Music Video Props

Here is a mood board created around the props that we will be using in our music video. 

We have chosen to use the guitar as it is an acoustic song the includes a guitar and the original artist herself uses her guitar within her star iconography, this fitting with Andrew Goodwin's theory. We have also included the milk jar for the actor to throw in the sea, a metaphor for her letting go of her love, the notepad where the artist will write 'the best mistake' a referral to the lyrics in the visuals and the sparklers for the ending scene. 

Actress Casting: Female head shots

Actress Casting: Female Head Shots.

Annie Evans

Annie Evans: Age: 17 Size: 14 Actress.

Jaydee Johnson

Jaydee Johnson: Age 17 Size: 10 Actress 

Sophie Chittock

Sophie Chittock Age:17 Size:10 Actress.

Above are the head shots that we took in order to explore each of our possible actresses. We thought that this would be necessary as when looking at each individual actor we would be able to investigate who we thought would fit the brief for our music video to the best standard.  

Casting head shots: male

 Here are the male head shots that have been taken for the role of the artists' love interest within our music video. Although the male will not be physically featured in the video we felt it would be a good idea to still cast head shots to find the male who would look to fit with the artist the best.

Actor Casting Footage For Music Video

Casting for our actors
During the planning for our music video we held a casting so that we would be able to find the best actors to feature in our video. During the casting we looked/interviewed 3 females for the lead role of the artist in the video and 4 males for the role of the artists 'love interest', although the male role will not actually feature in the video the actor playing the role of the artist will be holding a picture of them throughout most of the visuals. We decided to also offer the actors the role of the artists' 'friends' in the video available to the girls who we did not choose to play the lead role. Below you will see the test shots of the girls during the casting where we chose to take a profile and side profile shot of them and above you will see the videos of them reading some lyrics from the song and walking. We felt the need to do this to see who would fit best within our video. For example we felt we needed to have a feel for the actor themselves and who would present the lyrics in the best way possible. 

The actor that we have chosen to play the lead role in our music video will be Annie Evans. We felt that this actress would suit the theme of our music video and interpreted the lyrics the best with confidence therefore she would be able to present the lyrics the best out of all the possible actors when shooting the video. Also this actress had a similar look and style to the original artist who's track we will be using.

Responsibilities:Adrienne Marsh: In charge of setting up the studio for us to film in and taking care of the props nessacary for the filming (Scripts)

Brittany Doran: Filming the actresses 
BOTH: Editing of the casting footage.

Music video Participant Release forms (for actual music video and castings)

Digipak analysis

Digipak analysis 

The Dixie Chicks: Court Yard Hounds
 

The first digipak I will be analysing is The Dixie Chicks Court Yard Hounds. I have chosen to analyse this digipak as although the track we will be creating the music video to is in the genre of pop it also has a type of country/folk music element to it, that of which the Dixie Chick's fit into. This is an example of a six sided digipak that has an image of the band on the cover including the album name, an image of the band from behind on one of the sides of the digipak and the track list on the back again including an image of the band from behind.  I really like the theme to this, I believe that the theme is a fairy-tale/fantasy theme and includes many imaginative images within it.

Three sides of the digipak: Three sides of this digipak have similar images on them and all seem to each have a quote on them. The house style of this digipak all fits together nicely along the theme of a fairy-tale style and these elements of the digipak are very congruent within this theme. For example they all have an image of a forest which could be interpreted s a secret forest/fantasy land. They all also present the element of secret and the unknown in a charming way with the colour scheme, that being dark colours of the forest yet with a pale blue sky that gives a softer element to all of the dark colours. Furthermore the font style that they have chosen to use fits in extremely well with the fairy-tale theme as the font seems to have an antique and free feel when you look at it.

This part of the digipak includes a hand out with the main cover image on it that includes the lyrics of all the tracks on the album in a sleeve to the left and the actual CD that slips out of a sleeve on the right. This is something I will aim to include when producing my own digipak as I feel it gives the final outcome that special something when it includes a lyric hand out and would also entice the listeners to play the CD many times and learn the lyrics with the aid of the hand out, therefore making them feel more connected to the album and band. I also like the element of the CD also slipping out of a sleeve as I feel that the album looks protected from scratches and more on the practical side feels safe. The CD itself includes the track list again, this I also believe is a good idea as if the audience misplaced the digipak they would still be able to know what tracks are included on the album. This again is another practical element that they have considered when producing this album. This part of the digipak is still congruent with the overall theme and look to the album and still follows the same house style which is one if not the most important thing to take into consideration when producing a digipak.

The main cover image is a close up of the band themselves. This was probably chosen to achieve the high demands on the band through the record label and music companies for close ups of the band/ artists on the beauty side of the industry. This will have also been used to develop the bands star iconography, that I believe being black and white images in their albums. You can tell this by looking at their other album covers (some have been shot in black and white). Below the main image there are further images of wolves fading into the shoulders/upper bodies of the band. These are in black which fits in with the overall theme of a fairy-tale and dull colours, yet wolves are also conative with a fairy-tale/fantasy which again represents this theme within the digipak. However the fact that they are presented in black and are usually associated with the darker side of a fairy-tale or non reality could represent a darker meaning to the album or tracks that are included on this album. The font of the album name being in white also stands out against the darker side of the colour scale (blacks and greys) which would grab the audiences attention against the other digipak's it would be competing with. This is an important element to take into consideration when producing my own digipak as the within the competitive media market mine will need to stand out against the rest.

Finally this digipak also includes an image of the band from behind. The way this has been edited presents the band to be walking into the forest. This is an interesting and striking image as you can see the lighter colours within the background and through the trees, this again fits in well with the theme of a fantasy as it gives an unknown and inquisitive feeling. Also the styling of the artists is within this theme as they are wearing sequin dresses, this again is conative with a fairy-tale as they seem to embody all that is sparkles and sweetness.

The Wanted battleground:
The second digipak I will be analysing is The Wanted 'Battleground'.This digipak is also a six sided example consisting of 3 images,the front cover, the back and the album itself. 

Here is an image of the three sides of the digipak in which the font cover, the back and an image of the band is present. To the right is the image of the band. This is a medium shot which is situated in front of mountains and a clear sky. This I believe is very fitting with the title of the album 'Battleground', because the style of the image presents the theme of a dystopia in which there is brown and old looking colours that present a discarded and neglected image to the audience, that has also been included in this album artwork.

The centre image is that of the front cover of the digipak. This includes concepts that  most digipak's include such as tracks from the album that have been the most successful and would therefore make the audience want to purchase the product as the songs are familiar and they may have heard them on the radio and seen the music videos on TV. 

The artwork of this front cover is, like the image to the right, very fitting with the theme of the title. The red/orange sky signifies the idea that there is bloodshed/anger as well as the mountains and desolate area the band are placed in create the feeling of a battleground. The picture of the band is of a medium camera shot allowing all of the members to be seen yet fulfils the demand from record labels to have shots of band/artists as they are all looking towards the camera. 

The image to the left is of the back of the digipak. This includes yet another picture of the band and is in black and white. This side of the digipak includes concepts that most digipak's include for instance the bar code, insitutional information and the titles of the songs featured on the album. The titles of the congs however have been presented horizontally and not vertically that you see on many digipaks. This makes the digipak have a different feel to it.   

Here are the other sides of the digipak, including two images of the band that join together to make one single image and the album itself. The CD holder is simple and does not distract away from the disc, however the disc is also very simple which contrasts with the front cover of the album. The disc features the name of the band in their house font and the logo of the institution's the band belong to. The is to allow the audience to know the name of the album and the name of the band without having to look at the actual digipak, this a feature on every album. The images in the centre and the left are in black and white to again fit in with the theme of the album. Again the band is situated in a desolate area that looks unused that is connotative with the overall theme intended. 

The third digipak I will be analysing is Julia Fordham 'Different Time Different Place'.

Here is the front cover of the digipak. This digipak has a very different look and styling to the previous ones that I have looked at. This is because of the simple colours ans image that has been used, the artist is situated on a beach and pale colours have been used. This presents innocence to the audience and beaches are normally associated with a paradise, this being the opposite to The Wanted's 'Battleground'. The pose that the artist has adopted as well as her outfit again covey the theme of innocence and vulnerability. 
The front cover of the Digipak also includes information about the album that the audience will be buying including the fact that the digipak has two discs. The font of the album title fits in with the theme of the digipak in the fact that it is feminine and simple, appealing to the intended audience that I believe to be females. 

The back of the digipak is similar to the font cover in the fact that is is very minimal. The beach theme is still present with the background image being the sand. The back of this digipak includes features that many do. (the titles of the songs, the logo of the record label and a bar code.) The font of the writing on this side of the digipak is the same as the front cover, again fitting in with the overall theme and making the digipak look as though it should go together. 

This is the middle of the digipak and includes the two discs that both slip out, a feature that is again different to The Wanted's 'Battleground'. The image is, like the whole digipak, very minimal and only includes images of the location of the pictures. However a feature that I like within this digipak is the fact that the songs are again listed net to each discs. This not only makes the discs easy to differentiate between but also gives the audience information that they may want to know about each song including who wrote them in case they would like to research other work they have produced.

I also like the fact that this digipak matches the discs and the way in which they are presented (slip out) as I feel this makes the digipak look well presented and to the same style. 

This is the front and middle of thedigipak. The middle is a minimal image of the artist's feet walking through the sand which again reiterates the simple theme and the idea of innocence and paradise. The fact that you can see the artist walking through the sand fits in with the title of the album as this may be her 'different place' that she ha sated in the title and looks to be her escape. This also flows with the overall theme as you can tell the images have been taken in the same location. 

All the digipaks I have chosen to analyse have very different qualities, this I believe is dependant on the genre of music the artist/band belong to.

Digipak design sketches

Digipak design sketches

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Above is some sketch ideas of what my digipak will entail. For example I have sketched the location that my digipak images will be shot on (the fences or the cornfield). I have also included a sketch of the artist holding a guitar, a sketch of the artists outfit style and hair style. I believe that these sketches present my ideas in a more clear way than that of the mind map and has helped me to visualise along the lines of what I would like the final outcome of my digipak to look like in terms of the theme and styling. I also believe that these digipak sketches show that my ideas fit in with the rest of my planning in terms of the genre and target audience. Therefore showing that if I produce my digipak to look like this then it will congruent to the rest of my project.

Mind map for my digipak

Initial ideas for my Digipak.

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Above is a brainstorm of ideas for my Digipak. I have included things like the house style and the items I am going to include in the digipak such as the lyric handout and the poster/image of the artist inside. I will also include information about the artist in the digipak as i feel this will draw the audience and excite them. I am going to be using either studio shots or location shots for the main image and theme throughout my digipak. I am also aiming to appeal to my target audience, that being teenage girls throughout all of my digipak.

FUTHER CHANGES TO OUR MUSIC VIDEO

FUTHER CHANGES TO OUR MUSIC VIDEO.

During the planning of our music video we aimed to achieve a narrative style of video. Although we will still be basing the majority of the visuals of the music video within this style and at the beach we will also be including some footage designed around a flashback and at a lake. Part of this new direction we will be going in for our music video is because the artist can no longer feature in the video herself. Therefore we have had to take different ideas on board and slightly change the plan to the video which will now include an actor to play the role of the artist.Therefore I will be producing another music video proposal that will cater to the plan of the music video and in a greater detail than that of my previous one.

Music video proposal:

Track title:
'The Best Mistake' Written/produced by Kiersten Powell.

What is the track about?:
The track is about young love and falling in love. The artist has fallen in love with someone and needs to find an escape as although they love them and they are the best mistake, they feel that at the moment they very involved and are thinking of them fondly.

Style of the video:
The style of the video will be narrative with cross over elements of that within a performance style music video and will be the acoustic genre.

Location:
The location of the music video will be a beach for the main part of filming and will also include footage at a lake.

Target audience:
The target audience for my music video will be teenage girls/boys that enjoy pop/folk and country music. This cross over between different genres has become highly popular within the teenage audience and as I am a teenage girl myself feel that I will have a good understanding of what a music video that is aimed at this target audience will need to include to appeal to them. We will be aiming to include a fun element to our video that will hopefully entice the teenage audience, their likes and the typical situations that the teenage group deal with such as young/first love.

Plan for the music video:
The music video will be set at a beach, the artist/actor will be playing her guitar and will switch through visuals of her playing and walking along the beach with an image of her love interest in hand. We feel that the beach will be a good location to shoot our footage at as beaches are conative with the theme of escapism and being free. This is very fitting with the acoustic genre of music videos as they are usually situated in a natural location such as the beach or the woods. The visuals will also switch to a flashback of her and her love interest together. This will be edited black and white to represent the past and her thinking about the time they had spent together. The video will also switch to the artist having fun at night at a lake with sparklers and end with an image of the artist again on the beach lip synching 'the best mistake'.

Changes to the plan of our music video

Changes to the plan of our music video.
This post has been written for the purpose of informing the changes that we have made to the plan of our music video. In the original plan we aimed to use the artist, singing her original song 'The best mistake' and film her in various locations that fit with the lyrics and interpretation of the song. However due to the fact that the artist herself has been busy we could not arrange a date where all of us would be able to film the music video. Therefore we will instead be using an actor to play the role of the artist and also different actors to play the role of her 'friends' in the video. We will be holding a casting for the different parts and then pick an actor that we feel will fit the video the best. The artist has given us permission to use her track and hopefully the end product will work as well as our original plan.

Learning a new technique 'The Door'

Above is an experimentation of continuty within a short film/music video. For the project we had to film various locations and shots of the artist opening a door and when they go through the door they appear at another location. We also had to investigate how the track on the filming would affect the way in which we view the video. For example a slower paced track would make the video seem totally different than that of a fast paced track. During our editing we chose to use a faster paced track and not a slower one as we felt the outcome of the video seemed better with this. The techniques that we developed when producing this short video was pace editing and cutting down the shots so that we only used the best/the film we needed, choosing the best track for our video and the editing of the shots to achieve the final outcome. Another technique that we developed was the rule that you cannot start filming to the left of the actor and then switch to the right, you would have to progress along a 180 degree line otherwise your filming would look odd. This would help massively when filming our music video as now we know how many different shots it takes to produce even a few seconds of the final video and also we will have more experience on the types of shots that we will need to use in our video and the 'do's and don'ts's' of filming a music video. 

Here are some examples of the types of shots that we learned to develop during this project.

A close up of the actor walking towards the door.

 A high angle shot of the actors feet so the audience understand what is happening.

     A shot of the actor going through the door. This was used to show the audience what was going to 
     happen during the video

The shot of the actor closing the door that they had appeared in after travelling through the starting door. This was used to show the audience what has happened within the video.

Youth Subcultures

What is a Youth Subculture?

A youth subculture is a youth-based subculture with distinct styles, behaviors, and interests. Youth subcultures offer participants an identity outside of that ascribed by social institutions such as family, work, home and school.Youth subcultures come in a range of different styles such as 'grunge', 'emo', 'geek chic' and 'hippies'. People from youth subcultures have similar interests to those who are part of the same subculture. For example they will probably have a similar dress sense and be interested in the same style of music and activities.It is also said that people of the same subculture will have similar characteristics and behaviour traits. Youth subcultres can even display their own jargon and define themselves 'against' mainstream society.

How do Youth Subcultures effect our video?

Youth subcultures will effect the way in which we design and produce our music video and they way in which I design my digipak. They will affect this because each individual subculture has their own style and preferences. I will need to take this into consideration when producing my digipak as the shots and layout of my digipak will need to fit in with our chosen subculture and target audience. Also, for example the house style of the my digipak will need to fit in with our chosen subculture as if this had no relevance to their interests my target audience would not be interested in purchasing my digipak.

Forms and conventions of acoustic/indie music videos.

Here is a slide show I have made around my research forms an conventions of acoustic/indie music videos. I have done this research the genre that I am producing my music video and axillary products around. This has helped me inform decisions around the editing of my music video, the shot types we have used and the style of the images that I will use when designing my Digipak and Advertisement.

Location Test Footage

Above we have visited the locations in which we will be filming for our music video. We have shown each different areas that we will film at within the process of different cuts for the video.
We have mainly based the locations around the beach/sea area combined with the greens of fields, underneath the pier, along the pier and in arcades. We will cut between these shots so that the video doesn't consist of one area, this will then give our video a good range of footage and variety.
We have done the test footage in order to show what the location looks like, fill in risk assessments and gain an idea and better understanding of the how the lighting is presented.

Responsibilities:

Adrienne Marsh: Director (filmed Brittany introducing the locations)
Brittany Doran- Speaker (introducing the locations)
BOTH- Taken in turns to film pans of the locations.

Location test shots

Location 1: The Beach 

Above are some test shots of the locations we are going to be filming most of the visuals for our music video at, this being the beach as the start scene of our video will be filmed here. We felt it would be important to take a test image of the location as we could then gain an idea as to how the lighting may look within or video. 

Location 2: The pier 

Above are the test images we have taken at another location we plan to film at, this being the pier. Again we felt this was important to gain a better understanding of how the lighting will look when we actually film our video. 

Music Video Risk Assessment Sheets

Here are the risk assessment sheets that we filled in prior to filming the music video. This has been done to calculate the risks that may be involved in each location we plan to film in. This was a crucial part of our research and planning as after filling in the risk assessment sheets we would then have to take into consideration the risks eg. loud noise and if it would effect the filming highly so that we couldn't achieve presentable footage, or if the risk would be considered minor.