Evaluation Question 4

To conclude, I found iMovie the most convenient to use, as well as YouTube and Prezi. Prezi allows the audience to view however they wish, which means they have the power to refer back to particular sections of the presentation. YouTube, on occasion, is quite slow, meaning that meeting deadlines can become quite difficult, and uploading more than one clip at a time is virtually impossible. However, combined with iMovie, it is an ideal way for viewers to view clips and videos, as it's simple to use, and offers a variety of transitions for our music video.

Evaluation question 3

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question One

Final A2 Music Video

Final Digipak

This is our final digipak. We have used images of the actual artist because we feel as though it promotes the star image of the artist, as well as making the artist recognisable. It also allows the audience to see what the artist looks like, further promoting her image. There is a 'red' theme running through the digipak which has been used to connote the powerful images conjured by the colour red, but also to show the 'Britishness'- also why we have used the phone boxes. It shows that she is very attached to her roots and a lot of influences in her music have come from her personal life and background. In terms of the relationship between the genre and the digipak, the name of the artist contradicts the plainness of the character, and the colours used reflect the abstract themes running throughout the indietronica and alternative dance genre

Final Advert

This is our final advert. We have used several techniques to enhance the artist image and brand the artist. Through the use of reviews from trusted sources, we have not only made it more realistic, but have made it look as though it's reaching its target audience and more. The use of a website is a technique used to target our audience, because our audience is young adults. Young adults use the internet more than any other age group, so by using a website targets them and shows the music is aimed at them. The tour dates again enhances the star image, by making the artist look as though the debut album has kicked off her career, and she has tour dates coming up. The colour scheme matches the same one used on the digipak, as we wanted to remain continuity as well as reflecting the alternative dance and indietronica genre.

Evidence of shooting & Behind the scenes

 

 

 

Rough Cut Music Video & Feedback

This is a rough cut of our music video. It gives our target audience an idea of what our final music video will be like, however we first needed to recieve feedback from this draft. We asked three boys who were part of our target audience and explored four main areas- the narrative, genre, the MES and whether or not the meaning was apparent to them. The main feedback regarding the narrative was that it was mostly clear throughout, however there were some parts that were confusing to understand, and so we will take this on board and either refilm or edit the parts that are hard to understand. Another criticism was that we didn't really 'ease' the audience into the events that occured, however some parts such as the coma scene were easily understood.
The second area we focused on was the genre, and whether or not our music video reflected the track's actual genre. The feedback we recieved highlighted that our music video reflected the genre, and 2/3 of the males were able to correctly identify the genre of our track- which proves that we have selected appropiate material to use in our music video which reflects our genre of indietronica/alternative dance.
The third question focused on the use of MES and how well we have editted our music video. The food colouring effect seemed to be a key idea that our target audience thought was effective, as it actually looked like blood. This is really important to us because we wanted it to look as real as possible, or it would look too amateurish. The main criticism from all three males was the car accident. This scene was really difficult for us to film, as we didn't know how we could make it look realistic without actually performing a stunt. However, from our audience feedback we now know that speeding up the scene and possibly inserting a transition will make it look more professional and effective.
The final question focused on whether or not the meaning was apparent to the viewer, which in some ways was similar to the first question. The main ideas communicated to us was that the order of events were confusing. I spoke about this with my other group members and we agreed that if we work together to change the order of the events, it would work, and the meaning would become more apparent to our target audience.

Ancillary Task- Fonts

For our digipak, we used the site 'dafonts' to try and find the most suitable font to use for our digipak. When we discussed it, we ruled out number one and five, because we thought they didn't really reflect the genre as much as the others did. It was between two, three and four. We asked other members of our class as well as our teacher on their opinions, and the most popular was font two. Having already drawn our flat-plans for our digipak, we could visualise which font we thought would look the best, and we have chosen font two. We feel as though it reflects the indietronica/alternative dance genre the best, as well as our artist.

In this video we summarise which fonts we are going to use and which ones we have decided to dismiss- the sound isn't great quality so we have summarised in writing above the video what the general discussion is about. 

Advert flat-plan drafts

This is one of our drafts for our advert. Myself and Priya worked together to produce this, and we will decide which one we will use.

This is the second first draft that Rabia and Gamze did. It mirrors the first one in some ways, but as you can see from the video below, we have decided which one we will use.

In this video, we discussed our advert ideas as a group so as we could evaluate eachother's idea's and decide on which idea we were going to use for our final advert. I briefly explained mine and Priya's idea, which was to play on the lyrics "Tie my hands up to a chair"- and so have an image of the main character with her hands tied up. The rest of the group agreed that this would be a good idea to include, as well as the idea of having a website at the bottom to attract our target audience of 16-24 year olds. Gamze and Rabia's idea was based around a similar idea, but the background should be of wallpaper with the lyrics on reflecting our final storyboard. Initially I wasn't sure about this idea, but after we had a further group discussion we came to the conclusion it would be a good idea for the advert to reflect the music video, and so should contain key aspects of our music video. The group disagreed with mine and Priya's idea of including the open door, however we all agreed that it would be difficult to use this image with the other images on our advert because of the difference in lighting. We all agreed on having the same font as the digipak, and so we will go ahead with idea two- as it puts all of our ideas together. 

Digipak flat-plan

 1.

 

2.

For the front cover of our digipak, we had two different ideas within our group, and at first we couldn't decide which one we wanted to go with. We asked the two other members of our groups what they thought, as well as other students in our class. The majority went for idea two, which is why we have decided to use that one. We felt as though idea one was too vague and lacked any eye-catching features. We also thought as though the other idea was more sophisticated and creative, as well as having an actual photograph of the artist on the front cover.  We devised this together as a group, with Priya doing the illustration. We thought that after looking at digipak's similar to our genre, we should have the images inside relating to our story but at the same time maintaining our enigma. The four sections of our digipak all reflect the storyline and genre of the track.

Lip Syncing Practice

In order to make sure I was absolutely certain on the lyrics, and to ensure the shooting process went smoothly, I decided to practice lip syncing the chorus of the song, which is the part of the song I will be lip syncing in the video

Artist Biography

Artist Name: Elektra
We have decided on this name because we wanted it to reflect the protagonist's personality as well as relating it to the genre. Our track is a hybrid genre made up of indietronica and alternative dance, and the artists belonging to alternative dance seem to use one name for their artist name. The indietronica artists are mixed, with some using a full name and some using one name. We came to an overall decision to use just one name. The character in our video is female, who is quite strong minded but passive when she needs to be. We wanted a name that reflected this as well as the genre. A few suggestions were Elektranite, Elektra Knight, Elektra Storm and Tempest- which would have been intertextuality due to the famous Shakespeare play. Elektra means shining, bright and radiant. This reflects the genre as alternative dance tracks tend to be upbeat, but at the same time contradicts the plot of our story- as she is not happy.

Birth date: 6th August 1990

Albums/singles: It's Okay, Regrets, This Is The End, In Denial, If You're Happy, New Wave, Doors, F5, Delete, Oh La La.

Record Company: Charlemange

Background: Elektra- real name Louise Kaya. Louise was born in London in 1990 and started to make songs from the age of 16. Elektra is not a mainstream artist and is defined as a singer/songwriter. Louise previously worked in a restaurant, and in several interviews has discussed how her music has been influenced by her roots and her past. At the age of 12 she was admitted to hospital after being involved in a car accident.

Shooting Schedule

calendar on Prezi

Initial Ideas for Digipak

In this video, me and my group discussed our ideas for our digipak. We based our ideas on the audience research we had previously done. In the discussion, we thought that our digipak should reflect the actual music video in order to maintain some continuity. Another suggestion was to incorporate the mood of the character into the digipak, so to use black and white colours to not only reflect her mood and feelings, but the colour of the 'room' she feels liberated in. The font should also reflect the character as well as the genre, for example, the font used on La Roux' album reflects the type of character she is but also the genre of the music- alternative dance. Therefore later on in our project we will use the site 'dafont.com' to find a suitable font for our front cover of our digipak. Lastly, there was an idea of mixing new and old to create a unique front cover different to other artists in our genre. The rest of the group agreed our front cover should be different, but that it would be difficult to incorporate 'old' into our digipak because of the modernistic setting our music video is in.

Music Video Treatment

Props

- Car
- Chefs uniform
- Oxygen Mask
- Make up

We wanted to use minimal props to reflect the minimalistic style and genre of our track, but also to show the plainess of our character. The make up will be used for when the protagonist is hit by a car, to show not only the emotional aspect regarding the deterioration of her life, but also the physical aspect too. In conjunction with the make up, we will need someone to be driving the car , however the driver will not be shown, to further enhance the enigma. We also don't think there is any relevance in showing the driver, as the story is not based around her accident. The oxygen mask is to represent the critical condition she is in in hospital. Again, this is to reinforce the physical aspect as well as the emotional aspect. The chefs uniform has only been a part of the props list since our final storyboard, as at first we were not going to include this part. This is to make it look more realistic, and to portray her profession. Although we want to create an enigma throughout the video, we want this aspect to be obvious to the viewers, as we don't want them to be totally confused throughout the video.

Lighting

 The lighting in this video is something we feel will allow the audience to empathise with the protagonist at certain times. The majority of the video will be shot outside, and so the lighting will not be altered in any way, as we purposely made the setting outside- due to our focus group feedback and storyline events. The parts that are shot inside will have altered lighting. We wanted the general feeling inside to be that the character feels trapped- and so will show this through dim lighting and shadows. In the room that is featured in the chorus, we will have dim lighting and shadows for when the character lip syncs- to emphasise the feeling of claustrophobia or the feeling of being trapped.

- The costumes and actors have already been discussed on the last post- as well as the reasoning behind our choices.


Synopsis

The music video is based around a female protagonist who takes her life for granted. In the video, the audience are 'allowed' an insight to her life, to watch how the lyrics of the song relate to her life. In the video, there will be many underlying messages which have been disguised as an enigma, because we wanted this aspect of Goodwin's criteria to shine through, as we think it's effective to keeping an audience hooked. There are several events that will occur to emphasise her lack of gratitude for what she has. The video starts off with her running through different locations, where she is clearly unsure of her surroundings. She then suffers a car accident and gets sent to hospital, this is where the enigma begins as the audience are not sure whether she is in a coma or dead. The camera zooms into her head and a flashback of her day is shown. We see her working in a restaurant and being constantly taunted by her peers, then she is meeting up with her boyfriend and her friends. We wanted this part to lure the audience into a false sense of security; making them think that everything in this girl's life is perfect, however, she soon suffers a breakup with her boyfriend and the audience sees how she deals with the 'stress' in an unconventional way. Instead of opening up to someone, she finds a room in which she can express herself freely and deal with her emotions. In this room, she hallucinates and can't handle the truth that is being thrown at her, so she runs and runs until she can't breathe, which is where the storyboard begins again, with her being run over. The video ends with a close up shot of her eyes opening, so the audience are relieved partly of their enigma, but leaves them wondering whether or not this was a dream or reality.

Casting

This is a picture of myself (Louise O'Loughlin)- who will play the main artist and protagonist in our music video. Priya Bhanwra was also another consideration, but the reasons as to why we chose myself to play the part are listed below.
We felt as though the main character was a young adult who wasn't happy with life- which is why Priya was also a consideration. However, when picking a main character we had to consider their backgrounds and personalities. We felt as though Priya lacked confidence in front of a camera and so would affect the way in which she performed- leading to the story not being believable. We also thought that as Priya is the director, it would be far more practical if she was off camera, so she could watch and then tell us what to change in our performance. The reason as to why we overall decided I should play the artist was that I appear to be more confident than Priya, and I'm not the director, meaning I would be able to offer my opinion on how it looks, as well as acting as the protagonist. Ideally, the character will wear plain clothes to reflect the simplicity of the music- I own plain clothes so in that sense it won't be too difficult to create the artist. The most likely clothing will be jeans, possibly a T-shirt/jacket- as these are the ideas our target audience communicated to us.


This is a picture of Shakeel Mirza. Shakeel will play the secondary character/love interest to the protagonist. There were several other candidates we thought would be perfect for the role, but we decided on Shakeel as he is the closest to the group and so would be easy to work with. He was also in his own thriller opening, so we know he is not camera shy, and is confident regarding his acting skills. At first I wasn't sure, as I thought he would be busy with his own music video, but after discussing this with my group, we all decided it would be the easiest option, as he's only in two scenes, so it would only be one day's worth of filming. In terms of costume, we are going for a plain look, similar to the protagonists clothing. The two actors have to make a believable couple, and so by dressing in a similar style suggets they are the same class and age. Finally, Shakeel was in our focus group, so he is part of our target audience. By having a member of our target audience in our music video, it may appeal to our audience, as they can not only relate to the character but they can see the transformation that has taken place.



There will also be extras in our video that play the protagonist's friends- those in mind are Sobia Jawaid, Rabia Jawaid, Rumaysa Baig and Gamze Kaya. Karuhn Nahar will also be used as the part of the protagonist's boss.

Moodboard- Digipak Ideas

This moodboard is made up of album covers belonging to artists of the same genre as our artist. Because our track is a hybrid genre consisting of indietronica and alternative dance, we have incorporated both genre's into our moodboard. From looking at the album covers, we can see that some of them are quite abstract, with plenty of colour. This reflects the type of music as well as the personality of the artist. From our audience research, we found out that our target audience wanted to see lots of colours on the front cover as well as an image of the artist. We felt as though La Roux and Ladytron's covers reflected this the most, and so we will focus on shaping our album cover based on ideas from the two.

Storyboard- Final draft

This is our final storyboard. All of the members of my group including myself are happy with this storyboard. We also showed the final storyboard to members of our target audience, as their view on the final storyboard is the most crucial opinion needed. We showed it to three girls and two boys, and four out of five were completely happy with it. The remaining member felt as though we should include a voiceover, as they weren't sure what was going on. I discussed this with my group and we agreed that a voiceover would make the story clearer and easier to understand. Therefore, because we are happy we can now start working on what we want our artist to be like as well as the digipak drafts. The improvements we made can be seen below:

- We added a voiceover just in case the drawings or captions weren't clear enough.
- We changed the drug scene to a scene that helped communicate her feelings more to the audience.
- We asked a peer to do the illustrations for us in order to make sure they were totally clear.
- We re-shuffled the timings in order for each scene to have enough detail.
- The two choruses now match- we thought this would make more sense and maintain continuity.

Storyboard- Second draft

This is our second storyboard for our music video. We made some improvements based on the feedback we recieved for our first draft. The feedback we recieved on this one were:

- The drawings aren't clear- for our final draft we will improve our drawings to make it clearer.
- There should be an event that matches the lyrics more, or has more significance to the story after the first chorus.
- The theme of drugs is too cliché- we are hoping to replace this with something that's more effective and suitable to the rest of the story.
- The two choruses should match to maintain continuity.

Moodboard- Artist Image

This is my moodboard for the genre of music that my song is. I have used several images that were communicated to me through audience research (focus group, social networking research). These images will reflect our final storyboard and what we will put in our music video. In terms of creating our character, there is a picture in the top right hand corner of a girl with mascara running down her face- this is one of our possible ideas for our character. Another idea is in the bottom left hand corner, of a girl with bruised make up on. This will link in with our idea of having the protagonist hit by a car and so has blood on her face to make it look more realistic. Underneath you will see pictures of the main character that I have edited with paint to portray the kind of look we are going for with our main character.

I have used photoshop to subtly edit my face to make it look as though I have been hit by a car. I didn't want to make it look really fake, but at the same time I wanted it to be realistic- for the majority of the video I will be wearing no make up to reflect how plain my character is. I haven't used any bruises because bruises would not be an immediate effect- it would take some time for it to show up- and the music video follows her life in one day. In real life, it will look more realistic- but I used photoshop to demonstrate the sort of look I will be going for. 

Storyboard of Ideas: First draft

The general feedback we recieved was:

- The still of the girl lying on her bed surrounded by her friends would be too difficult to film- not enough room and the emphasis of her condition would be minimised by the amount of people in the room.
- Still 6 of the girl lip syncing as she gets off the bus- we decided that this didn't really reveal much about her character or relate to the story, so we will change that in our second storyboard.
- The crossing off the dates on her calendar was also irrelevant to the story, so we will cut that part out to save time in our second storyboard.

Focus Group- Audience Research

These are our focus group videos. Here, we discussed the ideas and themes regarding the track we have picked for our music video. We used people from our target audience (teens aged 16-18), and so it's an accurate representation of what they would like to see in it. We asked a variety of questions that would help us understand what our target audience may enjoy seeing in our music video. We were particularly interested in what genre they thought it was, as we have had the problem of defining it as one set genre, as it's a mixture of different genres. The results were pleasing, as they gave the same answer we did, and so this reassured us as to what ideas we could input. 

We did our focus group in two parts. The first focus group consisted of four 17 year old females, and the ideas they communicated really helped us with our research. The main ideas they contributed was that the whole thing to be taken with a vintage camera, as well as the idea of a girl being depressed and unsure about her life. Possibly a love story involving a male character, and drug taking were two possible storylines we could include. They felt as though the lyrics made it more suitable for a narrative based performance, with hints of performance based narrative. Furthermore, in terms of star image, the girls decided that the artist in the video should be quite plan, perhaps with smudged lipstick reflecting the unstableness of her life currently. In terms of mise en scene, they felt a mirror would be appropriate for the protagonist to use, to show that she is reflecting upon her life and her recent actions in the music video. They feel as though the location should be a dark, isolated place as a connotation of pathetic fallacy- the dark room reflects her dark mood. Another possible location is a bathroom in a house, with the storyline here being that the protagonist has taken drugs or is hallucinating.

Our second focus group consisted of two 18 year old males and a 17 year old male. Their ideas were very different to the females- which was good, as it gives us much more scope to incorporate a variety of ideas into our music video. The main ideas were that it's possible a love story, but also it could be a story portraying conflict between two social groups or gangs. In terms of star image, they feel as though the protagonist should be male, and he should be wearing plain clothes such as chinos, which will reflect the simplicity of the lyrics but also how simplistic the story of the protagonist is. The location and setting was a topic that was a combination. A setting of exterior and interior would be ideal, as it would be creative and effective in terms of our music video. It would also reflect the narrative as well as the lyrics of the song. They felt the genre was indie or rock-electronica, as at times it sounds as though some of the notes have been made by a computer. Added with the research I have done of indie bands, this will help us identify who our protagonist is as well as what type of things to include in our music video. In order to enhance the feedback it would have been more effective if we had put the males and females together, as a possible debate could spark new ideas between the two genders and help us come to a final decision more easily. 

I also asked members of my target audience on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook their opinions on the type of character and what they'd like to see in the music video. Here are the results:

Importance of music videos to the music industry

Music videos play a huge part in the music industry. It allows an artist or band to enhance the quality of their song and thus, the lyrics within it. Music videos allow the artist to show off their skills, as well as allowing an audience to discover the appearance of the artist and acknowledge their personality as an artist. In modern society, music videos are becoming more and more narrative based, whereas in history, music videos were more performance based. While this could be because of the changing nature of music, it could also be because of the influence of channels such as MTV. MTV is the number one music channel that broadcasts music videos.

Seeing the music video can also help viewers relate to what the lyrics are saying, as well as the story that goes with it. There are several controversies that are attached to music videos, with some saying that it takes away the quality of the song, because you are distracted by the music video, and so therefore your attention is drawn away from the lyrics. However, others say that the music video works well with the lyrics to create a story that is communicated to the audience. Nowadays, it is expected of an artist to release a music video upon a song's release, proving that the audiences expectations of artists have increased due to the demand of music videos. Because of this, in modern society, music videos are used as a promo for the actual song. For example, Justin Bieber's 'Boyfriend' music video released several 'teaser' trailers to build up the anticipation for the video, as the song was out beforehand. It is used as a marketing device to help create exictement surrounding a song.

The main broadcaster of music videos alongside MTV is the website YouTube. Launched in 2005, it has almost every music video available, unless it is censored due to copyright reasons or explicit content- this varies in what country you are in. YouTube works alongside VEVO- a broadcasting channel that is available to mainstream and non mainstream artists. To conclude, releasing a music video is widely important to the music industry, because it's seen as the main marketing strategy now, bringing in huge profits for directors, music producers and artists worldwide.

Research into Record Companies

Record Companies on Prezi

Digipak research

Digipak research on Prezi

Similar Artists

Similar Artists on Prezi

Lyrics Analysis

Sometimes life it takes you by the hand.- It guides and helps you.
It puts you down before you know it- Before you get a chance to do anything, you're down.
It's gone and you're dead again.- Live life to the fullest
I've been in places and I won't pretend- Not going to lie, telling the truth
That I make it I just follow my head.- Go with instinct.
When its strange to take a walk downstairs- Not used to it.
Sweep you all up on a corner and pay for my bread- Basic needs not being met.
You know that I cannot believe my own truth- Doubts herself sometimes.
To show what a truth, got nothin' to lose- May as well tell the truth.

Yeah yeah and it's okay- (Literal).
I tie my hands up to a chair so I don't fall that way- Holds back to save problems
Yeah yeah and I'm alright- (Literal)
I took a sip of something poison but I'll hold on tight- Something's gone wrong but it'll be okay

You know those days when you wanted to choose- When you want freedom
To not get out of bed and get lost in your head again- Not bother with anything
You play the game but you gotta cut- Have to make a living/work
Cuz' you're comin' down hard your joints are off stud- You're not focused on what's important
I tried to say that's not the only way- There are alternatives
I never knew if I could convince myself to change. (Literal)
You were pacing I was insecure- We're too different
Slip and fall I got the call of the prison I was livin' in- Feels trapped or secluded

Yeah yeah and it's okay.
I tie my hands up to a chair so I don't fall that way.
Yeah yeah and I'm alright.
I took a sip of something poison but I'll hold on tight

Artist's Image
The lyrics spark a personal opinion on what kind of artist would be in this music video. The lyrics are very reassuring; repetition of "it's okay". This connotes that this character has an unstable personality, and constantly needs resassuring, whether it be from someone else or from themselves. The song is called Helena Beat by Foster The People. Foster The People are quite well known for making futuristic type songs, and lyrics that don't always make sense and create a story. This song is the same, the title of the song has no relevance/link to the lyrics, and so this is an enigma without even listening to the track. Personally, I feel as though this character may have a mental illness, or has been led into a false sense of security by someone she deeply cares about. In my final ideas, you will see how I have incorperated this into my music video.

Genre
The genre of this song is particularly hard to identify, as it has aspects of dubstep (similar to that of Skrillex) and indie-pop. I personally would identify it as indie-pop or alternative dance (similar to that of The Prodigy). The fact it is particularly difficult to identify it's genre allows us to be very creative when we make our music video. The different tones of the song will enable us to incorperate different moods/feelings and events. The lyrics and the music together work well, as the instruments used really come through when there are no lyrics- allowing the genre to be established further.

Mood
The mood that the lyrics set varies depending on who is listening to the song, but also which part of the song they are listening to. Personally, it makes me feel as though this person wants to give up on life, but their friends help them through it and eventually they're okay. The beginning part (instrumental) creates an eerie tone, especially because of the child's laugh and the seven second 'weird' noise. As mentioned before, this will allow us to be creative with our music video, because this is only the eerie part of the song. The chorus sets a happier mood, and we have taken in account the different moods experienced whilst listening to this track.

Initial song ideas and pitch

For our A2 coursework, our teachers gave us a CD with a list of songs on, and we could only choose one for our coursework. Initially, we had three ideas for songs; track 3, 11 and 17. We decided as a group that track 17 would allow us to be creative, especially with the instrumental. We had to pitch against another group in order to get this song, and we succeeded in the pitch. In our pitch, we discussed several good ideas we had for the music video. We talked about star image, voyeurism, mise en scene and the narrative. The big USP of our music video is that there is a constant enigma running through the song- meaning the audience will have lots of questions in their head about it.

Mise en Scene

Here, we discussed the lighting, costume, location/set design and camera shots/angles. The ideas we had regarding the lighting in our music video was that while the instrumental is playing, there is flashing lights, which makes it harder for the audience to see what's going on, enhancing the enigma of the video. After the instrumental has finished, the lighting is dim for the rest of the video, to make the audience wonder who the girl is. To help achieve this, we will use camera shots to only show her eyes, lips and nose. We never see her face until the end of the video. This will be achieved through the use of extreme close ups. Also, we will try and make the camera angles mirror the lyrics, for example: "get out of bed"- we will use a close up shot of just legs getting out of bed. This is also an example of voyeurism, because the protagonist does not know we can see her. We will also use over the shoulder shots, not only because it's an effective use of voyeurism, but because it will help the audience relate to how she is feeling and what she can see. At the end, the two (protagonist and male figure) will meet, and a shot reverse shot will be used to show they are looking at each other- also hinting that this is the end of the video. In terms of costume, we will have bright, colourful costumes during the instrumental section, but dull, dark clothes when the lyrics are playing, to show that the character is in a dark place. In terms of set design/location, we have decided to shoot in a wide range of locations, to reflect the fluctuation of the music but also her mood.

Interxtuality, Star Image and Narrative

For intertextuality, we thought we could refer to the story of Romeo and Juliet, when the lyrics say "Poison"- the couple are imagining/dreaming about taking the poison, but don't actually take it. Because this song is quite modern, it would be creative if we made it look like a 'futuristic' genre. We would achieve this by using colourful costumes, and so thus, creating a star image and stereotype of futuristic music. One of the main reasons we chose this song is because of the upbeat tune it has- it allows us to be creative with what we film. Our music video will be narrative based as well as performance based, this will mirror the flucutation and constant change of the lyrics and her feelings. At the start during the instrumental section, we will have someone playing the drums, and the rest will be narrative based, as we will have an actress acting out the story alongside the lyrics. Lastly, the sound at the start reminds me of a train, and that fits in with the storyline we are creating for the character; she is in a very dark place, a boy she loves has made her depressed, but at the end the audience are left wondering if they get back together or not. The train noise could symbolise her attempting a new beginning, but failing to because she can't get over him.

Case Study- Madonna- Material Girl

We used Madonna-Material Girl as a case study for our music video's. When we were watching it, we focused on the main conventions. They are:

- Star Image

- Intertxtuality

- Voyeurism

- Narrative/Performance based

Star Image is how an individual or group of people are presented in terms of a music video. In Madonna's video, her star image is presented as being quite prestigious. This is because throughout the video she tends to wear designer costumes. She wears a fur coat at certain parts which represents her as quite rich and posh. The men in the video dancing around her also wear designer suits- making everyone around her prestigious. It suggests that all of her friends are rich, or that she only associates with people of the same class as her. Linked in with mise en scene- a prop used in the video is an expensive car. She isn't driving it herself, she's getting driven around. This adds to the star image of her being rich and prestigious or 'too posh to drive'. Also linked to mise en scene, the lighting adds a romantic feel to the video, and pretty much all of the lighting used in the music video suggests love, as this is the main theme running through the music video. Lastly, Madonna is seen walking on the red carpet at one point in the video. This represents celebrity status and again, being prestigious.

Intertextuality is when one text references another. In terms of music videos, it's when a music video makes a reference or a 'mockery' of another music video. There is plenty of intertextuality in this video. Madonna makes a reference to Marilyn Monroe's famous video 'Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend'. It's similar choreography, costumes, makeup and jewellry. In my opinion, the main reason for her doing this was because Marilyn Monroe was very well known, and her video was quite famous. It reflected the glamorous world of Hollywood and was very materialistic- a play on the title 'Material Girl'.

Voyeurism is when someone gets pleasure out of looking at something or someone without them knowing. In simple terms, it's the notion of looking. There are several times in the music video where voyeurism can be seen. The first example is very clear at the start. This is when the two people are in a cinema watching Madonna on a screen. The camera then zooms into the screen, and the music video starts. This
is effective as it makes the audience feel involved and as though they are watching it too. Another part where voyeurism is shown is when Madonna is on the phone. I think this is a particularly effective use of voyeurism, because it may make people feel as though they shouldn't be listening in to their private conversation. This may add suspense to the audience, but ultimately it will make them feel involved and want to continue watching.

Lastly, the final key aspect of a music video is whether it's performance, concept or narrative based. This music video is a combination of performance and narrative based. The part in which its performance based is when Madonna is singing and all the men are dancing around her. This is because she is performing- singing to the audience. This technique is effective as it allows the audience to see what she is like when she's performing. The narrative side is the whole story line of the music video. The main story line running through this video is that Madonna is trying to find someone who will love her for who she is, and who will give her something other than just gifts. This is evident by when she is on the phone. The use of both of these helps keep the audience engaged, because they don't know what will happen next. 

Case Study- Bohemian Rhapsody music conventions

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Conventions of a music video & Carly Rae Jepsen Case Study

This video focuses on the key conventions found in a music video. We decided to present our ideas in a more creative way by doing it in a 'spoof' of The Weakest Link. Intertextuality and the genre characterists were discussed quite well, however I do think we should have mentioned the relationship between the lyrics/music and the visuals. If I was to do this again I would change that, so as the audience were more aware of the conventions.



Genre

In today's lesson we looked at genre- a possible topic that could come up in the exam. The first question we thought about was if texts are defined by genres. We looked at each other's thriller openings and decided what made it suitable to be considered as a thriller genre. The most popular ones were iconography (most had a weapon, or relevant clothing) and for ours, film noir. Film noir made our opening a hybrid genre- which makes it a flexible genre and so more likely to be enjoyed by the audience- as said by Richard Maltby.

Every text uses a genre, whether it be horror, thriller, romance, action or drama. Genres sort films into categories, which makes it easier for someone to find what sort of films they enjoy. It also means that similar films will be made in the future, because film makers know that audiences enjoy films from all genres. The purposes of genres are to categorise films and to make viewing easier for audiences. It's not always easy to tell what genre a film is, as it may either be a hybrid genre or a hidden genre. An example of a hybrid genre would be Scream or Scary Movie- it combines horror with a comedic element.

Iconography is one aspect that helps define what genre a film is. Mise en scene and plot/storyline are other aspects that help define a genre. Iconography is things like props and objects used in a film, and what people associate the item with. For example, a weapon would usually be a horror or a thriller film. Mise en scene is everything from costume to set design used in a film which normally helps identify which genre a film belongs to.
For example, black clothing would be commonly associated with a horror film, and the set design of a dark forest, or abandoned house would be a thriller or a horror.

The way in which directors help to continue progress of different genres is by coming up with new, creative ideas to ensure that people keep on watching their specific genre, but at the same time by coming up with similar ideas, because they know what people enjoy watching.  As Steve Neale said, the audience demand will always be there, and the industry is always ready to produce new productions. In addition, he also said that without different genre's there would be no variety, and if all the films were the same genre it would be boring for audiences.

Our thriller opening we did for our AS coursework could easily be identified as a thriller. This is because of iconography, mise en scene and sound effects. Iconography helps identify a genre- this is through the props used in the opening. For example, in our thriller opening, we used the killer's hat and we used blood splatters to help identify it as a thriller opening. By using mise en scene we were able to help identify it as a thriller because of the colours used and the costumes worn. The killer wore black clothes, to help him blend in with the darkness- this was a huge part of our thriller opening as we wanted the audience to feel scared. Combined with the costume, we also used lighting. We used dark lighting to help scare the audience and hide the characters. This helped identify it as a thriller genre because the audience could not easily see the killer and so kept the tension running. The sound effects helped do this too, because the sounds we used were quite scary. We used sounds such as thunder, footsteps, a door creaking and scary music. These sound effects are all typical sound effects used in thriller openings.

Lesson 29.6.12

In this lesson we continued filming for our music video. We knew what we were doing as we had drawn out a storyboard for the whole video. Although we knew what to do, one of our group members wasn't here, and she was the main character in our music video, so we found it difficult. We overcame this by using another person in our group. We probably won't use it, as it wasn't ideal for our music video- but it gave us some idea of how to act out other scenes within the music video. On Friday 6th July's lesson, we will finish the filming and start to edit our other scenes that we have already filmed.

Lesson -15.06.12

In today's lesson we focused on coming up with an idea for a music video we were going to do, and coming up with the storyboard for it. My group is me, Rabia, Aysha and Gamze. Aysha and Gamze are the actors in our song, Rabia is in charge of the camera, and I am the director of the video. The song we chose was 'Barbie Girl' by Aqua. We wanted to choose a song that would be fun to do, because we wanted to show our creative side in a music video. First, we printed the lyrics off, so as we could learn them for when we started filming. We then created a storyboard of ideas for our music video. Once we'd done this, we showed our teacher and started to film our first scene. We couldn't film much, as we didn't have any props or costumes, so we did a first draft. This was particularly helpful as we know exactly what to do when it comes to filming the actual thing.

Two music videos: 1910-1970

The first music video I researched was 'Hey Jude' by The Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney, and was released in August 1968, and was the longest single to top the British charts- seven minutes long. The Beatles recorded 'Hey Jude' at Abbey Road Studios, and was nominated for the Grammy Awards of 1969 and and in 1968, it was voted the best single of the year in NME magazine. The video I have used is effective, like the 'House of the rising sun' video, as it shows all the vocals of the band via close up shots. They have used instruments which may seem as though it has not been lip synced, and is live, and so more authentic and 'real'.

The second music video I researched was 'Walk On By' by Dionne Warwick. It was written by Dionne Warwick herself, and was recorded at the same December 1963 session that yielded her hit 'Anyone who had a heart". 'Walk On By' was released in April 1964 it's peak position in the UK singles chart was number eight. There were several remakes of the song, by artists such as Bobby Kris, Isaac Hayes, Jo Jo Zep and Sybil. The music video is quite interesting, as it plays on the title. The video sees Dionne walking past chairs throughout the entire video, playing on the title 'Walk On By', as she's literally just walking past them, not doing anything else. There are also close up shots of her, so as the audience know what the artist looks like. The original video is not available, but below is a recording of the song.

 

Music- late 60's and early 70's

Many "song films" were produced by UK artists, so as they could be screened on TV when the bands were not available to appear live. The UK band 'The Kinks' made the first plot promo clips for a song. In the video, the layout is that of a comic book, for their song 'Dead End Street'. It also shows photo stills of the great depression as well as no lip sync, which was unusual at this time.

Mick Rock was a director for some of David Bowie's music videos, and he said "In all cases I waived any fee for their promotional usage. Nobody had any idea at the time that people would one day pay money for such things". David and Mick both underestimated how successful he would be, especially with such hits as Space Oddity and Life On Mars. He had to work on a tiny budget, but had total control on what he wanted to do with the music video. His promo Life On Mars was famous and recognisable because of two main aspects; the turqoise suit that Bowie made, and the make up rendered by glammeister.

'House of the Rising Sun'- analysis

In the first lesson, we watched the music video the song 'House of the Rising Sun' by The Animals. It was made in 1964 and so the obvious reasoning for the transitions is the lack of technology. Also, the transitions were slow which reflected the slow beat of the song, and the close up shots allowed the audience to see the members of the band in more detail. There was also a pan shot which established the scene the music video was set in, and was used before the music started to prepare the audience that the music was about to start. The band were lip syncing, and it was effective because it looked as though they weren't- the instruments also made it seem like they weren't.

Introduction

This blog will be used for my A2 Media Studies coursework. I will be focusing on music videos and eventually making my own one, as well as a digipak to go with it.