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.