with the timings of the lip-sync and some of the dance movements to the beat. Therefore, these scenes did not look that effective due to slightly incorrect timing, etc. so as I want them to be perfect, I will have to re-film these shots after Christmas and put them in my second draft (I don't have time to re-film before putting together my first draft). Another issue I had was with there being a noticeable reflection of the lighting (and the camera in some shots) in Emily's glasses. This was even more noticeable in close-ups, which the majority of shots were. No matter where I moved the lighting, there was always a reflection, so I couldn't think of any other solution during that filming session and had to just continue filming so I had enough footage for the first draft. Due to this, I will have to also re-film these shots after Christmas because it will take far too long to try and edit the reflection out of the frame for every single shot. The only solution I can think of is that Emily doesn't wear her glasses in these scenes, so she only has them on in the flashbacks, not in the green room, which could just show she is in a informal/laid-back setting in the flashback scenes. If I was to do this I will have to re-shoot all the scenes in the green room, but this shouldn't be too much of an issue because I know where I went wrong this time and will be able to prepare for any issues beforehand, allowing the filming session to be quick and easy. Apart from these issues, everything else went smoothly so I have some decent footage for my first draft, and hopefully it will turn out okay.

First Green Room Shoot - Outfit

This is the look I decided to use for the scenes shot in the green room in which Emily is alone. The hair and make-up is 'look one' (see post from last month), but with her hair down and wavy and two little buns on either side of her head rather than her hair fully pinned up. I made this change because I felt this look suited Emily more and also went better with certain scenes, such as the close-up of Emily twizzling her hair, which obviously wouldn't have worked if she had her hair up. The outfit I chose was a high neck striped top, black leather skirt, black tights and a chunky belt, which is quite simple but stylish. The overall look makes Emily appear to be typically 'indie' and quirky, which is how I want my artist to be represented. 

Filming Diary (5/12/14)

Today's filming went surprisingly well. The weather, although absolutely freezing, was on our side and it stayed sunny and dry throughout the filming session. I also managed to get all the park scenes done so that is all the filming outside in the cold done (as long as nothing needs re-shooting), as well as getting time to play on the swings and zip wire...The only issues I really had were making sure the tripod was equal so the frames weren't wonky, which was sometimes awkward due to bark where the swings were, etc, and ensuring we had someone watching our bags, whilst we moved around the park to film in different areas. However, these issues were easy to overcome, and hopefully the footage will be good and look effective.

Filming Park Scenes: Behind The Scenes Pictures

Park Scene Outfits

The looks my actors had in the park scenes are very casual due to the equally casual setting. Emily had 'make-up look two' which is very simple and natural. She wore a black velvet playsuit with a white peter pan style collar, black tights, black cutout boots and a coat (due to the ridiculously cold weather). Jack wore black skinny jeans, trainers, a black hoodie and a coat. Both the outfits are very laid-back and 'everyday' style, but they still have quite an 'indie' look to them. This creates a sense of verisimilitude and matches the general style of my video.

Filming Session: Park Scenes

I am going to film the scenes set on Cropton Park tomorrow afternoon. I have booked a camera and tripod out and organised with my actors, Emily and Jack, to meet and get all of the shots needed at the park done. As this is all set outside, I am very reliant on the weather. Luckily, the forecast is that it will be sunny and dry all day (shown in the screenshots below) so that is great conditions to film in. I also need the natural sunlight for my filming in order to get the correct lighting effect in my frames, so I will need to make sure all filming is done before it starts getting dark (sunset is at 15:43).

Shot Plan:

Friday 5th December

Shots = 27, 28, 37, 38, 46, 79, 80, 81, 84, 85, 89

Location = Cropton park

People Needed = Emily & Jack

Props = None

Costume & Makeup = Make-up look two, black velvet playsuit, black tights & boots (Emily)/skinny jeans, black t-shirt, jacket & trainers (Jack)

Below is a screenshot of some of the messages between me and my actors in our Facebook group inbox organising this filming session:

Rearranging 'Second Filming Session'

On Wednesday, we ran out of time and unfortunately I did not manage to get any of my filming done. This was due to Emily having complications whilst doing her shots which meant that it took longer than we both expected. However, I have booked the green room for Tuesday last period, when we both have a free, and I will do the shots I planned to do on Wednesday then instead, so we can both get back on track.

Further Inspiration

Videos/narratives that link to the concept of broken relationships:



I randomly came across this video whilst listening to a YouTube playlist the other day and I'm so glad I found it because it is so unique in style and very effective at presenting a dysfunctional and complicated relationship. I would like to follow this kind of style and message in my video so I want to incorporate some aspects from this video in the narrative elements of mine.



This is one of my favourite film scenes from one of my favourite films of all time. I love how harshly realistic it is and I think a lot of people find they can relate to the 'expectations/reality' conflict in their lives or will have done at some point. The whole film is based around the concept of love and relationships, and how it does not always go to plan, with different people wanting different things. Therefore, this links well to the message I want to get across in my video. I already have flashback narrative elements planned for my video which show a conflict between 'then vs now' or 'expectations vs reality' (depending on how the audience want to interpret it). I had this scene in mind when I thought up these scenes, and I want audiences to be able to relate in a similar way to my video as they found they could to this scene.

Second Filming Session

Today Emily booked the green room for us to film in on Wednesday during one of our free periods. Later on I will book a camera and tripod out again from Ben. I will use this filming session to get as many of the scenes of Emily in the green room done as possible. However, time may be limited because Emily, being a fellow media student, has to film for her video too and I agreed to be in her's because she's doing me a massive favour by being in mine. Therefore, we will be splitting the time equally and taking it in turns to do some filming. I will then book the green room again either for later this week or the beginning of next week to film whatever scenes I didn't manage to complete on Wednesday.

Shot Plan:

Wednesday 3rd December
Shots = 1 (3, 5, 7, 40, 69), 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 17, 21, 24, 29, 33, 36, 41, 48, 55, 60, 62, 67, 76, 77, 87
Location = Green room
People Needed = Emily
Props = heart shaped glasses, lemons, fan, party popper
Costume & Make-up = look one hair & make-up (but hair down with two buns at back of head instead of hair fully pinned up), high neck stripy top, black leather skirt, black belt & tights

(Below is a text message screenshot of further organisation/preparation for filming tomorrow with Emily)

Behind The Scenes Pictures

These are a few 'behind the scenes' pictures from my first filming session over the weekend:

Filming Diary (28/11/14 - 30/11/14)

On Friday I was meant to get some test shots and do lip-sync practice with Emily, but unfortunately this didn't go to plan. To do this I would have needed access to the green room but, as I was silly and unorganised, I left booking the green room until last minute and when I went to do it, it was fully booked up for the day. However, when I took the camera and tripod home I had a little play around with them so I could get to grips with the equipment, which I have found to be very helpful.
When I got up on Saturday morning I set up the camera properly, putting my memory card in. At first it wasn't accepting my memory card, saying the memory was full even though it is completely brand new and unused. However, I was determined to get it working and with a little bit of time, it finally started working. First I got some test shots done around the house, practising panning, tilting and zooming. Then I got a couple of my real shots done, although not as many as I had hoped to get, due to the limited time I had because of having to go to work.
On Sunday morning I started filming quite early so I could ensure I could fit all the filming planned into one day, as well as getting some revision and work for my other subjects done. To start I did the scenes where objects are smashed. I set up the camera on the concrete part of my garden (this would make the objects easier to break - my dad's advice). Then my dad smashed the objects for me whilst I filmed. We only had one chance with these shots so the pressure was on to get it right the first time, and luckily it turned out great, which was almost unbelievable. These scenes were so fun to film, and my dad had a great time smashing things up...Later on in the day Emily came round to do some filming. I started off explaining the scenes I wanted to film to her, then we did some quick test shots and lip-sync practice before starting the real filming. My family were out for the majority of the day which was good because it allowed us to move around the house to film without having to keep annoying them and getting them to move to another room, etc. The majority of shots went to plan, the only real struggle I had was that I needed a dolly track for a couple of the scenes but had forgotten to book one out from college. However, I improvised and got my spinny computer chair, placed the tripod on top of it so the camera was stable and used that instead, so hopefully that worked well and the footage will still look professional. The other issue I had was the positioning of the table in my dining room because it meant I could use a tracking shot of Emily painting at one side but not the other as it was too close to the wall for the chair to fit and for the camera to not be too close to Emily's face. Therefore, I improvised again and did a pan & zoom shot instead.
Overall, I think the shooting session over the weekend went pretty well and I got the majority of the footage I planned to get done. I will be booking a camera and tripod out again a couple of times this week so I can get a few more scenes out of the way. Additionally, we started losing natural light a lot sooner than expected, which was due to the cloudy weather. This meant the footage was looking darker and the subject within the frame was not as visible as I wanted, so I had to turn on the lights in the room and use artificial lighting. This made the shots look much better.

(As well as doing written film diaries, I am filming video diaries whilst on set to give a greater insight into my filming process - once I have done all my filming sessions I will be editing these together into one video which I will post on my blog)

Organising Actors

Last night I just messaged Emily to check she was still okay to do filming today and to ask her what to bring, when to come, etc. This helped with organisation so I could plan out the day of filming.

Weather

This is a screenshot of today's weather forecast. As the majority of filming will be done inside, the weather is not a major issue, as it shouldn't really effect what I have planned. Due to the weather being best/brightest about 12-1 o'clock I will shoot the few shots I need in my garden then. I also need to make sure all filming is done before sunset because I need the natural light for my shots.

Health & Safety Grid

Target Audience Profile

This is a 'reader profile' style moodboard I made about my target audience. It is very stereotypical but is good to show what kind of interests and styles my target audience likes so I can try to link them to/incorporate them in my products. As my target audience are teenagers (about 16-19), mainly female (but it should hopefully appeal to boys too), with an interest in the indie genre, I want to ensure my products specifically attract this group so the more research into the audience, the more successful I should be with this.

Lighting Ideas

This is a prezi presentation of some inspiration and ideas I have for the lighting in my video. I have included 3 existing music videos that incorporate effective lighting styles that I really like and would love to use in my own video.

MES - Hair, Makeup & Outfit Looks 2 & 3

 

Hair & make-up look 2 (left):

This look is for the scenes in which Emily is painting at home. Therefore, I wanted her to look quite natural. This is why she has simple make-up, just a natural base and cat eye eye-liner, with wavy hair.

Hair & make-up look 3 (right):

This look is for the scenes where Emily is at home alone. The hair & make-up of this look is very similar to look 2 but I added some dark lipstick as this will be like her 'everyday look'.

Outfit look 2 (left):

Like the hair & make-up for this look, Emily's outfit is very simple. A plaid shirt, plain black t-shirt and comfy mom style shorts, make up this very laid-back/casual outfit, which is typical of what someone may wear if they are in a home setting.

Outfit look 3 (right):

This outfit is still quite casual due to it being for scenes in a home setting, but there is slightly more to it than look 2. Emily wears the same mom style shorts, but with a black belt, charm necklace, grey-shirt and an over-sized purple velvet shirt. This shows she has made more of an effort with her style in these scenes, and actually has quite a quirky, creative sense of style.

First Filming Sessions

Today I pre-booked a camera and tripod out from Ben (the media technician) to collect on Friday and keep over the weekend. I plan to use my frees on Friday to possibly get some test shots and do lip-sync practice with my main actress, Emily. Tomorrow I will book out the green room for one of my Friday frees so I can do this. Then over the weekend I will continue to get test shots and start filming for some scenes of my actual music video. On Saturday I am at work in the afternoon so will have to start filming early to ensure I make the most of having the equipment. I plan to do the scenes where I will only need props and not the actors, e.g. the smashing of the mirror, plate, vase, etc. because this will get these shots out of the way. On Sunday I will hopefully be able to do some of the scenes set in my house with Emily.

Shot Plan:

Friday 28th
Test shots & lip-sync practice
Location = green room (white wall)
People Needed = Emily
Props = None
Costume & Make-up = N/A

Saturday 29th
Test shots & first filming session - prop only scenes
Shots = 11, 31, 52, 57, 61(possibly), 65, 74
Location = my house (mainly garden)
People Needed = a family member to help set up props whilst I set camera up & film
Props = calendar, mirror, hammer, plate, 2 pizzas & pepperoni, converse, bottles & cans of alcohol, vase with flowers
Costume & Make-up = N/A

Sunday 30th
First filming session with Emily
Shots = 27, 30, 38, 39, 51, 59, 68, 71, 73, 79 (Emily's part), 81, 86, 90, 91, 92
Location = my house & cropton park (dependant on weather)
People Needed = Emily
Props = canvas, paint, whipped cream, dolly track
Costume & Make-up = looks 2 & 3

MES - Hair & Make-up Look One

This is a time lapse video I made on my iPhone last night. In this I show how to create the first hair and make-up look I want for the artist in my video. This make-up style is quite popular, with a simple base, a light smoky eye and a deep red shade of lipstick. This will suit Emily, my actress, and will look good on camera as it will make her features stand out. The double bun hairstyle adds a more quirky feel to this look, presenting my artist as being unique.

(Apologies for the weird facial expressions I pull throughout the video...)

These are pictures of the completed look:

Location Pictures

These are some pictures of the locations I will be using in my music video.
The locations I will be using are the college green room, my house (bedroom, staircase, dining room, front room & kitchen), and cropton park. I picked these locations due to their easy accessibility and casual/realistic look (in terms of creating a sense of verisimilitude in my video). The green room needs to be pre-booked before I have filming sessions in it due to the large amount of students that will want to use it to, so I will ensure I have this organised beforehand. This location allows me to experiment with and use good quality lighting, which will give my video a professional look. Additionally, the white wall creates simplicity so the focus will be on the subjects in the frame rather than the actual location. My house, for obvious reasons, is always accessible for me to film in so this makes my life a whole lot easier, and means I have more time opportunity to get some filming done. As it is a very typical family house it will create verisimilitude in the video. When planning filming sessions for scenes in my house, I will have to take some factors into consideration, such as if my family are in or the time of day (for lighting reasons). Furthermore, cropton park is also accessible and easy for me and my actors to get to because it only a 10 minute walk from my house. Similarly to my house, the park is a very realistic setting and has a kind of urban look to it so also adds a sense of verisimilitude, allowing the audience to relate. When wanting to film at the park I will have to consider the time of day for both lighting and disturbance reasons (e.g. if there are lots of kids running around). The park also has a closing time so I will have to ensure I plan filming sessions that allow me enough time before the park closes.

Cast List

Main Cast:

The artist: Emily Lawson

Features:

- Average height
- Blue eyes
- Pale complexion
- Long, naturally wavy light brown hair
- Glasses

I asked Emily to be my artist because I know she will do a great job of it. We have been friends for a long time so I know she is very reliable and easy to get in touch with. She also lives just up the road from me so that makes meeting up for filming a lot easier because neither of us will have to travel far to meet, as well as meaning there will be more time opportunity for us to film. Emily has helped me with media projects before so I know she is good and comfortable in front of a camera, and because she is a fellow media student she understands what is expected from the product. Additionally, she has the look I wanted for my artist and will be easy to work with in terms of hair and make-up styling.

Artist's boyfriend: Jack Blanchard

Features:

- Average height

- Blue eyes

- Short brown hair

Jack will be playing the boyfriend of the main artist in my music video. He fits the part well due to his style and confidence. Furthermore, he is comfortable in front of a camera and is reliable so I know he will do a good job. 

Other Cast Members:

Friend 1 - Kayleigh Blake

Friend 2 - Faye Loades

Friend 3 - Tom Bell

Shot Planning

Locations

1. Green Room
2. Cropton Park
3. My House

Green Room:

Shot 1 (&3, 5, 7, 40, 69), shot 2, shot 4, shot 6, shot 8, shot 9, shot 10, shot 13, shot 17, shot 21, shot 22, shot 24, shot 25, shot 26, shot 29, shot 32, shot 33, shot 35, shot 36, shot 41, shot 45, shot 47, shot 48, shot 49, shot 50, shot 53, shot 55, shot 56, shot 60, shot 62, shot 64, shot 67, shot 71, shot 72, shot 75, shot 76, shot 77, shot 82, shot 83, shot 87, shot 88

Cropton Park:

Shot 27, shot 28, shot 37, shot 38, shot 46, shot 65, shot 79, shot 80, shot 81, shot 84, shot 85, shot 89

My House:

Shot 11, shot 12, shot 14, shot 15, shot 16, shot 18, shot 19, shot 20, shot 23, shot 30, shot 31, shot 34, shot 39, shot 42, shot 43, shot 44, shot 51, shot 52, shot 54, shot 57, shot 58, shot 59, shot 61, shot 63, shot 66, shot 68, shot 70, shot 73, shot 74, shot 78, shot 79 (Emily's part & Jack's part), shot 86, shot 90, shot 91, shot 92

Cast

• Artist
• Boyfriend
• Friend 1 (girl)
• Friend 2 (girl)
• Friend 3 (boy)

Artist:

Shot 1 (&3, 5, 7, 40, 69), shot 2, shot 4, shot 6, shot 8, shot 9, shot 10, shot 12, shot 14, shot 15, shot 17, shot 18, shot 19, shot 21, shot 22, shot 23, shot 24, shot 26, shot 27, shot 28, shot 29, shot 30, shot 32, shot 33, shot 34, shot 35, shot 36, shot 37, shot 38, shot 39, shot 41, shot 42, shot 43, shot 44, shot 45, shot 46, shot 48, shot 49, shot 50, shot 51, shot 53, shot 54, shot 55, shot 56, shot 58, shot 59, shot 60, shot 62, shot 63, shot 64, shot 65, shot 66, shot 67, shot 68, shot 70, shot 71, shot 72, shot 73, shot 75, shot 76, shot 77, shot 78, shot 79, shot 80, shot 81, shot 82, shot 84, shot 85, shot 86, shot 87, shot 88, shot 89, shot 90, shot 91

Boyfriend:

Shot 12, shot 13, shot 14, shot 16, shot 18, shot 22, shot 23, shot 25, shot 26, shot 28, shot 32, shot 34, shot 35, shot 37, shot 42, shot 45, shot 46, shot 47, shot 49, shot 50, shot 53, shot 54, shot 56, shot 58, shot 63, shot 64, shot 66, shot 70, shot 72, shot 75, shot 78, shot 79, shot 80, shot 82, shot 83, shot 84, shot 85, shot 88, shot 89

Friend 1:

Shot 14, shot 20, shot 26, shot 82

Friend 2:

Shot 14, shot 20, shot 26, shot 82

Friend 3:

Shot 14, shot 20, shot 26, shot 44

(Shots in pink font have been filmed)

Props

• Calendar (shot 11)
• Beer (shot 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 23)
• Face Paint (shot 24)
• Canvas & Paint (shot 30, 51, 73, 90, 92)
• Mirror (that can be smashed) (shot 31)
• Hammer (shot 31)
• Lemons (shot 41, 45)
• Plate (that can be smashed) (shot 52)
• Rope (shot 53)
• 2 Pizzas & Pepperoni (shot 57)
• Baking Utensils (shot 58)
• Whipped Cream (shot 58, 59)
• Alcohol Bottles & Cans (shot 61)
• Party Popper (shot 62)
• Converse (shot 65, 66)
• Mobile Phone (shot 70)
• Woolly Hat, Scarf & Gloves (shot 71)
• Vase (that can be smashed) With Flowers In (shot 74)
• Finished Fingerprint Painting (‘Foundations’ painted on it) (shot 92)

(Ones in pink I already have - this will be updated as I get each prop)

Storyboard & Animatic

This is a slideshare of my storyboard. The storyboarding process took a very long time and could be a bit boring at times, but it is going to be incredibly helpful for me in the production process. It gives me a clear and straightforward plan of each shot so I will know exactly what I have to do on each day of filming. The timings of each shot will also be beneficial in the editing process.
This is my storyboard animatic. Due to creating this, I now have a rough idea of what my music video will look like, especially in terms of editing. This will help in the editing process because I know when the transitions between frames should happen so it fits the flow/beat of the song perfectly.

Visual Storyboard

I created a visual storyboard in a moodboard style format so it gives a clear idea of what my video will look like. This is/has been really helpful with the storyboarding process because it has provided me with something to work from and meant I could organise my thoughts before putting them together in a final plan.

Helpful Editing Tutorials

As I am in the process of storyboarding, I need to start thinking about how I want to edit my music video and what kind of techniques I should use. In addition, because I haven't had much experience using video editing software, I have to learn to do it quickly so my video will look as effective and professional as possible. For these reasons I have been watching some really helpful editing tutorials on websites that Ben, the college's media technician, has recommended to take a look at. The links for the websites are below:

http://www.lynda.com/
http://www.videocopilot.net/basic/

Narrative Theory Applied To An Example Video

Tim O'Sullivan (1998) argues that all forms of media tells us some kind of story - more specifically a story about us as a culture/a set of cultures. This is present in Haim's video for The Wire, as a story is told of the three band members breaking up with their boyfriends and how the boys cope post-breakup. Love and breakups are a very common concept used in music videos because it relates to us as a culture and audiences may have experienced something similar. However, Haim go against this theory to an extent due to the reversal of stereotypical gender roles in the video. It is the girls who break up with the boys, and the boys become overly emotional and heartbroken, compared to the girls who do not seem to care. This contrasts the stereotypical view of gender that we have in our culture, so teaches the audience a different point of view.

Pam Cook (1985) states that the standard Hollywood narrative structure should have:
• Linearity of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma resolution.
• A high degree of narrative closure.
• A fictional world that contains verisimilitude especially governed by spatial and temporal coherence
This video follows Cook's theory because the story essentially moves forward to solve the problem. Equilibrium is established at the start when each couple are still together, but then the protagonists (the band) and the antagonists (their boyfriends) have a conflict in desires when the girls break up with the boys despite the boys still being clearly in love with them, leading to a disruption of the equilibrium, in which the story changes. The 'quest' is how the boys react after the break up and how they attempt to cope with it. However, there isn't a clear resolution/re-equilibrium at the end of the video because it ends quite abruptly with no clear answer as to whether or not the couples get back together or not, so the video applies to Cook's theory up until the ending. In addition, the music video applies to Todorov's theory in this same way.

Another way that this music video applies to narrative theory is Kate Domaille's theory of narrative types (2001). Domaille argues that every story can be fitted into 1 of 8 narrative types. Each of these narrative types has a source, an original story upon which the others are based. This video fits into the Romeo & Juliet narrative type, as it is a love story. Despite the plot being more of a dysfunctional love story, as it is about the breakups rather than the actual relationships, the emotions shown by the characters and the values that are reflected in the narrative are very typical of a love story narrative type.

Sven Carlsson (1999) identified rough groups that music videos fall into (in general). This music video falls into 'narrative clip' and 'performance clip' because a story is present but there are lip-sync and live performance scenes as well.

Possible Places My Video Will Feature/Be Advertised

My music video will be posted on YouTube as this is the most popular place audiences go to view music videos. It is free and easy to upload videos so this makes it a really accessible platform to promote artists. This video streaming site came about with the growth/development of web 2.0 and social networking. Sites like YouTube allow audiences to become interactive with their favourite bands/artists, with the 'like', 'share' and 'comment' features available. This also enables record labels and artists to get feedback for their work so they know how to appeal to their target audience. Furthermore, audiences have access to YouTube worldwide, with billions of people using it across the globe, this means that the video can reach international audiences within a matter of seconds. Therefore, I feel as though YouTube is the best place to feature my music video.

The video would also be advertised/promoted on other social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Like YouTube, billions of people across the world use these sites so whatever is posted on them can easily be accessed/seen by audiences from every corner of the globe. My artist would have accounts on each of the platforms, and not only would they do posts as a build up to the video release, but a link to the music video would also be featured for their followers to see. On Instagram and Pinterest there would be pictures of the filming of the video, snapshots of the actual video, and snippets/teasers of the finished product. All these kind of things are done by existing artists and it effectively promotes them, allowing them to reach both mainstream and niche audiences worldwide, so I would take on these techniques to do the same thing.

Below is a summary video I created using PowToon:

Video Techniques & Influences

Genre Theory

I will be applying theory to my work throughout the production process to help with my evaluation and prepare me for the exam. As I continue through the production, I will update this post to show how I have linked/related my product to the theory. The slideshare above is a summary of the theory.

Audience Theory

I will be applying theory to my work throughout the production process to help with my evaluation and prepare me for the exam. As I continue through the production, I will update this post to show how I have linked/related my product to the theory. The slideshare above is a summary of the theory.

Narrative Theory

I will be applying theory to my work throughout the production process to help with my evaluation and prepare me for the exam. As I continue through the production, I will update this post to show how I have linked/related my product to the theory. The slideshare above is a summary of the theory.

Representation Theory

I will be applying theory to my work throughout the production process to help with my evaluation and prepare me for the exam. As I continue through the production, I will update this post to show how I have linked/related my product to the theory. The slideshare above is a summary of the theory.

Audience Research - Results

Audience Research - Target Audience Q&A

To continue my audience research I did two Q&A videos with two of my peers. Emily and Kayleigh both fit into the criteria for my target audience, as they are both females in their late teens, who enjoy the indie genre. I did this to find out what does and does not appeal to my target audience and why. This has given me a better understanding of what people would expect from my music video, and allows me to further develop my ideas in relation to the feedback Emily and Kayleigh have given me.

Some specific points I will take on from the Q&As:

• performance elements are needed
• needs to be edited to the beat of the song
• use a wide range of cinematography & use of colour
• don't include explicit content or sexualisation of women
• video shouldn't be cheesy or cliche in relation to love & relationships
• my idea of linking the props to the lyrics is good

Inspiration

Today, whilst searching for some inspiration for my music video, I came across New York-based artist Judith Braun. She uses her fingertips as brushes to create symmetrical works of art. She creates a wide-range of abstract patterns and shapes, and her work is so unique and clever. She states: "Abstraction keeps the images free to be anything, while the symmetry resolves that fluidity into something, like liquid energy crystallizing..."
Due to the metaphor of fingertips running through the lyrics of 'Foundations', I would love to somehow incorporate Braun's style of work into my music video.

Style Inspiration Moodboard (MES)

This is a moodboard I have put together of some inspiration/ideas for the costume, hair and makeup for my artist in the video. I want my artist to have an eclectic and alternative style, with about 3 or 4 look changes throughout the video. The main inspiration for the way I want my artist to look is existing female artists that have a unique and inventive style, e.g. Grimes, Kate Nash, Karen O, Haim & Bjork (all of which, and more, feature on my moodboard). I want to mix and match different styles and looks in order to create an artist that really fits into the indie genre and stands out from the crowd.

Audience Research - Survey

To get some further ideas as to what audiences like/want out of music videos I put together an online survey. I used questions and answers which I could use to develop and improve the ideas I have for my music video so it will appeal to the target audience.

Here is the link to my survey:

http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/130376CPTUJ

I have shared/posted the link to my survey on social media, etc. in order to get a wider range of people to do the survey so the results will be more genuine and realistic. A couple of print screened examples are below:

Audience Research - Poll

To help get some basic & initial information on what an audience likes/wants in a music video, I have put a poll on my blog. I will ask a wide range of people to vote on this poll and once I have some results, I will put them all together and see how I can adapt my idea for my video to suit what the audience wants.

Here are the screenshots of how I put the poll on to my blog and where I can find the amount of people that have voted and the overall results:

• First I selected 'layout' on the settings of my blog, then I clicked 'add a gadget' and when the pop up appeared I scrolled down and went on 'poll'

• I typed in the question I wanted to ask and the four possible answers, then pressed 'save'. This added it to my blog, and I repeated this for each question I wanted in my poll

• As you can see in the screenshot below, my poll is along the left hand side of my blog (I have highlighted around where it is to make it clearer in the pic). It is a simple selection poll, so will not take long for people to take part in, which will hopefully draw more people to do it. I have also circled the sections that say how many people have voted and how many days there are left to vote.

Textual Analysis Part 2: Technical Elements

This is the second part of my textual analysis. It is an overview of how each artist uses the technical elements: cinematography, editing, mise-en-scene and sound, in their music videos to create meaning.

Textual Analyses (LIIAR) - 3 Alternative/Indie Music Videos

This is my textual analyses for 3 existing music videos from alternative and indie bands/artists. I have done a LIIAR style analysis so I could go more in-depth and really pick each video apart. This has helped me get an idea of what is expected from a music video within the indie genre, and taught me that for a music video to stand out within this genre, it must have some unconventional features which make it unique and alternative. Therefore, I will take this on board and incorporate it into my own music video.

Treatment

My music video will be abstract with some narrative elements, all based around the concept of a broken relationship. The focus is the artist and she will lip-sync which adds an aspect of performance. A boy will also feature as her boyfriend. The location of the video will mainly be in a studio but there will be flashback scenes (which provide the narrative elements) filmed in a park and a house setting. 

3 Initial Ideas

Kate Nash - About

Kate Nash - A Brief Bio by kmaxey18 on GoAnimate

Kate Nash - A Brief Bio 2 by kmaxey18 on GoAnimate


These are a couple of short videos I made which give a brief background of Kate Nash, the artist of my chosen song. I feel as though it is necessary to know about the artist of the song, in order to understand the song in more depth. This will also help me to create/develop an artist of my own because Kate Nash is a real life example of a female Indie artist.

Helpful YouTube Tutorials

Although this video is related to film making, the techniques covered can be applied to music videos too. As I have not got any proper experience with camera work, I found this video very interesting and helpful because it taught me and explained some of the basics.



This video was really helpful and I plan to use some of these tricks when I am filming my music video because I won't have all the complex filming equipment such as tracks and a crane that film crews have, so this has given me good alternatives to use that will still create a professional looking product but without the big budget.



This tutorial which gives tips on how to make lip dubs/lip-syncs easier will really come in handy when filming and editing my music video, as I want to include some lip-sync sections to my product in order to conform to the conventions of a music video, and make it look more professional.

Conventions of Music Videos & the Indie Genre

I did research into the conventions of music videos and the indie genre so I knew what is expected from a music video, specifically from that genre. This means I can now conform to or purposely go against these conventions so my video will appeal to my target audience and look professional, whilst still being unique. Conventions are the foundation to successful music videos so it was important to find out what these conventions were. Therefore, this task has been and will prove to be incredibly beneficial to me in the production process of my video.

The History of Music Videos

This is a timeline to represent the history of music videos, along with some examples:

These are the music videos included in this post:

Lyrics - Picture Moodboard

These are some pictures that match the lyrics of my chosen song. They portray the more literal meanings behind some of the words in the lyrics, and therefore give a little bit of insight into what the song is all about.

Lyrics Analysis

I carried out an analysis of the lyrics of my chosen song so I could get a a deeper insight into what the true meaning of the lyrics is. This helped me get some initial ideas of what the style of the music video and the meanings within it should be. Additionally, it gave me some inspiration in relation to the mise-en-scene I could use and when the best times to do edits would be. Therefore, this was a very helpful and key task as part of the planning process.