Research for the album cover.

The next task that I will be completing will be designing and making a Digipak which includes an album cover.

I have been researching album covers from similar bands to ours.

Vampire Weekend:

 One band that is quite similar to ours is Vampire Weekend. For their self titled album, they used an old style image which is simple, understated yet cool, which seems to be the style of the genre.

Another example is their album 'Contra', where they used a polaroid image of a model, which fits in with their 'vintage' theme.

The model that they used, Kirsten Kennis, actually sued them for the unauthorised use of her image. This is certainly something that I have to keep in mind. I would not be using found images anyway, so there would be no risk of that.

Despite this, I think that this album cover is cool and stylish. One idea that I have for ours is using a polaroid of Raphi, the girl who stars in the music video. This would tie in nicely with the video and create a recognisable image and brand for the artist.

Alt-J:

 Another band that I looked in to was Alt-J. rather than using a conventional image of the band or a model, they prefer to use more conceptual pieces of artwork for their album covers.

For their first album 'An Awesome Wave, they used  a multi-layered radar image of the Ganges river delta in Bangladesh. This ties in with one of their videos for 'Tessellate' which was shit in this location. This is a very subtle connection, but this cater for fans of the band as if they researched into it, they would find this connection pleasing. This is also cool and understated, as to anyone else it would just look like cool artwork.

For their next album 'This Is All Yours' they used an abstract art piece, again this is very conceptual which fits their unique and 'alternative' style of music.

While being 'unique' it also fits into some conventions of the genre, as other indie artists have been found to use pieces of art for their album covers. I will put some examples below.
 

Infinite Mix at the Hayward Gallery.

Yesterday I went to visit a show at the Hayward Gallery named 'Infinite Mix'. This show involved ten artworks which bring together contemporary Sound and Image, in the same way that Music videos aim to connect songs to visual image. In all of the works in this exhibition the interplay between moving image and sound is crucial. Most of the artists have composed, commissioned or remixed soundtracks that relate to the visual element of their work in unexpected ways, and ensure that what you hear is just as important as what you see.

I found this show exhilarating, my personal favourite piece was Kahlil Josephs 'm.A.A.d' a video set to songs from Kendrick Lamar's revered 2012 album good kid, m.A.A.d city. It was presented as a double screen video installation with the side-by-side images either supporting or ricocheting off of each other. It used old footage from Compton in the early 90s filmed by Kendrick's own uncle accompanied by Josephs own footage of modern day Compton. Relating to Andrew Goodwin's theory, there is a clear connection between the lyrics and the visuals. Joseph presents his own interpretation of the album taking into consideration Kendrick Lamar's implied meaning of his songs. The video acts as a social commentary of Compton, the progress it has made in many ways but also how it has stayed the same. I would definitely like to see this video again.

One of the pieces, Martin Creed’s Work No. 1701, demonstrates clearly how a soundtrack can completely affect a video
’s mood. His work shows people individually crossing the same New York street. All have varying degrees of mobility but perform the action without any supports, meaning that the final figure, who presumably would normally use a wheelchair, is shown shuffling slowly across on his bottom. The film is set to an upbeat, punk-like song performed by Creed’s band – had it been more moody or emotional, the resulting atmosphere may have felt unsettling, but instead it becomes a joyous dance that shows off the glorious variety and endurance of the human body.

Also, although it is slightly less related to our project, another favourite from the show was Ugo Rondinone's 'Thanx for Nothing.',  a theatrical piece, showing beat poet John Giorno performing a poem that he wrote on his 70th birthday reminiscing about his life. It was definitely the most powerful and emotion invoking piece in the show for me, Giorno appears on large screens surrounding the viewers, as well as on smaller TV sets lining the floor, making it impossible to escape his frank, if heightened, performance. It showed how even a simple visual of a man speaking can be powerful, which helped me come to the conclusion that music videos/performances don't have to have a lot of flashy production to be meaningful and to connect powerfully to an audience.

Lyric Analysis: Arctic Monkeys.

Do I Wanna Know? by the Arctic Monkeys.

[Verse 1]
Have you got colour in your cheeks?
 
Alex is looking for a signal that she is either embarrassed, which would indicate her desire to be seen favourably, or sexual excitement, which would indicate a desire for him.
This line is the first in a series of questions asked in quick succession, showing Alex’s anxiety about his lover’s interest in him.

Do you ever get the fear that you can't shift the type
That sticks around like summat in your teeth?
 
“Summat” is Yorkshire slang for “something.”
By asking if she worries about getting rid of something, Alex may be showing paranoia about him being the unwanted thing that’s sticking around like a little bit of food in her teeth.

Are there some aces up your sleeve?

The idiom “having an ace up your sleeve” means to have an advantage that other people don’t know about. In this case, Alex feels like she’s keeping something from him or has an advantage over him (being the one deciding whether or not she is interested in a relationship).

Have you no idea that you're in deep?
I've dreamt about you nearly every night this week

Freud theorized that the content dreams were dictated by unconscious wish fulfilment. Alex is plagued by the desire to see his lover, and thus this is manifested in his dreams.

How many secrets can you keep?
Cause there's this tune I found
That makes me think of you somehow
And I play it on repeat

Memories are triggered by scents or sounds that were present during the event being remembered and/or the content of the song being played. Alex finds a song that reminds him of his lover, and in his infatuation, he continuously plays it.

Until I fall asleep
Spilling drinks on my settee

A “settee” is an old English term for a sofa/couch, often seated for two.
Further proof that this girl is in deep in this relationship with him–he’s drinking alone and falls asleep while obsessively listening to a song that reminds him of her.

[Pre-Chorus]
(Do I wanna know?)
If this feeling flows both ways?

The several questions of the first verse, if answered, would tell him whether or not his lover is interested in him. He shows some anxiety about knowing the answers, indicating that he isn’t very optimistic about the answer he would get.

(Sad to see you go)
Was sorta hoping that you’d stay
(Baby, we both know)
That the nights were mainly made
For saying things that you can’t say tomorrow day

Under the influence due to his late-night drinking, Alex is going to admit his feelings to his lover, and later regret his decision

[Chorus]
Crawling back to you
Ever thought of calling when you've had a few?
Cause I always do

The word “crawling” highlights his desperate and vulnerable condition–he’s on his knees and can’t think of anyone else but his lover, despite the pain it’s been causing.

Maybe I'm too busy being yours to fall for somebody new
Now I've thought it through
Crawling back to you

[Verse 2]
So have you got the guts?
Been wondering if your heart's still open
And if so, I wanna know what time it shuts

 

He plays on the idea of her heart as some sort of store or service that can open or closed for him.
Not only does he want to know if there’s a vacancy left for him, he wants to know how long it will be open – possibly to save himself from future heartbreak.

Simmer down and pucker up
I'm sorry to interrupt, it's just I'm constantly on the cusp
Of trying to kiss you 

Rather than hearing out what she’s trying to say, he interrupts her with an attempted kiss – seemingly as a last resort of resparking her interest in the relationship.

I don't know if you feel the same as I do
We could be together if you wanted to 

He’s not sure if the feelings between them are mutual, but his offer to be together is on the table if she does want it.

[Pre-Chorus]
(Do I wanna know?)
If this feeling flows both ways?
(Sad to see you go)
Was sorta hoping that you’d stay
(Baby, we both know)
That the nights were mainly made
For saying things that you can’t say tomorrow day

[Chorus]
Crawling back to you
Ever thought of calling when you've had a few?
Cause I always do
Maybe I'm too busy being yours to fall for somebody new
Now I've thought it through
Crawling back to you

[Pre-Chorus]
(Do I wanna know?)
If this feeling flows both ways?
(Sad to see you go)
Was sorta hoping that you’d stay
(Baby, we both know)
That the nights were mainly made
For saying things that you can’t say tomorrow day

[Outro]
(Do I wanna know?)
If this feeling flows both ways?
Too busy being yours to fall

 

Not only is he unsure if he wants to know the answers to the questions he’s asked previously in the song, thinking about it prevents him from dating someone else.

(Sad to see you go)
Ever thought of calling darling?

 

His sadness and desperation makes him ask if she ever thought of calling him, just like he does.

(Do I wanna know?)
If this feeling flows both ways?
Do you want me crawling back to you?

The final line underlines his insecurity. He can’t move on, so he’s crawling back. However, he isn’t certain that she actually wants him back. This uncertainty itself is an unpleasant feeling, but putting himself out there means he risks humiliation if she actually doesn’t want him.

Editing: Finishing the rough cut.

Today we finished the first rough curt of our music video.

The last thing we had to do was to edit the final section of the song. To bring the song together we wanted to to a fast paced montage of the scenes from Brighton. We put it together with each cut lasting about 2 seconds.

We then cut in some scenes where Jem is silhouetted against the projection dancing, which added a more fun aspect to an otherwise serious and dramatic video, we did this as we wanted to show the fun side of our artist. As some of the projection footage was the same as the footage from Brighton, we tried to do it so the same scene linked up with the projection, this worked really nicely and looked really cool.

For the last few seconds we used some footage of the projections without Jem in front, this gave it a grainy 'vintage' feel which we really liked.

In the last shot we used, there was a seagull flying through the shot. At first we tried freezing the frame, however this looked weird and stiff, so instead we slowed the shot down so the bird was flying in slow motion, this worked best as at this exact point the song slows down, the movement of fast paced cutting to slow motion really worked with the change of pace in the song.

Now that we have finished the rough cut, we can show this to our audience focus groups and recieve feedback which will help us to further improve our video.

The Copycat Theory.

The copycat theory is the belief that individuals imitate what they see in the media to get the same attention as given to the media they copied.

The film Copycat (1995) is about a serial killer who kills a police officer by copying the techniques of other serial killers. This film reflects what the copycat theory is all about - imitation.

There are real life case studies that support this theory - such as the James Bulger case where two ten year old boys copied the behaviour that they had seen in the horror movie 'Childs Play 3'.

Another example is the London riots of 2011, what started out as small disturbances turned into a full blown riot - possibly due to people imitating the behavior that they had seen on media outlets of young people robbing and breaking into shops.

Another thing that has a big influence on behavior is exposure to violent video games such as Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto, constant exposure to violent behavior causes desensitization and normalization of such behavior, especially prevalent in young children. People who may see this behavior often may want to repeat the behavior, especially if they see they behavior being rewarded. For example, in Grand Theft Auto you get points and positive attention for killing someone, which may lead someone to believe that they too will be positively reinforced for repeating this behavior.

Editing: 23/11/16.

Now we have completed the first two verses and the first chorus, we need to do something that is exiting to keep our viewers interested.

So for this chorus, we decided that we wanted to make the editing slightly more fast paced. We used faster and more choppy cuts, we included some sharp cuts of the scenes from Brighton, however we only used a few as we feel like we have used enough of these already, we cut this in with shots from the roof and lip syncing from the projection room.

The process of editing as been a learning curve; as we have become more skilled at editing through this process we have become slightly quicker at editing so we got this chorus done quite quickly.

After this chorus we realised that there is a section of 'waves' in the song, where the music cuts out and there is just the sound of waves breaking. We didn't actually realise this at the time of filming, as at that point we were using a version of the song that didn't include this section. However the version that the artist sent us had this section in it, so we decided it would be best if we left it in and used it to our advantage.

Luckily, we had filmed footage of waves breaking while we were in Brighton, which fits perfectly with the sound of the waves breaking, so we put this in and tried to time it perfectly.

This was all we had time for today, we were all really happy with the outcome of this session.

We all think that we should have finished the rough cut video in the next session.

Editing: 18/11/16.

Today after school, me, Wini and Sophia returned to the editing suite. Now that we have the first section of the video roughly edited we needed to move onto putting in the footage from the rooftop.

Before we started we had a discussion about how we wanted to incorporate this footage in a way that would make sense and flow nicely with the rest of the video.

We decided that it would be good if the footage came in right after the end of the first chorus and that we wouldn't use any more of the Brighton footage for now. We needed the first shot to be an interesting one, so we chose quite an abstract shot of Jem walking against the harsh grey sky. We felt this fit quite well with the tone of the song as the juxtaposes the 'romantic' footage, this is key as we wanted it to be clear that he is reminiscing about a past love.

We wanted to use a mixture of shots where he is lip syncing and when he is dancing/playing guitar on the roof.

We all made a unanimous decision to cut some of the shots of Jem dancing as he looks slightly awkward. It is of vital importance that he looks natural and cool, as he needs to be convincing as a polished mainstream artist.

 We continued to cut in the projection shots to make sure that the video flows and that it keeps the interest of the viewers.

At the end of this session we got to the second chorus and we were all really happy with the work that we have done today. Watching the video coming together is relieving as we were all anxious that it wouldn't make sense, however i believe that, so far, it makes sense and flows really nicely.

We need maybe two more sessions to finish the rough cut of the video, so we will try and complete these sessions by the end of November.

Theorist: David Gauntlett.

David Gauntlett is a British sociologist and media theorist. He specializes in studying contemporary media audiences, the every making and sharing of digital media, and the role of such media in self-identity and self-expression.

Gauntlett published ‘Media Studies 2.0’ online in 2007, which argues that classic media studies fails to define when the categories of ‘audiences’ and ‘producers’ unite, and that new, altered teaching methods are needed.

He states that because of web 2.0, we as audiences can become our own producers thanks to websites such as YouTube. Through this we can create our own identity and even influence other peoples.

Through this, gender identity for example, has become less constricted to previous representations. Web 2.0 allows us to create our own unique identity that doesn’t necessarily follow traditional understandings of gender. The ability and freedom that web 2.0’s allowed means it is now far more acceptable to be different and accepted for our individuality.

Editing: 15/11/16.

Now that we have completed all the filming that we needed, we need to start putting everything together.

The three different options for shots that we have are:

• The 'love scene' shots from Brighton
• The projection shots of Jem
• The rooftop scenes

Before we start putting it all together, we need to decide on the basic order of how we want the storyline of the video.

We all agreed that we wanted to start with the scenes from Brighton, to set the mood of the video, as we thought that this footage was most illustrative of the lyrics of the song (tying in with Andrew Goodwin's theory).

We wanted to incorporate the projection shots throughout - this was in order to break up the music video to make it more interesting and eye catching for the duration of the video. Furthermore, we didn't want the shot to get too 'same samey' as we fear that could be boring. This also stems from inspiration from other music videos, as many videos cut between a storyline and a performance from the artist.

Finally there is the rooftop shots, we wanted to incorporate these about halfway through the video to keep our viewers interested and to change up the vibe of the video so its not just a cheesy typical love story.

Now that we have a plan for the outline of the video, we can put the shots together. Obviously we intend to stick to this plan, however we also want to see what looks right so this plan may change slightly in the process of editing.

At the end of this editing session - we have the beginning of the video together with the shots from Brighton. I am extremely happy with how it is looking and it is less cheesy than I imagined which is good - I think this is partially due to some of the more 'artistic' shots that we took using the coloured lights in the arcade, also the projection shots tie it all nicely together. In our next session, we will begin editing the shots of the rooftop that kick in after the first chorus - we made the decision to put the shots in here as we feel it will fit in with the change of tone in the song.

This session was highly successful and enjoyable and I am looking forward until the next one! 

Filming day Three: Projections.

Today we did our final day of filming with Jem using the projection video that we made in the black box.

We had to song playing in the room in order for Jem to lip sync efficiently, we found that if he was actually singing along to the song rather than just miming, the quality of the lip sync was better and more realistic.

We did four alternative shots with the projections:
-Infront of the white screen
-Infront of the black brick wall
-Super close up in front of the black brick wall
-From the side infront of the black brick wall

We did these shots so we had some veriety in our video to make it more viusally interesting. Also, we did the song all the way through in each shot so we had the choice of which footage we wanted to use at each point in the song.

Overall, the filming was very successful and we were really happy with the footage. Jem's performance was great and he really knew the song well and therefore could give an competant and emotive performance. Now that we have all the footage we need we can start the editing process.

Making the projection video.

 As we are filming our final pieces of footage next week with the projector, we needed to decide exactly what footage we wanted projected onto Jem.

As a group, we went through all the footage from Brighton and decided what we thought would look best on the projector.

From our screen test we knew that bright colours and blues looked especially nice so we wanted to focus on that. As some of our footage was quite gloomy looking, we played around with filters and colour correction.

We turned up the saturation on some clips and slowed some clips down for dramatic effect. We even decided to put the clip of the wave backwards as it looked really cool and artistic.

After editing our short projection video, we went back to the black box and tested it out, thankfully it looked great and we all feel prepared for our filming next Monday.

Screen testing with the projector.

Today we went into the black box to test out some projections.

Unfortunately Jem was not available for the screen test, it would have been better to use him as we could have got a better idea of how it will look.

Instead we used Wini as a test subject, and she did some lip syncing in front of some of our footage from Brighton.

We especially liked how the blue toned footage looked on the projector, which we will keep in mind while editing our projection video.

We wanted a dream like feel to the projection scenes, so the bright, more abstract worked well with this concept.

The overall feel of the screen test was a positive one, we are all feeling optimistic about the music video.

Day Two: Filming on the roof.

Today we went to our second location which was the jealous gallery rooftop.

We arranged to arrive at the rooftop at 11am and asked Jem to arrive at 12, giving us enough time to set up and go over what shots we need to get done, this is where our shot list came in handy.

Once Jem had arrived we started filming.

The shots we needed were:

• Lip syncing shots in front of the painted wall
• Lip syncing while performing/walking around the roof
• Playing guitar on the edge of the roof

Those were the basic shots that we needed, we also intended to shoot some pick ups and whatever we thought would look good at the time.

The filming went very well, Jem gave a good performance despite needing some encouragement to perform with a bit more enthusiasm at times.

One really good aspect of today is that we got a really nice sunset which we were not expecting, this meant that we got some extra shots for the video, also the 'Jealous' sign lit up really nicely as it got darker which meant we got some really nice shots of Jem in front of it.

Overall, today was far some successful than Brighton, we felt much more organised and under less time pressure.

Using the projector.

The lyrics say 'We fell in love / right by the ocean', this is past tense and we could show a representation of this by showing the clips of them being in love by the ocean and suggest that this memories are strong with him as the are projected behind him.

After our first day of filming and going through our footage, we have decided that we might need some more footage to cut into our film. On the train home we discussed ideas and decided that we should do some scenes on the black box with the projector.

An example of a music video which uses projections is Rihanna's music video for 'We Found Love'

I prefer this method to the green screen method as it looks more real and organic - it blends the artist more with the background to represent the idea of the artist being connected with the images behind them, this could represent memories or dreams. We thought we could tie this in with our music video - we had discussed the concept of our main character reminiscing about a past relationship.

Another music video which uses projections like this is Ariana Grande's song 'The Way'. Ariana is shown dancing and lip syncing in front of footage of her and her love, suggesting her thinking about memories with him. This is slightly different to our idea as the song is more happy and is more about her being infatuated with her boyfriend and thinking happy thoughts about him and their relationship.

This is quite late to be changing our concept, but we just want our video to be perfect and to be up to the standard of mainstream music videos at the moment. We all were unanimous in our decision and we will do screen tests as soon as we get back to school.

Filming: Day One.

Today we went to Brighton to film the 'love story' section of our music video.


First of all our lead actress, Raphi, was late as missed our original train. Sophia and Wini got on the train and me and Jem waited as we had open tickets, meaning we could get any train. When she (finally) arrived we got on the train, however once we got on the train we realised it was the longer train which had more stops, which made us even more behind schedule.

Once we got there, we had some issues with the weather, we checked prior to travelling so we knew it was going to be cloudy, however we did not anticipate the rain.

The rain was a problem because we were concerned about getting the equipment wet, it also made the whole vibe of the footage more gloomy than we wanted.

We still tried to get as much footage as we could as we knew we couldn't really go back to Brighton to get more footage. After a few hours of filming we felt that we had enough footage and we got back on the train.

Although we were happy with what we had got done today, on the train on the way home we decided that we may need to get some other kind of footage to cut into our video to make it more interesting.

Learning how to use the equipment.

As we are filming next week, we all needed a reminder on how to use the equipment.

We can all remember from last year but it was good to refresh our memories to ensure that we are fully prepared for filming on Monday and Tuesday.

We all now feel confident with the equipment and are looking forward to shooting our video!

Health and Safety - risk assesment for filming.

While we are filming, we need to make sure of the following:

• A parent or guardian knows where we are at all times.
• Our production call sheet has listed emergency numbers and we know where the nearest emergency services are.
• Some equipment for example the lighting kit, will get very hot, so we need to always be aware of this. The tripods are large and heavy and will take more than one person to assemble and disassemble.
• When we are in public, we need to have a copy of the letter from school to say that we are students as well as out student IDs.
• We will take care in public with the equipment and ourselves, being mindful of traffic and others around us.
• If we are asked to move on by any official or public servants, be gracious, apologise and move on swiftly.

Booking our train to Brighton.

Now that we have decided to film in Brighton, we need to organise how to get there. We needed to decide on the time of our train - we decided that we would get there as early as possible in order for us to have as much time as possible filming in the daylight.

We booked an open return so we didn't have to rush anything.

We went for the 8.24 train which is quite early but West Hamstead is the closest station to all of us so it wont be too much of a rush in the morning.

We will keep the equipment at Wini's as the station is on her road, sophia can drive it over there in her car.

Now that we have the timings we can start to make an itinerary of our day to make sure we stay organised and on top of everything.

We all can't wait to go to Brighton and start filming.

The band: biography about Coasts.

This is the band Coasts whose song we will be using for our music video. Here are a few facts about the group:

• English Indie Rock band formed in Bristol in 2011
• Consists of Chris Caines on Vocals, Liam Willford on Guitar, James Gamage on Bass), David Goulbourn (Keyboards) and Ben Street (Drums)
• "Oceans" has receives international media attention and has achieved over four million plays on SoundCloud
• Members all met at Bath University and then moved to Bristol after they had finished and then formed their band
• The band released their debut single, 'Stay' in 2012.
• During this period, the band toured extensively across the UK, with sell out shows including the Camden Barfly.
• In 2013 Coasts continued to sell out shows around the UK and in Europe, and made various industry appearances including Brighton's Great Escape Music Festival.
• Coasts recorded their third single, "Oceans" with Duncan Mills and released it in June 2014. 
• The single received BBC radio 1 support from Greg James and Huw Stephens 
• The band played a Radio 1 live session at Maida Vale for Huw Stephens following on from this as well as performing live at Radio One’s Big Weekend in Glasgow. 
• The band followed this up with a sold out show at Dingwalls in Camden and were then named as iTunes 'Ones to Watch' in July 2014.
• In 2014 The band recorded "A Rush of Blood" which became their fourth single. 
• The song was premiered as Zane Lowe's 'Hottest Record' on BBC Radio 1
• The band embarked on a North American tour in early 2015, with their first appearance taking place at El Rey Theartre in LA. 
• They have also headlined London's Scala & KOKO. 
• They performed at Coachella in April 2015 and played at Reading and Leeds festival in August 2015.
• Their debut album, Coasts was released in January 2016

What we did today: pre-production planning 19/10/16.

Pre-production planning

Today we did the production call sheet for the filming days.

The call sheet will be sent to our talent and we will all have a copy, it will help us to be organised and make sure that everyone is on the same page.

The call sheet states all the details about the day including a detailed itinerary - we will try our hardest to stick to these times to ensure a smooth running filming day.

Music Video Inspiration: Analysing Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood.

When researching artist similar to the genre of our artist, I came across this music video for 'Sweater Weather' by the Neighbourhood.

The video begins with an establishing shot that demonstrates the relationship between the set/location and characters and show the whole view. 

The fact that the scene is spacious emphasises the close relationship between the members gathered in the centre. The black and white effect gives a retro feel for this music video. Also the darkness connotes the indie rock genre of this band.

The pace of each frame cuts away quickly and follows the tempo of the song. This increases the audiences excitement and keeps interest with the video. The POV shot from the back of the car engages the audience by making them feel as though they are on the car journey with the band. 

The 'love interest' is shown less often and is seen as less important than the band. This suggests that he does not keep her as his main priority, instead she is used as a way for him to escape, which links in with the lyrics of the song.

The recognisable logos of the band are superimposed over images from the video, this is a nod to the fans and also it further strengthens the branding of the band, furthermore the fact that the video is shot all in black and white is a recognisable convention of the band, as all of their videos and promotional images are shot in black and white.

The video ends with the same establishing song from the beginning, which confirms the end of the song and ties the video together nicely.

Testing the talent: Part two.

 Today we screen tested Raphi so we could get an idea about how she performs on film.

We filmed her on our phones and we all agreed that she was a good fit for the video, she was confident and comfortable in front of the camera.

These are some of the photos that we took today, her style and attitude is great for the video.

This was a relief as if her performance isn't up to a good standard in the video, it can be the difference between our video looking professional or amateur.

We doubled checked with Raphi to make sure that she if definitely available on our filming dates - she confirmed which was also very relieving news which assures us that things will go smoothly on the day.

Testing the Talent.

Today we did a test shoot with our actor Jem, who will be the protagonist in our music video. We wanted to see how he looked in a photoshoot situation and we were really happy with the results - we thought he could really fit with today's music market and he suited the song.

We also took this opportunity to speak with him about our plans for the video and we wanted to also hear his ideas. We need to make sure that he will be happy with the video as that is the most important thing as it is his brand that we are representing, furthermore he needs to look comfortable and relaxed as it will really show through in the video.

He seemed happy with the concept so far and also made some suggestions that we really took on board.

Styling Moodboards.

These are some styling mood boards that I made for both the male and female characters in our video. I want the style to be cool, casual and modern. We discussed style options and we didn't want anything that was too cliché or typical 'boyband' style. I looked at current street style and catwalk trends from this season to make sure everything on the mood boards was cool and current.

Jem:


Raphi:

Location Moodboards.

'Oceans' lyrics analysis.

Casting the female lead.

We also need a 'love interest' in our music video. This role is important because this is who the song is meant to be about. The girl needs to fit the vibe of the video - she needs to be cool and pretty in order to appeal to our target audience. She also needs to have some acting experience and have the ability to look comfortable and confident in front of the camera.

Here are the potential candidates:

Raphi Phelps:


Raphi is a student from North London. She has appeared in a short film previously so she has acting experience, I also know her very well so I can testify that she is confident and I believe that she could be very good in this role.

We all agreed that we liked her personal style, and we think she could bring some of that cool style into our music video.

We checked our potential filming dates against her own schedule and found out that she is definitely available.


Leah Milligan:

Leah is a Model from Kettering. She has experience in both editorial and film work. I know her through my agency and have worked with her before so I know she is confident in front of the camera.

We think she has a cool look, however we think that we prefer Raphi's personal style. Also, Raphi looks more like an 'Girl next door' which is the kinda look we like.

We checked with Leah and she said she is probably available on the potential shoot dates.

Overall we decided to go with Raphi, as we know she will definitely be available, also she lives in London which is much more convenient for us.

We look forward to shooting now as the team has come together.

Casting the male lead.

Today we decided on who we wanted to be the main character in our music video. He will be posing as the singer of the band and also acting out the storyline.

We need to make sure that he has good acting ability and is competent at lip syncing and has good stage presence.

Here are the potential candidates:

Alex Talwar:

Alex Talwar is a drama student from North London. He has very advanced drama skills and has recently performed in our schools musical production of 'Anything Goes' as the male lead.

He is a grade 7 at singing which would probably mean that he would be very good at lip syncing.

We like Alex but we are not 100% sure that he will fit with the vibe of our music video.



Jem Nash:

Jem Nash is a student and part time musician from South London. He has previous acting experience and knows how to play the guitar and the drums at an advanced level.

Jem is our main candidate as it was our original plan to use his song and we already decided that he would be very good in a music video. We think he really fits with the indie genre and we like his personal style.

He regularly busks on the Southbank which is something that we wanted to incorporate into our video.

Overall we think that he is a very strong candidate.

Images from http://instagram.com/jamnashmusic

We decided to go with Jem for our video. We checked the filming dates with him and he confirmed that he was available. The next thing that we need to do is a screen test to see how he looks on screen and to test his lip syncing ability.

What we did today: 11/10/16.

Pre-Production planning

Today we did some pre-production planning in our groups. In order to make sure everything goes smoothly with our filming and production, we need to make sure our group is well organised.

Today in class we allocated different roles to work on the mood boards. I was in charge of the styling and mise-en-scene mood boards, Wini did location and props and Sophia got started on analysing the lyrics.

Once we had finished with the mood boards, we helped Sophia and added our own insights into the lyrics.

I will be adding the mood boards and lyric analysis mood boards on to my blog soon.

Adjusting our concept to fit the new song.

As we have our new song 'Oceans' we decided we needed to adjust our concept to fit the new song and lyrics.

We definitely can keep most of our previous ideas as the song still fits into the indie genre.

We still want to film on the roof for our cutaways from the main storyline.

The one thing that we are going to change is the main filming location, today we brainstormed as a group and decided that we wanted to film in Brighton. The first line of the song is 'We fell in love / right by the ocean' so we thought it would be fitting to film it by the ocean.

We know its not going to be the best weather as we are filming in October, but we want to work with that and have our character dressed in nice winter clothes and working with the grey weather. We can even use it as pathetic fallacy, to use the weather to convey a sense of mood.

We are all really happy with the new concept and we don't think this set back will hurt our video - we all said that we prefer the concept now which is really good!

Permission from the band.

Due to our problems with using Jem's song, we had to find a song as quickly as we could. We found a few songs that we liked on soundcloud - including the song 'oceans' by Coasts.

We messaged a few bands and a few of them replied, but Oceans was by far our favorite. We were lucky that they were so quick to reply.

We had to regroup to change our concept slightly, as the song is about the ocean - we decided that one of our main locations should be Brighton. This was quite a big change to our previous idea to film in London, but we wanted to make sure that the video was relevant to the song.

We are all solid on our concept now so now we can really put all the planning into motion.

Our Song: Coasts - Oceans

Problems with using Jem's song.

Our original idea was to use our friend Jem's song. He is a new artist who is signed to a label and has some original songs which we really liked.

We brainstormed some ideas and we think we should definitely incorporate busking in our video as Jem regularly busks on the southbank. We also definitely want to film on the Jealous rooftop as we think that this location is perfect.

We also wanted to incorporate a story-line in our video, we want there to be a love story running alongside the visuals of Jem playing on the roof and lip syncing.

We were all really happy with the concept...
However we discovered a problem.. The song that we really liked was not properly recorded; originally Jem said that he can finish the recording and production in the studio, however today he told us that he cannot book any studio time with his label and his contract states that he cannot record anywhere else.

This means we are going to have to find a new song - and as fast as possible so we can get our plan back on the road.

Location Scouting - Jealous Gallery Rooftop.

Jealous Gallery Shoreditch

This is the rooftop of the gallery that my dad works at. We think its the perfect location for a music video - both at daytime and night time.

We have permission to use it on the weekend when no one is working there - we are also allowed to paint the wall however we want (potentially green to use as a green screen) 

Target Audiences

The Mass/Mainstream Audience :

Some media texts attempt to appeal to a broad range of people. Although difficult to achieve, this is an ideal way to create very large audiences and, therefore, maximize the potential for success and ultimately profit. This group, consisting of males and females, young and old and a wide range of social groups is often called the mainstream or mass audience.

Niche Audiences :  

The mass audience is not the only one that can make a lot of money for media producers. Some media texts are created with a specific sub-section of the audience in mind - a niche audience. Whilst a niche audience is likely to be smaller in number than a mass audience, there are many ways appealing to a specific group can be profitable. Niche audiences are ones which have a specific interest in the content of the media text. This means they are more likely to:
• be loyal (watching or reading on a regular basis)
• purchase other products related to the media texts – merchandise/ DVDs etc.
• respond to advertising which is targeted towards their interests

Target Audience vs Actual Audience : 

Even though media producers may have a specific audience in mind when creating a media text, this is not to say that only those people targeted will access these texts.
Men are known to read women’s lifestyle magazines and women will watch Fifth Gear even though they may not be the target audience for these texts and are in the minority.
The actual audience may end up being quite different to the intended target audience.

The Importance of Audience.

One of the most important concepts within Media Studies is that of audience.

Every media text is made with a view to pleasing an audience in some way.

Success is measured by the audiences response to a media text and those that do not attract and maintain an audience do not survive. At the heart of this is the fact that all media texts are created in order to make money. They do this in a number of ways: 
• Films – via box office takings, DVD and other related merchandise sales 
• Newspapers and magazines – via advertising revenues and sales 
• Television programmes (commercial TV) – via advertising sales, sponsorship and audience participation 
• Television and Radio etc. (Public Service Broadcasting) - The BBC are not funded by advertising but they need to be able to justify the money they receive via the licence fee.

The way they gauge the popularity and the success of the television and radio programming is through the viewing/listening figures.

If a media text is deemed successful it needs to attempt to ensure it offers appropriate pleasures (gratifications) its audience. Each media text will be targeted towards a specific group and the way it is constructed will be carefully considered in light of who the target audience is.

Music Video Conventions.

1. Camera Shots: 

• Long shots to create emphasis on the location of the video.
• Close ups to emphasise the emotions of the artists which often show the artist lip syncing the lyrics, this is common with emotional ballads (eg. Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U)

•  Camera movement such as panning, tracking and ariel shots are used to follow the artist, especially if the music video is telling a particular story.

1. Mise-en-scene: 

• Mise-en-scene puts importance on the representation of something.
• In music videos, the mise-en-scene is important because it usually reflects the mood of the song through the use of atmosphere. 
• For example, a music video for an upbeat dance song would have a happy mood and atmosphere. (eg Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk, this video uses bright colours and the mood is very happy)

• Lighting, props, camera, editing and storyline all make up the mise-en-scene of a music video.
• Music video producers use all these methods to convey the meaning of the song.

Editing: 

• Jump cuts is the predominant editing technique used in music videos. This is because this allows a sudden change from one scene to another. 
• Similarly, transitions such as fade and dissolve are very common in music videos as they create a different effect to cuts. 
• It is common is music videos to cut between a storyline and shots of a band/artist lip syncing.

Lighting:

• Some music videos are black and white which help emphasise a particular mood and some videos have artificial lighting which put the artist/s in an enhanced look.

This is an example of a black and white video, in this case the lighting is meant to convey a cool 'rock and roll' mood:



Sound:

• Sound is mainly the vocals or the song but in some cases such as Michael Jackson – Thriller, the producers can make the music video into a short film.

 

 Props:

• These are a vital in aiding to add to the scene and create significance on particular objects or people.

Conventions in Indie/Rock music videos:

• black and white
• The artist/band is shown throughout the video
• Use of extreme close ups and long shots are popular 
• Dark locations 
• Fast paced 
• Some use of special effects

Conventions in Hip Hop music videos:

• Location usually in clubs/parties with dance scenes
• Use of alcohol
• Recognised brands and clothing
• Expensive cars and houses
• 
  

  Camera shots tend to long and establishing to show the money involved.
• Close ups to show the jewellery and assets of the artists.
• Attractive women seen as objects/dancing for men
• Usually does not follow a storyline, only follows the genre conventions

Conventions in Pop music videos:

• Bright and colourful
• Very upbeat
• Close ups of the artist usually lip-syncing, showing the happy and upbeat and happy emotions  
• Aims at the teenage audience