Sunday 30 October 2011

Film Diary

First day of filming (Monday):
So far, our filming has gone really well and mostly as we planned. We have finished the shots of Alannah in her house and her walking/running shots. We also finished the shots of Alannah and Joe's 'memory montage', which was in the country park in Milton. The outside shots were a bit difficult as we had to wait for the public to walk past, but eventually our shots were finished and as we had hoped. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to finish the running shots outside (for when Alannah gets to Joe's house) as the light had gone, and to keep the continuity in our video we could not carry on, but will film these shots at the same time as to get the same light.

Second day of filming (Tuesday):
Today we finished filming all of our shots and we feel it was really successful. We finished the shots of Alannah running outside and they were succesful as the lighting was the same. Alannah also made sure to wear the same outfits, hair etc as to keep the continuity. The shots of Joe also went really well. We had to swap locations a few times in his house to get the right lighting but eventually we decided on the shots and framing, such as him on the sofa and by the window looking out into the distance, and these shots worked really well. We also finished the shots of Alannah and Joe's reunion, and decided the best ending would be the camera slowly moving upwards from Alannah and Joe hugging to the sky. After trying this a few times due to camera shake, the shot was eventually finished and was really effective. It was the perfect ending to our romantic video and we think our shooting was very successful, and hopefully we will not need any emergency filming.

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Test Montage

We wanted to test our ideas out, so we used the college field to get an idea of what our framing and shots would be like. We feel the tests went really well, and are a perfect example of what we would like our final footage to be like, but more polished.
We also played around with the colours on Final Cut and, after this, have decided to do the present time in black and white, as black and white tones are quite melancholy, to fit in with the emotions of the song and video at that point in time. The memories and the final reunion will be in colour to represent happier times. The colour we have decided on is a desaturated tone with a gold/pink hue, as these colours represent happiness.

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Genre Conventions Research

- The story is focused mainly on the development of a romantic relationship between two characters. Our video will concentrate on the relationship of Joe and Alannah as they decide to get back together. 
- There is a 'Happily Ever After' - usually resulting in the couple back together/finally getting together. In our music video, it will be a happy ending because the couple are reunited. The tension will build over the course of the video as Joe waits for news from Alannah, in reply to his letter which she reads throughout. 


Main elements of romance films/music videos/novels:
Conflict - There is usually a central conflict that divides the lovers. In our video, the conflict is unknown to the audience yet it is clear there was one in the past which split the pair in the first place.
Growth - Throughout the video, the characters are expected to grow - so the audience can find them more interesting and relate to them. Throughout our video, our story will become clearer and more defined and (thanks to close ups) the audience will be able to identify the emotions of the characters to make the story more understandable.
Resolution - Problems between the two are usually resolved and leave the audience satisfied. Our music video has a clear resolution at the end, as the two reunite. Audiences aren't usually satisfied if the reunion seems superficial, and not 'permanent and deep', so we hope to convey the emotions of our characters in a serious, realistic way using different shots and framing.




An example of 'Happily Ever After' is in the film The Notebook, one of our main inspirations. The conflict is that her parents do not want them to be together, and she moves away after the summer and gets engaged. It follows the characters growing up and the audience becomes more deeply involved in their turmoil. The film is resolved as the couple reunite at the end and realise how they are always meant to be together.


The Notebook - the couple, as adults, falling back in love (resolution)

Inspiration

Enrique Iglesias - Hero Music Video

Another source of inspiration is the romantic music video for Hero by Enrique Iglesias.

The colour scheme for our music video will be something similar to the hero music video - lots of gold, pink and sepia tones which we will edit into using Colour Correction in Final Cut.
These colours are traditionally used in romantic scenes of movies and music videos, and we feel would fit into our story well and add to the sensitive atmosphere. The colours also relate to a sunset - a traditionally romantic setting. The shots and framing are also very similar to what we hope to use in our music video. The majority of shots are close ups/medium close ups to easily convey the emotions the characters are feeling. The framing usually puts the couple/character in the centre, to make them the main point of focus.

Goodwin's Analysis of 'Hero' by Enrique Iglesias.
1. Genre characteristics: the music video tells a story of a couple in love which is a characteristic of a love song's music video.
2. The lyrics are illustrative, for example when he says 'touch your lips' they kiss in the music video, and when he says 'kiss away the pain' he is kissing her body.
3. The relationship between the music and visuals is illustrative, as there are moments where the villain in the story is playing the piano to match the music.
4. There are many close ups of Enrique in this video, and he is also a character in the story, making his emotions genuine. His direct role in the music video makes him easier to relate to for audiences.
5. There are notions of looking in this music video. Enrique continuously looks at the camera, straight at the audience, again making his emotions more genuine.



Adele - Someone Like You (music video)

Adele's Someone Like You is one of the most famous songs at the moment, well known for addressing pain and love. We'd like our video to convey these strong emotions, and have decided to try the idea of using black and white in our video in the present scenes to convey pain, similar to Adele's music video. Black and white makes the video a lot simpler, highlighting the emotion even more. The dark tones add to the overall atmosphere of the scene. The difference in colours will also highlight the difference in times between the montage of the past memories, and the present - making the video much clearer for our audience. Adele's video also has a slightly blurred edge - we need to experiment with effects to see if this would fit in with our video. Many close ups of Adele show her strong, painful emotions. We would like to follow Alannah on her walk to Joe's house, and hope we can do this as tastefully as Adele's video.

Monday 3 October 2011

Final Idea

After recieving feedback for our pitch, we have decided to add a more romantic setting and theme to our music video, and slightly change the shots and 'flashbacks' so the video can be more understandable. We have also decided to not use the 1940s theme for the dream/memories as we have too little time to find the right resources to make the idea successful.
The music video will follow our couple as they lead separate lives as well as their reunion, thanks to the letter Joe has written to Alannah.
The video will start with shots of Alannah walking through her house in a modern setting reading a letter, with a melancholy look on her face. The shots will be a variety of medium close ups and close ups, to clearly display the emotion on her face. Joe will then be introduced with medium close ups of him playing his guitar and singing the lyrics of the song. Alannah will be leaning in an extreme close up against her front door, clearly in turmoil about whether or not to go out, interlaced with shots of Joe sitting down, looking anxious and worried. It will then become clear that the two characters and the letter are linked.
Alannah will then leave her house and walk down streets, still reading the letter. She will keep turning back (through a series of long shots/medium close ups) - clearly undecided about whether or not to keep walking.
Memories are then clearly shown as the two are clearly thinking, as Alannah walks down the street and Joe looking out his window. Shots will be shown of the couple in traditionally romantic scenes, such as picnics and riding bikes together. We also have decided to use the idea of a handheld camera as if the two are videoing each other. This is quite a traditionally romantic idea. We intend to edit these shots with a slightly fuzzy quality and pinkish overtones to show it's clearly a dream/flashback.
Alannah then looks at the letter and pauses, looking back between her house and the direction she's walking in, unsure about what to do, and this is the key moment where she decides to definitely go to her lover and she starts running. Shots of her running will still be interlaced with shots of Joe anxiously walking around his house.
In this last section of the video, Joe opens the door and Alannah is there, holding the letter and smiling. The two will then hug and cheer, laughing in the driveway of Joe's house. We were hoping to conclude the video in the rain - a traditional characteristic of the romantic genre - however some of our feedback said it may be hard to do that with the unpredictable weather. We will still try to achieve this last scene in the rain, yet we still feel it will be effective without it, so we will do test shots without the rain.

Location Report

We will film in Milton Country Park for the majority of our music video, for the memory/fantasy scenes set in the 1940s. We will use the green in the park for the picnic and "bike ride".  This location is very romantic and natural and will fit in easily with our ideas for the romantic, sensitive song.
We will also film in Alannah's house for the shots of her reading the letter, and in Milton for the walking scenes. Locations such as the kitchen and bedroom to read the letter make the video more personal and relatable for our target audiences - the majority of which will be young women.
We will also use Joe's house for the shots of him on guitar and for the reunion of the couple.


Using the two different houses and the streets throughout Milton will add to the separation of the couple, and make the video more realistic. All of these locations fit in perfectly with our story and help to create the poetic atmosphere and helps the continuity of the video.

Pitch Presentation

 Concept
The concept of our music video is to express the romance within the song.
We will achieve this by having our music video resemble a love scene from a film between two people.
We want to establish him as an alternative artist, using our music video, digipak and magazine advert to sell the album. 
We also want to establish the artist individually as a love song writer, who’s music appeals generally to women.
Music Promo Video
It will include montages of both people, including shots on their own – possibly singing along to the lyrics, as if they are both thinking out loud about each other.
There will also be shots of the couple together, for example walking together, or cuddled up on the sofa laughing.
There will also be footage of the artist on his guitar singing, so we can make sure he is established as a romantic man.
The lighting will include soft, pure colours, such as whites and blues, to match the genre of music video.



Digipack 

          Our digipak’s design will incorporate the ideas from the main song of the album (the one used in our music video) to establish his identity to our audience. We want to create a romantic, sensitive image for our artist. Our digipak’s front cover will be of the artist himself, holding his guitar. The spine will include his name and the album name – “Letters”, which links to our music promo video. The back will include the rest of the song titles for the album, and have them written as if they were a list on a letter, similar to the image below. This all links in with the title of the album and sells the whole image of the artist. The colours we will use will be soft, pure colours such as white and blue – also linking to our music promo video.  

Magazine Advert
Our magazine advert will consist of a shot of our artist looking away from the camera behind pretty scenery to immediately highlight his style of genre.
It will include very light, pure colour, such as pinks and blues (potential horizon background) to connote the theme of love.
The magazine advert will include the image of the artist, the name of the album, a quote about the artist, the release date, and the website.
Potentially camera shots include close ups, medium shots or establishing shots.  
 
Target Audience
As our artist’s music is very romantic, and the songs relate to the theme of love, our intended target audience is women as we feel the style of our music video will appeal more.
Through following Goodwin’s theory, we will utilize the link of lyrics to visuals by presenting it in the style of a scene from a romantic film. This is to allow our audience to stay hooked to the video, following it as if it were a story.
Our video conforms to the typical narrative you would find in a romantic film, with a happy ending, leaving our audience with a smile on their face.
 

Timeline of Song

Intro: 0 seconds - 34 seconds

1st Verse: 34 seconds - 1min 11secs

Chorus: 1min 11secs - 1min 34secs

Instrumental: 1min 34secs - 1min 45secs

2nd Verse: 1min 45secs - 2min 42secs

3rd Verse and instrumental: 2min 42secs - 3min 15secs

Chorus x2: 3min 15secs - end

Artist Construction Task


Giuseppe Acanfora
The image we are trying to construct is a romantic, sensitive teenage heartthrob – one for the girls to lust over. Giuseppe Acanfora is tall, dark and handsome – the stereotypical love song artist. Our style icon is Enrique Iglesias – a well-known artist that oozes sex appeal and is very popular. Enrique is well known for his smouldering eyes and the pout – a factor we will incorporate into our magazine cover. These factors will all appeal to our target audience of teenage girls.
We will use the natural location of the woodland area on site to add to the natural effect of the cover. It will also make the cover more mysterious, appealing to our target audience. He will wear a shirt with a low cut white top underneath with a wooden necklace – a stereotypical outfit of a pop solo artist. The image with Giuseppe in the centre of the frame will give the idea that he is independent and alone which will appeal to the female audience. Our photograph will be a close up to sell the artist. Close ups are typical of the pop genre as it shows off the artist’s looks and style. It reveals the artist’s thoughts and emotions on camera to establish the type of music he plays and what they revolve around. The pose will be looking away from the camera into the distance, as if he is in a trance, which will add to the mystery of the artist and leave the audience wanting more.
Our genre is pop and our choices relate to the genre of pop as they are quite stereotypical for a male solo artist. The styling of quite a simple shirt and necklace is a typical style for a male artist – the simplicity of the outfit shows he is not trying too hard and highlights his independence. The whole background and styling is not too outrageous which links to our genre as Pop is never very extreme in styling – it is normally natural and on trend. The whole image will create the romantic atmosphere we want to establish the artist and sell the song.

Practise Moodboard for magazine ad:


Magazine ad (practise):

MTV Video Music Awards Task


Out of all the music video’s we liked the Mumford and Sons music video for the song the Cave because, it worked well with the song style and mood. The song atmosphere was quite relaxing and the music video showed that quite well. The directing of the music video was well thought out. You could tell that it had been storyboarded. Throughout the music video it showed a lot of emotion and there was a meaning behind it, there was a lot of soul.  The video was very different to a expected rock music video, it showed unique side to the band.  The use of the close up of the face captures the emotion well. The style of the video is old fashioned and vintage.

MTV Video Music Awards Task

Best Male Video
Nominees:
Justin Bieber – U Smile (Winner)
Justin Bieber - U Smile Music Video

Bruno Mars – Grenade
Cee Lo Green – F*** You
Eminem ft Rihanna – Love the Way You Lie
Kanye West ft Rihanna and Kid Cudi – All of the Lights
Who should have won and why?
"Set this house on fire"
"Watch me burn"
We think Eminem ft Rihanna – Love the Way You Lie should have won, as the video sends a personal, serious message. It is the most relatable and understandable video for audiences. The genre of rap/hip-hop usually sends out serious messages about personal experiences and this fits in well. The lyrics and visuals are illustrative and fit together nicely, for example the house behind Eminem and Rihanna as they sing is always on fire – fitting in with the lyrics “I’ll set this house on fire” – and the characters in the video are burning or holding flames – fitting in with the lyrics “watch me burn”. The characters also mime along to the lyrics with Eminem as if they were saying them out loud – “Where you going?” “I’m leaving you,” – which convinces the audience of the story and makes the whole story more realistic to watch. There is also a large range of shots, including close ups and low angle shots to highlight every part of the characters’ story.


Conveying a serious message to audiences




Mercury Music Prize Task


Average, everyday clothing shows she keeps up with the fashion of her target audience, which is the younger, more modern generation. She gives the impression of being a normal person, which makes her easier to relate to. Her style seems pretty normal in the sense of fashion, which shows that her genre of music could be anything from pop to dance as the fashion sense of these artists are usually following the stereotypical trends of the younger generation, whereas if she was a rock or indie artist then her fashion sense would be much more recognisable and distinct.
The lighting on the photo could be seen as clubbing lights, relating to the genre of dance. The location of the image, which is a normal street, relates to the idea of her being an everyday, normal person. It also relates to the idea of dubstep as one of her genres, which has a more underground theme.

Goodwin’s Analysis – Easy Please Me
The genre characteristics were typical of the dance/dubstep/pop genre as it’s set in an underground scene. The men are all showing interest in the women in the video – typically stereotyping women. It’s set in London, we know this because the man was speaking in a cockney accent at the beginning. This is a typical location for mainstream music as the capital.





The relationship between the lyrics and visuals is illustrative. This is shown when the lyrics are on screen, as above. Another example is when she is singing about liking ‘bad boys’, but not wanting to visit jail, and a typical ‘bad boy’ is in the background in a white vest, as a skinhead punching the punch bag, trying to impress her.
The music and visuals have no relationship, as there are no links to the beat or rhythm.
The music video sells the artist as it follows her in the video, and includes dozens of close ups as she sings. All of the males in the room are looking at her, and she is getting all the attention from them and her friends. The audience can tell she is the main character in the video.


There is also a lot of voyeurism in the video as Katy B is constantly singing to the camera and the audience is following her story in the bar throughout the night. There is also a small amount of voyeuristic treatment of the female body as the males in the room are staring at all the females, trying to get their attention. When the first man walks in on the phone he says, “There’s loads of jack and danny in here tonight!” which means there’s a lot of women in the bar.
There is no obvious intertextual reference in the video to other films or music videos.

Biography
Katy B’s real name is Kathleen “Katie” Brien, and she was born on the 21st May 1989 in Peckham, South London. She is a graduate of the BRIT school and was offered major label deals in 2009, but released her first single with the label Rinse in 2010. She completed a degree in Popular Music at Goldsmiths, University of London, also in 2010. Her first single, ‘Katy on a Mission’, reached number 5 on the UK Singles Chart and number 1 on the UK Indie Chart, kick starting her career. In 2011, Katy released her debut album, On a Mission, and it peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart. She supported Tinie Tempah on his tour in Spring 2011 and her debut tour also began on the 30th of April, 2011.

Mercury Music Prize Task


Katy B
1.)         From this image her appearance gives her a certain sex appeal towards both genders, in the sense that her red lips and long wavy hair give the connotations of a femme fatal, which appeals more to men, where as the overall image gives a more inspirational sense to women as they may aim to be like her. The photo is a close up of Katy, only showing her face and shoulders. This represents her as an individual artist, with the focus entirely on her. The contrast of the black and white background to Katy’s striking red hair and colourful image also establishes her as unique, and potentially brightening up the music industry. Her colourful image also establishes the pop genre of music she plays as bright colours and pictures are typical in the pop world.



2.)         This music video is totally representative of the pop genre Katy B displays. It is typical of her image as it mainly consists of sexy dancing and references to the bedroom. The flickering lights and quick camera shots allow people to stay hooked on her as they establish and represent her image. The images and lyrics link well in the video as her exotic style of dancing merges with the lyrics about getting with boys and increases the general sex appeal on her. There is a consistent use of close ups to represent Katy B showing her as the main focus in the video, allowing all eyes to be on her. There is a frequent notion of eye contact towards the camera, as if she is looking directly at the people watching. Again, particularly towards the male audience, it gives off a sexual vibe that keeps them glued to the screen. The voyeuristic treatment of women’s body is typical of Goodwin’s music video analysis.
    
3.) The popstar Katy B was born on the 21st of May 1989. She was born in Peckham in South London. Katy B was offered major label deals in 2009 and released her first single in 2010.  She was nominated for the mercury prize 2011
 
© 2009 13Q1-09 Music Video 2011. All Rights Reserved | Powered by Blogger
Design by psdvibe | Bloggerized By LawnyDesignz