Evaluation Part 1

I was working to create a music video with a minimum of 3 minutes, using editing, transitions and effects. Also we were making a magazine advert and digipak which would be used to sell and promote the artist and the music video. This was initally done by creating a moodboard.

The artist was a man named Solo, whom we found on a website called http://www.unsigned.com/. When we first started the project we tried to receive permission from him but by the time we realised that he would not be replying, we had progressed too far into the project to choose a new song and come up with a completely new idea.


The music genre that was chosen was Soul/RnB which fit in very well with our age group so we were able to come up with good, different ideas, which is what attracted us to the artist.

Initially my own idea was to create a children’s TV drama, but after seeing my partner’s idea I had decided that I would like to do a music video. After careful consideration we found that we would prefer to improvise at some stages rather than sticking to a specific shot list.

Production Log Week 15

Production Log Week 14

Final Music Video; Solo - Solo 'Ver Now

Final Digipak

This is the inside cover of our Digipak.

This is the outside cover of our Digipak.

Final Magazine Advert

Job Allocations; What Actually Happened

Mood Board: Shani
Music Video Analysis: Me... 3 Done (Taio Cruz, Drake, Enrique)
Audience Research Survey: Both
Focus Group: Both
DVD Cover Analysis: Me... 2 Done (M.J, Young Money)
DVD Cover Analysis: Shani... 1 Done (Linkin' Park + Jay-Z)
Magazine Advert Analysis: Shani... 3 Done (Kanye West, La Roux, 50 Cent)
Audience Reseach Analysis: Me
Treatment: Shani
Song Lyrics: Shani
Magazine Advert Analysis (Extra): Shani
Flatplans: DVD Digipak Front & Back Cover Analysis: Shani
Flatplans: Magazine Advert Analysis: Me
Shot List: Shani

Snow Day / Extended Deadline

Our deadline has been extended as the school is closed due to snow.

We've got the 3 minutes on the timeline and everything looks good, we just needed to add our visual effects and some transitions today but now we can't until tomorrow.

Production Log Week 13

Production Log Week 12

Production Log Week 11

Production Log Week 10

Production Log Week 9

Production Log Week 8

Production Log Week 7

Production Log Week 6

Ancillary Background Experiment

Here i just created 4 different backgrounds with a primary black background but tried out 4 different brushes to create a sense of purple to go with our house colours, from here we will pick which background to use for our DVD cover and magazine advert.

Evening Before London Filming Shots

Tomorrow we go to Embankment + Millennium Bridge to film some narrative shots for our music video. What came to mind just now was a music video i saw a few years ago, couldn't remember the title and artist and first but after searching for it i found it.

Sugababes - About you now



This video focuses on the narrative and performance elements, using two characters during the narrative, who are looking for each other through the streets of london, to meet up, as they know how they feel about each other now. That's why i remember this video so clearly, because it was shot through a few streets of london, which is very relative to our music video during our narrative as the artist and the females lead walk alone across embankment.

Millennium bridge is also a setting for this video which makes it all the more relevant.

This video also takes a lot of shots which are just to fill in the instrumental of the lyrics, such as pans so quickly everything is missed but connotes a rush. I want to create the opposite of this by making everything feel slow and almost painful, to emphasise the feelings of the two characters.

Production Meeting 1/11/10

We had to re-evaluate which days we are filming on and compress this into two days.
We also decided on which channels/scenes would have separate outfits and how this would effect our work. We done this so that some of these scenes will not have clashes with the front and back covers, to make sure it follows the house style.

This is because we kept the photoshoot in mind. For example, we will be taking a few shots for the front and back cover when we go film on the millenium bridge and embankment.

Along with this we had to annotate the shot list to colour code what is done on what day, and what outfits are needed when.

Pre-Production Production Schedule

Production Schedule

Pre-Production - Shot List

SHOT LIST

Pre-Production: Flatplan Analysis

Flatplan Analysis

Pre-Production Log Week 5

Pre-Production Log Week 4

Problem With Permissions

Ok, so i think we've come to the stage where we've gotta accept that this music artist which we based our work on is just not going to reply to any of our emails and messages.


We've tried to contact him by emailing him (both of us), we also left him a message on his www.unsigned.com page, and along with that we even found his myspace page and left a message on there, but no reply what so ever.


We thought long and hard about changing the song to something similar but we're going to stick with just getting the song off the internet and using it for the project, and remove it at the end after its been examined.

Song Lyrics - Solo 'ver Now

Solo 'ver Now

CHORUS

Girl you know you’re so cool
You know what im all about
But the world is so cruel
I think its solo’ver now
Don’t let me unrush
i felt so alone
I know ur so fine but
its comin to an end now ow oww

Girl you know you’re so cool
You know what im all about
But the world is so cruel
I think its solo’ver now
Don’t let me unrush
i felt so alone
I know ur so fine but
its comin to an end now ow oww

VERSE 1

When she amnesty she cries
I said please don’t do that to me girl
So I tried to dry her eyes
She said ur in my mind forever

In this moments voice don’t knw how to act
I did my best but that was hard to meee
But its over, thats our fateee
But I sweeeeeeeeearrr she can count on me
on your bestfriends coz we were meant to be
But after all
Why should I care about what shes thinking
Coz when girls with youuu they just don’t cre about what ur feelin.

CHORUS

Girl you know you’re so cool
You know what im all about
But the world is so cruel
I think its solo’ver now
Don’t let me unrush
i felt so alone
I know ur so fine but
its comin to an end now ow oww

Girl you know you’re so cool
You know what im all about
But the world is so cruel
I think its solo’ver now
Don’t let me unrush
i felt so alone
I know ur so fine but
its comin to an end now ow oww

VERSE 2

Then she came into my arrrrmms
No girl has ever held me that str-ong
Said she loved to love my charms
I said well il stop you doing wrong


In this moment girls dont know how to act
She said for the last time please make love to me
So in memory of our past
I sweaaaaaaaaaar sshe made love to me
It was the best time
And it was meant to be
well afterall
I think I know what shes feelin
Its hard to leave a girl
That’s for sure what im thinking


CHORUS

Girl you know you’re so cool
You know what im all about
But the world is so cruel
I think its solo’ver now
Don’t let me unrush
i felt so alone
I know ur so fine but
its comin to an end now ow oww

Pre-Production Log Week 3

Pre-Production: Treatment

Treatment

Artist & Audience

The Artist is named ‘Solo’. He is a young RnB/Soul artist who aims to convey passion and emotion into his music. This is definitely a challenge to the stereotype that all young males are insensitive. He has a target audience of males and females aged 15-25 years old, simply because his music is based on emotion, therefore targeting many females, whilst also aiming at the teenage/young adult age group because they are primarily the ones at the stage where they look for love in their lives, in terms of ideology. Solo’s music also seems to acquire the taste of some middle-classed audiences, with his powerful sense of style which seems somewhat simple yet sophisticated. This sophistication is represented through his clothes which we will definitely be portraying when playing solo in the music video through mise-en-scene.
The target audience are still primarily working-class young adults, mainly based in the UK. This video will be targeting the audience who are slightly more into their relationships and fashion. We will aim to appeal to them by using A LOT of mise-en-scene such as clothing, lighting, a slight sense of performance and setting. Clothing will primarily be with a level of sophistication, no tracksuits etc , which are stereotyped for the less sophisticated young audiences, and aim to film in settings which are tourist attractions e.g. London eye and the Millennium Bridge.
Along with this, the aspect of a conceptual channel in our music video should appeal to the young audience through their other media consumption using conceptual imagery through green-screen editing and a projector as we have discovered through our research that music videos of a similar genre have done this successfully and it has strongly appealed to our audiences, such as Drake – Over.

Our Vision

• Mise-en-scene in both the music video and the ancillary products will have the artist in a number of sophisticated outfits and dark lighting with Gels to create a dark-coloured effect of lighting during the video. Along with this we want to create/film in a setting which conveys another sense of sophistication which will represent our artist well in that way. This will give mise-en-scene a powerful role in our music video to represent the brand. In this mise-en-scene we will be conveying our house colours to be dark colours such as Grey, Purple and black to create a sense of mystery in his character and branding. These colours will be included in ALL our products to emphasise the sense of synergy throughout.

• The editing style/cinematography is going to be a HUGE part of our music video as we are going to attempt to create a number of shots in a kind of pencil/paint effect whilst the artist is performing in the channel where he’s sitting on the bed, along with this we want to make parts of the video in a picture-in-picture style, to appeal to the young target audience who enjoy the visual effects in a music video. In these P.I.P shots we can put of the music video channels we are going to use, one of the female alone and another with the male alone, which won’t be a performance style. We are also considering using these effects for the ancillary products with the house colours to again convey the synergy between the products. The cinematography will be an unexpected and uncommon aspect of our filming as we are choosing to do a number of long shots which are quite lengthy between cuts depending on how it will flow with the song. We will try to use a projector to play conceptual images over the artist during the performance channel of the video, where he is again sitting on the bed singing.

• The Magazine Advert and DVD Digipak will be strongly synergised through the house colours, the main images, the mise-en-scene and the artist itself. This will be synergised with the music video also with house colours but also with still shots from the music video at the back of the DVD Digipak as a preview to appeal the audiences, and maybe some images during the video as the main images to synergise through the actions of the artist.

• We are going to have a number of genre conventions such as a ‘cut to the beat’ style video which will flow with the song to create a sense of flow instead of going with the idea of making it not flow and making the audience feel confused. Another genre convention which we will be using for the RnB/Soul music video is to include a channel in the music video which primarily focuses on the narrative of the song, and the break-up which we can also tell from the song title ‘Solo ‘ver Now’.

Technology Use

We will be using a wide variety of technology for this project including the music video and both ancillary products. For the music video we will be using the camera equipment provided by the school, along with its green screen filming area. This is all during the actual filming stage, once editing begins we will be using a Final Cut Pro. This is an advanced editing software that will allow us to use picture-in-picture, slow motions, visual effects etc. This is useful as we are aiming to create a music video that uses new technology heavily in order to create the style which we know will appeal to our target audience.
For the Magazine Advert and DVD Digipak production we will be using Photoshop CS5 as I am very familiar with the software. It is also because it allows us to create a product which is as close to perfect as possible, with tools such as the magnetic lasso etc. We will definitely exploit this technology until we are more than satisfied with our products as it is a perfect tool to create the Digipak and Advert.

Logistics

We will be filming in a number of locations such as central London, possibly on the Millennium Bridge, London Eye and on some popular roads such as embankment. To film in some of these tourist attractions we will need permission by the local authority therefore we will go ahead and get the permission by the time production begins. The whole aim of that is to create a level of sophistication in the music video which represents the artist’s style. We will be filming primarily in the evenings and afternoons when it gets darker in terms of natural lighting. This will help set the mood of the video as mise-en-scene is very important. Other locations we will be filming in is my house, in the bedroom as we need a bed to film the performance channel where he is singing on the bed with ambient lighting of the house colours.
The artist in the video will be me (Shani) as we cannot get the actual artist to come perform in the music video after several attempts of asking him. We will be having a female in the music video which will represent the lost love in the narrative of the lyrics.
In order for our production to be successful and also help us on the ancillary products we will be planning with a production schedule of what days we can film the which shots etc. Along with this we will be taking recce images during production to give us an idea of the artist style which will be used in his clothing during the creation of the ancillary products and primarily the main image of the artist.

Pre-Production - Audience Research Analysis

Audience Research Analysis

Focus Group

Pre-Production Log Week 2

Magazine Advert Analysis

Magazine Advert Analysis

The upload is continuously coming out differently from the actual document with problems like stuff coming off the page etc/, can't do anything about it.

 There are a number of conventions on this magazine advert.

They Include:

•  Artist Name - Jay-Z is a worldwide phenomenon therefore having his artist name is big bold black text is simple enough to interest the readers of the magazine. The Artist name's typography is the same as the album's one, therefore we can say that it creates a level of synergy between the two.

• Album Name - The album name is also exactly the same as the album covers typography again creating a stronger sense of synergy. Along with this they both contain the symbol representative of the blueprint 3 album.

• Featured Tracks - This bit is in the center of the magazine advert as it is positioned in the place which the readers will see first. It is the name of the two tracks which were pre-released to create more anticipation and make the potential buyers want it more. 

• Release Date - Conventional as it is always used to tell the audience when it will be out for purchasing. 

• Brand Name (ROCNATION) - The audience which are massive fans of the artist will know that ROCNATION is a huge Jay-Z brand which represents him as an artist. This branding will attract audiences to buy it as it will make them feel part of the brand.

This magazine advert is seen to be very simple, which it is depending on how well you know Jay-Z.

He is a huge music artist around the world and well-known everywhere. This is advertising his Album 'The Blueprint 3', which was highly anticipated last year. Eventhough the magazine advert lacks detail it contains the vital elements and conventions needed to persaude people to buy the product, as Jay-Z is a huge artist with a massive fan-base, it isn't very impotant for him to bombard the page with unecessary information and images, becuase its highly likely that the readers of the magazine will buy the product. This magazine advert is used to simply create awareness of WHEN the product is available, as he already is very well established.

Digipak Analysis

DVD Cover Analysis
Linkin Park & Jay-Z Digipak Analysis

Audience Research Survey

Click to see our Survey.

Mood Board

Music Video Analysis

The introduction for 'Taio Cruz - I Just Wanna Know' is very influential for our music video. It sets the scene for the rest of the video and also it shows the two main characters that will be involved in the video. We think an introduction similar to this will work very will with our video and appeal to our target audience because it is from an R&B genre and setting the scene is very important for the introduction. The mise-en-scene in this video would suit our video very well because we are going for a very sophisticated atmosphere.



It is apparent to the audience that the music video is in a narrative form, as a story is being told through the lyrics and actions. This is what we intend to do with our video, and this is usually the main part of slow R&B music videos. We believe that this will be appealing to our target audience because narrative's are used in R&B videos and that is our main genre.

In the music video you can see that there are some performance aspects where the artist is singing along with the song without any part of the narrative being shown. A similar aspect to this will be used in our music video. We think that this will be appealing to our target audience because although using a narrative is the main aspect of R&B videos there are also performance aspects which make the video much more appealing to the audience.



In the music video for 'Drake - Over' there are many visual effects that are used throughout. One of the effects that we particularly like is when he is standing and you can see people going passed him very fast, which gives the audience an idea that the main is alone. This will be appealing to the audience because in our song the man is singing about his relationship being over, so a similar style to this will emphasise this for the audience to see, so the effects tell a story, along with the narrative. Some of the props used in this video could be useful to us, such as the man sitting alone on the bed, because it emphasises him being alone.



In the music video for 'Enrique Iglesias Ft Ciara - Takin' Back My Love' we can see that he and his partner are fighting and that they are having some problems in their relationship. The main part of this video that we find influential is when the couple are arguing and the man's partner walks away from him. We would like to use the aspect of an argument in our music video because the man is singing about his relationship being over, so this will emphasise the situation for the man.



This part of the mise-en-scene is very important to our music video. We can see the man throwing around objects which shows his frustration toward the changing of his relationship. We will find this very useful in our music video because it brings forward our two aspects of visual effects and also having a narrative. This will emphasise both aspects for the audience which we think will be effective because they get a feeling of how the man is currently feeling.

Pre - Production - Production Log Week 1

Pre - Production Job Allocations

Planning

My Partner's Idea

Music Video – Idea Pitch

Feedback For My Pitch

Strengths

Having shown my the class my presentation, one of the strengths that was suggested by my classmates is the narrative of children getting bullied and confiding in a family friend is very original. Another strength is the variety of different merchandise that will be available with relevance to my TV Drama.

Weaknesses

One of the weaknesses that was given after the class had seen my presentation is that each slide on my powerpoint were too vague. They also said not enough information was given on the powerpoint so the class was not able to grasp the full concept of my TV Drama.

Improvements

One improvement I was given is to put more information onto each slide of my powerpoint, so that the concept of my TV Drama is easily understandable. Another improvement I was given is to give more information particularly on the representations slide as it wasn't completely clear on whether I was challenging or agreeing with the stereotypes and ideologies I had stated.

The changes were made to my powerpoint so that it is easily understandable and could appeal to my class and they can decide if they would like to work with my idea.

TV Drama Pitch

My Children's TV Drama

Children’s TV Drama

Hadouken and Gallows Comparison

How does the band's typography and visual appearance differ?

As you can from both of the logos, the colour theme of both bands are the same, but Hadouken does this to allow fans to create their own colour schemes. The typography of Gallows logo looks like a font that would be used for tattoo's, whereas Hadouken's logo has a sharp bubble around it with an exclamation mark, which is used in comics.

How does the band's merchandising differ?

On the Gallows website you can see that they are selling t-shirts, hats, hoodies and jeans. The majority of these items are only available on the US website which could mean they are aiming more towards an American audience. On the Hadouken website you can see that they are selling t-shirts, badges, bags, and also mp3's. Also they are selling bundles, where most of these items are available in one package. It is clear that Hadouken are more passionate about the merchandise their fans have, as there is so much available.

How do these differences increase their appeal to their differing niche audiences?

Looking at the Gallows logo, it is obvious to see that there is an aspect of tattoos involved in their target audience. To appeal even more to their audience, the lead singer of the group creates all the artwork for the merchandise which is available to fans. This will make the fans feel more involved with the band as they are wearing the lead singer's artwork. Hadouken allow their fans to buy white merchandise along with pens, this allows them to make the merchandise any colour they want. This appeals to their target audience because it allows them to be creative and have a range of bright colours.

Considering the range of ancillary products available for both brands identify three other products you would develop to help each band's brand.

Looking at the merchandise that is available for Gallows fans, one product I would develop is a guitar. The design on the guitar will be made by the lead singer of Gallows which will keep in the brand idea. I would also develop a Biography of each member of the band so that the fan's can become more involved with their lives. I would also do a competition where 5 lucky fans will get the chance to spend a week with Gallows. Looking at the merchandise that is available for Hadouken fans, one product I would develop are fully white trainers with the Hadouken logo on. This goes with the brand idea of allowing the fans to create their own colour scheme for the band's merchandise. Another product I would develop is cups and mugs with pictures of the band with the logo on them. I would also develop a tour DVD where each member of the band carries around a camera when the band are on tour and the fans can see the life of the band.

Audience Profile For Hadouken And Gallows

Hadouken

Age: I think that the age of the target audience is 12-20. I believe this is the age because they have a young band.

Gender: I think due to the fact that all of the members of Hadouken are males, the target audience will also be males.

Ethnicity: White because the members of the band are white.

Fashion: Skinny jeans

Hobbies and Interests: I think people that are into partying and skating.

Current Media Consumption: Music genres such as Indie and Rock. Also TV programmes such as Skins.

Location: London, due to slang being used.

Gallows

Age: I think that the age of the target audience is 18-25. I believe this is the age because the type of music which the band creates is very upbeat and has high energy dancing involved.

Gender: I think due to the fact that all of the members of Gallows are males, the target audience will also be males.

Ethnicity: I think although Gallows are originally a British band, I believe they are aiming at an American audience. This is because the US version of their website is in much more detail than the UK site.

Fashion: Leather, usual rock band clothes.

Hobbies and Interests: I think people that are into tattoo's and also guitar playing are who Gallows are aiming their music at.

Current Media Consumption: This could be other bands within the same genre, also watching music channels who play the same music.

Location: Northern cities, such as Newcastle and Manchester.

Reflection Of Year 12

Reflection Grid

Uses And Gratifications With Gallows

Target Audience

Age: I think that the age of the target audience is 18-25. I believe this is the age because the type of music which the band creates is very upbeat and has high energy dancing involved.

Gender: I think due to the fact that all of the members of Gallows are males, the target audience will also be males.

Ethnicity: I think although Gallows are originally a British band, I believe they are aiming at an American audience. This is because the US version of their website is in much more detail than the UK site.

Hobbies and Interests: I think people that are into tattoo's and also guitar playing are who Gallows are aiming their music at.

Current Media Consumption: This could be other bands within the same genre, also watching music channels who play the same music.

Uses And Gratifications

Entertainment: For entertainment I believe that the band like to interact with the audience which would make them more likeable. Information/Surveillance: I think the Gallows website allows fans to find out about events, and with the band being on Twitter this helps the band to get more fans as they can feel closer to the band.

Personal Identity: I think the involvement in tattoos within the band and audience allows them to have their own identity, also with the branded merchandise that is also available.

Social Relationships: I think the involvement with tattoos allow the fans to have social relationships that other fans may not have when supported their band.

Task 2

Why are music videos increasingly important when promoting an artist?
Music videos are important because they give the audience of the music video an idea of the band. This could be the type of music they play, their hobbies and interests and what they believe in. This is vital because this could influence any type of potential audience to listen to more of their music. All of this combined would then also increase their sales and fan base.

What are the three types of music video?
Conceptual music videos are music videos that have visuals that are appropriate to the tempo of the song which is being played. For example this could dance moves that in time with the beat of the music.
Narrative music videos are music videos that tell a story. This could be through the actions of the actors involved in the music video.
Performance music videos are music videos that capture a live performance of a band or an artist. For exmaple this is widely used with metal, punk and country genres.

Why is branding a band or artist especially important when marketing towards niche subcultures?
Branding a band or artist is especially important because it allows the fans to become distinguished from other bands or artists. The fans know that they are supporting a band or artist who doesn't appeal to everyone but the bands know that with branding they may be able to market towards people who are not already fans. Also the unique style of the band or artist can be very influencial for the potential fans which helps to gain more fans. Without branding and it will be virtually impossible for people to find out about the band so it is essential.

How does branding 'from within the band' increase the appeal to a niche, subculture based audience?
Branding 'from within the band' increases the appeal because the fans will feel much closer to the band. This is good for the fans because the close interaction will make them feel like the band or artist actually care about them. This helps the band to form their identity and to be unique. Most fans are very passionate about the band they support being closer to them helps that much more. For example the lead singer of Gallows creates all art work etc. for the merchandise that is sold to fans.

Last Year's Blogs

Exam Blog; http://amandipasmedia.blogspot.com/

Coursework Blog; http://amandipasmediacoursework.blogspot.com/